Normal Life

Not wasting any time, I got straight to work. I didn't know how long exactly the boy would stay asleep, and I wanted to be back before he woke up.

First, I needed to get some fake documents for him. Now that he's somewhat proved himself, I had to figure out what to do with him. For now, I decided to make him find a regular job. This way, not only would he be earning money, but also be stuck in one place for a few hours a day. I probably could take a risk and leave him without my supervision there. While I didn't exactly feel comfortable doing that, I also didn't want to be stuck observing him 24/7. I had better things to do, after all.

And so, I had an ID made for him. I used his real name, Evan Hale, so that he wouldn't slip up. I couldn't be bothered to come up with anything else anyway. But I changed his age, to make him 18 years old. It was a bit of a stretch, as he barely looked 15, but he could probably get more work opportunities that way. Some people just looked younger than they really are, so he should be able to pass somehow.

Once done with the documents, I intended to look for an apartment.

I didn't want to keep living in a hotel, sharing a room with the boy. It was fine as a temporary solution, but I was not used to living with someone else, and I didn't like it too much. But in my current situation, squatting in different apartments was not a feasible option either.

So the best I could do was to find a place to rent, at least for now. Maybe once the boy gets fully attached to me, I can look into removing his restrictions and training him? If he could break the reality laws as well, moving around would be much simpler. That, however, was something to consider in a rather distant future.

Trying to organize all those things made me realize how little I actually knew about the so-called "normal life." I've never rented an apartment before, and I've never had a job either. I didn't even know how people are supposed to do that.

I've always done things however I felt like, figuring everything out through trial and error. Observing people, I thought the lives they led were incredibly dull and monotonous. Although they were safe, not being hunted by the world, I wasn't envious of them. I would choose freedom over safety at any time.

Did the boy have any work experience aside from the organization? Probably not. Based on what he said, he must have been less than 14 when he became an outlier. Can kids that age get a job?

Well, it didn't matter. If he wanted to live, he'd need to adjust to the situation.

For now, though, I had to give up on the apartment search until I figure things out. I went to the shopping mall instead, pulling the hood over my head. It was time to do some stealing.

***

When the boy woke up, I was already back at the hotel, browsing online on my new laptop.

"Slept well?" I asked without sparing him a glance.

The boy sat up on the bed still drowsy. It took him a moment to get back to his senses. When he finally did, his face turned red. "I'm so sorry, I fell asleep!"

I just waved my hand dismissively. "No worries, it's not a big deal. Take a look at the stuff in front of you," I pointed out at the things I put on his bed.

The boy started going through the things with wide eyes, a smile slowly appearing on his face. There was a new phone, a lot of clothes, and his new ID. The phone obviously had a tracking app installed, but he didn't need to know that.

"Is… it all for me?" He asked with disbelief.

I rolled my eyes at the obvious question. "Does it look like it would fit me? Of course it's for you."

I gave him some time to enjoy his presents. I was busy with the apartment search, anyway. It was such a headache. Why did landlords need to know my income? Or require a guarantor? Isn't it enough that I pay the money on time? How do people deal with all that?

I closed my laptop annoyed and lit a cigarette. Then I turned my attention to the boy, who was still looking at his new clothes. I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows. Those were just some regular clothes from a relatively cheap, chain clothing brand. But based on his reaction, you'd think I gave him some incredible, expensive presents. Did he never get anything from his parents?

Well, now that I think about it, he probably wasn't from too good of a family. How else would he have so much experience stealing and begging on the streets?

Despite how different his personality was from mine, maybe we actually had a thing or two in common.

"Alright then. Have you seen your ID?" I asked, getting straight to the point. "You're 18 now, and I will need you to go get yourself a job. Do you have any work experience?"

The boy straightened up and turned around to face me, throwing one last glance at the pile of clothes. "Sort of… I was too young to get a job, but there were some places that allowed me to work for a few bucks a day… It was mostly cleaning and kitchen work though…"

I sighed. I expected as much, but I still was disappointed. "Well, we need to think of some fake work experience to put in your CV then. For the start, list all the skills that you have."

I grabbed my laptop again, opened a text editor, and handed it over to the boy. I got up and opened a beer. It was going to be a long evening.