Alarm Clock Dawn (installment 8)

Once hired, Josh was sent to work in a think tank alongside a pool of scientists whose sole purpose was to solve all sorts of technological riddles.  Every so often management brought in a "puzzle" and they were told to figure out what it was and how it worked.  Sometimes he had to pinch himself as it seemed unreal to Josh that they would pay an entire group of people with distinguished degrees to do this. 

The frustrating thing about the "puzzles" was often times it was just a small part of the whole, which made the riddle especially difficult to figure out.  But before every new project was unveiled the scientists were given the same speech by a handful of soulless upper management types. These few words delivered with an icy glare, never once failed to scare the hell of Josh Harkin.

"You are about to enter the land of make-believe.",  They would say. "This is a reminder that not a word of any of this must travel outside these walls.  Understand?  Those of you who breech our trust and hinder the progress of the people will be dealt with swiftly and severely."

This tactic seemed to work because in recent memory no one could recall anyone desiring to find out XenTech's definition of "swiftly and severely".  

Josh was nervous but determined not to let anything ruin tonight. He lived for the first night of a new class.  He definitely didn't need any more education.  He had gone as far as he could go and then some.  But a few months after graduation Josh felt as though a part of him had withered and died.  Whether it just served as a distraction or not, he lived for the classroom, it's the only place where he truly felt at peace.  It was the only place where he felt that people could see the real Josh Harkin. Each new semester was a clean slate, another chance to reinvent himself for the better. 

On the outside he was thin, uncoordinated and plagued by a violent stutter that could make his speech almost unrecognizable whenever he became extremely nervous or agitated.  Those who were wise or patient enough to get past the sometimes awkward first impression were rewarded with much more than his appearance would ever lead you to believe.  He was an extremely generous and kind soul. Not only that, there was a striking intelligence behind those insecure blue eyes and the beauty of it was he didn't have an inkling of how special he was.  The truly great ones never do.

In many ways Josh felt marked by his genius. He figured out long ago that those who were kind to him usually weren't without a motive. Most times his desire for companionship was so great that he didn't care.  The same intelligence that would allow him to effortlessly pluck concepts from the highest branches of the tree of knowledge sometimes wouldn't allow him to find the words to carry on the simplest conversation with a stranger. 

For as long as he could remember Josh realized that he was different from most people.  More than anything Josh dreamed of the companionship of an equal, someone who could keep pace with the virility of his mind.  When he was a young boy he would sometimes cry himself to sleep at night praying to God that He might bestow this curse on someone else and allow him to experience the rest of his days as a "normal person".

Josh hurriedly gathered his things and swiped his identification card taking care not to make eye contact with anyone and made a mad dash through the skyway and down stairs to the nearest subway station. He rarely passed anyone on the stairs as most took advantage of the elevators.

This particular afternoon the wind and driving rain were merciless. The grey clouds clung to the city like a damp shroud. A top-note of acrid (smog) petrochemical pollution hung in the air as the faint, calming scent of burning wood wafted into the city on the wind.