Author’s Note:This is a direct transtion from another nguage, preserving the tone and structure of the original. Some rough or unusual phrasing is intentional to reflect the protagonist’s mental state and the raw style of the story.

  Jack stared at the wall ahead, but his eyes seemed to be looking through it as he sat at the damn register. He felt no fear or hatred — instead, he hung there like a robot that had run out of energy.

  When suddenly, a customer.

  He immediately put a fake smile on his face, which was well-honed during his time working in such establishments.

  The silhouette took the goods from the basket and put them on the cash desk, walked forward and having reached the end of the table, stood in front of it and began to wait for his goods to be scanned, staring intently at some dark device. Simir to a mobile phone.

  "Will you take the bag?" — the voice was dead, as if a machine was speaking and not a living person.

  "No... Thanks, no need" — the bck silhouette of some man waved away his offer as if it were an annoying fly, and again stared at the screen of his phone.

  Having checked all the products, among which were cheap condoms, he politely asked — "Card or cash?"

  "Cash!" — a distorted male voice answered him, from the pce where a mouth should be, but it was clearly not there, there was nothing there at all except pitch darkness.

  His fake smile faltered. He took the money with displeasure and opened the cash register, rummaging around in it looking for the damnedevergreen amounts. Finally, having collected the required amount, he closed the cash register and gave the man his change, saying in parting — have a nice day, come again! He was already rexing. But the next customer appeared suddenly,

  like a bolt of lightning on a clear day. And as if his sudden appearance wasn't enough, he immediately interrupted Jack with a brazen question: "Why don't you have my favorite brand of cigarettes?"

  Jack's fists clenched, and in his imagination fshed the scene of him attacking the bastard and plunging the pen right into his neck, with particur cruelty.

  "S-sorry, but we're out of them today. Please come tomorrow. I apologize in advance" — as usual, he tried to be as polite as possible, carefully choosing his words, because he knew perfectly well what would happen if he disobeyed the system, or rather the hand that feeds him.

  "Tch, that's some shit... What a day" — the insolent dark silhouette whispered discontentedly, in the same strange voice. After which his true appearance gradually began to reveal itself. And then, when the darkness hiding the bastard's appearance completely dissipated, Jack saw the impudent fellow in all his glory — this freak was dressed like a street hooligan. His face resembled either a gangster or some ex-convict. And from his body you could tell that he sometimes did physical activity. He also had a stupid hat on his head, and on his dark gray sweater you could see a rge inscription in the middle — Bully. He zily looked at the shelves where cigarettes were supposed to be sold, with an irritated expression on his face.

  He picked up his basket from the floor and pced its contents on the cash register table, then threw it to the others. Then, abruptly walking up to Jack, he muttered in a dissatisfied voice — "Okay, then ring this up quickly, I'm in a hurry right now. Don't test my patience, boy!" — there was an arrogance in his voice, as if he was addressing Jack not as a person, but as some kind of animal.

  The trained smile faltered again, but this time much more strongly. If he were allowed to kill the impudent man on the spot, he would do it without thinking, silencing him to death - with a bck pen lying nearby. But since the system literally watches his every move, without its permission he can do nothing, except to continue to smile and be polite to everyone, even the most impudent visitor.

  *What a piece of shit...* — Jack thought, looking at the man's ugly face. A sad smile was visible on Jack's face, and a fire of hatred was fring up in his soul. A wild desire to sink his teeth into the neck of the fucking bastard. But knowing the punishment, he simply could not decide to act as he wanted — instead, he somehow calmed down a little, and as quickly as possible, he punched the unbearable man's goods, among which, naturally, were alcohol and... Condoms, I think? This even amused him a little, although you could tell from his face that nothing had changed, the same perfect smile.

  Having checked the st item, which turned out to be some kind of yogurt, he asked his question again — “Will you take the bag?”

  "No, thanks... and you know what. I think I'll pay in cash," — the man smiled sarcastically and began to rummage through his pockets, doing it as slowly as possible, as if deliberately trying to awaken the inner beast in Jack.

  Jack hid his hands under the table, resting them on his p, barely containing his anger. He clenched his fists with the desire to punch the bastard in the face. This fucking cash again, again. Jack simply could not understand this mockery, was the existence of credit cards really just a joke? Although deep down he guessed that the system could do this on purpose, so that customers use cash more often.But this clearly does not quench his thirst to rip customers to pieces. Is the system really just mocking him, or is it just a coincidence?

  *Bitch, what a piece of shit. And why do they all, almost always, use cash? This system is making fun of me!* — he tried to stay calm as best he could, trying to act as polite as possible, just like a dog who was afraid to disobey his master.

  Having finally waited for the damned papers, he took them in his hands and opened the damned cash register again. Not finding the required amount, he seemed to turn his head to the man at the speed of light and said in a calm voice — "Sorry, the required amount was not found, I can give you candy instead of the missing amount."

  The man looked at Jack with a murderous look. He clenched his fists and walked towards him with a heavy step. When suddenly, when he almost reached him, as if from nowhere, a guard jumped out and grabbed the offender by the wrist of his right hand. The man jerked and turned his head in his direction. "Not today, man..." — Said the guard of food order, looking at the viotor with a predatory smile — as ifhe was trying to provoke him on purpose. The man clearly didn't like the guard's actions. And especially his look, which clearly didn't inspire enough respect, so he decided to teach a lesson — "Damn, haven't you heard that you should respect your elders? Are you asking for trouble?"