Flight 12

Flight 12 – a serial novel by Travis Creel

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: PERIL ABOVE GROUND

Previously, at the Phallic Tower:

• Seth has been charged with removing three testicles from the topside Twelve, which attrition has now reduced to Jasper and Gary.

• On Christmas Day, Jasper not-so-coincidentally discovers he has grown an extra testicle.

• Sean tells Hamish that all the left-siders are dead (as required by `the physics'), but knows that Ian is hiding Stan somewhere. After Stan sets off a sensor on a dodecagon, Stimulever deduces that a left-sider must be alive and orders Sean to provide proof of his death.

• Ian decides Stan is safer at the Phallic Tower, unaware that Sean now plans to kill him.

• Jasper receives a hand-job from Gary and reciprocates with a blow-job, but Ray emerges during it and gets the orgasm.

On the plane, way back in Chapter One:

• Percy, the flight attendant, asks Stan and `Mr. Onslow' to change seats to the other side of the aisle.

• • • • • • • • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26 * * * * * * * *

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

I arose early, wishing, for far from the first time, that I had Harry around as a counsel. Stan's reappearance had a whirlwind of repercussions, and I didn't know how to sort them all out.

Until last night, my understanding of events had been:

• Vic had killed Al, for reasons that remained mysterious.

• Theo had been captured by a penis garden.

• According to Ian, Stan had also been captured by a penis garden. Sean claimed that Ian was lying. but Sean had reason to throw Ian under the bus, so that he (Sean) would be the one I would trust. My inclination was to believe Ian.

Obviously I was wrong. Ian and Stan had related this version:

• Ian had encouraged Vic to kill Al, but only because Sean was pressuring him to do so.

• Theo had been pushed off a cliff by Sean.

• Sean had ordered Ian to kill Stan. Ian told Stan to hide and invented the penis garden story to cover it up. Sean discovered the deception, but agreed to keep Stan's survival a secret from Hamish. After Stan wandered onto a dodecagon, Ian decided that Stan would be safer at the Tower, where Hamish was unlikely to look for him.

It mostly kinda sorta made sense. But why had Sean agreed to lie to Hamish about Stan's survival? Ian's response: ask Sean. Sean said he'd talk to me in the morning.

It was morning now: I'd ask him. But could I trust him to tell me the truth? No. Who COULD I trust? Ian, who had lied about Stan and manipulated Vic into strangling Al? Gary, who couldn't be relied on to stay Gary? The only trustworthy person left was Jasper. Jasper, on whom I would have to dump some very bad news. And when I did, would Jasper trust ME?

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SEAN

Stan's appearance was the Christmas gift I never expected. It had been logical from Ian's perspective: he trusted me to keep Stan's survival secret, and Hamish wouldn't send a search party to the Tower itself. Smart.

Except for one thing. He didn't know about the ultimatum I'd been given, to provide proof of Stan's death.

Seth was out fucking Jasper. But first, he confronted me about my role in the Stan thing: why had I agreed to help Ian cover it up?

I could tell him the truth: I was actually trying to sabotage The Project, not advance it. But my credibility with Seth was already low. Eventually, I'd have to tell him this, but now was not the time – it would eviscerate any vestiges of trust that remained.

Instead, I said it was because I knew Stan's death would devastate Ian, and I couldn't do that to a friend. I don't think Seth bought it.

There was another reason I could have given Seth, which might have made him regard me more sympathetically. But it wasn't something I was comfortable sharing.

I felt no guilt over Al's and Theo's deaths because I knew they lived on in Alphaworld, oblivious to their Beta-existence. But did Stan have an Alpha-life? . . . Probably.

Sometime after Flight 12 left Santo Domingo, those on the right side of the plane were removed entirely from Alphaworld; no one in Alphaworld even remembered them now. The left-siders, however, dwelled in both worlds simultaneously, as if they had been cloned. Alpha-Al would be contently clerking at Costco in Syracuse; Alpha-Theo and Alpha-Piers might be rehearsing a play in Nassau. But Alpha-Stan? I couldn't guarantee that there was one.

It depended on exactly when the right-siders were purged from Alphaworld. Stan had initially been seated on the right side of the plane, but Percy had made him switch with Gary (Ray, at the time). If the right siders were removed from Alphaworld after the switch, then Stan would have an Alpha-life along with the other left-siders. But if it was before the seat switch, then Gary/Ray/Cody had an Alpha-life and Stan existed only in Beta – in which case, if he died here, he was truly dead. I didn't want that on my conscience.

But now I had no choice. Stimulever demanded proof. I'd just have to hope that Alpha-Stan still existed.

Because Beta-Stan needed to die.

THE WOODS – JASPER

I thought that perhaps my third testicle was a Christmas present that wouldn't survive Christmas Day. But, no, it was still here. I guess that was okay, though it made me even hornier than usual. I gazed at Gary and ached to fuck him, but this morning Gary was Ray, who probably wanted to fuck ME.

I got fucked all right, but by Seth, to fulfill his daily obligation. Afterwards, he hit me with the news.

• Jasper, I have to tell you something. It's . . . Well, neither of us will like this. I have another obligation under `the physics', one you don't know about yet.

• Oh, hell. What is it now?

• I need to sever three testicles.

• . . . Did you say three TESTICLES?

• . . . Yeah, three.

• How long have you known this?

• Since Saturday. Tim was still here, but I didn't act on it then, because I didn't trust the messenger –

• Sean.

• And now there's just you and Gary.

• And you noticed I suddenly have three testicles.

• . . . Yeah.

• And you think that's not a coincidence.

• . . . No.

• I see.

• They said I couldn't take them from Gary. `Not from Onslow'. A direct quote.

• A quote from whom?

• Hamish.

• Says Sean.

• No, I spoke with him myself.

• You SPOKE with him? With Hamish? How?

• Sean has a phone. He's been keeping it secret, but he let me use it when I questioned the validity of this mandate. Jasper, they'll grow back. At least that's what Sean says.

• And we all know how reliable his word is.

• Shit, Jasper. I don't have a lot of options here. If I don't do this, they'll kill Abe. If Betaworld goes away in five days, you should get your balls back then.

• Two of them or all three?

• In Alphaworld, I'm guessing two's the limit.

• I would have thought the limit was two anywhere. Anyway, . . . okay.

• Okay? What do you mean, `okay'?

• Do it. Only . . . is there a deadline?

• I'm not sure.

• Can you hold off today? I'm making some progress with Gary, I'd like to –

• I'll hold off until I get a deadline. But Jasper –

• It's okay. It might even be a relief. The whole raison-d'être of this vacation was to get me less focused on sex. The third testicle wasn't exactly helping with that.

But going from three to zero – was I ready for that?

FLASHBACK: JASPER (NEW YORK) – July, two years ago

I was at my peak: sex five, six nights a week. I could go into any gay bar, any club, any situation and walk out with a guy I'd have sex with.

I was versatile, but mostly I topped. I looked for young, sexy guys, and they looked for me. It helps when you're really good looking. That sounds conceited, and I suppose it is, but it's also just factual. I have been blessed, through no merit of my own, with super-good looks and a hot body. (Well, I do a bit to contribute to the latter – gym and all.) But I have to look good as part of my job – I'm a TV reporter.

It was getting too easy to pick up guys. I needed a challenge. I started visiting leather bars. I wanted to take risks. The Eagle was too tame for me. I tried out a new club named Whiplash.

I checked my clothes, other than a leather harness and codpiece. My hairy, muscular chest, bulging jock, and bubble butt got attention, all right. Men were buying me drinks like I was a twink and easy conquest.

I guess I WAS easy conquest. Easy enough, anyway, for Alec.

• Why are you letting all these wimps buy you drinks?

• So I can walk out of here no poorer than when I came in?

• You don't look like a cheapskate.

• I'm not. It's just sport.

• You like sport?

• Of a certain kind.

• So you like to play games?

• What kind of games do you have in mind?

• Dangerous ones, my friend. Dangerous ones.

That should have warned me off right then and there. But I was so damn cocky, and so comfortable in my sexuality, that I thought I was ready for anything. The very phrase `dangerous ones' sent chills up my spine – thrilling ones. I was in search of adventure. I was in search of new experiences. I was in a bar named Whiplash. And damn, he was hot.

I went home with Alec. His home. Mistake.

• You into bondage, Jasper?

• Try me.

• Try you? Either you are or you aren't. Do you do bondage?

• I think I'm about to.

He studied me, realizing I'd just confessed I'd never been tied up before. He grinned.

• Oh, yeah. You're about to. Put these on.

He handed me a set of padded leather gloves with no thumbs, like miniature boxing gloves. Alec tied them tightly to secure them in place. No way could I take these babies off. I waited to see what other restraints he would add to my wardrobe.

• I like to warm guys' butts with this fraternity paddle. Full force, no holding back. I tie them to a St. Andrew's cross and give them as many swats as they earn.

As they earn?

• You'll get one swat for every second you still have clothes on. Starting . . . now.

• . . . What?

• Better get going. The timer started already.

• Whoa, whoa – I didn't agree to this.

• I know you didn't. That's what makes it fun. By the way, you're up to eleven swats and you're still fully clothed. Thirteen, now. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen.

• How am I supposed to do this with these things on?

• Nineteen, twenty.

• Shit!

• Twenty-two.

I scrambled to undress. Why did I have to wear lace-up boots? Shit shit shit! Fortunately, I'm limber enough that I can bend over and touch my feet with my head, and I was able to pull out the laces with my teeth and slip out of my shoes. But not easily.

• Fifty-three. Fifty-four. . . .

Okay, the socks I could pull off with the opposite foot, that only took –

• Fifty-eight. Fifty-nine.

I looked at my belt. Belt. I couldn't reach that with my mouth. I tried pushing at it with my gloves – useless. I tried pushing my leather pants down with my belt still in place – damn them being so tight! (They made me look good, but at the moment that was not my highest priority.) I worked at it and worked at it –

• One hundred ninety-two. One hundred ninety-three.

Then I saw it – a hook on the wall, for attaching a rope or something more fearsome than that. But it was a hook. I wedged it between the prong and the frame, prying it from the punch hole. I was able to dislodge the strap from the buckle, and then used the hook to provide leverage so that I could inch my pants slowly down my abdomen to the point where they fell to the floor.

Victory!

• Two hundred sixty-nine. Two hundred seventy.

Pyrrhic victory. I managed to push my codpiece down my legs by brute force without going over the three-hundred mark, but I still had my shirt on – with buttons. And underneath was the damn harness. How could I get that off without going into the thousands?

I'd consider that dilemma after I'd gotten the shirt off. I tried fumbling at the buttons with the gloves, but there was no way I could force the damn buttons through the button hole. I decided my only strategy was to try to take it off from the back. I stood against a chair and scrunched down, wedging the chair between my shirt and my skin. Eventually, I managed to push it over my head, and with some skillful maneuvering, pass it completely over my head where I was able to beat it down to the floor. But it took me almost three minutes, and by then I had earned –

• Three hundred eighty-five. Three hundred eighty-six. Gosh, and you still have that harness on, don't you? Good thing I have a mercy rule.

A mercy rule! Thank god.

• I'll take that harness off you. But then you'll take seven hundred fifty from my fraternity paddle.

Seven hundred fifty swats? Full force? No way could I take that! He was powerfully built, and if there was `no holding back', I could take twenty, or fifty, maybe even a hundred, but –

No. I was naked except for the harness, but I didn't care. My only hope was to make a mad dash for the door. He was on me in nothing flat. And I felt something jab into my thigh.

• Not cooperating, Jasper? That's why I keep a sedative handy. Most of my boys try to run, but they don't get away, and neither will you. I'm mounting you on my St. Andrew's cross, my friend. Your ass is getting seven-hundred fifty of the hardest blows it will ever feel. And that's just your ass. We're just getting started. Are you thinking you'll bleed internally? You will. Externally as well. Are you thinking `this'll land me in the hospital'? . . . Sorry, pal. Can't let that happen. You'd turn me into the police, wouldn't you? So you won't be going to any hospital. I'm afraid your next destination will be a dumpster. Or, to be precise, several dumpsters.

Visions of Diane Keaton passed through my head: "Looking for Mr. Goodbar". She hadn't escaped. I had to. But how? That was my final thought before I lost consciousness.

• • • • • • • • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27 * * * * * * * *

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

I took Jasper out for my daily fuck and asked him how it had gone with Gary. He said Cody had been the dominant persona yesterday; when Stan had told Cody of Jasper's impending castration, Cody conducted a mini-lesson, sans equipment, on how to use a burdizzo. It was nearly enough, Stan had said, to convince him that Cody actually did have a herd of cattle.

So he had not made progress with Gary yesterday, but would try today, aware that time was running short.

After Jasper left, Sean approached me.

• When are you going to neuter Mister Three Balls?

• Not today, if I can help it.

• It must be done before he arrives underground Saturday. I have to take pictures – they want proof.

• If he arrives without balls, I'd think that would be proof enough.

• So would I, but they're anxious about it. That's not all they're anxious about. . . . I have to kill Stan.

• Sean!

• He'll be fine, just like Al and Theo are fine in Alphaworld. Not really dead. Well, okay, he'll be dead, but not dead dead. So I need you to distract Ian.

• You want me to do your dirty work for you.

• Seth, I'm the one doing the dirty work. You think I want to do this? It's eating me up inside. But I have no choice.

• You want me to `distract' Ian.

• If he knows, he'll stand in my way and then we'll both be in deep shit.

• Why would IAN be in deep shit?

• Because he lied about killing Stan in the first place. I have to protect Ian, Seth. And I'd think you'd want to as well. You dated him for a while.

• He told you about that. Or rather, he told `Jude'.

• You're the Trigger Man, Seth. Without you, The Project doesn't launch. I knew all about your love life. Not just Ian – Caleb and Ysidro and those twinks you dated after we broke up. And especially about you and Abe. Ian set you up for that, doing our bidding without even realizing it.

• You manipulated us into a relationship.

• Does it matter? Do you love Abe any less? You were both unaware of it, you fell in love naturally, we were doing you a favor.

• Until you started sleeping with Abe.

• Yeah, well, that was part of the plan, too. Nothing personal.

FLASHBACK: SEAN (CUYAHOGA FALLS, OHIO / CLEVELAND) – July, current year

• So did you like the Shostakovich?

• I LOVED the Shostakovich. Second piano concerto – pièce de resistance.

• I am totally with you. I wish more people would come to these concerts. I have trouble finding a friend to go with.

• Oh, god, me, too. Sometimes I can drag my boyfriend to the Cleveland Orchestra, but only if they're playing something familiar like Beethoven's Fifth.

• Not a music lover.

• Let's just say his tastes and mine diverge. For him to come all the way down to Cuyahoga Falls – for Shostakovich? No way, José. But me, I love these summer concerts at Blossom.

• Me, too. Listen, you want to, like, have a coffee afterwards?

• Well, like I said, I have a boyfriend.

• I'm not asking you to sleep with me. (Yet.) Just a coffee.

• Well . . .

• No harm in a cup of coffee that he'll never know about.

• I guess. . . . Okay. I'm Abe, by the way.

• Sean. I'll say this, Abe. Looking at you – your boyfriend is one lucky man.

Sean'. It just slipped out. I should have given him a fake name (not Jude, he might know of Jude' from Ian), but no matter; there was no reason for him to associate me with Seth's Sean. Fortunately, there are thousands of Seans in the world.

We had coffee. We drove back to Cleveland in separate cars. We arrived in Cleveland at the same location – his apartment.

• I really shouldn't be doing this.

• Are you married?

• No, but we've been dating for seven months.

• You're not living together.

• No.

• So you're still free to explore other avenues, you know. Even married guys – straight and gay alike – have perfectly healthy relationships that aren't exclusive.

• I know, and I've always been, well, the opposite of exclusive. Seth's the only guy I've dated for longer than three weeks.

• Seth? That his name? The Neanderthal who doesn't like classical music?

• He's not a Neanderthal.

• Homo Ignoramus, then.

• Are you trying to break us up?

• Absolutely not. I'm just trying to add a little spice to your life. And a little spike.

• Well, you have a very nice spike, I must admit.

• And you have a very nice place to put my spike.

I put my spike into his very nice place. He didn't mind at all.

No, Abe, I'm not trying to break you up. I'm just trying to complicate your relationship. That's my job – the Trigger Man needs issues. You have a pretty face and a pretty ass and a pretty everything else, but my mission is to drive a wedge – just a little one – between you two. And, considering how much you liked my spike, I think I can sustain this for a while.

It's your lover I'm after, Abe, not you. And I aim to get him. By any means necessary.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – IAN

• Ian, we're nearly out of water. Want to come with?

• Stan and I can go, Seth.

• Stan's with Gary at the moment. Right now, the only person who can talk to Gary about sex is Jasper – anyone else and he morphs into Ray or Cody. But I heard Stan telling Gary he was bisexual, and Gary stayed Gary. That's a good sign – I don't want to disrupt that.

• Okay, that makes sense. Sure, I'll go with you.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

Well, that was a lie. Gary was Ray at the moment. I self-justified the lie by saying that if Sean could extract Stan from Ray's presence, maybe Jasper could get Gary to come out.

I didn't convince myself. I knew I was just betraying Ian. But what choice did I have? I had to save The Project, so I could save Abe.

Sorry, Ian.

THE WOODS – SEAN

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Ian leave with Seth. That would make this a little easier. Not a lot easier. On a ten-point difficulty scale, it would reduce it from 10 to 9.

Theo's death haunted me, necessary as it was – his scream still resounded in my brain. And Theo had an Alpha-life, and no lover to devastate. Stan, on the other hand, . . .

Did I have the courage to do this? Better get on with it, Sean – Ian won't be out of the way forever.

I called Stan away from Gary, who seemed to be in Ray mode.

• Hey, Sean, what gives?

• I want to clear the air, if I can.

• Sure. Ian said you were covering up his hiding me.

• Indeed I am. I want you to feel safe, that you can trust me. You know they wanted us to kill you. Ian said he'd do it because you'd take it better from him, but then changed his mind. You know that?

• Yeah. He said my Alpha-life was safe, but that wasn't that reassuring, frankly. I'm a Beta-life.

• What did Ian tell you about the others?

This was critical. I had to find out how much he knew. Did he know about Theo? Did he know about Al?

• They're dead. Vic strangled Al, and Theo – Ian said you pushed him off a cliff.

Okay, I can't take him to the cliff, he knows about it. But I had a back-up plan.

• Do you want to see Al's grave?

• His grave?

• Vic buried him. Seth found it and put up a makeshift headstone and some flowers. I could show you.

• Would you, Sean? I didn't know Al for long, but aside from Ian he was my best friend on this island. I'd like to pay last respects and, who knows, maybe when I get back to Alpha I can look him up.

• Let me show you. I'll bring my phone and take a picture.

• You have a phone?

• Shhh. It's a secret.

I wasn't about to take him to Al's actual grave. Instead, I took him down the meadow for a few hundred yards, then into the eastern woods. We were alone, isolated, in a place no one would see us. In other words, the perfect spot.

A knife being available at the Tower, my original thought was to bring it with me and plunge it into Stan's heart. But I was wearing only socks and briefs, and couldn't conceal a knife in either without risking serious injury. Besides, Seth might need the knife today to use on Jasper.

No, I'd have to rely on my hands, just as Vic did with Al.

• I'm really sorry, Stan.

• What, you can't find it?

• Al's grave is nowhere near here.

I put my hands around his startled neck and squeezed.

• You won't know you're dead. Your consciousness will go straight to Alphaworld. You won't remember any of this, but I'll make sure Ian gets to Portland and finds you.

I thought about how often we envisioned loved ones being reunited `in the next world' after their deaths. This was one situation where it might be true. I pledged to myself to make sure Ian and Stan connected in Alphaworld. That is, if the Project failed. And if Stan had an Alpha-life.

Because his Beta-life had just ended.

I snapped a picture of his corpse. Knowing that would be insufficient, I dug a grave, and dumped him in it, covering him up partly in dirt, then took another shot. Then I buried all but a single hand and took a video of the hand protruding from the dirt for long enough to convince them he wasn't holding his breath, before burying the hand with the rest of his body.

Afterwards, I fell to the ground and cried for a long, long time.

THE PHALLIC TOWER - IAN

Seth and I returned with our three bottles of water. I found only Gary and Jasper present; the absence of Stan and Sean concerned me. It concerned me more when Sean appeared, alone.

His eyes were red. I could tell he didn't want to face me. I didn't want to speak. Seth took over for me.

• (Seth) What happened, Sean? Why so upset?

• (Sean) I tried to stop him, Ian. I couldn't.

• (Seth) Stop him from what?

• (Sean) The penis garden.

• WHAT?!!

I couldn't believe my ears. Sean had allowed Stan to wander into a penis garden? No way.

• You're fucking lying, Sean.

• No – I –

• What were you even doing leaving the Tower?

• He . . . He wanted to see Al's grave.

• (Seth) There's no penis garden near Al's grave.

• (Sean) We didn't go to the actual grave. I thought it would upset him too much, so I took him in the opposite direction. I forgot about the penis garden on the way, and –

• You forgot? You FORGOT?! The location of known penis gardens is not something you forget. And – what's that in your hand? Is that a phone? You have a fucking phone?

• . . .

• Give me the phone, Sean.

• The hell I will.

• Why do you have a phone? Who are you calling with your phone? Hamish?

• . . .

• Why is it out now? Why are you coming back from being with Stan with your phone out?

• I'm not answering these questions.

And he walked away. I started to follow, but Seth stopped me.

• Ian, don't. There's no point.

• If Stan's underground, Hamish will castrate him. And then . . .

• I think the `and then' part has already happened.

• . . . What? What do you mean?

• I think Stan's dead. I think Sean killed him. He took his phone to take pictures.

• Why does he need pictures?

• Hamish told him they needed proof that Stan was dead.

• You knew this? You knew this, Seth, and didn't tell me?

• He's still alive, Ian, in Alphaworld.

• . . . You were in on this! You took me off to get water so that Sean could kill my Stan!

He didn't deny it.

• Fuck you, Seth! I hope you fucking die and Abe fucking dies and this whole fucking Project dies so you can live in misery forever!

I didn't mean that, of course, but it had to be said. I just hoped to God that Sean was telling the truth about Stan still being alive in Alphaworld. And that I could somehow find him there.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – JASPER

• So he's going to cut them off, Gary. All three of them.

• When?

• I don't know. Probably tomorrow.

• Can I . . . touch them again?

• Yes, but I have another suggestion.

• What?

• Stand up.

He did.

• Let's just hug each other. Man to man, skin to skin. And explore each other's bodies.

• Including your three balls?

• (grinning) Sure, including my three balls. But all of me. Face, neck, chest, back, abs, butt, legs, even my feet. And let me explore all of you.

• Just touch.

• Touch, fondle, caress, rub, kiss. No sex, just intimacy.

• That sounds nice, Jasper.

• You're nice, Gary. You have a very nice body. One that you should be proud of. One that you should be happy to share. One that you need to be Gary for.

• What do you mean?

• Ray and Cody aren't worthy of you, Gary. A nice body deserves a nice person. Like you.

• Aw, that's sweet, Jasper. You have a nice body, too. I like the hair on your chest.

• One of my specialties. Run your fingers through it if you like.

• I like.

We found a lot to like. Including our balls, all five of them. And he remained Gary the whole time.

• Gary?

• Yes?

• Would you kiss me?

I watched carefully for a reaction, for a change. I didn't want to kiss Cody or Ray. But he gave a little sheepish grin, took me in his arms, and planted one firmly on my lips. Okay, it wasn't a very good kiss, he had no idea what to do, but I still felt a tingle and so did he. And he stayed Gary the whole time.

Progress.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

I had just aided and abetted a murder. I had just betrayed Ian, who had only lied to me in order to preserve his relationship with the man he loved. A relationship I had just helped end. And for what – to preserve MY relationship with the man I loved.

Seth Herrick – the Trigger Man. Who had just pulled the trigger on Stan.

What kind of man was I?

FLASHBACK: SETH (CLEVELAND) – May, this year

• Going out for lunch, Seth?

• Surely.

• Is that surely', meaning yes', or are you just saying my name?

• I'm saying `surely, Shirley'. Wanna come with?

• Yes, please.

• Hudson's? But I'll have to stop at the bank first.

• You're not using your card?

• I need to get some fives.

• Wow. Cash, I remember cash.

Armed with four five-dollar bills, I emerged from the bank and headed toward our favorite diner for lunch.

• What's with the cash?

• It's Thursday.

• That explains it.

• It's my Random Acts of Kindness day. I make a good salary, I can afford twenty bucks a week. I get four fives and give them to street people. It means a lot more to them than giving them a quarter. Ah – there's Ram"n. He's one of my non-random acts. Kind of a regular for me. He's usually out here reading the Plain Dealer. . . . Hey, Ram"n. Where's the newspaper?

• (Ram"n) No point. Lost my reading glasses. The print's too small for these old eyes.

• What strength do you need?

• Two point five. My eyes aren't so good anymore.

• Got it. . . . Listen, Shirley, there's a CVS across the street. Let me run over there.

I bought a pair of reading glasses for Ram"n, and gave them to him along with one of my five-dollar bills.

• (Shirley) That was really sweet. It's a damn shame you're gay, `cause otherwise I'd be falling in love with you.

• I'll let you know if Abe and I break up and I change my sexual orientation.

• Random Acts of Kindness.

• Every Thursday.

• That's very special. That's what kind of man you are, Seth Herrick. Very special.

THE PHALLIC TOWER – SETH

It was a Thursday. And I had just committed a Random Act of Cruelty. And the man who had instigated it was now approaching me, his face full of gratitude.

• Seth, thank you. I couldn't have done it with Ian around.

• Sean, that's not something I can feel good about.

• I don't feel good about it, either. I feel awful, to be honest.

• Murder isn't easy.

• It's not murder if he's still alive. And he's alive in Alphaworld.

• You're sure of that.

He paused too long for me to believe his answer.

• Yes, I'm sure of that.

• No, you're not.

• You're right, I'm not. I'm pretty sure, but not a hundred percent. Dammit, Seth, this thing is so complicated. All I feel confident in is that if you want to save Abe, you have to cut Jasper. And you need to do it tomorrow. You can't wait until Saturday.

• My turn to be a villain.

• I don't think I'm done being one either.

[COMING UP NEXT: CHAPTER FORTY-TWO – PERIL BELOW GROUND]