"Claudia?"
"Adam? Adam, are you okay?"
"I...uh...uh..." Softness, he thought. That's the first sensation he registered upon coming to after being knocked out. He rested on something soft. "I'm fine, Claudia. Just give me..."
"I know. A moment." He felt warm. He was not bound. And...
"I don't think I've got any of that drug left in me, Claudia. I don't feel groggy at all."
"I'm looking at your blood. I don't see anything there."
"Cool."
Adam opened his eyes. He found himself in a small, yet tidy and warm motel-like room. He rested on a soft, single bed. He saw a room leading to a bathroom and shower. At the bottom of the bed, he saw slippers and a fresh change of clothes. He'd be shocked if they weren't exactly his size.
First, though, a shower.
He let the hot water cascade all over him before he asked, "Okay, where am I?"
"You're on top of Pete's Peak. You're in Goldbody's lair."
"That's what I thought."
"Goldbody's there, too."
"I figured that as well. He wants to taunt me a little before he cuts me to pieces. That's why I'm still alive and relatively unharmed."
"Thank the Fates psychotics are such narcissists."
"Anything I need to know before I bust out of here? How'd that visit with Valtair go?"
"No surprises. He's sleeping now."
"And how are you doing? Did he inflict..."
"No, I'm fine. He never touched me. Now for the bad news. Goldbody just killed a million people in San Diego. Some super-sized cannon rose up out of the Pacific and let the city have it."
"Cute. I wonder how many more of those he's got."
"He says four, but..."
"What's his demand this time?"
"The entire planet."
"Of course. To ask for anything else would be unlike him." Adam turned the shower off. "Anything else?"
"Not on this side. Along with helping Valtair take a nap, we also took out a good chunk of...A situation's developing, Adam."
"Let me know if there's any real trouble."
"You know I will."
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