Dr. Archer | The Invisible Man (sneakingaround) wrote in bellumlogs, @ 2010-05-12 14:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | invisible man |
Who: Archer
What: Embracing his gift
Where: The fire escape
When: Around 4:00 this afternoon
Warnings: Creepiness, invisible nudity
Try as he might, he couldn't recall exactly how the workings of the universe had brought him to this very spot. The wind whipped from the ground up and the sky down, both directions at once and none at all. He could feel the blast chilling his skin, numbing his toes even more than the harsh metal of the fire escape did. The ridges and slats pressed indentations into his feet as he walked, tickling his nerves with tiny pains that he could ignore if he just didn't focus on them. As a harsh gust rattled the ladder beside him, he turned to it, closing both palms around one of the rungs and hoisting himself up.
As he approached the landing on the fifth floor, he leaned closer to the building, peering through one of the windows. It was dark, sparsely furnished and empty. Not suitable. He wouldn't be able to make much selling the objects inside, and if they were a reflection of the resident's wealth, then he shouldn't even bother. Really, he should be climbing higher. Tenth floor or up, at least. But he had to remember how he was going to move the goods. Would he carry them by hand? Perhaps he could devise a system of pulleys from the fire escape, but that would be seen. If only he could make other things invisible!
Now that he was thinking on it, how did he become invisible now, outside of Griffin's influence? As he began to climb towards the sixth floor, he considered this.
His day had been otherwise unremarkable. He had woken up early, like always, and gotten to work. That damned Benjamin's samples were sitting on the table, taunting him with their secrets. If Archer were more prone to personal vendettas, he might have ignored the samples entirely just to spite the man. But science was far more important than a personal grudge. Progress outshone his own problems. And so he began his work on Benjamin's buccal swabs and the lion's hairs simultaneously.
The time flew by, as usual. And as usual, he only stopped because his hands had started shaking so much that he couldn't even hold a pipet. Damn human body. He set the test tube down and flopped into the nearest chair, knowing that he needed to go to the kitchen but not wanting to. He knew that he had to eat, but he couldn't bring himself to. He didn't want to be sustained. He wanted to stay empty. When you were full, you were content. When you were content, you stopped thirsting, and he wanted to thirst forever. He wanted to always feel empty and naked and hollow, because that was what kept him going.
The more he thought about this, he began to realize that something strange was dancing on his skin. He looked down, and for a moment, he didn't believe it. His hands were disappearing. Gasping, he bolted to his feet, stumbling into the bathroom and grabbing both edges of the sink to stare into his own face. Which was gone. His face was gone.
His breath began to hitch in his chest as he looked down at his hands, feeling their trembles but seeing nothing. As he stripped from his clothing, he remembered Griffin's voice as he sat on the sixth floor landing. "Don't forget the gift I've given you!" he had shrieked, clattering bells and painful screeches inside his skull. Pressing a hand against the side of his head - his hair was still there, and he found that strange - Archer looked down at the nothing that was his body.
The opportunity was still there.
As he reached the tenth floor landing of the fire escape, Archer paused. The progression from visible to invisible seemed so logical now. It was, as Griffin had said, an opportunity. He could still use this. Pressing one palm against the side of the building, he peered into a tenth floor apartment. It was much nicer than the one on the fifth floor. Plush. Soft. He smiled despite himself, running a finger lightly over the slick window. He liked the upper floors. He would have to be spending a lot more time here.