Damnation

by Ken Barrett

  “Did you learn anything more about them?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah,” Roxi replied. “Sam’s whore, Todecca, is Head Priestess in their cult, and she’s supposed to have the powers of prophecy and healing.”

  “You could use some of that healing,” Kelly stated.

  Roxi grinned. “I could indeed, and thank you all for helping me.” She sighed. “According to that bitch Oxana, everybody gets a new name when they join their cult. It’s supposed to be a soul name, and have some kind of deep meaning. I’m pretty sure Oxana means cunt in their new made-up language.”

  “Our family abandoned our old religion even before the old-world government outlawed them,” Kelly said. “We threw out the structure of it, but still believe that the spirit that created the universe guides us, and if we follow the path of doing no harm, we’ll be rewarded in the afterlife.”

  “That last bit’s the tricky part,” Patrick added. “Any act that’s done to get a reward doesn’t count.”

  “Aye, my husband’s correct,” Kelly responded. “Doing good must be done from the heart with no thought of benefit; that’s the only time that the act’s genuine.”

  “The old beliefs weren’t wrong,” Patrick said. “It was the church behind it that was foul and corrupt.”

  “All things made by man are done for profit or glory, and a true and just God would have no part of it,” Kelly added. “With profit, comes jealousy, then intolerance, and then hate and murder. Pretty words too often cajole and deceive, the truth needs none of that.”

  “That’s the real meaning of the Stickman,” Patrick stated. “He stands open and connected to a circle that’s the symbol of our natural world.”

  Liam sat a moment considering what was just said; Patrick, Kelly, Alice, and Tiger were all from a long tradition of farming, and none had a formal education, and yet, all were centered, thoughtful, and kind. They were what educated people aspire to be but never seemed to achieve. He nodded and smiled. “You’re all fine examples of the truth behind your faith. But for your own safety, you should go home. For now, Roxi will stay here with me and Rose.”

  *****

  The day had become evening and it was slowly edging toward night. But fifteen floors below a mountain in the Colorado Rockies, where the light and temperature were more or less constant, it was hard to keep track of the passing hours. Roxi was awake, but resting on Rose’s easy chair. She watched and issued instructions and critique as they set up the isolation beds.

  Liam gazed at the unopen boxes Roxi had brought from the Engineering Center. “If you’re not planning to build another android, why did you bring materials for our bone structure, muscles, cooling system, repair nanotechnology, and a chamber to grow crystalline processors?”

  “That’s just extra parts and equipment I had in storage,” Roxi said. “The idiots up there wouldn’t understand any of it and might toss everything out, or if they did realize what it could be used for, it would’ve been destroyed.” She winked at Rose. “And, you know, you guys might need spare parts someday.”

  Liam frowned. Roxi wasn’t telling them something; what was she up to?

  “Our bodies are self-repairing, so I doubt we’ll ever need transplants,” Rose responded. “With all the trouble up above, we should probably keep you down here and out of sight for a while.”

  “What about the kids?” Roxi asked, meaning Tiger and Alice especially. “I worry about them.”

  “Alice’s parents will look after them.” Rose turned to look directly at the older woman. “What’s happening with Denise though? I’ve never seen her get sick before.”

  “It’s just a bug and nothing to worry about.” Roxi quickly looked away. “The missionaries might have brought the disease with them.”

  “When you do go back home, you should stop talking about being Sam’s wife,” Liam said. “That’ll only cause you more trouble.”

  “I know, and you’re right.” Roxi sighed. “Sam and I were partners for over thirty years and we had a good life together.” She closed her eyes in an effort to hold back tears. “That man is gone now, he died during the solar flare; I know that, but at the same time I don’t want to believe it.” She stared at nothing for a long moment. “But hearing Adar talking over the radio… I just can’t stand it. It’s like listening to a ghost I guess.” She lowered her head and stared blankly at the floor. “This shouldn’t have been our end. We were supposed to grow old and feeble together, and die in each other’s arms. I loved Sam, and still miss him every day. Memories of his smell and touch haunt me every time I hear his voice on the radio.”

  “I understand,” Rose whispered.

  Roxi looked at her with tear-filled eyes. “Yes, I think you do. You two are miracles, but I wonder, what does the future hold for you? The humans you love will all die, and you’ll have to go on without them. Grief and loss are heavy burdens. We once thought that your long lives and the millennia’s you would see and experience was a glorious gift, but now I think it could be a curse instead.”

  “Maybe not,” Liam answered. “Life experiences are always nourishing, even the painful ones.”

  “Whatever lies ahead of us, we’ll handle,” Rose added. “There are two of us, we started together and I think we’ll probably end the same way.”

  “There’s something poetic about that,” Roxi said. “I wish we humans were more like you.”

  “Maybe you are, but just don’t know it,” Liam stated. “Rose and I will never be mates, to do so seems obscene. We were created as brother and sister, not genetically since we’re not constructed as you are, instead, our connection is spiritually primordial. She and I are literally the same person, the same soul that’s been halved and separated. It could be that this same split of an elemental force exists in humankind as well.”

  Roxi frowned. “That’s an odd but comforting theory; I wish there was a way to prove it.”

  He smiled. “The most expansive and intriguing notions are all that way, and belief rarely requires proof. Sometimes the gift of comfort is enough.”

  “What does that say about all the nutcases up above?” Roxi asked. “They believe that the path to purity lies in torturing their bodies, and will murder anyone that disagrees.”

  “True faith exists only in your heart and doesn’t require mass participation to affirm. It’s a deeply personal thing, that when applied to masses often becomes hysteria that breeds intolerance,” Liam said.

  “Violence and prejudice narrow perception and destroys life, while faith preserves and enhances it,” Rose added. “They’re the opposite directions of the same path, and we each choose which way to go.”

  “Adar has chosen a path I don’t want to follow.” Roxi sighed. “And now our shelter is getting more dangerous every day.”

  “Which is why we need to get our enhancements finished and installed before it’s too late,” Liam stated.

  *****

  “You know, I can find my way home by myself,” Roxi said as they quietly walked down an empty hallway on level thirteen.

  “I’m sure you can,” Liam responded. “But it’s safer this way.” The three of them had come up the eastern ramp and were on their way to the western side of the floor. Their intention was to hide where they were coming from by alternating the ramps they took to climb between floors. No one had noticed them yet, and he hoped the trend would continue for a while longer.

  Voices echoed from somewhere up ahead as they neared the western ramp. “You two should get back below,” Roxi whispered.

  “We’re fine,” Rose answered. “We want to be sure you get home.”

  Roxi suddenly smiled. “You don’t have to worry. There’s Hailey.”

  “There you are! I’ve been wondering where you’ve been.” A short dark-skinned woman with a head full of long braids quickly approached and gave Roxi a long but gentle hug. “I heard you got hurt the other day.”

  “Yeah, their loving God made them beat the hell out of me,” Roxi responded.
>
  Hailey glanced at them. “So, you guys are the robots, huh?”

  Liam hoped that their conversation would remain friendly. “Well, we don’t really appreciate that term, but it’s not the first time it’s been said.”

  “That’s Liam,” Roxi said. “And this is his sister Rose, she used to live with me in Flatiron City.”

  “That seems so long ago,” Rose replied wistfully.

  “Lifetimes ago,” Roxi answered. “When I still had my husband.”

  “I know,” Hailey responded. “But if we spend all our time lookin’ over our shoulder at the past, we’ll end up bumping into stuff in the present.”

  Liam laughed. “I like that.”

  “I got into an argument with Oxana, and these two patched me up,” Roxi said.

  “Yup, word has gotten around about your fight,” Hailey stated. “A lotta people love you because of it, but others, not so much.”

  “Let’s get Roxi home,” Rose said. “She has cracked ribs and is still recovering from a shoulder dislocation.”

  “Well, more of us are safer than a few,” Hailey said. “So, let’s all go together.”

  People stared at them as they climbed the western ramp and passed through the cafeteria on level twelve. Most seemed to be only curious, but a few were openly hostile. Liam frowned. “I hope that us being with you won’t cause more problems.”

  “Probably not,” Hailey said. “Folks are just scared, and usually that’s only dangerous when there’s a lot of ‘em around. Most are cowards and won’t act on their own; they only find courage in numbers.”

  Liam regarded the growing throng warily. “Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

  “Yup, let’s get this girl home.” Hailey hurried them forward. “Folks like me will watch over her once she’s there.”

  They left the ramps at level ten and hurried toward the apartments near the engineering and technical support areas. Several of Roxi’s neighbors saw what was happening and came forward to help, some formed a moving barrier between them and any others that seemed hostile.

  “Hear me, there are demons among us,” a deep and powerful male voice echoed across the open floor. It was the priest with the melted face and blind eye.

  “Keep moving.” Liam urged. “Let’s get her home.”

  “Our prophet, who is the Stickman’s voice on earth, has warned us of their danger. Listen my people, and heed my words,” the burnt man said. “Adar has spoken to me of his vision.”

  “What vision?” a woman from the crowd asked. “Tell us Thelon!”

  The deformed man stood still at the center of the open space, and let his silence draw those around him closer. “The sun was the color of blood when it rose on our day of judgment. The sky boiled in colors of red and black as the very air we breathe caught fire. The heat drove the faithful to their knees as their skin bubbled and burned, while all that did not bow to the one true God were turned into pillars of ash, and when the great wind came, they were scattered to every unholy place. Those that still doubted our God were tested, and they screamed as a pale fire consumed them.”

  Thelon slowly nodded as he gazed at the floor. “Even the children,” he uttered. “Many of those we believe are innocent were also deemed impure and punished.

  “And then the Stickman revealed his true self, and Adar shouted with joy,” Thelon continued. “A man built only of roots and branches, woven into a divine shape, and bound together by a circle that represents his kingdom, the earth. And God gave Adar his soul name, he is the bringer of light and knowledge that will lead others to the Burning Path.”

  “The one true God was there, and would only speak to him. And the Stickman said, go west and follow the river to a place of shelter. God ordered that he found his church there, with his one true mate, Todecca of the Burning, ruling at his side. Only together could they defeat the demons that hide among us.”

  “Demons?” an elderly man asked.

  “Yes,” Thelon answered. “False men and women that appear human, but are not. God said that they will seem to help you at first, but then you would come to depend on them, as had happened in the olden times. Their science once made life too easy, and so machines turned mankind into their slaves. Most of the demons are gone now, burnt into nothingness by the Stickman’s fiery hand. But others hid and pretended to be human, and Adar believes they still live among us, where they wait to step forward and rule again!”

  Many within the crowd were watching them suspiciously. “How can we tell if someone is a demon?” a woman asked.

  “Test them with fire, for they will not burn,” Thelon stated. “You see, demon souls were spawned within a deep and dark sea. Water is the opposite of fire and is rife with pollution and foul disease, but fire only purifies; only flames can cleanse a soul.”

  “It’s the witch trials,” Roxi whispered. “You two need to leave, right now.”

  Liam and Rose slipped through the mob, hoping to not be noticed.

  “I beg you to listen just a little more,” the deformed man said. “There was one final warning within Adar’s vision, the meaning of it only the Stickman may understand. Adar described it thus:

  A cool clear day, the unrepentant, the unburnt, they wander aimlessly. All wore white garments of a type he did not understand, then at once they all stopped and looked to the west, away from the rising sun, and in an instant, they were gone, swept away by the wind.

  Adar believes these were the last of the demons, taken by God to a place of terrible cold, where they will dwell forever, far from his chosen people.”

  “Thelon!” A tall blonde woman pointed her finger at Liam and Rose. “There are your demons!”

  “Run,” Liam urged his sister.

  “Where to?” she asked.

  “Up, then back down after we lose them.”

  They sprinted up the ramps, easily outdistancing the throng that chased them. Shouts of warning from below alerted those above, and at each new floor, the mob grew. They pushed aside everyone that tried to block them, always moving higher. Finally, at level three, no one was waiting for them. The way ahead was clear, but the path home was blocked. “Outside, it’s the only way,” Liam stated.

  After dashing through level one, Rose activated the motor that would slowly open the inner vestibule door. The crowd was storming up the final ramp, and they didn’t have time to wait, so Rose grabbed the locking wheel and yanked. The rack and pinion cracked and the door groaned as she pulled it open. “Come on!” she shouted.

  Liam slipped through behind her, and together they pulled it shut. He heard the pounding of fists on the other side of the thick steel door, but with the electric motor disabled, the mob couldn’t follow them.

  “Well, that was exciting,” Rose said.

  “I’m glad to hear that you’re not bored,” he replied. “But we can’t stay out here. We’ll have to find a way to sneak back inside and get our modifications installed. Even though it’s cooling down, we still need them to survive.”

  “How long will we have to wait?”

  He paused to consider the work schedules within the shelter. “Tomorrow morning will be best, between three and four AM. The upper floors will be empty, and we should be able to get down the ramps to the basement without being seen.”

  “What about until then? What if they open the inner door and come after us? Maybe we should get the laser rifles we hid inside the burial mound.”

  “I doubt they’ll follow us, so the L80’s probably won’t be necessary. But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to stay outside, beyond the outer vestibule door.”

  “Even if we get back inside and manage to sneak down to our workshop without being seen, sooner or later they’ll find us. What will we do then?”

  “The best we can,” he replied.

  Chapter 14: Separation

  Liam and Rose huddled beneath the rock overhang beyond the outer vestibule door. Rain thundered down from a sky of bloated clouds, beating the soggy earth into thick black mud that rose ab
ove their ankles.

  “We can’t stay here,” Rose stated. “We need to find someplace dry.”

  “In this?” Liam gestured toward the deluge.

  “Is it safe to wait inside the vestibule?”

  The thought of remaining so close and risking discovery worried him. “I don’t think so; they might get the inner door open and come out to look for us.”

  “Then we should at least get the laser rifles we left out here,” she said. “You know, we might try walking down into old Steamboat Springs. Some of the buildings could still be standing and we might find a place to stay that’s out of the rain.”

  He shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  They stood up together, and after a cautious glance back into the vestibule, they activated the motor that would close the thick steel door. The clang of the hatch closure seemed final and vaguely terrifying. Would they ever get back inside? They had to, eventually.

  Rose marched down the hill toward the burial mound where their rifles were hidden. The thick mud pulled on her feet, threatening to remove her boots with each step. “Oh! This is going to be rough,” she said. “How far is it to town?”

  “About twenty kilometers,” he answered. “And we’ll descend about a thousand meters.”

  “Hold on, you’re saying that we’ll have to climb a thousand meters through the mud to get back here?”

  “Again, the math genius states the obvious.”

  “Oh, shut up Big Brother.” She glanced at him playfully. “Let’s get going and hope for the best.”

  Liam reached behind the central curbstone of the burial mound to retrieve their laser rifles, which had remained safe and undisturbed within the narrow passage to the mass grave. They were thoroughly wrapped in waterproof fabric as protection from the elements, which was a good thing; too bad he hadn’t thought to leave some rain gear for their use as well.

  Rose took her rifle and set off down the hill without looking back.

  The once timid creek at the bottom of the hill had become a raging torrent, so they walked upstream, hoping to find a bridge they could use to get across. Eventually, they found the charred trunk of a pine tree that had fallen over the rapids. As they cautiously made their way above the boiling water, Rose held his hand, just as she had done when they were children. He smiled, comforted by memories of their fictitious past; dearly held reminisces are often the most precious aspects of life.