James was sure he'd be fired. The entire board was in there. He'd barged in and seen top secret files. Glanced, really, he didn't have time to read anything they said. And yet, that eye haunted him. Just thinking about it his fear grew. He could feel the eye looking at him.
Far off, somewhere deep, he could feel the eye turn to peer at him through thousands of miles of rock, and it was laughing at him. He could feel it reaching out to him, longing for him, calling to him. His lungs filled with water as he tried to reach back for it.
"Yup, he saw it." Director Green's hand on his shoulder snapped his mind back far more than her words as the board passed behind her shaking their heads.
Once they'd all headed back to their departments James pled with her, "Wha, what was that, doc?"
She nodded down the hall for him to walk with her. Neither said a word till they were clear of the building and standing out in the wide field. The sunlight shone bright upon them and they looked back at their facility with its massive NASA logo.
"How long have you been with us James?"
He looked up to the tall redhead, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Six months, I think."
"Do you remember our first meal together, six months ago?"
He nodded, but realized she wouldn't be able to see it. "Yeah, you, you weren't joking were you?"
"Nope. The Deep One is going to destroy the Earth, whether it means to or not makes no difference. Sure, the reason NASA doesn't explore the ocean is because that's NOAA's job. But our real job is to establish humanity on another world before the Deep One hatches."
James sat down on the patchy grass. "But, it loves me. I could feel it." James wasn't watching as Director Green fitted a silencer to her pistol. "I mean, I was drowning to death trying to reach it. That, that's not love, that's obsession." He looked up to Director Green, ignoring the muzzle pointed at his face. "What can I do to help?"
She held the gun firm. "It feeds off the attention of everyone who knows about it. In the past, it has been worshiped and grew quickly. HP Lovecraft had his own cult but our predecessors removed all his artifacts and replaced his first story with a more benign version. Since then we've used his insane writings as cover for people who catch a glimpse of the Deep One's dreams.
"But you know it's real. It will feed upon your attention, it will twist the very idea of love in your heart, and you will try to spread it to others. The Deep One has chosen you as a messenger to hasten its growth. And we cannot allow that."
James looked down to her sneakers, dejected. "You're right. It's a memetic parasite, and I've been infected. You can't let me spread it. Kill me. I understand why you have to. We can't let it grow." James cried and braced himself for the pain unsure of any other way to prepare for the oblivion of death. He entered a deep peace, accepting that no longer existing would be better than aiding in the destruction of humanity.
The pain never came. Her hand on his shoulder shook his mind from the peace. "James, welcome to the Twilight Council. You've passed our test. We are all infected too, but we are working to stop it, or if we can't stop the Deep One, then to ensure humanity survives it. Your willingness to die rather than spread the meme is proof you can resist its influence, like us. It's also proof that you have known true love, and known deep emotional abuse, and for that you have my commiseration. We've all been through it too."
Director Green put away her pistol and silencer. "Come along James, now the real work begins."
