Original Fiction: JACKED Book one in The Origin Dime Chronicles, Episode 8
In this episode, Jack enters another world, wrapped in his Nosher persona!
Thing Two sighed and shook his head.
It was clear he was not impressed with Jack’s intelligence.
“I don't mean turning into a Nosher. Camouflaging yourself, to whatever surroundings you’re in, like a Chameleon. One, this kid is not too bright.”
“Okay, so now what?” Jack noticed his voice sounded like the hoarse whisper of the Nosher. It creeped him out.
Thing One was right, weird.
Thing Two pulled another small case from one of his many pockets. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve as he laid the case on the hood of the Rabbit and opened it.
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Inside was what looked like a miniature meat thermometer. It had a digital screen about the size of a quarter and two silver probes stood out at the bottom. Next to it lay what was clearly a syringe, but unlike any other, Jack had seen.
“You need to find the Nosher you saw last night. You’ll know him by his smell.” Thing Two explained.
“By his smell?” Jack sniffed; his sense of smell expanded. He could distinguish each of the men in front of him by scent.
He could recognize them immediately. It was as if a digital image of each person were stored in his memory by his particular aroma. This must be how dogs thought. “So, what’s with the gadgets?”
“Once you’ve sniffed out your target, you’ll need to attach this device to him. Put it near the base of the neck then inject him with this. The first is a neural signal interrupter. It will override the programming from the Shadoes. The needle is filled with an adrenal cocktail to wake him up.”
Thing Two closed the case and handed it to Jack.
Thing One continued the explanation, “He’s more like you than you realize. He is human inside. Not all Noshers are human, or at least, not from your dimension; this one is. Once you interrupt the signal, he is going to come out of the trance but he is going to be like a coma patient, groggy."
"So, stab him with the syringe anywhere. The whole syringe will dissipate once you have injected the serum. It’s like a caffeine-laced adrenaline shot. It will focus him, and his primary thought will be to get out of there, which is to your advantage. You need to get him out without stirring up trouble, though.”
“Then what?” Jack opened the case and started to pick up the transmitter.
“Don’t! Touch it.” said Thing Two, covering the case with his huge hand. “If the probes on either of those come in contact with skin, we’re done. It’s the only set we have, and you just get one chance with these.” He snapped the case shut and pressed it against Jack’s chest.
“Got it. Okay, so, I walk in, find the Nosher, inject him without being seen, and then just walk out?” Jack asked.
“Not exactly.” Phineas had the map opened on the hood again, and he brought up the building. “There’s a remodeling project on the top floor. You will see a rubbish chute attached to one of the windows. It looks like it was in the Southeast corner the last time this was updated, but it could have been moved. Find it and jump through, we’ll be waiting.”
“So, once we have him, then what?” Jack asked.
“Then we literally beat the crap out of him. Not to put too fine a point on it, this could get messy. There’s only two ends for that key to come out of.”
Phineas seemed almost gleeful at the thought.
“Once we have retrieved the key, we’ll send him back. It has to be done quickly. The neural signal interruption is temporary. Once they realize he is not receiving, they will try to track him. If they find us, it won’t end well,” Thing One said.
“What do I do if I get stuck in there?” Jack asked.
“Imagine a better situation. When you’re in dimensional flux, you should notice an almost instant result,” Thing One said.
“What does that mean?” Jack asked.
Thing Two sighed, “It’s like this, you imagine stuff, and it changes the environment around you. People do what you want, what you picture strongly enough just happens.”
“So, this poor slob just goes back to being a Nosher when we’re done with him? That kind of sucks for him! Can’t we just keep him human?” Jack asked.
“It’s unlikely he would respond. The only way we know of to free one of them permanently is to kill the Shadoe that is hosting his soul.” Phineas said sadly.
“So, is that hard to do?” Jack asked.
“Killing a multidimensional being with no known soul? Yeah, it's a little complicated; it’s never been done.” Phineas answered.
Jack swallowed; he felt as if a huge weight had settled on his shoulders. In the last twenty-four hours, he had left behind the only life he had ever known. He had taken a crash course in alternate realities.
Now the “good news” was he might be the only person who could save everyone he knew from a life of Inter-dimensional slavery. Damn.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Thing Two asked, “It’s not going to get any easier. The longer you are in this area with those BEANS activated, the more likely someone is going to sense you. Then things are going to get a lot more interesting.”
Jack looked at this group of strangers and hoped he was playing for the right team. Thing One, the only one that seemed to sympathize at all, patted him on the shoulder.
He turned and walked out of the alley and down the block. His body contorted into the almost spider like walk he had seen the Nosher use.
As he approached the building, several creatures he could not identify crawled out of an alley and snorted at him. He growled back, remembering his dad’s words to him once. “It’s amazing what you can get away with if you look like you belong and pretend to know what you’re doing.”
He seemed to have passed inspection. The creatures, all smaller than him, cowered and scuttled back into hiding. The structure had been built somewhere around the turn of the twentieth century. It had a yellowish brick, a little larger than modern house brick.
Each floor had a neat row of wooden windows, arranged symmetrically across its face. He looked up. Somewhere in there was the thing he needed. What was it the Nosher had said? The ‘key to the universe’, somehow contained in a thumb drive.
Sloping brick walls framed the large concrete entrance steps on each side. Two enormous cockroaches slithered out of hiding and stood erect on either side of the door at the top of the stairs. Each was at least six feet tall. Nosher Jack involuntarily licked his lips.
Apparently, these would have been food under other circumstances. Both were heavily armed. They stopped him on the top step, frisking him with multiple pairs of legs.
Jack imagined himself walking past them. The small case stayed hidden in his pocket, somehow. They stepped aside and let him pass. It worked!
The huge glass entry doors seemed a little modern for the structure. As he entered the building, a wave of aromas billowed out, engulfing him. He sniffed, unsuccessfully at first. Then a thin note of twang caught his attention, and he followed it in, down a darkened hallway.
Half a dozen supernaturally large insects, a few humanoid Noshers and a massive dog-like creature moved in and out of doors along the hall. Some of them lounged against the walls. It felt familiar, but he was sure there would be no backup in black suits, if the jello hit the fan.
Jack moved down the hall, led by his super-charged olfactory senses. A particularly heinous looking female Nosher climbed into the elevator at the end of the hallway. He was not sure his disguise would bear up under her scrutiny. He climbed stairs instead.
For the first few steps, his fully human self was repulsed. It took everything he had to maintain the illusion of belonging. He had a strong urge to run screaming from the building. As he progressed, he felt more and more at home.
Phineas' parting words whispered from a corner of his mind. “Be quick, boy, the longer you stay like this the harder it will be to come back from it.” He picked up the pace, taking two and three steps at a time. He made it up to the seventh floor. It was next to the last, according to his count of the neat rows of windows.
He turned toward a narrow entrance to a hall. The door hung useless from one hinge. A fat Nosher looked up from his station behind a folding table beside the gimpy door, motioning for him to stop.
The Nosher muttered to himself as he flipped through photocopied pictures on a clipboard. He seemed to find, or not find, what he was looking for and motioned Jack to continue.
I look forward to reading more!
Welcome aboard! The previous episodes are on my blog, along with a lot of other fiction.
Great work mate. Looking for forward for the next episode