Mindguard

by Andrei Cherascu

  “Are you going on the mission?”

  “This one? Yeah, I’m on the team.”

  “Lucky bastard,” Alex said. He was sure that Francois assumed he was talking about the beautiful Sophie. In reality, the young mindguard was more envious of Francois’ opportunity to work alongside Sheldon Ayers.

  ●

  “So, I take it you’re having fun mothering the new mindguard,” Sheldon said, taking a sip of local, ruby red Cabernet. They had just finished a wonderful lunch of quail in rosemary, garlic and red wine sauce over quash risotto.

  “He’s a very capable young man,” Isabel said. “But he is a bit too enthusiastic at times. That makes him reckless.“

  “Well, so was I, at first.”

  “I wasn’t,” she joked.

  The restaurant was seventeen floors above their office. It offered a stunning view of the skyline of Essa Ronas, the largest city on the planet Anderra. There were several restaurants in the same building, but Sheldon and Isabel always preferred this one. In addition to the lovely view and good selection of wines, the restaurant was one of the few on the planet that still offered dishes containing actual meat and not synthetic replacements. They chose a table next to one of the enormous windows so that they could occasionally take a glimpse at the breathtaking view, as they ate.

  Essa Ronas was an expensive metropolis with a friendly tropical climate which reminded Sheldon of certain places on Old Earth. When he and Mac had to choose a planet for their main office, Mac insisted that it not be anywhere on Terra Antiqua, for fear it might distract Sheldon from work. The mindguard chose this city. He had visited the planet before and had greatly enjoyed its urban landscapes and its culture. Aside from Mac, Sheldon, Isabel and Kriss White, who all afforded personal transporters and could thus reside anywhere they wanted, the other employees were required to move to Essa Ronas. None of them complained since the place was a tropical paradise. Francois was especially satisfied with the wide and impressive selection of women in the capital city. He flat out told them that, if they were to move their office somewhere else, he would not be joining them.

  Taking a last sip of wine, Sheldon resisted the temptation of ordering another glass and punctuated the decision with a deep, tortured sigh.

  “So, how are things coming along?” he asked.

  “You could come by more often and stay in the loop.”

  “Yes, well, I’ve been busy with my research.”

  She looked out the window, at the horizon. “Yes, so I’ve been told. Still, it is always much better with you around.”

  “You haven’t answered my question,” Sheldon insisted.

  “Hmm?”

  “About work. How are things?”

  She looked into his eyes and slightly nodded. “So, you have felt it too.”

  “Yes,” Sheldon said, having no need to ask what she meant. “When Mac came to me, I sensed he was tense. He seemed worried. It’s not like him to accept a mission of this nature. ”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  Sheldon stared at his empty plate for a while. “I had my reasons.”

  “I suppose Horatio Miller promised to give you access to the memories of your grandfather.”

  Sheldon smiled. He was not surprised that his friend had figured it out so quickly. She returned his smile. “I heard the rumors, that communication with the ancestral memories was possible. I tried to see if I could arrange to talk with one of my ancestors who had been a great warrior on El Agadez. He is the only member of my distant family whose spirit was allowed to join.”

  Sheldon thought it was endearing how she referred to the Human Knowledge Archives as ‘ancestral memories’, as though they were some sort of divine forces and not merely incredibly powerful computers. He was aware of Isabel’s spiritual beliefs. Her form of ancestor worship had even fewer practitioners than Mac’s Christianity. Sheldon suspected that Mac and Isabel thought of each other as kindred souls, united by their spirituality in a time when most of mankind had little interest in ancient mysticism.

  “Yes, I was promised an opportunity to communicate with my grandfather’s memories,” he said. “Apparently, people like Horatio Miller have access to the archives.”

  “You do not like this Educator Miller.”

  “No,” he replied flatly.

  “It bothers you that Mac has accepted his business proposal?”

  The term ‘business proposal’ sounded strange coming from Isabel’s mouth. It felt like Mac was speaking through her, like he had brainwashed her into using this ridiculous corporate-speak.

  “It bothers me that Horatio Miller gets special treatment,” he said. “It bothers me that he has access to a service we would never have provided for anyone else under these circumstances.”

  “So, why do you think Mac took the mission?” It was as if she was guiding him towards a conclusion.

  “I’m not sure yet, I was hoping you could tell me.”

  She nodded, more to herself than as a response to what Sheldon had said. “Officially, everything is fine,” she said after a long pause. “But if you look carefully… there are certain signs.”

  “Signs?”

  “The company is on a downward path.”

  “I know nothing of this.”

  “It’s almost imperceptible, but business numbers are steadily declining.”

  “Profit fluctuates, it’s normal.”

  “Yes, I know. But I sense that this time it is different.”

  “How so?”

  “Sheldahn, you must understand, Mac has never spoken to me about this. But there is something different about his behavior lately, I have sensed it. I’ve checked the numbers myself and, indeed, profit has steadily declined over the past two years. It is still well within stable parameters, there’s no question, and we’ve had periods like this before but… I don’t understand the numbers at the level that Mac and Kriss do. I believe Mac thinks it is different this time, that the agency’s long-term survival is in jeopardy.”

  “Is it because of me?” Sheldon asked, though he already knew the answer.

  “Partly. Since your decreased involvement in field missions, market interest in our agency started waning. Right now, the effect is barely noticeable. But in a few years, your prolonged absence coupled with Mac’s refusal to use artificial mindguards, will alienate a significant part of our clientele. It will create the image that we are against progress and it will cause a decline of trust in our services. Mac is a brilliant businessman but he does hold certain moral values that are not the values of the market. He refuses to compromise and he will not compromise in the future. We both know that and so does he. It feels like a spear that has been thrown in the air and is now starting its slow descent.”

  “So, you think Mac accepted this unnecessarily hazardous mission for prestige?”

  “Perhaps he believes it will improve the company’s image and alter its jeopardized future.”

  Sheldon felt a pressing need for another glass of wine, not because he craved the alcohol but because the ritual of drinking wine helped him calm down and think more clearly. He was a man of ritual. Even his movements had a ceremonious pattern. His mind sought an anchor in this behavior, so that it could withstand the strain of its own complexity. Otherwise, he sometimes feared, it might collapse under the enormous pressure of its own capacity. He was the best in the world and remaining on top took great sacrifice. He knew that from his grandfather.

  He thought back to the day when Mac decided to quit being a mindguard.

  “I can’t afford the tiniest glitch,” Mac had said that day, many years ago. Kriss White did not take the news very well. “Tiny glitch, what the bleedin’ hell are you talking about?” he yelled. “Everything’s clean, there is no goddamned glitch!”

  “I can’t have even the possibility of an error, do you understand that, White?” Mac replied, struggling to remain calm. Everyone in the company had been upset with him and some had even quit but Sheldon had und
erstood. He had understood perfectly.

  On his last official mission as a mindguard, Maclaine Ross and his team had been ambushed while carrying government information through the Merrian Desert. At that time, Mac was the only man in the world who functioned simultaneously as a mindguard and bodyguard. Both were immense responsibilities but he handled them excellently. His company was known as the absolute best in the field of thoughtprotection.

  On that particular mission, the team got ambushed by desert dwellers, who attacked them with rocket launchers, to everyone’s surprise. The attack was so brutal there were even casualties among the bodyguards, a rare occurrence in Mac’s agency. After sheltering his surviving team members in a cave, Mac remained outside to cover them. A rocket was fired straight at him, missing his head by only a few inches. It hit the wall of the mountain, dislocating an enormous rock, which fell right on Mac’s head. The impact should have killed him; it should have not only broken his neck, but shattered it completely. Because of his muscular insertions and all his genetic advancements, the rock broke into tiny pieces and Mac’s head did not. He did, however, fall to the ground and lose consciousness. Francois, who was on one of his first missions, hurried out of the cave and carried him to safety. Kriss White - back then still an active field member - assumed command and guided the mission to success, completely slaughtering the desert dwellers in the process.

  When they returned home, Mac was put through a number of medical tests. The doctors found no damage to his brain, at least none that could be recognized by modern medicine. But Mac was cautious. He took himself off active duty for a while. In the following days he had two instances where he forgot certain things. They were trivial bits of information: the name of a planet, the exact departure hour for one of the future missions. Trivial, but decisive. Mac took the painful decision of quitting his career as a mindguard.

  “Listen, you shithead,” White had yelled, “if the scans say there’s nothing there, then there’s nothing there. You’re probably still in shock. That’s why you’re forgetting stuff.”

  “I won’t take the risk, White.”

  “Do you have any idea how much it will hurt the company?”

  “Do I have any idea?” Mac yelled. His outbursts were rare but very intense. Even the tough old veteran was intimidated when Mac started screaming at the top of his lungs. “I build this goddamned company with my hands… my hands, every second of every day. This company is everything to me!”

  Mac had completely lost it, his veins protruding from the side of his forehead. The team was afraid he’d attack White. “Do I have any idea how it hurts my company? Do you think you know anything about what it takes to be a mindguard? Do you think it’s like being a bodyguard, where you just pay for genetic modifications that do the work for you, and then train for a few hours every day and that’s it? Do you have any clue about the scope of… of… the preparation… the dedication and conditioning, the responsibilities we have, the way we’re always walking on thin ice? No, you don’t, you don’t have any idea! But I do and it’s my company and I’m well aware of how it will be harmed. Not an ounce of my energy goes into anything other than trying to find a way to protect it.”

  “You are this company, Mac,” White said calmly, holding his ground. “That’s all I’m saying. The name of this company has been built around your fame as the only man in the world who is both a bodyguard and a mindguard. If you step down now… Given the competition and the recent rumor of a market move towards artificial mindguards, we could be wiped out in a few years.”

  “I will get us out of this,” Mac said with all his heart. “All of us.” Sheldon was sure he had been the only one who had believed Mac. Back then, just like now, Sheldon had the greatest faith in the ability of his friend. Now, like then, he was still worried.

  Nevertheless, Mac had come through for them in the end. He changed the company’s name from Ross to Ayers-Ross, banking on the popularity of Kinsey Ayers and the emerging talent of his grandson. He made Sheldon Ayers a partner, which strengthened their friendship. Sheldon did not have many friends. There were few people in the world whose company he appreciated or desired. He couldn’t even call Isabel his friend, though he cherished and admired her to the highest level. Still, with Mac, it was different. There was more there than just mutual respect, there was an unspoken bond of loyalty that existed between the two, as if the universe itself had granted them responsibility for each other’s lives.

  Mac always looked out for him like a big brother. When they were in the field, he seemed to try to protect Sheldon more than anyone else. And Sheldon always guarded Mac’s mind with special care. It was their nature to protect each other. For that reason, Sheldon was now worried about him. He trusted Mac as much as Mac trusted him, and he had every confidence in the man’s talent. Still, his behavior on this particular occasion, with this particular client, had been more than peculiar.

  Lost in thought, Sheldon didn’t notice when Isabel paid for the meal. “It’s all right, Sheldahn,” she said, when she saw his discomfort. “It is my pleasure. You company is always exquisite. It is so refreshing, having you around.” She put her hand on his and gently squeezed it.

  “Exquisite?” thought Sheldon. “Perhaps Mac is planting words in her mind after all.” He smiled.

  Chapter 7

  I thought I had found something that would finally unite us. And yet, it has done nothing but divide us even more. I dreamt of a discovery that would bring about peace but all it has brought is unparalleled violence and complete anarchy. I thought we were there, that we could handle with care this most prized and fragile possession. I was wrong. I regret ever having stumbled upon this treasure, only to have mankind turn it into a weapon.

  Dr. Whitman Caine at the emergency meeting of the United Governments of Earth, the day after the assassination of First President Corey McGillian, 2064

  “…and only seventeen minutes late,” Ross said, when Sheldon and Isabel entered the debriefing room arm in arm. Mac looked at Isabel, then at Sheldon, Alex and finally at White. Then he turned and looked at Sophie. “Sometimes I think I should fire all these amateurs and just go ahead and buy a bunch of robots,” he joked.

  Sophie smiled and Alex noticed that she had the most attractive way of smiling, with the tip of her tongue touching her lower lip. The gesture had a very candid charm.

  “Ms. Sophie Gaumont,” Mac said with pathos, theatrically throwing his muscular right arm towards Sheldon, “this is the famous Sheldon Ayers.”

  The look on Sheldon’s face suggested he did not appreciate the clowning around. The young woman shot up from her chair and darted towards Sheldon, her arm outstretched. The mindguard shook her hand with little enthusiasm.

  “It is an honor meeting you, Mr. Ayers,” the young woman said. “Your reputation precedes you.”

  Sheldon finally looked at her in a way that gave the impression his gaze had been moved there by force. Alex simply stared in amazement, wondering if he felt more jealous of Sheldon for getting the lovely woman’s enthusiastic attention, or of Sophie for actually managing to make Sheldon Ayers look directly at her. He was sorry that he wasn’t going to be on the team, but grateful that he had been permitted to at least join in on the briefing.

  “It’s nice meeting you, Ms. Gaumont,” Sheldon said, sounding like he couldn’t care less about making her acquaintance. He looked at Sophie’s left hand. “I can see you are not married, yet your name is not Miller. Are you the Educator’s stepchild, then?”

  “You will have to excuse Sheldon’s lack of manners, Sophie,” Ross intervened. “At mindguard school they surgically remove the bone that makes you polite.” Sophie did not react to Mac’s joke but she also didn’t seem offended by Sheldon. Her voice remained friendly and professional.

  “I chose to use my mother’s maiden name,” she said.

  “Because you are ambitious and want to take full credit for your accomplishments.”

  “Something like that, Mr. Aye
rs.“ The way she pronounced Sheldon’s last name made Alex think she was insinuating that he was taking advantage of his grandfather’s reputation. Meanwhile, Isabel was following their interaction with great interest.

  “And this,” said Ross, looking to ease the tension, “is mindguard Isabel Mensah, who will also be joining us on the mission.” Sophie shook Isabel’s hand with noticeably less enthusiasm than before. The woman responded with a reserved smile and a slight nod.

  “You know, Sheldon’s great for publicity and all, but she’s the capable one of the duo,” White said. He was clearly bored and anxious to start the briefing.

  “I see you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mr. White,” Sheldon said, looking at Sophie. “What he lacks in humor, he more than makes up for in senility.” The old man responded with a gesture of the hand that had lived on throughout the centuries.

  Sophie was surprised by Sheldon’s joke. She chuckled, as the tension from before quickly dissipated.

  “All right, everyone shut up and take your seats, boss’s orders,” Mac said. Everyone in the room complied. Alex always admired Mac’s authority. Maclaine Ross was an easy-going guy with a strong sense of humor. You could tease him, bicker with him and make fun of his tight outfits but you instinctively knew when you needed to do what he says.

  Sheldon looked around and seemed to take notice of the holoprojector and the outdated holopads. “You’re a prototech,” he said to Sophie, perhaps a bit abruptly. The woman quickly got defensive: “Is that a problem, Mr. Ayers?”

  “No,” Sheldon said, obviously feeling no need to add anything else.

  “Sheldon noticed the equipment in the room,” Ross explained. “Usually, the briefing room is empty, except for the table and chairs. We get all visual information on the retinal insertions.”

  “I see,” Sophie said. She still sounded tense, like someone who was used to being persecuted for her convictions.