Spirit Intercom

by Sean Adami

  Unbearably resisting his anger, Andrew lastly asked, “And how do you plan to capture the Dopabees?”

  Wayne said, “We plan to capture them by ship. As in, we will travel to Nirvana 74. We have the ship and everything.” He reasserted the badge on his tunic. “Are you guys willing to board the ship with us and lead us to where the Dopabees are? We know you guys will do a great job.”

  Before Andrew could think, Marco said, “I’m all in. I pledge full attention and compliance.” He smiled.

  Andrew’s intolerance towards this plan was insurmountable. Andrew couldn’t hold back his grudge. He exploded. Raising his fist, Andrew punched his father in the face. “Dad, how could you do this! You sick man! You’re nothing but a liar and a complete bastard to this world!” Wayne, using his muscular-attorney-general strength, clenched Andrew backwards. Marco grabbed his father back as well. Tears came down Andrew’s eyes. “You lie about my mother! You lie about the baby! You lie about this whole plan! You lie about your love! You’ve been lying to me my entire life! How could you do this!” Andrew had fluctuated to maximum turmoil while Wayne dragged him from the room. While being dragged, Andrew said, “Marco, I’m begging you don’t do this! How could you be this ignorant! They’re using you! This isn’t the right thing!”

  Robert massaged his left eye. Using his earpiece, Robert said, “Send in guards, please. We have a little problem.” In about ten seconds, five guards appeared at the “Dopabee Seduction” door. Wayne let go and the guards grabbed Andrew. Andrew’s resistance didn’t go anywhere. They stopped dragging him, and Robert stood in front of Andrew’s sight. His father’s face seemed even more punchable the closer he got. Robert said, “That wasn’t kind, son.” He got out a handkerchief and wiped the remaining blood on his eye. “You should know better than to hit your own father. And seeing that you are mad about your mother leaves me to think that we should change that. Wouldn’t you agree, General Wayne?”

  Wayne said, “I agree without a doubt. I think it’s a good time to use it on him.”

  Andrew’s perplexed mind thought, use what on me? Robert said, “Guards, follow me.” Without an ounce of struggle, they dragged Andrew’s body out of the door and down a different hallway. Andrew’s anger stopped his ability to think straight. All he saw was a man that lied to him his entire life. While being dragged, Robert said, “This is an experimental device that has not been put to use yet. Good thing we have you, Andrew, to try it out.” This angered Andrew even more. Not even a remark of sympathy strayed through Robert’s mind. Marco followed his father like a toddler in a grocery store. The guards, dragging Andrew, finally reached a new door, a manual door that read “Memory Metamorphose.” Using Andrew as a battle ram, the guards opened the door. The room was small and a bit claustrophobic for the amount of people in the room. A pale green desk with a Spirit Emissary positioned in the middle of the room. A small holographic screen laid beside the emissary. Robert said, “This is a scientific wonder. This device is a memory eraser and falsifier. With the help of your hippocampal neurons, we can change them and implement new memories or delete memories. As a matter a fact, we track the memories through that small thing in your head: Mindcord. It just so happens that Mindcord is electronically embedded into the hippocampus region of your brain, therefore, allowing the machine to track memories at the time ratio it happened at. Even more fascinating, General Wayne here is the creator of Mindcord. We paired my neural technology and his memory technology together to create this beautiful machine. It’s almost like God wanted both of us to work together.”

  Wayne said, “Everything your father said is completely true. Tracking the time of your memories, this device can allow us to code artificially new memories. Thank god for hippocampal neurons. Not only does Mindcord record your hippocampal status, but it also records your emotional status. And finally, it tracks your five senses. Ah, I love technology all too much.”

  Everything had instantaneously climaxed for Andrew. He said, “You’ve been tracking the human mind for every human being who attains Mindcord? You guys are insane!” He attempted to punch the guards away but his strength was too measly. “You’re just gonna erase my mother? This is so fucked up! I’m not hooking up to this devilish piece of shit!”

  Wayne said, “We’ve got that covered. Maybe after this you’ll agree with your father.” A guard took out a syringe. Andrew had no clue what it could be.

  Andrew said, “You think changing my memory will change my outlook on my father? There is no way! There is an entire galaxy of shitty memories of him. You’d never be able to erase them all. It’s infinite!” The guards carried his body up and placed him on the chair that belonged with the desk. The guard holding the syringe inserted it into his arm.

  Andrew immediately grew sleepy. The last phrase he heard was from his father. “Mother never existed.” Before his eyes closed, he saw Marco. He seemed a bit uncomfortable.

  While Andrew’s mind got reconfigured, he laid unresponsive and helpless. Memory after memory of his mother began to erase. Falsified memories were not used. The machine only deleted them. Andrew rested on the desk for hours with the Spirit Emissary clinged around his head. The buzzing of the machine magnified when an entire memory was erased. (Hey, reader! This is where the story and perspective shifts. Due to Andrew being unconscious, the story will change to the perspective of Harriet.)

  Harriet woke up. Checking her surroundings, she couldn’t feel the presence of Andrew. He was missing. She thought, what time is it? Accessing Mindcord, she noticed the time was 12:11 p.m. It was still a Thursday. She was surprised at how long she fell asleep. Taking her time, she put her garments back on and remade the bed. Examining more of the room, she noticed the fountain pen on the desk, which pointed directly at the bed. She adored the artistic designs on the pen, especially the black circle that was on the end of the cap. Deeming she ought to scout where Andrew was, she departed the room through the hatch on the ceiling. Clipping it open, she brought herself up to the first floor. A bit hungry, she reckoned that she visit the cafeteria for a quick bite to eat. Travelling to floor 80 with the elevator, she wanted to message Andrew through Mindcord, but she never received his contact information. After some more motor thinking, Harriet remembered that he was at the attorney general meeting, or something along those lines. Arriving at the cafeteria, she saw the Chef Bots were serving nurtured hot dogs. Anything with the word “nurtured” caught Harriet’s food attention. She loved anything that was nurtured. Grabbing a tray, she stood in line. While waiting, a man approached her. It was a man with similar facial features, but she couldn’t remember this person’s name. The man said, “Hello, I’m Rufus. You’re Harriet, correct?”

  She said, “Yes. And, presumably, who are you?”

  “I said who I was. I’m Rufus. But in terms of Spirit Intercom status, I’m a correspondent and security guard for Robert.”

  Harriet asked, “What is it?”

  “Because you went on the endeavour with Andrew, Robert would like to speak with you on what they have further planned. He would like me to guide you to him.”

  She felt a bit awkward with this. “Can we go after I eat my food?”

  Rufus said, “I’m sorry, but Robert told me to bring you to him now. You can eat at a later time.”

  Missing out on the nurtured meal, she said, “Very well.”

  Rufus said, “Follow me.” Dropping her tray on the counter, she followed his lead. Abandoning the cafeteria, Rufus went in the elevator with Harriet. Casually waiting for the contraption to reach floor 1, Harriet remembered something that Andrew said—something about a fight in an elevator. Rufus placed his wrist on the keypad after they reached floor 1. The elevator went on the bizarre route to the other complex. As the door opened, Harriet saw the vibrant blue reception desk in front.

  She said, “I’ve never been in this complex, and I’ve been working here for three years. What is this place?”

  Rufus walked to the reception desk and said, “Don�
��t worry. Robert will tell you all about it.” Locking his eyes to the reception desk, he said, “Hi, Sharon. Good to see you again. How’s your nuclear malware project coming along?”

  Disregarding this, she saw Robert in front of her. He stood with high poise. She saw the bloody cut on his left eye. She said, “Hello, Mr. Rutano.”

  “Good to see you, Harriet,” he said.

  “How’s Andrew been?”

  He looked down. “He’s fine. He’s fine. How have you been?”

  Harriet said, “I’ve been doing good, too. What was it that you needed from me?”

  He rearranged his eyes and said, “Yes. I need you to listen to what I have to say. We’re in a really important circumstance right now, and I require your full trust. We have a budget for time, and I cannot expend any more.”

  She nodded. Considering the head of Spirit Intercom contacted her must’ve meant that something critical was taking place. Robert said, “Great. Follow me.”

  He walked down the hallway with Harriet by his side. He said, “I have deemed it infallible that we will safely provide a smooth process for our pre-registered guests. But before this can happen, we need to go over some underlying provisions.” He opened the door for the “VIP Access” room. “As it might be seen, this is the place for our guests. Our whole entire company leads up to this moment. I took note of your experience in the Spirit World, and I was amazed with your performance. Not only did you successfully suffice to your surroundings but you also connected with this world on a personal level. You being such a highly-valued member of our company brings awareness to what else you could achieve. Therefore, I will share the plan that was given to Andrew. You two will work side-by-side on this next mission that I have planned. It’s the most important, and the fate of our company depends on this scenario. Understand?”

  Harriet felt needed. She felt significant. She said, “I understand fully. Do you know where Andrew is?”

  Immediately, he said, “Don’t worry. He’s just inspecting more of the plan.” Exiting this room, they headed down the hallway.

  Harriet asked, “So what’s the mission?”

  “The mission is to travel to the physical planet of Nirvana 74.”

  “Why?”

  “To see if the Spirit World is exactly coded to the physical standards of the planet.”

  She understood now. She said, “That’s smart. It’s good that you’re double checking that the guests are receiving a correct world in respect to the physical world. Props to you.”

  “Definitely,” he said as he opened the door to the Conference Room. She saw an unknown man, a recognizable man, and Rufus in the room. The unknown man introduced himself as Attorney General Howard Wayne. The recognizable man introduced himself as Marco Rutano. Each shaking Harriet’s hand, they took a seat in the Conference Room.

  Wayne said, “It’s good to finally meet you, Harriet. We are excited to have you help us on this mission of ours. The government greatly appreciates it. As Robert may have already told you, we are planning to leave on a spaceship to Nirvana 74. Once we’re there, we will examine all the creatures and geometric dimensions of the planet to make sure that they align with our software and code of the Spirit World. The ship is named Nirvana Voyager. It is the biggest spaceship ever created in the history of mankind. It moves at the speed of 185000 miles per second. Just below par of the speed of light. Plan to check in at the spaceship at 5:00 p.m. Get settled and prepare during these five hours. Good luck to all of us, and may this mission prove anything but good to us.” Harriet appreciated the tenacity of the plan. It was coherent and well-thought-out. Her only question though was where Andrew was. She hadn’t seen him since they had sex. The five people in the Conference Room agreed and exited. Harriet thanked Robert.

  Robert said, “Please arrive at the ship by 5:00 p.m. Rufus will escort you to the ship from your room and will notify you when it’s time. Thank you so much for all your flexibility during these chaotic times. Lastly, Rufus will escort you out of this complex.” She nodded and Rufus was by her forefront. She didn’t want to leave yet though. She still hadn’t seen Andrew, and she wanted to explore more of this complex before leaving it. Robert entered the elevator and said, “See you.” The door closed.

  Rufus by her side, she said, “Rufus, could you give me more of a tour of this place? I’m curious.” In reality, she just wanted to find Andrew.

  Rufus said, “I think it’d be best if you returned to your room. It’s important that you get your rest before this long journey of yours.”

  She felt rested. “No, I feel fine. Could you show me where Andrew is inspecting the plans?”

  “Harriet, if you don’t mind me repeating myself, I think it’s important that you obtain your rest,” Rufus said. The repeated assertion of this phrase felt weird to her.

  “I already told you. I’m fine. If you’re not going to show me where he is, then I will find him myself.”

  Rufus’ face winced. He grabbed her by the shoulder. “Follow me.” He only took a few steps before he started speaking again. He began to whisper. “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I can’t take it anymore. This whole thing is too fucked up for me to ignore. The truth is that this whole plan is fake. All of it is. I’ll tell you more, but you need to promise me that you’ll keep quiet.”

  She affirmed, “I promise.” They took more steps down the hallway to gain distance from any possible eavesdroppers.

  “They’re not taking you to examine the planet,” Rufus directly stated. “They’re taking you there so that you can lead them to where the Dopabees are?”

  “What are—”

  “The dopamine bees. They’re going to fucking capture these bees and possess them to obtain their dopamine. Then, this dopamine will be transmitted into portable whatchamacallits. These whatchamacallits will be used on the poor people to keep them submissive and stop their protesting when this day comes. It’s all a plan just to allow the guests to safely enter through. When Robert told me of this, it was too much for me to handle. I couldn’t manage his loyalty. Oh yeah, and Andrew is in a memory eraser chamber right now.”

  Harriet yelled, “What!” Rufus told her to pipe down. He pointed down the hallway at the door named “Memory Metamorphose.”

  “They’re erasing his brain at this very second.”

  She said, “Then bust him outta there. We can’t let his mind become even more fucked up.” She sprinted to the door and opened it. Andrew’s head laid pathetically on the green desk with a mechanical contraption ingrained around his head. She was terrorized. Drool puddled. She unwired the Spirit Emissary from his head. He was knocked out still. “What happened to him? Why would they do this?”

  “They must’ve slipped a drug in him,” Rufus said. He tried waking Andrew up by lightly tapping his cheekbones. This was unsuccessful. “They tried erasing memories so that he would concur with their plan. I’m not sure which ones though.”

  She began panicking. This panic was worse than the one she felt when Andrew got mangled by the cheetah. “What do we do? Is he gonna wake up before the ship leaves?”

  “I’m puzzled too,” Rufus said. “At least the memory eradication was terminated, which means that not all his memories were deleted. I say we bring him on the ship.”

  Harriet fizzled around with her hair. “Bring him unconscious? No. Did you try waking him up with the old water trick?”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s where you dump water on his face,” Harriet said.

  Rufus said, “I can get some water. Just wait here.” Rufus left this room and moved down the hallway at a quick pace. Harriet waited impatiently. In a matter of minutes, Rufus returned with a glass of water in his hand. “This is Sharon’s water cup. I’ll refill it for her later.” He dumped the water on Andrew’s head. The water droplets bickered Andrew’s nose, some of it reaching into his nasal cavity. Andrew coughed some of it out. His eyes slowly fluttered open. His lips pulsed. He had awakened. (Hey, rea
der! The perspective of the story shifts to Andrew.)

  The first visible thing he saw was Rufus’ face. He swatted this face. Rufus retracted backwards. Andrew coughed up some more. He said, “What the fuck happened! That shit was worse than isovaleric acid.” Pointing at Rufus, he yelled, “Why is this guy here!” Harriet and Rufus both tried to calm him down. Andrew’s mind was the most astrayed than it ever had been. Washed-up memories danced around him. He didn’t know what was real. He thought, is this a memory?

  Harriet said, “Relax. Rufus showed me where you were. He’s cool.”

  Andrew’s body reflected up as he sniffed in. “Shit’s crazy now. Where’s my father and the general?”

  “They’re nowhere near us,” Rufus stated.

  Andrew didn’t trust Rufus. “How do I know if you’re just spying on me for my father?”

  Rufus said, “Man, I’m not. I know we have our differences, but I genuinely want to help you. Your father’s plan is completely diabolical and messed up. The ship is expected to leave at 5:00 p.m., and it’s 1:00 p.m. right now. We have four hours to figure out something.”

  Andrew asked, “Harriet, what did they tell you? How’d you end up here?” His mind was clouded with all sorts of information.

  Harriet said, “They compacted a plan for me saying that they will study the anatomy of the planet, which is all bullshit by the looks of it. Rufus is the one who brought this to my attention.”

  Andrew said, “But do you know what they’re actual plan is?”

  “Yeah, I told you that Rufus told me,” Harriet responded. “Lighten up more with Rufus. He’s changed.”

  “Whatever,” Andrew said. “The most important thing is that we intercede with them. Harriet, are they planning for you to board the ship?”

  “Yes. And before we discuss anymore, Andrew, are you okay? What memories were erased?”