Esper

Esper Chapter 6: Slowly Breaking

Part 1

Nicolaus Thompson sat in bed, astounded and anxious having received zero replies to his multiple messages sent out the night before. (You've got to be kidding me!) Atop the hill, colloquially known as Newtonville Rock, he'd made a discovery! The blue haze of his telekinesis reacted similarly to the Newtonville lights when casted across the ridge! The discovery polluted Nicolaus's head with numerous questions, yet there was no one to discuss them with. "Shit! Why isn't anyone answering?!"

The door to his room sprung open! "Is everything okay?!" In ran the frantic Danielle Thompson, better known as Dani, Nicolaus's younger sister.

"Christ, Dani! Knock!" The young man said as he covered his only partially clothed body in blankets.

"What? I've seen you in your boxers before, it's fine. What were you screaming about?"

"It's not important, don't worry about it."

"Whatever you say. Look, me and Alonso are heading downtown to the drugstore. Do you want a ride into work?"

"Work?" Nicolaus yanked back the blinds to his room. Morning had rolled in under the cover of dark storm clouds, threatening to burst open at a moment's notice. "Ahh! I didn't get nearly enough sleep. Maybe I'll take the day off."

"Suit yourself. I'm out. Call if you need anything."

"Actually, wait! I'll go in! Give me a minute to get changed." Grabbing clothes that'd been strewn about the room, Nicolaus got himself quickly ready for work. (I'll see Amala and Vernon at work, then we can talk in person.)

"Make up your mind, will you; and go take a shower while you're at it."

"Huh? I don't stink!"

"Yeah, I don't care. Go take a shower! You came in late and stayed up all night, didn't you? Shower, now!"

"What are you, Laurence?" Nicolaus obliged.

Part 2

Signage for a recent election remained plastered over the Department of futurists lobby promoting a candidate. Multiple news reporters swarmed pedestrians as they came in and out of the building, pushing cameras and microphones in their faces relentlessly. Nicolaus exited Dani's car with his assertive younger sister calling out. "Hey, if you need a ride home, call!"

"And have a nice day, Nico!" Through his thick Spanish accent, Alonso offered what he believed was a friendly send-off, only managing a chill up Nicolaus's spine.

"Ugh...okay, Alonso, I'll say it once, Nee-co-laus. Let's drop the nicknames for now, okay?" Off he sped into the building ducking around the reporters, leaving Alonso disheartened.

"Don't sweat it, babe. Nick's a bit weird about his name. 'Nicolaus' is a name that's been passed down in our family for a few generations. My Grandfather and our Dad were both named Nicolaus, so Nico was a family nickname." Dani reassured the soon to be father of her child.

Exiting the elevator, Nicolaus dashed over to his desk and signed into his computer, frantically checking through e-mails! Nothing aside from work related messages and spam sat in his inbox. For a second, Nicolaus was furious, but almost as fast the young man calmed himself. (Relax...deep breaths. I'll just go over to Vernon's office in a bit. I'm at work anyway, so I should get some stuff done.) Less than three minutes passed before his patience ran thin. The young man shot up from his workstation and stormed off until he was stopped in the hallway by a co-worker.

"Nicolaus, are you okay?" With a face plagued by concern, an older woman pulled Nicolaus to the side.

"I'm fine, Marisa. Excuse me, I'm busy." He tried to push by, though once again she moved into his path.