Encompassing

by Richard Lord

  Brady fights the urge to look back at Renfield again, but he holds a finger up behind his back in a gesture of good will.

  “Funny Brady. Fuck you too. I’m trying to help. You’ve been single too long and you haven’t done a damned thing to change it.” Brady hears Renfield again.

  Brady knows for sure Renfield saw the gesture now, but again fights the urge to look back. Brady focuses one of the girls and asks, “So how did you two meet?”

  “Wow, you really are a good Detective after all!” He hears Renfield quip in his head.

  Brady thinks back at Renfield, “Thanks for the push start, but I don’t need you to drive. Now get out of my head!” He doesn’t fight the urge to look back this time, he smoothly and calmly stands straight and looks over his shoulder at Renfield in time to see Renfield grin.

  Renfield calls the bartendress over and buys three drinks and points down at Brady and the girls, as she turns to fill the order he calls her back and motions with a finger to the crowd he’s with. She nods.

  When the drinks arrive he calls a toast, “To the past, the present and for damned sure the future!” As they all yell and chug, he pours his shot over his shoulder in a quick gesture, then puckers his mouth and smiles with them. “Another?”

  Then he hears Brady announce himself for the first time, thinking directly at him, “Good thing they wanted shots! That move’s a lot more complicated with a full beer!”

  Renfield begins to laugh. He thinks back at Brady, “Depends on whether it’s good beer or not. If it’s standard draft, it’s simple. Spill it and look embarrassed. If it’s good beer, you sip it then find a good spot as your spitting area. A place no one else notices.”

  Brady thinks back at Renfield, “Well, at least you have it down to a science now. What about a mixed drink?”

  Renfield thinks back to him immediately, “In a place like this, it’s too loud for anyone to hear what you order and a decent bartendress wont’ reveal. As long as it’s a drink and it has fizzle people will assume. Their more caught up in their own world to care anyway. So, I order myself a drink with fizzle and a dash of cola to add color. It’s not like people are studying your drink of choice. Just don’t be overheard when you order it.”

  Brady thinks back at him, “So is my leash long enough to get a room tonight?”

  Renfield thinks back at him, “I told you this morning we were going out. You do what you want. Right now I don’t trust you, but I keep my promises.” Renfield excuses himself from the conversation for a moment, walks over to Brady and hands him a credit card as he walks by. “Go easy on that!” He thinks to Brady. Brady accepts it and the girls don’t even note the exchange.

  As Renfield comes out of the bathroom he is not surprised that neither Brady or the two girls are still in the nightclub. He gestures over to the group of people he’s been chatting with and gestures as if he is going to step outside for a smoke. They hold their glasses up to him and smile. He steps out and clicks.

  “Solstice”, Renfield says over her shoulder, “are you set up?”

  Solstice doesn’t turn but replies, “Yes. Illumna is running interference for you with Christina and Sara.”

  Renfield notes that she is now using their first names. “Okay, thanks.” He then thinks his thanks directly to Illumna as well.

  Renfield walks to Solstice’s workstation to see what she has been doing on the secondary project. “Okay, this here. It won’t work, Solstice. I need three of these there.”, he says pointing at a different model on the screen. ”Five of those isn’t going to keep them at bay, they’ll advance and I can’t use time. So I need time.”

  Solstice looks at the screen, notes his comments in her head. She disagrees with his choice but it’s not worth arguing and he’s the one who’s going to be in that room. She turns and asks, “So why did you leave Brady?”

  “You know why. Let it go. I did.” Renfield responds.

  “What you did goes against the rules of engagement, as Sun Tzu would say. You had a clear advantage over a possible threat and instead of levying it to your advantage you’re allowing it to thrive.” Solstice stops cold and looks at Renfield. “No! You’re not! You have a plan! I get it. It’s risky, but it makes sense given you’re not sure and you can’t hear him clearly as he begins to note his abilities. Something he wouldn’t have thought of if he had never met us!”

  Renfield looks at his daughter. He ponders how it is she and Illumna have become so much like him but so much like their mothers. “He’ll figure it out too, Solstice. So stay alert if I drop my offense.”

  “Understood.” Solstice walks over to Joseph and checks the IV. Then looks back over her shoulder at her father. “He’s still apprehensive in this new environment. It could take days for him to calm. If Brady is really one of the bad guys, then why do you think he gave me ideas to speed this up?”

  Renfield sits quietly thinking then swivels in Solstice’s chair and looks at her. “First, maybe he’s not one of the bad guys, but let’s follow that trail for a minute. Maybe he also loves his daughter and granddaughter, so he’s torn. Maybe there is something to gain from the ‘bad guy’ side once Joseph learns to click into new models. I know you’ve already thought about it, but let’s go ahead and talk it out then.”

  Solstice thinks at Renfield, “It’s faster if we don’t use words. Why do you always push us to talk?”

  Renfield says out loud, “Two reasons, one is we all need to be able to communicate with others who can’t hear us, or more accurately wouldn’t know they are hearing us if we tried to talk to them that way. Also, in this case, I don’t’ think rushing the thoughts is going to get us any further. You, Illumna and I have already thought this through on our own and a bit to each other. So perhaps a slower method will produce more fruit.”

  Solstice nods. “So as you would say, what do we know as fact and what is conjecture on our parts?”

  “Well fact wise, we know he’s never done anything to harm any of us. We know that the coincidences are odd and all three of us can hear that his thinking has become strange to us, but that could also be because he’s starting to accept what he is and is starting to use that more consciously.” Renfield lays out his opening argument.

  “Dad, what if it’s both?” Solstice asks him, while she pushes him with her forearm to get out of her chair so she can check on something.

  As Renfield looks at her and removes himself from her chair he replies, ”Then we give it time. We’ll know soon what his intentions are. Or he’ll just run to get the hell away from us, which I wouldn’t blame him for.” He looks at her list and mentions, “Add more L-Glutamine. I know why you are leaving it out, but it will help. Just balance it with L-Theanine. And you’ll get the effect you’re looking for faster.”

  Solstice considers then nods and turns to look at Renfield, “He’s not going to run. You are right about one thing. He loves Sara and Illumna. I wasn’t sure but I’ve played back all of his actions and for sure if he is one of the ‘bad guys’ it’s because his goal is to get you or me, but not Illumna. And he doesn’t want Sara anywhere near it. He knows what he is now, so he realizes Sara has always been listening to you. He just doesn’t understand why and Sara doesn’t even know she’s doing it. Or at least that’s how it appears to the rest of us. I know your past. Maybe Brady’s got a problem with things he has figured out. I understand what happened then. You let things get out of control when you were younger and I understand how and why. But if Brady has figured any of it out, he won’t understand. He’s a cop. He’s trained to focus single mindedly on catching and letting the judge decide. In this case, there is no judge, so if he’s working for others, perhaps he perceives them as the judge in the matter.”

  Renfield stares at the floor, quiet. He opens his mouth to speak, but simply breathes instead. Then he starts again, “I think that’s kind of my point. That doesn’t make him a ‘bad guy’, it just makes him who he is and possibly against us right now. I don’t think he has any id
ea what’s coming and how important is that we stop it.”

  “That’s why you had him plant the device. So he would feel like he was part of the solution.” Solstice remarks. Renfield looks up and gazes at his daughter then braces for her next sentence. She continues, “So you’ve considered all of this even before I did. My mentioning it to you and Illumna wasn’t what gave you doubts. You already had them.”

  Renfield nods. “I’ve been around longer Solstice, a lot longer and I’ve known Brady as many times as you have.”

  Then they say in unison, “But we’ve never gotten this far.” Renfield nods and says, “So you can make fun of my timeline issue, but it’s pretty damned important. It took a lot to work out how to make sure I didn’t screw it up but that you and your sister would still be part of my world. Not for strategy reasons or to see success on this plan. Just because I love you two too much to imagine the world without you.”

  Solstice looks at him, holds her hand to the left side of her mouth, her lips together as her hands slides past her lips. Then she twists her hand in a locking motion and with her lips closed she screams at Renfield, “No mushiness, Dad!”

  Renfield laughs, leans back and looks over at the bottom of the staircase at Illumna who’s standing there. Illumna makes the exact same gesture, but doesn’t speak. “Ok girls. I have my moments! Let me be! Sheesh!” Then he gestures to Illumna to join them.

  Illumna clicks over to them. Solstice rolls her eyes and looks at Renfield. He thinks to Solstice, “I see”. Then out loud he says, to Illumna. “So you’re practicing a lot now, but remember there is a price for every cheat. Conservation of energy is a universal law.”

  Illumna narrows her eyes at him and says, “So why aren’t you laying down right now?”, as she looks at the hole in his side.

  Renfield looks down. He realizes he’s bleeding again and Solstice gestures to a shelf with towels. Illumna clicks over grabs one and clicks back to Renfield and hands it to him. Renfield looks at her and says, “Thanks.” Then he applies pressure and they both hear him think , ”That shot is going to hurt for a while.”

  Solstice looks at him, “That rib is completely shattered, Dad. Even if you regrow the bone, what the hell do you do about the fragments?”

  Renfield laughs a bit and says, “What do you think my body is going to use to regrow the bone?”

  Illumna giggles. Solstice shakes her head but keeps working. Illumna looks at her screen, “What’s that model?”

  “You. But very temporarily. Do you like?” As she asks the question Solstice tilts her head towards Renfield. “Neither of us can do what he does. That’s why I have to teach you to click in and out of the models.”

  Illumna smiles and responds, “Cool, sis!” She turns, with a huge smile on her face, to look at Renfield, but he clearly has a disapproving look on his face. She focuses on his thoughts and realizes he has accepted the reality of the situation, even if he’s not happy about it. Illumna looks back to Solstice’s screen, “And what’s that one? It kind of looks like you did in that cave, but it looks meaner!”

  Solstice smiles at her sister. “That I’ll be using most of the time. It’s a modified version and thanks to Dad’s trick, I’ve made some chemical balance changes too. One should keep me focused and not all weird like I was then, the other should quickly counter any attempt at tranquilizer darts, etc. It’s a strange balance because to accomplish one effect, intensifies the other and vice versa. Dad’s the expert on the balancing, I’m just laying out the rough groundwork on the mind chemistry side of things.”

  Illumna looks at her father. “How did you learn all of this in the first place? The ability to get so specific that you could create you, me and Solstice?”

  Renfield chuckles, “Other people’s money! Supply and demand.”

  Illumna shoots a questioning looks to Solstice knowing Renfield won’t say more since she can feel that she is on a topic he blocks her from consistently.

  Solstice turns in her chair and looks at Illumna, “Really, Miss Encyclopedia? You have to ask? He means drugs.”

  Illumna narrows her eyes again and looks back at her father, “Prescription or?”

  Solstice responds for him, “It’s all the same thing, Illumna. Both. That was a long time ago.”

  Illumna clicks out. Solstice stands and huffs. Then as she begins to click out, Renfield grabs her shoulder. “Stop. Let her deal with facts in her own way. While most could care less, to her it’s a breach of protocol. Understand? You’re not going to control Illumna. She wants facts. Her grandfather is a Detective, it’s in her blood.”

  Solstice huffs again, but sits down in her chair.

  Illumna appears next to Sara. Sara, sitting with Christina, turns to acknowledge her, but gives her a disapproving look for interrupting by simply popping in like that.

  “Mom!” Illumna begins to say what’s bothering her? But she doesn’t. She realizes it’s pretty inconsequential. Then Illumna clicks out.

  “Okay, Dad, I get it. If it weren’t for that none of us would be here now and we wouldn’t be the three that can ignore the politics and stop what is happening from getting out of control and you know it’s going to get out of control because your past includes our future.”

  “So, Illumna, now are you ready to focus so we can get this done?” Solstice asks her as Renfield looks at Solstice in an ‘I told you so’ manner.

  “Yes, but if he has to chemically alter us while we are in those things, then explain that more. I at least want to know more details about that. I honestly hadn’t considered that reality. Even after seeing you go wonky, Solstice. I just never thought about it that much, but now I get the concept, but I want to understand what and how.” Illumna explains.

  Renfield interrupts. “Well, consider it this way. Her models are carbon based, as are we. What makes us beings is a soup of electrolytic activity within those carbon molecules. Then to keep us focused on succeeding in the great game of life we’ve chosen compounds that we, as a species, have determined ensure a better success rate. Obviously, as humans, we’ve done pretty well. We live longer than most mammals on the planet and we’ve gotten around the turtle weakness of conservation of energy. For the most part. So we’re very much more electrified than reptiles and birds and much more successful than most other mammals, with only one expectation and that would be whales which are mammals that actually evolved to go back into the water and also chose to use the turtle strategy. They live long, but they don’t get much done. Sorry if that offends your love of whales, but when was the last time a whale delivered you pizza?”

  Illumna giggles, picturing that in her head. Solstice cringes at the analogy, but also grins, forming a picture of it in her mind too. Then she realizes she’s seeing Illumna’s thought, yet laughs harder anyway.

  Renfield laughs too, but continues, “Anyway, the point is, there is a lot to regulate in the body to keep our big brains on task. That’s the goal. Solstice wigged out when she got the balance off. You couldn’t imagine how amazingly small the increments are, the considerations, the bodily functions that have to be taken into account and the state of affairs with each organ have to be considered. So, I think that through. That way, as you two do this, you’ll stay focused. As Solstice said, she’s doing the rough work for me. It helps her learn. So, Illumna why don’t you watch and ask your sister a lot of annoying questions so you learn and also start studying since, from what I hear, you’re Miss Encyclopedia.” Renfield grins at his daughters who look at him wondering how he knows about their inside joke. They both give up and look back at the screen. Renfield adds, “Illumna is shorter but her mind is more ‘considerative’, so up the L-Phenylalanine in hers. Also lower the L-Theanine in hers, but up the L-Arginine.”

  Solstice turns to Renfield and thinks at him, “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes and while on the topic, raise the level of L-Tyrosine in Joseph’s next dosage. Your levels look about right, so you clearly understand what went wrong before.
I’d prefer your raise the phosphatidic acid levels a bit. I understand your concerns there. I don’t agree, but I’ll leave that to being your call.” Renfield comments.

  Solstice pulls up Joseph’s list again and turns to him for advice. “It looks good now that you made the adjustments, but, there. That you don’t want. It leads to creativity in the brain and the last thing we want him to do is consider the obvious option of clicking into another model. In fact, that’s what we’re working against. It’s the one place in the whole plan where everything could go all wrong real fast.”

  Illumna looks at Renfield, “So in your head you’re now referring to it as the ‘Brady Effect’?”

  Solstice looks at her sister. Having heard the thought too, she also hears the pain it brings to Illumna to hear her own grandfather referred to in a negative light. Even if it was just a thought that wasn’t spoken. Illumna looks back at Solstice and thinks to her, “At least I know who my grandfather is.” As soon as she thinks it, she steps toward Solstice to hug her.

  Solstice holds both hands up and thinks back at Illumna, “I’m not in the mood for hugs. Either learn or go find Christina or Sara and hug them.”

  Illumna looks a tad surprised. Breathing deeply she resigns to the reality of what she said and the situation at hand and simply queries, “What is the foundation of what you two are trying to teach me so I can work from there?”