by Jared Bellis
“I told you to call me Balzac! It’s way cooler than Barry,” Barry retorted. “Just relax. We aren’t going to go to jail! We have permission to be on the site!”
“Permission to be on site to study for your dissertation on Tesla’s plans for energy distribution, not permission to try to make it work!” Clarence countered.
“It’ll be fine! Trust me!” replied Barry with a smile. Clarence sighed, knowing he’d go along with it. He always followed along with his twin’s crazy ideas.
“Okay,” he said reluctantly. “Do we have all the equipment lined up?”
“Most of the repairs are in place already. We just have to run a couple wires and we should be good to go!” Barry replied excitedly.
“What happens if this doesn’t work? For that matter, what happens if it does?” asked Clarence.
“If it doesn’t work, well, nothing. When it does work, power will start humming along, waiting to be pulled in by the public,” Barry explained, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.
“How do they do that?” asked Clarence. Barry sighed.
“We’ve been over this. Everyone will need a receiver, specifically keyed to take in the electricity provided by Tesla’s tower.”
“And you’re selling them to the people?”
“At minimal cost. I don’t plan on getting rich off this, that isn’t the point. What matters is saving the planet and providing a service to the people. Besides, once it starts working I’m sure there will be generous benefactors that will donate the money needed to build the receivers. Who knows, without the need to compete for energy we might just create world peace!” Clarence had always known Barry to be an idealist, he was starting to realize his brother had a hero complex on top of that.
“Let’s do this, then. You seem to have it all figured out.”
Clarence drove them out to the facility. It was in the process of being remodeled into a Tesla museum. Much of the original installation had been demolished in the early twentieth century but, luckily, the parts needed for Barry’s plan to work were still in place. Barry stared up at the statue of his hero, Nikola Tesla, as they drove past.
“He was the greatest genius of all time! We’re finally going to complete his work! I can’t wait!” he declared.
Clarence pulled up to the tower. They unloaded their tools and equipment and headed inside. The building itself was massive, filled with tons of early twentieth century technology. The brothers went straight to the control room to finish the repairs.
“Are the steel rods in place under the facility?” asked Clarence.
“Yeah,” Barry answered. “Nobody wanted to try to remove them. They allow the earth to grip the tower, and kind of ground things out. Make sure you get those connections good and tight! I’d hate for a wire to burn out and take the whole place with it.”
“I know, I know,” Clarence reassured him. “I’ve done this plenty of times. You just worry about your part. Are you sure the new stuff we’ve added will work with these ancient components?”
“Yeah, I’ve checked everything repeatedly. But once it’s up and running, we’ll probably need to replace some of the old stuff. I’m not sure it will handle the load once people start hooking into it.”
“This plant won’t just transmit the energy, it will generate it as well?” asked Clarence. Barry nodded.
“It’s all part of the design. The boiler room will act as a starter. It will get the gears in place. Once it’s started, the motion of the planet will actually generate the power! No more nuclear facilities, no more coal, just free electricity for everyone all over the world!” Barry replied ecstatically.
“Gonna cost a lot of people jobs,” muttered Clarence.
Both of their parents, God rest their souls, had worked in a nuclear power facility. They’d been killed in a wreck coming home from work several years ago, but they were responsible for Barry’s interest in Tesla and free power. The couple had often argued about the risks and benefits concerning free power. Their mother had been in favor, while their dad had always pointed out that millions of jobs would be lost. The twins constantly repeated the same argument.
“They’ll find something else. Besides, the benefits far outweigh the costs,” replied Barry, as always. It was the same argument their mother had used.
“I’m done here,” he said. “I’m going to go check all the connections and start the boiler up. Are you close?” Clarence nodded. “Just gotta splice a couple more wires and I’m good to go. Should take about twenty minutes between that and double checking everything.” Barry flashed him a thumbs-up and left the room.
Clarence was done when he returned.
“I guess all we have to do now is flip the switch,” Clarence said softly.
Barry nodded, too excited to speak. He walked over and gazed down at the lever, savoring the moment. “I can’t believe we’re finally ready! Tesla’s dream will be fulfilled!”
Clarence looked dubious but said nothing. He was still unconvinced that this would work. “You aren’t going to give a speech or anything are you? We’re the only ones here, and I didn’t bring a video camera,” said Clarence. Barry looked crestfallen. “Well, I’m not going to now. I thought you said you’d bring the camera!”
Clarence had promised to do just that, to capture the historic moment. However, at the last second, he’d decided against it, afraid that Barry would give a long winded speech.
“I don’t think I made any such promise,” Clarence said innocently. “Anyway, are you gonna light this place up or what?”
Barry nodded excitedly. He grabbed the switch and threw it into the “on” position.
Nothing happened.
“Are you kidding me!” he screamed. Not even a single light came on.
“Hang on, I’ll fix it,” assured Clarence.
He went over to the control panel and checked the wiring. It all looked fine. Barry was on the verge of tears, so Clarence went to his old standby and hit the panel as hard as he could. Lights came on with a whir, and ancient machinery started to run.
“YES! WE DID IT!” shouted Barry exultantly. He pulled out his receiver to see when it would start pulling in power.
“It will take a bit of time for the generator to kick in,” he said, “so we won’t be getting anything until then. This is going to work! I can feel it!”
More and more lights started to come on, and the stink of ozone filled the air as the power increased. Electrical energy started playing over the cupola above their heads. Barry was practically dancing in delight.
Then the ground started to shake.
“Is that supposed to happen?” Clarence’s voice was laced with concern. Barry had never mentioned tremors before.
“It’s all normal,” Barry said dismissively. “That’s just the earth contact generator starting!”
“How do you know it’s normal?” Clarence demanded. “This thing has never been powered up before!” The shaking grew worse.
“You need to shut it down! This place is going to fall apart.”
Barry shook his head and pointed at his receiver. It was starting to light up. “It’s working! I’m getting power! The tremors will stop soon, I’m sure of it!”
They didn’t stop. Instead, they steadily grew stronger. Dust was starting to fall from the ceiling and components were starting to crack.
“Shut it down! We know it works, so we can reinforce everything and start it again later! You’ve succeeded, just don’t let the place fall apart!” yelled Clarence over the growing clamor. Barry looked unsure but nodded. He pulled the lever down to shut it off.
Nothing happened.
“It won’t stop! I don’t think we can turn it off!” he cried. Sparks started to shoot from the machinery as the quake continued to intensify. Pieces started to snap off and fall.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” screamed Clarence. He grabbed his brother and started dragging him to the door.
It was too late.
The
tremors suddenly stopped as a beam of pure white light struck the tower and penetrated to the core of the facility. Lightning began to crack through the air and the world exploded.
“Whoa!” gasped Ray.
The three boys were themselves once again, but they were dizzy and overwhelmed from all that they’d just seen. Andrew looked at the squirrel. Balzac looked at him sadly, knowing he was going to be berated for destroying the world.
“Your name’s Barry?” asked Andrew. The squirrel cocked his head and gave him a strange look.
“I prefer Balzac!” He looked down and sighed. “You know, I figured your main concern would have to do with the fact that we— that I, destroyed the world.”
“Well, that was unfortunate I guess. What happened after the explosion? How did you become…this?” asked Joe as he pointed at the creatures.
“The energies released should have killed us, but instead, that shaft of light transformed us. There was a rare confluence of planets that night. The celestial energy reacted with the power we unleashed and destroyed civilization as we knew it,” stated Clarence solemnly. “It opened portals to other dimensions and other times. It also granted us nearly limitless power.”
There was a beat of silence.
The guys were taking this far better than either Clarence or Balzac expected, which was confusing.
“Don’t you want to yell at us for destroying everything?” Clarence implored.
The guys looked at each other and shrugged.
“Not really. You both had great intentions. You couldn’t have known it would screw everything up. It sucks that so many people got hurt and died, but there isn’t much you can do about it now,” stated Ray simply.
Balzac and Clarence’s jaws dropped in disbelief.
“So, what does any of this have to do with why we’re here or what you are?” Andrew asked.
“Ummm, I guess you could say we’re guardians. We’ve been tasked to try to protect the world and make it a better place. You’re here because we can’t act directly. We have to bring in champions to act on our behalf,” answered Clarence.
“Who told you to do that?” wondered Andrew.
“Uhhh, nobody really. It’s just a compulsion. I think God wants us to atone for our crimes,” replied Balzac.
“If you want to fix it, why don’t you just go back in time and stop yourselves?” suggested Joe.
“Time travel isn’t the answer. Besides, we’ve tried. We cannot go back,” said Clarence sadly.
“Are we the first people you’ve brought in?” asked Ray shrewdly. After everything that had happened, it didn’t seem to the guys that these two were very good or experienced at being “spirit guides.” Although, the causes for some of the boys’ difficulties were undoubtedly of their own making…
Balzac and Clarence looked at each other before shaking their heads and answering Ray’s question.
“No, we’ve brought in countless champions,” admitted Clarence.
“How many have made it home?” asked Joe.
“None. Most died. A few disappeared,” replied Balzac miserably. The boys looked angry for the first time.
“Died? Disappeared? How did that happen?” demanded Ray.
“Let me try to explain,” Balzac began tiredly. He was a long-suffering squirrel. “I’m stuck in a bit of a loop. Everything we’ve gone through has happened before. Each set of heroes we bring in face the same challenges, but they handle them differently due to varying abilities and personalities.”
“Kind of like a premade D&D campaign?” asked Andrew. The other guys nodded. The creatures looked confused before Clarence continued.
“Sure. Anyway, Balzac and I go through the same thing over and over. Some get further than others. We’re hoping someday we can break out of the loop and move on.” The longing in the bunny’s voice was evident.
“So, um, how are we doing?” asked Andrew. The critters shifted uncomfortably.
“Actually, you’ve made it further than anyone, which is shocking considering your refusal to cooperate,” Balzac said.
“Have others had more encounters?” asked Ray.
“Not really. They just went looking for fights. You all do the opposite,” Clarence noted. “We picked a few really heroic types early on, but they never made it past the shark-flies and zombies. With you guys, we picked, well, guys more similar to ourselves,” explained the bunny.
“If we’re so much like you, then why don’t you get the references we use? Surely you had cell phones, D&D, and everything,” inquired Joe.
“The longer we go on like this, the less we remember of our old lives. We didn’t have cell phones and some of the other stuff you all talk about. D&D sounds familiar, though,” Balzac said thoughtfully.
“Well, what next? We can hash out the past all day, but we can’t change it. Where do we go from here?” wondered Ray. Balzac shrugged.
“I guess we just keep doing what we’re doing. I have no idea what happens next, and neither does Clarence. I have to go along with whatever you all decide and help however I can. Clarence does the same.”
The group was silent for a few moments.
“You’ve given us a lot to think about,” Ray said. “Can we just hang here a while? Then decide if we want to continue on?”
Balzac and Clarence nodded. Clarence said his goodbyes and disappeared with a poof. Balzac wandered off.
“Where are you going?” asked Andrew. He was worried about the little squirrel. He looked depressed.
“Just gonna take a walk and clear my head. I won’t go far.” He continued through the clearing, soon disappearing from sight.
“What do you guys think? About their story I mean,” asked Andrew.
“Pretty screwed up if you ask me. Imagine, trying to save the world and ending up destroying it instead. That’s gotta be hard on a person,” replied Joe, shaking his head.
“Yeah, and what about all the others they’ve brought here that died? Are we just going along with them? Do we even have a choice?” wondered Ray.
“I don’t know. I think we’re stuck here no matter what we decide. I don’t think Balzac is a bad person, errr squirrel. Whatever. We should still go after those bandits, though. I don’t like people that hurt women and children. Maybe we can figure out more when we see the city, too,” offered Andrew.
The three men stood and discussed their situation for a while before settling down to eat. A few hours passed before they noticed something was wrong.
“Hey, where’s Balzac?” asked Joe, craning his head around the clearing. The squirrel had wandered the area for a while after eating, curious to see what might be out there.
“I thought he’d be back by now.” Ray looked thoughtful as he spoke.
“We should go look for him. It could be dangerous out here, especially for a squirrel,” added Andrew. The others agreed, and they soon started combing through the large clearing. They spent quite a while wandering about, calling his name to no avail.
“Where did that freaking squirrel go?” asked Joe.
Strange, soft voices soon met the boys’ ears.
“Squirrel? Squirrel? Squirrel?” they heard. The voices had a weird, lisping lilt to them.
“Who’s out there?” demanded Joe. He had his metal balls orbiting faster in his agitation. Ray’s hands started to ignite. Andrew took a fighter’s stance and cursed his lack of offensive abilities.
There were several squeals at the sight of the flame.
“Show yourself or I’ll burn this place to ash!” declared Ray. The other two gave him dirty looks, so he shook his head to show he was bluffing.
There was a rustling in the woods as a group of strange creatures stepped out. They were very small, maybe two to three feet in height. They were all green and had tendrils coming off their bodies in random areas.
“What the hell are you?” asked Andrew.
“Plantlings, we are plantlings,” squeaked one of them.
“Don’t burn, please, n
o burns for plantlings!” whispered another, obviously terrified. Ray let the fire fade away.
“We won’t burn you. Where is our squirrel?”
“Squirrel for the Mo. Mo needed squirrel! So few squirrels here!”
“What’s a Mo?” asked Andrew. “Why does he need a squirrel?”
“Mo is Mo! Needs squirrel!” repeated one of the plantlings. The guys all sighed and shook their heads, realizing they weren’t going to get a straight answer.
“Can you take us to Mo?” Joe asked in a simple, polite voice. The plantlings looked confused.
“You no squirrel!” they hissed.
“No, we aren’t squirrels, but we’d like to meet Mo. We need our squirrel back,” explained Andrew. The plantlings looked confused again. Their tendrils started rolling and unrolling in agitation. They looked at each other and chittered for a short time.
“Go to Mo?” they asked.
The boys nodded.
“Follow to Mo!” The plantlings took off into the woods. The guys followed as quickly as they could.
The woods were thick with undergrowth, mostly brambles they had to fight their way through. After a bit they started to notice a horrible smell. It got stronger and worse as they went deeper into the wood.
“Dude! What is that smell!” gagged Joe.
“I don’t know, I think I’m gonna hurl!” replied Ray. The plantlings hissed with irritation. “The Mo is sick! Needs squirrel! Come see the Mo! See the squirrel!” They took off again, faster than before. Soon the guys had to run to keep up.
The smell got worse and worse. No animals were in sight. A clearing came into view up ahead, and it was evident that the plantlings were heading there by the way they picked up the pace even more. There were dead birds littering the ground on the edge of the clearing. Small forest creatures, rabbits, raccoons and squirrels also lay still on the ground, many of them discolored and reeking. The plantlings burst into the clearing with the three guys hot on their heels.
“The Mo! The Mo! Needs squirrel!” chanted the plantlings. The men thought they were ready for anything. They were quickly proven wrong when they stepped into the clearing.
