Lenders

by Johnson, John

  Rico gaped. He had about ten screens with different camera viewpoints, the town and its fiery destruction, the curious ship and the people in the orange jumpsuits, the bay area, halls, and safe room that held the entire town, and now this. On this one screen, yet another bizarre phenomenon added to this abysmal, almost unfathomable day. The glowing purple orb had come out of her head; it had been there all along!

  It rose into the air. The magnitude of its presence became staggering.

  Panic set in among the lenders. A few pinched themselves. Others did various reality checks deciding it was a map glitch, that they were logged in—had to be. Or, perhaps, a real dream, something that was relatively new since Amy’s enlistment. Now everyone was having them. This had to be one—a dream, a delusion, a nightmare. But it wasn’t.

  Amy’s ashes spiraled into a cloudy storm. From the sphere a powerful electrified spark hit the large broadcast needle at the room’s center, zapping the purple status bar with a snapping CRACK. The rest of the lenders were immediately logged out, cleanly, except for Jim. The broadcast feed status, like a glass filling, went from red, to yellow, to bright green. It throbbed with intensity as if something was going to burst. With a sharp ESSPEEEEEEEW the status broke through—PURPLE STATUS! The newly lit band pulsed with power as more bolts emanated from the star-like sphere. It got bright, so bright that it lost its purple glow. An electric crescendoing hum filled the room. The connection had been made, and the sphere progressed to unload its energy in a more direct and constant flow feeding the purple band which voraciously devoured its energy. Its purple hue got deeper and richer. The walls of the room was the inner glass of a harmonious purple light bulb. Fine bolts of electricity worked their way to its edges. The jagged zaps traveled through the heads of awing lenders and staff leaving each with a smile, killing all fears and tensions and nervousness.

  Only Jim remained near the anomaly, his spasms and jerking had stopped. He lay peacefully asleep next to the humming energy source and his rage-red skin color faded into its normal light tan.

  All stared with a glint of purple reflecting in their wondering eyes. This was new, never seen, mesmerizing. The purple light was a source of comfort and the noise took on a more constant and gentle rhythmic murmur. All could feel Amy within their hearts, and like a comb through thick hair, memories of her brushed their thoughts. Imaginations meandered—tickled with humor, even a giggle—linear progressions of thought were derailed sparking unique ideas and creative dreams, and good feelings pedestaled. Love, peace, and most of all hope, was a fog in the air.

  Rico slowly marveled at his various control panels. The power from this new status, was fixing everything, illuminating his screens and making smart optimizations. Auto-repairs abound. He was astonished, and perhaps a slight bit frightened at the seemingly omnipotent capabilities. Everything pegged out to maximum within a matter of minutes. Wall lasers were inundated with auto-repairs, even the auto-repairs themselves had their levels topped off, and ship #11 was up—and running. It headed toward Jewel City at a speed twice that of their mysterious savior—expected arrival time: 7 minutes. Whatever it was, it had enormous power. Rico no longer had control over his station, except for cameras and the door. The system was preparing for something, running codes he had never seen before, and faster than ever. The mysterious purple status was great, but thus far raised more questions than it answered.

  It lasted about a minute, and the sphere went dead. It fell onto Amy’s bed and then bounced to the floor with an empty metallic ding. Silence filled the room. Ted took one step forward as if to pick up the ball but it cracked open and disintegrated. Nothing, but a pile of grey powder remained. The purple status pulsed, with a low and balanced warble. The lenders cooperatively moved around, then hugged each other.

  “Ted, what in the world was that!” Rico said. Ted just shrugged, speechless. He glanced to his other screens.

  “Rico, I don’t know, and the systems are acting crazy. We have no control, and—” Ted looked closer at one of the screens.

  “Same here, Ted. It’s taken over. A virus perhaps?”

  “It—” Ted squinted at the readings. “—sent something out. Looks like transmission of sorts. But…”

  “But what Ted!”

  “I don’t think it’s bad,” Ted continued, with a sense of abstraction.

  “Why not?” Rico asked.

  “We’re feeling something over here. It’s—emotional. I feel euphoric, my emotions, like a dream my imagination, is exploding. I can’t explain it to you but it’s, it’s, wonderful. I haven’t felt like this since—Rico, get over here.”

  62. PART V - Rememberance

  The memories poured into him, and he fell to the ground. He lay staring blankly at the flaming red giant, arms wide. The map had another purpose, and everything became clear. The gift, was overwhelming. It had deleted Amy, but gave to him all of her memories, everything. Her entire life, everything she knew, every moment in vivid detail, flooded into his mind. All the pain, and it was punishing, more than any pain he’d had in his own life, and all of the pleasure; overflowing with dreams, thousands upon thousands of dreams, every second of every day, it was all there.

  Flash!

  The forest-green Colorado mountains surrounded the reservoir. Brighter spring green from aspen trees painted the landscape in thin meandering strokes. The last moments of a tangerine 4 o'clock sun warmed their faces on the brisk spring day. “Daddy my favorite!” Amy said picking a purple wildflower near the lake with her father. A white butterfly fluttered by stealing her attention. She noticed everything alertly. Such a curiosity for the world around her, a desire to learn; smart like her father, she’d learned to talk before 18 months. Together they picked various flowers, and talked. That’s what they loved to do. Jokingly every time Herald tried to sneak one into the bouquet that wasn’t purple, three year old Amy grabbed it and threw it toward the water. She loved the purple ones, and it became a game—her special color.

  Herald enjoyed every moment with his daughter. He made every minute count. She looked so cute, he thought watching her absorb the world. Her hair had bouncy dark curls. And her iridescent light brown eyes: the descending sunlight brought out beautiful traces of green. Today they had very special company over, but their time together, as always, came first.

  “I got one!” Valerie elated, but worriedly. Everyone turned to look. It was her first and a big one at that. Finally. Reeling it in unbalanced her; she nearly plunged into the chilly water but Jerry stood behind her to assist. He grabbed her waist and held firm. She had on tight blue jeans, rolled up yet not high enough; cuffs wet she stood barefooted on the colorful underwater stones. Shirtless Jerry helped her control the rod but let her work it. The water was as clear as air and the fish shimmered like sterling silver as she fought it all the way in. Exuberant cheering followed as she lifted, bending the rod close to its breaking point—a big trout!

  Atop her blanket on the course crimson sand Jodi yelled, “Go Val!” She swiftly dropped her book and shook Jon. For them, this was something quite new—a break from the norms of city life. Valerie, yes Valerie, with a fish! He awoke from his sun nap and groggily smiled at the out-of-place but fast-learning city girl who dangled a two-foot long silvery fish.

  From above, seated on the burgundy rocks Amy clapped playfully, and Herald mimicked. She loved to clap and looked up to her daddy, always making sure he saw her. Of course he did. He was happy to lend his attention. Almost the entire time she’d been tossing rocks into the water. Her daddy was just as much to blame, trying to teach her to skip stones but she was too young to master that just yet. The splashing surely didn’t help the fishing for they probably could’ve doubled or tripled the catch. Six plus the largest one, Valerie’s would make a perfect addition to breakfast, or maybe tomorrow’s lunch.

  Jerry was quite the fisherman, perhaps not the greatest teacher, but at least Valerie had finally gotten one. The sun had only a sliver remaining before it descended
beyond the 9,000 foot peak affront them to the west. Well, Jerry thought, maybe just one more, and he cast his line once again while Val headed in—one was more than enough for her. He was happily and carelessly engaged. Besides hunting it was his favorite pastime. Being out of the city for a change was refreshing and really hit the spot. It’s been too long, he thought. He’d been able to do a lot of clear-minded thinking since they’d arrived in the morning. Time to sell the store perhaps, move back to the country. I’m gonna talk to Val about it. Maybe a place up here in Vallecito near Herald.

  The nearest cabin was surrounded by seven smaller versions. The door opened and he yelled out with a Spanish accent—a style he’d chosen long ago to embrace his uniqueness, “Dinner is almost ready!” Herald acknowledged the good news by raising an arm. Rafael wore a red apron and matching bandanna. The bright white plastic of his face was marked with crayons, markers, and a little spaghetti sauce; as usual Amy had drawn him a signature mustache. He actually liked it and would usually redraw a more symmetrical version after she’d gone to bed. That’s just how he rolled: being as laid-back as a golden retriever. She always ended up messing him up again the next day anyhow. Some days he’d even let her draw hair on his shiny bald head. He didn’t mind because he loved her—and knew his body was the perfect dry erase board onto which she could unleash her unrivaled creativity. Today he might wipe himself clean however, for the occasion of a special dinner. He had a non-morphing friendly white mask of a face with a hole for the sound to escape. Unlike most of VlexCom’s newest models he was, on the outside at least, very basic. They had upgraded his eyes however, and Rafael loved to use them to portray expressions. And although he could make them any color, he chose for the time being a basic brown.

  Herald lifted Amy onto his shoulders and relayed the message, dinner time! The group headed up to the cabin. Jerry was by far the last one—he could have kept fishing forever.

  Flash!

  Amy was showing off to their new company. For a change it wasn’t just the usuals from the other cabins, although she did enjoy their company too. She begged Rafael to do the airplane with her, but he had to keep telling her, like a broken record: after dinner.

  Ana served the spaghetti to a hungry table of eight. Herald sat back to the window, his usual spot at the head of the large aspen-wood table. Amy was talking up a storm, as usual, articulating words like a ten-year-old. She sat between Jon and Jodi on Herald’s left. Her focus was quickly diverted. Her skinny and small size paired with an unmatchable appetite had surprised everyone at lunchtime; and the food called her name once again.

  Rafael followed up bringing corn on the cob, steaming sauce, toast, butter, drinks, and as Amy called it, sprinkle-cheese (Parmesan), carrying everything at once on two large trays. Amy loved spaghetti and it was Rafael's secret recipe: the aroma of that sauce! It filled the humble cabin, and everyone anxiously awaited the first taste—none more than Amy of course. She stood on her chair, as cute as could be, clapping again, and staring at the food eyes dazzled.

  Rafael set the loaded trays onto the table and took his place like anyone else. He always pretended to eat, even when it was just the four of them. He was an equitable member of the family.

  Jon looked to Herald with satisfied thoughts and a smile. Herald smiled contently, more so than ever, but there was a little something else in his eye: a glimmer of grief, something on his mind perhaps. Jon tilted his head ever so slightly, thinking, but the feast intervened and they all dug in.

  Flash!

  “That was the absolute best,” Jerry said leaning back in his chair rubbing his now distended belly. “So Herald, ya finally gonna tell us why ya invited us here? It’s been what, five years?” The others paused, anxious to hear.

  “In a bit Jerry,” He replied.

  Amy ate nonstop. She was magnetized to the food in front of her, enjoying its taste and her second serving. Next: corn on the cob! Rafael, still fake eating, conversed seriously with Jon who had hesitated the longest, anxious to hear what Herald was going to say.

  Jon was still the active head honcho at VlexCom. He made the big decisions and continued to work alongside Nancy. But, like most humans, she didn’t contribute much these days. He thought about her for a second, at home with her hoard of personal sex-bots, husband long gone, getting drilled almost constantly—bitch. She only came in once a week these days, and lazily had bots handle the majority of her tasks and decisions.

  “Aren’t you going to have some corn?” Ana asked Jerry getting back to the delicious task at hand.

  “I would but I see those homemade pies you have over there,” Jerry replied. “Savin’ a little space if ya know what I mean.” Three different pies kept the counter top warm: blueberry, key-lime, and banana cream, all sending pleasant and seemingly unmixing aromas their way. For Jerry it was a problem, a huge distraction.

  “He’s a real sucker for dessert,” Valerie said, “at our house—”

  “Don’t Val,” Jerry said eying her with a flat but escaping grin.

  “He always eats dessert first. Then dinner.” She said it quickly. Jerry reached over to tickle her as punishment making her squirm. Everyone laughed.

  Even Rafael followed with a chuckle, thinking, you don’t eat dessert first, but then maybe… Why not?

  “After pie—then I’ll show you why I invited you,” Herald said.

  Jon noticed his eyes; it wasn’t so much grief perhaps. More like, the time had come, and this was it. Knowing Herald extremely well he knew it had to be something very important, life changing perhaps. It wouldn't be Herald if it wasn’t something big. A new discovery, a breakthrough, he’s coming back—yes that has to be it.

  Flash!

  Rafael was finally doing the airplane with Amy, holding her up making realistic airplane engine noises that escaped his mouth-hole as if it was a high-definition speaker. Diving and soaring, her arms were out and her eyes closed. He had another mode also: seated on his palm, Amy would pretend to use an imaginary yoke. She loved to imagine it was real; his spot-on vocal imitation along with powerful vibratory arms made it easy. Occasionally she would peek to see if daddy was watching.

  Jerry had second helpings of pie—saving space? Ha! He was as large as an ox, needing all the calories he could get. He surely weighed more, than even Rafael. Valerie couldn’t help herself either, another slice of key-lime for her, one she’d never tried. Jerry encouraged it, the more she ate, the more it went in the right places as far as he was concerned. She had a curvatious figure that drove him nuts.

  The atmosphere was pleasant. Jodi conversed leisurely with Ana and Valerie. Herald with Jerry and Rafael. They all watched Amy who was quite the energetic entertainer and kept them distracted.

  Jon had left. He sat watching the news on Herald’s ancient LCD TV. It sat in the corner, and barely got any use. It was the only device that worked in the remote area where Herald’s cabins were. But not because technology couldn’t reach, Herald had made sure it wouldn’t. There were no computers or phones or anything of the sort allowed—nothing with a capable CPU. The few items that did exist however, were special. Rafael had designed the obviously homemade SAT receiver which could pull streams from any satellite, completely incognito.

  In the five years since Herald had been gone VlexCom had grown to be the richest and most powerful company in the world, and had a huge stake in next week’s launch. Jon had been coordinating with the head AI team to make sure everything went smoothly. It was hard for him to break away, but Herald had insisted; besides it was just for the weekend.

  The first ever warp drive, a ship aptly named: WARP-1, with a select team: ten women, ten men, plus several AI bots was about to make history. If successful it would be able to reach almost any nearby star and return relatively quickly. The first destination however, was non-disclosed. Recent quantum-entanglement technology breakthroughs would allow a live feed of their mission and real time talk, no delays like old radio transmissions. The story was big, and for
a while stole attention from the abuse trials that had elevated VlexCom, once again, into the spotlight; a good thing for Jon who headed up the robotics branch, now the largest part of the company.

  Jon flipped a channel and Herald joined him. The rest stayed at the table, laughing while Rafael told some very creative, but not always funny, jokes. Ana got up to make some coffee. Amy took a strong liking to Jerry. If Rafael was an uncle, Jerry was now another.

  “It’s been a great five years Herald, I wish you would’ve stayed. I really missed you bro.”

  “It’s been nice here too, with my family, very peaceful,” Herald replied. “I wouldn’t have had it any other way.” He looked back to Ana, still as beautiful as ever, her gleaming brown eyes, always by his side, and bouncing little Amy, the utmost joy of his life. Jon noticed and nodded in agreement.

  “Yeah, you do have it good. And I’m glad you were wrong about your—” He whispered. “—prediction. But really, it’s been amazing. Life is good, everywhere. The AI has been nothing but good for humanity, it helped us achieve wonders. No war, borders are open around the world, no disease or famine. Global warming—fixed like a squashed bug. I mean, we’re about to go to the stars Herald. The stars. This is it.”

  Herald placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “Good friend.” The abuse trials appeared on the next channel Jon selected. A pause as they both watched. “And what about this mess Jon?” A protest clogged the steps of the Supreme Court; the population and signage was a fluttering ocean. The screen changed showing protests in various other places throughout the world. Robots, some with skin, most encased in plastic like Rafael, all different colors, stood by their masters. Many of the robots held their owners high in the air or carried their way-too-heavy signs.