The Dark Wizard behind the Curtain
Albert Grimes was an ugly man. 'The goddamnest ugly man'
Byron Joseph thought to himself. He dare not say to the big man's
face, it was hard enough to look the man square in the eye, and
Mr. Grimes was quite sensitive about his less-than-appealing physical
features. Grimes stood six-feet-two inches and was broad in shoulder,
and while not a sculpted Adonis, was thick in chest and arms. He
was clad in the distinctive, black faux-leather, three quarter length
Tyrell security uniform jacket. His uniform bore the remnants of
dust, dirt and whatever foul grime that swirled and clung to whomever
braved the area around the hellish refineries. The goggles dangled
comically from his obscenely thick neck, and the respirator unit
was stained black with what, Joseph did not care to know. His large
face was severely pockmarked and his lips were almost fish like
and constantly chapped. His large tongue would occasionally dart
out of his mouth like a pink slug, wetting his damaged lips. Joseph
would try not to visibly wince when Grimes did this. Grimes was
a big man. A monstrously big man and his past was just as grotesque
as his body.
Grimes came to the Tyrell Corp by way of the military, but the
army he served in was an army of one. A soldier of fortune who delighted
in the brutality of his mercenary profession. When his bloody past
deeds reached out to him like a crimson stained debt-collector from
the grave, Grimes sought other means of employment. Grimes was just
a harness bull in the security division and was on the road to self-destruction,
when Byron Joseph stepped out from the shadows and changed Grimes's
life forever. Saved his miserable life, if you asked Joseph. Grimes
would have been dead due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his
right temple if Byron Joseph had not materialized into his tortured
life. Now Grimes was a senior security officer assigned to the genetics
division, an enviable position. Not so enviable was the position
that Grimes was in now.
Indentured servitude to Byron Joseph.
Grimes finished giving his oral report to Joseph. He scoured the
refinery area for the bodies of Lee and Beels, and neither corpse
could be found. Grimes also informed his dark Majesty that he had
exhaustively scanned all security recording devices and subtly interviewed,
as best as he could, those who might have seen or heard anything.
The end result: Lee and Beels were consumed by the fires of the
Tyrell Corporation.
Joseph nodded his approval and rubbed his eyes. A sharp, stabbing
pain radiated behind his eyes and he cursed his degenerative ocular
condition. He quickly applied some clear droplets into his eyes
and blinked furiously for a few moments. As he was blinking like
a schizophrenic off his meds, Joseph wondered if Grimes continued
with his weekly, job-mandated visits to the Eldon Wellness Center.
Most of his staff were required to attend the Wellness center at
certain times as well. All by the direction of the Grand Puppet
Master himself, Byron Joseph. He told them it was necessary to help
deal with the stresses of the job and outside stresses as well that
come with being employed by the biggest manufacturer of life since
Christ. He hoped that the 'treatments' would help with any 'bleedthroughs'
that might be occurring. Especially in Albert Grimes's case. The
man had a hell of a bloody past and Joseph wanted to keep Albert
steady and only awake the dragon of his past when it suited his
needs. The Dragon may awake soon, Joseph thought to himself,
because if Mironova thinks he is concealing himself in the shadows
of my office, he is horribly mistaken. Grimes knows you're here,
my shrill friend. I can see it in his eyes, those cold, black shark's
eyes. Joseph shuddered, barely perceptible.
And people say I'm a scary eyed son-of-a-bitch.
Options
Option 1 - Grimes,
Mironova and Joseph.
Option 2 - Retirement.
Pages in white continue the story. Pages
in yellow are yet to be written. Note that the unwritten
options are just suggestions for how the story might continue
- you can add something completely different if you like.
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Date: 2002-06-14 23:45
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