Oct. 1st 8:00 AM Crones apartment
It was a warm sunny day. Crone walked outside his apartment only to see that his bike had been stolen, the only thing left in its place was illegible graffiti. Only 15 he had only a learners permit, and living alone, except for a few ants in his apartment, had no way to get to work. So far luck had not been with him.
He stepped inside. His apartment consisted of a small living room/kitchen and a bedroom. As he entered his room stepping over a pile of clothes his phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID he notice it was his boss. Cursing under his breath he picked up the phone.
�Do Japanese people understand the concept of time!? You�re late, AGAIN!�
�I�m sorry boss, but my bike got stolen. I was�
�I don�t care what you were doing, and I�m tired of your lame excuses. Your FIRED!
The line went dead.
NOTE: Crone wasn�t really Japanese nor did he look it. He was merely born in Japan, which is about as much as he knew about his family history.
Oct. 1st 8:30 AM Crones apartment
Since Crone had woken up an hour earlier his luck gone down the drain. His bike had been stolen and he had lost his job. He mumbled to himself, �What next?� His phone rang�
Oct. 1st 6:00 AM Global Cortex
Global Cortex was stuck between a rock and a hard place. There was a major shortage in Ravens, which was hampering their operations. Global Cortex needed Ravens fast so they hired a new Head of Operations to better suite GC in this time of need. After systematically getting rid of the old Head of Operations to be sure no secrets got out.
John Harrison the new president of Global Cortex walked down the hall to his office. He was in his late 40�s though he looked a good ten years younger. His hair was combed to the side, always well cut. No facial hair was visible (except on weekends when he caught up on sleep). His black suit completed his business look.
He walked into his office. The walls were dark blue and had off white bumper board lining them. All the furniture inside were made with real wood. The bookshelf contained titles from A to Z. Mainly books that had to do with business, which bored him ever so much but he still had to read them. On the walls were picture frames, which were really just plasma TV�s that displayed pictures. They doubled as computer monitors too.
He sat at his desk and began to relax. Just then his secretary�s voice came through the com system.
�Sir, HR (Human Resources) wanted me to tell you that we only have 213 ravens left and the number is dropping fast. Since we�re currently running low on funds, well they don�t know if we can take anymore losses.�
�Why are they leaving anyway.�
�Our services and misc. fees have gone too high for some ravens so they simply leave. They mainly go to the CSU�
�Where are they getting a sudden burst of funding?�
�Simple, you�ve seen what their equipment can do.�
�The stuff they charge an arm and a leg for?�
�Yes, but they get away with it because they have good parts.�
�I guess it makes some sense. Could you tell our science director I give him permission to fire up project Neural I.�
The com clicked off.
"Just another one of those fun days at work."
Oct. 1st 8:30AM Crones apartment
Crone picked up the phone, �Damn it Crone. Why can�t you ever pay your bills on time?� It was his landlord, �Well, what�s your excuse this time? Didn�t get your paycheck on time, I�m workin� on it, you should have it, I put it in your mailbox.�
�None of those this time� Sir�
�What!!�
�I got fired.�
Crone barely got to finish the sentence before his landlord cut in, �You what?!�
�Do I need to spell it out? F-I-R-E-D fired. Could you give me some time to find another job?�
�NO! No more grace. You better be out of here by twelve AM tonight, no excuses or I�m callin� the cops.�
Crone heard him slam the phone down, and then the line died.
He began to pack his bags not knowing exactly where he was going to go. He currently only had 100 creds, and his laptop was the only worth any real money in his possession. Though he wasn�t going to sell it anytime soon. He checked his E-mail for most likely the last time till he could find a place with an internet connection. He went into his inbox only to find almost all junk mail. Which wasn�t very unusual except for one email labeled �URGENT REQUEST� it was from Global Cortex. Crone being curious opened the E-mail. It read:
�Attention, Global Cortex is in need of your assistance, a new era has arrived a time of which new Ravens must enroll to replace retirees. New technology allows for faster training of fledgling Ravens��
Crone waved the E-mail off as propaganda and moved on.
Oct. 2nd 12:00AM Crones apartment
After checking his E-mail, surfing the web, and sleeping since noon to forget about his miseries, he began putting the last few things in his bags. He traveled light. Only carrying two small bags weighing about twenty pounds total. While his laptop weighed a little less than half that. He notified the landlord he was leaving and after the landlord was finished fuming Crone set off down the road.