AfterLife (17 page)

“Sure, I don’t see why not. I walk around it all the time.”

The park was still void of people. Wes wasn’t ready to share
his space with random people from his memory. When he came to relax it was much
more enjoyable to be on his own. He watched Ken as he walked around in
fascination and tried to figure out why he was so intrigued. The park still
needed a lot of work and was nowhere near completion.

After walking over the Liberty Square Bridge and passing in
front of the castle, Ken led Wes down Main Street U.S.A. to the train station.
“Does the train work?” Ken looked at Wes with anticipation. Wes nodded. “I love
the train,” Ken said as he walked up the gray steps that curved to the second
floor of the station.

Wes didn’t remember as much about the station as he would
have liked. He remembered that the turn-of-the-century-styled building had
murals painted on it, but he couldn’t remember specifics and had left the walls
blank. He also didn’t remember the names of the trains, but knew he could look
them up online. After a few minutes, a red steam engine pulled into the
station, bell ringing, and stopped. Ken led the way onto the platform and found
a seat on one of the wooden benches that filled the five passenger cars the
engine pulled behind it. Once they were seated, the engine blew its whistle and
left the station.

“Mr. Wes,” Ken said as the train traveled along the track,
dense foliage on either side of the car, “you have a very strong mind to have
been able to put all this together so quickly. I have never seen someone so in
control of his mind as you have demonstrated here. And for someone so new….”

Wes nodded and thanked Ken for the remark. He hadn’t
expected Ken’s praise but accepted it. He was sure his imagination, which had
always been stimulated by theme parks, was contributing to their surroundings,
not his mind. Still, he wanted to get back to the subject of the pain he felt
when Ken punched him.

“You were going to tell me about pain,” Wes said after the
train had been traveling for awhile. He knew there were other train stations
along the track, but decided to let the train continue before coming to one.

“Yes.” Ken watched the wilderness pass them. “It isn’t until
you die that you’re able to fully comprehend the duality of the mind and the
body. Mortuis have been around as far back in humanity’s past as any of us can
tell. When an antemort is born, a soul comes with the body. The soul and the
body are joined by a life force that we, as Mortuis, feed on to keep our own
souls joined with our dead bodies. The connection works through our eyes into
our physical brain, which in turn acts as a translator of those electrical
impulses to the body.

“The body, in a physical sense, is separate from the mind
and yet from conception they are joined by the life force. That connection is
broken upon death when they separate. After death, the mind, or soul, since
they are one and the same, moves on. It is unknown where the mind goes once it
is separated from the body, but even we, the dead, have theories. If you
believe in God then that is one destination. The soul goes to be with its
creator. There are those who believe the mind exists on a different plane from
the physical world where time and space become one. There it continues to exist
in the energy of the universe.

“I have another theory: that the mind is actually a form of
matter we have yet to define. A new mind is joined with a physical body, and
life as an antemort is really just a training period for the mind; training
wheels, if you will. When the mind has learned all it can from its connection
to a physical body, it separates with death and moves on to the next phase of
its existence as another form of matter. A form that is difficult for humans to
comprehend.

“This explains why you are able to feel, even though the
interactions occur only in the mind. If the mind has the physical properties we
associate with matter, then that matter can be affected casually from outside forces
and hence one feels pain.”

Wes thought about Ken’s argument. It was heavily
philosophical, but discussions of these things always were. The ancient Greeks
had developed a whole pantheon of gods to explain phenomena outside their
understanding. Modern society was no different, and religion was no closer to
proving an afterlife than the ancient Greeks had been with their god Hades. “If
the soul exists without a body,” Wes asked, “why are Mortuis afraid of being
severed from their bodies?”

“Survival and fear. What we know is only based on theory.
Nobody truly knows, and this small amount of doubt is enough to keep us feeding
on antemorts. The soul does eventually sever on its own, even for a Mortui.
It’s rare that a Mortui lives for more than a few hundred years.”

“I guess they become ghosts after that.” Wes tried to
visualize a soul walking around by itself.

“Could be,” Ken chuckled. “The truth is we don’t know, and
won’t until we find out for ourselves. No one has come back to explain.”

Enough time had passed that Wes was ready for the train to
come to another station. The whistle blew and the train slowly came to a stop.
The two men slid off the wooden benches and stepped onto the platform. They
were now in Frontierland and Wes had mentally recreated the dark wood building
he remembered nestled between Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain
Railroad. The train blew another whistle and pulled out of the station leaving
Wes and Ken alone.

“Mr. Wes,” Ken said after the rumbling of the departing
train quieted, “I wanted you to show me all this to give you some advice. This
world you have created with your mind is very much as real as the world that
exists outside it. If your soul is a material thing, then it has great control
over the matter in this place. But remember, even though this is all your
creation, I can also exercise control over it.”

The stairs that led down from the train station disappeared
and were replaced by an escalator. Its existence in the old West surroundings
looked out of place, and Wes knew at once the addition had been put there by
Ken.

Ken walked over to the escalator and stepped on one of the
steps as it glided from the top of the platform and descended toward the
walkway below. “My mind can have just as much control over this place as yours
does.”

Wes also stepped onto the escalator and rode it down. “Is
there a way to prevent people I sync with from changing what I’ve created?”

Ken’s face wrinkled and a smile appeared. “Anything is
possible if you have a strong mind.”

The escalator disappeared and was replaced by the stairs
that were there before Ken made the change.

“I must also warn you that it is possible to be pulled into
a soul-sync by another Mortui. If his mind is strong enough, you can be locked
in connection with him until he releases you. If it is an unfriendly person,
you could be in just as much danger in this place, where both your minds exist,
as you are outside of sync. Remember the pain you felt. It is very real.”

Wes nodded and Ken continued.

“You have made an impressive start. Continue to exercise
your mind and your power will grow. Strengthen it. If you are ever pulled into
sync, bring him here to fight in your territory. I have no doubt that with a
mind as strong as yours, you would be able to hold him off for quite some
time.”

Wes could feel the connection being broken as Ken pulled out
of the sync, and Wes followed him. The Magic Kingdom receded from view and
immediately Wes was back on the floral couch in the living room of the yellow
house. Emily was still sitting in the chair.

“I see good things from this young man,” Ken said to Emily.

“I do too, Ken,” Emily said. “I see it, too.” Her eyes
examined Wes’s face; she looked content.

Judging from the light coming in from the window, the sun
was still in the process of setting. It was the first time Wes realized that
time didn’t pass the same while in sync as it did in the world outside the
mind. An interesting thought to consider later.

Emily stood up and smoothed the front of her pants. “Thank
you for the tea, Ken. Please tell Carol hello for us when she gets home.”

Ken stood up also. “I will. She’ll be disappointed she
missed you, but you do live just upstairs now.” He turned to Wes, who was also
getting up. “Mr. Wes, it was a pleasure. I must sync with you again when you
get more done in that park of yours.”

“You showed him your theme park, huh?” Emily moved toward
the front door.

Wes followed her. “He asked. I’m always happy to share.”

After another round of thanks and goodbyes, Wes and Emily
left the older man and went back up to their second-floor apartment. That night
Wes used his laptop and watched videos people had posted of their vacations to
Walt Disney World. He also found aerial photos and maps. His goal was to fill
in his memory gaps of the Magic Kingdom. Luckily, the park’s popularity
provided hundreds of opportunities to expand his knowledge. He’d taken Ken’s
warning to heart. The Magic Kingdom not only needed to be his sanctuary, as
Emily called it, but his home court advantage if he ever soul-synced with an
unfriendly Mortui..

“W
e have
acquired information regarding the recruit in question, Wesley Lohmann,” the
voice on the other end of the call said.

Seth listened to the voice. Again, it was different from the
one he heard during his previous call with the Body, but that hardly mattered.
The members of the Body spoke and acted as one.

“We have heard from our informant within the Ancestors at
the Hub in Illinois that the new recruit, Wesley, may be more than just an
able-bodied Mortui. It is possible that he has the ability of astral
synchronization.”

Seth clenched his teeth in anger. This information did not
please him. More importantly, he recognized the Body was even more upset by the
loss of this recruit than he was. This was not going to be a pleasant
conversation.

Astral synchronization was something only whispered about in
Mortui societies. It was more than a skill, it was an elusive inherited
capability. Since the beginning of their race, stories were told of only a
handful of Mortuis who practiced it with varying degrees of ability. Seth
remembered the story of a Mortui with this ability during the Middle Ages who
was used by the Body to assassinate members of the organization they wanted
eliminated. He would enter the minds of the unsuspecting and sever them while
they meditated. The Body eventually felt threatened by his ability and had him
severed to remove the risk of his becoming a danger to them.

What frustrated Seth about the current situation was that AfterLife
now retained in their ranks someone who could be used against the Atumra. If
this Wesley Lohmann was in fact a Mortui who demonstrated the capacity to
freely roam minds, it would be the biggest threat the Atumra had ever faced.
The governing Body itself could be eliminated in a night, a fact he was sure
had not eluded them. They would see the loss of this recruit the same way Seth
saw it – a result of poor performance. The difference would be that the poor
performance was his responsibility and not the soldiers who had failed to bring
in the recruit.

The caller continued in a tone of discontent. “You are the
caretaker of one of the largest regional divisions of Atumra, and it now
appears you don’t have as much control over the soldiers in that division as we
would expect from someone in your position.”

“The Body should not be disappointed in my ability to
oversee the daily operation of this division. The Body’s vision and overall
goals are not only being upheld, but promoted. Surely this is evident in the
work you’ve seen my soldiers do for the good of the Body.”

“You have misspoken, Seth. They are not your soldiers, they
are the Body’s. It would be unwise to refer to them as your own.”

“Yes, my Body. You are right to correct me.”

“The work your division has done is not overlooked. We will
all benefit from the advancements made in the possession process as well as the
increase in recruitment numbers your division has shown. Because of these
things the Body continues to tolerate you and allow you to hold your position.
Nevertheless, it would be wise to remember that your station within this
organization can be taken away at any time if we conclude that you are not
performing up to expectations. Should there be further performance shortfalls
on your part, you will not only be removed, you will pay for your incompetency
in a manner of the Body’s choosing.”

Payment for poor performance was something Seth did not want
to experience. It would be worse than being severed. It would be agony. He
didn’t want to think about what could be involved in such punishments. “Yes, my
Body.”

“We are not pleased by the loss of the recruit to AfterLife.
We would have our insider eliminate him now if it were possible to do so in a
manner that would not call attention to his position. In the meantime, we have
another strategy in place that will allow you to redeem yourself and prove your
worth to the Body. We have discovered that Wesley Lohmann has an older brother,
Lyall Lohmann, who also has the genetic predisposition to become a Mortui. If
Wesley has the ability for astral synchronization, then it is highly likely his
brother has the same ability. We want him in Atumra.”

“Yes, my Body, consider it done.” Seth started pondering
options for recruitment.

“One more thing,” the voice continued from the receiver,
“our contact at AfterLife has assured us that Wesley Lohmann will be stationed
in Chicago when his training is complete. It isn’t common for them to send
recruits to cities they lived in as an antemort, but this will allow you to
remove him as a hazard to our overall goal. Is this understood?”