Noxxie: The Woman Behind the Glass

By T.W. Miller

Imagine losing everything. Now imagine dying. Now imagine being reborn into a world where “unique” is common. This is the life of Tim. Telling a vivid tale full of well-thought-out analogies and descriptive emotions, T. W. Miller does his best to put the reader inside the mind of Tim while Tim tries to find his way inside the mind of Noxxie.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664167858

T.W. Miller

Tucker Miller wrote this science fiction novel while on a record-breaking deployment. He uses the feeling of separation and loneliness to highlight the mood and shift it into a story unlike any other.

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Copyright © 2021 by T.W. Miller.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 04/07/2021

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Contents

Chapter 1 Breathtaking Opportunities

Chapter 2 First Impressions

Chapter 3 History Class

Chapter 4 Prisoner or Victim

Chapter 5 Can You Hear Me?

Chapter 6 Welcome Home

Chapter 7 The Winds of Change

Chapter 8 What Am I? What Are We?

Chapter 9 Ghosts in My Mind

Chapter 10 A Little Advice First

Chapter 11 All True Intent

Chapter 12 If You Want to Make a Goddess Laugh …

Chapter 13 All Good Things

Chapter 14 Where the Heart Is

Epilogue

Chapter 1

Breathtaking Opportunities

Getting fired didn’t hurt. Losing my job didn’t hurt. I didn’t even feel anything when I found out all my money was gone. No, it was the moment I realized that I was alone. That hurt.

So now I was searching for jobs in classified ads. Meh. I’d done worse to get by. So all of a sudden, I was meeting mysterious strangers with whom I had no past or would have no future connections. Meh. I’d had lots of friends in the past, and I didn’t cry when they left. No, it was understanding that as a person, I was alone in my ideals. That hurt.

So when I got a call in the middle of the night asking for my expertise on a behavior study, understandably, I was cautious, but more importantly, I was thrilled. If, for once in my career, I could find a person who not only understood my views but also shared them, I’d be the happiest man alive.

So there I was, a lonely man standing outside a small coffee shop. I wonder where this guy is. He said he’d meet me here. All I did was write one paper and give a lecture or two on how we should be studying the psychology of the world around us, and it led me there. So there I was, a lonely man cast out and laughed at for being the man who thought the world might be alive.

Tell me. What do you believe in that makes you so controversial?

His voice nearly made me jump out of my skin. I had been waiting, and out of nowhere, a tall man walked up to me, wearing all black in the middle of the night. He didn’t even say hello or give me a hint that he was right behind me. Something told me he liked it better that way.

Well, not being one to avoid a question, of course, I answered. Things in this world could have minds we have no way of understanding. Only until it affects humanity as a whole will we finally try to understand the mind or minds that surround us every day.

The man seemed unchanged by my answer. His face was mostly covered by his black hat and the shadows of the streetlights around us. I couldn’t help it. His silence started to irritate me. It felt as if he was just another person who wanted to make fun of me. I started feeling like maybe there wasn’t a job or, even worse, there wasn’t someone who thought the same way as I did.

He finally broke the silence with as little detail as possible. You’re right for the job. My employers are looking for someone with your type of open mind and ability to adjust.

I was confused, but my irritation quickly vanished. My tightening expression of building anger unwound into a look of curiosity. I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the last thing he said about me. So I asked, What do you mean my ability to adjust?

The man simply handed me an envelope. Before I could even open it, he left. I was so confused and felt so awkward, but curiosity always won with me. I went into the coffee shop, thinking a nice warm cup of coffee might help me process what had just happened.

I sat down at the counter up front next to the register. The sun was barely poking up from across the horizon, and the smell of bacon and freshly brewed coffee was nearly overwhelming. I wanted everything on the menu and all the coffee I could possibly drink, but my wallet only allowed for a small cup of coffee, and even that felt more like a risk than a reward. I decided a small coffee would be nice, so I waited for a waitress to come by.

Lucky for me, it wasn’t long before a cute waitress with a nametag that said Sandy on it came up to me. I swear she was the ultimate representation of every waitress ever except she was taller than most.

She had such a soft voice when she asked me, Is there anything I can get you today?

I wanted to tell her, Yes, I’d love to see you walking toward me in a bright white dress inside of a church with a full buffet behind you. I definitely couldn’t afford either of those things, so I settled with just telling her, Um, yeah. Could I get a small black coffee?

She looked down at me and smiled. The look on her face said it all for her. She thought my shyness was adorable and just wanted to tell me everything was going to be okay. It was a look I’d gotten used to since I lost my job. Every time I talked to someone, they’d just look at me and feel that I needed their sympathy. I appreciated it, but in the end, I would just like to have a nice black coffee without being stared at like a lost puppy.

She finished writing up the ticket for one black coffee and gave a large smile before whispering, No worries, it’ll be ready in just a second. I’ll brew a fresh pot just for you.

If she was being sweet just for a bigger tip, she was barking up the wrong tree. I’d only got three dollars in my wallet to last me until the end of the week. Even by then, I’d be homeless and possibly starving. At least at this moment, I’ll have coffee. Oh, wait—and the envelope that man gave me.

The envelope was strangely heavy, with no markings on the outside. I wasn’t sure what I had hoped it would be. More or less, I hoped it wasn’t a bomb. At this point in my life though, if it was a bomb, I didn’t think I’d be missed much. So I opened it.

I could only get one thought to cross my mind after seeing inside the envelope. It’s money? It’s money. Oh my god, it’s money! At least three thousand dollars were tightly wound up and shoved inside the envelope next to a note and a plane ticket.

I decided to read the note later. I only had one thing on my mind, and I blurted it out to the waitress with a large smile on my face. Hey, Sandy, can I get three eggs, sunny side up, and a whole plate of bacon? And I’ll take that whole pot of coffee to myself. Thank you so much, and keep the change.

I ate my fill and then some. It was beautiful. All my worries flowed away like the coffee I poured down my throat. Once I finished my meal, I caught a taxi home. On the way home, I still couldn’t bring myself to read the letter inside the envelope. It filled me with fear to think whose money I had just accepted or what they would want with me. All I knew was one thing. I needed to pack.

I reached my apartment at around nine in the morning. I hurried inside and wondered what I had just gotten myself into. Could I be running drugs? Could I be someone’s new pet? There was no way of telling unless I finally broke the tension and read the letter. So I did, and I definitely couldn’t have guessed what it said.

To whom it may concern, We’re very excited to have you as part of our team. Please take the money placed inside and buy any necessities you may need for your new life. Thank you so much for accepting our offer. Our organization is in desperate need of someone with your mindset and expertise, a combination of which is rare, to say the least. In fact, we would gamble enough to say you’re unique. Unique is something that is very common in our practice, and we hope you find it comforting to know there are others who would love to hear all about your ideas and theories.

Your tickets are scheduled for Friday. That should be plenty of time for you to get your affairs in order. Leave all your IDs and your passport behind. Thank you very much.

I was frozen. Someone like me was out there. It couldn’t have been possible. My theories were farfetched, yes, and had gotten me laughed out of my field, but I didn’t ever truly expect to meet someone with the same state of mind as mine. I especially didn’t think they’d be willing to spend any amount of money on me. It was still a welcome surprise.

I checked the destination on the tickets to see where my new life was starting up again. The name was strange, and I had never heard of it before. The best I could come up with was it definitely wasn’t in America or any place I had ever heard of. The place was named Plunolea—a strange name, to say the least—and it didn’t have any information on what country it was in or how long the flight was going to be.

I loved the idea of leaving this hellhole I had made for myself and finding a place full of others who would actually want to hear what I had to say. I wasn’t even the slightest bit conflicted about disappearing without a trace. My family was all back home in Cherry Wood, a small town in the middle of nowhere. I had left so long ago and lost touch with all of them, so no worries there. My landlord was already threatening to throw me out, so I didn’t have any worries there. I never had time for a girlfriend. I was too busy with my work, so no worries there either.

So with a mixture of excitement, fear, denial, and a sense that I had nothing to lose, I chose to leave. I hoped it would be the next great chapter of my life and maybe even a way to prove myself right in the end.

I spent the whole day packing my things and getting drunk to celebrate. The whiskey burned, but my happiness burned brighter. I threw shirts inside my new suitcases like baseballs at a batter and laughed the whole time. I couldn’t help but think life was starting to go my way.

While I was drunk, I heard someone knock on the door. I hesitated to answer, scared it might be the cops coming for a noise complaint, but I shrugged off my fear and opened the door anyways. Luckily, I was greeted with a smiling face from a beautiful woman.

Her voice was so soft when she talked. She carefully whispered, Hi, I’m your neighbor from across the hall. I just moved in, and I can’t seem to get inside my apartment. I know it’s late, but I assumed from the noise you were still up. Can you help me?

The alcohol made it hard to focus on anything, but I remembered my old neighbor always complaining about how the lock would stick and how he had to jiggle it until it would finally budge. So I thought I’d show her. Yeah, let me see your keys. I’ll see what I can do.

She shrugged a little and handed me her keys. I drunkenly stumbled over to her door. Finding the keyhole was a slight struggle with my current state of mind, but luckily, I managed it. The young woman from across the hall was trying to hide a smile while she watched me fumbling around. That made me kind happy, knowing she thought it was funny and not pathetic. I jiggled the key to the left and right until finally, it gave way and the door swung open. I nearly fell into her apartment when the door opened. That was the final nail on the coffin. She started laughing heavily. I felt a brief sense of embarrassment, but the whiskey killed that emotion as quickly as it would appear.

She wasn’t really a ten out of ten, but her good sense of humor was enough to make me feel something for her. Being as lonely as I was, it wasn’t hard to see beauty in others. The dangerous part was the involuntary reaction of creating a connection with those beautiful people. I was not exactly a ten out of ten either. I was not as tall as I’d liked to be, and my hair was a little too long and greasy for anyone to look at me and think I was attractive. My best feature was definitely the fact I had an outgoing personality. I liked meeting new people and having good conversations.

I had to steady myself against the doorframe after almost falling flat on my face inside her apartment. She looked at me with a look of pity or curiosity. I wasn’t really sure which.

Finally, she broke the silence and whispered in her soft voice, Thanks. Are you going to be okay?

I mustered as much sober thought as I could and answered her as charmingly as possible. I’m doing great. I’m just making sure your doorframe isn’t going to fall over.

She giggled and gave me a sweet smile before she gently pushed me to the side of the doorway. She stopped whispering and actually talked in a normal voice. It’s okay, strong man. I think I can hold it up myself. Thank you again, but I really need to head to bed. It’s been a very long day.

I smiled, thinking I was being charming. I really couldn’t think of anything clever, so I just nodded and told her good night.

I blacked out for the rest of the night and woke up the next morning with a horrible hangover. Looking around, I noticed some water by my bed. The room was well lit thanks to the curtains being open. I crawled over to the water and managed to get a few sips down.

I knew I had gone overboard last night. I just got overexcited and took things too far. I had a bad habit of doing that. I was not the kind of person to stay down for long though, so I lifted myself out of bed and got dressed. I had a new life to get ready for, after all.

The next week was a blur of getting wasted and celebrating. I ran into the neighbor girl once or twice, but the fantasy I had of her begging me to stay because she loved me never came true. Still, she never saw the sober me, so there was always the small chance that was the me she could’ve fallen in love with.

I arrived at the airport sober and ready to leave. All my bags seemed lighter than I had expected. I only packed what I felt was necessary. It made it easier to travel. I walked into the airport terminal and showed my ticket to the man behind the desk. He looked at the ticket, and his eyebrows rose up. He seemed surprised by something, and that worried me. He held his finger in the air toward me, signaling that I should wait a moment. Then he reached for the phone beside him on the desk and called someone.

At first, I thought it was very rude to interrupt my boarding process just so he could make a phone call until I heard him say, Yeah, he’s here. You want me to send him out right now? All right, thank you I’ll tell him. He hung up the phone and looked at me. He then said in the most respectful way, Please wait here, sir. An assistant will be out shortly to guide you toward your flight.

I thought it was strange. I had flown many times in the past and never before had an assistant to walk me to my flight. Still, with a lump in my throat and nervousness in my chest, I decided to wait. I thought, I’m in this far, so no backing out now.

A little bit later, an old man in a pilot’s uniform walked up to me and asked me the question Are you here for the job request?

I was caught off guard but still managed to respond with Yes, I am.

The pilot then, with poise and class, waved his hand, gesturing for me to follow him. We walked past all security and straight out to the airway. We walked directly to a private plane. It was small yet expensive looking. I couldn’t help but feel the excitement of flying in such luxury. As I was about to board the plane, several men approached and grabbed my bags for me. I felt as if I were a rich man, and seeing how well this job was paying already, I thought soon, I might be.

I walked onto the plane with my mouth wide open from shock. It was beautiful and so spacious even though on the outside, it looked very compact. I quickly found a first-class seat and sat down. Right after I had taken my seat, a gorgeous flight attendant walked over to me and asked if I would like anything to eat or drink. I asked for a nice glass of whiskey. I told myself I wouldn’t drink too much before meeting my new boss, but my nerves were going insane, and I needed to calm down a bit. The flight attendant left and quickly returned with a well-sized glass filled halfway with a brand of whiskey I knew I was too poor to have ever tasted before.

I felt the plane’s engine kick on, and I knew we were going to take off soon. Before we started moving, I heard someone else walk onto the plane. My curiosity was piqued immediately. All kinds of thoughts entered my mind on who could have just gotten on the plane. Then a well-built man in a nice gray striped suit walked into my seating area. He didn’t acknowledge my existence and simply sat down across from me. He was tall and bald. He had a beard that was peppered with gray hair, but just by looking at him, I could tell he could kill me if he wanted to. This man didn’t have age; he had experience. Seconds after he had sat down, the plane started taking off. It was time. We took flight, and I left all my problems thousands of feet below me.

I was sipping my whiskey gently when the man in the gray suit spoke. Enjoying your time so far?

I looked up from my glass, finishing my sip before answering. I’ve definitely noticed this job has its perks. So what’s the catch?

The man in the gray suit smiled. It made me uncomfortable. From how he looked, anything that would make him smile would probably terrify me. Still, he was nice enough to give me an answer.

The catch is you don’t exist anymore.

I looked at him with a look of confusion. I questioned him a bit more. What do you mean by that exactly? Am I a drug runner now or something?

The man in gray leaned over the table between us and looked me directly in the eye. He spoke precisely, making sure I got everything and he didn’t have to repeat anything. My name is Ray. I’m the security consultant for your new employers. Your new name is Tim. You’re not a drug runner. You’re a psychologist. We need you to do what you do best. Do you understand?

I nodded and let Ray finish what he was saying.

Our organization is in possession of an extremely dangerous and strange prisoner. We need your help understanding how this prisoner thinks and what it wants.

Just then, I noticed something I couldn’t keep myself from asking about. "What do you mean by it?"

Ray looked down at my glass and sat back in his seat before calmly settling in and telling me, Just finish your drink and relax. It’ll all make sense soon enough.

I laughed straight in his face and had to tell him off. There’s no way I’m letting Ray just leave me with that sorry excuse of an explanation. So I told him off. You don’t really think I’m going to leave you alone for the rest of the flight just because you don’t feel like giving me a good description of what the hell you mean.

Ray was caught off guard. He had never expected someone to come after him so straightforwardly. He especially didn’t expect a mild-mannered–looking kid from nowhere to tell him off. Still, he gave a look that conveyed he had a lot of respect for someone who could stand up to a much more physically impressive opponent.

Thankfully, he decided to give me a more in-depth explanation. Basically, I can’t just lay out all our business here. You were hired to do what you do best. I can tell you that you’ve never seen anything like we’ve got waiting for you on the island, and I hope you stay concentrated when you finally see it for yourself.

I couldn’t help but be a little sarcastic at this attempt to let me in on a secret. Great. So I’m going to be analyzing a really smart gorilla.

Ray gave me a smirk. It was obvious he didn’t find the joke funny, but he thought my cluelessness was entertaining.

The flight was a long one. I went through what felt like bottles worth of whiskey.

I was starting to spin a bit in my seat when Ray suggested, You might want to get some sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow, and we won’t be landing for another few hours.

I took him up on that advice and was happily escorted to a cabin with a nice single-wide bed. When I laid my head on that pillow, I felt nothing but happiness. Heading to my new job was my life’s next great adventure.

I dreamt of little that night. There were a few glimpses of the neighbor girl from back at my old apartment and some trees from my hometown. All in all, it was the most peaceful sleep I had gotten for as long as I could remember. I wish every night I slept could be as peaceful as that night.

A few hours into my nap, I heard a voice shouting at me from behind the door. Tim, get up! We’re here!

I shouted back with the first thought that came to my mind. Who’s Tim? It took me a second to remember my last conversation with Ray, and then it hit me. Oh yeah, I’m Tim!

I rushed to get dressed. It wasn’t hard considering the only clothes I took off before passing out were my socks and a jacket. I opened the door as I put on my jacket and was greeted with Ray’s always cheery grimace. He looked annoyed but not at me. He definitely had something on his mind though.

Being as curious as I was, I had to ask, Why can’t I keep my name, Ray? Why am I Tim?

Ray’s eyes dropped to the ground for a brief second, showing how exhausted he was from having to babysit me. Maybe he was annoyed at me. He didn’t answer me directly. He simply handed me a newspaper. I was getting really tired of being confused, but I played along anyways. The page the paper was open on made my jaw drop past my chest. It was the obituaries,