| Scene Title | Rouse The Flame |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Someone who's not thought about Godfrey in a long time finds their thoughts wandering back to him again. |
| Date | August 9, 2020 |
It's been a long day.
The cycles have seemed endless, the work never complete. But freedom is afforded by a clock, even if it stingily has held fast to every last second owed to it before begrudgingly relinquishing the next.
Jamie McKendry rubs at his eye with the back of his hand after stripping off latex gloves, certain it's time to go home, but affording one last look at the clock anyway. He lets out a sigh of relief when it still reads 5:01. He steps back from the lab computer he was using in one of the Yamagato sublevels, wondering about a drink with a coworker to destress from the day.
No one else is around.
But somehow, it bothers him none at all.
He leaves the glowing white laboratory after sliding curing samples back into their cooler and locking them up. The glass door of the lab seals closed behind him as he begins walking down the white-lit hall. "Night, Jiba," he calls out into the air since no one else is around to bid farewell. "お疲れ様です."
Jiba doesn't respond.
Jamie pulls his phone from his pocket to begin scrolling contacts in his messenger app, seeking staving off feeling as alone as he does. He passes no security in the hall, no office workers, no lab techs heading home. When he comes to the elevator bank, despite it being quitting time, it's void of persons entirely.
The white light has grown less, not that he's noticed while looking down at his phone. The edges of awareness seep gray, but his eyes are on the blue glow of his screen.
Jamie pauses on a name he's not called on in a while, oblivious to how the hall grows dark around him. His thumb hovers over Godfrey Wells' name.
Over his shoulder, a woman with red-painted lips smiles.
Unseen, unnoticed, she leans in just slightly, whispering something into Jamie's ear. Her voice almost goes unheard, but the alluring words slip their way in, disarming resistance, cancelling doubt.
His thumb hits the call button, and it feels so right.
Then he sees nothing else at all.
4:09 am
Jamie breathes in a sudden breath, roused abruptly from a dream he barely remembers. His brow furrows at it, hand dragging down his face as he wonders at the time.
"Well, at least it's not time to get up yet," he murmurs to himself. It was almost like getting extra sleep. He pulls the covers back up over his shoulders and begins to roll back over.
But at the last second, on impulse, he reaches for his phone before he does.