Cryptopolis and Other Stories by Robert Guffey

Author:Robert Guffey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lethe Press

[Memo to driver: please make certain spotlight is placed directly on rear curtain. We had some problems with that last evening. Thank you.]

I had never noticed it before: a red curtain separating us from the front of the bus. I saw malformed shadows floating behind the thin material. No, I didn’t want to look at those shadows. I didn’t even want to think about them. I didn’t want—

“Say, why don’t you go on up and say hello to the driver,” said the Iron Mask. There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “I’m sure he’s a very nice fellow.”

Absolute fear gripped my gut.

“Don’t listen to him,” the Gorilla said. “Focus on something else, on the here and now.”

The Iron Mask just chuckled and shook his head. “Tell us how long you’ve suffered from these migraines, kid.”

A few seats down somebody yelled out: “Hey, can’t you be quiet up there?”

The Iron Mask stood up, all six feet eleven inches of him, and shouted back (imagine the Voice of Imminent Death booming at you from down a long, dark tunnel): “Shut the fuck up or I’m gonna go down there and shove your head up your asshole sideways!” The Iron Mask’s comment received no response. He sat back down and said, “Go on.”

I said, “Uh, what was I…? Oh, migraines. I’ve been suffering from them for about sixteen years, I guess. Since I was at least twelve. I think I’m responsible for half the aspirin consumption in the United States.” (That strange curtain… why did it seem so familiar?)

“You might want to try an herbal supplement called Feverfew instead,” the Gorilla suggested. “It’s better than pharmaceutical products because it has no side effects and—”

The Iron Mask waved his hand in the air. “Fuck that shit. Just stick to my shake, kid. It’ll get you where you need to go.”

The Gorilla sighed. “Interesting that you should advocate a transient method of treating pain that seems more aligned with the allopathic field supported by the very same Institute you reviled earlier, rather than the homeopathic field which operates outside the restrictive parameters of the military-pharmaceutical establishment whose cryptoeconomic interests are shored up by illegal drug sales around the globe—a practice of which you apparently approve.”

After a brief pause the Iron Mask said, “What the fuck did you say?”

“My point is obvious. The amphetamines of which you are so enamored are utilized by the very elite you fear in order to instill a slavish robotism amidst its poor and middle-class work force, thus supporting the capitalistic tenets you rail against in your daily life.”

“What the fuck, how the hell do you know what I ‘rail against’ in my daily life?”

The Gorilla sniffed and turned his head toward the window. Through a slight smile he said, “Oh, I’ve dealt with your kind before. You’re very good at reeling off a litany of facts concerning the conspiratorial nature of history, but when it comes down to actually doing something to change the situation you’re like a

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.