"Alright, alright," you say. "Gimme forty minutes to get ready."
"Thanks kid, I owe ya one," says Sal. Ha. He owes you a lot more than that, for all the other times you've had to fill in. But that's beside the point.
Looking around your room, you give yourself a moment for a quick sigh. It's not a particularly nice apartment, built out of a rickety stack of cinderblocks held together with duct tape and hubris, but it's cheap and it's yours.
You take a quick and cold shower, your two roommates having already used up the last trickle of lukewarm water in the apartment. After you finish washing the funk from last night's pub expedition off you, you shut off the water, towel off, and quickly start to get dressed. After a momentary debate in front of your closet, you decide on your cheapest, dullest-looking ediclothes - the flavored and digestible clothing worn by the frequently-devoured.
You unzip the pinkish-beige belly pack hanging over the back of your desk chair and fill it with the supplies you'll need today - your textbooks, a clip-on biowave light, a few bottles of water, some energy bars, and an extra set of undergarments - the usual set of provisions for someone in your line of work. You zip the bag closed, strap the pack over your abdomen, and press the little red button on the side that actives the cloaking feature. After a bit of hesitation, the pack makes a beeping sound and appears to morph itself into your skin. You button up your shirt, grab a few grains of leftover rice from the kitchen, climb down the ladder from your converted-cinderblock apartment to the ground floor, and head out the front door.
As you cautiously step out onto the sidewalk, you decide whether to take the PRTA - the nano subway system whose lines run under every street in Port Rogay - or walk. It's only four blocks between your apartment and Mel's, but it's a dangerous four blocks, what with all those humans and other predators walking around. The subway is definitely the safest and most reliable option.
Then again, it's a nice, warm, early fall day, and it'd be nice to get some fresh air and see the sun for a little while. Besides, you're going to be spending all day inside a tube - do you really need to start your day inside one?
