Bad Jack ((Ascension: Book 1))

by Adam Moon

The Doctor smiled. “There’s no way to know for certain but that’s our best guess. These creatures and objects just materialize whenever he sleeps.”

  Jack said, “Pffff, well whatever. Sure. Why not?”

  He realized his brain had regressed to the teenage sarcasm default that sometimes happened when it was closing off compartments to maintain sanity. It didn’t happen often.

  Melanie chuckled nervously. “When you say we can’t explain it, who else are you referring to?”

  “I work in conjunction with a fellow researcher named Oliver. He’s quite brilliant. You’ll meet him, I’m sure. He’s in the monitoring station right now working on extrapolating any data he can get out of this event.”

  Jack mumbled, “So all this shit comes from a fucking dream then? I thought you were going to give me answers, not bigger, dumber questions.”

  “Perhaps together we can figure this thing out.”

  Chapter 30: Dick Spider

  The Doctor changed the subject. “Let’s have a look-see at our new arrival.”

  He led them away from the window and back to the main corridor. They entered the beast warehouse just as the guard with the bucket was depositing the spider in a glass block the size of a fifty gallon aquarium with walls that looked to be bulletproof. The guard put the lid on the glass block and tightened four thumb screws down to secure it.

  Before he left he whispered, “It’s pretty docile I think but you wouldn’t know it by looking at it.”

  Once they were close enough the guards statement was obvious. The spider looked a little like a huge tarantula on steroids but there was something distinctly different; it had mammalian eyes as large as an adult human’s that swiveled up at them. It had human eyelids and very long lashes that flicked open and shut like a Venus flytrap as it blinked. Its eyes were a deep blue. It also had a hairless, tan mammalian dick that dangled around beneath it as it walked in an endless loop around the glass block. Jack assumed it was based on a human’s because it was circumcised.

  Nervously Jack asked the Doc, “Do you think it can get out of there?”

  “For some reason none of them try to escape, thank God. In fact, most of them don’t do much at all. It’s like they’re just rough approximations of real creatures with no purpose or desires. None of them eat. A couple of them seem like they’re breathing but if you hold a mirror up to their mouths it won’t fog up. We haven’t been at this long enough yet to know whether they age or not but I suspect that they don’t. Only a few of these creatures seem to want to interact with us and even then it’s always unpredictable like they don’t know what they’re doing. You’ve probably already guessed that they’re also all indestructible.” The Doc paused and added, “Well, maybe not totally. You sure scared that werewolf when you pointed the gun at it and you did manage to kill the butterfly.”

  Melanie gave Jack a disgusted look so he explained, “The Doctor here tricked me.”

  She seemed satisfied with his excuse. “What’s that marking on its back?”

  Jack and the Doctor looked more closely at the big spider, following its trajectory with their eyes. Jack said, “Um, it looks like a tattoo actually.”

  The Doctor wrinkled his nose. “Yep, it’s an anchor with the word mom written beneath.”

  The Doctor watched it for a second. “That’s funny; it’s walking in a figure eight pattern.”

  “What’s so funny about that?” Jack asked, not seeing the humor.

  “Well, a figure eight turned sideways is the mathematical symbol for infinity and that spider will walk that same path forever, at least that’s my theory. It just seems appropriate is all…”

  Jack didn’t care, just making conversation. He was curious as to why they’d left that boy all alone in the room. He must be scared out of his mind.

  That thought vanished when the Doctor said to him, “I want you to touch it.”

  For one terrible second Jack thought the Doctor was referring to the spider’s weird dick but then realized he meant the spider itself.

  “Why? No I won’t”

  The Doctor ignored his protests, summoning a guard. The guard unscrewed the top as Jack looked on, paralyzed in horror. The spider, for its part seemed not to notice; it just kept walking and walking, never slowing down nor speeding up.

  The Doctor reached inside and Melanie yelped and jumped back. He clamped his wrinkled hand on its back and the atrophied muscles in his arm tensed as he tried to stop the spider in its tracks, to no avail.

  Then he picked the spider up and they all saw its legs moving as though it thought it was still walking its course, oblivious to the Doctor’s interference. He put it down gently and the spider kept on walking as though there had been no interruption.

  The Doctor removed his hand. “I’d bet my paycheck that if you welded a steel plate in its path it would walk right through it like a hot knife through butter. This specimen seems to be one of the simple ones, no real purpose at all. It’s too bad.”

  Then the Doctor did something so unexpected Jack almost punched him in his flabby face. He grabbed jacks wrist and thrust his hand inside so that it touched the spider’s shiny back.

  Melanie must have thought he’d gone too far too because she grabbed the arm of his lab coat and tried to wrench his arm out of the glass case. The Doctor was deceptively strong for a pudgy old fart.

  “Melanie, Officer Grey, kindly remove your hand.”

  She did so reluctantly.

  It was only then that Jack saw what had happened to the spider. It had gone completely still. Its legs went rigid and then its eyes swiveled up at him and locked him in a stare. Maybe Jack was imagining things but he could have sworn that the spider looked scared and also excited. Its eyes shimmered and then a big black tear slid down its horrific face.

  Then Jack noticed that it was quivering beneath his hand. He saw a pool of clear liquid grow out from under it. He bent lower and saw that the spider was pissing uncontrollably. It reminded him of the way emotionally disturbed dogs can get when they’re scared or overly excited.

  Then he thought, ‘this thing thinks it’s my dog.’

  He removed the Doctor’s hand with his free hand and shoved him backwards forcefully.

  The Doctor didn’t seem to mind. He was too stunned by the spider’s reaction to Jack.

  The guard yelled a warning at Jack but Jack didn’t give a shit about threats right now. When the guard stepped forward and put the lid back on, Jack saw that the spider had resumed its stroll and its eyes had gone blank once more, unseeing.

  The Doctor took a step forward and waved the angry guard off.

  He said, “I thought as much. You can influence these things, all of them I think.”

  When Jack just glowered at him he looked down at his hand and said, “I’m very sorry for doing that. But I knew you would come to no harm.”

  Melanie interrupted, “No you didn’t. You only guessed he’d be safe. It’s not the same thing.”

  The Doctor seemed to ponder this.

  “Well we know now don’t we? Jack, I’d like you to return tonight at 2200. Melanie, if you can refrain from assaulting me again I’d like you to meet us down here. I have a feeling our research is about to really take off now.”

  Chapter 31: A short intermission

  Melanie tried to make small talk but Jack was lost deep in thought.

  The spider acted normally in the room with the boy, hiding out under the dresser, and it reacted to him when he touched it. But removed from either situation it acted aimlessly, like a wind-up mechanical toy. What did that mean? The boy was special for sure but Jack was just a little special too, at least in that he could influence the child’s creations. He had to wonder if there was some type of connection between him and the boy. That boy had, after all, created Jack’s likeness in his dreams before they’d ever met.

  He forced his fears and his questions to the calmer, less used recesses of his mind; he reminded himself that he was with a pretty girl and she
was trying to talk to him.

  “I don’t get it. That boy can dream and then make it a reality; I just saw it with my own eyes so I know it’s real. But what if he dreams that all humans are dead? Do we all die?”

  Melanie thought about it.

  “I don’t think so. It looks like he can only create. I wouldn’t worry about stuff like that.”

  “So what if he dreams of a black hole?”

  She contemplated that one. Technically it would be a creation.

  “I would have a little more faith in him. I’ve been here for a long time and the world’s still in one piece. Plus it seems like most of his conjuring is benign according to Doc Collins. If he conjured a black hole it probably wouldn’t even have a gravity well.”

  Sexy and smart, she was way out of his league.

  “I guess you’re right.” He took a chance, “So you thought those clones were pretty handsome, huh?”

  She blushed. “You know I did. I said so.”

  Jack was still trying to work up the courage to ask Melanie back to his apartment under the guise of discussing work when the elevator doors pinged open and Billy’s big dumb head came into view.

  “Thanks miss; I’ll take it from here.”

  She thanked him and told Jack she’d see him later tonight.

  He caught a quick nap before he had to get ready for his late night meeting with the Doctor. He must have been emotionally or psychologically exhausted; it was the only explanation for how he’d managed to get to sleep at all.

  He showered because he knew Melanie would be there.

  Chapter 32: Oliver

  Melanie fetched him at quarter to ten and brought him down to the big Neanderthal guard who scrutinized Jack’s ID like they hadn’t just seen each other this afternoon, and who scrutinized Melanie’s ass like he had the right.

  Before the clean room door boxed them in Melanie called him an asshole over her shoulder.

  He seemed to get a kick out of it. He smiled an exaggerated, toothy, threatening sort of smile that just made him look like an even bigger asshole.

  The Doctor met them at the other end of the clean room.

  “I’m going to introduce you to my counterpart, Oliver.”

  Melanie asked, “Why haven’t I met this Oliver yet? I heard his name a couple times but I never had a face to put it to.”

  “Oliver doesn’t leave. He’s too committed to the project.”

  Jack found the true meaning hidden between the words: Oliver wasn’t allowed to leave.

  At that, a stocky, slightly overweight older man, maybe in his early sixties marched towards them. His stride was full of purpose. He was pale and partly bald but his black bushy eyebrows made up for his receded hair line.

  He gave the cages a wide berth as he went. The creatures remained silent.

  “Jack, Melanie, this is Oliver Jones.”

  The man held out his thick square hand and shook Jack’s vigorously.

  Maybe Jack was imagining things but he could have sworn there was a look of recognition in Oliver’s watery eyes (probably had something to do with the clones).

  Oliver said, “I’m excited to work with you Jack. I’ve heard many astounding, intriguing things about you.”

  He noticed that Oliver completely ignored Melanie. Jack judged him as an elitist but reserved the right to change his mind if Oliver showed him another side. Anyway, Melanie didn’t seem to mind. Maybe she was used to being disregarded down here among the chosen few.

  They walked by the cages and Jack refused to stare at the inhabitants detained within until he got to the last few cages and saw his clones. The clones were still and silent. They gave him an eerie feeling that made his spine tingle.

  Melanie slid her hand into his and pulled him along to keep him moving. The gesture reminded him of his big sister.

  They entered the rear door of the warehouse as the creatures looked on.

  Oliver led them to the end of the corridor, through the lone door at the back and then they took a right and entered a small brightly lit office. The Doctor had led them the opposite way earlier so this was new to both Jack and Melanie.

  The office was twice as big as Jack’s and Jack’s was huge.

  Three uniformed men were seated around a table tucked away in the corner drinking coffee, speaking in hushed tones. They each greeted the new arrivals with a cool detachment before they got right back to their conversation.

  The room was peppered with monitoring equipment. Readouts on monitors scrolled by and Jack could only guess what they meant.

  Melanie tapped his shoulder and pointed at a monitor that showed Jessie eating a candy bar with one hand and deftly manipulating a video game controller with the other.

  He looked like any other excitable ten year old.

  Chapter 33: Who is Jessie?

  Melanie asked the question before Jack had the chance. “Where did the boy come from?”

  Oliver looked over at the guards. One of them nodded before herding the other two out and shutting the door behind him.

  Once they were alone he answered, “Child services found him alone in a run down shack the next town over. His records show that his father died before he was born. He attended elementary school through third grade but didn’t return for fourth, hence child services involvement. When they arrived they found the doors locked and the windows all boarded up. The mother hasn’t come forward yet and it’s been almost a year. We can only assume she found out about his odd abilities and freaked out. Mothers have abandoned their children for less. When they found him he was eating cheerios and hot dogs so it seems likely that he’d only been recently abandoned. When I asked him when his mom left he wasn’t sure but thought it was maybe three weeks prior to child services arriving.”

  Jack shook his head.

  “The poor child services officer who discovered him also discovered two specimens wandering about. The werewolf and the toad were created before we got involved. Luckily for everyone, the FBI was able to contain the situation and remove all evidence before the local news scooped the story. It was easy enough to deny once it leaked. Who would believe it? We found out that first night we had him in custody that he could conjure bizarre things out of thin air. We’re here to study him but also to keep his abilities secret. Can you imagine what the Chinese would do with him?”

  “The poor little thing,” Melanie croaked.

  Oliver added, “We can only do so much for him. We both take turns tutoring him and he has an exercise room just down the hall. He isn’t socially awkward yet but we do worry that he might get that way. He has a sun bed in place of natural light but we’re working on getting the back of the facility fenced off so he can play outside like a normal kid.”

  Jack felt for the boy. “Can’t you let him out during the day under escort and then bring him back at night? He could even go to a real school and play with kids his own age.”

  “It was the first thing we thought of but Collins rightly pointed out that one single cat-nap could jeopardize everything.”

  Jack nodded, feeling like a fool for not thinking about that.

  Oliver said to the Doc, “I’ll go tuck him in.”

  Chapter 34: Disclosure

  The Doctor turned to Jack after Oliver left. “For the purpose of full disclosure I have to tell you that I’m an agent of the government. Don’t think X-Files, nothing like that. I was a researcher with nothing tangible to work on until Jessie came into my life.”

  “Ok”

  “I’m only telling you this so that you understand the arc of my area of research. The United States government considers Jessie an asset but also a threat. If it was up to the brass he wouldn’t be here today, he’d be dead. Thankfully clearer heads prevailed. But in order to prove that Jessie’s an asset I need to try and give my superiors what they want.”

  Melanie said, “I’m going to guess that means weapons.”

  “Of course. But the closest we’ve come so far to anything truly dangerous ar
e these red balls he created a few months back. I’m not even sure you can call them weapons. The government wants weapons but they also want proof that Jessie poses no real threat to National security. We’ve made gains with establishing this since he’s been here for almost a whole year without incident.”

  Jack shook his head. “I heard those red balls have killed people. Some of the objects are really dangerous, especially in the wrong hands. Are your superiors ok with that?”

  “They only know what they need to know. We can explain the few deaths we’ve had here as perfectly normal incidents.”

  Melanie said, “So you keep it a secret from the government. That’s treasonous, isn’t it?”

  The Doctor scowled. “I suppose you’d have me tell them would you? Because if I did there’d be men with flamethrowers and guns storming this building, removing every trace of evidence. Jessie is evidence, you and I and Jack and Oliver are evidence to these men. I don’t know how they’d get rid of the artifacts or specimens but they’d figure something out.”

  “They could put them all in a shuttle and launch them into space” offered Jack.

  Melanie slowly raised her eyebrows and it made him feel stupid for speaking that thought out loud.

  “I suppose they could,” The Doc sighed. “I’m telling you this so you understand the gravity of the situation. We need results in the worst way.”

  Before he could go on Oliver slid back into the room.

  “He’s a feisty one. Can’t get him to eat, can’t get him to go to bed at a reasonable hour, he just wants to play those damn video games.”

  “Sounds like normal behavior given his age,” offered Melanie.

  The Doctor sat at one of the consoles and began to click at the mouse bringing up a display with multiple readouts.

  “We’ve been trying to influence what gets brought back with audible suggestions but we’ve made no gains so far. Sure, we need a weapon to keep our superiors concerns at bay. But it doesn’t end there. The sky’s the limit if we can force our influence. What Jessie brings back is only limited by his imagination. We just need to tweak it a little.”