PULP & POPCORN

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Page 65 "Well, thank goodness for that." I took a few moments to walk around the enormous suite of rooms. At first, I thought it was completely empty, but all of my things had been transferred over. It's just that I don't own that many things. I've been living in a journalist's apartment on a journalist's salary. I've got some great records, a decent little collection of movies, and several bookcases full of books. Essential furniture, but nothing more. And seeing my things in a space like this put my life into an unsettling perspective. I felt exposed, like I was only play-acting at being a grown-up. As I stepped into one room in particular, I was struck by the way the high windows bathed the place in light, and I imagined using it as my writing studio. As I stepped further into the room, a vaguely man-shaped pillar of crackling energy appeared in the middle of the room, and I watched dumbfounded as it resolved into a specific human form, then went vague again. A human scream filled the room, sudden and overwhelming, coming at me from all directions, and the energy resolved into human form again, holding this time. It raised one arm, and I took a step back, afraid it was reaching for me. Instead, it drew a symbol with its finger, the energy hanging there even after it put its arm down again, a perfect oval burned into the space between us. One more scream, loud enough to drive me back out of the room, and I was alone again, my entire central nervous system on high alert now. When the Commander put his hand on my shoulder, I flinched and bit my tongue at the same time, flooding my eyes with angry tears and my mouth with the copper taste of blood. "What you just saw was a reflection, an echo of something that hasn't happened yet." "What was that? What was that circle?" "It wasn't a circle. It was a zero. Or it will be. It's complicated. But you were in no danger." "Good to know." He turned and headed into another room, and I realized we were done with that particular conversation, and it was time for whatever was next on his checklist, like giant sentient piles of energy are an everyday thing. I followed and caught up with the Commander outside a particularly sturdy closet door.
Page 66 "When you travel inside the Center or to specific locations, this is how you'll do it." He opened the door to reveal a metal-walled room, each surface polished to a reflective gloss, with a sort of ceramic ceiling and floor. I could smell that hard ozone smell again, too. "Is this a teleporter?" "Yes." "So at least you finally finished that, right? Your original goal." "Yes." For a moment, he almost looked nostalgic as he looked around the chamber. "You just have to state your destination, then give the send command." "Which is?" "Let me demonstrate. We need to get started anyway." "It's like 7:20 AM. You just moved me in. What's so urgent?" "You'll see." He pulled the door closed. The room was big enough for both of us, with room for another dozen or so at least. "Intrusion control A. Transfer begin." Crackle. Gasp. And we were there. __________ Part of getting used to working for Commander Future is learning the vocabulary he uses and getting comfortable with it myself. I get the feeling he's doing his best to give simple names to complex ideas or inventions, trying to make it easy to understand. When he first referred to an Intrusion, I'm not sure what I pictured. A break-in or a burglary or some sort of event like that. Not some ongoing interruption in time and space. The word "Intrusion" is almost polite. It's not alarming. Maybe that's the real reason behind the careful, matter-of-fact language Commander Future uses. I think the truth of it is that if he described things more specifically, everyone would be scared shitless all the time. Like I am.
Page 2 and 3:
Page 1 Drew McWeeny’s PULP & POPC
Page 4 and 5:
Page 3 INTRODUCTION “So That Happ
Page 6 and 7:
Page 5 But for now, I’ll continue
Page 8 and 9:
Page 7 And while I think Life Of Pi
Page 10 and 11:
Page 9 I thought it was an oddly in
Page 12 and 13:
Page 11 Look at the reaction to the
Page 14 and 15:
Page 13 The last time he played in
Page 16 and 17: Page 15 Fate began to deal Felix th
Page 18 and 19: Page 17 Felix set his fork down, co
Page 20 and 21: Page 19 “Your loss.” Felix pick
Page 22 and 23: Page 21 “Family heirlooms and the
Page 24 and 25: Page 23 Felix was astonished by his
Page 26 and 27: Page 25 Felix looked at the clock.
Page 28 and 29: Page 27 The biggest poster in the r
Page 30 and 31: Page 29 “Mind if I smoke?” “Y
Page 32 and 33: Page 31 * * * Felix drove much too
Page 34 and 35: Page 33 Walking to his car, though,
Page 36 and 37: Page 35 Would I tell someone who ha
Page 38 and 39: Page 37 Maybe it even did work like
Page 40 and 41: Page 39 Now that I’ve seen it in
Page 42 and 43: Page 41 NOEL Based on a screenplay
Page 44 and 45: Page 43 When Black Peter made his w
Page 46 and 47: Page 45 That night, the celebration
Page 48 and 49: Page 47 “It is, Lord. I swear it.
Page 50 and 51: Page 49 Noel looked at the children
Page 52 and 53: Page 51 Ageless, his face unlined b
Page 54 and 55: Page 53 Noel cried out as if struck
Page 56 and 57: Page 55 REVIEW “Silence” scr. M
Page 58 and 59: Page 57 Masahiro Shinoda’s 1971 f
Page 60 and 61: Page 59 The performances are all so
Page 62 and 63: Page 61 Commander Future: A Reporte
Page 64 and 65: Page 63 I've tried to talk to Comma
Page 68 and 69: Page 67 __________ There was a noti
Page 70 and 71: Page 69 Commander Future stepped ar
Page 72 and 73: Page 71 With a huge roaring sound,
Page 74 and 75: Page 73 "No. You will not get used
Page 76 and 77: Page 75 "Because there is a threat.
Page 78: Page 77 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Drew McWee
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