Hey, sorry to interrupt the flow of the story. Serenity is a great storyteller, and she’s really good at thinking about things outside of the box. Me? I’m not as exciting a person. I just like gardening, that’s really it. I think plants are dope as heck. Not even just beans, I don’t discriminate against plants.
When I was a kid, my dad built my mom a big backyard greenhouse, and I really enjoyed helping out in them. Plants listen to you, they take notice of things when others might not. They don’t interrupt you when you talk to them, and they’re usually quite happy when you give them things, like water, or fertilizer. Plants don’t ground you if they perceive that you did something wrong.
I spent a lot more time in that greenhouse than my parents did. My mom didn’t even really use it, she opted to watch football with dad in the living room instead. She always chose to watch football instead of doing anything intense, and dad just... he spent all his time either sleeping or drinking. The greenhouse was quiet when they weren’t watching football, which was nice.
Sorry, I kind of trailed off there. Here, let's rewind a little bit. There’s a lot going on. Serenity and Caspian just left the room, and none of us were exactly excited by any of the news.
“Are you gonna be okay, dude?” Brendan asked Alphonso, who looked like he was having a hard time grappling with the news.
“Yeah. It’s... it’s been a month. I’m sure everything will be fine... but Sandra was there for the worst parts of it... the planning. The speeches. The firing. If she’s involved, then the implications of the kidnapping aren’t good.” He replied seriously.
I was having a hard time speaking up. Normally, I’m very talkative, but my life took a turn for the worst. I wasn’t... necessary. They kidnapped me because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone else was freed. Information like that doesn’t feel good to know, and now there’s another tense situation in the room.
“Are you sure you want to go alone?” Jacob asked, realizing the gravity of the situation.
“I can convince her to help us.” Alphonso replied in an even more serious manner than last.
“... Okay, How about this. I can’t let you go alone, but... if you take Mylo with you, Jacob and I can search for the other two names. We don’t have a lead on Joy, but we have a general description, and if Jim is famous then we can keep an eye on his instagram in the meantime.” Brendan said, in a far more serious tone than I’ve ever heard from him before.
Alphonso pondered on it for a moment, before speaking back up.
“Hey, Mylo, are you okay? You’ve been fairly quiet over there.” He asked me.
“Oh, umm... yeah, sorry, just got a lot to process at the moment.” I replied quickly, not expecting to be thrust into the conversation so quickly.
“The recording must’ve been a lot to handle.”
“Yeah. I can... I can join you, if you want.”
Alphonso nodded his head.
“Okay, great, that’s settled. Let’s get started, Jacob.” Brendan said, clapping his hands.
“Of course I got the shit end of the deal.” Jacob groaned in response.
Alphonso & I walked out of the apartment and into the elevator. We stood awkwardly as we made our way down to the parking lot.
“What are we looking for?” I asked awkwardly as we entered the parking lot.
Alphonso didn’t say anything or look at me, he just pressed a button on his car keys and a car off in the distance made the unlocking sound with the lights flashing on. He seemed like he was in his head about something.
I followed him to his car, and got in the front seat. Most of the ride was quiet. He didn’t turn on the radio or anything.
“Is anything going on that you wanna tell me?” I asked about three quarters of the way through the ride.
“No.” He said and immediately stopped talking again.
The car was quiet for a few minutes.
“Can I at least turn on the radio if you’re gonna be a salty sourpuss the whole time?” I tried asking again.
“Fine.” He said, turning on the radio to the AM station.
“Welcome back, all you loyal listeners, to the Matt Slapp, the only show on air that has the courage to tackle all the problems going on in our country right now. Specifically, these teenagers that are turning everyone gay.” A calm, raspy voice came through the other end.
We both immediately realized who it was. The man who kidnapped me. We accidentally turned on the radio to this butthole’s show.
“Do you normally listen to this?” I asked Alphonso.
“Uh... no, actually. Brendan must’ve fucked with the radio during our last carpool or something. Last time I let him sit in the front.” He replied, diligently listening to the radio.
“Now, I spent a good amount of time within this community, and honestly, I learned a lot from them.” Matt continued.
“Is he... talking about the kidnapping?” I spoke as Alphonso started pulling the car over to an empty side of the road.
“These people... they don’t care about the normal, hardworking families of america. They don’t care about our traditional values, and here’s the biggest thing, loyal listeners. They’re planning something. A large scale plan to take over the government from us, the hardworking patriots of america. The true gay agenda, as it were. But fear not, America, I have a plan. A grand unveiling. Do you remember that laboratory that was owned by Lang Corp a few years back? Well, it’s in my possession now and I’m using it for a new purpose. We’re going to cure queer america.”
Both of us sat back, in shock. This... this was bad. This was really, really bad. The 16 rooms... the lab... the torture... he’s lying to the general public. He was trying to kill us. Why is he saying otherwise?
“That... is not good.” Alphonso said in response.
“That’s right, listeners. You heard me correctly. I’m going to use the abandoned labs that were sold to me when Jared Lang was arrested after that awful battle a month ago. I’m even giving it a new name, to take pride in all the things the gay community calls us. Phobia Labs. Truly the most bigoted place in Seattle! Haha, no, no listeners, I jest. The woke mob won’t stop us. We will not let them. Thanks for listening to... hmm, I think we’re overdue for a title change. Call it... the Phobia Hour. I’ve been Matt Shapiro. Thanks for listening.” Matt finished before a beer ad sponsored by Jason Aldean started.
Alphonso quickly turned the radio off. We sat there in silence, trying to wrap our heads around what we just heard. After a few moments, Alphonso spoke into the teamline.
“Matt Shapiro’s end goal is to cure queerness,” He spoke, “he just said so on his radio show.”
“Are you FUCKING kidding me?” Serenity whisper-shouted into the teamline.
“I absolutely am not.” Alphonso replied.
“Yeah, we can confirm it. Brendan & I just passed by a protest in the seattle center with the same show playing.” Jacob said, further confirming the event.
“Where does this dude get off?” Brendan shouted.
“We’re currently inside the hideout. We’re going to get that list.” Caspian said.
“I am going to murder this motherfucker with my bare hands.” Serenity angry-whispered.
The conversation on the teamline cut off and we continued to make our way to Sandra’s house.
“Okay, if Sandra’s involved in something way worse, then we need her. She would’ve been the first. We need her account.” Alphonso said to me as we continued to drive as fast as the speed limit allowed.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Why are you so serious about this woman?” I asked.
“Because she was Grace’s best friend.”
“Who?”
“Grace Knight. A friend of mine who went crazy trying to save her mom and nearly destroyed the entire city because of it. Called herself the Kinderdrawer.”
“The villain you fought a month ago?”
“Yeah... it’s all connected. Matt waited until Jared was arrested, bought the labs for cheap, and kidnapped Sandra before anyone else. There has to be a reason for that. I need to know why she was first. After we see Sandra, there’s one more place I need to go. The reason why I’m being such a... salty sourpuss.”
“Where?”
“King County Jail.”
As he said that, we pulled into the driveway of what I assume is Sandra’s house. Alphonso immediately got out of the car, and I followed him afterwards. He walked up to the door, then quickly turned to me before ringing the doorbell.
“Let me do the talking.” He whispered, before ringing the doorbell.
At first, we were expecting a voice to answer us. There was another car in the driveway, so we knew someone had to be there, unless they had multiple cars or something. However, no one came to the door that quickly. After several moments of silence, a woman opened the door.
“Can I help you?” She asked us.
“Is Sandra here?” Alphonso replied.
“Yes, is this important?” She asked again.
“Critical.” Alphonso responded.
“Give me a moment.” the woman said, nodding.
She shut the door, and we could hear her footsteps as she walked away from the door and opened another one. Then there were a few more moments of silence but before long, she opened the door back up.
“She’s in the basement.” She said, inviting us inside.
We stepped in and immediately went to the basement, where we saw a woman next to a bunch of computers sitting in a wheelchair.
“Y’all better have a good reason to be here.” The woman said as we entered the basement.
“We know about the laboratory.” Alphonso spoke.
The woman immediately turned her wheelchair around and seemed to look through Alphonso.
“Valentina, leave us be.” she said.
The woman who brought us to the basement started walking up the stairs, and the woman in the wheelchair waited until the door to the basement was shut before continuing.
“Talk.” she finally continued.
“A member of our team, Starling, rescued you from the facility a few days ago. We found a recording that tells us you were the first person kidnapped. We need your account.” Alphonso replied in a fairly stoic manner.
“Fine.” she said, turning to me.
In that moment, I saw her eyes. They were pure white, like a fresh snowfall covering the ground. Her eyes sparkled like I’ve never seen before. I was completely entranced.
“Who’re you?” She asked.
“Huh? Oh, I’m Mylo. I was told not to talk.” I replied awkwardly.
“Don’t take Al so seriously. He’s got a heart of gold underneath his shit personality. You were also at the laboratory, weren’t you?”
“Yes, he was,” Alphonso answered for me, “and you know not to call me Al.”
“Toughen up, buttercup. Your problems don’t matter. Do you or do you not want to know what happened to me?” She said, turning her head towards Alphonso before rolling back towards the computers near the end of the room.
“This is Sandra. She’s kind of a bitch.” Alphonso told me.
“Not kind of, just a bitch,” She laughed, “Sandra Saunders, I manipulate old rich white men for money.”
“That’s so cool.” I replied excitedly.
“Sandra, are you gonna tell us what happened or not?” Alphonso said, starting to get aggravated.
“Settle down, Jimmy Neutron. I stole the security tapes.” Sandra replied, opening a video player with what looks to be her getting thrown onto an operating table.
“When did you have time to do that?” Alphonso shouted.
“Don’t ask stupid questions.” She replied, clicking play on the video.
“Sandra Saunders. I really enjoyed dinner. We should go out to eat more often.” Matt Shapiro said on the recording, strapping Sandra to the operating table.
“You are truly a human garbage bin, Matt.” Sandra replied.
“Come now, Sandra. I know you don’t mean that. We had some marvelous times, like the hotel earlier this evening. Wasn’t that just truly romantic?”
“Suck my dick.”
Matt started laughing, but it wasn’t a normal laugh. There was something... extra sinister about it.
“I’m really glad you’re my first. You’re truly vile, Sandra. I wonder what Jared Lang thinks of you, now that he’s fundamentally aware that his secretary’s a lesbian prostitute.” He continued, backing away from the table a bit and leaning on a counter behind him.
“I don’t give a shit what Lang thinks.” She replied, spitting on him from the table.
The spit missed as Matt simply dodged out of the way.
“Touchy subject, fine. That’ll just make this next step a lot more fun.” He said, turning on a button revealing a laser from the ceiling that looked a lot like the disintegration ray from my visions.
“Look into my eyes, Sandra... endure your sin.” He said, his head right next to hers, before moving it away.
Sandra’s eyes on the recording went completely black.
“...Fire.” Matt told someone behind the security camera, before the laser went off directly into Sandra, and imbued her with a weird orange light.
The security tape stopped. We both looked at Sandra, waiting for her to turn around.
“There’s more security tapes, from other rooms, but I figure that’s enough information for now.” She said, turning back around.
“The laser...” I started, “It’s the disintegration ray from the torture visions.”
“Not a great name but, yes. That’s the beam they used on all of us, it apparently amplifies whatever gave us those visions.” Sandra replied.
“Wait... Sandra, have you had any side effects from that beam?” Alphonso said, changing the path of the conversation.
“Other than going blind and being able to see through the eyes of other people, no, I’m pretty healthy.”
We stood there stunned for a second, but once everything clicked, Alphonso simply moved past it like it wasn't crazy information to drop.
“What other videos do you have? Anything showing off a list, possibly carried by Matt?” Alphonso asked quickly.
Sandra turned back to her computer and started looking through files before clicking one marked ‘083’.
On the video we saw Matt and a light green skinned person with shiny white hair strapped to a table.
“Joy Nell, here we are again. I’m gonna keep asking the same questions as usual, just please be honest.” Matt said, standing fairly far away from the table the girl was on.
“Oki-doki!” the girl responded, in a fairly upbeat mood.
“Where are you from?” Matt asked, already seeming fairly tired.
“Agorbor.” the girl replied happily.
“That’s not a real place.”
“But it is, encarno. Just not within this solar system.”
“Don’t call me that. Why are you here?”
“I have heard some of your people refer to extended trips to other places vay-cay-shuns. That would be a good way to put it.”
Matt just slammed his hand on a counter near the exit, not believing a single word that came out of her mouth. Suddenly, another scientist ran into the room.
“Sir, are you okay?” The scientist asked.
“Bring me the list. I need someone new to work with. This person is immune to my abilities and I can’t get anywhere with her.” Matt replied, groaning loudly.
The scientist nodded and left the room.
“You are incorrigible.” Matt said to the girl.
“I do not know what that word means.” She replied happily.
The scientist then came back into the room and handed a clipboard to Matt.
“Lang’s going to be preoccupied. I say we go for Michael, next.” Matt told the scientist.
The two walked out of the room, but the security camera caught a brief glimpse of the list, so Sandra immediately paused it and zoomed in. It was very blurry and hard to make out. Sandra then tried to enhance the frame a few times, and we managed to make out a few names as Matt’s leg was blocking most of it.
The first name, obviously, was Sandra Saunders, the second was Brody Stalwart, and the third was Anastasia Taylor, which had an X through it.
“The other two names don’t look familiar to me.” Alphonso said after looking at the clear frame.
“I looked both of them up. Brody Stalwart is one of those fraternity bros who became a stage magician. Anastasia Taylor is the daughter of a renowned assassin who runs a guild that works with cults, politicians, and corporations. She apparently disappeared months ago, but they never found her.” Sandra explained, as she brought both of their portraits and bios up on her computer.
“She looks kind of familiar but I can’t place where.” I said, continuing to think about it.
“... Okay, thanks, Sandra, you’ve been a big help.” Alphonso said, before trying to walk out of the basement.
“Hold your fucking horse, there, Al. I want in on whatever operation you have going on,” Sandra shouted from her laptop, “Matt knows about Valentina and... I can’t lose her right now.”
“The woman from earlier?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She replied.
“... Fine, I’ll add you to the teamline. You need a codename, though.” Alphonso said, turning towards Sandra.
“Call me Omnigirl.” She replied.
Alphonso pulled out his phone and put her into both chats.
“Welcome to the unreliables, Omnigirl.” He chuckled.