The Thicket

The proprietor of the Caddy Mart had been watching the awkward teenager wander uncertainly around the store for fifteen minutes. Was he a teenager? He might have been older. Yet, his face had a certain unguarded innocence to it, behind an exaggerated wariness.

Finally, the teenager walked up to the counter with a bottle of water, a pack of syringes, a bag of chips, and a box of lens wipes, all of which he put on the counter along with a blue card.

The proprietor raised his eyebrows, then slid the card back across the counter.

"Sorry kid, this ain't Caduceus City. Those credits are no good here. Stables only."

"Uh. Isn't Caddy Mart owned by the corporation?"

"Yeah, but the credits only work in the city. And on the trains."

"How about the Zoo?"

The proprietor peered at the kid's face and noted the telltale glint of overlays. The kid didn't look like he was from the Zoo though.

"Yeah, but the nearest pilot zone is on the other side of the thicket."

The kid touched his face self-consciously. "Disposables. Got 'em on the train. They're good for another week. Figured I'd leave them on in case I needed to go into a zone. Is there a bus?"

"Take you a couple of hours. Free bus, if you don't mind the smell, and a thousand shitty blocks of thicket grid. They used to have an express bus, but they canceled it."

"Two hours? Uhh. I guess I don't have time. I got enough stables I think. I'll need, uhh... some GenStim too."

The proprietor turned to unlock the secured cabinet behind the counter.

"I only got the GH-67 generic here. Same thing though. Company makes it special, just for the thicket market. Half the price."

"Uh, okay. Do you need to uhh... bioscan or something?"

The proprietor turned to look curiously at the kid.

"New to the thicket, huh? Nobody cares out here kid. At least not about the light stuff. Like I said, this ain't Caduceus City, and it ain't the Zoo. You're going to need another six-pack of syringes. Valu-pak is a dozen vials."

They concluded the transaction silently. The proprietor watched as the kid carefully stowed his purchases in his battered backpack, placing the valu-pak in a chiller unit. The battery indicator was yellow.

"You'd better get that chiller unit charged up. Vials only last a couple of hours unrefrigerated."

"Yeah, I know. I'll charge it on the train."

"I thought you just got off the train?"

"I got off the main line. Getting on the 7:55 feeder headed back north."

"Where you headed?"

The kid hesitated, then said, "I don't know. North I guess."

"As good a direction as any I guess. Take care, kid."

The proprietor watched the kid make his way out the door, shrugged, and turned back to the game he'd been watching.