The squalid heat of a mid summer Cyberia hung on his shoulders like a ton of bricks as he made his way down the crowded market street. Klaus brushed past a crowd of glossy eyed consumers obsessively trying to find the next best deal into a dimly lit narrow alley. The heat wasn't so bad here among the deep shadows of the buildings. Soon the noise of the crowds behind him was replaced by the constant dripping of water and the buzzing of flickering neon signs.
It was the C-5 slum, no place for the weak of heart, the place he called home. A world of it's own making, C-5 was the place of the seedy underground meat markets where any pleasure you could dream of was waiting for you, for a price. Sex, money, and drugs ruled here. The enforcers rarely set foot into this little world, and if they did they weren't here to enforce the laws. It was too early for anyone to be out, a few lonely looking characters wandered aimlessly through the street. C-5 was dead during the day, although you couldn't tell by the looks of the static gray holographic sky that reminded him of an ancient television tuned to a channel that was out of service.
Centuries ago this place was called Brooklyn, it still kept the old look he had seen pictures of in old data drives he'd run across while jacked in to cyberspace. Only everything was run down, dark and dirty. Where bright barber shop poles and painted store front glass once stood were holographic ad signs and prostitutes standing in the luminous red glass showcasing their bodies.
Coming to a red door in one of the many whore houses in the strip he pushed it open and slid past the guard with only a nod or recognition to the gruff man. He brushed a hand along the smooth skin if the sides of his head and groaned at the hangover that had been dragging him down all day. "What the hell did I drink last night?" He muttered to himself as he tried to ignore the throbbing headache.
Heading up the dimly lit back staircase to his apartment. The world around him felt heavy, hard and cold. The only thing on his mind was a bit of shuteye before C-5 became a bustling hub of biz. Leaning into the door of his apartment he sighed heavily and pushed the non descript keycard into the electronic lock and stepped into the small room with a tiny kitchenette he called home.
Dumping his messenger bag off at the door he looked to the bed in the center of the dimly lit room and smiled softly. There was one certain thing in life, Romy would always make the ornery bastard smile. Coming to kneel beside the temper foam mattress on the floor he brushed auburn hair from that angel's face and lay a kiss on her forehead. Fluttering brown eyes opened and a sleepy smile warmed that face.
"Hey baby, missed you." Romy propped herself up on her elbow allowing the thin black satin top sheet to slide away exposing her perfectly round milk white breasts. Leaning up to plant a soft peck on his lips she lowered herself back into the cool comfort of the satin and murred sleepily.
