Spirit Intercom

by Sean Adami

  Rufus said, “Harriet, we need to sew Andrew’s wound. If not, then all the blood will drain out of him.”

  Harriet panicked. “You expect me to kill men and fix his wound! Don’t you think that you should step in for once as the alpha male!” She sat on the floor crying. Rufus ignored this.

  Rufus sat on the floor next to Andrew and opened up the medkit’s small suturing kit. He picked up the needle. Andrew asked, “Have you ever sutured a banana?”

  Rufus answered, “No.”

  Andrew said, “I’ll do it myself then. Back off.” He weakly pushed Rufus away. Andrew was slowly growing light-headed. This is what it felt like to be iron-deficient.

  Rufus said, “I can help.” Andrew refused.

  Reminiscing of fourth grade, Andrew pieced together his photographic memory and remembered how to suture a banana. He grabbed the needle and thread. He hesitated to poke himself. He thought, why do I have to do everything myself? As the needle punctured, he reflexed. He gradually moved through the process: poke-by-poke and thread-by-thread. He said, “I forgive you, Rufus.”

  Rufus was sitting in the cockpit and couldn’t hear him. Harriet stood back up. She had relaxed. She asked, “What do we do when we reach Earth?”

  Andrew, who had completed his suturing, said, “Fix everything.”

  CHAPTER 21:

  How far must Andrew go?

  How much does he not know?

  Dopabees confiscated,

  Spirit Intercom dominated.

  Underneath the ATV engine, Andrew waited for Earth’s arrival. The ship stated, “Five minutes remaining.” Traction stained Andrew’s thoughts. It was time for Andrew to be the venerable one.

  Andrew contemplated the following: My father is probably after me right now. The radicals are probably watching me right now. Does Wallace want me at the radical hideout? Can I talk about the radicals to Harriet and Rufus? Probably not. Did the animate plants make it to the rift? Is Rufus still trustworthy? Will Father’s Dopabee plan work? What should I tell Harriet and Rufus to do when we land? How much time do I have?

  Andrew was disrupted by a mental chime from Mindcord. Harriet said, “I just got an alert from Mindcord News.”

  “So did I,” Rufus added. Andrew saw the notification. It was a video with the title “Scientists Predict Doomsday will Hit Tomorrow.” This scared the bejesus out of him. He started the video.

  The news correspondent said, “Seismic waves reveal that the biggest earthquake in human history will hit tomorrow. Scientists believe this will break Earth’s core. This frightening news has doomed us all as a human species. Thankfully, Spirit Intercom has taken initiation, and pre-registered guests are expected to enter starting tomorrow.” The correspondent put his hand over his heart. “Thank god I got access! For all the sad saps who don’t, unfortunately, you’re gonna die with the rest of the world.” The video ended. Before Andrew closed out of Mindcord, three big X’s filled up his mental screen.

  A giant message on Andrew’s Mindcord read “Sorry, but you’ve been hacked.”

  An audio message began to play. It said, “Hey, Andrew! It’s Wallace! We just got news of our worldly downfall, and we need you to be at the hideout in no less than 30 minutes. Get your ass over here, or we’re going to get your ass!” The hacked screen with the 3 X’s went away. Andrew closed the interface in shock.

  Harriet said, “I can’t believe this is happening. What are we going to do?”

  Andrew needed to set his mind in accord with this situation.

  Andrew said, “Rufus, right when we land, I need you to bring my Sporksterbeale in. I need to evacuate the labs as soon as we get there.”

  “How do you know that I know where it is?” Rufus asked.

  “Because you’ve dealt with my car more than once. Harriet, when we land, I need you to hide at the labs for the night?”

  “What? Why?” she asked.

  Andrew said, “I actually need both of you to sleep here overnight. I’ll need your assistance tomorrow. And don’t forget that all we got is tomorrow. Tonight, I have to check that my kids are safe.”

  “We can’t sleep there. The entire place is covered in camera surveillance,” Harriet said.

  Rufus said, “I know a low-profile bunker we can hide in. It’s a secret bunker for protection against any natural disaster. No cameras are there either.”

  “See, this can work,” Andrew reaffirmed. “First things first, I need Rufus to bring my car in.”

  The ship stated, “30 seconds until arrival. Please prepare for landing.”

  Andrew asked, “Everyone knows what they’re doing?”

  Harriet and Rufus agreed at different times. Andrew felt a little bump beneath his feet. The soothing chime went off. Slightly limping, Andrew approached the broken entrance. Winds bursted beneath the ship. No other ships were present. Departing off the ship, he stepped down to the earthly floor. He told Harriet and Rufus to hurry up. A severed man with a gunshot wound was moving quicker than two physically-abled humans. Rufus said, “Harriet, come with me to get Andrew’s car.” Nodding complete, Harriet took off with Rufus through the main entrance door of the labs.

  Andrew peeked in the entrance. All he saw were casual walkers and lab researchers. No other security guards were at hand. Andrew bit his fingernails as time prevailed. Quickly opening up Mindcord, he checked some messages to pass the time. He received a message less than a minute ago. It was from Kevin. It was written in all-caps. “ANDREW! TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON! I’M STUCK WITH YOUR TWO KIDS WHILE THE END OF THE WORLD IS STRIKING TOMORROW! I NEED YOU TO GET BACK TO THE APARTMENT! OUR ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH SPIRIT INTERCOM, ACCORDING TO MINDCORD NEWS! YOU’VE BEEN WORKING THERE FOR AN ETERNITY, SO YOU MUST HAVE SOME METHOD FOR ACCESS! CONTACT ME NOW!!!!!!!”

  This frightened Andrew. His best friend and two children were vulnerably entrapped in one apartment. The fate of the world relied on Andrew, and his close relatives relied on him as well. Andrew heard his unique car engine noise. Harriet and Rufus were in the car. They stopped it next to Andrew. “There you go,” Rufus announced. “Harriet and I will be on our way to the bunker. Before I go, give me your Mindcord contact so you can message me.” Andrew slowly bonked his forehead with Rufus’s. “Thanks. Got it.”

  Andrew got in his car as Rufus and Harriet hurried into the labs. Processing what stage of his life he was in, Andrew said, “Sporksterbeale, how long is the trip to ‘Radical Hideout’?”

  The voice stated, “Hello, Andrew. The route is 1 hour and 10 minutes. I can offer an experimental route if you prefer.”

  “Really? How long would that route take?”

  “1 hour,” the voice stated.

  This fizzled Andrew’s patience. He needed to be there in less than 30 minutes, or else he was screwed. Playing around with the keys, he came up with a great realization.

  He got out of the car and headed inside the labs. Treading lightly, he saw the hatches that were arrayed in the disk shape. He saw that the hatch for his room was still left open. Seeing if anyone was around, he climbed down the hatch. The fountain pen laid on the desk. Picking it up, he threw it against the wall with all his strength. The camera inside of it broke. He opened the manual door of his room by entering his long code . The elevator down the hallway appeared to Andrew. Leaving his room, he waited for the disk door to close. The outside keypad allowed for him to input a new number since the door had closed. The disk had recalibrated. Andrew put in the number 62951413. The disk began to whir and rotate. Andrew waited patiently. The fire exit emerged. As he walked down these stairs, he saw the partially-demolished Pirouette. This route to the hideout was only 1.2 minutes compared to the 1 hour and 10 minutes.

  Slouching in, Andrew pulled the lever. Making distance in the dark tunnel, Andrew felt a bump as the Pirouette ascended upward. The bumpiness was due to the stairs. The darkness was due to the time. He made it to the end of the tunnel. The bumpiness halted to a smooth texture. The time on Mindcord read 12:01 a.m. There was no
signal as well. Therefore, technically speaking, this was the last day on Earth. If Andrew was lucky, the world could end in one minute. It all depended on the timing. Pulling the lever backwards, he decelerated the machine until it stopped. Rotating 360 degrees, he saw a lusterless light in the distance, no bigger than a speck. He accelerated towards it. He arrived at the hideout.

  He figured that he wouldn’t want these savages and outlaws to see his state-of-the-art, one-of-a-kind wheel transporter. Therefore, he stopped the device at a 100 foot gap between it and the hideout. He ran to the hideout. The earlier he got there, the less chance they would kill him. This made sense in his mind, figuratively. The building’s disgusting vibes were kept flamboyant since the last time Andrew was here. Straight away, Andrew saw Jimmy standing by the entrance, fiddling with a knife in his hand. Looking up, he witnessed Andrew.

  Jimmy said, “Aye! It’s Andrew! Man, it’s been awhile since the last time I saw you. Great to see that you had the guts to come back here again.”

  Andrew, bending his knees down subtly, said, “Yep, it’s me.”

  “Hey, that stuff you did with your girl last night was some hot stuff. You two really dug into each other,” Jimmy added.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Jimmy answered, “Oh, you don’t know? Do I really gotta spell it out for you? I’m talking about the last time you had sex, S-E-X, with that hot chick.”

  Andrew blushened. “Wait! How do you know about that?”

  “Through the camera that’s stuck in your head, of course,” Jimmy said.

  Andrew was morbidly embarrassed. They spied on him while he had sex. This sentence couldn’t progress through his mind. As he thought about this, he realized that the fountain pen had also recorded him. There were dual-camera recordings of him. Spirit Intercom and the Spirit Radicals had possession of this. The lymph nodes in his bones delayed their pumping. “You guys watched me! You guys are sick!”

  Jimmy said, “I wouldn’t blow the torch that quick, considering that you just got here. You don’t want to start off in a bad way.”

  This porn-watcher was right. Andrew had to keep his cool.

  Wallace approached the entrance. He was surprised with Andrew’s quick arrival. He said, “Hello, Andrew. Quick, get inside. We have some business to go over. Jimmy, you too.” Wallace went inside.

  Jimmy said, “If you create another film, make sure to let me know.” He followed his father.

  Andrew breathed in the noxious air heavily. He went inside to where the decayed chairs and broken pedestal was. Rick, wearing his tarnished red suit, was sitting in a chair. The other low-life revolters were in the remaining chairs. Wallace got up to the podium. Rick released a subtle look at Andrew just for the sake of it.

  Wallace said, “Fellas, if you couldn’t tell already, we got the gatekeeper with us now.” The people cheered. “As Rick and I have spoken before, we plan to leave at early dawn. We have created an elaborate plan and if you listen to us, everything will run smoothly. The guests are expected to arrive at 10 a.m., leaving us enough time to infiltrate before. We will travel through the fire exit, which is right next to us. Since the gatekeeper is the only one who has knowledge of the VIP Room, he will lead us to this location. Salvation of our kind is near. I hereby announce that the rich will no longer step on us like dirt. We have become the shoe.” He stepped off the podium. “That is all I have to say.” The people got out of their chairs. Wallace approached over to Andrew. “I need to speak with you. At my office.” Andrew followed.

  Closing the door behind him, Andrew was in Wallace’s stuffy office. Andrew said, “Watching me have sex was not cool.”

  Wallace was stunned as he sat down. He said, “I didn’t watch you engage in any of that.”

  “Yeah, well, your son did. It’s kinda messed up.”

  “Things aside,” Wallace said. “I need to give you something. Although you will be protected by us, it is important that you have some sort of self-protection. I saw all the shit up to this moment of what you’ve been through, excluding the sex part, of course. Those Spirit Intercom men aren’t happy with you after what happened at Nirvana. I trust that you will be fully dedicated to our orders while our infiltration goes on tomorrow.” He checked Mindcord. “I mean, today.”

  Andrew said, “I’m dedicated. What was it that you were gonna give me?”

  Pulling out his desk drawer, Wallace revealed a pitch black pen. Andrew thought, not another fountain pen. “This is a laser pointer,” Wallace said. “It shoots 1000 megawatts in the diameter of 5 millimeters. If this penetrates skin once, it is going straight through your internal organs, worse than extreme radiation poisoning. If anyone threatens you, just point this at their head, and their head won’t work anymore. Simple as that.”

  Andrew grabbed it carefully. He studied the anatomy of it, not organically. Revolving it countlessly, he accidently clicked it. The laser accelerated its limitless beam at Andrew’s small left toe. The burn was so quick that his neural receptors couldn’t process the pain to his brain. His skin and blood completely deteriorated. Part of his shoe was missing as well. Andrew yelled loudly. “Shit!” He juggled the pen of his hands.

  Wallace said, “Luckily, the beam wasn’t pointed at your brain. Be careful with that thing. Keep it with you at all times.”

  “I don’t want that! That thing’s gonna kill me!” Wallace told him to calm down, and he handed it back to Andrew.

  Andrew accepted it regretfully. Wallace said, “Get outta here! You’re sleeping outside!” He guided Andrew out of his chair.

  Andrew shouted, “What!” Wallace closed the door.

  Undeniably hospitable, the radicals continued their blabbering and reveling with one another. Rick was sitting still in the chair, looking straight at Andrew. Rick pulled out a chair in front of him and pointed it at Andrew. “Andrew, sit here,” Rick insisted. Andrew approached.

  Lounging into the chair, Andrew noticed Rick’s posture. He was still a bit intimidated by his size. After he thought about it more, Andrew was, for the most part, intimidated by everyone here. Rick said, “I don’t know how you made it outta Spirit Intercom alive.”

  “Me either,” Andrew said. He was trying to study his emotions.

  Rick said, “When we leave tomorrow, you must be silent and tolerant of our orders. We needed obeying Andrew, not rebellious Andrew. I’ve witnessed that side of you with Kurt, and there will be none of that. Tomorrow is the most pivotal day for our group. We cannot let you ruin all the planning and work that leads to tomorrow.” Rick checked Minecord. “I mean, today.”

  “I’m not rebellious. I’m trustworthy. I won’t let you guys down,” Andrew said.

  Rick dictated, “And on the off chance that you do decide to turn your back on us, you will meet nothing but consequences, and I mean really bad consequences. We have these consequences prepared. Now, go back outside and get your rest. This is the last physical sleep-in you’re ever going to get.” Rick got out of the chair and wandered off.

  Andrew went back outside. He knew he couldn’t disobey the radicals, but he had to. He was tired of them always pushing him around. He needed freedom from this confinement. The radicals shouldn’t be his main issue. It should be Spirit Intercom itself. He needed a way to get the radicals off his tail. Kicking the dark sand, he began to ponder options.

  From outside the hideout, he heard Wallace say, “Alright, everybody. Tomorrow—I mean today—is our day. Let’s get some sleep. Lights out.” The lights inside turned off. Andrew’s vision was pitch dark now. This didn’t stop him from pondering though. He came up with yet another great realization. This realization was full-proof. It worked flawlessly in Andrew’s head. This kept him at ease to fall asleep. He deeply took in one thing Rick said: it was his last day on Earth. He thought, today is my last day on Earth, but this day won’t be my last day. He fell asleep. His Mindcord processor didn’t.

  Now dawn, Andrew was awakened by Jimmy. This brute said, “Get your a
ss up! We’re leaving.” Andrew was surprised with how quick the morning arrived. He opened up his Mindcord to see if any messages were apparent. Jimmy slapped Andrew across the face. “We ain’t waiting. I said get up now!”

  “I will!” Andrew got up lickety-split. He had so many doubts and unknowns for this day. Once again, he was lost. The five run-down cars purred next to him.

  Wallace, holding the steering wheel of an old Nissan Versa, said, “Hey, get in, Andrew.” Wallace looked at his men. “Who here wishes we had Andrew's luxury car? Man, I miss that sweet technological ride!”

  A guy yelled, “Hell yeah!” The others kissed Wallace’s ass, too. Andrew hurried to the backseat of the car. The fragments of crumbs and the oily smell of the car distracted him. He wasn’t used to a car this bad (in Andrew’s words, shitty ). Jimmy got in the backseat as well. Rick sat in the front seat with Wallace.

  Wallace said, “Why am I the one driving? Rick, you take the wheel. You know the way, and you worked there for a reason. Plus, I don’t want my arthritis to kick in.” The two switched seats. Wallace looked at Andrew. “Let me describe our plan, Andrew. We—” He saw the car wasn’t moving. “Rick, drive! We’re wasting time!” He looked back at Andrew. The car began to move. “Our first move is to enter from the fire exit, obviously. Once we arrive there, we will send Rufus off alone to ignite the security lockdown sensor with Kurt’s wrist to create a massive diversion.” Rick displayed the wrist up in the air. “While he does this, we will sneakily make our way to the VIP Room. Since you’re the only one who knows this location, we’ll follow your lead at this part. Once we’re there, we’re home free. It’s so simple.” The car had now reached the entrance of the fire exit tunnel. The other four cars were behind. Wallace saw the Pirouette in the distance. “What in the hell is that machine?”

  Rick said, “Pirouette, sir.”

  Wallace seemed intrigued. “Really? Tell me more.”

  “I would sir. It’s just that I am driving.”