by Jay Mason
Rusty waved a hand in front of her face. “Earth to Alex?”
“They used to think I had schizophrenia,” said Alex. “Back in England.”
Rusty’s jaw slackened. He stared intensely at her. “For real?”
“Uh-ha,” said Alex. “Seeing ghosts and whatever tends to get people looking at your oddly.” She gave a lopsided smile. “This is the real me. Mad-girl. Nice to meet you.”
Rusty rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. Alex waited for him to say something.
“You’re thinking your parents came here to get to you cured in some secret experiment?”
“What if I’ve been wrong about Straker all along and he’s been trying to help me? Just as he says.”
Rusty shook his head. “I’m not buying it. Besides you said that C0numdrum told this experiment was new. You were in the institute when you first came here, weren’t you?”
“I could have been one of the first subjects. I would technically have been a minor then too.”
“Do you have any bread?”
Alex pointed at the bread box on the side and Rusty helped himself. Then he sat back down with a sigh. “Look, don’t bite my head off, but I don’t think everything at the Centre is connected with you.” Alex tried to speak and Rusty raised his voice. “In the same way I know not everything there is connected to my mum or dad. When you’re desperate for answers you can try and make anything fit.” He took a huge bite out of the bread, so his next sentence came out somewhat thickly. “Besides, for what it’s worth I don’t think you’re mad. Not in a lock-up-and-throw-away-the-key kind of way. You are a bit crazy, but in a good way. Being with you is never boring.”
Alex focussed on her plate. She didn’t want him to see her blinking back tears. “Thanks,” she said in a small voice.
“No bother,” said Rusty, sounding equally embarrassed.
Alex put down her knife and fork and looked up. “I know you’re right about not trying to make everything fit, but it’s hard.”
“Maybe this is a new version of MK-ULTRA, but this time put to good use. I don’t like or trust Straker, but there are a lot of good people working up there besides him.”
“I suppose,” said Alex. “But with everything that’s been happening, I think you’re missing the obvious. What if this is a new version of MK-ULTRA and they’re having no more success than last time? In fact what if it’s worse than that? What if we’re seeing the fall-out from MK-THETA going wrong?”
4. Hail, The Returning Hero
The next morning the local town newspaper flopped onto Alex’s doormat. Normally she put it straight in the recycling. Neither of her parents were in the least interested in local affairs — and as far as she knew neither of them were home. She had sneaked a peak in her parents’ room. The bed remained unmade, but her father, she suspected, never made it anyway. For all she knew he could be coming and going. It gave her a peculiar feeling in her stomach to know so little about what her parents were doing. It felt as if now she was thought of as an adult by them, the family had dissolved and she was being left to her own devices. Alex, who had for years, dreamed of being free from parental oversight was finding that she missed them very much. Even her mother.
However, the headline on the local rag pushed all such thoughts out of her head: ‘Huge Hike in Local Vandalism.’ Underneath was the subtitle: ‘What is causing this? We ask locals, Sidney Stardust our very own astrologer, and Sheriff Connolly.’
Alex took the paper through to read while she ate her cereal. She couldn’t help chuckling over Stardust’s piece that blamed ‘the conjunctions of heavenly bodies which were sending out unnatural vibrations.’ He recommended that parents remained indoors and encouraged hot baths and meditation around positive images like sunrises and unicorns. He wrote that if people followed his advice he was ‘supremely confident that the vandalism would lessen.’
“Well, if everyone stays home, of course it will,” Alex told the newspaper. Her mobile rang, startling her.
“Hi,” she said cautiously.
“Hi,” said Rusty. “You sound most unAlex-like. You okay?”
“It’s living alone in this house,” said Alex. “It’s so quiet. Any noise tends to make me jump.”
“No sign of your mum then?”
“Dad’s vanished too.”
“Do you want to report them missing?”
“Not as long as I keep finding empty noodle packets. I think Dad’s coming and going. And it’s up to him to contact the police about Mum. For all I know they’re both turning up at work as normal.”
“Bummer,” said Rusty. “You’re really out of the loop, aren’t you?”
“Hmm,” said Alex.
“Anyhow, I have just the cure for loneliness.”
“I never said I was lonely,” said Alex.
“Come to the Fir Pines Inn at lunchtime. A friend has invited us. 1.30pm. Don’t be late.”
“What?” said Alex, but Rusty had hung up. Alex considered ringing him back, but decided not to give him the satisfaction. She googled the Fir Pines Inn and found it was a twenty-minute drive down some back lanes.
She spent the morning reading over her notes and when she couldn’t bear looking at them anymore, she read a sci-fi novel. Vividly written and full of twisty plot turns as well as aliens, it kept her occupied until her alarm signalled it was time to leave.
****
She arrived at the Inn to see Joe Trend standing on the steps. He was wearing a hoodie and a baseball cap. As soon as he spied her, he ran over to her and engulfed in a big hug.
“Alex, my girl,” he said. “It’s good to see you.” He smelled of cologne, but unlike the ones used by the students at college, which all too often reminded her of bleach-based cleaning products, he smelled of pine, lemon and
“Roasted oats” said Alex out loud.
“What?”
“You smell of roasted oats.”
“It’s my new signature scent,” said Joe. “Do you like it? Have a good sniff of my neck.” He continued to hug her. “All the celebs have one now. I’m doing the bit where I wear it to galas a lot and wait for people to ask me what it is. It’ll hit the market in time for the Christmas trade.”
“It’s different,” said Alex. “And quite pleasant,” she added quickly. “If you could convince the average male college student to wear it, you’d be doing us all a favour.”
Joe released her and stood back. “Excellent. That’s my base demographic.” He grinned at her and Alex couldn’t help noticing his teeth were even brighter. “Or so I’m told.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “Come on in. We can eat and chat about whatever trouble you’re mixed up in now.”
Somehow Joe had managed to get lunch served to them in a small dining room even though the Inn clearly stated at the sign at reception that it didn’t do lunch. Over roast chicken with buttered yams, crispy potatoes and a side salad with eggs, Joe brought them up to speed with what he had been doing. Most of it was about his next movie which involved the world being saved by a pod of dolphins working alongside himself and a beautiful marine biologist, who was allergic to latex, so she had to wear bikinis all the time. “And it means she can’t dive as deep as I can. It’s all plot driven,” Joe assured them.
“These eggs are small,” said Rusty, who clearly had not been listening.
“Quails,” said Joe. “And then, and this is a big secret, but I’m up to be a good-will ambassador. Because of the sci-fi movies I’ve been in I’m going to be an advocate for science.”
“Do you know any science?” asked Rusty.
“Not much,” said Joe. “I was home schooled on set. My tutors generally did the minimum they could legally get away with, so they didn’t waste time I could be filming.” He speared the last potato on his plate. “So good to be able to eat these again. Of course in the lead up to the release I’ll have to go on a detox — and start in training for the next movie.” He patted his flat stomach. “I’m as fat as a
house at the moment, but I need these little respites.”
“So we’re a respite?” said Alex with a smile.
“Yeah, Rusty emailed me about you two not speaking and about weird things happening. It arrived just as I was about to wrap up on Clone Ranger, so as soon as I did, I hopped on a plane and came here.”
“So tell Uncle Joe all. What’s up with you two? Though from what I can see you seem to be getting on fine.”
“We weren’t,” said Rusty, “but something’s come up. Another investigation, so we’ve put the problem to one side.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t do that,” said Joe. “That way things fester. Let’s sort it all out and then move on to the exciting stuff. The question is; do we have cheesecake before or after?”
“After,” said Alex quickly.
“You think I’ll let things go if you threaten my sweet?” said Rusty.
“Yes,” said Alex.
“Women,” said Rusty.
“Spit it out,” said Joe.
“We never solved the Howardsfield Horror mystery properly. Cat still has nightmares. I tried to hire Alex to explain what happened, but all she’ll say is it was some kind of mass hysteria.”
“Back up there!” said Joe, “don’t let my publicist hear anyone calling Joe Trend, intergalactic hero, an hysteric.”
Alex looked at each of them. Joe’s face displaying curiosity and a general happiness. Rusty’s expression on the other hand, sliding towards sour.
“Okay, before I say anything else, let me make this clear. I haven’t told you before, not because I was made to sign a confidentiality agreement, which I was, but because I was worried about you getting in as deep as me.”
“Isn’t that up to us?” said Joe.
“How is it up to you?” said Alex, curling her fingers into fists in frustration. “Once I’ve told you, I’ve told you. You can’t unknow this kind of stuff.”
“You could tell us something,” suggested Rusty. “Then we could decide if we wanted to know more.”
“I’ve already told you that I’ve been made to sign a secrecy agreement.”
“What happens if you break it?” asked Joe.
“I go to jail.”
“Straker can do that?” asked Rusty.
“Actually my dad can,” said Alex. “His research turns out to be a top secret government-funded research project.”
“So the Centre is a government site?” asked Joe.
“I don’t think so. From what Dad has said, and that isn’t a lot, they work with partners internationally, but his one is a government project.”
“He’s a biologist, isn’t he?” asked Joe.
Alex nodded. “So do you want to hear more?”
They both replied at once: “I don’t want you to go to jail,” said Joe. “Yes, tell me more,” said Rusty.
“I’m not worried about me,” said Alex.
“Then tell us,” said Rusty.
Alex explained about the cybernetic creature her father was developing, supposedly for search and rescue, but she thought more likely for military applications.
“That’s the Howardsfield Horror?” said Joe. “And digging up that grave was all a bit of PR work on behalf of the Centre.”
“More like spin doctoring,” said Alex. “But essentially, yes. It had got out more than once, which is why we kept seeing search drones and helicopters over the fields.”
“Is it alive?” asked Rusty.
“Good question,” said Alex. “I don’t know. I do know that they don’t always manage to control it, so it must have some kind of autonomy.”
“Or faulty programming,” said Rusty.
Alex shrugged.
“But it glowed,” said Joe.
“That was bio-luminescence,” said Alex. “You find it in some deep sea fish. The creature is a real mix before you even add in the hardware.”
“How did your dad stop it?” asked Rusty.
“He shot it. Turns out my laid-back father is head of his own little military black ops style team.”
“Cool,” said Joe.
“Not so much,” said Alex. “It means he may never have been who I think he is.”
“Does your mum know all about this?” asked Rusty.
“Not according to my dad.”
“And he’s working for them because …?” asked Joe.
“Partly because he can pursue his research interests at a leading scientific centre — which means he is more amoral than I realised. And partly, he claims, because it could help both me and my mother. He said my mother has had several breakdowns during her life that I’ve never known anything about.”
“Heavy,” said Joe.
“Thank you,” said Rusty. “For telling us.”
“I was going to anyway,” said Alex. “I’d been trying to protect you, but C0numdrum pointed out to me recently that sometimes protecting people from the truth is exactly the same as putting them in danger.”
“There’s more, isn’t there?” said Joe.
“A little about my mum and some memories I have of being in the institute, but I honestly don’t think they’re relevant. I’m not ready to share those just yet anyway. I’ve been on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster of late.”
“Her mom’s missing,” said Rusty.
“My parents had a fight,” said Alex. “I don’t know what about. She flipped about dad giving me the car, but it has to be more than that.”
“Yeah, I saw. Not bad wheels,” said Joe.
“It’s a bribe,” said Alex. “A bribe for me not to tell Mum anything.”
“Uncomfortable,” said Joe. “I remember this character I once played …”
“If you ever want to see that cheesecake,” said Alex, “we should move on.”
“Good point,” said Rusty. “Pass over your phone. I’ve told Joe what we’ve been up to over coffee this morning. I thought a fresh pair of eyes might spot something we didn’t.”
Alex opened her bag and passed Joe her mobile. She was about to explain how it worked, but Joe handled it like a pro. He looked through the photos. “And none of these names have any connection that you know of?”
“Apart from all the ones called ‘anon’,” said Alex sarcastically.
“Yeah, that is odd,” said Joe. “I mean that so many things could happen without anyone seeing who did it. It’s not like your campus is exactly empty, is it? It’s a big school. It’s almost as if …”
“What?” asked Rusty.
“This is far-fetched even for me,” said Joe. “It’s almost as if everyone was in on it. Like they didn’t notice anyone else doing anything because …”
“They were caught up in the vandalism themselves,” finished Rusty.
“And all this stuff about mirrors — mirrors being broken and stolen — that has to mean something.”
“Right at the start of all this I found a girl in the restroom talking angrily to herself. When I asked what was up she turned on me,” said Alex. “And later there was that restroom where all the mirrors had been covered up.”
“So is it about reflections?” asked Joe. “Do you think this whole MK-THETA thing Rusty told me about this morning, might be nothing but a distraction?”
“I’ve not come across anything describing mirrors being used in the original project,” said Alex.
“There’s lots of folklore around mirrors,” said Joe.
“Yeah,” said Rusty, “stupid stuff about summoning killers or demons or seeing the future. Kids at High School used to scare the life out of themselves messing about with that stuff. Nothing ever happened though.”
“Are we thinking this might be some kind of mass hysteria?” said Alex.
“Only if it gets us to the cheesecake faster,” said Rusty. “As far as I know, while that does involve groups it has a limited timespan. I can’t see it working here.”
“Unless people are being drugged,” said Joe. “Did I read somewhere about paranoid people have trouble with mirrors? Or
am I making this up?”
“If it involves drugs it would have to be something in the water supply or the school canteen. Something that reached loads of people,” said Alex. “I can’t see the Centre doing that.” She pulled the local paper from her bag and put it on the table. “So far this has only attracted the local press, but it’s the kind of kooky story that might draw in some of the smaller news channels. The Centre would hate that kind of attention round here.”
“What if, like we said last night, it’s all about an experiment going wrong?” said Rusty.
“I guess so,” said Alex, “But why haven’t we — Rusty and I — been affected. Joe’s only been here five minutes, but we’ve been here all the time and eating in the school canteen — and the campus seems to be the epicentre.”
“Tell you what,” said Joe. “Let’s have cheesecake. Then we can all go up to my room and take it in turns to stare in the mirror. I’ve got a lovely big one up there.”
“How did you know this was about mirrors?” asked Rusty.
“I didn’t.” Joe looked puzzled. “I always ask for my rooms to have a big mirror.”
After large, creamy slices of cheesecake the three of them headed upstairs. “What if someone sees us?” said Alex.
“I always pay extra for multiple occupation,” said Joe. “Just in case.”
The receptionist gave them an interested look as they passed by.
“Great,” muttered Alex.
Joe’s room was enormous. The Inn had three floors and most of the first floor was given over to a VIP suite.
“Don’t you worry about getting lost in here?” quipped Rusty.
“I drew myself a map,” said Joe. Alex looked at him, unsure whether or not to laugh. “Come in the bedroom,” Joe continued. “It’s the biggest one.”
Inside, floor to ceiling, was an enormous mirror. It stood opposite a four-poster bed. Tucked beneath the window was a chaise longue. Alex made for it. “I think I ate too much,” she said, curling up on it.
“I’ll ring down for coffee,” said Joe. “That should stop you worrying about your reputation. No one orders coffee for a threesome in the afternoon.” Alex flushed. She put her hands up to her burning cheeks only to notice Rusty too had turned a fiery red. Joe turned away, Alex figured, to politely ignore their reaction.
