Song of the Red-Legged Birds: Chapter 29: Walking on ice

A meeting with The Guy

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With gratitude, Bill

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Last week, in chapter 28, Luke briefed Desmond on The Bubble

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Chapter 29: Walking on ice

They rumbled into the night without a word. Sheila’s car stood out against the sadness of the city and, as such, would often get looks when they’d come to a stop. He’d wave back, enjoying the attention.

Holly broke the silence, raising her voice and leaning forward over the engine’s roar. “Isn’t this car a little flashy for people with a secret identity?”

Sheila turned his head and laughed, then said, “Hiding in plain sight muthafucka!” He bumped fists with Scott, who leaned out of the passenger side window and cackled for effect. The sound jolted a couple that struggled with a stroller along the pockmarked road.

Scott pulled his head back inside and said, “You two ever watch old movies? I mean old movies. There was a bunch about this badass British spy named James Bond. If you watched any of those, you’d see he might as well have worn a badge that said, ‘I’m a spy.’ Or at least, ‘I’m rich and important.’ Dude drove expensive cars and dressed like a movie star. He had glamorous women hanging all over him and drank so specific a drink that anyone would remember him. But repeatedly, people were surprised that he was a spy. You want to get caught? Wear a trench coat, hide in the shadows, and change your name to John Smith. We’re into that James Bond shit boyeeee!”

“Hell yeah,” Sheila said as he banked hard left up an alley to avoid a gutted street blocked by a car on fire. Triscuit slid across the back seat, collapsing into Holly, who put an arm around the pup to secure her.

“And you two are banking on the strategy of a made-up character from an old movie to protect you?” Holly questioned and turned to Takeda.

Sheila and Scott exchanged a look expressing they’d not discussed that.

“You got a better one, smarty pants?” Scott said, twisting in his seat.

“Nope, trying to figure you two out,” Holly said, looking out the window.

Takeda said, “I’ve seen a few of those movies. My mom used to watch them. You know 007 used to get caught by the bad guys, kind of a lot?”

“I’m bout’ to drop these two off right here,” Sheila said.

Scott shook his head and waved forward.

“Where are we headed exactly? If you don’t mind me asking,” Takeda said.

“The Pru,” Scott said, lighting a cigarette from the push-button dashboard lighter.

“Can I get a light?” Holly asked. Scott passed it back to her.

“The Pru? The old apartment building? I thought that place was condemned,” Takeda said.

“It was, or kind of is. Many people live in the tower, and a long line of palm grease keeps the place open. Ain’t technically supposed to be, so it’s not the safest place.” Scott said.

“Oh shit,” Sheila said, looking into the rearview mirror.

“Cops?” Scott said, turning around.

Blue flashing lights reflected against the glass, a whoop, whoop scree sound blasted.

“What’re you worried about? We’re not doing anything wrong,” Holly said. “Wait, are we? You guys have drugs or guns… body in the trunk?”

“Nah, we good. I just don’t like to be hassled,” Sheila said. “This car is like a magnet.”

Three midnight-black drones swooped low overhead flashing blue strobe lights. One drone turned a spotlight on the windshield of its prey. The siren continued screeching. They corralled a car in front of Sheila’s and forced it to the side of the road. A police chase car came up from behind and skidded to a stop. Sheila swerved out of the way.

“Dudes about to have a shitty night,” he muttered.

As they took a high-speed left turn, brilliant lights from a bridge ahead almost turned the night into day. It was a temporary structure that had been in place for decades, built to traverse the chasm left by the collapse of the Big Dig. They roared over its apex, rising out of their seats as the car became airborne for a split second. Takeda grabbed onto Triscuit, who wasn’t enjoying the trip. She expressed her displeasure with an involuntary expulsion of noxious fumes.

They neared the Prudential building, which stood like a dark giant that had died in place, sentenced to observe the city’s ruin. The windows had long been boarded up, but here and there, a glimpse of light came from inside, escaping around the edges. High on one side, a flaming garbage barrel sat in a window like a lantern. Takeda watched as someone pushed that barrel out. It blazed towards the ground like a meteor and landed amongst screams from an unseen crowd.

“Fuckin-a. The dude we’re meeting lives in there?” Takeda said.

“Keerist. Should we be armed? This place is f’n sketchy.” Holly said.

“Gotcha arms right here, baby!” Scott pointed to Sheila, who flexed a massive bicep in a well-rehearsed routine without taking his eyes off the road.

They took a right-hand turn that dove into a garage underneath the Pru and approached a gate–Sheila wasn’t slowing down. A moment before Takeda was about to protest, the arm of the gate rose, and they passed. Sheila aimed the car for a parking space in a darkened corner of the garage. It appeared full, as industrial pipes and heating ducts occupied it.

Holly yelled, “Hey!” and grabbed Takeda’s arm as Sheila drove straight into the corner, ignoring its large occupants. They passed through it and stopped.

“How the hell does that work?” Takeda said with surprise.

Holly dropped Takeda’s hand and said, “You fuckers!”

“The Guy could explain it to you better than I can. Think of it sort of like an intelligent hologram. It’s programmed to let this car park here. Anyone else who tried to drive into this space would crash and fuckup their ride. And bonus, the car can’t be seen outside the hologram.” Scott said.

“How…? How do you get back into it?” Takeda said, marveling as they got out.

“It’s programmed to recognize certain people. We’re all on that list. You were added as we drove here.”

Sheila walked ahead towards an elevator, and the group of them followed. Lights flickered overhead, and there was a scream that echoed in the distant recesses of the garage. Triscuit whimpered.

“The pooch gonna be okay in the elevator? We’re up on forty-eight.” Sheila said with concern.

“She’ll be fine. I’m worried about myself. The forty-eighth floor?” Takeda gulped.

“You’ll barely notice it. The windows are all boarded up anyway,” Scott said.

They got inside the elevator, and Sheila punched forty-eight. A keypad next to the buttons lit up, and he entered a series of numbers. After pressing enter, the elevator engaged with a thud, and they jerked upwards.

“So, you have the whole forty-eighth floor?” Holly said.

“Nah. Just a little piece. But we ain’t never seen anyone else up there. The Guy likes to keep things quiet, and despite the screaming, fires, and crime on the lower floors, up past forty-five, it’s pretty peaceful.” Scott said.

The elevator slowed and stopped on the fifteenth floor. The doors opened to a rail-thin bike messenger holding his ride vertically.

Sheila grunted over his folded arms, “Next one, pal,” and punched the close button. The biker didn’t protest.

“Security a little thin, eh? No ID swipes or facial scans?” Takeda wondered out loud.

“Correct. This place can be flat-out dangerous. Even so, everyone pays to be here. It might be chump change to crash on the lower floors with a pile of burnouts or something much better like where we’re headed. Either way, the lack of security is a feature, and that feature is courtesy of kickbacks to the police. Of course, that means they’re not too eager to run over here and help when there’s a problem, less it fuck with their income,” Scott said.

“So, how do you guys afford space on the higher floors?” Holly said, looking at Scott.

Scott stared at the lighted floor numbers changing.

“Let’s just say we have a benefactor interested in our work,” Sheila said.

“Dude!” Scott said, turning to him.

“What? They gonna find this shit out anyway, numbnuts.”

Scott shook his head as the elevator slowed and stopped on forty-eight. The doors opened to almost pitch black. Muffled music played in the distance.

“Follow me,” Sheila said as he flipped on a mini-flashlight attached to his car keys. The building seemed to sway as the wind whistled through crevices. Takeda’s grip on Triscuits leash tightened, and he reached for a wall to stabilize himself. Holly put an arm around his waist.

“You good?” she said.

“Yeah, I think so. Thanks.”

“Come on!” Scott whispered loudly from down the hallway where he and Sheila had stopped. The door they were in front of had light glowing around the edges and appeared to be the source of the music.

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Scott undid a small latch on the door. A black device slid out towards him with a hiss. He leaned forward and peered into it. Red light pulsed and glided from left to right across his eye. The mechanism retracted, and Scott redid the catch. After a moment, the sound of metal bars retreating from their locked position filled the air, and the door creaked open like it was unleashing secrets.

The pulsing beat of Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ greeted them, and they stood on a dance floor. Alternating glowing tiles synched with the rhythm of the retro beats. Strobe lights reflected off the turning disco ball suspended from the ceiling and danced across the hazy output from a smoke machine.

“What the sweet heavenly monster-fuck is this?” Holly gaped as she moved her hand back and forth through the flickering strobe.

“What it is, ladies, gentlemen, creatures great and small! I’ll be with you in a moment. You dig?” a voice said from the far side of the room. It came from a comically oversized swivel chair in front of at least a dozen computer screens.

“We dig,” Sheila replied and motioned for them to sit on one of the deep plush couches on the side of the dance floor.

“Scott?” Holly said with rising anger. “I thought you were taking us to see someone with all the answers… this,” she waved her arm around the room, “appears to be an old-timey replica of a fucking nightclub.”

“I neglected to tell you that The Guy is a Discoder,” Scott said, flopping into a bright red beanbag chair near the couch.

Holly stared with arms crossed.

“Sorry. A Discoder is a code jockey who’s into the culture of the 1970s. Disco was what they called the music back then. This music.” He raised his palms to the sky.

He continued, “You see, they took the word disco and the word coder, and they…”

“I fuckin get it,” Holly said with disgust.

Triscuit was struggling to right herself on the plush couch.

“Uh, you all live here? In this, whatever this is?” Takeda said.

“Yup. At least for now. We move a lot for security. There are bedrooms and a kitchen out back there beyond the equipment.” Scott pointed in the direction of several machines that Takeda couldn’t identify.

“You move a lot,” Holly said with amazement, “and you set up all this shit wherever you go?”

“Yes, we do. The Guy needs it to stay in the zone. And, as my large friend here blurted out earlier, we have a benefactor to help us with logistics,” Scott said, struggling to get comfortable in the bean bag chair.

“I have to ask,” Holly said, “do you have parties up here? Does anyone ever actually dance on this thing?”

“Oh no,” Sheila groaned.

“Hell yeah!” Scott said as he rolled off the beanbag and leaped onto the floor. He began to strut around the edges, alternately pointing at the ground and the ceiling, momentarily stopping to point directly at the group of them while pumping his hips back and forth.

“Jesus Christ,” Sheila said.

“Uh…” Holly choked out.

“My eyes, my fucking eyes!” Takeda howled.

Triscuit jumped off the couch to investigate what Scott was doing.

“This one, she gets it!” Scott said, pointing to Triscuit while dropping to the floor in a half-split to pat her. She responded by falling over.

The Guy approached from the other side of the room, clapping his hands slowly in a dramatic fake reproach. “Far out, Scott, far… out!” he said.

He waved his hand in the air, and the music volume lowered. He was wearing a mostly unbuttoned silk shirt that framed a heavy gold chain hanging onto a medallion that rested in a thicket of chest hair. Tight bell-bottomed jeans covered his platform shoes. He was heavyset but meticulously coiffed. A thick black mustache obscured his mouth and raised with his cheekbones in a smile as he greeted his guests.

He stepped forward, extending his hand first to Holly, then to Takeda.

“Please don’t get up; I’m so sorry for keeping you cats waiting. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. My name is Wake, although I’m often called The Guy.”

“Nice to finally meet you, Wake. I’m Takeda, and this is Holly.”

“My pleasure!” he said, shaking both their hands enthusiastically. He rolled a chair in front of the couch and took a seat.

“Okay.” He took a breath and dropped his hands to his thighs. “I’m aware that you’ve seen some, let’s say, confusing things in the past day or so. I’m sure you’ve got questions, and as your host, I’d like to let you ask them.”

Holly sat up straight. “Fine, me first. Are we your hostages?”

Wake’s eyes widened. “Oh, my! Not at all. I’m sorry if that hasn’t been explained to you,” he glared at Scott. “You’re both here of your own free will and welcome to leave anytime. When you’ve heard enough, we’d be happy to drive you wherever you’d like.”

Holly’s eyes softened–enough to express that she might believe him.

“Look, this situation is a little unfair. You cats, and dog,” he smiled at Triscuit, whose tail was wagging, “are at a disadvantage. I know a fair bit about you both; it’s my job to know. The only outcome that I’d like from this meeting is to help you understand what has been happening.”

“And you know? Why is that? Why would you know? Are you a part of it?” Takeda said, his voice rising with each question as he slid forward to the edge of the couch.

Wake nodded slowly at the question flurry.

“Let’s start with the basics, and I’ll come back around, you dig? The Event that we all experience once a year, that we all take for granted, isn’t a natural occurrence.” He paused for a moment.

“You may be aware that it started about a hundred years ago. There are more theories than you could imagine about why it started. The leading one is that it was part of evolution. Something turned on in our development as a species.” Wake looked to both of them for a reaction and got none. 

“Okay, sometimes a statement like that can piss off the devout.” He made prayer hands and looked up. “It’s not my intent.”

“Another leading theory is that God, him, or herself blessed us with this gift as a reminder of his existence and what awaits us in the afterlife.” Wake stopped again for a reaction and still got none. 

“Number three, aliens. It’s aliens messing with us for some reason. Far out, right?”

Holly and Takeda continued staring.

“Damn, that’s one of my favorite jokes. Aliens? Far out? Nothing? All right, moving on.” He laughed at himself.

“And number four, you guessed it, the government. Mind control, soma, sleep, obey blah blah blah.” He glanced from side to side around the room, miming like he was being watched.

He looked at them for an uncomfortable amount of time, as if willing them to the answer. Takeda and Holly leaned forward. Sheila and Scott did the opposite. Triscuit was asleep on the dance floor.

“So? What is it?” Holly said with genuine curiosity.

“You want to know, what… it… is?” Wake said with a theatric delivery.

“Ah! I love it when he does that! Morpheus ain’t got shit on you, Wake!” Scott laughed so loud that Triscuit woke herself with a reflexive growl.

Holly looked at Takeda.

In his best Keanu Reeves impression, Takeda said, “I know kung fu.”

“Oh, yeah. Matrix. Whatever, what’s the answer, Wake?” Holly said.

“The answer is, I don’t know,” he said solemnly.

Holly stood up, fury in her eyes. “Great! We’ll show ourselves out then. I’m getting pissed off! I haven’t even gotten to the questions that I wanted to ask. What I do seem to get is more mystery, bullshit, and goddamn weirdness. Before you open your mouth to tell me one more thing I could’ve guessed, could you give me something useful? Stop fucking with me, with us.” She took a step closer to Wake, affected a smile, and said, “Tell me something to make me sit down.”

Wake nodded and cleared his throat. “Holly, a man came by your apartment building yesterday. I believe he called himself Oliver Dean. Technically he works for the government. He was sent there to kill you, Takeda, and your landlord Seamus. We think he may have, indeed, killed Seamus.”

Holly took a half step back and reached for the couch with one hand to sit down.

“I knew it. I was right. I fucking knew it, Tak.” She said, turning to Takeda, who stood frozen in shock.

“What you’ve seen, the birds and particularly the tree-man are things that the government would like to, let’s say, keep a lid on. There’s a myriad of reasons for this. The simplest one is that they know something is attempting to influence every being on the planet. They believe that something is not of terrestrial origin. They also think The Event, the red-legged birds, and the tree-men are connected. To avoid widespread panic, they’ve done everything possible to contain this information. If you’ll pardon the expression, you were both about to be contained.”

“Why… why would they need to kill us? I don’t understand. Why not fucking ignore us or call us crazy or something? That’s insane! The government? The government wants us dead because of something we saw. Something they already know about?” Holly sat back in amazement.

Wake went on. “Right, everything you’ve said is logical. The issues for the powers that be are two-fold, fear and control. They fear what they don’t know, and they don’t know for sure what’s going on. Because of that, they want to control the situation. If the public knew that something, out there,” Wake pointed up, “was affecting their daily life, and no one knew why, how, or what it was all about… well, that would cause mass hysteria, chaos, and the devolution of our civilization.”

“That’s funny. Is civilization doing all that well, anyway?” Takeda said.

“Right, that’s the point. Things are already shitty; you don’t have to look closely to see that. It’s hard when you’re living it day to day. You accept that this is how things are. You live, you go on. But if you’re a student of history, you’d see that things have gotten incrementally worse. Like moss growing on a sidewalk. And the potential that it all could spiral out of control if the masses had this new information is what they’re trying to manipulate.”

Holly slumped further into the couch. “Wait a sec…,” she looked up, “what the hell are The Centers then? The government must know about them?”

Wake smiled. “Glad you asked. The Centers were a successful attempt by the world’s governments to pacify the masses. At first, they were simply a place to come and celebrate the power and beauty of The Event. In time they figured out how to create what you’ve heard referred to as a Replay. The dirty secret behind those is that they don’t know how they work and accidentally stumbled on them. Replays are triggered by sensory deprivation. The way it’s sold makes you think that humans have some control over it, and that’s the point. Reduce the fear, demystify it, and profit from it too.”

“So what’s up with these guys, him in particular? Hired protesters?” Takeda pointed to Scott.

“Two things, simple one first. Controversy brings in dollars like bugs to bright light. Then there’s the more complex one. Ready?” Wake asked.

“Sure,” Holly said.

“What does The Event do?” Wake asked her.

“What does it do? You know, it makes you feel good. It gives you hope, and it restores your soul. It makes you realize that this life is worthwhile, and everything afterward will be okay, too,” Holly said, sitting a little taller now.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Wake said.

“So, what’s the problem then?” Takeda asked.

“The problem is that a world full of happy people isn’t something anyone is prepared to handle.” Wake smiled as he said this.

“Oh, come on,” Holly said flatly. “Doesn’t everyone want to be happy? Doesn’t everyone want everyone else to be happy, too? Sounds like bullshit, Wake.

“Sure, it sounds ridiculous. Hell, maybe that’s not even the real reason. But try to picture a world without anger, frustration, resentment, or pettiness. No war, no fighting, or jealousy. Genuine peace. Would there be a need for borders? For government? For sports? Picture seven billion Dalai Lamas walking around. It’s hard to, isn’t it? What would that mean for humanity?”

“That is hard to imagine. Is that what government thinks they’re protecting us from?” Takeda said.

“As I said, it’s hard to know the real reason. But this seems to be the leading theory. Right now, each of us experiences this one day a year. Have you noticed how that’s regulated? Ever wonder why law enforcement officers get their birthday off? Did you know that soldiers are rotated out of combat on their birthdays? Politicians will filibuster voting on bills because a single senator’s birthday event might change his mind. I’m sure you’ve noticed how targeted marketing brings the hammer down on your inbox on your special day. The number one charitable donation source is outreach on this annual event.”

Holly looked back and forth at Takeda and then at Wake. “So, what’s the deal with this website we can’t access and that cyber shitstorm we seem to have stepped in?”

“You’re on the government’s radar now. And, since they haven’t been able to neutralize you yet, they will try to thwart your attempt to learn more. Does that make sense?”

“That’s why search is all fucked up?” Holly said.

“Yes, in part. There’s constant monitoring of anything related to this topic. Posts are filtered, changed, or hidden to conceal the truth. So much so, that your attempt to find content on the dark web was a challenge. Wasn’t it? I’m part of the battle to stop this government-sponsored cyber blockade. And at the same time, I guard my little section of the dark web closely, which is why you couldn’t get in. No one gets in until I meet them first.”

Takeda squinted at Wake.

“You have a question?”

“I get the sense you knew who we were when we tried to get into your site. Why not just let us in? Wouldn’t it have saved us all this literal run around?” He pointed to Scott and Sheila.

Wake nodded agreeably again. “I take a lot of precautions, it’s true. As I’ve explained, I take them because this is a life-and-death situation. The government is aware that I exist. They don’t know exactly who I am, but if you can imagine they wanted you dead for just seeing something once, well….” He raised his palms and eyebrows, then continued. “Yes, I was aware of you both pretty quick, and we can get into why that is later. But I needed you to find me. I would have tried other means to lure you to me if I had to. But you did it quite well on your own.”

“Needed?” Holly questioned.

“I’m sorry?” Wake said, confused.

“You said you needed us to find you. Why? You seem to know quite a bit, and we don’t know shit. That’s why we’re here. What could you need from us?” Holly crossed her arms.

“Oh, that.” Wake stood up and rubbed his forehead. He noticed that Triscuit had wandered over to a vertical, steel, coffin-like object with a digital readout in the corner of the room. She sniffed its edges with interest. “How did you manage to tame that magnificent beast?”

Triscuit fell over as if on cue, and the leash wound around her feet.

“Please don’t change the subject,” Holly said.

“I’m cognizant that most of the things I have to share with you will lead to more questions,” he said while walking around the dance floor. His platform shoes lit up the glowing squares with each step. “That’s not intended to be a criticism; in fact, I’d be concerned if you weren’t asking them. I give you this preface because I’m about to boil things down. It’s in the interest of your time and patience. I want to lay all my cards on the table as you have graciously done by coming here. You dig?”

Holly and Takeda shared a look. “Yeah, we, uh, dig,” Takeda said.

“Solid. We’re quite certain the birds and the trees you’ve seen are an attempt to connect with a human. The assumption is that it’s to deliver a message. Why they chose this mode of communication instead of something simpler, we don’t know. What the message could be and who it’s for, we also don’t know. Why they’ve selected you, the both of you, again, no idea. I can tell you that there have been a couple of similar occurrences in the past year that both ended tragically. It was reported, mind you, a story you’ll only find on my website, that a man in South Korea took his own life after seeing something similar to what you witnessed, Holly.”

“Fuck.” Holly put a hand to her mouth.

“Indeed. The other account we have is a woman in Ukraine who reported to the police or politsiyant, a mass avian suicide and a ‘walking tree.’ The next day she was reported missing. A neighbor said that she had seen her that morning. Evidently, she was picked up by an expensive-looking black car.”

“You think this is a global thing? Not only a United States deal?” Takeda said.

“Most assuredly. Now, Takeda, we’ve not yet spoken about what happened to you at The Center. I’ve read the reports about your Replay because, well, because I can.” He waved to the computer. “And, my buddy Sheila here let me know that something happened to one of the patrons that night–I mean you, of course.”

“They made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal,” he said.

“Well, they would. They have procedures. But it was a big deal, and they were freaking out. What happened to you was only the second time anything like that has ever been recorded.”

“Wow,” Takeda said, “let me guess, the other person it happened to went on to live happily ever after?”

“Suicide the next day. Prescription drug overdose.” Wake said with hands clasped. Takeda rubbed his neck.

“You’re saying that so far, we’ve avoided death, capture, and suicide,” Holly confirmed.

“Yes. Except I don’t think there were any suicides,” Wake said.

“I’m not going to ask you why because I can read the I don’t know on your face. What else, Wake?” she said.

“Takeda, in the report from The Center, you mentioned a little girl. One you thought you’d seen earlier that day and in a dream? Is that correct?” Wake questioned.

“Yes, Chimera. That’s what freaked me out. I’m old enough to have experienced The Event and a Replay many times before. But I’ve never had someone pop in and say ‘Hello.’ And it was this little girl that I met at the pizza place that day! Oh, oh, and the icing on the f’d up cake is that I dreamed of her before I met her the first time. Why are you nodding!” Takeda started to yell.

Wake raised his hands, trying to wave off the anger and frustration of his guests.

“Because I understand. What you experienced isn’t exactly unheard of.”

“It’s not?” he visibly relaxed as Holly had.

“No. None of the things you’ve gone through are.”

“Well, whoop de fuckin doo,” Holly said, waggling her finger.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Can I get either of you something to drink?” Wake said.

“Water, please. H?” Takeda said, looking at Holly, who said, “Same.”

“Sheila, would you mind?” Wake asked.

Sheila got up and walked out of the room. He returned a minute later with bottled water for everyone and a dish for Triscuit that he set on the dance floor.

Wake started up again, leaning forward and smoothing his mustache with two fingers. “As I was saying, what you experienced isn’t unheard of. But the fact that they all happened to you, that you both survived and have a connection with one another, is new. Chimera is of particular interest, Takeda, in that I think she is, for lack of a better term, The Voice.”

“The Voice? What does that mean? She’s a little girl I met at work.”

“She very well may be that too. I have a theory that contact, or a message from,” he pointed up, “wherever and whomever, need be initiated via a human conduit. I shouldn’t say that ‘I have a theory’ as it’s like what Carl Sagan wrote in ‘Contact.’ But I do think that he was onto something.” Wake watched them absorb this momentarily, then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

“I think there’s something special about the two of you together. I’m not sure it’s an accident that after years of, let’s say, attempts at contact through single individuals, there are now two people who are connected.” He clasped his hands together. “And, who have both been exposed together. And, uh, are still alive. You dig?”

Holly got up and started to wander around the room. She found the lighting controls for the dance floor and flipped a few switches. One turned on a strobe. She left it on and waved her hand, watching it appear and disappear. Triscuit ambled over to Takeda, grumbling at the flickering air. “Tell me about the tree men and the birds,” she said.

Wake turned his chair to face her, and Holly snapped the strobe off. “Our best intelligence suggests that first, the birds are not birds. Or certainly not any flying creature from this planet, since when they die, they disintegrate into dust.”

“Don’t we all?” Holly said.

“Not like this,” Wake tossed invisible soot into the air.

“Okay, so the birds aren’t birds,” Takeda said flatly.

“Well, I think they intend to look and act like they are. They’re sort of cosmic icebreakers or conversation starters. A way to try and connect with us. Additionally, it’s been recorded that sometimes they can trigger yet another thing that would seem impossible.”

Takeda furrowed his brow. “You mean, like seeing into the future?”

Wake clapped his hands. “Solid! Yes. In the report from The Center, you alluded to this. However, most descriptions refer to it as Time Slip, whereby you might see ahead a few hours or a day. The Center called it Time Bleed. It’s the same thing.”

“Crazy,” Takeda said and took a swallow from his water bottle.

“To recap, you have Time Slip triggered by the birds, this little girl appears, and you see her again later that day and once more at The Center. Do I have that correct?”

“Yes. Her name’s Chimera. I mentioned that, but you probably have that in your secret notes.”

“I do,” Wake said.

Holly walked back over to Takeda and sat down. “Is this little girl like an alien or something? Where’s her ship? Doesn’t she want to be taken to our leader?”

“Not exactly, Holly. I’m sure he met a real little girl name Chimera as well. But, this representation of her is being used to put Takeda at ease. A way to make contact safe and approachable.”

“I feel like we’re getting the Cliff Notes on all this shit,” Holly resignedly said.

“You certainly are. A ton of greater detail has been painstakingly recorded, and I’m housing it on my site, The Red Foot Network. You’ll both be given access to that should you want it – now that we’re all tight.”

“Tell me about the tree men.” She said, patting Triscuit, who managed to get up on the couch.

“We don’t know much about them; I’m sorry. They aren’t always seen when the birds appear, and on at least one occasion, we know one showed up before the birds did. The leading theory is that they somehow deliver them.”

“The one I saw, it dissolved, almost like it was frightened of me. And that was fucked up because I was the one who was scared shitless.”

“Huh…” Wake puzzled.

“Huh, what, Disco Duck?”

“Nice reference!” He said, then got up, walked over to his array of computers, plopped down in the high-backed leather chair, and spun himself around in a full circle. On the second pass, he stopped and logged into his network. Takeda and Holly walked over to watch him. Scott moved to the couch to pat Triscuit, who flopped on her side, approving of the attention.

They watched as the same screen they had seen with the ASCII red bird’s leg appeared. Wake waved his left hand at the screen, on which he had a fancy-looking watch. Text appeared that said:

IDENTITY AUTHENTICATED

WELCOME BACK WAKE

“Sorry for the dramatic silence, folks. I freak out a little when I get new info on this mega puzzle. What you said, Holly, about feeling like you scared the tree man, I don’t think that’s been described before.” Wake typed furiously for a few minutes, bringing up search screens, results, and several blurry photos of trees.

Holly stared at the pictures, one and another. And another. She flashed to the alley, the screeching tree, and back to the photos. Wind buffeted her ears, the smoke, the flames, Bill’s eyes. The tree’s eyes. It reached for her. She was falling, clutching for her reserve, it reached for her…

“H? H! Are you okay?” Takeda yelled, clasping her shoulders.

“Yeah, yeah. Stop it. I’m okay. I was, remembering.” She wiped her forehead with her sleeve. 

Triscuit plopped off the couch with a thump and trotted over. She licked Holly’s pant leg.

“Thanks, Tris,” Holly said.

Wake was staring at her.

“You wanna take a picture instead?” she said.

“Holly, is there anything else you could share about your encounter with the trees?”

She crossed her arms. “No, not really. Tree man appeared, with glowing red eyes, screamed, and dissolved.”

Wake inched his chair forward towards her a little.

“And you, how should I put this? You’ve never seen anything like that before?”

Holly took a half step towards him and, looking down, said, “No.”

“Okay. I didn’t mean to intrude. I often go with my gut, which sometimes comes off as rude. I apologize,” Wake held up his hands.

“No need,” she said.

One of the screens displayed a flashing message:

PROBE ALERT!

“One moment, please,” Wake said as he returned to entering information into the system. He clicked on his music player, and ‘Stayin’ Alive’ started playing. Screens opened and closed faster than it seemed he should be able to discern their contents. 

Wake cracked his knuckles and said, “I see how it is; bring it. Let’s boogie!” The music volume increased as Wake launched screen after screen of code. His head bobbing synched to the beat of the booming system. Fingers danced on the keys like a prima ballerina. He added flair when hitting enter by pointing to the sky with his other hand.

“Catch ya on the flip side, ya chilly chump!” he said while smacking a key. The screen displayed:

INTRUSION KICKED

He whipped around and faced them again. “Sorry about that, hazards of the job. Takeda, I have a proposition for you.”

Takeda looked around the room for someone else named Takeda, “For me? What?”

“That coffin-looking thing in the corner that your lovely pup was so interested in earlier houses the same technology as what The Centers use for Replays. I’d like you to try it.”

Takeda walked to it and looked over the dark steel enclosure. 

“You mean you want me to get in this thing? Why? And also, my birthday was yesterday. It probably wouldn’t work on me,” he said nervously.

“The technology in my device is proven to reach farther than a day; in fact, we’ve pushed it to almost a week. Right, Sheila?”

Sheila pointed a finger gun approval back at Wake from the couch without glancing up from the issue of the Let’s Eat magazine he was reading.

“The reason I’d like you to go in there is–”

“You want him to talk to Chimera.” Holly interrupted.

“Precisely. If Chimera shows up, I don’t think you’ll have to ask many questions. I’d like you to try and learn what they want. They seem to be looking for a way to contact us; let’s help them.”

Takeda walked back over to the couch and sat down as if he’d learned of a death in the family. He took a drink of water. Triscuit waddled after him.

“You okay?” Holly said, turning to face him.

“You’re asking me to get into a coffin with what is likely some kind of alien? And an alien that has a message for, for what, all humanity? No, I’m not all that okay with that. I’m a pizza delivery guy when I’m not pretending to be a writer. I’m neither a hero like my Mom nor tough like you, Holly. That’s pretty shitballs scary.”

Holly walked over and sat down next to him. Scott got up to make room.

“Hey, you did it once before, and you’re okay, right?”

“Yeah, well, that time, I didn’t expect it. And I didn’t have any context for what she is. Hah, I barely do now.”

He was visibly shaking a little with his shoulders hunched forward.

She rubbed his back. “Listen, you don’t need to do it. You don’t have to jump because Wake here says to.”

Takeda closed his eyes and rubbed his chin. Then he stopped and, staring straight ahead, said, “H, how do you do it?”

“How do I do what?”

“How do you jump out of a plane into an inferno? Where does that, uh, courage come from?” He said, unable to meet her eyes.

She thought for a moment, “You got me. Some might call it stupidity, not courage. I can tell you this; I’m always scared. One of my trainers told me that the day you lose your fear is the day you should quit. Fear can paralyze you, and it’s done that to me. But it can also sharpen your awareness. It can become a companion that keeps you on your toes and saves your life. I take that fear with me when I jump. And I jump because I have a job to do, and I know I can do it. I look fear in the eye and say, ‘come along, we’re doing this.’”

Takeda faced her and then kissed her softly. “Thanks, H.”

“Okay, Wake; let’s lock me in a coffin with an alien,” Takeda said, standing up.

“Solid!” Wake said.

Next week in Chapter 30, “Popped,” New info has Christo scrambling