Clashing Obsessions

Chapter 7 - Kalix

Tossing my hair off my shoulders, I glance at my reflection in the window as I walk by, checking that the two blue streaks in my hair are tucked out of sight. Sure enough, they are, and the notification in my eyeview confirms that my facial concealer is turned on.

The facial concealer, a small device clipped to the corner of my sunglasses, is a short-range infrared light emitter that I designed to hide my face from security cameras when I need to. Humans can't see infrared light, so to passers-by, I just look normal. To cameras, on the other hand, my face is masked by an abstract blob of light. Yes, it might look a little suspicious if someone were to actually review the footage, but they'd probably just think it was a weird lens flare, and at least they won't be able to identify me with FaceRec. Now certain my disguise is right, I walk into a Daintree-owned clothing store called New Seasons.

"Hi, how are you doing today?" A perky employee greets me moments after I step through the door.

"Oh— I'm fine, thank you." I smile politely and walk toward a rack that catches my attention.

"Might I say, I love your skirt!" She says, not getting the hint that I was walking away.

"Thanks." I reply, trying to be polite but silently wishing she'd leave.

"Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Oh, well, something that's good for travel, I guess." Why did I answer? I should have just said I was looking around. The woman continues to make conversation while showing me a hologram-selection of comfortable-yet-stylish-looking clothing. I gesture over the image of a light grey top with a geometric pattern of green lines on the shoulders, expanding the picture.

"Ooh, that one would look great on you," the clerk says.

"Thanks... Allie," I answer, reading her nametag.

She smiles. "What's your name, by the way?"

"I'm Xaria."

Xaria Clarke is an alias I made up so that I never have to transfer payments from my hacking jobs to my actual account, which could raise some questions. While she mostly exists online, I occasionally dress up in this disguise in order to buy the things I need, usually just d-chips for my programs and sometimes upgraded computer equipment.

So, what am I doing in a clothing store? Well, call me overly cautious if you want to, but ever since the UNBI raid a week ago, I've been thinking a lot about my escape plan. And by that I mean I've been worrying about the fact that I don't have one. What if the UNBI figures out who I am? My best course of action would be to leave the country, in which case I'd need a new identity. Xaria isn't good enough, either — she can still be traced back to xCodebreaker01 through payment records, with a little work. Creating a whole new identity is no easy task, though, and honestly, I'm not even sure where to start. I figured a simple enough first step would be to buy some new clothes. In order to make the alter-ego seem totally different from me, she should have a different style.

Allie stayed beside me while I browsed the selection for a few more minutes, eventually choosing the grey shirt I was looking at before as well as a white blouse, comfortable black jeans and a dark blue jacket. The clerk unlocks a drawer to retrieve the clothing, and I consider my choices while searching my pocket for my payment card. I think I'm doing a fairly good job in changing my style. The light grey and white are noticeably different from my usual clothing, which Roxanna once described as — what was the term she used? — "neo-grunge", I think. I'll miss my ripped jeans, dark colours and the crop-top-plus-jacket combination I wear probably a little too often, but I think I could get used to this style, too, whatever it turns out to be. After paying for the clothes and saying a quick thank-you to Allie, I head out the door, shopping bag in hand.