FRACTAL

by Tony Ortiz

  As he turned around to head back, he was whacked across his chin by an unexpected right hook from Hector. Right on the button. He fell like a ton of bricks. Hector quickly turned him over, put his hands behind his back, and tie-wrapped them. He did the same to his feet. He took the taser from his pocket and tossed it out the window to Miguel, who was standing by. With that Miguel went around front to crash Feinstein's party.

  The guard wasn't at his post by the door so it was easy enough for Miguel to slide right in and start towards the waiting area. He came up behind the guard that was watching Dr. Feinstein hold court and startled him by pressing the taser to the small of his back and saying:

  There's 1,000 volts cranked to the max, ready to go through you. Don't make any sudden movements.

  Ok, okay chill out, he said as he put his hands up.

  Drop your taser and kick it over to the wall, said Miguel. The guard complied. Now slowly get on your knees and put your hands on your head.

  What the hell do you think you're doing you ungrateful little shit? Said Dr. Feinstein.

  Making things right you sick fuck, responded Miguel as he slipped one side of the tie-wrap on the guards left forearm, brought it down behind him and proceeded to reach for his right arm.

  Do something, Feinstein yelled at the guard. Don't just let him get away with this.

  Right then the guard spun around with his right elbow aimed at Miguel's head. He clipped him by the temple, which made Miguel stumble. The guard managed to stand half way up before Miguel gained his composure enough to shove the taser into his right rib cage. He toppled right over.

  Feinstein rushed towards Laura to inject her while he still had the chance, but Charlie kicked the coffee table so that it slid in front of him and blocked Feinstein's path. Feinstein began to go around it when Hector came out of nowhere, speared into him, and tripped Feinstein's back leg to take him down to the ground. The syringe he was going to use on Laura fell out of his hand as he hit the floor. Miguel ran towards it after finishing the tie-wrap job on the guard. He grabbed the syringe and stabbed Feinstein in his thigh with it.

  “No!” He yelled out as Hector held him down and Miguel plunged the serum into him. His eyes got big and small at the same time. He opened them wide in disbelief, but his pupils contracted almost completely into his iris. There was a sudden moment of calm anticipation that overwhelmed the room.

  You have no idea what you've done. All my hard work. All my progress. All for naught. Don't say I didn't warn you ingrates when the world degenerates into chaos.

  It won't, said Hector, we’re still here and we won't let that happen. The only difference is that you don't get to alter genes and arbitrarily play God anymore, Doc.

  Um, can someone take these cuffs off of us? Asked Charlie, breaking the tension.

  Hector got up and was about to walk over to Laura and the guys to help them out of the handcuffs.

  Here, you'll need the keys, Dr. Feinstein said as he got up and reached into his lab coat. Then I want you all to leave immediately.

  Hector turned back around toward him and saw that his hand was already in a stabbing motion. It was the other syringe!

  Watch out! Jake yelled.

  Hector put up his hands to block Feinstein as he tried to thrust the syringe down and into him. He managed to grab a hold of his forearm and wrist. Feinstein was frantic, struggling to get the serum into Hector.

  Miguel lunges toward them and tried pulling Feinstein off of him.

  “Let it go Feinstein,” Miguel said as he tried pulling on the same arm that Hector was pushing, which had a firm grip of the syringe.

  “Fine,” said Feinstein, “then you take it!” He used their own push-and-pull momentum and stabbed Miguel right in the neck with it and pumped the serum completely into him in one fell swoop. Right then, poof ... Miguel faded away.

  What did you do!?! Yelled Hector as he grabbed the Doctor by the collar.

  This is what you all did, for interfering responded Dr. Feinstein.

  Where's Miguel? Asked Laura.

  Brooke must've woken him up and gotten him out in time, said Jake. I'm sure he's fine.

  Let go of me before I press charges you little shit. On every last one of you for trespassing.

  You better hope he's ok, Hector said as he let him go. Where are the cuff keys?!?

  Here, said the Tait Fletcher looking guard, on my belt loop.

  Hector unshackled them all, they pulled out their keepsake reflectors and faded back into their baseline reality.

  Back at baseline the team reunited with Brooke and Miguel. He made it back thanks to Brooke, but enough of the serum was coursing through his veins so that his skipping days would be over, and they all knew it. But so were Feinstein's, and that wasn't nothing.

  Miguel, Hector said, I'm so sorry this happened to you.

  Don't be. Better me than you man. You deserve to continue on, doing what you do.

  Doing what we do bro, Hector quickly responded.

  And you better believe that if there's a way to reverse this thing, we’ll find it, said Charlie.

  Yea, absolutely, everyone said in agreement.

  That should be at the top of our agenda, for both you and Brooke, said Laura.

  Listen guys, it might really be as irreversible as Feinstein intended it to be. So I say we just continue working on it the same way as we were before. For Brooke. We should find solace in that Feinstein can't skip anymore and won’t continue to fuck shit up behind our backs. I don't think it's a good idea however, for everything to stop just because this happened to me. That would be selfish and irresponsible for me to impose. Hell, there's a certain karmic balance in all this that I probably deserve. I don't want to become one of those pigeonholed one-cause teams anyway. We can do better than that. We can continue doing more. Especially now with Hector back.

  Hear, hear said Jake.

  What if he makes more of that shit though? Said Charlie.

  He won't, said Hector as he pulled out a folder from under his shirt. I grabbed the only notes he had on it, including the formula.

  Awesome, said Miguel.

  We should shred it and then burn it, said Charlie.

  Actually we should vault it said Jake. If there's a chance of an antidote, knowing how he came up with the serum will be key.

  Yea that's true, said Laura.

  Besides, we also used up the only two prototype vials he had, said Miguel. This is a setback for sure, but it was also a successful mission folks. We completed our objective of getting Hector out. We should celebrate, make Sunday dinner and just have a good time.

  I can make my meatloaf casserole, said Charlie.

  I rather have a Trancetol casserole, said Jake as everyone laughed.

  Haha, not funny, Charlie said, I'm serious though.

  So are we, responded Miguel. I hate to break it to you buddy but I think people want your meatloaf casserole about as badly as they want a tequila shot from me. Everyone, including Brooke, laughed, and with that, things seemed to be back to normal.

  It was early enough in the day that the team decided to cook, instead of ordering take-out, chill and make a pot-luck day out of it. They each made something. There was lemon chicken, lasagna, pastelón de platano, brisket, and Charlie even made some of his infamous meatloaf casserole, swearing it wasn't bad ... and it actually wasn't, this time. It felt like home again. It felt like family.

  For desert we had some warm homemade apple pie courtesy of Hector, with vanilla bean ice cream. While sharing a slice, Laura turns to Hector.

  Are you ok? You seem kind of distant, she asked.

  I just miss her you know?

  Your mom?

  Yea. I mean, I know what we’re doing is for the greater good and all, and that I'm protecting her by just staying away, but I don't know, I can't help but just want to go home and be around her.

  Don't beat yourself up over feeling that way. It's completely normal. We all get home sick. I still do even after s
o many years.

  How do you deal?

  I watch over my family. I focus on making sure they're safe, like you said. I can’t really know how painful it is for them not having me around but i know how much it hurts me. Even so, I truly believe that if they knew the ways of the world as we know them ... they'd cheer me on and be proud of what I'm doing. I'm sure your Mom is proud of you too.

  Miguel clinked his fork on his glass.

  Attention folks ... I’ve given this a lot of thought and I've come to terms with what happened. It's going to be a tough transition for me, for sure, but one that I humbly welcome. Thanks to Brooke and her showing me the brave compassion it took in bringing me back when she did, I know I can still have an impactful roll on the team. I plan to continue supporting and having the back of each and every one of you, he said as he raised his glass.

  I'll drink to that, said Jake as we all held our respective beverages up.

  Don't worry, I didn't pour these myself, said Miguel sarcastically.

  We laughed, drank, and the doorbell rang. Charlie put his cup down and said: “I got it.” He walked over to the door, and it was Brance. Laptop in hand. Everyone turned and saw who it was, and almost in unison said: “hey Brance, come join us.” “Come have a drink buddy.” “Come have Sunday dinner with us.”

  He reluctantly came over to the table, and greeted everyone.

  I'm sorry to crash your dinner guys.

  Don't be ridiculous, said Miguel. There's more than enough food to go around.

  Absolutely, said Jake, and you know you're always welcome here. You can even take the rest of Charlie's meatloaf casserole with you.

  Haha, I think I'll pass on the casserole, but okay cool. Sounds good he responded.

  Is Everything ok? Asked Laura.

  Yea, everything’s fine. It's not that. I just have some pretty big news about Astraea. Mind if I project from my laptop?

  No, not at all, go ahead said Miguel.

  I'll kill the lights said Hector.

  What about Astraea, asked Laura.

  She's not a myth, she's real. And I think I found her.

  Brance had a projector on his laptop that was so small you wouldn't have known it was there and it didn't need a screen. It projected 8K-clear images and videos into the air like holograms. It was like something out of the movie Minority Report. He pulled up a grainy photo that seemed to have been taken from a video feed. He began to zoom in on someone and crystallize the image.

  You could hear a pin drop in that room, it was so quiet. Then Hector broke the silence:

  But wait that's...

  Astraea’s your Mother.

  TO BE CONTINUED ...

  Acknowledgments

  To my father, Segundo Antonio Ortiz. You're the cornerstone of it all Pop. You show me that actions speak louder than words ever could. Thank you for teaching me the merits of integrity, discipline, responsibility and hard work. These are invaluable character traits that I promise to pass on to the next generation. Making you proud means everything to me.

  To my mother Diomeda “Meme” Ortiz. Thank you for showing me humility and compassion. You've selflessly given all there is to give of you and truly made us a family. Your belief in me has always given me a reason to believe in myself.

  To my big bro David Ortiz. You've been hard on me when I didn't even know I needed you to be. For a long time I felt like you were my biggest critic, until I realized you were by far my number one supporter. Thank you for always having my back, and know that without hesitation I'll always have yours.

  To my wife and babzy Zoila Ortiz. If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have ever taken this writing thing seriously. You made it all come together for me by giving me the nudge I needed to get on this journey and you've been there every step of the way. Thank you for your unwavering kindness, unconditional love and for showing me the importance of laughter - I had forgotten that some time ago. You're my favorite person to be around and you constantly make me want to be a better me.

  To my high-school freshman English teacher, Ms. Lisa Gittlitz. You knew I should be writing before I ever did. I wish I would have listened more. Thank you for caring enough to always encourage this hard-headed teen, and for making me write all those Lit-Logs.

  To Maciel Gutierrez. If it weren't for you and a random conversation we had on an idle (I want to say Saturday) afternoon, I probably wouldn't have found the catharsis that comes with free-writing. Thank you for teaching me what it was and for always being a friend. I still have that first piece that you got me to write.

  The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast was the motivating straw that broke the procrastinating camels back, for me. It has been a hub of fascinating conversations, inspiration, fun times, and life lessons. Not only did it make me realize that it was ok to pursue my dreams, but it gave me the necessary kick in the ass to realize that they were all possible too. It's truly a gift that each of you should unwrap. Joe, Brian, Jaime and every guest that has and continues to share their experiences on the show ... thank you. I am eternally grateful.

  I heard Elliott Hulse speak of the three types of people in our lives (watch video). I reflected on the relationships in my life and found there to be a lot of truth to this. The concept really resonated with me. The gist of it is that the people in your life generally fall under one of these three categories:

  Crystal balls: These are people through which you can see your future. Through them you ask yourself if you want to experience and characterize what this person represents, in your own future. Good, bad or neutral.

  Mirrors: These are people that give you back what you give them. You may see in them similar traits or goals and ambitions, which cause you to enjoy each others company. Or you see people that you’re repelled by - these can be people who themselves are reflecting back to you, traits in yourself that you need to address and rectify.

  Angels: These are people that positively impact your life knowingly or not, and wether you’re ready to receive their blessing(s) or not.

  Each of you have touched my life in a significant way somewhere along the line, and fall under some combination of the above: Steven Almonte (the definition of a hustler), Frank “Steve” Padilla (thank you for being family), Jonathan Jacob (the only person I can reconnect with every couple years, and have it feel as if we spoke the day before, without skipping a beat), Arnaldo Coutinho (a true mentor), Jose Luis Oliveira (who taught me: “don't leave for tomorrow, what you can get done today”), Raul “the #1 Roomy” Azurdia, Yudy Azurdia (que hace los mejores bizcocho Dominicano on the east coast), Jacey Rosa (who has the best laugh), Omar “Jerry Rivera” Fuentes, Janet Velez (who deserves a trophy for holding down my brother), Jorge Nobre (thanks for going out of your way to drive me back from Mineola to Queens when we worked at the Bar together), Benny Collado (blair-witz), Elaine Almonte (who I can always count on for an objective writing critique), Esrin Garcia (for teaching me how to really drive a stick-shift), Pablo Mosquera (for grabbing life by the handle bars), Peter Cepeda (many blessings on the new Baby), David “Energizer” Carvalho, Roberto Prudencio (¡ó Algarve!), Arturo Flores (RIP), Virginia Florentino, Raul Lizardo, Dr. Arthur Lewin (my ambassador of Black & Latino studies), Jessica Florentino, Rafael Polanco, Don Eladio (RIP), Doña Ana, Marisol & Antonio Almeida, Juana “Titi Mery” Susana and last but certainly not least the future generation of the Ortiz Clan:

  To my niece and goddaughter Emma Ortiz. You have a heart of gold and it shows. Don't let anyone or anything ever make you feel as if that's a bad thing ... it's your greatest strength and the future generation of our family is lucky to have you leading it.