Fathom by Mikel Parry

CH-REAL IMAGINATION

Demo woke up to the smell of cologne. The scent strummed his memory like a guitar playing a familiar tune. It was an unforgettable scent. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, he looked around. Miraculously, he found himself free to roam around. The haziness in his head, however, deterred his ambitions of moving. He felt like a broken receptor that was only picking up static. Rubbing his nose, he could smell the faint remnants of chemicals. He closed his eyes trying to get it together. A part of him wanted to puke his guts out from the forced nap he had taken. Seeing the perfectly white walls, along with the familiar jaunt he’d just taken, he gave in willingly. His insides heaved, blemishing the otherwise perfect floor. The foul odor rose into his nostrils, but he was proud of it. His timing couldn’t have been better.

“Damn it. Demo! What’s wrong with you?”

Demo opened his eyes to see Roslin pacing in on him. This came as no surprise; in fact it was expected. Roslin was now his new big brother, always watching. Demo smiled, proud of interrupting Roslin’s otherwise impeccably organized life.

“Sorry. Didn’t know I had it in me.”

His smile grew wider upon seeing the reaction his play on words had. Roslin’s look of disgust grew, becoming even more pronounced. Suddenly a third voice interjected.

“Well . . . you always had a way with words. Always acting the maggot, aren’t ya?”

Demo’s smile faded, suddenly placing the familiar cologne. With an unexpected burst of energy, he flew out of the chair and spun around. There he was met by the flinty eyes of Bob Cat. For once, Demo’s normal freak response was quiet. His response came both calmly and directed.

“How did you get here?”

Bob Cat snorted angrily before looking directly at Roslin.

“Why don’t you ask the horse’s arse yourself? I’d like to know as well.”

Roslin stood his ground firmly, glancing over Bob Cat’s shoulder and shaking his head disappointedly at two large men standing guard at the door. Each man showed signs of having been caught in what must have been a vicious brawl.

“Did I do that?” Demo asked, pointing at the men at the door.

Roslin let out a laugh that was strangely accompanied by a snicker from Bob Cat.

“You can thank your friend here for that. I grabbed you myself; thought it’d be easier that way.”

Demo grimaced. He really was a weak, pathetic fool. He was feeling more and more like a small kid on the playground surrounded by bullies.

“Well, they deserved it. And I ought to finish the job right now with you. You’ve got no right bringing me here.”

Bob Cat’s stance turned aggressive but Roslin was quick to remind him of his place.

“Oh, what are you going to do, Mr. Briar? Have it out right here like we’re in one of your trashy bars? I think not. And besides, having you here wasn’t even in our plan. You can thank your accomplice for that.”

Bob Cat snapped his head towards Demo who was completely caught off guard.

“What is he talking about, Demo? These freaks read me bedtime stories and dragged me here because you told them to?”

Demo didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t formulate lies quickly enough to make any real sense. He could only tell the severely unwanted truth.

“It was my idea.”

Bob Cat let out a slew of curse words that were expertly tied together to form a noose around Demo’s neck. Demo took it willingly. He knew dragging Bob Cat even further into the case unwillingly might have been an enormous mistake. But he didn’t have anyone else. The only other person he had a real connection to was Jacky, and for reasons quite obvious, she could never know. Once Bob Cat’s temper subsided he looked at Roslin with burning embers for eyes.

“And so you agreed to this?”

Roslin rolled his eyes. He was becoming more aggravated the longer they wasted on emotion.

“Look—as far as I’m concerned you’re now officially a loose end. But what we’re doing here is far more important than your sense of outrage. I don’t care why he brought you here; all I care about are the results. I put my neck out on this one and don’t want it being hacked off because of the incompetency of you two idiots! I don’t have time to keep explaining myself!”

Demo looked at Roslin, who was literally foaming at the mouth. He knew they were in no real position to argue.

“I suppose they’ve already explained to you what this is, Bobby?”

Bob Cat shrugged and looked away.

“They’ve spewed out more crap than a bull on laxatives, but I’m sure they’ve done their best.”

Demo nodded his head.

“Then you’ve got to understand what they—what we are trying to do. This thing is huge.”

Bob Cat swung at the air making everyone in the room tense.

“This is what I was talking about, Demo. We shouldn’t be in this. We shouldn’t be nosing around where we don’t belong.”

Demo slumped against the wall.

“It’s too late for that, Bobby. We’re a part of it whether we like it or not.”

Bob Cat paced in a tiny circle before snatching a chair off the floor and heaving it forcefully into a nearby wall. The impact sent tiny parts of it flying through the air.

“Haven’t we done enough? Case after case we solve, and we get no respect from anyone. But now suddenly they care? What a bunch of shite in a bucket!”

Roslin had heard enough and was about to step in when Demo surprisingly waved him off.

“We gotta do this, Bobby. Not for us but for all those people out there. This isn’t going to stop. More innocent people are going to die.”

Bob Cat walked over to a wall and braced himself against it, staring at the floor. His lips were moving but nothing was coming out. He knew he was caught in a predicament of duty. Self-preservation and needs versus the greater good; or at least what they were being told was the greater good. Why was everything so very, very grey? Minutes passed, intensifying the silence, before Bob Cat finally surrendered.

“Well, let’s see it then. The damn machine . . . let’s see it.”

Roslin let out the long breath he had apparently been holding in.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

He showed Bob Cat the way. Demo had already been through this particular orientation. When they arrived in the lower room, they were met by the pale complexion of Jo.

“Sir, he’s really been kicking into overdrive. I think if we hurry we’ll have a solid window.”

Jo paused when he saw Bob Cat and Demo. He almost went cross-eyed. He adjusted his thick glasses and flicked his fingers across his nose.

“Another one? Soon we’ll be throwing birthday parties.”

Demo glanced at Bob Cat, worried his aggressive nature would set back in. Instead, he saw Bob Cat staring in shock. All the sci-fi wizardry of the room was sweeping him into another plane of thought. It wasn’t until he noticed the body that he came back around.

“And who the hell is that? Are we just visiting a morgue today?”

Demo looked sternly at Roslin.

“I thought you explained everything?”

Roslin shrugged.

“I believe I explained what we’re doing here, but it’s possible I missed a few details.”

This time Demo snapped out of his normally complacent self.

“Just how many did you miss?”

Roslin turned his back.

“I don’t need to defend myself. I do what I do because it needs to be done. I’m not going to spend another second on this discussion. We’re already pressed for time. That’s why we had to do what we did to get you here. I shouldn’t need to remind you that you’re already a part of this. As sick and twisted as this is, we’re going to be a family from here on out. Is that clear?”

The mention of the word family stung Demo like a snakebite spreading rapidly to his heart. He had a family; his own twisted family. And now, because of everything going on, Jacky was slowly being pushed out. Bob Cat was quick to turn Demo’s thoughts into words.

“No. This . . . this right here is no family of mine. This is just wrong.”

Roslin furrowed his brow, letting his chiseled expression finish the argument.

“Right or wrong, it’s going to happen.”

Jo broke the tense fog that enveloped the room with a statement that reminded them of why they were there in the first place.

“I suggest we get someone linked up now or we’ll miss our chance.”

Roslin let up on his aggressive argument and nodded.

“Do it. Hook Mr. Ward up. Give him the rundown. I’ll be watching, as will Mr. Briar from up top should anything happen. Now, if you would please follow me, Mr. Briar. You’re both in for quite the show.”

Bob Cat reluctantly followed behind Roslin as he made his way from the room. The entire time Bob Cat kept his eyes on the still body of Spencer, the bloody Vulcan. As they walked, Bob Cat’s gruff voice could be heard as he continued drilling Roslin for answers. Demo, however, was left alone with one of the most awkward people, aside from himself, he had ever met.

“You ready for the ride man? This thing is gonna blow your mind.”

Demo looked at the obviously excited super nerd that called himself Jo. His own eccentric demeanor had truly met its match.

“Tell me what I need to know.”.

Jo let out a yelp of excitement, as if he’d just been given a new toy; a toy he couldn’t wait to shove a firecracker into so he could stand back and watch it explode.

“The machine is what it’s all about. It’s truly amazing, and has made all this possible. I mean, the technology in this thing is out of this world, man. And I mean literally out of the ballpark.”

Demo sighed.

“I already got the sales pitch. Again, what do I need to know?”

Jo’s mouth quivered, confused by the lack of interest in the finer details of his precious gadget.

“Fine, have it your way. I guess to you it’s just an everyday machine that sucks your brain into his . . . no big deal,” Jo said sarcastically, pointing at Spencer.

“You’ll literally be inside the mind of a prolific serial killer!” He could barely hold back his deranged excitement. It was apparent that he had been cut off from mainstream society for quite some time. Jo calmed down and answered Demo’s question.

“A few things . . . this isn’t your average road-trip unless you’re used to traveling on a limitless highway with billions and billions of other cars. To get you in there, we’ve got to share the road. I’ll be rerouting your brain to temporarily merge with his. The machine will be your on ramp!”

Demo rolled his eyes.

“I don’t need any more of your highway metaphors. Just give it to me straight.”

Jo smirked.

“Okay, if you insist. You and Spencer will be sharing brain activity. The two of you will be joined within his psyche. Once there you’ll be fully immersed in whatever Spencer remembers. Double consciousness in one subconscious; its freaking brilliant! It’s like cake with layer upon layer of sweet, tasty icing!”

Demo cringed. His mind had already gift wrapped a question for Jo to open.

“Wouldn’t sharing the space eventually push one of us out? Seems like that would be an exhausting process.”

Jo smiled, gleaming ear to ear.

“Not just one, but potentially both. You both could end up as mindless bobble heads. That’s why we limit the time. We estimate that you have about a half an hour before things get ugly. And I do mean they get ugly. Should Spencer’s mind begin to fall apart under the stress, who knows where you’ll end up?”

“Wait—what exactly do you mean, end up? What exactly are we talking about here?”

Jo let out a long sigh of frustration.

“That’s why I was giving you the highway analogy! One would think you would have appreciated that. If Spencer’s mind crashes while you two are still hooked up, you’ll be stuck in his brain. It’s like breaking down on the highway without knowing where you are. The only way we’d ever find you again is if Spencer took us to you—which he couldn’t because he’ll be an official addition to the food pyramid in the vegetable group.”

Demo’s eyes widened. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

“That sounds ridiculously dangerous. Why aren’t there countermeasures or a fail-safe? It sounds like you’d be gambling with your life every time you use that thing.”

Jo practically danced in place.

“Exactly! The adventure of a life time, and you’re the lucky guy who gets to do it! I wish I could—I really do—but they won’t let me for some odd reason.”

Demo couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was this guy for real or had Demo already lost his mind and this was all just his imagination. Demo paused, watching Jo rally and begin to prep the machine just to the side of where Spencer lay. He looked down at Spencer and saw his blank expression which showed no signs of pain or struggle. It belied the truth of the horrible nightmares that could only be understood from inside—or, for lack of a better word, fathomed from inside.

“Oh, and one more thing—I’m so silly, I almost forgot—when you’re in Mr. Vulcan’s mind, you want to make sure you don’t stand out. The mind will act the same way your body would if it was attacked by a foreign body. If he singles you out he could easily trap you in his brain forever.”

If the world wasn’t already spiraling madly out of control for Demo, it most assuredly was now.

“So, are you saying he could be actively pursuing me, even inside his mind? Are you insane? This sounds like suicide! How am I supposed to work inside his mind, and avoid being found out, all at the same damn time?”

Jo let out a childlike giggle.

“Well, that’s going to take some real imagination, isn’t it, Mr. Ward?”

Demo wanted to throw up again. How could he talk so lightly about something ]so absolutely serious? It was like dancing around a stick of lit dynamite.

“It takes a lot more than just some real imagination to fly under the radar of a killer’s warped mind, don’t you think?”

Jo clapped his hands like a seal begging for a fish.

“Why do you think we brought you here? You wouldn’t be here unless you were some sort of freak—just like me—just like all of us here!”

Demo watched Jo smile at what he obviously thought was their newly discovered comradery. He knew this wouldn’t end well. His heart was clawing its way free from his chest in an attempt to commit mutiny. It went against everything logical, but if it meant stopping a madman then it had to be done. The gangly, awkward, uncoordinated superhero in him had arrived.

“Let’s get started.”

Jo jumped into place.

“I thought you’d never ask! Please, if you could take a seat next to Mr. Vulcan.”

Demo did as he was told, although sitting next to Spencer made him instantly nauseated. This was the last place he wanted to be—in any reality. The cold steel worsened the experience even more. It was like a thousand tiny, ice cold arms were reaching up to grab him and not let go. While he waited, Jo attached an array of wires to his vital areas, arms and legs.

“We’ll be able to monitor your heart rate as well as your other vital signs. In the event of an emergency, we’ll begin the shutdown process and pull your consciousness back out of Mr. Vulcan here. It takes a minute or two to do so, so we need to be Jonny on the spot with the problems early. Luckily we have some of the best of the best to help with that.”

“And who do you consider the best of the best?” asked Demo incredulously.

“I am,” Jo grinned manically..

Without warning, Demo chair flattened out. As it reclined his body stretched out until it came to rest in a sleeping position that matched Spencer’s, whose cadaver-like body brought up what he thought was an extremely relevant question.

“Jo, what happens if I die inside his mind; you know, in his subconscious?”

Jo paused for a moment, taking his concentration away from the whirlwind of his preparations. His eyes darted side to side, his lips tightly pursed.

“I have no idea, honestly. I’d imagine it would be rather unpleasant. The mind is one hell of a convincer, and if it truly believes your dead, then my best bet is that you’d go along with it. I never really thought of that one. Just try to stay out of any falling dreams because you could actually hit bottom. ”

Demo’s insides churned as if attempting an uprising to get him out of the ghastly predicament he had gotten himself into. But it was too late now. Suddenly, there was a purr of power all around him sending all the hairs on his arms straight into the air. A surge of energy streamed through his body, growing ever greater by the second. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. It frightened him to the core.

“Jo! Jo! What’s happening? I feel like I’m ready to explode! What are you doing?”

Jo rushed back to the table. Staring down at Demo’s sprawled out body, he winked.

“When I said this was going to blow your mind, I meant it quite literally. In a minute, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. I’m so jealous right now! The power’s overwhelming, am I right? Oh, you probably don’t even get the reference. Enjoy the ride, Mr. Ward! See you when you come back to reality!”

Demo wanted to scream as the surging power washed over him like a tidal wave. It was as if his body had harnessed a thunderbolt he could no longer contain. Then, in an instant, all of the power surging through his body bolted directly to his head. A massive wave of energy blasted Demo’s mind, sending him into a dizzying world of light mixed with darkness. Everything faded into a chaotic vortex far from the reaches of Demo’s familiar reality. Streaming pieces of fragmented memory swirled around him like a tornado, each on a loop showing important times in his life. A great deal of pain broke through the infinite fathoms of his mind. Slowly, a distant but free feeling hit him like a boulder rolling a thousand miles an hour. He swore he could sense himself leaving one place and entering another as if caught midflight on a spaceship; completely weightless and unhinged. This feeling permeated his being and grew until it consumed him whole. Suddenly, the whirlwind returned, sucking him into its perfect chaos once more. This time he was again surrounded by pieces of light filled with memory, only these fragments weren’t his own. Unfamiliar voices, smells, and sights flooded the vortex, dragging him ever further into its madness. Just when he thought he couldn’t survive another second more, it came to an abrupt stop. Everything slowed down and became convoluted. The distorted images began to form the world around him. Nothing had prepared him for this. Nothing could have.