The Recarn Chronicles- Omnibus Edition

by Greg Krojac

  Back in the room, there was a buzz of anticipation as they waited for the man who had called this extraordinary and illicit meeting. At 07:30 he walked in and looked at the eight men and women, who immediately stood up.

  “Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming at such short notice. Please sit down, there’s no need to stand on ceremony here. He sat down at the head of the table and the other attendees sat down again. He cleared his throat before speaking.

  “As you all know, the FS virus was released into the wild about ten years ago. As far as I can tell it has been a success. Recarn past life memories have been completely suppressed. There will be no more Recarns. Everybody will be aware only of the one life that they are living. That was our mission, to return to a world where life is sacrosanct, a world where life has importance and is the most important thing. A life where you can’t stash away money or tools of influence to use in a future life. A world where Recarns out there have no advantage over normal people. I suppose we could say that phase one has been completed. But we still need to bring down the Illuminati, power needs to be returned to the people. To ordinary people. To people like you.”

  A blonde-haired woman, of stereotypical Scandinavian appearance and dressed in a T-shirt with a large image of Bugs Bunny eating a carrot printed on the front, raised her hand.

  “But haven’t all the Recarns been stripped of their PLMs?”

  “Yes, Wendy. As far as we know. But the FS virus is a virus. It’s a disease. And we know from experience that there are always some people resistant to a disease. They have some genetic component that prevents them from falling prey to a particular disease. I think it’s safe to say that there will be individuals out there who have retained their past memories. There will be Recarns.”

  Wendy acknowledged this likelihood.

  “But they will be so small in number that surely they won’t be a threat?”

  “Perhaps not. But, on the other hand, it depends on who they are. How do we know that the Simon Jones, Jake Griffiths, Thomas McCall, Marcus Gallagher, Liam Hillary soul isn’t out there somewhere plotting his or her return? Ethan Armstrong is still the head of the Illuminati. He may or may not remember his past lives, he may or may not remember the act of creating the Illuminati, but he sure as hell knows that, right now, he’s in charge of the most powerful organisation of the planet. We’ve done nothing. We’ve solved nothing. The Illuminati still run the show.”

  Wendy’s husband Philip wanted to know what they could do about it.

  “So what should we do?”

  The meeting chairman stood up again and walked slowly round the table, trying to gauge how the others would react to what he was about to say.

  “The only solution that I can see is to get rid of Recarns altogether.”

  A murmur spread around the room like a whispered Mexican wave. Zafar, who was sitting to the right of Wendy, stood up.

  “Are you serious?”

  “How do we know that this PLM erasure is permanent? We don’t. Their PLMs could come back at any time.”

  Zhang Yuhan, the head of One Life Asia cut in.

  “You do realise that you’re talking about genocide.”

  “I’m talking about self-preservation, Yuhan. I’m talking about a return to sanity.”

  Yuhan wasn’t about to be fobbed off.

  “No. You’re talking about genocide. Pure and simple. You would kill anybody who is a Recarn. Some of our most valued members are Recarns. Indeed, you are a Recarn.”

  The room, which had been awash with murmurings, now fell silent. The smartly-dressed Chinese IT billionaire looked around the table at his colleagues, knowing that he had uttered the unutterable.

  “Don’t pretend you didn’t know. Yes. He’s a Recarn. How do you think he knows so much about them?”

  It was true. Douglas was a Recarn but he hated being one. Recarnism was a curse. He had wished for all his lives that he could have this curse lifted. He wanted to appreciate his ONE life without the burden of the memories – both good and bad – of all his previous lives. It was like being a vampire who couldn’t die but walked the Earth watching his family grow up and die, whilst he carried on living. Zhang Yuhan was a little nervous about what he was about to say, but he said it anyway.

  “So you’re suggesting that we kill you too.”

  Silence.

  “You want us to authorise the assassination, the murder, of the reason this organisation exists. And, on top of that, you want us to sanction genocide.”

  Nobody said a word.

  “Say something.”

  Douglas took a deep breath.

  “There’s no other way.”

  “There has to be another way.”

  “We released the FS Virus just over ten years ago. How long should we wait for the Illuminati to crumble? Another ten years? Another twenty years? Fifty years? A hundred years? If you think that by removing PLM from Recarns we’re solving anything, then you’re wrong.”

  “Have you always thought like this?”

  “I had my doubts about the FS virus solving all our problems, yes, but it was my duty to give it a try. But nothing has changed. The ONP still governs most of the world’s population. People still live in fear of their own governments, of their own families in many cases. We’ve all had operatives betrayed by their own children, children who have been indoctrinated by their governments, children who have never known anything other than ONP rule. Yes, there’s a democratic process but it means zilch. Nada. Nothing. The ONP will always win. When’s the last time the ONP lost an election? They’ve NEVER lost an election. The FS virus isn’t a cure. We must do something and we must do it now.”

  A distinguished looking Argentinian entrepreneur stood up.

  “So, you want us to sign off on a programme of genocide. That’s quite a request, Señor Douglas. You wish us to authorise the assassination of our illustrious leader, take control of the One Life resistance movement, and rid the planet of anyone who has ever possessed past life memories. Quite a package.”

  “I wish there was another solution, but I don’t see any other way.”

  “I think you’re correct, Señor. There is no other way.”

  The Argentinian was well respected among those at the meeting, as Douglas well knew. With Señor Santino Felipe Garcia on board, hopefully, others would follow. Garcia turned to his colleagues.

  “Señor Douglas talks sense. We cannot continue as we are. It will be a painful process, yes. It will make us feel – how you say – like shit, yes. But we will only kill the bodies of Recarns. Their souls will not cease to exist. We know this for a fact, do we not?”

  His audience nodded their heads in agreement as one, including Wendy, her husband Philip, and Zafar.

  “Can we inflict ONP rule on our children? Our children’s children? No, we can’t. We will be doing this for our descendants. If we do nothing, we condone the Illuminati regime. We must act and we must act now.”

  Douglas wasn’t surprised by the support of the leader of One Life South America. He had spent many an evening in the company of Garcia, debating whether they should continue along the path that he was suggesting. If he had suggested such drastic measures unilaterally the plan could have come to nothing, but he knew that with the Argentinian on his side the strategy, although distasteful, stood more chance of being accepted.

  After forty-five minutes of debate, the suggestion was put to a vote. The few doubting voices had been turned around and the vote was unanimous. Recarns must die and, unfortunately, so must Douglas.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  10:13 THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2089

  “I know why you’re here my friend.”

  The fact that Douglas was drinking a frozen banana daiquiri four hours earlier than usual meant that, of course, he knew what was about to happen. Douglas took a sip of his cocktail and smiled at his friend and trusted colleague as he repeated the phrase. It wasn’t a smile that said ‘I know what you plan to do bu
t I have taken precautions to avoid it’ but rather a smile that said ‘I forgive you’. Zafar looked sad; he was sad. He’d known Douglas for many years. They were more than just colleagues. They were friends, dear friends. They had shared so many happy times, so many sad times together. They had faced and overcome so many challenges together. Yet now Zafar had come to kill his closest friend.

  “I wish there was another way, Douglas.”

  “But there isn’t, Zaff. There is no other way.”

  “And you’re alright with that?”

  “No, of course not. I don’t particularly want to die – not just yet, anyway – but I’m ready to do so. For our children’s’ sake.”

  “I really don’t want to do this.”

  “But you must, my friend, you must. If you don’t, the Illuminati will maintain their power and influence forever. Non-Recarns will become a slave race. It’s bad enough now, but imagine sentencing your future descendants to such a life.”

  “Do you remember anything about your past lives, Douglas?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing at all? Not even a tiny smidgeon of PLM?”

  “Not a jot. A touch of the occasional déjà vu, but nothing out of the extraordinary.”

  “But what if I’m wrong?”

  “Can you take that risk? What if you’re right? What if I wake up one morning and find that my PLM has returned?”

  “But you’re one of the good guys.”

  “And sometimes the good guys have to do a bad thing for good reasons. And yes, of course eradicating Recarns is a bad thing. You’ll have to live the rest of your life knowing what you’ve done.”

  “I don’t know if I can do that.”

  “You can and you will. You’re strong. I didn’t choose you as my number two because I admire your dress sense. I chose you because I know that whatever you do, you’ll do it for the right reasons, for the good of the human race. I had hoped that the FS virus would resolve everything, but I was wrong. The only way to crush the Illuminati is to destroy it completely. I did my part. I’ve ensured that the continuity of power afforded by Recarnism is broken, but it’s a slow process. Too slow. I’ve picked at the scab. It’s up to you to rip it off and destroy it.”

  Zafar took his pulse gun from its holster and pointed it at his lifelong friend, who was still smiling and totally unafraid. Douglas clasped his hands in front of him.

  “I might say ‘et tu Brute’ but that would give the impression that I felt that you were betraying me. But you’re not. Eradicating Recarns is something that perhaps I should be doing but – quite simply – don’t have the balls to do.”

  Zafar’s hand was trembling in unison with his voice.

  “I don’t want to do this, I don’t know if I can.”

  “But you must. I’m a Recarn. Okay, I’m one of the good ones, but I’m still a Recarn. You can’t take any chances. You can’t make exceptions.”

  Zafar turned the pulse gun down towards the floor of Douglas’s office.

  “I can’t do it. I can’t kill my best friend. I can’t kill my brother.”

  “Ah, I thought this might happen. I expected this, and so I have taken precautions and have relieved you of the responsibility. If I could see another path I would take it but, alas, I see no alternative, so I have taken steps to absolve you of the responsibility for my death. You’ll have enough deaths weighing on your conscience without adding mine to the list.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I have taken poison. I could have chosen a faster acting toxin but I wanted to have this little chat with you first.”

  “What was it? We can get the antidote.”

  “It’s too late for that. It’s well into my system by now. I can’t have much time left. I’m rather looking forward to my new life. And more importantly, I’m looking forward to a new life with no memory of this one. Or any others. A fresh start. Such a gift. A gift I’ve never known. Until know.”

  Douglas’s face suddenly went pale as breath became a rare commodity for him. He began gasping for air, not because he wanted to live but because his body didn’t want to die. However, his soul, the essence of Douglas, was ready for the great adventure that would be his next life and forced his body to whisper.

  “Farewell, dear friend. May you always know that you had no choice, that I love you, and that humanity may one day understand.”

  As Zafar watched his old friend crumple to the floor, he wondered if humanity would ever understand or if he would be consigned to history as a monster, mentioned in the same breath as Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Marcus Gallagher.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  09:04 SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2089

  Zafar had been turning the recent events over and over in his mind for the past three days. Even though he was one of their number, Douglas had condoned the mass annihilation of all Recarns, whilst not having the courage to oversee it himself. Zafar had reluctantly agreed with the decision (although his conscience wasn’t giving him an easy ride about that) but then Douglas had taken the coward’s way out and committed suicide, expecting Zafar to take over the reins of One Life and thus the extermination project.

  But Zafar was a good man, a family man. He was a fair man too and he knew that there were millions of Recarns who were also good people. They were nothing to do with the Illuminati. They were Recarns by accident of birth, they didn’t actively choose to be burdened with past life memories, any more than somebody could choose to be born with a congenital disease, or could choose to be of a particular ethnicity, or of a particular sexual persuasion. To tar everybody with the same brush was to do millions of people a great injustice.

  He found himself angry with Douglas. How could the greatest friend that he had ever had do this to him? That wasn’t a mark of friendship; Douglas had placed Zafar in the position of scapegoat, someone to do his dirty work for him, someone to take the blame for what was so blatantly a crime against humanity. The man wasn’t who Zafar thought he was.

  Zafar knew himself enough to know that he couldn’t allow this atrocity to take place. Not on his watch. Zafar was his own man and now he was in charge of the resistance movement. He didn’t take orders from Douglas anymore; Douglas was dead.

  There was a knock at the door.

  “Come in.”

  Zafar wasn’t surprised to see Garcia enter the room; he had been expecting him. Those three days after Douglas’s death hadn’t been used for mourning his friend but had been used more profitably to clear his head, to get his thoughts straight. He was no longer troubled by the impending cull of Recarns now. He knew what he was going to do.

  “Good morning, Santino. How is your family, the girls, your delightful wife?”

  “I am well, thank you, Señor Zafar, as are Sofia, Camila, and Lucia. Thank you for asking. But I am sure you didn’t invite me here to enquire as to the health of my family.”

  “You’re correct, Santino. I asked you to meet me because I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”

  “Thinking?”

  “About what to do about the Recarn problem.”

  “I was under the impression that we had come to a decision, a decision that Douglas had endorsed.”

  “We had. But now I don’t believe that it was the right decision.”

  “But Douglas suggested it himself.”

  “He did. And now I’m unsuggesting it.”

  “On what grounds?”

  “On the grounds that it’s wrong. It’s so obviously wrong. We can’t just go around killing people because we don’t like a physical trait that they possess. How are we supposed to live with ourselves if we carry on with Douglas’s plan?”

  “But they are a threat.”

  “Some, yes. But there are millions who are innocent and pose no threat whatsoever.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I don’t for sure. How do you know that they may be a future threat?”

  “I don’t. But I prefer to err on the side of caution. Perhaps
the past life memory suppression is temporary. Perhaps their PLMs will return. We can’t take that chance.”

  “But to exterminate a whole section of the world’s population –”

  Garcia interrupted him.

  “– is necessary for the safety and security of the human race. These Recarns are mutants, an aberration. They shouldn’t exist.”

  “But they do exist.”

  “But are they human?”

  “What do you mean, are they human? Of course they’re human.”

  “They’re not like you or I. Anyway, the decision has been taken. I’ve started the process of identifying and arresting Recarns.”

  “How can you have started the process? I’m in charge. I never gave the order.”

  “But I did. And you know that I have Douglas’s blessing.”

  “But –”

  “But what? You severely understand the mood of the people, Señor Zafar. All over the world people have had enough of being controlled by the Illuminati Recarns. They want their freedom from tyranny. They are ready to rise up. Sure, the One Life resistance has had some victories but where has it got us? The ONP, the Illuminati, is still in power in most of the countries of the globe. And those countries that are not under their control are only so because they have nothing to offer the Illuminati. The people are ready to unite to deal the Illuminati the killer blow.”