The Deadman

Without any premiums and a steady flow of cash. Robert found some time to visit the government hall to ask around about a certain topic that had been bugging him.

He approached the receptionist. The clerk was rather normal looking compared to the folk he had been seeing. One of the few that retained most of their flesh.

“Mr. Reyes.  Have you worked out my request?”

“Mr. Oswald. It had been long. I was wondering if your request was real or not. And to our surprise, there really was someone who had been registered here in 1997 with the same name.”

Mr. Reyes led Robert to the records hall where they kept an archive of the recorded list.

“You’d be surprised how much we had to comb through if you didn’t specify the date and time when you came here. It’s strange really. If anything you do have a great resemblance to the resident.”

Mr. Reyes had one of the clerks take the picture. It was a picture that he took a hundred years ago. At that time he still didn’t integrate his body well and he still had Robert’s look. His face did get sharper as he trained his body, but there was not much change in regards to appearance.

“It’s a bit uncanny. But I guess your ancestor has good genes. Hmm, though it did say here that the recipient died around the 2000's. No records other than that. Ah, there was a thing regarding an ownership of one of the apartments that this man owned, but the owner of the building that his apartment was in had been challenged – and with your ancestor being dead. The rights went back to the owner of the whole building. Can’t help regaining that.”

“Wasn’t expecting to. So my ‘ancestor’ died around the 2000’s?”

“Among the many. There was an accident around the end of the century. I believe it was the Y2K that made a fuss. Your ancestor probably died in the hospital.”

The clerk took a certificate of death. Robert took the copy and read it:

I, Glenn Wiseman, Clerk of the City of Saint Lucius, it being having an office record, and having a seal, do hereby certify that the records in my office show that Robert K. Oswald died at 2000 at in the city of aforesaid on the 6th day of January, 2000 at the age of 24.

Name of Disease or Cause of Death: Heart failure

Certificate filed: January 2000.

It was odd to look at. His own death certificate. Robert stared at the certificate for a very long time before finding his focus.

“Is this satisfactory?”

“It is. I didn’t think that I’d see this.”

“Do you mind if I ask what your relationship is? A distant relative or a great grandfather?”

“Could say that I am a direct descendant. A bastard named after his great grandfather?” Robert laughed a little. “Anyway, I got what I want so this should be enough to satisfy my curiosity.”

Robert scrolled through his smart glasses' banking app and wired the rest of the payment to Mr. Reyes and the clerk who helped in digging through the certificate.

“Thank you very much. If you had something to ask us. Don’t hesitate.”

“Oh, the license will still take time?”

“It should be ready. Please update your CIN-chip.”

Robert let the clerk scan his CIN and had it updated. Robert saw the updated information. He had his official license. It cost 10k to get one.

“Other than the driver’s license. Do I have to buy anything else? Any document?”

“Healthcare maybe? This isn’t the States so we actually do have a discount. Expect a lot though. Other than that. There is – ah, I almost forgot that you wanted to know where Newman Street was?”

Robert nodded, “I almost forgot as well. That would be helpful in my search.”

“There’s a problem with it.”

“If it’s money, I can pay.”

“We know, but locating the street now would be quite a challenge. Considering the trouble that this city has gone through. Some of the streets have been renamed once or twice. It also doesn’t help that some streets were removed to facilitate the construction of the struts keeping the megastructures standing.”

“They must have taken a lot of space.”

“They were purchased by the Consortium one way or another. The purpose of the megatowers in the first place was to build vertically. Maximize the use of space and all of that.”

“Only the center thinks this way it seems.”

“Most can’t construct such tall buildings. The middle districts have skyscrapers, but they aren’t as tall as the megatowers. And even if they did build vertically. Creating the base and the foundation alone requires a lot of land.”

“Then there is relocation and renaming that I’d have to worry about. That reminds me, the city should have a large sewer system. Is it still used?”

“It is. There was a rehabilitation back in 58’ after a few Slavs used it to traffic some illegal substances. Blew up the system that I think a block got its foundation shattered and the whole thing got buried. 48 dead and all that.”

“You remembered that?”

“One of the clerks can’t shut up about it. And that the street they blew up was near the redlight district. Lot of customers got shook. There’s a tragic and horrifying tale of a man who got a heart attack while his private’s were still inside a girl. So you can bet that it’s quite amusing and easy to remember.”

“Must have been quite a tale considering how long that happened.”

“They made it into a cautionary tale in the district. Anyway, the sewer got reconstructed and they needed to rebuild it as a part of the mega structure. Without rebuilding the sewer systems, there would have been a problem in regards to flooding.”

“Does this historian that you have contact with have a say to this as well?”

Mr. Reyes shrugged, “Maybe. But for now I advise that you visit Carol for it. The man will help. He’s been paid to.”

Robert took the certificate with him. He left the building and drove to the address of the local historian. The building apartment was not far from the hall so he was able to easily find his apartment and studio. He pressed the doorbell and waited for anyone to answer.

“Good morning, how may I help you?”

“I’m here for a request? I’m Robert Oswald, the Requester?”

“Oh, Mr. Oswald. I’m glad that you’ve come here. Come in!”

The door clicked open. Robert entered and caught sight of the old decorations. Preserved animal skins and retro objects. One that stood out the most was the old maps.

“I was under the impression that Sir wants to learn about the old city?”

“I am,” Robert pocketed his hands. Stepping inside the room full of collectibles and items from a bygone past.

“Then I’m afraid that it’ll be hard. Saint Lucius was always up-to-date because of its unique position, but back in the year 2020 there were problems regarding privacy. Every lawmaker and politician wanted transparency and so they had to map out the city. Give every detail about the city. There were rumors regarding suspicious activities and around ‘28 they found evidence of massacre. Young children that had their organs harvested, blood drained, and even had tracks of human smuggling.”

Mr. Carol produced newspapers from that time. Robert checked the contents. Thousands of children were found dead and sucked out of their blood. But the case didn’t receive attention from the world. At that point everyone was worried about the after-effects of a plague and a recession. The world was so focused on how to classify those who have metal in their bodies that there stories and headlines regarding implants and prosthetics.

“It seems that it is hard to talk about the city without mentioning the politics.”

“Of course, the map of the city, the sewer systems, and all other problems were built up. It didn’t help that the corporations brought a large plot of land from the host country and had a hand in purchasing and remodeling the streets for their own conveniences. This city has been glassed two times. There was an accident back in ‘97 and around the mid of the century. Streets have to be remodeled. Buildings have to be changed and all that was left of Saint Lucius is buried or ash.”

He took a stack of the city maps. Robert stood next to him while scanning the maps.

“You make it sound like finding Newman will be hard.”

“I had to trace the area and had to collect references.  The wayback machine thankfully had some parts collected. It’s a timeline of the map. It’s interesting how the map of the city can change within a century.”

From the normal streets he knew back in 1997 to the current appearance of the city. Seeing the change from the row houses and singular brick buildings to this forest of glass and steel towers made Robert sighed. The megatowers were built for twenty straight years while he deduced that the rest of the construction was designing the innards. The printed satellite imagery made it clear that as time passed. All sorts of vegetation were vanishing and even the forest reservation grew bald as the years passed.

“Ah, here,” Mr. Carol pointed on the map. “The street should have been relocated from here to here. The old Newman street should be named Kaiser Area.”

“And Newman Street?”

“Relocated outside of the city outskirts. Ah, I have a drive full of information regarding the street and history. I believe that it was a commercial district so there was a lot of interest in that area. If anything it’s already so strange that we have a lot of records regarding this area.”

“The payment will come. This is a lot of information. You’ve done more than I expected.”

Mr. Carol shrugged, “It’s hard not to when I usually don’t get paid to actually do my job. I heard from folk that you work for Boss Pei?”

“Boss Pei sure is familiar.”

“It’s a small world out there and I believe that you delivered the relics, yes?”

Robert thought back to that corpo job, “Ah, so you were the one who found those relics? Do you dabble in archeology as well, Sir?”

“I have to. In this information age it’s hard to find someone who has interest unless it’s for finding a good place to get inside using the sewer systems of this city.”

“I was thinking that it had some secrecy to it.”

“It’s out of my hands now. They might be interesting objects… but they are useless to me. And one way or another the Corpsec get what they want. So better sell them than allow them to find a chance to kill me for it. Which brings me to my question… you have a lot of interest in this.”

“You should have heard that I am retracing an ancestor’s steps. I did think I’d get our property back, but that was a delusion from the start. Right now, I’m interested in some of the history.”

“Then you must have earned a lot. Young folks usually tend to buy the latest Netics or game hardware. Not spend it on a death certificate or hiring a historian.”

Robert grinned, “Well, if you’re that perplexed, you could always refuse the payment.”

“Nah, I’m planning to eat some good food today with the money. Hmm, but it looks like you're planning to stay here for a while.”

“I won’t steal anything, not that there is anything worth stealing here other than the retro console you have there, Sir.”

“Well, take your time. You are paying to read this all up and it’s hard to find a customer like you.”

Robert nodded and scrolled on the drive that Carol Prepared for him. Catching up to history, and getting a sense of the history that had passed while wondering if he’d find some clue on certain secrets.