Seth sat at his cubicle staring at his computers screen saver bouncing around at the corners. A rapidly changing globe that swapped between whatever RGB setting was on the docket. Something flat out of the early eighties but he didn’t bother trying to change or make something better.
He had work he should be doing, plenty of it that was just stacking higher and higher on his plate but after yesterday night he had bigger things to focus on. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the gem and stared at it. It was like a marble except more. It fit in the palm of his hand, easily an inch in diameter, even came with its own line of string along the ends.
It had some mild weight to it but just feeling it against his skin like this, he felt the power that radiated from within it. Waves and waves of it that were just begging to be used. He imagined just powering up in the middle of the office and maybe throwing his boss out the window.
The thought of that made him laugh and it was truly wishful thinking. He could just imagine punching him out of his office chair and through the window.
“Yeah that’d be worth it.”
Looping the stone through his belt loop he spun around for a moment trying to remember that place. He’d just fallen asleep and he was just walking through the darkness. No ceremony or even a true transition. Suddenly he was just there and knew he had to be walking.
Raising the stone to the sky he looked at it through the buzzing overhead lights. He colored the aggressive fluorescent lights through this alien stone and yet they didn’t get any easier to tolerate. Tapping his keyboard, he blinked back into the dozen or so emails that he was neglecting and groaned.
“Come on now. I don’t want to do any of this.”
“Yo Seth! How you doing buddy?”
Seth glanced up from his not work and spun slowly to look at Jeff who had both his thumbs up and grinning. Seth sighed and pushed back in the chair to stare at him. The fact that the office was as packed as it was despite yesterday’s events was a shock to Seth. He expected way more people to have called off. Granted he almost called off as well but he needed the money.
“I’m doing alright. Better than yesterday at least.”
“Great! That’s great. Had me worried there,” Jeff stepped into his cubicle and leaned against one of the walls. “Just got off a long freaking call. I need a lunch break. You in? Especially after yesterday.”
“Yeah tell me about it,” Seth sighed thinking for a moment then nodded. “And sure. I ain’t doing anything worth committing to right now. I could use some space from the office.”
“Right on,” he fist pumped and backed out giving Seth space so that they could leave together. They hit the elevator and Jeff hit the button for the bottom floor and started bouncing on his heels. Seth did his best to ignore him but it wasn’t working
“Now I know you’re like a hermit. You don’t get out much. People probably make you itch and break out into hives.”
Seth let out an exasperated sigh and motioned with his hands, “Get to the point Jeff.”
“Right. The stuff that’s been going on in the city. With the explosions, and the gas leaks and the pipe breaking.”
“Yeah cities falling apart. Needs more maintenance. Or more tax dollars to steal from us.”
Jeff let out a defeated sigh as they got to the first floor and he waved his hands. “Come on Seth you don’t believe that stuff that they’re feeding us? You gotta at least have went to twitter or something. Seen the phone videos.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked pretending to not know.
“Come on don’t do that usual disdain I hate everything thing. This is real cool shit!”
As they walked out onto the street Seth yawned and motioned with his hand, “Yeah I heard some wild stuff. Like robots and people in costumes.”
Jeff walked in front of him, turning around and moving backwards throwing his hands into the air. “Real! Shit! Like costumes! And robots! The thing in the mall! A bunch of people saw it and it’s all over the internet. Like no one is owning up to it but so many people saw it happen. It’s more than the train thing or the one down on 35th street. But also come on. Three things happening in one day?”
Seth shrugged, “Seems crazy. All this wild stuff happening in the middle of the day. Feels like the end times if you ask me.”
“I hope not. I wanna see some action for myself.”
“You’re insane you know that right?”
“Oh come on. Cool stuff happens and you just want to stay in your cubicle.”
“You sound like a kid.”
“Don’t get me started on the kids,” he said resting his hand over his head. “The kids love it. But the Mrs. doesn’t. Says they don’t understand that ramifications of the danger but they think they’re super heroes.”
“Whoa what’s that?” Seth asked holding his hand up. “You almost sounded like a real adult there. I mean I know you’re parroting your wife but still.”
Jeff pretended to make a face and be hurt, “I understand all the problems and damage that’s actually happened because of these ‘attacks’. My wife makes sure that I know all of that. Buuut It wouldn’t be awful to have some good guys running around. Even if they’re aliens.”
“Alien now? Where’d that theory come from?”
“There’s so many theories. There’s the alien theory which is my personal favorite. Like the rest of these are way too damn wild too be anything else.”
“You can’t just leave me on a cliff hanger. Remember I live in a cave in my cubicle.”
“Well there’s the government one. The AI they’ve been working on finally went rogue and they deployed people in like mech suits to take them down and retreat. It’s why no one can get good footage of them. The government is keeping it under wraps.”
“You’re serious? That sounds worse than the alien theory. “
Jeff made a noise and threw up his hands. “You’ve gotta loosen up buddy.”
Seth waved him away. “So what’s this cheap shit you’re treating me too?”
Jeff laughed and clapped him on the back. “It’s this great sushi joint. Trust me. You won’t know what hit you.”
“That’s what I’m scared of,” he added.
The Harlequin Library 