The Hand Bound - Sam's Adventure Book 1
Copyright© 2022 by PT Brainum
Chapter 22
After she left, satisfied that my eating habits hadn’t been a case of the ravenous drug fueled munchies, I had a chance to actually relax a little, and write my plan to hide my new hand.
Arthur stepped through the second set of doors into the shop, feeling uncomfortable. While he could certainly afford to shop on High Street, it had never been a habit. He glanced around, the warm dark woods, and various displays of sporty men’s wear, it was all somehow manly and reassuring.
“How can I help you today, sir?” asked a kind voice from his left.
Arthur turned to find a smartly dressed middle aged fellow, with a yellow measuring tape hung over his shoulders, and a bushy grey mustache. The reassuring smile made Arthur feel even more comfortable.
“I’m looking for some protective wear.”
“Excellent sir, we have a wide collection of long jackets, all with anti acid rain coatings, and environmental neutralizers.”
“Actually I was looking for ‘second skin’,” Arthur hurried to explain, before he was convinced to buy the latest in personal environment protection. He already had that from the local Tesco.
“Ah, yes. We have that, in both gloves and socks.”
“Socks?” Arthur asked in confusion.
“It’s quite nice to walk barefoot on the beach, protects against the toxic algae, and even protects against medical waste washed up on the beach. It goes all the way to the knees, so you can even safely wade in a bit,” the gentleman explained.
Arthur shivered at the thought of wading into the ocean, much too toxic, and a sure death of lung cancer, just breathing in the salt laden fumes.
“No, I’m interested in gloves,” Arthur explained.
“We have excellent gloves, what with the common usage of contact poisons, hallucinogens, and aphrodisiacs these days, one can’t be too careful. Especially helpful for the local politicians, always shaking hands, you know,” the gentleman said as he pulled a long thin box from a cubby, and opened it to reveal two long flesh colored gloves. “They color match to the skin, and self mold to your hands so your fingerprint reader still works, and they provide complete biological protection. Two year warranty against all contaminates and punctures, safe to wear for the full warranty period.”
“Yes, this is what I’m looking for,” Arthur said.
“While the socks are primarily advertised for beach wear, a number of customers use them for puddle protection, you never know when you might accidentally step into a pothole while walking down the street. It would be a shame to lose a pair of shoes, and a foot with it,” the gentlemen mentioned, pulling out a second long box.
Arthur reconsidered, and nodded in agreement. The transaction completed, the two boxes wrapped and bagged, he carried them out the first door. He fitted his filter mask, and goggles, and stepped out into the street. Arthur walked briskly down the street to the tube entrance, hoping the rain would continue to let up during his trip home. He finally had the equipment to tackle cleaning the fridge, plus a new pair of socks.
I looked over my short story, and considered if it would be enough. I’d written it long hand, even though I knew the Orb worked on the printed page. I had gotten a nice little writers journal with a fake leather cover and three hundred lined pages on Amazon. My little story only took a couple pages.
I contemplated the Orb, the bright brass reflected the light in the room. I closed my eyes and concentrated on feeling it. The initial emotions had been an eager hunger, and desire to move, to break. That had settled now, I could feel it’s eagerness, like a puppy in a new environment. It strained to do. It didn’t seem to care what, it just wanted to do, so much potential, so little will of its own.
‘The bond is almost complete,’ Adam said.
“I can tell, I’m feeling how much it wants to do something.”
‘Human subconscious desires are more powerful than they were for the Orb creators. The Orb is made to do what you ask of it, but be aware it may have trouble distinguishing your subconscious wants from your conscious wants.’
“That’s why we use the gestures for the various functions, right? To clearly define the function I’m trying to use.”
‘Correct, that was an idea of Hiram’s, and it worked well, but he was already broken by the loss of control he had experienced.’
There was a full body shudder, like a chill that wouldn’t stop. When it ended I knew the bond was complete.
“It’s done,” I told Adam.
‘So what do you want to try first?’ Adam asked.
“I want to try getting the gloves from my story.”
‘Ok, do you remember the procedure?’
I carefully extended my left ring finger over the page, and drew a circle over it. Concentrating on the package, I reached into the page. I could feel my hand grab the straps to the bag from the short story. I lifted up, and the bag came up out of the page.
I held it up, examining it closely. The dark grey bag had ‘Shepherd&Woodard’ in lighter grey written across it in a repeating line halfway down the bag. I flipped open the top of the bag, where its flap had helped keep it closed.
“Just how badly polluted was this place?” I asked, pulling out the two boxes, wrapped in a light brown waxy paper.
‘Barely habitable in places. Worldwide socialism focused on production, jobs, and providing equally for everyone. Not much emphasis on even basic safety or pollution controls that might harm production quotas.’
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