Unison (The Spheral) (19 page)

I’ve studied many cultures throughout history and never before has such cruelty been demonstrated against a people. The founding Corporate Hierarchy demanded they be the only ones looked upon for guidance. Along their quest for dominance, they obliterated the natural development of families to achieve their selfish ends. Eventually, everyone forgot the truth, including those who distorted it.

This admission reignited my anger towards the Corporate Hierarchy. Many women I had been with came down with the female blight, including Flora. A short relapse into drinking forced me to admit I was mostly angry at myself because I believed the lies. I decided to focus on what I had rather than what I lost. The birth of my boys melted away my fury and replaced it with fatherly pride. As the twins grew older, I spent most of my days teaching them math and science. I taught my eldest son, Aaron, how to play violin. My youngest son, James, preferred sports. Aaron became an astronomer and James a playwright. Holly died shortly after my seventy-fifth birthday, and I played in the orchestra for another five years before retiring.

Several days after my final performance with the orchestra, I took my granddaughter to the duck pond in the central park. There was something relaxing and contemplative about the ducks. It took so little to satisfy them. All I had to do to make their day was toss them a few bread crumbs.

Our visit was cut short when I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I didn’t want to panic my granddaughter, so I told her I wanted to go home and rest. While waiting for a crail, I fainted and woke up later on a hospital bed. Aaron told me I had a heart attack. Being confined to a bed made me restless, and I took my frustrations out on the nurses. They were starting to argue over who would come to me when I called.

I kept myself busy by looking at pictures and movies from New Athenia and Unity. I stopped and reflected on a picture I took of Flora while she was in the middle of braiding her wet hair. It was one of my happiest memories from Unity, and remembering Flora made my heart ache more from losing her than from my illness. I reflected on her image for two days and erased it. That was the only way for me to let her go, and I felt guilty for missing another woman besides Holly. She saved me from my loneliness, gave me my two sons, and made my life complete. I found an image of her holding our boys and smiled over the memory of that day.

A nurse with large dark eyes entered my room, and I sat up.

“I want to leave. They can’t make me stay here any longer.”

The nurse sat next to me. “You’ll be leaving soon.” She touched my forearm. “Be patient.”

I lay back down. “I have nowhere else to go. I’m all alone now.”

“Obviously you’re not alone because I’m here.”

“I don’t know you.”

She stared at me crossly. “You do, but you always choose to forget.”

“Sutara!”

She smiled. “Six begin, Six alone, Six unite.”

“Two of us now remember. You came to me when I was a boy. You saved me.”

“I didn’t save you.”

“You were there. I saw you. Can you wake me up again?”

“I cannot.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Remember. You have to be the one to remember.”

“Why won’t you tell me?”

“You don’t want to know. That’s why you can’t remember.”

I widened my eyes. “I see now. I must stop myself.”

“Will you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you promise to remember?”

“I promise.”

Sutara cried and hugged me. “For the first time, I believe you.”

I opened my eyes and found myself in the cabin with the Ganesha figurine in my hand. “Ganesha, keeper of past, present and future, I promise not to run away next time. I promise to make things right.” And those were the final words I spoke at the end of my first incarnation.

BEYOND CAPTURE

SECOND INCARNATION

T
he COR alarm rang as I stared down at Wade’s lifeless body. In my last incarnation my intuition told me to run, but I successfully cajoled myself into believing I could help build the Unitian ideal. In this incarnation, I listened to my intuition. I still can’t explain why I chose to act on it as I wasn’t yet aware I’d done this all before.

I set up camp within the cover of the forest as Unity Forces stormed through Old Woman’s cabin. The next morning, I returned to scavenge for supplies and found the interior in the exact state of disarray as in my last incarnation, except Old Woman had just been killed. Shisa returned while I performed the sacred burning ceremony. When she spotted me, she growled. Recalling her obedient behavior with Old Woman, I kept very still and tried to mimic the tone of her voice. “Good girl. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Shisa’s snarling intensified, and I thought she was about to attack. When her attention shifted towards the blaze, I slowly backed away. She circled the flames whimpering, and I ran inside the cabin to get my plazer. Shisa charged towards me when I came out, and I shot her. She made the most disturbing sound before falling to the ground. Her breathing was shallow and labored, but it was the sadness in her eyes that compelled me to get my med kit. I tore one of my shirts to tie Shisa’s mouth shut. “It’s okay, girl. This is so you won’t bite me.” I poured some alcohol onto a gauze. “This is going to hurt, but it’ll make you all better.”

Shisa raised her head slightly, whimpered, and then lowered it again. I took that as her granting me permission to continue, and I gently pressed the gauze onto her wound. She yelped, and I gently stroked the top of her head. “It’s all over now. Good girl.” I dressed her wound and when I finished, I petted her cheek. The act felt natural, which surprised me. Before that day, I never knew dogs could be domesticated.

Shisa peered at me as though she understood I wanted to help. I slowly unraveled the muzzle, and she licked my hand. I carried her inside and lay her on the couch. After giving her some water and nourishment, I tidied up the cabin. Over the next two weeks, I absorbed the silent calm of nature until my passion for adventure reawakened. An entry about New Athenia in Old Woman’s holologue made me eager to leave the cabin and go exploring.

When Shisa fully healed, we left for the old tunnel. As dusk neared, I set up camp near the river and headed out to fish. It took me an hour to hook my first fish, but Shisa had no problem catching her dinner. She dropped a trout in front of me and barked as it thrashed around on the dirt.

“Are you trying to make me look incompetent?”

Shisa ran back into the water, and two catches later my question was answered.

As I roasted one of the fish on the fire, Shisa walked over and sat beside me, patiently waiting for her dinner.

“You’re smarter than the Corporate Hierarchy.” I petted her. “While you’re free to roam this beautiful forest, they’re locked inside a dome, following a deranged old man who claims God is talking to him. Who believes such crazy things?”

I waved Shisa’s dinner in front of her. She wasted no time appreciating the honor of being first served and chomped down on the fish.

“The truth is, I believed…for a while.” I jabbed a fish with a skewer and positioned it near the flames, “I stopped believing in the Sacred Oath a long time ago, but I still wanted to be accepted by the purple sleeves and Overseer. Eventually, I got what I wanted, but the price I had to—” I stopped to smile as Shisa lifted her head and licked her lips. “You handle tragedy a lot better than me. Think I’ll follow your example; it’s undignified for a psychological engineer to complain.” I kept my word and slept calmly that night.

The COR alarm sounded when I spotted the trainlets. Sephroy approached pushing a cleaning cart.

“Hello, Hello, Hello, there, Chap. Name’s Sephroy. I’m the careman of these ‘lets. Looking for a stay?”

“Could use a rest.” I shut off the alarm.

“Third one from the back is free. If you got nothing for trade, you can help me out and rest later. I could use a break.” He rubbed his lower back.

I pulled out a pen given to me by Kai when I started my assignment. As Sephroy inspected it, I examined his wrinkled face hoping to trigger a vision.

“Got no one to write to.”

“It’s gold.”

“So.”

“Real gold.”

“Can’t buy or trade anything with a pen, even a gold one.”

“You can melt it down—”

He handed it back to me.

I took off my backpack and opened the flap.

“I’ll take that.” Sephroy swiped my utility knife from my belt clip. “Could use one of these.”

“That’s my only knife.” I snatched it back.

Sephroy crossed his arms. “You’ll have to clean out the ‘lets if you want to stay.”

I rummaged through my pack and pulled out a tin cup and dish. “How about these?”

He grabbed the set and tapped the cup with his finger. “Payment accepted.” Sephroy walked me to my trainlet and tapped a slotted box attached to the door. “If you’re staying tomorrow night and I’m not around, drop your payment in here.” He looked at Shisa. “You can give me your dog. That’ll cover you for three days.”

“Shisa is not for sale.”

“If you change your mind, I’ll be in my ‘let.” Sephroy unlocked the padlock on the door. “Pull down the shades when you get inside—that’ll remind me this one’s taken.” He tapped his head. “Memory’s not as crisp as it used to be.” He pulled out a folded sheet from his pocket. “Got maps for sale, if you’re interested.”

“I have my own.”

“Well, well, well. A prepared dome dweller. May be hope for your kind after all.”

“How can you tell—where I come from?”

“The confused look on your face—” He laughed. “All of you look that way when you first get out.” He grabbed my hand. “And you got the hands of a girl.”

I pulled my hands away and had the strongest feeling I had this conversation before.

Sephroy squinted his eyes and peered at me. “I was only pulling your chain, Chap.”

I stared down at my hands and then at Sephroy.

“After some time out here, they’ll both be broken in.” Sephroy extended his wrinkled hands and wiggled his fingers. “Sooner than never, they’ll be looking a lot like these little workers.” He snickered and walked away.

I entered into my trainlet, and Shisa hopped in behind me. After I got settled, I read through Wade’s holologue looking for anything to explain his state of mind. Only one entry stood out that was dated almost four weeks before we left for our hike. Wade test-ran a new reintegration simulation he programmed, and he began to experience side effects he couldn’t explain. Images of Nasia’s request for death began to haunt his dreams, and after three sleepless nights, he went through another session to see if he could discover what triggered them. When he found no answers, he fell into a depression and contemplated filling out a request for death. The rates never dropped when Kai replaced Tyrus as Speaker of The Chosen. After one of my patients announced her request on the city screens, Wade announced, “Either the Corporate Hierarchy altered reintegration technology, or you’re not a very good psychological engineer.”

“Or maybe both,” I joked, but now I wasn’t laughing. I recalled the signal emitter that Kai showed me. The Strikers used it to induce hallucinations, but if the Corporate Hierarchy somehow managed to modify reintegration using the same technology, it could be used to induce dreams. If Wade was the victim of such technology, it would explain his volatile behavior. I had no way to prove my theory—and even if I could, I’d still be partially responsible for his death. While my hands didn’t push Wade over the precipice, my words and actions failed to keep him anchored to the ground.