"Damn it… how did my life end up like this?!"
Timothy slammed the soaked sponge against the greasy wall. Soap water splattered everywhere.
"I thought life would get better once I turned eighteen. I thought I could finally leave that shithole I was stuck in for eighteen years."
He stared around the kitchen.
White lights. Grease stains. The smell of burnt oil.
"Bloody hell… this place is even worse."
He sighed and dragged the sponge down the wall.
"At least I'm free… right?"
A pause.
"I can do whatever I want… right?"
Another pause.
"Yeah… no. That was a lie."
Independent life sucked.
Maybe even more than the government orphanage.
*
Timothy is twenty one years old and works at McDuck, the most depressing fast food chain in the city.
Growing up, he had been… forgettable.
Some people said below average.
Others just called him ugly.
His parents abandoned him when he was barely one year old when they sold him off to the government system for a bit of money.
The state raised him.
Food.
Shelter.
Education.
But everyone knew the rule:
Nothing in this world was free.
Not even water in a so called free country.
The moment he turned seven, Timothy and the other orphans were pushed into the state education program, an endless loop of propaganda praising the glory of the government.
Every morning.
Same stupid anthem.
Same fake smiles.
Same brainwashing.
They had to stand in perfect lines and sing the government song every single morning before classes started. Anyone who sang too quietly or looked bored had to stay after school for "attitude correction."
Timothy hated every second of it.
He wasn't the smartest kid.
Nor the strongest.
But he was the most rebellious.
Always had been.
*
"Uff… finally done."
Timothy dropped the sponge into the bucket and stretched his aching back.
"That took forever."
He glanced at the clock.
"Guess I can finally go home… if you can even call it that."
He grabbed his bag and headed for the exit.
"Well… sleep is still free in this day and age."
He paused.
"Why am I talking to myself again?"
He rubbed his face.
"Yeah… I really need some social interaction."
A nervous laugh escaped him.
"Can't go insane yet, right? Haha…"
The moment Timothy entered the orphanage school system, his very first thought was simple:
How do I escape this place?
At first, he tried organizing a group with some other dissatisfied kids.
Kids who whispered complaints during lunch.
Kids who hated the system just as much as he did.
That lasted about two days.
One of them snitched.
Timothy was dragged straight to punishment.
His first real betrayal.
He hated it.
Hated the teachers.
Hated the system.
But most of all, he hated the traitor.
As punishment he had to write the same sentence on the smartboard one hundred times:
"Do not break the rules or face the consequence."
That day something lit inside him.
A spark.
A promise.
That same night, Timothy snuck into the science lab and completely destroyed the traitor's science project.
It had taken the kid two weeks to build.
One swing of a chair reduced it to scrap.
The entire building had cameras.
But Timothy had already memorized every blind spot while planning his escape.
In the end, he was suspect number one.
But they never proved it.
And Timothy considered that one of his proudest childhood achievements.
*
sprint sprint sprint
"Oh no no no no—!"
Timothy ran full speed toward the station.
"I need to catch this train or I'm cooked!"
He jumped over a puddle and nearly slipped.
"Please dear lord just once have mercy on this overworked soul!"
The train doors started closing.
Timothy dove forward.
BEEP
The doors reopened.
He collapsed inside the train, gasping for air.
"…I'm alive."
If he had missed that train, the walk home would have taken hours.
And honestly?
He might have starved on the way.
*
The city Timothy lived in was both his birthplace…
…and his prison.
Humanity's cities were surrounded by massive plasma shields that kept them safe from the outside world.
Outside the shields?
Dead zones.
Dangerous wastelands crawling with alien creatures that had appeared decades ago when the war for Earth began.
Only people with power, military clearance, or government authority could travel between cities safely.
Normal people like Timothy?
They stayed where they were born.
Forever.
Most citizens would live their entire lives without ever seeing another city.
To Timothy, the city felt less like a home and more like a cage with invisible walls.
growl
Timothy looked down at his stomach.
"Right… food."
He opened a delivery app on his phone.
"Screw my stingy boss for not giving employees free meals."
He scrolled through the menu.
"Pasta… too expensive."
"Burger… last time gave me stomach issues."
He scrolled further.
Then he smiled.
"Ah… the king of fast food."
Pizza.
"Now the real question…"
He squinted at the screen.
"What kind?"
After thirty seconds of intense philosophical consideration, he made his choice.
"Extra Special New York Style."
"Hot honey."
"Extra spicy."
"Perfect."
*
The streets outside told a different story.
Homeless people lined the sidewalks.
Automation had replaced most jobs years ago.
Factories barely needed workers anymore.
Robots replaced cashiers.
Everyone fought for scraps of work.
Even minimum wage positions.
Timothy considered himself lucky just to have a job.
Even if that job involved cleaning grease off walls.
Timothy walked toward his tiny apartment building when his phone rang.
The delivery driver.
"Where are you?" the driver asked.
"I'm outside already. Hurry or I'm leaving the pizza at the entrance."
Timothy froze.
"WAIT!"
He broke into a sprint.
"Don't leave it there! It'll get stolen by that creepy old lady who watches from the window!"
The driver sighed.
"You've got one minute."
"I'll tip you extra, I swear!"
Silence.
"Just don't move! Stay exactly where you are!"
Timothy ran faster.
"And if you leave I will curse your entire bloodline!"
"…sir what?"
"My curses work!"
He arrived just as the driver was about to leave.
Timothy bent over, gasping for air.
The driver stared at him like he was witnessing a dying animal.
Timothy handed him the tip.
The driver blinked.
"…okay that's actually decent."
"See?" Timothy gasped. "Worth waiting."
The driver left.
Timothy held the pizza box like it contained divine treasure.
"At last."
"A decent meal before bed."
*
Timothy opened his apartment door.
Inside was… chaos.
A mountain of clothes sat in the corner like a decorative installation.
The smell?
Let's just say we won't discuss it.
He had been sleeping on an inflatable mattress ever since moving in.
Timothy liked telling himself:
Real men don't need much.
Too many possessions distract you from success.
The real reason?
He was broke.
Almost all his money went to rent, food, electricity…
…and Wi-Fi.
Because without Wi-Fi, life wasn't worth living.
The only valuable thing he owned was a old laptop that had somehow survived a full decade.
"Sweet home," Timothy said as he stepped inside.
"I'm back."
He opened the pizza box.
His eyes widened.
"Whoa."
"That actually looks good."
Steam rose from the cheese.
"And it's still hot!"
He grinned.
"Maybe today's my lucky day."
"Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket."
He paused.
"…no."
"Not the gambling thoughts again."
"You've already robbed me enough."
*
His favorite activity began.
Eating cheap food…
While watching rich YouTibers eat ridiculously expensive food.
Peak entertainment.
Peak dopamine.
Peak productivity.
"See? I'm learning things," Timothy said between bites.
"Food knowledge is important."
Then the ads started again.
Military recruitment.
Government propaganda.
"Protect humanity."
"Defend your home."
"Join the war."
Everyone knew Earth was fighting an interstellar war.
Timothy rolled his eyes.
"Yeah right."
"Only the bravest join…"
He snorted.
"…or the most naive."
*
On his eighteenth birthday—recruitment day—Timothy had openly refused.
"Dying young is a sin," he had said.
The officers threw him out of the orphanage that same day.
They called him narcissistic.
Timothy just laughed.
"Why isn't my adblock working on these government ads?!"
He glared at the screen.
"I even pay one Bronzi for it!"
Another military ad started.
Timothy pointed at the screen.
"I rejected you idiots once."
"I'm not changing my mind."
"Stop trying to recruit this genius."
He leaned back.
"I have plans for the future."
"Way bigger than whatever you're doing."
He glanced beside him.
"What do you think, Mr. Frank?"
Mr. Frank was a plush toy Timothy had rescued from a dumpster.
Mr. Frank stared silently.
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Timothy poked him.
"You know they tried to throw you away."
"I saved you."
"That technically makes me a hero."
He leaned back again.
His voice softened.
"…So why does life still suck?"
He stared at the ceiling.
"I feel like I have potential."
"But anxiety just…"
"…locks me in place."
Silence filled the room.
"Maybe one day…"
"…I'll become the person I used to dream about."
Without noticing, Timothy started doom-scrolling on his old laptop.
He knew it was bad.
But darkness was easier than trying again.
And eventually…
He fell asleep like that.
Screen glowing.
Pizza box open.
Dreams half-forgotten.
What Timothy didn't know…
Was that tonight would become the turning point of his miserable life.
The night that would either break him.
Or turn him into the person he always dreamed of becoming.