Chapter 3: Slums

[A lengthy new flick starring the famous Homs Tolland. Join our famous new actor in his surprising debut!]

The time was 8:30 P.M, and it was still the same day I had ingested the pills I had gotten from my assigned therapist earlier.

As I expected, those pills were pretty good. Within an hour or two of taking the recommended dosage, I started feeling better, and my mind became sharper.

I also became more focused, and because I was feeling quite good at the moment, I spent most of my remaining time watching videos on my old computer that, on the outside, looked just as clean as the day it was given to me.

It was a miracle that it was even still working at all.

[I am the Man-Spider, and it is my duty to piss people off.]

[If you're nothing without the suit, then you should kill yourself NOW!]

'Cringe.'

As I watched a random parody of the recent Spiderman films, I couldn't help but contort in disgust over what I was watching.

"Yup, this guy's comedy is about as dumb as his writing."

I was pretty disappointed.

I had spent far too much time looking up a bunch of memes on the internet lately for no other reason than to make myself laugh.

Some of it was genuinely funny, while other times, I could only stare with a face as blank as a newly bought notebook.

Just recently, I came across a video made by a famous, or should I say an infamous, guy who would continually post parodies of popular blockbuster movies and write articles about the latest trends or whatever he thought was generally funny.

Of course, he was merely someone who was trying a bit too hard, or in this case, not really. Some people may have thought he was pretty funny, which I'll admit, sometimes he could make me chuckle at least once or twice at a few of his videos.

However, most of his content was nothing but disposable cringe. The only reason I was even on his channel was to see if he'd been able to change himself for once, but all my hopes had been in vain, so I was beginning to lose faith.

As the video continued, the quality degraded. Not necessarily the contents of the video itself, as it surprisingly got slightly less cringe, but rather the video's resolution quality. It went from as high as 720p to devolving suddenly into 144p, or what I like to call primitive technology quality.

But as I was watching the video, 'it' happened again.

"With great power comes great power, comes great p-ppppppppppppp"

Sighing, I closed my eyes and waited for my computer to do its business. But as quickly as I opened them, I saw something I didn't want to see.

𝚂𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝟹𝟸.𝚎𝚡𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐.

-> 𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖

-> 𝙲𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖

-> 𝙳𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚂𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝟹𝟸.𝚎𝚡𝚎

Unfortunately, before I could click on anything else, I was quickly met with a blue screen displaying a bunch of erroneous text on my monitor.

At that point, I wasn't all that mad anymore. Over the past year, my computer had degraded so much that these situations virtually became everyday occurrences. That being said, I still couldn't help but curse.

"Shit ass computer. Can't even play a video in peace. I at least have something to block shitty ads, but this is just too much..."

I had this computer for a while now, about 11 years. While I initially thought it had been aging pretty well, as it certainly impressed me for just how durable and long-lasting it was, I knew deep down that it was finally time to be superseded by something superior.

The thought of replacing my 11-year-old computer hit me like a truck. I had been so used to it, and it has stuck with me through thick and thin. The only reason I didn't end up replacing it at that point was because the computer had been given to me by the person I had met when I was at the lowest point in my life.

Irene Maxwell. The only person in my life who I could call a true friend.

When I was only just a prepubescent, I was already struggling mightily. The only one who could help me was myself. Most of my days were spent wandering and looking for a whole bunch of food to eat.

At first, I believed I may have even been well off just living like that. After all, I was actually at peace with no one pissing me off.

As far as I can remember, the slums were where I had formed my earliest memories. I can't tell if it was due to my appearance, but nobody wanted anything to do with me. People would often reject me for being a bit too aggressive for someone who looked malnourished, but I really couldn't care less at the time.

The only thing I could do was resort to thievery as well as piss off a few authorities and make a few friends with other homeless kids like myself. Though sadly, I never got to keep any of them.

Thinking back on such days, my life was fun. Not as fun as it is now. But to say it wasn't one of my favorite memories would be me lying to myself. Every day may have been a true struggle, yet the only thing I could wish for and the only thing that could keep me going was the idea of living a normal life.

As a child, I was made painfully aware of some of the kids who had everything handed to them.

Kids who were "normal."

Kids with parents.

Kids with decent childhoods.

Or anyone lucky enough not to have to struggle nearly as much.

And as I lived through each day with the harsh reality of life, I eventually decided that I would make something happen. That there was a dream of mine which needed to be fulfilled.

"To live normally is to live perfectly."

"And to live perfectly is to live happily."

A seed that was to be planted inside my subconscious; and a dream that, despite dwindling over the years due to finally achieving it, was still very much alive.

Over time, I realized that the only thing I wanted was to live normally.

And as soon as I made that my sole purpose in life, I would make sure not to let anyone get in my way. Then one day, I met Irene.

Skinny, ugly, and rich as hell.

He didn't exactly change my dream per se, though he did play a huge role in my life—the biggest one at that. In hindsight, he was a pretty 'normal' person with a mostly normal childhood, or at least from what he told me.

But he was older than me. Maybe even old enough to be my father.

And when I first saw him, I felt genuine fear. An emotion that, at the time, I couldn't quite make out. I didn't recall ever feeling like that before in my life. I remembered feeling worried and a bit paranoid before that incident but never that fearful of anyone.

Rather than trashing me like everyone else I met whenever I stole something from them, however, Irene opened up to me. Every day, whenever I saw him, he would treat me with something he called kindness.

He would provide me with a place to live in and never have to move out of, food that was necessary to supplement my frail and boneless body, and he also taught me proper etiquette. Things like table manners, common sense, what the other kids my age were doing, what the current technology was and how it looked, etc. Basically, anything he thought was essential.

Irene was a breath of fresh air in my life and was a key to my dreams. He even made me almost forget that he once looked at me with eyes that spelled nothing but danger.

Cold and emotionless.

Those were the eyes he would only ever conjure on that fateful day. It was the most unforgettable memory I had of him...

Irene would later teach me almost everything he knew aside from the necessities. He told me how he was tech-savvy --which he successfully proved-- and that he was a fantastic actor. It had even been a dream of his growing up.

He'd always remind me about how he could've been super famous by now after auditioning as one of the main characters of a famous movie franchise. However, instead of getting the glory he desired, he received humiliation and pain... from a particular lack of recognition.

He never did quite recover from that incident.

Honestly, though, the only reason why I met Irene was that one day, I decided to patrol the area just outside the slums. I had gotten bored and tired of my neighborhood, so I went to a different district-- the district referred to as the suburbs. And as fate would have it, he and I met on a whim.

They say time heals all wounds, but I could feel nothing but emptiness ever since he left me alone after years of being with and providing for me. To this day, I have no idea where he went or if he was even alive. Still, I don't completely hate him for what he did. I mean, I'm pretty sure he must've had his reasons for leaving, and it definitely had nothing to do with getting milk.

He was also the reason why I got an opportunity to go to school and find a way to continue serving myself for the sake of surviving in a harsh world. Of course, I wouldn't say I liked the part about school since I met with many terrible kids and god-awful teachers, but at the same time, I learned a great deal about the world around me. I even remember practically becoming a temporary scholar to please Irene.

And though I wasn't fond of it, I was apparently what they called a pretty, or in my case, an ugly 'smart' kid. I didn't think that was true since I didn't think highly of myself. If anything, I thought I may have been pretty or ugly retarded.

Adapting to school life was extremely difficult at first. Everything was just so foreign and far more complex than whatever Irene was teaching me; nevertheless, I continued to work hard and eventually graduated from every school I attended except for College.

I sought after jobs first, and that was how I got to live a normal life. But despite getting what I wanted, Irene leaving really set me back mentality-wise. The more time I spent without him, the less aggressive I became in pursuing my dream. Even so, that was no reason to give up. I'm doing fine now, but I'd be deluding myself if I said everything was perfectly normal.

Irene was just that precious.

But I didn't let him affect me too much, and I knew I needed to be tougher for his sake. Yet somehow, despite my motivation to keep moving forward, I couldn't help but become slightly demoralized as I stared at my current body.

"Fuck. I really am fat, huh? I guess this is what I deserve for making fun of Irene all those years ago. Karma truly is a bitch."

I cursed out loud.

Then, I looked at my monitor screen and the computer itself.

"Sorry, Irene, but it's about time I finally replaced this piece of garbage. I hope you find it in yourself to forgive me."

I secretly prayed that replacing the computer wouldn't come to bite me in the ass. Before he left, Irene was adamant about keeping the computer and even treated it like a special gift.

Apparently, it meant a lot to him, so when I saw that he held on to such a thing with as much affection as he did, I could only stay faithful to Irene's wishes.

But it had been more than a decade, and the computer was no longer as effective as it had once been. Technology was accelerating at an all-time rate once again, and before I knew it, the world was starting to change too.

Thankfully, I had my phone with me. Phones still were excellent even though they couldn't do quite as many things as a computer could, and whatever a computer could do that a phone could do, the computer was just that much better at doing it.

Unless, of course, the computer was mine in question. In that case, my phone was superior. But before I could spend my time searching on the internet for any new pre-bought computers, a ringing sound could be heard inside my apartment room.

One by one, a bright set of notifications appeared on my phone, briefly startling me. It was from the police, or more specifically, a detective investigating information from the strange man I had met a couple of weeks ago. I was glad that my piece of information didn't fall on deaf ears.

Glad at the fact that they weren't so incompetent.

'Huh?'

As I read through the strings of text on my phone, I couldn't help but feel surprised.

[Hello, Mr. Piste. Sorry it took so long, but I think we've finally found information regarding the person who once barged into your house. He came into our local Police Station an hour ago and demanded to see someone named Rae Piste.] 8:38 P.M.

'So he's a guy after all? Somehow, I'm still surprised.'

[We have asked him to identify himself, but rather than telling us who he was, he instead revealed everything about the incident from 2 weeks prior and that he wanted to clear up any misunderstandings with you as he meant you no harm. We thought you were someone who wanted to come here and greet the fellow?] 8:38 P.M.

I was stunned upon seeing the pieces of text that were sent to me.

I was holding a grudge against the Aztecan-looking guy from the Halloween incident, and just like the last time I met him, he would once again do something far out of my expectations.

After thinking through the situation more, I decided to send my first text message within a few minutes.

[I think I'll go and meet him. This is a bizarre situation, and I want to get to the bottom of this.] 8:41 P.M.

[Then we should see each other again at the station. The man even requested to see you personally, and I think it would be best if the two of you were to meet. He also said that he would not leave the station until he meets you.] 8:42 P.M.

[Understood.] 8:43 P.M.

As I sent my last message, a few nagging questions appeared in my mind.

'Who is he?'

'What does he want with me?'

'Just what did he mean from back then when he referred to me by The Great One?'

'What in the hell was that substance that he gave me that caused me so much pain?'

'And how does he know that it was a misunderstanding and that I had sent a warning about him to the police?'

After thinking things through for a moment, I contemplated for a few extra seconds, all while having my right hand underneath my chin. Some things didn't add up, and the situation felt too controlled.

'Perhaps he's manipulating me?'

'But I don't know his intentions, so I could also be wrong?'

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I decided to cast aside my thoughts as I made my decision and checked the time on my phone.

'8:47 P.M.'

Looks like I'll need to see this weird man in person. He was not getting away scot-free, especially not after he made me shit my pants.

Clenching my fists, I walked out the door and took the Uber to the nearest station, where the detective told me the individual was currently. The wait for my driver wasn't long, and he quickly drove me away from my apartment building.