Perfervid Cathexis

By Frank Hyden

A collection of short stories. Including-

A 3-part story about Abigail Yamamoto, a woman who awakens after an unknown length of time and discovers that an evil company has faked her death and mass-produced the androids her husband created to deal with his grief. After discovering that her husband has been severely beaten Abigail wants revenge and will do anything to get it.

Jimmy Redboots is a fearsome hitman tasked with rescuing a woman from a rival gang who wants her dead.

A rideshare doesn't turn out the way the driver expected.

A micro story about a police officer who's trying to keep the streets safe from a serial killer.

A scientist begins to fall for her android assistant.

Another scientist discovers that things aren't quite as they seem with her android assistant.

A collection of comic book scripts. Including-

The 3-part Abigail Yamamoto story in comic book form.

The rideshare and police officer stories in comic book form.

The tale of the scientist who finds that her android assistant is different from what she was expecting.

A supernatural tale that begins with a woman seeing a ghost's face in the window of her living room in her 17th floor apartment.

A touching story about a young man's mission after losing his mom to cancer.

A wacky tale of a snowman who wants to see the ocean.

And a 21 Chapter webtoon script about the worst day in a woman's life.

Also, some personal poems about insecurity, anxiety, and resilience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frank Hyden
• Release date: May 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215722862

Frank Hyden

Frank Hyden has spent his entire life reading and watching every book, movie, and TV show he can in his relentless pursuit of knowledge. He considers open-mindedness and empathy to be among the most important traits one should strive for. A lifelong sports fan, Frank enjoys following the ups and downs of a game and season.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

The stories contained in this book are ones I’ve had in my head for a while. They range from short stories to what some people call microstories.

I’ve also included poems in this book, though I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a poet. The only reason they’re in here is because I’ve heard that you need to be willing to be vulnerable and potentially embarrass yourself in order to grow as a person.

My first love was comic books, they played a defining role in teaching me to read. As I grew up I wanted to know what the characters were saying to each other. To that end, I’ve also included comic scripts for most of the stories. The only one that doesn’t have a comic script is Jimmy Redboots. I’ve also included a few other comic scripts that don’t have accompanying novelizations, including a 21 Chapter webtoon about the worst day of a hard-working woman’s life.

Perfervid means strong or overwrought emotion.

Cathexis means holding mental or emotional energy for a person, idea, or object. This can manifest to an unhealthy degree.

A common theme of the stories I write and the ones I like to read is strong emotion. I believe most people are like this, though. We want the characters we read or watch to mirror us. Not necessarily in terms of what we believe but what we do. You may not always agree with a character but hopefully you can relate to them acting on a strong emotion. We’ve all been there so it’s easy to ask yourself what you would do. What if you did B instead of A? How would things have been different? Most of us take the safe option but we always wonder what if?

There’s a lot of different stuff here, and it’s not all as polished as it should be, but I hope you can find something to like. I’ve included my email so that I can be contacted with any feedback, good or bad.

One last thing. I’ve tried to format this book properly but some areas might not have turned out as well as I would wish. I apologize for any errors.

Thank you for reading,

Frank Hyden  ([e-mail])

STORIES

The stories included here have ideas that I found interesting but couldn’t really turn them into full novels. Most are told in a single chapter or installment, the obvious exception being my Abigail Yamamoto story.

I don’t know if others will find anything here as interesting as I do but I hope so. If not, that’s all right. I’ll just try even harder for my next collection of stories.

My series, Kingdom of Zarias, is longform storytelling but I wanted to try my hand at stories on a smaller scale. The emotions and desires in the stories here are anything but small but I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could still make impactful stories in short story form.

Whether I’ve succeeded or not is something I’ll leave up to others to decide.

Thank you for reading,

Frank Hyden  ([e-mail])

Abigail Yamamoto  Part 1

Dark Secrets

A black luxury sedan sits parked just outside the front double doors of a large industrial building. A blue and white sign reading Yamamoto Medical Facility & Research Laboratory hangs to the right of the glass double doors. Much of the front exterior of the building is made of glass. It's May 30, 2080 in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. The rest of the parking lot is filled with various cars and vans.

The driver's door of the black sedan opens and a young Asian woman steps out. She's wearing a black three-piece suit with white pinstripes, black socks, dark brown loafers, and black leather gloves. She stands 5'2" with shimmering brown eyes and has her long black hair tied back into a ponytail. This is Abigail West.

Abigail removes her suit jacket and smoothes her crisp fitted white blouse and black with white pinstripes vest before straightening her matching necktie to ensure she looks her best before leaning back into the car and grabbing a black briefcase. She closes the car door and enters the sliding double doors and walks into the building.

Abigail strides confidently down the hall. There's no one at the front desk or in the halls but Abigail knows exactly where she's going. She passes numerous closed doors until she reaches her destination, room 126. She enters the room of an injured Asian man named Shigeru Yamamoto. The sickly-looking man has cuts and bruises all over his body. His salt and pepper hair is short but messy and he has a month's worth of beard growth, also salt and pepper. He's clearly been severely beaten and is hooked up to several machines, including one connected to his brain.

Abigail silently closes the door and sets her briefcase down on a nearby table, opening it and pulling out a flash drive that she's going to use to download the injured man's brain onto. Things were a lot different when they first met and Abigail begins thinking back to various moments from their past.

They first met 10 years ago when Abigail applied to come work for Shigeru, who was a brilliant scientist. Her intelligence and dedication allowed her to quickly rise through the ranks until she became Shigeru's most trusted assistant. There was an undeniable spark between the two and Abigail was swept off of her feet by the charming scientist and inventor. He proposed after a few years of dating.

Abigail's memories are interrupted as she remembers her mission. She puts the flash drive into the machine connected to Shigeru's brain and the download is started. Abigail hears something coming from the hallway and looks that way just as four armed soldiers enter the room brandishing rifles and wearing heavy body armor and helmets.

Freeze! Don't move! The first soldier yells. Abigail slowly turns her head toward him. He's 5'10" with light brown skin and dark brown eyes. With surprising speed Abigail grabs the barrel of his rifle with her right hand and rips it out of his hands as she swings her body around and punches him with a powerful left hook that cracks the man's helmet and sends him stumbling into the wall.

Fire! The second soldier shouts as Abigail spins and kicks him in the stomach, sending the pale-skinned man flying backwards into the opposite wall. She then spins again and grabs the third soldier and tosses him into the fourth soldier and they both crash to the floor.

As Abigail fights the soldiers, memories of her past with Shigeru flood her mind. They were married in an extravagant wedding surrounded by dozens of their friends and family. A year after they were married, Abigail got pregnant and the couple was incredibly happy. However, it wasn't to be as Abigail tragically suffered a miscarriage and lost the baby despite the best efforts of her doctors. The tragedy was compounded when Abigail suffered from eclampsia and the doctors had to fight to save her life.

We've got to stop that download! The light tan-skinned third soldier shouts as he aims his rifle at Abigail. However, as he pulls the trigger she's on him and attacking him with stunning speed. His shots miss and hit the ceiling as Abigail grabs him and throws him into the first soldier as he starts to stand. She then punches the second soldier in the sternum and would have severely injured him if it wasn't for the heavy body armor all the men are wearing. As it is, the soldier has the wind knocked out of him and he falls back to the floor. Abigail follows that up by spinning and kicking the legs out from under the fourth soldier. He hits the ground with a thud and she knocks him out with a swift punch to the jaw. More memories continue to come to Abigail as she gets shot in the left shoulder by the first soldier. She remembers arguing with Shigeru.

Abigail? This isn't you! Shigeru yelled at her as they argued in his office. She's wearing the same outfit she has on now. She would never act this way! Abigail then punches Shigeru a few times and nearly kills him.

The next memory Abigail has is of her and a middle-aged Latino man with a prominent silver streak in his dark brown hair and eyes and wearing a fancy gray suit standing in a hospital room.

We need to be very careful with how we proceed. The man's name is Enrique Dawson and he's an extremely wealthy businessman and owner of Dawson Industries who's just initiated a hostile takeover of Shigeru's company. The pair are standing in Shigeru's hospital room in the Yamamoto Facility. Shigeru lays in the bed behind them, beaten into a coma and hooked up to a variety of machines.

In current time Abigail grabs her wounded left shoulder and angrily glares at the first soldier. Electrical sparks and loose wires are exposed in Abigail's shoulder. She's an android duplicate who was created by Shigeru after Abigail got pregnant. It was to serve as Shigeru's assistant, which was Abigail's job previously. Abigail died from complications involving her pregnancy. Shigeru couldn't deal with her death so he created more androids to help him with his grief. She wasn't made for combat, she was made to help the world and become the first android helper. The plan was to create an army of Abigail Androids, a lasting tribute to the woman Shigeru loved more than anything. However, that idea was perverted by Enrique Dawson, who saw the combat potential and how much money could be made. Enrique began plotting and planning to take over Yamamoto Medical and Research.

Abigail rushes the first soldier from across the room and punches him in the stomach before following that with a vicious uppercut that knocks him out. More shots fill the air as the second soldier has pulled his pistol out and is shooting Abigail three times in the back. She turns and glares at him before charging, getting shot a few more times but the other shots miss as she grabs him by the throat. Sparks fly from Abigail's additional wounds as she lifts the second soldier into the air and starts to squeeze his throat. More shots ring out as the third soldier is firing his pistol at Abigail as he rushes at her with a large knife in his right hand. She turns her head to look at him and he plunges the large knife into her left eye. Her body convulses as sparks fly everywhere and she slumps to the floor, releasing the second soldier.

Got it! The third soldier says as he pulls the flash drive out of the console next to Shigeru's bed.

We need backup! The second soldier struggles to say into his radio as he grabs his throat.

Hopefully that didn't wipe Shigeru's mind! The third soldier checks on his unconscious comrades.

Yeah, assuming he's still in there! The second soldier says. With Shigeru beaten into a coma Enrique took the opportunity to fast-track production of more Abigail Androids and to implant new protocols into them to turn them into the world's most expensive security force.

Yeah, the only question now is...would Shigeru even want to live in a world where Abigail's dead and his androids have been twisted for evil purposes? The third soldier asks.

Elsewhere, Abigail Yamamoto floats unconscious in a green liquid-filled stasis tank. She has an oxygen mask on to keep her alive and is wearing a black sports bra and shorts.

Abigail Yamamoto  Part 2 

The Truth

Abigail Yamamoto is floating in a green liquid-filled stasis tank. She has an oxygen mask on and a tube running into her left arm. She's been kept in this coma for weeks, ever since she had a medical emergency while pregnant that resulted in her losing the baby as well as suffering eclampsia herself.

For months, the cutthroat businessman Enrique Dawson had been highly interested in taking over Yamamoto Medical and Research, the company run by Abigail's brilliant husband Shigeru. When Abigail had her medical emergency Enrique saw his opportunity and acted. He used his money and power to make it appear as though Abigail died, allowing him to take advantage of Shigeru's grief and launch a hostile takeover.

When Abigail first became pregnant Shigeru began working on an android version of her to serve as his assistant. Enrique saw the potential for the military and security use of the android and suggested a partnership between his company, Dawson Industries, and Shigeru's company. Shigeru agreed to mass-produce his Abigail Androids but only under the condition that they be used as personal assistants or perhaps even companions. Shigeru made it very clear that under no circumstances were the androids to be used for combat purposes.

Enrique went behind Shigeru's back and had his scientists begin modifying the Abigail Androids for combat. Shigeru found out and confronted Enrique, which led to Abigail being poisoned and suffering her medical emergency. Abigail died on April 12th.

Believing Abigail to be dead, Shigeru threw himself into his work and finished the Abigail Android, only for it to be corrupted by Enrique's programming. It was ordered to attack and kill him and would have succeeded if not for Yamamoto Medical and Research guards who subdued it and saved Shigeru's life. Shigeru fell into a coma as a result of his injuries and Enrique used this time to launch a hostile takeover.

Enrique has Abigail kept in a stasis tank and medically sedated. However, a storm last night temporarily knocked power out to the building. The backup generators immediately switched on but the two second delay led to the machine powering the stasis tank to malfunction. Abigail's no longer being sedated.

Abigail's eyes pop open as she looks around. The green liquid in the stasis tank obscures most of her vision but she knows she needs to free herself. Abigail's breathing quickens as she begins to thrash about in the tank. She puts her feet onto the front panel of the tank and braces her back against the other side and pushes as hard as she can but there's no movement. Panic sets in as Abigail has no idea if or when her oxygen will run out. She continues to push as hard as she can, her legs shaking with the effort. Finally, the panel gives way and Abigail and it fall to the floor, the unknown green liquid spilling out as well.

Abigail rips off the oxygen mask as she stands, tearing out the clear tube connected to her left arm as well. She looks down at herself and sees she's wearing a black sports bra and shorts before shakily walking over to a nearby computer desk as she holds her head. She has a pounding headache but has to push through it as she has more important matters to deal with. The room she's in is cold and generic, it looks like a typical office. The computer at the desk hums to life as Abigail presses the power button. She clicks around for a little bit as she rubs her temples until she comes across a news website and is stunned by what she sees.

What? Abigail's eyes bulge in shock as she reads the headline 30 Abigail Androids Delivered To Texas To Aid In Flood Relief. The sub headline is even more shocking. Shigeru Yamamoto Made The Androids In Honor Of His Late Wife Abigail, Who Died During Childbirth.

How...what...I, I... Abigail sputters as she puts her left hand on her stomach. The memories are starting to return. She was pregnant when something went wrong and she began having labor pains despite it being months too early. She remembers laying in the hospital bed pleading with the doctors to save her baby. Her eyes fill with tears as she also remembers Shigeru looking very worried, something she had never seen from him before.

Abigail remembers losing the baby and the feeling of her heart being ripped out of her. She sobs as the pain washes over her. For several minutes she sits and cries at their loss. It's only when she thinks of Shigeru and how much pain he must be in that she forces herself to stand. Shigeru believes that both the baby and Abigail are dead. She has to go to him, she has to find him.

Abigail takes a moment to compose herself before opening the only door in the sterile-looking room and walking into an empty hallway. A staircase on the left side of the hallway leads up to another door. She slowly walks up the stairs and opens the door, peering out. The walls are painted a light yellow and the hallway buzzes with activity. Scientists, doctors, and workers walk the floor, most paying no attention to Abigail. However, an Abigail Android is walking towards her about 15 feet away and has seen her. The android is wearing a crisp white fitted blouse along with a black necktie, vest, and slacks with white pinstripes, black socks, dark brown loafers, and black leather gloves.

What are you doing? Why are you out of uniform? The Abigail Android asks as it approaches.

Um... Abigail says as she's flabbergasted at the sight of herself in android form.

What's wrong? Is your vocal chip malfunctioning? The Abigail Android asks.

I...I... Abigail can only stammer in wide-eyed wonder as she touches the right shoulder of the Abigail Android.

Come on, let's get you dressed! The Abigail Android says as it gestures to another door further down the hallway. And don't try to speak! If they find out you're defective you'll be scrapped! Abigail follows the android into the dressing room, where several racks of clothes are lined up against the wall. A decommissioned Abigail Android sits in three pieces against the