**Lifespan Defragmentation Complete >>.

>> restart process 10110001 *PROCESS 10110001 RESTARTED*

Antoine walked across the wet cobblestone driveway toward the modern wing of the hospital. He wore a military-issue jacket and heavy boots, fresh home from his stint overseas. The sky was clear and moist after a mid-morning shower. He pulled up his collar and ducked his head. As he approached the hospital, he faced his reflection in the glass doors and saw what others saw. He was very good-looking, a condition of birth. It hadn't made the struggles of his recent years any easier, his pain any less, or his burdens any lighter.

A flutter flutter of wings in the trees made him look up. The birds that had gathered in the branches were rustling the leaves. A sudden gust of wind forced them to take flight, filling the blue sky with a parade of flapping black sideways parentheses. In the distance, he saw the spires of the city and above them, a mist falling down. From where he stood, the sky directly overhead hung a calm and beautiful blue.

Antoine passed through the first set of glass doors into the vestibule and glanced in disgust at the names of the wealthy donors on the plaque on the wall. He snorted and moved through the inner set of doors and into the lobby. Brown plaid cushions on faux wooden chairs and a coffee table with scattered magazines furnished the room. Reprints of museum watercolors adorned the walls. Antoine approached the desk. The young woman sitting there barely acknowledged him, until the beauty of the clean-shaven statuesque man registered. Then a huge taunting smile appeared on her face. He had her full attention.

"May I help you?" she said.

"I'm looking for my brother. I was told that he was taken here."

"Okay," she said. "May I have his name?" She turned to her terminal while somehow still keeping her gaze on Antoine.

"His name is Adrian -"

The phone interrupted them. Then another call a second later. Then more calls. The receptionist put up a finger as she tried to answer them all, placing most on hold. Antoine struggled to remain calm. He knew why the calls were coming in. Anyone who had looked outside knew. But evidently those in their cozy little jobs in their cozy little offices remained oblivious to what had just happened only a few miles away. His heart thumped hard, and he could feel the blood reaching toward his face. He paced the floor, waiting for the receptionist to get off the phone. This was a waste of time, he thought. A rumbling like thunder rolled outside. The floor shook. Antoine grabbed hold of the receptionist's desk to catch his balance.

Antoine's patience had evaporated. He marched to the locked double doors marked "Staff Only" and slipped through when they opened to let a nurse out.

Doors and doors and more doors lined the corridors. He heard the receptionist call from behind, "Sir! Sir! You can't go back there!" Antoine ignored her as well as the heads poking out of the offices that watched him pass. His only concern was Adrian. Had he known that while he was away this would happen - that his little brother would be taken to a place like this - maybe he wouldn't have gone. Maybe.

He walked faster as the quickened clicks of heels on the linoleum tile trailed behind him.

"Sir! Sir! You can't be back here!"

He pushed open a door. Behind it was a group of patients gathered in a circle of chairs. They calmly looked up, unperturbed by his presence, only curious. Life had worn them down - the sudden appearance of Antoine was of little concern.

"Sir! Sir!" he heard from behind.

He continued walking.

"Adrian!" he called. "It's Antoine! Where are you?"

He looked through another door. When he turned he found that he was surrounded by orderlies and security.

"Sir, you can't be back here," the receptionist said as she reached out to touch Antoine's arm. She pulled back in the last moment, her eyes wide with fear.

"I wanna see my brother."

"Come this way and we will try and help you," a man said and waved him towards the lobby.

Antoine looked around him. The men were big. But Antoine was bigger and meaner and more desperate. Each breath was hard and paced. There were two ways to get out of this. He could return to the reception area or he could punch his way through. He curled his fingers into a fist hidden beneath his jacket sleeve. Then the building started to shake again and the ground trembled violently. Everyone in the hall moved to brace themselves. A snaking crack snapped open on the wall near the ceiling, sprinkling dust onto the heads of those nearby. The lights went out, then came back on a moment later.

It was happening. It was coming.

"What was that?" the receptionist said, her voice an octave higher.

"While you're figuring that out, I'm getting my brother."

"Wait -"

Antoine pushed past the dazed staff and ran.

His calls were swallowed by the calls of others. Doctors and nurses, janitors and staff panicked as the ground continued to vibrate. They screamed out to each other, confused and scared. Patients entered the hallway only to be ushered back into their rooms.

The ground continued to move. As Antoine rushed about, the voices of the orderlies and receptionist echoed far behind him. The lights flickered off, and there was a heartbeat spent in pitch black, stillness. Dim emergency lights flooded the halls with an orange glow, and the bedlam resumed.

"Adrian!" Antoine called. "Adrian!"

He peered into a room to find a group of patients with terrified expressions stirring nervously as a lone staff person attempted to calm them. Antoine returned to the hall and grabbed by the arm someone who was running.

"I'm looking for a man."

"Aren't we all." Hector shook off his grip. "Now get off!" Hector turned back into his room and tried to close the door. Antoine grabbed at his arm again.

"I'm looking for Adrian"

"Adrian?" Hector looked strangely at him through the crack of the door. "What you want him for?"

"He's my brother and I'm getting him outta here."

Hector said, "Well, you can't be his brother. His brother's dead."

"Who told you that?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down." Hector pulled him inside the room just in time to hide from the approaching security guard.

"Who told you that?" Antoine repeated in a quieter voice.

"Adrian did."

"Where is he?!" Antoine grabbed Hector's arms.

"Ow! Honey, that hurts!"

"It'll hurt even more if you don't tell me where my brother is."

"How do I know you're really his brother?"

"I don't have time to fuck around!"

"Do I look like I'm fuckin' around to you?" Hector said, shaking himself loose. "It don't take no genius to see something bad is going down. Now prove to me you're his brother."

Antoine thought for a minute then said, "He has a mark on his forehead from when he was in an accident with some scaffolding."

Hector pursed his lips. "Anyone who's seen him can say that."

"He likes owls," Antoine said exasperated. "Come on, Nut!" Antoine shoved Hector.

"Alright, alright, I can show you!" Hector said. "But you gotta promise that when you're leaving you take me, too."

Antoine took a moment to consider the vision of Hector in his tight blue jeans, lady's slippers, long hair, and moustache. He decided that he'd let him show him where Adrian was, then dump him afterwards.

"Fine. Whatever, Nut. Show me."

Hector smiled and disappeared into his closet for a moment and returned with a small purse.

"Come on, honey. Time's a wastin'. And my name is Hector, not Nut."

Hector stuck his head out the door and looked both ways, then waved for Antoine to follow. Alarms were honking, and an automated voice blared instructions to remain calm. They slipped along the halls together, unnoticed by the rushing staff who had their hands full dealing with running patients. Antoine followed Hector to a locked door. Hector took a card out of his purse and swiped it through the security lock.

"I stole this from an orderly weeks ago. He never missed it. He so stupid."

The door opened to a stairwell that led downstairs. The noise from the hall cut off when the door behind them slammed shut. The faded red glow of the exit sign provided a little light. Antoine followed Hector down the stairs to the lower level, into a maze of dark corridors that smelled of floor cleaner, a sickly sweet scent of pine and ammonia.

"Over here," Hector said.

Antoine hesitated, doubling his fists. It occurred to him that it might be dangerous to follow a mental patient into the dark when he had no idea where he was going. Then Hector stopped at a door and gently knocked.

"Adrian, it's me."

Hector pulled something else out of his purse and began working at the knob. "Give me a minute," he said. It was silent enough for Antoine to hear the metal gears of the lock move, then snap into place.

"There," Hector said and pushed the door slowly open. If it was dim in the hallway, it was like a void in that room. Hector went inside without hesitation. Antoine remained by the door and slowly opened it more until he could see what was inside. Squinting, he could just make out something lying in the corner. Hector was sitting next to it.

"Oh, Papi, what they do to you this time?" Hector said.

Antoine felt a pull. He didn't want to believe it. He wanted this Hector guy to be a mental case that he could smack in the next two seconds. Antoine went inside and moved closer, then bent down. In the blackness he could barely make out the bearded man, lying semi-comatose, as Hector wiped drool from his mouth.

"I've been coming down here whenever I can to visit. Let him know that he wasn't alone. The stuff they do to him here ..." Hector pointed to his temple. "You're lucky if there's anyone left upstairs."

Antoine felt a flush of gratitude. Hector had done what he himself should have done - taken care of his brother.

Antoine touched Adrian's face and felt his coarse facial hair on his fingertips and the drool flowing from the corner of his mouth. Dear God, what have they been doing to you?

"Helen," Adrian whispered.

"Yeah, honey, it's me," Hector said. "This guy here says he's your brother."

"Antoine ..."

"Yeah, it's me, bro," Antoine said and pulled Adrian into his arms. "I didn't know they put you in a place like this. I would've never have let them do this to you. Damn, Adrian, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. ..." He buried his face between Adrian's neck and shoulder.

"This is beautiful and all, but don't we gotta leave?" Hector said.

"Yeah," Antoine said as he wiped his brother's cheek with his thumb. He lifted him up and placed Adrian's arm around his shoulder. Hector took Adrian's other arm around his shoulder, and together they all stumbled out the door.

"What's happening?" Adrian asked.

"I'm takin' you away from here," Antoine said.

They groped their way back down the empty hall. Muffled shouts and screams and the vibrations of the earth could be heard in the cinderblock hallway. They struggled up the stairwell with Adrian's dead weight. His head bobbed back and forth. Antoine leaned against the doorframe with his brother in his arms and waited as Hector opened the door into a hallway chaotic with blaring horns and staffers ushering patients into rooms. The three were able to slip through it all, heading toward the glowing red exit sign that led to the lobby.

"Hey, you can't go out there!"

They didn't stop or turn around. They walked faster. The security guard slapped Antoine on the shoulder and pulled him around. Antoine shoved Adrian into Hector's arms and punched the guard square in the face. The blare of horns, the murmur of confused voices, the scrambling of feet hid the sound of the smack. Blood squirted from the guard's nose as he doubled over, then fell to his knees.

"Come on!" Antoine shouted to Hector and grabbed Adrian's arm again. Hector moved quickly to keep up. An acrid smell of ash and smoke, of burning fuel or melting metal, had seeped into the lobby. The receptionist stood by her desk with her hand covering her mouth and nose. The ground still moved beneath their feet, but it now felt more like the vibrations from a large passing truck than an earthquake.

"Cover your face," Antoine said as he pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose. He stopped to wrap his scarf around Adrian's head, leaving only his eyes exposed.

"Maybe we shouldn't go out there," Hector said.

"We need to get out of here," Antoine said. He opened the door. The sky above them remained a quiet clear blue.

"What's that smell?"