part 7
It’s your tape, I don’t give a shit. Fuck no. I can use somebody to talk to. Look at this, I’m spilling it all over the place. You’d think I’d be used to this shit by now. No, just give me the bottle. Thanks. Fuck. I know, me too. Did you get . . ? Great, great. I know, I can’t believe it, I was staring right at the spot. Yeah, too bad I didn’t have a camera, we’d have it in stereo. Yeah, everything, right in front of me. No shit? Who . . Fuck yes, what do you think? As soon as you can. Shit, whatever . . hang on, I’ve got a call from Mark. Yeah, Mark. Yeah, yeah. What’d you find out? Just the four? Well, good. Ok. How the fuck would I know? No. What about the explosions? Oh yeah? Really. Really . . How sure are they? Wow. None at all? Fucking wow. That could be interesting. Ok. That’s it? No, no, I’ll take it. What’s next? Ok. Yeah. Alright. Listen, Jim Peng says they have footage of everything. No shit. Yeah, as soon as they get a monitor . I know, I decided to wait. Well, Parraga’s on his way. Whenever he gets here. Jim has a camera set up and they’re rolling right now. Yeah, I . . Yeah . . Ok, thanks Mark. Right. Ok, bye. Mark says there were just the four sites. It looks like there were two in each room and they had RPGs that went off in their hands. He asked me the same fucking question, what makes you think I suddenly have a clue? Shit . . Really? Ok. No, go ahead. Oh, god . . Let me talk to him. Hi there. Thaaat’s right. How about letting the TV guys through? Works for me. Ok . . oh yeah, Bruce Parraga will be here in a little bit, do you know who he is? Of course. Right. Ok, thanks. Yeah. I know, he’s just doing his job. Well, if you guys didn’t dress like fucking gang members . . Yeah. Here he is. That was fast. Bless you my son. It’s worth a virgin on the other side. Shit, what do you want? It’s a fucking monitor, it’s not like you caught a bullet. You better be, or else she’ll look like your grandmother. Well, get it going and I’ll make sure she’s hot. Really? I feel privileged. They can wait. Just don’t screw it up. Yeah, that’s what they don’t tell ‘em. Seventy virgins and they’re all fat and ugly and old. Hey, virgins don’t grow on trees, even in heaven. No, no, let ‘er rip. Fine with me. Ok. Yeah . . Holy shit! Go back! Ok . . No, stop it . . . right there. Now, frame by frame. Next. Next. Next. Next. Next. Ok, fuck it, go ahead. Shit. No, I’ll shut up. You know what you’re doing. Ok. Ok, next. Next. Next. There it is! See it? Yeah, it’s just like a haze or something. Try the next one. See? Next one. Next. Next. Next. Keep going like that. Wait, wait. Look at that shit. Fuck . . me. Go ahead. Holy shit, where’s it coming from? I know! Yeah go ahead. Next. Next. Next. Well there he is. No shit. Back it up one. Yeah, I think so too. How long did it take? How many? Per second, that’s . . So, just over two seconds. Mother . . fucker. Ok, go back and forth a couple times, frame by frame. Like, click, click, click. Yeah. Look at that shit. Fucking amazing. Yeah. Sure. Wow . . Ok, once more, then roll it ahead to the explosions. I know, I don’t know what to think. Ok . . Boom! Look at that, the fucker didn’t even look up. Ok . . Boom! Oh, shit! Two of ‘em! Wow. No fucking wonder . . Yeah, mine too. I guess God doesn’t care if I can hear or not. Well, you can’t do anything about that. Now, look at this. What the hell’s he doing? Oh, shit, there’s the prophet himself. Yeah, talking to the fucker like an idiot. I don’t know! It has to be. Look, I can’t right now ok? Yeah. Well, thanks. Oh, fuck. Yeah, back up a sec . . right there. That . . is a Pulitzer. Well, maybe. Do they ever give two? Hell, I don’t know. No, you’re right. Much more significant. Right, right. This one is just human interest. Well, I’m in it, it has to be more important. No shit. Hey, for you folks at home, I’m kidding. Eventually, you know how it is. I don’t care. I’ll clean it up for Parraga. I’m the voice of fucking God. I get a pass. No, I’ve seen enough. Yeah, thanks, really. Speak of the devil. Sure. No, he can wait. I understand. Shit, get going. Do I look presentable? I’m alright. Not right now, my stomach’s in a knot. Sure, grab me a couple. Thanks. Hey Bruce. Yeah, quite a night. Right now? Live? Go for it. I understand. Where do you want me to start? Alright. Well, I was in a car with Mark Lewis and a driver. We were on our way from someplace I’m not supposed to disclose to someplace else I’m not supposed to disclose. Right. Obviously not as secure as we thought. Anyway, the camera crew was in a car ahead of us and as it turns out they were actually taping when all this happened. Colossal good luck. No, they were just screwing around. It was dusk and they were fooling around with the lighting. Look, Bruce, everybody knows I’m not in any danger. They try to help protect the people around me. Yeah, they got everything. You’ll get a copy here in a little bit. Sure. Hang on a sec. Thanks Jim. Oh man. Sorry, I was kinda dry. You want some Bruce? Ok. So I was riding in the front so Mark could stretch out in back. We were all pretty tired and nobody was talking or anything. I was just staring ahead, not really looking at anything. Then I noticed this . . ah . . kind of a ball of what looked like fog or something. Right, it looked like a little cloud for a second, forming out of nowhere. I know. Looks like you get the scoop. And it’s all on tape. Well, you’ll see it for yourself. It was four or five meters around when it started and in two seconds it collapsed into the form of the Avatar. I’ll get to that in a second. Let me just go through it once quickly. I was staring at the road and suddenly the Avatar materialized right in front of me, exactly where I was looking. He was facing the other direction and strolling along the middle of the lane like a tourist. The driver had to slam on the brakes to keep from ramming into him. No, thank God, not as far as I know. You can’t imagine. There’s always the chance we missed someone but the word I got is that none of the surrounding rooms were occupied. I was told these are mostly offices, all closed this late. They found two bodies in each room, and a rocket propelled grenade launcher. The RPGs had exploded. The rooms were a mess, as you can imagine. No, no, no. Don’t ask me that. Right. Well yeah. There’s more. Let’s get back to the action for a moment. The Hammer appears. Things start blowing up. But after the cars went off, he was still standing there. I’m getting to that. Ok. Anyway, once the smoke from the blasts rolled away, he was just standing there in the light of the burning cars. You’ll see it on the tape. His head was cocked like he was listening for something. I thought there was still something up. I was really ready for more explosions but instead of keeping my head down like a sane man, I jumped out of the car. I couldn’t help myself. Come on, you’re a reporter, what would you have done? At least you hope so, right? So, anyway, he’s about twenty meters ahead, standing between me and the burning car bodies. He kept looking the other way until I got about halfway to him, then he turned and looked at me. Oh, yeah. It was very similar, but not as intense. I think the distance helped a lot. He was backlit by the fires and I couldn’t see into his head the way I have before but it certainly stopped me dead in my tracks. My experience has always been a kind of involuntary paralysis. My body goes rigid and some part of my consciousness falls into that big pit. Accompanied by gut wrenching panic of course, but this was different somehow. It could have been the fact I couldn’t see him very well, but I don’t think so. I was still terrified but it seemed like a kind of mortal terror, something with human dimensions. I have no way of knowing for sure, but it just seemed like he wasn’t using whatever mojo he usually cranks on me. We stood there for a few seconds like that. I guess he had a free moment since he’s taking a break. Time will tell. At least we know he’s still in the neighborhood. Makes sense. Good thing for me they were wrong. Well, it was clean. Eight assassins, all dead. Three potential victims, all alive. No human collateral damage. And I got to have a nice chat. Oh, yeah. I don’t know that I remember exactly. The video is from inside a car, I couldn’t hear anything except the explosions. Maybe somebody can read my lips. I think it was something like, who the hell are you? That’s what I want to know, don’t you? Nope. Well, there’s always Murphy’s Law. Someday we’ll find out he’s been broadcasting continuously on some wavelength we overlooked. Don’t think I haven’t considered it. Yeah, everything buried in my subconscious somewhere. Of course. Psychologists, psychiatrists, hypnotists. Now you do. Obviously. Oh, please. Well, of course. But the Hammer doesn’t show up at their parties, does he? That’s a good point. A very good point. But I’ve been cast in the role and I’m not above using status to put an end to a stupid argument. Come on Bruce, opinions are like what? You know what I’m after. Opinions are like . . Bruce, we’re standing in the smoking ruins of the temporal shadow of the Avatar, don’t go fucking PC on me. Opinions . . And who has them? And they all . . And my point is . . Exactly. But I don’t exclude myself. I typically interpret the obvious, I’m just closer to the action. Don’t apologize, you’re doing fine. You know how much I hate sycophants, you’re here because you don’t go weak in the knees in the presence of the prophet. Sure, I’m ok with that, I’m only a man. No, no, reverence is waaay too strong. Maybe a touch of, I don’t know, deference. There you go. I have no idea. Jim? Oh, yeah. I spoke to the Avatar and he returned whence he came. Just in reverse. Poof. Right. Kind of dispersed. I expect you’ll see it two or three million times. Oh, I can’t wait. It’ll get analyzed a thousand different ways by the best instruments and technicians in the world. Sure. Well, I don’t really know anything I’ve haven’t already told you, so I think it’s time for me to head for that undisclosed location before the crowd gets any bigger. Oh, I’ll be there. We’ll have lots to talk about. Suit yourself. I plan to be unconscious. Ok. See you tomorrow, Bruce.
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