Hmmm… maybe!

(POV - HANA)

I sighed. A look around my barren office. I really needed to get off my ass and decorate, but I find the process… unnecessary. I could be doing better things.

I was working on a report. Well, de-working. The average college student doesn’t have as large of an understanding on genomics as I, so I usually dumb assignments down as to make it more digestible for my professors.

I was tired of editing, so I checked my email. One new message, from….

Sorry, I got distracted reading. Anyway, it was a link to an article from Lovus News. A robbery for that one pizza place we sponsored. I knew there had to be more here than the headline gave away, considering the person who’d sent it.

Let’s see… four ex-military wackjobs, shots fired, police shoot-out…

Wait.

‘One shining light in the dark story can be found in one local man. Officers identified a local hero named Michael Chase who, despite the dangers, jumped in front of one of the gunmen to save the life of local elder Clarissa Martins. Goes to show that, despite all the bad, there are some good people out there still. Sadly, it appears the savior took life-threatening injuries during the event, and he was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. Lovus News plans to reach out to Mr. Chase for an interview once he leaves the hospital. Thoughts and prayers to Michael and his family.’

Hm. Well, that explains the importance.

Under the link to the article, the messenger left one note: ‘handle this, Hana’

I bit the inside of my cheek. I wished it was more descriptive.

I reached out to my contacts within Lovus’ medical field. Apparently, they’d performed a miraculous surgery on Michael and he’d been released today. He should have died, if not for one Dr. Adams. I knew that name, didn’t I? Friend of Ava, yes. Interesting. I wonder if Ava could give me anything of note on the matter.

I messaged Ava.

Hana: hey ava, i heard about michael, i hope he’s okay!! :,(

Ava: thx

Ava: he is k

Ava: ok*

Ava: he is already home and everything cuz adams is the goat

Hana: what?

Ava: ???

Hana: was that a typo or did u call that doctor u want to fuck an animal?

Ava: 1 - fuck you hes a friend

Ava: 2 - goat is like a slang thing. means, like, really good. i think its like ‘good on all turfs’

I laughed. I knew what g.o.a.t. stood for obviously, but I knew Ava wouldn’t. She’s so out of touch with internet culture.

Hana: anyway, glad to hear ur friend is ok.

Ava: thx <3 ttyl, about to have a roomie meeting

Okay, that didn’t give me anything. It was a long shot, anyway. I was really just interested in talking to Ava. She was the only friend I was really able to have.

I clicked my tongue and pulled my laptop back out. I spent the next few minutes hacking into the hospital’s medical records. I found Michael’s work and found out exactly what had happened. I looked at the 3D diagram of his body they’d scanned to search for internal injuries.

Ooh. Interesting. Those bruises on his chest appeared to be from a bunch of blunt small and fast blunt objects… fuck.

Fuck. It’s working.

This isn’t what I wanted.

Michael wasn’t the usual test subject. I preferred the homeless, honestly. Cooperative, easy-to-dispose, and had no contributions to society.

Michael was annoying. He’d seen an accident, yet the higher-ups saw his lack of social connections and decided he was close enough to a candidate. Of course, they had no idea he’d found a home that day, but I hadn’t said anything.

Here was what was meant to happen: they choose Michael, he dies, people like Ava and Sara ask questions, and the higher-ups are blamed for being so reckless. I would likely be able to use that opportunity to move up, maybe even get a seat at the table.

Now? The fucking **** was working.

It shouldn’t have been.

I’d tainted it.

Had I…

No.

I refuse to believe my tampering caused the…

Had I solved the concoction? Did I have the right answers to skin hardening?

Had I caused my own failure/ success?

This was the worst possible outcome! What was I meant to do, tell them that I’d fucked with the **** to throw them under the bus? I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Shit.

I looked at the email. ‘Handle it’…

-

Hey, author here! Sorry for the shorter chapter, but I really had nothing else for Hana to say here. I set up what I wanted to. That’s not really why I’m leaving a note, however; I have bad news.

This may be the last chapter… for like a week. lol! Not so bad, but I do hate it. Don’t worry, anyone reading this for the next few days, I will be back!! It’ll be a little into December. When I return, I will likely open the Patreon as well! If you’re at all interested in that, continue reading; if not, then just know that I won’t be gone forever!

Patreon stuff: basically, my plan is one tier for now. My hope is to have it be 5-7 chapters ahead of what is publicly available. That’s good, eh?

Then, if by some miracle I make any amount of pocket change and am able to somewhat rely on the Patreon, I’d like to introduce a higher tier that will allow me to write two stories! I have an idea that I have had for many years, and to be able to bring it to fruition would be amazing! Oh, and if I made enough, I’d love to use some of the money to get art commissions of characters and scenes. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see that!?

Okay. Thanks! I’ll be back soon-ish!

You know what, that wasn’t good enough.

THANK YOU!!! I am truly humbled by the amount of attention and praise I’ve received for this story so far. We’re only just beginning, and I’m so excited to keep this journey going once I’m back. 10k views and rising!!! :)