Third Eye Vision

Starbucks was packed. Fred hated standing in lines. His whole body and mind phrenetic. He hated typical social interactions. It was all shallow talk.

Hello. How are you?

Good; and yourself?

Fine.

Boom. That was where more conversations ended than not. Unless a stranger was brave enough to talk about weather, their work, or how long a wait this fucking line was. He didn't have time for shallow, watered down conversations. It was the end of days and if he wasn't being approached by superheroes or supervillains, he didn't want to speak with you (at least at the moment). So that was why he nearly excoriated the person that had just tugged on his arm. That was until he turned around to see who it was.

Standing before Fred was a young Asian kid in dark rimmed spectacles. He was most likely an older teenager judging by his expensive and trendy clothes. He had white, plastic coated wires streaming up from his waist to the earbuds in his ears. His hair was spiked off to the right, like those anime characters in comics. He was holding an Apple computer to his chest with both hands. The kid had a finger on either side wedged between the keyboard and screen. Fred immediately knew he was keeping the computer from hibernating. Somehow, this was Fred's cue to soften his scowl and bite his sharp tongue. "Yes?" Fred spoke.

"Hello Mr. Mudi" the boys voice clearly American english. "I followed you here from the congregation after you spoke. I have many questions regarding the pamphlets you distributed. May I offer to buy your coffee?"

Fred dropped his head, rolled his eyes, sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose simultaneously. Looking back to the little-trendster he said "Not here and thanks kid but I got it. We should chat outside." A space opened in the line and Fred shuffled forward.

"Oh I insist Mr. Mudi. According to my file on you, you make far less money yearly than I make quarterly. So this one is on me. Besides, I already ordered my straight black with your hot mocha on my app." The boy raised his eyebrows and pointed behind Fred.

Fred turned to see the employee placing the last lid on one of the two coffees before her. "Fred and Aiguo, your coffee is ready!" she shouted amongst the thrall. Fred raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Aiguo" moved past the snaking line to collect the drinks. Turning with a wide smile, Aiguo walked passed Fred nodding towards the exit. With a slight "Hhmmmph" Fred trailed behind him.

It felt good to be outside. Not only was the crowd gone but the sun was actually shining for once! Fred lit a cigarette, totally disregarding the no smoking sign and the other patrons; present company included. Boy-trendy took to a table in the sun. He placed the coffees on the hexagonal table and extended his hand, "I'm..."

"Aiguo" Fred cut off as he firmly gripped the boys hand, shaking it. "I heard it inside" Fred sat with a plop and blew smoke out at the kid. "Let's cut through the shit shall we? Who are you really? And what do you want?"

Not even phased, Aiguo responded "Well you see Mr. Mudi..."

"Fred" he corrected.

Aiguo sat a little straighter, "Well you see Fred, I'm Aiguo Sīkōng and I represent a multinational conglomerate of syndicated libraries. Due to the nature of our pursuits and interests, I cannot give you my companies real name. But you can call us "The Sīmǎ Collective." Aiguo pulled a card from underneath his scarf, inside his gray cardigan vest. He extended the card to Fred.

Taking the card, Fred read it over. At first he didn't care so much for reading the text on the card. He was more interested in what the logo was. It was a coiling Chinese dragon printed in red. He glared at it for a moment, his eyes narrowing. He was looking through the image, into the negative space. It only took a few seconds then "POP" the logo "transformed" into the head of a horned demon. Fred leaned over fetching his wallet. He tried to speak as he filed the card into his billfold but Aiguo slipped in. "In your presentation today... or should I call it a sermon?" He waited for Fred to react which was null and void. "Anyhow, you gave an aphoristic overview of western religious ideology. You produced some images while speaking but they are not included in the pamphlets which you gave out. I'm here about those images and to get your take on the Asian philosophical belief systems."

Fred seemed amused as he spoke. "Those images are not to be released. The world isn't ready yet."

Aiguo responded. "What if I told you that we would be willing to purchase them?"

Fred frowned, "How old are you anyways? Sixteen?" he took a sip from his mocha.

At that Aiguo smiled. "Actually fifteen. I'll be sixteen next month."

Shaking his head, Fred spoke again. "Those images are not for sale."

"We will give you ten thousand dollars for the lot." Aiguo said.

"NOT FOR SALE!" Fred scowled.

Aiguo bartered down. "Ok. How about just one then? The one of Nor-Cal. I'll get you five grand for it."

"Are you kidding? That's worth a few million at least!" Fred blurted. "Why do you want it so bad anyhow?"

"You know why Mr. Mudi... I mean Fred. That image is explosive and will change the face of the earth. So to speak. May I see it?"

Fred knew the kid was right. He replied "Only if you put that phone and computer away".

If it were even possible, Aiguo sat up even straighter feigning surprise. "Why?"

Eyebrows collapsing into a black hole, Fred spoke. "You know why." In such a tone that the trendy-hipster complied without hesitation nor dissent. When the boy had placed the laptop and phone neatly on the ground, Fred reached into his leather jacket and produced a manilla envelope. He rifled through before pulling out a single piece of paper. He turned the paper around and slid it across the table top, fingers never leaving the edge. He let the boy look for approximately five seconds before snatching the paper back. He put it back into the envelope and then back into his jacket. Standing, he extended his hand. Aiguo looked confused but took his hand despite. Firmly shaking, Fred said, "I have your card and you obviously have mine. If your company is truly interested in these images, tell them that check better fatten up. Nice to meet you Mr. Sīkōng." Fred took a sip on his coffee and strode away. He never looked back.

Aiguo quickly grabbed his phone and pc. He pulled some black cable from his pocket. Opening the Mac, he typed some commands taking a victory sip of his coffee. He plugged the cable into the Mac. He then took his thick framed glasses off and plugged the cable into the glasses themselves. Aiguo sipped some more coffee, typed a few more commands and then unplugged his glasses. He put them away in his pocket. He sipped a bit more coffee. He then plugged his phone into the cable and began texting with a grin.



About ten minutes down the road and Fred got a text.

"Thank you for your time Mr. Mudi - Aiguo"