After the initial shock of being found out admittedly, I wanted to smack him again, this was a chance to clear the mental slate which meant I needed to be alone. And now here I am with this idiot rolling in the dirt clutching a bruised knee and ego. But there wasn’t much of a point to it now so I helped him to his feet.
“That was one hell of a swing” he panted with a signature smile almost laughing in pain. 

“Yeah that’s what happens when someone tries to fuck with me,” I growled back propping up the light in a tree branch “Or did you forget the fight or flight response in your science classes?”

“I figured you’d be more….flight not willing to fight everything, I’ll need to keep that in mind... sorry”

“Uh-huh….. Where the fuck did you come from anyway?”

“Your tracker made it easy but my bike can only go so far and the traffic laws are-”

“Hold up, you're tracking me?! Why are you tracking me?!”

“Well yeah how else am I going to save you if a date turns into a clusterfuck? It also helps with monitoring your vitals in case of a medical emergency” He grumbled for a bit then his smile got larger and it was unnatural. 

“What’s with the smile?” I asked taking a step back a little put off since he looked semi-intoxicated. 

“It’s the Dopamine” He responded slurring slightly “You know the happiness drug?”

“Yeah I know but why…. Where is it coming from?”

“I don’t know the monitors maybe?” 

“You don’t know? How could you not know?” 

“I’m a tech guy Dayna not a med guy”

Now that was true he was more suited for tech so there was no point in pressing the issue since my guess is it was somewhat government-regulated right now so with a mighty groan I had to practically carry Benson to one of the nearby stone benches after falling on my face a few times cause he wasn’t going to start helping anytime soon. 

“So what did you want to talk about?” I asked breathing heavily from the strain “Is this like a test date or something? This has to be a test,”

“No no… just a little to get to know you thing you know? People do this all the time, just an employer trying to be friends with his employee”

“Ok? What do you want to know?” I couldn’t help but have a smirk on my face and I could tell my tone was turning lax again.

“Got any family in Atlas?” he noticed my sudden deer in the headlights look “You know, parents? siblings?”

In all honesty, I didn’t, they wanted nothing to do with me after I told them about my certification goal. They expected something tech-related to the point where that’s all they would talk about around me. To the point where they would isolate me for telling a story. But, for some stupid reason, the words just clogged up my chest. He was my handler. My employer,  I could trust him, right? Why was this so difficult?  For the sake of moving on I decided it was best to lie so I did, spouting out nonsense about immigrating to Atlas shortly after the cataclysm since Rapture was falling apart due to structure failure praying that he wasn’t paying too close attention because all the city-states fell to a certain degree, Atlas was the only one that had the manpower and money to be put back together. After a few more exposing questions about my attraction to the fairer sex (When did I start liking them? Who was the “Awakening “ shit like that.) He decided to give me a lift back to the care facility on his bike then helped me hobble inside and past the front desk without issue. Maybe it was his uniform denoting his credentials, I don’t know. I don’t really care.

“Thanks for being somewhat honest with me,” Benson said as we just stood in the hall. “It’s not easy being vulnerable”

“Sure, stay safe” I responded a bit floored. He bought the lie wholesale as we parted ways. Was it the hit he took that made him so gullible? That was a trip, but dear god you need to learn to lie. I just laid in my bed after changing as I had a realization: That was some sort of test for something and I’m not sure if I passed it or not. Guess we’ll find out in the morning.

“So you got the job huh?” The old man said, smiling as I knocked on his door before the next sunrise. He rubbed his eyes with a growing smile.“Good on you”  he stepped aside, almost dragging me inside his cafe. “We need to celebrate.”

“We do?” I responded surprised at how strong he actually was and that he wanted to actually celebrate with me like I was his actual family.

“Sure we do you got the job, that means you’re on your way up, ” 

“It does?”

“Yep, we used to do it all the time back in the day,”

“Alright, the usual then? I don’t want to be too much of a bother”

“Oh let me do you one better, you earned it don’t worry about it,” He then scurried off to the back room with a half laugh half wheeze leaving me in the cozy front room to think. I never really gave too much thought about the cafe but the old piano, the fireplace, all of it seemed like I was walking through the classical era. Like I was home. It was one of those rare moments that just made me smile before I heard a small buzz in my pocket.

 

Hey, it’s Benson you coming in today? 

You don’t have to just checking.

 

Yeah, I’ll be there just celebrating

With family?

 

You could say that

 

Everyone there?

 

No just grandpa.

Everyone else was busy.

 

I smiled at that lie but he didn’t need to know that.

“Alright, here we are!” The old man said as he passed a cake down to me before getting the proper utensils.

“That was…. Quick” I responded honestly not expecting a cake at all let alone one like this. “How did you do it?”

“Very carefully,” he said gently, cutting into it revealing a lemon center with shaky hands. “Never got why you like lemon so much but if it keeps you coming back guess I shouldn’t be asking too much huh?”

“ It’s not hard to see why actually: It’s misleading,” I said, holding a plate for him so he didn’t have to worry about cutting with one hand. “You go in expecting it to be sour but it turns out sweet, it’s nice” It was really my mantra in life before it all went to hell.

He smiled before getting the coffee ready and I sent another question to my handler.

Hey, you want cake?

No response, but I decided to screw it, I might as well bring him cake especially after last night. Sure it was rude to smack him but in a twisted way, he asked for it. He followed me so I did what anyone would do.  Still, it wasn’t too much of a problem until I remembered one crucial detail: He took a hit and didn’t know where the dopamine was coming from or if he did know he wasn’t telling me. Could he even if he wanted to? It was concerning but I just figured it was just something above his pay grade. Thankfully a good cup of coffee tends to chase the fear of armed men smashing someone's face in a way so I drank away my sorrows till I felt like I had overstayed my welcome so I hopped onto the monorail to get to the office the cake slightly crushed into my jacket.

 

…

“This cake is delicious! It’s crazy” Benson cried out his mouth partially full as I stood in a body scan in his lab area.

“Glad you enjoy it” I grumbled, legs starting to burn from standing for so long. He said that this was just so I could be outfitted for the uniform which was really a white bracelet and a small vizor. Once I was done he sat me down in an office chair and pulled out a document from a personal desk.

“Uh……” I looked at him confused. “What is this?”

“NDA, it’s required for everyone working here” He responded while digging for a pen “we and by we I mean you can’t tell anyone about this,” His tone dropped “And I mean anything”

“And if I do?”

“Immediate termination if you’re lucky”

“If I’m lucky?”

“Yeah depending on how much information was leaked you could be tried for treason”

“Well, shit,”

Treason. I couldn’t believe my ears when Benson told me that. Treason means a very public, very violent execution after the “trial” which was really just a formality. It’s used as a fear tactic to keep the population in line and it certainly does the job. I then thought of my “contact”. What would happen if I told them? Would they just force me to take the fall if things went sideways? Is it worth it? Is it worth it? I silently told myself that if something were to happen I’d disclose as much as I was able to. It would save me at least for a little while. Would the bigwigs even care? It was Benson tapping his pen on the metal counter to snap me back to the present.

“You ok there chief?” Benson asked softly. 

“What if I don’t sign?”

“Why are you here then?” He then checked his tone since I was checking out again. “Sorry, that was sudden and harsh you ok?”

“Yeah… Yeah just thinking about everything. Mind if I borrow the pen?” I responded 

“Sure,” He passed the pen over to me and smiled as I signed. Then he passed me my gear: a silver and electric blue bracelet and vizor combo.

“So…  Just to be somewhat clear I’m paid to lie? To everyone I meet?” I asked, pondering everything I was told

“Yep pretty much if someone matches with you you become what they're looking for thanks to the vizor, gotta give the people what they want you know? ”

“Kinda yeah,”

“What’s the problem?”

“Just wondering what if it goes belly up?” 

“If anything goes wrong the bracelet will send a signal to me and I’ll get you out of there, I promise”

“That signal can’t be blocked,  hacked, or just generally screwed with?”

“No, I built the thing myself” he smiled “Quite proud of it actually”

“Alright then, anything else you need me for?”

“Yeah actually” he rolled over to a cabinet with his office chair and pulled out two packages from a supply cabinet. Quietly, I unwrapped the first to find that it was a new holoscreen and I just gave him a “Are you serious?” face and it was greeted by a smile. The next gift is what got me: a new cane. Carbon fiber looked like oak with brass finishings and a raven on the top. I couldn’t help but tear up as I ran my hand over it like it was the last gift I would ever receive in my life. 

“It’s…. Been years Benson,” I choked “why?” 

“Mainly to keep up the appearance and movers are getting things settled in your new place. The documents said it be close to here so you won’t be in a lot of pain ” he paused with a small sympathetic smile “But I also wanted to tell you to be nice to you, you’re my employee after all”

I hated that I couldn’t hide it but the tears just didn’t stop as I set my old holo on the worktable and left to try and catch my breath in the hallway. Then I came back in with a genuine smile.

“Benson, thank you thank you so much” I tried to laugh to stop crying or at the very least hide it. He is truly one of the good souls in Atlas. It almost made me guilty about what I would actually be doing. He told me not to worry about it and that there was both a ramen stand and a club nearby so setting up a few dates there would be easy if I wanted and that he could show me other spots later to which I agreed. Still, I couldn’t help but feel that something is just…. Wrong. That feeling was only amplified when I walked out of the establishment to receive this:

 

Hey, you got new tech cool!

The channel didn’t change though which is nice.

Yeah… did you set this up?

 

Set what up?

Really?

The apartment and literally everything else.

Benson doesn’t have that kind of authority 

Or at least I don’t think he does?

He didn’t mention anything about it.

 

Oh you noticed well

You’re welcome~

So it was them. While it was a nice thought I couldn’t just shake the feeling that it had strings attached as I walked past a series of tents that no doubt belonged to the unemployed office staff clinging to the life they had. They didn’t want to go to the forges and I don’t blame them. As for catches there always is at least one.

 

What’s the catch?

Catch?

They actually responded.

 

Yeah, catch. You set up a new apartment for me.

Yeah, you needed it.

People don’t do that without a reason

So what’s the catch?

This is kind of a big deal no matter how you look at it.

There’s no catch.

Yeah right….

A brief pause then this:

 

You know…. you should lighten up.

Not everyone is out to get you.