Convergence III: Fulfillment In Becoming

Chapter Fifteen: Sneakers

It is July in the year 2061, and it is the end of Nick Althorne's life.

As Jackie looked out the window to the office space, Nick was still throwing things and causing destruction on the street.

"Oh, man," Jackie muttered under their breath. "They're angry about something."

"What do you think even caused this?" Ella asked quietly, her voice small. Seemed she was still tired. "I thought they had more time."

"I thought so too." Jackie quickly drew the blinds. "Let's hope they don't notice we're up here."

The office was messier than it was the last time Jackie was here. Various objects were broken, thrown onto the floor, and the more you looked, the more you noticed semifluid matter dripping from the walls.

"Okay, Cindy." Jackie leaned against the counter, pulling out a box. "What did Nick mention about fixing this?"

"Uh, not much," replied Ella. "They had notes, but I can't read them, and I didn't write down much." Ella took out papers from her pockets, and unfolded them. There was Nick's chicken scratch handwriting, and a few words of Ella's fairy-like handwriting.

"Let me see." Jackie took the pages from her. "Oh, they were writing with their left hand."

"It looks the same as always."

"Wow, their hand was steadier than normal."

"It looks the SAME AS ALWAYS."

Jackie looked at the paper closer. "Uh, apparently they were drafting up a vaccine."

"A vaccine? For this?" Ella's nose scrunched up in confusion, looking at the papers again. It was like English cursive to someone who only spoke Hebrew. "How can you understand that??"

"And there's an ingredients list. Did they ever try this out?"

"As far as I know, no." Ella shrugged. "But what does it say?"

"We need the goopy shit." Jackie pointed down at her. "The goopy shit, and a lot of it."

"Right, okay." Ella walked over to a wall, dripping with semifluid matter. "Is this okay to touch?"

"Yeah? Should be," replied Jackie, who really wasn't so sure.

"Alright." Ella, regardless, scooped it up with her hand and brought a huge glob to the counter. She let it drop onto the counter. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew. Nasty as FUCK. I felt it move in my hand."

Jackie poked it with their finger. "It feels like liquidized cornstarch."

"A non-Newtonian fluid," Ella responded, basically just playing with it.

"And, uh, we need a syringe, and some kind of DNA. Presumably Nick's, but it doesn't specify."