James Bland stared out the window in to the busy street, lazily watching the city's night life as it rushed by.

He felt like he had truly been in his Bland emotional state his entire life. He thought he could remember being excited doing his basic chores at home, although he wondered if those memories were implanted.

The thing that bothered him most was the possibility that Kelly was lying to him.

Over the past few days his wounds had begun the process of healing, he had learned about Kelly, and who she was. He had even learned that Kelly had even lived across the street from where he grew up.

Watching cars roll slowly by in the night made him calm, yet so many questions ran through his mind like an ever-flowing river of consciousness.

Can I trust Kelly? How does one determine who really works for Madskull? Who was Isaac Luther? How's my mom doing these days?

Bland decided it would be a good time to call his mom, even in this top secret crisis.

He looked at a table near the bed and saw a telephone, which he proceeded to pick up. He dialed in the number and waited.

"Bland residence, Mary speaking." His mom's voice said over the line.

"Hi mom I wou-"

"Where are you, honey? I was so worried! I hope you're all right."

"I'm fine mom. Listen, this may be one of the last times you ever hear from me."

"Then why are you going on and on about some weird guys 'tracing the calls' all the time? Are you just trying to give me an excuse about how you have to go back to work?"

"No mom, I'm actually serious. My work comes second to you."

"Are you working a dangerous job like construction?"

"Nope. I'm actually working for the same company that dad worked for."

"You mean that place? Honey, I hope you're all right."

"Just a few cuts and a laceration to the preorbital area."

"Sounds nasty. Do you need to call a doctor?"

"The doctor got to me first."

"Well I hope he fixed you up good and you're back to doing whatever you've been doing for the last ten years."

"Actually it's a she."

"Oooh! A girl! You're finally finding romance in your life. I'm proud of you Jimmy."

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"My co-workers call me James, and she's not my girlfriend."

"James, you can't be afraid of rejection. Just be yourself."

"I think she saw more of 'myself' than I'd show to anyone else."

"Did she see you naked?" she asked in surprise.

"No, nothing like that!"

"That's sort of good and bad at that same time, Jimmy. You're thirty years old and still a virgin if you can believe it."

"I was there." James said flatly.

"And here you still are. You know that I want grandkids, right?"

"Mom, please. Stop."

"And I mean, who's going to support me? It's not like you've discovered uranium or something big like that. And what does your job pay, a hundred thousand a year I mean-"

"Mom, I gotta go. Umm... someone's tracing the line or something." He said as he pressed the button to end the call.

He let out a deep sigh, and thought about what his mom had just said about him. About how she wanted someone to 'support' her.

"Maybe if you didn't spend three quarters of the money I got from discovering uranium you wouldn't ask me to support you. But then again, I guess I should've told you I discovered uranium in the first place." He muttered under his breath.

"Was that your mom?" James jumped at the voice, and accidentally the phone flew out of his hand. James watched in awe as the phone fell perfectly back on to the hook.

"Well that was pretty boring." James said.

"Are you serious? That was amazing!" Kelly said.

"Yes I'm serious, and that was my mom."

"Sounded like you and she aren't exactly on the best terms."

"You could say that." Bland said.

"So, I came in here to check up on how you were doing."

"Adequate." Bland said.

"Bland, we ran some scans on some brain tissue of yours and-"

"You lobotomized me? Okay."

"I just revealed that you got a scan run of an extracted part of your brain and you just brush it off?"

"On the excitement meter it's nowhere near waiting for toast to finish toasting."

"Bland, I've concluded that the chemicals they pumped into you are actually wearing off now. Interestingly, you haven't changed a bit."

"How do you know?"

"I'm one of your co-workers. What I'm trying to say is, you aren't bland anymore because they did it to you; you're doing it to yourself."

"No I'm not."

"Yes, yes you are."

"But-"

"Admit it to yourself; you're bland because you're letting yourself be."

"Kelly, I have my reasons to be bland. It comes with great benefits."

"Like what, not having a love life? Trying to hold in excitement when you ride a roller coaster? Or feigning excitement when you file paperwork?"

"At least I have an excuse as to not socialize with anyone, not only that but I can use big words without everyone looking at me like a weirdo."

"You're supposed to be bland, not introverted."

"I want to win this impassioned debate."

"Listen, I'm not trying to say that there's anything wrong with being bland, but try something different instead of feigning excitement at watching paint dry."

"But, I enjoy some of that stuff that people consider me 'bland' for."

"I'm just trying to tell you that you shouldn't try to hide behind your persona, especially one that doesn't even work anymore."

"What?"

"I mean, don't try to keep being bland because you're afraid of rejection. Not only that, but the effects of the experiments they did on you are finally wearing off."

"You know that because you lobotomized me?"

"Basically. My scans show different brainwave patterns for different points in time so that I can compare them. For example, before the incident you had- let's say- an A type brainwave. After the year you and I were captured, you had a B type brainwave. Slowly you've been turning back into an A type again."

"Radical." Bland said, trying to hold in excitement.

"You've officially filled my head with an image of you riding a skateboard with a baseball cap on backward."

"Yeah, I guess I do that sometimes."