Around 2 hours later, Aaron was panting his way back towards his shelter. He was so engrossed in working out, he forgot the time. It was the 9am bell from the cathedral that made him realise he was running late for his work at the docks. Leaving him with no choice but to head for the docks immediately.
Why am I even here?
It was a question he was constantly asking himself. He shouldn't be working this hard. Even if he didn't have his past memories, he knew his life wasn't this bad. He could feel some hardships in his past, but still, he was certain it was nearly not as bad as now.
Right now, he was struggling to run, in a body that wasn't him, to get to a work he had no need to do, to feed a family he wasn't even sure whether to accept or not.
He took a break, panting by the road side. It was obvious he would be late for work. His pay would be cut, and he would have no choice but to make up for it by returning to the gang he, ir former Aaron, was working for.
It was creepy, just how easily he was making decisions as if he was "Aaron". His erased memories seem to make him align with this new identity more and more.
A person's desperation for an identity is truly Terrifying.
With his presence still hidden, he had stolen an apple sold by the street vendor, before deactivating it after getting away. Usually it wasn't something he could afford, but he didn't bother to care. "It's just an extra character in a novel anyways...", he justified himself while taking a bite.
"A-Aaron...?", a shaky voice was heard from behind him.
He turned around, his eyes landing on a beautiful woman who looked older than him. Her dirty blond here was a mess, her fair face had deep red handprint across her cheek. Her eyes tearing up.
He recognised her. It was Sally– a hostess on her mid 30s, who lived by the borders of Dharavi street. The previous Aaron was a constant visitor for her since he could take a shortcut to the docks through this area. The more of those memories with Sally surfaced, the hotter his cheeks got. But he caught himself, as the expression Sally held was more concerning.
"Whats wrong?", he asked, his eyes narrowing with concern.
"I am s-sorry...", she cried, running into his arms. "I..I had to! The threatened me!", she cried out.
"Calm down...", he said awkwardly. His palm brushed along the back of her head. "Who threatened you with what?", he asked. The way she was trembling in his hold filled his heart with a sense of foreboding.
"I told them.. the Howlers...", when he heard her utter those words, his eyes went wide. He grabbed her by the shoulders, ripping her away from his chest.
"Tell me you didn't...", he said, his voice turning desperate.
"I am sorry...I told them... where you live..", she balled her eyes out again.
Aaron shoved Sally away and ran. He was already a long way from his shelter, but he had no other choice but to continue running. His Fatigue was already high, leaving him even more desperate.
From his memories, Aaron worked for the gang called Howlers. But the hid his address from them, due to concerns of his family. Sally had taken an interest in him when he visited the place she worked at with the Howlers gang back when he was 19.
That encounter made Aaron go back to her once a month. And of course, Sally herself always gave him discount, which only encouraged Aaron to go to her even more.
But that idiot had told Sally about it all. While he didn't visit her that often, every time he did, she was his place to went. All his bottled up worries and desperate thoughts were shared with this prostitute, after each session they shared.
And Sally, maybe as part of her job, always listened to him attentively. This made Aaron all the more prone to open up. In a sense, he understood where former Aaron did what he did. But even then, he couldn't help but curse,
"damn it, Aaron".
[Fatigue: 80%]
[All stats reduced by 90%]
The notification popped up, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. Even as his body could barely push forward, he ran along.
[10km run (10/10)]
[Daily quest: complete]
[Reward: +0.5 stat point and [Fatigue Recovery]]
"Finally...", he wanted to scream out, but couldn't. "Use Fatigue recovery... add all stats to Constitution."
[Fatigue: 0%]
[Constitution:+0.5]
[All stats back at 100%]
Soon, his body felt free again. Cool air filled his dried up lungs, letting him breathe. Further more, he could feel his breathing turned better than before. With this newfound stamina, he speed up.
Soon enough, he reached Broken Axe Lane. The closer he got to his place, the more and more crowd gathered. It only made his heart beat raise. His exhaustion, that already built up again was drowned by his concern.
He passed through the crowd, while painting all sorts of gruesome scenes in his mind. But the sight he saw left him completely confused.
5 Goons were on the ground, groaning in pain. Some had their bones broken. Others were knocked out. In front of the shelter, his sister hugged onto their mother, Frida. They were shaking in fear, but their eyes were focused on someone else, as did the rest of the crowd.
In the middle of the crowd, stood a young man. His face was covered with a hood and a scarf. He stood with his feet on one of the goons, while staring at the air.
[Congratulations: You encountered an Anchor]
[Hidden quest: completed]
[Reward: 500 coins, Fourth Wall Stability improved, store card accessed]
[Friends list is now open]
Notification popped up one after another, in front of Aaron, distracting him momentarily. He skimmed through them before looking up at the figure once again.
At the same time, the man in the hood also looked up at him. He stepped forward towards Aaron, placing his hand on Aaron's shoulder.
"Staying here will only bring more danger", said the man in the hood. His tone seemed absent minded, like he was speaking while thinking about something else. "We need to go".
Aaron was still in shock as to what was going on. He was surprised with everything that happened in such a short span. But what surprised him the most wasn't the danger he was in. But the language this man in the hood spoke in. It wasn't Loenese that was spoken in the kingdom. Nor wasn't any of the major languages spoken in the Northern continent. It was English.
In the amidst of all this as things got more and more complicated when the day just began, a single line echoed in His mind.
Damn it, Aaron!