Samuel

The gears that moved the elevator squeaked devastatingly. They urgently needed to be oiled. The deeper the iron cage got, the mustier it smelled. When Samuel arrived at his destination, the usual chaos of the pitiful lower class awaited him.

Many of the inhabitants of Level 3 wore old rags, from which they made new clothes and decorated them with rusty chains and other garbage. He saw many mutations. A man without a nose, a child with ears almost on her chin, an old woman with four arms. Two of the arms were small and crippled. Only a few of the residents looked 'normal'.

He spotted a pretty girl, maybe 17 years old, and smiled. Would this girl take part in the beauty contest? The girl was looking at one of the flickering posters advertising it.

Level 3 was a single garbage dump.

It smelled unpleasant. Even though the narrow streets were kept as clean as possible, the smell of the actual garbage dump and waste incineration plant flowed into your nostrils.

The buildings here were often made of sheet metal and looked extremely crooked and in danger of collapsing. Light bulbs lit up the streets with faint yellow light. There was little holographic advertising, but all the more posters. Some of these posters advertised milk powder or bath additives. Things that hardly existed in the city. The colors had faded. Pure decoration. Old fairy lights hung on some houses, some only flickered. In the windows, colorful shards of glass glittered as decoration. They showed burn marks.

"Minnie?"

"Yes?" The hologram looked at him bored.

"Is there currently any unrest near the store?" Samuel didn't feel like having to work spontaneously on his day off. "Robberies? Theft?"

"Negative."

"Good." Relieved, he walked along the streets and alleys. Here, too, the false sky showed rain clouds, but the image flickered and glitched. There were no rain sounds or anything like that. Here you could hear very loudly the machine works of Burgstadt with all its steam engines and gears. This was accompanied by the droning music of a gramophone, in front of which an elderly gentleman was sitting. A couple danced to the music on crooked legs.

Somewhere an old record player played orchestral music of bygone times. The music mixed with that of the gramophone. It smelled of alcohol and the sweet scent of the popular drug 'sunshine'. An ingestible powder made from old rubber and one of the many mutated plants. Illegal but tempting for many who needed a little more sunshine in their lives.

Samuel had heard that the drug made you see everything in a wondrous, happy light. Consumers walked through the streets with ecstatic faces. They seemed dazed and swayed. When they spoke, it was only confused and weird stuff. The drug was immediately addictive and quickly led to death. They didn't want anything else. Only the drug.

And it robbed its ecstatic victims of sleep.

Just a week ago, Samuel and his comrades had stormed a prohibited drug laboratory. But now he saw some people wandering dazed through the streets again. Among them were young children. Sighing, he shook his head. No one could help these people anymore. Either they starved and died of thirst, or they died of organ failure. Soon.

Something meowed. Surprised, Samuel looked around. Next to his feet sat a holographic cat purring. The projection flickered. Smiling, he knelt down to the animal. "Hello, you!"

"That's Miezie!" A little girl with six eyes looked out of one of the many windows. She carried a laser pointer in her hand, which made the cat appear. The device was outdated, the metal tarnished and rusty. Maybe the little one had found it in the trash? The children often searched the city's garbage dump for treasures before all of it was melted down. A dangerous game, as they had to climb into the garbage pit for it.

"A beautiful cat!" he answered the girl.

"Thank you! It belongs to my brother. But he's working right now, so I'm playing with her."

"Are you allowed to do that?"

"No." The girl giggled. "But I'm home alone. Who is supposed to snitch on me?" Curiously, she glanced at the hologram on his wrist. The residents here could not afford such a watch.  Minnie, on the other hand, was not interested in either the child or the cat.

"You're probably right." The city's AI didn't care about the small missteps of naughty kids. That was a family affair. "I have to move on now. Don't get caught!" Laughing, Samuel got up and walked on and shook his head. He had played with such a cat as a child.

It didn't take long for him to find the small shop.

"You've reached your destination!" the holographic fairy announced almost solemnly.

"Thank you." I know. Samuel made Minnie's hologram disappear and pushed aside the old, musty curtain that served as a door. The shop was well set up for Level 3, even if the house itself gave a shabby impression. The furnishings were old but in good condition.

At a counter stood a bored-looking boy with purple hair, who was working on something. An old pocket watch. On the counter were tools and screws. And there was also an old Minnie box. Closed.

The boy snorted briefly, put aside what he had been working on, and scolded to himself. Then he looked at Samuel and nodded with a smile as if he hadn't just been annoyed about something.

"You're here for the spare parts?" he asked. His voice was relatively high and gentle. He spoke very softly. "Old plugs and a charged battery? Rechargeable? Minnie informed me."

"Right."

"Wait a minute!" The boy turned around and disappeared into the back of the store. Apart from the colorful hair and a violet eye, the boy's appearance could be described as anything but striking. A round face, a pointed nose, full pink lips, and stupid, sleepy eyes. Samuel would call him ugly and uninteresting if the boy didn't have such a pleasant voice. Unlike the boy's appearance, his voice was quite attractive. And he didn't look like the usual orphan, which surprised Samuel. The boy's mutation was frighteningly minor, and yet his parents had disposed of him here.

Was he born in level 5? Poor boy.  Samuel thought him to be eighteen or nineteen years old.

It didn't take long for the boy to show up with a handful of plugs and an old battery. "Everything still works. I tested it. Do you have a charging station? For the battery?"

"No. Do you have one?" Samuel hadn't thought of that.

"Nope." The boy snorted as if Samuel had made a stupid joke. "Are sold out. When we reach the next village, I might get my hands on another one. They are rare. Very rare! Rarities! Especially those that work. I can repair these things, but you need a lot of material for that!" Flo, as the boy was called, shrugged his shoulders. "It's very difficult to get some cheaply in the villages. Usually, those from level four have higher chances."

"When would that be?" Samuel wanted to know. "When do we arrive at the next village?"

Now the boy raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "In two days? Are you not well informed about the military? Hm?"

"No, sure! How much does that make?" Offended, Samuel pointed to the battery and the plugs. He had just forgotten it. That they would soon reach one of the villages.

"The plugs? Two iron coin wheels. The battery? Ten golds."

"TEN?" Samuel stared at the old device in disbelief. "So much?" Two irons, that was cheap. Very cheap! A real bargain. Almost a gift. But ten golds? That was almost his entire monthly salary.

"Are rare! This one is slightly battered, otherwise it would cost a little more," the boy grumbled. "The charging station would cost between twenty and thirty golden coin wheels. Depending on the condition. If I get my hands on one. I sold the last one last year. Was able to renovate the shop for it. This shack was in desperate need of it! Do you want the battery? Yes? Or no?"

"I take both... If you get a charging station, please put it back for me...  I'll buy them as soon as I have the money." Samuel held his wrist to an old scanner mounted on the table. It read a chip in his wrist. A chip that was mandatory for all residents. They were shot under the skin as infants. The chip collected all personal data and was also used for payment.

The scanner lit up green. The two Irons and ten Golds were paid for. And Samuel felt as poor as a church mouse.

"Sure. Of course. But! I can't put something like this aside for long!" the boy grumbled slightly sourly. "The inquiries are always high! If I get one, I can put it aside for a maximum of two weeks. Should Minnie inform you then?"

Samuel nodded, still shocked. Maybe I can borrow the money from friends...

And so his money dwindled. For an old battery. And for the hope of a charging station.