*Buzz*
*Buzz*
Groggily, greeting the day with a soft and tired groan, a woman slowly opened up her eyes. Rising to meet the dawn of a brand-new day, she let out a yawn before looking down at her buzzing limiter. Turning off the alarm, she stretched and released another yawn before getting up from the bed in a blurred haste.
Moving through the room, her footstep faster than the naked eye could follow, in mere seconds she made her way around the room, cleaning it and dressing her bed before darting away to the bathroom.
Quickly brushing her teeth before racing away to the shower, where she only slowed down long enough for the rushing water to reach. She scrubbed and cleaned her body fast before darting out.
Making her way back to her room and grabbed a towel to dry herself.
She then put on some clean clothes and made her way to the kitchen. Grabbing some Casival flakes and dumping in on to a small bowl before mixing it all together with sugar and water.
She then activated her limiter. A holographic display then appeared, showing everything from the recent news to her mail. Finding it important, she went back to her meal. She was about to grab a bit when.
*Beep*
She looked down on her limiter. Seeing the name flash on it, 'Rushina'. She hurriedly tapped on it and opened the message.
"Hey Zoom, can't make it to work today. So, can you please take over my shift today?"
Zoomie just looked at the message, her mind flashing back to the coins handed to her by Motina the night before. Her eyes fell with realization.
"Rushina," she spoke out loud as she looked down at her bowl.
"You really are stubborn," her eyes then shifted to the side as a heavy breath left her lips.
"Why can't you just accept it? Life isn't fair," she looked at her limiter. Seeing the single digit flashing on it, one.
"Especially for people like us," she turned away from the limiter and returned to her meal.
A while later, after having her meal, she darted away, out of her small, cramped apartment. Out of the slow zone and on to the main street, where streaks raced past her one after the other.
She bowed her head as her eyes caught a glimpse of one of their face, bright and as free as the wind blowing against them. She gritted her teeth as they just darted past her. Fast and free, a sensation she…
Her eyes made their way to her limiter. A small tear fell before she forced her head up and kept running.
…would never know.
Ahead of her, she found her destination. 'Moti's Quick Meal'.
Looking ahead, she saw that the doors were still shut. No one had arrived yet.
She looked ahead and for a moment thought maybe she'd be the first to arrive, but then…
Streaks and blurs darted past her, making their way to the restaurant before her.
A few brief seconds later, she arrived only to meet Motina along with the rest of the staff staring with amused grins.
"You're late, slugha," she had Motina speak with an air of amusement in her voice.
Zoomie felt her body begin to shake upon hearing those words, with her head sunk further down as she took a single heavy, slow step forward.
Zoomie raced into the kitchen, darted out several trays of food, raced through the tables of hungry customers in blurs, and placed them all down.
"Took you long enough, Slugha," she heard one of the customers mutter out loud.
But she just took a breath and darted away. Returning to the back of the kitchen, where a massive pile of plates and pans awaited her on the sink.
A low breath then left her lips as she began washing at rapid speeds.
*Ding*
"Slugha," she heard Motina yell. "A customer finished their meal, and a few more just stepped in. Go get cleaned up and take the order of."
"On it," Zoomie quickly wiped the soap off her hands and darted away to the customers outside.
With pen and a small jotter, she asked, "Can I take your order?"
She then watched as the customer's eyes scanned from head to toe before landing solely on the limiter on her wrist.
"Took you long enough, Slugha",
Zoomie to the jab to her heart, but still mustered up the strength to hold her welcoming smile longer enough to take the other before darting away to the next table. There, she had to do the exact same thing again.
Eventually, after taking all the others, she made her way to the cook at the back of kitchen.
"Here, these are all the orders."
She then watched him move in a flurry of speed, slicing and dicing the ingredients before dumping them all in the pot and adding the necessary spices to them.
"Here," he spoke before dumping an entire tray off onto her arms.
"Now hurry up, slugha order the food might get cold," he spoke, with batting an eye to her.
Zoomie said nothing and just followed the instructions given.
Eventually, at the end of the morning rush, Zoomie found herself seated on the floor, right next to the back door, just like where she found Rushina the other day.
"Yaseki sake," she mumbled underneath a tired breath as she raised her head, her back leaning against the wall.
"You owe big time for this, Rushina," she muttered softly to herself as she thought about how, thanks to Rushina's absence and her covering for her, she now had to do before hers and Rushina's duties and…
*Sigh*
"No wonder she always upset," she spoke softly as she thought about her job which was simply dishes and cleaning.
Not exactly something anyone would be thrilled to, but it was quiet, and apart from the occasional side glances from the staff and the usually slow remarks thrown her away every now and then, very thing was at the very least bearable but…
"Slugha"
"Slugha"
"Slugha"
Having to deal with that every single day, it's enough to drive anyone to the brink. A tired sigh then left her lips.
She eyes glanced down at her limiter. Worn down and heavy, she shut them before turning away from the limiter.
It wasn't like she didn't know this. This wasn't the first time she had agreed to take over Rushina's shift for her but…
Her mind flashed back to Rushina snapping her head away when she reached for hers.
This might have been the first time she finally understood why Rushina had been so distant lately.
A memory then flashed in her mind.
"Hey, Rushina. Would you mind if we…" a nervous Zoomie spoke with fidgeting fingers. "Ran home together,"
She paused for a moment for a moment, her cheeks turning bright red.
"I mean, our homes are close by, and I just thought, but that maybe…" she kept fidgeting and tripping on her words.
Rushina just nodded her head before turning to her.
"Just try to keep up, Zooms," a smile crossed Rushina's lips as she spoke. Zoomie's eyes lit up upon hearing her.
That night, the two raced through the streets together, and it felt amazing. The two of them moved through the streets at a pace far slower than the world around them, but they still wore a smile on their faces. And, for a moment, as they ran, even though it may have just been in their heads…
Zoomie, as she ran alongside Rushina, turned to face Rushina, with Rushina's eyes meeting hers as well. Their feet in sync, motion blurred around them.
…it felt like there were the only ones running while the whole stood still.
Zoomie lowered her head as that memory flashed in her mind.
It was truly an incredible feeling, one she never wanted to forget.
A heavy breath then left her lips as she began to think back, recalling how little by little that smile she saw plastered on Rushina's face dulled and began fading before it completely vanished.
Tears then came, streaming down from her eyes to her cheeks in a slow and soft pace before dripping down to the ground.
She missed that smile and the only friend she had.
She raised her head and glanced at the limiter on her wrist, seeing the number '1' continuing to flash on it.
The only one who understood.
More streamed down her face.
Time came quickly, though not as quickly as she would have hoped. And as all the other staff prepared to leave, Zoomie was left alone to clean up the entire restaurant before finally locking up.
Looking as she held the mop to spot outside where Rushina used to stand to wait for her to finish, only empty space with the wind blew freely.
She gave out a tired sigh before darting about with the mop, cleaning the floors. Once she was finally done, she made her way out and locked the doors.
She took in a final breath before beginning the run home. Striking her feet on the ground, she zoomed past the streets, ignoring the blurs and streaks moving past, and raced straight home as fast as her legs would carry her.
Moving through the quiet, still streets of the slow zone where she lived, made her way to her apartment. Shut the door behind her, didn't even bother taking off her clothes that reeked of sweat and grease. She just walked with her aching feet and made her way straight to her small bed and collapsed on top of it.
Lying on the bed, she could only muster enough strength to raise her hand to her limiter. Turning it on and going to contacts. There she found a single name, 'Rushina'.
She tapped call and then watched try to connect for a few brief moments before finally disconnecting with nobody answering.
A tired sigh then left Zoomie's lips before she activated her limiter text tab.
A holographic keyboard then appeared on the limiter.
"Hey," she began typing. "Work was brutal today. Not that you'd know anything about that since you weren't there, and I had to cover for you".
She stopped, figuring that that was a tad too harsh of a response and dealt the message before starting again.
"Hey, just got work. It was brutal, I swear those customers had to have come from Haidas. They have to be literal demons."
A soft smile cut through her lips.
"I wish you were there so I wouldn't have to deal with them. And besides that, I missed you."
She paused, contemplating on what to write next. Her finger was hovering over the keypad.
"I…" she began typing.
"…really hope you show up for work tomorrow." Rushina watched the message flash onto her limiter.
A soft smile grazes as lips before turning it off and then looking ahead to the busy streets. Seeing the blurs and streaks racing past.
She then took in a breath and bent down. Taking a running stance, she felt her heart begin to race and pound underneath her chest. Her body began shaking as the thrill slowly began taking over.
Then the world around her began to slow down. Suddenly, the blurs and streaks ahead of her began moving at a pace she could comprehend.
She took in a breath. Feeling it heat up in her lungs before letting up.
And then, with the rush pulsing through her, she took a step forward and bolted. Moving at speeds she had only dreamed of.
She felt a rush in her racing heart, the heat in her lungs, and the cold air blowing against her in each breath and step taken. It was a feeling that was foreign to her. Her feet felt light as they struck the Kinerikan earth below her.
It was freedom.
Her limiter glitched with an 'X' appearing on it before glitching again with the number '2' appearing on it.