Is it recording?...
Larry, or whoever watches this - the little timer isn't working on this camera. My watch says... 14:21 and, oh, make it thirty seconds. Mark.
Anyway, for the record, I'm Dr. Sherilyn Washington, head of IDAC-2, in Berwyn. I've just issued a Brown Alert. Brown.
We're in Extraction Lab B. With me is Susan Hoeksma, our microbiologist, and James Aurelio, research tech. I am going on the supposition that the faxes I sent did get to you. I'll get the purchase orders on their way.
I'm going to need a new irradiator. The lightning caused a power surge at - hey, James -
Yeah?
I forgot the stopwatch. What's it read now?
Uh... 8:15.
So... nine, ten - let's mark the surge at... at 14:12:30, tentative. What happened to all the fancy hardware, Larry? The electrical engineer from headquarters said we'd be all set. Well, let's take that up later. The deal is, we aren't even sure what kind of harmonics hit the batches that were in our little oven, but something's going on here. I'll try to keep it in plain English...
You know we're working with dead cultures here. Just ruling out a long-shot possibility of a topical vaccine, of sorts, for some degenerative basal syndromes. Our, uh, subject is a virus that shares a few characteristics with one of the so-called "flesh-eating bacteria". Not oxidation, but some other physical affinity for lipids produced by the epitheli- Dammit, sorry. All the gory details are spelled out in the faxes I sent to Bio Containment and Corporate Safety.
So... this is Batch 5864 - wait, is this a one, Sue?
Uh - a seven. Sorry.
Batch 586473. These were completely dead virii, Larry... even before we nuked 'em. As per protocol. We think the power surge caused the irradiator to... energize the tau-gamma partic-
Inglés, Lynn.
Right. Uh... we're not positive, this'll have to be confirmed elsewhere, but we're thinking we nuked these cultures with a... uh, kind of radiation we didn't think the machine was capable of generating. The power surge, Larry.
And we don't know what the frequency range of the radiation was.
We started unloading the irradiator. These are the two other batches that were in there. This is 586484, and here... we have 586465. They are, you could say, toasted. The batch ending with 84 was on the top... 65, here, was on the bottom. 71 was in the middle, so it was not directly over or under an emitter array, and it took less of a hit.
James was the first one to open the door, and we all noticed a peculiar smell... Uh... Cloying. The culture medium smells like dead fish when it heats up past a certain temperature, and this new smell was stronger yet. Rotting flowers?
Sugary -
Yeah. New to me. Unfamiliar. He pulled out the 84 rack. It was just as you see it here.
And here, again, is 73. I know you can see it, but just so it's on the audio... the lids of... six of the twelve petri dishes have popped off. James has been at this awhile, so I'm just going to go ahead and rule out procedural error.
The six that stayed sealed... those are pure controls. The only difference between those six, and these six, is methyl- ah... dye. Essentially, it's just an ultraviolet dye for making cell membranes easier to... see through... at high magnification. Totally inert. Later we would've been, uh, altering 'em.
The moisture levels in all twelve dishes had to be damn near identical. But the six with the dye, they popped open, Larry. The smell. We've got a breach in here. If the power surge hadn't happened I wouldn't even be bothering you with this... this petri dish thing, it isn't supposed to be possible. Probably a simple exothermic reaction, but I have my orders...
14:28:15. We're all still doing fine. I'm feeling stupid about calling out the troops, but they pay me to be paranoid at times like this, right? I want to convince myself it was just simple overheating that blew those dishes open. Like putting 'em in a beefed-up microwave, zap and you've converted the liquid to energized steam in a couple of seconds.
Except I've never heard of that happening, and James hasn't either. The irradiator is a slow-cooker. Trickling hard radiation. Like a mist of tau waves. Maybe the dishes were bad, I don't know... poorly fitting lids.
Let's just rule out any airborne, uh, contaminants. All the monitors are still on zero, right, Sue?
Okey-dokey.
So maybe we lucked ou-
James, are you all right?
Uh. Yeah. It's nothing.
Talk to me.
Just a tingling. Odd. My hands, face, now it's... spreading -
You're pale. Sue, call EMS. Internal, not 911. Let's get you a chair, James, bef-
Hold on, just give me a min- Shit! Did you... feel that?
No. Feel what?
It was - man, I coulda sworn something... sorta rushed by. Is there a draft, or something?
Mmmm... no. C'mon, let's... go to the break room. Sue, what's the word?
I... can't get anything.
What?
The phones. Busy signal, no matter what I do.
Wha- The surge. Okay. Use the intercom.
How could that just suddenly stop working? We used the intercom earlier -
I know, it's just dead now.
This is just gr- Okay. Fourteen... thirty-two, about twenty minutes since the surge. James, what's the scoop?
It's weird. I feel cold, and just... weird. This is a new sensation.
Pulse is strong, about 90. Good color in his nail beds and lips. Respiration... 30, and unobstructed. That's a very good thing, James. Rules out a whole host of serious problems. I don't have a BP cuff in here. Oh - Sue and I moved to our break room, next to the lab. Used to be for observation, so we can look, there. Nothing has changed in the lab.
Here's some water.
Thanks, Sue.
More of a concern... He went from a general pallor to ruddy - there. His neck. It's definitely pinking up.
Monoxide?
No, you're not showing it. Am I?
No. There's some other agents, metallic alkakoids, but we don't have 'em in the lab.
Could they work that fast?
I don't see how -
Whoa.
Hang in there, James... Sue, try the phone again. Hopefully the reboot is finished. And the intercom -
Wha- There it is again! A breeze - or like something... moving, real fast.
Maybe the air scrubber is fried, too. C'mon, let's stay calm.
My big concern, even though it's not even remotely possible, is that it's quite a coincidence. We nuked dead virii that are partial to skin oil, and now James has -
Lynn - oh wow -
What? Talk -
It's - fast! Cold. Up... arms, and down, my legs -
Nothing can move that fast, James. Psychosomatic.
Tell it to my nuts - oh, sorry -
Or CNS, Lynn.
Not fast enough for nerve signals, though, is it?
No. Is it hypersensitive?
Let's find out. Get the isopropyl and some swabs...
Alright. Just making very light conta- holy shit!
What, James? What?
Like oil... spreading. You know, a drop of oil in a pan of water, spreading out? The... It feels like something's laying there, all over me, and when the swab touched it fled away, in a circle. Like the oil, in water? You with me?
I think so -
Then it came back, but slower.
Is that spot - can you feel the alcohol?
N- no.
So the alcohol didn't -
No. Didn't bother... it, I'd say.
It?
There is no it. No them. Dead virii don't c-
Whoa! You see that?
How -
I don't know! It just flew over to me.
What... say, what happened just before that? Did the camera get that?
I didn't do anything! I was - no, that doesn't -
What? Say it, James, anything could be important.
It's crazy. I think, right before my coat... floated over here, I was thinking I might want it -
Are you cold?
Uh. No... I thought about a cigarette.
Wha - go on.
Well... they're in my coat.
Now we've got to stay calm. Sue, go try the damn intercom again!
But I know better, and I never smoked in here. You guys would narc- what the hell!? Hey!
Lynn! Why - where are you g-
No - let go of me! James, stay calm -
Don't - go. Oh man, oh man...
What? Oh. Right... This here's Aurelio, in the lab. I have no idea what time it is. Lynn and Sue are in the break room. I'm stuck in there. They're trying to get the lab door open. She yelled... said, go on, keep talking, the red light's still on so we're still taping, right?
I'm tripping. This is impossible. Gotta be dreaming this. It's like there's... sand. No, not rough. I don't know. I feel like... I've been dipped in something, and it's - oh -
Maybe it's not from the irradiator, but I feel... like something's crawling all over me. Oh, fuck. Of course it's from the ir-
No. Way. I hope... you're getting this, on the tape. I'm swear I'm not touching it, we didn't rig this - that's my jacket, and... it's just floating - shit! Those are my smokes. I - this is unbelievable. I was thinking about 'em, again. Sorta wanting one. And here they come. Magic. Hello. It seemed like I wasn't - am I dreaming this?
Huh. Well, I'll be a son of a bitch. You seeing this? Lynn's watching, through the glass. Locked in the lab, and I'm basically afraid to move. Wha - oh. Keep going, Lynn's saying. Keep describing it. Maybe I'm just... delusional, but I'm thinking of weird stuff. Questions and then answers. It's like I'm communicating with somebody. Out of nowhere, stuff I wasn't thinking about at all -
There. Lynn! See that? A cigarette came out of the pack. Just slid out - the pack's dropping - Crazy, this is n-
Unngh. Nnoo-
OW! Unnnh. What's...
Too much. There's too much happening, too fast. Gotta figure this out. I felt weird, skin all crawly, and wanted a smoke, and then my jacket came flyin' over. And I pictured what Lynn would do if I lit up, and it looked like she was dragged away from the window. She and Susan, they're still in the breakroom. I -
What the fuck. I'm...
Ahh. Oh, this is insane.
What? Keep going? Uh - keep talking. I think that's what she wants...
I'm smokin'. In the lab. Wow. Fuck, I thought, no, and I wasn't... and then there was this... poke, inside my head. Low. Brainstem. Hurt like hell. And it went away, and I was real calm... On the floor, but... comfortable. And I took the cigarette, and got out my lighter. And lit up. I'm smokin'.
Didn't have any choice! It was like a radio sig- no, that's not right. Something - a subprogram? Fuck if I know. All without words, too. I... wished for a cig, me. They were... fetched. And I sorta heard the question, so now what. Demonstrate. I pictured... lighting one. Oh, go ahead. No, no way. Then, the pain. And then I just - did it.
I'm real relaxed now. Look, my hands, they're not shaking at all. I'm tryin' to stop 'em, or get up and get the fuck outa here. I should feel scared or something, right? But I can't seem to do it. And this is like the best cigarette I've ever had. If I didn't know better - it's like somebody is... kicking up the endorphins. Positive reinforcement, oh shit! Lynn, I'm babbling, you gotta get some help...
What?
That... was weird. Some - more questions. Inside. No-
It's - I swear, something's tapping my brain. This is bad.
Thinking... Whoa! How about that. I'm getting read, like a book. I don't even know what-all I'm... revealing. But what little I'm picking up on - oh fuck, this is... unreal.
I'd have to say there's something really - learning.
Endorphins. Positive desirable enjoyable...
Pleasure?
Well, I must have gone over the edge, somewhere. You guys, you get the intercom working yet? No?
Send the guys in the little white coats, I'm enjoying a psychotic break. Another smoke - well, sure, of course. Don't mind if I do. Hee heeee...
Fortunately, or unfortunately, I only have a couple cigarettes lef-
Oh. Well. Let's at least get all of my insanity out on tape. It feels pretty good, though. Aaah hah haaaa... Rhah. While I can talk, let me just say I know how to put the lid on a fuckin' petri dish. It's been like years since I - Ow!... Whew. Now I know what a... card catalog feels like. Or a database. Happening way too fast to describe. Where was I? Shit...
I've used that irradiator a hundred times. Nothing like this has ever happened. Ten-minute cycle, five-thousandths a minute. Nothing, that's piddly-squat. Piddly-squat! Hah ha ho hoooo. I happened to look right at it, after the surge, just after - there was a burst of light. Rainbow, very quick, mostly dark colors. Never seen that befo-
Collective unconscious. Lynn! Aw, she can't hear me. I don't know what that means, collective unconscious. It isn't exactly the ri- There's a virus, alright! Frankenstein shit. There's all these... Damn. It can... communicate. So much - I can't get it all, too much too fast -
Reproduction. Sex, it's fascinated - Oh. With enough energy. Ah. Replicate. Subdivide and conquer, can do, they can do tha-
It. Pronoun... of preference. It's an it. Oh, fuck, hah haaah hah haaa-aaaa...
My last smoke. Yup. Oh yeah, that's good. Better yet... This is weird, but I just got "read", cigarette brands, ads, something like cultural associations? And I've been told I'm buyin'... what? Luckies. From now on. Nonfil- yup. All the little steps involved, I see 'em clear as day. Going to Emilio's on the corner, watching him pulling a carton out of the rack and slam it down - Ow!
Fuck-in' A. I've been... rewired. That went from a thought, to a - fuck, I don't know. Multilevel. Oh, shit, I can't wait. Lemme say it - thanks. I think. Little shits. I gotta habit now like I... oh, wow, a need crutch history appetite way. Lifestyle. This is crazy. Hardwired. Like a chimney, oh shit -
Four?
Suddenly I'm, uh, workin' up to a four-pack-a-day habit. Luckies. 'Cause I like 'em, oh mutherfuck...
It's quiet. My skin's... feelin' too good. Alive.
I better talk, while I can. I guess maybe forty-five minutes since it... got ahold of me. Help isn't here yet. I'm just about done with this smoke, last one 'til I get ahold of some Luckies, oh yeah, and I got a real bad feeling... Don't know what.
Sue and Lynn are fine. Still can't break in here. I'm really stuck. This virus, this thing, it's on me, and in my head. And it's outside of me, too, somehow - remember my jacket moving? This thing's in the room too - oh, now what?
Time for... what?
You see? I'm not doing that. The whole tripod, moving... N- There. There's a classic example. It's got the camera, bringing it in closer. Dragging the tripod. Magic, more magic. What's this thing, I hear in my head - or feel it like a question - and before I know it I've thought an answer. So how does it come off these three legs... And by the time I realized I had pictured the mounting screw, in my head, it was already loosening.
I'm not doing this. No explanation at all. None is coming to me. Time for that later...
It's - Mmmm. Smoke, good. Hee hee heh. That's it, all gone. Lynn, where's the fuckin' cavalry he-
I - I'm lying back. It's making me. From the inside, in me, making me lie d-
Here comes the camera. I wonder w-
Aaaaahh! No Nnnnnnnoooowheeeeee hee heeee heeeee! St- st-
S- son of a bitch! Tickling me! On my sk- Right close, like a coat of paint. All over m-
I just had a bunch of thoughts. They - ow! It, right... it's figured out... all about pleasure. Some kind of diagram... Axions, I think. Nerve paths. Pleasure-awareness, too, I guess like states of mind. B-
I'm tryin' to -
Choice. It doesn't... wanna hear about that. I don't want this shit - it doesn't care. Yeah yeah yeah. Forget it - it's -
Oh shit!
Get that camera outa here! Oh, I can't believe this. There's like... little feathers, all over. I can't laugh. I can't laugh! I want to. Wouldn't be anywhere near enough. Oh, fuck. This is unbelievable.
I'm... Dammit, I just pissed my pants. I can talk, I can't laugh, and there's the most m-m-mind-blowing sen- sensation. Unnh. Oh. Lettin' me talk. Making me tell ya, for the camera. Lynn, oh Lynn you gotta do something, this is too much, this i-
Head. To toe. I can't believe I can - speak, I wanna fuckin' howl so bad. Thought I was gonna pass out. It's that insane. Please. Aw. No? It said no. I am gonna... co-
Not yet? Not yet? This is the worst... I've never imagined this much... mmmmmmm pleasure... feverish, too vivid. If it f- yep. Yeah, it's crankin' out endorphins. Too. On top of...
Outside. I mean, the sensation, it's all... external. Like I said, a coat of paint or something. Definitely not inside. On me. I can't wipe it off. Press hard on my ribs to stop it - stop it! No good. In my fuckin' shoes. My asshole. This is extraordinary...
My... arm. It's got me. See it? I'm not doing that. Moving my arm. Feels like a ring, metallic. Wrist. My right arm is stretched out, and it's not the fuckin' body-scrubbers. And it's not the thing in my head. Something else. Inside, close outside, farther -
Can I - good. I'm moving my fingers. Oh, right, so the fuckin' camera goes in for a good shot of that. Hel-lo. My arm is held down at the wrist, only. Snug. And - and - there's nothing there.
Wha -
There goes... my other arm. Same thing. Metal band, not too tight. I can't budge 'em. Why does it want my arms out li-
No. No!
M - my legs. There they go, straight out. That's from inside, though. Weird shit. Just like I watched myself smoke all my cigarettes, as if it were my idea - and it wasn't, Lynn, I mean I know better but my body just went ahead and did it anyway. My legs, no invisible cuffs needed there... Just calm and relaxed, and they laid right out there against my will. All the nerves are workin' - head to toe - I've never felt more... alive -
Oh fuck, it's gonna ti-
No! Aw, no. My shirt. Something's unbuttoning my shirt. This isn't possible! But look! It doesn't matter, it just doesn't - there's already feathers, microscopic - side by side, everywhere. I wanna pass out, please, just lemme me go out, you don't need me, anybody, check the nerves but let me pass out. Please. This is tor-
Research? Aw, hell, it's more than that. Happy, the fucker's happy, it wants to see me real happy. Enjoying this...
Oh. Oh...
Swamped. I think it's gonna let me laaaAAHH hah haaaaah haah whaaaaaAAAWHOOOoo hoo hooooo hooooooo whaaaaaeeeee heee heee heee heee heeeeee...
16:51:30...
We got into the lab. Apparently, the camera was turned off. No reason to tape any more of James'... distress, perhaps.
Oh damn, oh fuck - Lynn, is that you Lynn? Aw fuck...
Easy, James, I'm here now. He's unharmed. Well... exhausted. A little dehydrated. He, uh, voided... his bowels, but his vitals are returning to normal. Thankfully, he's responsive, mentally.
You going to be able to keep the water down, James?
Fuck, oh... Yeah. It's good. Thanks, Sue. Oh I can't believe this, I'm so fucked...
I guess the, uh, delirium hasn't totally... passed. EMS is coming. And Corporate Safety. The monitors, in the lab, never moved off zero. Not once. How we're going to detect - Oh, and Larry, I wanted to make sure to get a shot of the hole... This is, what, half-inch sheetrock, with a mylar seal under the paint. Containment specs. And, I think, three-quarter-inch plywood behind there. The exit, uh, hole is about three inches in diameter. Think of the force, Larry. Something blew its way out of here.
Help, oh fuck, it's got my number, Sue...
How it knew -
I knew. Holy shit, Lynn. That's how it knew. Anything I know, that it wanted to learn, it did. Soon as they started breaking through the door, it tapped me. Look! You think it couldn't blow through the fuckin' wall? Looks like a bazooka hit it. Oh I'm so fucked, I can't believe it... Damn, I want a smoke, Sue. Real bad...
The window was sealed off years ago. Walled over. But the hole is dead-center. Which gives the appearance of something breaking containment, es-
Dammit, Lynn, it's out there! It's loose! And it said, oh hell -
There's the hole, Larry. I think EMS is here now -
It'll be back! I'm screwed! Catch ya later, Ree-ro. That's what it thought! It meant that, too. Made sure I knew -
We'll leave everything as it is, of course, for CS to go over. Sue and I will be - oh, the phones work now. And the intercom. But I guess you might not be any more surprised by that than I am. Larry, after they get James in the ambulance, Sue and I are going to get a... pizza or something, calm down, and then we're all going to debriefing.
Ree-ro! My nickname, never use that here, nobody knows. Old nickname. And catch ya later! It meant it, Sue. Catch. It wasn't kidding, what am I gonna do, it's gonna catch me again! And it can. It's out there...
Well. I'll get this tape couriered over -
East-facing window - boom, it's gone. Chicago. You get it? All those guys, cross Cicero, a couple more miles. Oh shit. Catch ya later. I'm so totally screwed -
The debriefing should be, uh, more compelling, than most. 'Til then, Lar-
I can't go through that again - and it meant it, it did, catch y-
And, on a personal note, let me add that I'm having an extraordinarily hard time maintaining any clinical objectivity... If you had been where I was, on the other side of the window, watching - Well. take good care of this tape, okay? We can cancel the Brown Alert. I don't know what the hell kind of Alert to issue, but... we'll talk. Count on it. Berwyn, IDAC-2. Tape off at... almost 16:54. Mark.
"Not a prob," Rique says.
It's the next day. James has been discharged, questioned...
He called up his roommate. Hey, can you pick up my car, I need a ride, and bring me some clothes. And smokes, whatever you do don't forget to get a pack -
Gotcha. Hey, I gotta run. Seeya in about... an hour. Click.
James, he looks at the phone. No, Rique, come back. I'm totally dyin' for a Lucky... Well, he's got some cash on him. First liquor store they come to, oh man. Man. He can't stand it, the waitin'.So they're walking - quickly - to James' old Nova. Rear end's kinda low, he'll take a look at the air shocks later.
And there they are! On the dash -
"Okay if I drive?"
"Yeah, sure," James says vacantly. On the dash, there's a pack... of Luckies.
By the time they pull out of the lot. James is about ready to start the second one...He looks around. snapping out of a terrific smoke-fest. They're on 290, coming toward 90 -
"Heya, Rique, why are we on the interstate?"
"Goin' on a trip."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."So, going up 94, in fucking Waukegan, James looks the pack over. Fondly. Luckies.
"Hey -"
"Huh."
"Luckies. How'd you know?"
Rique grins. "Friend of yours told me."
James thinks about that one. "You mean, Susan? From work?"
"Naw," Rique chuckles. "King."
"Who the hell's King?"
Reeeeee-ro. Hey.
A warm buzzing - he feels a warmth just below his throat, spreading out quick. Happy. A real happy mood.
"Rique... Aw, not -"
"Uh huh."
James thinks about grabbing the wheel, or opening the door - but instantly, his hands are unclenching. Relaxing, despite his attempts to make 'em move. They just get him another smoke. His whole body, it's loose, comfortable... and it won't do anything he tells it to. "Shit... I'm, uh, aw hell. Rique - you knew?"
"Dude, it's got me. Stuck tight."
"Aw no. How - where's it tak- aw, hell. Where we headed?"
"It's all kinda fuzzy. I made a bunch of stops last night -"
"Last night?"
"Yup. It, uh, it likes you, bud. And it checked your driver's license, knew right where to go. Cruised on over, found me. Shazzam. Bonus."
"Dammit, Rique, I'm sorry. Nuthin' I could do. Why 'King', do you know?"
"Yeah. It says we're too into names. But it likes what-all we get from 'King'. Any-hoo, it sent me out to get you and Brad all kinds of shi-
"Brad? Your friend Brad?"
Rique chuckles. "Uh huh. That's where we're goin', up to his dad's cabin. He's there now, learnin' how to smoke. Heh. Get you in there, unload the stuff, go hunt up some firewood. Then I'm comin' back -"
"What?... I - what'd you say, about the cabin?"
"Well, you guys got it all to yourselves, until spring -"
"Until. Spring." No, no no no no King, catch-and-release, you ever heard of th-
"And it'll make me forget. I'm goin' home. King-3's gonna do some investigating."
King-3. So it's dividing, already. "Brad doesn't smoke -"
"He does now."
"Not Brad."
"Oh yeah. All guys smoke. Love it. You do -"
"Well, that doesn't mean th-"
"Yeah, dude, it does. King says so, it does."
"How come you don't have to - to stay there?"
"'Cause I'm not ticklish."
"You're not?"
"Nnnnope. Not at all. But King-3's gonna check me out."
"Check you out?"
"Yeah. You, and Brad, you're cut."
Cut... "And you're not?"
Rique beams. "Bingo, dude."
Cir-cum-cised... dude.
Again, it's there. A thought in his head, and not something he hears. That's King. Beyond happy. Psycho. But clever...
"I think we've all gone crazy."
"Well, it feels pretty fuckin' good."
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