5 Brotherly Debrief

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Stephen Whiteside
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5 Brotherly Debrief

Post by Stephen Whiteside » Tue Dec 20, 2011 5:59 am

5 Brotherly Debrief

© Stephen Whiteside 20.12.2011

Fear. Fear and confusion. These emotions washed into Hocus’ head well before any coherent thoughts. It was always the same. The emotions always came first.

Hocus was used to some pretty heavy duty emotions from Pocus. He could be up pretty high, but he could also be down very low. That’s just the way he was. This was different, though. He’d never found Pocus as disturbed as he seemed to be now. Almost panicking.

The timing was odd, too. When last he had heard from Pocus a couple of days earlier he was heading off on a ten day trek. He hadn’t expected to hear from him again for a couple of weeks. Pocus didn’t mind meld during his treks. He was usually too consumed by the business at hand, the responsibility of getting a bunch of ‘landlubbers’, as he called the city slickers, safely across a stretch of challenging wilderness.

Emotions washed across Hocus like a tsunami. He winced, but hung in there. Neither had ever pulled out of a mind meld through discomfort before, and Hocus certainly was not about to start now, with his brother in so much evident distress.

It was a long time before coherent thoughts emerged. Or perhaps it wasn’t. Perhaps it just felt that way. Salmon attacking bears. Hocus got that, incomprehensible as it was. Salmon attacking bears. Over and over the same simple message. Can’t stay long. Everybody freaked, myself included. Heading back to base. Grabbing a couple of minutes in the forest here by myself. Need to tell you, but can’t stay long. Need you to know.

Who’s doing it? Who’s responsible? And why?



No idea. Hoping you can help me there. You’re close to Curmudgeon.

Well, I work for them. Wouldn’t say I’m close to them. But why Curmudgeon? Why would they do a thing like this?

They’re responsible for the animals aren’t they?



Yes, they are. But they make money out of them. Why would they want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg?



But they’re responsible for everything bad that happens aren’t they?



No, that’s definitely not true. Though I know a lot of people think it. And they certainly have their faults. Lots of them. But I don’t understand how they could be behind this.

A disaffected employee?



It’s possible, I guess. Like a hacker, you mean. Would take one mighty hacking effort to pull that off, though. Besides, Curmudgeon’s screening processes are pretty good. Their understanding of psychology might be pretty primitive, but it certainly comes to the fore when they protecting themselves. They manage to weed out potentially destructive employees pretty effectively. Curmudgeon test often, and probe deeply. I’ve had a couple of scares myself, and I wouldn’t rate my disaffection very highly at all, really.

Well, who else then?

I have no idea. Honestly no idea. I’d heard about the sharks attacking people. In a strange sort of way, that made sense. But salmon attacking bears? I don’t get that. I don’t get that at all.

Well maybe the salmon will attack people soon, too.

Or the sharks will attack bears.

Cut it out. I haven’t got any time for jokes now. Look. I’ve got to go. I’ll be in touch again soon.

OK. I’ll be here. Stay safe, little brother.

And that was it. Just as suddenly as the feelings had arrived, they stopped again.

Hocus did not stand up straight away. He always liked to stay seated for a couple of minutes after the sessions ended, to allow himself to integrate the new information and gradually return once more to his own world. This time he stayed seated a little longer than usual.
Last edited by Stephen Whiteside on Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
Stephen Whiteside, Australian Poet and Writer
http://www.stephenwhiteside.com.au

croc

Re: 5 Brotherly Debrief

Post by croc » Tue Dec 20, 2011 9:45 pm

...
Why.


...c

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Glenny Palmer
Posts: 1816
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 12:47 am

Re: 5 Brotherly Debrief

Post by Glenny Palmer » Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:52 am

....I know why....
The purpose of my life is to serve as a warning to others.

croc

Re: 5 Brotherly Debrief

Post by croc » Wed Dec 21, 2011 6:50 pm

...
no doubt, but then you're trained.

...c xx

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