Artificial Idiot
04-07-2004, 03:04 PM
The Trap
Part One: Jimmy Maclean, A man of mixed emotion.
"Night Doris." Said Jimmy Maclean as he left his work place. Doris was the cleaner of the multi-story office. He'd spent a good twenty minutes speaking to the woman, the rest of the bastard cleaning staff just didn't want to know. Anti-social gits. The security light outside the building flashed on as he left the building. He'd never seen the point in those things, especially when they were put on people's houses! I mean, all they really do is provide light for the would-be thief. And Jimmy was no stranger to thieves, his house would probably have been broken into again when he got home. Jimmy worked nights, and often came home to find a window smashed or a door broken. His fiancee waiting on the doorstep to yell at him. His love life was also a shambles, when the misses wasn't yelling at him, she was screaming, nagging, moaning or staring in a disapproving manner in his general direction. He couldn't remember how many times she had said she was leaving him, nor the number of times he had thought "Good riddance". She actually left once too, but came crawling back when she ran out of money. Typical.
However, life wasn't all that bad. He loved his job. In fact, his work place was like hell on Earth compared to his squalid living conditions. Now, he'd studied British History at School, and knew all about Rowntree and the poverty line, and when he was young and ignorant, he had even believed it had made a difference. Although, looking at his neck of the woods... well, it was a lot like 1960's Britain, only with sewers and running water. But then, he guessed that was a plus. You had to look on the bright side of these things, otherwise you just drive yourself into despair. Anyway, his job. It was simple office work, a monkey could probably do his job for him. And if Jimmy could afford to buy a monkey, that might not be such a bad idea. However, the general atmosphere of the office was, well unlike any other place Jimmy had ever seen. It was the only place he felt safe, and the women were very nice on the eyes. Which was always a plus. His boss was somewhat eccentric, but he was a decent and fair man. He never seemed angry or stressed and was almost, always chatting with the workers. But unfortunately, it was time to go.
He walked across the hard, grey concrete of the car park. It was damp, with large puddles forming where the road had cracked. He'd missed the rain, what a pity. Jimmy liked walking in the rain, and didn't really see why people ran away from it or tried to protect themselves from it. after all, it is only water. You drink it, bathe in it, the average adult Human is about 60% water. Or was that 70%? He couldn't remember for the life of him. Acid rain was a completely different story, but that was generally something you only read about in books and saw on the lunchtime news. It wasn't long until Jimmy found his car, he had, after all, had the same parking space for a year. Except that one day when the new secretary had used it.He fumbled for his keys, pulling out his familiar Garfield key-ring. It was a gift from an old school friend of his, and he'd kept it since.
"Those were the days" He muttered to himself, in a moment of distant reflection.
He unlocked his car. He used the key, he couldn't afford one of these fancy things with their la-de-da electrical locking systems, or whatever you called them. Yet, his little Ford was good enough for him. He didn't know the make, didn't care either. Cars were not his thing, he could drive one... barely, but that was all. He opened the door, getting a wet hand from the handle. He had seen people make a big deal of this, as if the water was poison on their skin... Jimmy didn't understand them. He wiped the excess water on his jacket then got in. For some reason, a shiver went up and down his spine. As if something wasn't quite right. Which was odd, as he had got in and out of this car for so many years now, it was practically his batmobile. He shrugged off the feeling, blaming it on the cold, even though it had been a moderately warm day today.
He checked the clock, it read twenty past ten. The night was young. He weighed up his options for a moment. Let's see, go home and face the dragon woman who made Nazi Germany look like a minor annoyance, or got to the pub and get pissed out of his head. On the one hand, he'd get killed for coming in late, on the other hand he'd get killed for coming in late and drunk. He decided he probably wouldn't feel the pain if he was drunk, so to the the pub it was!
He started the car, it choked it's self to life. In doing so, he also sent a small piece of brownish-yellow paper fluttering to the floor. It looked as if it had been hastily ripped from a larger piece. It had but on word written upon it in blood red ink...
Vengance.
Part One: Jimmy Maclean, A man of mixed emotion.
"Night Doris." Said Jimmy Maclean as he left his work place. Doris was the cleaner of the multi-story office. He'd spent a good twenty minutes speaking to the woman, the rest of the bastard cleaning staff just didn't want to know. Anti-social gits. The security light outside the building flashed on as he left the building. He'd never seen the point in those things, especially when they were put on people's houses! I mean, all they really do is provide light for the would-be thief. And Jimmy was no stranger to thieves, his house would probably have been broken into again when he got home. Jimmy worked nights, and often came home to find a window smashed or a door broken. His fiancee waiting on the doorstep to yell at him. His love life was also a shambles, when the misses wasn't yelling at him, she was screaming, nagging, moaning or staring in a disapproving manner in his general direction. He couldn't remember how many times she had said she was leaving him, nor the number of times he had thought "Good riddance". She actually left once too, but came crawling back when she ran out of money. Typical.
However, life wasn't all that bad. He loved his job. In fact, his work place was like hell on Earth compared to his squalid living conditions. Now, he'd studied British History at School, and knew all about Rowntree and the poverty line, and when he was young and ignorant, he had even believed it had made a difference. Although, looking at his neck of the woods... well, it was a lot like 1960's Britain, only with sewers and running water. But then, he guessed that was a plus. You had to look on the bright side of these things, otherwise you just drive yourself into despair. Anyway, his job. It was simple office work, a monkey could probably do his job for him. And if Jimmy could afford to buy a monkey, that might not be such a bad idea. However, the general atmosphere of the office was, well unlike any other place Jimmy had ever seen. It was the only place he felt safe, and the women were very nice on the eyes. Which was always a plus. His boss was somewhat eccentric, but he was a decent and fair man. He never seemed angry or stressed and was almost, always chatting with the workers. But unfortunately, it was time to go.
He walked across the hard, grey concrete of the car park. It was damp, with large puddles forming where the road had cracked. He'd missed the rain, what a pity. Jimmy liked walking in the rain, and didn't really see why people ran away from it or tried to protect themselves from it. after all, it is only water. You drink it, bathe in it, the average adult Human is about 60% water. Or was that 70%? He couldn't remember for the life of him. Acid rain was a completely different story, but that was generally something you only read about in books and saw on the lunchtime news. It wasn't long until Jimmy found his car, he had, after all, had the same parking space for a year. Except that one day when the new secretary had used it.He fumbled for his keys, pulling out his familiar Garfield key-ring. It was a gift from an old school friend of his, and he'd kept it since.
"Those were the days" He muttered to himself, in a moment of distant reflection.
He unlocked his car. He used the key, he couldn't afford one of these fancy things with their la-de-da electrical locking systems, or whatever you called them. Yet, his little Ford was good enough for him. He didn't know the make, didn't care either. Cars were not his thing, he could drive one... barely, but that was all. He opened the door, getting a wet hand from the handle. He had seen people make a big deal of this, as if the water was poison on their skin... Jimmy didn't understand them. He wiped the excess water on his jacket then got in. For some reason, a shiver went up and down his spine. As if something wasn't quite right. Which was odd, as he had got in and out of this car for so many years now, it was practically his batmobile. He shrugged off the feeling, blaming it on the cold, even though it had been a moderately warm day today.
He checked the clock, it read twenty past ten. The night was young. He weighed up his options for a moment. Let's see, go home and face the dragon woman who made Nazi Germany look like a minor annoyance, or got to the pub and get pissed out of his head. On the one hand, he'd get killed for coming in late, on the other hand he'd get killed for coming in late and drunk. He decided he probably wouldn't feel the pain if he was drunk, so to the the pub it was!
He started the car, it choked it's self to life. In doing so, he also sent a small piece of brownish-yellow paper fluttering to the floor. It looked as if it had been hastily ripped from a larger piece. It had but on word written upon it in blood red ink...
Vengance.