Archives for : "The Black"

David vs. Year Two

Posted by :David Manly On : September 10, 2009
1

Category: "The Black", French Test, J school, Year Two

Well, year two of my Master’s program officially began a few days ago. It’s been an interesting ride so far, filled with plot twists and exciting revelations. Who knows what is in store for me this year?

Now, for some updates.

Those of you who I speak to/communicate with regularly, know that I am missing a “second language requirement” for my degree. Because I go to school in Ottawa, where a significant portion of the population is bilingual, the powers that be decided to make it a requirement to graduate. Seeing as I was a strictly Biology student, there was no need for me to take any foreign languages.

So, I decided to do something about it this year. While the school would prefer the language proficiency to be French, it can really be any language used around the world. Therefore, I decided to take a first-year sign language course. I thought it would be interesting, and an excellent skill to possess.

I also signed up to take the French proficiency test, which the school holds twice a year. It was a pass/fail deal. Worse case scenario, if I failed that, I would take the sign language course and get the requirement done that way.

The French test was on Tuesday, and I got the results yesterday.

By some sort of inexplicable event … I passed it! Cool, eh? So, that requirement for my degree is all done! And, I lose a course I was going to take this semester, so more time to do other sorts of school work.

Other than that, nothing much else has happened here. Yet.

Tomorrow is when the real work begins.

But, as a J-school friend said to me yesterday, “Just eight more months. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Now, we just need to survive.”

Words to live by, eh?

Ohhh, and I’ve been asked by a few of my fellow students about how soon until Chapter 5 of The Black will be released. I must say, I’m genuinely taken aback when people say they like my story. It does, and will always, put a big smile on my face when people talk about it. Hey, even negative stuff makes me happy, as you are reading it and really thinking about it. Criticism is welcome!

And don’t worry, Chapter 5 is coming, and it’s tentatively entitled, “The Path.” hope to finish it and put it up this weekend.

Chapter 4 – The Aftermath

Posted by :David Manly On : August 18, 2009
0

Category: "The Black", Chapter Four, New Novel

Newest chapter of my e-novel, or short story (not exactly sure exactly what the final form will be). Read, enjoy, comment/critique.

Chapter 4 – The Aftermath

“Ohhhh, fuck.” I said matter-of-factly.

“Holy shit,” said Jen, her jaw still open. “What happened?”

“Well, what do you think happened? I INJECTED MYSELF WITH THE DRUG!” I yelled at her.

I was so angry, but not a Jen. I was angry at myself. ‘How could I let this happen?’ was all I could think about. And then, it suddenly dawned on me ….

“The kiss,” I whispered.

“What? What do you mean ‘the kiss,’” said Jen as she slowly walked towards me. Her face showed genuine concern, almost love.

“When we kissed before the final trial mouse, do you remember that?”

“Yeah,” said Jen, blushing.

“While we were kissing, you sighed.” And I pointed my fingers in a gun-shape at her face.

“No, I didn’t,” said Jen throwing her hands up, as if to protect herself from the imaginary bullets fired from my fingers.

“You did.”

“No. I didn’t.”

And then, realization dawned on her face.

“When we kissed, and I drew you close,” she said, almost in a whisper, “the auto-injector must have gone off!”

“Yes!” I shouted. “The ‘sighs’ we both heard, must have been the pressurized auto-injector going off.”

All of a sudden, an intense stinging pain burst forth from my head, causing me to grab my head with my hands, as if to prevent my head from exploding.

The pain was excruciating, as if someone was drilling a hole into my head with a hand operated drill, while simultaneously beating me with a large wooden beam.

The feeling spread downwards from my head to my neck, shoulders, torso, groin and legs. I collapsed onto the floor in a screaming and writhing ball of pain.

Then, my eyes felt like someone was trying to take them out with an ice-cream scooper. The edges of my periphery vision began to fade to black, spreading into my vision like black ooze. The pain began to lessen as my vision became more and more obscured.

And then, my vision was consumed, by the black.

Nothing but black. And then, a pinpoint of light.

It began to slowly increase in size, but increasing in speed.

The black was completely overtaken by the white, except at the periphery.

Stationary shapes in the white came into view.

Jen. She was the shape directly in front of me.

She was wearing her lab coat, just like before the pain began.

She was looking at me with genuine concern, but it looked like she was trying to remember something. Finally, like when she tried to solve a complicated problem, her face showed elation as she came up with the oft eluded answer.

“When we kissed, and I drew you close … the auto-injector must have gone off!”

The black then began to slowly creep back into my field of vision.

The place seemed familiar, as did what she just said. Looking around, I saw someone standing directly across from her. It was … me?

How was this possible?

I looked unkempt. My hair was a mess, and I was staring at Jen in an accusatory way.

“Yes!” I heard the other me shout at Jen, while the black slowly began to slowly creep back into my vision.

“The ‘sighs’ we both heard, must have been the pressurized auto-injector going off,” the other me said.

I saw myself throw my hands upon my head, and begin to scream. It was a blood curdling scream, one that someone would make when their insides were being slowly cut by a million shards of glass.

The black then totally engulfed my visual field, until there was no light. There was nothing. Just the black.

Then, a sudden flash of white.

I opened my eyes and I felt my sweat-stained face upon the cold-hard linoleum of the laboratory floor. The whole body pain was gone, but my body felt weak. And my head ached like someone tried to open it with a sledgehammer. And, I was very hungry. Famished, in fact.

As I slowly got myself up, I saw Jen at the opposite wall, on the phone, talking in hushed tones. Seeing me struggle to get up, she quickly hung up and ran to my side.

“Roger! Are you ok? What happened?” she said, fighting back tears. She ran into me and threw her arms around me, holding me close. “I thought that the worse had happened. Just when we discovered our feeling for one another, it seemed like you were dead. You were … you were.”

And then, she succumbed to her tears and placed her head in the crook of my neck, soaking it with her tears.

“I was so worried about you, but I’m glad you’re here,” she said in between sobs.

“Me too,” I said, weakly.

Looking up, and wiping her eyes on her lab coat, she said, “But are you ok? What happened to you?”

“I … remember the pain, and then my vision went dark when I went to the ground. And then, there was nothing, until I saw you. You were talking to me about the accident. It was when we figured out what had happened.”

“You mean, what happened just a minute or so ago?” said Jen, with a questioning look on her face.

“Yeah, it was weird,” I said, shaking my head. “It was nothing, don’t worry about it. Just my brain re-booting after a shock to my system. Of course it would remember what just happened.”

“I’m sure that was it,” said Jen, hugging me surprisingly hard.

But I knew that wasn’t the truth. It was too vivid to be just a memory of what happened. It was extremely vivid. It was if I was living it again, but not quite. As if I was a simple observer of what had just transpired in my life.

And that, my dear readers, was the point in someone’s life, specifically my life, where it changes forever.

And, it was just beginning.

Chapter 3 – The Experiment

Posted by :David Manly On : August 7, 2009
0

Category: "The Black", Chapter Three, New Novel

Before you get started on the newest chapter of my novel, “The Black,” turn your attention to the top right of my blog. For easy access, I will now catalogue all the entries for my novel there, so you can visit any chapter you want at the click of a mouse.

As always, comments and/or feedback is appreciated.

Here it is, the newest chaper entitled, “The Experiment.”

Chapter Three – The Experiment

No matter how much I used the new painless auto-injector, I was constantly surprised of just how sci-fi it was. It was sleek and metal, with a mechanism at the top where you insert the medication. I didn’t know precisely how it worked, but you inserted the meds, placed the other end on the injection site, pressed the trigger, you heard the tell-tale HISS sound and you were done! I swear it worked like a hypo-spray out of Star Trek.

ANUBIS’ main source of income was being hired out as an experimental laboratory for new drugs or compounds. Companies would send us various things and we would test them out on various animal species. Having an outside laboratory confirm your findings goes a long way in the patent process.

“You make it, we try it,” should have been the company slogan.

Placing the F vial, containing the control saline into the injector, I began the test.
But first: “Hey Jen!” I yelled.

“I’m starting the test! You …,” I stopped when I saw her walk into the room.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said, “but I was feeding the frogs, so sorry if I smell like cricket crap.”

“I’ll forgive you, this time,” I said with a smirk and a wink. “Shall we?”

Jen picked up the first member of the Partridge mice, and place it on the table. Exerting just a little bit of force, she placed her hands on the mouse and pushed down. Her hands were positioned directly above the mouse’s legs, so that it could not move.

“Ready,” she said.

“Ok, P-trial test beginning at 9:35 am. First mouse.”

I placed the injection head right where the mouse’s skull meets its spine and pressed the trigger … HISS.

“I love the auto-injector,” said Jen, as she placed the mouse into another cage with a big ‘I’ on it, standing for Injected. “It makes holding them down so much easier when they don’t struggle.”

The process went like an assembly line until all of the P-trial mice were vaccinated with nothing but saline.

“Nurse,” I said, looking at Jen.

“Yes Doctor?” said Jen in her sexiest voice

“Sponge.”

Without another word, she picked up a nearby sponge and wiped the sweat off my forehead. Our faces were mere centimeters apart, and she smelled like freshly picked apples. We just stared at each other, and it seemed that the temperature of the room increased at least by 10 degrees.

The attraction between us at that moment was palpable. I never wanted her more than at that moment. She was everything I would possibly want in a woman: Smart, confident, very pretty and loved to laugh.

“Roger …” whispered Jen.

“Yes?”

She giggled.

“What?”

And then, she just kissed me.

It was weird, but in the best way possible. All thoughts vanished from my brain, and I was just totally in the moment of Jen.

After what seemed like an hour, we broke apart.

Jen smiled, and said, “Will that be all Doctor?”

I cleared my throat and laughed. “That was …”

“I know,” said Jen.

What the hell, she did just kiss me, I thought. Might as well go for the f-ing plunge.

“Would you like to do something tonight?” I said nervously.

“Only if you promise to kiss me back like that again,” she said, while brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “And we need to finish our experiment first, and then we can discuss our plans for tonight and breakfast tomorrow.”

“Break … fast?” I said, my voice cracking just a little bit.

“Well,” said Jen, “if you play your cards right.” And with that, she walked to the fridge to get the trial drug.

Smiling despite myself, I moved the empty P cage and the control mice to the other side of the lab.

Grabbing the empty TI (Test Injected) cage and placing it on my bench, I threw the empty P-trial vial into the glass container for removal and recycling.

Jen returned with the memory test drug (B-vial) and went to grab to Brady mice, while I prepped the auto-injector.

When she returned and placed the mice on the lab bench, I was all prepared to begin. “B-trial test beginning at 10:07 am. First mouse,” I said.

Grabbing the first mouse, she put him on the table; I placed the injector above his spine and HISS. Done.

Just like the control, it proceeded perfectly, like an automated assembly line. After a short while, I said to Jen, “How many mice do we have left?”

“Just one more,” said Jen. And winking, she then said, “Then we can discuss about what we’re going to do next, and maybe cut out early to start our date earlier.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said with a big smile. “Bring me our last patient.”

As I grabbed the auto-injector, Jen picked up the mouse, and placed him on the lab bench.

“You know Roger; I’ve wanted to do that for a while.”

“Me too.”

“I don’t know why I’ve waited for so long,” said Jen. “I suppose I was just nervous that you would not reciprocate.”

“Are you kidding?” I said, placing the injector above the mouse’s spinal cord. “I’ve had a bad crush on you for the longest time, but I wasn’t sure about how you felt about me.”

“I think you know now,” said Jen, and leaned in to kiss me. Wanting to feel her lips upon mine again, I moved my hands and leaned in to meet her. Our lips met and the feeling was even better than the first time.

After a short while, I heard her sigh in content, and we unlocked our lips.

“Ok, we really need to finish this, then we can resume,” I said.

Jen, smiling and blushing a little bit, grabbed the mouse and I placed the auto-injector above the spine and pressed the trigger.

But, nothing happened.

Pressing the trigger once more, there was no HISS. Pulling out the B-vial, I noticed that the drug was all gone.

“Jen,” I said calmly. “Was there an extra mouse?”

With a look of concern on her face, she said weakly, “No.”

And then, all of a sudden, all the colour that was present in her face drained away.

“What’s wrong?!?”

“Roger,” she said, her voice slowly rising in pitch and intensity. “Your ARM!”

Looking down, I noticed that the left forearm of my lab coat was spotted with a few drops of crimson. Lifting the coat, I saw something that sent a chill down my spine: A small puncture mark, made by an auto-injector.

That was it. That one mistake, that one slip of judgment, one lapse in concentration, changed my life forever. That moment lead to everything that happened to me: the headaches, the flashes, the asylum, the ‘friends, ’and of course, the death.

Chapter 2 – The Lab

Posted by :David Manly On : July 28, 2009
0

Category: "The Black", Chapter Two, New Novel, Updates

Few updates before we get to the meat of this post.

– I had my 25th birthday on July 24th. Went to work, but ended up going out with people afterwards, and had a good time. Thakns to everyone who was there, you guys rock!
– The weather in Ottawa is f-ed up. We have had rain almost every day for 2 weeks.
– I have discovered scientist tweeters on Twitter. LOVE IT!

ANd now, after a much delayed release, here is the third part in my ongoing web-novel series entitled, “The Black.” I have decided to name the posts in which they are featured the titles of the chapters (for easier reference).

Here are the Prelude and Chapter 1

Enjoy!!

Chapter 2

I finally arrived at work, a full 20 minutes late, but there was a huge line at the security checkpoint.

“Shit, Dr. Thomson is going to be pissed,” I said to myself.

Quick side note: Security was always such a big deal for ANUBIS. I mean, it’s understandable, as we dealt with many pending patents and experimental drugs. Seems like such a waste of time, as nothing ever happened … that is, until today.

“Hi John!” I said, as I passed thorough the metal detector to the next line, where John was examining everyone’s employee ID’s.

“Hey Roger. Man, you look like shit,” said John with a sly smirk on his face as he took my ID and scanned it into the machine.

John Johnson was a black man in his prime. His face was inviting and friendly, but his body would have made Achilles jealous. He was a very intimidating figure, and god help you if you got him angry. As John himself was so fond of saying, “If someone really pissed me off, I’d break them into three separate pieces.” And, the toothy smile that always followed that, made you really believe that he could, and probably would.

Naturally, I laughed and said, “Yeah, my alarm kicked my ass this morning. It was a tough night, you know?”

As if sensing my demeanor, John put his right hand on my left should and said softly, “You ok man?”

“I mean, I don’t want to pry, but heard about you and Rachel. I’m sorry. I know you loved her, and I feel terrible for introducing you to her.”

“You didn’t deserve what happened to you.”

John introduced me to Rachel at the Halloween party last year. Our costumes matched perfectly, I was Sherlock Holmes and she was Watson. It was like it was fate, which I never believed in before.

But, after all that happened next, how could I not?

“I’m okay man. It sucked for a bit, but the pain has slowly subsided,” I said, staring at the floor.

And John, in all his wisdom, knew not to press the issue and just gave me a pat on the back.

“You should hurry up,” he said. “I mean, you’re really, really late. Doctor Thomson is going to have your ass!!!!”

And with that, I bolted down the hallway and down the stairs to the underground Thompson lab. I jumped down the stairs as fast as I could, feeling the bones and tendons in my legs straining under the repeated movement. When I reached the sub-basement, I threw open the door and ran down the hall, took a left and then a right, finally reaching the lab door.

“Well Roger, I’m glad that you finally decided to show up,” said Dr. Thompson, with a visible scowl on his face.

That wasn’t anything new, as the balding man always scowled.

“I’m sorry sir,” I said, biting my tongue at the verbal abuse that my brain was screaming back at him. That was something I learned after a few very similar occurrences to these, when I was punished for my ‘disobedience.’

Honestly, you’d learn to hold your tongue too, if you had to clean out the monkey laxative experiment cages.

“Well, get back to work,” shouted Dr. Thompson. And he retreated to his office, where he slammed the door.

I then, after a sigh of relief, walked to my station and began getting ready for the day. I washed up, put on my lab coat, affixed the goggles to my head (for easy access should I need them), lay out my dissection kit, put on gloves and sterilized my work area.

I walked into the adjoining room and spoke to Jen, our other lab technician, whose sole responsibility is taking care of the animals.

Ahhh, Jen. She was very pretty, with light brown hair and caring eyes. As biologists, we’re not supposed to name the animals, but she always did (usually after celebrities). We had flirted back and forth occasionally, and I considered asking her out. But, then Rachel came into the mix.

Ever since Rachel and I broke up, there’s been a little bit of a resurgence in the flirting, but not by much. But, my attitude did perk up a little when I saw her.

“Hey Jen!” I said, smiling.

“Hey Roger!” she said in her lovely sing-songey voice.

“Wow, you look like shit.”

“Hahahaha,” I laughed. “John said the exact same thing.”

Jen smiled mischievously, which made her look even more attractive, and said, “Yeah, I know. He texted me a minute ago, and told me to tell you that.”

I gave her a mildly flirtatious grin, followed by a punch in the arm, with a dash of more force than was probably warranted.

“Let’s get back to work, shall we?”

“Fine, fine, you party pooper,” said Jen, rubbing her shoulder. “We have a few trials on tap for today, mostly with the Partridges and Brady’s.”

After noticing the confusion on my face, she added, “Remember, the P and B mice for the memory drug trial? I named the families the Partridges and the Brady’s.”

“Right, I remember.” I said. “Which are the control, and which are the trial mice?”

“The Brady’s are the trial mice, and they are located on lab bench 1”, said Jen.

“The Patridge’s are located on lab bench 2. The trial drug is located in the fridge with a ‘P’ label, and beside that is a vial of saline for the control mice with a ‘B.’”

“Thanks, darlin’,” I said with a smirk. “Same old deal, one shot into the spinal?”

“No problem, it’s my job! And you are right, 15 cc’s into the spinal cord,” she replied with a smile, as I turned and walked back into the main lab.

Seeing the two cages filled with rats, I grabbed both and placed them on my bench, before grabbing the medication.

In the fridge, there were two vials, B & P.

B was a new test drug called Agent 3266. Not the most catchy name, but if it works, the marketing guys would have a go at it. Beside it was the P vial, containing good old saline, for the control rats.

I took both vials out, put the in a holder and transported them to the lab bench.

Looking around, I realized I had forgotten where I left the most important piece of equipment.

“Hey Jen!” I yelled.

“Yeah?” came the voice from the other room.

“Where’s the auto-injector?”

“In the drawer with the orange tape on it!”

“Thanks!” I yelled.

I opened the drawer and saw it: the new painless auto-injector.

It was specifically purchased to eliminate unnecessary pain in lab animals, and as I was about to realize, humans too.

Geek News and Unique Characters on the Bus

Posted by :David Manly On : July 8, 2009
2

Category: "The Black", Blade, Bus Character, Joss Whedon, MacGruber, Novel

Just a quick post today, as being bored at work today made me EXTRA sleepy.

– First off, remember those MacGruber skits from SNL? Yeah, they’re making THAT into a movie. You heard me, a MacGruber movie
– Next, in more movie re-making Armageddon, the Blade trilogy is getting a reboot. Apparently, focusing on a half-vampire wasn’t enough. The ‘new’ trilogy will focus on the villain from the first movie, Deacon Frost
– And lastly, a Geek God has written and directed the premiere of Dollhouse season 2. He is the series creator and love of Geek girls everywhere, Mr. Joss Whedon

For all those who are wondering, I am working hard on my next chapter of my novel. I have come up with a title, it’s called “The Black.” I will continue to post chapters as I write them onto my blog … or perhaps even start a new one devoted entirely to it? I’m not too sure. Should be ready by the weekend, but, I cannot guarantee.

I saw a lot of interesting people on the bus ride home today. Everyone has a story, and I wonder what their are:
– The woman with a screaming child who says, “I wanted the RED ONE! RED ONE!”
– The female teenager with a black streak on her white tank-top
– A man reading a Calculus textbook
– A man in a business suit, with a large orange stain on his tie
– A woman reading the 4th Twilight book, dabbing at the tears flowing from her eyes
– Ans most bizarrely, a middle-aged woman wearing pantyhose on her left arm