Chapter 3

Ms. Cicada was a middle aged woman, roughly mid to late fifties. While her name had been at the bottom of Professor Pravat’s list, Ms. Cicada was the first to agree to meet with Asura. In fact eager may have been the best word to describe her. She lived in a turn of the century brownstone on the west side of downtown. It was a recently revitalized part of the city, lined with oak trees and coffee shops. Ms. Cicada’s office was neatly furnished but her life’s work was on display throughout the few rooms Asura could see as he entered.

Entomology is a vague term that covers a broad range of animals, normally, commonly insects. Ms. Cicada had a beautiful collection of carefully pinned subjects. There were colorful butterflies and moths, with detailed patterns on their wings. Dragonflies and bees. And then there was the singularly impressive crown jewel of her collection. While she had a number of fireflies from around the world, Ms. Cicada had a single local glow worm. This lightning bug was encased in a bright yellow glob of tree resin.

The welcoming woman had tottered off to get her tray of tea and biscuits. This left Asura to poke around, looking at her collection. As she returned Ms. Cicada smiled, Asura was held captive like everyone.

“If you wait a few million years that will become a lovey hard piece of amber. But it’s only a hundred years old, give or take a few years.”

“I’ve never seen a firefly look like that. What is it?”

“It’s a local species, which is fairly uncommon. They don’t leave valley, and the oldest record of them is only two hundred years ago.”

“Why is that odd?”

“Well there are more than 2000 species worldwide, most glow or light. The Lampyridaev in this part of the world however, don’t. Except our local ones. And unlike the species that do glow, this one has a red glow, not yellow.”

“That is odd. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.”

“I’m not surprised. They have cycles of hibernation like many insects. But also a large portion of their habitat was cut down long ago.”

“Oh that’s so sad.”

“True, but the world is funny. As the forest comes back, so too have they.”

“The forest? Is coming back?”

“Well, it came back. The Dark Woods. You know about it?”

“Some, I’m meeting a Dr. Wharton to talk about it.”

“Bobbie, really? Ask him what he thinks about the Fuckbug.”

“The what?!”

“Oh it’s just a silly nickname. It’s really just a firefly. A lightning bug. Yet, its red glow does have the most unusual effect on people.”

“Wh ... how?

“Well the red glow of the firefly’s tail is a particular wavelength that induces a subject’s cerebral cortex to produce powerful surges of dopamine, making them feel good. This increase in dopamine triggers hormones and neurotransmitters putting the subject in a heightened state of extreme arousal. This state will vary from person to person and can last between ten minutes and two hours. Usually. I have heard of one case where the subject, poor girl, was in such a state for three days.

“That’s. That’s just not possible. How’s that possible?”

“Young man, what you need to understand is that when the Wolf’s head comet passes by it effects the valley, and not all its effects are the same.”

“Why? What is so special about this one comet? How could it possibly have such effects? Or even effect the city?”

“Great questions. Like so much of life, they are best left to others to debate. I can only tell that happens. And I choose to focus on one some part of this valley. Just the entomology. I have known people who went looking for deeper answers. Madness has already found them. Be careful how deep you dive. There are things that go bump, both in day as well as night.”

Leaving Ms. Cicada’s home and office Asura’s head started hurting, this was twice in two days. He wasn’t sure he could handle much more without blowing his top. His mind was in a state of complete disbelief. There was a bug that could cause people to have sex. No, of course he hadn’t believed it. Not that she expected him too. Document after document, sworn affidavits confirming the story were pulled from filing cabinets. How could this be real? And from the sound of it, Asura had just scratched the surface of the weirdness of Wolferton Valley.

He wasn’t scheduled to meet with Dr. Wharton until next week. But a call from Ms. Cicada and the scientist cleared his schedule for his old friend. He agreed to meet Asura for coffee within an hour, on the south side. This was just outside the zone. A highly restricted area of the city that was walled off and patrolled by the MS division of police.

While it didn’t have the large number of high rise offices that downtown had, the zone architecture was straight out of a sci-fi movie. Gleaming towers of steel, chrome and glass. There were tubes and walk ways that connected buildings together. The only thing Asura knew for sure was all of the cities power, it’s 100% green energy come from within the zone. A hundred years ago, it was steam power. Today, only the scientists working in the zone knew for sure.

Doctor Robert “Bobbie” Wharton, was a short fat little man. His hair almost completely grey, was kept long and pulled back into a messy hippy ponytail. The lines of age were long on his face, from too many years spent on research, and yet he seemed a jolly fellow as he laughed loudly and hard. The coffee shop they met in was clearly trying to look a certain name brand without using the name. With the green and white logos and strong use of venti and grande. Still the coffee was smooth and calming. Dr. Wharton helped ease Asura’s pounding head of disbelief.