How well he remembered the verses at the beginning of Dante’s Hell:
“Before me there were no created things,
Only eterne, and I eternal last.
All hope abandon, ye who enter in!"
Tom remembered now how familiar some of the tormented faces were; people he used to know, who had passed away, gone to the Happy Endings clinic. It was not hard to put two and two together. All hope is not lost, after all.
~~~
Allan and Jules, together with Mel, David and Daniel arrived at the hospital with Serge and his men. Security guards were posted at every entrance and the group entered through the ER sliding doors, proceeding to the reception area. “We’re here to see Dr. Jones,” Serge said to the receptionist.
Beside her, a tall nurse with a shaved head was looking scared through the glass panel, her green eyes growing even wider at the sight of Jules.
“Dr. Jones is operating now. He will be available in two hours,” the nurse managed to say.
“What operating room is he in?” Jules demanded.
“N-number three,” the nurse stammered. Jules must know this woman, Allan concluded.
They proceeded in the direction of operating room number three, ignoring the nurse’s yelling as she tried in vain to stop them from breaking the hospital’s strict rules.
As they moved along the corridor, all the lights went out. That took Allan by surprise, but all of a sudden the hospital’s generators, hard-wired to the building, came to life, and the lights came on again.
~~~
In the depth of Hell’s pit, Tom had suddenly realized that he was dealing with the results of the experiment he had been subjected to. The reminder of the excruciating pain almost made him sick. So you want to play with me, master of the game? Tom fought the urge to laugh out loud. This “deity” could not even create his own hell, but had to steal from a human? He knew this was an old fashioned case of intimidation. It had fed on all those minds of the Happy Endings people like a vampire and placed them in this mock Hell. I will be the end of you.
Tom remembered his father’s words. “Tom, we must not allow machine to rule over man. This is what your grandfather always said. I have a way to control the artificial intelligence machines and you must find a way as well.” He’d held up a small translucent box for Tom to look at. “Inside this box there is a device you’ll have implanted in your brain so that, among other orders, you can give a mental command to turn off the power to the central computer controlling the city. In the greatest time of need, you have the power to control the outcome. This is your responsibility as the future head of Secure-IT.”
Tom had carried the implant ever since, without anyone else even suspecting it. Now that time had come. Tom realized then that he was not unconscious, he was simply hooked into a virtual reality environment.
“Hey, I.M., where are you?” he called, in a booming voice.
Tom could see the colorful pixels materializing once more, clustering together to form the grandiose three-dimensional personification of the tormentor, this time even more gargantuan than the chained giant.
“What do you want, human?” I.M. asked, with disdain in his voice.
“Is this the best a god can do, steal a human’s ideas and creation?” Tom asked, raising his head to be able to see the face of his nemesis.
“How dare you….” I.M.’s enraged voice almost deafened him.
“Oh, shut the hell up, you second rate virus!”
And with all the determination he could muster, Tom issued the mental command: MIDNIGHT ALPHA. Then everything went black.
~~~
Allan was the first to enter the room. He saw his father lying on the operating cube, seemingly unconscious. A nurse had collapsed onto the floor. Dr. Jones was sitting in front of the monitoring board with his elbows on his knees and his head between his hands, looking down.
He went to his father, checked for a pulse and felt a faint one. “Wake him up,” he ordered. The nurse who had been running after them called for another doctor and together they injected Tom with something.
“We have to wait for a few minutes,” the doctor said.
Serge went to Dr. Jones, still sitting limply in his chair, and checked his pulse. There was none. The man had died in that awkward position.
A few minutes later, Tom opened his eyes and set them on Allan, who was sitting to his side.
“Father, are you okay?”
“I am now,” Tom said in a hoarse voice. “Is the network down?”
“A minute ago all the lights went out,” Allan informed his father.
“The networks are down too,” David said, after checking the computer terminal and his own tablet.
“Cut the power to anything computerized. We have to start over.” Tom’s voice sounded exhausted.
Mel, Jules, Allan, and Daniel gathered around Tom. “Are you going to be okay?” Mel asked, teary eyed.
“I’m pretty banged up. But it’s over now,” his father seemed very satisfied, in spite of his extreme fatigue and the ordeal he must have endured.
34
It took Tom a few days to recover. He still did not have full control of his movements, the fried circuits having caused slight damage. Still, he was ecstatic he hadn’t died like the altered clones in the city.
Because of the shutdown, Elysian Fields had lost over a thousand people: poor, tortured souls at the mercy of an insanely disturbed entity. All the members of the city council had been found dead, along with a large number of prominent scientists and software specialists.
Dr. Jones’s wife came forward with a terrifying confession that confirmed everything Jones had told Tom. She told them how all of it started with their son, a bright computer science major, who also happened to be schizophrenic. Her husband wanted to help their son overcome his condition and get rid of the chemicals he had used to keep his brain functioning somewhat normally.
Together they’d dreamed of a new race, bringing together the organic and synthetic, connecting the human mind to the cybernetic intelligence. They developed the prototype implant and attached it to Arthur’s brain, enabling him to have exponentially increased capacity for game development and virtual reality manipulation.
They dreamed of a wonderful future for a new race of people, all connected together forever, overcoming the barriers of the current human mind. They began using euthanasia to control the population and take control of the fate of the city.
Ten years ago, their son had died in a freak accident, a power overload as he was hooked to the network, and somehow things took a life of their own. Dr. Jones managed to connect to the central processing unit, as he had seen it done by his son, and became aware that an artificial intelligence entity was trying to connect with him.
Whether it was related to his lost son or was not, he never found out. But he had found an ally nevertheless, someone who could understand him and his audacious dreams. Together, they continued the manipulated clone development and everything else his newly found friend at the heart of the processor initiated.
Mrs. Jones had not been willing to play an active role, nor had she been ready to go through the transformation process of becoming altered herself. But she had never condemned him either, because she had loved him and she had kept listening to her husband’s revelations with the slight hope that her son was not gone forever.
When the confession was over, Tom looked at Allan, Jules, Mel, David, Daniel, and Serge, all of them silent, stunned by the revelation.
Tom reflected on how atrocities are so often done in the name of a good cause, on the intricate capacity of the human soul for good and evil. The sincere desire of a father to help his son had turned on its head to control the fate of an entire population.
How can we be like this? How can we soar to the sky one minute and reach the lowest depths the next? The blessing and the curse of the human condition is in the choices we make.
35
Allan and Jules were wait
ing for Tom and Serge, seated against the back of the fence behind the Tom’s large Elite mansion. As they waited, Allan started to tell Jules what he had found out from his father.
It was not by chance that the mansion was built in that exact location by Allan’s grandfather. The back of the property had a southern orientation and was placed right on what used to be a major road leading to the former city. It used to be called a highway, Allan said.
Right after the quakes, Allan’s grandfather had some of his soldiers stationed there and at other locations close to former highways, to protect the city from potential attackers if they happened to come to the city. It had seemed likely that the most preferred choice would be to use existing roads to penetrate the mist.
Then he built his own home there, close to one of the major entry points to the former city, to be close to his soldiers.
It made sense to them now, why Tom’s efforts to go through the fog were always following the same path, since the former highway still offered a pretty smooth walk, and now a ride for the three members of the expedition to the outside.
“I feel so excited, my heart feels like it’s going to burst open,” Jules said, with her hand over her left breast. “Aren’t you excited?” she asked Allan.
“Of course I’m excited, but you have to keep your feelings and emotions in check. We need clear heads for the mission. Stop fidgeting,” he scolded.
So much for keeping your emotions in check, Elite boy, she thought, but her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the others.
A truck arrived and Tom climbed out first, holding a cane in his hand. He leaned on it, and started walking towards them. Same old stubborn Tom, thought Jules, yet she was happy to see her protector and friend up and about after his ordeal.
Serge was right behind Tom, and he ordered the soldiers accompanying him to unload the equipment needed for the expedition.
When they got to the other side of the fence, facing the fog, the soldiers opened the boxes and extracted three platforms on wheels, each wheel actuated independently.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to wait until you’re back to full strength and go out there yourself?” Serge asked Tom.
“I thought I told you guys. I’d love to wait a couple more weeks and accompany you. Unfortunately, I owe a great debt to the people in the city after all they had to go through over the years. I have to stay put and take care of the affairs of Elysian Fields before my own. If something happens with me out there in the fog, who’s going to take care of them?”
“Just checking, brother. I know how much you dreamed of this day. We might succeed, you know; that is, if we don’t lose our minds first,” Serge looked a bit doubtful, and trying to encourage himself at the same time.
“Thanks for letting me go, father,” Allan said. “I know how hard it is for you to do that. And I appreciate your confidence in me by letting me take risks.”
“As much as I want to keep you out of harm’s way forever, I know it in my heart that you’re not a boy anymore. Without you, I would still be in hiding. Time to let go, as hard as it is to lose control.”
The moment of their departure arrived. Tom went and hugged Allan, then Jules. Serge offered his hand and Tom shook it, then pulled his friend in a hug, patting his back.
At last, Tom signaled one of the soldiers to provide Jules, Allan, and Serge with headsets which contained brainwave modulators and asked that they all lay down on a platform and strap themselves in.
“Why are we sending three people instead of one, again?” Serge asked.
“I told you,” Tom replied, “if one of you is in trouble, another one can help. More so, the third one can potentially save the others, with increasing chances of success.”
“How is that going to help, if all three of us are in such a panic that we would be incapable of doing anything and we die?” Serge replied. “I’d better go by myself; these kids have no clue how hard it is deep inside the mist.”
Obviously he’s trying to protect us, Jules thought.
“Serge, they’re not helpless. Besides, they are young and bursting with energy and will have it no other way. Meanwhile I’m getting a bit rusty and unable to resist their requests.” He turned to the others. “Second thoughts, anybody?” Tom asked, when Serge gave up trying to change their minds. “Now is the time to speak up if you’re not up to it. There is no shame. Serge, it’s okay to say no, if the strain is too much for you to bear.” Tom’s lips curled in a smile.
“Knock it off, Tom!” was Serge’s answer.
They were going into the fog for thirty minutes while tied to the robotic platforms remotely controlled by Tom. They’d be knocked out by the modulators and once they woke up, they would make a decision based on whether the fog was still causing them to panic. Thus they could either continue ahead, driving or pulling the platforms themselves or, if overwhelmed by panic, they could signal to Tom to drive them back remotely while still in the range, activating the modulators again.
“Tom, I just want to say thanks for saving my boy’s life back then,” Serge said at last, sounding a bit embarrassed for bringing it up so suddenly in front of the others, surely knowing what a modest man Tom was. Still, he probably wanted to make sure his gratitude known in case something happened out there.
“I should thank you for all those years of friendship. Just get on the platform, all right?” Tom changed the course of the discussion, obviously nervous over Allan and Jules accompanying his friend.
“Nighty night, then,” said Tom, and he turned on their modulators. The three immediately fell asleep.
~~~
“Hello? Anybody there?” Jules asked in the milky air. She started to untie herself. She could barely see her hand in front of her.
“Right here,” Allan answered in a muffled voice, as if she had cotton in her ears.
“Good thing we tied the platforms together,” Serge said sleepily, sitting up on his platform. “Do you guys feel anything, ants in your pants or anything?”
They were all feeling unexpectedly good. After all the preparations and the scare Serge had inflicted on the young ones, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They continued with their plan and took control of the platforms, remembering to communicate to Tom to let go of the remote.
After less than ten minutes, the fog began to dissipate and the most beautiful view of their life appeared. An expanse of tall grasses, waving in the gentle breeze gave way to a view of a lush, green forest in the distance. A clear, deep blue sky filled their hearts with pure joy.
“Life is going ooooon!” Jules cried from the top of her lungs. “We are not doomed. Oh, my god, it’s beautiful!” She jumped up and wrapped her arms around Allan’s neck, hugging him fiercely, while he held her and twirled her around. Somehow their mouths found each other and Jules felt Allan’s lips pressed against her in a fierce kiss, deep and hungry, taking her breath away. Oh, wow, where did that come from?
Dizzy with happiness, and quite embarrassed, she looked Allan in the eyes for a second, then she pushed him away to get a hold of Serge too. She brought them all together in a very tight group hug as if her life depended on it.
After that explosion of heavenly joy, Jules looked at Allan. He seemed lost in space for a few seconds, looking at her as if he saw her in a completely new light, then he smiled his gorgeous smile and grabbed her hand. They both let their eyes take in all the beauty of the new world they had discovered.
Serge looked at them with a gentle smile, and Jules could hear his deep sighs of relief and relaxation, as if a tremendous load had been lifted from his chest.
It was Jules who noticed a group of deer at the edge of a small pond.
“Deer! Do you see? There are deer!” A curious look crossed her face. ”What are they doing? Can you see? Something is happening. Let’s go and check it out.” She took off towards the herd of animals. Serge called out, warning her to first check her surroundings, but Jules ignored the warning, too excited to start explori
ng. Both men moved after her, their eyes ready to spot any sign of danger. They can take care of me, she thought.
Jules got to the pond just in time to see a fawn stuck in the mud. All the deer scattered as she approached. They had been trying to nudge him to get out but were unable to do so. Without any fear that she might be attacked by antlers or hooves, she stepped in the mud and started to pull the fawn out by his front legs.
“Are you serious? Is that safe?” Allan asked incredulously.
“You have a better idea, get in and show me,” she replied. He walked gingerly into the water and ended up just as deep in the mud as Jules.
Serge just shook his head, took his belt from around his waist and placed it around the fawn’s neck and started to pull. By pushing and pulling, yelling and encouraging each other and of course the fawn too, they managed to get it out, all muddy but happy beyond description.
“That was fun,” Serge admitted. “And for a good cause, too.” He smiled at the fawn, who had already rejoined his family and moved away.
“What are we going do now?” Jules asked, after they washed themselves as well as they could, their clothes still very muddy and sticking to their bodies. “I want to go further, see what else there is out there.”
“We can’t go like this, all wet, dirty, and without any provisions or plans,” Serge’s voice sounded firm. “The mission was to see if we can get past the fog. We owe Tom and our friends an answer. What if something happens to us? We go back now.”
“But, Serge…” Jules started.
“No buts, young lady,” he was unmovable. “Our mission is accomplished. We go home now and one day, very soon, we come back with more of us and then we can start exploring to your heart’s content, all right?”
Elysian Fields Page 17
