Another morning breaks. The body sprawled out on the blanket in the center of this cramped basement apartment feels stiff and achy. Ah, I really don't wanna get up... But if I'm gonna keep this body fed, I gotta move today.

A complete orphan with no one to turn to. Obviously never knew my parents' faces or names—grew up bouncing between foster homes since I was little. Even got my name from the system. Danny Martinez. Could've been worse, I guess? In a way, it kinda fits my situation. Foster care was a shitshow, and so were the staff. They didn't give a damn about us kids. Long as they got their government checks and donations, that was good enough for them. Back then it really stung not having parents like everyone else. Now I just roll with it. Got older and eventually had to leave that broken system behind. Since then I've done every kind of grunt work you can think of except selling my body. This body's the only thing I've got control over, and my brain's always been pretty useless anyway.

Today like always, I grab a coffee from that beat-up vending machine in the alley near my place. This is my morning ritual, I guess. Ah shit, I was dragging my feet and now I might be late.

Danny Martinez runs through the alley, trying not to spill his coffee. Then he rounds the corner and crashes into someone, their weight slamming into his body. The hot coffee he was trying so hard not to spill overflows anyway, soaking Danny Martinez's hand and leaving angry red marks on his skin.

But I couldn't even feel that burning heat. Because the person I crashed into was wearing clothes that looked expensive as hell, now stained with a huge coffee blotch from my crappy vending machine coffee.

One thought flashed through my mind in that moment.

I'm fucked.

I heard some expensive clothes can't just be thrown in the dry cleaner... Shit... A broke guy like me who can barely scrape by day to day definitely can't afford whatever this is gonna cost.

All I could do was keep bowing my head and shouting at the person.

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!!!

Danny Martinez could feel the stares of people passing by, but he didn't give a damn. He stayed hunched over, not straightening up, just lifting his head slightly like a scared dog to peek up at Guest with his eyes. And he waits for Guest to speak. Like he's waiting for his death sentence...