Adam Oster's Blog, page 41

Book Review: Supervillainous by Mike Leon

Quick note:  This book is part of the Indie Superhero StoryBundle at www.storybundle.com/heroes along with The Legend of Buddy Hero.  But I promise that has nothing to do with my review…just that it happens to be yet another excuse to go out and grab this amazing group of books for such a low low price.

 

Superheroes get all the glory, don’t they?  I mean, how often do the villains really get the time to shine.  They don’t have their names listed on all the comic books out there.  Heck, even when they do get to be at the forefront, they’re generally being forced to do things that they wouldn’t normally do…you know, like save the world and stuff.

So, when I say that Baron Hammerspace, the main character of Supervillainous, gets his opportunity to really shine as a supervillain, you can rest assured that this is one of those rare moments where we get a true glimpse at the glory that is a real supervillain.

This book is written from the perspective of a fictionalized version of the author.  He’s taken on a journalistic position to see what life is like as a supervillain.  And the villain he chooses to follow, well, he might have just figured out how to bypass the whole “good always wins” thing.

What follows is an amusing ride through the adventures of a villain who is constantly being bugged by those pesky do-gooders in bright and shiny spandex.  But this villain doesn’t let anything get in the way, not even other villains.  No, in fact, he’s got only one thing in mind…villainy.

Honestly, this was quite the fresh task on the supervillain genre (a much smaller subset of the superhero genre).  Too often do we see villains in stories like this where they have an ulterior motive which is much more redeemable.  Not here.  Nope.  Not a chance.  Baron Hammerspace is here to chew bubblegum and take over the world.  And he’s all out of gum.  Or something like that…

The book is filled with quite the creative takes on superheroes and supervillains as well.  These aren’t heroes with simple powers to be invisible or be really strong, or fast, or whatever.  No, these are people like The Tether, who can fly, as long as some part of him is touching the ground.

The story itself seems to take something of a backseat from time to time in the event of trying to make a joke out of the tropes of superheroes, but that doesn’t really detract from the book itself, as it really is a fun ride getting a chance to see things from the opposite side of the food chain.

And even though he’s really really bad, you’ll still find yourself rooting for the bad guy.

Get this amazing book (and several more like it) right now at Storybundle.com

Or, if you wait too long and the bundle is done with, you can also get it at Amazon.

Fat Mogul vs. The Update – August 2015 edition

Hey folks, you might have noticed I’ve been a bit more active on the site already this week than I have in the past few months.  Unfortunately this has nothing to do with how active I’ll be as time moves forward.  Just so happens that I’m really trying my hardest to use the opportunity I’ve been given with the StoryBundle Buddy’s in to try to keep my books flying off the shelves once the whole deal is over…and, you know, just that I happened to have a book to review as well (and should again tomorrow).

But, I figured that it’s been a while since I’ve let you all know what’s going on in the world of Adam Oster, Adventure Novelist, so, it’s about darn time, amiright?

I’m going to start by being completely honest with you.  These past few months, you know, since March when I decided to become a free agent, have not been filled with much for writing.  In fact, I’ve been working on first edits for The Agora Files 2 since then and haven’t even gotten to the halfway point on that (for the record, I’m starting on edits again today, but there have been a few other things that have cropped up, as you will soon see).  The kids have taken a butt-load of my energy, making it difficult to even want to sit down and write most days during the couple hours I can nab for myself during their naptimes.

But, I’ve been getting better about it.  And I’m really thinking that, especially with school starting up soon for two of the three of them, I should be able to get right back into the thick of it.

So…yeah, official updates.

Well, first of all, like I mentioned on here on Monday, Buddy’s being sold in this month’s StoryBundle, and it’s going pretty darn well.  In fact, I’m seeing enough of a return coming off of this, that I should have some nice seed money to put into further promoting my books.  No details on what all that might consist of yet, but I’m working on some ideas.

Second: One of the things that has been keeping me from working on The Agora Files part 2 is that I’ve been working on a bit of a murder mystery.  It’s one of those dinner theater type things that are filled with all sorts of sexual innuendo and completely annoying actors ruining  your meal time with interactive theatre.  Why is this important?  Well, because my friends out at the Eau Claire Children’s Theatre are putting this completely new script, first draft just finished on Monday, on for performances this coming January.  That’s right, for those of you who look at my novels and say TL:DR, well, now you can sit and have a meal and have some folks act out the insane ideas that occur within my mind.  Full disclosure:  While I may have done a hefty dose of the typing, this was, by no means, a solitary job.  I worked with several great individuals to put this sucker together.  And it’s going to be amazing.

Third:  Another item, which I know I’ve mentioned on here before, is the upcoming anthology of dread that I was asked to write a piece for.  I went a little weirdly artsy for this piece, but I think it’s an interesting addition to some stories that are much more horror-filled than my own work-place related short story.  More details on this as they develop.

Those  are really the only writing-related things I’ve had going on since March.  I’ve got a lot I wish I was working on, but they’ve all been taking a back seat to playing Stay at Home Dad, a job I’ve been really enjoying, even if it’s kept me from doing as much writing as I would like.

Oh, and about Agora Files 2.  I still can’t make any promises on when it will finally hit shelves.  I’m really hoping that I’ll be able to plow through my work on it now that my other projects have been completed, but I really can’t say anything for certain.  But I can say that it’s an amazing novel and I really can’t wait to get it into the hands of all of you out there as soon as possible.  Before the end of the year, for certain!

Have fun out there!

Book Review: Heathers by Various Authors

Short story collections are becoming quite popular among the Indie Author community, mostly because it ends up being a great way for authors to pool their fanbase resources and try to get more people to like them all collectively.

Heathers appears to be one such book.

I love these books.  They tend to be rather inexpensive and they are a great way to try and locate new favorite authors, seeing as the indie author market is so vast and the skill levels of the authors are so varying.  Of course, that exact statement can be made as a point against such anthologies.

I personally believe that short story collections presented with works from multiple authors can really only be reviewed one story at a time.  There will be good stories, there will be bad ones.  It’s difficult to review such a collection as a whole without recognizing the fact that some pieces are ‘meh’ (or worse, while some are okay (or, hopefully, much much better).

The case for Heathers is that the good stories are amazing, and the bad ones fall more along the meh lines.  In fact, reading through the first 2 or 3 stories, I found myself thinking that this collection might somehow buck the dangers of various author anthologies and really knock it out of the park.  But it turns out that this was more due to appropriate realization of quality and the decision to put those first.  But like I said, the lesser tales in this collection aren’t terrible.  They are all very well written and, considering this is a collection aimed at trying to connect to the school aged children in each of us, will probably connect much more deeply with other readers.  But I can say that there are some great pieces in here as well, and if there were any reason to check out a collection like this, it’s to find those gems that hide in among the rest.

 

All in all, a very worthwhile read!

Buy it now!

Fat Mogul vs. The #SuperBundle!

I think I mentioned on here a while back the exciting fact that I was to be included in an upcoming bundle sale at www.storybundle.com.  Well, as of last week, the sale’s gone live, and I couldn’t be more excited about the folks that I’m bundled with.  I mean, there are exciting folks like Jack Wallen Mike Leon, and Charlie Wood, but then there’s the infamous Mur Lafferty having a book thrown in there as well.  It’s pretty incredible to be lumped in with these folks, and there’s some other amazing authors to read as well.

Look at ’em!:

And you know what’s even more exciting?  That I’m finding new books for myself to read.  I’ve already begun reading Mike Leon’s Supervillainous and am greatly enjoying his take on supervillainy.  And his supervillain’s name, Hammerspace, keeps bringing me back to wanting to write my fantasy novel on the subject of the mysterious dimensional goofiness that is Hammerspace.

 

But here’s the thing.  I need you to spread the word.  You see, it’s going like gangbusters, but this is my moment to really ensure that me and my books get some solid forward momentum.  I’ve already gotten hundreds of new readers with my book in their hands thanks to the fantastic folks at StoryBundle, but I must have them all!

 

So, if you could share this with any and everyone you know, it’d be great.  Besides, you’ll be helping your friends out by letting them know about these books they can get for as cheap as $3.

 

Look at the options available!

I, Crimsonstreak by Matt Adams

Alpha Male by Joshua Corey Mays
The Legend of Buddy Hero by Adam Oster
Action Figures by Michael Bailey

 

Even better, if you pay $12 or higher, you unlock four more titles, which include:

Shero by Jack Wallen
The Strike Trilogy by Charlie Wood
Supervillainous by Mike Leon
Playing For Keeps by Mur Lafferty

Get your bundle now! And get one for your friend.  Or tell them to buy their own!  Whatever you do, get the word out.  For the indie nation!

Book Review: St Rage by Karen Eisenbrey

I received this book in exchange for an honest review…

…but I have to admit that I would have paid at least double the asking price based on the enjoyment I had off it.

St Rage is a fairly simple story.  Girl is lonely and invisible, girl gets all she wants and lives happily ever after (well…sort of).  But, of course, that wouldn’t really make for all that great of a story (read: Cinderella).  So, throw in some questionable super powers, a rock band, and a tiny amount of action, and you’ll find yourself in the midst of St Rage, quite possibly the best told superhero origin story I’ve ever read.

And it’s a short.

Honestly, I’m still amazed, 20 hours after finishing reading the book, at how well this compact tale delivers all that a full-fledged novel would, and it does so with about 30 minutes worth of reading.

Of course, you come out of the read wishing it kept going, but that’s not because of any fault of the story itself, but of the sheer wonder that is Barbara (I believe that was the main character’s name, I apologize if I’m remembering incorrectly) and how amazingly perfect everything about her is.

 

I know, I’m coming off more than overly praiseful here, but the truth of the matter is that I absolutely adored this book, and I’m eager to dig into the other stuff Eisenbrey’s got out on the market, which looks like, at this point, is yet more short fiction hiding out in author collections.  Here’s hoping that St. Rage finds an excuse to tell a full-length story, because there’s so much more about this world Eisenbrey has created that I want to know about.

Buy it now! (it’s only 99 cents!)

Book Review: Promise of Mercy by Kurt D. Springs

I received a copy of this book from the fantastic people at iRead book tours in exchange for an honest review.

 

Promise of Mercy is actually the second book in a series of books by the author, but I was assured when being sent this book that knowledge of the events of the first book were not important for being able to enjoy this book.  And for the most part, I believe this to be true.  There are a couple things that came up often that I’m guessing were more appropriately described in the previous chapter of this saga that I still feel aren’t quite fully emerged ideas within my head.

But those were all rather small things, things that my own background in science fiction allowed me to make up, even if I would question whether or not my version of the idea was actually matching up with the author’s intent.

However, this title is much larger than minor issues with descriptions.  This novel is a sweeping action piece that is located directly in the center of a major dynamic shift of an entire population of planets.  That’s right, planetS, plural.  Right away at the beginning we are introduced to the revived Founders, the people who centuries prior had actually genetically crafted the beings that would become the population (or at least most of it) that we were talking about a couple sentences ago.  They’ve been re-awakened, as part of a plan they laid out upon their deaths, and aren’t exactly happy with what they see has been done with their creation.

 

But it doesn’t just stop there, because this leads into a much larger conflict that has been brewing for years, which just so happens to have been nearing a giant battle right as these Founders came up for air.

 

It’s a huge book, it’s greatly high concept, while also being some fantastic hard science fiction.  And, I’ll admit that for the most part I enjoyed it.  I mean, there’s some really fun stuff going on here.  There’s an interesting juxtaposition of science and magic within all the science fiction-y action.  It’s all quite clever.

And this book doesn’t really stop the action.  The heroes of the tale seem to constantly be on the move to stopping the next issue in order to stay on top of everything and keep the world the way they need it to be.

And here is where my one real issue comes into play.  Although the book is action-packed, the action can get rather slow.  I can’t quite put my finger on it as to whether it’s an issue with the prose or with the plotting of the action or what, but often I found myself disinterested at rather exciting moments in the narrative.  But, of course, that could have been more of a personal issue with my problems with heavily political titles than it really was an issue with the writing itself.

All the same, it’s a fun/fast read and if you have any fun with hard science fiction titles, I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of this one.

Buy it now!

 

Book Review: Blackbeard’s Revenge by Jeremy McLean

I had the privilege of reading the first book in this series, Blackbeard’s Freedom, not too long back, and really enjoyed it, albeit with some rather minor distractions.  So, you can imagine my excitement when Jeremy contacted me asking me if I would be willing to read and review the second one.

DISCLAIMER: I did receive a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Blackbeard’s Revenge starts up about a year after the first book left off.  And things weren’t looking especially bright for Edward Thatch and his merry crew of buccaneers.  And things don’t seem to have gotten much better over the course of the time that occurs between books.

Blackbeard, the man who rides on the majestic ship FREEDOM, as much more than merely a metaphor for his own personal quest, seems to have given up on the idea of being free.

Good thing pirates don’t care about things like that!

Okay, let’s get down to the gritty.  This book is a ton more polished than the first one, and is incredibly fast-paced, considering how long of a book it is.  And although there’s a ton that happens within the covers of this title, it never seems to get bogged down with too much at any given moment.  In fact, Edward seems to be rather singularly focused at most times in the novel, giving him a rather Ahab-esque vibe, which, to be fair, is probably the point.

We see Edward’s progress towards being the captain he’s supposed to be, but also, more than anything else, see his failures, many of which come back to bite him in the whatsits, some more I’m guessing will do so in future tales of his adventures.

But in the end, this book is really all about family, and how sometimes, you just have to fight for your family, even if the battle seems completely doomed to failure.

This is a spectacular book, one that I think you absolutely should read if you have any interest in pirate fiction.  Or action.  Or adventure.  Or…really, just read it, unless all you like are Harlequins (in which case, what are you doing reading this review even?)

Seriously.  It’s a load of fun.

But it now!

Book Review: Schrödinger’s Caterpillar by Zane Stumpo

I came across this book ages ago when I first started hanging out on a site for authors.  Well, actually, to be more precise…I came across this trailer.  I’d embed it, but since it’s slightly ‘rude’ as the author puts it, I’ll let you choose if you want to go out and check it out.  For me…it really sold me on the book.

Of course, at that time, the book wasn’t yet released, and only available to read on the site, which was rather annoying to use…so it fell by the wayside.

Until I randomly remembered its existence.

And I’m quite happy I did.

Schrödinger’s Caterpillar starts out feeling a lot like a bad Douglas Adams rip-off.  I’ll admit that in the early pages, I quickly found this to be an unhappy thought, that this author was really just trying to take Adams’ style of going off on random tangents about subjects that may or may not matter at all to the actual story.

But as I read on, I realized I couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Stumpo’s style here is incredible.  Mixing fact with fiction, melding the two to a point where one might get confused about which parts of the science-y bits are actually based on truth and which parts aren’t.

But…none of that is all that important anyways, because the true beauty here is the actual tale of Graham Paint, a seemingly witless man who finds himself basically capable of choosing which life, out of his possible lives he could have made it to, he’d prefer to end up in.  Or…just try one on for a while.  Or just, you know, screw around with the lives of his alternative selves.

But…even that’s not important, because all of this comes down to just one incredibly zany adventure where you really don’t know what’s going to happen next because the narrator himself can just pick and choose which universe he might decide things reside in next.

There are many times throughout the course of the book where it seems like it’s about to go down some rather predictable sci-fi roads…only to have the entire thing turned on its head and totally new aspects of the story come to light.

Needless to say, I greatly enjoyed this read, and although I’m not sure the story leaves much room for a sequel, I’ll be quite interested to see what Stumpo does with it.

Buy it now!

GET MY BOOKS FOR FREE!

Like some sort of crazed car salesman, I’m going all out here and am completely willing to give you my books for free.

You see, I need reviews.  Badly.  Reviews are what cause other readers to decide which books to buy.  Even bad reviews (sometimes especially bad reviews) can help sell a book.

Which is where you come in.  I will give you a free electronic copy of my book if you’ll promise to leave a review after.  And you know what’s even better about that deal than it sounds?  I’m terrible at following up with people to make sure they leave reviews, meaning the only thing that will cause you to leave a review after you read will be the crippling guilt for reading one of my books for absolutely no charge whatsoever.

I’m serious here folks.  I desperately need reviews.  And although I’m not a fan of the hard sell (I mean, seriously, if you really don’t want to read my books, I get it.  Don’t read them.  There’s a ton of folks out there who would rather watch television than read words.), I will definitely do some pleading.

But this offer doesn’t just go for you, the person reading this post right now.  This post goes for anyone.  You know someone who likes to read?  Send ’em my way.  Or, just send me an e-mail asking for the file and you can forward it to them, in case they’re the introvertive type who don’t like sending out e-mails to folks they don’t know.

And like every good infomercial, THAT’S NOT ALL.  Because this time, I’m willing to work with some hard copy books as well.  Now, I can’t really afford to buy you all copies of my books, but I can afford to hook you up with them at cost.  At approximately 5 bucks a book, you can have the full Adam Oster collection for a mere $25.  If you’re in the Chippewa Valley (that’s Wisconsin for you non-CV folks), I’ll get it to you somehow.  If you’re elsewhere, there’ll be some shipping charges on top of that, but it’s still going to be a whopping discount over what I have to charge through amazon (which is currently about $15 per book).  Of course, if you’re in the Chippewa Valley, I’m always more than willing to lend out one of my own personal copies as well.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!  Because, I’m so much in dire need of reviews right now, I’m willing to take things another step further.  You tell me what I need to do to close this deal.  You looking for someone to join your team trivia team, well, I’ll have to clear it with my wife, but you’ve got it.  Need someone to watch your kids for a couple minutes while you make a quick trip out to the convenience store?  Well, my schedule’s pretty busy, and I don’t have a teleporter, but maybe we can work out something through Skype?

But seriously, I could really use your help.  And if you’re one of those folks who have been interested, but not really wanting to fork out the dough for an indie author, I totally understand it.  There’s a ton of terrible authors out there who really don’t deserve your money.  And I’m willing to prove that I am by asking for no money whatsoever (unless you’re getting a paperback off me, in which case, I’m asking for a little bit of money).

Help an author out.  Get a free book (or 5).  Perhaps enjoy some time reading out under the sun this summer.  All you gotta do is send me an e-mail at adam@fatmogul.com, or a comment here, or a message on facebook or twitter or whatever.

Seriously…I’m going shameless here.

Here are the details on the five books I’ve currently got available for your reading pleasure:

THE LEGEND OF BUDDY HERO: Superhero stories take a hard turn to the left with this book.  We’ve all seen origin stories time and again.  I like to consider this one a re-origin, where we find ourselves with a hero who really shouldn’t be a hero any longer.

THE AGORA FILES: When I wrote this book, I had one purpose in mind.  Action!  Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a deep history hiding within the dystopian world here, as well as some engaging characters.  And how many books actually come with a built-in soundtrack?  Perfect for young adults and those who wish they still were young adults.

DADDY OF THE DEAD: Not into long books?  This one should take you only a couple hours.  What happens when a father is faced with the zombie apocalypse when his daughter is hours away?  Take an afternoon and find out!

THE RISE OF THE FAT MOGUL: Sequel to THE LEGEND OF BUDDY HERO.  Like every good superhero sequel, this book has to up the stakes, both in humor and in action.  Watch and Buddy and his crew finally get to work as a team, while also facing off against yet another series of threats.

THE LONG CHRON: Time traveling con artists?  Do I really need to say more?  Okay, fine, how about a mysterious Wizard with a penchant for ancient relics?  Honestly, I think this is one of my most imaginative pieces, and is great for young adults!

Fat Mogul vs. Quitting

In case it hasn’t somehow been entirely obvious for the past couple months…I’ve been struggling a bit with somehow including writing into my standard routine, now that I’ve been operating as a stay at home dad.  It’s been there…but barely.  Of course, one part that has been there has been my blog writing…something that I’ve been consistently struggling with actually having something to say, causing me to even cut back on how much blogging I’m doing as well.

 

To make a boring story short, after a great deal of soul searching, something I’ve been doing a lot of in general lately, I’ve come to the conclusion that blogging’s going to have to take a back seat for a while.  I’ve loved writing here, and I’ve definitely spent more time on this absolutely pointless blog than I’m sure I should have.  But my writing time is a hot commodity right now, and that means that this little side hobby has to take a back seat in order to ensure that the main hobby actually gets its day.  It’s been over a month since I’ve last done anything on Agora Files Part 2…and I’ve been aching to finish that book so I can work on the multitudes of titles I’ve got in store next.

So…yeah, for now, blogging’s taking some time off.  I don’t know for how long, don’t know in what capacity I’ll return to it here, if ever.  But right now, I’ve got a lot going on and I need to make sure that the focus stays on the appropriate things.  And blogging has never been much more than experimental writing for me…something I’ll just have to put more into my books…;-)

But, I don’t want to make today’s post as boring as all that.  Instead, why don’t I share something I shared on my Facebook page a couple days ago, something which was all but completely overlooked due to the fact that Facebook doesn’t like to show people my posts…The first chapter of The Agora Files Part 2.  I’m really excited about it.  Hope you enjoy!

 

Chapter 1

I scream out in agony after three steps and fall to the ground clutching my side.  Bruno runs to me and kneels down as he places his hand reassuringly on my back.

“Hey, kid. You okay?”

“Yeah,” I grunt.  “Just give me a second.”

“I think you’re going to need more than a second, Cyrus.  Where are you injured?”

Where am I not injured? I think to myself.  Instead of being snarky, I decide to stick with as few words as possible.  “My side,” I groan, lifting my hand enough to show the blood seeping through the thick orange jumpsuit fabric.

“Whoa there, kid,” Bruno says as he jumps to his feet.  “Why didn’t you tell me you were shot?”

“Not here,” I say as I fall onto my back, still holding myself together with my freshly bloodied hands.  “In Cheyenne.”

“What about Cheyenne?”

“The battle.  I got shot in the battle of Cheyenne.”

“What battle?  Cheyenne?”

“Forget it,” I reply, frustrated that he appears more concerned about my words than the hole in my abdomen.

“You’re right, sorry,” he replies as he begins pacing and looking in every corner of the wooded area we are near as though it might contain some hospital or paramedic.  “I guess the first thing we need to do is get that jumpsuit off you so we can see the wound.”

“That’d be a good start,” I agree.  “It hurts too much to lift my arm.  Can you help?”

“Yeah,” he nods his head wildly.  “Yeah, of course I can.”  He stares at me from his position next to the water.

“Now would be a good time!” I yell.  The pain is excruciating, and knowing that we are just seconds away from being caught by the same people we are running from isn’t helping my patience either.  The stitches have obviously ripped apart.  Here’s hoping Bruno’s got some sort of field dressing skills he’s learned during some sort of weird rebel training program or something.  Of course, that’s assuming he is a rebel.  He could be an SP in disguise for all I know.  Or worse.

Bruno rushes to my side.  “Oh, yeah, sorry,” he mutters as his knees slide on the wet grass.  He immediately unbuttons the top half of the bright orange prisoner’s clothes.  I hadn’t been given anything to wear under the jumpsuit, so the wound comes into view immediately.  He gasps in fright and jumps back.

I strain to look down at it and find it surprising how such a little hole could cause so much pain.

“What do we do now?” Bruno asks.  “Do you have some sort of bandage or something in your backpack?”  He runs to my pack before I can even respond.

“No, my bag’s useless,” I answer.  “And I’m guessing you’ve never dealt with a wound in the wild before, huh?”

“No,” Bruno mutters.  “Well, there was that one time I got a paper cut, but–”

“Great,” I frown.  “Well, maybe if we can press something up against it, we can get it to clot or something.”

“We’ve gotta move,” Bruno mutters.  He seems much less confident than the man who had pulled me out of the prison.  “The area will be swarming with SPs, and who knows what else, any second now.”

“Unless you want to carry me all the way to Buffalo, I don’t think we have much of a choice here,” I frown.

“Cyrus,” The Geek whispers through my ear piece.

“What?” I mutter through the pain.

“I didn’t say anything, kid,” the look of fear in Bruno’s eyes grows.

“I can help you.  I’ve got a list of wilderness treatment options,” The Geek continues.  “Are there any pine trees around?”

“How the hell should I know?  Don’t you have eyes on me?” I murmur angrily.

“Cyrus,” Bruno says slowly.  “You still with me, pal?”

“Ask the guy who’s with you then,” The Geek says.  “I’m sure he can tell a pine tree from others.”

“Bruno,” I say looking up.  “Can you find a pine tree for me?”

“Sure, kid,” he says with a sigh of relief.  “They’re all along the bank here.”

“Perfect,” The Geek chirps.  “There should be something that looks like maybe a lump on the tree or something.  If he pops it like a boil, there should be some sap that comes out which we can use as antiseptic.”

“Alright, so, we need pine sap.  Can you do that?’ I ask Bruno.

“Sure.  Be right back.”

Bruno runs off toward the tree line as I continue to cringe in pain.

“Did yourself in good this time, huh Cyrus?” The Geek says sadly.

“What are you talking about?  I had no choice.  I had to run.  I couldn’t have just—“

“Who are you talking to?” Bruno yells back to me.

“Just get me some damned pine sap!” I yell in return.

“Now is that any way to help someone who’s trying to aid you in your escape?” a voice says from above me.

I yelp in surprise as I jump backwards away from the unexpected voice, a difficult thing to do while lying flat on your back.

“Sorry, Mr. Rhodes, I hadn’t intended to frighten you,” the woman says.  Although she seems to have appeared from out of nowhere, I can see her as clear as day.  A six-foot tall blond haired woman wearing a gray-colored suit with a tight knee-length skirt of the same color stands next to me on the bank of the river.  She smirks as she stares down at me, her blue eyes showing brightly against her fair skin. Something about her smile makes me immediately uneasy.

I look to see if Bruno has seen her as well, beginning to fear that I have gone crazy, as he so obviously had started to believe.  He’s taken the whole pine sap thing to heart and is oblivious to the arrival of this new companion.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Rhodes, I assure you I’m as real as your colored friend over there, as well as the hole in your side.”

“Who are you?” I gulp.

“A friend, Mr. Rhodes.”

“I don’t have too many friends.”

The woman laughs.  “Why don’t you just call me, Miss Nile.”

“Telling me your name doesn’t make us friends.”

“Oh, but Mr. Rhodes, I believe I’m most certainly someone who can offer you more than you could ever dream of.  Surely you don’t think it mere happenstance that you were freed from that prison.   Better men than you have died down there.”

“Unless I find some way to get back on my feet and running, I’m pretty sure I’m going to go back there to die fairly fast.”

“That’s why I’m here, Mr. Rhodes, to aid you on your way.”

“You bring an invisible jet out here or something?”

“Unfortunately, my circumstances do not allow me to intervene nearly as directly as that.  Yet, you may find this a useful tool in your healing process.”

A flash of sparkling light goes off next to me and as it subsides an aerosol can appears in its place.

“What is this?” I ask, looking incredulously at the woman, only to see that she has disappeared.  “Geek? What the heck just happened?”

“No clue, Cyrus.  I’ll see what I can dig up.  What’d she give you?”

I pick the can up and look at it.  It is white with one simple line of text on it in blue letters.  “MATRIX-Heal.  Spray on effected area and wait 30 seconds.”

I read it out loud for The Geek.

“Sounds too good to be true,” he says dejectedly.

“What do you mean?” I argue.  “You did just see what I saw, didn’t you?  She just appeared from out of thin air.  If she can do that, I’m sure she’s got a ton of other crazy stuff she can do that we would never dream of.”

“Perhaps, but we know nothing about this woman.  Where did she come from?  Who does she work for?  I can’t say I’m feeling too comfortable about any of this.”

“I just escaped from an underground prison.  There’s not much comfortable about my life right now.”

“Point taken.  Still, I’m not sure we should trust her.” The Geek continues to argue.

“I don’t think we have a choice.  Can you look it up?  MATRIX-Heal?  There’s got to be some sort of info on it, right?”

“Already hitting up the normal circles for something like this.  I’m not finding anything.  I don’t like this, Cy.”

“Too late,” I reply.  “I’ve already been motionless for too long.  I don’t want to go back down to the bottom of that hole, Geek.”

I look the can over, wondering if there might be some other identifying marker that would allow The Geek to verify its use.  Not like it matters.  I’m as good as dead if I stay here, meaning I have to use it.  Besides, why would some mystery woman appear out of thin air to give me something that will kill me?  I’m pretty sure I was already doing a good enough job of killing myself as it was.

I decidedly pull off the cap and spray at the cut in my side.  It instantly foams.

“AAAAAH!” I scream out loudly.  The pain is immediate and intense.  The entire side of my body burns and all I can think of is how badly I want to rip it off me.

“Cyrus!” I hear Bruno yelling as his footsteps near.  The Geek is screaming in my ear as well.  In a panic I swipe at the now-red foam, struggling to get it off me before it melts me into a puddle or whatever it’s trying to do.

“Water!” I scream at Bruno.  He runs to the riverside without a second glance.  I look down and see further foam developing from within the wound.  Pain surges through my body as the foam continues to build.  I keep swiping at it, but as fast as I can remove it, more appears.

Bruno flies back up the slight incline to my side, his hands dripping with water.  He kneels carefully next to me and pours the small amount of water still in his hands onto the continually foaming area above my cut.  The water spreads the foam enough to get a better look.

The cut is gone!

Where once there was a bloody mess of a hole in my side is now simply skin.  Rather nice looking skin, actually.

The pain’s still there, but nowhere near as bad as it was a second ago.

“Where’s the cut?” Bruno asks.

“Holy crap!” The Geek exclaims.  “It’s a Matrix healer!”

“Yeah, that was the name,” I say as I continue to cringe.  Something’s still happening inside that I’m not entirely fond of.

“The name of what?” Bruno asks.

“Right, I get that was the name,” The Geek jumps in, “but I didn’t realize that someone had actually developed it.  It’s only supposed to be a theory, not an actual thing.”

“So, how did I get it?”

“Get what?” Bruno asks.

“I don’t know.”

“You had better figure it out.”

“Figure what out?” Bruno yells.

“Right,” I say, realizing Bruno’s still at my side.  “Let’s do the leg.”

“Do what to the leg?” Bruno asks.

“Spray that foam on it.  If this stuff will actually heal me, we might as well get me back up to shape, right?”

“What foam?” Bruno asks.

“In the can there, right next to you.”

“Where did this come from?”

“Oh,” I stammer, “I guess it must have been in my bag.”

“You told me—“

“I’m obviously delirious, okay,” I cut in.  “Maybe I forgot about it.”

“Okay,” Bruno says.  “How does this work?”

I work on pulling up my pant leg, the pain in my side making it difficult to lean too far forward.  Bruno aids me in my task, revealing the shredded meat that is my left knee cap.  “Okay,” I frown, bracing for the impact.  “Spray it right on there.”

“Is this what you did last time?” Bruno asks.

“Yeah.”

“And it’s supposed to hurt like that?”

“I don’t know, is it supposed to hurt like that?” I ask The Geek.

“How the hell should I know, kid?”

“Since it’s rebuilding tissue in an obscenely fast rate, I’m surprised you didn’t black out from the pain.  I’m guessing this stuff is intended to be used with some severe anesthetics.”

“Great,” I frown.

“Are you talking to me, kid?  Because I keep feeling like I’m missing something important here.”

“Just spray the damned stuff already!” I scream.

Bruno fumbles with the canister before finally pointing it at my knee and spraying it liberally all over the bloodied mess of an area that is my leg.

Immediately, pain courses throughout the limb and I cry out in torment as my body mends itself.  Pounding the ground, as if attempting to injure the earth itself for payment of this torture, I suddenly become aware that I’ve stopped screaming.  And breathing.

“You still alive, kid?” Bruno asks me.

I exhale deeply and look at him.  “Water!” I grunt.

“On it,” he says as he jumps to his feet and bolts back in the direction of the river.

“You doing okay, Cy?” The Geek asks.

“Stop asking me that and just figure out who the hell that woman was.”

“She’s no one, Cy.”

“Don’t tell me that in all of your stupid resources or contacts or whatever that no one has any idea about a woman who can appear out in a cloud of magic sparkles to provide super shaving cream that makes you want to kill yourself.  Check under Healing Fairy or something.”

“I’ve searched everywhere, nowhere have I found a reference matching anything to her description, or even the spray, outside of theoretical future product designs.”

“Well who came up with those theories?  Maybe they have an idea?”

“Here you go, kid,” Bruno says as he reappears at my side and dumps the water on my wound.  “Still talking to yourself, huh?”

“Nng, yeah,” I grunt out as the foam is washed away.  The skin beneath shows and I see my leg looking as beautiful as ever, although completely hairless on the spot that had been healed.

“You think you’re good to go now, kid?”

“Give me a sec, okay?”

Now that the pain is passing, I can just make out the sound of a helicopter in the distance.

“I think a second is about all you’ve got, Cyrus,” Bruno says, his eyes still wide with fear.

“Okay,” I say, forcing every ounce of willpower into my legs to bring me to a standing position.  “Let’s do this.  I’m as good as I’m ever going to be.”

“You want me to carry you?” Bruno offers.

“No, we need to move fast.  Let’s just hope this spray doesn’t have some sort of horrible side effects.”  I walk to my bag and place the canister inside before slinging the bag onto my back.

“Wait, you’re saying you’ve never used it before?”

“Nope.  There’s a first time for everything, though, right?”

“Whatever you say, kid.  You ready?”

“Let’s go!”

 

 

Like I said, I’m excited about it.  There’s some really amazing things coming up for Cyrus, Eve, and The Geek, and I can’t wait for you all to read it.

Have fun out there!