Chapter 4: And it Starts...

It was a week later that Jenn and I found ourselves driving through the not-so-middle class streets of the city on our way some sort of church. I stared blankly out the window, watching the teenagers in their baggy jeans and hockey jerseys, walking to whatever funky beat was blasting out their ipods. Actually, there sure were a lot of people with ipods around here. Well, we already got wires sticking out of our heads and cellphone headsets sittin' on our ears.

"Dude, look at all the wires hanging out of everyone. Who'da thought the inner cities would be the first to be hit by cyborgs?"

"Yeah, I was noticing that." Jenn put turned on the blinker and slowly turned the wheel, "Give us twenty years and we'll all have a microchip we can stick up our ass and talk to our parents."

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Eh, actually who was I kidding. It was probably true. "But," i said, "it won't ever get to that. After 2012 when the world ends we'll all be vibrating on a higher plane of existence like the Mayans and Aztecs. We won't need to rely on ass-chips for conversing since we'll all be telepathically linked to Gaia through the morphogenetic field. "

Now Jenn was the one raising an eyebrow. "But, " her mouth turned up into a crooked smile, "since the temple of light will be built out of a holographic laser projection above the temple mount, fulfilling the ancient jewish prophecies and ushering in the age of the coming of the new messiah," she glanced over at me, "I think we'll have a lot more to worry about than how we're vibrating."

I laughed "Haha, touché..." I love this girl.

"Especially," she continued "Us."

We both grinned knowingly. "Oh, wait! I think this is the place. Turn in over there"

I glanced around as Jenn slowly made her way through the parkinglot, having to stop and creep along to give room for the people making their way towards the main building. It was actually a pretty unimpressive building. Just your standard flat office looking fare, light-brown brick, not many windows, but with these giant rough looking, unstained wooden doors in the front.

"This isn't a church or nothing?" I half said to my self, and half questoned in Jenn's direction. "Yeah, I'm with ya. Doesn't look like much of a church, does it? Doors are pretty cool, though. Ah-ha, found one." She turned the car into an open parking spot, letting a lady dressed in white lead her two brightly-dressed-in-neon-colors kids accross the lot. Odd dress for a funeral, I thought.

I looked at the sign at the entrance. "Yeah, sign doesn't say any more than we had to go off of. 'Center for Practice and Life.' Hope this isn't some weird Scientology thing or something..."

Jenn smiled "Nah, those guys are way too proud of their religion to not have their name all of the place. Still though, that'd rock to have John Travolta give a speach or something."

"Haha, totally! And instead of pews, the aisles will just have a lot of couches for us to jump around on all crazy-like."

The car lurched forward and abruptly screeched to a stop as the engine cut dead. As I slowly sat back, I cocked my head and raised my eyebrows shifting my gaze to Jenn.

"I know, I know! Sorry, sorry...I'm really freaking high right now."

"Whatever! That's such a...Augh! Haha, okay miss stoney patoney, let's just go in." We got out of the car and into the bright daylight. I squinted as I straightened my tie, patted my jacket smooth, and looked around.

"You notice all the brightly dressed people?" I subtly gestured towards a few people around in the parkinglot.

"Oh, no, actually I didn't. Looks like a few people dressed in darker colors like us, too, though, so...we shouldn't be too out of place."

"Yeah, I hate feeling awkwardly dressed places." I tucked my tie back into my jacket.

Jenn shook her head "Haha, no way! I love it. There's nothing like being dressed in dog collars and chains in a fancy restaurant, or in a business suit at a goth club. Contrast is totally the way to go."

We made our way towards the interesting-in-it's-uninterestingness of a building through the parking lot. I hate these funeral things...never know how to act. The slight tingles of nervousness began to come on as we got closer. I softly smiled and nodded at people as I accidentally made eye contact on the way. I looked over at Jenn, she didn't seem nervous or expectant or ay different than if we were walking into a shopping mall. As we got to the entrance, she suddenly busted out laughing and looked at me.

"Did you call me 'stoney patoney'?'

I shrugged "Yeah?"

"Hahaha...you are so gay."

I reached ahead of her to grab the door. "Shut up!" The door swung open without the slightest amount of friction or difficulty. I took a deep breath, and stuck my tongue out at Jenn. "Well, here we go..."

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Thwack!

As I forcefully swung the tapper towards my head, the rational side of my mind tried to make sense of just how the heck it found it'self in this situation. I didn't blame it really, and tried to give it as much attention as I could those few seconds before i felt the contact of cold steel with the side of my head. It was a pretty good question, actually, cause like really...How the fuck do you find your self in a dark room in a buddhist temple, at your drug dealer's funeral, smoking bowls, sipping whiskey, and about to inject some sort of crazy ass drug into the side of your head with a group of people sitting in a circle all intently focused on you? Oh...did I mention that it turned out that Lain was apparently a buddhist? Interesting story...

We got to the funeral and immediately found the people from our crowd standing around in the back of the main hall-whatever place. It was the brightest room in the whole place, chock full of skylights and windows...nothing fancy, no stained glass or nothin', just things to let light in. All the brightly-dressed people? Those were his family and buddhist-buddies or whatever they're called.

I know, I know, a buddhist drug dealer? Aren't they all about enlightening people, banishing ignorance and anything that keeps people from realizing 'the truth' and whatever? Yeah, well, turns out this crowd is open to wide ranges of interpretation.

It turns out, y'see, that Lain wasn't just some crazy ass mother fucker; he was some crazy ass mother fucker that spent his life trying to do good deads. "accumulating merit" is what they called it, and it was the main thing people talked about at the reception-whatever-thingy. Turns out that guy I thought was just a punk, was huge in volunteer work and shit. Orphans, disabled, elderly...he was all over it. And the drug dealing? That bastard worked it all out, that since it was easy income, he had more time to volunteer his self. Sure, it was getting people fucked up, but we'd all find somebody to get our fix from anyway, so he figured it might as well be from somebody that had the interests of all sentient beings in mind. It wasn't a sin to shake people out of their dazes, turn them on from the illusion of society. Karma's a balance, and he made sure to off-set it with enough good deeds to where he was sure to be reborn as some sort'a higher-up whatever, if not to escape whatever cycle of birth or whatever he believed in. Man...crazy shit.

"Okay, okay, man...Now hold your breath, and clench your teeth a few times to get it moving around." I was suddenly brought back to the present. That was Joe, coaching me on what to do next, now that I'd sufficiently smacked my self in the temple. Fuck...what the hell am I doing? I nodded, and took a deep breath, clenching my teeth a few times and feeling my temple throb with each clench. What should I expect from all of this?

I smiled to my self at the utter rediculousness of the whole thing. My stomache started getting the queasy feeling that accompany's the unexpected. You know what the weirdest part of this whole funeral thing was? Well, other than my uh, current situation? Meeting Lain's parents. His mom was all smiles when she saw our group, and made a bee-line right to us. "So, you're my boy's customers, am I right?" She grinned, made those finger-gesture-quote-marks as she said 'customers', and nudged Jenn in the shoulder with a wink. Okay, this totally explained a lot of how Lain ended being a Lain. He had "the cool mom".

"Okay, man..." I looked up at Joe. I felt my face getting red from all the breath holding. "Okay, now exhale, and relax..."

I looked around once more. "here we go..." I thought as slowly let out my breath through my mouth with a big "Whoooooo..."

And then the whole world went away.

"Huh-huhlooooOOoo there! Welllcommmme!!"

This place! Home! Wowoweee, how long's it been? Galaboratom! That is SOOO funny!!! A programmer?? hahahahaha... that's great, fucking GREAT. Girlfriend, too! Yep, yep, I know, hahahahaha... Funeral? Ohhh yeah!! That's hilarious, a fucking funeral! Oh man...oh man... Frizndoodling the rimt is So the way to go. What the...what the hell? No, no...wait, no...what?

I opened my eyes. All my friends were there, Jenn looked a bit concerned, but there was a half-smile on her face.

"What the...what-...this isn't happen...what-?" I looked around frantically.

"It's okay, man, it's okay. You tapped your head, man. Just relax, just relax..."

Woosh. What was that? Them again? I gotta get this blanket off of my head. Oh, man, it's so heavy, I don't remember it being soooo, heavy...

Almost got it, framdazzling heck! Whew, it's bright again. Oh what a relief, it's gone!! Okay, so where was I. Amendolf, my kid's birthday! I'm late, I'm late again I know it. What the heck was I doing? Let's put the book back on the shelf, I'm sure they're all waiting for me.

Wooooosh....

"What? Wait... Bir....kids day...What?" Nothing makes sense, but I'm back here. Again.

"It's okay" Joe said, bursting out into restrained giggles, and putting a serious look back on his face. "It's okay, bro...you're being unplugged. Just relax, just... relax..."

Why am I laying down? I lift my hands to look at them, and the people in the city all look back up expectently. I got nothing for you, you fridoodles, you just go back to...No, I will not!

Giggling. All the kids on the merry go round! Wait, wait, i know, I'm coming! Hold up...Wait...what happened to...? Timdizzle, I wasn't done with that! I gotta...no...what if I...

Reality slips down the river. Wait, i'm slipping, too! Oh wow, am I about to bliff? On the cole? ...Again??

Woosh...

Everything's back. I look around wide eyed and half smiling. Everyone's looking at me, some of them trying to hide their snickering. Jenn comes over to me and touches my shoulder. "It's okay, cowboy..it's okay."

"Whoa, what the hell..." I look around some more. Wow, I can't believe I'm here. What just happened? "Dude!" I laugh as if there's some sort of joke that everyone else but me gets. "Whoa, man..what the hell was that?"

Joe smiles "It's okay, man, you're back. How was that?"

I look at him blank-faced. "Um, shit...I, uh. It was weird, haha. I don't really remember much. There were kids or something? And...shit. Hahaha, bro that is some whacked out fucking shit."

"Told you to be careful what you asked for, man! Pretty wild, huh?"

"Heck yeah! I think I get why that dude just rolled around on my floor for a...man! What a head trip! Like...man, I can't even explain it."

"Almost like you're just something that somebody else is...doing?" Joe smiled. I nodded.

"Yeah, wow...Yeah! Yeah, man, that's just what it was like. I think I was having some conversation about me, but with other people, and I was some other me...or...something."

This girl named Lisa busted up laughing accross the circle from me. I didn't really know her, but had seen her at a few parties before. I think her name was Lisa... Wow...I can't believe I"m thinking about parties and trying to remember names.

"You guys," she pushed herself up from the floor, "You guys are all fuckin' crazy! I'm outta here." She started her way towards the door, but then stepped back over to Steve, the guy that had the pint of whiskey. "Gimme another swig off'a that." She tipped the bottle back, then wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her dress. She laughed again and shook her head "You guys are crazy." she chuckled some more as she cracked open the door just enough to slide on out.

Joe grinned at me, and I smiled back, not really sure what to do with my self.

"Here, man." It was the guy with the bottle. "Take a sip of this; calm your nerves." I took the bottle and gulped down a mouthful, feeling the harsh but at least familiar sting as it slid down my throat. Back in my mind I heard "Auugslee..." Man...everything's a bit too weird.

Jenn looked over at me hesitatingly, but with that half-smile of hers on her face.

"Don't do it..." i thought. She raised her hand half way, paused for a sec...Suddenly, I had a chill zapdizn down my spine and I shook my head in a chill to shake it off. Right then, she blurted out

"Okay, okay, me next, dooog!" I watched as she waved her arms exaggeratedly from Joe to her, nodding her head impatiently.

His smile seemed almost demonic. Not like scary demonic, but Walt Disney demonic. Not that Walt Disney wasn't scary or demonic...i think it was more in the way the shadows were placing themselves on his face.

"Alright alright, you got it sweetheart. You're a little fiend, ain'cha?" He took the cloth bag out of his pocket that he'd pulled the tapper and little container, of "juice" they call it, out of just a bit earlier. Only, Joe apparnetly didn't use a film canister like I'd seen that homebody use at my place. His was actually a nice, colorfully speckled glass piece with a cork in the top of it. It was good to know that I was getting dosed by a conniseur such as himself.

He unscrewed the needle from the tapper, then he fumbled around a bit in his pockets, pulling out a little roll of scotch tape. He peeled off a piece, placed the needle in it, folding the other end over it. Then he tossed it over towards me. "Here you go, man. Everyone gets their own."

Fuck! I didn't even think about the dangers of needles. Man, like I said, it's good to be with a conniseur. I slowly picked it up and placed it in the pocket of my jacket. Everything's still a bit off as I watch her load a new needle and motion in Jenn's direction.

"You sure you ready for this?" His mouth became a slight grin as he tilted his head towards her.
"Bring it on!" And she grabbed the tapper. That's my girl!

Still in a bit of a daze...Oop, there she goes. As soon as she had the tapper, without a moments hesistation - Thwack!

She remembers and holds her breath, clenching her teeth on and off. She looks at me, smirks, winks, and exhales slooowly. She grins for a second, with a confused look on her face, almost like she couldn't hear what somebody was saying. Next, comes the laughter; i have slight flashbacks to what it was like when I was laughing, too.

"Huh? Wait...Hahaha! No. Haha! Okay." Yep! Who knows what the heck is going through her head right now. Ooo, we get to swap stories later; hope she remembers hers..mine's fading fast.

As Jenn's sitting on her back giggling on the floor, her back arching as her chest jumps her off the ground with each small fit, one chuckle at a time as she stares up at the ceiling. Haha, what a punk. SHe had to handle it better than me, nobody even has to offer comforting words . It's rough, having a tough chick.

Man, looking around the room everything's still off. You know, actually I feel pretty sober overall, it's jus that things look...off. Why do I keep saying off? Do things normally look "on"? What the heck does that mean? Either way, I know that the drug it'self has definitely worn off, neraly fully; now it's just like the way my mind's working or how I'm focusing my eyes or something that's different.

I kinda lazily swing my head around the room. Hmm, no trails or anything, not even the out-of-synch stalled vision thing. I keep my head still for a second, and then it hits me what's wrong: The walls are moving.

Actually, that sounds stupid, it's not the walls themselves seem like they're moving, it's more that there's motion on the walls, or...maybe in the walls? Wow, sure is odd, though. I stare a bit more, tryin to tune my mind and eyes into the frequency. Jenn's chill, and people in the room start talking softly with each other.

Yeah, yeah, there's totally like, light being projected onto the walls. No, I glance over, it's not really coming from the windows...I can tell the tree's shadows on the wall, and it's not moving in synch with the wind like they are, it's more... Being projected through the trees? It's definitely mroe apparent in the shadows than on the walls, but what the heck's between the trees outside the windows, and the wall?

Then it slicks, and I have it in perfect focus: There's neon green specs and they're like...marching along the wall - chase-light style. Whoa, and... Somebody pats me on the back.

"Haha, hey man, doin' okay bro?" It was this guy that I can never remember his name...Starts with a 'B' or something...brian? Bill?

"Yeah, haa, I'm good, man. Its'all gravy." I nodded to him, squinting my eyes a bit and smiling slightly. Maybe he'll think I'm too high and won't try to talk too much.

"Heheh, yeah I bet it is, bro. Here, hit this, calm your nerves." Haha, nope...To some people nobody ever looks too high to hand a pipe to.

I reach out and grab the half-charred loaded pipe. It's got the good stuff in it. I look back at, Boyd? Brian? I look at him and flick my thumb on my index finger with a closed fist. He digs in his pocket, "Yeah." and tosses me a lighter.

I bring the pipe up to my face, and strike the lighter. Man...gettin' high in some buddhist center at some sort of funeral... that's funny stuff, what the hell am I doing?

I intently watch the flame as the bowl illuminates. I cross my eyes to focus on the burning leaves, crossing them so much that I swear I can see every furry, prickly detail, like I was looking at an electron microscope. I hand the pipe and lighter back to...Brent? Bart? and exhale a a foggy, wafting, swirling haze of smoke out into the room. As it clears I see Jenn start to sit up, looking a bit confused, but still smiling, so you know she had a good time.

"How'd that treat ya, babe?" I scoot over towards her.

"Whoo! Wow, I...I don't really know, to be honest. It was really funny though! I remember that!" She let out a few chuckles. "WHew, though. Feel really good, now! Like, not stone cold sober, but very, very...Awake." She shrugged and looked at me. "How about you, babe?"

I looked up a bit and shrugged my own shoulders. I laughed "Yeah, I guess what's there to say about that?" We exchanged understanding glances, then, umm...Ben? NEvermind, then that 'B' guy handed the pipe over to her.

"Ummm, no thanks. We're actually getting goin' soon." She waved it away. That's kinda weird. "By the way," she extended an open hand out with a friendly smile, "I'm Jenn."

He took her hand "Nice to meet you, Jenn, I'm Nate."

Dang! I didn't even have the first letter right. Eh, maybe I never really had ever met the guy. I looked around again and took a long, deep, breath. Phew...was I ever ready to go.