《The Prince of Lies》Preparations
Advertisement
"And you want two gallons of that?"
"Yeah, if you have it"
"Aaaand.. you want a single hospital bed? Adjustable?"
"Yes. You have all of that in the warehouse right?"
The medical supplier who worked the warehouse mostly got call-ins from hospitals for wholesale orders. They really didn't get a lot of walk in customers. Let alone ones trying to, by all appearances, set up an at-home ICU overnight. Still it took all kinds. He shrugged, if the guy had the cash, he was welcome to the supplies.
"I mean yeah, but we can't get that out to you till this weekend"
"Nah, I'll take it with me if you can help load me up"
Sabar felt like shit.
He tried to keep his voice steady but it sounded shaky and out-of-breath even to his ears. He could feel a dozen red-bull energy drinks wearing ahole in his stomach lining and coursing through his blood like radioactive cola. His couldn't feel the tips of his finders any more. It felt like pins were dancing all over his skin. The lack of sleep was starting to make him seriously loopy.
But right now, he didn't care. He still had work to do.
For the first time in two days of knowing he was a walking dead man, Sabar had hope.
Sabar didn't know what he expected, when he'd agreed to talk to the taciturn golden man.
What did he expect from coffee with Gibraltar the Golden Man, the night he knew he was going to die?
Not this. He hadn't expected this.
"Here you go, man"
Sabar felt his hands shake as he pulled cash out his wallet. He'd hit four ATMs to draw most of his life savings in cash in the last hour. He gestured to the amused warehouse workers that were watching him curiously, asking for some help. Two of them walked over slowly to help him get the goods into his rental truck.
Advertisement
He knew looked like he was crazy, or an idiot. Wearing his office suit, lugging a hospital bed into the truck bed. He didn't care. He had two other suppliers visit.
He'd realized something in the last few hours.
He wanted to live.
...
[4 hours ago]
"You look like shit"
"Thanks. I haven't slept in thirty hours"
Sabar stared across the cozy cafe booth at the man sitting across from him. In the dim light of the cafe, and without his trademark gleam, Gibraltar the Golden Man looked very different. Disturbingly commonplace. Just a stocky, fit middle-aged man. Sabar could've passed him on the street or in the train without a second look. Perhaps a little more well-built than you'd expect for his apparent age. But.. remarkably unremarkable. He doubted he could convince anyone here Gibraltar was sitting with him if he tried.
"So you have the sickness"
"Ye- Yeah"
Sabar didn't know what this was. Why had he been brought here? What was this? Given how loopy he was starting to feel he wondered if this conversation was even really happening.
"What is this? This isn't some kind of make-a-wish thing is it? Meeting you wasn't my dying wish" That came out more harsher than he'd intended. But the golden hero just ignored the question.
"Who knows? Who knows that you're sick?"
Sabar shook his head, "Nobody. I mean, I knew I was sick when I had the dream. I knew. And there's not test or treatment or anything, so what'd be the point of asking a doctor"
"You didn't tell anyone else? Friend? Anyone?"
Sabar looked away, this felt strange to say but, "What'd be the point? I didn't want to spend my last day having that conversation. And.. honestly I don't have a someone I could tell if I wanted to"
"Wife? Girlfriend? Boyfriend? No one who'd miss you?" Gibraltar raised a brow. There was curiosity, but no pity in his face.
Advertisement
Sabar's mouth quirked, "Never got around to it. Just lucky I guess"
"But you didn't answer my question. What is this? Why are we talking right now?"
Gibraltar seemed to stare at his coffee for a long minute. Brown and gold swirled in the mug, catching the amber of the cafe light.
"Are you a good person?"
Sabar stared blankly back at the hero "Umm.. I guess? Not really? I don't know. I've never gone too far out of my way to hurt anyone"
Gibraltar gave a wry smile at that, "That was a stupid question. I'm sorry. I guess you don't really ever know"
He stared out the cafe window for a beat. Sabar couldn't tell what the man was mulling over. Gibraltar turned back to match his eyes, finally, and Sabar could tell he'd made a decision.
"Ah.. Screw it. Tell Tyche"
"Uh.. What?
Gibraltar leaned forward, his eyes intense, almost angry
"Rule one: you don't ask questions. There's no time for answers. If you do what I tell you to do - exactly - exactly what I tell you to do... then maybe, maybe - you have a shot. A fair shot - at a rat's chance in hell. Anything else and you'll be dead in the next eight hours. Do you understand?
...
Sabar finished setting up the hospital bed in the quiet of the off-site storage unit that he'd paid for with cash. His landlord had his email - about a six month sabbatical he'd be on - breaking his lease. He'd quit his job over the phone claiming a mental health issue. He'd sent letters to friends.
As far the world knew, Sabar was just taking a break from life for while.
He'd snuck in after renting the storage unit, so that the attendant had locked him in without even knowing he was there. Literally no one one on the planet knew he was lying in a makeshift keep-alive ICU unit in a storage locker. No one would know to look for him. If he died here, they wouldn't find him for months. Maybe years.
A CO2 scrubber ran in the background and an O2 trickler silently dripped oxygen from a corner. Gallons of saline and glucose were daisy chained into a drip that fed into his arm.
Sabar wasn't a doctor, but even he could tell this was just not enough to keep a human alive for weeks... but Gibraltar told him the dosage would keep his body suspended for months in the strange not-sleep coma of the sleeping sickness.
He'd done everything Gibraltar's in arcane but terse instructions.
Still wired up with caffeine and stimulants - his brain boiled with questions. How was the sickness suddenly survivable? When the whole world had known for years that it was a death sentence? How did the golden hero know so much about the sleeping sickness? Why him? Why did Gibraltar tell him, of all people?
But somehow, despite all the questions he didn't have the time to ask, Sabar trusted the strange god. He could tell - there was so much more Gibraltar was not telling him - and strangely this made him trust the old man more.
Maybe it's because he wanted to live. He didn't really have a choice, not really. It was either trust the cryptic instructions of a mysterious golden man.. or just lie down and die. He didn't want to die.
Sabar lay there, on the bed, checking over the various machines for a minute, each one beeping in place, and the drip that fed into his arm. He'd done what he could.
He took a deep shaking breath and closed his eyes for just a mi-
...
Advertisement
The Othryrian Archives
"Humanity is on the cusp of their Great Expansion. It will be the first time in history that they’ve reached beyond their own solar system in an attempt to colonize the galaxy. Or, at least, so they thought. Peeling back the veil of time, The Empire of Sol has uncovered vestiges of a secret genetic program on the far flung planet of Hod. The advent of the Empire’s ancient enemy could upset the careful balance of power throughout in the Sol System. When Hod is invaded by the Empire, Andros Aeton is pressed into their service and his people are held hostage. Unbeknownst to him, factions within the Empire vie to use him to their own ends. He must claim his heritage if he has any hope of escaping the clutches of the forces that seek to use him." This is a work in progress. Major editing will be done after the book is complete, so there will be egregious typos and parts that make no sense whatsoever. Please feel free to point any and all of these things out. Chapters WILL get edited, and that editing might break earlier chapters. I will attempt to keep readers apprised of all changes. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated. The Scourge Wars Universe Evolve: The Scourge Wars Book 1 (published) Adapt: The Scourge Wars Book 2 (published) Resist: The Scourge Wars Book 3 (published) Path of Divinity Path of Divinity (Read on RoyalRoad) To stay up to date on all my writing, get exclusive e-books, and be eligible for Audible audiobook codes (no purchase required) please sign up for my mailing list.
8 223The Immortal Scientist
Taking over the world was easy enough. Create a few super soldiers and a sentient A.I. and you'll defeat any nation on Earth. The real issues come after that. What do you do with the full efforts of a united mankind? Spread out as far as you can and make pretty things. The natives of the sol system spread out and occupied the every planet and moon. The polulation was skyrocketing under the support of new food and medicine systems. Back on Earth, the mastermind behind all this created something that was so powerful, the heavens themselves would send down a tribulation. After surviving the ordeal, he would ascend to a higher plane. Thrust onto the stage of martial world cultivators, he finds the world poor, dirty and dangerous. Magic is nice, but science had been coming along nicely. They had almost breeched the Void Wall at the edge of the solar system. The only option available to him now was to educate these warring savages and lay the groundwork for a proper industrial society.
8 217The Twilight World
***Welcome, Heir of the Twilight World.*** These words delivered by a sudden blue window changed the life of Zach, a run-of-the-mill CS student about to graduate. His newly awakened power could have granted him infinite wealth. However, reality had other plans for him. After saving the life of his best friend, Zach discovers that the world is not as it seems. He enters a world where magic is commonplace. A world where traveling between dimensions to run an errand is another Monday, and mystical creatures are resources to be harvested. But this brand new world is also one of deception, violence, conspiracies, and hidden secrets. It's also lacking proper means of transportation. Will Zach survive his new environment? Will he discover the truth behind the origins of his power? Or will he fail in a horrible, yet somewhat hilarious way?
8 65the 2 heavenly demon brothers (Hiatus)
luo binghe is the first heir of the demon realm and luo wuxian is the second heir of the demon realmwhat would happen if they met theyre soulmatesstarting:15/01/2021 4:48pmending:???
8 170Không có lai sinh - Phong Ca
Tác giả: Phong CaĐộ dài: 56 chươngKiếp trước, đời không có gì nuối tiếc. Thanh Liên một lòng hộ chủ. Vương phi có ơn, có nghĩa, nàng thay Vương phi gánh chịu kiếp nạn, cũng không tính là gì?Chỉ là....một ánh mắt vương vấn, một bóng hình thoắt hiện khiến Thanh Liên trước giờ phút đó đã quyết định hủy mình. Chỉ để không thẹn với ai.Tưởng chỉ có mình "tự mình đa tình", nào ngờ những ngày làm linh hồn phiêu lãng, nàng nhìn thấy hắn...Hắn vẫn lạnh lùng như vậy. Gươm không chùn khi ra chiến trận, vẫn hiên ngang hộ chủ, lập nhiều công lớn.Và cô độc...Luôn cô độc một mình.Cuối đời, trước khi chết, nàng nghe rõ hắn gọi. Gọi " Liên nhi."Nàng chọn lựa, giữa vinh hoa kiếp sau được hưởng và cơ hội làm lại. Nàng phải chăng đã phụ hắn, làm hắn lỡ cả đời.Lai sinh....không chung bướcKiếp này nguyện chung đôi.nguồn https://greenhousenovels.com/gioi-thieukhong-co-lai-sinh/
8 109Twitter | cellyu
Aonde Rafael Lange e Flávia Sayuri se conhecem através do Twitter.~~~~~Obra concluída.
8 229