On Your Own

2B

You would normally drive to his house, but your car is currently in use of a certain freeloader. You don't know why you even try with people sometimes. Sweat rolls down your face as you begin the monotonous, though not exceptionally long journey, towards the needy co-worker.

He's likely just messing with you, you think to yourself. Although you do know that he wouldn't do something like that. Kendall, that brunette bastard, was more akin to a small puppy than a human being. He was as innocent and genuine as they come. The problem with that being he did not take any more responsibility than one.

You approach his patchy and ragged house with an air of suspicion. You have no idea why he had called you over so urgently and there seems to be nothing unusual about the place. That is, other than the obvious. Kendall is even poorer than old-Beta was and rented most of his shabby childhood house out to down-on-their-luck college students. Due to the lack of obnoxious shouting, you assume the students aren't home.

You take care not to apply too much pressure to the duct-taped door and give it two muffled rasps. After a smattering of footsteps, a bleary-eyed, baby-faced not quite thirty-something pulls the door open without much ceremony. "Oh, you," he mumbles.

"Yeah, me. What did you need?"

"Huh?" He rubs his eyes.

"You said there was an emergency. And you sounded pretty sober. At least more than usual."

"Oh. Yes. There was. But it has aaallll been taken care oofff."

"What a satisfying response."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Listen," he says, his eyes beginning to brighten, "I found something that could very well be of grrreeeeaaattt interesssttt to, uh, you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, um, it's inside actually. The 'spooky spirits' brought it ta me, er, yessterday. No this morning"

"Did this have something to do with the problem you were having?"

"Er, actually yes. But I swear. On my life that it is perfectly, absolutely, almost completely safe."

He pulls you into the house which, when you choose to ignore the parts of it claimed by his roommates, is actually quite tidy. After a descension down steps into what you assume was originally supposed to be a storm cellar, you find a place to sit at a plastic fold-up table. Kendall sits on his bed and pulls a silver contraption out from under it. He pushes it into your hands.

"Maya said she made it."

"And that one is?"

"The short one. With the googles. Sort of a eccentric look about her."

"Do you know if they'll come back again?"

He looks almost offended. "I sure hope so. Or else I'm in quite the rut for the next job."

"And that is?"

"Arizona. A popular one too, you see."

"Ah. Well let's hope these Vulcans are somewhere to be found."

He snorts and smiles wider than his default state. "What? That doesn't even make sense!"

You smirk back. "Oh? And what did you call them? 'Spooky spirits'?"

His feet skid across the floor as he swings them. "Scientific, ya know?"

"Yeah."

You are both silent for a moment.

"Evelyn's been talking to me."

Kendall frowns and pulls his legs up to his chest.

"About what?"

"Not about you."

"I sure hope not." He hardly even says it with any venom. His voice is pure defeat.

"I think... I think she's ruining Alpha."

"Wha- Alpha... oh. Um, sorry."

"Yeah. I know. I mean, Alpha's always been a terrible person-"

"You, er- He's not a bad person."

"Yeah, right. But anyway, I feel like ever since we started talking to her, more Alphas keep joining my memories. Like it's already happened two or three times today, and the time before that- well you know all about what happened then."

"I don't know if she would do something like that..."

"Kendall."

"Er, sorry. Maybe Maya's device can help you? I don't entirely know what it does, but she said to give it to you."

You examine the silvery object more closely. It is a tube the length of your palm with five small switches filling its side. What appears to be thick golden netting covers its ends.

"Did she tell you how to operate it?"

"No. Why don't you try flicking a switch?"

You casually press down on the middle switch. The world goes dark.

??? - Wake up.