CHAPTER TWO
What Viggo calls a private residence is really a smart mansion instead, and it knows that they’re here. The lights outside and inside turn on, a blazing golden in walls of stucco white. The garage door opens folding at their arrival. The black sleek muscle car with the darkest tinted windows growls and takes its sweet time, rolling in.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZm6W1s93Ri
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Glad to get out of the car in one piece, Kirby grips his tattered jeans in the finest garage he’s ever seen. Viggo has already demanded in the car to return the tux. Viggo’s so wealthy, so filthy rich, that the rest of his garage lights up one at a time, illuminating a spectacular car show with silent fanfare.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwqsPtREv3
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His brother tells him that he’s been shitting cash. You are so disgusting, Kirby almost says as a joke. The garage door closes behind them. The castle is now secured. It isn’t the normal modern home you would see in a magazine. He takes a stroll, realizing this the moment he sees the white opaque glass door. It has no knob or handle.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIt2ZaxOTZZ
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There’s one way to open it, one way to close it. Viggo presses both his palms onto the white glass. His psycho orange eyes gaze into the mini camera three times and averts his eyes looking to the left, the right, and then directly. The door slides open, receding into the wall.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwj2qqB8Ie1
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Kirby hesitates at the entrance. A house under my brother’s complete control. My arms get sore from just thinking about it. Still, psychosomatic. All in my head.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOjlTP8zd0
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Don’t worry. No cameras here. Viggo says spinning his keys and enters the foyer.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7nALhPtSg
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Kirby’s eyes are glued to the striped skylights that bathe the foyer in white earth glow. So surreal. Plants rustle at the chilly vents, trying to be familiar and earthly. The door remains open behind him as they enter the house. He walks so silently that Viggo notices.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoITUGjJFN8
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Why are you sneaking? Get in. Viggo guffaws and sneers, shaking his head. He kicks off his shoes. Barefoot he struts along the cold red stone floor. I forgot how bad your anxiety can get.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorf1JCFtOE
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Kirby goes pink in the face. He drops his luggage, freeing up his hands.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjp2MFLNfY3
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I walk … the way I walk.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAe3s6NTZE
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Viggo’s orange eyes close as he refrains from an eye-roll, “Oh.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJ5yzyAPTd
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That’s the hallway to my study. Off-limits.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCXDcrS9SS
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Kirby gets tense at that phrase. It seems a boring, unpainted, distant area anyway. I bet that’s where he works and keeps all his creative projects and twenty-year plans. Probably a man cave to impress his friends.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnMvX5ltmN
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Kirby and Viggo move on to the enormous red room stocked with white furniture and black electronics. Tons of video game consoles and collections. It’s like an entertainment room or a ballroom?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHo7DhDWei
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Club room, says Viggo. Off-limits.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuU5i4A2Vtl
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Kirby sees a shrine to a movie poster on one wall. It’s not what made Viggo a break-out writer ten years ago but it’s his greatest achievement, almost. It’s Milton, Oscar-nominated but not worthy. It was a phenomenal biopic about the man behind Skyden, Garth Milton the one and only with his large iconic ears, played by Will Smith. And having his brother Viggo Hayes be the screenwriter and co-director nominated for the Oscars? That’s huge. By now, half the world knows the Hayes name.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsaMnvW0Nf
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He swells with pride. He remembers exactly how Viggo sat at the edge of his seat the whole time at the Oscars that night. The anticipation. He also feels sharp pain when Viggo learned on live television that applause and the trophy went to someone else.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZ89xePuaE
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They point to the bar in the nearest corner and share a look. Nothing more needs to be said about that but Viggo adds, Off-limits. Kirby swallows his pride. He has got to be joking! They travel into the open kitchen.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLD7RDfWGi
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Before his brother could start, Kirby rifles through the empty cupboards. They’re stocked with nothing. That’s odd? Feeling watched, he matches Viggo’s unblinking stare. Viggo goes pink in the face too.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIxdl2EuUm
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I do eat. It’s a habit of ordering take-out. What the hell do you want? Mexican, Italian, Mongolian, or Greek?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVsrM8dl3A
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Anything. I’m starving. Kirby approaches the windows, drawn to the backlit aquamarine pool. It even steams. Silhouettes of the palm trees rustle like a small jungle. What shatters the illusion of normalcy is the roaring cloud tapestry for a sky. He stops breathing each time he looks at it.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVXM9E08W6
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The other side of the sky.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71TgXvmpoa
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Kirby sees Viggo on a call. He obsesses on the glaring fact that if he weren’t deaf, he could listen to the kind of man his brother is right now. Even if it is just for something as ordinary as dinner. But he’ll have to find out through other means. He’s accepted that. Charades can be fun, sometimes.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UGCOnRGso
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Viggo opens up his laptop as well, to his surprise. He looks too busy and restless or hasn’t yet lost his need for control. He looks like he’s working!723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbacttpasAu
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Kirby squints. I see now. Is this my competition?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKT4JunbcD
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But I don’t want him to be competition.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlA8SGXuNSH
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Kirby snaps out of it and his face lights up. He waits for Viggo to end his call and asks him: Hey, do you remember? We had to be what, like seven and eleven, back in the cornfields of good ol’ Iowa. We made popcorn at the concessions that summer. Man, it was so hot from the sweltering sun and the punishing zings from boiling oil and burning kernels from hell… 723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ94Uvul7HZ
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Why remind me? Viggo pinches the bridge of his nose.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLabhxb8fxd
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Let me finish. So you remember. Kirby scowls. You should also remember this. We went to the train tracks even after our mom and pop said not to…723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhOnd4eMIX
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Viggo’s face goes blank so Kirby hurries. But of course, along comes a train.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDl0T2lgnvB
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An enormous, wailing black train. A dragon of midnight fury leaving behind a mountainous trail of volcanic smoke. Pebbles leap up. The tracks rattle.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYZW2rtjQA
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I didn’t hear it, but you did. And I was too far across the bridge too busy gazing down at the river beneath the wooden planks. We were so high up. 723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpSYEE4g8H
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The river was too far down and too shallow that a jump would mean fatal.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkq8Q4mhW8Q
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I was just lucky to look your way. You weren’t good at sign language. In fact you sucked! They laugh as Viggo starts to clap hands.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6qsdViuBL
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I was trying to say “Train!” Viggo pounds the counter several times. “Train!”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm19ScOK9Ss
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You said “Sit! Sit!” They laugh harder.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJBNjWUCmC
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Seven year old Kirby Hayes sits cross-legged, smiling and waving and signing “Sit!”. Behind him, the monstrous train rams oncoming. Now, the twenty-five year old Kirby would pause the romping suspense to slow motion. The smile on that kid’s face, slowly but surely, falters and drops.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MA8555J5C
723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnxWcE2ZyI
Why are “train” and “sit” the same handshape? AND in the same position? Viggo’s neck starts showing veins. Senseless! Enough of this. Pool is off-limits. It’s Mongolian, and they deliver in twenty minutes. Guest room is that way. He points to the east wing of the house. That wing becomes split-level. I’m going to change. My bedroom is there. Off-limits. He points to the west wing of the house which also is split-level. Viggo feigns a smile.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2rgdBVVx8
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Don’t feel free to look around. Your dinner might get cold.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdbs9K9tZb
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Whatever you say. Kirby walks down the east wing. So much for bonding.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53LyRUIPmQ
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The television ceiling seems to open up the place like a museum, and the mirror walls help reflect all the color beams. Teasers and tv spots play with dramatic fanfare. Pure octane. His back rumbles with the hallway’s volume from the surround speakers.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ977GgNh7Ne
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“DON’T. LOOK. BACK.” A screaming Amy McAdams runs away from someone, anyone, in a flashy chase sequence, and then comes the crashing title, Don’t Look, by everyone’s favorite remake-ruiner Blaine Tabs.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxBCxYecCv
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The mirror walls turn out to be tall storage closets with mirrors as doors. Kirby checks in them. They’re big enough for three people to stand and hide in. What are they even used for? When he learns that each and every one is vacant and unused, he has to wonder.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzbjU23vUj
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But the hall narrows and twists, adding to the number of black doors to his agitation. These doors all happen to be locked, requiring Viggo, except for that laundry room.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYOqHQfPp4h
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The television ceiling strip, along with the ceiling fans, movie trailers, and news channels, is getting addicting to watch. His leaned neck and dropped jaw start to hurt. Oops, drooling. Kirby looks back and thinks he’s seen a shadow.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5lU1wps02
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Nah. Nothing. Just the fans. What’s worse, he’s lost sight of the living room.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTYal5w0VU
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Somehow there are two hallways back... His eyes widen. Am I seriously lost in Viggo’s house right now? It doesn’t even look like a house.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHcwamUZkE
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The corridor rumbles with a suspenseful chord heralding another villain or doomsday coming next week. Dun, dun, dun!723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56FtKwxvCS
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One square of the ceiling zapped to jumping static beans. Kirby’s heart does a skip.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jQg8kbrDo
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Bzzt. His phone vibrates.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvj2EYHgPzH
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It’s another text from that private number.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mm2B0QwZ7
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He asked Chance Gott an hour ago how he found his number.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmgocGHD1R
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I work for Skyden as tech support. I hack for a living. That’s why I brought up spooks on the flight. I look for them. Found your number from the manifest. Sorry if it disturbs you, you can ask me to leave you alone. 723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoe1ukce5tO
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If you really are who you say you are. Who else could it be? Um, someone among the paparazzi who’s excellent at extracting inside scoop. Or it still could be the gorgeous one-in-a-trillion potential husband Chance Gott.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0mEfeIYpJ
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Kirby fires back several texts. No, but thanks for explaining. Actually, this is an emergency. I’m lost somewhere in my brother’s house.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeolh6CFOC1
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Bzzt. That was fast. You’re lost in a house?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIMmeE8nCP
Bzzt. Use your nose.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmWAdUu7i5
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I’m in the east wing which looks and smells like a shoe store. Do not laugh at me. Kirby sighs wandering upstairs. He sees a darker hallway dead with inactivity.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeu2efmKSwx
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Is someone there?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmC17YTZWcC
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Bzzt. His phone lights up in time, so he shines away the dark. No one’s there. Just an ajar door to a dark room. For some reason, he expects to see Viggo. Huh.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlshscUElYv
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He rolls his shoulders to take the edge off and checks the phone.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJk8o0avwh2
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Chance says: Lol! We’re men, we both should know something about architecture.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvnqIMlTKa
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The heat ducts and windows are for external walls and cold air vents are for internal, I know that much. Kirby pauses to look. There are none to be found. Due to Skyden’s synthetic environment and perfect weather, there’s not much need for them.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExwc638Rzz
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I see your point. I’m new here as well.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QmNsQzfDn
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Kirby thinks of the explosion and the body parts colliding into Skyden. In space, nothing holds death back. That theme’s the point of his movie, that’s why he won the internship, and that’s how he’s here. Kind of creepy.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEynzuSBV58
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He texts Chance a question that’s bothered him for a while. Do you know what happened with that jet?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvjxuN7o5R
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This time, no reply. Instead, the air vent somewhere whooshes cold wind in his face. Kirby draws closer to the room at the end of the hall. Inside the lights turn on, revealing the guest room. He hops on the king size bed, already cherishing the plush pillows. Ack, thank the Lord. He’s completely dogged tired.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsWKCXH1Y0
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One entire wall becomes the television. The channel is set to happy teary audience dancing on the Oprah show, but he’s more interested in Iris Frisk’s webcast. Upon finding the keyboard remote, he shuffles through websites and brings up her face full-screen. He double-checks. The phone remains dormant. And no one stands at his doorway to spy on him. Now relax and watch, he tells himself.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7ISX4MvjU
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Iris Frisk looks somewhat like Emma Stone with her dark auburn hair, squealing hysterical laughter. She somersaults in her zero-gravity room.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiptZ2Ewzl3
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She looks at the camera through her ridiculous reading glasses and snickers with her perfect teeth. English subtitles translate every word: “Hello everybody hello, I’m finally settled here in my dorm room … on Skyden... I sure hope nobody turns this off!”
Her checkered neon yellow sneakers kick off the wall. Her knee-high sock-wearing legs tuck in, transforming her into a drifting crumpled ball of paper that lands in a laundry basket. Her messy red hair gets really ruffled when she emerges. “Score! Just kidding. Even if someone turns off the zero-gravity, it takes time to wind down. That way, nothing breaks. Smart.” Her index finger taps her temple with neon yellow fingertips. She floats mid-air again.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhUiuTyFsc
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Kirby starts searching his room for the zero-gravity button. “Hi, I’m Iris Frisk and this is my cat Bunny and this is our webcast. No rimshot this time because actually I’m going to address the recent Skyden tragedy.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJUfJ29TEK
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She leaps into her swivel chair as her white hairy cat Bunny sails in the air. “My thoughts and prayers go out to families and friends of the fifty-plus victims. Bunny, get out of my face. Okay here’s what we know and what we don’t.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnOD6mqQPo
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She points to overlaying bold text seeming to shout: WHO DIED?
“Most of you scrambled back to your lives, in record time thanks to our ‘outstanding’ (corrupted) ‘commercial’ (subliminal) ‘media coverage’ (... control). “What you didn’t realize was that unfortunately a lot of celebrities died tonight While it wasn’t the first time, it certainly is the worst. The claimed passengers have become the Buddy Hollys and Aaliyahs of our generation and I have here with me a copy of the manifest. So brace yourselves.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVt10wGsgyi
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“We know that, Bunny move it, uh we lost Robyn Byrd. Known for her eleven best-selling romantic detective novels about everyone’s beloved widow Mrs. Harper. We may never know if Mrs. Harper will consider sweetheart Mr. Tuff’s marriage proposal or if she catches and arrests whoever killed her secretive husband. No rumors yet whether or not if someone will pen the last book. Farewell, Byrd. You left us too soon.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPTohNPfg2y
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Meh, no offense to anyone who knows Robyn Byrd, thinks Kirby. I didn’t really care for the Harper series. Too many adverbs and open-ended chapters. However they had nice book covers with scantily clad men to gaze at. Sometimes her name was one of the highlights for a gay teenager walking through a sleepy bookstore on a summer day. Still tragic to lose her, all around.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxnZlgZE8C
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“We also know that we lost, wow. It’s as if fate went lengths to deliberately upset the fans. Again, brace yourselves. We also lost … Blaine Tabs.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfBhn5waOp
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No way. Kirby leans forward, rubbing his goosebumps. Pegasus Studios won’t be the same after this. And if Skyden won’t be the same after this, then neither will the world.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOiIOjUCKG
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“That’s right. Famous for slasher remake ruiner Don’t Look and long-awaited sequel Argonauts 3: Nova War, the still-in-production third chapter from a meticulously planned seven-part project supposedly set to release this July. Does this mean the date will be pushed back? Either way, major disappointment and despair for the world over! We weep. I can just see every Facebook wall post, every Tweet hashtag mourning the precious yet mysterious life of Blaine Tabs. Will the Argonauts chain stay afloat without its genius creator? Damn it comic nerds, you better cross your toes, sacrifice lambs at your altars, and pray. Because chances of another Blaine Tabs blockbuster coming by every two years? Too slim at this point, mi amigos. Tsk, too slim.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Ko3W19Rql
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She chomps from her blueberry pie. “Mmm! Bunny, out of my air space.” After having gone down a long list of fifty-plus names and their feats of success, Iris Frisk moves onto the next overlaying bold text seeming to shout: HOW AND WHY?
“Before we get back to what this means for Pegasus Studios’ future, Horizon Airlines claim that nothing was wrong with their planes. There was no misfire or malfunction of any kind. No drunk pilots either. So, was it cyber terrorism and were these people direct targets? Was the jet hacked and then rigged to blow? If so, then how? And why?” Iris ponders pulling a red curl, relieved that it isn’t white or even her natural color, strawberry blond. Her bovine hazel eyes stare listlessly into her desk.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBIwVA9ALM
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Finally she plucks her cat face to face. “Tell me what you know, Bunny. What do you know?” The white hairy cat shrieks a pitiful mew, as if put on the spot. “Then again, for a tuna dish, you could say practically anything.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhBF3lthYm
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Bzzt. Kirby pauses then decides it’s a good time as any for a toke. He pulls out a prescription bottle and a pipe from his luggage. He checks his phone.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGfLQw06Pd
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Sorry. First day on the job. What do you want to know... stud muffin? 723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKOKA9yodQ
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He blinks, smiling but faltering. Is this really Chance?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7DSotEePk
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Cute. :) That is all Kirby can think of to text back.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDonFUUncb
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Ah, sounds like you got a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? :( 723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTk6ySFWZSZ
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He breaks into an embarrassed smile. This sounds like inquiring. His smiles falters once again. Or interviewing. Kirby texts: How do I know you are who you say you are? No reply. Kirby scratches his head, stir-crazy.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDgzWetOfd
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Bzzt. It’s a photo! Definitely Chance Gott, and surprise, shirtless in a poorly-lit gym. His v-line, black mesh shorts, and brick biceps are signs that he’s been playing football all his life. Of course, he flexes one arm, his left one, and poses with a low come-hither stare with those arrogant and wild jungle green eyes. His mouth is either snarling or slacking, hungry like a wolf.
Another text: Satisfied?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaGpgIoQJn
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Kirby lets slip loud laughter. He grabs his mouth, dropping the phone. So that’s what’s under the grey jumpsuit. Snatching it, he starts to worry.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGS5nIPhpI
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Anyone on that flight could have seen them talking. Anyone could have a trove of pictures of Chance Gott to send. Kirby realizes his mind is prepare to wage war with itself over this. How fun is that.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdvDerKM2a
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He’ll just have to arrange to meet, so he can stop wondering. But for now…723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpGoVbwkvC
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Kirby texts: Was the jet hacked? Do they know who did it?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7RnqK0ADZ
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As far as they can tell, no. Mostly radio silent. They salvaged the wreck and there’s no sign of the system being tampered with. Something detonated inside. A carry-on. I can find out more but knowing this city, someone can leak it any second.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvI4TqFkmn
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A carry-on. Was this a suicide bomber? 723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUb1OLeBB07
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He waits for a reply.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Sn8sM0rPX
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Viggo pats the wall and gives Kirby something like a heart attack. He’s wearing a different black and orange suit and looking wired awake. Like he doesn’t run on sleep. But Kirby knows otherwise, maybe starting to worry if his brother’s a workaholic.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0kjOtnS8a
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That smells like weed.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3YxkxnkVE
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Kirby blinks. It is. Want some?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOt4pCaBxE
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Mine’s better. They have better strains here. Viggo hands over a steamy plate, looking distracted. I microwaved it. Your dinner got cold.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjfArd8Rbe
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It hits him. I’m starving! Kirby grabs it and chows down.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6Ma6VH0ze
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What are you watching? His brother looks at the wall and goes pale.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BplKHpVnp
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That strikes Kirby odd since Iris just got here. You know her, Viggo?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKinYiPmtJw
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He snarls before composing himself. We dated.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlz8N2vKCDA
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Kirby doesn’t react other than: I see.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5q1v5XKSk6
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Iris Frisk laughs harder, spinning halfway to the ceiling with Bunny pouncing after her. The phone ringing gets her attention. She flies to it and blurts, “This just in! It is now being reported that body count is sixty and we lost another person of relevance.” She listens. “They’re saying it’s… ”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMUcS6Evdw
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Kirby and Viggo stare, hanging on every word. “Dr. Taylor.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMLXvT8IOo
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Iris sits upright. She turns off the zero gravity. It winds down, and her cat lands like a plane. She looks devastated but determined, an inner strength forged from fire with Viggo? Kirby sobers. “He was a great man known for his classics and discovering the world’s modern writers and actors. What a tremendous, earth-shattering loss. Dr. Taylor was an overactive board member of Pegasus Studios who co-founded the contest with Viggo Hayes.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDrvPSoCKf
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The Hayes brothers stare ahead.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDes2FIPBh
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It shows on her face how the future goes somewhat blank. She processes it. “Excuse me. Dr. Taylor was supposed to be my mentor this year. Ours. Kirby Hayes and the interns, myself included, would have met with him tomorrow. For some of us, that dream is surely crushed. But his death begs the question: Why did he leave? And who will replace him? Reporters must be swarming around the Hayes brothers by now. This is field day for the press, and one hell of a storm coming your way, Hayes.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRrm5qOTTI
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“Oh shit,” says Viggo. Chills trickle down Kirby’s spine. But there’s no time for that.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqixjxN5UzT
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Viggo goes to an app that blacks out and locks down the entire residence. His phone lights up their faces and he snaps his fingers. Kirby, focus. Let me take care of this. I know how to handle the sharks. Pay attention. Don’t talk to them. When they approach you, you say ‘I have no comment at this time.’ Got that?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uVp2thsoI
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Kirby nods but that’s not enough.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgO5yWzqThQ
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No! Say it to me. 723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1ASRrheJg
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Kirby says: ‘I have no comment at this time.’723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbgRnOPh08
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Perfect, that’s half the battle. Viggo’s eyes are darting everywhere. He paces the floor in the dark. Kirby could hardly make out what he’s saying. No talking with anyone, I mean anyone. Don’t be careless with public posts and private texts. Eyes are on us that much harder. You’re here for one thing, your internship. Okay! Okay?723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNqrvapxdJ
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Kirby nods, having a hard time following. It’s too dark to see.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQXFtxqtGs
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Viggo grabs his wrist. Okay?!723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghfgyb0b4w
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Kirby stares wild-eyed. His face turns ugly in the small glow. He jerks back his wrist. Touch me again, I’ll break your face.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDKHINHOqu
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A crazy smile ignites on Viggo’s face. He looks excited.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddXM5vbUQt
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The murmurs are restless.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmZV83Nwuj
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The rest of Skyden stare at their television screens in their rooms, on their phones, and all over the skyscrapers. The murmurs spread like fire to kerosene. Breaking news on CNN and Fox of Dr. Taylor’s passing. Hushed rumors spread like a thunderstorm, a pulse of irrevocable and irreparable plague.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBN6eLEUiL
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They talk, talk, talk. All about Dr. Taylor.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUlDTbxD9x
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On the ledge of one of the roofs, a masked person kneels. The brown mask is a wooden drama mask with two faces: an upside down smile on the top and an afflicted frown on the bottom. If rotated 180 degrees, it is a placid smile. But right now, the mood is a pained, twisted, and agonizing sorrow.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqJHEt98YL
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Two rivers of black ink stain the mask, streamed down from eye squints.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pTRllzoSf
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Next to the Spook’s thick black dusty boots is a music player. In front of a glorious rectangle of bokeh light, a black-gloved finger presses play. Suddenly, opera wails full volume with awe and horror! The Spook stands before an enormous rainbow-burst television screen on a building under the gloomy mist of Earth’s endless clouds. Inspired by the crying crescendo, the grieving Spook raises both claws. They ball into shaking fists.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeq0STPfIbO
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“BREAKING NEWS!” The television shouts with alarm. That gets the Spook’s attention. As the opera plays on, the reporter booms the city at a rapid pace, “The shocking leak regarding the suicide note that was found at Dr. Taylor’s residence is in fact not a hoax. Confirmed by the FBI. Dr. Taylor’s last words are... ”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MJKT5C025
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“God help me!” The Spook says with a guttural garble. It’s like a small electric guitar solo or a razor whine. A horrible sad face looks down at the little people in the streets. Both black gloved hands grip shoulders of a husky jacket in a frantic hug.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHnacqm2R8
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“‘God help me,’” reads the reporter with a flat face.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YxPMVidwp
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“No, with feeling, idiot. It’s ‘GOD!! HELP ME!! This can’t BE my life.’”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pPZdJ2NsW
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“‘This can’t be my life.’” The reporter hems her throat and struggles to say it word for word, “‘It is too stagnant. It is too complacent.’” The music swells to such perfect pitch that the Spook has to howl off the rooftops, “Too stagnant! Too complacent! Too old! Something HAS to explode! Might as well make it me." 723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8ZNF360jK
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“‘Something has to explode. Might as well make it … me.’ You can find the rest of the manifesto online. It alludes that the explosion was orchestrated by none other than beloved, legendary, and now mass bomber Dr. Taylor?”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Nk6aDptLT
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The Spook turns off the music then claps. “Don’t quit your day job.”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejaLmYEe8p
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The reporter continues with several guest speakers as the gloved fingers clamp to the side of the building, clearly with magnet clips built in. The Spook scales down, hanging above the vivid city of Skyden.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHU4wPVWfN
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Halfway down twenty floors, the Spook remembers something and halts, hanging from one hand.723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUff8o1obob
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The other gloved hand brings out a smartphone and a Twitter account with zero followers. The sad Spook’s mask tilts as an overwhelmed dog would, completely on the verge of tears. The right hand thumbs in a message. “Hashtag. Day. One. Frown…”723Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2F1f0vK52
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#dayone :(
THE SPOOK IS SAD
Jack Steele Adams
ns216.73.216.162da2
