by Robert Brown
“But why? I mean if I even believe you, why would you do such a thing. You were the hero of the war, the leader of the early vampires, what would you have to hide?” Standing in frustration, Jeremy begins to pace. “Was this to hide something you did? How much of the past I know is a lie?”
“The past you know is a partial past that existed. I didn’t hide the things I did, I only hid how I did them. But that deception ends tonight when the others arrive with the device I helped design. The government finally perfected my design for the genetic memory recording device. It is able to extract and record visual and auditory memories that are written into my genes.”
“That doesn’t sound possible.”
“Almost any task is possible if given the right motivation for completion. But I know you are referring to degrading memories in brain synapse transmission. Through my powers, I have the ability to absorb people’s memories. I have had this power since the first day I went through Shatterbones. I can experience a complete memory of events if I choose, and I spent many years during and after the war absorbing everything I could about events which I thought mattered.
“In understanding my own abilities, I realized all memories are permanently recorded into our genetic makeup. It isn’t just simplified or repetitive task memories like those instinctual behaviors in animals. Every one of the things you have experienced from the time you were born has been recorded into your genetic code, and we now have a device that can retrieve those memories for others to see the way I can.”
“What about my previous question: if you have nothing to hide, why did you edit historical records? Why did you hide your abilities?”
“Jealousy and fear, those are the reasons why. We had to keep our powers secret when we discovered those children born after The Shattering Event had no extra powers. There were already too many conflicts among ourselves as well as between us and the regular humans when they existed. We didn’t want our extra abilities to create grievances among everyone else.”
After pressing a button on a holographic screen, a tray rises up through the middle of the small table between their seats.
“Please sit back down and have a drink with me, Jeremy. I think if you search your own feelings, the fear you have at the moment in trying to accept what I am saying should help you understand why we wanted our powers hidden. Anything that varies from normal is automatically viewed with suspicion and fear; it is a standard survival response.”
“Why do you keep referring to yourself as we when talking about your powers? Do you feel they are an entity beyond yourself?”
Again, she laughs out loud and smiles at him. “I’m not crazy although I can understand why you think I might be. When I say we, I am referring to many of the arch-vampires that first mutated when the blue haze arrived. There were thousands of us that had tremendous psychic powers. We all decided we had to keep our talents secret, especially when many vampires that had our talents began to lose them.”
“Yes, fine.” He mentions in a slightly agitated tone. “I understand why to a certain degree, but I can’t imagine the how. There would be people that knew the truth. Something would have been entered into historical database that you would have missed.”
“We had ample time to remove or alter all that we wanted, and we have the abilities to control others to do the tasks for us. There were many things written or otherwise recorded about our powers originally. Mountains of government records and experiments, depositions, articles, books. There was even a segment of the entertainment industry that celebrated or decried what we were capable of. All of those records were slowly changed over time. First, they were changed into suggestion and innuendo, then into comic expressions about what people conspired to attribute to arch-vampires. Then after several decades of people believing it was a silly conspiracy theory, we removed any references to our powers from the record completely.
“You can shake your head all you want, Jeremy, but I was there at the start. I felt and saw what it did to us, and I know what we became. We turned into the monsters our parents told us about in stories as children. That first year was a year of blood, and the first day… that was a day we nearly wiped ourselves from the Earth’s existence.
“Try to understand, back then, we still had regular humans. That was three hundred and sixty-eight years ago. Before the blue haze arrived, we were all just normal humans. We were regular people bumbling about our lives, finding ways to add interest and excitement to the boring routines of our waking hours. I was twelve years old the day I went through Shatterbones. Twelve years old, and in less than a minute, I grew into the young woman you see sitting before you now. I haven’t aged a day since then, at least not physically.”
He pulls his recorder from his shirt pocket and places it on the table. “Okay. Let’s say I accept your assertion that the history I studied and think I know is altered. You say a device can record and display the real history from your DNA. Why would you re-release an unaltered version of our history that you worked so hard to hide? Also, why would you need me to report on it when, as you claim, everyone will be able to just watch your own memories of the events?”
“You and everyone else will find out in two weeks why I want our real history known. Right now, few besides myself know the reason. As for your part in all of this, you are a buffer between the truth and the lie. Knowing what we really became, what powers we truly have will be almost as frightening to the current population as it was to ourselves and our parents so many years ago.
“Hearing and reading your words on the Virtual Link-In will allow people to go through their own levels of denial before my actual memory recordings are released. People need time to absorb shocking new details over a few day’s time at a minimum to prevent serious societal problems from occurring.”
A chime rings out. Multiple visitors approaching. Three blocks to arrival.
“Scan and verify identities. Defense readiness check.”
Defenses verified on full. Bacterial signatures confirmed. Doctor Avila, his assistants, Darcie and Marcus, and Vice-President Dunson.
“You have a three-block perimeter scan with defenses?”
“I have a three-block perimeter warning area for calm times like this. The scanning and defensive area is much larger.”
“But I thought there haven’t been hostilities between vampires in over two hundred years, is that history altered as well?”
“It is correct. There has not been a war between or among us for two hundred and forty-six years to be exact. I never had problems with vampires after that time and even before then, I was rarely challenged. Many of these defenses are new, only a few years old in fact.” She takes a small sip of red. “Remember your thoughts, Jeremy. If you have a question like that, you should ask it, or I will think you are being rude. I will ask it for you this time. Why do I need new defenses like the ones I have if I am not a crazy old lady that can’t remember that the war is long over? Is that how you thought it?”
“Yes, um, that is my thought exactly.”
“Let me say for now I am involved in a great deal of scientific and military research.”
“You mean governmental research right? You said military. We haven’t had a military in…”
“Yes, we haven’t had a military in over a hundred years…on planet. We aren’t certain what we will encounter as our people prepare to leave the solar system, so military weaponry for exploration is still necessary. While many of the things I have developed with them are for use off planet, I feel it prudent to have certain items installed around my home. You will be told or will discover many of the answers you want over the next few hours, Jeremy. Please excuse me for a moment, my other guests have arrived.”
*
“Everything is prepared. I will insert the needle with your permission and we can begin the search.”
Jeremy looks over the equipment being set up with curiosity. “How long does the extraction process take?”
“In experi
ments with this device, it has ranged from one to two hours. However, we have never attempted extraction from someone like The Angel or with genetic data so old.”
“Will I be able to see your memories right away?”
“As soon as they have isolated the correct timeframe, you can plug in or you can wait until everything is completed. If you wait until completion, the process will be a quick transfer such as anything else from the Virtual Link-In.”
“How do I know it won’t be a fabrication? This machine could be anything, it could be a holographic or hallucinogenic fabricator.”
“You will know the difference when you are exposed to the memories. It is an all-encompassing experience, taste, smell, and touch will all be present, not only sight and sound. You will be embedded in the memories as if they are your own. You must prepare yourself, many of her experiences could be terrifying for you.
“This is the first time we are able to detect and isolate memories embedded in the genetic code. For it to be a fabrication would require entering an altered record into her genes. That is a level of scientific knowledge or ability we are nowhere near at this point in time.”
“Why can’t you just retrieve it from her blood sample?”
“So many questions.” Dr. Avila gives him a frustrated look.
“This is all being recorded, Doctor, I need it for my story.”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m not used to so much chattering from the subjects I usually deal with. Blood samples will not work. For some reason which we do not completely understand, memories tend to degrade immediately upon removal from a host’s body.”
“If they degrade when you remove them, doesn’t that prove manipulation?”
“No, because of the personal or proprietary nature, it is more explained as a consequence of removing the sole power source. We can extract genetic memories in vivid detail while still circulating in the body. They don’t alter upon removal but begin to lose clarity immediately.
“Okay, I have isolated the correct sequence, Mr. Gordon. You can enter now and witness it as it unfolds, or wait for the process to be completed.”
“I’ve heard too many impossibilities at this point to wait any longer.”
The Angel grabs his arm and expresses a concerned look. “It might be a bit overwhelming. Remember that you look exactly like Lloyd.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Link-In Initiated
Chapter Forty-Seven
Accepting The Past
Link-In Break
Oregon Territory
Two hours later
“I need to stop for a moment.” Jeremy Gordon removes his link-in adapter and stares in disbelief at the woman whose memories he just experienced. She smiles softly at him as he stands up and begins to pace, not wanting to accept what he has witnessed so far.
“I understand why you called me Lloyd earlier. I do look exactly like him. Are we related somehow?”
“You are a descendant of Lloyd Cavanaugh’s cousin according to Dr. Avila’s records. I had him look it up while you were in the link.”
He smiles at her briefly before remembering his reason for being here.
“Let me see if I have this correct so far. After you went through Shatterbones, you could read minds, absorb memories, influence minds, and you can even glow?”
“My luminescence is not related to my psychic abilities, it is a result of the physical transformation I went through. But yes, I had all of the abilities you witnessed.”
“And you still have those powers today?”
“Yes, I do. Many of the original arch-vampires have powers of some sort, although mine and Adam’s were the strongest I recorded before The Shattering Event ended and the haze left our planet. To what point did you witness my memories?”
“The war had ended, and you were speaking with the Cavanaughs in their home. You just showed them your ability to emit light, you told them you’re pregnant. We’re going to have a baby!” His smile fades as quickly as it arrived. “I mean you and Lloyd were going to have a baby! Sorry, I didn’t mean we, the memories are so vivid.”
Cora’s features strain. She is trying to smile against the sadness that is evident in her eyes. “That was right before we were heading to war in Europe. Now you know that the history you are familiar with has been altered. It might suit the needs for your article to go to relevant portions of my memories from that point on instead of a continuous timeline.”
Looking at Dr. Avila, “Will that be possible?”
“Yes, just like the Link-In, you should be able to approach specific memory locations by asking questions in your mind. It will be more difficult to separate yourself from the vivid nature of her memories, but your thoughts can guide you to any location if you focus. You will be able to jump through time to specific memories which your mind believes are relevant.”
“Okay, I’m ready to go back in.”
Link-In Initiated
Chapter Forty-Seven
Revisiting the Past
Link-In Break
One Hour Later
Oregon Territory
“Now you have seen the relevant moments of our unedited past. What do you think?”
Jeremy sits silently while wiping tears from his eyes. “I’m sorry for your losses. I’ve never felt anything so powerful before.”
“They were heartbreaking times for those of us that don’t age. The first ten decades after the haze were the most difficult to deal with. Our friends and children would die at such a young age. My own grandchildren, Grace’s children, they didn’t live past forty. At least each new generation after the haze added two years to their longevity. Your generation is supposed to live for a hundred years, the same length of time my parents’ generation were supposed to reach originally.”
Dr. Avila and his assistants begin packing up the equipment, and the vice-president stands up in a daze. Without a word, he turns and walks out of the room, stumbling over a step and steadying himself against a wall before disappearing from view.
“What happened to him?”
“He was in my memories as well. Each of you viewed the portions of my memories that are relevant to yourselves and what you needed to see to complete your work. You wanted to know about our history for your article, and because of your resemblance to Lloyd, my emotional attachment brought you into my personal store on a deeper level than the vice-president.”
“What was he here to see?”
“He came to see both the past and the future.”
“You can’t possibly…”
“No, I cannot see the future. But I know what is coming, none-the-less. This technology I have surrounded myself with allowed me to see it. I was able to discover what is coming. Just over ten years ago, I had a research probe launched into space. With it, I was able to scan the galaxy to search for the Sanguis Particle that caused the haze and mutations. I wanted to know if or when our planet would be passing through another location with it.”
“You’ve detected it, haven’t you? That’s why you have yourself surrounded by these defenses. That’s why the vice-president was here and why he looked so shocked.”
“In thirteen days, our planet will re-enter the main body of the Sanguis Particle cloud. What we traveled through three hundred and sixty-eight years ago was only a thin arm stretching away from the main body. Apparently, our planet passes through the cloud arms with some regularity, but we do not enter the main body as often. Now that we have the technology to detect what the particle is and compare it to the movement of our planet and solar system, our past makes far more sense.”
“When was the last time we passed through the main cloud?”
“You look so much like Lloyd. You have no idea how comforting it is to look at you with everything else that is happening.”
“Please tell me, when was the last time we went through the cloud?”
“We skirted along the edge of it at the end of the Cretaceous Period sixty-five million years ago. The
last time we went through the center as we will this time was at the end of the Permian Era, two hundred and fifty million years ago.
“You know your history, Jeremy; that is why you were picked for this interview above all others. Those eras in Earth’s history are known as the Cretaceous Extinction and Permian Extinction for a reason. We lost up to ninety percent of the planet’s species the last time we went through this part of the cloud.
“You have the knowledge and skills necessary to explain the unexplainable and help the people become aware of what lies before us. We are headed into a long period of change in which anything could happen. What I went through as a child was just a preview. The haze was only here for a year, a little blip in the planet’s history, and it caused the upheaval to which you were just witness.
“In two weeks, when the blue haze returns, it will be with our planet for the next ten thousand years.”
The End
Read on for a free sample of Zombie Team Alpha
1
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Yuri Stakhanov limped along the mineshaft, occasionally ducking to avoid the thick timbers supporting the massive weight of the mountain above him. Years in various deep-shaft mines had left him with a permanent bend to his back and a hitch to his step. No longer could he stand as tall as he once had when he’d been a proud member of Spetsnaz—Russia’s Special Forces. He’d been a soldier then and battled the fanatics in Afghanistan, but an incompetent fool of an officer and a lost temper had seen him banished from his beloved outfit forever. Now, his daily labors went into supporting his wife and extended family the only way he knew how—by digging deep into the earth for the elusive gold buried beneath.
After stopping to mop hot sweat from his brow, he resumed his shuffling gait, ever wheezing, ever coughing. The dim lamp on his helmet cast a narrow beam into the gloom, barely lighting the way ahead. In one hand, he held a small metal tin containing his mid-shift meal and, like all his mid-shift meals, had arrived by train earlier in the day. It had been made by his dutiful wife and was one small concession the company allowed to keep him connected to home.
