Russell became aware of his surroundings; he was sitting in his office chair and was apparently alone, but within seconds Michael suddenly emerged from around the side of his desk to place several of its legs over his. Russell involuntarily jerked.
‘Cup of tea?’
Russell nodded weakly and the spider dashed off only to instantly return with a steaming mug. ‘Careful, it’s hot.’
‘Thanks,’ said Russell, taking the mug and placing it carefully on his desk. Michael scrutinized him from a distance of inches; clearly this oversized arachnid didn’t care much about personal space.
‘How are you feeling? Bit shaky?’ Michael asked.
‘Hmm,’ offered Russell, reaching out for his tea. He sipped it and gave an appreciative nod to the spider. He placed the mug back on his desk. ‘What just happened, Michael?’ But he didn’t need to ask. For once everything was crystal clear. He had been made aware of the facts, almost all facts.
‘You were shown The Truth, Russell. Drug effects, delirium, perception filters, mind control, madness, you name it – they all reside to the right of your sense of reality, only The Truth lies to the left… Not literally, of course.’
Russell knew exactly what Michael meant but now that his awareness had degraded back to “reality” a lot of the detail was becoming hard to grasp. However, the main theme remained shockingly vivid. He glanced out of the office window towards the dance hall. The woman and the cat were both standing at his stage, but their attention had shifted to his sound equipment. The cat in particular appeared to be fascinated by it.
‘I can’t believe it.’
‘Yes you can.’
‘I mean… those two, ...and you! I can’t believe…’
‘You can’t believe that we’re here in your studio?’ The spider chuckled. ‘Yes, I suppose that must seem odd… why you, huh?’
‘Exactly!’ agreed Russell, drinking more of his tea.
‘But you know that we are here.’
Russell glanced over again at the two individuals on his stage. The woman seemed to be explaining something about his equipment to the cat, who was still engrossed by it. She shot a glance back at Russell and he quickly averted his gaze.
‘Now, Russell,’ began the spider in a serious tone, ‘the aliens known as the Sponsors–’
‘I told you, I don’t know anything about them, it was some other guy who claimed to have had communications with them – during an ayahuasca trip.’
‘Yes, we know, but you brought this information to our attention. You are the catalyst. You may even be able to boast one day of having saved the planet! What do you think of that!?’
‘That I wish some other chump had been the catalyst.’ Russell felt close to tears.
‘Oh, Russell!’ the spider admonished, ‘you need to man-up!’
‘Why do I need to man-up!?’ wailed Russell, ‘I mean, why have you come to see me anyway?’ As Russell said this it occurred to him for the first time that he did not know why these three individuals were interested in the Sponsors.
‘It has been decided!’ replied the spider firmly, closing down any further discussion on the matter. Russell gulped down the remainder of his tea and felt better. The trauma of The Truth was fading fast, but there was still the question of why these things were here – in London.
‘So this is a fact-finding mission, is that it?’ asked Russell, ‘a chance to get some intel on the aliens?’
The spider considered this for a moment. ‘Knowledge and understanding is always important but we have more immediate goals concerning the Sponsors.’
‘And what are those?’
‘We’re going to obliterate them, Russell. Here, grab these keys, your first job is to be our driver.’