He lifted his head 3 hours later, his brain was heavy and tried to stick to the desk. The pain was immediate. His face was covered with red marks from falling asleep on the keyboard. A vague recollection of what happened started to awaken his anxiety. Like a fire spreading across dry brush, his mind, body and soul started to burn with worry and panic. He looked at the computer screen and saw her face. He needed to find her immediately. Taking control of his drone, he started to fly it recklessly as his mind tried to configure it’s depth perception. His head was in a constant dizzy rotation as the drone started to swerve, buckling like a teenager learning to drive a manual transmission. He gathered his sense of direction and went full speed towards the detention center.
The footage was giving him motion sickness and he became nauseous. Woozy, he pressed forward. The view would have been beautiful if it wasn’t for the situation he was in. Tree lines blurred by, mountains blurred by, lakes blurred by, rivers blurred by, cityscapes blurred by. Richard stayed focused, forcing the drone to go max speed, nonstop, pusing it to the limit. A little dot appeared in the far right corner of the screen, he noticed it just as the nausea had finally gotten to him.
As the drone pushed forward he turned to vomit into the trash bin near his computer. When he turned back the black dot had gotten bigger. It was another drone.
A loud smack was followed by a sudden silence and a black screen.
He crashed his drone. Anyone close enough to see the explosion was partially blinded by the blue light. A sudden fireball erupted and scorched the ground. Trees were burnt to the stumps, the ground left bare of any grass. Children in their homes miles away were knocked to the floor from the force of the explosion, their parents jolted as they tried to catch them. Windows shattered and car alarms followed the defining sound of the BOOM.
His phone rang almost immediately, it was his Uncle. He panicked at first taking a deep empty breath. The sound of the keyboard clicking continued as he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. If his mind wasn’t so clouded with poison he might have thought to call his uncle first. Now he would have to suffer the repercussions of destroying the government issued Zeal Drone and pray that they would let him get his wife back.
“They will understand it was a mistake, right? They can easily get her out, i’m sure.”
The room began spinning with only the phone in focus. The picture of his Uncle in full military uniform vibrated, making the stern look on his face seem enraged.
“Uncle Charles!” He said with a quiver.
“Richard,” his uncle’s deep raspy voice traveled steady. “Seems like you have gotten yourself into a bit of trouble. Don’t worry, I know about the drone, and the other thing. We will take care of all of that. For now, I need you to come in, so we can brief you on what we’re going to do. Thanks, we will see you soon.”
Before Richard had a chance to respond his uncle ended the call. Immediately he felt some relief in knowing that his uncle would pull some strings for him. The elation only lasted a moment; suddenly it was replaced with fear. He had to go outside. It had been months since he had ventured into the real world, there was plenty of stimulation in his home and he had no reason to leave. Home Shop Inc, had made it very easy to stay home. If he was hungry, Home Shop will deliver, if he wanted a drink, Home Shop will deliver, if he needed clothes, Home Shop will deliver.
The fear of the pandemic hit Richard harder than most. He was always a bit of a hypochondriac, and the fact that there was a bonafide pandemic out in the world made it much worse. The safety of his home was deteriorating and his subpar personal hygiene was quickly transforming into that of a germaphobe. He dug through his cabinet and searched for his equipment. He put on a basic disposable face mask, washed his hands, face shield, washed his hands, steril jumpsuit, washed his hands, hair net, washed his hands, gloves, washed his hands, booties for his shoes, washed his hands, and finally a utility belt with hand sanitizer, and disinfectant spray. He looked in the mirror and thought he looked a little ridiculous, but was pleased with his protection. As he started walking toward the door, the nausea came back. He tried to swallow it, but the taste only made things worse. He rushed to the bathroom and painfully relieved himself. He changed his outfit, and of course washed his hands. Gathering all his materials once more he made his way towards the door.
The sunlight leaking in through the windows made his eyes wince. Opening the door he felt the fresh air for the first time as the birds sang their beautiful song of violence. A butterfly fluttered by and landed on his shoulder like the first brushstroke of paint on a blank white canvass. He lifted his leg to take his first step outside, before his foot touched ground, his head was knocked back by a magnetic mask.
***
Excerpt from the Intercepted Private Email of Dr. Whump
Hello Mother,
We compensated the family with incredible amounts of money, but i don’t know if money can ever replace a loved one. What I am working on here is important, Zeal is right, with this research we can save millions.
I will see you once this is done,
Dr. Whump
Daniel Amenero 