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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZhrUwafHH
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGF9eYg3Kt
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SUBfh3hh0
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uStI9ecIO
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAC2bOq0xk
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Don’t worry. No cameras here. Viggo says spinning his keys and enters the foyer.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGvS4AAs3n
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNOjEC6h4m
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPuHeILYC8
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Kirby goes pink in the face. He drops his luggage, freeing up his hands.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeONzI6lknh
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I walk … the way I walk.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fG4yxU577
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Viggo’s orange eyes close as he refrains from an eye-roll, “Oh.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCqMBf7v1b
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That’s the hallway to my study. Off-limits.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fu7Qh6tT0
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkl25QfAYA
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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?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUCyECjFPL
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Club room, says Viggo. Off-limits.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhG1iXWnUDl
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQiBSUDozJ
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIcH6imXnT
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECSCkLTv1H
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qeT6j80n1
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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?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5oO89Z7mP
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZ4ufgoPMR
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The other side of the sky.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWz3rlogjh9
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNhIIILb8S
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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!715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvxJZeG5F0
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Kirby squints. I see now. Is this my competition?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmicx9a1gdB
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But I don’t want him to be competition.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7BjLD7jGj
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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… 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZuWnWtxdY
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Why remind me? Viggo pinches the bridge of his nose.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUcB0sSW7E
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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…715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhgVFWNfyw
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Viggo’s face goes blank so Kirby hurries. But of course, along comes a train.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBaLYGv0nU
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmwjPjtC3r
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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. 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfr1ZKBH1J
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The river was too far down and too shallow that a jump would mean fatal.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybqHpoEApW
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThiCxVmizQ
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I was trying to say “Train!” Viggo pounds the counter several times. “Train!”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHw4bPijOV
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You said “Sit! Sit!” They laugh harder.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiPky4yBgn
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZWRQRO2mC
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFdOtT74wSK
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Don’t feel free to look around. Your dinner might get cold.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMyVkpNcVz
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Whatever you say. Kirby walks down the east wing. So much for bonding.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkw4InI6yn
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphsC81ONBm
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfeCzOIlJL
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGjOLBnFsZ
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpG7iYLGe9e
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9rmcfH2pA
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Nah. Nothing. Just the fans. What’s worse, he’s lost sight of the living room.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hpdOdMUCm
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4PB0zYLZl
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The corridor rumbles with a suspenseful chord heralding another villain or doomsday coming next week. Dun, dun, dun!715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fXyMRrP8u
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One square of the ceiling zapped to jumping static beans. Kirby’s heart does a skip.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLONysVmAS
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Bzzt. His phone vibrates.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCFH0riXwB
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It’s another text from that private number.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEthIVpONr
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He asked Chance Gott an hour ago how he found his number.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwENRM9Z3M
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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. 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqraoMQePr
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡle8vKm0gkh
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXmx94UJRx
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Bzzt. That was fast. You’re lost in a house?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEByTRn12QX
Bzzt. Use your nose.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYMgtFmLfe
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWjWDoBcNB8
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Is someone there?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlU8oYoXznV
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmtRvmWsUp
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He rolls his shoulders to take the edge off and checks the phone.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRWbQp7NpT
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Chance says: Lol! We’re men, we both should know something about architecture.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlAjGvSNZ5
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQlzekw2FS
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I see your point. I’m new here as well.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMLhgsg4sb
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFVbYxqJ3E
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He texts Chance a question that’s bothered him for a while. Do you know what happened with that jet?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTYkI1q5iy
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrevzHOZCDy
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSjr0NgiwT
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2fG3hIeaNT
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyf1CWtUGZz
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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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZgz2NKPea
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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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4TbbbSYCz
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxpIASBQdJ
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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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUwzsYjXPW
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjv8fnuScg
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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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8TcL79pMY
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5VCb8vOZa
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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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTN8L6llIoX
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoqYEkqmHjV
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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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrQmDehntO
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡterIqMok2k
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Sorry. First day on the job. What do you want to know... stud muffin? 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJcYzNbD5E
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He blinks, smiling but faltering. Is this really Chance?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5KMPZxBZ2
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Cute. :) That is all Kirby can think of to text back.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCrufEnzOY
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Ah, sounds like you got a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? :( 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmR1ikRzNF
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GSh84db1f
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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?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouaeMdtmaq
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSUkyJzbJx
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYBHRPICo2
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He’ll just have to arrange to meet, so he can stop wondering. But for now…715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68eUOnFTSz
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Kirby texts: Was the jet hacked? Do they know who did it?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqrtlwjhVE
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwqu53tpab
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A carry-on. Was this a suicide bomber? 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7PV4yUBdP
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He waits for a reply.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHK0soFQMPQ
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWlB9iTgTg
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That smells like weed.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtpF89FPfY
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Kirby blinks. It is. Want some?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRXzj89kS1
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy95z68o2bc
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It hits him. I’m starving! Kirby grabs it and chows down.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0gP8xoyI1
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What are you watching? His brother looks at the wall and goes pale.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIQcZJ1eQM
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That strikes Kirby odd since Iris just got here. You know her, Viggo?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvB9TSoi6bF
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He snarls before composing himself. We dated.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIFbxkjH1D
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Kirby doesn’t react other than: I see.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5Xcpjrt0I
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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… ”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9C9ZeGFS0
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Kirby and Viggo stare, hanging on every word. “Dr. Taylor.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VbAdnsTg0
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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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9N32YuPPM
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The Hayes brothers stare ahead.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuKgOboAas
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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.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvggXvGpGG
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“Oh shit,” says Viggo. Chills trickle down Kirby’s spine. But there’s no time for that.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOajxqPPRjW
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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?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9usdBZiyPi
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Kirby nods but that’s not enough.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6418vXoMjR
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No! Say it to me. 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCVkGfWIJm
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Kirby says: ‘I have no comment at this time.’715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJqhJcbPylJ
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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?715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2l91dcZwD8
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Kirby nods, having a hard time following. It’s too dark to see.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8vaRnidwA
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Viggo grabs his wrist. Okay?!715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OLRaTmetK
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5LFGWNz4P
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A crazy smile ignites on Viggo’s face. He looks excited.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaX7QEWs6pl
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The murmurs are restless.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnHanAXB8i
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdmmogCUh2
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They talk, talk, talk. All about Dr. Taylor.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVTnjSWk03
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqok5iSdXL4
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Two rivers of black ink stain the mask, streamed down from eye squints.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW94h4kAJlx
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5to5ZuNuZ
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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... ”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVFGeDEbFb
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcybWOF1TDT
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“‘God help me,’” reads the reporter with a flat face.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDETZL5Qp4
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“No, with feeling, idiot. It’s ‘GOD!! HELP ME!! This can’t BE my life.’”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapRb0NpGsA
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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." 715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTw9tFiGeel
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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?”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBrEhbGPeT
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The Spook turns off the music then claps. “Don’t quit your day job.”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZ7v6NnZ0R
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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.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRHoyzmAsc
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Halfway down twenty floors, the Spook remembers something and halts, hanging from one hand.715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5JdDFwj0t
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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…”715Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtv8ufo0X9w
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#dayone :(
THE SPOOK IS SAD
Jack Steele Adams
ns52.15.60.240da2
