Every task requires segueing into a dozen far-flung steps, and by the time most of them complete it, the original task loses itself in the mix. The machinery behind everything corrupts. No one sees the machinery itself; only the outcome of it. But the corruption causes the inner machinery to reveal itself to the outside and slowly expands its idiotic and senseless reach.
Inside unimaginable and obscure material, objects, geometric forms– half-alive, half-automated bots, and semi-intelligent beings with specific functions– acquire new abilities, discard old abilities, and turn violent and destructive. New organisms and life forms take shape behind the walls, inside the bowels of the city of life once organic, now infected with viral machinery.
The party still goes on, but there are people who pretend to party, there to buy themselves time. The party house becomes a home full of endlessly rotating people coming in from the street to find a bed, take a shower, have altercations, meet someone, and get their mind off some problem.
We visit the cult in the industrial town. Strange traffic behavior greets the entourage there.
No one knows which way to go.
A truck almost runs us over on a country road.
We visit a liberal cult compound. The bathrooms seem strange with a hidden filth. They reuse towels, have limited water, no lights; groups of women appear randomly. They practice odd dining rules we don’t understand. I get a plate of ground beef and sit with young cultists who smile and chat. Then, as if judgment approaches, a roar grows and grows as if about to destroy the warehouse- cafeteria; then the train barrels past on the tracks.
He melds into her to become one spirit. He takes his old friend out to the deep, dark waters, where he will suffer when he drowns him, to help let go and return to a once peaceful state out on the black waters in the cave. The divine wisdom of two souls melds and speak in one voice. He notices the wrist of the Chinese woman as her blood flows.
The crystal meth couple appears downtown at night in a deserted place among skyscrapers and below a race track, or maybe just an ambiguous place that could be a parking lot with stations for collecting tickets, or a construction site full of dirt and half-built roads.
The meth man wants to take our gas-powered buggy for a ride; he puts a cup of ice in the exhaust; the buggy takes off on its own, becoming self-aware, driving down the hill to the site, the couple running off. The only reason for this is how nice and permissive my cousin is. He let’s them do it, not wanting to interfere in any way.
Then I run down below, asking around. For a bit, I watch it drive around madly, now with the cops in tow. For the first time, I notice a school overlooking the scene with students living in tents in caves.
The buggy disappears into the wilderness, and I prepare to hunt for it deep in the mountains, over the bridge to the dirt road. The students arrive for the new semester, get ready, and settle in.
I stalk some friends at their manor in the rain. I go in and find a party. One gets me to take a hit off his vape. Everyone is rich, but I’m not. I make a joke about poverty and mental illness to find the posers.
Vicky is there, and I ask her if she ever noticed how paranoid Dan used to be? She tells me about it, but then she finds out there’s an event she must go to, some place selling fireworks among other things. Later she leaves with her friends. I run to catch up and leave the house in a rainstorm, hoping to thumb a ride with them. Dan is their sub, but I miss them. I walk to town, and the rain subsides. I wear a mask and heavy boots. I walk beside a Japanese couple, the woman to my left as we walk by stores. I speak to them.
I go to a restaurant and wait in line until I reach the host. I accidentally drop the menu on the ground, taking too much time. I order a filet mignon medium rare. Then, I walk around, waiting for my to-go order. I walk to some tables and want to sit, but it’s a long way from the host. So, I go to him to let him know I’ll be at table 13. On the way, I see two white leather chairs with footrests for waiting. This is after I try to sit at the bar and order a wine. I sit down and see the footrest is for two people at once, with a person standing there looking at me expectantly.
I jump from a high height that would kill most, but my technique keeps me alive. I return to Singapore and find Wendy Lim. I am dating her. I say I want to go to the roof of the Far East Plaza like in the good old days. This seems to bug her, but she plays along. All the old entrances construct self seals. Wendy ditches me. I get on a bus to heaven, and I don’t know where in Singapore it’s going, but I take it anyway, eventually getting out inside a small place where I try on clothes, a brown and white striped fuzzy polo shirt.