by Taylor Kole
Sincerely,
Alex Cutler
General Koster stared at the page for what could have been a minute, maybe ten. He felt light, as if his surroundings didn’t exist. He lacked thought. With a ferocity that had been building for days, he snatched the bottle of scotch by its neck and pitched it through his office window.
The crash of shattering glass and the ensuing tattering of shards on the wooden floor echoed as if in slow motion. The liquid pilots commenced their assault, wetting his front and the office around him.
Immobilized, he labored heavy breaths.
His office door flew open. “What’s going on?” Linda asked.
Just the end of the world, dear, General Koster thought. Just the end of the world.
Chapter Forty-Six
Rebecca Trevino had always known that Alex Cutler would contact her. She layered Inside Today with verbiage directed at him. She never revealed her subliminal techniques to anyone, mainly because she didn’t fully understand what worked and what didn’t. She’d always acted on instinct. She would research a target and tailor programs to align with that target’s past.
Since the onset of the death trips, every journalist had sought an interview with Alex Cutler. No one had succeeded. In her many fantasies of interviewing him, she’d never concocted any revelations as grand as the powder-keg story he shared with her from the grave.
The newsroom around her swarmed. In moments, she’d interrupt her network’s coverage, which continued to speculate about the results of the biggest summit in world history. Intoxicating programming, but her bombshell would eradicate speculation with facts. Perhaps cause a few weak hearts to fail.
Along with a letter Alex asked her to read on air, he included multiple thumb-drives, and a three-inch stack of documentation. Alex Cutler might be dead to the world, but Rebecca appreciated his efforts to shape its future.
Her people were fact-checking the array of claims: proliferation of improved pirated access points, the assassination of Adisah Boomul, government involvement, backdoor conspiracies. All of which compiled a mountain of stories that she would be covering for the next two years, and discussing her entire life.
The majority of the lights around her dimmed, leaving her illuminated.
She saw the open hand, fingers counting down—five, four, three…
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am Rebecca Trevino, bringing you an exclusive report. The international summit taking place is set to continue for another six hours, but I have obtained the first bit of credible information as to its outcome. First, allow me to read you a letter from a man you all know, Alex Cutler, partner of the Broumgard Group, pioneer in the Lobby’s design, a citizen for the modern era.”
She allowed two seconds to pass, then continued.
“Hello, world. My name is Alex Cutler. For those who have heard of me, you may see me as a rich man or the face of a product or company. But I am a person, like any other. I try to live well, be decent, and make sense out of the life I was given.
“For me, making sense out of existence has been a difficult task. I’ve lived haunted by my brother’s premature death, dealt with anxiety, and worried that life had no meaning.
“I’m oppressed by my own mortality and have spent my life avoiding inactivity, in hopes of thwarting reminders of its eventuality.
“I’ve come to believe that madness is the illusion of danger, pushed on us by those who govern. Overwhelming fear has us living on a razor’s edge. We spend each day so worried, we lack the separation needed to understand our own motivations or desires. We wake and fill our hours with anything to distract us from the existence we hold dear. Hypocrisy, apathy, and ignorance. Humans seem imbedded with a near disdain for other living creatures, for different ways of life, for granting forgiveness.
“It is mainly for these reasons that I ingested a time-release cyanide capsule before entering the Lobby today, and have added my name to the multitudes who have chosen a proven eternity over a hopeful one.
“I do not endorse any philosophy. I have made my choice. You will make yours. A great man once told me, ‘We all walk our own path, and each one of them leads to a brighter future.’ I believe that is true.
“Someday, technology may allow me to step back into your world. But for now, I’m going to wish you well, and enjoy my virtual heaven.”
Virtual Heaven is Taylor Kole’s first novel. If you enjoyed this novel, please take a moment to leave a review on Amazon. With over 1 million novels published a year, reviews are how readers pick through the slush.
Taylor likes loud chainsaws, a well-mowed lawn, and spending time with loved ones. His hobbies involve getting lost in virtual reality, having “guy’s night” each Monday, and reading each night. He considers story the world’s greatest commonality. Thank you for blessing him with your time by reading his work.
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