"Well Jonathan, how was your day?"
"Oh, you know, I ran 100 miles in an hour, worked out for three hours until I could bust a still combat dummy with one punch, and spent time bending and unbending a steel bar with my magnetic ability into the shape of a tulip, bent it back straight again, then formed it into a rose. You know, no big deal, just your average day."
Yeah, that is how a conversation with me would go.
That is my normal day; workout physically, then work on my control, then some more physical work out, then reading, fishing, contemplating life and why God put me in this situation, and just musing on various aspects of life and existence.
How can I believe in God and still have an alien thing inside me?
Good question! And here is the simplest answer I can think of.
Show me where it says God ONLY created Earth. Do I think that he only created Earth? Yes. But, he is a limitless God in power and intelligence, and he is a creative God, so could he make another world out there and fill it with life that went on a different path from what happened here on Earth? Sure! I would be totally arrogant to say that I knew my Creator well enough to say he would only create one world with life on it!
Besides, I have something alien inside me! I think that proves something, don't you?!
Any way, my normal life was most definitely not normal!
And then it got worse.
You remember those bad guys at the bank? Remember how they talked about Helter Skelter, and what I found out about them?
Well, they escaped from prison.
Surprised?
Me neither.
I read about it one morning as I was having breakfast at a local cafe I liked to "jog" to. When I say job, I mean doing something that looked like jogging but felt more like walking in slow motion to me.
Anyway....
I was having some Kupi Luwak coffee, yes, the cat poo coffee...it's really good!....and Eggs Benedict, at this little cafe I love. It's a homey little hole-in-the-wall that looks like a greasy spoon diner, but has been owned by the same family for the past four generations. The decor is a mix of Mediterranean and Hispanic, an eclectic mix I genuinely enjoy. Sitting out on the front porch while having breakfast, with the ocean breeze caressing your skin feels like a little slice of heaven.
But, I digress.
I saw the headline on the front page of the paper being read by someone at the table next to me. A quick scan of the article gave me the details; they were in prison, not a maximum security one, but your average prison, when a riot broke out between some Aryan Nation gang members and a contingency of African-American boys. That was not a big deal, and apparently was not uncommon at that particular location. But, after the riot had been stopped, it was discovered that four prisoners, four members of the crew I had stopped at the bank, the other two were still in hospital, (I still felt terrible about that), were nowhere to be found. Oh, what a surprise, the riot appeared to have been a diversion to allow them to escape! Shocking, right?!
My trust in the local police system knew no bounds.
I hope you can sense my sarcasm.
*It is interesting that the authorities did not anticipate such an event.* Becky commented. *This suggests either foolishness on their part, or someone in the administration was part of the plot to free them.*
"You read my mind, Becky."
*Actually, I came up with that deduction on my own, thank you.*
Gee, snooty much?!
*I am simply clarifying that I did not read your mind, but came up with the realization on my own.*
"I was being sarcastic."
*Oh. This is something I am still not used to.*
And yet his sarcasm knew no bounds.
I finished breakfast and headed back to my house, not really giving the escapees any further thought. The cops would likely find them again, and that would be the end of it.
I really wish that had been the case!
I was about three miles from my house, when Becky made a comment that sent a chill down my spine.
*Well, that is interesting....very interesting.*
When a paranoid alien entity living inside your head says something is, "intersting," that is not a good thing!
I kept moving, not wanting to draw attention to my being aware of anything out of the ordinary, but I mentally asked Becky what he found "interesting."
*There is a car we just passed. According to my information it does not belong to anyone in the area, yet it has remained in the same place for the last two days, with two people inside it who appear to be just sitting there.*
That was NOT good, definitely NOT what I wanted to hear!
I kept jogging, making sure to keep my pace normal, as I mentally cointinued my conversation with Becky.
"Can you run the license plate?"
*I can. One moment.....ah.....here we are......the car was reported stolen three days ago.*
"So it could just be crooks hanging out and trying to keep a low profile."
*Indeed. Except for the fact that they keep watching the videos of you in the park just after stopping the bank attack. As well, I can clearly identify one of them as being a member of the group that was present in the bank at the time.*
"How can you see all that? Don't you see what I see?"
*No. I see much much more than you do. I am not limited by your human brain. You only consciously register a small portion of what your optics take in on a given day. Though I look through your eyes, I see and process much, much more than your brain is capable of doing. As well, I retain every memory perfectly in my synapses, so I never forget anything. In all honesty, I am amazed at how much you miss.*
And there you have it, "How To Be Smug 101" by Becky; supposedly doesn't understand sarcasm, but boy does he know how to be smug!
Anyway, back to what was going on.
As I am sure you can understand, the news that the group I had stopped was looking for me, and likely had called in more help from their gang, was not welcome news to me. How did they know where I lived?!
*I do not believe they know the exact place where we live, Jonathan.*
Clearly this was Becky's moment to be cautious and logical.
"What makes you say that?"
*If you listen to what they are saying, you will find that there are several vehicles out there looking for us. It seems they made some guesses as to the general location of where we had gone, and are attempting to cover the areas where we might be. From what I could ascertain, they have at least a dozen vehicles, some stolen and some not, at various locations over a 20-mile area hoping to locate us.*
Okay, so general area but nothing specific. That was good.
*Unfortunately, you are one of the few males they have seen so far with the right height and body physicality to match the one who stopped them.*
Oh great! Just great!
I reached my front door as this was revealed and, doing my best to appear calm, I stepped inside, closed and locked the door....
....and proceeded to freak out!
"I thought the suit was designed so that we stayed anonymous! That is why the face plate was flat and hid my features!"
*Agreed, that was the hope. However, while your face can be hidden, your height and form cannot. I am afraid you do stand out a bit, Jonathan.*
"And whose fault is that?!"
*It was unavoidable. In order for me to give you the enhancements I gave you, you had to be a certain size. Otherwise, you would look like an ape. I chose the body type that was best for achieving my goals. I did not expect you to try to be a hero and leap into a situation that would draw attention to us!*
Sure, blame me!
*Yes, I do! You had no need to stop the situation at the bank! The police could have handled it!*
"They didn't know about that bomb! Everyone would have died!"
*But your actions have made people pay more attention to you, and therefore us! How long before your military starts to investigate this? In fact, they likely already are!*
Oh crap.....Becky was right about that part.
I dropped into a chair, pinching the bridge of my nose as I tried to calm down and think things through.
"Okay. So this gang is looking for us, and has basically found us. We have to deal with that. But we have no indication the government is looking at us at all, right?"
*That would seem to be correct.*
"So, let's keep a low profile, as low as we can, for now. So far, those guys are only watching, so they may not know that they have found us. We can hope and pray that they will move on. If they do, then we are good. If not...."
I did not have to finish.
If that gang knew I was there, my life was about to become very, very complicated.
At 2 A.M that night, the complications began.