An Apologetic End
Yes, I have missed quite a few updates the last couple of weeks — all of them, in fact. Unfortunately, it’s not a temporary thing. I thought I would have enough free time to keep a web serial going, but recent events have emphatically proved me wrong.
I appologise to everyone who began following The Morpheus Reports with the not alltogether unreasonable expectation to find out how things turn out. I’m hoping to get back to the story at some point, but to paraphrase Aragorn in Jackson’s The Return of the King, it won’t be this year.
The Morpheus Reports: Observation 33
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Date: 05/09/2003
Subject: Johan Eka (file M-079)
Method: Long-range memory observation during subject’s REM sleep
Continued from observation 32
“Why?” Johan said. Emma lowered her eyes. Then she exhaled and tossed her head with something between a sigh and a snort.
“What are you, some kind of shrink? What do you care?”
“I’m simply curious about you. I’ve never met an Ultra before.”
Emma shot to her feet, a sudden, piston-like motion that sent a flash of fresh fear through Johan.
The Morpheus Reports: Observation 32
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Date: 05/09/2003
Subject: Johan Eka (file M-079)
Method: Long-range memory observation during subject’s REM sleep
“I’m sorry,” Emma said by the door to Johan’s bedroom. He sat up with a start, and regretted it as another pain bomb went off inside his head. Exhaling, he sank back against the tufted leather of the headboard.
“Where’s Arvid?” he said. The woman in black generated such apprehension that it penetrated the haze of pain.
The Morpheus Reports: Observation 31
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Date: 05/09/2003
Subject: Johan Eka (file M-079)
Method: Long-range memory observation during subject’s REM sleep
Continued from observation 30
None of them said anything. The remains of Emma’s chair lay scattered over half the dining room, a concrete crater marking the site of it’s impact against the wall. Emma remained on her feet. Johan couldn’t move. He simply stared at the Ultra, blood pounding in his ears.
The Morpheus Reports: Observation 30
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Date: 05/09/2003
Subject: Johan Eka (file M-079)
Method: Long-range memory observation during subject’s REM sleep
Continued from observation 29
“What help organisation?” Johan said as Emma drained another cup of sake. He’d have to buy a new flask. The alcohol didn’t seem to affect her in the slightest; it probably didn’t stand a chance against her Ultra body.
“I think they’re called Childhood Friend,” she said. “I saw their logo in an office building a few years ago, but I’ve never seen them ask for donations along Kungsgatan or anything like that.”
“No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them,” Johan said. “Let’s see what we can find out.” He pressed one of the little buttons on the panel just beneath the edge of the table. A section of tabletop did a vertical flip, exchanging dark wood for a touch screen.
The Morpheus Reports: Observation 29
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Date: 05/09/2003
Subject: Johan Eka (file M-079)
Method: Long-range memory observation during subject’s REM sleep
Half an hour later, the meeting had moved to the softly lit dining room and the food that Johan had ordered – sushi. It had seemed like a good choice at the time. In retrospect, he should probably have bought pizza, hamburgers or anything else that didn’t involve chopsticks. Arvid was scattering rice over the tabletop’s mirror of dark wood as norimaki after norimaki slipped from his grip. Emma’s sticks had snapped between her fingers with such force that the pieces bounced against opposite walls. She now ate with her fingers.
The Morpheus Reports: Observation 28
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Date: 05/09/2003
Subject: Johan Eka (file M-079)
Method: Long-range memory observation during subject’s REM sleep
Continued from observation 27
Arvid cleared his throat.
“We do have – “
“I said don’t panic,” Johan said. They would never survive this if he didn’t nip every pessimistic thought in the bud. “We’re not helpless. Think about it. We have money, should we need it. Father sends me a small fortune every month to make me stay away from the castle.” Money, the cure for all ills – that sounded hollow even to him. “We have Sweden’s only Ultra, for Heaven’s sake.”
“So what the hell do you want me to do?” Emma said. “Find Kempe and kill him, too?”
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THE MORPHEUS REPORTS: OBSERVATION 27
Date: 05/09/2003
Subject: Johan Eka (file M-079)
Method: Long-range memory observation during subject’s REM sleep
Continued from observation 26
On his way back with the towel, Johan found that he had to stop and catch his breath. He was trying to make two complete strangers, one of them non-human, work together against impossible odds. If he didn’t succeed, his life would more or less be over. He was likely still in shock from all the death and destruction on the previous night, and to add insult to injury, he would fail the exam that he now didn’t have time to study for. It was insane to worry about an exam when prison loomed larger and larger. He tried not to worry, and failed.
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THE MORPHEUS REPORTS: OBSERVATION 26
Date: 05/09/2003
Subject: Johan Eka (file M-079)
Method: Long-range memory observation during subject’s REM sleep
Continued from observation 25
Another series of hammer blows. The shock froze Johan. It took him a second to realise that there was someone out on the terrace around the penthouse, and that this someone was knocking. Hard.
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Observation 25
Date: 05/09/2003
Subject: Johan Eka (file M-079)
Method: Long-range memory observation during subject’s REM sleep
Night had fallen outside the penthouse. Johan’s torchières and accent lights provided the drawing room with pleasantly soft illumination, and flames crackled in the circular fireplace. Bolted to the wall, the indoor waterfall murmured along with the rattling of the rain outside. Good enough, Johan thought, surveying the scene. Good enough for a war council. He hoped Emma would be impressed, or at least like it. Impressing her had grown more important the more the evening approached.
Arvid the archivist arrived first, and he was half an hour late.
