“Don’t think about it. Just do it.”
I closed my eyes and felt the steel that was still warm from his touch. Then something crazy happened. Once I had the weapon in my hand, I knew exactly what to do. I rotated the disassembly lever, released the slide lock, pointed the weapon in a safe direction, and pulled the trigger.
CLICK.
That allowed me to remove the slide. Then I removed the guide rod and recoil spring, followed by the barrel.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now put it back together.”
An instant after he spoke, I had the barrel and guide rod back in place. It clicked into position, then I slid the slide onto the rails. I locked the slide to the rear, then rotated the disassembly lever back into position. I yanked the slide back, releasing the lock, and it slid back into position. Then I function checked the weapon, pointed it in a safe direction, and pulled the trigger.
CLICK.
Tyson took the weapon from me, and I opened my eyes. In that moment, I knew there were dark secrets hidden in the deep recesses of my brain. Whatever illusions I had upon waking about starting fresh, building a new, normal life were gone. I wasn’t even half a day old in my new brain, but I was forever changed.
In a stunned voice, I said, “I don’t work in IT, do I?”
“No. You don’t.”
“Want to tell me what I do?”
“I’m not sure where to start.”
“That sounds intense. How long has it been since we’ve seen each other?”
"It's been a minute or two,” Tyson said. "Six years, maybe. Seven. Maybe eight."
"That's a long time. And you came right away."
"I'd like to think you'd have done the same for me. You do what you can for your friends."
"So, we’re friends?"
“We were.”
"Something tells me we were more than friends at one point in time."
"We had our fun."
"Did we work together?"
He hesitated. “Let me see your cell phone.”
I handed it to him. He powered it down, then handed it back.
“What’s that about?” I asked.
“When I met you, we were working an operation that didn't technically exist."
“An operation?"
"At the time, you were in the Company. I worked for a private contractor."
“What company?”
“THE Company.”
I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.
