Day (Book)

*Day* is the commencement story for Eli Laffe, one of the 16.

## Summary

Eli Laffe is a late thirties co-project manager at a marketing firm in Seattle. After he starts having visions of the future when he looks into pools of water, he becomes introverted and uncharacteristic, which doesn't go unnoticed by his son or wife. At about the same time as his visions begin, Eli takes up a part time gig with a private company that works in criminal justice, and is tasked with searching empty warehouses for anything suspicious.

He soon finds out that the firm is actually working for the US government to look for hidden nuclear weapons in a defensive response to the current tension between Russia and the US after the US backed rebels in Russian controlled Bolivia. He quits, but finds himself in a position to help stop the war between the US and Russia before it begins, of course with the use of his ability to step through time. At first he can only see visions, but learns how to actually time travel. Afterward, the US finds out about his ability and seeks to interrogate him.

## Plot

Eli goes on a trip with his family and discovers he can see visions in pools of water. He takes a job with a research firm that is employed by the government to look for nuclear elements that have been stores by the Russian government in the USA. His supervisor for the gig, a late 40's polynesian man named Tam, gives him his first mission, which he succeeds in (it's an easy search mission), and then his second one--after which the reader sees the person who supervises Tam, another man who questions the Eli's competency.

On Eli's second mission, he is tasked with working with another woman who helps him search the warehouse. He is captured and masked, given sedative, and taken to a Russian base off the coast of Jamaica. He is there with the woman and they are both questioned. An American mission comes shortly thereafter and rescues them. The way Eli gets out while working with the woman is that he sees a time in the future when one of their guards is threatened, and warns him before then, similar to a Joseph-cupbearer story, and the man starts giving him food. Eventually the US comes, and Eli is able to give good word about the man. He also is able to help the woman who is also given food.

Then (of course) it's the United States' job to interrogate him. They do and get nothing out of him initially, and let him go. Eli goes back to his wife and has to tell her everything that happened. He doesn't lie as there's no point. At this point their marriage gets rocky and Eli promises to quit; he does, but he's contacted again by Tam. He tells Tam he can't, but doesn't stop thinking about it. Afterward he tries to attend some classes about what he's experiencing but no one get it. Until one day his wife calls him out and he's able to use his ability at this point to say what will happen a few minutes from then. His wife is surprised; she's the only other one who knows now. Eventually Eli gets into an affair with Riley, because they had been talking a lot beforehand and grew close; unintentionally they get together. Actually they get together *before* he tells Sarah about his power; he ends up telling Riley first because he starts to trust her more than anyone. That's when they have an affair, that night. Riley is one of the few people that Eli knows who is religious; he feels accepted and not as judged to tell her about his weird thing. After she finds out about this, Riley figures he must be someone of importance and wants to show him to her Scientology people.

So he comes back to some meetings; he had been to one before initially. Now the members especially some of the leaders are enamored by his ability.

Later when Eli tells Sarah about the ability, he also tells her that he joined Scientology. Sarah is fine with this but confused and realizes something else must be going on.

A majority of the story shows Eli in Scientology and a dynamic there with the leaders, etc. Basically, one of the leaders wants to climb to ranks and makes friends with Eli. He asks him to tell his about his future, which Eli does. But he lies. In the future, Eli sees this man being shot be another one of the leaders, so he lies and says that he will become a leader if he sticks to his duties. However someone else is promoted in his spot; he convinces himself that he's supposed to be the leader due to Eli's prophecy and instead sets up a coup where he kills the guy who should have killed him...according to the vision. It's here when Eli sees that his visions aren't set in stone.

Another dark part of the plot happens in the middle of family stuff with Eli and Riley/her husband. Basically Shay opens the door to Eli's daughter and his girlfriend having sex; it's established before this that Eli's daughter (in the story Shay is Eli's son and the daughter belongs to Riley and Ross, but I think I'll make it Eli's daughter) is a lesbian when she and Shay are talking. Obviously Shay is shocked, etc. to see his girlfriend having sex with Eli's daughter. A bit later, Shay makes a plan with his friend to drug Eli because--of all people--Shay finds out about Eli's "power" and he doesn't believe it but he and his friend banter until they decide to test it out. So they slip some drugs into Eli's drink and get him to answer some questions. Unknowingly, Eli spills out a vision he's having of a future event of Shay raping his daughter, and he *says this outloud* to Shay and his friend. Essentially, this spurs a thought Shay already had, and he ends up indeed raping his daughter that night. It may be (possible) that instead of Eli stating this revelation, he instead tells that he and his girlfriend are having sex, and Shay goes to find the spot then and there, and then rapes Eli's daughter on the spot, while his friend takes the friend and maybe rapes her.

Eli doesn't find this out until later, when his daughter tells him and he threatens Shay, who tells him what happened with the drugs.