he NSCA building was large and had a lot of computers in it. We had convinced Dirk that he should go solo, sans acolytes. We entered the building and Dirk saw all the computers and said,

“Wow. This place is like Star Trek. I’ve never seen a computer with a color monitor before. Is this where you guys wrote my hypertext novel?”

A lot of hands grabbed Dirk and thrust an ether rag in his face. Dirk buckled and collapsed.

Dirk woke to a hazy realization of a laboratory with big windows. Those windows displayed the lights of nearby buildings smeared by fog.

Dirk shook his head, to discover that he was crowned with a heavy metal helmet trailing wires.

He blinked and looked around.

On the operating table next to his he saw Frank.

Frank was crowned with a heavy metal helmet trailing cables.

Frank looked at Dirk, their eyes locked; Frank was terrified. He said something about “fawklety” and “inthuman behathior.”

A distant bell tower rang twelve times.

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