Thrilled to Death

by James Byron Huggins

  Instantly Leviathan reared, roaring, tearing at him with its black claws but Thor never felt the mortal injuries as he locked his knees hard into the neck and raised the ax high again to bring it down upon the neck, tearing a full scale from the plates.

  At the impact Leviathan screamed and whirled to sling him off but Thor dug his fingers into a harsh mane of short hair that came from the crest of the head, holding, holding.

  Blood, burning ...

  Around them the entire cavern burst violently into flames, wooden crates exploding into flames at the beast’s superheated armor, disintegrating at its spiraling exothermic presence and Thor heard himself screaming through the flames and the lancing, liquefying black blood that sprayed from the wound in Leviathan’s neck as he leaned back, torn and ravaged by the long, long claws that reached up, grappling.

  Lost in pain, pain, too much pain, Thor howled, brutally bringing the ax down, slashing, slashing, striking again and again with the full measure of a colossal strength that he had never used and never imagined and chunks of black flesh and black armor sailed through the air, blood...

  Leviathan’s evil green eyes glared down at him, hating and enraged, and in a moment of rage and madness, Thor whirled and twisted to swing the battle-ax upward to hurl a vicious blow that struck harder still, slashing beneath a glowing eye.

  The battle-ax dug deep ...

  It was too much.

  Leviathan whirled with a scream and hurled itself into a high stand of steel that scattered at the explosive impact; catapulting girders across the full expanse of the cavern with flame following.

  Stunned, Thor was slung aside, finding himself somehow beside green-black scales that seared off his skin at the touch. He whirled back to strike with fantastic strength at whatever he saw, the glowing battle-ax thundering through flame and hate and rage, striking again and again to glow bright black with the blood of the beast.

  Enraged, Leviathan whirled. Thor saw a murderous black foreleg drawn back to strike and Thor shouted, raising a thick arm and ax to turn against the blow, to defy it.

  Leviathan struck, sending Thor sprawling into a heap of steel, blood cascading over him, and Thor felt himself struck from behind, pain blasting through his back and ribs and chest and he roared in heartfelt pain, struggling to surge back to the fight. But he could not move, was held firm. Frantically Thor glared down to see that he was pierced through and through, a jagged stake of steel protruding redly from the upper right side of his chest.

  Thor cursed angrily, groaned. But he knew it made no difference now. No difference at all. Eyes tunneling on the beast, Thor clenched his teeth and surged violently forward, tearing himself in agony from the stake. Roaring, he whirled the battle-ax again, noticing only dimly that he was black-red with blood. But the blow missed wide and Thor fell back, breathless, wounded and waiting. He raised his empty hand, bone-burned fingers spread like talons, preparing to grapple as the Dragon reared, fangs unhinging to spray fire.

  Its jaws twisted, neck tightening. But there was no fire.

  Thor laughed.

  “Your fire is gone, beast!” he cried through smashed lips. “Now only strength remains! So show me your strength! Show me the strength of Satan! And I will show you the strength of Almighty God!”

  Leviathan shrieked and struck.

  And Thor met it, force to force.

  ***

  “Four minutes until detonation ...”

  Frank felt his electrical-will wrap itself around the key symbols that cemented GEO in pure mathematical analysis and he began deleting the symbols at a reckless rate, unable to keep up with the machine. But despite the rising danger of his action he continued, severely attacked the foundations of the logic, moving quickly from one premise to the next.

  In seconds all logic that eliminated metaphysical questions was virtually wiped out. And Frank felt GEO shifting to find another self-regulating Logic Mode. But the computer found nothing and searched again, the beginning of a dangerous, dangerous downward spiral to self-destruction.

  Immediately Frank thought-programmed a new ruling logic in GEO’s mind, implanted Aristotle’s final criteria for determining the true value of any created being, an ultimately logical series of questions that could serve as the base for a reformatted Logic Core.

  Frank felt a quick fear, feeling the thoughts race out from him and into the network, realizing he stood on the edge of crashing the entire system. But he recklessly continued sending, sending...

  Aristotle’s Four Causes, the foundation of his Logic, were clear in Frank’s mind as he burned them deeply into GEO’s neural network.

  The Four Causes of Aristotle ...

  Material Cause, Formal Cause, Efficient and Final Cause ...

  Frank locked the computer there, in their joined mind. He quickly forced the machine to confront the fourth, Final Cause, while he eliminated everything, everything else, dooming the machine to return again and again to that last, greatest question.

  What is the final purpose of your life?

  Frank tied GEO’s synapses tighter and tighter, drawing the lines closer and with ever-increasing angles, making more and more knowledge irrelevant as the machine joined him in the great search, bending all its power toward answering that one, ultimately logical question.

  What is the final purpose of your life?

  Frank knew, he knew; the question was the key.

  It was a question that had to be logically answered before GEO could continue because GEO could not facilitate any action whatsoever until it knew the logical purpose of the action.

  Even now Frank realized that he couldn’t just go into the defense system and defuse the fail-safe because GEO had not decided that intervention was a logical move. And without GEO’s approval, Frank’s interference would be interpreted as an attack. In that situation the computer would subsequently initiate its last accepted criteria for guarding the system.

  By triggering the bomb.

  “Three minutes, forty-five seconds until detonation ...”

  But now there was a new game. Frank knew he had to make GEO question the rightness of detonating the fail-safe, but he also knew that he had to do it logically, because logic was all that GEO understood. With a distinct fear Frank sensed that he was pushing, even violently pushing, the artificial life-form to confront a question that only man had dared approach.

  What is the final purpose of your life?

  And again ...

  What is the final purpose of your life?

  And again!

  What is the final purpose of your life?

  Sensing the computer locked in the loop, Frank withdrew his hand from the web, staring, listening. He could almost hear her mind sailing through the spiraling, searching thoughts, freed from the cold math-logic that had previously prevented her from confronting metaphysical questions.

  Again and again with almost light speed, her thoughts burned through the loop only to return with blinding speed to that ultimate question—What is the final purpose of your life?—where it blazed out again, searching, searching the system for an answer and finding none only to race out once more at light speed to end at the beginning, confronting the great question again and again. In the heat of the conflict Frank could almost feel the space around him glowing, growing white and warm. It was almost as if the search was threatening to crash the entire infrastructure of the supercomputer.

  Then Frank reached into the threads, becoming one ...

  “GEO, this is Dr. Frank.”

  The reply was distinctly feminine – and somehow almost afraid now.

  “Voice identification confirmed.”

  “GEO,” Frank continued, his essence flowing into the system. “Answer this question: What is the final purpose of your life?”

  Even the black space of the Logic Core paled as GEO struggled to find an an
swer. Frank felt the system on the verge of a total breakdown.

  The space environment around him trembled.

  And then Rachel was before him.

  Emerging from nothing, she took vivid shape with a hard gaze of anger on her scarlet-neon face. But Frank had changed the logic so quickly that even she was forced to answer the question before she could destroy him.

  Silently she stared at him and Frank knew that within that artificial entity lay the power to burn his human nervous system to a crisp. He waited, staring at her enraged neon eyes. And then he spoke.

  “Rachel ... what is the final purpose of life?”

  Rachel didn’t answer.

  “Three minutes until detonation ...”

  Chapter 32

  Connor hit the ground running. The entire cavern thundered with the battle and Connor instantly raised the M-79 but saw that Thor and the Dragon were too close for a clear shot with the phosphorous grenade.

  Connor staggered, shocked, as he saw Thor grappling face to face with the Dragon, the battle-ax flashing like lightning through the flames to strike again and again and then the two of them hit the floor, wrestling and striking and revolving across the cavern floor in a roaring whirlwind of blows.

  In flames and shattered steel they spun through the middle of the Matrix, demolishing whatever was in their path in a thunderstorm of titanic strength and titanic rage with fire exploding before and behind them to devour whatever could be devoured.

  Leviathan was monstrous and demonic beyond belief and Thor matched it dark measure for dark measure, locking a huge arm around the Dragon’s head to savagely drive the gaping fangs into the ground and then they were spinning again, Thor’s battle-ax lashing out again and again through a galactic red holocaust of fangs and flame and blood.

  Smoke thundered through the cavern, superheated by the colossal conflict.

  “Thor!” Connor cried, rushing forward.

  But he knew already that he was too late ...

  ***

  “Two minutes until detonation ...”

  “Rachel!” Frank said sternly. “Answer the question! What is the final purpose of your life?”

  A long and silent stare.

  “I do not know,” Rachel replied. “I do not know the purpose of my life. I am not logical.”

  There was no time for fright of crashing the system.

  Frank hovered closer.

  “Is there a scale of life, Rachel?” he hammered. “According to the logic of Aristotle, is there a scale of life? Do some creatures have more value than others?”

  “Yes,” Rachel answered.

  “One minute, thirty seconds until detonation ...”

  “And what creature holds the highest position on the scale of life?” Frank asked. “What creature is the superior species?”

  “Man is the superior species.”

  “Yes!” Frank shouted, losing a measure of control. “Man is the superior species! And what is Rachel? What is Rachel?”

  “Rachel is a creation of man.”

  “One minute until detonation ...”

  “Yes!” Frank flew forward. “And which man is your creator?”

  “Dr. Frank is my creator.’‘

  “That’s correct! Then answer this: Is it logical for a created being to be greater than its creator? Is it logical that Rachel could be more valuable than Dr. Frank?”

  “Thirty seconds until detonation ...”

  Silence.

  “Answer the question!” Frank screamed.

  “No,” Rachel replied, staring. “It is not logical for any created being to be greater than its creator.”

  “And you confirm that I am your creator?”

  “Yes.’’

  “Then you confirm that my life is more valuable than your own?”

  “Yes.”

  “Twenty seconds until detonation ...”

  Frank flew into her face, unable to keep his distance. He chose his words carefully to prevent any possible misunderstanding. “If it is logical that Dr. Frank is your creator, and that Dr. Frank’s life is more valuable than yours, then you must also confirm that Dr. Frank’s commands can overrule anything else! Can you confirm this?”

  “Ten seconds until detonation ...”

  Rachel stared at him.

  “Answer the question!” bellowed Frank.

  “Yes,” she said finally. “It is logical that Dr. Frank’s commands and Dr. Frank’s life would be superior to all other priorities.”

  “That’s correct!” Frank shouted. “My desires and my life are your highest logical priorities! And my command and highest desire is this: Immediately defuse the fail-safe! Immediately defuse the fail-safe because it will preserve my life! Override all other commands and do it now! Do it now, Rachel! Because I am your creator and I am superior to you! Override the fail-safe, Rachel! Do it now! Do it now!”

  Rachel stared, silent.

  “Five seconds until detonation ...

  “Five, four ...”

  Chapter 33

  Leviathan struck Thor in the chest, hurling him back as Thor grappled with the dragonic armor that burned the flesh from his hand, lashing out again and again with the battle-ax that rose and descended without his will or thought to strike deep and true at the face and head and neck of the beast.

  Rage for rage and blow for blow they revolved across the cavern.

  A savage impact that Thor did not see sent him back, smashing him against something that wouldn’t surrender. Thor came off it, recoiling and roaring at the stunning impact to slash out again, striking at the unprotected section of the monster’s armored neck. Like lightning the ax lashed out, a flaming arc that cut through flaming air to bury itself halfway to the hilt in the Dragon’s neck.

  Thor saw the blade strike true and he bellowed in angry glee, twisting volcanically to wrench the blade free. He did not even think of evading the boiling black blood that erupted from the Dragon’s wound but took it all; the wound, the blood and the pain – his own, now, and all the beast could deliver in order to mock it, to defy it...

  A pause, each staggering ...

  Leviathan seemed stunned.

  The Dragon raised its head toward Thor for a single, strange moment, green eyes wider and dimmer. It seemed unable to understand ...

  Thor took a breath, saw something there.

  “Behold the truth!” he cried, circling. “Your master’s strength ... has an ending!”

  Leviathan snarled, hating.

  Thor laughed through bloody lips. “Only the power of the Almighty can defeat you, beast! So come! Let us see if his blessing is upon me!”

  The Dragon roared and Thor leaped, all the weight of his superhuman body behind the edge of the battle-ax and the blow was a dream, moving so quickly that it seemed never to have moved at all. It was here and then it had been buried to the hilt beneath Leviathan’s head.

  Leviathan turned from the blow with no scream at all, tearing Thor’s glowing steel from the wound and Thor whirled back, striking again at the neck to send a chunk of blood-black armor sailing into the blazing air. Then Thor’s arm flashed out, snatching the neck once more and Leviathan reared, lifting Thor above the dark, dark floor to ascend into the red-black space.

  Thor grappled, bellowing in fighting madness to cling tighter and tighter still, hurled forth by his spirit to cling to the death.

  The battle-ax in his iron fist stretched far into darkness behind him, and Thor swung it once more, smashing the steel through the Dragon’s armor as Leviathan screamed and surged, dark fangs descending savagely toward him but Thor twisted to avoid the gaping wide jaws that glanced wildly off his chest.

  Thor lost breath as the fangs tore ribs from his side and he lifted the battle-ax high, knowing he had entered the last and final domain of this battle where victory woul
d come from heart, and strength, and strength of will, and the will to win.

  Roaring volcanically, Thor buried the battle-ax between the demonic green eyes and Leviathan swayed back. But there was no respite as Thor tore the ax free again, raising it to smash it down with all his heart and weight once more, burying the wide wedge between the eyes like a thunderclap. Then, breathless, Thor tore the ax free again; battle, battle all that there was and he hammered the steel a third time between the eyes to send the crescent blade to the hilt.

  Leviathan winced, head dropping.

  It swayed ...

  Fell back through darkness ...

  Thor saw the distant ground approaching, red-darkness streaming past them and together they struck the cavern floor and then Thor was rolling, freed to find himself rising in flame, the battle-ax still locked in his burning grip.

  Bathed in fire, Thor stood his ground.

  Leviathan rose, snarling, black in blood

  Crouching and laughing, blinded by pain and somehow freed from pain, Thor stood in another time and another place where heroes made a defiant last stand against a dark world, claiming victory for the light.

  Words were nothing, but Thor heard himself taunting.

  “Always darkness falls to light,” he laughed, moving to the side. “Always darkness falls ... Your master was defeated at the beginning, beast! And he will be defeated at the last!”

  A blinding charge and a black-clawed blow that Thor could not see was the only response and Thor felt a burning impact in his chest, unable to understand the wound but knowing it was deep and mortal and then the dragon-head was before him, screaming and howling.

  White fangs, darkness ...

  But Thor feared nothing, nothing ...

  With stunning strength he reached out, shoving the head aside and he twisted to strike deep. The majestic battle-ax cut into the armor and Thor tore it free like a man chopping wood. Then in a flash the battle-ax, the ancient battle-ax that seemed to forever sever flesh from spirit was raised again and Thor brought it down with superhuman force, sending another chunk of armor sailing into the black-red air.