Chapter One -- Part Two

Every once in a while, I caught myself wondering just what I was doing in the world. Sure, I forced some real assholes to give up some of their precious money and I always got a deep sense of satisfaction from doing that...but at the same time, they were just going to do it all over again. I knew that, they knew that. They'd probably think about it once or twice -- they might even be afraid as they do it that I'll find out -- but that's not going to stop them. It never will. 

Or, even if it did, there would be more... That was the thing about New York. People were constantly coming and going. Not that I minded. It gave me work... And it's why I came here in the first place. Transitory is just what I need in my life.

Which is why I so frequently came to this park with a bag of chalk. I took a deep breath of the spring air and couldn't help but smile. Everyone always complained about how loud and dirty the city was, but there were always pockets of escape. Anyone who visited this place during the height of day would only see the crowds -- they'd hear the music and see the shows, too -- but they wouldn't see the people sitting on benches with their arms draped across the back, leaning together and whispering and pointing and talking with their hands. They wouldn't see the birds flashing across the sky or the way the fountain caught the sunset's rays. They wouldn't hear the subdued silence, the sound of people simply living their lives as the subway whistled underground.

I plopped my bag of chalk on the ground and propped my hands on my hips. What would it be today?... I glanced at the horizon again and focused on the arch leading into the park: "Let us create a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair..." I guess that's what I was trying to do in the long run, right? Fix the system, get us back to where we once were? Realistically, it was probably hopeless: it was in humanity's nature, wasn't it? 

I guess I'd give everyone a fresh look at everything that once was.

*

"Are you ever actually going to sell something?" 

"You say that like I'm good at what I do," I replied and leaned back so I was sitting on the top of my feet, and I rubbed my neon colored hands on my jeans.

He gestured to the pastoral scene I'd created in the falling light. Even with the pale and flickering light the lanterns cast on it, I could still see the vivid strokes detailing the forest clearing I'd held so firmly in my mind's eye. I'd been about to start on the waterfall when Martin had so disturbed me. "Your art speaks for itself, Rory." 

"I doubt you came here to tell me just how good my art is." I didn't bother asking how he'd found me; Martin was as good with computers as I was -- even if he wouldn't admit it. I may be a ghost on the web, but I certainly did exist in the physical realm just like any other person.

His thin lips spread into a smile. "You're quite right." He opened up his messenger bag and offered me a rather thick file. I wiped my hands on my jeans a little more thoroughly before accepting the stack of papers. "I need your help on this one. It's too big for me."

My chalk covered fingers smeared blue and pink over the title pasted on the otherwise plain cover: Project Luminescence. "You do realize that I just got done with a job, right? Come on, man; you know my policy." 

"Your policy is garbage. The world isn't going to stop and wait for you to get a taste to do the right thing again. It's full of darkness, and it's only getting darker every day." 

I sighed. All I'd wanted to do was draw... "You're not intending on executing any time soon, are you?"

He shook his head. "There's so much more left to do... We tried to figure it out, but every time we thought we had it figured out, something else came up." He crossed his arms. "That's why I came to you."

"Well, I suppose it's not violating my rule, then..." I set the file down. "I'll look over it a bit later, and then we'll talk tomorrow?"

Martin nodded. "You're a life saver, Miss Langley." 

I chuckled as he walked away, but the laugh fell from my lips as I looked at the file in front of me. Whatever free time I'd imagined myself having for the next few weeks had taken off running, and it left a pit in the bottom of my stomach.