It happened to be the same hospital Robbie was discharged from, a doctor tested his reflexes and it turned out slower than he anticipated.
"What's going on me?" He had other ideas but the consultant could decide on the specifics.
"You stand a chance of developing a muscle atrophy, Mister Thomson, I understand that you need to make some necessary...alterations,"
He said casually looking at him over the rim of his glasses.
He thought back to the cradle and how he had to do nothing over the past few hours. He groaned when the consultant kept talking.
"Thomson, my eyes are up here...good, I'm going to be a doctor now, you need to begin a rigorous physical therapy,"
"Jeepers," He muttered.
The treadmill hummed as he ran over it, in a grey shirt, and black tracksuit bottoms, he huffed holding on to the rails. He was behind course on stamina. "How long?"
"Three,"
"Hours?"
Jillian looked up "Are you serious?"
...
Guy just happened to be leaving his home for a lap, he maintained an adequate lifestyle to beat his impending health condition, he didn't want to envision having an arm that was smaller than the other, the grease had to be cut down to moderation and he appeared toned, his conventional holdup for a shoe to drop brushed by as he skipped the waterhole on the pavement.
The suburbs of Park Alley was quiet, at 7 am dawn, he ran past homes in the cool early morning breeze and rushed past a minuscule garage that was open, the black automobile was housed inside while the man tested the door handle and stopped to give a conventional wave.
He had but to salute quickly jogging by till he reached a slope that even made runners think twice about speeding through. He had Robbie on the line talking and teasing about staying in bed eating biscuits. "Hold that thought,"
He edged out of the road for a black car that was progressing and it slowed to his view.
The mysterious driver slowed to Guy's pace and he leaned over by the glass and waved. "Mind stopping?"
"Who are you?"
"Lark Industries," He introduced, putting forward an ID card.
Guy found the name ringing in his head and the man climbed out of the car in a velvet green suit and black designs, he was behind glasses and he had a crew cut and stood at average height, he certainly looked professional chewing gum too.
"We had a dealing with a certain guy," He inclined over to his colleague for support.
Guy's eyes roved to the darkened windows of the car, he could see two others seated at the back and swallowed.
"Thomson?" He added.
"Lark? Oh that deal was many many months ago," He scoffed "I'm not convinced it exists anymore_or even does exist," He ranted.
"That deal is unbreachable," He said in a restful voice.
The second prodded coming forward "You're gonna have to come with us,"
He braced his hands on his hips and scratched his jaw, he jammed his fist into the second's face and crossed the street losing them in the neighborhood.
"Get him!"
The second was about to run when the first skipped into the car "Get inside, he won't get that far," They boarded the car and swerved into the next turn, zooming off.
It all started in a flash and he was running from home disoriented, he'd been sprinting since 8am and he made it to the city, the men had come for him on foot he took a right at 30th Street and made sure to lose the men at the bank, their suits juxtaposed the crowd drawing apart quickly. Guy tumbled and parkoured over a concrete fence. This wasn't exactly a New York flick where people just swung their bodies over a car and made it, he could actually get hit. He maneuvered into the slow traffic and followed a group of students' path for half a block and tried to stay in unrestricted areas as possible. They were still coming and he ran further to hide behind a graffitied warehouse, catching his breath and he did a double take on the wide avenue with other homes, he made a U-turn and got squirted with an antaraxic spray, he keeled over they carried him off to the black car in waiting.
"We don't get paid enough," The third man mumbled.
"Hoowee!" He thumped on the steering wheel fidgeting and cackling "We are now,"
"Just get this over with Buzz, I'm dying here,"
...
Lark Industries, a station for limitless games, the solid black building was a fortress amongst others, the owner had to make sure everything was going according to plan.
The car arrived at the rotary park and stopped by a barrier, Guy's eyes unrolled, still in darkness and his head spun, fidgeting, he was stuck in the four corners, and he gasped low on oxygen, his arms and legs were bent and pinioned to fit in the confines of a booth. The booth opened and daylight settled on him, the first man was grinning.
Guy put up one finger in protest as he climbed out "Can we talk about this?" He said and stumbled as Buzz shoved him through the sliding doors.
"He'll do the talking, sit down and relax," They lowered him to a black davenport and took off his blinds. He squirmed at the bright lights from the four corners of the gallery with glass barriers and a clock at the centre ticking.
He shifted on the chair and an aged man with white hair combed neatly in a rich black suit with a purple tie joined him outstretching his arms, his eyes creased when he smiled with a cigar stuck in between his teeth and Guy lurched scooching over.
"Nice job, Buzz. Welcome. I just think you shouldn't be giving my men a lot of trouble, it gets all of us behind" He sat back on a spinning chair and puffed up smoke.
"Pleased to meet you. You happen to be at our forum, we run ads 24/7 and we've met Monte, as far as the name of this industry goes, I love to laugh, I am a happy man," He turned serious spinning the plate of ash.
"I run things here okay?" He meshed the ashes on a glass tray beside a bowl of chocolate easter bunnies. He offered one.
"Chocolate?"
"No, I don't need any_"
"Fascinating," He laughed at the others.
"How did you find me? Exactly?" He squinted his eyes.
"Oh, It's not like you have a Social Security Number that we keep track of." He waved a hand.
"I don't want to be in the game, t_this is the wrong time for a competition," Guy confessed while the men hefted him up and James Bourjois marched past them to a set of black doors ahead.
"Oh, I know. This is a safe environment, we can talk, but do not overstep your boundaries when it comes to business,"
"It was an oversight, I didn't know I said yes,"
"Accidents happen, take him inside,"