Part 07 – Das Kapital

I emerged into light once more, that terrible light that meant I was exposed as a target. A sea of people crowded past onto Jita Ave, and I scrambled about into the throng of people. Escaping the awful hospital, I knew there would only be one thing now that could lighten my mood.

I would hunt down and kill that truck driver who shot me.

It would be difficult. I knew I had to prepare and to get righteous vengeance. Not just for myself, but for all of those like me I found in the hospital, missing countless valued objects after being brought there. My resolve was firm, and I felt like something was brewing within me.

I was shot! I thought with a bitter frown. Shot for doing as petty a thing as taking a single can of Quafe from the man’s possession. What kind of a mad world was this, where murder and destruction was on every street corner? When book vendors would send me to assassinate protestors, and when those protestors turn bloodthirsty and attack without mercy or hesitation?

I would never survive until I had a plan. As I pushed aside more annoying people in my way, slowing down traffic for anyone on the street, I thought long and hard. I would need a new vehicle, and I would need some means to defend myself. From there perhaps I could find solace and the means to settle down for a quiet life.

Still. To begin, I had to have some way of making money. But how could I possibly earn enough to exact my righteous vengeance by accepting jobs for garbage and batteries, like the corporations offered? All I had were a few thousand dollars, the previously mentioned package of batteries, and my basic clothing. A slight feeling of loss came to me, remembering the theft of my hard earned ‘Arbalest’ socks taken when I was shot.

I had to formulate a plan. How can an individual with only a bare minimum of capital be able to rise in the world quickly enough to make a difference? It was true money made the world go round, but how could I, with few marketable skills and assets be able to acquire these kinds of funds?

I knew what I needed. As I forced my way through the crowds, my mind sorted a list of three things I would need. First, I would need something cheap to sell. Then, I would need a way to advertise my possession of this product profitably. Lastly, I would need someone gullible enough and rich enough to fall for it.

A dark grin crossed my lips as I broke through the street level crowd. I would find all three in one location it seemed, a place where my vendetta could begin…

…a place called Escrow.

(to be continued…)