Chapter 1 - The Store

It had just begun to rain outside as Uni opened his car door. Unbeknownst to Uni, the weather forecast predicted four days of rain in the city of Mochorome, after a surprisingly long dry spell lasting eight days. The forecast was always right, but Uni had felt the weather was not in their hands to decide. He felt the raindrops splash against his hand, and as if it flicked a switch in his head, his lips twisted into a mischievous grin. Uni kicked off the rocker panel and launched into the air, celebrating with the rain for its gracious return. he faced the sky and opened his mouth, as if he were a plant growing in the middle of a store parking lot, ready to be watered after a week long endurance. He stood in this stance for several seconds, baffling a few onlookers. 

Alo, the tall, pale man with sunken eyes, who had just recently left the Allstore at precisely two minutes past eleven in the morning for his break, who also unfortunately happened to be Uni's co-worker and friend, observed this, and decided not to intervene until Uni had finished performing what he could only assume was a public humiliation in the name of God. Choosing to ignore his odd behavior for the time being, he put his hood up, and walked over to Uni. 

Uni was short. If Alo was faced on the opposite side of the car to Uni, he would've caught only his jade eyes, obscured all the more so by his straight, long, black hair. Alo noticed Uni's unnerving smile, his bleeding red lips striking a contrast from his unnaturally fair complexion. Despite this, Alo viewed him as anything but startling, as a matter of fact, Alo hardly felt anything towards Uni. All he had to keep in his heart is that he was his friend, and he should treat him like one, especially considering that he almost always has to partner with him at work.

Uni met Alo's troubled gaze with an unblinking, gleeful stare. Uni always considered Alo as a man with undeniable feeling behind his glassy green eyes. Alo presented himself in such a way to his co-workers, that they felt as if they could understand him without fault, as a man who needs to be sympathized with, who had sorrow in each movement, and thought he was different. Uni saw Alo as a man with a connection to the world itself, able to weave his influence on everyone around him by transforming the perception of himself. He considered Alo blessed in that regard, a man so physically capable of change that he would rather stay the same to give everyone else a chance. He befriended Alo sometime after his employment at Allstore, when he discovered he was something of a comedian, and loved sarcastically berating those around him.

Uni's grin had been left unaltered until he opened his mouth to speak. "Alo! My trusted light in the dark, the saddle of my horse, the Sun to my sunflower!" His voice bellowed across the parking lot, confused eyes darted to the indistinguishably laughable accent. Alo walked closer, and in a whisper, reprimanded Uni. "If I was the Sun, I'd be doing my utmost to hide from you, as ours is right now! What do you think you're doing, Uni? You don't even work today! If I'd have known you were doing overtime, I'd have asked to work an evening shift!" Uni countered with a silent, sarcastic sob, "Oh, these words pierce my poor heart, Alo! Can a man not shop while his good friend (and co-worker!) has to work? What if I am too busy for the rest of my day? would you like me to starve? shall I crawl underneath my car in a puddle with a straw and drink the remains of rain?" Alo had never seen Uni outside of work, and was amazed that his attitude wasn't just some persona, it ran deeper than that. "You can certainly try! I haven't seen anyone else around here drink rain water, so I'd say the car park is yours! The whole world for that matter! You can stand like a Messiah and catch cold all you like, because I refuse to sit by you and advocate this behavior!" "But, my dear Alo, you already are."

Alo's pale face had swelled into a pinkish hue, contrasting the greyscale parking lot which, until now, was radiating with color and heat. His eyes widened as if to find what crazed parasite could be controlling this poor mans body and vaporize it, freeing the captive from performing these demented acts. "Listen as hard as you can with your rainwater-clogged ears, because I'll say this only once.. Get in that store, purchase a magic wand or a pack of tarot cards or whatever trinket to calm that damn twisted head of yours, and leave, because I want no more of these idiotic attention stunts!" Uni chuckled, and Alo followed suit. Of course, whatever Uni was doing was an oddity at the very least, but they were friends. Alo thought, "perhaps this is just his mating call." At this point, the rain was beginning to progress into a downpour, to which Alo acknowledged and dragged Uni by the sleeve on his cargo jacket into the store. 

It hadn't been more than 2 minutes since the rain started, but the downpour had transformed into something more than that, a wrathful force threatening to submerge the Allstore and its employees, who were soon to be sailors, battling the unbridled fury of the rainfall. Uni and Alo trudged through newly made puddles as two male workers stood anticipating any entering employees. Alo and Uni trudged towards the workers by the entrance, red neon signs and tainted yellow lighting reflecting off the splashes in the water. When Uni had wriggled himself loose of Alo's grasp, he playfully sprinted ahead of him, as if to taunt Alo into following him. Alo didn't stray from his brisk pace, as he watched his friend of four months attempt to hurdle a recently crafted dam, built from rice bags and sponge, standing at around two feet tall. He wiped his face, unfazed by another desperate plea for attention.

He thought to himself, "Did he really not check the forecast? Did he have to come here? Why is he so surprised of the rain?" Within the time it took for him to lower his arm, he witnessed his friend collapsed, belly facing the tiled floor, with jet black hair clumped by the rain, as if a mop had been dipped in tar and abandoned by the owner. Ironically, Alo increased his pace to clear the dam and rushed to Uni's side. The two workers standing just inside the entrance had not moved from their posts, but had tilted their heads to see the man who had made a short lunge over the rice dam, only to catch his hind leg on one of the rice bags, toppling him. They tilted their heads the opposite side to view their co-worker who had just recently left for his break return near immediately, to lift the failed acrobat onto his shoulder. Consistent mutters of "What the hell is wrong with you?" and "What were you thinking?" escaped the mouth of the tall drenched rat as they ambled into the store. The couple of workers turned to each other, then back to the exit.

"Uni, the side of your face is swollen. You know we don't have accidents often, so do you realize how long it's going to take to find me an ice pack?! Unless you suggest I buy some frozen vegetables for you to rest your disease-ridden face on (Which is completely out of the question!)" Uni caressed his temples, and moved his fingers to the left side of his cheek. "Does my bruised face trouble you that much, Alo? I could've sworn you vowed to not illicit these strange actions not five minutes ago. What, have I finally managed to grow on you?" He attempted to flick his hair back, but many strands fell back into his face. "As warts grow on stray dogs!" The ends of Alo's lips curled upwards as if to play along with Uni's foolish attitude. 

"But honestly, what on Earth has gotten into you today?" Alo picked up a basket and forced it into Uni's hand. "I understand the ending of a dry spell is exciting, but surely you anticipated this, right? The forecast said so last night, and the six nights before that. Unless, there's some justification behind these actions?" While the duo were walking down the aisle towards the Dairy section, a second couple had followed them, carrying towels and mops. Both Uni and Alo knew this couple were one of many duos working in janitorial duties for the day, and were cleaning up any droplets left by the two customers. "Well, I think we should dry off a bit before we discuss rainfall, not to mention, I'm not too good at public speaking, and these cleaners always spook me. It's a little warm in here, don't you think? I feel like I'm in an Air Fryer..." Alo and Uni chuckled as they continued onto the Meat section.

 A thought occurred to Uni, to which he immediately voiced to Alo, "Say, there are grates outside the store for drainage, exceptionally large ones, no less. How do you think the water is still getting past the awning into the entrance?" Alo's face lay unchanged, as if not realizing Uni said anything, until after a few seconds, he spoke, "Beats me, but there's gonna be hell to pay for the schmuck that forgot it was raining today." Uni snapped back at Alo, "Hey, I didn't know it was going to rain either!" Confirming Alo's suspicions, he fell silent, but in the corner of his eye, he could tell Alo was more curious than ever. At the very least, Uni had seemed to calm down. 

"Uni, you live almost an hour away, right?" Alo inserted into the cold, dry air. "Forty minutes. Are you going to ask me why I came here in the first place? I told you, I didn't know it was going to rain. I was hoping after eight days of this cruel dry spell I'd be spared another two or three hours to go pick up some groceries and meet a good friend of mine. Apparently not, and before you ask again, *no*, Alo. I *don't* watch the forecast, if you'd like to know that badly. Now, are you going let your empty skull bounce some more questions around until one slips out of your mouth again, or are you going to let me shop in peace!" Alo was stunned. He himself hadn't realised how many questions he had been asking, and was more concerned of all the questions he was thinking. It took a few seconds before he realised he had no reason not to ask them, and that Uni must have been hinting to wait until later for an actual answer to his questions. This didn't help with his questions in the slightest. They moved to the bakery, where they walked opposite to a stupendously long dressed board of todays baked goods.

"Intelligible analogies and banter aside, we need to go grab you an ice pack or a bag of something frozen, man. You know its going to sting after an hour, and the rain is only going to get worse, so who knows when you're gonna be home." He walked alone to the frozen foods section before the checkouts, and hurriedly grabbed a frozen bag of peas. "Look, this will do, but no more jumping, or any nonsensical activities, or I'll bust up your face faster than you ever could..." Uni couldn't object. He was proud of his exceptionally charming looks, and surprised that even Alo could tell a swollen face could ruin his chances with anyone.

 On the topic of Uni, he is a big fan of textures. Upon encountering a fresh loaf of farmhouse bread, made by the two workers on the bakery team, he waved his hand above it to feel the heat of the freshly baked dough, and pressed his fingers across the surface of the crust. The tiniest pieces of crumbs flick off the crust, like spores and seeds in the air, planting themselves in-between the cracks in the tiles. "Bread without moisture cannot grow mold. The crust is less porous and contains the moist part of the bread by protecting it, as if encased. That being said, if the bread was damaged..." He paused for a few seconds, before looking up, and interjecting on himself, "Ah, never mind. Maybe its too early for that." As if tradition, using his finger, Uni punctured a hole in the crust, and brought it with him. They both fell silent for a minute as they crossed the butcher, the fishmonger, and the pharmacist.

The questions Alo had been stacking up in his mind over the past few minutes had grew ever closer to falling out of each orifice in his head. He made a temporary contract with his brain, banning it from voicing any thoughts that included the word "Why", as he kept his pace with Uni. Without declaration, Uni had finished shopping. he took his shopping to an open till, greeted by the stoic face of a large till clerk. It hadn't long been the end of Alo's break, and no doubt his partner was looking for him to continue work. Nonetheless, Alo was glued to Uni's side by an inescapable air of mystique and curiosity. He hung his head low, observing the stance of a streetlamp over Uni, waiting impatiently for him to finish.

After a painstakingly long four minutes, everything was packed, and the duo made their way to the exit. "Thank you, Alo, for accompanying me, and learning me a lesson; I shall *never* shop here with another person who likes to ask as many questions as you do. You're capable of an ocean of feats, but you choose to let a quiz generator inhabit your skull." Alo was taken aback by another slew of insults. "Don't pretend like I have no reason! I waste all of my break pampering you, and all you have to exchange are insults and mockery! If I didn't know any better, I would have placed you under citizens arrest, under the grounds of insanity to a dangerous degree!" He retorted. Alo was not charismatic as Uni was, and struggles often to keep up in dialogue with his friend, who had appeared to have stolen the tongue of a Snake Oil Salesman.

"Well, Alo, quite frankly I'm shocked. I didn't expect you to demand an answer any more than you have the past few months, but I suppose some manner of explanation is in order. I reckon you should stop at my place sometime this evening, assuming your shift is finished by then?" The two were standing in the entrance, the raindrops hammering at the glass above them. The two employees stand like Knights guarding a King's chambers. The rice dam had transformed into a rice fort, covering the entrances to the shop too, which had reached Uni's knees, and Alo's ankles. "Or, I was planning on taking a long walk. Perhaps you'd like to come with me, and talk some more."

Not a second passed before Alo simply stated "I have work, Uni. I cant miss that and you know it." A surprising request (Even one of the workers at the front of the store batted an eye at Uni), because work isn't to be missed, not once, not ever. Working at Allstore is engineered to be as enjoyable and digestible as possible. Partners are chosen to work shifts together using a matchmaking system analyzing shift schedules, emotional behavior charts, work ethic, and overall efficiency with the task provided. The music is chosen specifically from user uploaded playlists which transfer automatically between anyone in the store to customers to be as enjoyable as can be. You are guaranteed two half an hour breaks during your shift. Work is perfect, and it is fun. Alo has everything he needs in work, especially when his partner isn't Uni. He pondered why he had him. *Him*. Uni is his friend, but why is he so... flawed? why can he recall every failure, every imperfection of his Lilliputian partner? Allstore had no imperfections. Every mistake had an easy fix, and a helping hand to lessen the blow of a man-made accident. That temporary contract had ceased to exist, and the questions flooded again. 

Before his thoughts clouded his brain once more, Uni spoke. "Oh. I suppose that is true." His head turned slightly askew, a small frown creasing his once joyous lips. "Listen, come over this evening. I know I live far away, but you can't miss it, I assure you. I'll answer all the questions you want, too." He paused, and took the damaged loaf of bread out of its bag. "Do you see this, Alo? I bought this, this failure. It has a puncture which seeps mold and mistakes into the crumb. I hadn't even decided if I want to eat this. What matters is, despite the wound inflicted upon it, someone still wants to sell it. Mistakes can't be discarded, Alo. All the more reason it should be treasured.

A storm calmed in Alo's head. It was clear why he told him this. It was fish bait, to lure him into coming, to prove he had answers for his actions. "A man with such imperfections should have nothing to answer for. So what will he tell me if I go see him?" He thought to himself. His mouth moved before his head made a decision. "I'll be there for eight. Just send me the address." Alo patted Uni on the back, and sent him out past Fort Rice into the monsoon. It took less than a minute for Uni's car to be out of view, and for a second, another thought crossed his mind. "He talks like he knows something, and acts as if he knows nothing. Do I really want to find out " 

As he turned to face the Allstore, a man of thin build stood with crossed arms and a stern look. The man's name was Arbite. As he gazed upon his partner, he realised he had been on break for ten minutes longer than he should have. He spoke in a swift, threatening pattern. "Alo, we need to stock all the Scented Candles. You're 10 minutes off-beat, and we can't work productively enough without you. management has already recorded the time you've taken off longer than you've earned. This is off the record, Alo, but what are you thinking? I know its difficult to maintain a schedule, especially for us early morning shifts, but we all keep the routine around here, so why can't you? Come with me, we need to get started or we will never see the outside of this store."

Arbite beckoned Alo back into the store. "I should refer you to the Store Manager. He never has anything on his plate, unlike me. Out of personal fondness for a hard worker with a moron of a partner distracting you, I'll spare you the embarrassment of your apathy, and you can just pretend you were working this whole time, just don't forget Alo, you're making up for this one way or another." Scented Candles were by far the most unused product of the XXth century, perhaps explaining why Arbite had so much leniency for Alo's misconduct.

Alo softly sighed. He had never been late from a break or the start of a shift, and had hardly heard of it happening to anyone else. He was relieved. A lashing of insults, a disciplinary speech and an IOU was far from the worst that could have happened, but he now knew he was on thin ice, and he knew that treading the line felt much worse than facing the consequences. "The consequences? I'm thinking of consequences! For what! for being ten minutes late to a shift. I feel no guilt, so why do I feel ashamed? Ack, Forget it! All I can do for now is follow Arbite." He slacked his shoulders, and assumed his relaxed position, now that he returned to perfection.

A small section of rows contain a full stack of the most aromatic scents ever invented. They smell perfect individually. Each smells like a flower, but stacked together, they smell like weed killer. Alo and Arbite were breathing from their mouths, eventually covering their noses. The roller of identical cardboard boxes stand mostly full, ready to be placed. "Alo, I know most of these are gonna have to go on the top, but its not like we got much else better to do, but if it cant fit, put it back on the roller." Arbite was considerably mellow, even after working a lot of the crate alone.

A single worker descended the stairs from the Electronics section on the second floor, seemingly in a rush. His eyes darted across the tiled landscape, and fixed directly onto Alo and Arbite, each eye surveying the two. He paused for a second, contemplating, then made his move towards the two. "You guys! Look! My partner crushed his legs under a crate and I need you two to help lift it off with me! Please, come here, we need to go to the right side, upstairs, now!" Disoriented, alarmed, and without thinking, their legs simultaneously jolted forward to tail the worker, who was already on his way back up the stairs. 

They ran past what seemed like miles of rows and display stands until they reached the side of the store. The man stood They hadn't prepared themselves for the horrifying scene of another man, with his lower half crushed by a large crate containing a refrigerator. They had no time to think, but by the lack of noise, Alo had determined that the man was unconscious. "We need to lift it and roll it to the side... We can't put it back upright or it could fall again!" Alo and the worker squatted on the left side of the crate, while Arbite stood opposite, ready to roll it back his way. In a head nod, they proceeded to push Arbite's way. The sound of grunting and squirming plagued the otherwise empty air for several seconds, until the box had rolled off the poor man's body. 

It was like unearthing the coffin of a Stuntman. His legs were broken in many different places, crushed horribly into the floor where blood had spattered in some places. True to Alo's guess, he was definitely unconscious. He was younger than everyone in the vicinity, around the same age as Uni. "If Uni was here, I'm sure he'd find a way to get himself crushed... Perish the thought, I need to focus on now." Alo looked to Arbite. "Get the company phone and call Emergency Services. We haven't got any first aid kits, this place is meant to be impeccably safe... Grab something off the shelf, Co-Codamol, bandages, something, I need to stay here in case he wakes up." They both scattered into the distance, while Alo assessed the damage.

"No Machinery... So they carried it? Just the two of them? Two pairs work on electronics, right? The others couldn't have been too far." He stared into the worker's half-open eyes, they were brown. Dark brown. His pupils blended with his iris. It discomforted him more to look into his dead eyes than it did to witness his legs squashed into the carpet floor. "Hah... Its going to take weeks to clean the blood out of the carpet, am I right?" He muttered towards no one. Not much time passed before Arbite returned, then the man, carrying a bag of basic medicine, bandages, and a small bottle of water,

The man also happened to come back with an explanation, while he pulled up the crushed man's black work jeans. "We were meant to have a second pair here, as you might have guessed. I suppose they might have been on their break, but we checked the Employee Lounge before trying to move this crate, but no luck. The machinery we needed to move it properly was blocked off by more crates, so the only way we could get anything done was with our hands. Obviously, another crew was supposed to move that yesterday, and if we didn't get this done today, the Manager would have tore our skin off and used it as a Halloween decoration."

Arbite, looking away from the scene, replied. "So, not only do we have one slacker working ten minutes shy of his shift today, a man has also crushed his legs under a fridge, not to mention, we have two groups totally refusing to work!? Do you know the names of the people on Electronics aside from you?" "I'm not good with names, man, especially under pressure. I think one called himself a 'Tride' or 'Fried' or something before our shift started, but I'm not sure if he was pulling our leg." Alo chimed in. "I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Hey, I can check the records for to-"

The man awoke. He scraped his fingernails against the carpet, and then gripped onto Alo's arm. He stared at him with rekindled eyes, the black hole finally visible. Alo's face scrunched and crumpled into a grimace. He hated every moment that his eyes met the worker. He couldn't look away, he had to grant him attention, at the very least. And when he tore his gaze from Alo, to look at his own legs, a half of him, destroyed, he released a petrifying scream. The echoes around the pristine store felt as if it bouncing around, shattering all solace and perfection. Arbite covered his mouth as the other worker bandaged his legs. In a daze, Alo shook off the mans hand, and got up from his crouched position. He shuffled to the employee lounge, where the record for worker duties for the week resided.

He often ended up with Uni as a partner, due to sheer compatibility. That wasn't to say however, he worked every day with him. Their schedules matched only to a certain degree, which Alo was thankful for. Sometimes, the task was difficult or easy, and they needed to split up. Uni wasn't a good worker. He failed, and failed, and failed, and failed time and time again to provide any assistance. He was, in a sense, Useless to Alo. Its hard to imagine how they became friends, but they were, and Alo knew that. 

He entered the Lounge. If the monotone hum of the freezers and the dead air that inhabited the store was considered creepy, then the Lounge's uninterrupted quiet, unaffected by the scream permeating the store, was indescribably eerie. Sky blue walls with painted clouds and ovular forest green hills, with a single spiked circle in the corner of the room, the Sun. Alo stood opposite to the Sun, somberly observing his surroundings. The café, the tables and chairs. Why did it all feel so unnatural to him? He yawned, and turned his head back to the sun.

A large screen in the Employee Lounge hooked to a computer displays the schedule for today. The clock on the computer read '11:56'. The Electronics groups are displayed amongst others on a set of columns and rows, Like products. "LEER AMAL" and "WERT PORTLAY", then "FRIDE ENDSON", and "ONORARI RENO". He had never heard of these people. He saw his own name... Alo Lenter. "So, who were the group meant to handle the backdoor, moving the machinery out?" The humming lights reflect off the sleek computer monitor, beckoning Alo to investigate. He looked around, walked towards the computer, stopped, and looked once more. He sat down by the computer, and clicked a tab containing yesterday's work records. 

"Grocery. Frozen. Meats.. Bakery... Electronics.... How long was my shift again? So many to look through, the text blends in. Since when did I get so tired?" After a short while, he found it. Backdoor. Only one pair. He looked towards the text, to view a missing name in one box, and a name in the other. 

"UNI KETLER"

END OF CHAPTER