by Paul Harm
Joseph had developed a couple of theories about her. His favorite one was that she was simply lonely, but not like the loneliness most people experienced. It was deeper a profound sense of being lost. No. Not lost. He never thought of her as lost, more like rooted in herself. Where other people and minds and individuals rooted in each other and thus creating the social order and the meta for a consensus among what are basically a conglomerate of bodies, she seemed to be absent from this intervened network of humans - society so to speak, an island. And he felt like he was her only boat, coming by every month listening to her dreams on an island dark and wild, old and mystic, strange and beautiful and as he was lying on the shores of her mind, he could not help himself but miss her even though he was there. Right next to her. It did not make sense. His second theory which had been his favorite one for a long time was that she was actually an AI a friend of him put together just to mess with him. Even though he never really could get rid of that theory it made him check her medical records he naturally had access to. Melinda Finch, the first page stated, born on the 16th of October 2454. Vaccinations, a couple of broken bones, one stationary hospital stay. Nothing. If he had to make up the most average person her file would be his source of inspiration. He was so paranoid at the beginning of his sessions with her he even cross checked it thrice with other institutions just in case he had gotten hacked by his friends. No. She was real. Strange, sure, but real. “You’re making a fool out of yourself Joseph!” His inner voice screamed out as he deleted the file shaking his head while he did it and stood up to go home. - Maybe I’m just bored now that the kid is out of the house and I’m feeling a hole in my life, maybe I should let myself get checked too. - He waved goodbye to Gabriela on his way out.
XII. Crystal Clear Blue Mountains
Melinda was already sitting in her chair when Joseph entered the room, leaving him a bit surprised but that was just like her and he got used to it to a point where he would get suspicious if she did not surprise him. “How are you, Melinda? I didn’t expect you here for another couple of minutes.” “I’m fine, I guess. Or am I?” She smiled, and her red hair flew through the air for a moment. “I had another dream Joseph.” “But we never talked about the former one or the one before that one. I understand you...” “I don’t want to talk about them, I need you to listen, that’s all, it helps me the most.” She smiled at him and it was enough to shake away his resolution of going into details today. “I ensure you even though I don’t say it I appreciate you listening. It makes me feel like I can tell my story.” “It’s alright, Melinda that’s what I’m here for after all, and you seem to be in a very good psychological condition.” “Thank you, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Joseph blushed. “As I was saying, I had another dream.” “What was it about?” “It was strange, everything was colored in white and blue. The frozen lake was icy blue, and the surroundings were covered in white snow which still fell out of the sky in big white flakes. Icicles hung all over the scenery and were reaching the ground from immense heights. It seemed winter’s grasp had held this place for a decade already and it did not seem like it was going to loosen its grip any time soon.” Joseph nodded and shuddered imagining the cold.
“The scenery is bizarre as I watch it transition from a peaceful winter scene into a desolate frozen desert. Icicles grew over icicles and the harsh wind forced them into engrossed and sharp forms. The freezing cold grabs me and I feel its deadly intentions. We’re out in the countryside and the crystal blue hillocks must have been dwellings in what seems a long gone past now. The wind starts to increase, and it cuts deep into my exposed skin, I hurry up and shield my face from the cold. A signal light burns in the distance, we walk towards it.” “Who’s there with you, Melinda?” Melinda looked shocked as if she just realized she never knew who was besides or even consciously be aware of his presence. “I honestly don’t know, but...” She took a long breath and sighed. “No, I don’t know who that might be. I think it’s a man, though. We’re heading for something, it feels like we have a plan or at least a destination to go to escape the deadly cold.” Melinda shrugged. “Is there anything around you that you have a feeling towards?” “No, there’s nothing, just the ice, the sub-zero cold, a grey twilight shines above us giving us enough light to see. A bright white dot behind the clouds seems to be the sun.
We walk for what seems to be an eternity. In the far distance the silhouette of a city starts to appear. As we get closer it turns out to be a conglomerate of frozen houses and skyscrapers, everything covered in wind-formed icicles. It looks hostile as we approach, and lifeless. As we get into the city we cross a huge bridge and see a tower with a frozen clock on it, the features of the tower look like Gothic revival architectural style.” “That’s surprisingly accurate, Melinda.” “I don’t know why this feature feels so familiar to me. Below the bridge heading towards the tower there’s a huge river entirely frozen. Everything is frozen here, everything. I feel the cold crawling in the not so isolated parts of my suit and I’m starting to freeze, I don’t expect to make it to our goal.” “What about your companion, does he notice?” “He guides me and makes sure I stay safe I know that’s what he does.” “That sounds good, all things considered.” “I sense his disarray, he’s worried himself.”
Melinda’s upper body fell into her knees and her hands caught her face she started to rub her eyes and slowly re-established her composure. “Where was I, right the goal of our journey. We’re heading for what I suppose must be the middle of the city, there we should be safe, and help is on its way. We spend a night in one of the skyscrapers and when the wind is gone the cold is tolerable inside. We go directly to sleep since our food ran out about a day ago. When we wake the next morning, I get up and we start heading for the center of the city. The deathly winds are howling through the streets with a new-found enthusiasm. Every meter we manage is a quest in itself. My companion starts to dwindle and falls aside the street. I try to help him, but he’s already asleep when I kneel down and look at him, I shake him violently. Eventually he awakes looking at me with reproachful eyes. He can’t get up though, so I drag him into the next shelter.
Inside I’m looking for things to burn to get him warm again. But I don’t find anything useful, even inside things are so cold you can’t touch anything without gloves or your fingers freeze onto it. As I get my body close to his and push him on my lap he starts to regenerate a bit. I can hear the deathly wind subside and I decide we have to move on since we ran out of food.” Melinda’s eyes closed about a minute ago. “Are you alright, Melinda?” “No, we’re almost finished, and we have no way to get to safety but that doesn’t matter, we have to try. I get him up and we’re heading towards the center of the city again, with the wind gone it is manageable. We arrive at a bizarre looking hall, which basically looks like a slanting football, split in half horizontally. As he spots it my companion raises his arms in the humanly unified gesture of victory.
He gestures me to come and his speed increases drastically. As we approach the structure he keeps looking for an entry and he finds one too. We’re going through a door into the main building and it seems desolated. After a couple of corridors, we’re heading for the basement. As we approach a door in front of us we can hear some sounds coming from the inside and we decide to take off our face shields. It’s warmer in here, it’s actually really warm in here and we can hear a murmuring sound from somewhere. As my companion swings open the huge metal gate via the control panel we see at least a hundred-people living inside the hall. They look at us in disbelief and one of them runs towards us dragging us in and closing the door behind us instantly.” Melinda reaches for a glass of water and takes a huge sip. “What follows is a long conversation between them and my companion. I watch it from afar while the people there take care of me. What seems to be a refugee center is, as it turns out, a meteorological research station, where they’re gathering all kinds of meteorological data.”
Melinda looked at Jose
ph and he could not say what was wrong with her glance until it hit him like a brick. Her eyes radiated crystal blue like a frozen lake under which a million fireflies were shining through, blinking in and out of existence. Her eyes slowly turned back to that magical and mystical green. He froze, and it took him some moments to get himself together. Under Melinda’s unbroken glance he fought his way back to reality and psychic stability just to be crushed by her again. “What’s wrong, Joseph? Are you seeing the ice?” He swallowed. “What ice?” What was wrong with that woman? It had been the first time the session with her resembled an almost regular one. But now it was all gone again, Joseph’s sight blurred and he grabbed the side of his seat to not fall while sitting. - It’s alright, you’re alright - he kept saying to himself and with that normality returned to the room.
Melinda leaned back in her seat, kind of waiting for him without admitting that he was gone or whatever it was. “What happened next?” Melinda looked at him with a warmth he never felt from her before instead of the draining, confusing and threatening feeling he usually gets. Nothing but soft and fluffy warmth. It felt so good he felt tears building up in his eyes. - Oh my god what is happening to me. Am I losing it? - “As I was saying we’re in a research facility and it’s well equipped. There are all sorts of computer equipment, some sort of control center in the upper left corner of this huge subterranean hall and all of the stuff looks quite up to date, they even have their own power source. Screens are all over the place and lots of desks to work on. It seemed to be a scientific endeavor.” “Your memory is quite accurate, Melinda, it seems this dream has a lot of meaning to you.” “If you say so, Doc. My companion is turning towards me and is telling me that we have to leave soon because they’re not a hotel and we were the last civilians left in the area, all the others had been evacuated a long time ago.” “I see so there was some sort of catastrophe?” “I’m not sure, to be honest.”
“As we prepare for our journey to the west we pack our packages and regather our strength before we start the trip. The scientists get us a hovercraft to cross the frozen ground. So after preparing food rations, fuel and calling in for a larger hovercraft from the mainland to pick up two lost civilians, we’re almost good to go. Our pilot isn’t very talkative, and he keeps scratching his head nervously every now and then. As we get the clearance and the estimate landing of the pickup boat from the main land we’re on our way to cross the tundra.” Melinda fell back into her seat. “We’re about to go when one of the scientists runs towards us and gives the pilot a note we can’t see. After getting in our suits we go on board the hovercraft which is warm and neat inside with an energy system and an isolated passenger chamber, it’s very reassuring.
The pilot starts the engines and we begin to hover above the ground when two additional turbines kick in from the rear and we’re accelerating with about 2G towards travelling speed for a couple of seconds. As far as I can tell all of the equipment is military. We’re about half of our way to the shore as the icy landscape were flying by and dusk was falling upon the land fast. As I was looking out of the window I see a green shimmer descending from the sky, like watercolors slowly falling to the bottom of a glass, when a brush with green paint dipped on top of its surface. I look at my companion and I point towards the sky. The northern lights reflect in his eyes and their beauty is beyond imagination. It has a hypnotic fascination and as we press our faces against the glass the northern lights intensify more and more. Green light radiates over us to a point where the pilot looks up as well because all the icy landscape around us starts to slightly glow green. What was at first the most magical thing I’ve ever seen starts to become increasingly intense to a point where all the sky seemed to burn in a violent green blaze. The pilot picks up the radio and calls the science station to report the phenomena. No answer, and the static was the only thing we hear for a couple of seconds before it turns into white noise. The pilot looks at us in disbelief, and he looks worried but at the same time he has his orders and maybe it’s just the equipment malfunctioning. As the Northern Lights still burn in the sky and the night becomes bright as day the cockpit’s control lights start to flicker more and more until a couple of minutes later the light in them vanishes. Just as they do the engine stops and we’re dead in the water, so to speak. At this time the instruments in the cockpit finally fail us completely. A blue corona flashes through the sky the northern lights are gone for a moment as the night turns into a strange blue for a couple of seconds. The beauty of it carries a cruel secret. In fact, it was the pale horseman in yet another disguise. Who this time is coming for all of humanity. We leave our hovercraft and head for the western shore hoping the other hovercraft is still on its way. It was a three days hike and the pilot decides to head back eastwards for the compound to check if they’re in trouble and if not return with help. His trip will take another day.”
Melinda looked at the ceiling after reaching for her tea. She almost looked like she was cold. “What about your companion, is he still with you?” “Yes, he’s still with me.” She answered after a meditative gulp from her tea. “He is.” “Who’s he?” After a long pause Melinda answered: “I’m not sure, but I feel nothing but love from this man and as long as he’s around I feel like I’m immune to harm.” “I see.” - Another father figure I suppose, that’s interesting that he doesn’t seem to be a permanent dream citizen but a recurring one. - Joseph took a mental note. “We’re packing our tent, food and other necessary stuff and are on our way towards the shore, as the northern lights return, and they radiate an almost hostile red, which is reflecting all over the icy ground around us. Crystal clear blue mountains in the distance and a red sky above us combined with a hostile chill.” “How do you feel?” “If it wasn’t for my companion I’d feel lost, but he guides me through the valley of darkness and he’s my evening star standing strong in an ever-changing world.”
Melinda took her teacup and blew slightly into it making it steam a little more. She looked more fragile than Joseph had ever seen her. For the blink of an eye all color left her, and she was pale white almost as if the frost had her tightly gripped. She sighed and looked at Joseph with tired eyes. All masks were falling now, and Joseph could see how exhausted a part of this strong woman was. “It’s ok.” Joseph looked deep in her empty eyes. “No, it isn’t, but that doesn’t matter any longer.” What was that sensation? Was that sorrow? After all these sessions she seemed to finally open up about something. Something real. If Joseph wasn’t right there seeing the tumble in Melinda’s soul did in front of him, he would not believe it. Something bad must have happened causing these dreams. - An icy landscape, the blue corona and the change in color, the following catastrophe with the hovercraft, it was a journey downwards - Joseph could not help but feeling as if he is missing something.
“We travel for two days when we finally reach the shore.” She seemed tired and exhausted as she recalled it, even more than before. “When we arrive at the arranged coordinates we see that the ocean is frozen, as far as we can tell it’s frozen till the horizon. There’s no hovercraft, there’s nothing but a frozen wasteland behind us, a frozen ocean ahead of us and an abandoned city around us.” Melinda seemed lost, she reached one more time for her tea to have something to hold on to. “We’re almost out of food and we’ve been freezing for two days now, we have no idea how to get away or what to do. After we go into a building and remove our face shields we decide to stay near the pickup point and hope either they still come, or the pilot returns with help from the compound.” Joseph sat on the edge of his seat, of course metaphorically because that story was hopeless, and he wanted her to say that the hovercraft came. God, he wanted her to tell him that the hovercraft came. There was a strange sorrow in her voice today much like on the day she started to tell him about her dreams. That stranger, her companion there was something about him that’s continuity.
“After five days we’re sure to never get picked up, the city fortunately stores some stacks of cans and burna
ble wood, so we can survive for years to come. We light signal fires at the roof during the nights. It’s a magical scenery. The Northern Lights still in red have been illuminating all the surroundings for five nights now. Their red glow in the sky has a graceful desperation to them. I start to think about heading back to the compound, but my companion insists on staying where we are, lighting fires at night and just hanging in there. Eventually rescue arrives on the ninth night, but it doesn’t feel like good news though the captain of the hovercraft is relieved to find us. But even he is worried. We soon discover why. After the blue lights showed up in the sky nine days ago he has no communication with anyone. His engineers are working day and night to fix their broken ship but can’t fix it. That’s what we do and after an eternity on the ice we arrive at their boat and make haste towards the main ship. It was a huge thing and it still had freezing temperatures. The captain’s engineers made some adjustments and headed with star and compass towards the big American city at the east shore, they somehow get an oil engine running and we were on our way.”
Melinda’s green eyes focused on Joseph and he felt a strange pain running through his bones. “Have you ever stood on the top of a mountain during a lightning storm?” She hurt him somehow, he did not know how but she had him in her grip for a second like a spider closing in on its prey she held him tightly ready to sink her poisonous teeth into his flesh. “No, I haven’t, but I don’t see how this is...” “I have, Mr. Grey I stood at the mountaintop and I raised my fist against god screaming at him in violent agony for what he did to me, for what he did to all of us. Can’t you see? We’re all living in an ever-dying universe, constantly collapsing into itself. But I’ll not vanish quietly into the night.” She smiled and with that all his pain turned into relief. “I have to go now.”
