Free The Spiral Effect by James Gilmartin Page B

wearing those blue, green, and red
plaid shorts she always hated, and a red polo, paces in front of
her.
    The details of the room—floors, walls,
windows—are all a blur. Her focus was completely on the
conversation and Mike.
    —Janine, it’s the best option.
    —To stay here and die?
    —They’re working on a cure.
    —Easy for you to believe. You’re not the one
who’s dying. There’s no cure. Never will be a cure. Our only chance
was to leave with Eric and Mindy and you fucked that up.
    Mike reaches out to touch her.
    —Janine, please.
    Janine shrugs away from him.
    —Don’t touch me! Don’t ever fucking touch me
again!
    Mike shakes for a brief second and then
stiffens. His eyes become blank.
    —Yes dear.
    Janine wipes a tear and looks at Mike.
    —Why are you staring at me like that?
    No answer. Just that blank stare.
    —Mike!
    Blank stare.
    —God dammit Mike stop it! Fucking stop
it!
    Blank stare.
    Janine jumps up and turns away from him,
toward darkened shadows, a memory undefined.
    —Fuck! Sometimes I just wish you’d go shoot
yourself in the fucking head!
    Poor Mike. Not a victim of his own doubt.
And poor Janine. She really had no idea the force of the thought
she had unconsciously planted. A forced command due to the
frustration and anger she felt over his decision for them to stay.
The moment had continually cycled through her conscious thoughts,
like a terrible nightmare before I found her.
    I should check on her soon, before the
calming effects I planted dissipate. I’d hate for her to recycle
that moment, give way to suicidal thoughts again. I’ll have a day
before I need to reconnect with her.
    Find the Cause.
    Find the Source.
    Find the beginning.
    Back to work, but Janine, you’re not
forgotten.
    Maurice Taylor— Sacramento —sub file: Male —sub file: Ages 28-32 —sub file: Carrier —sub file: Memory Type —sub file: Pictures .
    Another easy memory type. Still photos,
paintings, comic book panels, sketches, and oils of the man’s life.
Not as in depth and easy to follow as movies, but not difficult to
organize and interpret. Already dated as well. Maurice hasn’t been
an active psychic for very long, so it’s doubtful he knew all that
his brain held. Wouldn’t have mattered though, seems Maurice had a
proclivity for the telekinetic side of the coin. Fancied himself
becoming a superhero. Even drew up sketches for a costume.
Purchased the material as well.
    Superhero.
    Superhero.
    Superhero.
    Now why does that seem so familiar?
    Find the Cause.
    Find the Source.
    Find the beginning.
    Right. I’ll come to it later. Superhero.
Remember superhero, brain.
    Maurice actually took the opportunity to
help a few people before the disease hit. Slide show of one
splendid snapshot after another of him retrieving little Amanda
Turlington’s cat from a tree.
    Comic book panels.
    Issue #1: Maurice Saves Tommy McGill from
the Bullies.
    Panel 1: Maurice stands tall, hands
on hips, blue cape flapping in the wind while his gold painted belt
buckle glimmers in the sunlight. A giant, yellow M boldly stands
out on his green chest.
     
    MAURICE
    Stand down villains!
     
    Panel 2: Bullies double over
laughing.
    Panel 3: Tommy trembles, unsure if
Maurice is actually helping, or only making the situation
worse.
    Panel 4: Maurice stares down the
bullies with stern justice.
     
    MAURICE
    You like to laugh? Here, laugh at this!
     
    Panels 5-9: Each panel shows one of
the bullies experiencing the effects of Maurice’s TK whack. Pants
fall off Bully 1, Shirt clings to the face of Bully 2, Bully 3’s
shoe strings unlace and tie themselves around his hands, Bully 4
repeatedly slaps himself, and Bully five finds a barrage of dirt
flying in his face.
    Panel 10: Bullies flee, trail of dust
behind them.
    Panel 11: Tommy points and
laughs.
    Panel 12: Maurice puts his arm around
Tommy.
     
    MAURICE (Thought Bubble)
    And the young hero saves another kindred
spirit from the hands of villainy.
     
    The world may not