The next thing Lysergic Oldham remembered, she was by herself on a leather couch in a room, not unlike the back room of the Institute, however, it wasn’t the Institute. So, she didn’t know where she was.
She slowly set up. Her head ached.
Suddenly, the door opened and this time, another older, but taller man, entered. He also had gray hair and was dressed just like the guy who had shot Lysergic with the tranquilizer gun back at the Institute. He carried a file folder, as well.
“You gonna drug me, too? Like that last guy?!” Lysergic asked.
The man just smiled.
“Ms. Oldham,” he started, “we have a lot to discuss in the next half hour.”
“Discuss?!” Lysergic wearily wondered, “discuss what?! Why are we even speaking?! Look, I’m not interested in any of your chit chat!”
“There won’t be any “chit-chat”, the man replied, “I’m here to offer you a job!”
“What kind of job?” Lysergic cautiously inquired.
“One most suited for a woman of your talents,” the man answered.
“Who are you?!” Lysergic asked.
“For now, just call me Mr. Z!” the man replied.
“Was Mr. Y too busy to stop by?” Lysergic sarcastically asked.
Mr. Z began perused through the files he held in his hands, “you sure have led an interesting life for someone so young!”
“I’m special!” Lysergic Oldham replied, wondering what all of this was really about.
“You’ve also have found yourself involved in some unique circumstances, haven’t you?” Mr. Z smiled.
Lysergic didn’t reply.
Mr. Z paced in front of Lysergic, all the time reading the files.
“I see that both your parents are serving time in jail for drug possession!” Z noted.
“I haven’t seen or talked to my parents in a very long time,” Lysergic coldly replied.
“Don’t you feel guilty about that?” Z asked.
“About not seeing or not talking to them?” Lysergic asked.
“No!” Z replied, “about you being the reason they’re in jail!”
Lysergic frowned, “Look, my home life was about to take a drastic turn! I figured it was time to move on. My parents were too out of it to care or even notice!”*
Z grinned, “Your home life was about to take a drastic turn because the police were about to come looking for you and charge you with the murder of three young men! Then, when the cops do show up, you’ve disappeared and they discover your parent’s fairly large cache of drugs! So, if it wasn’t for you, maybe your parents would still be free!”
“Maybe,” Lysergic replied, “and maybe the doctors back at Mental State U, will take pity on me and release me right after I waste some more time talking to you!”
“You then ended up as a runaway on the streets of L.A.,” Z continued, “got hooked up with some street punks who called themselves “Groogs” then was “apprehended” by a private individual, who made arrangements for any and all charges against you be dropped, in return for you working for him on some unusual project.* Correct so far, Ms. Oldham?”
“If its in the files,” Lysergic grinned, “then it must be true!”
Z nodded, “Then after your last official place of employment literally disappeared, you yourself, disappeared for awhile. That is what I want to talk to you about!”
“About what?!” Lysergic said, “I thought you were going to talk to me about a job or something?!”
“I will,” Z answered, “in due time. I want to go over your life for the last few months, where you eventually ended up at that Institute, okay?”
“Do what you want to do,” Lysergic replied, “I’m stuck there one way or another!”
Mr. Z smiled, then started to read some more from the files.
Lysergic listened, as her life for the last four months unfolded coldly.
She blocked out the words and tried to think of something positive from the last few months. It wasn’t easy.
Finally, Mr. Z stopped talking.
“So, what about that job?” Lysergic asked.
“Oh, I think you will enjoy it,” Z grinned, “because it may involve doing things you seem to have a lot of experience at!”
“Like what?” Lysergic wondered.
“Like killing people!” Mr. Z replied.
Next: Chap. Eleven “Just A Friendly Neighborhood Street Punkette”