Rejected

Handprint Accepted…

The scanner shone as Luke lifted his hand off of it. He heard the door unlock and was able to push it open into his home. He placed four fingers on a blank spot on the wall. As he swiped up his home grew brighter.

Luke felt good to be home. He was an engineer for HRI (Home Robotics Inc.). It was a demanding job. At least, it had been since the company laid off a number of the older employees to bring in new blood. He enjoyed his work though. His home was a product of most of the hard hours he had put in.

He decided to walk over to the Off Track to meet up with some friends. When he arrived at the bar, they were getting ready to play a few games of HoloDarts. After a couple of games, he offered to buy another round. He looked back to tell them not to skip his turn and accidentally bumped into a guy sitting at the bar. He spilled the man’s beer in the process. Everyone looked their way. His gray beard still had some suds on it. His eyes dug into Luke’s.

The bartender came over to stop the incident before it had started. After some persuasion, he got the old man to leave. It wasn't long before Luke decided to leave. He walked down the street towards his house and saw a shadowy figure sitting outside an apartment complex. He tried to ignore it as he walked passed.

“Do you think I am some sort of charity case?” The figure spoke. Luke turned as it stood up. He saw it was the man from the bar.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m getting sick of your smug generation.” He was walking closer to Luke.

“Look, just leave me alone.” Luke was scared but tried to sound firm. He turned around and tried to walk away. He felt a hand grab onto his shoulder and was spun around to see the man holding a knife.

Luke screamed and tried to swat it from the man. The attempt caused the knife to dig deep into Luke’s hand. The older man looked down at the knife covered in blood. Luke took this opportunity to run. He charged towards the next alley, rounding the corner quickly. He was able to run down the alley to his home. He reached the door and placed his bloody palm on the scanner. The words showed up red.

Handprint Rejected...

“What the fuck?!” He cried out. Footsteps could be heard coming down the alleyway behind him as he spun around to see the man standing in front of him. His eyes widened. He looked down to see the knife was stuck in his abdomen. He fell to his knees, watching the man turn to run away. Something slipped out of his pocket as he raced off. It was an ID card from HRI.

The extended version is on my profile page.