0026 Ongoing

Most middle class neighborhoods will have very good support service companies, from janitorial to security, but also include community hospitals and doctors, who are able to provide a full range of care and services to their residents.

For these services, people living in these communities have to pay a lot of money every quarter to maintain their enjoyment, but it is worth it because it gives them a certain "dignity" and "decency" that is clearly higher than that of the underclass.

Lynch had just turned off the main road into the entrance to the neighborhood on his bike when the security guard on duty at the gate booth stopped him, "This is a closed area, you can't go in here ..."

It was already a bit dark and the guard didn't notice Lynch's costume at first, he walked in a bit before noticing Lynch's costume, a typical electrician.

Generally speaking, many middle-class neighborhoods have their own electricians, whose salaries are not paid by the service company but by all the neighborhood owners, and who also pay an extra portion to the service company as an overhead.

The advantage of this is that in case there is a problem with the electrical system of a particular household, the electrician will soon appear where he is needed and solve the problem, but this has also given rise to some other problems, such as the dissatisfaction of the power company.

The business that should have belonged to the power companies was taken away by the service companies, and they certainly would not pretend that nothing had happened, so they also looked for a way to recoup their losses, that is, the aging and overhauling of the circuits.

The service company did not recognize the power company's request, and then the power company told the homeowners who had community electricians in various ways, mainly by telephone intimidation, that their circuits were facing deterioration, that the homeowners in such-and-such a community were reluctant to have their wiring serviced, and that as a result, a fire broke out, and that a number of people went to meet the Lord or something like that.

Eventually most homeowners will ask the power company to come out and overhaul it, and will be willing to pay another amount of money for it - in fact, unbeknownst to some of them, that amount will be delivered to their mailboxes by the service company before the end of the cycle.

Some people will read up on what every dollar does, these are the middle class people who have started to become strapped for cash, most normal families don't care about the chump change.

This is why middle class neighborhoods and some top neighborhoods have a layer of lead wrapped around various wiring and equipment that prohibits dismantling; only the power company's people can dismantle it, and if they dismantle and overhaul a portion of it, then the owners of the entire neighborhood have to pay for it.

This does not apply to all communities, and there are some communities where service companies do not provide electrician services, and this is all quite normal.

Lynch stopped his bike, he held up the writing pad in his hand, the repair order on the first page of the pad made him look a little more formal, "I'm here to overhaul the wiring, someone said they saw some wiring that appeared to be aging and cracking ..."

The security guard frowned, he was well aware that these were the power company's ghost tricks, but that had nothing to do with him, he didn't have to offend people over the company's business itself.

He waved his hand and after a few admonitions for Lynch not to disturb the occupants of the place went back to his post and continued to diligently hold his position.

Lynch made light work of finding Michael's home, where there was a utility pole next to his yard, and where what looked like a watchtower on a medieval seagoing ship would provide a place for someone to stand, which was where the main overhaul took place.

There was a box there with some electrical equipment installed in it, and the opening was sealed with a lead strip that needed to be clamped off with a special tool to open it.

The number on this lead is used as a basis for charging the service company, and normally the electrician will present these numbered leads to the service company and keep them on file, then bring them back to the power company.

Lynch climbed easily along the raised portion of the pole, and from this angle could clearly observe the entirety of Michael's house.

I have to say this asshole was good at picking out a place, it looked like a full two hundred or so square foot three story single family house, plus front and back yards, and while it said there was no swimming pool, there was some minor gardening and landscaping.

Sometimes people would pass by, and they would occasionally look up at Lynch, who was "busy", but would soon withdraw their gaze and not linger.

The weather is getting warmer, and it does come to the season of frequent wiring repairs, and every summer there are basically a number of fires every week due to aging wiring, in this case across the Commonwealth.

Like some of the more upscale neighborhoods, it's not unusual for maintenance to be done once a month, especially during the hottest days, when electricity is at its peak, and it's easy for problems to arise, and there are people checking it almost every day.

Waiting until almost ten o'clock in the evening without seeing masthead come over, he was ready to go back, just at this time, a sneaky black shadow touched from the back of the neighborhood.

Masthead had wanted to come over for a long time, but the problem was that he was stopped at the gate, and someone like him, dressed in cheap clothes and reeking of booze certainly couldn't be a resident within this community, and the security guards were responsible enough to stop him at the gate.

Considering the security guards that patrolled inside from time to time, and the fact that he'd had some drinks during the night to get his nerve up, MASTHEAD had fallen asleep in the grass by the side of the road in a daze while waiting for his chance.

If the temperature and the mosquitoes hadn't woken him up, he probably would have slept until tomorrow morning.

There was no chance of getting in through the front door, so he went around to the back.

The back door actually has a guard post and a path that leads directly to the main road, but it's just that it's further back and people are used to going in and out of the front door, so this side of the door is closed.

Cars couldn't get in and out properly, in fact pedestrians could, but these not-so-strict measures couldn't stop a man with arms and legs, and MASTERHEAD rolled over with ease, waiting for two batches of patrolling security guards to pass by figuring out the intervals between their patrols before touching down in the vicinity of Michael's house.

The street lamps at this point were unable to send their light to Lynch, who was standing at the top end of the pole, flush with them, within the darkness, and no one would have guessed that there was a man hiding in the dark shadows if he had not been particularly close.

Lynch watched masthead sneak over a wall that was only about a meter and two of vegetated yard and jump into the yard, watched him sneak around the house and try to push open every window he could reach.

Perhaps because it was so safe, perhaps because of the inherent female paralysis, a window was pushed open in masthead's surprise on the west-facing side of the house.

Slowly, without making a sound, the window was pushed up, and with a strong push he got his upper body into the window, all of which Lynch watched, but he didn't move, he waited.

Little by little time passed, the serene night sky radiated with starlight and quiet beauty, and in the darkness Lynch's gaze remained fixed on that house.

It's been almost ten minutes since masthead went in, and this dumbass can't even do this little thing right?

After another minute or two of waiting, the wait on the second floor suddenly lit up, and a shadow appeared behind the not very light-insulating curtains, a diminutive shadow that was supposed to be a female, and that shadow lingered at the window for a short while before disappearing.

A few seconds later, Lynch heard a gasp!