Floor Flea: Darker than Mars

Dementia part ||:

Mars Store

An almost bald, strongly built man stood up from his seat and faced Flea slowly. A smug smile adorned his face, as if he anticipated Flea's response. Flea, on the other hand, stared at him expressionlessly, his eyes scanning the man's body adorned with tattoos. He couldn't help but wonder why the man wasn't wearing a shirt. While Flea analyzed the almost bald man, he was interrupted.

"Hey, Pevy, you know I killed this dude, right? Come and get me, get your gun ready 'cause I'm about to run away from the scene. You know that phrase, right? Every culprit returns to the scene of the crime."

Flea looked at him with indifference and calmly sat down in one of the store's chairs.

"What a character we have here. Are you going to say you don't judge books by their covers? Or do you not care that I killed this man? I mean, why would you, right? Leaving someone like me out there would help your job, right? More crime, more money, am I right?" said the bald man with a greedy expression.

"You did not kill Mr. David, the owner of the Mars Shop, my bald friend," said Flea.

Remaining seated, Flea lifted his foot.

"Look at my shoe. What color is it?"

The bald man stared at Flea's red blood-stained shoe. Then Flea pointed at the bald man's shoes.

"Now look at your shoes, bald man."

The bald man noticed his shoes were not stained with red like Flea's. If he had killed the man, how did he not get his feet stained by the violent death?

"I see we have a detective in the room, but that doesn't prove anything i mea," Flea continued. "Just stay there. I am not a detective by chance."

Flea then explained his deductions. If the bald man had killed David, there would have been blood on his hands. Moreover, he would have had to dispose of his shirt, likely at his house, Which Flea knew would be in a distrital sector the nearest one being considerably far from the crime scene and the bald man would have been tired or transpirating from going hide his shirt which he was not, and since the body was killed within minutes it would not have give him time, Flea concluded saying why the bald man was not the culprit.

To further emphasize his point, Flea mentioned the nature of the crime. David's throat was sliced with a knife, but the bald man did not have a knife; however , he had metal knuckles highlighted by his pants and had the strength to overpower David. Flea pointed out there were defensive wounds on the victim, indicating there was fight back from the victim indicating the killer was not in really good shape. 

Flea's final argument rested on the bald man's hands. He observed the man's thick, strong fingers with lines on them, suggesting he had been playing the guitar recently. Considering the guitars nearby, Flea deduced that the man had been occupied with music and couldn't have committed the crime since that could mean he had a sentimental bond either to the store that was now destroyed or to the owner that was killed.

In response to Flea's reasoning, the bald man confessed.

I did not kill Dave, you are truly a one in a million peavey did ya know? Others would just capture me the second they see me and my tattoos in this scene, or just let me out in exchange for my belongings.

I work here, David was my boss and my only family, when i came back from the laundry and repairing station with some repaired guitars i saw him there dead and sat in the chair regretting my decisions, until you came and saw the scene, i really thought everything was lost, i didn't think a peavey would come to this hole, not a detective at least i only thought on that way to talk to you.

Flea looked at the man in his despair and incapable of not helping people in need he offered him to work together, Flea would help him find whoever killed David and he would help him investigate the whereabouts of Maxwell Joel since Flea has a hard time talking to people in the street just for his gun, the bald man presented as Sidon and accepted his offering, not for vengeance or resentment but pure curiosity for the mysterious man that appeared out of nowhere called Flea.

Sidon didn't even ask who Maxwell was, he knew quite well, after all he was part of the glass house, that information surprised Flea but he still didn't change his facial expression since he knew it was a tradition to have tattoos if you are part of a gang with thousands of years of history, Flea asked him about his origins and Sidon said.

I was born in this shitty space station, my childhood was this mess of a neighborhood, everyday someone was killed or commited suicide, we all live based on those godamm repair machines the government installed for us, my uncle Dave and i were born musicians we where the only family he has, my mom left to a higher flor looking for success and my dad died killed by a peavey after stealing a store in a high floor, my auncle he created this store years ago, i learned from him the art of music and lived together a bit far from here as you said, one day at the bar a group of men came to me and gave me a card with a password, they left on the bars table and i took it home where i used it to enter a VR room where different people dressed in coats where sitting in tables and others shirtless where guarding them as servants.

Two men came to me and explained how their gang worked and how they use the card to look for possible members to join them, they called themselves Glass House, they asked if i wanted to join, i had to think about it but after knowing i could earn money with it i didnt think twice to sign for it, my uncle and i really needed that money, first they analyzed my body through VR and after some interviews and watching my antecedents I was let in starting with a delivery job while they started trusting me, I then advanced higher in the gang and had various jobs, sometimes I worked for other businesses, or collected debts, even cleaning bathrooms these was a real strange gang I tell ya.

 I met up with the boss a couple of times, he told all of the newbies the fundamentals of the gang and all about being part of the glass house, he looked like an honorable man, I wonder where he is now.

Then the mars store had a big blow up in sales thanks to the glass house and eventually I left the gang to help my uncle to which all the members understood and the boss wished me luck.

a couple of years since that though no idea of his whereabouts now dawg.

Flea explained to Sidon his plan of searching every single floor inside the polyhedron to find Maxwell and also told him about those strange men in black clothings that tested his hand in half and showed him the prosthesis.

-What a surprise, it appears I work with a cyborg now, wow life changes fast.

Sidon really didn't have much left in this world, all his family is dead, his store is destroyed and the only place he could go back has its leader missing, he wouldn't mind staying with a weird justice ally cop that appeared out of literal trash. 

Both of them grabbed Davids dead body and started walking to the nearest emergency cabinets, crossing bars and shops right in the middle of the residential area they ended up pretty tired from lifting Davids body and finally made it to the emergency cabinets, small rooms anyone could use for inmediat medical aid, once you enter your entire body will be scanned and a diagnose will be shown on one of the screens in the small room, they took davids heavy body to the emergency cabinet and a kind of elevator took him to the crematory, they waited in the small room sitting in metal chairs that connect to the walls until a screen with a very classic message informed Sidon about his lost and how sorry they were.

about a minute since they delivered the body a list was shown to Sidon, he could pick to take his uncle's ashes in: a tradicional jar, in a custom vessel or they could join his ashes with any object big enough to fit them, Sidon took his big black bracelet off and placed it in the machine, they both watched as his uncle's ashes were inscripted in the bracelet that then returned to Sidon, an autopsy was also sent to the peaveys and they were ready to go.

-Are you ready Sidon? We have a long way in front of us. Are you sure you will join me today?

-I wouldn't have wasted an opportunity to get a fancy jar if i was going with you.

- I supposed that.

The man in the red clothes and the shirtless bald headed out into the now once again completely crowded city.

Both men went to Supplement station, another small room where people with low resources go in need of food.

After the war the alimentary crisis was fixed thanks to the possibility of making any kind of food last not only for days nor weeks or months or years but for Millennials thanks to a scientific process using different items that between other subtract the light, humidity, regulates temperature and destroyed certain microorganisms all of which cause food to spoil, using a chemical called the Handler, now most of the food that is not sells in restaurants is stored in these small rooms called Supplement stations, the poorest of space dementia frequent that place since the it is the only place where they could by food not only because the fast food chains are very far from them, (a distance Flea already walked all the way from), but also because the price is so low it is technically free, most of their savings are using in other things.

Flea and Sidon entered the room and noticed it was completely full, people really poorly dressed and once they had a step in they felt as if all the room went silent, everyone in there was looking right at them, a bald tattooed man and a peavey with a gun, what a combination, everything stayed quiet as they made the line to get their food.

not only were they surprised there was a detective peavy there but that he would enter a supplementation room, they all though there was a criminal among them hiding in the crowded room where no space was left, both men looked around and saw the screen telling what food they stored, they both got a piece of meat and some rice after waiting in line for some minutes, no more no less meat and rice, they sat once again a the built in chairs and a pole came through the ground, it was a table however it was stolen, they ate using that pole and talked about how bad it was, it really didn't taste like anything, just the feeling of eating cold meat and cold rice as the extreme states of everyone made them finish their meals faster.

Flea and Sidon stood up at the same time, threw their remainings in the trash and went out, where they were once again overwhelmed by the crowd walking in all directions and the broken shiny lights that once used to decorate all the room, they looked right up and saw Floor 1 Rooms 3-4-5-6-7-8.9-10, it was an opened door that lead to a hallway, they entered as they are greeted with a path full of bars and shops all aligned like a mall, all the residential buildings were right above the stores as it is the case in almost all of the polyhedron and started walkin the empty hallway full of what seemed to be abandoned stores, they were right above a motor or incinerator not quite sure which but the heat was overwhelming them, most of the electronic systems where shut down.

No mystery this hallway in the middle of the crowd is completely empty, there is absolutely no lights at all, the door they came from looked far away however it was the only light source they had, they slowly walked into the hallway as they hear the steps of the outside crowd walk get softer and softer until.

BAM!!

The door shutted down completely as they were left in the absolute dark of the hallway that had really old rugs as they felt them with their feet, both men were not scared, actually not at all they were curious of what happened in there, a place that lost their golden age and now is just destroyed.

They stayed still for some time waiting to hear any sound in case someone was near, however they soon realized they were completely alone, Flea took his hand slowly to his waist and quickly in a second he drew his handle, which was actually just a flashlight, they both looked at the old looking surroundings and saw on the floor a sign that said: WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE COMMERCIAL DISTRICT once again in broken neon lights in the floor.