Squaring the Circle

by B K Brain

  “Your new experiment?”

  “Yes. Reality is governed by perception. Perception is consciousness. Therefore, I seek to define consciousness, to master it.”

  “How?”

  “To see each thread clearly, a fabric must be unraveled. Taken apart, piece by piece.” Sam smiled at the blonde. “I will achieve this with an experiment like none that has gone before, an exercise in reverse engineering.”

  David snapped a glance to Susan, then back to the doctor. “I won’t just stand by watching while you dissect her. If you touch her, I’ll-”

  “You’ll do nothing. And yes, you will watch and you will wait. But not because I need witnesses. No, we’ve moved beyond that now. All I need are test subjects. It will be your actions, David, that determine who’s next in line.” Sam pointed a stiff finger. “I dare you to test me.”

  Sam headed for the stairs. Priority one was getting back to the control room.

  He paused at the doorway. “The blonde will be staying here. The rest of you are free to roam the building, although I wouldn’t suggest going outside. The grounds are crawling with men that have been ordered to kill us. Who knows? There might even be a few inside by now. Do try to stay alive, would you?”

  5

  Garret waited in silence, sitting next to an open central air vent connecting one office to the next. The metal duct was a foot square, large enough to shimmy through, allowing undetected access to the north end of the facility.

  The radio. A static voice, “Final package delivered.”

  About damned time. “Copy.”

  With the generator charges in place, all that remained was getting to the machine itself, and detaching connections to the backup system batteries. Not an issue. Stealth was his specialty.

  He stowed his equipment in a duffle and ducked inside.

  The sun would be announcing a new day any second now. Nothing would please him more than ruining that day for a couple of pussy scientists.

  6

  Eddie tried to calm her breathing, shake the jitter out of her hands.

  She needed to force the vision aside, at least for now, because they were going the wrong direction. Had they come all this way for nothing?

  No. There had to be a way. So close, she thought. So close she could feel him all the time, almost see him. Could he feel her too? Could he…hear her?

  David?

  Cold, dead silence.

  David, I need you to talk to me.

  Screaming, distant. Then a sound. A word. A question…Eddie?

  Eddie gasped. Her eyes went painfully wide. It was him, in her head.

  She was finally getting somewhere.

  7

  Darkness tunneled around Cathleen’s vision. Her legs had gone wobbly. She couldn’t breathe. David did his best to hold her tight, keep her from falling, both down and apart, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered now.

  She’d seen two people die. Two people. And this nightmare was far from over. It was, according to the psychopath, time for the main event.

  Susan. She was so young, in her early twenties, fresh out of college. Her life had just begun. What was he going to do to her?

  A bad dream. That’s what this is.

  Sam was in the control room planning horrible things. Unspeakable things, for his next victim. Susan should’ve been running but at this point she could barely stand. And anyway, where would she go? Where could any of them go?

  Doug knelt down at Steve’s remains, in shock, screaming, his huge frame shuddering.

  David turned to glare at the observation window above. At Sam.

  Should they take their chances with the men outside? Anything was better than waiting to become Sam’s next guinea pig.

  “David, come on,” she said.

  Nothing.

  “David. We have to get out of here. Right now.”

  Sam reappeared at the doorway with an armload of equipment - a cardboard box with a computer keyboard sticking out the top, cords draped over the open flaps like a dead squid, and a flat screen monitor under one arm. He carried his load to the little table, humming an unrecognizable tune. He paid no attention to the people watching him. Almost like they weren’t there.

  David let go of Cathleen in favor of aiming the pistol at Sam’s head. She grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”

  The doctor surely saw him do it out of the corner of his eye, as he arranged supplies on the table and rummaged through the box. Sam dropped a cord and then kneeled down low to retrieve it. The nine-millimeter bead followed him all the way.

  David’s skin glistened with sweat. He rubbed eyes with his free hand. The pistol stuttered at its target. Sam knew the gun was on him, how could he not? He kept humming.

  “David,” Cathleen said. “Come on.”

  Sam walked back to the stairs. Again, the pistol followed. “Shoot him,” David whispered to himself. “Blow his fucking head off and end this.”

  “Stop. You know you can’t.”

  “Do I? Is that what I know?”

  “I need you, David. Please.”

  He lowered the pistol. “I hired Steve five years ago. I knew he was an asshole right from the start, but he came highly recommended. He was damn good at his job.”

  “I know.”

  “He was scared, that’s all. He didn’t deserve to die.”

  “I know.”

  “Neither does Susan,” he said. “We need to get her out of here.”

  “Yes. Now. While Sam’s distracted.”

  “You grab her. I’ll get Doug.”

  Cathleen turned to see Sam walk back through the door. He was headed for Susan.

  “No! Leave her alone!”

  He had Susan in a chokehold before she realized what was happening. Screaming, dear God, the screaming. Doug scrambled to his feet and spun to face Sam.

  “I’ll kill you, motherfucker,” he said.

  Sam only smiled, keeping a tight grip around her throat. Touching her, yet she didn’t disappear like Steve had. Why?

  Susan struggled and pried at his thick fingers, but it was no use. His strength was too much for her.

  Doug’s strength would’ve been too much for Sam on any other day. He rushed forward in a freight train of rage and tears, thick fists flexed to hammers. The instant he arrived he departed, into thin air.

  Sam looked to the rafters. “Do you require another demonstration?”

  “No!” Cathleen cried, throwing hands up in defeat. “I’m begging you. Please.”

  David, his voice desperate. “We understand. It won’t happen again.”

  Doug reappeared at their feet, sobbing, squirming over the floor. “Oh,” he forced out. “Oh God.”

  Cathleen went to her knees. “Doug, are you okay?”

  “That’s your last freebie.” Sam began dragging Susan across the concrete, toward the far wall.

  Her cries went on and on.

  8

  Susan’s constant begging was too much to endure, enough to drive a sane person to the edge of madness.

  David watched Cathleen run for the north corridor with Doug close behind. He meant to follow the others out, away from the horrible sound of despair, but found that he couldn’t force himself to move. He had every reason, plenty of excuses, all the motivation in the world, yet his feet remained locked in place.

  Hell is real, he thought. And this is it.

  He gazed out to a woman whom he was powerless to help, listening to her plead for her life. Any bravery he might’ve summoned had been nullified by Sam’s power. His strength, silenced. Hope, snuffed out like wind to flame.

  To see each thread clearly, a fabric must be unraveled.

  Having finished tying her wrists to beams at the far wall, Sam made his way back to David. Bloodshot eyes. Bruised saddlebags below. Pale, sickly skin. He looked no more human than David felt for staying.

  Sam said, “Curiosity’s a killer, isn’t it? You can’t leave because you have to know what’s going to happen.
Am I right?”

  A word twitched at David’s lips, although what it was he couldn’t say.

  “That’s alright, Dave. I’ll do the talking. Watch closely now.”

  Sam walked to a computer he’d set up on the little table, checked the screen. Looked out to attached video cameras, left and right, and snakes of cable between. Then to Susan. She was quieter now, perhaps getting tired. Weakening.

  Sam closed his eyes for a moment. Raised a hand as if to feel her power. Grinned, because somehow he did, even from across that massive space. David felt it too, almost like Sam had pried the woman open to release the inner warmth. Not heat, but it felt just the same. What was this? What was he doing? That was when-

  A blue haze expanded to life around her head. Dim at first, then more.

  “Do you see it?”

  Yes, he saw.

  “Let me show you.” Sam reached out with both hands pressed flat together, then opened them wide like stretching a spring. The illumination grew to the size of the entire room, a hundred feet across. David lurched at the sight, nearly falling over backwards. He caught himself, looked back in awe. Streaks of white light played throughout the expanse, raindrops over cloudy glass, exploring like fluorescent roots into azure soil. All together, in every direction. It was beautiful.

  “This is her consciousness,” Sam said. He began walking out to the center of the floor, gazing upward. “I was mistaken. It isn’t our brains that make us who we are.” He reached up, into the haze. Ran fingers through the fog of energy. “It’s this.” He snapped a smile at David. “Are you impressed yet? Do I have your attention?”

  Like a miracle David’s feet could move. He backed away, step by step, until the wall below the observation window stopped him. He reached out, felt a door frame to his right. Spun around the corner, into the stairwell. Pinched eyes shut. Paused.

  Go. Don’t you dare look back.

  David knew better. But sometimes knowing is no help at all.

  The murderer reached up into the glow, into Susan. An impossible thing, like squaring a circle or crushing a man on a sidewalk. Like baseballs and hockey sticks - commanding fundamental particles by simply looking and believing.

  Hand to fist.

  Her body seized as if she’d been stabbed. A horrible, world-shattering scream echoed across the lab. A piercing, inhuman cry of agony.

  David slapped hands over his ears, stumbling up the stairs. A shoe caught the top step and he hit the hallway floor, knee first, then the rest. Pain exploded up his leg, across his spine, into his neck, but hands stayed where they were, desperate to block the sound.

  Sam was killing her, torturing her, right there in the lab for all to see. For all to hear. Susan, a human sacrifice for science. There was nothing David could do. Nothing. He squeezed eyes shut. Rolled onto his side. Sobbed like a child.

  Oh God, please. Make him stop.

  This was his fault, all of it. He chose to come here. He told the others to come.

  The screaming, the shrieking. Could nothing bring an end to this? He pressed hands tighter. Then tighter still. It was no use.

  Stop fighting, David. If you’re going to just lie there while Susan is ripped apart, the least you can do is listen, you son of a bitch.

  “No, please…”

  She’s dying because of you.

  “No. Not me. It’s Sam-”

  How’s retirement looking now, asshole?

  Then another voice, an explosion in his head. It was her, the girl. The one he’d been waiting for.

  David? She’d come for him, finally. David, I need you to talk to me.

  Could he? How?

  Eddie?

  He opened his eyes and gazed upward, at the control room. The ivory wormhole still churned in the threshold, a tunnel to places unknown.

  Or perhaps not.

  Deep inside the storm he caught sight of something familiar. The girl’s face, Eddie.

  Oh my God.

  This thing wasn’t just a passageway, it was an escape tunnel. Because, for some reason, it always led to her.

  David scrambled to his feet and ran.

  Away from the horrible sound of Susan’s anguish, down the long north corridor, toward the front entrance. Doug and Cathleen were somewhere ahead, hiding, cowering far from the horrors in the lab. He needed to find them quickly. He would also need a mysterious girl named Eddie. Not Edith Ann…

  The further he went the more pronounced the limp, and the slower the progress. He’d really twisted something this time; the sciatic howled at every jolt to the floor.

  He would not yield. Not to pain. Not now. He pushed on.

  Again, the girl’s voice. David?

  He stopped to lean against a wall, catch his breath. He peered upward, to the fluorescent ceiling. I’m Here.

  How do I get inside?

  Inside? Was she joking?

  Believe me, you don’t want to get inside. We’re trying to get out. I think we might be able to now.

  I’ll help if I can. Just tell me what to do.

  Help, something he hadn’t expected to hear again. It brought to mind another word, one he thought had been lost for good. Hope.

  David covered his mouth, did everything he could to hold back the emotion. He coughed, choked it back. Collected himself.

  I’m going to use the wormhole.

  The wormhole? With Morgan Freeman?

  No, not the show. The thing. You know, how you and I first…met.

  Oh, that. That sucked.

  She still had a sense of humor. A few minutes at this place would cure that real quick. I have a plan. Listen carefully.

  I’m listening, David.

  He continued down the hall, trying to ignore the pain. He told Eddie the plan as he made his way, slowly, toward the others.

  A person might not survive the trip, but David would go first. If he made it through, the others could follow. If not… Well, he supposed retirement wouldn’t be an issue anymore. Either way, it was better than staying here.

  He squinted into the darkness of Reception. The front desk, the double doors. The wall of unnatural heat, totally invisible in the subdued early morning. A person could stroll right into it, never realizing what hit them. Hell, that could happen in good lighting.

  He took a right and headed for the outer corridor.

  At the wall David stopped, cocked his head, listened. There’d been no signs of Government agents, covert operatives, FBI, or anyone else. Had Sam lied to keep them from leaving, or was someone actually here? And if so, would they shoot on sight? It all seemed too James Bond to be real. Then he thought-

  Where’s the pistol?

  He must have dropped it when he fell at the stairs. That meant it would be on the floor outside the control booth. Shit. Useless against Sam, but it’d come in handy if confronted by anyone else. He cringed. What a stupid mistake.

  He’d gone too far now. He’d find it when he got back. If he got back.

  A voice, whispering. Cathleen. She was close.

  He peered into an open doorway. Bathroom.

  Then, the large office.

  “Cathleen? Are you here?”

  “David.” It was her.

  Doug’s enormous frame rose up from behind a desk in the corner. “Back here, Dave,” he said.

  “There might be a way out. Come on.”

  Cathleen emerged from the shadows, walked up, took hold of David. Her face, red and swollen. Her eyes, glazed.

  “How?” she said. “Where is it?”

  “The wormhole leads to the girl. I’m gonna try going through. If it works-”

  “No way,” Doug said. “Fuck that shit. Are you crazy?”

  “I thought it went to random places but I was wrong. It always goes to her. I’ve seen her every time I’ve gotten close to it.”

  Doug said, “I didn’t see her when Steve was messin’ around with it. Maybe it goes to her for you, but that don’t mean it will for the rest of us.”

  “If Davi
d can get out,” Cathleen said, “He could go get help.”

  A fat hand clapped him on the shoulder. He winced in pain. “Yeah, you go, Dave. We’ll wait for you.”

  “No, this is our only chance to get out. We’re all going. You’ve seen what he’s capable of. The police can’t do anything. It’s up to us.”

  Cathleen rubbed eyes with the back of a hand, pulled David in tight. “Are you sure? I mean…what if…”

  “It’s the only way. It’ll work, I know it will.”

  Doug said, “What do you need us to do?”

  “First we’ll need some rope.”

  9

  “Pull off,” Eddie said. “Over there.”

  Tires crunched over loose gravel and sticks. Rachel eased to a stop, put the car in park. “What’s going on?”

  “We have a plan. He’s gonna use the wormhole to get to us.”

  “The tornado thing? Is he nuts?”

  Eddie threw her door open. “Come on.” She and Rachel got out. The dog followed, wagging a long blonde tail.

  “Think, Ed. You were almost sucked in last time. We don’t even know what that thing is.”

  Eddie said, “It’s a doorway connecting me to him. And I was inside, if you remember. So was he. We survived then, we’ll survive now. Don’t be a wuss, Rachel.”

  She walked around the car. Big Sis met her at the road and took hold of her arms, stopping her. “I can’t let you do this. No way.”

  Eddie half-expected the nothingman to show up, to help plead her case. He’d been strangely quiet since Wal-Mart, which meant it was up to her. “We just drove all night to get here. Why do you think we came?”

  “I don’t know, Eddie.”

  “I finally know what I’m supposed to do. This. Right here, right now. Either help me or get out of my way.” No anger, just truth.

  The grip released. A moment of silence lingered as Rachel came to terms with her little sister’s newfound confidence.

  “Fine. Okay. Your stupid purpose, I get it.”

  “Good.”

  “Don’t die, okay? Please?”

  Eddie grinned. “I’ll do my best.”