Daiv at The Galactic Cafe

"Well, I guess I could go to the credit branch by the sea, and get a nice speederbike ride out of it," Daiv thought to himself.
     It was a drag to go across town for errands.  There was a lot of traffic during the daylight. 
     What he wanted to do was work on his own stuff all day.  Instead, he would have to put things on hold while he took care of business.
     "%$&*", he muttered to himself.  "Not this again."
     He had done pretty well financially for some time, but his funding was running out.
     "This is not good," he thought to himself.  "This is not good at all."
     He was up to his neck in debt.  This had to be taken care of, or else bounty hunters would come after him for sure. 
     He wasn't too pleased with the prospect of a couple of heavies showing up at his door, with some electro-cuffs nearby.  That did not sound too good at all.
     All he wanted to do today was have fun and play video games.  He had some quests he wanted to take care of by day's end.
     To compound everything, it was his birthday in two days.
     "Eeeek....there is nothing wrong with getting older, but my desire to work for The Man diminishes every day."
     He wanted to do his own thing, and be his own boss.  He was good at what he did, but he currently did not have any clients.
     "That is most unfortunate," he thought to himself.  "In fact, it sucks."
     He had no back-up, either, at this point.  All his resources had dried up, and what was left of his family, well, they had limited resources and were in no position to help.
     He was on his own.
     "Crap".

     All he could really do was just laugh it all off for the meantime, and enjoy his time at the cafe. 
     Something had to be done, though.  Something had to be done soon.

     His options weren't too numerous.
     Suicide would suck for him because, it would not work.  He was the kind of person to botch that job up, which would probably result in him surviving the attempt, and being in worse shape than before.  He wasn't into it.  Life was too precious anyhow.  The thought of never being able to see a hot alien babe zoom by on a speederbike, well, that was what kept him going.
     "Once you are dead, that's it."
     He was pretty sure that once you kicked the canister, that was it. 
     "There is no after-life except the thoughts of you in the minds of the living.  That is the only way your soul survives, as an echo inside another being....if that."
     He was pretty sure that people who had died were living in his mind.  He could hear them once in a while.
     "Just products of my run-away imagination," he figured.
     All he knew was that there was a lot of energy in The Universe, and it had to go somewhere.

     Anyway, he had begun a career as a Usernet writer and content creator some years back.  It was fun, and he enjoyed doing it in his spare time.  He would write articles and upload photos, same as most people.  He was glad he could participate in what he called 'The Galactic Conversation".
     There was a new system they had come up with, though.  Usernet Central would need information from him that they had never asked for before.  They wanted personal codes, passwords, and data numbers.  He was reluctant to do this.  However, it was the only way he would get paid for his content.  He simply had to at some point deliver the information to them.  He would do it eventually, if he could get organized.  He needed the credits.  The amount wouldn't be much, but every bit would help at this point.  He liked to eat.
     "Yeah, eating is nice.  Can't live without that.  Can't live without females in silver bodysuits, either, but that is an issue that can wait a day or two," he joked to himself.

     Anyway, he was screwed, and he knew it.
     Things were not looking good for our hero.
     The situation seemed hopeless.
     He needed a lead.
     He needed friends.
     He needed back-up.
     He needed a safety net so that this kind of thing would never happen again.

     Yet, he was still alive.  He had survived this far.
     Meanwhile, a famous comedian had died recently, and he was two years younger than Daiv.
     "Damn, that sucks," he thought.  "At least he lived a life, and made people laugh, and provided that service. 
     "Me?  I haven't even gotten my life started yet, and that sucks even more."

     If he was going to die, he wanted to be remembered.  He didn't want his life to all be for nothing.
     "That would suck most of all," he mused.