SG: Subtler Than Light #2: Beef with Brains (2/2)

[Gary W. Olson]

(continued from part one, preceding...)

***

[Ten minutes earlier, on the bridge of the _Subtler Than Light._]

"Twenty wounded, two critical," someone said in Cendra Seconds' ear. "They
were the closest when the bomb went off. The criticals are off to
Cedars-Sinai, the rest are getting bandaids and lollipops in my sickbay." A
pause. "Cendra?"

"Yes," Cendra answered, sounding harsh to her own ears. "I... sorry, Erin."
She pulled her eyes away from the reports coming in on her tablet. "We were
damn lucky not to lose anyone."

Dr. Erin McCavish nodded, his copper-tanned face lacking its usual
insouciant grin. It made him look like a glum, beardless Shaggy, she
thought, before chastising herself for the distraction.

Someone had set off a bomb on the _Subtler Than Light,_ the grounded
aetheric airship from a different dimension that had been a fixture on
Venice Beach for the last thirteen years and her professional
responsibility as site manager for Harxxon--the corporate owner of the land
the ship was on--for the last eight. It hadn't been a standard explosive,
either--it's chief effect being to blow a hole through the roof of the Root
and all the floors between it and the morning sky, with a huge column of
red light that camouflaged the blast's true nature. She wasn't sure who was
responsible--the red-feathered utahraptor she'd found stealing the Hidden
Heart or the swarm of hawaiian-shirt-wearing demon monkeys who'd tried to
steal it from the raptor--but she was determined to find out.

"Is China out of Sickbay?" she asked.

"Should be," said Erin, checking his tablet. "She had scratches and
bruises, same as you, but her rapid blood check came back negative, like
everyone else's, and the autodoc says no concussion, so... yup. They just
kicked her out..."

"Thr mntes go," China interrupted, as she bounded out of the elevator doors
and onto the bridge. Cendra raised an eyebrow. China took out the three
lollipops she had stuck in her mouth and tried again. "Three minutes ago,"
she said. "I stopped to check on Bhossi and Cla'rhabelle. They've got an
idea on pinging the Heart."

"I thought they said they couldn't."

"That was before the bomb went off," China answered, as she swung into her
usual seat in front of a bank of monitors and screens to the right of the
central command chair. "Not only did it damage their lab equipment and hurt
their chief assistant, it roiled the flesh-melting spore cloud they were
working on, and now it's sulking in its tank."

"Er," said Dr. McCavish. "Flesh-melting... what now?"

"It's collective name is Tony," said China.

"You know," the doctor said, "sometimes I almost forget where I work."

"Anyway, Bhossi and Cla'rhabelle are cheesed," China went on, as her
fingers flashed across the keyboard before her. "They broke out the
theremin ray device--the one that originally found the Heart. They thought
if they found the right oscillation and amplitude they could get it to send
a pulse back to us that we can pick up on our sensors."

"Didn't they say that was impossible?"

"Nah, just insanely dangerous," China replied. "Like it could explode, or
the Heart could somehow take over the ship, or turn us into savage mindless
animals... you know, the usual."

"Put them on the line," Cendra ordered. "I can't have people just going off
half-cocked because of this."

China gave her a look. Cendra knew exactly what the look was about, but
waved it off. She was on the bridge, after all, in command and not at all
flying after demon monkeys with chomping in mind. She was demonstrably in
control. The Heart was not.

"Cendra," called a voice from the stairwell next to the elevator doors.
"Any news?"

"Miguel," said Cendra, as she considered her ex-husband's demeanor. His
eyes were narrowed, his nostrils flared. He was breathing heavily, as if he
was holding in his rage. Ordinarily, Miguel Veracruz was one of the kindest
and gentlest people she knew, belying his large stature and muscular
appearance, but right now, he looked ready to rip someone's head off. While
there was not a lot they saw eye-to-eye on anymore, she thought, an attack
on their people in the _Subtler Than Light_ was one of those things. But
none of the beings she would most have liked to see get the chop at the
moment were in the room, or on the ship.

"No contact yet from Esteban," China informed them, as she consulted her
tablet. "He was chasing the pack of monkeys in the direction of the 405.
Communications issues on our end have been resolved, but still no word."

"Hey, China," said Miguel. He looked at the doctor and sullenly added,
"Erin," before returning to Cendra. "Esteban's... got it covered, I'm sure.
And I think I've done all I can here."

Cendra nodded. Miguel's fortuitous timing in being close in the aftermath
of the bomb going off had saved several civilian lives, as well as helped
resolve the 'communications issues' much more quickly than they otherwise
would have been. There were times when he could still be the man she once
loved.

"I should be out there..." he continued.

"You need to get back to our daughter," Cendra told him. "You did the right
thing, leaving her with Johnny while you came in for damage control, and
he's one of the few people I'd trust with her life outside the pack, but..."

"You want her here," Miguel finished.

"I want her safe, and away from here," Cendra corrected. "Take her back
h... to your apartment. Keep her away from all this. We don't know where
the Heart is, or where those who want it are, and until we do..."

"Yeah," Miguel agreed. "Also, speaking of the pack, I put in an all-call.
Moon Moon and Marty were down at Redondo Beach when the boom happened, and
they're heading this way. Miko and Apples were protesting in Fresno, so
they'll be a while getting back. As for Fearless Leader and the rest... no
word." He let out a sigh, one that sounded to Cendra like it held far more
than he could say. "Again."

'Fearless Leader' was a man named August Rydell, the nominal leader of the
werewolf pack to which Miguel and Camila belonged. The few times Cendra had
met him, he'd been charming, if distant, and had been treated with
something just shy of reverence by the rest of the pack. Perhaps that was
because he was the pack's main source of revenue, though where he got his
money was still shrouded in mystery. He was also the reason Miguel was a
werewolf, having bitten him the day he and Esteban discovered Los
Pantalones in a U-Stor-It in Reseda.

Over the years since, the 'charming' aspect receded, and the 'distant' one
pushed to the forefront. He became difficult to reach, keeping a few of his
wolves close, while giving the others--like Miguel--a longer leash. Too
long, in Miguel's oft-stated opinion. Were it not for the cash flow, Miguel
figured, either he would've been challenged for leadership, or the pack
would've dissolved.

"Too bad," Cendra said. "We could use more eyes--and noses--on the ground."

"I'll call you when Camila and me are back home," Miguel replied. He
hesitated, nodded, then handed her a book bag she hadn't noticed he was
carrying.

"What--"

"Something on my list came in at Bonnie's," said Miguel. "For me, but I got
it for you."

He left before she could say anything else.

"It's not polite to say that about his butt," China said, looking down at
what appeared to Cendra to be the floor and nothing more, before looking at
the doorway Miguel had gone through. "Though you ain't lyin'," she added.
She glance at Cendra. "Well... that was... something?"

"About covers it," Cendra replied. She noticed the pensive look on Erin's
face, and took his unresisting hand. "You okay?"

"You kidding?" Erin asked, giving her a smile that only seemed half-forced.
"He just used my name, without any epithets. Part of me is amazed, part of
me is worried he's not okay."

"He's holding together the only way he knows how," said Cendra. "Just like
the rest of us. And he's got more to deal with today than his ex's new man."

She gave him a quick kiss. His smile became genuine.

"Now, what is this," she said, opening up the book bag. She saw the spine
of a leather-bound volume that looked like it had been through a lot. The
pages, at least, were probably foxed, and maybe even badgered. There was a
title in faded gold lettering, hard to read...

"Boss lady," China interrupted. "We got cows."

A second later, the elevator doors opened, and two brown cows
telekinetically floated out, their white lab coats nearly brushing the
floor. Their massive brains, a full foot higher than their skulls could
contain and shielded by transparent helmets, pulsed purple, green, and
orange in quick succession, colors Cendra had come to recognize as
indicating agitation. She set down the book bag on the nearest console.

*Mrs...* started Bhossi, her public telepathic words audible in the minds
of everyone present.

*Miss,* corrected Cla'rhabelle. At least, she thought she identified the
cows correctly. When they weren't agitated, their 'voices' were different
enough she could tell who was who. When they were, she had to look
carefully. Bhossi preferred red lipstick and rhinestone-studded earrings.
Cla'rhabelle wore strands of pearls, and had stickers from the various
countries she'd been to on the side of her brain helmet.

The pair were Mu'Kao scientists from the 'continent' of Mu, which had long
ago 'sunk' from the world they were in to the aetheric dimension, where it
was now one of the land masses floating around inside a hollow Earth. They
had been found two decades ago, barely alive, by a Harxxon survey team
checking passages beneath the Great Pyramid at Giza, having made a
harrowing escape from their continent and the forced servitude that had
been their lot. Before the incident that had brought the _Subtler Than
Light_ to the surface world and subsequently to Venice Beach, they had been
the sole source of information on the inner Earth societies collectively
known as Terra Subterrene, severely limited by how little of it they'd been
allowed to experience.

She respected their bravery and their knowledge. She tried to respect their
common sense, but that was reserved for occasions when they displayed some.

"Hold off on pinging the Heart," Cendra told them. "From what you told me
before, it's way too dangerous of a risk."

*One of the seven Hidden Hearts is loose upon this world,* Bhossi answered.
Her bovine eyes narrowed. *And not just any one of seven--the Heart of Mu,
the most powerful. Here, buried in the nectarisite that composes this
vessel, instead of being in the transdimensional engine miles below the
surface where it belongs. You know the damage it caused when we first
discovered it within this ship, before we knew how its whispers could
change any of us. We know that the major powers of Terra Subterrene,
nevermind the Hidden Empire itself, would start a war with the surface
world to reclaim it if they knew it was here. How can we delay even a
second before--*

"You told us the Heart could explode if you pinged it," Cendra interrupted.
"We can't risk civilian lives like that, even for recapture. You'll have to
find another way."

*Er,* Cla'rhabelle responded. *We sort of already... did it?*

Cendra closed her eyes and held in a growl. She felt her flesh ripple from
her hands to her chest and back again.

"Did it work?" she asked through clenched teeth.

She opened her eyes, and saw the cows had floated backward a few feet, and
that their brains were flashing more agitation-colors than before. She
looked at her hands--brown, rough with dirt and cuts, but
untransformed--and hoped she hadn't scared them again. Too much, anyway.

*Yes,* answered Bhossi, her telepathic voice an octave higher. *The Heart
is less than a hundred yards away, within a bookstore known to us as
'Bonnie's.' As Bonnie's has not exploded, we are confident there are no
civilian casualties.*

"So the monkeys went completely the wrong way," said China. "Which is...
good? Probably?"

"But why would that raptor take it there?" Erin added.

"Maybe she's working with someone," Cendra said. She opened her mouth to
continue... then stopped.

Not just someone. One specific person, not named 'Bonnie,' though Bonnie
was likely a factor in the choice.

Her flesh rippled again.

"Keep up the repairs," Cendra told China. "I'm going to get the Heart back
before this gets any more out of control."

"Speaking of that," China started, "I just got a message from Los
Requemados. Chalandra--"

But Cendra was no longer listening. She slapped a button on the console
next to her, causing the bay window on the side of the bridge facing the
ocean to retract. The warm spring morning air breezed in, an out-of-place
feeling amidst the damage control gloom.

"Cendra?" Erin asked.

*Not again,* Cla'rhabelle mindspoke.

"Someone's in trouble, someone's in trouble," China sang. She looked down
at apparent empty space. "What? They were singing it, and I just joined in."

"They're damn right," Cendra replied. It was the last thing she said before
her flesh rippled again... and transformed.

Scales rose from her skin, even as her clothing disappeared and
extradimensional mass expanded her body beyond its human limits. Wings rose
from her back, while claws grew from her hands and feet. She exhaled, and
steam rose from her now-reptilian snout and her mouth full of jagged, sharp
teeth.

"You could've gone outside first," Erin told her. "Showoff."

Cendra grinned, which had the effect of causing Bhossi and Cla'rhabelle to
retreat even further. Then she turned toward the opening and leapt, her
dragon wings guiding her telekinetic flight.

***

[Back to present time, and the outside of Bonnie's Bookstore.]

It was small consolation that the dragon seemed as alarmed about ki Kazza
Malissk being in her mouth as Kazza was. She reared back, her tongue
pushing against Kazza's side, trying to keep the raptor from sliding down
into her throat. Kazza hung onto one large, sharp lower fang with her
uninjured--at least until that point--arm, while trying to pull the bag
with the Heart back from the dark, wet, strangely omelette-scented abyss.

For a moment, she wondered how her face would taste to it. It had been so
long since she'd been able to properly clean her feathers, never mind the
leathery flesh beneath. So long ago were the times when she'd bathed in the
sulforous springs of Elak-nas, sipping fermented blood while attendants
massaged her and small birds scoured her free of lichen...

The dragon swung her head, and both Kazza and her heavy bag fell away. She
landed on the palm of the dragon's outstreched, clawed hand... and leaped.

The dragon's eye followed her as she soared, closing just before Kazza
could strike. Kazza nevertheless fired several feather-bolts, which
exploded against its scaly hide.

With a start, Kazza realized she *knew* the dragon she was fighting.
Zarsarei, Destroyer of Life. She had been in a book of legends, read to her
and her brothers by her mother. A beast of the world within, that loved
nothing more than eating up young utahraptors that failed to heed their
parents' warnings.

What was Zarsarei doing *here,* on the surface world? Kazza had been
briefed on the variety of life, and how a few of the humans, like her, had
fantastic abilities and talents, but nowhere in that had been a mention of
*dragons*.

The dragon shook her head, trying to send Kazza flying away again. Grimly,
Kazza hung on to the beast's hairless eye-ridge, while trying to find
purchase with her foot-claws.

At the now thoroughly-busted bay window of Bonnie's Bookstore, she saw
Lemon Rydell's face. It was impossible to read his expression, even
discounting how the dragon was twisting this way and that. His face
disappeared into the shadows.

Then Lemon leapt from the window and landed on the dragon's snout.

"Beastmistress," he said, hauling himself up on her nose. "Thanks for
dropping in, but this is an internal National Intelligence Bureau matter,
and your country would appreciate it if you would just... hey!"

The dragon flapped massive scaled wings, evidently determined to get some
kind of control over the situation of smaller creatures jumping in or on
her face. Lemon responded by leaping again, landing on the eye-ridge just
above where Kazza clung.

"This isn't how I wanted to end this," he said, looking at Kazza. "I didn't
know the Director had a double-cross in mind until this morning."

*And if you had...?* a woman's voice rumbled in Kazza's head--and evidently
Lemon Rydell's, as well. Kazza realized its source was the dragon, which
was nearly cross-eyed now, trying to look at the small creatures crawling
on her face.

"I would've crafted a more elegant plan," Lemon answered, without a hint of
remorse. "Or at least something that might have foreseen those other demon
monkeys using a bomb to open your ship up. The Director'l've been pissed
that even happened."

"Really, monkey?" asked Kazza. "How was it not you, seeking to sew chaos
and reap the Heart?"

*The current incarnation of the M.I.B... *not* the N.I.B., don't even come
at us with that nonsense... is much less... showy,* the dragon Lemon had
called Beastmistress mentally rumbled. *Which I imagine is excruciating to
you, Lemon.*

Lemon started to answer, then jumped to avoid a couple dragon claws seeking
to pinch his torso. He landed on her nose, leapt again, and landed on top
of her head.

"Not like it might've once been," he said. "You might say I've learned the
value of subtlety... something I see you're still struggling with."

Kazza contemplated dropping to the ground and running. The agent and the
dragon had an evident history that was distracting both, one she could use
to her advantage. There were still crowds on the avenue and on the beach
opposite the bookshop; if she put on a show of her own, snapping teeth and
firing a bolt or two into the air, they might provide enough cover for her
to escape.

She let go--

--and was immediately attacked by three
Hawaiian-shirt-and-Gilligan-Cap-wearing demon monkeys that appeared around
her and latched onto her with their claws.

"Zmo-Kee's curses upon you!" Kazza snarled. "Forgot about you smelly
things!"

*What--*

Kazza fell from Zarsarei's eye and struck the pavement, as pain roared
through her.

Within it swam a face framed by golden strands of hair. Self-assured,
imperious, almost human in appearance, save for a faint hue of super-short
golden fur over her skin, and eyes slightly larger than a human's. Eyes
that gave her a look that fixed on her and drilled in.

"Lady..." Kazza groaned.

*You must bring the Heart,* the Lady spoke in her head. *You must prove
your allegiance, and your innocence.*

"I..."

*You must not fail, Protector of Sol Selegna!*

With a final surge of strength, Kazza forced her attention to the present,
and forced herself to her feet... to find the nature of the battle had
changed.

Around her, demon monkeys in loud tourist attire waged furious battle with
demon monkeys in black business suits. They appeared and disappeared with
such frequency and abandon that she could not follow much of the action. It
was all flashing claws and poofs and blood in the air, while her
surroundings shook and swayed like her inner ears had checked out for the
day.

*Bad sign for your mental health,* a chalky-looking child next to her
rasped, *when reality looks like it was directed by Michael Bay.*

*Give up the Heart,* a blonde child in a red dress on her other side said,
flashing a switchblade. *Hate to admit it, but you're better off with the
freaks who live here than on your own.* She gave Kazza a sharp smile.
*Plus, I can point you to all the tastiest faces. You like beef with
brains? We got beef with brains!*

Kazza stared.

*I know what you're thinking,* the child went on, *but we're technically
hallucinations, at least from your perspective, so eating our faces is out.*

*You wouldn't like her face, anyway,* the rasper added. "Too salty."

*Sez you.* A bronze-gold tongue crept out from the blonde child's mouth and
licked her upper lip, causing her to frown. *Damn, she's right.*

"Who... who *are* you little fuckers?" Kazza asked.

Before either of the little fuckers could answer, the air filled with
invisible explosions, accompanied by multiple lilting hums. Demon monkeys
fell to the ground, stunned by the unexpected blanket attack. Kazza
couldn't see the dragon anymore, though there was a brown woman in torn
jeans and a black tank top in her place, arms protectively around the
wolf-child Camila, who had evidently decided the common sense of staying in
the bookstore was not for her. At their side was a full-size male werewolf
in tight black shorts, swatting at the distracted demon monkeys closest to
them. Nearby was the book shop owner, Bonnie Rydell, who was tapping hard
on her smartphone, and Johnny Clark, clutching his shoulder. Bonnie's
brother, the M.I.B. agent Lemon Rydell, was trying to work the blutooth
device in his ear. More personnel from the _Subtler Than Light_ were also
on the thoroughfare, including a pale woman in a fuzzy bathrobe who was
furiously looking not at Kazza, but at the two weird children who'd just
talked to her.

Children who were no longer there.

Something hit the pavement behind her. Kazza spun in time to see a bright
laser-lash stretch from an armored gauntlet and wrap around her throat.
Another bound her right wrist, though Kazza managed to keep hold of the bag
with the Hidden Heart in it. The armored being possessed of the
lash-projecting gauntlet was before her, though Kazza could surmise little
more than they were looking at her in triumph.

There was something strange about their armor, Kazza thought. The dark
metallic surface made the back of her head squirm the more she focused on
it. The metal felt... old... in her head. Ancient... twisted... as though
it had been in proximity of things that had been corrupt with millennia of
decay when the world was young.

*Insert Keith Richards joke here,* a now-sourceless voice rasped.

"Ki Kazza Malissk," a synthesized voice came from the armored being's
faceplate. "As the authorized Galaxy Hunter of this sector, I am placing
you under arrest, pending jurisdictional... jurisdictional... damn, how was
I supposed to say this? Look, you're under arrest until I work it out with
the locals, kay?"

Kazza pulled hard on her bonds. The searing pain that resulted nearly
caused her to pass out.

When her vision returned, she saw someone else floating to the ground next
to the Galaxy Hunter. She'd never seen the red-haired woman before, but
from the look of her--tanned and potentially tasty face hidden by a partial
black mask that gave her red eyes, formfitting (though not skin-tight)
black-and-red top, shorts, and boots--Kazza guessed she was a superguy of
some kind. The world, both on the surface and beneath it, was rife with
them.

"Hey," the woman said, after giving her a mirthless smile that gave Kazza a
few thoughts about the possibilities of lemon butter and basil. "Name's
Psywave. Pleased, I hope. I've heard some about you, and wish we could meet
under better circumstances, but we can't let you take this." She gestured
at the sack. Part of its opening fell back to show the bronze-gold bust in
the shape of the head of Neil deGrasse Tyson within.

"We can give you asylum," Galaxy Hunter told her. "Just tell us whose
faction you're working for. Capella Ookanaptra's? Erasmus Fancy's? Um..."
Hunter waved a free gauntlet. "One of... the others?"

"You were supposed to study the list," Psywave said to Hunter out of the
side of her mouth.

"Excuse me," said Agent Rydell, walking briskly past recovering demon
monkeys toward them. "The United States government would like a word..."

"When you're an official part of said government," Psywave replied, "we'll
consider what you have to say. Until then... hey! Lady! You in charge here?"

The woman protecting the wolf girl straightened. "Yes," she answered.
"Cendra Seconds is the name. I'm site manager for the _Subtler Than Light,_
the ship back there that these little fuckers blew a hole in..."

*It wasn't us!* two sourceless voices wailed.

"I meant the monkeys," said Cendra. She paused. "Did I just hear...?"

"Hear what?" Psywave asked.

"Never mind," said Cendra. "Anyway, in addition to that, I'm a superguy.
Beastmistress by name."

"Ooh!" Psywave exclaimed. "Like a female Marc Singer?"

Kazza heard Galaxy Hunter's free gauntlet slap his metallic helmet.

"I've got contacts with Homeland Security," Cendra went on. "I'm authorized
to hold on to criminals until Homeland or another authority can take them
off my hands. Plus, I've got the only place to safely store the Heart..."

Psywave coughed. Galaxy Hunter coughed. Kazza coughed. Various other coughs
came from those around, including some of the still-dazed demon monkeys.

"...up until this morning, at least. In any case, it's our property, and
unless you intend to make an issue of it, we'd like it back."

"I'd like to make an issue of it," said Lemon Rydell. "Just because you
know Secretary Selanova doesn't mean you know everything." He smiled his
infuriating smile and looked at Kazza. "We can tell you a few things that
might change your willingness to shelter her... oogh! Hey!"

Without looking, Cendra had reached out to her right and snagged Lemon's
nostrils. She now had him as up in the air as he could go without his feet
leaving the ground. He tried reaching for something in his coat, but
flailed when Cendra pivoted her hand.

"Well, Agent Rydell," she said, "you have at least one weak spot of old you
haven't accounted for."

"Owowowowowleggo!" was Lemon's considered reply.

"Cendra," said the werewolf behind her, "stop messing around. I've got
Camila. We need to take this off the street, before..."

The air lit up with fiery blasts. Kazza struggled to see where they were
coming from. In the air above them were four black drones with what looked
like an ancient sigil underneath--inscrutable runes with a curved arrow
beneath. Kazza felt the lashes around her neck and wrist vanish as
near-strikes rocked her and Galaxy Hunter.

"Sorry!" Bonnie Rydell yelled. "Sorry, that was me! It was supposed to be
for the battle earlier. I had a coupon code for fireball strikes, but there
must've been a wi-fi lag."

Kazza glanced at Hunter and Psywave, both of whom were now focused on
Bonnie. As was Cendra. As were the werewolves, and the monkeys, and
everyone else. Furiously, she churned through her options. Surrender to the
betrayers in the M.I.B. was out of the question. Surrender to either
this... Beastmistress... or Psywave and Galaxy Hunter... would at least be
honorable, but it would also mean failing her Lady. But what did that leave?

The thing that failed her in the Root of the _Subtler Than Light._ The
thing that should have let her get in and out with no one the wiser and no
one being harmed. Why it had failed in the crucial moment before the
monkeys attacked, Kazza didn't know. But she could hope it was temporary...
and that they were all too focused on one another to remain focused on her
for the few moments she would need.

The Hawaiian-shirt-wearing monkeys vanished, then appeared around her,
claws outstretched. Psywave and Galaxy Hunter fired at them, though the
monkeys vanished in time to avoid damage. The business-suit-wearing monkeys
soon joined the fray, and the air filled with chaos.

Kazza took a step back, and tapped a space on her left forearm with a
claw-tip. Instantly, the world shimmered and went translucent.

*Oooh,* a young girl's voice said. *Where'd you go?*

*She's right there,* the other girl's voice rasped. *Cloaking doesn't work
on us.*

*I was being sarcastic.*

Kazza backed away. Everyone watching was fixated on the renewed battle, and
no one turned to look at her. The cloak that had failed earlier was holding
for the moment, the eyes of hallucinated currently-invisible children
notwithstanding.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, looking from Psywave to Galaxy Hunter to Cendra
Seconds to Johnny Clark, and not at Lemon Rydell, all of whom were now
immersed in the fray. "I have a duty to my Lady. I..."

More words wouldn't come. Reluctantly, she slipped into the crowd of
onlookers... and was gone.

WILL KI KAZZA MALISSK SUCCEED IN STEALING THE HIDDEN HEART OF MU?
WILL BONNIE GET A REFUND FOR LATE-DELIVERED FIREBALLS?
WILL LEMON DO SOMETHING ABOUT HIS NASAL VULNERABILITY?
WHO IS KAZZA WORKING FOR?
WHO IS LEMON WORKING FOR?
IS LEMON A DIL-HOLE?
WILL NATE SILVER DEFEND THE VALIDITY OF THAT POLL?
WHO IS PSYWAVE?
WILL GALAXY HUNTER GET HIS LINES RIGHT?
WILL JOHNNY CLARK LEARN WHY HE'S VULNERABLE TO KAZZA'S LASER FEATHERS?
WILL THOSE LITTLE FUCKERS SCREW WITH THE END-OF-EPISODE QUESTIONS, TOO?
*Watch it, Narrator. We may seem hallucinatory in their world, but in
yours...*
OWOWOWOWOWLEGGO!

Superguy. The Relentless Pursuit of Distraction.
--
Subtler Than Light #2 (c) 2022 by Gary W. Olson. All Rights Reserved.

For behind-the-scenes notes on the first two episodes, visit my posting in
the Superguy List community on LiveJournal:
https://superguy-list.livejournal.com/40814.html

Gary W. Olson LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/gwox
Superguy List: https://lists.eyrie.org/mailman/listinfo/superguy/
Superguy/Sfstory Discord: https://discord.gg/xuhYChvAPK
Superguy/Sfstory LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/superguysfstory
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