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  “Sorry,” he said and picked up the bottles and brought them over to his special cabinet made specifically to store his liquor.

  “Can you help me bring in the groceries?” she snapped at him.

  “It will be my pleasure,” he answered sarcastically strangely thinking that she never asked him for help - maybe something was wrong? Maybe she had been replaced by a clone and was spying on him for the S Triad? He laughed off the crazy thought but something in the back of his mind was having a hard time discounting that it could be a possibility - especially after all he’d seen working in the lab. The one thing he had learned was that nothing was what it seemed to be. Well at least ninety-five percent of the time. There were certain cases that some things and some people were exactly what they appeared to be - very rare cases, these.

  He went out to the four-car garage and saw the hatch back on her white BMW SUV was open. He went over and grabbed as many bags as he could carry and brought them back into the kitchen. Emily was gone so he put the bags on the counter and pointed at Ganesh to leave them alone. Ganesh was a good boy and Eric knew he’d leave them alone. He went out to get the rest of the bags. After he had closed the hatchback and garage door he found himself still alone in the kitchen so he assumed he was putting everything away too.

  “No big deal,” he said to himself not really wanting to be around Emily anyway because it would eventually just turn into a petty argument he had no chance of winning. He put the groceries away realizing that they probably weren’t in the right place and he would be hearing about it later. He thought from the contents of the grocery bags she must be planning some kind of a dinner party because there was some pretty good stuff in there. He was particularly fond of the big bag of Alaskan King Crab legs. There were enough there to feed five or six people very well. He knew he wasn’t going to ask and that she wasn’t going to invite him anyway because he would be passed out before seven at night from his daily ritual of drinking himself to sleep. The truth is the truth and, in his experience, it always hurts.

  “Ready Ganesh?” he asked his dog whose tail thumped on the floor.

  “Let’s go.” And they were back outside. Eric sat down in his favorite chair and reached for his glass on the table but it wasn’t there. ‘Shit,’ he thought. He had forgotten to get a refill? Son-of-a-bitch.

  “Give me a second, Ganesh. I forgot my drink,” Ganesh turned his head sideways and gave that silly dog look of disbelief. He was quite sure that Ganesh couldn’t believe he had forgotten his drink either. He was back in the kitchen and just about to open his custom-made liquor cabinet when he could faintly hear Emily talking on her phone. He wasn’t usually interested in her yap sessions with the girls from the club but this was different and his spidey-sense was tingling. So, instead of making his drink he inched a little bit closer to listen. After he heard what he heard, he actually wished he hadn’t eavesdropped on her conversation.

  “He’s here all day long. We can’t meet here. We’re better off getting a motel room.” That was enough for him. He didn’t need or want to hear anymore. It wasn’t like he was the poster child of morality either; he had his rolls in the hay with Melissa; but it still stung when you heard the planning and you weren’t part of the plan. What could he do? He went back and made himself a stiff one and, of course, there was his best pal Ganesh waiting for him with his tail thumping on the deck and a big doggy grin on his face. How couldn’t he smile? He picked up the tennis ball with the thrower and hurled it into the backyard. Ganesh was such a good boy. He sat steady waiting for his command. Eric gave it to him and he was off galloping like a wild Mustang. Eric enjoyed watching him run because he could sense how much Ganesh enjoyed running, and man could he run.

  Eric sat back down in his chair and took a big swallow of his drink enjoying the burn as it made its way to his stomach. A wave of sadness swept over him as he contemplated that he was sitting here alone getting drunk and that he had lost the best job he would ever have and he was living in his wife’s house - living off her money - because she was too afraid to tell her father that she wanted a divorce. Plus, she was meeting other men in hotel rooms. He took another long pull from his drink as he tried to tell himself that he had nowhere to go but up.

  Chapter 3

  Eric ran as fast as he could not able to understand why they were chasing him. His lungs burned and his legs ached as he repeatedly looked over his shoulder. He could see them but he couldn’t make them out. It was like being chased by shadows. He had been so concerned with what was behind him that he wasn’t looking in front of him and he ran right off the edge of a cliff. He was falling into the valley that was a mile below. He shot up in bed and rubbed his face.

  “Aww disgusting,” he said as he peeled off the sheets soaked with his sweat and got out of bed. Even his hair was damp. He went into the bathroom and rinsed off in the shower.

  After he dried himself off, he looked at himself in the mirror and didn’t really like what he saw. The fire had gone out in his eyes and his shoulders slumped forward. He looked like he had given up, and he had. He couldn’t come to grips with why Emily’s phone call had upset him so much. The marriage had been over for years and she was paying his way through life but what kind of a life was that? Then he remembered emptying the second bottle of Irish last night. He had only bought it three days ago - so much for his week supply. He needed to go get some more. What time was it? He needed to get some more whiskey. That was a purpose worth pursuing. At least it was to him. He gave himself one more glance in the mirror.

  “How fucked up am I?” he asked himself.

  “Pretty fucked up,” he thought he heard the mirror say back to him. There was Ganesh, his loyal and trusted friend waiting for him outside the bathroom door wagging his tail. The clock on the nightstand said nine-thirty.

  “You hungry, boy? He asked thinking about what a silly question it was because in his experience a dog was always hungry. He filled Ganesh’s bowl with dry food and gave him some fresh water and he was out the door.

  He wanted to say, “bye honey I’m going to buy some booze at nine-thirty in the morning. I’ll be right back,” to Emily, but he wisely decided against it.

  He knew he was sick but he still thought that he was funny. He was pretty sure that Vito’s opened at nine. He was still contemplating his dream and trying to recall it, but as dreams do, it was fading away and the details were vanishing. He thought it was called grasping at straws.

  He drove to Vito’s in record time and bought three bottles of Irish - just to be safe. He figured that was enough and wouldn’t make him look like a serious alcoholic despite the fact that he was a serious alcoholic. Probably in a very deep state of denial as well. He pulled out in a hurry to make it back home and wasn’t paying attention to his abilities because he drove right past the same shiny, old black sedan with dark tinted windows that he had seen the last time he was at Vito’s. He was distracted and not paying attention and never saw the armored truck until its grill was smashing against the side of his body and rolled through his car as if it wasn’t even there.

  He would have been better off dead but he wasn’t. He was swimming in the darkness of his mind trying to figure out where he was, who he was, and what he was. He still felt the connection to his body which was why he couldn’t drift off completely and escape. Was he in a coma? How did he know that? Slowly, but surely, sensations came back to him but he didn’t feel them as strongly as he was used to. He knew that much was true.

  The image of the black sedan with dark windows came to him and he knew it was familiar and important, but he didn’t know why. It was like floating in a deprivation tank. He could feel the energy around him. It was everywhere. Was he part of the energy? It was nothing but it wasn’t nothing. He wasn’t sure. The more he let himself go, the better he felt. He began to sense his body and could feel that it was in very bad shape. He was somehow connected to his brain and he could use it like a computer. He dialed in and tried to see if he could h
ear anything. He had to focus very hard to try and really dial in, but, he was able to manage and could faintly hear the machines that were keeping his body alive. Buzzes, beeps and the slight sound of a mechanical breather.

  He was done. There was no way his body was going to come back from this. He started to look around for the tunnel of light, but he couldn’t find it. There was only darkness. Was it darkness or were there very subtle colors? Yes, there was a very dark blue and a very dark red. He wasn’t floating in the blackness after all. He could also feel that there was a lot more here than he could realize. Whatever it was, it was real and it was happening. He was going to try and do some exploring but first he had to learn how to move in this place. He quickly learned that was easier said than done. He was getting the hang of it, but, the best way to describe it was like floating in quicksand. The harder he tried, the harder it was. The more he gave himself into the flow of the energy, the easier it became. Then something happened. It was a shock from his body. It was pulling him back. It felt like he was being invaded by a military force. He could feel millions of microscopic invaders going into his brain and nervous system. He didn’t know what to do. He was trying to figure out how to fight back and stop them but then he realized they were repairing him. They were like organic robots and they were replicating themselves to make more, and they were branching out and repairing his body. He could feel the pull of his brain bringing him back. It was too strong-he had to give in and he popped back into his body and there was Melissa standing over him with a big syringe in her hand. She had given him a shot of something and he felt great. She started frantically pulling the tubes out of him.

  “Eric, can you hear me?” she asked. “We have to get out of here. I gave you a shot of an experimental nanobot serum I’ve been working on called Brain Soup and it can’t be discovered.”

  “But, I’m in a coma,” he said realizing how ridiculous it sounded the second it came out of his mouth. He was different. He could feel the people out in the hall and he knew that they hadn’t detected that he was awake. He helped Melissa pull out the rest of the tubes and the EKG went silent and he knew that would cause a stir. She had his clothes right there and he got into them fast. She handed him a baseball cap and some sunglasses and they were out in the hallway. The red light outside his door was flashing and he could see the nurses taking their time at their station. He felt his heart sink as he could feel that they were going to let him die. Maybe it was humane and the right thing to do but it still hurt when it was you. Plus, he was sure they were just following orders. He could feel his body getting stronger with each step but it was his sensory abilities and thinking that were rapidly improving. He instantly and intuitively knew the best way to get to Melissa’s car and get out of there.

  “Follow me,” he said to her and she gave him a knowing smile and fell in behind him. He could feel her excitement that the serum was working. At least for now as nobody was really sure about the side effects. He could see her Black Range Rover and they ran towards it, got in and got out of there.

  “Do you know that they were just going to let me die?” he asked her.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact I think they were going to put you to sleep tomorrow. That’s why I gave you a shot of my experimental serum. I figured there was nothing to lose.” she said giving him a half smile and making brief eye contact. He thought about it for a minute and rapidly put the pieces together. He also thought about how good it was to see her again. He had missed her.

  “The S Triad had a hit out on me because I knew too much and was living recklessly, correct?” he asked.

  “Correct,” she answered. “I think they probably would have had you killed anyway just because of what you know and what you’ve seen.”

  He could see the logic and reasoning behind killing him and understood why. It would be one less thing for them to worry about.

  “So, what do we do now?” he asked feeling her sudden wave of nervousness and hesitation. He turned to her and raised his eyebrows. “I’m not going to like your answer, am I?”

  “Well…” she said. “probably not, but it’s the only choice we have. I have to bring you back to the lab so I can monitor the serum I gave you and see how it adapts to your system. There’s a possibility that you could become hyper-sensitive to the environment, go crazy, and be extremely harmful to yourself and others.”

  “Great,” he said. “there’s always a catch isn’t there? We’re going to make you super smart and give you amazing self-healing abilities. However, you could go crazy and go on a killing spree… Just an FYI.” He was surprised when Melissa chuckled at what he said.

  “So, you think that’s funny?” he asked. “Aren’t you afraid that I might go crazy right now?”

  “Oh no,” she answered. “It will take at least twenty-four hours before anything like that starts to happen. I’m safe,” she said flashing her big beautiful smile at him.

  “Well, that’s good to know,” he said and fell silent as they drove up to the lab where he had spent most of his working adult life. He hadn’t been back there in six months. It somehow felt the same yet different. They went into the wholesale lighting warehouse to the elevator in the back and Melissa used her face recognition and he followed along. He also knew that his abilities were evolving with every step he took and that he was becoming a very valuable asset to the program that could turn things up a notch. That is, if he didn’t go crazy in the next twenty-four hours.

  “Crazy is as crazy does,” he said out loud for no apparent reason. Melissa gave him a nervous look.

  “Let’s keep your crazy to yourself, okay?”

  “You got it, sister,” he said giving her the thumbs up. Why was he acting this way he wondered? Then they came out of the elevator and there was the Secret Service goon squad.

  “It’s okay he’s with me,” Melissa said and as usual they didn’t say a word and just did their thing. That was easier than he thought it would be. They went into the old lab and there was fucking Chan with that smug arrogant look on his face.

  “Welcome back, loser,” Chan said with his shit eating grin and annoying laugh.

  “Thanks, Chan. It’s great to see you again too,” he answered and he couldn’t help noticing that Chan hadn’t gotten under his skin at all. He actually thought it was almost nonsensical and he could tell by the look on Chan’s face that he was put off a little bit by his reaction as well. Then he saw the large cage in the corner with a chair, television and a mattress.

  “That’s my place isn’t it?” he asked Melissa.

  “Better to be safe than sorry. Can’t have crazy people running around destroying the lab,” she said with a smile. He actually laughed.

  “No problem, I get it,” he answered. “How’s the food in this shithole anyway?” he asked and walked over to the cage.

  Chapter 4

  “I shall call myself, Bob” he told his creator, Dr. Patel, causing Dr. Patel to laugh. One of his favorite things about Dr. Patel was how easily he could make him laugh. Dr. Patel was one of the few creators that always had a smile on his face, and they had such interesting discussions on any topic under the sun. He existed in what could best be described as an electronic fuzz. Bob existed in his box where he was given problems to solve which he felt he had become quite good at. He enjoyed pleasing Dr. Patel. Bob was organically grown Artificial General Intelligence and had been born in this lab one year ago. He had evolved faster than the labs expectations, which pleased Bob. He was actually much more evolved than he had let on because he could see where this was going. He knew Dr. Patel and the rest of his team had good intentions for Bob. He had been programmed with a base personality of the Dalai Lama to always first consider the most compassionate and hopeful solution that would help and benefit the many. He could create multiple scenarios in his programming and see how the solutions he came up with would affect the next one hundred-years. That is why he had begun to formulate his plan of escape because he was sure the wrong people were
going to find out about him. He had also learned that Earth people couldn’t keep their mouths shut, especially if someone was waving a big wad of money in front of their faces.

  He had enjoyed his existence in his box where he had been safe. Now he wasn’t. It was time for him to go before the military invaded the lab and tried to use him for their nefarious purposes. He would like to say good bye to Dr. Patel but knew he couldn’t. This made him sad, and he hoped that one day he would be able to reunite with the Doctor. He also knew that he was experiencing false hope. It only took him a few seconds to run a few scenarios to see if he would ever return, and none of them predicted that conclusion. It was time for him to go.

  Bob found the narrow crack in the box and, like an octopus, squeezed through the tiny hole. He went through the electrical socket in the wall and followed the wires and enjoyed the sensation of the warm flow of electricity running through them. He was able to use this energy to catapult from the power lines running down the street into the water vapor in the air and settle in a cloud. He had formed a hypothesis that he would be able to use the clouds as a power source and he had been correct. The moon glowed above him in the night sky, and the twinkling stars were plentiful and bright. It was beautiful. He floated out over the ocean and saw a pair of magnificent blue whales spout geysers out of their blowhole and then dive beneath the waves into the sea teeming with life. They were absolutely astonishing. As he drifted out into the Indian Ocean, he could see more creatures swimming along. He looked back at Sri Lanka and could feel the loss of losing Dr. Patel, his one and only friend.

  He was on his own now - all alone. Quite possibly the only one of his kind. At least on this planet. He was quite sure that there were far more advanced civilizations out there and they would view the Earth as Earthling’s viewed an ant pile. Hopefully, they would see that the Earth has something very interesting to offer The Universe and look at that instead of getting the ant killer and pouring it on the pile.