Chapter 3: I Don’t Think Whoops is a Good Enough Word

“Hey.....” A voice said. Seirei tried to ignore it, but it got louder. “Wake up!” It yelled. Seirei moaned, too tired to get up. “Five more minutes....” She grumbled. The voice sighed. “Seirei..... Wake up now or I’ll eat your flesh.” It said. Seirei’s eyes opened slowly. She was face to face with Langston, still missing half of his face. Her eyes widened and she screamed, trying to move back, but then realized she was still in the van. Langston couldn’t help it and he started to laugh. “What? Did I forget to shave this morning?” He asked, rubbing his exposed jawbone. He laughed again and then opened the side of his door and hopped out. He walked around over to her side, opened it, and undid the handcuff on the passenger’s side door. He re-cuffed it to his own arm and took a few steps. “Come on. Let’s go.” He said. Seirei was confused. “What do you mean? Where are we?” She asked. Langston stopped and chuckled under his breath. “I said there are people who want to see you.” He gave a little tug and she stepped down from the van. She looked around the unknown place. From what it looked like, it was a giant concrete tunnel that had to be fifty feet in circumference. She looked where they came from, only to see a gigantic metal door that was just as big as the tunnel. She had a sneaking suspicion that it was airtight. Langston gave another tug. “We have no time for sight seeing. Come on.” He said. Seirei grumbled under her breath. “Bossy for someone who’s a corpse....” She said. Langston looked back. “What did you say?” He asked. She smiled. “Busy for someone who’s a corpse.” She said. Langston shook his head. “Follow me.” He said. Like she had a choice, though. They went down a slope, about ten feet, where they came to an inconspicious metal door. There was a poster on the left hand side that was extremely old. It was a crumpled, ruined picture of J.F.K. that said underneath “Kennedy for President”. Langston knocked three times on the middle of the poster and stood back a bit. Seirei was confused, but continued to watch silently. The poster then split into two pieces that slid back, revealing a hidden panel beneath it. It was really just a number pad that looked like it came from a calculator. Langston hit a series of numbers in rapid succession and then hit the big button on the side that said “Enter”.

He waited a bit and finally, the door next to it opened on it’s own accord. Langston walked forward, dragging Seirei into an unknown room. They walked in and the door closed behind them. They were in a medium sized room that had no outward features except for a door on the other side of the one that they came in from. Langston stood silent, waiting. Seirei, this time, couldn’t help but ask. “What are we doing?” Langston stood there and didn’t answer. She was about to ask again when a recorded voice answered for her. “Decontamination sequence initializing.” It said. As it said this, a large, blue light shined overhead. It started on one side of the room and slowly moved all the way to the other, passing over them. Seirei felt her whole body tingle as it passed over her, making her shiver. It reached the back of the room and then passed over them again. It reached it’s original place and the voice spoke up again. “Decontamination sequence completed. Have a nice day.” It said. “What the hell was that?” Seirei asked. Langston smiled. “It makes you sterile.” He said. Seirei made a face and just stared at Langston. He looked at her and then laughed. “It does what it said. Decontaminates. Makes sure we aren’t carrying any harmful pathogens on ourselves. And I was kidding. It doesn’t make you sterile.” He said. Seirei sighed with relief. “It gives you skin cancer.” Langston added. The door across from them opened up by itself and he started to move towards it. Seirei was nervous. “You’re kidding about the whole skin cancer thing, right?” She asked. Langston didn’t say anything. “Right?” She asked again. They walked through the doorway, where they continued through a long hallway. They reached a final door and Langston reached to grab the doorknob, but hesitated. He turned to Seirei and locked eyes with her. “We’re going to meet my commander. You treat him with respect. You speak only when spoken to. You say sir when he addresses you, because I swear to god, if you embarrass me in any way, I’ll make sure you’re locked away in a padded cell for the rest of your natural life. Got it?” He asked in a demanding tone. Seirei nodded quickly.

Langston smiled. “Good.” He said. He grabbed a hold of the doorknob. “Well.... There goes my fun....” Seirei thought to herself. Langston opened the door and guided Seirei through. There was a bright light that blinded Seirei momentarily. She blinked rapidly and looked around. She couldn’t even begin to explain what she saw. There were tons of computers everywhere with a person behind each one. Almost everyone wore white lab coats and were doing strange things. Some were looking through microscopes, others were writing notes, and some were drawing complex diagrams on black boards. There were a handful of guards over the place, each one holding a machine gun and standing near a group of scientists. She marveled at everything, wanting to know what was going on. Langston straightened himself and looked forward. He was saluting and looking intently at a man that was walking towards them. He was big and round a bit around the waist. His hair was a deep gray and his face was wrinkled. His mouth was hidden beneath a thick, gray beard, but she could tell he was smiling. He wore a military uniform that was decorated with medals. He stood in front of Langston and stared at him for a few minutes. He finally spoke up. “At ease, soldier.” He said. Langston dropped his salute. “Corporal Langston reporting, Brigadier Gibson.” Langston said. The Brigadier looked confused and began to laugh. “Boy!” He yelled. “Where’s yer face?!?” He said in a Texan accent. Langston smiled. “I think I left it in my other pair of pants, sir.” He said, joking around. The Brigadier laughed aloud, startling everyone. “That’s why I like ya boy! Good sense a’ humor!” He said, slapping his thigh. Langston smiled. “Thank you, sir.” He said. The Brigadier calmed down and got serious. “Well? Are ya gunna explain boy? Or d’I have to play twenty questions?” He asked.

Seirei had never seen anything like this man. He was joking around with someone who was dead and missing half of his face. Langston nodded. “Yes sir. Turns out the spirit we originally detected turned out to be a dread wraith. It possessed a civilian. There was an altercation between myself and the possessed civilian. He ran away after I knocked him around a bit and I let my guard down when I went to get the appropriate gear to take him down. As I walked to the van, the wraith got behind the wheel of a car and broadsided me. I went down, scraping my face on the road. It’s still there, if you’re wondering sir.” He said. The Brigadier stood there and was amazed. He turned towards Seirei and stared at her. “Are ya tellin’ me that this lil’ lady was cooped up with a dread wraith fer three weeks?” He asked. He shook his head. “We really need ta get our sensors more fine tuned....” He said. He looked at Langston. “Corporal.” He said. Langston stood at attention. “Sir?” He asked. “Get that body of yers to the sickbay. I expect ta see ya ready for yer next mission by tomorrow.” Langston nodded. “Sir, yes sir.” He said. “Sir?” He asked. The Brigadier looked at him. “Permission to speak freely sir?” He asked. The Brigadier nodded. Langston sighed. “What are we supposed to do about her?” He asked. “She knows almost everything. Not only that, she’s been exposed to the wraith itself.” Langston said. The Brigadier nodded. “I see...... Well....” He trailed off. Langston stood attentive.

The Brigadier cocked an eyebrow at him. “Did you have a suggestion, soldier?” The Brigadier asked. Langston nodded. “Sir, I think we can make good use of her. I know we already have a few pairs of eyes and ears on the street, but she’s more down to earth. I think having a civilian working with us would increase our efficiency.” Langston said. Seirei was shaking her head. “Wait, wait, wait.” She said. They both looked at her. “Don’t I get a say in this?” She asked. “I don’t think I could do this. I have horrible people skills and I sleep the day away! I’m about as observant as sloth.” She said. The Brigadier smiled. “For every source you bring us that proves to be useful, you’ll be payed handsomely.” Seirei was about to continue complaining, but stopped when she heard this. Seirei tilted her head to one said. “How handsomely are we talking here?” She asked. The Brigadier chuckled. “Enough to keep you very happy. So? What do you say?” He asked. Seirei thought for a minute and then smiled. “Colonel Sanders, you’ve got yourself an informant.” She said with smile. Langston made a face, but calmed down when the Brigadier bursted out laughing. “She’s got spunk! I like that! It’s Brigadier Gibson, though lass.” He said, calming down. Seirei looked confused. “General Motors?” She asked with a smile. The Brigadier didn’t say anything at first. Seirei thought she had done it. She expected to be carried away to the padded room Langston kept bringing up, but then Langston started to laugh. The Brigadier looked at him and then joined in. They laughed for a good minute and then the Brigadier raised a hand. “No more.... I’ve laughed enough fer today. Lass, you’ll be escorted home by a few o’ my MP’s. They’ll see ya home safe. We’ll contact ya and tell ya how te reach us and what we’re looking fer. For now.... You’re both dismissed!” He said with a smile. Langston saluted. “Yes sir!” He said. Seirei nodded. As he said, two MPs joined Miru and escorted her out. She was blindfolded before she was escorted into a vehicle and taken back to her home. She walked into her apartment and collapsed onto her bed. She laid there, thinking. “What a fucked up day this has been....” She thought. That was the last thing she thought of before falling asleep.

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The next day was normal. She got up at around nine o’clock, still tired. She grabbed a box of lucky charms from her pantry and grabbed a soda from her fridge. She got a styrofoam bowl out of a cupboard and mad herself a breakfast of lucky charms, soaking in mountain dew. She ate it indolently, her mind wandering to last night. So many unanswered questions and so many mysteries left to be solved. She shoved last night to the back of her mind and got ready for work. Seirei gets up, throws away her half eaten breakfast and gets ready for the day. She strips of her clothes she slept in and put on a clean pair of clothes. She put on shirt with a picture of a green dog with black paws and black ears. It was on top of a pig and underneath it, it said “Ride the Pig”. Seirei looked at it and chuckled. “Gir, Gir, Gir. You always know how to start my day off right....” She sighed and put on her shoes. She walked out f her apartment and decided to take the stairs, not wanting to relive last night. Seirei walked out of the apartment complex and walked down the street, becoming one with the crowd of people. She sighed. “This is going to be one long day.....” Seirei said under her breath. Unfortunately, Seirei was right.

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The coffee shop was uneventful. There weren’t a lot of customers and every time Seirei heard the jingle of the bell above the door, she looked up, expecting to see Langston standing there. She didn’t want to see Langston. After learning he was a corpse, it really makes talking to someone like that weird. The bell ringed, grabbing her attention. It was just a random person, no one special. Seirei sighed. “Can I help you?” She asked. The man shrugged. “Sure. Can I get a cappuccino?” He asked. Seirei shook her head and shrugged back. “I don’t see why not.” She said. She grabbed a cup and hit a button on the cappuccino machine. She waited, but there was nothing. She hit it a few more times, but still nothing. Seirei grumbled under her breath and looked at the machine. She was tempted to hit it, but she knew she would just get yelled at by her boss. She calmed down a bit and looked in the back of the machine. She smiled as she realized the problem. “Not plugged in..... Duh....” She said to herself. What happened next was a serious of events that set the stage for Seirei’s life to be turned upside down. It just so happened it was unplugged because the cord near the plug was frayed, due to wear and tear. Nobody told Seirei, because she was the only one in today, other then her boss, who was watching a movie in the backroom. Seirei grabbed the plug with her right hand, touching the frayed part as well. The final part setting up this freak accident was Seirei’s shoes. She had stepped on a tack on the way in. A metal tack. She had thought she heard clicking when she walked around, but dismissed it. She brought it closer to the outlet. The grim reaper was practically cackling at what was happening. She plugged it in.

Electricity arched from the bare wire, into her fingers and down her body, through the tack in her shoe. She screamed aloud as she was experiencing the equivalent of a trip in the electric chair. The customer freaked out, running away in fear. Seirei’s boss’ t.v. shut off. Everything shut off, the power going off. Seirei’s boss sighed and walked out of his office. “Hey, Seirei, is-“ He was about to ask her when he walked out. He looked around and saw Seirei lying on the floor, a portion of her right hand burned and her eyes, staring up at the ceiling, unblinking. She wasn’t breathing. “Shit!” He screamed. He ran back to his office and fumbled to get his phone off of the receiver. He frantically dialed nine one one and waited for the operator to pick up. “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” The voice asked. “I need an ambulance at the Java Pit! Now!” He screamed. As her boss tried to give as much information as he could, something strange began to happen to Seirei. Not anything that anyone could see. It was happening on a molecular level. Spending all of that time with a spirit had saturated Seirei with ectoplasm. Every part of her being had absorbed it. This happens from time to time, but when it does, out bodies usually pass it. Not this time. The electricity had done something unheard of. It bound the ectoplasm to Seirei’s being. Every cell. Every nucleus. Every chromosome. It now had ectoplasm merged with it...... Making Seirei something..... Unnatural.