* DEATH / MOTHER !

        THE G VIRUS WAS A WONDER TO WITNESS. A man - made miracle that could carry it’s creators beyond their wildest dreams. She had watched from the shadows, as it began from the smallest form— taking every advantage of the freedom it earned. What was death now in the face of such an efficient organism? 

She watches as Annette twists and cries, close enough that she could be heard. Above the rending of skin and muscle, and the whimpering pain. 

“ I know. ” softly, so softly. “ I know…but this pain is worth your prize, dear. It matters so little in the end, not when you have done what no other has before you. ”

       SHE CAN FEEL  her very anatomy split & lengthen to accommodate for golgotha.  alien tissue worms its way into the seams, makes her whole again.  no amount of desensitized observation could prepare her for the absolute  agony  that now holds her.  quaking knees buckle & give way  ——  lab supplies fall to the ground alongside her shifting form.  the glass of empty beakers breaks in harmony with annette's creaking bones.

       she can't help but wonder the amount of time left before she no longer exists.  before this suffering digests her to spit back a husk of instinct & instinct alone.  a raw, pink hand reaches blindly for the voice.

      𝕳𝖔𝖜 𝖑𝖔𝖓𝖌 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖎𝖙 𝖇𝖊𝖊𝖓 since they had gotten a good night’s sleep? Weeks, at least. And it showed, from their heavy bags to the sickly tone of their skin. They rubbed at their face wearily. “ What do these dreams mean? “

        THE NOISE OF SOME  hot - shot on the guitar is absolutely  deafening,  his voice grating like claws down her back.  annette would have preferred to stay in the quiet of her office, but her consort insisted on giving this grimy bar a fair chance.  take - out is hardly romantic, she said.  so here the doctor sits with a throb in her head & an unknown substance sticking to her shoe.

        still, her surroundings lighten with pleasant company.  she wonders just how long it took ada to find the right lipstick to match her little dress.  how isn’t she freezing in that thing ?  annette pulls her cardigan over her chest with a vicarious shiver.  it feels like everyone is staring at her, but she knows that she’s well - nestled into the booth.

        now, the house wine is seeping into her every action.  ada’s complexion looks even more perfect through her blurred vision & her laugh is  addictively  intoxicating.  anxiously chipped nails dance around manicured fingers in an old, practiced game.  everything about her is red :  her hands, her outfit, her cheeks warmed by tonic.  

        god, she's irresistible & she knows it.

SHE RESTS IN THE LEATHER SEAT OF CHAIR & upkeeps a delicate posture.  mimics the crossed legs; nylon stockings that went for miles it seems. ada just smiles the tiniest bit upon analysis:  she sees the stretch of annette’s skin.  lonely.  EMOTIONALLY unavailable.  it won’t be long until ada wong finds where her feelers are. 

❝ one of the drugs umbrella corporation manufactured——an amphetamine derivative said to suppress appetite was prescribed to patients with thyroid issues & type 2 diabetes, ❞ she beats the ash off of a kretek she’s working on.  

reaches into purse to set a newspaper clipping on the desk, slides it over.  right next to the slick back  recorder.  tape’s rolling.

❝ ——is linked to multiple deaths. you must be quite aware, yes? ❞

         SHE HARDLY GLANCES  at the paper before falling back into her seat with a roll of her eyes.  the  disbelief  that washes over her shows through a scoff.  a slant of the lips & painted digits massaging the temples of her forehead.

         ❛   i don't see any reliable sources on this article.   ❜   amateur speculation.

         ❛   statistics can be manipulated  far  too easily, i'm afraid.   ❜   the researcher offers a dismissive wave of her slim wrist.  doesn't allow for her guise to crack under such pathetic pressure.  where the fuck was the legal team when these accusations started ?  her grin softens as she leans her elbows into her knees & bends her spinal cord.  flicks her vision to the clock on the opposite wall.