The orb didn't reveal any secrets upon initial inspections. In fact, other than the fact that he could see it and was holding it, Franc couldn't confirm that it existed.
He first put it under a microscope, but as he looked through the lens, there was nothing there. He pulled his face away and repositioned the strange object, expecting that he had simply gotten a bad angle. After checking the position of the object and the view through the microscope multiple times, he decided there was something wrong with his microscope.
The next logical move was to try to get it to react with one of his tools.
He pulled a small pedestal closer to him and set the orb on top of it. He watched it for a couple of seconds, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. After taking it off of the pedestal, Franc took a small metal rod and moved to touch it to the strange object. However, instead of tapping its surface, the rod simply passed through it.
That was the moment he decided that he needed to contact some of his new associates. He took a picture of the orb and immediately uploaded it to his computer so he could email them. On a whim, he decided to open the picture and check it. When he did, he found that there was no orb in the shot.
It took him three more attempts to decide that the object couldn't be photographed.
"What are you?" Franc asked, mostly to himself but also partially hoping for an answer.
His hope was rewarded with a slightly brighter glow from the orb.
Franc stared in disbelief. Then, he spent a moment chastising himself for feeling even a twinge of disbelief after what he'd seen in the last several weeks.
"Can you here me?" Franc whispered to the artifact.
The orb's red surface darkened to black then faded into a bright shade of yellow.
"Can I trust you?"
The yellow shifted very suddenly back to red.
Franc, eyes wide with fear, leapt across the room, pulled a small wooden box from under his mattress, threw the orb in it, and ran with it to his backyard. It took him the entirety of the next two hours to dig a hole he felt was deep enough to bury it.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Chapter 3 Part 2
All he could see was black.
Then out of the black came a shining, beautiful angel. She touched him gently on the cheek and guided him out of the darkness. He stared into her beautiful, pale blue eyes, slowly realizing who was standing over him. Then her features began to blur and morph . . .
Into the face of Jermaine.
Franc's brother stood over him, slapping him repeatedly in the face. "'Bout time you woke up," said Jermaine in his disgustingly smug voice. "You had us worried there for a second." A hope sprung up in Franc as he considered all of the possible meanings of the word 'us'. He took a deep breath, the overwhelming smell in his nose confirming his deepest hopes. "Oh don't worry. Mom and dad are here. I called them as soon as I found you like this."
Crash.
The smell of Penny's perfume clung to Jermaine as he stood over Franc, but she was nowhere near them. Us. Franc was certain he had never been so disappointed to realize his parents were home.
After a frantic shake-down from his mother and quick glance from his father, Franc returned to his bedroom followed closely by his brother. "So what really happened?" The question was not casual or concerned. It was conniving. He knew something and was looking for more.
"I don't know," Franc said, only half honest. "One second I was fine, the next you were slapping me in the face."
"Uh huh," said Jermaine skeptically. "So then what's this?" He held up a small, round object. Its red exterior shone with a familiar glow, but Franc couldn't place it. That made it easy to deny any knowledge of it with a casual shrug. "Oh don't worry," Jermaine continued as Franc cringed at the catch phrase. "Mom and dad don't know about it. I found it in the microwave and noticed you had some popcorn. I'm just curious about what it is."
"I don't know what it is," said Franc frustratedly. "Can't you just drop it and go to bed?"
Jermaine offered a half-smile that suggested he knew more than he was showing. Franc knew that it actually meant he thought he knew more than he actually did. "Ok, then. Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."
And with that, Jermaine went to his bed and slept.
Franc, on the other hand, laid in his bed just until he could hear Jermaine's unnecessarily heavy breathing that always accompanied sleep. He then snuck over to Jermaine's side of the room, picked up the strange object from the microwave, and took it to his desk.
Then out of the black came a shining, beautiful angel. She touched him gently on the cheek and guided him out of the darkness. He stared into her beautiful, pale blue eyes, slowly realizing who was standing over him. Then her features began to blur and morph . . .
Into the face of Jermaine.
Franc's brother stood over him, slapping him repeatedly in the face. "'Bout time you woke up," said Jermaine in his disgustingly smug voice. "You had us worried there for a second." A hope sprung up in Franc as he considered all of the possible meanings of the word 'us'. He took a deep breath, the overwhelming smell in his nose confirming his deepest hopes. "Oh don't worry. Mom and dad are here. I called them as soon as I found you like this."
Crash.
The smell of Penny's perfume clung to Jermaine as he stood over Franc, but she was nowhere near them. Us. Franc was certain he had never been so disappointed to realize his parents were home.
After a frantic shake-down from his mother and quick glance from his father, Franc returned to his bedroom followed closely by his brother. "So what really happened?" The question was not casual or concerned. It was conniving. He knew something and was looking for more.
"I don't know," Franc said, only half honest. "One second I was fine, the next you were slapping me in the face."
"Uh huh," said Jermaine skeptically. "So then what's this?" He held up a small, round object. Its red exterior shone with a familiar glow, but Franc couldn't place it. That made it easy to deny any knowledge of it with a casual shrug. "Oh don't worry," Jermaine continued as Franc cringed at the catch phrase. "Mom and dad don't know about it. I found it in the microwave and noticed you had some popcorn. I'm just curious about what it is."
"I don't know what it is," said Franc frustratedly. "Can't you just drop it and go to bed?"
Jermaine offered a half-smile that suggested he knew more than he was showing. Franc knew that it actually meant he thought he knew more than he actually did. "Ok, then. Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."
And with that, Jermaine went to his bed and slept.
Franc, on the other hand, laid in his bed just until he could hear Jermaine's unnecessarily heavy breathing that always accompanied sleep. He then snuck over to Jermaine's side of the room, picked up the strange object from the microwave, and took it to his desk.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Chapter 3 Part 1
The moment Franc had gotten home from school, he had gone to his room and locked the door. For the next 24 hours, he had stayed in that room ignoring sleep, food, and everything to do with the outside world, opting instead to work frantically on his project. There had been a brief momentary interruption when his mom came home, during which he calmly explained the events leading to his suspension and she calmly and willingly accepted it without further question.
That was the moment he knew for sure that it was working, giving him the motivation to finish.
Over the course of that first day of suspension, he hadn't seen Jermaine at all. He was, of course, grateful for this fact, but he was also intrigued. His brother should have been home no more than a couple of hours after him, yet there had been no sign of him. Granted, he had taken some time during his work to turn his attention toward his dear, sweet brother, but Jermaine hadn't been the target of the project until the last half hour. Was it possible for it to work that quickly? More importantly, was it possible for it to work post ex facto?
After he finally liberated himself from his room, Franc took a brief tour of his house, looking for any signs of any other life. There was none. His parents were out on their bimonthly date night, but that also usually went hand-in-hand with Jermaine throwing a party. Instead, there was nothing but silence.
Franc grinned and ran to the living room, plopping himself down on the couch. After turning on the TV and finding a channel that seemed to be in the middle of a bad sci-fi movie marathon, he went to the kitchen for some popcorn. Though he had been the last person to make popcorn and had done so only a couple days before, it took him a bit to remember where it was. He knew that it should be somewhere in the kitchen and somewhere low, but that didn't narrow it down hardly at all. He finally found it in the cabinet under the microwave, and casually put it in the machine without paying attention, pressing the buttons as though he were a pre-programmed machine.
Two and a half minutes later, Franc took the popcorn from the microwave and opened the bag, ignoring the formalities of placing it in a bowl. As he reached his hand into the bag, the room around him began to spin. He stopped, dropped the bag and supported himself against the wall until everything stabilized. Then he very calmly picked the popcorn back up, walked to the living room and firmly planted himself once more before the television.
Franc finished the popcorn long before the first movie was over and flung the bag across the room. As he lay on the couch, fully enthralled in the movie he wasn't actually watching, he was snapped back to reality by a breaking news bulletin interrupting the station.
He managed to focus just long enough to see an image of his school in flames before passing out.
That was the moment he knew for sure that it was working, giving him the motivation to finish.
Over the course of that first day of suspension, he hadn't seen Jermaine at all. He was, of course, grateful for this fact, but he was also intrigued. His brother should have been home no more than a couple of hours after him, yet there had been no sign of him. Granted, he had taken some time during his work to turn his attention toward his dear, sweet brother, but Jermaine hadn't been the target of the project until the last half hour. Was it possible for it to work that quickly? More importantly, was it possible for it to work post ex facto?
After he finally liberated himself from his room, Franc took a brief tour of his house, looking for any signs of any other life. There was none. His parents were out on their bimonthly date night, but that also usually went hand-in-hand with Jermaine throwing a party. Instead, there was nothing but silence.
Franc grinned and ran to the living room, plopping himself down on the couch. After turning on the TV and finding a channel that seemed to be in the middle of a bad sci-fi movie marathon, he went to the kitchen for some popcorn. Though he had been the last person to make popcorn and had done so only a couple days before, it took him a bit to remember where it was. He knew that it should be somewhere in the kitchen and somewhere low, but that didn't narrow it down hardly at all. He finally found it in the cabinet under the microwave, and casually put it in the machine without paying attention, pressing the buttons as though he were a pre-programmed machine.
Two and a half minutes later, Franc took the popcorn from the microwave and opened the bag, ignoring the formalities of placing it in a bowl. As he reached his hand into the bag, the room around him began to spin. He stopped, dropped the bag and supported himself against the wall until everything stabilized. Then he very calmly picked the popcorn back up, walked to the living room and firmly planted himself once more before the television.
Franc finished the popcorn long before the first movie was over and flung the bag across the room. As he lay on the couch, fully enthralled in the movie he wasn't actually watching, he was snapped back to reality by a breaking news bulletin interrupting the station.
He managed to focus just long enough to see an image of his school in flames before passing out.
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