text: This story contains adult language and physical violence. With the audacity that could only be exhibited by someone working as a lab technician as long as he had, Jack picked up his first cerebral spinal fluid sample of the day with an ungloved hand. He had picked up more than a dozen bad habits through many years of working the same job. Today, he was trying a new technique which involved using one glove to pipette, and the other bare hand to hold the test tube. “Shit,” he mumbled. Not even ten minutes into his work, he managed to miss the tube he was pipetting into and dispensed cerebral spinal fluid onto his exposed skin. Immediately something felt wrong. Jack heard someone mutter something behind him. “What was that?” Jack asked. “No one said anything,” responded Mary. If I hear one more stupid remark from him, he’s fired. Practically hyperventilating, Jack spun around in his chair to look at Mary. She was facing the computer screen typing away diligently and his other three co-workers looked none the wiser as they worked at their benches. Ugh, I feel nauseous. Jaimie shifted in her chair and gripped the bench in front of her. Jack sat there for a few moments in disbelief as he desperately tried to think of a way to confirm his sanity, “Maybe you could ask to leave early Jaimie.” “What? We are understaffed as it is, why are you saying that?” Jaimie responded defensively. Can Jack hear my thoughts? Why is he acting so much weirder than normal? I think I forgot to pay Mary for the coffee she got me last week. Jack was assaulted by a plethora of what seemed to be his coworker’s anxious thoughts. Well that certainly wasn’t helpful; he thought as he abruptly stood up and ran to the sink to vigorously wash his hands. “I have got to get out of here,” he said to no one in particular. His heart was racing and his whole body was on fire. He really messed up this time, how stupid was it to not wear gloves, there are rules for a reason! It would’ve only taken three more seconds to put another one on. Dear God, I think I’m dying. He ran out the door and straight for the bathroom stall. He sat in silence, trying to count his breaths. It’s Friday, I only have to get through one more day. One.... two... I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. He noticed the lights flicker about him. One... two.... three... The sink started to drip. Are the pipes leaking? One... two... three... four... I hope no one is wondering where I am. What if someone tries to come find me? He heard the women’s bathroom door open and close. Listened, as someone walked down the hall. One... two... three... four... five... six... should I go to the doctor? Jesus christ, if I could just get to ten! One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... Nine... Ten... Not soon enough, his breathing steadied enough to return to work. No one noticed as he hesitantly stepped back into the room. So far so good. He thought; his eyes darted nervously from person to person. He walked back to his bench and shakily sat back down in his creaky seat. Following every rule in the book to the letter, he worked hyper vigilantly for the rest of the day. He even followed the speed limit on his way home. Feeling exhausted and stressed over his mistakes from yesterday, he got ready much slower than usual. He lazily dressed in blue jeans from the day before, a mostly unstained polo, and his fanciest pair of Vans. He tried to muster up some excitement though, because today was his sister’s birthday and he was heading over to his parent’s house for a family dinner. He loved his sister even though he didn’t know her as one, not really. His parents were not the type to have an empty nest so they decided to adopt her after he had moved out. She was entering her first year as a teenager today and was already acting more responsible than he ever was. She made fancy invitations to send out, organized a dinner menu, helped their mother with the shopping and her father with the cooking. She loved planning more than party itself, it was inspiring... well almost. With a deep breath, he grabbed his keys, turned his dingy door knob and walked to his gray Honda Civic parked on the street. Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at his parent’s house with the fanciest planner he could find for Juniper’s birthday. Letting himself in, he shouted, “Mom, Dad, I’m here!” “We’re in the kitchen!” his mother responded. Jack walked into the brightly lit, pale green room where Juniper and his parents were in various stages of cooking, cleaning, and chatting. He felt the mood of the room immediately shift into a dull, listless aura as he walked in. Wow this all this cleaning has really worn me out, I must be getting old. He heard his mother think. What. Is. Happening. Thought Jack, as he started to panic once again. Never in his life has he experienced anything like this. The cerebral spinal fluid must have done something to him. Maybe it was an illness? What if no one likes the menu I picked out? He heard from Juniper. Oh my god. Am I... influencing people’s emotions with my own? Thought Jack. “You know you could at least put the gift on the table, Jack” scolded his mother. He had not realized it, but he had dropped Juniper’s gift on the floor and he was just standing there, staring at nothing. “Oh, yea I know that. Sorry, I was just thinking about something that happened at work,” Jack grumbled apologetically. “Alright, well you should try leaving work at work. It is much better for your mental health,” his father added. Jack picked up Juniper’s gift and nearly missed the table he was trying to set it on. He was attempting to will his emotions in a different state to test his new theory. To call it a long shot would be an understatement, but he couldn’t do nothing, it was against his scientific nature. Jack thought of the day he finally got his first lab job. Despite how jaded he’d become over the years, he was very proud to have gotten a job in a field that he actually went to school for. He thought of how excited he was to tell his parents and about the easiest--and admittedly the last --resignation letter he had ever written. The look on his bosses face at the grocery store was priceless. Jack is going to love the main course, I cannot wait for him to try my twist on Chicken Alfredo! He heard his sister think. Meanwhile, his father was putting on disco music and his mother started to dance and sing along. “I haven’t heard this song in years!” exclaimed his mom. He watched his parents dance through the kitchen, laughing and spinning as Juniper put the finishing touches on dinner. Huh. I think this is actually real! The possibilities of this are endless! I can make people feel happy being around me! No more resentful coworkers! No more disappointing my parents! No more being single! Jack thought, elated as he got lost in his thoughts about big plans to go to a bar after dinner. He was noticing something else though; he could no longer hear anyone else’s thoughts. He started to question if he needed to re-supply. The idea of exposing himself to more biological contaminates was terrifying but this could solve all of his problems... Jack was hardly involved in the conversations for the rest of the evening. He couldn’t hear any thoughts from anyone and everyone seemed to exhibiting their own emotions. He almost forgot to thank Juniper for remembering his favorite dish and trying to make it better for him, despite it being her birthday. The twist on the Chicken Alfredo was just adding lemon and capers, but it was still delicious. After Juniper opened her gift--which she loved--he said his goodbyes and quickly ducked out to his car. He sat in the dark and in silence with his hands solidified to the steering wheel, for several minutes. He couldn’t really be considering breaking into the lab could he? He can’t steal patient samples... what if someone has some other infectious disease not listed in their file? What if someone catches him? It is a 24-hour facility but he had never worked the night shift let alone overtime, people would have questions! I can’t let this go un-explored; I am a scientist after all. We could just consider this... a little experiment. He started to talk himself down again, this is so unethical and against everything I was trained for. Although in the recesses of Jack’s mind, he knew he planned on breaking into the lab because he was never very good at following the rules, especially when it came to things that made his life even a little bit easier. “Ah what the hell,” Jack said as he started his car and turned left towards the lab. He got in no problem, the security guard even waved at him. He knew they kept frozen samples in a storage freezer that was hardly used, but the hard part was going to be if he saw anyone he knew. He could maybe pass as a new person to the night shift crew, but his coworker Jaimie was known to take on extra hours for the extra money. Jack feigned nonchalance as he made his way past the sterile white walls and lab equipment on sturdy black benches. Without donning a lab coat, he slipped into the bitterly cold back room full of freezers that stored old patient samples. No sign of Jaimie yet, maybe I’ll get lucky. As quick as he could, he opened the freezer door and grabbed a handful of cerebral spinal fluid samples and popped them into his pockets. He slammed the vault-like freezer door shut and frantically stumbled out of the room, to his dismay, right into Jaimie. “I don’t remember you being on the schedule,” she said condescendingly, in a grating tone. “Uh, yea, no I am not.” “Soooo, what are you doing here then?” she snapped. “Well, you know, you actually aren’t the boss of me and I don’t feel the need to respond to you,” Jack said as he started to walk away from her. Arms crossed, Jaimie continued to follow him down the hall way too closely. “I may not be your boss, but I will tell Mary if you don’t tell me what’s going on. You have been acting very erratically and its creating a hostile work environment that I do not appreciate...” “Fine! I just forgot to archive something yesterday and I wanted to take care of it before anyone noticed,” and added to what he thought was already a very clever explanation, he feigned remorse, “I’m tired of everyone cleaning up after me, and I want to start pulling my own weight around the lab. I am turning a new leaf, you could say.” Jaimie did not look convinced in the least, but you could see the mental debate she was having with herself in her eyes and body language. This was a problem she did not have the energy for right now. “While I don’t believe your explanation, I don’t have time for this. I hope you have a mediocre rest of your weekend,” with pursed lips, Jaimie uneventfully turned around and left Jack at the edge of the entryway doors. In disbelief, Jack stopped midstride and stared at the glass paneled double doors in front of him. The security guard looked at him and asked if he was alright. Snapping back to reality Jack responded, “Never better actually!” He promptly turned and sauntered out the door and back to his car. Sitting outside of Gough-Nuts, a bustling bar near his work, he rolled the nearly thawed tube of cerebral spinal fluid between his fingers. The more I question this, the more doubt I will have. I already took the fluid I might as well just... go for it! Jack popped off the cap and stared down the tube at the clear non assuming liquid. He held in a deep breath and poured some of the fluid into his cupped palm. He held it there for three beats. Well... it’s too late now. Jack proceeded to rub the infectious material into his hands and up his bare forearms. He held is arms out in disgust while it dried out like water. Immediately, he started to hear little pieces of thoughts from those walking past his car and into the red-lit halls of the bar. I hope Sheryl doesn’t find out I’m here... I cannot wait to be catatonic... Does this place check IDs? Holy shit it actually worked! Jack thought, as he tried to transform his emotional state to one of joy. It wasn’t hard because he was already thrilled over his new superpower. He got out of his car and practically ran inside up to the sticky wooden bar, pushing his way past the row of people who were already there. “I will have one of whatever your hoppiest IPA is!” Jack shouted to the bar tender who glared at him in turn. Jack scanned the crowd for a potential victim while he waited. There was an older blonde lady desperately trying to look younger than she was with filler and makeup who seemed obtainable, although he wanted to go as far as he could with this. He saw another gorgeous woman laughing with bright white teeth and flipping her shiny mahogany hair that practically glowed in the dim red light. Perfect. With a confidence outmatched by everyone else in the bar, he walked right up to her, beer forgotten. “Hello, gorgeous what’s your name?” Jack smiled. She looked him up and down and giggled, “Names are for second dates.” “Is that a promise?” “Only if you buy me a drink first,” but in her head he heard, I wonder how long it will take for Kev to notice this guy. Unfortunately, Jack’s self preservation was very low and he did not care how long it would take Kev to notice, nor who Kev even was. He started to move his hand to touch her hair, to twirl it between his fingers. He felt the softness of it for just a moment before he felt sudden, throbbing pain radiating through his head. Her hair slipped right out of his grasp along with any joy and excitement he had. Jack felt fear and he felt anger, how dare this stranger hit him. “Who do you think you are?!” said a heavily tattooed gruff looking man who was probably Kev. “Who do you think you are!?” responded Jack very unhelpfully, pushing Kev into someone else. “Hey!” yelled the disgruntled stranger. Faster than Jack thought was possible; a giant mass of a man was pushing them out of the bar with the ever so faithful mahogany goddess following closely behind with thoughts of worry and feelings of fear. It was unclear if her thoughts were a mirror of his own, or she was actually worried for them. Jack delusionally took her fear as concern for him and started to console her, “Don’t worry baby, I can take you to a way nicer place than this.” Kev pushed him hard onto the dark and cold asphalt, his elbows slamming into its gritty surface. Jack’s anger and pain increased, inflating the anger and pain in Kev as well. “If you even look at her one more time, you’re gone man,” Kev spat in a dark and deadly tone. “I can look at anyone I like! There is not a single thing you can do about it; she probably doesn’t even like you.” There were alarming thoughts coming from Kev now, a lot more anger than Jack thought any one man could hold. Finally sensing the danger he was in, Jack started to scramble back on his palms and feet, like a frightened crab. Except, Jack was slow and his head was fuzzy unlike Kev who was very fast, and unbeknownst to Jack, a close friend of violence. Quicker than Jack could process, Kev was on top of him. Punching and punching and punching. There was screaming too, but not from Jack. He didn’t have the lungs for it; all of the air had quickly been knocked out of him. Jack felt his consciousness and anger drain from his body as it also drained from Kev’s much too late for it to mean anything. Ten long seconds later, Kev was panting over Jack’s bloodied lifeless body. It turns out the mahogany goddess’ fear was her own, and it was for Jack. There was no one else who knew Kev’s anger more deeply than she did.