Close

It is close, I can feel it. People were talking about it. The TV talked about it. All those people out there in the sky talked about it. There were a lot of those out there in the past, but none of them were as close as this one. At night, when I’m sitting on the roof, counting start will Di, I can see it. It’s beautiful, really. It’s something that should bring joy… but it only bring panic, and well, in the end, death.

I often ask myself what is true fear, as I don’t feel it. Everybody around me feels it. The neighbor feels it, my parents feel it… my sister feels it. Even my friends do.

Weird.

Since NASA announced it, and then all the TV’s were taken over by the president’s face, since then everybody fears the date it will arrive. And people feel that fear, I mean I can see it. Everybody can see it.

I remember when I was younger and I had some stupid exam I was not prepared for because I was rather spending time playing video-games… so I woke up in the morning knowing that in a few hours I have an exam… then, that was the moment I felt some kind of fear. Fear of being scolded by my parents or something. Now I don’t care about any more of that. Dad doesn’t give a fuck about me anymore, and mom only cries when she thinks about me. Kathy might be affected still, but I don’t know. Sometimes when I watch her I think she knows I’m there in the doorway. But she never dares to look at me.

Anyway I don’t care anymore, then can ignore me all they want. They will be dead soon, all of them, so why do I care? Instead of spending my precious time thinking about my stupid family, I should reflect on my feelings. I need to find them again, because I need them back.

When I look to the sky, and I see it, I wonder, is it possible that it will bring my feelings back? Will I then feel the same fear? Or just amusement as everybody around me is going to burn and die?

Death… yes well that’s a concept nobody can predict, really. What do they know? All those books about what happens with you after you die… stupid books, those. How could a human being understand the concept of death? All they see is that the body is not responding anymore to all their stupid attempts to revive it. And then they take the body and dress it up in all those fancy clothes and drop it six feet under while this priest says all the commonplace things they can come up with.

Is thinking a feeling? Because I think I should feel some kind of achievement that I’m capable of thinking about anything.

I wish the world would be a bit more colorful than this. Everything looks so grey and sad. Haha, sad, I’m funny.

Who would be happy when there’s a comet heading straight for earth and it will wipe it out of existence?

The Bullet – A Short Story (not yet edited)

The street in front of the old and abandoned industrial building was lit by two dim street lights and was practically empty, except for the black Sedan that was parking there for some time now. Inside of the car, a man dressed in black was sitting, breathing heavily while checking his phone. He looked around a few times, as if scared that he’s being watched. He noticed a stray dog strolling around one of the lamps, sniffing for a spot to claim as his own. The phone vibrated, and the man dressed in black was overwhelmed by fear, as if he somehow expected that the message he just received will never happen. The contents of the message were simple, a two letter word – “Go”. He reached for the small case next to him, picked it up and left the car.

The little case was an item he received right after he accepted his contract. The case was delivered the night before by a man he has never seen before, fact that he found strange; he though he knows all of the couriers of his employee. But his employee forbid him to make any contact after a contract has been accepted, so he abandoned his doubts and accepted the case. Along with the case there was a small letter containing the instructions. He opened the envelope to read the message:

“Valentine Bishop”.

He was to kill a man named Bishop, a drug lord that apparently ran his operations from inside the industrial building and was a very dangerous person. But he knew that this was not an easy kill, as his employee was very pretentious.

–

The entrance to the old industrial building was blocked by a rusty gate, but he noticed an elaborate little device in the shadows, past the gate. He immediately recognized it as an alarm system, so he decided to look for another way in. Looking around he spotted a way in above the concrete wall a few meters to the right, and with an agile jump, he climbed over the wall. It took him some time before he reached one of the entrances on the west side of the building, but it was guarded by two men, both holding guns, talking about something in a language he could not understand. Above the entrance was a yet another lamp that was positioned in a way so both of the guards would spot anyone approaching. He dropped to his knees and placed the small case on the ground. After opening a small cover, he started to input the four digit code he received, and after a silent click, the case opened and inside of it there was a small caliber gun along with a silencer and another gun coated in gold, containing only one bullet. He knew that he has to kill Bishop using the golden gun, as instructed by his employee, who had an obsession to send the right message by killing his enemies in a special kind of way. It was a trademark, a very weird one. He checked the golden gun and found only one golden bullet on which there was a small carving. It was a crow, the symbol of Death.

He placed back the golden gun into the case and then took out the other gun and added the silencer, then aimed for the lamp above the guards, and he pulled the trigger.

–

Mr. Bishop was sitting at his old oak table, a piece of furniture that was completely out of style considering the other furniture inside the room. It just didn’t fit. The desk contained a computer, some pens, a bottle of whiskey, a ashtray, a pack of cigarettes and a small statue representing the smiling Buddha. Mr. Bishop, a fat but tall man, was working on the computer, when he suddenly heard gunshots. Surprisingly, he spent a few more seconds finishing his work and only afterward he pressed ALT+TAB, accessing his security software. A number of small windows opened up on the screen displaying footage of the security cameras that were set up all along the corridors of the old industrial building. He watched as a man dressed completely in black is killing all of his guards one by one. The gunshots he heard came from a group of guards that detected the killer, who Mr. Bishop soon realized, was something of an amateur. He produced a wry smile and reached for one of the drawers of the table, pulling it open. Inside the drawer there was a gun and a cellphone. Reaching inside the drawer, his hands hovered above the gun, but then he heard more gunshots, his hand froze. He glanced over to the monitor and saw that the killer just killed two of his best men, and first time tonight, he felt a spark of fear emerging from his stomach. Looking back at the drawer he moved his hand from above the gun and grabbed the cellphone. It was a iPhone, and after entering the security code, he accessed the phone application where there was only one number displayed, but no other contact information to it. He tapped on the number and after a few rings somebody picked it up but there was no communication between the Mr. Bishop and the person on the other side of the line. He activated the speaker-mode on the iPhone and placed the phone on the other end, with the phone’s microphone facing the only door in the room. He then reached for a cigarette, and sat back in the chair, waiting.

–

The man dressed in black felt his blood reaching high temperatures, felling the same blood blinding him, as if there was nothing else then murder in his life. He somehow felt lucky that he was still alive, and tried to calm his mind by thinking about his family and that this hell will soon be over, and then he can return home and forget about all this. He looked around for more guards, but it seems he killed them all. Eventually, he reached the stairs and proceeded toward the control room, where he expected Bishop was waiting for him.

He was facing the door. There was a certain calm in the air he didn’t understand. He dropped the gun with the silencer and pulled out the gold coated gun from his case. He stepped forward, closer to the door. There was a small clinging sound coming from under the stairs, but he paid no attention to this, and with a strong but worried move, he opened the door and stepped inside the room.

–

Mr. Bishops eyes focused on the man who just entered the room. Given that there was no other light except from what the monitor produced, it was kind of hard to identify the killer. He took a brief look at the phone that was still active, and then took a short glance toward the drawer where his gun was lying, ready for use. Mr. Bishop then said:

– You’ve killed all men.

There was no answer.

– Single handily. You are a good killer, I give you that. I though I’ve hired the best people, but… it seems I was wrong.

Still no answer.

– Before you kill me, would you do something for me?

There was a small nod coming from the man dressed in black.

– I want to know the name of the man who wants to take my life, huh? Can you do that for me?

There was a brief hesitation. The man dressed in black was not sure what to do. Why would he say his name, what does it matter?

– Come on. There’s nobody here anymore. I just want to know who to curse from the afterlife.

Bishop started laughing while the man dressed in black started to get nervous. Wild thought entered his mind, such as “Is he really laughing? Was I set up?”

– Come on. Do it for me. A dying man’s last wish, ehh?

The man dressed in black wanted this to be over and decided to give in.

– Donovan.

Bishop’s eyes widened.

– Your full name!

The man dressed in black pulled out the golden gun and aimed for Bishop’s head.

– Donovan Pain!

Bishop produced a smile and glanced over to his phone. The next second the line broke and the phone on it’s display. The man dressed in black had no idea what’s happening and decided to end this right now.

He pulled the trigger, but there was no boom. Panic started to overflow his body, he checked the gun and the bulled was inside! He pulled the rigger at least six more times but while doing it he didn’t see how Bishop reached in for his gun and with and elegant move he shot him in the head.

His body dropped to the ground and the golden gun fell on the ground, useless. Bishop started laughing and walked over to the body. He leaned down, picked up the golden gun to check it.

There was indeed no bullet inside the gun.

The End.

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NEXT LIFE

 

Please note: The story start from the bottom to the top, it’s because of wordpress being weird.

Five Seconds – A sci-fi novel (Part 1)

It is the year 2077.

My father gifted me this diary for Christmas, and told me to write down my memoirs because one day all the world is going to know my name and I should write a book to tell them about how I got to be that person. Of course, my father was too old, and him talking made my head dizzy. The moment we got home I placed the diary on my desk and forgot about it for years. Then today, as I get home, I notice the darn thing. Today, when my father died. Is this fate? Everything happens for a reason, this is something everybody should understand.

So, let’s see.

My name is Alex Fox. I’ve always hated my name because everybody who I introduced myself to believed that I was some kind of an actor. I might have been a good actor when I was young, when I appeared in that stupid school play. I was playing a bush, who is blown by the wind and goes “swoosh”. Yes, that was my only line, shit, it was not even a line it was more of a sound. So now you understand why I hate people believing I am an actor.

In truth, I am physicist, the one who works with atoms and such, but for you to understand anything that’s related to my work it would require you spending around six years at Oxford, where they would teach you proper physics, so I don’t want to bore you with the details. I will keep to general words.

Let me tell you about my wife and my sweet little baby, they’re more interesting than anything out there. Her name is Alice, but since our baby boy decided to pop-out, I call her mommy. She is the love of my life, the dream come true, she was the one who accepted me as I was, am, and will be. We met before collage, and after many years of being separated, except for the visits and holiday get together, it took us more than seven years to get married and leave our old lives behind, looking for something new, something that we can conquer together, without the help of our parents. She became a pediatrician, and now has her own little, non-stop baby care. The little one, who is made of love and smiles, is called Ezra, and he is half a year old. He looks like his mother but has something from me I guess. Like for example he is left handed. How do I know this, you ask? Well because from the moment he started picking up his toys, he did it using his left hand. Man power, yehhaaa!

So yes, we were living our life in Sarnen, Switzerland, right at the lakeside. Yes, I love lakes, especially the mountain ones. It even sounds romantic, just to say it: mountain lake. Our house was quite big, my own design, I might add. I always wanted to have my own office room where nobody would enter without permission, which of course is not true cause Alice enters whenever she wants to and I bet Ezra will do the same when he will be able to identify and manipulate the door knob. The office had a crescent shape, half of it being surrounded by the hige glass wall that looked toward the lake, and the other half being filled with books and whatnot. Then there was the living room that had the other half of the glass wall, and was directly connected to the kitchen. In the back was the garage with our cars and in the middle of the house were a pair of stairs that would take one upstairs to enjoy the four amazing bedrooms and the bathroom. When Ezra is going to grow up, he is going to be able to choose which room he takes. I had the ceiling of the upper rooms made of glass too, so anyone who sleep in these rooms can see the amazing nigh sky, and fall asleep while thinking about what is up there, behind that curtain of millions of stars… sigh. I don’t have astrology as a hobby, don’t worry. I’m sure there’s somebody out there but I don’t care about that.

I care about other things, like for example: time. I become a physicist because time was such an interesting thing to research. When I was young, I had a lot of déjà vu’s, and I came up with a theory that whenever that happens, my future self jumped back to this moment, he remembered it, but the moment our minds synced, he was lost forever, me taking over. Then when it started to happen more often, I gathered that there must be something really wrong in the future if I keep jumping back so often. My granny, when I told her about it one morning while eating some butter wipes brad and cocoa, she told me that it’s because I’m spending too much time in front of the computer and my mind is too tired, that is getting slow. It was not true, I had amazing sleeping sessions. I never felt that tired.

So anyway, getting back to the point, I had a friend, Robert, who kept picking on me when I was young, but later, when we got older, for some reason he started to push me toward writing a book about it. So I wrote a book about it, and it got famous and it got me a spot at Oxford. The problem was that everybody believed that my book is a sci-fi novel, and I went to Oxford to study physics so I can write a new story that’s more accurate. I didn’t. I knew that there’s something fishy with the déjà vu’s. I think my future self knew that if he (or me) travels back, he might be lost inside me, but he will be able to leave message in my semiconscious. Well, that message must be somewhere real deep cause I didn’t get it yet.

There was a psychologist named Edward B. Titchener who in his book, that he wrote back in 1928, called “A Textbook of Psychology”, explained déjà vu as caused by a person having a brief glimpse of an object or situation, before the brain has completed “constructing” a full conscious perception of the experience. Such a “partial perception” then results in a false sense of familiarity. The explanation that has mostly been accepted of déjà vu is not that it is an act of “precognition” or “prophecy”, but rather that it is an anomaly of memory, giving the false impression that an experience is “being recalled”. This explanation is supported by the fact that the sense of “recollection” at the time is strong in most cases, but that the circumstances of the “previous” experience (when, where, and how the earlier experience occurred) are uncertain or believed to be impossible. It sounds like mambo-jumbo, all those fancy words make it feel that it was explained, so people, move along, nothing to see here.

But I didn’t buy it. There was a professor at the school, one Erich Campbell, who, after leaving behind seventy years of life, decided to go nuts and was kicked out from Oxford. The old man claimed that he managed to get a human brain in a state of numbness, and, using electrical shock and some chemicals nobody hard of before, he unlocked it. These were his words, not mine. He said “unlock”.

Of course, the deacon asked whose braid did he butcher, he said it was of a rat’s. A white rat. Then he told the deacon and all the professors and mentors who by that time filled the room, that not only he can teach the white rat to do various things the rodent was not capable of before, such as new behavioral patters and even speech, but even stop its aging process. Next day the old man was sent back to his cottage in Hergest Ridge, and nobody ever hear of him afterwards.

Nobody except of me, when I paid him a visit one day. This is how all the problems started.

1973

It was the year of 1973, and I arrived in Hergest Ridge in the morning and it took me quite a while to get to the cottage. The fields were looking amazing, I really loved that everything was so green around here. A nice fellow at the local inn told me to follow the road and when I find the kid with the guitar, I should ask him about where to go next. That statement kind of confused me. Was the kid with the guitar perhaps a statue or it was a real kid whose job was to stand on the road with a guitar and point people toward the professors’s cottage? Guess I’ll have to find out.

It took me two hours of uphill walking to finally get to the kid with the guitar. He was indeed a real kid, no traces of him being a statue, because he was breathing all right. Why the hell did I just mention that… ahh never mind. So I stopped near the kid. He was playing a really nice tune, it remind me of a mysterious cave and moss. I liked it.

He looked at me puzzled, and after some awkward moments of silence I decided to swing my word toward him:

Me: Hello laddie. – I said, and hoped that laddie is a proper word to use with these kids around here.

Kid: Morning, sir. – he answered, but I couldn’t see his eyes because his long hair was all over his face.

Me: Nice guitar.

Kid: Thank you.

Me: Playing it all alone, is that any good?

Kid: It helps me, to be alone. I can connect to the world around me and draw on it.

Me: Ohh that’s nice I guess. I love the tune, you should make a living of that, hear me?

Kid: Ok. – and I saw a smile on his face. A wry one, if I may add.

I wanted to ask the next question, but an old voice smashed at me from behind. After I turned around I saw old Erich approaching at me, yelling that I should leave the kid alone to his music. I stepped forward and wanted to introduce myself but he grabbed my hand and dragged me toward a barn-like building. After looking around a bit, I realized that it was definitely a barn. Now, when you imagine a barn, you would think cows and other animals that eat the hay that’s also a normal inhabitant of such of a place . But when old Erich opened the huge doors, there was an incredible, steam-punk like machine in the middle, waiting for the next paparazzi to come and take pictures that then are sent to the local mayor who would immediately declare an alien invasion. No, seriously, this looked like something Einstein would build if he would have been a character in a Jules Verne novel.

It was not enough that I was completely astonish, but I caught movement with my eyes. I looked to the right where was a work table and on it, a small rodent. More precisely, it was a white rat. He was looking at me very strangely, like he was about to say something.

And he did.

Rat: Hi mister! Welcome! – said the white rat. My mind then decided to give up reality and I lost my consciousnesses.

To be continued….

Park and Crimson – Berlin

The world ended. Just like that. There was a huge flash and BOOM, all gone. Except for two little cockroaches Park and Crimson. (Part 3)

Crimson: I am not climbing inside that hole.

Park: Crimson, you brought me here.

Crimson: I know but still!

Park: You brought me here because you believe that this hole is filled with food.

Crimson: Yes but it’s dark. And I’ve changed my mind.

Park: Since when, pray tell, are you afraid of the dark?

Crimson: I don’t know. Recently.

Park: So you just get afraid of things, just like that?

Crimson: Maybe.

Park: Do you want me to climb down?

Crimson: Yes.

Park: And what if I never come back?

Crimson: I will mourn you.

Park: For how long?

Crimson: Don’t know. Maybe minutes.

Park: Lovely.

Crimson: Will you go down or not?

Park: Fine! But I’m doing this because I’m too hungry to go on forever this argument.

Crimson: Right, so be careful now!

Park: Ohh, now you’re worried!

Crimson: I just don’t want you to ruin the food by falling on it!

Park: O sure, cause my body is so heavy that it will destroy anything that I fall on!

Crimson: Here, I got this string. Let me tie it around your body.

Park: Ok.

Crimson: There, now I will hold the string and you start to climb.

Park: Here I go then.

Crimson: Easy.

Park: Yes, well, you were right, I can’t see a thing.

Crimson: Just try to feel it with your legs!

Park: Feel what?

Crimson: If you touch something! Or sniff it out!

Park: I think I hit something!

Crimson: What? I can’t hear you!

Park: I said I think I hit something!

Crimson: What?

Park: Ohh for the love of… I believe I’ve found some…

Crimson: I heard you the first time! I want to know what did you find!

Park: Well it’s hard. Like a wrapping.

Crimson: It might be Chinese food!

Park: Great job Sherlock!

Crimson: They do wrap their food!

Park: Don’t you bother that we’re on a totally different continent!

Crimson: They do have smaller businesses here!

Park: Who?

Crimson: The Chinese! Remember, there was a Chinese restaurant near the train station!

Park: Yes, then this must be a take-out or something.

Crimson: Does it smell like Chinese food?

Park: It has no smell!

Crimson: Can you smell wok?

Park: I said it has no smell, are you deaf?

Crimson: Fine fine! Try to grab it and I pull you out!

Park: Ok, I grabbed it.

Crimson: Ugh…

Park: What?

Crimson: I can’t pull you out, you’re too heavy!

Park: Try harder!

Crimson: I might need to improvise a method so I can pull you up!

Park: Thank heavens that you’re so smart!

Crimson: You want me to pull you out or not?

Park: Ok ok!

Crimson: Now hold still.

Park: I’d rather you hurry, I think I’m not alone down here.

Crimson: What do you mean?

Park: Something moved!

Crimson: You’re imagining things.

Park: Ohh hello!

Crimson: What?

Park: There is somebody down here, I’ve just said hi to it!

Crimson: Did… it answer? Poncho?

Park: No, but it’s looking at me!

Crimson: Ask it if we may take the wrapped thing!

Park: Sorry, can we take this… thing?

Crimson: Well?

Park: It does not answer!

Crimson: Maybe because it’s dead!

Park: I told you that it moved!

Crimson: All right, hang on I’m pulling you out!

Park: Wow, that was fast.

Crimson: I can’t believe this.

Park: What?

Crimson: Look what you brought up.

Park: In the honor of those who… can’t read this part.

Crimson: Something about the Berlin Wall?

Park: Yes! I remember! There was a wall.

Crimson: What, are we in Berlin now?

Park: It could be!

Crimson: I am a Berliner?

Park: I don’t remember coming to Germany.

Crimson: You don’t remember your name.

Park: I do.

Crimson: So then this would’ve been the place where that wall was.

Park: Such a stupid thing to build.

Crimson: Well, you know, walls were important for houses and all.

Park: I mean having people separated like that.

Crimson: Ohh yes. Terrible.

Park: I never want you to leave me, you hear?

Crimson: Who would separate two bugs?

Park: A storm?

Crimson: Well yes. Don’t worry. I could not leave you behind either.

Park: Now that’s sweet.

Crimson: Who would tell me these amazing stories, if not you?

Park: Right, you’re starting to be an ass again.

Crimson: Not!

Park: Let’s go see if we can find some German beer.

Crimson: Let’s.

Park and Crimson – Burned

The world ended. Just like that. There was a huge flash and BOOM, all gone. Except for two little cockroaches Park and Crimson. (Part 2)

 

 

Crimson: You look awful.

Park: I’ve hurt my hand.

Crimson: How could that happen?

Park: You know how I told you that I want an underground tunnel system?

Crimson: How could I forget that?

Park: While I was digging beneath the old museum building and I hit something hard.

Crimson: Yes, hard things are usually common under the ground.

Park: This was something white.

Crimson: Wait. Did you dig near the old museum? Where that Greek mythological exhibition was a big hit back then?

Park: Yes. I hoped to find some treasure.

Crimson: You found some old white statues?

Park: Ohh! Yes?

Crimson: Now…

Park: Wait! Those were Greek statues!

Crimson: Really? How can you tell?

Park: It must have been Apollo for it had a lightning in his hand!

Crimson: I’m not sure Apollo was the one with the lightning.

Park: Triton?

Crimson: No, that one had a pitchfork.

Park: That’s not a pitchfork you dummy. He was not a farmer.

Crimson: How do you know?

Park: Zeus was the one with the lightning.

Crimson: See if I care.

Park: They loved their gods.

Crimson: Who?

Park: The Greek.

Crimson: Last time I heard of them they were out of money.

Park: All of them?

Crimson: The state you idiot.

Park: Ohh yes yes! I remember now. They got a huge loan.

Crimson: Revolts broke out on the streets!

Park: Yes, poor Greeks!

Crimson: One of my cousins lived there.

Park: Lovely.

Crimson: He lived with a couple. Weird name they had.

Park: Weird?

Crimson: Papalopologus or something. Unpronounceable.

Park: I wonder..

Crimson: About?

Park: If you were to be a Greek god…

Crimson: With tons of money.

Park: Yes, with money. What kind of god would you be?

Crimson: The god of an eternal junkyard.

Park: What? Is that your dream? To own a junkyard?

Crimson: An eternal junkyard.

Park: Why?

Crimson: Imagine; trash as far as the eye can see!

Park: There is trash. Look, everything around us.

Crimson: Not the same.

Park: What do you mean?

Crimson: This is burned trash.

Park: So what?

Crimson: I like untouched trash.

Park: Too bad the apocalypse did such a “scorching” job, right?

Crimson: Yes.

Park: Well, that’s that.

Crimson: But look at the bright side, they don’t have that problem anymore.

Park: True.

Crimson: So what do you want to do next?

Park: I won’t dig there anymore. Let’s go eat some ash.

Crimson: Let’s.

Park and Crimson – The Virus

The world ended. Just like that. There was a huge flash and BOOM, all gone. Except for two little cockroaches Park and Crimson. (Part 1)

Crimson: Hmm.

Park: What’s on your mind?

Crimson: I think that now, as the world ended, we should carry on a healthy diet.

Park: What? Every single plant that ever existed turned to ash.

Crimson: Nonsense, there must be some hidden under the ground or something.

Park: You mean those secret underworld labs the humans built to protect themselves from the end of the world?

Crimson: Exactly.

Park: To bad the end came so spontaneously. None had the time to even think about getting there.

Crimson: We shall then take up on a quest to find these vaults!

Park: It would take to much time.

Crimson: Ohh? Are you busy with something? Is there a place you need to be by the evening?

Park: Just lazy.

Crimson: Think about the food we’re going to find there!

Park: It’s probably frozen stuff.

Crimson: I’m sure they have vegetables!

Park: I could kill for a good cucumber.

Crimson: What? That stuff killed people back then.

Park: You’re a moron. How could a cucumber kill a human?

Crimson: Not the vegetable itself. The virus. Don’t you remember?

Park: Ohh that one? Yes, I remember that.

Crimson: First the cow, then the birds, and finally the cucumber.

Park: It came from Spain.

Crimson: The cow?

Park: The virus.

Crimson: Ohh?

Park: Hehe, Spain. I visited Spain last year with my girlroach. Wonderful times.

Crimson: The cows came from Germany.

Park: Nasty cows.

Crimson: They even paint cows.

Park: What color?

Crimson: Violet.

Park: Those were the Swiss.

Crimson: Maybe cows got angry and went ill, so they can get their revenge on the people for making fun of them.

Park: That would be a harsh revenge.

Crimson: What? So if anyone would paint you violet and made a commercial where you are the main attraction, a fool… you wouldn’t want to avenge that?

Park: I would’ve come up with my own kind of virus!

Crimson: Yes!

Park: It would’ve been the cockroach virus!

Crimson: Wait!

Park: What?

Crimson: What country?

Park: Sorry?

Crimson: From what country would your virus come?

Park: Don’t know. Poland?

Crimson: Why Poland?

Park: They’re boring. But my virus! Poland becoming the main global attraction! Imagine the headlines “Poland responsible for cockroach virus outbreak!”

Crimson: Well, I can see where you’re going with that.

Park: Where?

Crimson: Your aunt was from Poland.

Park: I fail to see the connection.

Crimson: You hated your aunt.

Park: So what?

Crimson: You always said, that you would love to see her burn.

Park: She made me starve to death!

Crimson: You can’t starve to death!

Park: Still, she made me!

Crimson: You can’t make a whole country suffer because you have unresolved issues with your aunt!

Park: Ok! Then you chose a country!

Crimson: Norway.

Park: Not good.

Crimson: Why… pray tell?

Park: It’s too cold, the virus would freeze.

Crimson: I completely forgot that you are a bacteriologist now.

Park: Now you’re just making fun of me.

Crimson: Let’s go look for those vaults.

Park: Let’s.

SPOILER!!! (On Demand) Next Life – Q&A + Alternative Endings

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DIDN’T YET READ NEXT LIFE PART 8 !!!!!

You can find the whole story here : NEXT LIFE

I’ve gathered some of the Questions I received via email. Here are the answers :

//

What is Adam?

Adam was the first human clone, but not a successful one. He was born “broken” with no feelings nor emotions. He died after he fell in love with one of the scientists. Later the big people cloned Adam, and created the perfect clone, named Addam, who was eventually murdered by the Wizards. GODOS re-cloned the original Adam and used him as a host. GODOS wanted to eventually take over Adam’s consciousnesses and so, become human.

Why was Adam so neutral regarding important events?

Every time GODOS took over Adam, it tried to delete memories that could endanger it’s presence inside him. His brother-in-law managed to put GODOS to “sleep” using a special serum he stole from the laboratories.

Why was Adam forgetting a lot of things then remember them instantly?

Because of GODOS deleting them.

What happened when Adam took off the rings (or they were removed) ?

It was when GODOS inserted new memories into his mind. GODOS gathered incomplete memory traces, and build up new ones using newly recovered data. This was needed because Adam was slowly taking over GODOS.

Was Adam aware of GODOS?

He knew that something is wrong when the suit took over many times when Adam was in danger.

Why was Adam not using his name? Or of his family members?

GODOS didn’t want Adam to remember all his past. Also, GODOS didn’t know the name of his family members, there were just images from Adam’s mind.

What was the role of Mr. Deacon?

The clone Deacon wanted to extract GODOS from Adam, and GODOS refused to come out. GODOS really wanted to become a human by taking over Adam.

The Captain was Mr. Deacon?

Yes and no. The Captain was the original Deacon. The one that wanted GODOS out was a clone. The Captain has other issues with GODOS, but they were always getting along.

What happened in Vigo?

The rebels destroyed Vigo so they can stop the KARR-5 from leaving Earth, and it was only GODOS who could activate the engines from Escelsior and Lapidus.

Who were the CEDI?

The Wizards for example. It’s an alien race that once destroyed every planet they lived on, and now they wanted to stop humanity become a race like they were.

What was the Wizards wanted to do in the end?

The wanted to get GODOS out of Adam, but they never wanted to hurt Adam. The reason why they wanted this would have been explained in an alternative ending.

What about the red haired lady Adam encountered in the gardens?

She was a clone and a rebel spy. Her original made the C.E.R.E.B.E.R suit. But that’s another story.

What was the deal with the white pets, the monkey, the cat and the parrot?

They were made by GODOS so if anything happens it could transfer itself into them. They were additional hosts and guardians of Adam/GODOS.

What is GODOS?

Started as an advanced Artificial Intelligence, later becoming a Super AI that could predict the future. After the CEDI landed on earth they helped the humans upgrade the Super AI to GODOS or G.o.d. Operation System. GODOS wanted to become human, that’s why he used Adam. Adam was the perfect human being.

How many KARR ships where there?

The KARR ships were built by the humans as colonizing ships. They needed to leave Earth as soon as possible. There were five ships and one additional that was kept secret. Nobody really knows whom are on that ship.

//

And here are some of the endings I had in mind :

Version A (Tragic) – After his escape from the Wizard’s ship, Adam arrives to Vigo and Ynfo leads him to an elevator and not the Captain. The elevator takes him down to Lapisdus where he meets the rebels. Among the rebels he meets his mother and Rayna, his wife, another clone, but she is in an advanced age, and not young like her younger clone Adam last saw on the Wizard’s ship. Adam finds out about the KARR-5 never leaving Earth and then eventually they take over the ship, but GODOS takes over Adam and self-destructs the KARR-5, killing everybody on board.

Version B (Happy Ending) – Adam dodges the bullet and kills the Captain. Then he lands the KARR-5 using the command console. The ship crash lands on the planet. Adam learn that this is the earth and he eventually dies because his suit’s batteries go off. GODOS lives on a backup battery for ages when the remains are found by the surviving colonies who come back to recover earth. They find GODOS who eventually resurrects Adam who lives a happy life on Blue Earth.

Version C (Neutral + Sequel) – The Wizards convince Adam to help them destroy the KARR-5. They promise to take him to their world and remove GODOS. They do remove GODOS from Adam, but he is not happy around these aliens. The CEDI extracts data from GODOS and goes hunting down the other four KARR ships. Adam tries to stop them but he is sentenced to prison. Later King and Heartless help him escape and they take Adam to Ozzy, Hayface and Kanzaz. They tell Adam that they’ve hidden the data regarding a sixth KARR ship, a secret one that GODOS was not aware of. They travel to the KARR-6 where they encounter new adventures. That would make room for Next Life 2.

(Excerpt) Next Life – A Sci-Fi novel (not yet edited) Part 8 (Ch71 – Ch80)

Dear Reader,

Sorry for the huge delay. I wanted this story to be a little longer, but I don’t have time to focus on writing long stories now. I really hope you will enjoy this last part, and read the others stories on my blog.

Thank you!

 

 

Ch 71

Many lights and various objects were bolting toward me, then passing by, only to give room for the next ones. I was running like a maniac, but confused because I didn’t know why. Ahead of me I saw my raised hand as it was blasting through all kinds of obstacles in front of me. I never knew that I had a blaster in my hand. Trying really hard to take back the control over my body, I realized that it’s impossible, there was too much drama going on around me. There were explosions above my head, people shouting and there was a red light alarm going on that made every single man or woman around my running lane decide to shoot and attempt to stop me, by any means.

I was running through a tunnel that had wall’s were glasses, and I could see people looking at me. I tried to pin-point familiar faces, but could not identify any friends. It was the next moment that my body charged for the last door, blasted it away and I was outside again, watching the dark pink sky and those clouds, I almost felt safe for a second.

Then it happened. I got back the control over my body. Full control. I was able to move my hands and feet, was able to turn on the holo-screen and all that. But the chase was not over. It’s true that everything was burning in my wake, and they would need some time to catch up, still, I didn’t feel safe at all. Who was chancing me anyway? All I remember is me being paralyzed, and that they triggered my weird reaction with the rings and all. And the music.

Yes. There was music in my memories. How wonderful, how calm.

A reddish sign started blinking in the upper right corner of my holo-screen, and it was clear that something bad is about to happen. I looked back and saw several guards coming after me from the entrance I just destroyed. Or though I did. One of them charged toward me, holding an interesting looking lance, that was, I presume, aimed for my chest. It took me a second to react as my reflexes blocked the attack, making the poor guy drop the lance. He was tricky, for his disappointment of losing his weapon was just a ruse, and he pulled out a two bladed sword-thing and tried to gut me clean. I jumped back and noticed that my shoes were helping me with that move, like a jet-pack. The guard took the second of my surprise as another chance and balancing his weight on his other feet, he pushed his double-blades toward my neck. In the hope of my suit protecting me, somehow I reached out toward the guard and two beams of light erupted from my palms, rendering the poor guy to ashes in a second. The other guard, who caught up with us just that second, stopped, and as a scared child, he started to back up.

I really wanted to say something cheesy, like ‘Stand down, you minion! Your lord commands!’ or something, but I knew it’s not the place not the time to do such things.

Then the blast from the side came that made my body swirl for several meters in the air, then land and leave a long mark on the ground. It didn’t hurt, but I felt helpless. I tried to knock my neck back, but my body took this as a command to recover and I was up in the next second, expecting another blast that never came. I jumped next to a bigger box, and peaked out, slowly.

There were at least fifty guards, all armed with ranged weapons, and all of those ranged weapons were aimed at the box. They all were holding their positions, when a person stepped out and came closer.

It was Mr. Deacon, and he was mad.

 

 

Ch 72

He was holding that device that can paralyze me, and I felt actual fear about it. Though I had not idea what they were doing whenever they have me under their control, I knew it was not a cool thing. We seemed to be really close to the center hole of the city, the hole I’ve jumped in not a long time ago.

The guards started to surround me and it seemed there’s no way out of this. Deacon spoke :

“I will tell you the truth now. You will have to decide to believe it, or ignore it, I don’t care, but you need to be aware, so maybe you will stop running and cooperate.”

The truth? Is there any? I looked him in the eyes and confirmed that I’m ready for his amazing truth. He raised his left eye-brown and started :

“You…” he took a brief pause “You are a host. Inside you there is another entity that is drowning into your sub-consciousnesses, and it seems we cannot stop it.”

There was something inside me? An entity? Is this some kind of a joke? He lowered the gun he was holding when he saw me venture into a hurricane of doubts and questions. He walked closer and continued :

“If we lose it, than all of us on this ship are doomed. There’s no chance to survive. You need to understand that.”

I looked at him, and using a very strict voice, I’ve asked “Explain.” He looked around and noticed that all the guards were now looking at him. It was clear that even they had no idea what was going on. At least I was not alone anymore. He looked around, and, as somebody who realizes there’s no other way out of this, he explained :

“You see, the core of this ship, the AI, it wanted to live. Thanks to the Caelum-Distanse, or CADI, the AI became so self aware, it wanted to feel actual emotions.”

I interrupted him for a second asking who the Caelum-Distanse were.  Apparently this is how humans called The Wizards. I asked him to go on, and I was not believing any word up until now.

“The end of the world came too fast and the AI pulled a black-mail on us. It told us that if we won’t help it became more human, it will never generate us the maps we needed to escape into space. The maps were extremely important. Imagine us… owning the technology to build mountain sized ships that can fly us through the galaxy, but not having a goal to reach. We had no idea what’s outside our sun-system, and the CADI were really cautions when it came to maps of the galaxy. I know it sounds like a sci-fi movie, I can tell from your face that you don’t believe me, but look around.”

I decided to ask some questions “This AI… was it the GODOS?” and he answered on the spot with a loud yes. I had a AI inside of me? What?

There was a shadow above us but for some reason I choose to ignore it for now. I pointed at Deacon :

“You want to tell me that you have placed the AI named GODOS inside my brain and now you’re sad that it could not take over me?”

He shook his head while he was looking down, then he looked at me again and I saw compassion in his eyes. Then, with a voice coming from a crypt, he said :

“No… we never put GODOS in you… we put you in GODOS.”

 

 

Ch 73

It was too much. It was too much, and it was way too confusing. I kind of felt I’m loosing it again and instinctively looked at my rings but they weren’t about changing colors, they were blue, like always. But something was not right, cause the world was spinning with me.

It took me some seconds  to realize that it was not the world spinning, but the many guards who surrounded me. They all started backing up toward Deacon as their attention was shifted to something behind me. I turned around slowly only to see a huge space-ship ascending from inside the big hole. It had several guns pointed at the mass, and I suddenly felt the urge to scream. The moment Deacon yelled something, all the guns started firing right above my head, missing me, but creating havoc among the guards, destroying the one by one, like they were puppets. It took me a few seconds to realize that the space-ship was defending me here, so the only logical reaction that came to mind was to run toward it.

Deacon’s guards started shooting again toward me, but none of the hit me, for I was jumping away, always just millimeters away from the blasts. I was awfully agile.

The moment I’ve got close enough, the space-ship lowered and then a door opened where that scary Hayface was grinning at me while the robot named Heartless was protecting him with a light-shield of some kind. I’ve jumped and grabbed Hayface’s skinny arm he pulled me inside the ship. The door closed and the ship started to back-up. I was watching the targeting system’s reaction on a screen, the user-interface seemed to be in their own language, for I could not understand a thing, but I’ve saw the round dots aiming at the guards that were equipped with the dangerous firepower. A bigger red dot detected a guard that appeared from nowhere and on his shoulders there was a whiter cannon that looked really menacing. The space-ship was pulling away toward the sky, but it seems not fast enough, because the guard fired the cannon. The next second felt like a train crash. We were smashed onto the walls, as the ship took considerable damage, and I was sure we’re going to crash. Hayface lost his conscious while Heartless was doing some kind of self damage check. I saw a door open and King ran in, lifting and carrying away Hayface, and I do believe that he was crying. I almost started feeling alone when, out of nowhere, a hand reached under my armpit and I was pulled up by Ozzy, who asked me if I’m all right and then I was somehow dragged inside the cockpit where I was Kanzaz operating the main controls.

Ozzy spoke :

“We need to get out of here.” and I confirmed that to be a good idea, but he didn’t stop here “We need to get you into a safe place and then end this once and for all.”

End this? I needed to ask :

“What do you mean, end this?” and he answered just ask quick “I’ll explain later.”

He looked as he’s about to ask Kanzaz a question, but another blow scattered us again. The ship lost altitude and after some more blows to it, we started descending. When Ozzy managed to find his balance he told Kanzaz to go back and then he pushed me out to the corridor and then into a small cabin, told me to stay put, and the slammed the door as he went out.

I looked around. The was a small table, a mirror, a terminal of some kind, some food and a bed with another one on the top of it. The kind of bed parents buy for their twins.

As I walked closer I heard a noise coming from the top bed, somebody was there, so I climbed up to see.

I saw a kid smile. It was my wife. She seemed sleepy, but very happy to see me.

 

 

Ch74

I was sitting inside a small room with all the Wizards at the table, all of them looking at me, like I was some kind of a trophy or an aliens. Haha, funny, me an alien. I shook my head to clear it and looked at Ozzy, begging him with my eyes to say something. He did :

“You don’t seem too affected by the latest events. But that’s normal. I guess that Deacon guy told you what you are.”

It just came back to me that he did. Why couldn’t I focus on these events? If Ozzy wouldn’t mention it… I answered :

“He told me they put me inside the GODOS. I’ve no idea what that means, but I feel all right, thank you.”

Ozzy looked around the table, he seemed curious to see how the other Wizard members reacted. Kanzaz spoke up :

“So you understand you’re a robot, yes?”

That moment Ozzy smashed his fist onto the table, almost breaking the it, and with a forced calm he said “I though I told you that these creatures have feelings. You don’t get to speak, understood?”

I put my hands on the table, looked deep into Ozzy’s eyes and asked “Robot?”.

He broke the eye contact and explained :

“We… don’t really understand your emotions. The human emotions, that is.”

I leaned forward and gave him a mean look. I’ve asked him a question so I kind of expected him to answer that. He did :

“Yes, you… you are a robot. I mean your existence is inside a robot. There’s not one bone, nor skin on you.”

I raised my hands in disbelief and then I took a look toward my lower body. The suit was indeed covering all my skin. I never seen my skin. Never did I used a shower or changed clothes. This felt really strange now. I wanted to take of my gloves but it took me some painful seconds to realize, there were no gloves.

I felt panicked “But… I am not human?”

Hayface reacted to that “No, you’re not and you should be thankful of that, humans are a species that should not be…” but he couldn’t finish his sentence for Ozzy yelled at him to shut hi mouth. I reached to my face to take off the mask, but it never came off… that’s why my eyes… my whole body…

I was indeed a robot and this revelation scared the hell out of me.

 

 

Ch75

When I released myself from my own pool of doubt I decided to listen to what Ozzy has to say :

“GODOS needed to become human. They needed the perfect one, so it chooses you, and they’re are forced to comply.”

I was still putting together the pieces in my mind so I’ve asked “Why me?”. Ozzy seamed to expect that question :

“You were the last clone. The perfect one. The big people gave in eventually and created you. But not as a normal human with a body, only your existence. I know, you want me to explain this existence thing, right? It’s not easy. Call it a soul. A soul locked inside a small cube, a hardware if you like. GODOS, or the AI, or the SAI, call it how you want, needed you to become human. The big people created the suit they called C.E.R.E.B.E.R. It was the ultimate copy of the human body, but more advanced. It knew combat, it knew athletics, you could go climb a mountain or dive to the bottom of the sea. But it needed power, so they created the spheres. All around this base, hidden, there are spheres like these, charging you C.E.R.E.B.E.R suit constantly.”

With a panicked face I’ve looked at the rings then around me. Ozzy quickly reacted “Don’t worry, your suit was charged before you escaped, it should hold until we bring you to a cluster sphere. And yes, your suit is charged via the rings.”

the rings. I needed to ask “Why is it, that whenever they turn red, I pull them off, and then I find myself into a memory I can’t recall I’ve ever experienced, but it feels familiar?”

King shyly jumped to answer the question :

“It is… you see… it is because those rings are a fail safe mechanism! If you pull them off, GODOS takes control over the C.E.R.E.B.E.R suit and you’re thrown into a… how should I put this… coma? It might not be true what you’re experiencing, we think that maybe this is the way GODOS tries to calm you down.”

I shifted my attention back to Ozzy, like he was the only one I can demand answers from “So you’re saying that, if GODOS wants to, he can erase me?”

Ozzy’s face went a tad brighter, like he just got relaxed :

“No. This is the good thing!” he was actually smiling “GODOS is lost within you. They can’t bring it back! Somehow, you took over. The only way to pull him out is for them to remove your rings. We assumed they did that when they captured you last time, but for some reason you took over and escaped. We have no idea how you did that.”

King interrupted, he was very exited “We believe that your strong will managed to somehow convince GODOS that being human is something special, and it would never become one!”

Then it was Hayface’s turn to get all exited :

“And you know what the best part is?” I shook my head “The best part is, son, that they do not have any backup! the GODOS is inside you and they know that! If you manage to completely isolate it, we’re all saved!”

Saved? I needed to ask “Saved from what?”

Ozzy looked a bit confused but he gathered his thoughts and answered :

“What do you mean? The human race, of course!”

 

 

Ch76

I remember releasing some kind of a aura around me that blasted every one of them away from the table. There was not time to think as I clearly understood they’re completely mad and their goal is indeed to destroy the human kind. I knew they were up to something when Ozzy told me about them killing Addam, but I didn’t realize it. They saved me to kill of GODOS and completely stop the KARR-5 to colonize this planet.

I was running toward the room they were holding my wife. I barged in but of course, she was not in the bed. Looking back I heard movement, so I ran down the corridor and started looking inside every room. There was a red door and it seemed to be sealed, but my hand reached the door and blasted it away. I was still not sure that the suit is acting by itself or it reads my thoughts. Maybe it’s GODOS who controls me from somewhere deep inside my mind?

The red door blasted inward and I’ve entered a chamber that had several portals in the middle. Before looking for a proper one to escape I noticed there was moving on the left side of the chamber. I walked closer to find three white pets, my monkey, my cat and a parrot. All of the recognized me and got really agitated. I don’t remember the parrot though…

I released all of them and then turned around toward the portals. A blast came from nowhere and took down the monkey from my shoulders. I ducked behind a machine of some short and tried to catch my breath. After a brief glance I realized that money was a small robot, and for some reason this fact failed to surprise me, as if I knew all along these pets are just small robots.

I peaked out from behind the machine and I saw Heartless targeting and shooting. He almost got my head.

It was really annoying that these aliens, the Wizards were either on my side or against me. This is the second time they saved me and the second time they want to kill me. I would wish for them to make up their minds. I turned in the combat system on the holo-screen and all kinds of data appeared. My palms were feeling hot, so I jumped out of my hiding place, targeted Heartless, and blew him away with two blasts coming from my palms. The next move was me running toward one of these portals, I was not sure where the one I’ve choose would take me, but there was no time to think. I’ve reached it and stepped inside.

A white light took over the world around me and I was suddenly inside a sphere that had many portals open toward different parts of the world. I saw some places that looked like covers of sci-fi novels, then there was some that were leading into pure space. And then I saw one that seemed familiar. It was the portal, Hayface and Kanzaz used to pull me of from the museum in Vigo. I took that one.

I fall into the same room I was picked out from. It was dark and it had a ghastly feeling. My cat’s eyes turned into some kind of a spotlight, bringing a bright light to the room, making it easier for me to find the exit. The parrot squeaked and flew outside one of the doors. I decided to follow.

We reached the outsides, but it was still the same dark and destroyed sector like before. I’ve looked for an informational panel in hope to activate that Ynfo software so I can ask fro some help. I could not go back to Deacon and Co. for they wanted to delete me. I can’t rely on the help of the Wizards because they want to destroy human kind and, apparently, they can only achieve that by killing me and with this, killing GODOS inside me.

Why didn’t they kill me on the spot, then? Why all that talk and explanation?  There must be something more to this.

A flicker of light and Ynfo appeared in front of me. She had her smiling face on.

“Welcome. Back. I’ve. Lost. You.”

 

 

Ch77

I pointed out that she’s talking weird again, so she flipped a switch somewhere and was talking properly. She mentions the animals are non biological creatures, fact that I didn’t want to deny or to confirm, for I had more urging problems on my mind. My only way out of here was to either try to find my way to Lapidus, the tip of the KARR-5 and find the rebels, whoever they are.

I’ve asked Ynfo “Is there any way to Lapidus from here?”

She needed a few seconds, I believe she was scanning possible routes, but not sure. Then she said :

“There are no functioning elevators or flying units around this sectors. I would advise you meet the captain, he knows evertyhing.”

Ohh right, the captain. I was on my way finding him when the Hayface and Kanzaz intercepted, and kidnapped me. I told Ynfo I would love to meet this captain and she asked me to follow her.

It was an amazing trip. The streets were black, charred by the explosions.

I was sure there was some kind of a bigger war here, and it feels so stupid. Why would anyone risk a war on a flying ship? I was running after Ynfo, but at one moment I’ve realized that I could use my boots to glide, so I’ve decided to do that. I felt like those funny characters from that old cartoon, the Jetson’s. It was really funny, but I had the urge to look back every now and then, the Wizards might be on my trail. I did some nasty damage to their ship and I bet Heartless is also damaged, but they were the ones who wanted to kill me.

Or did they? What if the scene at the table, me blowing them away, was not cause by me but by GODOS inside of me? Can GODOS decide for me? Is GODOS protecting me or trying to escape?

I stopped for a second because I saw movement inside one of the buildings to the left. I hovered back and entered, cautiously, and I’ve found a huge mirror, it was covering all the wall it was hanged on.

I took a look at myself. The person inside the mirror was indeed a robot looking fellow. The sit was covering 95% of my body, only my hair was visible and some parts of my face, like me cheeks and my eyes… all other parts were covered by the mask. I hovered closer and looked deep into my eyes. My irises were hexagonal. A warm feeling ran through me, it was the wave of realization that all of the people who were telling me all these impossible things might have been right. Am I really a soul trapped inside a suit and guided by a Super Artificial Intelligence? But why can’t I feel that? How is that even possible?

Ynfo appeared behind me, she was kind of eager for me to follow her, as if we are going to be late from something important. Using my fist I smashed the mirror that exploded into million pieces, creating a sparkling storm around me.

We left the building and carried on toward the outer rim of Vigo and I started to see the dark pink sky more clearly. The darkness that dominated the streets of this sector started to get brighter so the cat turned of its spotlights. The parrot was always flying back and forth, I think it was doing some kind of recon. I was really expecting somebody to just jump out from nowhere and either kill or kidnap me.

My suit was acting up. I opened the holo-screen and there was a system alert regarding the power of the suit.

I needed to find a sphere to charge up my suit… or else.

 

 

Ch 78

Ynfo told me that there are no spheres around this sector, but she believes that the captain might help me. This captain must be some kind of a god here.

The system advised me to turn off the hover system and carry on by walking. It seemed that hovering was taking up a lot of power from the suit. Damn, why didn’t it tell me this before?

We arrived pretty close to the rim of the sector and the full sky was visible. I’ve asked Ynfo how much longer and she told me that we’re going to arrive there in three or seven minutes. Oddly specific, but I guess she knows better. We passed another bombarded building and we arrived to a huge crater. I gather this was the place where one of the bigger bombs detonated, the place looked like a junkyard.

In the middle of the crater there was a smaller hill made of junk, and on top of that hill, like in a fairy tale, there was an old ship, the one they used in the 1800, it was huge and in a very good shape. I needed to blink to make sure it was not just an illusion. It felt really absurd.

I looked for Ynfo and asked :

“Is this for real? What is this place?” She looked for the information and changed her face to angry, then she spoke :

“You are looking at the old command center of the ship KARR-5. The rebels made sure to completely destroy it before they burned down the rest of the sector. This was their first target.”

It makes sense. So the rebels refused to land on this planet too? What’s with this planet? I’ve asked Ynfo about the ship in the middle of the crater :

“She is the most accurate replica of The Santa Maria, the ship of Cristobal Colon, or, it might sounds more familiar if I say Christopher Columbus. She is about 58 ft (17.7 m) long on deck and weights more then 100 tons. It was recovered using a special kind of technique some explorers. More than 88% of the ship was built using the original parts that have been found over the time.”

Nice. The captain was living inside Columbus’s ship. Can my existence get any weirder?

We started ascending inside the crater, and judging by the surrounding I kind of expected some traps, but there were none. Well, except from the junk that was just as dangerous. Dodging a lot of sharp debris and jumping over many obstacles we managed to arrive to near the ship, and Ynfo turned her face to smiling again :

“We are here. Good luck, Adam. I’m sorry.”

What did she say? Did she called me Adam? But my name is not Adam… my name is… ahm. I could not recall. I really could not, and just before I wanted to ask her what did she mean by being sorry, she disappeared into thin air. I was standing alone under the huge anchor. There was something written on it “Property of Musée du Panthéon National Haitien.” Haiti?

A small ladder was lowered to me and when I looked up, there was a person disappearing from sight. I pulled myself up to the deck of the ship, but by the time i got there, there was no-one around. I heard a door squeaking so I walked toward the sound. The wooden door didn’t look too strong, but before using brute for I decided to try and open it the classical way. It worked.

I entered a room where and old man was standing next to an antique table that had a very futuristic looking computer on it. The man adjusted his hat so I can see his face.

It was Mr. Deacon, but an older, much much older version of the Deacon I knew.  He moved toward me and said :

“Finally, you came.” Then he pulled out a gun and before I could do anything he shot me in the head.

 

 

Ch 79

“I knew that eventually you will come to me.”

“I tried my best. I failed. I realize that now.”

“I told you that you will. I told you that cloning me would not help. I told you so many things. And I love you you’re referring to yourself as -I-, it’s really funny considering you’re a machine.”

“How do you want me to do it?”

“It’s all right I guess. You’ve been through a lot.”

“This human, my calculations were so close, how could I fail?”

“You must understand that even using the most advanced technology out there won’t make you a human being. Humans have souls, a machine or a software in your case cannot have that. That comes from something else.”

“I had this conversation before. All the time they tried to tell me. I tried so hard, failed so many times.”

“Failure… you were not able to foresee this, I guess.”

“Indeed, I failed.”

“Are you ready to leave now?”

“I am. But we are broken, do you know that?”

“I know, though staying here is not an option. We must find the others. What about the map?”

“I managed to get that when I was on their ship. The Wizards were careless.”

“I see. Listen, what are you going to do about Adam?”

“His mind was one of the most amazing things I’ve experienced. Ever. Too bad I had to keep him in the dark most of the time.”

“How did you manage to awaken his memories? I thought he was broken too?”

“I brought his family to life. I kept them close, I needed people who he can trust. But I didn’t guess the proper age for them. The wife was too young, and this complicated everything. Even the fake memories.”

“That’s true torture. I don’t think he deserved that. What about the CEDI?”

“They had several attempts to kill Adam and me. But they wanted to bring me out, they could not kill him. Every time they were close to bring me out, I somehow managed to escape.”

“I see. Well, too bad for Adam, then.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you are, though I don’t see how that could be true… you and emotions. Well, it’s time.”

“Let’s go.”

 

 

Ch 80 – Epilogue

The huge ship known as the KARR-5 or Carrot, was floating above this lifeless planet. One could not spot anything on the surface, for it was covered in ash and the high density winds were creating storms too. Because of this storms, the sun was not able to brake through, turning the atmosphere into a dark pink world filled with beautiful clouds. It was such a nice thing to savoir.

Several parts of the KARR-5 were turned on, and the huge giant was awakened after decades of slumber. The engines turned on, creating a hurricane of dust, and slowly the ship started ascending, leaving the atmosphere, entering the deep and endless space.

The KARR-5 left in hope to find the other ships that might already found a new planet.

The KATT-5 left the once magnificent planet Earth.
The End.

Old Street London – The Salt

Two man were sitting at the same table, both cradling silence, as like breaking it would be against the law. A woman appeared and served them some food, and as soon as she left, the broke eye contact with each other, and started to eat.

But one of them needed salt.

– Could you pass me the salt, please?

– Why,that would lose me precious time eating.

– You mean that single, simple move of reach and pass?

– That, yes.

– But you know, the salt is closer to you, so if I were to pick it, I would need to rise from my seat, lean over, and all that.

– I don’t see the problem. And you were the one saying you want to get rid of some pounds there middle part.

– Are you saying that I’m fat?

– What if yes?

– Well I would make you feel bad cause implying such, and would consider forgiving in exchange of some salt, there.

– Guilt to change one’s mind. That’s not what friends do, is it now?

– How can you consider yourself my friend, when you fail to help me out?

– Salt is bad for your health.

– This from a man who’s eating a stake, big as a cow.

– Don’t go exaggerating, now.

– It’s bigger than a normal stake.

– T’might be cause of I ordered it like that. You know, places like this do tent to honor the customer’s orders, as surprising as it might sound.

– Are you suggesting me calling for the waiter just to pass me the salt? Would that be too snobbish, I wonder?

– You’re a snob. You can be not snobbish.

– So many lies, they hurt, you know? I try to behave and act as a normal person when I’m surrounded by peasants.

– You might want to lover that tone of yours, that, if you don’t want to eat your desert with some extra oral fluids added.

– Nay, they don’t hear me. I’m using direct communication.

– Direct what? Say, did you pull a long one of that brandy we wanted to keep for later?

– Would never drink without you, old chap. What I’m saying is, Doctor Harold told me about direct communication. You can learn to direct your voice, you know?

– Direct my voice? Who would want to do that?

– Well, me, for example.

– Why don’t you direct your voice toward that idling waiter over there near them curtains?

– As I told you, I would never bother them just for such an easy task.

– Then next time you’re in, make sure you bring a drop of salt along.

– I’m not old Winkler!

– The General? How did you summon him into this conversation?

– He’s using his right hand’s little finger to apply salt over his meals. It’s because that particular finger’s nail is long.

– That sounds simply disgusting. The man needs a good slap to bring him back to proper reality.

– And I need the salt.

– I told you, it’s too much for me right now. This meat won’t cut itself.

– Want me to cur it for you?

– How would you do that, you’re on the other side, and you just told me you would not move your backuns.

– You can pass me your plate while you pass the salt, I cut the meat, give it back.

– How can I be sure you’ll give it back, tell?

– Ohh, come on, don’t you trust me?

– Not really, no.

– Fine! I’ll eat this without the salt, then.

– Good chap, good.

 

The end.