It was dark...
But not dark enough.
I moved through the streets as quietly as I could, keeping in mind to keep to the street cameras' blind spots. Blast those cams! There was a time I praised the technology that filled our city. Granted, our wireless cameras, while self-updating, were a bit old and took longer to update compared to other twenty-third century equipments. But the cameras had never failed to recognize a face before.
Which was not a very good thing when you had the police, a corporate giant, and the church all out to get you.
It started to rain. I clutched what I was holding to my chest. The last thing this crumbly old book needed was to get wet. I chuckled. I must have been quite a sight: a young woman running in the rain without a shade for fear her automatic umbrella might betray her location. And I was clutching a copy of “Speak Tagalog in 21 Days” protectively in a time when that language wasn't spoken anymore.
My friend's house wasn't far now. Just one more block. As I ran, I couldn't help but recall the first day this all started. As I remember, it was raining then, too.
“I'M BEING LAID-OFF?!” I dropped to the chair behind me, unable to believe what I just heard.
Mr. Lopes gave a sigh that was supposed to indicate that he regretted the fact that he was letting me go. “Ms. David,” he began. But I was too agitated to listen to any I- understand speeches at the moment.
“I was with the Metropolitan Power Company for ten years!” I reasoned.
“I understand how you feel--” He went ahead and gave the speech anyway.
“No, you don't. You've never worked so hard only to be let go.”
“Look, Jenny, this is only temporary. Once the financial crisis is over and we're back on our feet, you'll be the first person we'll hire back.”
Temporary, my foot! Everyone knows we're never going to be hired back. It's cheaper to hire new people. I crossed my arms and stared out the window. Right outside was the library demolition on MePoCom's grounds I was supervising. The demolition of the M. Torres Library was suspended due to certain legal issues. I was very much tempted to say, “Serves them right!” But that's kicking them when they're down so, that probably wouldn't be fair.
The building itself was mostly down now. I could already see the circular markings of the lobby floor. I sighed. I couldn't help but see the library as a mirror of my now ruined engineering career: glorious when it started, but now, nothing more than rubble.
It was still mid-afternoon when I got home. And speaking of kicking someone when she's down, the power suddenly went out.
“AAAAARRRG!” In my frustration, I threw my bag hard against the wall. Out spilled my lipstick, purse, phone, and... a book.
You guessed it right. It was the “Speak Tagalog” book. I found it tucked under one of the floorboards of the library when we started demolition. For lack of a better thing to do, I picked it up and started reading it.
That was when the weird things started happening.
