Chapter 1
“Wrapped in the cloak of night, with stars falling from my hair, I move you…” Loxy- Dreams of Firmament
The parking lot for Giant Eagle seemed surprisingly empty. Jon stretched out his arm to reveal a smart watch. His army jacket was something Abercrombie and Fitch might have produced. The watch was something Steam Punk-ish, with wide leather band and gadgetry that one wouldn’t associate with a watch. It was syncing. It had full bars and orientated him quickly enough. Star City, West Virginia, United States, March 20th, 2020- 20:11. Seeing ‘West Virginia’ triggered a song, “almost heaven…” The store closed at 9. Jon Harister proceeded into the store, baffled by someone passing him wearing a mask. Just inside the door, and before he could select a cart- an employee addressed him.
“Sir? You can’t come in without a mask,” she said. She was plump woman. Her eyes seemed exhausted. The rest of her expression was hidden, but her tone conveyed irritation.
“I am sorry, what?” Jon asked.
“What do you mean what?”
“Why do I have to wear a mask?” Jon asked.
“Where have you been? Mars?”
Jon bit on lower lip. She rolled her eyes as if she were dealing with another ‘idiot.’ She pulled out a mask in a protective plastic. “Three dollars.”
“Can I pay at the register?” Jon asked.
“You don’t have three dollars?”
“I have a card,” Jon said.
She handed him the mask. “Don’t forget. I am watching you.”
Jon accepted the mask, opened it up, and put it on. He put it on in a way that suggested he had experience wearing masks. The gatekeeper let him pass, and he was pretty sure she was disparaging him as he went way, something about crazy white people who think they’re immune. “You’re going to be the death of me…” He pushed into the store, finding place markers taped to the floor- arrows on the floor, and ‘X’ marks 2 meters a part, and signs that instructed people to keep their distance. The first aisle he wanted to hit required him to flow against the arrows, and being particularly rule bound, he found he was unable to proceed, even though the item he wanted was in sight. He went around. He had to stop to avoid entering the space of the people in front of him.
“Crazy times, eh?” Jon asked, fishing for information while trying to seem casually informed.
They looked at him, but didn’t talk to him. Their masks were cloth and hid their expressions. They pushed on. He proceeded down the aisle, finding the shelves rather sparse. He put three bottles of ketchup in cart. He was disappointed at the absence of tomato soup. He took what soup he could, refried beans, and canned stew. A little concerned he wound back around and grabbed crackers and the item he had wanted- cigar pretzels with extra Himalayan salt. He took several peanut butter cookies packs from the end of the aisle, and then came around to the frozen section. He emptied candy trays into his basket. He made his way the Pizza Rolls. He had intended to buy them all out, but he didn’t expect there would only be three bags. He took them. He filled the cart with frozen pizzas, corndogs, and assortment of ice cream.
There was one checkout lane opened. The person was complaining about no toilet paper. The cashier assured him, they get supplied every day but Thursday, and it’s gone before nine am. He complained, took his items, and departed. Jon eased forward, and began placing items on the counter. Gate keeper came by and told the cashier to charge him for the mask. The cashier met his eyes. She looked at him strangely. He affirmed he did acquire the PPE. Once his cart was empty, he positioned it at the end of the counter and began bagging his own items.
“Sorry, couple employees got it, and several others quit,” the cashier said. “I am filling in from another store.”
“Got it?” Jon asked.
“The virus,” the Cashier said.
“Oh,” Jon said. “This is not the Walking Dead world, is it? Lots of zombies?”
“No,” she chuckled. She paused. “I feel like I know you.”
“Umm, well, I just have one of those faces- behind a mask,” Jon said. He had never been here before. He had deliberately chosen this store due to having never been in this area before.
“Lower your mask,” she said.
“You wouldn’t take the mask off old lone ranger, would you?” Jon asked.
“Nor would I spit into the wind, but I am curious,” Heather said.
“Curiosity killed the cat,” Jon said.
“Satisfaction brought it back. 8 more lives to go. Seriously, what, are you attached to your secret identity?” Heather asked.
“Like batman,” Jon said.
“Like Ben Affleck batman, or Christian Bale…” Heather asked.
“Oh. Please. George Clooney, hands down,” Jon said.
“Show me,” Heather said.
“I’d hate to get you in trouble,” Jon said. “You might fall for me.”
“I’ll risk it, George,” Heather said.
“You’re the curious one, George,” Jon said.
“Curious George? Nice,” Heather said. She pulled her mask down, revealing a pleasant smile. Jon suspected she was in her thirties, and accurately guessed 176cm. She was thin, but seemed reasonably fit. Her dirty blond hair was short and wild. Not spiked with gel, but might have been earlier in the day. “I am Heather.”
Jon lowered his mask, letting it hang around his neck. He appreciated the air not filtered by a mask.
“Jon!” she said before he could identify himself.
Jon was surprised. “We’ve met?”
“We dated. Okay, it was like one date, but, yeah… You don’t remember me?”
“I would have remember someone…”
“Eight years ago, Dallas Texas, the Ice House… The Dallas Stars were playing.”
Jon stared at her. Items piled at the end of the belt.
“I…”
“Fell off the face of the earth?” Heather asked.
“I would not have ghosted…”
“You didn’t,” Heather said. “I made a mistake.”
Jon returned to bagging things. Heather finished sorting and helped. Everything back in the basket, Jon came back to the card reader. He inserted the card. He looked at Heather to see she was still looking at him.
“I remember you being really nice,” Heather said.
“Are you flirting with him?”
Heather closed her eyes and cursed under her breath. She turned to face the man at the end of the counter. He was not wearing a mask. Jon casually looked for the gatekeeper. Not seeing her worried him.
“You’re violating your restraining order,” Heather said. “My manager will call the police.”
“You’re flirting with that old guy!” he said. “What, you prefer old dick?”
“Please, leave,” Heather said.
“Fuck you,” he said, pulling a revolver out of his jacket pocket.
Jon blinked as the gun was being discharged. The sound that would have reverberated through the store was loud in an unusual way- sustained- with bullets moving slowly, Matrix simulation stile. Heather’s eyes didn’t seem to reflect the reality of her impending doom yet. Jon responded without thinking. He awkwardly reached across and grabbed Heather’s arm with one hand, his grocery cart handle in the other- and the world ‘flipped’ to a new interface.
Jon and Heather were no longer standing in a Giant Eagle. They were not quite in the center of a room, as that space was occupied by a hexagonal shaped pillar that rose from the floor to the domed ceiling. The floor space was empty. The floor was tiled with large hexagons. The cart with groceries rolled a little, pulling away from Jon’s hand, wheel catching on a tile. There was a couch. There were television monitors, showing quiet nature scenes and rain. Heather pulled free of his reach. The world returned to normal speed and her voice became intelligible.
Heather’s mouth was opened, but nothing else came out. A ghost materialized. She was barefoot and dressed in an ancient Greek Toga that fell asymmetrically above mid thighs, with the sleeves hinting at winglets. There was a gold belt that snugged an impossible small waist.
“Oh, we have company,” she said.
“Eos, this is Heather. Heather, Eos,” Jon said.
Heather retreated, but there was no apparent way to escape. Eos looked to Jon for an explanation.
“I’ll explain later,” Jon said. “I need to sleep.”
“I see that. You should head for the couch,” Eos said.
“No,” Jon said, going towards his room. “Heather, would you put away the groceries please. Eos, acclimate her.”
The door to his room opened by proximity sensor. He was inside his room and falling before he made it to the bed against the far wall. The door closed.
Eos looked to Heather. She smiled. “I told him he should have gone to the couch… Heather, Heather, Heather. I really like your name, Heather.” She motioned with a hand, and an artifact rose from the floor. Several hexagon tiles had risen to reveal a freezer and refrigerator had been hidden in the floor. One of the sides looked like a dispenser for water. “Freezer is facing you. Refrigerator other side.”
“I am not a fucking maid,” Heather said.
“Oh, that’s nice to know,” Eos said. “He is fairly tidy for a man. He even wipes the toilet clean.”
“Where am I?”
“Oh,” Eos said, frowning. “You really should ask Jon.”
Heather went towards the room Jon had disappeared into.
“After he wakes up,” Eos said.
Heather couldn’t find the seam to the door. She turned to Eos. “We’re in a basement under the Giant Eagle.”
“No, but… No, not even a good guess,” Eos said.
“Please tell me this isn’t no ‘Kiss the Girl,’ or some ‘Split’ shit situation,” Heather said.
“Oh! No. No! Jon does get kind of lonely sometimes, but no, that’s not his style,” Eos said. “Then again, he hadn’t prepared me for him bringing someone back to the lair, so…”
“Wait. He’s really batman?” Heather said.
Eos laughed. “That’s funny. No.”
“Let me out of here,” Heather said.
“Oh, I definitely can’t do that,” Eos said.
“Let me out!”
“I hear that you’re angry, and you want to leave…” Eos said.
Heather threw a ketchup bottle from the cart- it went through Eos as if she were a ghost and hit a wall. It didn’t break. She proceeded to throw more items. She flipped the cart, she tossed pillows from the couch, she tried to break the monitors, and on failing to break anything, she opened the refrigerator and began tossing stuff. Eos retreated to the wall, leaned back and simply watched it play out. She seemed amused.