Chapter THREE

 

The meager sleep that Felix had gotten that night was as restless as it had been the night before. Nightmares weren’t uncommon for him even on the best of days but the ones he was getting now felt far more vivid than the ones he was used to. He woke up fitfully on more than one occasion that night. By the third time, he was jolted awake and gripped his sheets, attempting to ground himself and catch his breath. He wiped over his eyes and a shaky breath escaped him. It would be pointless going back to sleep now when he knew his alarm would be going off in an hour anyway.

He reached for his phone before even leaving his bed, wondering if he would see some sort of text from the creature he’d spoken with the night before. No new messages greeted him, the screen just as empty as it had been regularly for him for years now. With a sigh he set the phone back on the table and convinced himself to get up from the bed to get ready for work.

It was hard to care about something as menial as work now that his life seemed like it had changed so drastically. Not just his life, but his entire perception of the universe around him. It was a lot to take in.
 

While he was in the shower, he took the time to gather his mind and formulate his plan for work. Most people at work already knew him to be more on the quiet and jittery side. For once, this would be in his favor. Even if he wasn’t directly responsible for Paul’s disappearance, he still had things that he needed to keep hidden. He couldn’t exactly tell anyone that he watched his lead get eaten by an alien. They’d think he was psychotic, and it would pose even more questions that he wasn’t certain he could answer. They would wonder why he didn’t report it, what had happened to the altered cameras, and who knew what else. Then he’d end up in jail, or worse, he’d lose his job and be sent to go back home to figure his future out. Either way, there was just no scenario where telling the truth in this case was going to end up going well for him.

He finished up his shower and pulled on the most inconspicuous clothing he had. This wasn’t hard, given that a majority of his wardrobe consisted of black, plain clothing. He then took his phone from the nightstand and felt his nerves jolt as he noticed not one, but several new messages on his phone.

“Oh, shit.” 

 

He quickly scanned over the barrage of texts from various coworkers asking if he had seen Paul and if they knew what had happened to his computer and desk. He abruptly snapped the phone closed and shoved it in his pocket. He wasn't going to subject himself to answering more questions than he could get away with.​

​

He did his best to prepare himself for the hell that he was sure his day was going to be. He couldn’t afford to be late, but he definitely didn’t want to get there early either. So he loitered around his place for as long as he possibly could before tamping down frayed nerves to head out of his apartment, firmly repeating the words in his mind as he locked up his apartment.

I didn’t see anything. I didn’t hear anything. I have no idea what’s going on.

“Felix? Are you okay?” The familiar voice startled him out of his mantra, and he spun around to see Vic coming out of her own apartment just behind him.

 

“Oh god, Vic. You spooked me,” He laughed nervously, doing his best to look as normal as possible. Maybe this would be a good chance for him to practice. He went back to repeating the words in his mind, worried he’d somehow forget them if he didn’t. Didn’t see anything. Didn’t hear anything.

 

Vic smiled hesitantly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you…You just looked really unwell for a moment. Are you okay?” She repeated the question a little more insistently.

“I have no idea what’s going on. I mean…Do I really?” He wondered just how much worse for wear he looked than he normally did. “Maybe I’ve just been staying up too late the last couple nights. Too absorbed in movies and video games.” He tried to pass it off lightly with a little apologetic half-shrug. If this were a video game, he had already made all the most absurd and dangerous choices and he was pretty sure he’d somehow befriended the boss monster. The fact that he was still alive was nothing short of a miracle.

Sometimes it did still feel like this all was some sort of weird movie. Especially when the monstrous memory of Paul’s bones cracking as he was pulled into the computer kept coming back to his head, leaving a cold, sickening chill in his gut. It would make for a hell of a horror movie. Your Lead is Fucking Dead. Coming to a theater near you. Now in high definition! He was friends with some kind of alien monster and his neighbor and closest friend wanted to know if he was okay. He was going to have to stay focused and at least try to maintain casual conversation if he was ever going to make it into the sequel. “The last movie I watched was pretty gnarly.”

 

Vic nodded, but the perplexed expression didn’t leave her face. “It was too much?” She pressed, genuinely concerned for his well-being. “I’m sorry to hear that…Maybe take a little break? Or maybe watch movies that aren’t as violent for a little while?”  She chose her words carefully, not wanting to seem overbearing.

 

“Yeah. Definitely. That’s a good idea actually, I should just stop watching horror movies for a bit I guess.” And stop taking the lead role in them, his mind added morosely as he walked with her down the hall towards the parking lot. 

 

“Yes, maybe.” 

 

Vic grew quiet afterward which brought Felix some measure of relief. If he kept up a good façade he wouldn’t have to keep lying. After a couple moments, however, she broke the silence. “So how was dinner last night?”

 

“I wasn’t that hungry, so I just had a bowl of cereal. You?”

 

“...You cooked your cereal on the stove?” she asked incredulously.

 

“What? What do you mean?

 

Vic was staring at him. “Yesterday you said you had to go because you left something on the stove.” Her gaze hardened as she continued, realization slowly setting in. “Then you told me to be safe,” she continued bluntly.

 

“Oh! That! Yeah!” Shit. Shit why was he so bad at this. He could still save this. He could pretend he didn’t hear the sharpness in her tone or see how suspicious she looked. If he just avoided eye-contact, he could pretend it wasn’t happening. “Yeah, I burnt it. Oops.”

 

“Oops?” She repeated slowly, which made him feel as crazy as he was sure he was acting.

 

This is why he was sure she wasn’t believing him. It was why his ploy to ‘stay normal’ wasn’t working. It wasn’t because she was a detective or secretly working for the FBI and knew everything he’d been up to. He was just bad at this. Really bad at it. And if he kept screwing up like this, he was sure she was going to end up hating him. He could hide the truth from anyone else for as long as it took and at the end of the day it wouldn’t matter as much, but when it came to Vic, he hated having to avoid telling her what had really happened.

 

“Come on, Vic…” His shoulders slumped in defeat as he stared at the ground ahead of him dejectedly. “It’s not a secret that I’m really bad at that kind of stuff.” Whether he was a worse cook or a worse liar, however, was debatable. 

 

Vic took a deep breath, her expression softening. Some days it felt like she had an endless amount of patience for him. “It’s okay, darling.” Even though doubt was still present in her tone, the sharpness was gone. “You know you can ask for help, right? I’ve helped you before and I wouldn’t mind doing it again.” 

 

“Yeah, I know. I’m really grateful for that. I was just trying not to make it a big deal I guess.” He could still feel the guilt of having to lie to Vic not once, but multiple times hung heavy on his shoulders and made his heart ache. He reminded himself feebly that he couldn’t risk pulling her into this mess. If anything happened to her, he would never be able to forgive himself. Ever.

 

He felt the weight of one of her hands on his shoulder as she gently reassured him with a squeeze. “You’re okay. You’re not a burden,” she reminded him. “I really don’t mind helping you. It’s my pleasure, Felix. It really is.”

 

“Yeah…I know. Thanks, Vic,” He murmured. He didn’t feel like he deserved her. He was lucky to know her and luckier still to be able to call her a friend. Her words held a certain tenderness to them and almost always managed to evoke the emotions he did his best to hide away. 

 

Felix swallowed down the lump in his throat. This whole thing made him feel like he was having to distance himself from the one person who actually cared, and, in that moment, there was nothing that could hurt more to think about. He stubbornly pushed those thoughts away and managed another feeble smile, hoping it would reassure her. “Maybe we can do something like that together soon. I’ve just been a little overwhelmed with work lately, that’s all.”

 

The suggestion seemed to work like a charm. Vic lit up, her smile reaching her eyes. “Sure, that could be fun. We can text each other and figure out a date together. You’re always welcome to knock on my door anytime, too.” She replied, giving him a light pat on the back. “Have a nice day, Felix. Take care of yourself at work…Don’t push yourself too much, okay?”

 

“I’ll try not to.” Felix would have hugged her if he could have. Instead, he shoved his palm into his pocket and fished out his keys and headed over to his car. He fumbled with the key for a bit, frowning as he tugged the handle a few times before realizing it was in fact not his car. “What the hell–oh. Rats. Ha ha, right. My car’s over here.” He shuffled over to the much dingier vehicle, actually managing to open this one with no issues aside from adding to Vic’s growing list of suspicions. He turned briefly to offer Vic a sheepish smile in embarrassment, palm raising in an uncertain wave. “I’ll see you around later. Hope your day goes well too.”

He sat in his car while it idled, gaze fixed on the steering wheel while he tried to keep himself from feeling like the world was crumbling around him. One step at a time. He just needed to focus on making it to work, then he could worry about everything else that followed later.

This should have been simple enough. However, as soon as he caught the flashing lights of the police vehicles parked in front of the large building nothing seemed simple anymore. How were they already there?! In any other situation he was sure the police wouldn’t have shown up that fast, hell they didn’t even typically show up that fast in movies. He fought off the urge to turn around and leave, reminding himself that a move like that would only draw more attention to himself. So instead, he parked his car, took a deep breath and rubbed both hands over his face. He could do this. He just had to keep calm and remember his mantra.

As he walked up to the building, his mind helpfully supplied him with every possible scenario and conversation that could go down and all the ways he could respond to it. His heart hammered in his chest, and he silently hoped that he wouldn’t run into one of the officers on the way up to the floor he worked on. If they’d been there a while, they probably would have already started investigating the area.
 

It was sheer luck that he managed to slip into the elevator unnoticed. He exhaled a victorious little breath and closed his eyes to steel himself for what was to come. When the elevator arrived and the doors slid open, Felix saw a couple of the officers standing near the corner of where his and Paul’s desks were, the entire area cordoned off with yellow tape. Some of his coworkers stood idly by, watching as the investigation unfolded. 

 

“Felix,” one called the programmer’s name, moving away from the group to approach him. This wasn’t just a coworker though. This was his boss. He almost never saw the man in the office. In fact, in all the years that Felix had been working there he could probably count the number of times he saw him in person on one hand. Even then the man had never spoken directly to him. That would have made him nervous even on the best of days when there hadn’t been a murder he may or may not have been an accomplice to. Felix’s breath caught in his throat as the man approached him, unable to find the words to respond.

 

“Do you have any information about what’s happened? And do you know where Paul is? He’s not answering his phone,” he finished with a sigh, taking out his cellphone to see if he received any sign from the lead. The grimace on his boss’s face told him everything he needed to know. Not that Felix had expected his boss to be receiving any texts from Paul any time soon. Or ever again.

 

“Paul? I—no. I haven’t seen him. Heard him. I haven’t seen or heard anything. I don’t know what’s going on. What’s going on?” Felix glanced around, as if he was taking in the entire scene for the first time, but really it was more of an excuse to not have to look this man in the eye. He was pretty sure if he maintained eye contact with anyone in this office they would be able to use their mind-reading powers to figure out all of his deepest darkest secrets. One glance would be all it would take and they would know he was the kind of weirdo that poured his milk in the bowl before his cereal. A true monster.

 

His boss shook his head and then pinched the bridge of his nose, visibly frustrated by the situation. “Right. Well, someone apparently broke in last night and destroyed Paul’s computer. Thankfully not all of it, just the screen. We can recover his work and it will be possible to find a replacement. But until we solve this whole mess can you take some of his tasks? At least until he shows up and explains what happened. The work will be split between Samantha and yourself.” 

 

Felix had prepared himself for a lot of things this morning, but he definitely hadn’t prepared himself for being assigned Paul’s work. Realization slowly settled into him. If Paul wasn’t coming back…Did that mean he was getting a raise? Felix stopped fidgeting and stared at the other man for a moment. It took everything in him to hold back the celebratory relief he felt at that moment. “I’m sorry, just to make sure I understand but are you saying you want me to sub in for Paul until he comes back?”

“Exactly. Work won’t finish itself and his deadline is approaching. You’ve worked with him a lot and he has given you a lot of work, which tells me that he finds you competent.” His boss couldn’t have been more wrong, but the older man didn’t need to know this so Felix stayed quiet while he continued. “To me, this is the logical thing to do. That is something you can do, isn’t it? Like I said, you wouldn’t be alone in this. One of your coworkers will help you with them. They will be split evenly.”

 

“Oh! Yeah. Yeah! Absolutely sir. I can do that. No problem.”

 

“Splendid.” He nodded, glancing back at the officers who continued their investigation. Annoyance returned to his face and he slowly shook his head. “Whatever caused this won’t look good on Paul’s evaluation, I can tell you that.”

 

A surge of victory ran through Felix at the mention of Paul’s evaluation. He dutifully kept his features stoic, simply nodding. “Oh hey. Since my desk and Paul’s are out of commission, where should I get to work? Did you want me to start now, or should I wait?” He wasn’t sure if the police planned on questioning everyone there or not, but he was pretty sure they were going to want to talk to him at some point.

 

“You can start now. If the officers have questions, they will come and ask them. If they don’t, not our problem. I’m sure we will have some answers soon.” It didn’t appear like the boss was nervous. If anything, this looked like it was more of a nuisance to him than anything else. “But yes, the team will help you get a temporary workstation, while yours is being held hostage. I will tell Tom to go do that for you, so you can get to work right away.”

 

“Alright. No problem,” Felix repeated, giving a slow nod as he allowed everything to sink in.

 

“Perfect. I’ll go inform him and you two can make it work.” Felix watched as his boss left and approached one of his younger coworkers who had been watching the officers from afar. Felix couldn’t hear their conversation from this distance, but he could see the young man listening and nodding. Felix took the moment to look elsewhere, still staving off his urge to laugh. Just yesterday Paul had been threatening him about failing his evaluation. But now? Now if anyone was going to be failing evaluations it would probably be Paul. Mostly because he was dead. 

 

Felix gave an incredulous laugh, which he quickly stifled, glancing around to make sure no one had noticed. His boss and that guy, Tom, still seemed like they were in their own conversation. Once his boss walked away to make another phone call, he saw his coworker look over his way and make a gesture for him to follow him.

Well this was it. It was time for him to step up and take over everything Paul left behind. Internally, Felix mocked Paul in that same droning voice the man always used with him. See Paul? Yeah. Maybe if you weren’t such an asshole…This wouldn’t have happened. Dying on the job…Not very professional…Not very responsible of you either Paul. 

 

Felix cleared his throat to stifle another urge to laugh, effectively wiping the humor off his features while he followed Tom.

 

“I heard they were going to question everyone,” the younger man commented, so low Felix almost didn’t hear it. Tom led him to an office that was mostly empty and judging by the layer of dust, it seemed like it hadn’t been used in a while. Tom then got under the desk to start plugging in all the hardware to the tower, making sure everything would be functional for Felix. “No one knows what happened though it seems. Do you?”

 

“No, I don’t know anything,” Felix murmured, keeping his gaze on the other man while he worked.

 

“Yeah, me neither…This whole thing gives me the heebie-jeebies. Besides the broken computer screen, there’s nothing. Nothing from the cameras too I heard which is the real freaky part. Some think Paul probably just pissed someone off outside of work but I…I don’t know. This whole thing is just weird to me, you know?” Tom got out from under the desk, sitting in front of it so he could set the computer up.

 

Every vein in Felix’s body had run cold at the reminder of the cameras. He’d completely forgotten about them. If anyone had found anything on those he’d be completely screwed. He shifted uncomfortably, looking around as if expecting the police to show up any moment and slap a pair of handcuffs on him. “Nothing on the cameras?” He repeated slowly, hoping to get more information. “What do you mean?”

 

Tom was quiet for a moment as he visibly concentrated on the screen in front of him. “I’m not sure. Larry repeated that to us. He heard one of the cops say there was nothing on the cameras. I’m guessing it means there was nothing suspicious. Nothing that could tell us what smashed the computer up like that. But if that’s the case, that probably means they were tampered with.”

 

Felix worried his lip as he listened, nodding along. He felt entirely shocked as he processed the information that had just been delivered to him. Nothing on the cameras. It was like he was being protected by some fucked up guardian angel…or in his case, a guardian alien.

 

Because it had to be the alien’s doing, right? There was no other way for that footage to have been modified. And from what he had witnessed the other night, computers and cell phones were probably not the only things the creature could control. Felix felt like he was nothing but a bundle of nerves. He didn’t understand how he was so lucky that he kept dodging all these bullets, but maybe it was better if he didn’t question it.

 

“It’s weird, right?” Tom pressed as he finished up.

 

“Uh? Oh yeah, super weird...” Felix murmured, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He didn’t know what else he could say at this point, but thankfully he didn’t have to say anything. Tom got up, presenting the chair to him with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

 

“Here you go, all set up. My office is to the right of yours. Come see me if you need anything,” he said, before leaving Felix on his own.

 

“Thanks, I will.” Once the other man left, Felix sighed for the billionth time that day and sat down. It felt a little weird to be working at a different desk. Even if the office was bare of any decorations and seemed like it hadn’t been in use in a while, it still gave him the weird feeling that he was somewhere he shouldn’t have been or like he was violating someone’s privacy. Whose privacy, though? The ghost in the building? Felix shook his head and willed himself to try to get started on work.

 

He really did his best. It was admittedly hard to stay focused when the investigation of the crime scene was only a few feet away from him and the glass walls made it easy to watch what was going on around the office. Every so often he caught himself straining to hear whatever they might have been saying, but it was hard to make anything out. The muffled murmurs of the officers were the only ones Felix really heard, given that the rest of the office had fallen in an uneasy silence.The stress was palpable as the officers began to take statements, going from one employee to the next.

 

By the time the officers came around to him, he was sure his heart was going to burst from his chest. He visibly startled when one knocked at his office door and asked to speak with him. Felix was beyond nervous while he spoke with her, but luckily the officer didn’t seem to pick up anything out of the ordinary from his statement and the questions seemed relatively easy. By the time she left, Felix felt more exhausted than relieved, having expended most of his energy from trying to appear normal.

 

On most days, Felix normally skipped his lunch break in favor of working more, but this time he made the decision to actually take the break for once. After a short trip to the break room, he settled back at his new desk with a couple snacks from the vending machine. 

 

Once the police left, Felix was able to make a better attempt at working while the day dragged on. He had just nearly finished up what he was doing when he noticed his cursor had begun to move on its own. He squinted, watching the possessed little white arrow go through the documents to pull up a word pad. Then words began to appear on the screen…Well, just one, actually.

 

Hello. :) 

 

Felix didn’t have a doubt in his mind that this was the same creature from before. He glanced around as if he was worried someone might somehow find out before he put aside his snacks to wipe off his hands with a napkin. He then cautiously sat up and spoke quietly under his breath so no one else would hear. “You really shouldn’t be here right now.”

​

Ha. Ha.

A sense of uneasiness settled in the pit of Felix’s stomach. “Okay well…maybe it’s more of an issue for me than it is for you…but I really can’t be talking to you right now. I just barely managed to dodge having it all pinned on me. Somehow.”

 

You don’t have to talk to us, friend. We’re just lurking. Humans will eventually pay attention to other things. We’ve eaten recently. They will eventually look into this next case and will see you have no connection. It’s okay, Felix.

 

Felix nodded, quietly wishing those words were as reassuring for him as they were meant to be. But maybe they were right. Maybe he was in the clear from here on out.

 

Once again, he was startled right out of that train of thought by a knock on the door. He quickly whirled around in his chair, to see one of his coworkers standing at the threshold of the door with a look of concern on her features. “Hey, Felix. Do you have a moment?”

 

“Oh! Hey Angie. Sorry. You spooked me. What’s up?”

 

“Sorry, sorry, I should have known better.” She forced a smile, taking a step in. “I just wanted to update you on the situation. They think it’s possible Paul might have been…harmed last night, while he was working here. Ryan is suspecting a kidnapping or something. He said doesn’t want us working past 5:00 PM, at least not until this whole mystery is solved. Will you be okay?”

 

“Oh…yeah. I’ll be okay but I should probably go when you guys do. I’m almost done here with all this.” 

 

Felix wasn’t going to waste his breath or time mentioning how stupid he thought it was that anyone could suspect a kidnapping in this scenario. Paul was probably the least kidnappable person on the planet. Anyone stupid enough to do something like that would find themselves in an eternal hell of Paul droning on and on at how pathetic they were and how they failed as a kidnapper. Or how they contributed nothing of worth to the planet and how they would probably fail their kidnapper evaluation. That poor kidnapper would be in deep need of therapy after a decision like that.

Angie nodded, already backing away. “Okay, we’ll wait for you. I don’t feel safe enough to go on my own because of all of this, so Fred and I will be leaving at the same time. See ya in a bit.” And with that, she left.

 

Humans are such strange creatures.

 

Felix saw the comment on the word pad, once she was out of sight. He nodded a couple times absently. “Listen, I gotta get going.”

 

Okay, see you soon, friend. 

 

“See you soon, friend.” Felix quickly shut down his computer and grabbed everything he needed before hurrying over to where Angie and Fred were waiting. “Hey. Sorry. I’m ready now.”

 

Angie nodded when he arrived. “It’s no problem,” she said, holding the door for them. “You didn’t take that long.”

 

Fred was the first to leave, taking long, slow strides so they could easily catch up to him. From the way he carried himself, as well as the exhaustion and vacant look on his face, it seemed like it was more out of obligation than out of the goodness of his heart.

 

“Did you guys hear any update on what they think might have happened with Paul?” Felix asked tentatively, wanting to stay on top of any information they managed to gather.

 

She shook her head. “Not yet. The police need to investigate more before they can confirm if it’s a missing person case. But Ryan thinks something definitely happened to him.”

 

“His best employee isn’t showing up,” Fred commented, taking out his flip phone to look at something. “Of course he’s freaking out about it. Probably thinks the whole company is fucked now.”

 

Angie let out a nervous chuckle. “I’m sure our boss has more faith in us than that.”

 

Fred’s silence in response to that said more than enough.

 

Felix furrowed his brow. “What does Ryan think happened?”

 

“He thinks someone broke in and hurt him,” Fred shook his head. He still wasn’t looking at them, somehow managing to follow them without bumping against anything. “But nothing was shown on the cameras, so that freaks him out a little bit. Makes no sense at all, you know? Bitch-Paul vanished, shit’s broken and the footage isn’t helping. I personally think he finally snapped, took his money and a flight out of the country. He was tired of the team not being fast enough with the workload and needed an escape.”

 

“That’s definitely not what happened.” Angie replied, rolling her eyes. “That’s not very nice, Fred. Paul wasn’t a bad person…He liked his team… and he loved his work…I think.”

 

Felix couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He couldn’t tell what was funnier. The idea of Paul absolutely flipping his shit and leaving to another country or that anyone thought he was nice and liked his team. Paul didn’t like anyone. He probably didn’t even like himself. Paul probably woke up in the morning and looked in the mirror and decided he had failed his own evaluation at being human and so he retaliated by making sure he failed as many evaluations in the company as possible as revenge. Maybe Felix was still just a little peeved at Paul insinuating he deserved a bad evaluation after all the time and effort he put into everything at work. Felix managed to catch his breath and grin. “You know what? I kind of hope that’s what happened.”

 

Angie shook her head and frowned, definitely not agreeing with any of them. Felix would have been happy to contribute more to the lighter conversation and the jokes, but luckily for Angie he was distracted by the buzzing notification of his phone. He pulled it out of his pocket to see a message from…well there were no numbers at all. Where there should have been a phone number Felix instead saw neon artifacts that kept flickering on the small screen, making it look like it was glitched out. Felix blinked as it changed its form to something smaller. Like clouds dissipating after a storm, the glitched artifacts moved and came together to form a single word: Friend.

 

Told you it would be soon. 

 

Felix couldn’t help but smile as he realized who it was. He glanced over at his coworkers, as if he was worried they would somehow know what was going on. Well they wouldn’t know if he didn’t give them the chance.

 

“Boy, I sure am tired, night you two, see you both Wednesday!” He then ran over the rest of the way to his car and got in, then quickly slammed the door shut, leaving his two coworkers in a small state of confusion. Felix leaned back in the driver’s seat and stared intently at his phone. “How did you even get inside my phone? I didn't even see you get in there and it’s been in my pocket the whole time.”

​

We’re clever. We know how to fit in, Felix. Want us to fit in even more? We could fit in even more. Watch… Hold on...

 

Their username glitched again for a second, the words now changing to Partyhatwich. To make things even more strange, the creature somehow managed to improvise itself an icon. What was left was the modified image of a sandwich with party hats instead of the bread. The sides of the image still had those odd glitched artifacts that wouldn’t have been present on a regular contact and the colors of the icons were kind of an eyesore; a bright mix of bright green, pink, and red. They were colors he didn’t even know his phone was capable of. 

 

Ta da.

 

“Wow. I love it,” Felix laughed. “Alright, we should get going or it’s gonna look suspicious that I haven’t left the parking lot yet.” He carefully set the phone down in the cupholder so he’d still be able to see it while he drove, then started the car up.

“Soo, are you gonna stick around for a bit?” Felix asked after a moment.

 

Yes, Felix.

 

“Ohh. Okay. Neat. Well, I was thinking of stopping to pick up some food on the way home, since I don’t really have much at my place. Can you eat human food?”

​

We can. It simply won’t give us any nutritional values. 

 

“Ohh. So does that mean technically you could just eat it to enjoy the flavor of it?”

 

There was a short pause from the creature’s side.

 

This is a good way of putting it, yes. The food doesn’t give us energy. But we can taste it. We can taste anything and everything. Does that make sense?

 

“Yeah, it makes sense. Alright. Cool.” Felix kept as much of his focus as he could on the traffic around him, knowing just where he’d go. His mind had already latched on to the idea of getting new foods for the creature to try, so what better place to start than one of his favorite fast food places? But there was another very important thing to consider in all this.

“Wait—You said you’d be able to come out of my phone right?”

Correct. We’re not trapped in there.

 

“Would you be willing to come out of there? I mean it doesn’t have to be now but maybe when we get back to my place?”

 

This time there was no reply for a while. After a moment, Felix was beginning to feel worried. Had he said something wrong? Just as he was beginning to feel the early stages of anxiety creep in on him, green words appeared on the screen of his cell phone.

 

…You want to see us?

 

Relief instantly washed over Felix. “Well I was just thinking of maybe getting some food for you too when I pick something up. But I wasn’t sure if you’d be willing to come out and try it.”

​

You really have no issue with us being there next to you? Physically next to you, despite what happened?

​

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. But I’m also curious. And I also trust you, since you said we’re friends and you wouldn’t hurt me. I mean if you really wanted to eat me you would have already, right?”

 

We understand. We just didn’t expect it. We’d like to try human food with you, Felix. We don’t think we ever had human food before. Food that was made by a human being.

 

Felix beamed. “Never? Let’s do it then! I’ll pick you up some stuff to try and you can see what you think about it.”

 

He pulled up through one of the drive-thru lanes and rolled his window down. A far too cheerful voice greeted him while he looked over the menu, letting him know that he could make his order whenever he was ready. He thanked them and then made an attempt to hurry and decide, keeping his voice low as he spoke with the creature that lived on his phone. “Is there something in particular that you were curious about trying?”

​

What do you recommend? We’ll like anything that you pick. We know nothing, only of some shapes and names.

 

“Hmm. Okay. Let’s see.” Felix ordered a few different things, definitely more than he normally would have gotten, but he was excited to find out what sort of things the creature might end up liking. Once he paid and took in the bags, he set them on the seat beside them, the delicious scent of fresh french fries and melted cheese filling the car, making Felix even hungrier than he already had been. “Alright, all set! Let’s head back to my place.”

 

This is exciting. :) What did you pick, friend?

 

“I got a bunch of the things I usually get but I also got an ice cream shake, just so you can also try something sweet. I’ll show you the rest at home though.”

Felix felt just as eager, mostly because he was looking forward to getting to spend more time with his new friend. Any of the stress or fear he had before of being caught in the middle of Paul’s crime scene was now behind him. Hopefully forever. He reached over to pop open the glove compartment, pulling out a cassette, the edges of the label worn. “Do you mind music?”

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No, we don’t mind. We heard it before.

 

“Alright!” He popped the tape into the player, turning it up. The thump of electric instruments swelled to meet with the familiar vocals that Felix was more than happy to sing along with as he drummed his hands against the steering wheel while they drove.

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WHAT IS THAT?

 

Felix’s cell phone buzzed in excitement. An avalanche of texts continued to appear on the small screen, all caused by the creature that now seemed to be in a state of astonishment.

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WE LOVE IT.

 

WE HEARD MUSIC BEFORE.

 

WE DIDN’T KNOW IT COULD BE LIKE THAT.

 

IT’S SO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE HEARD BEFORE.

 

WE NEVER HEARD THAT. 

 

Felix raised his brows at the messages that piled up on the little screen, doing his best to keep focused on the road as he laughed a little. “You like it? It’s from a band called New Order. What kind of music did you listen to before?”

 

The music we heard before was a lot more calm than this. We didn’t know instruments could be this energetic. We love it. We love it more than the old music.

 

“Really? There’s all kinds of different genres of music I can show you sometime. This mix tape just has some of my favorites.”

 

What’s a mix tape? A tape mixed with other tapes?

 

“It’s basically songs from different bands that I put together on one tape by recording them off the radio.”

 

Oooh… You stole music and put it on a tape. Very clever, Felix.

 

Well. They weren’t wrong. Felix shrugged it off with a little smile. “I’ve got lots of them that you can listen to anytime.” He parked the car then and turned it off, unhooking his seatbelt and taking up his phone and the bags of food. “But first we’re having some food.”

Once he made it up to his apartment, he set the bags down on the couch next to him, and the phone on the table in front of him. This was it. He was finally going to get to see the alien’s true form. He felt giddy with excitement as thousands of possibilities ran through his mind. He was pretty sure that whatever his imagination was able to provide, would be nothing in comparison to the real thing.

He took in a steady breath and held his hands on his knees. Best to try to act as normal about it as possible. He didn’t want to make things weird for his new friend but it was awfully hard for him to contain his excitement. “Alright. Are you ready to come out and try some of these burgers?”

 

We’re ready, Felix. But you need to keep some distance, when we will come out. You can’t touch us. We are harmful to your skin. You will die. Do you understand?

 

Felix found his trust grew for the other when he was given this warning. As worrying as that warning should have been, he also found it heartwarming that the alien would make sure to tell him this crucial bit of information. He gave a little nod, then, uncertain if the other could see him, he spoke. “No touching. Got it.”

 

No touching…

 

For several seconds, nothing happened. The living room became extremely quiet and the programmer did his best to be patient. Then the flip phone twitched on the table a couple times before it began vibrating violently. The little screen was brighter than ever before, illuminating the room with a sickly green color. The small device continued to spasm, the shape of it contorting, as if something under the circuits was trying to push its way out. Then something actually did. Multiple things in fact.

 

Tendrils, black and viscous like tar, slowly made their way out of the screen, writhing blindly as if they were looking for something to latch onto. Simultaneously, it looked like poison was pouring out of the device. Bright neon colors were quickly flashed on the screen while more of those tendrils managed to come out, sparks of electricity crackling along the edges. As this happened, Felix moved back on the couch to put more space between himself and what was going on just to be on the safe side.