Thunderfunk the Superchicken - Chapter 7

The Vill-ee-an Returns...eth

Thunderfunk, the Superchicken, strode briskly down the hallway, pressing the nose of the greatest evil mastermind, and his own personal hero, Tommy Douglas, to open the secret passageway. Stepping quickly across the threshold he stood on the moving platform, leaning casually against the railing as it moved towards the cavernous room that housed the device. The platform stopped, allowing him to dismount. He looked at the distance it covered and wondered, not for the first time, if it was worth the energy it used to move the ten feet. Plus it was slow. He made a mental note to decide on the issue later. For now he had the clean up of a messy extermination to supervise.

Entering the cavernous room, the first thing that he noticed was his aide whistling. Straw did not like cleaning up messes, and he never whistled while he worked, despite the advice of those seven diminutive miners of cinema fame.

The next thing he noticed was that the device was put away, all clean and shiny as he demanded from his minion. But he had only stepped out for a moment, so it was definitely too soon. The device had many nooks and crannies that required extra attention. Something was amiss.

"What," he began, a menacing edge to his voice to indicate his displeasure, "is the meaning of this?" He hoped that Straw had not noticed the squeak that had worked its way out.

Straw looked up, rather guiltily. "They, uh..." he paused for a long time, as though trying to choose his words carefully. Or his lie. "They got away." He shrugged rather lamely, offering up a weak smile. "I keep telling you that the device needs a redesign to make it more secure."

Pounding his fist against the railing which he had leaned against imperiously, Thunder positively thundered. "You are lying! You let them escape, I’m sure."

With a shrug, Straw went back to his sweeping. "Design flaw, let them escape, it’s all the same. The point is, they won’t return."

"And how can you be so sure."

"You caught and defeated five people without any problem whatsoever. They ran like whipped dogs. Their tails were between their legs, figuratively speaking. Although, I’m not convinced that Chameleon didn’t have a tail." He leaned on his broom, looking thoughtfully into the distance.

Impatiently, Thunder strode down the stairs to the floor. "I should box your ears soundly for such impudence, but we have other concerns. But rest assured, your pay will be docked." In a fit of malevolence he grabbed the broom and broke it over his knee. It took two tries, but he eventually managed. It was hard to walk back up the stairs without limping, but maintaining the illusion of invincibility was important.

Tripping on the stairs only made him more angry. Straw’s half-stifled snort of laughter did not help. Glaring over his shoulder, Thunder rose to his feet and dusted himself off. "We must go prepare," he spoke finally, softening his tone somewhat. "Events have sprung into motion that require our full attention."

Tossing the pieces of his broom into the pit with the device, Straw walked to the stairs. "What’s going on?"

"He’s bafk," said Thunder, crumbs falling from his mouth to the ground. The woman may be a pain, but these cookies were divine.

Fools of us All - Chapter 7

If someone were to ask, I would probably tell them that I walked for a few days without stopping, just wandering aimlessly, trying to come to terms with what I had heard. Truth be told, I think it was no longer than a few hours. I am sure that it rained for much of that time, one of those depressing rains, the kind that just falls steadily and everything is just grey and cold. Somehow it seemed fitting.

It's an odd feeling, knowing that everything you had held to be true was actually a lie. I had always known that the world wasn't in the greatest of shape. It was hard to get a job anymore and there seemed to be little place for those without work. Entire sections of large cities were given over to those without a place to live. It was almost as though an entire society had developed underneath the brighter and more affluent society, a society made up of those who had to fight just to survive, and where only the strongest last. That was the society that I had recently found myself deposited into. And then I go to that fateful meeting where I find out that it was worse than I thought, that only those in the privileged class were going to be allowed freedom. What we were fighting against was a movement, still in its infancy, to round up everyone who was homeless, the vagrant society, and send them to work hard labour without any rights. Basically what we were talking about was slavery. At least the hard labour at present was still a paid position, though it didn't matter too terribly much because the life span of those hard labourers, both on earth and in space, was horribly short. If the proposed measures were passed into law everyone with whom I was now associated would be sold into slavery and certain death. This was all to be precipitated by the merger of the globe into one 'country' run by a select number of corporations.

And then I go into Dun's office find another layer. The corporations have no real interest in using people as cheap labour. Even without paying them and not taking care of them at all it was still more cost efficient to simply let machines do the same work. What was really being proposed was genocide - round up the vagrants and simply make them disappear. Permanently. That was the first part of what Dun had told me. I was shaken by that, understandably. Being faced with the prospect of being arbitrarily killed was hard enough to take. But Dun wasn't quite finished.

He told me that I was the world's last hope. Myself, and one other person. A person that by all rights, we couldn't use because he had been dead for a hundred years. And yet it was my job to find him and get him to save our world. The last thing he had told me before he left his office was that I was going to be transferred to the proper facility where I would be sent back in time. I could think about it for a day if I needed to, but I was the only one who could stop the coming Armageddon. Is it any wonder that I had to clear my head for a while?


I finally found my way back to the office. The scanning light spun around me again, giving me a slight case of vertigo until I closed my eyes, shutting out the world around me, if only for a second. I heard the sound of the door opening and with a deep breath to steel my nerves I walked into the room.

Dar was still sitting at his computer terminal, his pale features made even more pale by the glow of his monitor. He spent most of his time scanning the government databases and the corporation files, trying to find any information that we could possibly use. He was also in charge of security, and one of the first people I had met when I joined the organisation. I headed over and sat in the chair beside him. With a sigh he turned away from the computer screens and faced me.

“I suppose you know what they told me?” I was in no mood for pleasantries.

He nodded, but remained silent.

“I have to know one thing.” I looked him straight in the eye, and I could tell that he wasn’t completely comfortable, but to his credit he held my gaze. “Did you know of this right from the start?”

Finally he looked away, closing his eyes. “No, I swear to you I only found out a couple of days before you did.”

He was telling the truth. Something that I have always been able to do is to tell when people are lying to me. It is an ability that borders on the mystical, and that was bothering me. Dun had told me that they had been lying to me ever since the beginning, and I hadn’t picked up on it. It almost felt like he was lying to me about lying to me. Something just didn't quite sit right, but I had no way of knowing what.

Finally I dropped my gaze and looked at the computer screen. "Anything new that might be helpful."

Dar simply shrugged. "It's always hard to say. Some things only show up as problematic when you decipher the pattern, and that takes time. Right at this moment, however, I don't have any problems on scan." He placed a friendly hand on my shoulder. "I know all of this is pretty overwhelming, but don't be too worried. I've seen what you can do, and I have faith in you. No matter where or when you are, I'll be rooting for you." He squeezed gently and then dropped his hand, turning back to his work.

I got up, grateful for the encouragement. Squaring my shoulders, I turned to head to Dun's office. Before I could make my way, I felt a hand on my arm. I turned and saw Dar's face, looking even more pale than usual. "Before you leave, come see me, but don't let Dun know. It's important." With that he dropped his gaze again, almost as though I wasn't even present.

Things were moving faster now, faster than I knew. That's probably for the best, because I don't know if I would have had the strength to carry on if I had known what was going to happen next.

Thunderfunk the Superchicken - Chapter 6

Where Not Much Actually Happens

The machine slowly came to life. Parts began turning, gears began grinding, circus music erupted from massive speakers set in the floor and ceiling, the noise echoing around the vast, half empty room. The R5 cringed, sure that their fate was sealed. "Goodbye comrades," said Gecko sorrowfully. "My only regret is that I was not able to serve with you longer." He faced forward, setting his face in an expression that he hoped was courageous with a touch of regret and sorrow – a brave face with which he would meet his end. The effect was spoiled seconds later when the restraints holding him in place popped open, dropping him unceremoniously onto the floor, followed closely by the other five. Rallying quickly, he leapt to his feet, ready to lead a charge against their captor.

"I don’t think so." Straw stood above them, holding a massive gun aimed straight at his heart. "You are free. Please leave quietly." He motioned towards the door at the far end of the room.

Staring in disbelief, Gecko could not help but speak. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

Straw sighed. "Look, I don’t like killing when I don’t have to, and with Thunderfunk gone, I don’t have to."

"So you would kill us if he was still here?"

"I suppose I would have to then."

"Then we cannot let you stay free. I’m afraid we must attack."

"Three of you would die before you came close to reaching me," said Straw, waving the gun slightly as a reminder that he was not defenceless, "and I’m fairly certain I could handle the other two." Leaning casually on the railing, he assumed a conversational tone. "Truth be told, I never want to kill anyone. But sometimes life throws you curves."

"But Thunderfunk is one of the most notorious criminals of our time." Lizard sounded incredulous. "If you work for him that means you must be evil too." The others nodded their agreement.

"Do you know how many people have died at Thunderfunk’s hands since I started working for him? Seven. Compare that to over a hundred in the same time period before me. Do you want to know the truth?" Straw could tell that Frog was preparing to leap, so he fired a shot that landed directly between his muscular legs, raising the gun slightly and catching the hero’s eyes. Wisely, Frog relaxed. "I am only working for him because he needs direction. I think I can eventually turn him good, or at least neutral."

"But in the meantime," argued Gecko, "you are helping an evil genius to remain free when you could help stop us stop him for good."

Straw snorted. "If I wasn’t here, you would be dead. Thunder would not have shown mercy and you would not have survived the encounter. It is as simple as that. Everyone has a shot at making the world a better place. Sometimes it’s a process rather than a one time deal.

"Now, leave, and don’t show your face around here again. Since you are heroes, I know that is asking a lot, so maybe I should just say you should take a vacation for a good long while. Next time I may not be able to save you. Please."

Gecko looked up at the young man, weighing his options. "Okay, we will go, for now. But I don’t like this."

"You don’t have to. Goodbye." Straw watched as the heroes walked away, arguing amongst themselves. Hopefully they would heed his advice and not return. It really would be a shame to have to kill them.

Fools of us All - Chapter 6

I have had better nights. For the greater part of two hours I had paced in the waiting room, waiting for some news. A few times I had sat with Cindy, but I was just feeling too restless to stay in one spot for any length of time. After what felt like an eternity a doctor finally came out and called us over. The report on Gerry was encouraging. He had a nasty knock on his head, but it wasn't extremely serious. He was sleeping comfortably, they said, and would have to stay overnight for observation. It was likely that he had a concussion and there might be some fallout from that, but there was no other damage. Hopefully he was going to make a quick and easy recovery.

Cindy was overjoyed. She actually hugged the doctor before running out of the room, returning a moment later to find out what room Gerry was in, leaving as soon as she knew. The doctor and I shared a chuckle at her enthusiasm. As I turned to go pop my head into my friend's room, the doctor motioned for me to stay."I'd like to talk to you about the woman you brought in."

I couldn't read his expression or his tone, so I answered cautiously. "There isn't much to say. I hit her with my car and drove her here. That's about all I know."

The doctor nodded absently. "You have no idea who she is at all? You didn't see any ID or identifying marks at all?"

In my pocket I could feel the weight of a small orb. It had stopped glowing shortly after we arrived at the hospital. My first guess was that it had stopped glowing because she had died. "How is she?" I asked, avoiding his question, trying to sound casual as I did. With forced nonchalance I placed my hand in my pocket, feeling the slightly warm weight of the mysterious globe.

"Well, that's the funny thing," the doctor said, a slightly frustrated puzzlement in his voice. "She is actually doing quite well, considering the circumstances of her admission. There is some bruising, but nothing is broken. She also has a slight concussion, but your other friend is actually worse off. Are you sure that there is nothing else you can tell us?" He regarded me closely, almost as though he knew I was hiding something but unable to decide what exactly it was.

For the life of me I could not figure out why I didn't tell him. It's not like it was anything that special or odd. There are plenty of toys that glow in the dark, surely that is all that it was. And yet I couldn't. There was something just tugging at the back of my mind, almost like a hard to reach itch. In the end I just shrugged. "I already told the police everything that I knew, that she was on the side of the road, it was raining hard with limited visibility and I ran into her, so I brought her here. You know as much as I do."

Clearly the doctor didn't completely accept my explanation, but he had no real reason to suspect anything else was the truth. With a shrug he turned to return to his rounds. Before he could go I asked him what room the woman was in. "Room 112, down the hall to the left," he said absently, his mind already on the next victim that needed his attention.

I thanked him and stood for a moment, unsure of what to do. I should probably go see Gerry, just to make sure he was okay. But I just had to see her again, to make sure she was actually okay. The orb weighed heavily in my pocket, almost like it was trying to pressure me into making a decision. Why did those eyes haunt me so?

Shaking my head I slowly turned and headed over to the elevator to visit Gerry's room. Doing so would have been one of the greatest mistakes of my life.

Thunderfunk the Superchicken - Chapter 5

Not The Device

Thunderfunk stood on the metal grating that comprised the walkway around the device. He stood quietly examining the five heroes before him, waiting for them to regain consciousness. As he waited, he looked around the room to ensure that everything was in place. The room was roughly two stories high with skylights on the north side of the slightly sloped ceiling. The walls were bare, hewn out of stone on one side, built out of steel beams and concrete on the other, giving the whole area the air of an industrial warehouse. The device was located near the back corner of the room, surrounded by a walkway. Situated five feet above the floor, the narrow grating expanded into a platform at the edge which held the controls for the device. Straw was standing there already, monitoring the wayward heroes. He looked up at his boss and gave the thumbs up; the Reptile-5 were beginning to stir.

Striking a pose of authority and confidence, Thunderfunk looked down at the five, waiting for them to regain their wits. Frog awoke fully first, going from asleep to shouting furiously in less than a second. His loud yells helped to rouse the others, only stopping once Gecko, their leader, calmed him down.

Newt was the first to notice him. "Let us go you megalomaniacal turkey!" His voice was small in the cavernous room.

Thunder laughed. "I suppose you are wondering about your fate," he began expansively. "Let it never be said that I keep my guests waiting in suspense. You are currently strapped to the device..."

His discourse was interrupted by four horrified gasps. "Not...the device?"

Frog looked at his companions. "What’s the device. Didn’t he just say that we were strapped to the device?"

"Not the device," hissed Chameleon, "the device."

"Ah." Frog looked at his friends, and then at Thunderfunk. "Nope, still don’t get it."

Thunder ignored this as best he could and carried on. "Fear not, mine enemies. Your fate is not so horrible as that. This is merely the device of your doom–" ("still don’t get it," came Frog’s voice) "–which I will explain to you as a final courtesy. Listen well, for it will be the last words you ever hear."

Newt strained against his ropes, trying to free an arm, or leg, or anything, but it was hard to move, as though he were being held down by an electromagnetic field. "What can we do," he whispered to Lizard, his voice full of panic.

"Don’t worry dude," replied Lizard. "We’ve gotten out of worse jams than this. Just keep him talking and we’ll figure something out." He turned his attention to his own ropes, only barely listening to the villain speaking in the background.

"And once the spinning has finished, it disposes of your useless corpses automatically." Thunder finished with a flourish, his arms raised in triumph.

"You’re mad," said Gecko venomously.

"Deliciously so," replied Thunder, a grin on his face. Turning to his assistant, he said, "Straw..." only to be cut off by the young man.

"I think we have a situation here," said Straw Daq, his brow furrowed in concern. "You should come take a look at this."

Irritated, Thunder stalked over to the controls to look where Straw was indicating. He watched in silence for a moment, his eyes narrowed in concentration. "I see," he said. Looking at his captives, he pondered for a moment. "I’m sorry to leave you, well, alive, but I am afraid that I have other business that requires my attention." He strode towards the stairs. "Kill them," he said over his shoulder.

"Okay," replied Straw as he casually pressed the button that activated the device, listening with a critical ear as it powered up. Last time they had used it there had been some mechanical issues. This time he wanted it to work perfectly.

Fools of us All - Chapter 5

“Anything on your board?” Dar leaned over to see my screen.

“Nah,” I said, closing what I had been looking at. “I thought we had some noise coming from the federal police, but they’re grasping at straws. They have nothing.” I leaned back in my chair, working my stiff neck. “I’m a little surprised…ooh.”

Dar had reached over and was massaging my neck. “You need to relax more,” he said. “You get so tense.”

I smiled. “This is important stuff. There’s no time to relax.”

With a laugh that seemed oddly forced, Dar said, “You should always take time for rest when you can. You won’t always have the time.”

Before I could think of anything to say, the sound of a throat being cleared came from behind us. Dar’s hand quickly dropped as we turned in our chairs.

“Comfy?” said Dun.

“Uh, yes?” I replied, glancing over at Dar who was smiling sheepishly as he turned back to his computer. His smile faded quickly, replaced by an almost guilty look.

“Are you busy?” Dun’s tone indicated that I was not busy.

“I think I’m done here for now,” I said, looking over at Dar one last time.

Dun nodded and then motioned for me to follow him. We walked down a small corridor, one that barely allowed his broad shoulders to pass, and entered his office, a cramped room with a desk and two chairs. He sat down heavily and waited for me to do the same. For a moment there was silence as he regarded me with a critical eye, as though he were sizing me up for something. The feeling was vaguely creepy and I was startled when he spoke. "Caz, why are you here?"

There were many questions I had been half-expecting, but none of them had been along these lines. "You wanted me to come with you," I replied, unsure of what he meant.

His laugh was short and without mirth. "Funny. I mean, why are you with the organisation?" It had been a month, and I had yet to hear anyone call it anything but the organisation."

Well," I started slowly, "as you know I was at that meeting last month, and I found myself agreeing with everything that was being said. The corporations taking over the governments was bad enough. But now they are trying to do away with the government altogether and merge into one large intercontinental country just seems wrong. I want to do my bit to help and let people know the truth." I was feeling pretty good about that goal too. I had been part of the crew that had hijacked the newswave broadcast, sending out what the officials called 'harmful propaganda', but which really was truth. It turns out that my skills in communication technologies weren't completely useless after all. Briefly I wondered why Dun seemed so uneasy.

I didn't have to wonder long. "Listen, Caz, there's something you have to know." He paused and picked up a sheet of paper in front of him, studying it carefully. I waited in silence, finding it odd when he muttered "I told them she wasn't ready yet," under his breath. Finally he raised his head. "We've been watching you for some time now, longer than a month. We think that you are going to be the key to a problem that has been brewing for some time now. I need you to trust me and to listen closely. I don't think you are going to like what I have to say, but I promise you, it is all true."

Forty minutes later, he left the office. I sat there for most of the night before I got up and ran out the door. This changed everything.

Thunderfunk the Superchicken - Chapter 4

Oh So Close

Gecko crawled along the side of the tunnel, his eyes focussed on the terrain around him. The light was quite dim, but his eyes were able to see well in the dark. He glanced down at Frog who was running along cautiously, followed closely by Newt and Lizard. Chameleon was on the opposite wall. He had one eye on the path in front of them and the other was looking at a readout on the lense he had in front of it. Suddenly he stopped. Gecko motioned for the others to stop as well and together they stood in the tunnel, waiting for Chameleon to let them know what was bothering him.

"I’m getting a reading," he said. "I don’t like the looks of this. It seems pretty bad." Suddenly he disappeared. The others stood still, but no sound came from the wall. After a minute of nothing they began looking at each other, questioning looks on their faces.

Gecko leapt to the ground, landing lightly beside the Lizard. "Was he supposed to do that?" he asked.

Lizard shrugged. "You know, I’ve never quite been able to get a fix on his camouflage powers. Does he control them or do they just kick in at random times?"

Newt scampered over. "I think it’s involuntary, changing due to physical and psychological changes in his mind and actually has little to do with his surroundings."

"Ah." Silence fell over the group again as they sat and waited for him to reappear. "Sure comes in handy sometimes, though, doesn’t it?"

"Oh yeah," nodded Newt. "Totally."

Suddenly there was a thud behind them and Chameleon appeared on the ground, looking sheepish. "Sorry guys. I guess I turned invisible for a second there, didn’t I?"

"Yeah. Any particular reason?" Gecko raised his eyebrows.

"Reason? Right. There’s a few security devices up ahead, and they’re kind of scary."

"Oh come on. What could be scary to five men who have been mystically granted reptilian powers?"

"I don’t know," shrugged Chameleon. "That?" He pointed past Frog, down the tunnel.

The others turned to see a group of robots rolling down the tunnel brandishing a variety of sharp objects, as well as their own sources of illumination, making the tunnel as bright as a cloudless summer day. Of course, the light happened to be in the form of fire, so it was not all good news.

"Awright," said Frog brightly. "Finally something I can smash." In an instant he had waded into the oncoming robots, kicking them with his powerful legs and smashing them with his less powerful yet still impressive fists, laughing as he did. "This ain’t so bad." Seconds later Gecko ducked as his companion was hurtled over their heads.

The onslaught came furiously after that. Newt found himself surrounded, but he reached into his pack and pulled out a bottle of water, which he opened and sprayed around liberally, soaking the robots. They were waterproof, of course, but, having been programmed by the evil genius, Thunderfunk the Superchicken, they stopped for a moment to laugh evilly. That gave Newt time to move in close and disassemble their arms and remove their wheels, leaving them immobile and unarmed. He then kicked them all to pieces.

Lizard smiled as a group of robots charged him. Leaping gracefully over them, he then used his razor-sharp claws to cut through their armour on the back, exposing vital components, components he proceeded to rip out gleefully, listening as the robots screamed in what sounded suspiciously like agony.

With a wordless yell, Frog waded back into the fray, swinging and kicking with abandon, sending robot parts flying in every direction.

Gecko ran between groups of robots, causing them to shoot themselves as they tried to target him. Within minutes of the fight beginning, the robots all lay on the ground in pieces, except for one. It looked down at bodies of its comrades and then it looked at the circle of heroes closing in on it. "Ah crud," it said and then it self-destructed, sending its limbs flying.

"Good work people," said Gecko, looking around at the group. Something caught his attention. "Has anyone seen Chameleon?"

Slowly Chameleon became visible again, gripping the wall beside them. "Sorry guys. I turned invisible again. There was nothing I could do." He shrugged.

"No worries old chum," said Gecko. "Now, let’s go take care of some garbage." The others all yelled their agreement and charged down the tunnel.

Ten feet later they found themselves falling into an unnoticed hole. "Well this sucks," said Gecko. He watched as a young man standing at the top of the hole puled out a pin from the grenade he was holding and dropped it (the grenade, not the pin) into the hole. It fell silently, bouncing off of Frog’s head to landing beside him. Before he could react, it cracked itself open in the middle, and with a puffing sound, released a cloud of smoke. "Ah," said Gecko. "Knock out gas." With that, he slept.


Straw looked down in the hole. One, two, three, four...one was missing. Sighing, he reached up and grabbed Chameleon, who was still standing on the wall, having turned invisible again. The hero smiled sheepishly as he regained visibility. "Heh, sorry," he said apologetically. "I suppose you want me in the hole?"

"Yeah, that’d be helpful," replied Straw. "Take this with you." Taking another knock out gas grenade from his belt, he pulled the pin and handed it to Chameleon before dropping him in the hole. Another puff came from the hole and Chameleon was asleep too. "All right boss, they’re in the hole. I’m bringing them in now."

"Excellent. Remember, put them in the device, but not the device."

"Roger that." Straw sighed again. Why did every super hero group have to have a big tough guy in it? Why could they not all be like Newt. And there were no robots left to help him carry anyone. Rolling up his sleeves he leapt lightly into the hole, ready to put them in the device.

Fools of us All - Chapter 4

We arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes later. I slid to a halt in the emergency lane, jumping out even as the car rocked on its springs. “Wait here,” I shouted over my shoulder at Cindy as I ran into the building to get help. Minutes later two pairs of nurses were following me to my car, each pair pushing a bed. Moving quickly and efficiently they had the two injured parties on the gurneys and were taking them back inside, already examining them as they went. Cindy and I followed as far as they would allow us. We stood helplessly for a moment, unsure of what to do.

“Oh my, look at you two.” A friendly, motherly sounding voice came from the left. We turned to see a smiling, matronly doctor standing nearby. “Come here and let me look at your wounds.”

Still in a half daze, I moved my hand to my head and noticed for the first time that I was bleeding. I glanced at Cindy and saw that she had a few scrapes of her own. Meekly we submitted to being prodded and examined until the doctor gave us a clean bill of health. “That’s an amazing story,” she said after we had explained everything that had occurred. “You take care now. After something like that you’ll want some rest.”

“When can we see Gerry?” Cindy was physically okay, but she had been shaken up rather badly by the experience. “Is he going to be okay?”

Talking soothingly to Cindy, the doctor led us back to waiting room, promising to check on Gerry and let us know. After she left I sat for a while with Cindy until she fell asleep, using her jacket as a blanket.

Suddenly unable to sit still any longer I stood up and went for a walk. I prowled around, finding a cafeteria. I did not feel hungry, though, just restless, so I continued to wander, eventually finding myself sitting in a stairwell. Nervously I pulled out the orb that I had taken from the mystery woman. It had stopped glowing, but it was still slightly warm. About the size of a softball, it seemed to be made out of smoky glass, leaving it opaque, as though its secrets were locked just beneath the surface. It was extremely smooth, completely devoid of any nicks or gouges. And though it may have been about the size of a softball, it was considerably heavier. I peered closely at the object, wondering what its significance was.

A scuffing noise above me startled me and I realised as I put the orb back in my pocket that I had been hunched over, my nose practically touching it. I looked up and saw someone’s hand on the railing a few stories above my head. Not wanting to be found here and questioned, I quickly exited the stairwell and found my way back to the waiting room.

Cindy was still asleep. I envied her for that.