Fraudlin finished his cigarette in no time. His only breakfast was a cup of instant coffee — all he could afford after a night at a casino. Instead of brushing his teeth, he rinsed his mouth with another bitter sip, then sprayed himself with cologne to mask the smell of sweat and questionable places. The young gambler, fired up on adrenaline, often neglected basic hygiene, but today there was another, far more serious reason: an informant had delivered alarming news. And he had to move fast.
His head felt like a dusty chest that had suddenly been thrown open. Fraudlin rushed out of the house the moment he realised something irreversible was about to happen. Nearly tripping over his own feet, he reached the comms point to send Spacelunch the coordinates through a secure channel. His thin fingers trembled as he dialled. The first call was declined. The second…
“Yeah?”
“Urgent! Cat is with you right now — and he’s in danger!”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Well, technically, he’s with another you. One of the Aerospace Corporation’s goons stole your smart-bracelet. They activated the portal and sent a double after your friend to eliminate him and frame you. I’m sending the location!”
The professor sprang to his feet, turned suddenly pale, and fainted. Strained nerves mixed with alcohol made a toxic blend. Now, only luck could change the course of what was coming.
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Fraudlin finished his cigarette in no time. His only breakfast was a cup of instant coffee — all he could afford after a night at a casino. Instead of brushing his teeth, he rinsed his mouth with another bitter sip, then sprayed himself with cologne to mask the smell of sweat and questionable places. The young gambler, fired up on adrenaline, often neglected basic hygiene, but today there was another, far more serious reason: an informant had delivered alarming news. And he had to move fast.
His head felt like a dusty chest that had suddenly been thrown open. Fraudlin rushed out of the house the moment he realised something irreversible was about to happen. Nearly tripping over his own feet, he reached the comms point to send Spacelunch the coordinates through a secure channel. His thin fingers trembled as he dialled. The first call was declined. The second…
“Yeah?”
“Urgent! Cat is with you right now — and he’s in danger!”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Well, technically, he’s with another you. One of the Aerospace Corporation’s goons stole your smart-bracelet. They activated the portal and sent a double after your friend to eliminate him and frame you. I’m sending the location!”
The professor sprang to his feet, turned suddenly pale, and fainted. Strained nerves mixed with alcohol made a toxic blend. Now, only luck could change the course of what was coming.
The professor sat on the terrace of an abandoned tech facility. Once, solar panels were tested here. Now, it looked as if even the Sun itself had lost interest. A few stubborn bushes survived thanks to the rain and defiance. Overhead, an old floodlight kept short-circuiting — a flicker in memory of shifts that would never happen again. Maybe silence had chosen this forgotten perimeter to speak finally.
By his feet sat a flask of Japanese whisky — a gift from Cat. The very one given after their first clean mission. Spacelunch stared into the dark, trying to sense the outlines of life. Things used to be simpler. A home on Earth. A garage where a pet — once just a cat saved from a burning room as a cub — first spoke. “I should’ve never started those experiments,” he thought. But the images came anyway — the action, the laughter, the arguments — all of it made sense once, as long as someone was walking beside him, who could meow outside of protocol. Somewhere between the missions, the mistakes, the tall tales — their bond had dissolved. But by now, it was far too late to analyze anything.
spclnch
Fraudlin finished his cigarette in no time. His only breakfast was a cup of instant coffee — all he could afford after a night at a casino. Instead of brushing his teeth, he rinsed his mouth with another bitter sip, then sprayed himself with cologne to mask the smell of sweat and questionable places. The young gambler, fired up on adrenaline, often neglected basic hygiene, but today there was another, far more serious reason: an informant had delivered alarming news. And he had to move fast.
His head felt like a dusty chest that had suddenly been thrown open. Fraudlin rushed out of the house the moment he realised something irreversible was about to happen. Nearly tripping over his own feet, he reached the comms point to send Spacelunch the coordinates through a secure channel. His thin fingers trembled as he dialled. The first call was declined. The second…
“Yeah?”
“Urgent! Cat is with you right now — and he’s in danger!”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Well, technically, he’s with another you. One of the Aerospace Corporation’s goons stole your smart-bracelet. They activated the portal and sent a double after your friend to eliminate him and frame you. I’m sending the location!”
The professor sprang to his feet, turned suddenly pale, and fainted. Strained nerves mixed with alcohol made a toxic blend. Now, only luck could change the course of what was coming.
