Yawn
I lean off my side and land on my back pushed up against the thin mattress that does not prevent my pressure points from sinking into the hardwood floor.
After a few seconds of complementation and mental persuasion, I open my eyes, looking up at the ceiling, stuck in my mattress, unwilling to face the room's cold if I get out of it. The air conditioning in the building turns on and off seemingly at random times and, thus, during this time of the season, bleeds into my room when the air conditioning stops.
I would love to continue to lay here, in my momentary paradise of the mattress. However, this mattress-loving embrace is a devil's bargain for the poor like me.
So, using all the determination in my body, I escape the covers, sitting upright.
Like being splashed with cold water on a fabulous winter day, I am hit with immediate regret and cold, and regretting having lay down on the mattress for so long.
"Uhh, my body is stiffer than a corpse at a tax audit. When I make real money, the first thing I get is a better bed."
Due to laying my thin mattress on the floor longer than I usually do, I find myself cracking and pinchy than a rusted pipe in the middle of January. This made me have to take a minute to stretch and get acclimated to the cold environment in which I found myself in my apartment.
I throw off the rest of the covers on my legs and grab my phone charging next to me to check the time; I set a timer for 7am as I thought I would be more tired from last night's late research.
However, I guess I underestimated the resilience of my internal clock as I have yet to hear my timer go off from my phone. It seems from the light coming from the blinds that it wasn't bright enough to be past 7am as the sun was barely out.
5:49am
Feburary 19th, 2025
«Dammit body, there isn't a reason to wake up at 5:45 anymore, at least for now; let the phone timer do its job!»
"Sigh--"
I am already up, so I guess I'll use this time to prepare for the day.
I hobble to the small restroom, getting up and laminating my sore knees. I started my morning routine with my mandatory piss break. However, while I did so, I also reached over to turn on the water for the shower, moving it to the middle, hoping maybe the water heater would miraculously work today.
Unfortunately, like my hopes and dreams, I was instead met with the cold reality of the ice-cold water from the barely pressurized water spout. I am used to it, so I shower in my personal prison-like shower.
After I turned off the shower and pat myself down with my not-washed-enough bath towel, I walked over to my sink to maintain my hair and brush my teeth.
«Fuck, I look like I've been run over by a dementor, steamrolled by depression, and left to marinate in three business days of insomnia.»
I looked into the mirror. I was greeted by my sorry excuse of a reflection. Like a guy mugged by anxiety and slapped around by poverty for good measure, I could have a hard time recognizing myself as a child.
Pale skin that looks like it has been touched less by the sun than an otaku having luck with a woman. A mess of long, thick, wavy, curly hair that always has a way of looking one bad haircut from collapse—like the ends were unionizing. My eyebags were deep-set now, ringed permanent black circles, making me look more like I have been repeatedly one-hit KO'ed by insomnia in a boxing fight... for weeks.
A thin, noticeable scar tracing down the side of my jaw—not from anything badass, just a bad childhood fall from a tree I never had the chance to let heal right. My nose was a bit crooked from the time I broke my nose.
My build was a lean, stick figure—not the lean and mean type, but the type born from skipping meals and walking everywhere as a child. Which enhanced my sickly face, making it seem unhealthy, thin, and sunken.
The thing most stand out, however?
My eyes.
Slate gray, sharp, and freakishly weird. The kind of ashy gray that made people squint and ask if I was wearing colored contacts or if I was blind. Of course, I wasn't either. I have no idea where they come from—as neither of my parents had them like I do, as far as I know—just another weird quirk the universe threw into the melting pot, like a cosmic typo.
Combined with the rest of me, I look like a sleep-deprived sketch artist's idea of a blind prophet in a haunted forest.
I finished brushing my teeth and giving my best attempt at conditioning my hair. I left the bathroom feeling a bit more refreshed than before.
I walked over to my half-rusted fridge and opened it.
It had the same two items I had when I last looked at it.
I closed it.
I turned around and brought my hands to my face in exhaustion.
After a few seconds, I turned back around and opened the fridge, hoping for a cosmic miracle it would be full somehow.
However, when has life ever been that fortunate? It had not changed, so instead, in hopeful ignorance, I leaned more into the fridge, hoping that maybe there was an edible item hiding somewhere in the fridge I couldn't see for some reason.
I closed the fridge door and suddenly felt a vibration from my pant pocket coming from my phone.
A trace of surprise hit my face as I noticed the uncommon sensation of the text message, almost believing it may have been in my imagination. I rarely get any text messages these days, as most of my friends don't text unless I start a conversation, and most are always busy.
However, my sour mood plummeted slightly when I checked who it was.
It was Trent, the hiring manager in charge of me, when I was going out for the welding position. From the small bit I could see from my lock screen, it seemed like an apology text message from him.
I open my phone to the text message, a bit dismissive of the apology before I have even read the rest of it, as I still feel a bit pissed about it three days later.
「hey max just wanted to follow up
i know the welding job didn't work out n all
wasn't really my call but i know that don't help much
just wanted to say we logged like 38 hrs on site during your 2 week eval
you should get paid for that, think it's like 380 after tax
not much but it's yours
should hit today or tomorrow latest
hope something better comes around man
you got my number if u ever wanna chill or grab a beer or whatever
i know ur prob still kinda pissed tho」
"Holy shit, I am getting paid for that work? That's the best news I have heard all week! Holy merry baby Jesus, I'm gonna cream from this news!"
I immediately closed the messenger app, ignoring his attempts to hang out later or seem cool between us. I swiped my bank app as fast as possible and opened it.
「Payroll - Compensation pay
Feb 19
+$382.50」
"YES BABY! LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!"
I started jumping around and punching the air like shadowboxing Casper the Ghost. My blood started pumping, and I felt more alive than I had for the last two weeks. Cold? What cold? I could run a damn marathon right now.
As the initial reaction and shock faded away, my brain was suddenly shot with thoughts in my neurons, blitzing like pressurized gas in an uncompromising metal container in my head.
This is the most money I will probably receive until I either get a job or complete my first Fate Bath, whether I go down that path or not now.
Which means I have to be careful about how I use this money. This money is what is going to have to sustain me for at least the next month.
«Well, originally, I was just going to embrace the suck and figure out how to eat later, but now I guess I'll be able to get some groceries to sustain myself.»
It was a little above a quarter past six, and the grocery store I usually use opens at seven. Walking there takes about half an hour, so I have about ten minutes to start moving.
Moving a bit chipper than before, I practically skip my way over to the clean clothing bin to find myself a new pair of pants and a non-stained shirt.
In about a minute, I found a plain white T-shirt and put it on, as no one would even see it. Because after that, I grabbed the puffy jacket I had been using since I had been kicked out of the house, as at least that bitch wasn't trying to kill me.
Plus, jackets like these can cost about $200, and with what I have been making, it was unnecessary to buy something like that if I already have one that works.
I drank some water from the tap, made sure everything looked right, and opened the door, locking it behind me as I started to walk to the store.
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Twenty minutes later, about ten minutes out from my destination.
«... Should be spending about $50 max on groceries today; if I buy the right stuff, it should last me the week. I'll continue to search for a job—»
Brewing in my thoughts on how I would wisely spend my money to last me, I spotted a building with an ad up about some beauty product, seemingly with some famous actor advertising it.
While I couldn't care less about who the actor was, especially the beauty product—I barely remember using chapstick half the time—it reminded me of the research I did yesterday after leaving the Diver recruitment office, considering he gave me a lot to think about.
My futile attempt at getting information about the dangers of being a Diver out from the recruiters was shot down harder than the Americans at the start of D-Day. The guy seemed to be a great person to talk to, but he was too good at his job.
He has probably had enough people like me to refine every question into an already formatted answer; he could jump around questions like a world-class gymnast, and worst of all, a huge extrovert who was too loud, talked too much and constantly called me champ.
However, I learned about the Diver pipeline and the steps to get there. However, that came too with its own set of problems.
Money—nuf said.
When I did research, people online said that a person in my area would ordinarily spend about $850 to complete the DEP-EC and the advanced classes at the Pre-Bath two-week learning period, which apparently people highly recommend as many said those classes saved their life in their first Fate Bath.
While I like having $250 saved on not spending it on classes, I also would love not to die.
«Tough choices, I know, right.»
So, I need about $850 to become a Diver. Which in itself brings another issue.
How the fuck am I going to get that money?
Thankfully, González, the recruiter—yes, I practiced saying his name—gave me a potential answer to my plea. The Government DEP waiver.
Turns out that the Diver Entry Waiver is a typical stunt that countries that use American Diver Agencies give to anyone willing to sign. Plenty of people also sign them, at least from what I saw on statistics online.
On paper, it is an excellent contract for many potential Divers like Max, who come from poor households or are struggling with debt and want to break out with gambling to become a diver. Once you sign, you are set as long as you survive your first Fate Bath.
You don't have to pay any fees for the DEP program; they will provide housing till you complete your first Bath and transport you to DEP-related activities. They typically come with bonuses to relieve some of the immediate financial issues. If you survive, you are automatically employed as a Fate Diver with the government for two years.
However, looking into it, it seems this wavier is a honey-scented bear trap for most uninformed new divers. For as many people preach the gospel about the waiver and the good it did for them, two more are putting signs up to warn newcomer divers.
Since it is a two-year employment contract included with the waiver, the government does expect you to do your job as a diver, which includes entering more than just one Fate Bath.
For many people, going into being a Diver is a desperate choice, as every time you enter a portal—you are risking your life. Not as much as the first time, but it still does often happen that accidents do happen to new or seasoned divers. This means it is common for people to complete one Fate Bath, use the money earned and the tax benefits from being a diver, and never enter another one.
However, the two-year contract means you are legally obligated to enter at least one Fate Bath, with many saying online that had signed the waiver that they were given a quota of at least one Fate Bath per half a year, with benefits to those that complete more than necessary.
Also, due to being directly employed by the government, you are supervised and monitored more than the normal Diver.
Due to the risks of having stronger than normal humans living in human civilization, all the governments worldwide have some way to monitor and surprise the different Divers. Apparently, American and Chinese systems are some of the strictest and most successful in the world. At the same time, my country, Canada, has been reported as one of the least strict countries regarding Diver oversight.
So, although there are many benefits to the DEP waiver, some drawbacks make me hesitant.
Regardless, there was one more thing I saw some people recommend people in my position take, that have some of the same issues but more personal benefits:
Private Diver Companies
Or otherwise referred to as:
Guilds.
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