Eunoia

by R J Johnson

  The final stone was his stone of strength, long ago implanted onto his body. Kline smiled and began pulled at the ring finger on his right side.

  Blood began pouring off his finger as he removed the last stone from his body. Kline screamed in pain and horror at what he was doing to himself. But, if he wanted to claim the last stone inside the crystal chamber, he would only be able to gain entry without any stones on him.

  With a gasp, Kline removed the ring finger from his hand, and picked up the healing stone from the pile. The stone flashed a brilliant blue, and the energy rushed through his body, healing the wound, and instantly re-growing a new finger for Kline.

  Kline smiled and flexed his hand, testing his new finger out with the rest of them. Satisfied with the result, he turned and entered the crystal chamber without a single stone on his body for the first time in nearly 70 years.

  Suddenly, Kline realized he was feeling something else that he hadn’t felt in over 70 years.

  He felt vulnerable.

  He swallowed the fear back, steeling himself forward. He inspired fear in others. There was no room for fear in his life, so why start now?

  Kline steeled himself for what came next, pushing his way into the crystal. He stepped through, feeling as if he were wading through a swamp. But it didn’t take long before he exited out into an enormous crystal chamber.

  Barely able to see anything, Kline turned, raising his arms, “Well? I’m here!”

  The lights in the chamber began to flicker and a low murmuring began that sounded like a thousand voices all addressing him at once. Kline clapped his hands over his ears, attempting to shut out the volume, but it was no use.

  “All right!” Kline shouted. “That’s enough!”

  The voices suddenly stopped, and the lights in the chamber dimmed.

  “You are here for the stone?” the crystal chamber pulsed with each word.

  “I come for my birthright!” Kline shouted up at the stone. “I have united ten stones so far. And after I claim this one, I will only be moments away from bringing all twelve together for the first time!”

  “The stones are a gift for your species,” the voices said in unison. “You are to use them to excise the cancer within your society.”

  Kline rolled his eyes, “I’m here to excise the cancer that is humanity. I’m here to lead our species into the right direction, and turn us into the kind of species I know we can be.”

  “What would you do with the stone?” the chamber pulsed.

  Kline looked around him in confusion. “What right do you have to ask me that?”

  The chamber remained silent, as if still waiting for the answer to its previous question.

  Kline decided to play their game. “I would use the stone to save my species from certain extinction.”

  Suddenly, the chamber grew dark, and Kline was flying fast toward a nearby star. He nearly lost his balance until realizing that he had no need to. The area of space he was standing in was as solid as… well a rock. It was as if space had bent itself to his will and rocketed him out into the stars above.

  It didn’t take long until he realized he was approaching a planet, but that wasn’t quite right. There was no star nearby, and as they drew closer, Kline realized that it was no planet.

  The construction was more than halfway done. The Dyson’s Sphere had wrapped nearly halfway around the star, making the interior of the planet’s surface look like a toroid. Active weather systems played across the atmosphere below as they flew past the partially constructed Dyson’s Sphere.

  “This is our world,” the voice returned. “The star our planet orbits will run out of fuel in a few hundred thousand years resulting in an explosion that would destroy both our civilization and your own.”

  Kline surveyed the world below him and shrugged. “Surely you’ve come up with some kind of solution.”

  “The twelve stones are our solution,” the voice replied. “Save our species using the twelve stones. Uniting them will do that.”

  Kline rolled his eyes. “Is that what you tell everyone who discovers a stone? We’re gifting you this, but with conditions?”

  “No conditions,” the voice returned earnestly. “The stones are a gift for your species to use as you see fit. Use them properly and you will be invited into the galactic council, bringing peace and technological progress unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.”

  Kline looked around. “Take me back.”

  “As you wish,” the light pulsed. And just like that, Kline found himself rocketing back to Earth, the Dyson’s Sphere retreating from Kline’s vision.

  They arrived back on Earth in North Africa, inside the Crystal Chamber where they had started.

  The podium popped up in the middle of the chamber, the eleventh stone floating on top of it, waiting for Kline.

  The eleventh stone was gold, looking as if it had been cast by Midas himself. Kline instantly decided he had never seen anything so beautiful as this stone.

  “Have you made a decision?” the light asked him, pulsing with each word.

  “Do you know what happened to the indigenous people of America once the settlers from England arrived?” Kline asked the light as he stared at the stone in front of him.

  “We have extensive records of your species history.”

  “Then you know the poorer, less technologically advanced indigenous people stood no chance against the invading English, French and Spanish. They were overrun, and that’s not even counting the friends and family they lost to disease. Whole civilizations, gone, just like that.” Kline snapped his finger.

  “But you know what I believe? I believe these stones of yours are some kind of safety built into the universe for species like ours who are about to be contacted. I’m betting these stones are here for our defense, left behind by someone very different than you.”

  Kline snatched the golden stone off the podium and it flashed, as he made his choice for its power.

  He reached out a hand and energy spilled out of it, shattering the crystal podium in an impressive display of fireworks. The light flashed, and the voices rose up once again, sounding as if they were in agony.

  Kline ignored the voices, as the destruction spread through the chamber, each flash of energy doubling back on itself, creating an intense feedback loop of destruction.

  He ducked out of the chamber just as the crystal began turning brown, and sour.

  Kline smiled and examined his new golden stone sitting in the palm of his hand. If he had made his choice correctly, he had complete control over magnetic fields. That should give him the kind of power that would untangle the time traveling stone from the paradox.

  Kline grinned and picked up his other stones, putting them back in place. His stone of strength would have to be carried until he could get it re-grafted to his body, but for now, there was other, more important work to do.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Christina stepped carefully through the thick brush. The sun was rising over Central Park, the rays barely able to peek through the darkness that had settled over the city thanks to the incredibly high wall Kline had created as part of his new citadel.

  She spotted the body and sighed, stepping forward to the Old Man.

  “You look pathetic,” she scolded him.

  The Old Man picked his head up, smiling at her.

  “Pathetic or not, it was enough to fool Kline.”

  The Old Man struggled to move, but found he was still caught by the granite spear Kline had used to pierce his midsection with. She rolled her eyes and stepped forward to help pull the Old Man’s body off the granite spear.

  “You all right?” she asked.

  “I’m fine, just…” he turned his body back and forth, trying to wiggle free from the granite. “I seem to be caught up on something here.”

  She placed a foot up against the granite stone behind the Old Man, and grabbed hold of his arm. Using the leverage, she pulled the Old Man free from the deathtrap set by Kl
ine.

  The Old Man stumbled forward and fell to his knees, breathing heavily. Christina was alarmed by the enormous hole left behind by Kline’s attempt to kill the Old Man. After a moment or so, the familiar healing blue light began to spread over the Old Man, as his wounds began to seal back up. The Old Man stood, wincing, as he leaned back trying to stretch.

  “Did he find the final stone?” the Old Man asked.

  “No idea. The news isn’t saying much other than Kline’s the man in charge,” Christina answered.

  “He’s taken the capital,” the Old Man said this as if it were a statement rather than a question.

  “From what I’ve been able to catch on TV,” Christina looked up at the World Trade Center. “They say the whole world is falling in behind Kline.”

  The Old Man grimaced. “Then we don’t have much time, come on, we need to get moving and catch up to Kline before he takes the final stone.”

  The Old Man turned to walk down the path, but stopped when he noticed that Christina wasn’t following him.

  “What’s wrong?” the Old Man said, sounding impatient. “I don’t think I need to tell you just how crucial timing is.”

  Christina stood there, quietly starting the Old Man down. “It’s your turn to help me.”

  The Old Man paused, looking over at the World Trade Center, the lines around his eyes crinkling. “I know what I promised, but…”

  “No!” Christina slapped the Old Man and grabbed his by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her. “You swore that this would be over with by now. He’s been frozen for the last three days, and that’s long enough so far as I’m concerned.”

  The Old Man paused, until finally nodding in agreement. “You’re right. We’ll need his help anyway.”

  Christina’s face went slack in relief. Tears began rolling down her face and the Old Man reached for her, pulling her in for a hug. He stroked her hair, nodding.

  “We’ll get him back.” He repeated. He pulled back and looked at Christina. “You ready for what comes next? Even I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

  She quickly wiped her eyes and nodded.

  “Let’s finish this,” she said quietly reaching out her hand for the Old Man.

  He took it, and bowed his head.

  And just like that, the pair disappeared in a flash of light.

  Chapter Twenty

  The years passed by for Alex without context or consequence. He had become completely caught up within the simulations the Patrons built for him. After some time, he realized the Patrons had the ability to access every memory he had of the television and movies he and Scott had watched while growing up. Using these memories, he was able to construct dozens of simulations based on the fictional characters he had known and loved growing up.

  He played everyone and everything. He captained every starship in fiction. He destroyed the Death Star from a thousand different perspectives. He even played the villain in the stories occasionally - just to gain perspective of the characters who many hated and feared.

  Living within the Channel was nice way to pass the time. Alex was having fun coming up with new scenarios to live out, but it could be complicated at times. Especially when it came time for the simulations to end. Alex would occasionally have trouble letting go of the life he had just lived so vividly.

  The Patron assigned to watch Alex had been waiting for him as he exited the Channel for the third time in the last thousand years.

  “You stay longer and longer each time.” The Patron observed.

  Alex shrugged, and looked at the mirror in the bathroom the Patrons had provided for him. He examined the scraggly beard that he was beginning to grow while he had been ensconced within the chamber and decided he liked it. The Patron’s chamber made it so he hadn’t aged more than a few months over the last few thousand years, but, it was still long enough for his hair and beard to grow out. Looking at his face in the mirror, he figured every thousand years he spent in the channel was worth about a month of his life.

  “The simulations make it hard to want to leave,” Alex shrugged. “I’d captain the Enterprise for another thousand years if you’d let me.”

  The Alien’s mandibles clicked together, in a manner Alex had learned was laughing. “It’s up to you how you spend your time within the Channel. You’ve brought our species unlimited power. It seems the least we could do to return the favor.”

  Alex looked up, surprised. “You’ve discovered how to create the stones then?”

  The Alien turned his eyes toward the window looking out on the city. That’s when Alex gasped in surprise. The last time he’d exited, the Patron’s planet had still shown the damage from their heavy industry. But now, only a few hundred years later, the skies were clearer than they’d ever been.

  “Is that a park?” Alex asked looking down in wonder at the expanse of greenery located in the center of the city. The Channel the Patrons kept him in was located near the center of their city in a hundred story building. From his vantage point, Alex could see that there were now dozens of parks, which had replaced several of the city’s heavy polluters.

  “It was an idea we got from your simulations.” The Patron replied. “We have been able to collect more and more of the sun’s energy. The Egg’s construction is coming along nicely thanks to your inspiration.

  “Inspiration?” Alex asked, glancing back at the Patron who stood behind him.

  The Patron scuttled forward, looking up at Alex with admiration. “You have no idea. Our society has gone through a revolution of sorts.”

  Alex cocked his head. “Revolution?”

  The Patron’s mandibles clicked once again in the manner Alex took to be laughter. “But of course. Your arrival on our planet is nothing short of a miracle. After you arrived on our planet, and proved to our species that there were more sentient beings out in the universe, it changed everything about the way we saw ourselves and our place in the universe.”

  Alex was confused. “I don’t understand.”

  “You arrived on our planet at an… interesting time for our species. We had planned on abandoning this planet and all that it had given us in favor of your own. But, your arrival and the stone you carried with you showed us what was possible if only our species worked together to solve our problems. And thus, the Egg was born. The images contained within your mind showed even the most skeptical among us that we could create a place that would keep our children safe. And the stories that your species tell each other demonstrates the kind of material we only previously dreamed about for our Channels.”

  “What does that mean for us?” Alex asked. He didn’t like where all this was going.

  The Patron smiled. “As you saw, our species has a tradition of using twelve individuals for our leadership decisions. But, as our technology has evolved, so has our need for complicated power structures diminished. The council remains behind today as a volunteer basis, of those who remain behind and out of the channel to ensure it continues to run smoothly for the 1.1 trillion sentients we now care for.”

  Alex drew out a low whistle. “How on earth have you been able to…?”

  The Patron pointed up this time.

  Alex looked at the nighttime sky and the huge band that stretched across the horizon. It was enormous, grey, green and blue.

  “It is the largest continuous megastructure our species has ever created, and we are building more,” the Patron said, sounding rather proud. “The machines do most of the work, replicating and fitting parts together. Our estimates say the Egg shall be completed within two hundred thousand years, and will be capable of housing over 45 trillion sentients, that can live whatever life they choose within their own Channel.”

  The Old Man had shown Alex what the Egg looked like when it was complete, but somehow, it was more impressive seeing it as a work in progress.

  “You’ve come a long way,” Alex commented.

  “We have you to thank,” the Patron replied.

  “I haven�
��t done anything yet.”

  “You’ve shown us what’s possible,” the Patron replied. “We plan on repaying you and your species for that kindness.”

  Alex cocked his head, “I don’t understand.”

  “No,” the Patron replied. “You won’t, probably for some time. But that’s all right.”

  Alex turned away from the window and moved to a basin filled with water. He splashed some on his face, looking at his image in the mirror. He stroked the nascent beard and smiled. Emily would’ve hated the facial hair.

  “I’m surprised you never play out any scenarios with this ‘Emily,’” the Patron dropped her name casually, as if he had no idea what it meant to him.

  Alex threw some more water on his face, not responding to the Patron at first.

  “You care a great deal for her,” the Patron continued, approaching him.

  “She was very special to me,” Alex replied quietly, looking at the reflection in the mirror.

  “You always play characters who avoid romantic entanglements, why?”

  Alex shrugged, “Just not sure if I’m ready for any of that. Besides, your simulations keep me too busy to really think about pursuing anything inside the Channel. It wouldn’t be real…”

  “The Channel could easily simulate her personality based on our scans of your memories of her. The simulation would appear to be 99.9995% accurate.”

  Alex took a towel off the rack, and admitted the cotton. It never ceased to amaze him just how closely everything the Patrons made for him was to the things he knew back on Earth. But he wrote that off to their superior technology looking like magic to the caveman he was to them.

  “It doesn’t seem right somehow… like I was forcing her to do something…”

  The Patron waved him off. “The simulation would be Emily. You wouldn’t be able to force her to do anything that she wouldn’t normally do in real life. Besides, the simulations you’ve run before have never been real, but you’ve thrived inside each and every one.”

  “But, I know it’s not real going in. It would make any relationship I form with Emily fake.”