"Should I bring Terri back to help us?"
"Not just yet! Honestly I think she would just be a distraction." Cassie Folklore paced her lab walking literally two inches off the tile. Since becoming bonded to her hologram she was acting her old self even if she couldn't pick up anything, still being intangible. Well, except for her modesty, it was going to take time getting used to being topless now that her strange transformation excluded a shirt or bra. At least her hologram still left her wearing blue jeans. What a tangled web she weaves! Talk about hanging on by a thread. Threads!
"For me? I think she was attracted to me Mom."
"I know for a fact she hasn't been laid in over a year. Can we not talk about other women? We need to figure out how to stabilize those you bring back. Including me!"
"I still haven't tried touching you Mom. I might bring you back."
"Too risky now that my frequency has connected to the hologram, I made for you. One wrong move and I might cease to exist entirely. Just killing the hum might distort my reality. I need you to build a portable version of the box so we can experiment my leaving this lab."
"Do you have the materials to do that?"
"I bought materials years ago but put off building the smaller version because my contacts at CERN were giving me a time table to go by. My own fault for being negligent. To answer your question...maybe. My other experiments rather sidetracked me."
"What exactly were those experiments Mom? I still wanna know all about my real dad, bad guy or not. You owe me that much."
"When I'm stabile I'll tell you everything in person."
"Orrrrrrr...I could pose a pinky toward your chest and make you tell me now." He winced devilishly.
"Oh, now you act like your sperm donor." She rolled her eyes, "You won't risk losing me again Griffin so stop the devious blackmail scheme. Now is not the time."
"Right! Sorry! I was just kidding. You're right Mom. Tell me what I can do."
"The portable parts are in our sub-basement storage. I'll need you to go down there and get them. They're in a box with the word's SMALL WORLD written in black sharpie. The code to get in that unit is FFIRING PIN...that's two F's."
"FFIRING PIN? Ok so with the two F's that's Griffin rearranged. Why pin?"
"IPN? International Performer Number...you get the idea."
"Twisted Mom!"
"Probably so. Go on now. Be careful."
"Of what? It's only me here unless I bring some of your lab partners back."
"Griffin? You've been lucky thus far navigating as you have, but we truly don't know every single detail of how our unique twist as you call me works. You've only touched women and brought them back. What happens when you bring a man back? Or, an animal?"
"That chimp should be in his cage, right? I can try reviving it and see what happens."
"Later Griffin! Please let's build the portable so I can stretch my legs."
"Alright! I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere!"
"I'll do my best."
Nodding at her he steps around Terri's clothing and heads out of Cassie's private lab making his way to the sub-basement. With multiple storage lockers to choose from he only had his hunches as to which one belonged to his mother. Having never been down here he knew he should have asked which one was hers. Deductive reasoning that a woman always decorated things he out ruled Terri's because of a flower sticker near the punch code box.
The males were prone to boring plain units simply knowing what belonged to them. He was glad he didn't need to figure out one of theirs. Of course, if his mom's code didn't work on theirs, it would be simple enough to make his rounds until finding the right locker. Cassie was more eccentric in her ways...using symbolism that would be harder to see. A painted white line in front of the unit was answer enough. Griffin used to run track in High School, the only sport he was ever any good at. A finish line said it all.
Code punched, the door opened up and within it was a multitude of totes, boxes, panels like what she installed in his loft to secure his safety, among other choice items. Digging for the box she needed, he accidently knocked over another cardboard crate. As the lid broke open personal effects came tumbling out. The one thing that made him curious was a scrapbook. He had never seen this one before so he grew intrigued enough to look into it. Pictures of Griffin as a baby made him smile. Group photos of old acquaintances when he was an infant were rifled past slowly, not recognizing many of the people, if any it being so old. "I'll stash this and look it over again later. I better get back in case anything..." Perfect timing a power outage left him in the dark.
"Great! I hope that's not all over the city. I'd hate to have to take the stairs back at the hotel. Twenty stories to the penthouse would suck ass. Not to mention I don't think there's a staircase from the highest level to the penthouse itself. How the hell would I get up...or down from there if power screwed with things?"
