The Second Rising

by Kevin Douglas

  “Well yeah, we did. I never did get to go out with my dad though. He disappeared before I was old enough to ride. Here it is.”

  They rounded a corner through a stand of trees to reveal a beautiful three-story brick mansion set atop the hill amongst a thick forest. They followed the driveway and parked in front of the home next to a huge maple tree, it’s leaves a deep blood red color.

  She was surprised that its exterior was so well kept, as if there had been someone living there all these years. Leo turned the car off and the purr of the Corvette’s engine died off. When they both got out there was total silence, except for the groan of ancient trees and leaves dancing and fluttering in the wind. Leo closed his eyes and let the wind take him away, his mind drifting, relaxing, remembering.

  “Man if I lived here, I would never want to leave,” she smiled toward Leo until what she had just said sunk in. “What I meant was—”

  “It’s okay Sara, I know what you meant. I know my father didn’t leave us. He was taken. I’m here to find answers, and I think he left some here for me to find. He left me a clue, ‘Home is where the heart is.’”

  As they mounted the steps up to the front door, Sarafina looked above the threshold at a large wooden sign that had the very same words, “‘Home is where the heart is.” Leo fumbled through his keys, slid an old worn key into the slot and turned.

  The door gave way with a crack, as if protesting someone entering after all this time. As the door opened, he was flooded with a feeling he couldn’t quite identify. An overwhelming feeling crept over Leo, like someone was watching him, inviting him, warm and soothing. The house didn’t feel stagnant, stale, or empty. To Leo it felt alive. The electric feeling surrounded him, but not wanting to sound crazy, he kept the feeling hidden from Sarafina. He smiled. Hello Dad, I miss you.

  “Welcome Sarafina. My dad would have liked you I think.”

  “Oh ya cowboy, liked me as your friend or …?”

  With a short laugh and a grin, Leo replied. “He would have liked you.”

  The large home was dark and spacious, wood flooring and crown molding adorned every room, and the smell in the air was that of wood, mixed with fresh linens, and a faint scent of stale air from having sat all these years.

  Everything was how he remembered it, minus some items taken by himself after his father’s death. It was his childhood home and always had a soft spot in his heart, but it did have the feel of a mausoleum, a time capsule, frozen.

  Leo took off his light coat and hung it on the hall tree in the entryway and looked at the curious Sarafina, who was gazing onward into the unknown, waiting to see more. They exited the short hall-like entry way, and the room opened up exposing part of the upper floors’ banisters and woodwork.

  The ceiling was actually the floor for the garret above and was adorned with beautiful wood overlays depicting a flying eagle. Sarafina excitedly walked out into the space and looked upward as she twirled, taking it all in.

  “Leo this is amazing! It’s so huge inside. You actually lived here? Ahh, I don’t wanna leave. Look at this place!

  Leo’s mind was somewhere else again, taking in all the features of the living space, remembering life here, when there was life.

  He pulled himself away to answer her. “Well it wasn’t so grand after my father’s passing, or…. disappearance. Everything was a constant reminder of someone that should be there right next to me. I always though one day I’d be living in this amazing home. I don’t know…life changed that. I guess at some point you have to grow up and realize life isn’t the dream you envisioned as a kid. Life is raw.”

  Feeling somewhat embarrassed by his sudden negative dismal outlook, Leo looked away from Sarafina. He took a seat at one of the barstools on the other side of the room.

  Sarafina walked across and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I’m sorry Leo. I feel selfish. Here I am all enthralled with the home’s beauty. I forgot the emotions you must be feeling. After all, I’m just a dumb country girl. I thought that people who grew up in places like this played bridge at the country club, had no concept of everyday life, and certainly wouldn’t waste a second talking to someone like me.”

  Leo smiled and pivoted on the chair to face her. “One, your definitely not dumb, two, I’ve never set foot in a country club, however, there’s nothing wrong with bridge, it’s quite fun, and three, my concept of everyday life is just like yours. I can’t imagine not having you in my life.” Leo’s emotions felt uncontrolled, raw. Feeling vulnerable at having revealed too much of himself, Leo clumsily responded. “Well you know, in my life as a great…friend, I mean… person, of course, you know you’re a person. You know what I mean. Right?”

  Sarafina laughed, “Yes and no cowboy. You sure are a complicated one. You’re showing your feelers there a bit I think.”

  “I am? My feelers?”

  “Ya, you know all the gushy stuff you’re trying to hide from me,” said Sarafina as she winked and lightly punched his shoulder. “Well, don’t be rude, give me the tour moneybags. We’re not going to find your father’s messages just sitting around.”

  “Pushy, pushy. Well, I know his office is a good place to start, but I don’t think there’s anything in there. When my father disappeared, a number of officers came and went through his things, supposedly to check for evidence, but now I know it was to find any data he had hidden away. It’s a good place to start, though.”

  Leo led Sarafina across the huge living space to a set of wooden stairs leading to the upper floors, and they exited the steps at the second-floor landing.

  Two hallways went in opposite directions, perpendicular from the stairs and a smaller hallway straight forward in front of them. Leo guided Sarafina down the small hall; a window at the end let in what light the day gave it, the wall sconces gently lighting the mahogany walls beneath them.

  “It’s hard to imagine an office in a home like this. It feels like a different time in here. So, where is the office?” Sarafina said as she looked confusingly at the beautifully inlayed double doors in front of them.

  Leo opened the double doors inward. “Right here Sara. Welcome to my father’s sanctuary!”

  “Hmm, looks more like a cave to me Leo,” she said squinting to make out the room.

  “No one has set foot in it for some time. Let me brighten things up a bit.” Leo flicked a switch and a dozen lamps and wall sconces lit up the large multi-story space. With the dim lighting, it was hard to tell the rooms enormity, until he pushed another button next to the light switches.

  With the flick of this last switch, enormous drapes on the furthest wall began to open, letting in light from the outside and exposing the windows that lay behind them. They stretched floor to ceiling with a stained-glass piece in the center of the Krueger family crest. Sarfina studied the crest, a shield with a large mug in the center, a knight’s helmet atop with a raised sword, wings stretched outward.

  “W woahhh.”

  “I had the same feeling every time I came in here, too. My father would normally leave these drapes open. He said it inspired him from ‘simple beginnings to greatness,’ something to do with our family’s origins of being tavern keepers. Never really saw how he did, although I always thought it looked way cool,” he said as he watched Sarafina’s expression of awe with a smile.

  As more of the room was revealed by the curtain, they pushed further into the slowly illuminating room. Leo had branched out and began to scour the desktops and drawers.

  “I would say anyone working in this room is destined for greatness. This is truly a sanctuary Leo. Wow!” she exclaimed with a quiet reverence.

  Leo sat down in his father’s leather chair and put his hands onto the desk, as though he was beginning a long day of brainstorming and planning.

  “Oh ya! Well, what about this pose? Does it make me look smarter, more refined?”

  “You don’t need a big fancy room or huge desk to make you look smarter. As for refined, I like you
a tad on the rugged side. Besides, you make up for it with wicked good looks cowboy.”

  “Ha! Wow, see? The room and desk do work. I’ve got you mixed up already!”

  “You sure do hun,” Sarafina said with a smirk, and wink, looking at Leo then down onto the desk at the piles of folders, renderings, and important looking gadgets. “Well, where should we start? Did he give you any hints or clues?”

  “No, not exactly. There’s so much room to cover in this office, let alone the house. Without a direction, it’s like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack.”

  “Well I’m feeling lucky Leo. Why not try his computer here,” she said as she pointed to the desktop computer on the left-hand side of the desk.

  “Even if I had the password, which I don’t, those suits came and got whatever they could find off of it I’m sure. My dad would have been more clever, he’d know not to leave it out in the open. Hmmmmm…think, think, think.”

  “Well what did he say in his letter Leo? Anything odd, out of place, or something only significant to the two of you?”

  “He said home is where the heart is. He spoke of a book called finite resources and of a mineral Mr. Sullivan may want or need…I don’t know how any of that helps, other than it points me to this house.”

  “You said he wouldn’t have put something in plain sight. What’s off limits, or hidden in here Leo?”

  “There’s nothing hidden in this house, but then again the last time I set foot in this house roughly ten years ago, I was 13. There’s a possibility he kept things hidden from me.”

  Leo stood up and walked over to the wall that had bookshelves running down the length of the room. The shelves were bulging with books. Not a one was missing. Leo’s eyes scanned all the way down looking over the volumes until one finally caught his eye, all the way down towards the end, near the window.

  It was bright orange and stood out like a sore thumb. The lettering he couldn’t quite make out, so he walked down to it.

  Sarafina followed, her heals echoing like a cathedral in the large room.

  Leo pulled it off the shelf and laughed as he read the spine out loud, “Electricity for Dummies. There’s no way this belongs here, my father, among other achievements, had a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.” He thumbed through the book looking for sheets of paper, hidden notes or circled words, maybe some kind of hidden word cryptogram. “Nothing.”

  “There’s got to be something. You said yourself the book’s out of place. Maybe it’s a clue. Does it match anything in your letter maybe?”

  Both of them stood and pondered this, ready to dismiss it altogether until something finally struck Leo.

  “Sarafina, home is where the heart is! What’s the heart of the home, literally?”

  “Well, I don’t know. They say the kitchen is the heart of the home.”

  “Yes Sara, but a home isn’t alive per se until it has electricity…so I’d say the electrical panel. It could be a double meaning; there’s only one way to find out. Time to visit the basement.”

  Leo moved to the exit and Sarafina followed, but just as Leo was about to shut the double doors to the room, Sarafina stopped him. Her soft hand brushed his shoulder, ran down his arm, finally resting onto his hand, her lustrous golden eyes captivating him.

  “Don’t you want to close the curtains Leo?”

  He embraced her hand and gave it a squeeze. “No. It’s been dark in this house too long. I think I’ll leave it. Maybe even crack a window or two if we have time. I’ve missed this place. It still feels alive, like something’s waiting to be woken up. I think there are answers in here somewhere.” Leo let out a short laugh. “I sound like an eccentric weirdo. I think the desk and room brought it out.”

  Leo shut the doors and glanced at Sarafina; before turning towards the stairs she spoke. “Oh you were weird to begin with Leo, there’s no change there,” she said with a smirk.

  Making his way down to the first-floor with Sarafina in tow, Leo turned several corners and pushed in a small door that hid a concealed spiral staircase that led down to the basement below.

  “After you,” suggested Leo.

  “Uh, ya, um, no thanks. You first.”

  “You’re not afraid of a cold, dark, creaky old basement, now are you? It won’t bite, I promise. I’ll lead the way you sissy,” said Leo in an antagonistic, playful tone.

  “Please cowboy, I ain’t afraid, it’s your house. You lead the way. I don’t wanna get us lost down there.”

  Leo led them. Both dizzy from walking in circles, they reached the basement floor. Leo flicked a switch to light up the space, and Sarafina looked in surprise.

  “It’s unfinished? I was expecting a man cave or something down here.”

  “Man cave huh? I’m sorry to disappoint. Most homes from this era had basements, and most of them are unfinished practical spaces.”

  “Well I won’t hold it against the house. It’s awesome enough.”

  Leo approached the electrical panel and pressed the button to release the door catch. The creaky door swung out part way. Leo noisily pushed it all the way open as the hinges continued to protest.

  Sarafina froze, hearing the noise. “Yeah, like that noise wasn’t totally creepy. You trying to scare me?”

  Kidding, she returned to looking over the dusty old basement. Boxes were piled at the edges and looked very old, she wondered what antique treasures might lay inside them, maybe even embarrassing baby pictures of Leo himself.

  Leo checked the sheet of paper attached to the inside of the door that showed the circuit breaker layout to look for anything strange.

  He followed the names one by one with his finger, gliding down the paper, assuring he didn’t miss anything. His father had written each one of them and nothing seemed out of place or strange. Nothing was amiss. What else did he expect from his father? It wasn’t a surprise, but it didn’t help.

  Frustrated that it was a dead end, he looked down each breaker. All were in the on position, except for two. One was labeled Upper floor lights and receptacles. This breaker was left off as no one typically used the upstairs floors anymore, but what caught his eye was the second. He couldn’t figure the label out. It was written SANCTUARY curtains. The letters written in all caps should have drawn his attention at first glance, but what was even more puzzling was that it was in the off position.

  “Found it!”

  “Found what?” she said, breaking her perusing of the bric-a-brac all around her.

  “Well, I don’t know yet. All I know is that we definitely opened the curtains in my father’s office, and this panel shows them in the off position.”

  “Couldn’t it be a mistake? Or ghosts, it may be ghosts you know.”

  “You’re a dork, and no it’s not a mistake. It’s my father we’re talking about here. Ghosts…not a bad guess, though,” said Leo. He felt an almost inescapable feeling something had brought him here. So strong, it almost felt present.

  “Well flick it on then! See what happens.”

  Leo strummed his goatee in thought, until finally Sarafina impatiently spoke. “You scared Leo? I’ve got this.”

  Sarafina reached from behind Leo and flicked on the breaker, and both of then tensed in anticipation of what might happen next.

  CHAPTER 36

  A fter making pleasantries with Ms. Likvold, the Butcher entertained her vision of a distant unveiling of their presence to the world. Ignoring her, he wasted no time. Marty had crafted his body with upgrades galore, including hardware, software, and chemical weaponry. The mad metal man had just flawlessly completed a unit for Ms. Likvold on which to base her production automation run. He didn’t want to waste time. His operatives were waiting for his signal.

  The Butcher excused himself to examine the machines of the automation process before they started production. Computer terminals sat at the end of each assembly line section, and he made his way to a workstation on the production floor that contained instructions for each step
of the process.

  The Butcher stood at a computer terminal in the center of the lab and glanced over the snaking machinery to make sure he was alone. He looked over the space, hoses, wires, and rams stuck out from each of the machines waiting to feed life into metal using sparks, fluids, memory boards, and data.

  Satisfied no one was watching, he accessed the system. His fingers moved at an imperceptible rate over the flush metallic keyboard. In an instant, he had accessed the bulk of data in the computer systems on this level.

  He couldn’t actually access the original database as each unit’s data, or personality, was loaded into an enormous temporary memory cache that was dumped in hourly during full production. He could, however, change attributes for each run that came through, a sort of prebuild or custom set of instructions. It even allowed lines of code to be added to each unit during the disk burning phase.

  The Butcher quickly typed in a script that would run in the background of the system on the next one thousand units. The script would automatically run a file named PAWNS on each batch of robots until one thousand were completed.

  Hearing movement, the Butcher looked up and scanned the production floor directly in front and behind himself before he returned his attention to the screen. His fingers never stopped moving, and he had already begun to construct the file name PAWNS.

  Unable to change their personality characteristics, he simply put in startup task information for them to follow upon activation. When each unit was born, it would follow his commands. It wouldn’t subvert its allegiance and obedience to Ms. Likvold. It would simply be given a task.

  The commands were within their scope and purpose in this world, but at a time that Ms. Likvold would surly object to. Before she knew what was happening and why, they would strike where he wanted them to.

  The Butcher kept his head on a swivel and continued to scan the room while he typed. His head, body, and hands worked independently from each other, making his body appear like he wasn’t controlled by the same mind. He finished the code with a command to set out immediately and complete the task he’d given, during which the units would report to him. Only when the BOTS’ task was accomplished, would they return.