Year: 2287
“Highbury, Highbury! Look what I’ve got.”
Kentish was out of breath and excited. He couldn’t believe his luck. A real Holowatch, and so easy to grab too. As he ran, many of the other children looked up at him from around the warehouse he called home.
“What’s all this racket? Kentish, that you? You’d better have a good excuse for being so late again.”
Highbury stepped out from behind a rag shielding a makeshift room. She had a big smile on her face, happy to see Kentish, and half relieved. He was always getting into trouble.
Highbury was the de facto leader of a small group of homeless children that called an old Camden warehouse home. She had not asked for the responsibility, but as the oldest at 16 the other children all looked up to her, and if a decision was to be made Highbury was the one to make it.
Groups of children had been living in the warehouse for many years, Highbury had joined when she was 7. When she first arrived, like most of the children who joined, she had no name. The leader at the time had asked her where she was currently living, which happened to be Highbury, so it was declared that was to be her name. The naming convention had continued since then, and even children who had a real name took on a moniker.
When she first arrived, Highbury was a quick-witted, skinny girl who had a knack for sneaking into people’s homes. Bypassing all security systems, she would silently break in and just as silently slip out, a big bag of valuables under her arm. Gradually, as others older than her left, were arrested or killed, she became the oldest and most respected.
Kentish had a big grin on his face. He held out his hand to Highbury, revealing the Holowatch. “Snagged this near the station, just sitting on the floor” he said, bouncing around with excitement.
Highbury, however, couldn’t believe what Kentish had done. “You know these have trackers on them, right?” she said calmly.
“Yeah, but..”
“No buts about it. Once the owner knows it’s missing they will track it back to here. How many times have I told you? We aren’t allowed to live here, we can’t afford the attention that would bring.”
Kentish’s face dropped. He was great at snagging high value items, but he didn’t often think about the consequences.
“It’s ok.” Highbury said, seeing the change in Kentish’s mood. “You found it on the floor, maybe they don’t know it is missing yet. It gives you some time to get rid of it.”
Kentish looked sheepish. He hadn’t lied about it sitting on the floor, but he hadn’t exactly told her how it got there, and he didn’t want to admit that to Highbury now.
Slightly concerned about the ‘you’ in her statement he asked “Me?”
“Yes, Kentish. You brought the watch here, you can remove it. Take it a few streets away and drop it somewhere on the floor. Hopefully they will only track the last location and won’t get curious and investigate the travel data.”
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