Chapter 6, Part 2

bleakly

The chubby guy occupying the labcoat continued to look at me impassively. I sighed and put the barrel of my sixty-shooter to his forehead. The impassive expression continued unchanged.

Chapter 6, Part 1

bleakly

All right, zebras. Zebras zebras zebras.

Whatever the hell THAT meant. Had I been some sort of paranoid man, I would assume that the little square of glass was lying to me. But if there’s one thing I always do, it’s trust the images I see through windows.

Chapter 5, Part 9

Bleakly

The kid was taken care of, at least as far as I cared to take care of him. I’m just a caring guy.

I unclipped my handheld from my collar and explored a little deeper into the warehouse.

…

I’ll see you guys when I see you. You’ve been great.

Chapter 5, Part 8

bleakly

I had four or five drinks in me and had laid out about the same number of random thugs to hilariously little effect. I’d made a big enough show of promoting my unique brand of sleuthery at that point, so I figured it was time to call Otto’s bluff and see what the hell he was after.

So. Let’s recap.

Chapter 5, Part 7

bleakly

Walkin’ along, whistlin’ a song, tappin’ absent-mindedly at my handheld. It started raining. A car with a headlight out almost splashed me.

Chapter 5, Part 6

jacobson

So he was truly off the case. All right, old bean. Just like old times.

Nuts to Bleakly and his atrophied sense of chivalry. Nuts to City and his draconian schemes. Old-fashioned sleuthing would win the day.

Chapter 5, Part 5

hannah

What.

The.

HELL.

I started the engine in Jacobson’s car, completely confused what was going on and pissed off in ways I didn’t know I could be.

Chapter 5, Part 4

jacobson

My vision had cleared, and my heart had recovered a steadier rhythm. Thomas remained seated, although his brow remained sharply furrowed and his extremities seemed to positively vibrate with concentration.

Chapter 5, Part 3

hannah

Jacobson shrugged. “He says strange things sometimes. He’s a strange man. He’s also very, very good at what he does.”

I nodded slowly. “I just get this feeling… it’s silly, I guess. Just, it feels like, that we’re not, you know, on the same page. That he’s really well and truly insane and if I listen to him too closely I’ll wind up believing him.”

Chapter 5, Part 2

bleakly

With Jacobson and Smith gone I could finally get down to business.

I hadn’t been too clear the first few minutes after the dumpster, but apparently I’d let Jacobson know what I needed; he’d retrieved most of an electric eyeball from robo-me’s still-twitching frame.

Chapter 5, Part 1

jacobson

It was a quiet drive home; neither Thomas nor Hannah seemed to be in the mood to chat. Hannah just brooded. Thomas clicked away incessantly on that handheld of his, occasionally stopping to squeeze his temples for a few seconds, but never breaking the silence.

Chapter 4, Part 4

bleakly 

He was definitely shorter than me. But other than that-

“Oh God.” I said. (The real me, that is.)

“Congratulations. You’re obsolete.”

Chapter 4, Part 3

bleakly

I shook my head and squinted through the door. “I see three or four cameras just from here. If we could divert security elsewhere in the building-” I looked over at Hannah. She nodded. “-then I can just use my handheld and, bingo.”

I looked down at my handheld. Lifesigns.1_z was functioning perfectly- it looked like old man Jacobson wasn’t used to climbing stairs, judging by his heartbeat. Sorry, pops.

Chapter 4, Part 2

hannah

I wasn’t sure how to feel. On the one hand, we were breaking and entering. On the other hand, all this was in my father’s name- wasn’t it worth anything to find him or at least find out what happened to him? On the other hand once again, Bleakly and Jacobson were not exactly acting… professional. Jacobson was between us and he was pretty far ahead, so I can’t be sure, but as we climbed up the stairwell to the fourth floor, I’m pretty sure Bleakly was humming Mission Impossible.