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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgOjQmtDuy
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYXydVp7U6
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4P6kDKs1rR
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyD5CWlaz2
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8p6lf6yAGd
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Don’t worry. No cameras here. Viggo says spinning his keys and enters the foyer.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hTzvO1sk5
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDbtvgo2YL
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs53DOc5EVY
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Kirby goes pink in the face. He drops his luggage, freeing up his hands.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmgFgNoFw3
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I walk … the way I walk.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKUucgAuDWz
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Viggo’s orange eyes close as he refrains from an eye-roll, “Oh.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyd4jaI6aVc
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That’s the hallway to my study. Off-limits.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWaNmz7lE4H
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3XbfHpcyh
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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?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LUUMm7CXt
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Club room, says Viggo. Off-limits.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0Hp67D6vl
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5kM2dYIaF
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1MQM0017o
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU18Fa7dbdz
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWN0K75QKX
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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?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZQZMdEWYI
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKItUVdQ3Q
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The other side of the sky.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOo12gYckb
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2NaFLdwVBP
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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!719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplJBhyE5Mw
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Kirby squints. I see now. Is this my competition?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuMhlgVHYKh
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But I don’t want him to be competition.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNlwlhZzfI
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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… 719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DvnHLTtld
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Why remind me? Viggo pinches the bridge of his nose.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVKnMJ7jdD
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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…719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRefcPlYKmr
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Viggo’s face goes blank so Kirby hurries. But of course, along comes a train.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfvdelQHE9
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJ8CWWBnvz
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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. 719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoxb3T5pzq
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The river was too far down and too shallow that a jump would mean fatal.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEKKMAphUl
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZKOljadLL
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I was trying to say “Train!” Viggo pounds the counter several times. “Train!”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJtUI8w8xm
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You said “Sit! Sit!” They laugh harder.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiD5u4rVgwZ
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmk3tXJCADR
719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDbxC1EZOM
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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjo2Q2vgZcL
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Don’t feel free to look around. Your dinner might get cold.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xvOND5fAF
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Whatever you say. Kirby walks down the east wing. So much for bonding.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7dHS5Ku4v
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuZ7QETzhG
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34Zs9uAN5m
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kbto6v9Da
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllvNFKIRrF
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XgxtOVOKG
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Nah. Nothing. Just the fans. What’s worse, he’s lost sight of the living room.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4K1hTQU6I
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSdpCBnYqd
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The corridor rumbles with a suspenseful chord heralding another villain or doomsday coming next week. Dun, dun, dun!719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZ4t0n3bmN
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One square of the ceiling zapped to jumping static beans. Kirby’s heart does a skip.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsf51F5jrut
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Bzzt. His phone vibrates.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21uV8iTgjx
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It’s another text from that private number.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZ8h6t62Xu
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He asked Chance Gott an hour ago how he found his number.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFokVrpDsJU
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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. 719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4aZZFw4A7g
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5sD26MCJF
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdjKNSrJQM
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Bzzt. That was fast. You’re lost in a house?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBcNJwJ6gLR
Bzzt. Use your nose.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLl9vo840F
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBaleiZMt2
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Is someone there?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH28t3NEYVO
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhBhq5uX6P
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He rolls his shoulders to take the edge off and checks the phone.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtJBMko9h2
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Chance says: Lol! We’re men, we both should know something about architecture.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZyTKQzGQ0
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSXEcXjjDL
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I see your point. I’m new here as well.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUdFr01aoXU
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMLzTRvB7W
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He texts Chance a question that’s bothered him for a while. Do you know what happened with that jet?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9slxoPBzBT
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFqF0qVVZC
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡix6KiTzabz
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFSnTmkCq4
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAPXEcmxDu
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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.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsoi2LzxPY
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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.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0jRgce9u7
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xrGCYujRP
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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.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSx7HQVQABA
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nKvANmhyL
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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.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptuaKJ3veH
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOOvvKiAfx
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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.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfZYqiZ4mK
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2o6sOFqQH
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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.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFi6Vx5bLE
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpi4ISaRUc
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Sorry. First day on the job. What do you want to know... stud muffin? 719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoVm3TyVuV
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He blinks, smiling but faltering. Is this really Chance?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwnFJW2YoR
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Cute. :) That is all Kirby can think of to text back.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZV4QQzDeO
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Ah, sounds like you got a girlfriend? Or boyfriend? :( 719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFU8XD8cEXS
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1H6R4RvWId
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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?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljRNCLRECD
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0iENNyAhR
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUwOebawqQ
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He’ll just have to arrange to meet, so he can stop wondering. But for now…719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHSUsEiuvb
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Kirby texts: Was the jet hacked? Do they know who did it?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtE0yxZPGod
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07dC2a1csV
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A carry-on. Was this a suicide bomber? 719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARIlUVoGBt
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He waits for a reply.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4B4ISuOowE
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquJJ329USz
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That smells like weed.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7UJS8OCZq
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Kirby blinks. It is. Want some?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EHgiPJRDS
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMRI9cA718
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It hits him. I’m starving! Kirby grabs it and chows down.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ONDs58j7d
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What are you watching? His brother looks at the wall and goes pale.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPGtsy8JZW
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That strikes Kirby odd since Iris just got here. You know her, Viggo?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qpDrFrWU5
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He snarls before composing himself. We dated.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPdgMUkGEF
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Kirby doesn’t react other than: I see.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTxeTkbAIJ
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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… ”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1Id1BllWM
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Kirby and Viggo stare, hanging on every word. “Dr. Taylor.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFa5ng5wy3X
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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.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoX11BXaHr
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The Hayes brothers stare ahead.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXUufrvTzZ
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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.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnTHxc6N9X
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“Oh shit,” says Viggo. Chills trickle down Kirby’s spine. But there’s no time for that.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEOxsbMeJP
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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?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiNugzZpxD
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Kirby nods but that’s not enough.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPk4At7771
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No! Say it to me. 719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2yzWUnPKM
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Kirby says: ‘I have no comment at this time.’719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0ZXSl0Dr7
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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?719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXIwKm6urg
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Kirby nods, having a hard time following. It’s too dark to see.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9quBKDPtq
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Viggo grabs his wrist. Okay?!719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1DA24L1j3
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfN31NtRIVX
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A crazy smile ignites on Viggo’s face. He looks excited.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vZLJfDtyf
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The murmurs are restless.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTfkfMPoQr
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4EaMivijg
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They talk, talk, talk. All about Dr. Taylor.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0Cz0A9vdf
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5flu3xo80
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Two rivers of black ink stain the mask, streamed down from eye squints.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7tYxNicgl
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxrk35BK6W
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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... ”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFShkQGnOKP
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjntUMY7xN
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“‘God help me,’” reads the reporter with a flat face.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhjsI7AdUz
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“No, with feeling, idiot. It’s ‘GOD!! HELP ME!! This can’t BE my life.’”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY334Mb8h1w
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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." 719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVg4VBkgWQ6
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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?”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRocLHfrBY
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The Spook turns off the music then claps. “Don’t quit your day job.”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1eUmyXNSC
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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.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisQ8NuUUUf
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Halfway down twenty floors, the Spook remembers something and halts, hanging from one hand.719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsGp865G1e
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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…”719Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidGF8BLVwG
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#dayone :(
THE SPOOK IS SAD
Jack Steele Adams
ns216.73.216.8da2
