The Fourth Part

Brett sat on his lawn chair, balancing precariously near the apex of the roof. The resplendent glory of the morning, the pre-dawn light from behind the mountains, the cacaphony of the birds in the trees, was only dimmed by the foreboding storm clouds, moving in swiftly from the east. The day would be cold and wet. Brett was not looking forward to getting the tank cars unloaded in the rain. For now, Brett just enjoyed feeling smelling the fresh morning air.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you tonight?" Kenneth asked.

"DAH!" Brett yelped as his chair keeled backwards. Kenneth's hand swiftly shot out and grabbed Brett's shirt before he could fully fall out of the chair.

"Geez man, why so jumpy?" Kenneth asked.

"How the hell did you get up here, you potbellied lurp?"

"I climbed. There's no need to be mean."

"You almost split my melon open. How do you think I should feel?"

"The only reason you should ever raise your voice is if there's a fire."

"That's only with your wife, and we aren't married. Domestic partners, yes. Married, no."

Kenneth lifted an eye brow. "I think I should come with you tonight, if it's a cult, I want to back you up."

"Not a chance roadkill breath. This is a one man infiltration op."

"Alright. Fine, have fun Mr. Bourne."

"Go take a shower. You smell terrible. Try using tomato juice."

"I seriously hate you."

Brett sat in Ben's car trying to seem excited and happy. "I've just been thinking alot lately about my life, you know? Like, what is my purpose here, to just go to work and come home and go to work and come home until I'm dead? I think some community service is just what I need."

"Ya know Brett, the Unifiers is more than just a community service. It teaches you how to have a better life."

"Really? How?" Brett said, trying to acted surprised and interested.

"Oh, well, right now I am being audited to help me move out of pre-clear. I am learning about survival in the eight dynamics. You know, I'm crossing the bridge, getting rid of my engrams. The org is totally cool."

Brett tried to keep his face placid as he faked an interested smile. It must not have worked very well. Because Ben hurriedly continued."It's all pretty simple really, you'll see."

"Yeah sure, cool."


Ben and Brett were soon entering the doors of the Layton Community Center. A wave of revulsion washed over Brett as he saw Brad approaching with that vacant look and fake smile on his face.

"Hey gang! Good to see you here. Hi Brett, how've you been?"

Oh crap, he knows my name! "Oh, good Brad, good, you?" Don't show the teeth Brett, it's a sign of aggression.

"Great! So, Ben have you heard the good news?"

"No, what's that?"

"You're getting inducted to the inner circle tonight!"

"Oh wow! You're kidding! That's great. I've really been working hard for this."

"And we've been watching you, you're going places. You'll be an operatin Thetan in no time!"

Brett felt his muscular buttocks clench tightly. Something was very wrong here.

***

Oh man. I feel like I need a shower after that. I don't know how long I can keep up this shar-rod... Shuh-rod? char-ade? ...Act... What was with that inner circle talk? And all that creepy exclusionary technical jargon! Brett unlocked the door and stepped into the front room to find Kenneth on the phone.

"Yeah, okay. But did you get the PPI set up for the EQP? Yeah, yeah, no doubt. Well, the new member meeting should take care of that! Ha! We'll have em tripping over chickens in no time!Yeah, okay well, I'll see you at the PEC. Hey, don't forget the manuals, I don't want another extemperaneous talk on blood atonement. Okay. Bye."

Brett paused in mid step. Oh crap! I've got my work cut out for me.