Small Chapter Insert (Prose)

From chapter one, pages 1-2.

CONTEXT: Matthias has sought the help of The REDACTED, an organization of people from the biotech company Syntec's past. It is mostly comprised of past patients and doctors that want to erase its presence from civilized society. 

In the previous book, Matthias and his team known as Project 863 helped oust The REDACTED's questionably hired boss, Jasper Shaw, but at a cost: as Jasper was being removed from the building, he revealed that Project 863's greatest ally in all of this, Deb, was actually the sister of the series's big bad, Nelson Syphus.

Matthias has not gotten over the feeling of betrayal, and in his wondering of why Deb didn't tell them, he has cut himself off from the REDACTED, the only thing left in this timeline that holds her memory.

The book is written in first person, so the 'I' refers to Matthias himself.

Samantha, Woods, Bailey, Shenelle (author jump scare) and Jocelyn are all employees of Matthias at Spellbound Inc.

In order to try and stay true to the video experience that our audience was used to, I adapted a very loose dialogue that sounded as close to talent talking as possible.

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I felt like a zombie sitting at my desk, typing away at the keyboard with no real intention behind it, like a ghost in the place of the real Matthias. I’m sure most of you know that feeling you get after an incredibly long and stressful endeavor, like a family vacation or school finals. That’s what was currently draped over me like a thick blanket, the utter heaviness that takes over your limbs and rests on your eyelids, the brain fog and exhaustion that won’t go away no matter how much sleep you get...

“Matt?” I jerked a little when I heard Samantha’s voice from the doorway (I hadn’t even noticed she came into the studio, period). When I turned to look in her direction, I could see she had a donut in her hand, one with particularly bright pink icing and colorful sprinkles.

I chuckled a little, “Is that the last one?” Fridays at the studio often consisted of someone purchasing donuts or bagels for the team and leaving them in Blue base to be promptly scarfed down during the morning rush. Very rarely would a specimen such as this survive the carnage unless I marched over to acquire it myself...

She nodded, holding the treat just out of reach, “The trusty pink sprink is about the only thing I thought might get you out of that chair.”

Ahh, I see, so this was a bargaining plea: very clever. Regardless, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get much done in this state, so perhaps a snack break was warranted. I stood up with a grunt and walked to the door with my water bottle in hand, taking the donut from her and walking out into the front of the base. Jocelyn, our new office assistant, was typing away at the front desk, and I nodded in greeting to Bailey and Shenelle when they entered together, likely heading for the kitchen themselves.

I knew that the team was going to want answers; it was likely half the reason Sam drew me out as she did. After what happened a month ago, with Jasper and the REDACTED and figuring out about Deb...well, I had put up a wall between that life and my own, likely as a coping mechanism but also as a way to try and heal. But after mentioning that phone call in the time machine room offhand, I knew it was unfair of me to just expect them to wait patiently forever.

“Is Woods around?” I asked in Sam’s general direction, taking a bite of the pastry. The instant dopamine hit that entered my system was a welcomed change of pace from my particularly weary existence that of three minutes ago.

“Should be in Red base. I think he’s working on something for Dope or Nope,” she responded.

I nodded, “Text him and have him come on over. We should, I guess, talk about what our next steps are.”

“Concerning 863, you mean?”

Again, I nodded, “We can’t ignore the REDACTED forever, that isn’t fair to Magnolia.” It was time to dust myself off and continue down the path we had chosen for ourselves.

Learning what we had about Deb wasn’t going to change that, not now and not ever.

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