by Karl Morgan
“Armand Sattu.”
“Who is that?”
“Huh? I thought you knew him. When I saw him yesterday, he asked me to thank you for saving his life. What’s going on, Shirley. Are you okay?”
She looked nervous and confused. “You can’t imagine what I went through with that demon, Josh. I’m sorry if I don’t remember everything.”
He kissed her and said, “I don’t mean to pile on, but frankly, I was surprised by last night, especially after you dumped me.”
“What?”
“Okay, what’s going on? It wasn’t that long ago, Shirley. You dumped me.”
Tears streamed down her face. “I’m sorry, Josh. You can’t imagine how that monster tortured and abused me. It must have scared the memory right out of me.” He took his hands. “Believe me, I love you and am sorry if I hurt you.”
He stood up and gasped. “I remember now. Sattu told me the cell was an illusion and that the pitch black and light strings outside were more real. This place doesn’t really exist, Shirley. It’s a trap.”
She tapped her feet on the floor. “It feels real to me, Josh, but maybe you know something I don’t. And how can there be light in pitch darkness?”
“Huh?” He shook his head. He pointed at the field in front of them. “First there was no road and then there was and now it’s gone again! That can’t happen in reality.”
“You’re scaring me, Josh. Maybe you’re confused. We’ve only been here one day. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
“You aren’t Shirley, are you?” he said as he stepped backward.
She stood with tears streaming down her face and said, “Of course, it’s me, Josh. Who else could I be? You have to calm down.”
“Stay away from me, whoever you are!” Josh warned as he stepped off the porch backwards.
“Well, it was worth a try,” said a voice behind him. Josh spun around to see the beast Barsat holding a bag over his shoulder and scowling at him. Shirley screamed and called to Josh to help her. Instinctively, he jumped on the porch and pushed her behind him.
“Back off Barsat! I’m not afraid of you,” he growled. Suddenly Shirley’s arm was around his neck, squeezing hard. He struggled to get away, but her grip was iron.
“Thank you for trying, sister,” Barsat said to Shirley. “You don’t need to hide within that machine anymore.”
A thin trail of black smoke emerged from her nostrils, coalesced into a blob, finally forming into a female winged beast. It leaned forward and kissed Josh on the lips. “Thanks for the lovely time, Josh,” she smiled and then pulled the mechanical arm from around his neck, causing Josh to fall to the floor gasping for air. “I will take the robot back with me, brother,” she said.
“Thank you, Taliba,” Barsat replied. “Your loyalty will be rewarded.” She took the robot and flew away. Barsat had become Henri Sattu by the time he stepped up on the porch. “It was just a small attempt to give you a happy life. You should have accepted it. How did you figure it out?”
“Your simulation was sloppy, Barsat,” Josh answered, still massaging his sore neck. “There was a road and then no road. Plus there’s no ocean near Idaho.”
“Ah, I see. I did not know this was supposed to be Idaho. I only captured the image of the immediate area from your mind, Joshua.”
“You know I am going to defeat you.”
Sattu smiled and said, “Perhaps, but you are not out of this place yet.” He grabbed Josh by the arm and pulled him to his feet, pushing him inside the cabin. He led him into the bedroom, where the bed was now pushed against the wall. Next to it was a silver chamber with a glass window on top “The real Shirley Cambridge is in there, Joshua. What will you do now?”
Josh looked to verify she was in the chamber and then said, “This is another of your stupid tricks. Why should I fall for this one?”
“Do as you wish, Joshua. If this is really her, and you leave here, her chamber will lose power and she will die. If she is elsewhere and you escape, I will kill her myself.”
“You said you had feelings for her. How can you be so cold-hearted?”
“As I said, do as you wish Joshua. Stay, go, Shirley lives, Shirley dies, I don’t care. It will be your choice!” He turned and walked away. Josh stared down at Shirley’s face, wondering if this was real or just another cyborg. “I forgot one thing,” Sattu said as he walked back in. He opened his bag and removed a human skull, setting it on the bed. “As you predicted, I killed Constance Judah. You may have this as a remembrance.” He laughed and walked out.
Josh sat on the bed and picked up the skull. “I’m sorry, Connie, I should have picked you.” He took it into the main room and set it gently on the mantle. After putting ice in a glass, he filled it with whisky and went outside to sit on the porch. He took a sip of his drink and said, “I don’t know what to do. Manny and Armand tell me I have the power to stop that monster, but I have no idea what to do next.” He wondered what was happening on the real world. He had only been here one day, and yet it seemed like a very long time. He began to feel hopeless and helpless to do anything. He drained his glass and held his head in his hands.
§
The world had changed in the six months since the global government had been established. The Global Police (GP) had morphed into a secretive group that monitored all human activity. The LIFE service was now used to spy on citizens and root out any dissent of the government. When anyone was found to have made even a minor transgression, they were taken by the GP and forced to spy on their friends and family or be sent to hard labor camps with the expressed understanding that such a trip was one way. Gold-plated statues of Barsat were set up in the centers of large cities, and those who converted to Barsatism were handsomely rewarded by the state. The winged beasts now made frequent appearances around the world, opening new buildings, consecrating new Barsatism Temples, and helping to clean up after natural disasters. Most media was now under the control of the GP, which defined what news coverage and programming was acceptable. Many smaller news outlets, like the Lower California Tribune were shuttered, with their employees thrown into the streets or imprisoned.
Demonstrations against the new rules and loss of liberty were violently squashed by groups of thugs and often the GP themselves. All protestors disappeared, either killed or sent away forever. Hammond Finch was now referred to as Emperor Finch. He was constantly surrounded by cyborg security agents. Only his chief of staff had access to him on a regular basis.
Isolated in the high desert of the Nevada region, Camp Baker, the largest internment camp, sweltered under the summer sun. Hundreds of low metal buildings housed two hundred thousand petty criminals and subversives far from the rest of civilization. It was a Tuesday morning in July, but such specifics did not matter to the inmates of this facility. Each day was the same as the last. Sleep, eat very little, work under the hot sun, eat a tiny dinner and sleep again. Ted Dixon was asleep in his tiny cot in Barrack 117. Jack Masterson and Steve Johnson, the two thugs who accosted Josh in the coffee shop that day long ago, slept on the cots on either side of him. Ted was sent here after his company was shut down for subversive propaganda. The other two men were jailed after the GP viewed the video of Joshua Carpenter healing them.
The wake-up siren blared and the three hundred men in this large open room began to stir. Ted sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had been here two months, and yet it seemed like a lifetime already. Everyone was thin and malnourished, which led to a number of inmates dying of heat stroke or exhaustion every day. The warden, a cyborg named Oscar Thomas, did not care, as new inmates arrived daily to take the place of the casualties. Steve and Jack arrived one month ago, and still retained some of their youthful vigor. “How are you guys today?” Ted asked.
“My whole body aches,” Steve said. “How about you, Ted? I hate to say it but you look like shit.”
“That’s pretty much how I feel too,” Ted tried to laugh.
Steve walked over and sat next to Ted. “Ted
, when we got here, they told us the average inmate lived for three months. What happened to the world? How can anyone allow this to go on?”
“God knows,” Ted wheezed. “I still remember that day in front of the jail when Josh healed you two. It seems like another life.”
“What ever happened to him?” Jack wondered.
“He has to be dead,” Ted replied. “If he was here, I know he could stop all of this.”
“Come on,” Steve said, helping Ted to stand. “We’d better hurry if we’re going to get any grub.”
After a quick, cold shower, the men from the barracks trudged across the open compound toward the mess hall, where they joined the line of others waiting for their morning ration. When he reached the front of the line, Ted took his tray and moved down the line. The first server put a pile of brown stuff on a plate and handed it to him. The next smiled broadly at him as she put a crust of old bread on his tray. “How are you, Teddy?”
“I’m okay, Stella,” he grinned. She was still quite beautiful, but her hair had lost its luster, and her body was painfully thin. “I guess I should have let you go when you were a robot. I’m sorry about this.”
“Don’t be sorry for me! Being alive has been the most wonderful experience I could imagine. Even now, I don’t regret it for a second.” He moved down the line where a third server put a cup of coffee on his tray, and then he and the other two went to find a place to sit.
They sat at a small table in a corner of the room. They only had minutes to eat before the work siren would sound, so they focused on ingesting the food in front of them. It would be their last meal until after sunset. There was a commotion on the other side of the room, but they were too busy to care. Three loud thuds filled the air. “Good morning!” Oscar Thomas shouted. “Please stop eating and listen to my words, inmates. Extra time will be added to your meal period to compensate.” Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads and chairs to listen to the warden. Thomas was about six feet tall, and wore an impeccable gray uniform with medals and rank insignia. “Thank you. First I want to introduce you to Doctor Diane French, who had been assigned to our little camp. She will be in charge of our medical team.” Ted recognized her immediately. She looked exactly the same as he remembered her. His heart skipped a beat as he watched her. She gave a small wave to the crowd and then stepped back. “Today, we are opening two new Barsatism Temples in the camp. Your choice to join the faith will have a positive impact on your workload and your food intake. Those who choose to join will be moved to a new more comfortable barracks as well. Of course, we understand that faith is a personal thing. Conversion is completely voluntary, but bear in mind that the worship of Barsat and his brothers and sisters is our only sure way to avoid their wrath. I hope you will consider it seriously. Lastly, there is a chance for monsoonal rain today, so the workday will be cut short. We don’t want our dear inmates washed away by a flood, do we? Thank you and goodbye.”
As he turned to walk away, there was a loud boom of thunder and the building shook. Suddenly, the roof of the building was ripped off and a shower of wood chips and metal fell down onto the group, causing everyone to dive under tables or seek other shelter. It became eerily quiet for a moment. Then a winged beast at least fifty feet tall appeared above the roof line, glowering down into the room with its glowing red eyes. Those of the Barsatism faith dropped to the ground and prostrated themselves in front of it. Thomas remained standing and shouted, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The beast reached in and grabbed Thomas by the head, and crushed his head to dust. A small trail of black smoke began to emerge from the remnants. The beast gathered the smoke into his hands and swallowed it.
The beast stretched out its wings and shouted, “I demand another sacrifice!” The Barsatism converts stayed low to the floor, imploring the beast for mercy. The rest pressed themselves against the walls, desperate to avoid the beast’s view. The beast reached down into the room and grabbed Ted, Jack and Steve in one hand. Then he reached down and pulled Stella off the ground and pushed her into the hand with the others. Finally, he grabbed Diane as she tried to head for the door. The beast smiled and said, “Thank you, my children. Have a nice day.” He flapped his wings and took flight, with the five people in his clutches screaming for help.
§
The beast flew low over the ground. After an hour, it flew up the side of a mountain and then landed in front of a small cabin, and set the people down on the ground. As they watched, it twisted and shook and shrank until an old man stood before them. “I know you,” Ted said.
“Armand Sattu, at your service,” the man replied. “I remember you as well, Mr. Dixon. We met in Georgia, I believe.”
“Why did you kidnap us?” Steve asked.
“Do you want to go back?”
“No, that’s not it. But why us?”
“It’s Joshua, isn’t it?” Stella wondered.
Sattu smiled and nodded. “Of course, it has always been about him. He is having a difficult time now, and remains unsure of himself. Manny and I knew he would be devastated if any of you died and he had done nothing to stop it. So we intervened.”
“Who is Manny?” Diane asked.
“That would be me,” said a voice behind them. They turned to see an ancient man standing in the doorway. He looked sad and extremely weak. His thin hair hung down to his shoulders and his skin was almost transparent. “I am Emmanuel Judah. Please come in and rest. We have a nice meal laid out for you.”
“What is this place, Manny?” Stella asked.
“Idaho. I know that’s not the answer you were expecting, but here we are. Please come in!” He turned and walked inside. Free of the internment camp, and with no other options, the group headed up the steps and walked inside.
“What?” Ted said. The front room was huge, with two walk-in fireplaces, three seating areas, and several large chandeliers hanging from rough-hewn beams crossing under a high ceiling. To his right was a twenty-foot-long dinner table with heavy chairs, crystal and silver, and several trays of food. “This can’t be right.” He turned and walked outside, going down the steps and walking about twenty paces away.
“What is it, Ted?” Stella asked. “What’s wrong?” He waved her off and began to walk all the way around the small cabin and then came back to the door. “I don’t understand. On the outside, this cabin is twenty feet on each side. This room alone is many times that big. Is this some kind of illusion?”
Everyone other than him and Stella was already sitting down at the dinner table. Steve took breaks between bites of a turkey leg to say, “It’s a delicious illusion. Come and eat, Ted!” Stella took Ted by the hand and led him to an empty chair next to Diane. Then she sat between Sattu and Judah.
“Each of you should have realized by now that the true nature of existence is not limited by the boundaries of human understanding,” Manny began. “Steve and Jack have had their malfunctioning bionics replaced by flesh and bone in a healing by Joshua. Diane witnessed Shirley Cambridge’s healing, and also was saved by Joshua from a bomber on a flight to Hawaii. My darling Stella, you were an android killed by one of Armand’s sons and made a living human being by him. And you, Ted Dixon, have witnessed all of this and even stared into the face of demons, even before your imprisonment in Nevada. Reality is what we accept it to be.”
“Armand, if the one who tried to kill me was your son, why are you here?” Stella asked.
Armand brushed his hand against her cheek and replied, “Life is full of surprises, my dear. My brother Manny and I have had our share of disagreements over the years, but although he warned me, I could not imagine my own children would turn against me. Only he and Shirley Cambridge were able to save me. Now, Manny and I must restore the balance and let all of this madness fade into memory and be forgotten by the passage of time.”
“But we need Joshua to help us,” Judah added. Sattu nodded.
“Where is Josh?” Ted asked.
“Lost in
his own fear,” Judah sighed.
“Terrified to make a mistake,” Sattu added.
“How can we help him?” Stella begged.
“Stay here, recover your strength, and pray for him to awaken from his fear,” Judah replied.
“That’s not enough,” Ted demanded. “There has to be something else we can do!”
Judah sighed heavily and said, “Ted, I wish there was. All of my darling children have been taken from me. Armand’s children have turned from him. The best we two can do is to keep you safe.”
“I am also blocking Barsat’s memory of Joshua’s family and all of yours,” Sattu continued. “Joshua has the key to his enlightenment right in his hands. We must have faith that he will realize it soon and take action.”
“Why did you murder the prison warden, if I may ask?” Diane wondered. “He was no threat to you.”
“I did not murder anyone, Diane,” he replied. “That physical form was a cyborg. One of my children was within it, pretending to be Oscar Thomas, a man who went through the transference procedure. The black smoke you saw me consume was my son.”
“You ate your child?” Ted choked.
“No, that is preposterous. His spirit still resides within me. Spirits cannot die, but only pass from life to life. I refuse to give him life again until this matter with Barsat is resolved. We are all safer with him in me. He was horribly cruel in that camp.”
“Please everyone, eat some food. We have bedrooms for each of you upstairs. I know you have all been through a lot and a good rest will do us all good,” Judah finished.
§
Josh woke still sitting on the bench in front of the cabin. The first rays of the sun were stinging his eyes. He stood and stretched his stiff back, picked up the glass and walked back inside. His eyes focused immediately on the skull on the mantle. He set his glass down on the counter and went to the mantle, picked up the skull and then sat in front of the fireplace. He held the skull in the palms of his hands, gently rubbing the temples with his fingers and staring into the eye sockets. “Oh, Connie, what did that bastard do to you? You know, I want to thank you for helping me so much. I am so sorry that I failed you.” He lightly kissed the forehead. “What are we to do now?” He sighed. “When we were together inside the sun, everything was clear. Now my mind is a pile of mush. I don’t feel connected to anything. I can’t tell if the woman in the chamber is Shirley or not. I don’t know how to get out of this damned place. Oh God, I wish you’d tell me what to do!” He walked over to the mantle and set the skull down, and turned to walk away. An odd sound made him spin around. The skull had rolled over. He grabbed it and noticed there was a cervical vertebra attached to the end of the skull. “That wasn’t there, I know that wasn’t there!”
