When he closed his eyes at night he could feel their presence. His skin vibrated and itched. It was as if he were allergic to them.
They had to go. He couldn’t have them in the same time stream as himself. He didn’t want them anywhere, but especially the time where he found himself now. Where he felt his calling.
This feels like the right place.
Maybe his calling was simply to kill them.
They were so misguided. They hadn’t evolved like him. Sure, he had a vague recollection of inspiring good in the people around him, but what was the point? All that wishy-washy inspiring made mankind weaker. When he awoke to the realization his natural ability to inspire the best in people was counterproductive, his gut reaction was to kill everyone. Every person on earth.
But that urge passed, coming, raging like a fever and then breaking like one.
When his anger subsided, he was able to see things more clearly. More calmly. If he had been making the human race weaker by coddling them, couldn’t he make them stronger with tough love?
He’d been misguided, but that didn’t mean everyone had to die.
The realization was a tremendous relief. Having to kill everyone on his to-do list had inspired quite a bit of anxiety.
Everyone was a lot. It could take him eons to rid the planet of humans.
As his new consciousness evolved, he realized his mission wasn’t to kill, it was to toughen. It was easier to inspire mistrust than anything else. He made people think about survival of the fittest, where the fittest was always themselves.
That didn’t mean they were the fittest, of course, but if they weren’t, then they would die trying to prove they were, so it all worked out in the end.
Easy-peasy pumpkin breezy.
Rune shook his head.
Stop it. Why do you think such silly things?
He returned to his thoughts. Everything he wanted to accomplish was at risk with Sean and his son hanging around, inspiring the best in people.
They had to go.
So did Fiona, now that she’d turned on him. He’d thought she’d be a partner.
Rune took a deep breath and bopped his lips together, making a string of popping noises.
He was sorry about her.
Maybe if she just spent more time with me and less time with them?
He gasped.
That’s it.
If they could influence her down the wrong path, how hard could it be to influence her into understanding she was more powerful on his team?
“I could talk to her. Make it clear. That would be worth a shot,” he mumbled to himself.
Rune looked up from where he had been studying the toe of his shoe, deep in thought.
What was I doing?
The glow inside the Craftsman caught his attention.
Oh, right.
He walked across the street and knocked on the Craftsman’s door. There was a click as the knob turned.
“Hello, Maddie.”
Maddie stared at him through the cracked-open door, lock chain still attached. Her eyes had opened wide when she spotted him. Rune thought for a moment they would fall out of her skull and roll across the threshold.
Before he could say anything, she slammed the door shut with a little yelp.
He frowned.
Why does everyone always have to make everything so difficult?
“Let me in.” He could hear the boredom in his tone. He hoped that wouldn’t make it easier for her to ignore him.
“I’m going to call the police. Go away.”
Rune rested his cheek against the door.
“You saw what I can do, Maddie. Do you really think the police can stop me?”
Silence.
“Let me in.”
“You’ll kill me.”
“Do you think I can’t kill you from out here?”
He couldn’t. At least not that he was aware, but she didn’t know that. It made him a little giddy how much clearer his thoughts were becoming. The fury of his glorious transformation had given way to clarity.
Look how clever I am now.
“I just want to talk.” He could barely get the words past his lips he was grinning so wide.
“How can I trust you?” she asked.
He cleared his throat.
Good point.
“You can’t. But if I wanted to kill you, don’t you think I would have done that earlier?”
Logic. She can’t argue with that. So clever.
Maddie opened the door again, the gold lock chain still hanging just below her eyes.
“What’s in it for me?” she asked, clearly fighting to keep her quavering voice steady.
There’s my girl.
“I think we can help each other. I’ve already helped you once, didn’t I? That’s how much I admire you. I did that for you. And what I need you to do is, pfft.” He flicked the air with his finger to show how inconsequential his request would be. Featherweight. Nothing. He could see the white feather he was flicking. He wasn’t sure if she could. At least she didn’t follow it with her eyes as it bounced up and then fluttered to the ground, scooping through the air back and forth like a rocking cradle.
Where did the feather come from?
It didn’t matter. She got the point.
Maddie unlocked the chain and opened the door. She stood to the side like a rabbit, frozen in place, hoping the fox wouldn’t notice her as he entered.
He smiled politely and entered. The house was neat, if sparsely decorated. He spotted a gray sofa and sat on it.
“Sit,” he said, patting the cushion beside him.
She swallowed and took a seat in a matching stuffed chair nearby.
“If I sat that close to you I’d have to turn sideways and...we’d just be too close to focus.”
He shrugged. “Fair enough.”
“What do you want?”
“Very little. You saw the feather.”
“What?”
Rune sniffed. “Nothing. I need you to get me into Parasol Pictures. You work there, correct?”
She
