Unforeseen Dives – 31a – Dissolution

<< 30b – Panic

The press conference worked like a charm which wasn’t a surprise since I prompt dived myself to migraine so we would obtain this result. I had to nap half an hour to recuperate before I could walk in front of the cameras. At least, the hounds calmed down after hearing me. I didn’t know how long it would hold but for now, the hatred stopped spreading.
I stumbled on my bed more than I lay in it. Exhaustion numbed my body as well as my mind. As a result, my control lapsed every few minutes and I prompt dived. I had to take a taxi back home to avoid a car crash. My muscles were sore from combat training with Rebecca. We both needed to blow off some steam at the end of the day. It also helped sleep reach me as soon as my cheek hit the pillow.
The wake up call roughened me a bit but overall, I felt better this morning than yesterday when the first thing that came to my mind upon reconnecting with the universe was that hundreds of young adults had just been killed. I cleared my throat and picked up the phone on the third ring.
“Good morning, Cassidy,” Daniel soft accent charmed my ear while I fumbled for my glasses, “I’m aware yesterday took a toll on you. Under other circumstances, I would have let you sleep.” My heart skipped a beat. What other bad news reared its ugly head while I rested mine? “In times like these, though, I’m afraid we really need you at the office. How soon can you be here?”
The question automatically brought my gaze to my alarm clock. I realized I was an hour late for work. I muttered a response to Daniel and jumped in the shower. I never forgot to set up the alarm. For an obscure reason, this hiccup upset me. It was rather insignificant compared to the recent events but the fact that I lost control over my routine showed how out of balance I was. Out of balance meant less focused, less efficient.
The whole trail of thought wasn’t logical and I knew I shouldn’t make such a big deal out of my tardiness. Somehow, my mind needed to blame something stupid and burn a bit of hatred in the process.
Before I left for work, I grabbed one of my Japanese haiku books. I breathed out and concentrated on the waltz of lines and the melody of words before my eyes. The Kenji sank into my conscience. A haiku engraved in my memory helped me get through rough times. I used it as an oasis of calm within me and called on it whenever I needed to hit the reset button on my mind. A sponge to clean the slate of my brain when thoughts went awry. Hopefully, that safety net would be necessary.
Rebecca waited for me behind our desk. She rearranged a stack of papers for I assumed to be the umpteenth time. I dropped breakfast in front of her.
“Eat.” I ordered. By the look on her face, she didn’t sleep without her husband by her side. The same thing probably applied to eating.
“Not hungry,” she mumbled, pretending to be intensely occupied by the computer. “There are a few things we need to address before we figure out our next move.”
“Rebecca Jane Lowes,” I insisted. She finally looked at me. I pointed the foam box, then her stomach. Not her mouth, not her in general. Her abdomen and the baby that grew somewhere in there.
Becky nodded and pulled the takeout box in front of her. She smiled when she opened it: western omelet, potatoes and extra sausages. Her favorite. I pushed another box her way.
“I ordered two.” She laughed and a tear rolled down her cheek. The amount of food she ingested always surprised me. Add the fetus’s needs, no matter how small it was at this point, and a little binge to dull the stress, two omelets were perfectly reasonable. I dropped a bag of toasts on the desk and started on my own breakfast: egg benedicts. I had a binge of my own to satisfy. I poured orange juice from the carton I bought on my way in.
“Now we can begin the day.” I waved at the stack of papers on the desk.
“This is the preliminary report from the FBI. They spend yesterday interrogating the survivors and the club’s employees. The gas analysis is supposed to be back today.”
“How many dead end have they unearthed?” Rebecca made a funny face in response. I sighed.
“On another subject, we have Nadina Perez’s trial in two weeks. They want to go through with the Time Square bombing fast to boost the moral of the troops a bit.”
“Fine by me. It’ll remind people of what we did for them.” I patted a dollop of sauce off my chin.
“You also got the first report of the Prompt Diving Training School. The mentally ill are improving but not yet functional. The fresh prompt divers are learning fast though.”
The news breathed life inside of me and brought a smile to my lips. If nothing else, my trials helped make the life of a few psychics better. I just had to ensure they would have the time to live it.
“So regarding the attacks, we don’t have any solid leads.” Rebecca summed up, waving her fork as she spoke. “The whirlpools yield a 50/50 chance of falling into a trap or having a chance to help. We’re psychically blind and suspect our adversary isn’t.” She took a bite of omelet. I chewed on my English muffin. I knew better than to interrupt Becky when she talked tactics. If she sounded like a chief addressing soldiers to explain a mission, it was better to let her finish. “The strategically use of our time is to blind the enemy too.”
“I’ll task my team with finding how the hell we’re going to do that.”
I grabbed the phone and called my ten men squad for a meeting in half an hour. We would have finished breakfast by then. Eating during the meeting wouldn’t send the right message.

31b – Dissolution >>