Influence

I peeled the wrapper off the back of the thin mint-colored disc and laid it adhesive-side down in the crook of my elbow. Immediately, the potent amphetamine derivatives began to work their magic. The tingles were just beginning to start in my arm when Benedict came in.

"Saw you'd logged off and thought I'd come by since you weren't answering your cell. What are you--... What flavor is that?"

"Wintergreen," I said, and the edges of my lips quirked upward briefly into something approaching a smile.

"For fuck's sake--"

"Shh. You'll ruin it."

He sighed, but waited patiently. I closed my eyes and let my head fall to one side as pinwheels of warmth spun me around, shimmering starbursts and crackling sensations along my spine making me vibrate. Crystals grew like fractals along an open plane of sharp angles and what little I'd been mentally holding onto slithered away from me. I let the breath out of my lungs in one long hiss.

"Ok. How many times did you try calling me?" I asked, but my hand had already picked up the cell from the floor next to me. "Eight missed calls," I read. I cleared the notification. Swirling globes of color-changing light danced around each other on the screen. A little white clock displayed 10:17 in one corner.

"How many of these have you had?"

"This is my first one." I glanced down at the slips of adhesive backing on the control panel and a mangled bright red disc stuck to one of the keys. Benedict didn't look convinced.

"Your ribs are showing."

"Uh, I'm wearing a shirt," I said, confused, and picked up the bits of paper, depositing them into an empty aluminum can.

"I know."

I still didn't get it. "Having some network trouble, should be back up in a few. Did you need something?"

"When was the last time you ate?" Benedict squinted at me; the only light in the room came from the halo of monitors around me, surrounded by rows and pyramids of cans.

I picked one up and shook it. "Liquid energy, my friend. Does everything I need it to." Emptying the last few sips, I cast it into the pile on my control panel with the rest of them.

"Get up."

"Huh?"

"Get up, we're getting something to eat."

"But the connection's gonna be up any--"

"And until then, we're gonna get some food. C'mon." I stared at him from across the room. Tendrils of undulating neon glow were wriggling toward the deep black hole of the rest of my apartment. "That wasn't a question." I sighed, stood up, caught myself with one hand before the vertigo could knock me back down.

"And grab a jacket. It's cold."