When Malcolm finally texts me two days later, I'm not exactly surprised, though perhaps I am at the amount of time it took Jessica to find out Hope had been released. His texts explain that well enough though.
jess figured out u didnt leave town
I raise an eyebrow at that, but before I can answer, another text comes in.
she nos Hope was released and is ranting that it had 2 b u
Dear god the grammar and spelling, it wounds me! I send him a quick reply.
What's she doing about it?
The response makes me grin just a little bit.
tryin 2 get ahold of Trish but her phone is off
I resist the urge to cackle maniacally, such a thing doesn't really seem appropriate to do over the contents of a text conversation. Instead I give Malcolm his orders.
Do your best to placate and support her. Let me know when she decides to do something drastic. Things are coming to a head and we'll be bringing her in permanently soon enough.
Getting a confirmation from the man, I put away the phone and look back to Albert and Louise who had been patiently waiting for me to finish. We all stare at each other for a moment before I throw my hands up, "Well?!"
Albert coughs and answers, "Ah, right. Yes well, as far as we can tell it's purely cosmetic. An unexpected side effect, but overall a seemingly benign one."
I snort and bring up my hand to stare at the purple tint on it that's been growing more pronounced daily, "You call this benign? Damnit, I should have expected this, I really should have. Still, I'm turning fucking purple! I don't hate the color or anything but… this is going to make things so much more difficult."
Louise speaks up next, "People are very accepting these days James, no one will look down on you for a different skin color. Racism is a thing of the past."
I stare at her for a moment before just shaking my head, "God, trust an old white person to declare racism over. Despite the absolute inaccuracy of your statements Louise, it's not discrimination I'm worried about. I can handle the racist masses of humanity who will try to bring me down. What I'm more worried about is drawing the attention of the fuckers looking for people lacking humanity. Having purple skin is like putting a neon sign above my head that says "ALIEN!" or "SUPER POWERS!" It's a fucking issue I really didn't need."
I let out an explosive sigh, "But one I can live with if your scientific opinion is that it is truthfully benign. Matches up with what I know."
That last bit is muttered under my breath, but still manages to catch Albert's attention, "What did you say James?"
Shaking my head I let out a resigned chuckle, "Nevermind. Let's get today's first dose over with already shall we? There are things I need to do now that I was planning to handle later. But the more purple I get, the less I'll want to go out in public, so time to speed things up a bit."
I don't even lie down on the bed anymore, just leaning over and letting Albert inject the drugs into my neck with barely a grunt. I've certainly gotten over any lingering fear of needles by now. Within minutes I'm straightening up my collar and leaving the room behind and my scientists to their work.
I've got a bar to visit.