The Benefactor

by Jake Aaron

  *****

  At breakfast, Zeke kept up a good front. His overcompensation cued Keala that something was wrong. She touched his arm at the breakfast table. “Everything all right, Zeke?”

  “Couldn’t be better. I’ve had too much coffee, is all. It’ll wear off.” He forced a laugh. He became unnervingly conscious of everything he did, even previously unconscious, insignificant moves.

  Later in the morning as they gathered wood, Keala pulled Zeke into the silo. “Okay, Zeke, what’s wrong? I know you. I can tell something is wrong.”

  Keala’s heart sank as she listened to Zeke’s explanation. Then she said, “I know you feel betrayed, and so do I. Those ungrateful … . Listen, John was right about the part that this is not a rejection of you or your leadership. We’re both taking it personally, but we shouldn’t. The way I see it, nothing has changed for the near-term anyway. What’s that expression you like? In the long run we’re all dead?”

  *****

  Zeke and Keala slogged through the rest of the day. Normally, each outperformed the others. Today, their activity was at the same pace as the group.

  Waiting to fill their water pails from the well in the afternoon, Zeke pulled Keala into the Faraday cage. “Keala, I’ve been hypervigilant around the group. Judging by their microexpressions and other body language, I think what John told me is true. Lee and Susan won’t look me in the eye. Karen and Joan are avoiding me. Milt is acting strange around me. Of course, Anne isn’t here to be observed.”

  “That’s pretty much what I’ve sensed. And Jed, Cody, and Julia are behaving normally. Yeah, I think John told you the truth.”

  “Keala, I know I like to act self-sufficient, but it means the world to me that you’re supporting me. I’m struggling with reality and my expectations lack congruency.”

  Keala laughed, “You mean the world’s out of whack! I get it.” She hugged him, and he hugged her back. “We’re going to be all right. You’re my rock, you know that?”

  Keala felt good: She lifted Zeke and herself up from gloom.

  *****

  Approaching the Denton Ranch on horseback in the late afternoon, Marsh said, “Anne, look at those snow-capped mountains! Orangey sunlight spilling over the Bitterroot Mountains in the west. Salmon-pink clouds puffing up in splendor. Just beautiful! The clincher for me is that the Sapphire Mountains in the east look as if the sun is setting behind them, too. Hard to tell east from west.”

  Anne laughed. She could not remember Marsh stringing together that many words. He was obviously passionate about nature. She replied, “It is pretty, even to these tired eyes. I'd never noticed that before. I doubt many others have either."

  "Well, there've been enough that it has a name: alpenglow. At times, it must have been a hazard to early explorers who used the sun for navigation." Marsh, the interrogator, was purposely talking more than he liked. "Probably few survivors reporting on the problem," he scoffed.

  "Anne, what do you like, nature-wise?"

  "I like the pink light splashing over the snow-topped mountains this time of day. But what really gets me are morning clouds partly filling the canyons. Then, I feel as if I’m in the Alps. You expressed yourself better than I did. Sure you’re not a poet?”

  Marsh laughed dismissively. He had a baseline on Anne's speech pattern when she was comfortable. "How are things at Denton?”

  She hesitated. "I guess ... I guess they're okay. I'm not ... not always comfortable."

  Marsh read her body language. Her posture was tense. She was parsing her words. Maybe she's just tired, he thought.

  Marsh had many more probing questions for her, but Zeke ran out to welcome them, cutting the questioning short. Opening the gate, Zeke exclaimed, “Welcome back, you two. Marsh, stay for supper?"

  “Like to, Zeke. Gotta run.” Marsh thought of Jenny backing him up in the woods. Need to get her out of the cold, he thought.

  Zeke and Anne headed in to supper. Supper was at 5:30 PM now, taking advantage of the electrical lighting. Everyone but Anne exchanged small talk. Anne was upstairs luxuriating in a bath.

  At 5:55 PM, Anne came downstairs and joined the others at the dinner table. Karen brought her hot food. When the electric lights went out at 6:00 PM, the group remained at the table basking in the flickering light from fireplace.

  Zeke asked, “How did Hamilton go, Anne?”

  “A bit more involved than I’d expected. I had to root out some more legacy code in the programs to improve performance. The all-nighter took its toll on me.”

  “As usual,” Zeke began, “Anne, consider yourself excused from all details tomorrow. You've got to get caught up on sleep. Thanks for making us look good with Isis.” Sensing now that the surprise party was a ruse, the last thing Zeke expected was any celebration. He was right about the ruse, but there was a surprise.

  Looking manic, wide-eyed Anne spoke, “Group, I’m going to knock your socks off! “You won’t have to worry about the Bitch anymore. I took her down. I loaded a virus that will cause so many loops that Isis will be tied in knots for eternity!” She rose from the table and unexpectedly did a “happy dance.” Her movements were enthusiastic, but mechanical and jerky. They were neither smooth nor graceful.

  Joan whispered in Cody’s ear, “Does she think she’s Elaine in that Seinfeld episode? Elaine was better!”

  The rest of the sitting group were aghast. Their eyes asked whether this woman had suffered a psychotic break. Anne’s unfamiliar smile looked demonic. She bumped the back of chairs with her undulating hips and hit Cody in his turned forehead with a flailing elbow.

  When Anne stopped gyrating, she walked around the table hoping to fist-bump everyone. Most reluctantly accommodated to be polite. Keala bent down for a dropped napkin to avoid returning the gesture. Realizing the total implications of Anne’s intended coup d’etat, Zeke looked pale enough to faint. He put his hands in his pockets to avoid endorsing what she had done. Keala came back upright and put her arm around him.

  Lee’s befuddled expression slowly changed to acceptance. He hugged his wife in celebration, “I had my doubts before. You were right! One small step for a woman, one giant leap for mankind.”

  Susan shouted, “Free at last. Free at last! Free at last!” A few now understood Anne’s and Susan’s mood, but were more restrained. More had doubts.

  *****

  As they lay down in bed for the night, Keala probed, “You’re very quiet, Zeke. What do you think?”

  “I feel empty. I feel like someone gut-punched me. I don’t know how it’s going to play out. I’m not feeling good about it at all. I wish we could get a redo. If Cody seranaded us now, I think he’d sing ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes.’ What about you?”

  “Zeke, I noticed John was shaken by Anne’s actions. At first, he was flabbergasted; then he came around to acceptance. Later, I think he started to realize some of the implications. I’m guessing he did have her vote for fighting, but didn’t have any idea she was a loose cannon. You tried to tell him. You did your part!”

  “Sometimes it’s not worth being right …”

  Keala: “I think we’ll be all fine if we keep our heads about us, especially if you are in charge.”

  “Thanks, Keala. I think Robert Frost was at least half right, ‘Two roads diverged in a yellow wood’ — and frankly, my dear, I think we’ve taken the harder path.”

  Keala looked sympathetic. “On the plus side, have you noticed no one, I mean no one, has had a cold or the flu since we’ve been here?”

  “That was a masterful non sequitur,” Zeke said. "What were we talking about before?”

  Keala just smiled. “Let’s play!”

  They forgot the tectonic shift in fortunes that had just occurred as they rolled onto the bed together

  *****

  Cody and Joan lay in bed looking at the ceiling.

  "Cody, when will things settle down? I'm starting to feel adrift again, just when I had adjusted to everything. How are you doing with this
latest change?"

  "I really don't know how things are going to shake out now. There may be a timely turning point for civilization, though ..."

  "How can you say that, Cody? We may be short on food and electricity, or worse, for I-don't-know-how-long. Makes me depressed!"

  "Joan, you remember the extensive list of where our country and culture went wrong, including governmental and societal dysfunction we all discussed at breakfast. Yeah, back when I had to be a show-off using shadenfreude and you kicked me under the table." He chuckled at himself. "Well, I deserved it. Anyway, I'm not so sure we weren't going to meltdown as a civilization anyway. This may be when we carefully design a new future that tries to avoid the many ways we went wrong in the past.

  "And you know me, Joan. I'd start with limited government, dampers on the whims of democracy, and maximum individual liberty. I'd explicity prohibit judicial misinterpretation of key parts of the masterful US Constitution. That fine document would be a starting point. This may be a great opportunity!"

  Cody paused and went on, "However, knowing how hard it has been for Karen to get her rules considered by our small group, it may not be a walk in the park to persuade the many." The musician thinker belly laughed at himself.

  "What am I to do with you, Cody? I do feel a little better. Your optimism is mildly contagious." She smiled at understating his intellect and charm. "If you we're the world ruler, we'd all be better off!"

  "Yeah, and if that doesn't work out, I could go back to being a country singer ..."

  January 29

  There was no morning call to Zeke from Isis.

  Zeke: “Might as well act normal. At times like this, routines can be a saving grace.”

  He and Keala groomed for the day.

  Usually-upbeat Keala was subdued, “Any better after sleeping on it? What do you think?”

  Zeke inhaled, then replied, “These are the interesting times of the Chinese curse. You know, thinking back on everything, I’m somewhat surprised that Anne was even needed to correct code for Isis. I remember reading something about an ‘artificial intelligence system’ called DeepCoder that wrote its own code by borrowing from previously written code. I think it was a joint project of Microsoft and the University of Cambridge.”

  “Zeke, could that mean Isis was not as advanced as we thought?”

  “It very well might mean that — or not. I go back to the many spokes of IQ: more of this, less of that …”

  Keala: “I am surprised. Isis seemed to have developed so much …”

  “My guess is that her creator held back that self-coding capability to have some kind of harness on the artificial intelligence for one or more reasons. I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

  “In any case, Zeke, no matter how bad you feel, project hope to our group. I know I need it! Remember, you set the direction and the tenor, Mr. Conductor. You said to remind you of that when things are uncertain. And count our blessings!”

  “Thanks, Keala. You’re the best! That helps. You’re my blessing.”

  Again Keala was amazed how much better she felt after lifting Zeke’s spirits.

  Zeke had a sudden shift of moods as his mind went into reverse. He knew his face revealed it to Keala and anticipated her question. “I’m thinking I can’t take any more of Anne’s ego trip and gyrating. I’m afraid she’ll try to lead a conga line at breakfast,” he scoffed. “Oh, hell, into the breach! Downstairs to breakfast!”

  *****

  Anne was still full of herself at breakfast, “Let freedom ring! Let freedom ring!” she exulted. She expected more kudos from the group. She was disappointed. “Hey, home-gamers, did everyone have bad dreams — —or what?” She cackled.

  Susan was less jubilant than at supper, “Anne, we have a lot of things to think about. Marsh won’t be supplying us with the things we need, for one …”

  “Yeah,” Karen said, “the day of a revolution is a day of celebration. The next day, you have to pick up the pieces …”

  Cody: “I’m with you, Karen. A little buyer’s remorse here. I hope we toothpicks have not charged into a buzzsaw.” While Cody had blended in with the initial cheer, he had actually anticipated many of the pitfalls. He began describing a multiverse where “worlds split off at each juncture.” He abruptly stopped when he saw mostly blank stares.

  Lee: “Well, I sure won’t miss being monitored. Last night was the first good sleep I’ve had in weeks. Anyone else feel like before they were constantly being watched, even when you were alone? I felt as if I were living in old Soviet Russia or East Germany. My stress level was going off the charts. I didn’t initially agree with Anne’s plan. I thought she might be striking without thinking everything through. I was wrong! Anyway, it’s done. We’re still here. Onward!”

  “Thank you, Lee,” Anne smiled. “And, for once you are right.”

  With a red face, Lee forced a return smile. No one else liked Anne’s attempt at humor at her husband’s expense.

  Zeke added, “My grandfather frequently quoted his favorite history teacher at Alamogordo High: ‘A revolution is an uprising that succeeds. A rebellion is one that does not.’ We’ll see what we have here.”

  John said, “I digress a little. Why didn’t you pursue history, Zeke? Make that medicine. You’re certainly smart enough to be a doctor. Why not medicine?”

  “Too many variables.” If I had any courage, Zeke thought, I would have explained my not going into medicine was because of the perplexity of human behavior — including betrayal. Then he patted himself on the back for his discretion. The truth can be off-putting. He closed his concise response, “That’s what kept me out of medicine.” Zeke laughed out loud at himself.

  Karen looked at the country singer. “What about you, Cody? All that advanced education … .”

  “Yeah, all that studying and I wound up singing for my supper,” Cody chuckled. “I was going to write a bestseller with a charming hero named … Cody!”

  As others enjoyed Cody’s humor, Karen smiled, “I think that was a pretty good breakfast I cooked. In return, how about singing ‘Crazy’ for us tonight.”

  Cody: “I’d be honored. I consider Patsy Cline a mentor. I don’t think it will be enough to repay you for this fine meal.”

  Karen: “Cody, you are a charmer!”

  Joan lovingly punched him, “Yes, he is!”

  So went breakfast. Zeke put a lid on the discussion, “In any case, it looks like a nice sunny day to get more wood before the next snow. Who wants to go hunting? There’s still enough snow on the hills to help track deer. Let’s roll!”

  Keala correctly read his upbeat words as overcompensation.

  *****

  Jed and Cody returned from the woods with a large doe. They had hiked above the snow line to track it. Supper would be good.

  At 1 PM, there was no electricity. At 1:05 PM, Zeke broke the silence, “Looks like it’s time to start bringing in more ice to boil for our water. No pumped water today.” He was not totally surprised. If Anne was correct, there was no Isis to turn on the power.

  At 2 PM, during a work break, John remarked, “I really miss that electricity!” It was so quiet you could hear an ant with sneakers walking on soft rubber. Not even Anne would step into that ocean of remorse and brave the new tide.

  Zeke saw a need to inspire forward thinking. “Folks, let’s be thinking about how we’ll survive in a world without Isis. Think especially about how we should step up for more self-protection and how we can secure electricity. We can do it! We’ll put our heads together later.”

  At 3 PM, everyone looked tired. Zeke said, “Group, let’s all take a thirty-minute rest — now. We need it.” Most headed in and upstairs.

  Lee closed the door to his bedroom. He went into the bathroom and shut the door. He washed his face with warm water from a pan. Anne lay down on their bed and closed her eyes from exhaustion and frustration.

  Without warning, Susan burst in. “Anne, we need to talk. What possessed you to unila
terally bet the fate of this group on your whim? Why didn’t you consult us first? How could you jeopardize our future like that? Of all the arrogant …”

  “You mean taking down that oppressor we were under — the Bitch? I couldn’t live like that. You shouldn’t either. Take your pathetic counseling act somewhere else …”

  Susan: “That oppressor saved my husband’s life and gave us sanctuary, you self-righteous bitch. How could you? You …”

  Anne rose to a sitting position on the bed. Her eyes flashed as she pointed sharply at the door. “Leave, you piece …”

  Adrenaline propelled Susan on top of a surprised Anne. Each pulled at the other’s hair. Anne slapped Susan in the face. Susan slapped Anne in the face. Anne punched Susan in the nose. Reeling, Susan wielded a K-bar knife from the scabbard on her belt. She slashed Anne’s throat. A stream of blood splattered on the bedroom wall.

  Susan: “That’s for leaving us without electricity!”

  Abruptly, all tussling stopped.

  As Anne’s carotid artery bled out, she tried to put pressure on it with both hands. Life drained from her. “Lee! Lee! Lee!” she gurgled.

  Previously lost in thought, Lee emerged from the bathroom. Susan was running out of the bedroom. Reacting to the situation, he drew the 9 mm from his holster and shot Susan three times in the back. One round penetrated her heart. She hit the foyer floor with a resounding thud.

  Hearing the commotion, John dashed into the foyer from his room. He drew his 9 mm. “Drop it, Lee!”

  In a state of shock and confusion, Lee hesitated and moved his pistol hand in the wrong direction, for whatever reason. John fired twice at his trunk and ran to give aid Susan. Too late.

  Three dead.

  Napping, Zeke was in deep sleep when he heard the shots. He directed waking Keala into their bathroom and told her to lock the door. He grabbed his 9 mm and went to the hallway in his undershorts. John surrendered his pistol without being asked. Jed checked the bodies for signs of life. Karen talked with John while Zeke went for Keala and trousers. After there was consensus on what had happened, Zeke suggested a meeting downstairs in half an hour.