Creation- The Auditor’s Apprentice

by Frank Stonely

  Hedrick interrupted, shaking her hand again. She was speaking so quickly that he could hardly make sense of what she was saying, ‘Amy, slow down. Take a deep breath and start from the beginning.’

  ‘It began yesterday… when I went to the Grand Depository. Penny had made me an appointment with the archivist, Tanka, to view the files. He sent me down into the vaults, saying a gatekeeper would meet me and show me where they were kept. But as the elevator arrived, weird things started to happen.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘The Gatekeeper had an unnatural looked about him, sort of translucent. And then things started to move.’

  ‘Did he try and harm you?’

  ‘No, he was very helpful. Once we started to talk, everything was normal again.’

  The concern on Hedrick’s face grew as he locked eyes with Haamiah, ‘Poltergeists!’ they said in unison.

  ‘That’s what Daniel said, when I told him.’

  ‘What happened then?’ Hedrick asked.

  ‘The Gatekeeper took me to the vault where the file was supposed to be stored, but when I looked in the cabinet it wasn’t there. Tanka came down, but he couldn’t find it either. So, I left them searching and returned to the office. I thought I could start working on the digital copy, but when Penny looked in the database, that was missing too – deleted!’ Amy stopped to take breath and drank some of the water, her hand trembling as she returned the glass to the table, ‘It all gets a bit complicated then. My friend, Daniel-’

  ‘Ahhh your partner!’ Hedrick said with a smile, trying to reduce the tension.

  Amy smiled back, ‘Yes, Daniel. He has a friend, Mohammed, who works in the D&EC division. He was able to extract the planet’s data from the memory of a drone that had just returned from Space.’

  ‘And what did this data tell you?’ Haamiah asked without moving her lips.

  Amy’s eyes switched to the angel, ‘It confirmed our suspicions, that the planet’s development had been corrupted!’

  ‘In what way was this planet corrupted?’ Haamiah asked.

  ‘The social control parameters, they’d all been duplicated.’

  ‘Which means what?’ Hedrick asked.

  ‘Multiples of almost everything, racial types, languages, religions, politics, everything! Instead of developing technology to enrich Dark Matter, they’re developing weapons to fight and kill each other. Races fight, religions fight, it’s a complete mess!

  ‘And you think this, corruption, was caused by a faulty drone?’ Haamiah asked.

  ‘Yes, we know it was! Daniel’s friend in PI is a drone programmer and she’s found the code that caused the malfunction. They’re printing the information out now to show you.’

  Hedrick sat back in his chair. Haamiah was looking into his eyes. She addressed Amy without averting her gaze, ‘Was the programmer’s name given?’

  ‘The name on the listing was, Sabiun which-’

  Haamiah interrupted, ‘Which you rearranged to get Anubis.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘It looks as though you were correct, Director, this was a deliberate act of sabotage.

  Anubis barged his way into Tanka’s office and, dragging him out of his chair, threw him against the wall. ‘You FUCKING idiot! Didn’t I tell you to get rid of those files weeks ago?’

  ‘I meant to… but you kept giving me stuff to do. Unlike you, Lucifer, I can only do one thing at a time.’

  Anubis blew out a sigh as he released Tanka, ‘Well, we could be screwed now. That asshole Daniel has encrypted the drone systems.’

  ‘What… When?’

  ‘An hour or so ago. I’ve got our friends trying to track him down.’

  ‘Can we use the drone?’

  ‘We can use it… we just can’t change its destination. Looks like you’re going to be seeing Mrs. P again.’

  ‘But… but they’ll know where we’re going!’

  ‘And whose fucking fault is that?’

  ‘What about that technician, Mohammed, you’re always talking about? Couldn’t he crack the code.’

  ‘I’ve tried but he won’t cooperate, so I’ve enlisted our friends to deal with him too.’

  ‘Poor bastard… Have you told the other angels in the pack?’

  ‘Yeah… their shitting themselves. Haamiah’s got Rampel and Abraxas on the job.’

  ‘Oh fuck! Does the Gatekeeper know?’

  ‘If he does, that’ll be the last we see of him.’ Anubis replied.

  Tanka shuffled back to his desk and slumped down into the seat, ‘At least we’ve got time on our side.’

  ‘Yes… but we’ve got to get there first. Let me know if you hear anything from that bitch, Amy. I’m going to get things ready for the jump.’

  In the Directors’ Club, Haamiah and Hedrick were discussing Amy’s news. ‘Those-On-High have suspected this for some time, but Anubis has been covering his tracks well,’ the angel said, turning to look at Amy.

  ‘That is why I used Amy. I knew they would not suspect a new apprentice carrying out her first assignment.’ Hedrick stirred the sugar into his now cold coffee and drank it back like a whisky shot.

  ‘But Director, I chose the planet’s numbers,’ Amy said indignantly.

  ‘No, Miss Amy. We chose the numbers.’ Amy glanced at Haamiah whose emotionless eyes were staring at her. ‘Director Hedrick asked us to place the numbers in your mind. We understand you ended up covered in dust.’

  Amy wasn’t sure whether the angel’s comment was a joke or just a statement of fact, until Hedrick started to chuckle under his breath. ‘Where are they now, Daniel and Penny?’ he asked.

  ‘Penny should be at the audit office and Daniel is in a meeting room at PI with Jessian.’

  ‘Director, we think it is time to lockdown Creation and we have instructed the angel Abraxas to hunt down this rogue poltergeist. Haamiah’s gaze returned to Amy, ‘We are sorry we had to involve you, Amy. But, be assured, no harm will come to you or your partner.’

  14

  Lockdown

  Penny shut her eyes and clenched her fists, waiting to be impaled against the meeting room door. The noise was deafening as fragments of furniture punched holes through the partition walls, shattering the light fittings in the ceiling. And then, as quickly as it had started, the din subsided until only the occasional sound of dislodged items striking the floor could be heard. She slowly opened one eye. Her view of the room was blocked by a wall of debris only a few centimetres in front of her. Its outline matched her body perfectly, as though she had been protected by an invisible shield. As she stepped away, the debris fell to the floor. Ravi had gone, but floating in his place was the shimmering figure of the angel Abraxas. Penny turned and, smashing her way through the shredded meeting room door, ran screaming through the audit office.

  Daniel was aware of nothing but throbbing pain as he regained consciousness. Eyes closed, he instinctively went to raise his hand, but found it restrained. His eyes snapped open. He was lying on a hospital bed with his wrists handcuffed to the bed’s raised side-rails. He was alone in a small, brightly-lit, windowless room. ‘HELLO… Hello… is anybody there!’ he shouted. He tugged violently at the handcuff, cursing at the pain it inflicted.

  He took several deep breaths and then raised his head to look around the room. Attached to the ceiling was a curtain rail that surrounded the bed, the privacy curtain pushed back against the wall. To his left was a bedside cabinet with a jug of water and tumbler on it, to his right a metal-framed chair. At the foot of the bed, a second chair had his clothes strewn across it. He slumped back, staring at the door, ‘Hello, I need to speak to somebody. It’s very urgent,’ he shouted, waiting for the response that never came. He arched his head back. Mounted on the wall was a medical monitor with various leads and tubes attached to it. Next to this, out of his reach, was a videophone. ‘IS ANYBODY THERE?’ he yelled. For an instant he thought he saw a face appear at the door’s window, then quickly dart away. If someone was there, they mus
t have heard him calling, so there seemed little point shouting himself hoarse. He would just have to wait.

  Daniel hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep until the rattle of a key unlocking the door woke him. There was a pause before the door opened and Anubis walked in. He closed and locked the door, smirking at Daniel as he slowly passed by the end of the bed. He repositioned the chair at Daniel’s bedside and sat down, speaking in a soft voice, ‘This is a fine mess you’ve got yourself into, Daniel. Such a tragic end to such a promising career. I can hear the eulogy now; he was a brilliant engineer, he had such natural talent, he was so well-liked, such a pleasure to work with but, he had one failing! He just couldn’t keep his snout out of other creationists’ FUCKING BUSINESS!’ Anubis screamed. Then he slumped back into the chair, wiping the end of his snout with the back of his hand. ‘To be fair it wasn’t all your fault. That bitch, Amy, was as much to blame. I hope she was a good fuck, because she’s going to be your last!’

  Daniel threw himself towards Anubis until the handcuff snapped tight, ‘You lay a claw on Amy and I’ll fucking KILL you!’

  ‘You should have thought about that before you encrypted the drone systems. Unfortunately, it’s too late for Jessian and Mohammed. Poltergeists are not very elegant interrogators.’

  ‘You killed them?’

  ‘Collateral damage! I didn’t intend them to be harmed, but as I said, poltergeists are not very elegant interrogators.’ Stunned, Daniel slumped back onto the bed. ‘So, let’s try and keep Amy out of this… all I want is the encryption key.’ Anubis slowly stood up and, unhooking the leads from the medical monitor, attached them to Daniel’s chest. ‘Technology is a wonderful thing,’ he said as he adjusted the dials. ‘In one instance it can kick a failing heart back into action, but adjust the timing, and you get a totally different effect.’ Anubis lowered his head to look into Daniel’s eyes, ‘So, what’s the encryption key?’

  Daniel said nothing. Anubis smirked, ‘Have it your way,’ and pressed the Activation button.

  Amy stopped mid-sentence as she became aware of the silence that had filled the restaurant. She slowly surveyed the room. What she saw was like a tableau; the diners and waiters replaced by mannequins held in a snapshot of time. Behind Hedrick, the waiter who had served her was frozen, balancing on one foot, a tray of empty glasses held high over his shoulder.

  Hedrick shook her hand again. He spoke in a calm voice, almost a whisper, ‘Amy, do not worry, we are safe now. Haamiah has locked Creation down, time has stopped.’

  Amy looked at Hedrick, ‘But I can move?’

  ‘Time has stopped for all except those Haamiah chooses to release. The lockdown does not affect us unless Haamiah wants it too.’ Hedrick glanced at the angel whose smile widened.

  ‘Does lockdown affect everything?’ Amy asked, intrigued by some of the amusing poses held by the unwitting diners. By coincidence, the female Amy had met in the restroom was sat on an adjacent table. She was obviously captivated by her young companion. She had been enjoying a bowl of soup, a large globule of which was suspended from the soupspoon held to her lips. Amy imagined her embarrassment when she was released and the soup continued its journey onto her pristine white blouse.

  Amy was brought back to the conversation by Hedrick’s reply, ‘No, it only effects Creation and creationists. Entities from other dimensions are not affected.’

  ‘What about poltergeists?’

  ‘Poltergeists, ghosts, our friends, the angels and Those-On-High, they are all unaffected.’

  ‘Do not worry about the poltergeists, Miss Amy,’ Haamiah said. ‘The angel Abraxas will deal with them.’ Haamiah turned her gaze on Hedrick, ‘Director, we think Miss Amy should complete the preparations for her presentation. Those-On-High will be very interested in her findings as, I am sure, will Deputy Director Anubis.’

  Hedrick smiled, ‘Now, that will be interesting!’

  ‘I’m going to need the information Daniel and Jessian are putting together, Director, and you’ll probably want to speak to Mohammed. He’s trying to decode the drone data.’

  Yes, we need to speak to everyone who has been involved. Haamiah, will you unlock those required?’

  ‘Of course, Director.’ Haamiah replied through a motionless mouth.

  ‘We’ll need to collect the printouts,’ Amy said, trying to pick up her shoulder bag which appeared to be glued to the floor.

  Daniel’s chest heaved up, his back arching off the bed, as the electrical current sent every muscle in his chest into spasm. His heart stopped, then pulsed, then stopped again. His body relaxed and fell back onto the bed. Then suddenly he took a huge gasp of air as his heart started to beat. Anubis laughed, ‘What fun we’re having Daniel! Have you remembered the code yet?’ Daniel said nothing, his head buzzing, his vision speckled. Anubis reached up to the control panel and made some fine adjustments to the dials. ‘I just need to delay the pulse slightly… that should do the trick, second time lucky, hey?’ His finger moved to hover over the Activation button.

  Using all his strength Daniel cried out, ‘Why?’

  ‘Why what?’ Anubis snapped.

  ‘Why all this? Why the blue planets?’

  ‘Ask Haamiah!’ Anubis snapped, ‘She’s the one who poisoned Those-On-High against me. He dropped his hand and looked down into Daniel’s eyes. ‘Have you ever considered your life here in Creation? That miserable existence that starts with you crawling out of some bitch’s pits, and grinds on for a few thousand years of drudgery while you plan for some mythical retirement in Eternity. You’re being duped, Daniel! This whole thing’s a fucking con just to make you work harder producing their precious Dark Matter!’ Those-On-High couldn’t give a shit about you.’ Anubis started to laugh, ‘I bet you’ve been planning your diamond retirement with that little tart, Amy. Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you mate, but it ain’t gonna happen.’

  As Anubis slumped back down into the chair, he looked exhausted. ‘You know, I really quite like Hedrick, he’s done a great job for Those-On-High… what a shame they’re gonna shit on him too.’

  ‘What are you saying?’ Daniel asked.

  Anubis let out a long, low sigh, staring at the handcuffs that shackled Daniel’s wrist to the bed’s side rail, his eyes out of focus, his mind somewhere else. He glanced across at Daniel, ‘Have you ever seen a creationist after they’ve retired? Do they ever come back and visit their families and friends?’

  ‘You know that’s not possible, Eternity’s another dimension,’ Daniel had raised himself up onto his elbows.

  ‘Ahhh Eternity! That Heavenly dimension we all aspire to. How convenient we can’t go there until the angels send us, and once there, how convenient we can’t come back... It’s all crap, Daniel, and the sad thing is that nobody can see it!’

  ‘You mean the angels… just get rid of us?’

  ‘Exactly!’

  ‘That’s ridiculous. It can’t be true!’

  ‘True or not, I’ve come up with an alternative retirement plan, well, an alternative for me.’ Anubis raised himself out of the chair, his outstretched index finger making its way towards the Activation button. ‘Now, where were we. Remembered the code yet?’

  Daniel’s mind was racing as he tried to keep the conversation going, desperate to stop the button being pressed, ‘But, what have the blue planets got to do with it?’

  Anubis smiled. ‘The blue planets were just a means to an end, Daniel, although I have to say I’ve enjoyed visiting them.’

  ‘Now I know you’re lying! It’s impossible for us to leave Creation.’

  ‘There you go again, unconditionally believing the crap you were fed at the Academy. Dina’s got a lot to answer for. Once he asked me to help him on Freshers’ day… but that was in happier times. You have no idea who I am, Daniel.

  ‘You’re a maniac!’

  Yes, but a maniac who can snuff you out at the push of a button. Now… have you remembered that encryption key yet?’

  ‘Fuck you!’r />
  Daniel could see the anger flash in Anubis’ eyes as with one upward sweep of his arm, his finger pushed the Activation button.

  The timer inside the monitor started to count down, electrons spinning around its circuits, building up the charge that would stun Daniel’s heart. The activation relay closed, releasing a stream of electrons into the cables, but as the first electron approached his beating heart, Haamiah’s lockdown engulfed Creation, freezing it to an atom of copper in the cable.

  15

  Petrified Bodies

  Hedrick and Amy had trouble keeping up with Haamiah as she left the Directors’ Club, being forced to weave between the frozen creationists that now populated the plaza. There were couples like statues, holding hands, legs outstretched, their strides synchronised, and there were groups huddled together, enjoying a joke with laughter carved onto their motionless faces. The scene could have been a hologram from the front page of Creation’s Daily News. Haamiah though, had no such trouble, passing through everything in her path, gliding effortlessly towards the entrance of the PI building.

  As the doors slid open on the eighteenth floor, Amy was the first to leave the elevator, loping towards the open meeting room door. She stopped, collapsing back into Hedrick’s arms as the horror inside the room hit her. She turned, burying her head in his chest, and then leaning to one side, vomited onto the floor. Unaware of what she had seen, Hedrick tried to help her and taking a handkerchief from his jacket pocket he wiped the fur around her snout.

  Haamiah passed through them and entered the room. ‘Keep Miss Amy outside, Director,’ she said, her presence now blocking Hedrick’s view. He sat Amy down, her back against the wall and placed her head between her raised knees. Then he entered the room. Haamiah was hovering in front of the workstation and she turned to face Hedrick who was struggling to comprehend what he saw. ‘This is the work of a poltergeist,’ she said, ‘possibly the same one who attacked your secretary.’