Episode LIX

Carry Hobson's alarm went off at six on Saturday morning, as it did every morning unless she was sick. Carry didn't function well at night, a trait that generally frustrated her boyfriend, who was more likely to stay up past midnight and sleep in until nine or ten if he didn't have to be somewhere earlier. She showered, dressed, and arranged her hair before any of the girls she was staying with were awake. She was just sitting down to breakfast when her friend Laura came into the kitchen, still wearing pajamas.

"Morning," she said.

"Morning," Carry replied. "I made coffee."

"Wonderful." After pouring herself a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal, Laura joined her friend at the table.

"Do you have work today?" Carry asked.

"Yeah; I go in at ten. Listen, we need to talk about something."

"What's up?"

"Have you found any job leads?"

"I haven't really been looking yet. I told you, I've got to lay low for a while."

"You make it sound like you're running from the law. No listen," she said as Carry started to interject. "I know you if won't tell me what's going on, there must be a good reason, and I'm fine with that. But as much as I love having you here, we can't keep dividing the rent just three ways all summer. There's another girl who's interested in moving in here, and I need to know what to tell her."

Carry sighed. "You're right; this isn't fair to you. Let me think things through and I'll let you know one way or the other by tomorrow night."

"Fair enough. I hate to put you on the spot like that, it's just that..."

"It's okay; I understand."

They continued eating in silence, trying to project cheerfulness. Carry was about to try and make small talk when the phone rang and Laura answered it.

"Hello? Oh, hi Mrs. Hobson! Yes, she's right here." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "It's your mom." Carry pushed back her chair, walked over and took the receiver from her friend.

"Hi Mom."

"Hi sweetie, how are you?"

"I'm fine, just eating breakfast."

"Any plans for the day?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'll probably call and see what Dennis is up to."

"Carry, when are you going to come visit us?"

"Mom, I have some things I've got to--"

"Things to take care of, yes you told us that. But it's been a week since classes let out, and you don't sound like you're too busy. Dennis's parents say they haven't seen him either. What is going on with you two?" There was a long pause as Carry tried to decide how to answer. "Carry? Are you there?"

"I'm here, Mom. Look, I want to tell you what's going on, but it's complicated."

"What do you mean, complicated?"

"Look, it's not what you think. I promise you, I'm not pregnant or anything like that. I just..."

"Just what?"

"I'll call you back tomorrow, okay? And I'll explain things then."

"Why can't you explain now?"

"Please Mom, just trust me on this. You've waited for me for a week; just wait one more day."

"Alright. I'll talk to you tomorrow then."

"Thanks Mom; I love you; bye!"

Laura looked at her from the sink, where she was washing out her cereal bowl. "Are you really going to tell her what's going on, or are you buying time to make up a good story?"

"I don't know," Carry shook her head. "Life is confusing right now."

"You sure you can sort it all out this weekend?"

"I'll figure something out." As her friend left to go take a shower, Carry picked up the phone again and dialed Dennis's new cell. The voicemail message kicked in after the first ring, indicating that it was turned off. He must be doing more detective work, Carry thought. I wish he'd at least leave it on vibrate.

"Hi, this is Dennis Brown's voicemail! After the beep, you'll have thirty seconds to convince me to return your call. Good luck!"

"Dennis, it's Carry. We've got to talk, today. I don't know about you, but I can't keep going like this. Call me as soon as you get this, or better yet come pick me up. I'll be here at the house."

Carry knew that if Dennis was playing the spy he might leave his phone off for hours, so she began doing household chores to pass the time. By the time Laura had left for work, her other two roommates were also gone, and she was running out of ways to keep busy. She checked her email for the fifth time, was unsurprised to find no new messages, and finally took out a drawing pad and started working on some new Enrique cartoons. She had abandoned the web-comic when her life got busier during the previous semester, but now she seemed to have nothing but time.

At the point where she had left off, Enrique had just located and photocopied several top-secret documents, deep inside the Intelligence Building of the United Rodents for World Domination (URWD). He was now setting a Swiss cheese bomb (that is, a cheese bomb manufactured in Switzerland) to explode right about the time he got back outside, providing a distraction while he escaped. Unfortunately, his exit route from the building was being blocked by a janitor rat, who was mopping the floor in the hallway he'd planned on using. The janitor finally put up a "wet floor" sign and left, but before Enrique could run out the door, the bomb exploded.

Carry was in the middle of drawing a cheesy mushroom cloud, when it occurred to her that in the aftermath of escaping from Darth Onion and avoiding campus as much as possible, she had never heard any followup news about the explosion in the chemistry department. Setting the drawing pad down, she went back to the computer and looked for information on a local news site. She found out that this was the third major chemistry-related explosion in the history of the school, but only the first to occur since the department had gotten its own building. Because the accident (if it was an accident) happened after-hours, there weren't many people in the building at the time. Only two students were near the center of the blast: Pam Andrews and Marcia Silverberg. Pam was seriously injured and still recovering at Community General Hospital, but Marcia was miraculously unharmed. One more detail caught Carry's attention. The students who witnessed the explosion gave varying accounts, but all agreed on one point: The light coming from the blast was bright magenta.

Carry tried to tell herself that the whole thing could be a big coincidence, but found that she no longer seriously believed in coincidences. She walked back to the kitchen and dialed Dennis's number again. After the beep she said, "Dennis, it's me again. Something just came up and I've got to drive over the hospital. It's about quarter to twelve now, and I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. If I'm not back at the house when you get this message, look for me there. I'll be visiting a patient named Pam Andrews."

Upon arriving at the hospital, Carry learned that Pam Andrews had only been out of the ICU for a day, but was able to receive visitors. When she got up to the room, she recognized Pam as a girl from her American history class from the fall semester -- a class she had taken from Dr. Pettigrew, as she recalled with a shudder. Of course, that was before she had a reason to dislike him.

"Hi Pam, do you remember me?" She asked, approaching the bed.

"You look familiar. Did we have a government class together?"

"American History with Pettigrew."

"Oh, right. He's kind of a nutcase, isn't he? Running for mayor and everything?"

"You have no idea."

"I don't think I ever really met you before."

"I'm Carry Hobson." She extended her hand.

"Pleased to meet you. It seems like I've heard your name somewhere before."

"I help out with campus theater."

"Maybe that's it. So I guess you saw my name in the paper?"

"Just this morning on the internet. Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about the accident."

"What about it?"

"Well, according to the news story, there was a girl named Marcia Silverberg with you when the explosion happened."

"Yeah; she was my lab partner -- hey, that's where I've heard your name before! Marcia was jealous of your boyfriend or something and kept talking about you!"

"I hope you didn't take anything she said too seriously."

"No." Pam smiled. "When she gets moody the best thing to do is just give her some space and let her rant. She took it pretty hard when her boyfriend broke up with her last year."

"Well, I don't know Marcia directly, but is it true that she walked away from that explosion without a scratch?"

"Yeah; it was amazing! All I remember after walking out of the lab is hearing a loud noise and hitting my head on something; the next thing I knew, I was waking up on a stretcher. Marcia was there and they were asking her questions. I guess she carried me out of the building."

"Did you notice anything -- strange about her?"

"No. Why?"

"I guess it just seems really weird that the same explosion nearly killed you and left her untouched."

"What, you think she's a superhero like in that Bruce Willis movie? What was it called?"

"Unbreakable?"

"Yeah, that's it. Like maybe she can bench press five hundred pounds and shoot lasers from her eyes -- hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing; that's just a disturbing image."

"Marcia with laser eyes? That would be disturbing. Well, there's nothing to worry about, right? I mean, stuff like that only happens in movies."

"Yeah, nothing to worry about."

"Hey, is that your boyfriend?"

"Carry!" Carry turned around just as Dennis walked up to her. "I just got your messages. Sorry I couldn't come sooner; I was tied up. Not literally," he added in response to her questioning look.

Carry turned back to the bed. "Pam, this is my boyfriend Dennis. Dennis, Pam." They shook hands.

"Are you a friend of Carry's? I don't think I've met you before."

"We just met, actually. She saw my name in the paper and decided to come visit me."

"She was hurt in the explosion in the chemistry building," Carry explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Dennis. "I've been a bit out of the loop as far as news goes the past couple of weeks. Carry, we need to talk. It's important."

"You're telling me we need to talk? Maybe if you'd leave your cell phone on..."

"Right. Um, Pam, it was good to meet you. I hate to run off, but--"

"It's okay. You two lovebirds go have your argument. Give my best to Marcia."

"Marcia Silverberg? What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Dennis."

"But if she knows something about Marcia--"

"I already talked to her. Let's go, okay?"

"Right. We're going. Bye, Pam."

"Bye!"

Dennis and Carry didn't speak again until they got out to the parking lot.

"We need to talk," said Dennis.

"Yes, I think we've established that," said Carry.

"Okay, where? Are the girls you're staying with at home?"

"One of them will be back soon. What about the guys you're staying with?"

"Two of them have the day off. They've been in and out."

"Okay, where to then?"

"We need someplace quiet, private, and with a bit of room to maneuver."

"Room to maneuver?"

"I'll explain when we get there."

"Where?"

"The history department."

"What? We've been avoiding campus to stay away from Pettigrew, and you want to just waltz right into his building?"

"It's a Saturday. He won't be on campus. No one will be in the building except maybe the janitor, and I've still got my classroom key."

Carry blinked. "That's insane, but I think it could work."

"Good. Let's drop your car off at the house, then we'll take my car to campus."

They made it onto campus and into an empty conference room without meeting anyone. "Okay," Dennis began. "You called me first. So what do we need to talk about?"

"Pettigrew or no Pettigrew, we can't keep hiding from our families and we have to get on with our lives." She explained about the conversations with her mother and her roommate. "Even if we could stay where we're at, he'd find us eventually. It just isn't going to work this way."

"My parents keep calling me as well," said Dennis. "My dad knows I'm hiding something from him, and he's not happy about it." He sighed. "So what was the thing about that girl in the hospital and Marcia Silverberg?"

Carry explained her suspicion that "M'Jenta" was really Marcia. "It all fits," she said. "The color of the light, the fact that she didn't get hurt by that explosion, the way she seemed to know both of us and Darth Onion."

"So where'd she get that outfit?"

"Downtown, probably. There's a big costume place where you can find just about anything. They'll even customize outfits. I bet that's where Pettigrew got his getup as well."

"Well, next time I'm close to either Marcia or M'Jenta, I'll pay close attention to their thoughts to try to figure it out for sure. Meanwhile, I may need to visit that costume shop myself."

"Dennis Brown wants to go shopping? This I've got to hear."

"You remember I said we needed maneuvering room? Well, watch this. Bear with me; it takes a lot of concentration." He stood up and moved away from the table, then closed his eyes for a minute or two. Suddenly, he began glowing with white light, and his features were obscured. Carry stopped herself from screaming as his form changed, shrinking down into the shape of an animal. When the light faded, she saw that it was a basset hound. The dog gave a friendly bark and ran up to her, it's tail wagging excitedly. She laughed and patted it on the head. Then it ran back away from her, started glowing again, and changed back into Dennis. "What do you think?" He asked.

"What is it with you and obscure super powers? Pettigrew gets the ability to shoot lightening, and you get the ability to change into a hound dog?"

Dennis laughed. "It's not just the dog. I can change into all sorts of animals. I can do inanimate objects also, but they aren't much fun because I can't see, hear or feel anything. It's like being a disembodied spirit out in space or something. Really hard to judge how much time has passed, too."

"So how'd you get this power? Another cell phone accident?"

"Nope. Bad Italian food at Papa Mario's."

"Really? Can I eat there?"

Dennis glared at her. "Don't even think about it. The same thing that gave me the ability to shapeshift could kill you, just like that explosion almost killed that girl Pam."

"It probably doesn't do either one most of the time, anyway. Otherwise there'd be a whole bunch of shapeshifters running around."

"Not that many. The food is really bad. Anyway, there's something else I should show you."

"Another new trick?"

"No, just a couple of emails. They're both from this guy named Damien Valiant. He says he knows a friend of mine, Hegel Jeremiah, and he wants my help with something involving computer skills. I read the first one earlier this week and wasn't sure what to think about it, then he sent a second one today. He's pretty insistent, but he's not giving any details. Just wants to meet me, preferably in Daze Springs."

"Who's Hegel Jeremiah? Did I ever meet him?"

"Maybe not. He tutored me in math a few times when I was in high school and he was in college. I haven't talked to him in a while; I guess I'll send him an email and ask him about this Damien Valiant guy."

"Sounds good. So what are we going to do about our parents?"

"I think we should tell them the truth."

"They're won't believe us."

"They will when they see me change into a basset hound."

"My mom hates dogs; better make it a cat. But is it safe to tell them? Pettigrew tried to kill you when you found out about him."

"I don't think we have a choice, Carry. Pettigrew might go for our families to get to us anyway."

"So what do we do, just invite everyone together for a barbecue and tell them everything? I don't know if it's a good idea to tell my little sister or my little brothers."

Dennis thought for a few minutes. "I think we should start with just my dad. He's pretty level-headed, and he can help us decide how to proceed from there."

"Okay, when do we tell him?"

"He's not working today. You promised to call your mom tomorrow, and there's no time like the present." He took out his cell phone and dialed his father's cell phone.

"Hello, Dennis?"

"Hi, Dad."

"You know I'm home today; why didn't you call the house number?"

"I wanted to be sure you answered."

"Oh? Are you ready to talk to me about why you've been avoiding us?"

"Dad, I'm really sorry about that. I want to tell you everything."

"I'm listening."

"Look, this is something we -- Carry and I -- need to discuss with you in person. We haven't done anything wrong, but we have a problem and we need advice. Do you think you could come meet us at the history building on the MSU campus? That's where we are right now."

"I thought you quit your T.A. job."

"I did but they, um, never asked for the keys back."

"You just finished telling me you haven't done anything wrong."

"Dad, please. This is important."

"Alright, Dennis. I'll be down there in about twenty minutes. How will I get in the building?"

"Call me when you're outside."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Oh, Dad?"

"Yes?"

"I, um, it's just that, well, I'll see you when you get here."

"Okay, bye."

Carry looked at him. "What were you trying to say?" Dennis just looked away as he pocketed the phone.

Twenty minutes later, Mr. Brown pulled into the parking lot closest to the History department at the same time as another car. He was about to take out his cell phone, when he recognized the man getting out as his son's old employer. He quickly got out of his own car and approached the man. "Dr. Pettigrew?"

Pettigrew turned to look at him. "Have we met?"

"Briefly. I'm James Brown, Dennis Brown's father."

"Ah, yes. I remember now; we met at a basketball game."

James Brown nodded. "I understand that Dennis got bogged down with finals and had to quit his T.A. job. I hope it wasn't too much of an inconvenience."

"Not at all. How is Dennis? I haven't seen him since last Monday."

"Actually, that's what I'm here to find out. Dennis asked me to meet him inside."

"He came here?"

"He said he still had his classroom keys. Is he breaking any rules by being here?"

"Ah, no, not precisely. But you say he's inside the building, right now?"

"I'm supposed to call him to let him know I'm here, but I guess you can let me in, right?"

"Well, yes, of course. No need to, ah, call him. I'll unlock the door and you can come right in."