Sasha woke up. The sun had not yet risen completely. She quickly washed up and glanced at Noid's room next door.
There was no one inside, and the bedsheets had been folded, although it looked a bit messy. It couldn't be helped, he only had one arm.
Sasha packed her things. With her contributions to humanity, having a private house was very normal. She had several rooms in dormitory-style buildings like this one. Spending a night here was just to observe Noid out of curiosity. Since he had already left, there was no longer any point in staying.
Since the first rays of sun appeared, Noid had left for the refugee camp, carrying the ID card that Sasha had given him. Even though it was so early, the whole city was already bustling and noisy. Since the doom invasion began, very few people slept in late, or rather, wasted too much time sleeping. They only slept enough to rest.
In this place, many people had lost loved ones, family, and friends. Their hometowns had been turned into battlefields, even wastelands. But they did not give up. Instead of sitting there in sorrow waiting for death, everyone was striving to contribute their strength to humanity's hope for victory.
Noid looked at all this, and something slowly sparked within him. But for now, it was still too small, so small that he didn't even notice it.
He blended in with the crowd on the street. He had an eye patch on his face and an empty left sleeve, but no one looked down on him or made fun of him. It was either that he was a survivor of a doom attack, or his injuries were from fighting the doom. Neither case was a cause for ridicule.
He arrived at the refugee camp without any trouble and saw the boy. He awkwardly waved. The boy also saw Noid.
"Hi, kid."
"Aaaa... it's the hero!"
The boy no longer looked sad; his eyes were shining. Although the helmet had prevented him from seeing Noid's face before, he recognized the voice.
Noid was even more embarrassed. He coughed and said:
"My name is Noid. What's your name? And please don't call me a hero, it's a bit... embarrassing."
"I'm Jack, Jack Hiddleston."
The two quickly became close. Seeing that the child was lively and cheerful, and had gotten through the pain of losing his mother so quickly, Noid was secretly happy.
Noid also explained why he was here, saying that he, too, had no home to go to. The two of them now relied on each other.
Unlike communicating with adults, befriending a child was much simpler than Noid had imagined. The two of them took out their ID cards, and the two figures, one tall and one short, started their workday. Because Noid was not very familiar with the work, Jack was the one to guide him.
"You have to keep your ID card safe. The pay for every job will be stored in it."
Proving one's identity was just one of the functions of the ID card. Its main function was to store points. The old monetary system was no longer valid. Points had become the only tool for commerce.
The ID card storing points sounded like a bank account, but it was a closed system. It couldn't be hacked remotely or without a direct connection, and it was secured with a fingerprint, so it was quite safe to use.
The only way to earn points was to work or join the military. Noid wasn't too worried about points right now, because he had been a soldier. Although he had only fought in one battle, the number of doom he had killed was quite a lot, so Sasha had made a card for him with a few points already in it.
But a mountain of food can be eaten away. If he kept living off of what he had, he would have to find a job when his points ran out, so he might as well look for one now. Joining the military was out of the question. Since he was disabled, the number of labor jobs he could do was not high either. He could only follow Jack to find work.
The place where Jack worked was a tomato garden. The owner of the garden was also an Easterner like Noid. His name was Takagi. He had a gentle face, but his right leg from the knee down was gone and replaced with a wooden one.
The owner was very happy to accept him for work. Later, he discovered that there were also a number of disabled people like him, as well as children, working here. In this era, there was no such thing as real unemployment, because there was always a shortage of labor. Children who were old enough to move and had full cognitive abilities could find jobs that were suitable for them.
The work at the tomato garden was relatively light, so most of the people working here were those with poor health, disabled people, and children.
The "training" period was quite short, because most of the work was not difficult to do. The most challenging part was carrying buckets of fertilizer to the plants. It had a very unpleasant smell, but seeing that the others did it without any complaints, he could only grit his teeth and get to work.
The salary was lower than other jobs, but he was satisfied.
The work was simple: watering, tending to the plants, and harvesting. The tasks were easy, but the area of the tomato garden was very large, so it took a lot of time.
Because it was his first time doing it, and with only one hand, he felt off-balance. He was clumsy and almost spilled the watering can.
Mr. Takagi came over. Noid gave a wry smile, but the next thing the old man said made him stop dead in his tracks.
"Young man, you're still lost, aren't you?"
He didn't answer. Mr. Takagi sat down next to him naturally.
"Everyone has a time when they are lost, just like me, just like the people here who are all trying to find their own path. I can't give you advice because our experiences are different. The only thing I can give you is a blessing, a wish that you will soon find your own path."
Mr. Takagi left, but his words still echoed in Noid's ears.
After getting paid, Noid and Jack continued to their second job. This was possible because most labor jobs now were paid by the day. As long as the assigned work was completed, they could continue to look for other jobs to earn more income.
The jobs he and Jack took were mainly related to agriculture, such as harvesting cotton, pulling carrots, potatoes, etc. Not everyone was as easygoing as Mr. Takagi, so getting a job had a certain level of difficulty, and they had to put in twice as much effort as others. Especially for Noid, who only had one hand, some tasks required more than double the effort.
After a long day of hard work, the sun gradually set, replaced by the night. Noid and Jack had earned quite a bit, so they bought a tent and two meal boxes.
After eating their fill, the two decided to go to sleep. The hard wooden floor was very uncomfortable, so he bought two sleeping pads for them. Because they were tired, they decided to go to bed early.
Some hours later, Noid was awakened by Jack's muffled crying, completely different from his cheerful and optimistic demeanor in the morning.
It turned out that moving on from the past didn't mean forgetting the pain. It meant burying the pain deep in your heart and facing life with a smile.