by Richard Lord
Solstice doesn’t react to the action. However she then stabs him in the buttocks with a huge needle. Brady and Illumna look at her. Brady says, “Ok, enough stabbing him! What was in that?”
“He isn’t healing well anymore. That should keep him from going into shock and help his body fight off infection. We want his body to concentrate more on healing and less on defending. It will also keep him asleep for a while, so let’s get him to a bed and then we can have lunch.” Solstice says in the matter-of–fact manner she’s started picking up from her sister.
Brady’s eyes go wide, but he picks up, Renfield’s limp body and starts trudging up the stairs. Halfway up he turns to Illumna. “You might want to talk to your mother and grandmother about this before I walk though that door,” He nods towards the door at the top of the stairs. Illumna clicks out of the room.
Solstice looks up the stairs and sees Brady pause under the weight of her father. “I’ll go start lunch. Sandwiches good?”
Brady turns and looks at her in a strange light. Frustrated over the insanity around him he breathes a few breathes before he responds. “Perfectly fine, Solstice.” She clicks out. Then Brady thinks to himself, “Why didn’t she just grab her father and click him into a bed? This guy is heavier than I thought!” He shakes his head at all of it and begins the arduous ascent, again. He sets Renfield’s body down at the top stair and listens through the doorway for any “freak out”. In the absence of chaos he turns the doorknob, pushes the door open and reaches down for Renfield again. Then he thinks to himself, “Oh yay. I forgot there’s a whole other staircase after this one. Why did Solstice make sandwiches instead of clicking Renfield to the bed? It would have made life a lot easier right now.”
CHAPTER 67
“I watched him grow. There are not words to describe the joy in that. There are words to describe the frustration.” -- from the book of Jessica
Illumna looks up and sees her father at the foot of the stairs and announces, “Watch this, Dad.” Then she is talking to him from another part of the lab. “I’m in!” Then she looks up from her chair and says, “I’m even faster than Solstice is at it now!”
Solstice shakes her head at her sister.
Renfield responds, “Well that makes sense given your accuracy. Go on, show me again.”
Illumna does the same trick even faster the second time and then looks up at her father in pride of herself.
“I’m impressed!” Renfield comments. He moves over to Solstice’s workstation. And comments, “So I lost a week, but I’ve considered a few things in the few times I was conscious.”
Solstice turns, “Go on.”
“Well speaking of consciousness. Which angle are you taking on the bits now? Dualism, behaviorism, functionalism? I’ll assume you’re not going physicalist. I’ll also assume you realize why the Turing test is a waste of time.” As he states his assumptions, Renfield looks very directly at Solstice. As he awaits an answer, he wonders if he should assume anything.
“Now that you bring it up, I’ve made different models with different theories and you’re correct, I did not want to touch physicalism and I also find the Turing test to be useless. However, I also left out dualism concepts in the models, to an extent, but of course each of them has an aspect of dualism or I wouldn’t be able to control them.”
Illumna listens closely. She’s spent the week studying brain chemistry. She doesn’t quite understand what the two are discussing, but she picks up on a few things as she listens.
Renfield moves to the table to lean on it and then reconsiders as the pain shoots up his spine. “The ones I want with me should be based solely on functionalism. I won’t be able to concentrate if I have to reason with them. I need them to do.”
Solstice turns to look at Renfield who is obviously still in a lot of pain. Then she states, “That seems counter to everything you said before. Then you would want something that can pass a Turing test, but is deeply rooted in physicalism.”
“Not at all. I need you to get creative. I showed you the models I want. Think through the solution from the perspective of what they are good at, physically. You created the models, so you already had certain thoughts in your head as to what their functions are and why they are designed the way they are.” Renfield replies.
Solstice, looks frustrated, but turns back to the monitor and pulls up her personal catalogue of models. She stares. She understands Renfield’s point.
Illumna says, “So different souls take on different forms to express their main function?”
Solstice looks at her sister and begins typing quickly. Renfield looks to Illumna and responds, “That’s a pretty succinct way of putting it. Yes. Mostly. But some beings choose form and then change their minds.”
Illumna replies, “Like butterflies?”
“Well…” Renfield scratches the back of his head, “Something like that. I think all beings experience chrysalis. Some are aware of it and some are not. Also, the intensity of the chrysalis may be greater or lesser than another being’s and at different times in their life cycle.” Renfield pauses and considers if he is explaining this well, but he continues anyway. “What I’m referring to is more like an elephant that looks at a giraffe and thinks he should be one. He chose to be an elephant, but he identifies more with the giraffe because he hasn’t learned the beauty of being an elephant yet.”
Illumna thinks for a moment and then responds to her father, “I’m Illumna. I like being Illumna.” Then she looks down at her belly, although there is barely any change yet. “”Will Precocious like being Precocious?”
Renfield catches Solstice’s sigh and looks at her and the two of them laugh. He looks back at Illumna. “Keep working at the naming thing, girl. That one’s the worst of all!”
Solstice laughs at her sister while looking back at her screen. “Dad, I think she was trying out two names at once there. You’re getting slow.”
Illumna replies, “Well Sniffaloon seems content.” Solstice turns to look at Renfield who purposefully looks away from her and then over at the thing in question.
Renfield takes a sip from his mug and over the rim he mutters, “Cause he’s designed that way.” Then he pulls the mug from his face and says directly to her. “You understand you shouldn’t get attached to that thing just because you named it?”
Illumna looks at Solstice who looks across her desk at Illumna. “I kept my promise. I gave him a new body. What Dad does with him now is past the promise and frankly, I don’t care for Sniffaloon very much. He did try to kill you. Keep that in perspective.”
Illumna ponders. “So if we’re both pregnant, does that mean we won’t get real boyfriends? Does that mean our chances of ever getting married are void?”
Renfield starts to answer and Brady rounds the corner and speaks, “Hey, no complaints! My girlfriend wanted me dead, too!”
Renfield smiles at Brady. “So have you called her?”
Brady laughs at the question. “No, but Solstice has taken me to meet up with her twice this week. Dicey, but we’ll work it out.”
Renfield looks at Solstice disapprovingly and she can hear him think. “It’s not that I don’t want Brady to pursue her, but I’d rather you not be involved.” Then he considers and adds, “But I suppose it’s the only way, right now.”
“Well Brady, you trust her more than I thought you would. But good on ya’ man.” Renfield says. Then he mockingly punches Brady in the shoulder. The movement itself sends a wave of pain through Renfield’s body and he turns to hide the resulting, but inevitable, grimace on his face.
Brady states, “I can hear her now. So I know she really does like me. The officer you took out was an asshole anyway.”
Renfield laughs, almost spitting out his drink. “Which one?”
Brady looks at him through the side of his face and says, “That’s not funny. I was supposed to be able to trust those guys. I checked with Angela. Apparently, only Thompson and her are from my unit. She doesn’t seem to
miss him and she’s asking me for a transfer now. Ya know, the other me that’s apparently still got a job. Johnson was in my unit too, but frankly, I never liked him, so I am not sure I can count that.”
Renfield eyes light up with a realization.
Solstice turns in her chair and looks at Brady. “How come you never got married Brady? You seem like a pretty good catch for a woman. What’s the messed up part?”
Brady gestures with both hands at the three of them, then points up, then he taps the badge in his pocket. “Really? You have to ask?”
He turns to the sound behind him.
Christina adds, “He wasn’t marriage material. Might be now that he’s old.” Sara looks at her father and moves to hug him. Renfield is still considering the thought that crossed his mind as he stares at the puppy model.
“What are you two doing down here?” Brady asks, while looking at Renfield and gesturing to Christina with his eyes while his arms naturally embrace his daughter. “Why the sudden interest in our shop talk?”
Solstice interrupts, “You mean lab talk! I prefer the word lab to shop.”
Brady starts to say, “Whatever!” But he let’s it go. He reaches out and accepts Sara’s hug and kisses her forehead. Then he looks at Renfield, who nods and then offers Christina and Sara a seat.
As they all fill in Christina and Sara on what they are doing, Sniffaloon curls up next to Christina’s feet. While no one is looking she kicks Sniffaloon hard and stares down at him and pushes her foot down hard on his head, as if using him like a foot rest. She sees that Renfield notices and eases her foot away. Then she asks, “So what part do I play in all of this?” Sara turns to her, assured that Christina is out of line, but she turns back realizing that’s her mother and that argument is not worth having.
Renfield responds, “Actually, Sara is coming with me.”
Sara looks shocked, Christina looks instantly angry and Brady shouts at Renfield in objection, ”No! Leave her out of this! Why would you even consider that?”
Renfield shrugs at all of their responses and Solstice rolls her eyes, while Illumna watches Solstice’s face. “Brady, she hears me clearer than anyone and this isn’t her first rodeo. She’s not as fragile as you think.” He comments. Then he looks at his wife, “Christina, I need you to keep these two”, he gestures at Solstice and Illumna, “in line. You have the military training. You’ll spend the next couple of months teaching them and they’re going to hate you for a while. Deal.”
Christina beings to object, but as her mind replays what Renfield just said, it makes sense. Her body relaxes and she sits back. She can tell Brady is still not okay with the plan and she doesn’t want to put any more pressure on Renfield than is necessary. He’s thought it through well, she concludes. Brady looks at Christina and she gestures with her hand at Renfield and nods. Brady looks at Sara and wonders how many crazy things she’s let Renfield talk her into in the past. Inherently Brady can feel that Sara is actually fragile, but he also knows she’s been by Renfield’s side a long time. He then wonders what things were like back when Renfield used to break whole timelines. He concludes that he must have been dragging Sara along with him. Then he wonders if dragging is the right word. He starts to realize his daughter might have had more of an impact on Renfield than Renfield has on her.
“So with all of that said now. Girls!” Solstice and Illumna turn to their Dad already knowing what he’s going to say next. “At some point Christina is going to wake you up and your training begins. Go easy on her, but I’m fairly certain she’s not going to go easy on you. She’s cares and we have to pull this off in steps. Each of them has to be without error.”
Illumna quips, “So no more ‘fajita’ dinners?”
Everyone laughs and Christina can’t help but laugh at herself too. Then she says, “We can have ‘fajitas’ but we won’t have any reports of SNAFU’s!”
Renfield watches as both of his daughters nod to Christina in agreement. He turns to look at Brady and thinks to him directly, “I know you’re worried and this is stressing you out because you love them all, but they’re a lot stronger than you think.”
Brady looks up at Renfield, now understanding how to focus thought at an individual instead of broadcasting and thinks at him, “I know. It’s a lot to take in and it’s scary for so many reasons.” He gazes around the room. Then he thinks directly back to Renfield, “I know you understand. You seem sure, but you’re worried too.”
Renfield thinks back at Brady, “I’m worried, I’m not scared. They are incredible women. Side note: Angela is coming too.”
Brady stands and audibly says, “When did you decide that? Are you completely insane?”
Renfield looks up as Brady towers over him imposingly, yet Renfield is completely unaffected. “Be logical. She was part of your unit so she knows how to take orders from you even if you didn’t know who she was until that night. She’s trained and you care about her, and her you, so you’ll have each other’s backs. Yes, I realize that she took to the other side before, but that was before she met you. She cares about what you care about, Brady.”
“How do you know that? Did you set that all up?” Brady looks angrily at Renfield.
“Yes and no.” It was a heck of a coincidence that really wasn’t when we get down to what was going on that night. But she’s met you privately twice in a week at her own risk. So she is definitely into you. Therefore, I am going to trust her. Ergo, you need someone watching your six and she’s the prefect candidate because she loves you.”
Brady wants to argue every point coming out of Renfield’s mouth. He’s frustrated at Renfield’s reasoning, but it’s sound, no matter how he looks at it. So instead of striking him, he asks Renfield, “I guess that then brings us to you explaining what you want me to do. I think it’s a little early in our relationship to bring any of this up to Angela. But explain to me what’s in your head.”
“Well for one, it’s not that early in the relationship for her. She worked under you. She knows who you are and she understands you. Two, she’s already played a role in your demise, so she’s more intimately aware of you than your giving credit to. Three, you decide. We have time. So here’s the plan…”
CHAPTER 68
“Pray for peace, prepare for war, but don’t sit on your ass and do nothing!” -- from the book of Phillip
“Locked and loaded.” Angela announces. Brady and Renfield turn to acknowledge her report as she closes the door to the truck.
Brady looks at Renfield and espouses, “So this is it.”
Renfield looks to the ground and then firmly at Brady. “Hard to believe it’s been a year.” Then his gaze goes his daughters ready to get started. They’ve waited a long time for this and worked hard at being prepared. Renfield is proud of them and knows that Brady is too. Sara holds his arm tightly as he walks over to Christina. “Are you ready, dear?”
Christina flicks her chin out at the girls. “They are!” All three of them laugh.
Brady and Angela walk up behind Renfield. “So we’re out. We’ll see you on the other side of a job well done?” Everyone goes silent. They all know Renfield has very little chance of surviving this time. They also consider their own chances, but they all know Renfield is least likely to make it out. No one says a word about it because they know how important this is to Renfield and that he’s already accepted that reality.
Renfield turns and holds his hand in the air and motions with his fingers. Illumna and Solstice click over to him. He looks at Illumna, “Give a gesture of good wishes to your Grandfather and Grandmother-in-law.” Then he looks at Solstice and cocks his head back towards Brady and says, “He’s become more your bud now than mine, go on.” Illumna doesn’t’ know what to say, she simply assumes she’ll see him soon, but she gives her grandfather a hug anyway.
Solstice doesn’t move for a few seconds and then she leaps at Brady and begins to cry. “Come back, dude! You’re an asshole, but we’ve had some fun times.” Then she turn
s to Angela and she hugs her. I may have got him to you, but you got to him!” She hugs Angela and they both laugh.
Illumna clicks away to look over Persistence and Brian. As she looks down at them she smiles and says, “We’ll see you two soon.” Illumna’s eyes water slightly as she looks at the two infants. For now, Solstice is going to take you to the place Grandpa taught Solstice how to get to. Another version of my Dad will watch you for a little while. Mommies will be back!” She looks over at Snifalotapus, as she’s now decided to call him, for so many reasons, It makes her laugh inside every time she calls him that. Illumna doesn’t mind keeping herself entertained by complex inter-connections. She continues, as if the infants understand what she’s saying. “Grandpa thought it would be good for Snifalotapus to keep you two entertained while we are gone. Teach him some new tricks!” She leans down and whispers to them. “Kick him if you don’t approve of his behavior!”
Solstice has already clicked beside her sister and looks down at Brian. “Don’t listen to your aunt! That’s mean!”
Illumna turns her head away from the kids for a moment and looks at Solstice, “How long ago do you think he planned that part out?”
Solstice knows what she is asking but Renfield has already clicked in next to them and she sees Brady, Angela and her mother walking towards them.
Renfield grins. “Planned what?”
Both girls roll their eyes at him so he turns to gesture his arm, inviting Christina, Brady and Angela to say their goodbyes to the youngest two amongst them. Brady notes the pride on his daughter’s face as he looks down at Persistence. Angela notes the pride on Brady’s face and gives him a quick squeeze. Christina notes the look on Renfield’s face and looks down at Persistence and Brian, as if to say, “I’ve got a lot to tell you kids!” But, she remains silent. Solstice picks both of them up, She smiles at her sister and disappears.
