“I do not wish to come across as rude.” Sage said, looking straight into Crinnan’s eyes, “But if you know or sense anything else that may be beneficial to us then you need to ignore all of Crinnan's commands and speak.”
“As you wish.” Eshan replied. “I will notify you if I begin to understand more… But do not forget your promise…”
Sage rolled his eyes and nodded his head. “Are we safe to leave this building then?”
“We are.” Eshan replied. “Nobody is waiting outside… There is data around us, but not close… As far as I can make out…”
“We shall see then.” Sage replied, turning toward the children. “Are any of them unfit for travel?” Sage asked Garb, the Toraan. “Can we depart from this place?”
“Their bodies are bruised and broken.” Garb replied, casting his gaze toward the floor. “Yet their bodies are young and strong. The deepest of their wounds are not physical…”
“As would be expected…” Sage replied. He turned and faced Crinnan and the two headed for the front door. Crinnan was ready to leave the horror of a building, he shouldered his rifle and he and the Elf led the children and the Toraan out the door.
“Clear left.” Crinnan instinctively said as he rounded the door frame and raised his weapon.
“Clear right.” Eshan said in turn. Crinnan turned around to see that Eshan was right and lowered his rifle.
“I sense your confusion.” Eshan said. “I do not need your eyes to see… I can now somehow see in all directions…”
“That could be useful.” Crinnan replied, “Provided you don’t wish me dead…”
“I have too much at risk for you to die.” Eshan said, “But that does not mean that I like you.”
“Just remain an asset and you and I could both get through this.” Crinnan replied, considering the benefits of having another set of eyes in battle.
Eshan went silent and Crinnan fumbled around for his pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out and placed it between his lips.
“Here.” Sage said, stepping up to Crinnan’s side. He pinched the tip of the cigarette, lighting it. Crinnan took a drag and exhaled the smoke.
“Those things could kill you, dear boy.” Sage said, as the two walked side by side. Crinnan shook his head and took another breath.
“Sounds to me like the NaNe would prevent that.” Crinnan replied. “Based off of what you’ve told me thus far today.” Sage chuckled and nodded his head.
“The NaNe should prevent the smoke from rotting your lungs out.” Sage said, “Provided you enter stasis before any major damage is done.”
“Stasis!” Garb shouted in a near frantic tone, interrupting Sage and pushing his way up toward the duo. “Lest I be mistaken, I do believe that my old ears have heard the word 'stasis' spoken! Oh that my new friends is something that your dearest Garb is very familiar with!” Sage glanced back at the Toraan with a surprised look on his face.
“Very good.” Sage said slowly, “But I should say...”
“I would be most happy to explain it!” Garb said, completely oblivious to Sage's opposition. “Tis a delight to share my knowledge with young curious minds. Stasis, as the word implies is a sort of freezing of time if you will. I entered stasis when I was only twenty eight years old… With much shame I will admit that I do not know how many years have passed since. I will also say that back then I was a much more attractive fellow. I had a nice head of long brown hair and was not near as pale as I am today. My dear departed wife could have attested to that very fact had you been able to ask her but alas she now resides in the Afterscape.”
“The Afterscape?” Sage repeated, almost in a shout. “However did you learn of the Afterscape?”
“Why, tis understandable that you may not believe me but indeed. Tis true. Your dearest Garb in fact helped design it!” Garb said, “I was in charge of gathering textures for the models... How do you know about it mister Elf?”
“I read about it on the remnants of the interweb.” Sage said, “The Afterscape was created in the days of the Ancients, how could you have helped designed it?”
“Ah you are but a child, I forget that not all beings are as sharp as I. You see, I have not always been a Toraan.” Garb laughed. “Toraans as they are now commonly referred to are the result of failed biological implementations you now know. Tis an irony of sorts that those who made us into such monsters also made us immune to the biological weapons used on Belhaas so many years ago. Now we are all that remains of my people... though most of us have gone perversely loony. As you can see, I am okay though.”
“Yes...” Sage said, “But the capable Toraans have also been reproducing since the annihilation of Belhaas. Are you telling me you have been around since the ancient days?”
“Why yes!” Garb said. “How else would I have helped design the Afterscape? I understand your curiosity and if you would kindly silence yourself I can tell you how I have remained standing for oh so long!”
“Please.” Sage said in a curious tone.
“Hold on.” Crinnan said, shaking his head with dismay. “Please do not tell me that I am now stuck with two beings who do not know how to shut up.”
“I believe you may be.” Sage said with a bemused tone. “Go ahead Mister Garb.”
“Well I lived in Belhaas back when she was beautiful.” Garb said, “The building that you rescued us from was once my apartment building. We had a lovely unit on the top floor that overlooked the zoo. I tell you getting a sofa to the top floor was such a hassle. The elevators were not nearly big enough to accommodate the damn thing and my wife Mayla and I got into an argument halfway to the top of the stairs over whether we even needed the couch. Turns out we did and she was all of a sudden not so interested in carrying that thing anymore. Typical female behavior would you agree?”
“Please continue your story.” Sage said, shaking his head.
“Anyway I worked for Life Links at the time. Life Links was the company that created the Nanomachine Network or as you people have referred to it thus far, the NaNe. After the implementation of the NaNe, Life Links worked tirelessly to augment their creation, branching out into many directions… One such project, and perhaps the most important of them all, was the Afterscape program. It was a very valuable project that utilized the personal blueprints that the NaNe make of their hosts. Basically what happened was if you died and did not want to come back through the Re-Live program then you could opt to have your personal blueprint uploaded into the Afterscape.”
“So what does that mean?” I asked.
“Virtual afterlife!” Garb said in an excited tone, “Many people were put off by the lack of answers that the Humaan aliens provided. We hoped for answers, but the Humaans had none. When we asked if they had seen God they said that there was none as far as they had seen. Life Links saw an opportunity there. Not knowing what happens when you die is very unsettling, so for a reasonable rate you could sign up for the Afterscape. Ninety-five percent of the population of Belhaas signed up for it initially. Eventually, Life Links made such a profit of it that they offered a free Basic Plan for all NaNe users which meant that all people got to enjoy at least limited access to life after death which for many, was more than enough! Why, suicide rates went up a considerable margin just so people could try our product.”
“That sounds like Heaven and The Hells.” I said.
“What's that?” Garb asked.
“Tis the new Afterscape.” Sage mumbled. “Apparently the Church of Dura'Ana with the help of The LL Corporation got ahold of and reverse engineered the Afterscape. They re-created the programs and re-routed the NaNe to their own servers... Heaven is eternal bliss for the Church members. The Hells are eternal torture for those who chose not to join the Church. There is no Afterscape anymore.” Garb was silent for a moment as he processed what was told to him.
“Eternal torture?” He finally said. “What's to gain of that?”
“Encouragement to submit to the church.” Sage sai
d, shrugging. “Govia has taken control of Life Links' main server where the NaNe send blueprints when the body dies. They ultimately have complete control over all of us after death.”
“So what happened to the Afterscape occupants?” Garb asked, “Are they in heaven?”
“Probably not.” Sage said, “They weren't part of the Church… They may have been lucky enough to have been erased.” Garb was silent again.
“So my wife...” Garb said. “Mayla...”
“Sorry Garb.” Sage said with what he may have considered empathy. “Anyway… Stasis is basically the activation of the “real” benefits of the NaNe. What happens is your NaNe makes a blueprint of your physical body like Mister Garb was saying. This blueprint that the NaNe makes is then used as a template for the machines to continually refresh your body. So if you enter stasis at age 34 you will forever appear as you did when you were 34 years old. This allows you to live theoretically forever if you never have any life altering accidents. Do not however confuse this blueprint with the one that is made of your conscience. That one is created at the moment that you take your first breath and constantly updated for the rest of your life... Stasis also enables whatever advanced perks your NaNe have crafted for you. Maybe enabling you to tap into the NaNe in objects to move them from afar, or to increase the atomic activity of matter through nanomachines to make them catch fire.”
“So can anyone enter stasis?” Crinnan asked.”
“Yes.” Sage replied, “Anyone who has NaNe. High Vampre and Humaans are unable to.”
“Interesting.” Crinnan said.
“Someone has to activate it for you though.” Sage said, “Some people have the ability to activate stasis in others. It was designed like this to make sure that people were not simply getting their perks for free.”
Crinnan hummed at the explanation and started to think about it all. He had always doubted the existence of Heaven and the Hells but after hearing his two companions speak of it in the terms that they used he began to feel a bit concerned.
“Shit!” Eshan suddenly yelled, “Crinnan look to the sky!” Crinnan and Sage both turned their eyes upward just in time to see a Govian HAPT cruise overhead.
“Well I should say that is a problem.” Sage quipped as he quickly scooped up a child. “Follow me!”
Sage ran and the children stampeded behind him. Crinnan looked up at the transport and saw ropes fall from an open hatch. He cursed and as the last child ran past him, he too turned to run. He looked back and saw Garb standing alone under the transport.
“Garb!” Crinnan yelled, “What the fuck! Come on!” Garb waved his hand at Crinnan and shook his head. Crinnan looked at the children and Sage running away from him and then looked back to Garb. Finally he groaned and sprinted over to the Toraan.
“We need to fucking go!” Crinnan shouted, grabbing his lanky arm. The roar of the HAPT’s engines above made it difficult to hear. “They will kill us!” Garb shrugged himself free from Crinnan.
“Then I can save my wife from hells!” Garb replied.
“What about the children!” Crinnan shouted, “They depend on you, you asshole! Get moving” Garb looked in the children's direction and sighed.
“What a clever lad.” He said reluctantly, shaking his head. “You are right.” A soldier slid down the rope and pointed his rifle at Garb. Garb looked at him and chuckled.
The soldier opened fire and Garb stammered backwards and screamed. Crinnan lifted his rifle and took out the soldier. He turned to run, having given up on the Toraan but stopped when he heard Garb stand back up.
“In all my years I’ve never gotten used to that!” Garb shouted. Blood soaked bullets fell out of his chest and landed on the dirt beneath him. “It is truly painful!.” Crinnan did not have time to think about what had just happened, he grabbed Garb’s arm and we ran toward the children.
“What the holy fucking hells just happened!” Crinnan shouted as they ran, “How did you survive that?!”
“NaNe!” Garb replied, “My tissue heals almost immediately. It feels really great.” A bullet whizzed past the two and Crinnan looked back to see four Govian soldiers chasing them.
“Can you fight?” Crinnan yelled.
“No!” Garb replied, “I can run and I can hide. That is it!”
They were gaining on the children fast. Sage was doing his best to keep them running (and he looked annoyed while doing so) but most of them were too exhausted to do anything.
Crinnan watched as a child tripped over his own tired feet and fell face first into the dust. As he ran past, the boy reached up for Crinnan’s help but it was ignored and Crinnan ran past him.
“Stop running asshole!” Eshan shouted into Crinnan’s head, “What in hells is wrong with you!”
“Be quiet Eshan!” Crinnan replied, “I have to stay alive.”
“Not at that expense!” Eshan said, “Go back for him!”
Crinnan glanced back and saw that Garb had stopped and was helping the kid up. That made Crinnan feel like a complete ass.
As Crinnan looked forward again something slammed into his face right between the eyes. He crashed backwards into the ground and felt a gloved hand wrap around his neck just as everything went black.
***
“Crinnan get up!” a child's voice said, breaking through the darkness. Crinnan opened his eyes and stared up at the clouds. Sounds of cars driving by could be heard in the distance and the smell of smog filled his nostrils. Crinnan looked over and saw his brother kneeling next to him.
“Get up!” he said with an encouraging tone. “We are surrounded by the empire!” I groaned and rubbed my eyes.
“Come on Rubii!” He whined. “Cierson hit me too hard. I am going home to tell daddy.” Rubii reached his hand out and flicked Crinnan between his eyes and then helped him up off the ground.
“Cierson ran away with Sayraa.” he said, dusting Crinnan’s shoulders off. “We need to go rescue her!” Crinnan groaned and shook his head.
“I'm tired of this game Rubii.” Crinnan said, pouting. “I want to go practice real sword fighting with daddy.”
“Stop being such a baby.” Rubii replied, “We have to beat Cierson, it's our mission!”
“But I am tired of playing!” Crinnan shouted, slumping back down on the dead yellow grass. “I do not want to be a little kid anymore.” A tear ran down his face and Rubii knelt down next to him.
“But we are kids.” Rubii said in a comforting tone. He put his arm around Crinnan and he started to cry.
“Cierson and Sayraa are so mean sometimes.” Crinnan said, burying his head into his brother's chest, “We do not deserve it.”
“They just play rough.” Rubii replied, “They love you, you are their little brother. They would do anything to protect you and me. They would never hurt us.” With tear filled eyes he looked over at his twin brother and smiled.
“Would you ever hurt me?” Crinnan asked. “Would you protect me if I needed it?”
“You can count on me!” Rubii said with a wide smile. “We’re brothers forever. Nothing will tear us apart.”
“Ok.” Crinnan said, picking up his toy sword. “Let's go finish our mission.”
***
“Welcome back.” Sage said as Crinnan opened his eyes. “We were wondering when you would return to the world of the living.” Crinnan sat up and immediately felt an immense pain pounding through his head.
“What happened?” Crinnan asked.
“Oh you were knocked unconscious by a Govian.” Sage replied, “You managed to slow us down quite a bit I should say, but I was able to dispose of your attacker and a few more.” Crinnan saw the HAPT that had engaged them crashed into the trees behind Sage. It was smoking horribly and bodies of Govian soldiers littered the ground.
“Everyone appears to have stabilized... for now.” Crinnan groaned and got to his feet.
“We need to keep moving.” He said, darting forward, “We do not have time to waste.”
�
�You really do seem to enjoy pushing yourself I should say.” Sage said, walking closely behind him. “You need to rest for a minute while your NaNe takes care of your concussion.”
“My NaNe can take care of my concussion while we are running.” Crinnan said, walking dizzily. “I need to get back to my squad.”
“Sit down dammit.” Sage commanded, putting his hand on Crinnan’s chest. “You are not a god. Hells, you are not even a full NaNe user. You need to rest.”
Crinnan fell down to a knee and looked at the ground. He was gasping for air and he did not know why. He put my hands down and rested on all fours for a minute.
“Why is all this fucking happening to me?” Crinnan asked finally. “The kidnapping, the dreams... what the hells is all this?” Crinnan felt his eyes well up with tears and he quickly turned his head. He did not want to let Sage see him lose it.
“I wish I could tell you.” Sage replied. “But what happens in life sometimes is out of your control. Unfortunately sometimes the variables of other people's lives; the decisions they make or do not make, spill over and create a nasty chain that somehow, someway affects you. Ultimately the conscious and active pursuit of “why” will usually lead you to dead ends... Only in random times of personal revelation, and sometimes through coincidence, but mostly just when the variables are all met, will you figure out the “why”. Or you could always check the interweb. Either way, 'why' is something that should be avoided altogether I should say.”
“I have always tried...” Crinnan replied, “To live in the here and now. To forget the past and to ignore the future. To not worry. It sounds like such a wonderful way to live, carefree, happy...”
“Happiness is overrated.” Sage said with a chuckle. “You do not need to be happy to live a life worth living.”
“Then what is the point?” Crinnan asked, digging his fingers into the dirt. “If it is not to be happy?”
“That is a question that the philosophically minded have wrestled with for ages I should say.” Sage replied, “I have asked myself the same question many times. Do you want to know what I have come up with?”
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