by Sean Adami
Rufus said, “He wouldn’t know. He can’t have memory of his memories being erased .”
“Thanks for clearing that up, Rufus. Please, let’s focus on the plan. This is so hectic,” Andrew complained. He stood up and peeked through the door. No one was there.
“Are they expecting you to board the ship? Or do they have something else planned for you?” Harriet asked.
Andrew said, “I don’t know. My best judgement is that they wanted to erase my memory so that I would reconsider them. So maybe they’ll bring me?”
Harriet said, “I have an idea. Allow me to travel with them, being normal and everything, and Andrew travels secretly on board. They wouldn’t suspect anything.”
Andrew said, “That could work, I guess. But why would I need to come?”
Harriet mentioned, “Duh, so that you prevent them from capturing the Dopabees. Who knows how much brute force they’ll bring to Nirvana 74? Those animate plants will sure be up against something.”
Rufus asked, “Andrew, what memories did they try to erase?”
“Rufus, I literally just asked that,” Harriet said. “And you told me he wouldn’t remember. But since you bring it up again, Andrew, what memories did they try to destroy from your head?”
Andrew said, “I do remember that they wanted me to forget about my mother.”
Harriet asked, “Well, do you remember her? Remember when we visited her at Allure?”
“Um, I’m not exactly sure. Everything just seems so faint. I remember her from when I was a kid. Seeing her at Allure? I feel like we saw her, but I just don’t remember. It’s weird.”
She said, “Strange. Your father really is a psychotic douche. No offense.”
“No problem. Moving forward, we will just do what we said. I’ll pretend I’m still using the machine, and when they wake me up, I’ll just say I forgot about mother. I’ll act in accord with my father. The problem is I don’t know how he will react with me.”
Harriet said, “That’s why I think you should secretly board the ship before they see you. We’ll hide you during these four hours, and you can board with us hiddenly.”
“I can sneak Andrew on the ship,” Rufus said. “So is everyone on board with this plan?”
“Oh, I see what you did there,” Harriet said. “I am.”
Andrew was still a little skeptical. He said, “Yes,” though. “Do you know where the ship will be picking us up?”
Rufus said, “In the front of the labs. Right by the entrance. I can trick your father even more by saying that the general has ordered me to keep you under supervision in the ‘Memory Metamorphose’ room. That way I can sneak you on the ship, and your father would have no idea.”
Andrew said, “Okay, sounds good. I’m gonna go back to my room and rest a little. I have a severe headache.”
Harriet said, “We can’t let anybody see you though.”
Rufus said, “If I’m near him, it’ll be fine. I can escort him to his room.”
“I’d appreciate it. Okay then. Everyone do what you’re supposed to do, and we’ll be golden,” Andrew said. Harriet and Rufus nodded.
Quietly leaving this room, they walked down the hallway. No sound was present. They made it to the elevator. Rufus ordered the elevator to go to the first floor with the help of his wrist. Reaching this floor, Harriet left. Rufus ignited the elevator to go to the underground floor with his wrist once again. Making it there, Andrew left, saying, “See you at 5:00 p.m.” Rufus agreed and closed the elevator door behind him.
Computing in his room code, Andrew unlocked the white room. Immediately, he implanted his face into the bed pillow. Flipping his body around, he opened up Mindcord. He planned to wake up at 4:55 p.m. It would provide him enough time to get ready. However, he saw the fountain pen. Therefore, he changed his alarm to 4:50 p.m. He fell asleep.
CHAPTER 20:
Will the plan go smoothly?
Smooth as lapis lazuli?
Memories hesitant,
Andrew still sees Father as decadent.
Nap done, Andrew was awakened by his 4:50 p.m. alarm. Slouching out of bed, he saw the fountain pen again. It was time to be productive and smart. The only skepticism invading his mind was that of Rufus. Instead of leaving through the door, Andrew opened the upper hatch. As soon as he reached the first floor, he heard a whirring noise. It was the Nirvana Voyager with its loud engine directly by the front entrance. The size of the ship was so massive that only the entrance of the ship could be seen from the entrance of the labs. A gray metallic ramp stretched down. The ship overwhelmed Andrew. Being in public around the lab researchers overwhelmed him as well. The process of sneaking on the ship confused him. Should he be weary of guards? Is Andrew still permitted to be at the labs? The route to the spaceship entrance was wide-open; no guards or lab researchers were present. Instilling that he make a run for it, Andrew double-checked both ways. Leaving the hatches, he approached the entrance by hastily walking. Pools of nervous energy swept through him. He passed the entrance door and saw two guards that stood on the sides of it. A slight headrush blackened his vision for a few seconds. He thought, create an excuse right now. Not seeing the face of this lonely wanderer, a guard said, “Hey, what are you doing?” Andrew revealed his face to them. “Oh, it’s Robert’s son. Please, go right ahead.” He pointed to the spaceship door.
This caught Andrew off guard. Keeping a cool face, he responded, “Thanks.” While giving them a thumbs up, he gazed at the ship. The size was astronomical. It was the height of the eighty-floor lab. It was the length of two football fields. What surprised Andrew even more was that this wasn’t the only ship; there were hundreds of small space cruisers and U-shaped assault vessels. There were so many of them that they were parked outside of the lab gates. The Nirvana Voyager vaunted a giant golden bee emblem on its fuselage. This ship possessed three massive corridors with a door hatch on each of them. They could open up with the use of a lever. Made of steel, the ship was shaped curvaceously with no jagged corners. Various blasters poked out of the front. The engineering and architecture attracted Andrew, causing him to stare at it for two minutes. This short amount of time was still significant for Andrew. His father, his brother, the general, Rufus, or Harriet could appear at any second. He decided not to waste any more seconds, and he walked up the ramp that led to the inside of the ship. Inside was brightly lit. Blue LEDs shined the white tiles on the floor. It was spotless. The cliche archetype of a ship could be seen, such as the countless buttons, holographic screens, never-ending wires, and magnified sensors. The thing that struck Andrew’s attention most was the front of the ship. The front had an entire map of the Spirit World with possible locations of where Dopabees could be; additionally, it contained a glass wall and steering wheel. The pinpoints of the Dopabee locations were placed up north of the planet. This angered him. Leaving the cockpit, he needed to find a hiding spot. Cracking open Mindcord, he saw the time was 4:58 p.m., leaving him two minutes to find one good hiding spot in this gargantuan ship. He also didn’t want to be too far from where other people would be situated. Seeing one of the corridor doors from the side of the ship, he saw ten feet by ten feet black cubes with a metallic lock on top of each. The gap between the frontal cockpit and the cubes was only about 50 feet, providing him with enough space to hear possible conversations. He crouched behind one of the cubes and waited. This spot seemed fine to him. Now it was a matter of patience.
Mindcord displayed the time of 5:00 p.m. Immediately, he heard crisp metallic footsteps. The clattering amplified as more people entered inside. Peeking over his right, he saw the first person to enter the ship; it was Rufus with Harriet by her side. She first said, “That’s so weird.” Their dialogue echoed.
Rufus said, “We’ll figure it out. And I guess we’re early, too.” A few seconds later, more footsteps approached, that of his father’s and later the general’s. One eye showing, Andrew saw Rufus take notice of Robert. Wayne and Robert shook Harriet’s hand.
Robert said, “Harriet, are you ready to help us?”
She said, “Yes,” as Marco ran through the door. Andrew’s brother was one minute late. The map of the Dopabees shut off and became a blank screen.
“Sorry I’m late,” Marco said.
Wayne said, “No problem. Let’s get this ship up and running.”
After this, twenty blue-suited guards came from behind them. Lastly, one single man with a green vest entered. This man said, “Who’s ready for some flyin’? Let’s get this ship a’steerin ’.”
Robert said, “Harriet, this is our pilot, Fred Batenhoff.” Fred shook Harriet’s hand. “He has flown for the U.S. Air Force in many simulations, such as Frost Island, Candy Fortress, and Blaze Land. His skills are outrageous. He even got a score of 13200 on the bonus feature, marking him as the world record holder.”
Harriet casually said, “Okay.” Fred arrived at the cockpit and took hold of the steering wheel. The twenty guards were ordered by Wayne to their standing locations. A pair of guards were assigned to protect the black cubes, leaving them directly in front of hidden Andrew. Quickly asserting his back to the back of the cube, Andrew held his breath. He was sure that they hadn’t seen him, but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure. He had to rely on his hearing.
Fred said, “Let’s engage in some Sub-Lightspeed.” Electrifying the ignition, he said, “In 3 . . . 2 . . . 1.”
Andrew felt a rampant shock for less than a second. This shock was absorbed by the vertical stabilizer. The amorphous steel of the ship morphed its shape and re-established its original state. Having no windows other than the frontal glass, he couldn't see their spatial location. Andrew wanted a quick peek of where his father was, but he concluded it was too risky for this.
Wayne said, “Antebellum America was a prosperous time before the geothermal crisis. Who knew that one small crisis would lead us to something like this.” Andrew heard footsteps that grew further from him.
Robert’s distinct voice echoed, “It truly is. Now, if we could bring our attention to this screen, I would greatly appreciate it.” An emittance of sound went off. “This right here is a map of Nirvana 74. It specifies which creature associates with each biome. It also calculates the dimensions of each biome, whether it be their height, width, weight, and density. Quintessentially, it is most important that these creatures match up with the standards of the Spirit World. If just a minor mistake is made in height, for example, we will do our best to match our code to Nirvana 74’s physical standards.”
Harriet said, “I am in agreeance.”
There was plain silence for ten seconds. Then, Marco asked, “Which thing on the map represents the Dopabees we need to capture?” Five more seconds of plain silence. An awkward cough emerged.
Rufus said, “Harriet, you’re under arrest.”
Andrew heard weird sigh noises. Harriet said, “What! What are you doing?”
Robert said, “Obeying my orders is what he’s doing.”
“I don’t understand,” Harriet said.
“Of course you wouldn’t,” Andrew’s father expressed. “You crossed us so we double-crossed you. You thought Rufus would betray me? Well, that is something that you obviously misjudged. You see, my plan required a backup plan—a backup plan where both you and Andrew would board this ship. I knew you two would be stubborn, and an oldest trick in the book needed to be played: reverse psychology.”
“How do you know Andrew is on this ship?” she asked. Andrew’s face grew red.
Robert said, “You don’t think that I keep an eye on my labs at all times? I knew Andrew’s location from the very start when he laid that punch on me. Every move he’s made has been calculated for. I also knew that his skepticism would get in the way of things, which led him to board this ship without Rufus. There was a reason my guards allowed Andrew to board.”
Harriet asked, “So where is he then?”
“A casual game of hide-and-seek will lure him out,” Robert insisted. Raising his voice, he said, “Andrew, my son, if you don’t reveal yourself, your friend Harriet will be a goner. I’m giving you ten seconds to come out, or else this trigger will be unleashed.”
Andrew felt stupid. There was really no other word that could describe him. He quickly side-stepped from behind the cube and revealed himself. “I’m here,” said Andrew. “Don’t do anything dangerous.”
Robert said, “Andrew, you thought you were so clever. Since I have you here, I think you should show us the Dopabee coordinates on this map. Harriet can assist you, being that you two have the most experience in the Spirit World. Any trick or falsified location will not be tolerated.”
“How did you—why did you,” Andrew stuttered. “Why are you doing this? You know this isn’t the right thing: salvaging bees for the well-being of the guests. You and I both know that stealing these bees will be detrimental for the Nirvana 74 society.”
“Society? You think they have a living society? I’m sorry, son, but those animate plants, which you refer to, are nothing but lifeless organic matter with no living conscience.”
“But they do have a conscience,” Andrew argued. “You’re completely misinterpreting—”
“That’s enough!” Robert said. “Enough bickering. Pinpoint the location on the map already. If not, then you’ll know what’ll happen.” This father-to-son conversation was so intense that even the pilot directed his attention to this.
The screen presenting the map was highly advanced. It allowed Andrew to zoom in, view a 2D map, view a 3D map, and see each creature by name. The map was already zoomed into the northern hemisphere of the planet. Robert said, “Harriet, want to give Andrew a little head start? Zoom in where you approximate the Dopabees would be located in.” Andrew saw her look of anger. She zoomed in even more north. While zooming in, Andrew recognized the river that the cheetah attacked them by. Not too adjacent from the river, Allure could be seen. Robert said, “Andrew, now you take control. Show us the exact location.” Each breath of Andrew’s pulsed with animosity. If he gave this location, the animate plants would be devastated, yet he had no other choice. Placing his two fingers, he zoomed into the big yellow flower. At this point, the location of the Dopabees could be seen. The water springs and absence of trees was shown in the bottom right-hand corner. All he needed to do was place his finger on it. The devastation of the animate plants were in his hands, literally. In full regret he placed his finger on this location.
The map screen said, “Location has been coordinated. Longitude of 11.87668 degrees. Latitude of 135.91696 degrees. Nirvana Voyager’s route has been verified.” This robotic voice was femenine, yet it sounded demonic to Andrew. He wanted to fight back, but this time he was absolutely entrapped.
Fred said, “We should be there in five minutes. Only 3,330,000,000 miles to go.”
Robert said, “Guards, please hold onto Andrew’s arms. I can see how tempted he is to blind my other eye.” Immediately, a guard, which originally stood by the cube, grasped Andrew’s arms tightly. “Since we will be there in such a short time, I think this would be a good time that I speak of the origin of Nirvana 74. It’s a very fascinating historical story, and, yet, only the top scholars in the world have knowledge of this information.” He cleared his throat. “The Dawn of Man is a very interesting thing, Andrew. It all starts with Earth as a planet itself, physically. It used to be two spheres connected: that being Earth and that being Nirvana 74. These two planets—or, I mean, one planet—grew birth to both humans and, as you call them, animate plants. Humans were the first species to be born. Animate plants were created with the combination of human genomes and plant genomes. No one knows the origin of how these two interacted, but this was the birth of animate plants. Due to the geographical isolation of the Nirvana 74 side, these living plant creatures populated astronomically. Humans, on the other hand, populated at a slower rate on the Earth side of the planet. An imbalance of the two creatures was too apparent. As time moved on, humans began to take notice of this imbalance
. A quest for survivalism struck humans, or as Darwin puts it: “The Survival of the Fittest.” Humans feared animate plants would become the dominant species. Eventually, a portion of animate plants began to migrate to the Earth side. In retaliation, a portion of humans migrated to the Nirvana 74 side. On both sides of the planet, animate plants and humans lived. Ultimately, humans grew territorial with the Earth side of the planet, claiming it as their home and so forth. This emanation of home is what caused humans to lead a mass genocide on the animate plants. Humans successfully killed all the animate plants that migrated to the Earth side of the planet. Gaining message of this, animate plants saw reason to do the same to humans. Establishing a successful genocide, animate plants took control of the Nirvana 74 side. A fear percolated on both sides of the planet. Neither side wanted to step foot into the other. As generations of time passed on, the conjunction of Nirvana 74 and Earth began to lose physical contact. A planet containing two spheres side-by-side was not the most stabilized form of a planet. The two sides finally broke off, leaving Earth and Nirvana 74 alone to themselves. This is why you see creatures with similar body features when compared with Earth. The blue cheetah of Nirvana 74, for instance, is just a mutated deviation of Earth.”
The map screen said, “You have arrived at your destination.”
Wayne said, “Tell me again, Robert, how did Nirvana 74 separate so far from Earth?”
“It entered through a wormhole,” Robert said.
“Oh, yeah that’s right. I’m glad you clarified,” Wayne said. “Those studies felt so long ago.”
Andrew said, “How is that even true? It doesn’t make sense.”
Robert said, “Why do you think the animate plants were afraid of the word ‘blood’ then?”
Andrew hesitated and saw the correlation. What he said was true. “Where did you learn this stuff from?”
Robert said, “That’s for another time. Right now is Dopabee encapsulation time.”
