by M. R. Holman
I'm just gonna stand right next to you and give you a loaded gun after you just handed me two thousand Units? If all Green-Backs are as dumb as you, I'm gonna hate Earth..."
Wizard walked a few more paces away and turned to face the utterly dumbfounded Dr. Marblight. "Here's how it works. I'm gonna slide the clip to you, and then I'm gone, I'm a ghost. You didn't see me, we didn't speak, and you sure as hell didn't buy a gun from me. And if you think of pullin' up on me, just know everyone behind these windows is waiting to send you back to Earth in a tin box," Wizard said holding his arms wide and gesturing to the dark windows in the buildings surrounding them. Whether or not it was true, it was an intimidating and impressive display.
Wizard bent over, placed a clip full of bullets on the sidewalk, and slid it to Dr. Marblight. It came to rest right in front of his feet. By the time he had retrieved it and stood up straight, Wizard was gone.
A distant gunshot caused Dr. Marblight to cringe. He placed the clip into the bottom of the pistol and stowed it away in his pants pocket. He began to walk toward the testing facility, hoping that the administrators were still there.
His stomach and head ached from both the whiskey and his nerves. He took deep breaths and tried to calm himself down and formulate a plan.
"I'm just going to go in. I'm just going to walk right into the testing facility I took my test at," he whispered under his breath, pulling his pants up as they sagged from the weight of the now bullet laden gun. "I'm going to show them the gun, maybe even point it at them, but I'm not going to shoot them. Not unless they won't listen to reason..."
Dr. Marblight repeated his plan under his breath over and over as he walked. He was paying minimal attention to the path he was taking, and eventually he bumped into someone on the otherwise deserted walkway. It was the reporter that had chided him during his speech a week ago.
"Watch it!" the reporter said with a scowl as Dr. Marblight bumped into him. When he looked into his face and realized who it was, however, his expression changed. It changed to one of glee. "Well, well, well! My sources tell me that you put on quite the unexpected performance during your test..."
"What do you mean?" Dr. Marblight asked in a panic. Did people already know he failed? That would drastically change his plans... "What have you heard?"
"I heard," the reporter said with a pause and a grin, apparently relishing the torment he was causing Dr. Marblight. "That a certain renowned social scientist is going to be sent back to Earth. It seems that although he could form the idea of a perfect society, he wasn't quite cut out to actually inhabit it..."
Dr. Marblight could feel his spirit sinking lower than he had even thought possible. He clenched his jaw and flared his nostrils as he glared at the reporter who did not seem the least bit perturbed by his outward display of contempt.
"And judging by the scent emanating from you, it seems that what they said about your little alcohol problem is true too. I'll have to supplement that to my article."
Dr. Marblight seized the reporter around the forearm. "You've written an article about this?" he growled with whiskey sodden breath into the reporter's face. He could see a burgeoning fear begin to grow behind the reporter's light blue eyes.
"Y-yes. I had a puff piece ready to go for when you passed, but I found out you failed and wrote a new piece..." the reporter stammered, struggling to break Dr. Marblight's grip.
"Has it been published yet?" he growled, looking around to see if anyone else was on the street to hear this information. It was still deserted around them. The reporter had broken free of his grip and was stepping away from him. Anger was now etched into his youthful face.
"No, but it will be soon. Everyone is going to know what a failure you are, that you can't even take part in your own fucked up plans," the reporter snarled, continuing to step back from Dr. Marblight.
"I can't let you do this," Dr. Marblight said, stepping toward the still retreating reporter. "Give it to me. Is it on a device? Is it on paper? GIVE IT TO ME!" he screamed. The reporter turned and began to run.
Without thinking and without pausing, Dr. Marblight planted his feet firmly beneath himself and drew his newly purchased weapon from his pocket. He pulled back the slide with slick, sweaty fingers and aimed at the swiftly moving silhouette of the reporter. He pulled the trigger.
A flash briefly occluded his vision and lit up the immediate perimeter of his surroundings. His palm stung from the recoil of the gun and his ears rang. Through the spots lingering in his eyes from the flash, he saw a dark shape lying on the pavement.
He approached the reporter's body, the pistol still in his shaking hands. He shuddered as he watched the reporter gasp his final breath and lie still in a pool of dark blood. In the absence of light, it almost appeared black. He had shot the reporter straight through the back of his neck.
Dr. Marblight did not search for the article the young man had written. He found that he no longer cared. He was a monster. He had become the problem he had intended to eradicate from Mars - from human society.
He did not continue toward the testing facility. He would not confront the test administrators. Mars was the place for him to stay, he knew that there was no going back to Earth for him, but he also knew that there was no place for him in the society he had planned. He turned around, gun still in hand, and began to walk back the way he had come.
He saw Wizard leaning against his burnt out lamppost again. "Was that you I just heard?" he called out through the darkness, apparently eyeing the gun still being held in Dr. Marblight's hand. "How'd it work? Get the job done?"
Dr. Marblight ignored him. He walked on and on in a horrified trance at what he had done and what he had become. Those that encountered him gave him a wide berth or ran past when they saw him and what he held in his hand. His finger was still on the trigger and the hammer was still cocked back.
Eventually, the city gave way to trees and grass and crops. He had reached where the terraforming actually took place beneath the dome. This section of the dome had been established centuries previous in order to provide a breathable atmosphere. He took no joy in what he had waited his entire life to experience. He did not bask in the grassy fields he passed, or sit beneath the giant oak trees, or wander the vast fields of wheat and barley. He only continued down the solitary path, his eyes glued to the horizon on the portion of dome that met the Martian ground.
Artificial rain poured from above, replenishing the crops and plants and soaking Dr. Marblight. The water mingled with the sweat from his brow and stung his eyes before rolling down his arms and off the tip of the barrel of his pistol. The edge of the dome was in sight. The sky outside of it was pitch black.
A single security guard stood at the end of the walkway at the edge of the dome. A series of chambers led away from the dome like a tunnel. They connected the dome to the outside, to the unprotected and unchanged surface of Mars. The security guard rose from his stool at Dr. Marblight's approach.
"I think you're lost, sir," the guard called out when Dr. Marblight was still a fair distance away. As he neared, the security guard drew a taser from his belt. "Put down your weapon!" he shouted.
"No," Dr. Marblight said, his voice cracking. His mouth was very dry. He raised his gun and pointed it at the security guard. "You put down yours." The security guard dropped his taser to the ground. Dr. Marblight kept his gun pointed at the man as he walked closer.
"Open the first chamber," he said in a raspy voice.
"What?" the security guard asked in bewilderment. His eyes traveled from the barrel of the gun to Dr. Marblight's face repeatedly.
"I said to open the first chamber. After I've entered it, I want you to seal it and then open the second chamber. I want you to repeat this process until I've exited the dome. Do you understand?"
The security guard shook his head in confusion. "I - I can't say that I do, sir. You don't have a spacesuit... You'll suffocate out there! Besides, there's a dust-storm..."
"I don't need a spacesuit f
or what I'm doing. I've already killed a man tonight. I don't want to kill you too. Just open the chamber and do as I say," Dr. Marblight said in a hollow voice. He watched as the security guard opened the first chamber. As he entered it, he felt as though his mind was no longer attached to his body. He felt as though he was watching the final scene of a film from behind his own eyes as the chamber shut behind him and the next opened, and then the next. In the third chamber he could hear the dust storm raging outside.
As he stood in the final chamber, surrounded by absolute darkness and the howl of the Martian winds, he felt as though he had detached from reality. The final door opened and Dr. Marblight could feel the chill of the heavy winds against his soaked skin. The sensation was dull and felt as though he was feeling it through a thick woolen jacket. The wind roared but it sounded as though he was hearing it from a distance. As he stepped into the complete and utter darkness of the Martian dust storm, he did not feel the dust and sand bounce off of his face and sting his skin. He exhaled his last breath of oxygen and began to walk forward.
The gun slipped from his fingers and he solemnly breathed the dust-filled carbon dioxide atmosphere. At some point, he dimly registered that his knees had made contact with the ground below. He collapsed and his body began to be covered with the
