I've commissioned an artist for the Book 1 covers. (It's titled "The Spaceship in the Stone" if you didn't know.)
The first suit image was the original idea for the suit, but I didn't really like the shape of the helmet; it was too alien, and the nose covering reminded me of a bird's beak.<...
2021-06-27 10:16:37 +0000 UTC View PostFlying in a private plane that costs more money than I will probably ever see in my life—the only way to travel. Seriously, this thing was able to make the trip from New York City to Japan in one go; without any need to refuel, and had enough left in the tanks to travel a few thousand miles mor...
2021-06-20 11:01:50 +0000 UTC View Post"Sir, there is a bicycle courier in front of the building. He has brought a package for you.”
One of the security agents told me, and I went outside to sign for the parcel. It never reached my hands; two security technicians took it from a confused courier, who then had the pleasure of an...
2021-06-16 10:22:36 +0000 UTC View Post“No signs of forced entry,” Marcus said as he went around Nina’s room, sniffing the air. If the situation wasn’t so serious, I would have probably made some lame joke about it.
I called him immediately after trying Nina’s phone; that led me nowhere as the call went directly to her...
2021-06-13 10:46:15 +0000 UTC View PostBeing hungry is not a pleasant condition; even more so for me than it is for regular humans. This body of mine requires plenty of fuel to operate at its optimal efficiency, and that’s why my office has multiple stashes of high-calorie snacks to keep me topped up.
Besides, the gag...
2021-06-09 10:39:56 +0000 UTC View PostNothing exciting happened in the next few weeks. I’ve had only two cases since my meeting with the ‘Were-Council’, and they were of a lightweight variety. Not to mention that one vampire guy came in and wanted to hire me to find his lost pet dog… and I did, to Marcus’s infinite amusemen...
2021-06-06 10:46:07 +0000 UTC View PostI managed my two hours of sleep, and after another scalding hot shower went downstairs. It was a Sunday, so Nina was sleeping in. Given her werecat nature, not an unusual thing. Seriously, living for some time in the same house with someone exposes you to their various eccentricities. For example...
2021-06-02 10:24:49 +0000 UTC View PostThis navigational gadget glued to my dashboard was quickly growing on me, despite its annoying idiosyncrasies. I don’t think it was a top-of-the-line model; at least once a week it glitched and slipped into its default Chinese mode and had to be reset. Still, how did people go anywhere before i...
2021-05-30 11:09:36 +0000 UTC View PostA few uneventful weeks later, I was browsing some occult sites on the Internet. It is fair to say that I was blown away when Nina showed me that there was an entire supernatural part of the Darknet. A cloak-and-dagger area of the web that I had used previously, before my long sleep, when...
2021-05-26 11:06:40 +0000 UTC View PostThe morning came soon enough, and with it—the infernal screeching from below.
I quickly put on some clothes and hurried downstairs to save Nina; it sounded as if she was being verbally attacked by some crazed banshee.
The sight before me was a little confusing; there was this middle...
2021-05-23 11:37:59 +0000 UTC View PostFifteen thousand bucks was a nice figure for my first job, but it will take a hell of a lot more to pay Marcus back, no matter that he and Esmeralda said I didn’t owe them anything.
He called me shortly after I came back, to make sure I did not lose my temper and made a few wolf ...
2021-05-19 10:05:56 +0000 UTC View PostHere I was, owning a house for the first time in my life, and with a moral and financial debt to Marcus and Esmeralda. I don't know how, but I will find a way to set the records straight. Not that I was considering refusing the gift, that would be insulting to both of them, but where there’...
2021-05-16 10:46:15 +0000 UTC View PostI got up from the bed and had a long scalding shower, trying to wash off this persevering feeling of filth that was embedded under my skin. It is disturbing when you can't remember the last time you brushed your teeth; the thick layer of biofilm coating them was a disgusting sensation underneath ...
2021-05-12 10:30:30 +0000 UTC View PostAs I said, that was the time of my downward spiral to the bottom of existence. OK, maybe not technically a spiral, more of a terminal velocity dive without a parachute. In any case, there is a very predictable outcome that one can inevitably experience when he finally makes contact with ...
2021-05-09 06:53:40 +0000 UTC View PostAs he promised, Marcus made an appointment for me with the doctor that treated supernaturals. He came into my room early in the morning, and I had just gone to bed a few hours before. What? I don’t need to sleep much and do you have any idea how addicting some sites are on this new and improved...
2021-05-05 06:40:07 +0000 UTC View PostOne of the things I need to get used to is being fully awake to welcome every sunrise. Not be able to sleep for more than a few hours really messes up with my perception of time; it is not natural. But then again, what is natural about me anymore?
The morning came extraordinarily s...
2021-05-02 10:23:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe ordered wake-up call made me want to smash that infernal device into a million pieces. I refrained since I needed to empty my bladder of an impressive amount of filtered alcohol—as quickly as possible.
Any doubt I had about the vampire’s ability to get drunk was cleared up ...
2021-04-28 06:30:40 +0000 UTC View PostWe finally reached that Amazon village, following the GPS map on Marcus's phone, and were able to hire a boat to drive us down the Amazon River. The first village was a sorry excuse for a human settlement; six houses of extremely poor people, trying to make a living out of the unforgiving environ...
2021-04-25 10:23:47 +0000 UTC View PostThere is not much to do while walking through the endless sea of green but talk.
“I certainly can’t turn into a bat!” Marcus indignantly answered one of my numerous questions.
“How the hell would that work anyway? It would break the principle of mass conservation in a way that...
2021-04-21 10:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe sound of the jungle woke me up. A fierce and loud roar of some unseen predator made all wildlife in it make some noise in response. A deafening rumble of the waterfall, and the splashing of the river on the bank where I was lying, were constant. It was surprising that all the racket didn’t ...
2021-04-18 10:21:20 +0000 UTC View PostOh shit… everything hurts.
Waking up was slow… and excruciatingly painful. Not a sensation I was unfamiliar with, by all means. My mind felt exactly like one does coming out of a long surgery, when you are all groggy and sluggish, and have a hard time remembering your own name....
2021-04-14 10:22:29 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning started normally; well, what can be considered normal for the Amazon jungle. Howler monkeys were doing their thing and numerous birds were making an unholy noise. Luckily, there was an army of insects to keep us occupied. I did everything like the day before; not to do s...
2021-04-11 11:12:03 +0000 UTC View PostColonel Bill Becker was my unit commander, but in truth, more of a handler. He gave assignments and took care of necessary intelligence. Although, there is something to be said about the maxim which states that military intelligence is a contradiction in terms, he never seemed that brigh...
2021-04-07 11:27:22 +0000 UTC View PostEverything changed on that last mission; it went FUBAR so fast in the end, I don't know what I could have done differently to change the outcome. OK, that's a lie. Pig-headed stubbornness and a desire to settle a score—were my ultimate downfall. I could have called in sick, or gone AWOL in the ...
2021-04-07 11:23:15 +0000 UTC View PostI was always good at killing.
That is not something one should normally brag about, but it is just an undeniable fact, a gift if you will.
I usually don’t even think about such things, as these moments of deep introspection bums the hell out of me—every single time. Altho...
2021-04-07 11:20:19 +0000 UTC View PostThis is the place where I will finish the third tome of my logs, and I must congratulate you for reading these words describing my brilliance, OK, just kidding… mostly.
Nevertheless, I feel with the ending of this part, that we have arrived at some kind of crossroads. Despite all the obst...
2021-04-07 11:15:45 +0000 UTC View PostSometimes people need to get their minds off the bigger problems they are facing. All those life-changing situations they cannot influence, but at the same time, the ones they need to endure.
That is why we made such a big spectacle of the new Space Station’s final arrival into its parkin...
2021-04-07 11:12:49 +0000 UTC View PostWhen someone has unwelcomed and unannounced visitors, one of the options is to simply not answer a doorbell and to wait a while until they do the decent thing and leave. It is a tried-and-tested method, even if it leaves you feeling afterwards a bit like a tool for hiding inside your own home. 2021-04-04 10:22:34 +0000 UTC View Post
How do you find a needle in a haystack?
Though it may seem strange, it is quite easy—simply use a very powerful electromagnet and the damn thing will fly to you.
My task was something very similar to that old conundrum; to find a stasis chamber module that was deliberately hidden on...
2021-03-31 12:37:26 +0000 UTC View PostDealing with some people can cause a variety of side effects; some of them are anger, anxiety, heightened blood pressure, death…
OK, that last one is a bit drastic, nevertheless, it is very true.
I’m having trouble with accepting criticisms of others; no matter what, I get wildly ...
2021-03-28 10:22:02 +0000 UTC View Post