Dun Dun Dun...

"Uh...," Rob said, staring at the computer screen.

        "Doctor Antonius Marqea," Deb read, "Headed up the Center for Disease Control's Retroviral Mutation department for five years before resigning. No one has ever been able to interview him on the subject, all inquiries having been rejected."

        "Rob, this is very important. Have you told anyone else about your arm yet?"

        "What? No. You and Deb are the only ones that know."

        "Good. Promise me you won't tell anyone else."

        "Why?"

        "Just promise me, dammit."

        "Okay, okay! Promise."

        Larry sagged in evident relief and went and sat next to Rob. "Thanks. Look, there's already a chance that you'll disappear, I don't want you flapping your gums out there and risk it even more."

        "Flapping my gums? What are you, my mom? Look, I wasn't even going to tell you. I would've held out from Deb, but she'd know I was lying."

        "Like I wouldn't?" Larry held up a hand to stop any replies, "Sorry. This is bad, Robbie. I know Deb thinks I'm a nut for keeping track of this stuff, but anytime human experimentation pops up, people usually disappear, die, or worse."

        "Worse?" Deb shook her head, "No, forget it. I don't want to know."

        "Good." Larry got back up and paced a little, "Why don't you two give me tonight to do more digging. Maybe I can find something else. I'm not a hacker or anything, but I do know people."

        Rob nodded, "Okay. Thanks, Larry." He and Deb got up and headed for the door. "Tomorrow, then?"

        It was Larry's turn to nod. "Yeah. People I know are right quick."

        "Thank you, Larry." Deb said, as she led Rob out the door and to the elevators.

        That last put a dumb grin on Larry's face as she closed the door behind them. They didn't talk as she walked him to his apartment. Rob was clearly worried. "Hey, don't worry. Just sit back and relax. We'll figure it out."
        
        He sighed. "Yeah. I know. Still. Look, you should get back to work, okay? I'll be okay. You can check on me in the morning. I'm suddenly feeling very tired, so I'm just going to go to sleep."

        She gave him a sympathetic look and nodded. "Good. Maybe Larry'll have something tomorrow. You know, I hate to say this, but I think he's right. We should keep to the rash story."
        
        "Yeah. As it is I have a feeling people are gonna keep asking to see it." He gave a wan smile.

        Deb snorted a laugh, "Go! Bed." She gave his shoulder a light shove. "I'll check on ya before I head in tomorrow morning." When he nodded and unlocked his door, she turned and went to the elevator. "Sleep well."

        He pushed the slightly warped door open, putting his shoulder into it and waved to Deb as she got in the elevator. When they closed on her slightly worried expression, he pulled the door shut, tugging on it twice. Heaving a sigh, he trudged to bed, hoping for the second night in a row that this was all a really vivid dream.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We lost one of our cats today.

Her name was Tami. She was 21 years old. She got her name because of the markings on her face. She looked like she had tons of make-up on, so we named her Tami after the then-household name Tammy-Faye Baker. She had a good run. We loved her very much. Scratch that. We LOVE her very much. She could barely move anymore and she wasn't eating or drinking. We didn't want to do it, but if we didn't put her down, she could have lingered, and none of us would have been able to stand seeing her that way. Anyone who has had to put a beloved pet down knows how we feel right now. It doesn't matter that we have others, it doesn't matter that she "was just a cat." She was, and still is, a big part of our family. I was eleven when we got her, and it is going to be very hard to know she won't be complaining at us for more ice in her water, or for filling her bowls, or any number of other things that we will remember her for. She will be missed. I don't know if I...
Read more

You don't tug on Superman's cape...

        As a comic fan who’s had almost 20 years to mature into the hobby, I’ve learned to take other people’s opinions in stride. After all, I can like something that you hate and vice versa. There’s one thing, though that always get me: Superman is a lame, boring character.         You don’t get to say that. Superman is the first hero, the one to whom the kids putting their underoos on outside of their pants for the first time look up to. He’s been continually published since the late ‘30’s for a reason. He’s an icon. Period.         Normally, you can have your opinion, but you can’t just declare a character “lame” just because YOU don’t like him. You gotta remember that every character is someone’s favorite. I’m pretty laid back on that respect, but... Superman? Really? I’d sooner blame the writer for not writing the character well enough, and *I* am a writer, amate...
Read more

Fear

        I think anyone that does any kind of writing struggles with fear. Fear that no one will like what you wrote. Fear that your teacher won’t give you a good grade. Fear that what you write won’t make any sense.                  Now, I’m not gonna go on about writer’s block, because I think in most cases, all writer’s block is, is an excuse to dismiss the fear you feel. Put a tangible name to it. It probably helps to give writers something to fight. No one wants to deal with fear. That’s the whole point, in a way.         One think that I have noticed about my self these last several months, is that fear is insidious. Most times, you do not notice that it has crept up on you. You make excuses. “Oh, I’m too tired,” or “It’s hard to write AND work on my school work.” For me at least, I think these boil down to simple fear. Aft...
Read more