Beneath, he sits reading

Mark had never gotten used to the freaks around here.

Sure, he wasn't quite ... normal ... himself. But he was nothing, compared to some of the abominations that drew a paycheck from F.E.A.R. The higher-ups knew it, too - it's why he was a janitor now. No, sorry, "sanitation engineer". Too weird to let loose, not actually good enough at anything to make use of.

So he got to hang around and make a living from cleaning up after the monsters. Like the one looking up at him from a pile of books cluttering his desk, enormous frame barely fitting into the ridiculously inadequate cubicle he'd been assigned. He had no idea what this one was - he looked human enough, for all his size, though his skin was too pale. And Mark wasn't so sure it was actually skin - looked kinda rough the time he'd passed by close enough to sneak a look, almost earthen.

Whatever he was, he read a lot - never the same set of books scattered across his workspace each time Mark made his rounds. It made a convenient excuse to make conversation - that was important to Mark; if he could find something simple, mundane to talk to them about, they didn't scare him so much.

"Whatcha readin' today, Adam?" That was the only name Mark had ever heard for him. The man(?) had ... savoured the name when he told it to Mark, as if it held some deep, wonderful signifigance to him.

"Adam"'s voice was deep, sonorous, almost echoing. "I am acquainting myself with a new field of study, Mark." The creature never forgot to use his name. More effort than most of the regulars around here went to ... or maybe he just *couldn't* forget.

"Materials science. Man has come so far since potter's clay, don't you think?"

Mark, as usual, felt like there was a joke here he was missing - the creature certainly seemed amused. "Sure have, Adam." His agreement was perfunctory, just part of the ritual.

One book was set aside from the clutter of the desktop, and didn't look like a fancy science textbook to Mark. The cover was old and worn, the title in weird lettering Mark couldn't read. "What's that one? Don't recognise the writing."

Adam touched the book ... reverently, Mark thought. "It's Aramaic. It's a ... religious essay, I guess you'd say."

Mark chuckled. "Don't have much to do with one another, do they?"

Adam smiled - with his lips, anyway. His eyes were deadly serious. "I'm hoping they'll actually have a lot to offer one another."

prognostications

there are shadows in the water
there are shadows in the water
a house falls
a memory rises
a million soldiers burned to death
the child is father to the daughter of the son
there are shadows in the water
there are shadows in the water