CHAPTER SEVEN
Watcher's New Life

"Aah!, the smell o' bacon in the morning," Mullen says, as he looks up to see Tripod spitting up the bacon he'd just served him. "Well at least it smells good."

*looking from the pan of bacon, to the bacon Tripod had expelled, back to the pan*

"I ain't gonna touch that stuff. I don't know 'bout you, Tripod, but I'm going out for breakfast".

Since winning the lawsuit with the company that employed the trucker, Mullen and Tripod had found a new life. They still preferred to live underground and away from society, but Mullen had a freedom he'd never known. He knew exactly what he wanted for breakfast, and he could have it. He's not an old man, but one very set in his ways. He was wealthier than he'd ever dreamed, especially since Meow Mix had taken Tripod on as their 'Cover Cat' for 2 million a year. He liked to spend his money on things that made sense and that pleased him. He also didn't want other people to know he was rich, so this morning, he wanted Denny's. As he climbed out of the storm drain and carefully ducked into a side alley, he folded his hooded overcoat and stashed it into his backpack. He could picture pancakes and bacon, done RIGHT! But, for some reason he didn't see the coffee in his day dream.

"Oh well, I guess it isn't in my schedule," he said, as he tucked his hands into his pockets and skateboarded off toward midtown. His favorite Denny's was just about two blocks from the post office. His monthly check should be there by now. He thought about his new life with a smile as he kicked off of the last curb outside the post office, before darting across the crosswalk and down the street, into the restaurant.

"Well that's the way I go about my everyday life now, by instinct and whatever is in my day dreams," he said to himself, and if there was a camera following him. He would have winked at the lens for comedic affect, he thought.

Breakfast was delicious...pancakes, bacon and orange juice. Now, on full stomach, Mullen headed off to the gym. He worked out for, oh say, half an hour, then called it quits, due to the heavy feeling and growing nausea, from being so full from breakfast. He went home, careful to change into 'Watcher' before slinking down the storm drain again. Never know who's watching and Mullen just can't afford to be found.

Tripod had stayed home and had some meow-mix for breakfast, then laid down for a mid morning nap. He was asleep, when Mullen returned, which, Mullen thought, was a good idea, too. He was exhausted from his little workout. "At least I did something." he told himself as he plopped on the couch and went straight to sleep.

*camera lens would go all fuzzy around the edges at this point to emphasize being in a dream state*

Mullen was sitting back at Moe's diner. He began to think about the explosion from awhile back and the cat.

"Come to think of it, that cat seemed to disappear. With me being a cat person and all, I notice these things, and I haven't seen that cat since the explosion."

He remembered seeing a man in the diner, who came in a minute before the blast. He didn't seem surprised by the explosion one bit, and yet he had come from the building.

Then his mind wandered into the night, and he found Tripod walking along an alleyway, except he had all four legs. He saw Tripod transform into a woman.

"MEOW" she said. Then she walked slowly up to him and licked his nose.

Mullen's eyes popped open. It was only Tripod trying to wake him up to open a can of tuna for dinner. Mullen shook his head to clear away the image of Heylo licking his nose. He stood up and went to the cupboard, pulling down a can of tuna. As he twisted the opener, his thoughts drifted from...remembering Heylo was that cat, but he hadn't seen her around at all, either...to dwelling on the man in the diner. He decided he just had to investigate this man.

Several hours had passed and he felt hunger again, too. After feeding Tripod, Mullen grabbed a bag of Doritos and a can of Mountain Dew and sat himself down in front of the Computer. Being 9:47 pm he could go online without detection from the couple who lived above him. He'd spliced into their cable modem line and sucked free highspeed internet time during the evenings. He couldn't afford the risk of detection to have a phone line installed in the sewer. He was very careful to hide the wiring that supplied him electricity and cable internet, so he just needed to be cautious with usage so it didn't draw attention to him.

The research on the mysterious man in MOE'S Diner, who he suspects is part of something much larger, was taking far too long using conventional methods. So, he went to http//www.peoplesearch.org. Then, with his newly acquired skills as a hacker, he tapped into the visual pictures of the system without even being asked for a membership registration. He began his tedious search anew. One by one he looked through pictures of every person in the city. There were tall people, small people and inbetween people. Finally, after hours of clicking through page after page of stats and pictures, there was the man he remembered from the diner. Thompson, Jean-Luc, was the name printed on the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Now that he knew who to look for, he must be cautious with this man. He could be dangerous. After all, he did suspect him of blowing up a building. So, he went to "Step Two" of the investigation. He needed to know whether or not the man WAS dangerous. He had to do a little more hacking, this time, into the Police records. He went straight to http//www.cityhalls.gov to pull up his file. There he found a large file on Jean-Luc. It said he had several counts of car bombings and violent outbursts in banks. He also had a record of drugs and DUI's but he is now under house arrest for the robbing of the 7Eleven on the corner of 6th Avenue and 12th street.

"I think now is a good time for a visit to Mr. Jean-Luc Thompson."

He pulled his hooded overcoat off the hook on the wall and tucked his skateboard under his arm. He didn't hear the ding of the clock striking 3am over the loud scraping sound, as he slid the secret panel in the stone wall open, to let him out into the main sewer tunnel. He tossed the skate board into the waiting boat and put on his overcoat. He lit his torch, then stepped inside the boat and began to push off with the long river pole, that he used to direct himself through the maze-like tunnel system of the underground sewer system. Mr. Thompson's home was all the way on the other side of town, but he should be there in an hour or two, depending on traffic, and considering his mode of transportation. He was fairly sure traffic would be light.


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