QUIXOTIC - Chapter 1

I don't know who I really am. What my name is, where I'm from or how I'm even here. I can't remember the last time someone called me by my name but I know that I'm no different from any other human. Almost every day, I get tyrannized in different ways from people in the streets of my city. Because I can process events so quickly before it will happen, I possess the ability predict and calculate the details of every fight. From the angle I'll get hit from, the amount of force used and the physical specifications of the attacker such as their facial expressions.

It's late in the evening and business is slow. Boss Kooli said I could leave so I left the shop and walked home. I see two men aiming at me as I was walking. They grabbed me by the shoulder and in 1 second I will receive a knuckle punch from the right hand on my right cheek. On my left, I will receive a fist punch to my left shoulder. After a second, what was done was done. I now lay on the floor embracing the pain and waiting for it to go away. The shock on my cheek and my shoulder will go away in approximately five minutes. This is roughly two minutes longer from the usual hits as the attacker was more furious and applied more force than before. This time they robbed me for todays pay. As usual everyone around me moved on without looking.

Another day, another fight. Or should I refer to it as an experience, since I'm the one who gets robbed on instead of robbing. But I just get back up and make my way home to my love. To share my new 'story'. This is some way to start and end a conversation for the day and wait for another day. I guess I'm part underdog of the people that make up for a part of this dystopian city.

Sometimes I ask myself, what would life be without the cruel people? What story could I share with my love? Maybe I could watch the news and talk about the new upgraded cargo transport used from Mother Colony, previously known as Earth, to Mars which can speed up to 3 times faster now. Or that new dog bot which body could rotate 360 degrees for some reason. I guess I was never a dog person to understand that. I guess my experiences are more interesting cause it's always different and unique in every way.

I make my way through the busy corridors with holographic advertisements at every corner of the streets, hearing murmurs of its advertisement dialogues bouncing off every wall and cybernetically modified humans with led screens implanted in their hands and goggle looking eyes that zoom in and out. They're modified so much it gets harder to tell if they're really human anymore. Which I guess makes me, more human.

I finally reach my apartment block. Two skinny men with metallic arms and legs equipped with knives sit there and stare at me. The one on the left has a built-in lighter in his finger on the left hand and a cigarette on the other. I walk to my house door and I placed my palm on the led screen to unlock it via biometrics. *door creaks open* I take a step in and stop. Close my eyes and take a deep breath. "I'm home my love!" I said excitedly. Motor sounds rumble and air seeps in through the ceiling vents and the lights turn on automatically. I sat down on the chair beside the window. Looking out at the dense city of air transports in forms of lines in the sky, people of different shapes and colours who fill the streets and holographic movements of people projected into the atmosphere everywhere. I patiently wait for my love to step out that door.

"There you are." I say with a smile on my tired looking face. "How was your day? I see you got a really bad bruise on your cheek. Got into another fight again?" my love responds while walking out from the room. She takes a seat in front of me and we hold hands. The same way we do every other day. I then describe the fight in every detailed way possible from the start. "When I was walking home from work, two men were looking at me. They immediately grabbed me and threw a knuckle punch to my left cheek-" This is my schedule. At least my love is always there to accompany me and be there for me.

Every night I have always thought about leaving this place to start a new life with my love. I envision a beautiful wooden hut with a farm around the colony sides, located away from cities and the mass population. I could raise my own animals and grow vegetables. Wake up to the fresh air with peace and quiet away from all the people from the colonies. I read it's the life everybody wanted in the 20th century according to history. I guess it still applies today for most people like me. The only reason I can't move is because my love is too attached to this home and I can't leave her. She is part of my home. She said she's satisfied with what she has.

I have no memory of how I got here, in this place. My whole life, I have no memory of my past, my childhood, my life or who my parents are. Every day I struggle to remember anything I could from my past but can never get anything out of it. I can never fit the puzzles together to find out who and what I really am which makes me insane. I'm trapped in a vicious cycle of pain and loneliness deep inside. The pain grows stronger and stronger inside me and I can't do anything about it.

Author Notes: Thank you for reading Chapter 1 of Quixotic! Any types of feedback or comments are much appreciated. I will release more chapters soon :)

Longer description

QUIXOTIC is a story of a man who lives in the 30th century when technology is so advanced that humans and robots, AI live among each other as a natural state of the population. Despite living in an advanced world, he still faces the struggles of being an outcast, getting bullied and lives a low life. The only thing meaningful to him is his lover who is with him no matter what. After years of being lonely and depressed, he finally loses his tolerance level and does something which changes his life. What will he discover?

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