Dark Energy

 

 

Finn Sinclair

©2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover art: Finn Sinclair, 2021

Do you want the sweetness of food

Or the sweetness of the one

Who put sweetness in food? -Rumi, “Earsight”

Chapter 1

Eitan sat on the old worn couch that smelled vaguely of sweat and fear, keeping his hands in his lap out of fear of contamination. Mr. Branston had stepped out of the room for a moment, leaving Eitan to his own thoughts. Today marked the six-month anniversary of his parents’ deaths in a pileup on the interstate, making him sadder than usual. They had left him with a babysitter to go out for their anniversary on a foggy night. Now, having celebrated his tenth birthday only last week, he waited to learn what his fate would be.

Eitan looked up when Mr. Branston returned. He had a belly, and his jowls jiggled when he shook his head. He shook his head a lot and sighed too, Eitan decided. Mr. Branston pulled over a wood chair and sat down right in front of Eitan.

“I have good news and I have great news,” Mr. Branston said, using his handkerchief to wipe his forehead and nose. Eitan’s eyes went wide.

“The good news is that you are being adopted,” Mr. Branston said. “You will never see the inside of a state children’s facility, which makes me incredibly happy. The better news is that you are being adopted through the Hobart Foundation. Do you know who they are?”

Eitan shook his head and shrugged.

“Dr. Hobart founded a company that specializes in bio-nanotechnology, and like the ads say, he got it right,” Mr. Branston said. “His science worked. Dr. Hobart made a fortune, I mean, a lot, a lotta money. He took a chunk of that fortune and put it in a foundation that helps kids like you, kids who have terrible tragedies like they have diseases or lose their parents. The foundation has found you a forever home.”

“Mrs. Johns taught me to play gin rummy, euchre, and canasta,” Eitan said. “Is this new home going to be like that.” They had played cards almost every night for the past six months, even if Eitan did not have much to say.

“I don’t know,” Mr. Branston said, his jowls jiggling again. “I’ve never worked with the Hobart Foundation before, but their reputation is excellent, winning awards and stuff like that. I know you don’t feel it, Eitan; it’s only been six months, but you’re gonna be okay. You can still be everything your parents dreamed you would be, everything that they would still want for you.”

“Okay,” Eitan said, more to stop the man from talking like he had any clue what Eitan was thinking. “When do I leave?”

Mr. Branston sat up with a slight smile on his face. “I left a moment ago to greet the woman the Hobart Foundation sent to pick you up. As soon as the paperwork is done, you can leave. Is that fast enough for you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you want a glass of water while you wait? We’re not allowed to hand out soda in the building anymore,” Mr. Branston said. Eitan nodded and Mr. Branston stood, reaching for the door.

Eitan hardly noticed when a glass of tepid water was pushed into his hand. He looked at his hands in his lap as they clasped the paper cup, trying his best not to think. When he let his mind wander, his thoughts went to bad places. He would get angry and his fists would clench so hard they hurt. People he did not want near would touch him. He would get sad and those stupid tears would scroll down his cheeks. Then people would try to hug him – he hated that.

“It’s time,” Mr. Branston announced with excitement.

Eitan looked up, straightening his shoulders. He put down his untouched cup before standing. Without saying a further word, he allowed the social worker to guide him down the hallway and into a conference room. He cocked his head with curiosity as he looked at the woman standing on the other side of the table. She was dressed in a business suit and she had a beauty parlor hairdo, but she stood like a soldier with an I-am-here-Here-I-am air about her. He half expected her superhero costume to burst out from under her clothes.

“Uh,” Eitan managed.

The woman walked around the table and bent at the knees until her face was even with his. “Hi Eitan,” she said with soft smile. “My name is Camille. I’ve come to take you to your new home. Are you ready?”

Eitan nodded. “Where is my new home?”

“Your new home is far from here. We have to take an airplane to get there,” she said. “Have you ever flown in a plane?”

Eitan shook his head.

“Then you are going to have your first plane ride,” Camille said. “Today, you are going to have a good adventure with a good ending. I think you deserve a good ending. Don’t you?”

“Like in the movies?” Eitan asked, wondering if he was acting out of line, as his mother always put it.

“O my,” she said, letting the smile grow larger. “You are asking a tough question. The short answer is ‘yes’. The longer answer will have to wait until we arrive. Let’s, you and I, grab your stuff and go out to the car. We can talk more on the way to the airport. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Eitan allowed the woman to take his hand and lead him out the door. Behind the receptionist desk were his two suitcases, one containing his clothes and the other holding his stuff, or as Mrs. Johns put it, his memories. Camille took one and he took the other, struggling with the weight and determined not to show it. She hoisted it into the trunk for him.

She made sure he was buckled in the passenger seat. Camille tapped the navigation panel on the dash, setting the course to the airport. Eitan watched her plug in the information in silence. His friend Jerry had a fancy car with a screen and computer stuff; Jerry’s father was a jerk about it though, yelling at anyone whose hand got near it even though the radio was one of the screens. His parents never owned a car with the fun stuff.

“Okay, Eitan,” Camille said, “The map says we can be at the airport in twenty-five minutes barring accidents. Do you want to drive by your house one last time before you leave for a long, long time?”

“No,” Eitan said firmly. “Everything good there is gone. Mrs. Johns took me home to pick up the last of my stuff. It’s just an empty house now and I don’t like being there.”

“Makes sense,” she said. “Let’s go to your new home.”

Eitan was confused when she turned right at the airport entrance, veering away from the front of the airport. He did not say anything, but he started paying close attention for the first time. They drove past the air cargo entrance and continued further to a sign that read, “General Aviation.” She turned in and parked at the far end of the lot.

The door had a big blue wing on the sign above the door. Camille led the way as they both towed a suitcase. Inside, Camille waved to someone in a uniform while asking Eitan to take a seat. The man came over and took their bags away. Eitan sat up on his knees when the man opened the backdoor, allowing Eitan to see the planes that were just outside.

“Are you hungry?” Camille asked as they walked out the door, heading towards a small jet with an “H” symbol constructed of tiny circles on the tail. He told her he had barely eaten breakfast, and no one eats the food at the CPS office unless they were being punished.

“Mr. Branston calls the food toasted cardboard with recycled engine oil on top,” Eitan said. “It smells like the lost-n-found in the boys locker room.”

Camille laughed as she escorted him up the stairs. The flight attendant pointed him to a seat, buckling him in without asking to help. The pilot stepped out of the cockpit and spoke quietly to Camille for a moment. He gave Eitan a sharp two finger salute from the edge of his forehead before shutting the cockpit door after he stepped through.

To Eitan, the plane zipped to the runway and then zoomed into the air before he could figure out what the plane was doing. Once they were high enough, the flight attendant asked him if he wanted a hamburger or spaghetti to eat. When she brought it to him, he goggled at the size of hamburger. The Burger Barn never served anything like this. As he chewed through the burger, she set down a chocolate milkshake on the tray.

Having eaten only half of his hamburger, Eitan settled back into seat with both hands around his milkshake. Everything in it was real, he could tell. He sucked on that straw until he heard the slurping of air at the bottom. Suddenly, a wave of sleepiness washed over him. He barely got the glass back on the tray before he conked out.

Someone was shaking his shoulder. “Eitan, time to wake up,” a female voice far away called out. “Come on, Eitan, time to wake up.”

He let out a big yawn and stretched his arms up to the ceiling. He rubbed his eyes and looked about. “How long did I sleep?”

“About five hours,” Camille said. “We are about to land outside Seattle.”

“I feel muzzy,” Eitan said. “I didn’t even get to finish my hamburger.”

The flight attendant chuckled as she checked his seat belt buckle. “No one has ever finished that hamburger. That dish could feed a small village for a week.”

“My arm feels like it’s still asleep,” Eitan said, struggling to wake up fully.

“Let’s see,” Camille said. She unbuttoned his shirt sleeve and pushed the fabric up over his elbow and onto his bicep. “This can come off,” she said, as she tugged off the little bandage and the little ball of cotton attached to it. “I don’t see any bruising, so I imagine that it’s just a little cramped. Try rubbing your muscles with your fingers to get the circulation going again.”

Following the suggestion, Eitan massaged his muscles while he looked out the window at the scene below. A few moments later the plane touched down and taxied to a stop. A black SUV with blacked-out windows was waiting to pull up to the plane. After the captain came out and opened the cabin door, Eitan and Camille walked from the plane to the car and climbed into the backseat.

“We have about a two-hour drive to your new home, Eitan. Our driver is Stefan and he is one of the many people you are going to meet at your new home.”

“What is my new home like?” Eitan asked. “Is it a house? Who are going to be my parents?”

“Good questions,” Camille said with enthusiasm. “You are going to live a real house with four bedrooms, two parents, a brother and a sister, and two dogs. You can walk or ride a bike to your new school and next door, is a working farm. There are lots of trees and fields too.”

“Do you live there too?”

“No, I’m not that lucky,” Camille said. “I live nearby, and you will see me now and then. Today I am your escort, here to ferry you to your new parents and your new home.”

Eitan had an odd feeling like he was not really in his body and everything around him was not happening to him. Jerry’s sister had given her brother a Disney cartoon film in Hindu, but she did not tell them. They popped the DVD into the deck. They were confused and did not know what to do for a couple of moments. He had the same confusion now as Camille would say things that meant one thing but suggested something else.

He sat quietly, looking out the window. Several billboards on the highway had signs that said, “Just Say ‘No’ to Nano” and “Leave our bodies as God made them.” Eitan had never seen such signs before, but they disappeared quickly. As he glanced at the passing scenes, he doubted if the world would ever feel right side up again. He did not want to ask any more questions, so he closed his eyes for a while. A long time later, they passed a long high stone wall. In the middle of the wall were two doors of a big gate. Stefan slowed and turned into the driveway, stopping at the gate. The doors swung open revealing another big gate. Stefan inched the car forward until he stopped before the next gate. Eitan sat up and looked behind, watching the first gate close. When he turned face forward again, the second gate was opening.

After several minutes of driving, the car entered a small village. “This is the village centre,” Camille said. “There are offices here and stores too. There is a pizza parlor and ice cream store just over there. The big white building across the way is the hospital and research center.”

Eitan thought the ugly building stuck out a sore thumb, as his mother would say. He sighed.

“We go out of the village this way and in five minutes we are going to pass your school,” Camille said.

As they passed, Eitan said, “It looks awful small.”

“It’s a private school just for the children in and around the village, Eitan. It’s an amazing school and you are going to like it. You’ve never seen anything like this school before.”

Eitan stared, saying nothing.

“Do you see that tan house with the blue trim, coming up on your left, just behind those trees?” Camille asked.

“Yeah.”

“That’s your new home, Eitan. They’re waiting outside for you; they must be eager to meet you.”

Eitan looked at the house through the gaps in the trees as they continued up to the driveway. They turned in and drove up to the garage door. Without prompting, Eitan opened his door and stepped out. He walked up to the family of four standing on the porch with rapt curiosity.

He had to tilt his head back to look up at the man with his broad nose and his black skin. “Are you going to be my father?”

The man nodded and smiled. “Yep, it seems so. Nikki is going to be your mother. Akemi is your sister, and Sten is your younger brother.”

Eitan looked each one in the face. “Wow. None of you look like me and none of you look like each other. How did that happen?”

Akemi gave him a look. “Well, you see, when a man and a woman meet, and they fall in love. . .”

Eitan rolled his eyes. “I’m an orphan, I’m not stupid. You look Asian and your parents don’t.”

“They fall in love and discover that they can’t have children, dork.”

Eitan let the words roll around in his head. “You’re adopted too!” He pointed at the younger boy. “And you’re adopted too.”

The boy nodded once and then looked down at his toes. Eitan did not know what to say to the boy after that. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” Akemi said. “Sten is just doing Sten. Do you hit girls?”

“No,” Eitan said with puzzlement. “Do I need to?”

“Dork!”

“Enough, Akemi,” the man said. He held out his hand. “I am Joseph, and this is Nikki. We want to welcome you to our family with some dignity.” Eitan took his hand and shook it. His hand looked tiny compared to Joseph’s.

“Eitan,” the woman said. “We are a blended family, all of us. You are special and unique, just as each of us are. I know you’ve had a long tough road; we all have. Here though, you have a home, Eitan, with all of us. You can have a family again. Why don’t you come inside and we’ll get dinner started.”

Eitan had tears in his eyes as his new mother put her arm around his shoulders to guide him into the house.

Akemi leaned over and whispered in his ear, “You’re still a dork.”

 

Chapter 2

“You look like a puddle of stale cookie dough,” Akemi said, as she slipped into his room. “Nikki said to leave you alone, but what does she know?”

Eitan was laying on top of the sheets with a damp sweat coating his body. Nikki had wanted him in a pair of pajamas, but he could barely tolerate his tighty-whities as he lay on top of the bottom sheet of his bed.

“Was it this bad for you?” Eitan said, slightly above a whisper. She sat on the bed at his hip, still looking down at him. Her school uniform was rumpled, and her shirt was untucked.

“No,” Akemi said, taking a bite of her apple. “I was younger than you though. Dr. Hobart says the more exposure you have to toxic stuff, the harder the nanobots have to work. I guess you got exposed to a lot of crap.”

“Lucky me,” Eitan said. “I’m sweating like it’s one of those hot shower steam rooms.”

“It’s called a sauna, dork,” Akemi said. “Nikki and Joseph are worried about you. They’re tiptoeing around whispering a lot, which is weird for them.”

Eitan shrugged. “What’s Sten doing?”

“He’s camping out in my room, hiding on the other side of the bed on the floor, reading another Batman comic. I can tell that Sten is a puzzle for you. I mean, you share a room with him, and you probably wonder if he is actually here with you.”

Eitan shifted. A gas cramp was started to build in his gut, causing him to break out in a new upsurge of sweats. “Yeah.”

“Nikki says that it’s the opposite, that Sten is hyperaware of everything around him. She says that he saw some shit.”

Eitan snorted despite himself. “Nikki did not say the word ‘shit’” He twisted his middle, trying to do something about the pain in his belly. “O God, Akemi, can you help me?”

“What?”

“I need the toilet, like now!” Eitan said, almost crying. “I can’t get there. My legs . . .”

“NIKKI,” Akemi yelled as she jumped from the bed and flew out the door. “HURRY, HE’S GONNA BLOW.”

Eitan felt strong arms sweep him up and carry him down the hallway. His underwear was yanked down just as he was placed on the seat. Eitan held his arms straight down with his fingers curled as the first wave of pressure burst through his butthole. So strong was the burst that water splashed up, glazing his cheeks.

A second jet burst forth and Eitan was amazed at the force of the gunk coming out of his little body. He half-wondered if his butthole was going to break from these bouts and never close right again. His arms relaxed. He dropped his face into his hands, letting whatever foulness was inside drop into the water without comment. The smell was horrendous.

“Mercy flush,” Akemi called from the hallway. Eitan heard Joseph reprimanding her, but his butthole burned too much to laugh. Still, he smiled. He reached behind him and hit the handle.

“Thank you,” Akemi called out before giggling again.

“You’re welcome,” Eitan said softly. Everything about his body felt diminished. His muscles slackened, and his body felt cool again. His skin was crusty though, and his scalp was itchy. Even so, he genuinely felt like he was on the other side of a terrible storm.

The door cracked opened a bit and Joseph called out, “catch.” Eitan caught the well-aimed package of wet-wipes in their baby-blue package with little ducks and teddy bears printed on the wrapping. He did not care, anything but the hard rasp of toilet paper on his butt was a gift.

He took a quick shower and found a clean pair of pajamas waiting for him on the closed toilet seat. Dressed and relieved, Eitan padded to the kitchen in his bare feet and plopped down at the table. He was exhausted, yet he had no desire to go back to his bed. Nikki put a mug of warmed chicken broth in front of him and sat down at his right.

“You had a tough go there,” she said. “The worst is over. I’m sorry you had to go through the pain and the purge. Everyone who comes to live in the village with Dr. Hobart is given the first series of nanobots. You probably don’t appreciate it now but many years from now, you will understand this gift.”

“First series?”

Nikki gave him one of her gentle smiles. “Not everyone needs or qualifies for any of the other series. You must ask Joseph why because I don’t work in that area of research. I’m just a data compiler. The other news: getting sick does not excuse you from homework. There is a pile waiting for you on the counter.”

“I think I’m feeling sick again,” Eitan said, only to receive a quick slap on the forearm that did not hurt.

Eitan dug into his stack of homework. His two teachers explained to him that the last five months of school had not stuck, which was understandable. Even more, the studies moved quickly in the village, faster than his old school. He was behind before his parents died. The difference now was his class was only five students.

A little later, Sten joined Eitan at the kitchen table with his homework. Eitan looked up at the blond-haired boy trying to decide what to say to the kid.

“I’m sorry,” Eitan said. Sten looked up with a curious look.

“Because of me, you had to leave your room last night and today,” Eitan said. “I know your stuff is important to you.”

Sten shrugged. “Dr. Hobart stuff.”

Eitan did not know how to answer that reply so he changed tactics. “What do you like about Batman? Is it because he is an orphan?”

Sten shook his head and then looked out to the family room. Quietly he said, “Sometimes Batman doesn’t know if he is a good guy or a bad guy. All these villains come and go, and then these good people run around kinda useless. Batman doesn’t know; he really doesn’t know.”

Eitan put down his pencil. “Huh, I never thought of him that way. Does Batman remind you of someone?”

Sten looked down. “Dr. Hobart.”

“So, Dr. Hobart saved us, which means he’s a good guy. He might be a bad guy too?” Sten nodded and picked up his book.

Eitan returned to his homework, but he had trouble concentrating at first. Finally, he was satisfied with most of pile moved to the completed side. “You see a lot of stuff that other people don’t see, Sten. Are you going to keep an eye out for Akemi and me?”

“We’re family,” Sten said, standing up. “I’m tired and I want my bed tonight.”

A week later, Dr. Hobart joined the family for dessert. Nikki came home early and baked a special coffee cake with pecans and honey while Joseph directed Eitan, Akema and Sten in dusting, sweeping, or as Joseph put it, a general swabbing of the decks. Eitan was still moving slowly, getting banged in the shins by Sten’s broom pushes and catching dust all over his torso by Akema as she attacked everything with a duster and a rag.

“Teporis torporibus,” Sten said as pushed past Eitan, rapping his ankle with the broom.

“Huh?” Eitan said, lifting his foot to rub the sore spot.

“He says you’re a sloth,” Akemi said. “I would have held out for a sea slug, but he went for the name-calling first.”

Joseph walked through the room with vacuum cleaner, dragging the cord behind him. He gave Eitan a glance with a raised eyebrow. Eitan responded by holding up his own rag and squirt bottle.

“Sten, how come you only insult people in Latin?” Eitan asked.

Sten stopped what he was doing and looked up. “I was describing you moving slow . . . and sluggish.” Akemi groaned from across the room. “When I insult you, I, uh, do it differently.

“Death by insult,” Akemi said. “He told Mr. Zemeker last year “your talent doesn’t match your arrogance,” and when Mr. Zemeker reported him to the principal, Sten told her that Mr. Z had delusions of adequacy. We have a new sciences teacher this year.”

“Surely we don’t want Eitan to repeat mistakes that my other children have made in previous years,” Joseph said with his hands on his hips. “Back on task.”

Later that evening, they sat around the family room with Dr. Hobart. After recounting Sten’s insults, which Eitan noticed did not embarrass Sten, the adults began telling stories of stupid things they said or did when they were in school. Apparently, every person had the ability to do stupid well.

After two rounds of swapping stories, Dr. Hobart turned to Eitan, asking how he liked having a brother and a sister.

“Akemi has too much dirt on me to say anything but how wonderful she is,” Eitan said.

“Dork,” Akemi said with a smirk.

“. . . and Sten is the only person I would want to share a room with,” Eitan said, “and he never calls me a ‘dork.’”

Dr. Hobart smiled as Akemi laughed with evil intent. “How is the schoolwork?”

“Wow,” Eitan said. “School is tough. I didn’t know how much my last school gipped me until Ms. Onagami and Ms. Kelly showed me how much work I have to do to catch up. I lost a full day of study last week and I was worried. Study just kinda sailed today, like a sailboat on a windy day.”

“Having the nano clean out your system has many benefits that people cannot see but they can experience,” Dr. Hobart said with intensity. “You can think more clearly, you can focus on work more easily, and you can do both longer and better.”

“Cool,” Eitan said, suddenly uneasy. Sten had shifted slightly, and Akemi had sunk back into the couch cushion. “Anything that makes school easier must be a good thing.”

“Yes,” Dr. Hobart said. “Yes, it is.”

 

Chapter 3

Eitan mowed through the granola and milk that Nikki put down in front of him. They had gotten home late from his thirteenth birthday party last night, which had been a blast. Nikki and Joseph reserved the ice cream store for Eitan and his friends. They served the Galaxy Sundae with twenty-five different scoops of ice cream topped with nuts, cherries, sprinkles, gummy bears, and chopped candy bars. Then some of the other parents pulled out a huge screen and a gaming console for a mega-battle in a galaxy far, far away. “Best birthday ever,” Eitan declared as he lurched out of the car with a swollen belly of goodness.

He did not expect to wake up refreshed and ready for school, but he was hungry. As he munched on half a banana he shared with Akemi, someone knocked on the door. Nikki scowled as she rose to answer the door.

“Camille,” Eitan heard Nikki say, “So good to see you. What brings you by so early?” The answer was mumbled.

Sten cleared his throat and said in a whisper, “Five dollars on Akemi.”

“Five dollars on you,” Akemi hissed.

“Ten dollars on me,” Eitan said, his hands trembling. “I’m due.”

“It’s not like the first one, Eitan,” Akemi said. “I swear.”

Camille and Nikki walked into the kitchen. Camille was dressed as she always was, in a tailored business suit and all done up. “Eitan,” she said, “You look great. Life here really agrees with you. Sten, you are growing up before my eyes. Akemi, I will bring you a stick to keep the boys at bay; you are definitely going to need it soon.”

“Hi Camille,” they all said.

“Field trip?” Akemi asked.

“Escort duty,” Camille said. “Eitan, you can leave your books. You and I are going to the main campus this morning. Dr. Hobart wants to personally supervise today.”

Eitan heart was beating a mile a minute. “Aren’t second series usually given over at the hospital?”

“New series for you, something 2.1, I think. I’m guessing the real reason is that you got so sick after the first series that Dr. Hobart wants to keep a closer eye on you. Let’s go. Good to see you, Nikki.”

Nikki gave Eitan a hug and walked him to the door. Camille drove them the other way, away from his school and the village centre, to the helipad. Rotors spinning, the helicopter was ready when they arrived. The ride was loud and bumpy, but the earphones muffled most of the noise. They sped over mountains and valleys until the suburbs of Seattle began to appear. As the helicopter turned slightly north, a big fat building came into view.

As they were landing, Eitan could see the big signs hoisted across the street from the main entrance, declaring that nano was a sin against God. After touching down, Camille ushered Eitan through the door and down the stairs to a lift. Coming off the elevator, the smell of everything sterile gave Eitan pause. Camille gave him a little push and they walked to the desk. A nurse in scrubs greeted Eitan and introduced herself. He was not paying attention though. His heart was beating hard, and he was sweating again.

The nurse took his hand, leading him to a small changing room. He stripped down and stepped into the shower, embarrassed. The nurse put on gloves and pulled out big sponges and a stiff brush from the drawer. She washed him down thoroughly, scrubbing every crack and crevice, nearly pulling every hair off, or so it felt. Then she took the brush and cleaned every individual nail.

Finally satisfied with her work, she turned off the nozzle and led him to the next room dripping wet. Fans blew warm air from every direction as he held his feet apart and his arms out. Then a contraption ran a red light over his skin followed by a blue light. The fans ran again.

After dressing him in a paper gown, the nurse escorted Eitan to a chair that looked like the one at the dentist, only bigger. He was only waiting a moment when Dr. Hobart came in with a crew of technicians dressed in airtight surgical scrubs.

“How are you doing, Eitan?” Dr. Hobart asked. “Did you enjoy your birthday party last night?”

“It was a lot of fun, sir,” Eitan said. He took a deep breath.

“I suppose you’re wondering why you’re here rather than at the village hospital, huh?”

Eitan said softly, “yeah.”

“When you had such a rough time with the first batch, I went back to the drawing board to see what might have caused such a strong reaction,” Dr. Hobart said.

“Akemi said that you said the more crap, er, junk you’ve been exposed to, the harder it is to get it out of your body.”

“She’s a smart girl, Akemi,” Dr. Hobart said. “The last time I let her in my lab on the class field trip, she arranged a scavenger hunt with items in the lab. Dr. Whitcomb nearly had a stroke, and I swear, we are still finding stuff she hid.”

“She would be very proud to know that fact,” Eitan said, despite himself.

Dr. Hobart chuckled. “Yes, let’s keep that datum between you and me. In any case, although you had a rough time, the results have been excellent, unusually good. I’m used to a good result, but you hit a new gold standard. So, I rejiggered the little buggers. Then Dr. Whitcomb, who was brought into my lab for a different expertise, developed some fascinating data on how nerve cells sense electricity, both inside and outside the body. I rejiggered again. After lots of testing, including other people, I want to give you this new Series 2.3.5. for your birthday. You’ve earned it, Eitan and I’m proud of you. Lay back. The first part is a slight prick of a needle and the next part is waking up in the recovery room.”

Before the doctor stopped speaking, Eitan felt a prick on the back of his hand. He looked down and saw the I.V. was already inserted and being taped down as he watched.

A woman at his side was sitting in a chair. She leaned over and said, “I want you to count backwards from 100.”

Eitan began counting as his sight blurred and all the sounds faded away.

A hand gripped his shoulder and squeezed, giving him a slight massage. Someone was calling his name from far away, which brought a smile to his face. Eitan’s eyes fluttered before he could open them fully, and when he did, he tried to stretch his muscles. His limbs were restrained though.

“M’what?” he mumbled.

“Hi Eitan,” a female voice said. “Wakey, wakey, there’s a cake to bakey.”

“Hmm, cake,” Eitan said. “I’m hungry. I’m tired.”

A pair of hands began to massage his arms while another pair was working of his calves. “That feels good,” Eitan said. “My fingers and toes are tingly.”

“Do they hurt?”

“Nope. Feels good and now my feet and hands are tingly too.”

Eitan heard Velcro being pulled apart. His legs were free and then his arms were free as well. The hands moved to his thighs and to his upper arms, which were now tingling too. Looking up and focusing his eyes, Eitan saw a hospital room with all sorts of machines and lights on his right and a doorway to his left. The man massaging his legs was dressed in green scrubs and a mask.

The woman working on his arms looked older and she had a big bosom. She smiled at him from behind her mask when she looked up from her task.

“This won’t get me out of my homework, will it?” Eitan asked, still feeling a bit woozy. The nurse reached and mussed his hair, shaking her head in response.

“I gotta pee,” Eitan said.

“Not a problem,” she said. “We inserted a catheter. You just let go and the pee will go down the tube.”

Eitan watched them work the rest of his muscles quietly. The longer he waited, the more awake he became. The room did not have a window, and when he turned his head, he did not see a clock anywhere.

“What time is it?” he finally asked.

“It’s 20:00 more or less,” the male nurse said, looking at the clipboard and making checkmarks.

“Dr. Hobart will explain when he comes in,” the female nurse said. “Would you like some ice chips?”

Eitan’s tongue felt swollen when he thought about it. The back of his throat was sore too. The ice chip felt good in his mouth, but it melted quickly. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the nurses were gone, and Joseph was sitting in the chair in the corner.

“Hey Joseph,” Eitan called out.

“Hey yourself, champ,” Joseph said, standing up and walking over. He took Eitan’s hand gave it a squeeze as he leaned over brushed the hair from Eitan’s face. “You’ve had a long, long day.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s 1:30 in the morning, Eitan.”

“I guess the nano series didn’t go so well,” Eitan said.

Joseph did a sort of back and forth with his head. “The initial tests say the nanobots were quite successful,” Joseph said. “Your body does not like changing so fast, at least that what Dr. Whitcomb thinks. As the body catches up, the easier the adjustment gets.”

Eitan shrugged. “Joseph, do you believe him?”

Joseph’s eyes went wide before he pursed his lips. “Yeah, champ, I believe him. We’ll probably take you home later this morning. This room is a bit sterile and cold, don’t you think? We put a little of Nikki’s cooking in you, let Akemi and Sten beat you up a bit, and then, you will feel right as rain again.”

“This time didn’t hurt at all,” Eitan said. “That’s something. Dr. Hobart said he rejiggered everything to make it better. I didn’t have sweats or bad poops or nothing.”

“Fantastic,” Joseph said. “You’re a good kid, Eitan. You look for what’s good in life. I brought a pack of cards with me. Sten says they’re your favorite. You up to a game of gin rummy?”

They played three or four rounds until Eitan could not keep his eyes open any longer. Joseph was still there when he awoke, looking a bit rumpled. Dr. Hobart was talking to Joseph quietly as they stood at the end of the bed.

“Morning,” Eitan said softly.

Both men turned to look at him, but only Dr. Hobart was smiling. He told Eitan what a good job he did and how happy everyone was with the results. When Eitan asked if he could leave, he was told he had to have a bowel movement first, and then would he be released. Eitan did his best to work on his new task. An hour later he signaled that he was ready. His final embarrassment was having to take a dump in a bedpan.

Stefan greeted him when they climbed into the car for the drive back. The black SUV had the usual blacked out windows along with several gadgets and panels that Eitan did not recognize. Joseph and Stefan made small talk all the way home, while Eitan kept his thoughts mostly to himself. Dr. Hobart had told him that his science curriculum was going to be changing to add more human physiology to the coursework. The doctor had explained that he wanted Eitan to understand better what his body was doing, but Eitan had his doubts.

He would never be as smart as Sten, which was okay. Sten needed as much smarts as he could collect, although neither he nor Sten knew why. New stuff made Sten happy. Akemi was faster, cleverer, snarkier, and more outgoing. He was steady, smart enough to keep up, and a willing player in her devious plots. At least both listened to him before they took off on their hare-brained schemes.

Nikki and Joseph loved him; they cared for him. He knew that was truth. Despite his great house and school, his thoughts kept returning to Sten’s question of whether Dr. Hobart was a good guy or a bad guy. He still did not know – none of them did.

When they arrived home, Nikki had a stack of grilled cheese sandwiches that she had just finished on the griddle. Eitan was grateful, tearing into the first one without even sitting down at the table. He ate the second one slower.

He looked up, first at Nikki and then at Joseph. “Why are you both home on a weekday?”

They both looked sheepish. Joseph put his hand on Eitan’s shoulder. “Dr. Hobart called in the afternoon, telling us that you spiked a fever, and they were putting you in an ice bath. You know I work on the nano research, and I know what that could have meant. I rushed to your bedside.”

“I didn’t know,” Eitan said. “I could have died?”

“No,” Joseph said, turning away from Eitan’s face. “Bad stuff could have happened though.”

“If it was so dangerous, why did Dr. Hobart give me the nano series then?”

Nikki bent down so that she was face to face. “You, Sten, and Akemi are very special. To Joseph and me, you guys are the world and every day with you is a joy. The three of you are also special to the Hobart Foundation, because a lot of this village is built around you.” She sighed. “You are also special to Dr. Hobart, which is why he gives you the nanobot series. People pay millions of dollars for his treatments, and none of them are as sophisticated as what you three have received. He only wants the best for you.”

“But these treatments are more dangerous than he says they are,” Eitan said. “He told me this series was my birthday present. A galaxy sundae is a birthday present, not this.”

Nikki swooped him into a hug, holding him tightly against her. He hugged her back, but the tears were streaming down his face. When she let him go, Joseph put his hands on both his shoulders.

“Since the three of us are already playing hooky, why don’t we spring Sten and Akemi from school and go down to the swimming hole? Would that be fun?”

“Yeah, but . . .” Eitan said, looking down. “Sten and Akemi can already guess what happened. We all knew where I was going. They’re going to ask.”

Nikki bent down and looked him in the face. “You have nothing to hide, Eitan. The three of you have become close these past three years. You guys depend on each other.”

“We’re together because most of the other kids aren’t adopted,” Eitan said. “They don’t understand. The other five who are adopted don’t have Dr. Hobart visit their homes.”

“They don’t?” Nikki said, glancing up at Joseph. “What else don’t they get or have that you, Sten and Akemi get?”

“None of them got a second series,” Eitan said. “None of them learn like the three of us do. We, uh, go deeper if that makes sense. I mean, we all take the same tests, but we know the material betterer.”

“Betterer,” Joseph said with a snort. “I think the grammar fairy wants to have a word with you.”

“If the grammar fairy gave me a betterer word to use, I would take it,” Eitan said, crossing his arms.

“Do you mean you understand the material more in depth?” Nikki asked.

“Deeper, wider, thicker,” Eitan said. “Akemi laughs at the others, calling their answers thin like diarrhea. Sten tells her ‘shut up’ and to keep it to herself.”

“Do your teachers know how well you three learn?” Nikki asked.

“They never say anything. They never single us out.”

Nikki and Joseph exchanged another look that Eitan could not interpret. She stood up, hoisting her pants back over her hips. “Eitan, you are a special boy, and it’s not because of the nano series or the thicker learning.” She touched her finger to his heart. “You are special because of what is here. You are sincere, you are honest, and you are brave. You’ve learned to love your new family and you’ve learned to share all that love with us. This is what makes you special; all that other stuff is just icing on the cake.”

“Okay, now you’re getting mushy, like you do with Joseph when you think we’re not listening.”

Nikki rubbed the hair on his head before she pulled him in for another hug. “I’m going to mush all over you, forever and ever.”

 

Chapter 4

Eitan and his two siblings were hunched over the outdoor table, ignoring their expensive coffee. The day was warm and lots of tourists were swarming Pikes Place Market. Eitan was showing off his freshly minted driver’s license as his latest accomplishment. Akemi already had her license, but Eitan had been unusually nervous about passing the test and getting his.

There was a protest against nano on the main street. A hundred people or so, with huge fake tumors and abscesses, held up signs and shouted slogans. “Nano will destroy humanity” and “Dr. Jekyll lives in Seattle” were the popular ones.

The three siblings had been commuting into Seattle once a week for about a year. Dr. Hobart had insisted they accelerate their education at the main campus of Hobart Nanotech. Once a week, Stefan would drive them to the campus and Camille would babysit them at a safehouse overnight. Sometimes they would have a second full day and a late commute, and other times would be a half day. Once in a great while, the three siblings would convince the powers that be to let them have the afternoon to play.

This afternoon they were playing. Stefan drove them down to the waterfront and parked. He gave them enough of a lead on their leashes to at least play like they were teenagers enjoying their freedom. They were all feeling the confinement of the village and the Hobart Foundation as more and more repressive.

“How do you do it,” Akemi said, holding the card out a bit. “No matter the clothes or the haircut, you still manage to make yourself look dorky.”

Eitan relinquished his immediate claim on his license by sitting back in his chair and resting his hand on the coffee mug. His anxiety had been ramping up for months. Nikki had pegged his apprehension as social anxiety, but Eitan suspected she was wrong. When the anxiety level rose, the pressure felt like it was coming from somewhere outside of him. He was also convinced that he should understand what this apprehensive pressure meant, that he was missing a simple, obvious clue.

Neither Sten nor Akemi experienced the same sensations. Sten’s major feeling of late was annoyance. He was treated as a bumbling child at the main facility and as a fragile vessel back in the village. He was jogging in the early morning with Joseph when no one would see him, trying to build a better physique. He was fit, he just looked scrawny.

In Eitan’s eyes, Akemi was simply a living, breathing goddess, not a cartoon or even an anime either. She was a beautiful creature with superhuman gifts of persuasion and manipulation. She was his confidante, and she was leaving him, as everyone knew she must. She chose Columbia University because it was in New York City, as in a huge urban center with great numbers of people her age. “I need human input,” she would say as she pulled her chin tight in an exaggerated pose of a mad scientist. As an only child, he had never understood the deep satisfaction of having a sister and now that he did, she was leaving.

Eitan surveyed the outside seating. They looked like three normal teenagers, good friends sitting together at a table. Each of them knew they were nano unique. Dr. Hobart would not tell them what each second series had specifically contained, but the curiosity and concern was never far from their thoughts. They had speculated too many times, having lost all sense of perspective. Dr. Whitcomb was insisting on more inane tests this past year; in fact, the two doctors were arguing a lot more. Whenever one of the three of them were within earshot, the two men always took their business to another room.

As Eitan sat contemplating the impending changes in his life, he noticed that his anxiety was rising again. As he paid attention, the apprehension began ratcheting up quickly. He tasted, scraping his tongue across his teeth to stop it, dread. An overwhelming sense of danger suffused all his senses. He stood up, looking in every direction. The sensation was strongest behind him, further down the wharf.

The first thought was that he was going crazy, that whatever was happening within his body, he was going into a full-blown seizure. The thought was swept away by realization that he was sensing something outside himself. The instant of relief was wiped by a new stab of fear. He had to move his body.

“We’re going inside,” Eitan said. “Grab your mugs and come with me. Now.”

Sten and Akemi gave him peculiar looks but stood. As they turned towards the doorway, Eitan gave Stefan a hard look two tables over, trying to communicate with him without saying anything. Stefan sat up straight.

Eitan led the way inside where plenty of tables were open. “Why?” Akemi asked, with narrowed eyes.

Eitan raised his eyebrows, but as he dropped his shoulders all three of them heard pops, like firecrackers. Looking out the entrance, they watched others darting their heads in all directions beyond the café. Eitan moved them out of the doorway towards the wall. They heard louder pops and only then they heard people screaming. Eitan observed Stefan who had left his chair to go down on one knee with his hand in his sport coat.

Eitan’s anxiety was burning his fingertips. Glancing out the window, he watched a tall man, dressed in black camo walk into view. He had a weapon on his back and a pistol with an extended grip in his right hand. He looked thick around the middle while his hoodie partly hid his face. In an instant, the gun was up and pointing at the tables.

A loud bang went off and the hoodie exploded up and then backward. The man toppled backwards as his pistol suddenly fired those distinct pops, riddling the metal on the roof of the coffeehouse. Eitan watched Stefan rise from his stance, still pointing his weapon at his target. Eitan could no longer see the man, but he could hear all the people screaming. Some of them launched themselves for the pier while others ducked at their tables.

Akemi grasped his arm. “How did you know?”

Eitan made sure no one else could hear him. “The anxiety I’ve been complaining about,” he said, “it’s not inside, it’s outside of me. I could taste it on my tongue.”

“Nano,” Sten said. Then they fell silent.

Hours later, Camille rescued them from the police designated holding area. Each of them had given their witness statement, leaving out just about everything, including knowing Stefan. By the time of their release, the mass shooting by the lone gunman was the top news story. Professional video cameras were everywhere, including hovering overhead. The three had done their best to duck away from the pointing cell phones, but they could not be sure they dodged everything. Camille handed out ball caps and hooded sweatshirts before they left.

Akemi claimed the front passenger seat. “Stefan was awesome,” Akemi said to Camille as they drove in traffic. “He saw the man, he did his thing, and then he put his gun down. He was, like, calm and cool and sleek professional.”

“I guess he’s a hero,” Eitan said from the back seat.

“I can’t wait to see him and tell him,” Akemi said, all excited.

“He is a hero,” Camille said, “and he did his job well, protecting the three of you. You are not going to see him again, Akemi. Real life is not like the movies.”

“Huh?” all three said.

Camille frowned. “Stefan is a bodyguard, and part of his job is to be anonymous and unknown, drawing no attention to himself. The three of you are supposed to be anonymous and unknown. Do you understand?”

“Sort of,” Akemi said. “Why can’t we see him, at least to thank him?”

“He is at the top of the news,” Camille said. “His face is on the news and social media. His days as a bodyguard are over; he cannot guard you anymore. As for the three of you, he is still responsible for keeping you anonymous and unknown. Even on the main campus, people are going to seek him out to shake his hand or take a selfie with him. You cannot be seen or, God forbid, tagged on social media.”

“He loses his job for shooting a killer and saving people,” Sten said. “That sucks balls.”

“The company will call it a promotion,” Camille said. “He will become a supervisor or a manager, but he won’t go out in the field on assignment with you anymore.”

“It’s not good to be a hero?” Akemi said softly, as if she were talking only to herself. The traffic was starting to thin. The car was silent as Camille accelerated and braked, slipping from lane to lane to gain the slightest advantage. When she was satisfied that they had emerged from the pack and could speed up, she relaxed back into her seat.

“Life lesson,” Camille said, as she honked her horn at the car ahead that dared to hesitate. “Every choice you make in life has consequences, good, bad, and indifferent. Stefan did the right thing, but he knew there would be consequences.”

“What happens next?” Eitan asked as they pulled into the driveway of the safehouse.

“My team is going to scour social media for the uploaded cell phone recordings,” Camille said. “You guys are going to call Joseph and Nikki to check in. Then you are going to shower and change, while I call for Chinese food. I wanted to send you back to the village tonight, but we are short staffed, so tomorrow.”

They tromped into the house, grumpy and out of sorts. Sitting around wrapped in towels while their clothes were in the washing machine, the three said little. From the moment they emerged from the vehicle until the moment they were sure Camille was too busy on the phone to pay attention, they did not talk. Now they sat in the wet bathroom, Akemi on the toilet lid and the two boys sitting on the lip of the bathtub, their knees nearly touching.

“We will never be allowed outside the village ever again,” Sten said. “We didn’t do anything but get out of the way.”

“I’m going to New York City,” Akemi said. “I’m no one special out there and I want to stay that way. New York works for me unless today blows up in our faces.”

Eitan bit his lip. “This is going to sound really cold, but here it goes. There are twelve dead, including three children under the age of ten. We were the last stop and all he shot up was the sign above the café as he went down. We did not see people shot and we did not see their dead bodies. No reporter or investigator is going to give a thought to the people who were sitting inside the cafe, safe from the shooter. Most of the coverage is about the dead people and Stefan is a distant second. They don’t even release the name of the shooter anymore.”

“He was guarding us,” Akemi said.

“He was off-duty, enjoying a pleasant afternoon at one of Seattle’s best destinations to relax,” Sten said. “We did not mention him and thus, we don’t even know him.” He paused. “Dr. Hobart will panic anyway, just like Nikki and Joseph did. They are going to lock the gate and throw away the key.”

“We could run away,” Akemi said.

Sten snorted. “Going where? You forget we live in the village. We have no skills for the real world. Do you know where to buy a bus pass? Acquire a cell phone? A credit card? We don’t even have money. Two driver’s licenses and no car are useless.”

“It would kill Nikki,” Eitan said. “Besides . . .” The other two looked at him, both of their faces were impassive. “Random circumstance aside, this is really about me, isn’t it? I just had my first nano moment, and I’m doubly freaked out.”

Akemi uncrossed her legs and adjusted her towel. “Something more is going on, Eitan, than just your moment. Step back and look at us as if the smoke detector in the corner was a camera. We are not acting like teenagers. We should be crying and blubbering, or at least shell-shocked. A mass murderer was shot dead right in front of the table where we were sitting.

“I think we are missing the obvious. Why aren’t they rushing Nikki and Joseph to comfort us? Camille is ordering MooShu and eggrolls for godssake, while she supervises her team. She is not worried about us. How blatant can the clues be?”

“It’s not that we’re smarter than the average bear,” Sten said, ignoring the pained looks, “We aren’t bears, are we?”

“Nano-humans,” Eitan said.

“How do we know that the smoke detector is not a camera and a microphone?” Sten asked. He stared up at the ceiling.

“I checked,” Akemi said. “The only camera is aimed at the kitchen table.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Eitan said. “I really don’t want someone watching me wipe my butt.”

“Nice? You dork,” Akemi said.

“Yep, that is truly the purest statement of dorkery I can imagine,” Sten said. “Now we know nano-humans are dorks, which is a spot of encouragement. There is a lot of human in us still.”

Akemi looked Eitan up and down. “How tall are you?”

“I’m 1.8 meters, about 70 inches,” Eitan said. “Do you want to watch me flex my muscles. I. am. Strong.”

“How much do you weigh?”

“Ninety kilo,” Eitan said. “Just under 200 lbs.”

Sten stood up, and when his towel threatened to fall, he sat back down. “You’re right, Akemi. He should be fat and dumpy, but he’s fit and slim. Either he has got a really fat head, which is entirely possible, or he has an unusual muscle density.”

“We all do,” Akemi said. “You do realize that Nikki and Joseph don’t own a scale; there is no scale in the house, only at the med center.”

“We’ve been played,” Sten said.

“This is so unfair,” Eitan said. “I’ve got an average dick out of this and no six-pack.”

Akemi snorted, “I’ve got small tits and no butt. No luscious filling out of the little black dress for me. Just how average is it, Eitan?”

“Leave me alone,” he wailed softly, his cheeks burning with sudden embarrassment. “We’re off topic, what are we going to do?”

There was a knock at the door. “Hurry up, kids, Ajit will be here with the food in about five minutes.” They listened to the footsteps walking away.

 

Chapter 5

A week had passed since the shooting, and everything was normal except that nothing was normal. As Akemi had noted in the bathroom, everyone tried to act as if nothing was different. Almost everyone. Nikki had to hug each of them every time she was near.

Their schoolmates had asked a few questions, knowing that the three had been in Seattle the day of the shooting, but none of their fellow students had been told that they were at the site of the shooting when it happened. Apparently, Nikki and Joseph had not said a word as well. The conspiracy of silence wore at Eitan’s nerves.

“Perhaps we will be the ones to survive the zombie apocalypse,” Sten had said last night, while he and Eitan were reading in their beds.

“Please, I beg you,” Eitan said, “go back to your Batman comics. Dark is so much better than gore.”

“There is no going back, my brother, the wheels have already been set in motion,” Sten said before rolling over, turning his back to Eitan.

Sitting in the waiting room outside of Dr. Hobart’s CEO office, Sten’s last words sounded ominous. There was a new secretary and all she did when looking up from her console was glower at Eitan. She had the figure, hair, and demeanor of an executive secretary, accompanied with a personality of peeling wallpaper. Akemi would have already launched a poisoned dart off the tip of her tongue, but Eitan was not witty-bitchy-kitchy like she was.

Dr. Hobart rushed through the doorway, mumbling curses about clueless drones and petty little shits. He rushed up to secretary and stopped short. He whirled around, noticing Eitan sitting there, and whirled back to face her.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was here, waiting?” Dr. Hobart said.

“You did not mention that he was a priority,” she said, looking defiant.

“You read what comes across my calendar,” Dr. Hobart said with pique. “You are supposed to keep me prompt.” He looked back at Eitan. “You’re with me in my office.”

After the door was shut, Eitan stood behind the chair as Dr. Hobart plopped on heavily in his plushy I-must-be-the-CEO chair. “She isn’t your secretary, you know.”

“Of course she’s my secretary.”

“She reports to someone else,” Eitan said. “She is probably on the phone right now to her real boss.”

Dr. Hobart leaned forward and tapped a couple of keys on his keyboard. He studied the computer screen for a moment. “You’re right.” He pulled out his cell phone from his lab coat and hit a speed dial button. “Camille, come up to my office and take my new secretary down to your office for a debriefing. Find out who she is reporting to because it certainly isn’t me. Bye.”

“Sorry about that, Eitan,” he said. “Good catch, thank you.”

Eitan sat, folded his hands in his lap and waited. He had already rested in this chair many times.

“Last week,” Dr. Hobart said as he put his elbows on his desk, “Last week was a real-world test for the three of you that was unusually random . . . and reprehensible. Nikki and Joseph were much more perturbed by the shooting than the three of you were, which is a secondary topic. We need to talk though because Stefan gave me an unusual debriefing, one he insisted be private.”

Eitan pinched his lips.

“Stefan reported that first you stood and appeared to take your bearings. Then you hustled your brother and sister to the inside seating of the café, out of harm’s way. He also reported that you gave him a silent “heads up” that something was about to happen. You had a breakthrough, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Eitan said.

“Would you care to enlighten me?”

“I can’t,” Eitan said. “You never explained to me what the second series of nano contained in detail. All you told me was that you were experimenting on sensing electrical energy, which sounds like new age, touchy-feely, snorting crystals for profit crap.”

“I see Akemi’s cynicism is rubbing off on you,” Dr. Hobart said. “I could not say more with Dr. Whitcomb present, and I’ve been remiss in bringing you up to speed. Dr. Whitcomb was interested in how nerve cells read hair follicle reactions to static electricity because hair has no nerve cell components. He discovered the mechanism. However, during this preparatory time, the first proofs of dark matter’s existence from the space telescopes were being published. These new proofs further refined the theory of dark energy, what it must be and what it must do. The first Hobart insight was that mechanical detection of dark energy was going to be vague, quasar-sized, and decades away. The second Hobart insight was that a human body would be a superior and immediate detection device of dark energy.”

“Why?”

Dr. Hobart leaned back into his chair. “Dark energy is the glue that holds the universe together. Scientists call it ‘dark’ because human eyes cannot see it; it’s invisible, which is a good thing. If we could see dark energy, we would be blind because it is everywhere and everything.”

“You used the nano to turn my body into a dark energy detector,” Eitan said.

“If only I was that good, Eitan,” Dr. Hobart said. “I gave your body a potential it never would have had without intervention. My first hypothesis is that living creatures can create dark energy, which helps create the underpinning binding mechanisms that make sophisticated biospheres possible. Dark energy is the fabric of the spacetime continuum, leading to my conclusion that living beings can make the fabric denser, as necessary. My second hypothesis is that when you are attuned to your environment, you sense bursts of dark energy that rise above the baseline. As we sense electricity in the air from a lightning strike, we should be able to sense the dark equivalent if properly attuned.”

“Mass murderer in the midst of killing spree would be such a burst,” Eitan said, as he tried to wrap his head around the new ideas. “I felt like a whale using echolocation, that’s why I stood up. There was a bitter taste in my mouth.”

“An interesting analogy,” Dr. Hobart said. “your observation may be the truth more than an analogy.”

“How do we test this?”

“I would need a new set of theories before I could devise a test,” Dr. Hobart said. He leaned forward again. “I think we can boost your potential more, though. I could not load any more tweaks in your second series. I’ll need a sample of one of your nerve cells.”

“The last series nearly killed me,” Eitan said. “Joseph didn’t say anything but then again, he didn’t have to say a word. It was written all over his face.”

“Eitan, I wanted you to have a family again. I wanted Akemi and Sten to have one too. If I could have adopted you myself, I would have. I’m not the parenting sort, which everyone agrees. Nikki and Joseph need you and you needed them. Add a little bit of money and dash of flash, and sis-boom-bah, I bring together the elements of a minor miracle. This is a roundabout way of saying, that when it comes to the three of you, Joseph and Nikki are not given orders or following company directives. They are a part of Hobart Nano and they do believe in the mission though. They love their children, who are also going to have a leg up in life.”

“Does anybody else have this nano?”

Dr. Hobart shook his head. “There are a number with the energy tweak, but nothing has come of it until last week. Then again, no one has reacted to the nano infusions like you. First, your body goes into shock, then it resets, and finally, it activates every potential. Human biology is an art as much as it is a science.”

“What about Sten and Akemi?” Eitan asked. “Are they getting the same series?”

“No, which is why I claim that human biology is an art,” Dr. Hobart said. “Like a canvas, every human body is different. Sten knows his dendrite mass is exponential, but he cannot explain how he goes from reading treatises on String Theory to bingeing on comic books. According to one of my physicists on staff, wait until he discovers the Japanese comics.”

“Too late,” Eitan said, softly.

Dr. Hobart snorted, waving his hand in dismissal. “Nanotechnology at its best compliments biology. Others, such as Dr. Whitcomb, believe that science can overwrite biology and impose its own structure. He is wrong. The human body is wonderfully resilient on one hand, and unaccountably fragile on the other. Encouraging potential traits to actualize is the most productive track, yet it is also the slowest. People want instant results and instant cures, yet nano is not instant.”

“You’re saying that my body took three years to develop sensitivity to dark energy?”

“For whatever reason, Eitan, your body had the ability to add another sense to your biological sensor array, which had to grow and develop. We must be careful though.”

“The nano is dangerous?” Eitan asked. A chill ran through his body as he dredged up memories of the oldie movies of men mutating into werewolves. Then there was “The Fly.”

“Ah, to be a child again, unaware of the dangers of the adult world,” Dr. Hobart said, rubbing his eyes. “My CFO would be plotting how to monetize your new ability twenty ways to Sunday if he knew. We would dance the dance of government, sliding and slipping between funding under a security clause and suffering through threat assessments. Half of my research team would want to dissect you and the other half would want to replicate you. Everyone would want a piece of you with no regard for your person. However, you three are my private research project and are not subject to the business assessments of a successful corporation. Got it?”

“Got it,” Eitan said, feeling more anxious with new threats to consider.

“Have you had more sensations since last week?”

“I’ve deliberately tamped down on trying to sense anything,” Eitan said. “I did not understand the sensation and it frightened me almost as much as the shooter did. There was no one to ask, no one I trusted to explain what happened. Akemi, Sten, and me, we’re still teenagers. We’re smart enough to know that we’re not adults with adult perspectives. We’re just knowledge smarter than most.”

“Still, you nailed your assessment of my secretary,” Dr. Hobart said. “Don’t sell yourself short. Let’s go down to my lab. I’m going to need stool and urine samples today, along with a small tissue sample. The embarrassment will hurt more than the needle, so I’m told.”

 

Chapter 6

After his conversation with Dr. Hobart, Eitan launched himself into several new initiatives. According to the literature, The Five Senses were an anachronism, a throwback to the time of the Greeks and the Romans. Living creatures had a variety of senses including the ability to sense muscle tension, pain, balance and body sense in space, temperature, and pressure. Tongues and noses had chemoreceptors. Bodies could sense thirst and hunger, magnetic fields (sense of direction), and the ability to sense time and its passage (debated fiercely). Apparently, humans could have the innate ability to sense dark energy, though it is typically very weak. Eitan felt a lot closer to normal again.

He asked Sten about Japanese comics. Eitan thought he had a good imagination, but the reams of anime, Hentai, Doujinsi and Manga were a humbling and disorienting introduction to the vastness of another sliver of world culture. When Eitan asked Sten if this was what he jerked off to, Sten snorted and told him to ask Tanisha Hamilton. Sten then stopped himself and told Eitan not to ask Tanisha, that their business was private. When Eitan asked where he bought condoms, Sten ignored him.

The next day Eitan took aside Akemi. “Did you know that Sten and Tanisha are doing it?”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a look of disgust, as he felt the energy build within her. “Who do you think introduced them to each other? I got tired of Sten asking to look at my tits all the time.”

“Really? Huh,” Eitan said. “If I asked you to get me a girlfriend . . .?”

“You’ve got three girls following you everywhere, already,” Akemi said. “Just choose one. They’ll open their legs for you.”

His jaw dropped as he tried to decide if she was jerking his chain. She chuckled first, and then used her finger to close his mouth. She counted with her fingers, “Maggie, Jocelyn, and Mentha.”

“They’re nice and all that, but they don’t really interest me,” Eitan said. “They don’t compare to you; it’s like asking for a lightbulb and being handed a candle.”

“You want me to be your girlfriend?” she asked, with as much incredulity as she could muster.

“No-o-o, eww,” Eitan said, suddenly careful. “You’re my sister even if we aren’t blood. You’re also the most incredible person I know, and I want my girlfriend to be like you.”

“You’re sweet if not a heaping spoonful of delusional,” Akemi said. “There is only one of me.”

“Aren’t we full of ourselves today?” Eitan said before he dodged a swift kick to his thigh.

“You are a one-and-only too, O sensate one,” Akemi said. “I think you are special too, just for the record. Let’s walk.”

With their backpacks hanging off their shoulders, they slipped out of the schoolyard. To the right was the village centre and the left led to their home. Instead, they crossed the street and climbed the fence. The dairy herd had moved to the far end of the field. The curious ones popped up their heads and when they determined that the two held no interest to them, they returned to their grazing.

“Who do you like?” Akemi asked as they sat on the fence rail near the herd.

“Sammi,” Eitan said. “She likes my taste in music. She’s funny too, or she at least humors me.”

“Oo, bad choice,” Akemi said, giving him sad puppy dog eyes.

“She’s only a year younger.”

“She’s a member of the control group, dork.” Akemi said. “Sammi, her sister, and her brother have all received top-shelf nano. Everyone else has budget nano in our school. Thus and therefore, Sammi and her siblings are the control group for the grand Hobart experiment, which is us. Wouldn’t you rather fuck Maggie; she’s a horny little morsel.”

“You would know this, how?” Eitan said. He had wondered about Akemi and sex, but that was usually one area she denied anyone access.

“I don’t kiss and tell,” she said, leaving Eitan gaped mouth again.

“You?” he asked, pointing his finger at her. “Her?” he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. “Then what would she want with me?”

“She wants anyone who is interested,” Akemi said. “She likes toys too, almost as much as Nikki and Joseph do.”

“You’re spying on our parents? Excuse me, my innocence has caught fire and is presently being turned to ash along with my wellbeing, my world, and just about everything else.

“Now, who is the drama queen?” Akemi said, crossing her arms across her chest. An accusation of dramatics was one of her sore spots still.

Eitan did not know whether to be angry or depressed. Everyone around him was having sex. They were having sex, a lot of it and enjoying it, and everyone was in on it . . . but him. As the thoughts of betrayal churned at a furious pace, a calf wandered over to the teens. She snuffed Eitan with her wet snout. His hand came down on her head, and he marveled at the softness of her hair. She began badgering his legs with her head, forcing him off the fence. Not knowing what to do, he began rubbing both ears and then following down to her neck.

“Hey,” Akemi said softly. “This is why you’re not fucking when Sten and I are. You’re a romantic and we’re jaded. It sucks that your parents died in an accident Eitan, but you had loving parents, who only showed you love. Sten had a violent stepfather and a meth addict for a mom. My mother was convicted for human trafficking. She filled whorehouses from California to Texas with women and girls.

“I know you think I am everything, and I love you for what you see in me. Honestly, I was being raised to be a whore or a bordello owner. I still have those lessons in me; my mom started on me young enough to make it deep.

“Wipe those tears, Eitan, you’re not allowed to cry for me or pity me. You love me for me, and that makes a difference every damn day. I never knew you were the one I needed, but you do it for me every day, happily.

“You don’t want a fuck, really,” Akemi said. “You want a lover, and that’s something quite different from what Sten needs or what I do. Sten gets a hard on flipping through his manga, so that he can take it to Tanisha. They do the nasty; nasty, dirty rutting. They like it and it’s what they want. Not you, Eitan. You want heart and soul with your sex, and that’s what makes me warm inside. I want to be you, not a whore’s little bitch.”

“Holy cow,” Eitan said, as he continued to scratch the calf. Akemi rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. “Oh,” Eitan said with confusion until he realized his unintended pun.

“Dork,” Akemi said. “Leave the calf alone. Her mother is coming over to check you out. I’m not going to carry your broken carcass to the hospital either. Let’s go.” Akemi dropped over the other side of the fence and reslung her backpack over her shoulder. Eitan gave the calf one last scratch behind the ears before climbing over the fence as well.

As they walked back towards the road, Akemi said, “You should ask Sammi to go for ice cream after school tomorrow. Honest, fuck the experiment.”

He looked her in the eyes, making sure she was still sincere. A bunch of younger kids were playing in the front yard of the school and their voices carried across. He ground a weed into the ground with his toe. “I can’t tomorrow,” Eitan said. “Joseph is taking me to the village research center for a minor series. It’s one small tweak.”

“Tweaking your secret sense, I suppose,” she said. “Did they twist your arm or did H sweet talk you into it? Did you discuss it with Joseph and Nikki first? Are you going to answer me?”

“Liquid valium drip, just like they do for your wisdom teeth,” Eitan said. “Hobart is going to use a fecal transplant. Joseph says that my gut biome is a better host for nanobots than my bloodstream plus there is some repair work on my ileum and jejunum. You know Joseph studies how bacteria in the gut affects the brain.”

“I know,” Akemi said. “You won’t be in school tomorrow?”

“Half day,” he said. “I’ll leave at lunch time and if all goes according to plan, I’ll be home for dinner.”

“I’m going to be shitting bricks all day tomorrow, thanks to you,” Akemi said.

“Only fair,” Eitan said, “I’m gonna be shitting bricks all night as I join the clean colon club. You don’t have to worry so much. I chose this one. Nikki was . . . upset, but this is Joseph’s area and he seemed confident. You saw their sex toys?”

Akemi slugged him in the arm, hard. “I’m not a pervert. Mom would train the difficult ones with, ah, tools. She made me watch sometimes. She was not gentle with her victims. She raped them essentially and then she would bring in a big-dicked guy she called ‘a bulldog’ to rape them even more. The memories gave me nightmares for years. Nikki and Joseph finally sat me down and said some stuff the therapist could not. Sex toys are not weapons, they’re tools that can be used for good or for evil. They’re just tools.”

“I can’t imagine how a parent could do that to a child,” Eitan said. “You’re so matter of fact about the abuse, which makes you all the more incredible to me.”

They walked past their house and kept going. The biggest barn at the farm was just visible from the middle of the road.

“It’s the nano, dork. My series include the ghost of Sigmund Freud, as I cynically call it, allowing me to deep dive into myself. It also gives me the tools to manipulate others, well, most others. Our family is immune apparently. The sex toy talk with Nikki and Joseph was so embarrassing and I could not make them stop. They kept going until they finished their list of points. I was a puddle of humiliation.”

“I wanted lasers shooting out of my eyes and body-scan vision in my series,” Eitan said.

“I know, you never fail to mention it,” Akemi said. “I wanted ballet grace and golden hair.”

“AND SUPER SECRET KUNG FU POWERS,” they shouted together. They laughed, well and truly. They dropped into their cinematic martial art poses as they faced off against one another. Their poses had nothing to do with the martial arts they were taught, but they were ready to appear on the big screen. They giggled, breaking the tableau. They scooped up their backpacks and wandered towards the outbuildings.

Someone was pounding metal with a hammer behind one of the barns, probably horseshoes. They stopped to listen.

“We’re growing up,” Akemi said. “I’m leaving in the fall. We’re going to split up and go our own ways over the next years. I need you and Sten. What am I going to do?”

“You could turn your university into one huge scavenger hunt,” Eitan said. “I don’t think Dr. Whitcomb has forgiven you yet.”

“Nor Dr. H,” Akemi said. “He reminds me that I’m banned from his lab every time I see him in Seattle.”

“You’re going to New York and you’re going to flex some new muscles you never knew you had, Akemi. We all have more nano pumping through us that has not been activated yet. In any case, we’re only a video chat or a text away.”

“You’re the brave one among us,” Akemi said. “I’m not brave like you. I can talk a big game, but it’s only swagger. Look at you, you decided to take another series.”

“Up the butt,” Eitan said. “You want to come babysit me tomorrow?”

“If I come, I’m going to convince them that you wanted your ears pierced while under anesthesia,” Akemi said.

“Only diamond studs for me, dear,” Eitan said. “They absorb the moonlight more efficiently, giving me better effective control over my new zombie army.”

“Dork.”

 

Chapter 7

The morning had started out so promising. When Eitan returned from his morning run, a new habit since Akemi left for college, he learned that his parents had left for a personal day, specifically without the boys. Sten slid into the kitchen, still wiping himself dry from his shower, to announce that Tanisha would be visiting for a good part of the day. Visiting was too loose of a term because the two of them only had one agenda item. Eitan had jumped on the phone to Sammi, hoping against hope that she was feeling better, but she still had a bad cold.

Dr. H told Sten and Eitan when they were in his lab on Wednesday that the Hobart versions of nano deliberately did not prevent a person from getting sick from viruses and bacteria. The body needed to be able to identify and attack foreign invaders; it was a necessary biological tool for survival. The nano was designed to identify efficiently and to attack more effectively using a highly compressed timeframe. The nano human got sick like everyone else but recovered more quickly. Still, Sammi was sick today and Eitan was a lonely teenage boy wandering the fields behind his home.

The fallow field immediately behind his home was used as pasture for the horses at the farm down the road. Beyond the field were woods. Dressed in sweatpants and a shirt, Eitan crossed the empty pasture and clambered over the wood fence, ducking into the woods. Following the faint game trail, he quickly came to his favorite spot, a thick layer of pine needles under a small grove of soaring evergreens. With the canopy far above, the grove felt like a natural cathedral, holy and removed from the rest of the world.

About the time Akemi left for college, Eitan’s new sense began to emerge more forcefully. He could sense living beings within a certain radius. He could seek in a specific direction and know there were rodents and mammals and humans in a narrow band stretching farther than he could see. At first, the sense was oddly disconcerting, causing Eitan to jerk his head around, seeking in one direction or another.

Now he sat in his cathedral and deliberately sought out his house, about a half-mile behind him. He could sense Sten and Tanisha. He also realized that they were going at each other hot and heavy because that is what the sensation felt like. They were generating energy. The greater energy had an added dimension of sense to it as well, pleasant and sweet on his tongue. Rather than marveling in his ability though, Eitan clenched his fist in anger. Why did Sammi have to be sick? Why didn’t he just choose Maggie? It would have been so much easier to get laid.

His body tingled with energy. Frustrated with his circumstances and frustrated with himself, Eitan decided that a long horse ride would be a good distraction. He threw his attention towards the horse barn at the farm. He sensed the six horses milling about the yard or in the barn and then WHAM . . . he was there.

A net of energy unfolded from his body, and he stood inside the barn. With a glorious flourish of grace and gravitas, Eitan turned to the side and vomited up his entire breakfast. He spit a few times to get the taste out of mouth. His head ached slightly.

The laundry sink was on the other side. After he washed out his mouth, and wiped down his left shoe, Eitan grabbed the shovel and some hay. He cleaned up his mess and wandered outside to the corral. Everything appeared to be entirely calm, as if nothing strange had just happened.

Something was missing. Racking his brain, Eitan patted his pockets and looked around the corral, hoping some item would jar his memory. First, he realized that no one knew he was at the horse barn, because the only entrance had an infra-red laser that sounded a gong, announcing the arrival of anyone who came through the front gate. Usually, the gong made arrival easier because someone always came to find out who had entered. However, he was still missing something.

He ran back inside the barn, relieved that the building was still empty. He scanned, detecting no thrumming threads of energy nearby. He stared at where he had been standing, and then it hit him: his backpack. He looked every which way, finally concluding that his backpack was still under the pine trees. He needed to retrieve his backpack. Could he cross the fields and slip into the forest undetected? The way back had to be at least two miles. Two miles of mostly open terrain and people were working the fields and he wasn’t supposed to be back there without permission and and and. He broke out in a sweat.

‘How did I do this?’ he asked himself. ‘I thought the horses and I saw the barn in my mind’s eye. I wanted to be in the barn, and wham.’

Eitan fixed the pine trees in his mind. Nothing happened. He reached out with his senses, afraid that the pine trees were no longer there. Then he felt stupid because, of course, the trees were still there. Then he grabbed for them, and WHAM.

He fell on his butt, next to his backpack. As he went down, he felt the energy unpeel itself from his body again. He was naked even though he was wearing his clothes. Eitan grabbed for his backpack and held it for dear life against his chest. He sat there for a long, long time.

Eitan finally stirred himself, taking his time to stretch stiffened muscles. He dug into his backpack and pulled out his cell phone. Akemi did not answer. He called Sten.

“What?” asked the annoyed voice.

“I . . .I need help,” Eitan said.

“I’m busy. What kind of help do you need?”

“Nano,” Eitan said in a whisper.

There was silence on the other end. “Where are you?”

“The cathedral,” Eitan said.

“Tanisha and I will be there in fifteen minutes,” Sten said.

“NO! It’s nano,” Eitan said, knowing he was raving. He started crying and then he dropped the phone.

Eitan remembered Sten leading him back to the house, as he babbled about what had happened. When they got inside the house, Sten forcefully yanked the backpack out of Eitan’s arms and pushed him into the cushions on the couch. Eitan heard a clink of a glass and cabinet doors opening behind him. A moment later, Sten thrust a short glass of an amber liquid into his hand.

“Drink,” Sten said, sitting down on the coffee table in front of Eitan. Sten drank the contents of his glass and grimaced. Eitan swallowed his and immediately regretted it as the fiery liquid burned his throat all the way down.

“What the hell did I just drink?” Eitan said, staring at the glass

“Who the hell cares,” Sten said, “As long as it slaps you back down to earth.”

“Nattering knits of nano,” Eitan cursed. “Nebulizing knobs of nefarious noobs.” The babbling fit the moment as far as he was concerned.

“You do realize that when most superheroes get their powers, they celebrate with whoops of joy and high fives of triumph,” Sten said. “They don’t meltdown into blathering bouts of doom.”

“Fantasy,” Eitan said, waving off the suggestion. “Backroom wannabes condemned to excessive bouts of masturbation, as they hide in their parents’ basement and dream of fame. This is reality with real world consequences. I jumped. From here to there, I jumped.”

“It’s pretty fuckin’ cool,” Sten said. “Have another shot.” He poured from the liter bottle into both glasses, and they drank. “The first decision is ‘who do we tell?’ I already sent Akemi a text message, but she is still incommunicado.”

“If we tell Nikki and Joseph, then it’s the same as telling Dr. H,” Eitan said. “At some point we will be compelled to tell him, but I’d rather keep him at arm’s length at this point. He tends to leap without ever asking permission.”

“How are we supposed to keep this from our parents, Eitan? You’re like the worst poker player on the face of the earth. Every muscle in your body is a tell. I can tell you the exact date and identify within the hour of when Sammi and you dropped your clothes and mashed your genitals together. Nikki and Joseph were trading jokes and high-fives about your accomplishment at breakfast. Even Akemi called and demanded to collect on our bet. You can’t hide shit.”

“Really? You guys knew?” Eitan said, blushing furiously.

“What is your problem?” Sten said. “You know I spent half the day playing with all of Tanisha’s naughty parts and you don’t blink an eye. When it’s your dick in play, all of a sudden, it’s privacy and secrecy. You have a dick and Sammi has a pussy, big deal. You play with them together, a bigger deal, but so does everybody else. Frickin’ grow up so we can solve the real issues.”

“Ouch,” Eitan said, putting down his glass on the coffee table. “Fine. Talk to me with that heavy dendrite brain of yours.”

“First, we need a controlled experiment. Can you sense where Nikki and Joseph are?”

Eitan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He opened his senses and let them explore westward. He pictured his parents in his mind. Then his sense simply leaped, not traveling geographically, but homing in on their signature. “I found them.”

Sten opened his cellphone and hit a speed dial. “Hi Joseph, can you get somewhere private where no one can see you? Uh huh. Humor us for a moment, please. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Give us a sec.”

Sten looked at Eitan. “Jump.”

Eitan stood up. He locked his focus on them, pushed, and WHAM. “Hi Joseph.”

Joseph yelped. “What the hell?” The man nearly fell over backwards in the bathroom, holding himself up with an awkward hand on the sink. “How did you . . .?”

Eitan grinned, only to follow it up with a large belch. “Sorry, your booze is really hard on my stomach.”

Joseph’s eyeballs looked like they wanted to pop out of his head. He stood up straight and crossed his arms. “Care to explain, middle child?”

“The nano works,” Eitan said, still manic. “Dark energy is in everything and everywhere. I taste it; I like it. I can grab it and go. It worked for the first time today and it scared the bejezus out of me. I’m also really hungry.”

Joseph put his hands on Eitan’s shoulders, “Boy, you are going to be the death of me. We are not in a safe place though. This is a restaurant with security cameras. If anyone were to scan, they would find that you did not enter through the front door.”

Someone tried the doorknob. They both froze until they heard the footsteps continue to the next door, which opened on squeaky hinges. Joseph slowly dropped his hands as he took a deep breath.

“Go home. I promise, Nikki and I will come quickly. Do not eat all the bacon and make damn sure you eat a spread of vegetables. You don’t know what you’re burning.”

“You are such a mother hen,” Eitan said, rolling his eyes. “Please, don’t tell Dr. H., please, at least not yet.”

“Just the family,” Joseph said nodding. “Now flush the toilet and get the hell out’a here.”

Eitan reached out and WHAM.

He ran for the refrigerator. As he waited for last night’s meatloaf to heat in the microwave, he shoveled the two-day old beet salad into his mouth. He considered the salad as unexpected insurance. They can’t shove a camera up your ass if you’ve eaten red beets in the last day. Everything looks red and bloody. He reached for the potato dish but there was only a bite left, Sten’s usual modus operandi.

The microwave beeped. Eitan pulled the plate and laid it on the table. He jerked open the middle drawer in the refrigerator while retrieving the box grater from the cabinet. After creating a magnificent mound of parmesan on top of his slab, he dug in. He did not look up until he heard the front door opening and the voices of Sten and Tanisha.

“I’m in here,” Eitan called out. “Parents are on their way home.”

“Whatcha eating,” Sten said as he barged into the kitchen. “Meatloaf and maggots?”

“Cheese,” Eitan said, trying to wipe the cheese off his face and his shirt. “Grated parmesan. It’s like a Roman orgy of salt and fat in my face. Uh, hi Tanisha.”

Sten already had a plate out and was slicing a slab of meatloaf. “You want some, babe?” he said, holding up the knife as it dripped fat.

“You’re inviting me to a food orgy?” Tanisha asked.

“Hey, you made me work up an appetite today,” Sten said. “A working man has got to eat.” He was already loading the plate in the microwave.

“Are you trying to brag in front of your brother,” Tanisha asked.

Sten appeared not to hear her as he stuck his head deep in the refrigerator with both hands. “Hey, who ate the potatoes?”

“You did, jerk,” Eitan said after he swallowed. “Put the dish in the sink at least.”

“Oo, score,” Sten said, coming out of the icebox with a glass pie plate. “Eggplant pie.”

Tanisha had a slightly disgusted look on her face when Sten explained, “Mash eggplant with cornflakes and shred cheddar cheese on top to melt.” He struck a pose and with the worst valley girl accent said, “Oh, my god, it’s to die for.”

Tanisha shook her head. “You are a sad couple of brothers. You could have been something, but now you’re reduced to being human garbage cans. Bring me a fork, stud muffin, and make it quick.”

“Stud muffin?” Eitan said, putting down his own fork. “I thought he was a hunk of burning man meat.”

“Hey, dork,” Sten said, shaking the forks in his hand. “That talk we had just a little bit ago, forget about it. Whatever sympathy I had for you, it’s over.”

That was a preview of Dark Energy. To read the rest purchase the book.

Add «Dark Energy» to Cart