Firesign 1 - Wage Slave Rebellion by Stephen W. Gee

hiding places. Mazik kept flipping through his notepad. Finally, the pair gave up the act and went back to normal.
    “Okay, spill,” said Gavi as she leaned against the bar, more out of weariness than anything else.
    “Spill what?” said Mazik, not looking up.
    “Why are you being so … so diligent all of a sudden?” asked Gavi.
    “And patient,” added Raedren.
    “And not drinking to excess,” said Gavi.
    “And not getting angry and hitting people,” said Raedren.
    Mazik sighed. “You know, I’m not always like that.”
    “True,” said Gavi. “But you usually are.”
    “It’s a 90 percent of the time kind of thing,” agreed Raedren.
    Mazik shot them a look, and then tapped his notepad. “It’s nothing sinister. These are just some potential job ideas. I’m trying to narrow them down so I know what to focus on.”
    “Oh, really?” said Gavi. She nodded at the notepad. “Mind if I take a look?”
    “Uh, sure,” said Mazik. He flipped the notepad around and pushed it toward her. “Just this page though. Some of the other ones are personal stuff.”
    “Sure,” said Gavi.
    Raedren tried to read the page upside down, but stopped when he started to get dizzy. “So is this why you were gone all weekend?”
    “Naw. I was just spending time with Kalenia,” said Mazik. “Though I did work on this some too.”
    Gavi handed the notepad back to Mazik. “Very cool. So you think you’re getting close to a new job?” She couldn’t tell much from the notepad since almost everything was crossed out.
    “Maybe,” said Mazik. “This is all preliminary work. I think I’m getting close to something, though.”
    “Well, tell me if there’s anything I can do to help,” said Gavi.
    “Me too,” said Raedren.
    “Will do,” said Mazik. He went back to examining the notepad. “How about you two? Any new developments?”
    “No good ones,” said Gavi tiredly. She felt like she had been on her feet all day—the fact that she had only been on her feet for half of the day really didn’t help. She sighed. “I’m beginning to think I’m just out of luck with my experience. Maybe I really do need to save up and go to college.”
    “I dunno. I went to college and look where it landed me,” said Mazik sourly.
    “I’m not looking for a job,” said Raedren. He was a little slow on the uptake tonight.
    “You really should,” said Mazik. “I know you don’t like the one you have.”
    “Eh. Pay’s good,” said Raedren, and then he slumped against the bar and began to hum.
    “I guess,” said Mazik. “Also DRINK.”
    “Right-o,” said Raedren, and then he finished his beer 17 .
    Derana came back and set a beer in front of Mazik. “Here you go, Mas Raeus.”
    “Thanks,” said Mazik, finishing off his other beer and handing her the empty mug. “Speaking of, please call me Mazik, or Maz. Rae is this thing over here,” he said, pointing.
    “Yes, I would hate to be confused with you,” said Raedren as he tried to drink from his empty mug without lifting his head.
    Derana squirmed cutely. “Are you sure? It seems so familiar….” She continued squirming, still cutely. “I mean, you’re Gavi’s friend, and a customer. It wouldn’t really be proper….”
    Mazik gave her a look, and then shrugged. “Kil is fine too. I don’t mind going by my maiden name.”
    Derana continued to squirm. “…I’ll think about it!” she said finally, and then she scurried away to check on her tables. This was also done cutely.
    Mazik took a drink and turned to Raedren. “Anyway, I’d like to finish this tonight. Do you mind giving me a little peace and quiet for a bit? It should only take half an hour or so.”
    Raedren looked around them. They were in the middle of a bar which, even on a comparatively relaxed Monday night, was so noisy it could have woken the dead, gotten them drunk, and then deposited them back in the ground again.
    He turned back. “Yeah, sure. No problem.”
    “Thanks.”
    Time