CHAPTER 244: Angel Of Death

Every morning it was the same.  The unit known as Leanne McGregor awoke, donned her body cohesion suit and did her stretches and exercises to make sure her human body was functioning at peak condition.  Since changing her appearance she had found that she was more prone to liquefying and that she had to don the suit more so than in her previous form.  The tell tale signs of a thin layer of bodily fluids covering her flesh followed by a sudden looseness of limb function gave her some time to either don the suit or else spend time in the bio-conversion chamber.  This was her third human form since arriving on Earth and it was proving the most troublesome.  The problem wasn't her looks, although she was still very fond of her second form, it was that the bio-conversion technology was still experimental and there was still so much that was unknown about genetically altering the body over and over again until all cohesion broke down.  Such was the price she was paying for the mission...

As she was stretching and working out her legs suddenly gave way.  She could feel her inner structure weaken and she ended up on her knees, trying to get her legs to function.  

"No!  Not now!  There's so much I have to do today!  Just...keep...going..." she said out loud with exasperation in her voice.

The suit did its job and repaired the cartlidge that was breaking down and soon she was able to stand again.  Another hour wearing the garment should fix the problem but she thought that maybe she had done too much exercising and had weakened her systems.

She went to lie down on her bed whilst the suit did its job.  She couldn't relax but instead sat there inwardly cursing that her plans would have to be delayed because this stupid form was proving troublesome.  She thought about home and whether she would ever see it again.  If she did how would she and the others of the advance party would be welcome by her own kind if they knew they had been altered?  Then she thought about how she came to be in the advance party in the first place.  Unlike the others she had not volunteered.  She had committed too many crimes on the homeworld and her punishment was to be genetically altered so she could shapeshift and then be sent to this backwater planet.  She was spared conventional punishment because her talent for murder made her useful to the cause.

An alarm went off telling her it was time to change.  She took off the suit and changed into conventional human clothing, noticing that she was solid.  Already behind schedule she grabbed her secret communicator and opened a channel to her supervisor.

"Probyka, Lurgid" she said to the person who answered the call.

"Yop English, Kar-el" came the reply.  The voice on the other end was masculine and a deep baritone.

"My apologies, Luke Kendall.  Is this a convenient time to talk?" she said, switching languages.

"It is.  Is everything alright?"

"We have a potential situation, Luke Kendall.  My surveillance of hu-manns on our risk list as detected a problem."

"What is the nature of the problem?  Which hu-mann poses a risk?"

"It's two.  One you're aware of, the other is new and you won't have encountered them before.  They are Jeremy Saint and Darrin Lew."  said Leanne, wondering if Luke Kendall would be angry or annoyed by what she had said.

"What have they done?" asked Luke.

"The two men had a meeting two days ago where Jeremy Saint asked Darrin Lew to investigate the Landgraab Corporation's most secret files.  Darrin Lew has access to them and I believe he is going to turn them over to Jeremy Saint."

There was a long pause on the other end of the communicator, then Luke said slowly and softly.  "Most secret implies our dealings with the Landgraab family and the work they are doing for us."

"It does...it also implies the things the Landgraab family did before our first contact with them.  I believe they had some of their competitors assassinated." Leanne replied, matter-of-factly.

There was another long pause so Leanne decided to fill the space with a suggestion.  "Luke Kendall; I propose the safest solution is to eliminate both Jeremy Saint and Darrin Lew.  Stop them before they can get started."

"Nancy Landgraab and Malcolm III Landgraab have requested that they deal with Jeremy Saint and that we are not to target him" came Luke's reply.

"As I am responsible for mission security, I must disagree with this policy.  I can eliminate both without a trace and if the Landgraab family are proving too great a hindrance then I can eliminate them as well..."

"Enough!" Luke cut her off short.  "Already your assassination of Geoffrey Landgraab is attracting the attention of the hu-mann investigators.  We must only eliminate hu-manns if it becomes absolutely necessary, not as a precaution.  Our existence must remain a secret.  Say yes if you understand me."

"Yes" she said with a heavy sigh.

"You will not eliminate the Landgraab family nor will you eliminate Jeremy Saint or his associates.  Say yes if you understand me."

"Yes" she replied, still annoyed that she couldn't eliminate anyone.

"You did the correct thing in alerting me to this issue.  Keep me informed and I will issue your instructions when the time comes.  Nilharoi, Leanne McGregor"

"Nilharoi shebber shenty, Luke Kendall" she replied, shutting off the communicator.

If it becomes absolutely necessary... she thought to herself.  She began to concoct a plan.

Leanne McGregor's suspicions were well founded as Darren Lew had indeed been up to something and that wasn't good for her mission.  He had been digging around in the archives for evidence that would seriously undermine the Landgraab family; possibly even destroying their reputation forever.  Darrin Had spent nearly two years in the company, secretly collating any information that they didn't want the world to know about. He knew where the dirt was.

The tricky part was how to get all this information to Jeremy.  He couldn't just smuggle the document out himself, not when he knew he was being watched by company hawks like Alice Ethington, there had to be a secret way.  

When he left the documents room he saw a work colleague walking past him.  She called out "hey are you going to sign Carstairs's birthday card?".  That gave him an idea.

Like a lot of men of his generation he had been in the United States army, including two years in the cryptography division.  That had taught him a few skills that would now come in very handy.  He would have to access the company computer but was confident he could smuggle the information out in an unusual form.

It took patience and precision to mock up a Birthday card And print a suitable message that would contain a clue as to what the true nature of the card meant.  He just hoped Jeremy was smart enough to  work out the clue in the card.

Leanne McGregor was working on her own schemes but she needed more information before she acted on them.  She didn't seek approval from Luke Kendall before she went to visit Affluista Mansion but once she had carried out her plan then she was sure he would approve of her actions, retroactively.  She had waited outside the mansion, out of view, until she had seen both Big Mal Landgraab and his grandson, Malcolm, leave the house.  She knew that Big Mal was not easily intimidated by her or her kind and little Malcolm...well, she thought him amusing and would entertain thoughts of having intercourse with him in the human way before absorbing him, was but a distraction which she could do without right now.

Nancy Landgraab would be alone, her family plus her new cleaning lady were gone, and Leanne knew Nancy was more frightened of her than any other Visitor.  She thought about the previous cleaning lady, the one who panicked and fled after she had performed a mind scan on little Malcolm.  At some point she would have to be tracked down and eliminated.  Leanne had so much on her plate she thought about delegating that task to one of the others.

Leanne didn't bother to knock on the door or ring the bell.  Instead she used her MultiDevice to unlock the front door and then walked straight into the mansion, where she found Nancy pondering a game of chess.

"Greetings, Nancy Landgraab" said Leanne.

"Wait?  What!  How did you...." spluttered Nancy when she saw Leanne.  She didn't finish her question because she already knew the answer 'how?'.  

"Do you know that on Earth it is customary to knock first?" said Nancy, indignantly.

"Most inefficient" Leanne replied, sitting herself opposite Nancy at the chess table without being given permission.  This too annoyed Nancy.

"What do you want this time?" said Nancy, who was resigned that this Leanne would never respond to lessons in etiquette so instead shifted to trying to get to the point with her.

"I hear you've had another breach in secrecy, Nancy Landgraab" said Leanne.

"We're dealing with it" Nancy replied in a deadpan voice.

"Hmm, that is what you said last time before Jeremy Saint confessed to the FBI.  We had to take serious and immediate action when that happened.  Do we have to take the same steps this time?"

"Now wait a minute!" said Nancy, becoming agitated.  "You murdered my husband!  We said we would deal with that situation and we were:  He would go to prison for a few years, that's all, but that wasn't good enough for you so you went and murdered him!"

"He presented a significant risk.  Your argument is both emotional and sentimental and therefore invalid.  Geoffrey Landgraab was eliminated because you refused to have Jeremy Saint killed.  Now we face the same problem all over again:  Jeremy Saint and his new co-conspirator, Darrin Lew."

"I said we are dealing with it.  These two men are being closely monitored..." said Nancy.

"Not good enough" interjected Leanne.

"I don't want any more killing!" said Nancy, with the first signs of panic in her voice.

"It's not about what you want, Nancy Landgraab.  This is about the secrecy of our mission and your wealth and power."

"Saint's out of the company...he poses no more threat to us if he is merely isolated and has no more information that can harm us."

"But others are feeding him that information.  Darrin Lew must be neutralised"

"I forbid any more killing!" said Nancy, pounding her fist on to the chess table.

"I see I have to make you more amenable to our strategic aims"  Leanne replied, touching the temples of her head and concentrating until a beam emanated from her forehead.

Nancy was struck by the beam and became dazed.

"Darrin Lew must die!" thought Leanne as she transmitted that thought into Nancy's brain.

"Darrin Lew MUST DIE!" she said again.  "Say it after me...Darrin Lew must die!"

"Dar...rin....Lew must....d...d...d..."

"Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Darrin Lew must die!" said Nancy, completely mind controlled by now.

"Say it again!"

"DARRIN LEW MUST DIE!" shouted Nancy.

"You ordered it"

"I ORDERED IT!"

"By your command!"

"BY MY COMMAND!"

"Now say it again, all of it"

"DARRIN LEW MUST DIE!  I ORDERED IT!  BY MY COMMAND!  I AM RESPONSIBLE!"

"Good!" said Leanne, with relish and then she stopped transmitting.  Nancy slumped into her chair, dazed.

Leanne reached for her communicator and tapped a few buttons on it.  Then she watched Nancy's face, contorted with a mixture of pain and confusion, with a sense of sadistic pleasure.  "Hu-maans are so easy to manipulate", she said.

After a few minutes a man entered the house and like Leanne he did not require to be let in.

"Ahh, Davis Goode, you have arrived on time." said Leanne to the new arrival.

"Is Nancy Landgraab complicated?" Asked Davis.

"No, she's quite a simple hu-maan.  Driven by a lot of base desires" replied Leanne.

"No, that is not what I meant.  Is she complimentary?  Is that the Earth word?  You know, balugliag?"

"The word you are looking for is 'compliant'.  Yes she is, I have her under control for the next two hours."  Turning to Nancy, Leanne said "This is Davis Goode.  He is a Visitor.  He will look after you while I complete the mission you ordered.  Say 'yes' if you understand me"

"Yessssssssssssssss" gasped Nancy, still looking off into the distance.

"If the son or the father return, keep them under control, Davis Goode" 

"I understand" he replied.

Leanne returned home and changed outfits so that she would look more like a woman of business.

And then it was to Landgraab Corporation headquarters to carry out the final phase of her plan.

Using a combination of her disguise skills, advanced gadgetry and her innate powers over humans she was able to access Darrin Lew's files and trace what he had been looking for on the company computer.

As she had suspected, he had accessed files on the hidden pocket dimensions dotted around the city and also had delved into the history of the Landgraab family:  Especially the parts that related to their contacts with her own kind.  That was troublesome:  If this information were to fall into the hands of Jeremy Saint and Suzy Humphries this could jeopardise the whole mission on Earth.  She cursed her supervisor, Luke Kendall, for being so blind to the threat and weak about the response.  It was time she acted for the good of the mission.  Only one thing confused her.  At a recent point in time, Darrin Lew had used the company computer to produce a birthday card...she was aware of this human custom, but it was odd that Lew had done something so frivolous.

She had learned that Darrin Lew was on a lunchbreak so she went downstairs to the lobby and lay in wait for him.  Patiently she sat there as staff came and went but eventually he arrived.  He let his gaze momentarily linger on her; he didn't recognise the woman sitting there but she was very smart and attractive.

She stood up and walked over to him.  "Mr Darrin Lew?" she said.

"That's correct...you are?" he asked.

"My name is Leanne McGregor.  I wish to speak with you on a matter of urgency"

"Leanne McGregor you say?"  The name seemed familiar to him but he couldn't place where he'd heard it before.

"Yes...if I can just take up a few minutes of your time I will explain my predicament" she pressed.

"Well, what is this about?  Would you like to step into my office and you can tell me more?" he asked, confused as to who this person was and what she wanted.

"You see, it's about security..." she began to say, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Security?  That's not my department..." he replied with a nervous touch to his voice.  Was this another of Nancy's honeytrap company spies, he thought?

"I think you'll find that security is all our concern, Darrin Lew" she said, taking a step closer whilst trying to entice Darrin.  Leanne knew all about manipulating men through sex and desire and she was trying to exude her charms to keep him from leaving her.

"Did...Mrs Landgraab...send you to check up on me?" he asked, haltingly.

"Mrs Landgraab has authorised me to deal with you, Darrin Lew" and once she had locked her gaze on to his she hit him with a thought wave.

"Must...resist!" gasped Darrin.  He tried to look around to see if there was anyone there who could help him but there was no one.  Then he tried running away but found his feet stuck to the ground.  He could feel his mind slipping away and soon he lost all autonomy.

"Follow me, Darrin Lew" she said to the transfixed man.  She walked ahead of him and he dutifully followed, his mind no longer his own:  A virtual automaton completely in her thrall.

She went to a little used and known place in the corporation building, where only the maintenance crew would go.  She used her device to open the lock of the door and the two of them walked in.  Then she locked the door behind her.

"No one will disturb us, Darrin Lew" she said.  As he stood motionless, she surveyed the room.  There were machines, pipes, pumps and power generators which hummed, whirled and chugged along.  Leanne nodded and added "and no one will hear us either".

Darrin started to fight back against the mental paralysis he was under and was able to force his mind and voice to say something.

"What...are...you...doing?  Who...are...you?" he strained to say.

"Who am I, Darrin Lew?  I go by the name Leanne McGregor but my real name is unpronounceable to your kind.  And this is not what I actually look like but I do admit, I have a certain fondness for this form."

"I...need...to...know....who...you...are..." Darrin continued to say although every word he spoke hurt his voice and mind.

"Oh you do, do you?  Well, I suppose it's only 'fair' to let you know who you are dealing with before we continue.  Well, here we go...be prepared for your puny brain to be shocked." she said, mocking him.

Then something both amazing and terrifying happened.  Darrin watched as she appeared to shimmer, her body becoming a blur to his eyes.  He clothes dropped to the floor and for a brief moment he saw her naked human body before it first changed colour, then form into something completely different, something utterly alien.

"Oh no!" Darrin exclaimed, as the realisation of who this 'person' was and what it represented hit him like a brick through a glass window.

"Oh yes!" she replied, laughing.  "I am not human!  Go on, get a good look at me, take it all in."

Darrin's mind suddenly snapped free of her control as it confronted this shocking revelation.  "The Visitors!  It makes sense now!  The Visitors are aliens!"

"This is the part I really like; especially when it's one of the smarter hu-maans who works it out.  Like that artist or that historian...it made the process of absorbing them all the more pleasant."

Darrin was slowly starting to regain control of his body and began to back off.  "Absorb!  What's that?" he gasped.

"Something that is inevitable, Darrin Lew" was her reply.

He continued to back away but he was cornered with no where to escape to and he lacked the full control over his movements which could get him to charge past her and run out into the busy part of the building or even the street.  Instead he movements were leaden and stiff.

"It'll be better for you if you didn't prolong this, Darrin Lew" she said, still teasing him.  She began to move towards him, he body moving sensually as she enjoyed her natural form.  To Darrin it looked like a macabre dance, utterly transfixing and terrifying at the same time.

"Please...don't!" he gasped, pathetically.

"Your time as Darrin Lew has come to and end...time to be absorbed" she replied, reaching a hand out to touch him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Within a few seconds, there was no physical trace of Darrin Lew left.  Leanne was alone in the power room and she kneeled where he had last stood, enjoying the sensation of absorbing someone.  It was something she lived for, like the hit of a hard drug.  She was in no rush to move on and instead would linger in this place as she enjoyed the sensation.

Once the buzz began to fade she stood up and resumed human form before putting her clothes back on.  Then she unlocked the door to the power room and left the building leaving no trace of Darrin Lew left behind.

CHAPTER 237: Look Around You

More depressing news today, thought Action.  The war in Vietnam was becoming a stalemate, all that hard fighting and gains won just a year ago was being squandered now.  And there was a threat of a coup d'etat in Syria.  The world's getting more unstable...or is it that I've only just noticed? He thought, sombrely.

"And later this evening on SBS..." the TV announcer said in an overly merry and positive voice that clashed with the news about war around the world.  "...action and adventure in outer space with the brand new series, Star Tr..."

Action firmly hit the off button on the TV remote control.  "Man, I hate science fiction" he muttered.  Instead he put on the radio and tuned it to his favourite soul station.

"That's more like it!" he said, smiling to himself.

But Action wasn't a man who could sit still for too long.  It was his day off but he was always the cop, always thinking of solving a case and in his mind he had the death of Geoffrey Landgraab, probably at the hands of an assassin, going around and around his brain.  He also had a hunch who that assassin was:  Leanne McGregor.  He could use his time productively by doing some snooping around but first he wanted to feel invigorated and his second favourite way of doing that was working out at the gym.

He was a regular at Movers n' Shakers Gym and well known by all the regulars.  It helped that many of them were his neighbours as well.  Sure enough, after he had changed into his PT gear, he saw Barbara having a work out.

"Hey, Babs" he said, laconically.  "I would have thought running your own business was exercise enough!"

"It is, but I need to keep trim as well.  Remember that time when I put on a lot of weight?" she replied.

"Yeah, but you still looked smokin'"

"Oh you flatterer, Action!  But I never want to be that shape again, thank you.  The cost of replacing all my clothes....sheesh!  Anyway, will you be able to make Summer and Travis' wedding?  Not long to go now..."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"I love weddings.  I loved Suzy's especially." she said wistfully.  Action could detect the subtext.

"It'll be your turn soon enough.  Jeremy's not going to let you slip through his fingers if he has any sense." he said.

"Sigh...I know.  But I'm starting to get a little....impatient, you know?  Not for the wedding itself but waiting for him to get down on one knee..."

"Jeremy's a straight up kind of guy.  If he hasn't proposed yet it's because he doesn't want to steal Travis and Summer's thunder.  Relax.  Once those two have tied the knot it'll be your turn next.  Trust me, Action knows."

"I'm sure you're right.  And what about you?  When will be your turn with Katherine?"

"Me?" said Action, wide eyed.  "Hey, I'm not ready to settle down just yet.  Action is a cool cat."

Barbara smiled, mischievously.  "Sure you are, no one's cooler but you're also not going to let someone like Katherine slip through your fingers either."

"Touché, madam, touché.  Anyway, stay cool, Babs.  I've got an appointment with that treadmill!  Catch you later."

After his workout Action was still restless.  Working within the confines of the SCPD was restrictive:  One moment he was on a murder case, the next it was taken away from him to hand over to the Feds or a specialist Homicide department.  He was gathering an idea of a criminal sub-set working within the city:  Working for the Landgraabs one moment, working for a shadowy cabal who hate the Landgraabs the next.  The attempt on the lives of Alan Cuffe and his assistant, on Geoffrey's, the bankrolling of Malcolm Landgraab's drug dealing...some group was involved in it all.  However, all he had to go on was a name, an out of date description of them and an image in his mind of a red headed man's face.  It was time to start talking to his informants on the street...

"Sorry, Action, I can't help" said one of them, a lady who worked in the hospitality business and who knew a lot of people...law abiding and criminal...but on this occasion the names 'Leanne McGregor' and the description of a red headed man with a goatee beard didn't register with her.

There was another lady, an old retired woman Action had met whilst working on a case that involved lots of local burglaries.  She was a 'curtain-twitcher', a woman with a lot of time on her hands who saw everything in her local neighbourhood.  Getting the old folks to keep their eyes and ears open might be a good strategy, Action thought.

But then he spied a figure off in the distance and a bell went off inside his head.  A red headed man with a goatee beard.

"Excuse me...sir!" Action called out.  The man ignored him and kept walking.  

"Sir!  Stop!  Sim City Police Department!" Action called out again.  The man hesitated and then stopped.

"I'd like to you to help with my enquiries" said Action.  "Could you spare some time now...or down at the station?" that last part was said not as a request but more like a threat.

The red headed man hesitantly turned around and walked slowly towards Action and the old lady.

"What is the matter, Police Detective?" the man said, coldly.

"Hey, I think I know you..." said the old lady.

The red headed man shot her a glare and for a moment Action noticed that she suddenly looked unsteady on her feet.

"No...we have never met" said the old lady, as if in a daze.  "And I love all people who come to visit us".  Action thought that statement came out of absolutely nowhere.

The lady started walking off without saying any kind of farewell.  Action turned to the man, a suspicious look on his face.

"You sure have a way with women" he said.

"What is it that you need me to help you with, Police Detective?" said the red headed man, flatly.

"First, what is your name?" asked Action.

"My name?  You wish to know my name?" the man replied.  Action nodded.

"Well, I suppose it won't cause any harm in telling you...it is Luke Kendall.  Now what is this about?"

"I'm sure we've met before, Mr Kendall"

"If we had then one of us would remember"

Action didn't immediately respond but instead looked Kendall squarely in the eye.  Finally he said "do you know someone called Leanne McGregor?"

"What does she look like?" came Kendall's response.

"Average height, slim, long black hair, dark brown eyes, Mediterranean complexion."

"I do not know anyone who conforms to that description."

"Can you tell me where you were on the 18th August this year?"

"I was working" came Kendall's very prompt response.

"All day?"

"I worked a double shift that day.  Business was intense."

"And what business are you in, Mr Kendall?"

"Catering.  I manage a group of street vending stalls"

"OK, Mr Kendall, I'm going to need some contact details for you...now I'm sure we've met before and I KNOW it'll come back to me at some point."

"It shouldn't..." said Kendall and almost immediately, he realised he had let slip something that a smart detective like Action would pick up on.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Action.

"I am very busy, Police Detective Action...I must go now..."

"Wait...I never said my name"

"I noticed it on your ID badge"

Just as Action thought it would be better to haul Kendall downtown for more questioning he was interrupted by a work colleague:  A rookie cop called Jesse Navarro.  He had been working out at the gym as well.

"Hey, Action!  Glad I caught up with you!  I have some more information about that break in case the Chief assigned you!"

"Not now, Navarro..." Action replied.

"No, this is really important!  I know it's your day off but I know the Chief is anxious to make progress on the case.

Whilst Navarro was gushing all this information to Action, Kendall wandered off.

"Thanks a whole bunch, Navarro!  I was just about to get some low down from that guy and you come bounding in and ruining it!"

"Hey, I wasn't to know and...well, who is he?"

"He could be the man I can't remember..."

"What?  Wait?  That doesn't make sense..." replied a puzzled Navarro.

"Never mind.  I'll fill you in some other time"

That afternoon Action called on all his informants and those who had their ear to the ground in the underworld.  Despite it's often rustic, Southwestern charm, the Rattlesnake Juice Bar in Oasis Springs was a place where ex-cons and grifters hung out.  But when he asked around about Leanne McGregor he drew a blank from his network.

Disappointed, he went to sit at the bar and ordered a scotch and soda.  And then a second one soon after.  This mystery network of McGregor's and her cohorts did not leave a physical trace anywhere and yet he had met her in the flesh...twice...had evidence that she pulled the trigger on Madelyn Buchanan and that her name struck fear with some of his snitches.

Why can't I make any progress?  He thought to himself as he became more sullen.  And I'm sure that guy I met earlier has something to do with it.  I have a vague memory...I'm in a bar in downtown San Myshuno, I'm meeting someone...someone who's involved in the case...he looks like that Kendall guy and then....BLANK!  My memory goes.

But soon another thought enters Action's mind, and it's a voice not of his own.

"We ArE aLl ArOuNd YoU"

Action sat up to attention and looked around the bar.  Who said that?  There were only a handful of other patrons in the bar plus one barkeep and none of them were speaking to him.

"wE aRe AlL aRoUnD yOu...JoHn AcTiOn"

The voice was in his head and it sounded detached, as if someone had intruded into his mind.  He shook his head to try to clear it of this sinister voice.

"CeAsE, jOhN aCtIoN...yOu CaNnOt StOp Us"

Action stood up, briskly strode to a window and looked out.  Something was up, but he wasn't sure what.  A man walked past the bar and looked slowly at the window Action was looking out from.  His expression devoid of any emotion but for one brief moment he felt this man's gaze pierce straight into his soul.

Action looked again and saw another man with the same, expressionless look on his face and he too turned to face Action for a few seconds.

"We ArE eVeRyWhErE, jOhN aCtIoN...aLl ArOuNd YoU...cEaSe, GiVe In, Do NoT gEt In OuR wAy, We ArE eVeRyWhErE, eVeRyWhErE, aLl ArOuNd YoU...cEaSe..." over and over these words repeated themselves in Action's brain until they became deafening.

"Stop!  Stop the voices!  STOP THE VOICES!" Said Action, clutching his temples and shutting his eyes as the pain increased.

"Hey, Buddy, are you OK?" said a calm, soothing voice.

"What?  What's happening?" said Action.  There were two men sitting at the bar next to him.  Action didn't remember going from the window back to his seat.

"You started shaking and calling out in pain.  Do you need an ambulance?" said this voice, which turned out to be that of the man sitting next to him.

"I....was looking out the window..." said Action, pointing to where he'd been standing.

"Erm, you've been sat here the whole time.  Are you sure I can't call for an ambulance, or someone else who could help you?"

Action looked startled and his eyes darted all around the room.  What was going on?  He nodded and said to the man "call me a cab" and he swiftly downed the rest of his drink.