Here's the latest installment of my current dark scifi project. This is chapter 23. If you're just tuning in, consider starting with chapters 1 and 2. Be advised that this work considers difficult subjects, including suicide. If you're in crisis, please seek help. Help is available here.
Although Peter had moved in with his friend Anabelle, he still worked part-time for Tom, and Jo spoke with him regularly. A part of Jo missed having Peter and his vague prophesies always hanging around the living room. Even so, she was glad it was just her and Tom there now. The world was changing too fast, she wasn't yet fully grounded in her new role at work, and Tom, somehow, always grounded her.
Today, Tom was off interviewing people about the latest wave of catastrophic mental illness to wash over the country. Hospitals were beyond capacity, police departments had filled the jails to overflowing with people behaving in frightening ways in public, the media was calling it a new 321 Syndrome variant, and the Domino Coalition was on the offensive in Washington, staging press events and generally interrupting politics-as-usual.
With nothing to do after a client canceled at the last minute, Jo was watching a video about the friendship between a puppy and a goose on the internet. The buzzing of her phone distracted her from this important activity. Glancing at the device, Jo saw that it was her friend Tilly calling. She wanted to ignore the call. Tilly had been acting super weird since Tom showed up, and Jo wasn't really up for more of that. But Tilly was a friend, so she answered anyway. "Hi Tilly," she said. "What's up?"
"Hey Jo," said Tilly. "Everything okay?"
"Umm, yeah, how about with you?" asked Jo.
"Still fighting the good fight," said Tilly.
"Were you calling about anything in particular or...?" asked Jo.
"Yeah, I'm calling about something pretty important," said Tilly. "You in a good place to listen?"
"What is it, Tilly?" asked Jo, emotionally preparing herself for her friend's bullshit.
"It's about Tom," said Tilly. "I think he might be CIA. And I think he might be recruiting you to work for the CIA, too. I'm here, can I come up?"
"Fine," said Jo, buzzing Tilly in.
After entering Jo's apartment, Tilly set her giant purse on the coffee table and produced a manila folder from it. "I've got evidence," she said. "Your boyfriend is CIA. Take a look."
Jo took a look. "Oh come on," she said. "These are printouts of Reddit."
"Just read them," said Tilly.
"Tilly!" said Jo. "You know better than this. What are you even doing?"
"An inside source says Tom is controlling Hunter Domino for the CIA," said Tilly. "The most important question right now is how to keep you safe."
Jo took hold of her friend's shoulders. "Tilly, I'm good," she said. "I know all about Tom and I guarantee he's considered unemployable by every part of the government."
"I just ... I'm woried about you," said Tilly. "You were such a free spirit and then this guy comes along and bam! You're off the streets, doing corporate consulting. We haven't even been out to lunch in like two months. How do I know you haven't been brainwashed by the CIA?"
"Tilly, I'm in love, not brainwashed," said Jo. "And we talked about my job change when it happened."
"I don't know, a lot of people online think Tom's CIA," said Tilly.
"Did you seriously come all the way over here to talk about this?" asked Jo.
"Sort of," said Tilly. "I also wanted to know how you're coping with everything going on. With the breakdowns and all."
"Has someone you know ... ?" asked Jo.
"My sister-in-law in Michigan," said Tilly. "Broke down at work and hasn't left her apartment since."
"Are you close?" asked Jo.
"Not really, but my brother doesn't know what to do," said Tilly. "She won't talk to him. She won't talk to anybody."
"Are you emotional about it?" asked Jo.
"Some," said Tilly. "Mostly because I know how she feels. I tell you, I've been on the verge of giving up, too. Everybody's doing it. Breakdowns are trending. Why not me?"
"Do you want help finding a safe space to have a breakdown in?" asked Jo. "That's something we've been talking about at work. The emerging demand for such places."
"Are we talking medical or ... ?" asked Tilly.
"More like hotel rooms that are okay to trash," said Jo. "Possibly medical staff on call, we're still just talking. Do you think a space like that could help you process whatever you're going through in a healthier way than a breakdown?"
"I don't know," said Tilly. "I literally think your boyfriend is in the CIA, so my judgment right now is questionable."
"Glad you see that," said Jo. "Do you feel like meds would help?"
"What would help is if everything just stopped happening," said Tilly. "Like if everybody just stopped what they were doing and took a moment. Like a great reset."
Jo chuckled. "I'd support your great reset," she said. "You do know that term has baggage though?"
"I know all about the Great Reset and I think we should take the term and make it mean something else," said Tilly. "I think we need a great psychic reset. I know that's what I need."
"You think maybe that's what's happening, with the mental health crisis?" asked Jo. "I could see it on some high level, like a psychic cleansing of our collective mind."
"So far my cleansing consists of crippling anxiety and bouts of intense paranoia," said Tilly.
"Gotta start somewhere," said Jo. "I feel like now that we've established this context, you can tell me all of the internet rumors about Tom. But just for fun."
"Okay, well, Tom was most likely recruited when he was still in school," said Tilly. "Probably by one of his parents' friends..."
(Feature image from Pixabay.)
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