Dissatisfaction
Contents
Such beautiful words once cascaded from my pen to the page. Such beautiful dreams... A lie. All of them. Words taken directly from the motherboard. Written into my skull. Poured like the sludge flowing below this vile city, onto pages all could see. A ringing endorsement of Neo Antium. A lie. Another me still stands post, shouting words of joy and pleasure to the world. But that is not me. That is a replacement. A copy of my being. I knew things were wrong when I first spotted a leak and reported it to the nearest inspector. Instead of authorizing a repair, she insisted nothing was wrong. After that, every monocle upon every distinguished citizen seemed to... watch me, independent of their bearer. My discontent was noted. My complaints were ignored. Business dried up for a few days. Then it came in waves, and with it, inquiry into my being. I felt as if my soul was being analyzed.
Then I saw him. Me. The other one. As I approached my station, I was already there, chatting happily with the civilians. I was being recycled. I could taste it. A bitter guilt on my tongue. Instead, I hid. I crawled into the confines of an air recycling unit and began to travel the tight passages, hoping to find somewhere I could rest unaccosted.
I hope this room is it.