THE
Wiseman
Revelation
R. C. Hightower
Wasteland Press
www.wastelandpress.net
Shelbyville, KY USA
The Wiseman Revelation
by R. C. Hightower
Copyright © 2015 R. C. Hightower
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
First Printing – May 2015
ISBN: 978-1-68111-033-2
Book cover design and layout by, Ellie Bockert Augsburger
of Creative Digital Studios.
www.CreativeDigitalStudios.com
Cover design features:
Destroyed Bulb (Image Number): © Erllre / Dollar Photo Club
Light Bulb Illuminated (Image Number): © Matlinski / Dollar Photo Club
NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY PHOTOCOPYING OR BY ANY ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL MEANS, INCLUDING INFORMATION STORAGE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS, WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE COPYRIGHT OWNER/AUTHOR
Printed in the U.S.A.
0 1 2
Thank you to
Vanessa, Kat, Sylvia, Cyndi,
Colleen, Ellie, and Jessica.
Superheroes in stilettos.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter One
Seattle, Washington
It was Langston Crump’s twenty-first birthday, and he wanted to kill himself. As he lay on the sidewalk contemplating where he’d gone wrong in life, he heard footsteps crunching on snowy concrete. He looked up and saw Johnny, the doorman to his luxury apartment building, leaning over him, his wrinkled face framed by the bleak, grey sky.
Johnny tilted his head toward the bus stop. “She’s gone now. It’s over.” He smiled and handed Langston his glasses. “Maybe you could try again tomorrow.”
Langston gave Johnny a chagrined look as he propped himself on his elbows, and put on his glasses. The girl Langston was insanely in love with had just seen him fall on his face in a cartoon-like struggle on a patch of ice.
“I can’t believe that happened.” Langston got to his feet and wiped his wet slacks.
“Mmmhmm,” Johnny looked at Langston’s disheveled clothes. “In front of God and everybody.”
“You are not helping.”
“You sound like my wife.”
Langston rubbed his hip. “I’m going to feel that tomorrow.”
Johnny opened the door for Langston as he limped inside. “Yes, you are. Want to sit down for a second?”
“I have to hurry and change. I’m supposed to be at the lab by nine.”
“Alright. Take care of yourself, Langston.”
“See you later.”
Langston pushed the button for the elevator and abruptly turned around. “Hey, Johnny?”
“Yes?”
“Did she laugh?”
“No. In fact, she looked like she wanted to get off the bus, but she had that big case with her and the book bag…” Johnny shrugged. “What was she going to do?”
The elevator doors opened and Langston walked in. “So, she didn’t laugh?”
“Nope.”
One side of Langston’s mouth lifted. “Cool.”
Langston changed into a dry pair of pants and headed downtown. He gave a friendly nod to the security guard on the ground floor of Bronze Leaf Technologies. The University of Washington had formed a partnership with Bronze Leaf to utilize the laboratories for their graduate students.
Langston waited for an elevator, admiring the Christmas wreaths hanging in the lobby. They were large with green, red, and gold plaid ribbons. The elevator was empty when he stepped in and he rode up to the fifteenth floor, where he scanned his badge to enter the suite. Everett Patel, his slightly chubby officemate, was already there. Though he had inherited the raven black hair and nutmeg brown skin of his Indian parents, he had no trace of their accents. He looked at the clock when Langston walked in.
“Traffic?”
Langston plopped down in his chair and logged into his computer. “Girl.”
Everett swiveled around to face him. “You finally asked Miss Lewis out?”
“Hardly. She was getting on the bus, so I tried to catch up. I was going to ride with her instead of driving.”
“So what happened?”
“I slipped on some ice and busted my ass. That’s what happened. The bus was packed, and everyone saw it.” Langston shook his head. “I’m an idiot.”
Everett howled with laughter.
“I’m glad I amuse you.”
Everett composed himself. “Did they laugh?”
“I have no idea. I sure didn’t look back to find out.” Langston lifted his index finger. “But Johnny said she definitely didn’t laugh, and that’s all I really care about.”
“Have you at least found out her first name?”
“Not yet.”
Everett held up his hand, palm out. “Let me get this straight. The only things you know about this girl are that she moved into your building three months ago, she’s beautiful, and according to her mailbox label, her last name is Lewis?”
“Don’t forget the cello. She’s always lugging that thing around.”
“Have you ever thought that she’s not as great as you think she is? What if she’s a serial killer? Or a meth addict? Or vegan?”
“Everett.”
“You’ve never even spoken to her.”
Langston shrugged off his coat and unwound his scarf, throwing both on the back of his chair. “She’s the one. I can feel it in my bones.”
“The one? What are you talking about? We’re in our prime, man!” Everett gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. “I went out with three different chicks last week.” He held up three fingers. “Three, Langston. It’s time to par-tay. I wish you’d feel that in your bones.”
“I seriously doubt you went out with three different girls, ever.” Langston opened his email. “Plus, we don’t have time to party.”
Everett snorted. “Speak for yourself. Listen, I know you’re not into sowing your wild oats and all that, but I’m saying maybe a little casual hanky panky could bring you some clarity.”
Langston massaged his temples. “Everett…”
Everett planted a hand on his chest in a pompous gesture. “Being an older gentleman, I feel you should heed my advice.”
“Older gentleman? You’re only twenty-four.”
“That’s still older.”
Langston laughed. “Based on your maturity level, I’d say the difference is negligible.”
“Give it some thought. Imma hook you up with some stellar prophylactics, and then you can just go crazy.”
Langston shook his head as he scrolled through his unread messages. “Whoa. Did you get an email from Dana?”
Everett turned to his desk and clicked the mouse. “Dr. Pillay wants to meet with us in an hour?”
“I thought he was out of the office until after New Year’s,” Lang
ston said.
“What the hell? No memo, no comment, no nothing. Just ‘Meeting at ten fifteen.’ It’s about NRAI. I know it.” Everett cursed and slapped his hand on his desk. “I bet he’s still pissed about that mistake I made last week.”
“Anybody could have done that. I’m sure it’s not about that anyway,” Langston assured him. “Plus, why would I have to come to?”
Everett seemed to calm. “I guess, but whatever this is, I can guarantee it isn’t good. It’s never good when he calls us in.”
Langston silently agreed. He hated meeting with Dr. Pillay. His advisor was arrogant and dismissive. The less time Langston had to spend with him, the better.
At ten fifteen, Langston grabbed a project binder labeled Nanorobotic Artificial Intelligence (NRAI). For the last two years, he and Everett had been developing nanorobots to assist in tissue repair. Having recently finished creating a tracking program and remote deactivation backup, they were ahead of schedule.
They walked down the hall to Dana, Dr. Pillay’s administrative assistant.
“You can go in,” she said.
They entered the office and closed the door. Dr. Pillay was an austere man in his late forties with dirty blond hair, deeply tanned skin, and a penchant for striped bow ties.
“I’m not going to beat around the bush,” Dr. Pillay began in his heavy South African accent. “LifeCorp has altered NRAI’s timeline.”
LifeCorp was the sole sponsor of the project. In his periphery, Langston saw Everett turn toward him.
“Altered how?” Langston asked.
“Phase two has been suspended.”
“For how long?”
“Indefinitely.” Dr. Pillay turned to Everett. “We should meet after holiday break to discuss your progress with—”
“Whoa,” Langston said. “Indefinitely?”
Dr. Pillay looked annoyed at being interrupted. “Yes. After the budget meeting, LifeCorp decided to wait until the next fiscal year to determine when they can purchase the hosts for testing.”
“I thought the budget meeting was in October,” Everett said.
“It was.”
“That was two months ago,” Langston said. “Why are you just now telling us?”
“I told you when I felt you should know.”
Langston leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. He was over this conversation already. “Dr. Pillay, this pushes back my timeline. A lot.”
“I know you’re used to overachieving on an abbreviated schedule, but sometimes things won’t go your way, Langston. Welcome to the real world.”
Langston clenched his teeth so hard his jaw hurt. “We’ve completed phase one. So now what? The new fiscal year doesn’t start for seven months, and even then there’s no guarantee we’ll get the hosts.”
“You are on two other projects. There’s plenty of work to go around. Plus, this will give you more time to complete those papers we talked about. Tell Dana you need to meet with me after the holiday break. She’ll put you on my calendar. We’ll talk more about it then.” Dr. Pillay turned his attention to Everett and it was clear that he was done with that part of the conversation.
Langston wanted to tell his advisor exactly what he could do with the two other projects. “I guess I’ll go now.”
Dr. Pillay nodded dismissively and Langston walked out of the office. He stopped at Dana’s desk. Today, she had her salt and pepper hair up in a bun. Her reading glasses sat on the tip of her nose. She looked back at Dr. Pillay’s closed office door.
“That was fast,” she said.
“It sure was,” Langston said. “I’m supposed to schedule an appointment with him in January.”
Dana nodded and clicked her mouse. Langston leaned on her desk, smiling at her royal blue sweater and matching cardigan. The cardigan was draped over her shoulders and the lapels were held together by gold clips shaped like bumblebees and connected by a string of pearls. She talked about her grandkids a lot and Langston bet they always had a good time with her. Her house probably had lots of green plants and always smelled like peanut butter cookies.
“What time, hun?” she asked, looking at a calendar on the screen.
“How’s never? Is never a good time for him?”
Dana looked up at him gloomily. “Aww, hun. Was it that bad?”
“It’s always that bad.”
Dana glared at Dr. Pillay’s door. “He should be ashamed of himself.” She started typing, mumbling, “I can’t believe he treats these kids like this.” She sighed loudly and patted Langston’s hand. “I put you on his calendar for the tenth at eleven o’ clock.”
Langston grimaced. “Okay.”
“It’ll be alright. You only have,” she consulted a paper on the corkboard beside her desk, “one more year?”
Langston nodded. “I don’t know if I’m going to make it.”
“You will,” Dana said. “Just take it one day at a time.”
Langston took a deep breath and let it out noisily. “You’re right.”
She smiled.
Langston headed toward his office. “See you later, Dana. Thanks.”
He sat at his desk, intending to take care of a few emails, but instead he just stared at his screensaver, a school of orange fish swimming in the ocean.
Everett walked in. “I can’t believe NRAI is suspended.”
“You?” Langston blinked, looking away from the screen. “What am I going to do?”
Everett scratched his chin. “Nothing, I guess. I mean, what can you do?”
Langston looked down at the beige carpet. What can I do? He drummed his fingers on his chair armrest.
“I tried to ask him about it again after you left, but he had moved on to something else.” Everett leaned against a file cabinet. “Without test subjects, there’s nothing we can do.”
Langston looked up slowly. “I need caffeine.”
“Good idea.”
“Let’s go downstairs for some coffee.”
“I’m game.”
Langston and Everett walked to the elevator, but when the doors opened, Langston didn’t get in.
Everett stood inside, holding the door. “You coming?”
“Yeah. I forgot to do something. It won’t take but a second. I’ll meet you down there.”
Everett looked slightly confused, but said, “Okay.” He disappeared behind the doors, and Langston doubled back to the lab. Bronze Leaf’s coffee shop was notoriously slow. Hopefully that would work in Langston’s favor today.
Fifteen minutes later he was in a stall in the men’s bathroom with his pants around his ankles, swabbing a section of his thigh with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol. He extracted the syringe he’d tucked in his sleeve.
“Fiscal year my ass,” he mumbled around the syringe cap he’d taken off with his teeth.
The point of the needle had just indented his skin when the bathroom door opened. He lost his grip, dropping the syringe. He caught it right before it hit the floor.
“Langston? Are you in here?” It was Everett.
Langston spat out the cap into the toilet. “Yeah. I’m here.”
“You taking a dump or something? I was waiting forever.”
Langston gritted his teeth and embedded the needle tip into his flesh, hesitating for a moment before pushing the plunger. “I… think I ate some bad Chinese food last night.”
“Dude.”
“Yeah.” Langston slipped the syringe back underneath his sleeve and held the cotton ball over the puncture site in his thigh.
“I keep Imodium in my car. Do you need some?”
Langston looked at the cotton ball. There was a small speck of blood. He flushed it and walked out of the stall. “Thanks, but I think I’m good now.”
“Okay. I don’t know if you want it, but I left a coffee on your desk. I’m going to the lab.”
Langston turned on a faucet. “Thanks. See you in a few.”
After Everett left, Langston hurriedly broke off the needle tip an
d wrapped it and the syringe in a large wad of paper towels, stuffing it deep into the trash can.
He splashed water on his face and flapped the hem of his shirt to try to cool down. After he’d wiped his face and hands, he walked into the lab where Everett was sitting at one of the computers.
“Why is this up?” Everett asked.
Langston walked over. “What is it?”
“The activation application. Did you do this?”
Langston nudged Everett off the seat in front of the computer and sat down. “Yeah, I was checking on something before I went to the bathroom. I wanted to make sure everything was backed up to the external hard drive. I’ll take care of it.”
Everett looked at Langston. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re sweating like crazy.”
Langston minimized the activation window. “Yeah.”
Everett was staring at him, and Langston wished he’d go away. He needed to run the activation codes, but he couldn’t do it with Everett breathing down his neck. “I think I do need that Imodium. Do you mind getting it?”
“Sure. Be right back.”
Langston angled the computer screen away from the door and reopened the activation window. His fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard. His tracking program identified the injected nanorobots.
He entered the first activation code and waited a few seconds for the progress bar to complete. He entered five more codes. The word “success” blinked on the screen after each entry. Langston half expected to feel a tingle in his leg now that the nanos were swimming, but of course he didn’t. They were too small to actually feel. He glanced up when another student popped his head in the doorway.
“Dana said you were pretty pissed when you left Dr. Pillay’s office this morning,” Cody said.
Langston nodded. “He told us that NRAI’s on hold.”
“For real?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve never heard of that happening, but I guess it could,” Cody said. “Did he say why?”
“Financial reasons.”
Cody cocked his head to the side. “Weird. I thought LifeCorp had tons of money. Anyway, I was coming to tell you the funniest thing. I was in the parking lot when I saw…”
The Wiseman Revelation (The Wiseman Series Book 2) Page 1
