Soul Factory

by William E Belanger

  Lucky for them the gate to the factory looked like it was more guarded from the other side. This meant it was easy to get in but hard to get out. That would be no problem, they had never really planned what to do once they got in and really didn’t have any illusions of getting out either. In fact, “what’s next?” was a bit of a mystery.

  “What are we going to do when we get in?” Amy asked. Both Jeff and Bryan shrugged. “I suppose we see what is going on and try to go from there. If our theory is correct there should have been a maniacal dictator released into the world not long after me. Nothing on earth pointed to anything like that happening so there must be another angle. It would be too late to send one out to be born now; it would be 20 years before he was effective.” Jeff jumped in with “That guy that was sent to kill us had to be recent, how was he full grown?” Bryan thought about the question and then decided “Let’s figure that out first, if they can send fully grown people out then the dictator can be sent at any time.” They all agreed this was a good action plan. They fell silent as they approached the main gate to the factory, nobody needed to overhear something that may cause them trouble.

  Once inside the wall the three were overcome with awe. If the field was large the factory was even bigger. There was a large building just at the horizon and thousands of smaller buildings that looked like barracks sprawled out in front of them. They noticed what looked like a very hastily erected fence covering the entire west wing of the facility. “That’s not good” Bryan whispered and the others nodded.

  They observed the other escorts and there appeared to be no rhyme or reason as to where their captive souls were being taken. The three just decided to pick a corridor and walk down it until they saw something interested. They agreed to hang out near the fence so they could spy on what was going on inside the temporary holding area.

  They noticed numbers on the barracks. Each building was home to 100 souls. “How do they know what number you are?” Jeff asked. Bryan was unsure of the answer, he always knew what number he was when he was back at the factory but it never dawned on him to figure out why. Amy got their attention by clearing her throat. She tugged at Bryan’s hand and motioned down. Right there on the backside of her wrist were her numbers, 10,546.

  “Well, I’ll be” Jeff said and looked at his number. It nearly wrapped all the way around his wrist. “640,045,121” he read slowly, the shear amount of numbers confounding him for a minute. Bryan and Amy laughed and Bryan said “Your number is higher than ours multiplied. I guess that explains why you haven’t had anything to recall.” Jeff rolled his eyes and called the two soul elitists. They all got a kick out of that.

  “Ok, we are near where Amy should be going, let’s switch to Jeff, we could walk for months before we get to his number” Bryan suggested. Jeff fake laughed loudly and swapped places with Amy. At least they had figured everything out before they were questioned by anyone.

  Their timing was impeccable. Right after switching a lone guard rounded the corner in front of them and questioned them. “We’re taking 640,045,121 to his room” Bryan answered. The guard looked annoyed, “Didn’t you get the memo? All souls 50 mill and up go straight to the waiting room now, no download, no reboot, just straight out. I suggest you get on the main road and get him there pronto” he told them bluntly. “Thanks, not sure how we missed that” Bryan told him and they started walking towards the main road.

  “Hey! When did they start letting chicks be guards again?” the man asked when they got about 100’ away. “I guess that’s our cue” Bryan said and the started running at full speed. The man gave chase and the three rounded a corner and doubled back.

  The man kept up his pursuit and the three kept weaving in and out of buildings, around corners and anything they could do to lose him. Eventually they did. Either the man quit the pursuit or went for backup because every time they turned around there was nobody coming. They ended up standing in front of a lone, small building in the midst of all the massive barracks. “This one looks interesting” Bryan said, “Let’s duck in here and hide out for a bit until things calm down.” The three agreed and made their way into the building.

  Chapter 23- Him

  The building was a single room split in two with a jail like cell. Behind the bars was a single man sitting patiently on his cot. He looked up with a grin and asked “Am I up?” Bryan shook his head no and the man sunk back a bit. “Well, what are you doing here then?” he asked. Bryan paused, should he tell the truth? He couldn’t lie because he didn’t know how the place operated so he just went for it.

  “We’re here to right the wrongs that have been happening out there” he said. The man laughed softly and then pouted like a small child. “I guess that means I won’t get my shot then?” he asked. Bryan looked perplexed and then had a moment of realization. This was him; this was the guy they were supposed to stop.

  The man flipped his wrist over and revealed a roman numeral II. “Two?” Bryan asked. “Yeah. I guess you could say I am Eve” the man answered with a laugh. “The two upstairs created #1 and #2 in likeness to themselves. We went after each other for years, just the two of us until #1’s creator had the brilliant idea to add others. Since then #1 has been retired. The man upstairs prefers to build characters. He builds experience. It gives him many players in the game. I get pulled out every now and then. I have been effective when used properly” he explained.

  “When was the last time you were used properly?” Amy asked. The man grinned. “World War II” he answered. “I have been back a couple times since. I led Iraq for a while but that one was doomed from the start. You need to have everything in place. In Germany it was perfect. A bunch of new souls, no wisdom, easily molded hearts and minds. A powder keg waiting to explode. I hear it is even better downstairs right now. I hear there are more new souls down there than ever. I can’t wait to get back down there. I could really win it all this time” he said with a huge grin.

  Bryan was dizzy. This was staggering news. Was this man telling them that everything they did was just a game? #2 noticed Bryan getting angry and held his hand up. “Don’t get so upset boy, you wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for them.” Bryan still wasn’t convinced, he seethed at the man “The things you do to people is atrocious” he told him. #2 laughed again. “You’re attached to the clothes you put your soul in? Have you given a thought to how silly that is?”

  Bryan was ready to choke the man but Amy and Jeff held him back. #2 just kept laughing and making Bryan angrier. He had suffered for nearly 12,000 years because a couple perverts got their jollies by messing with innocent people like him?

  #2 stood up and pressed his face through the bars as much as possible. “You’re going about this all wrong man” he warned “you keep thinking, oh I’m a victim, this is horrible.” He spat at the ground “You’re EXPERIENCE man, you’re CHARACTER. You are the one who stops the guy who is going to jump. You are the guy who brings a little sunshine to the girl who just watched her family die in a fire. Your suffering can prevent the suffering of anyone you choose. Right now, you are the HERO. You’re going to stop me from killing every living thing on the planet. You’ve got a lot of nerve acting upset boy. You have been given the most amazing gift and you don’t even appreciate it.”

  Bryan was floored. He just couldn’t wrap his mind around what has happening. Here was the most evil man imaginable admonishing him because he didn’t like the game he had to play. How are you supposed to swallow a pill like that? #2 didn’t give him much time to think about it before he started back on him again. “I play a fair game, history will show that. I could’ve gassed every one of you bastards in the 90s but I played it cool. If you want to get to the bottom of things I suggest you visit the boys upstairs. It ain’t gonna be easy though. Remember all the legendary tales of war heroes? They guard the place. I’m set to take off in a day’s time. You best hurry.”

  #2 pointed to the corner of the room. “See that table?” he asked. “Move it and look belo
w.” Jeff pushed the table out of the way and revealed a trap door. “That goes to the factory proper, they don’t want me out in public” he told them. The three started toward the staircase and #2 called out “Good luck, if not I’ll see ya downstairs.” Amy flipped him off and slapped her ass. “Sassy little thing” he snickered.

  When the three got into the tunnel Bryan completely broke down. He just couldn’t handle the fact that all his lives had been for the pleasure of someone else. All his blood, all his tears were just a plaything for something bigger. He was so enraged he wanted #2 to just end it all. What would happen then? Would they be stuck here? Would they cease to exist? Could you kill a soul?

  Amy comforted him. She really didn’t know what to say but #2 had made some good points. They were the heroes; they would be the one who kept the earth going. Was it worth keeping the earth going was the big question. Jeff didn’t seem too bothered by it. His lack of experiences probably accounted for the much lesser feeling of betrayal he had.

  Amy stroked Bryan’s head and told him “Look Bry, if we have to we can take this whole thing over. We can kill the men upstairs and make it mean something.” Bryan seemed interested in her plan. “You think it’s possible?” he asked between sobs. “Buddy, after the week we’ve had I’d say anything is possible.” He couldn’t help but smile at that.

  Bryan regained his composure and they went over the plan. They would storm upstairs and confront the men in charge. They would decide what to do based on the explanation they received. Maybe #2 was just manipulating them. He was famous for that after all. Jeff suggested they sabotage the machine that sent souls to earth but nobody knew how they worked so doing that would be impossible. They would just need to work fast to make sure #2 never set foot on earth again.

  The tunnel was a long walk. It took well over an hour of steady travel to make it to the end. The factory side entrance to the tunnel was not covered like it was in #2’s room. They could see a lot of activity going on above them. It was probably going to be a struggle from here on out. “Are we ready?” Amy asked everyone. They all nodded. It was now or never.

  Chapter 24- The infirmary

  The three went up the stairs and found themselves in what appeared to be a hospital. Bryan looked around and recognized the room. “This used to be the waiting room; they must not be using the recycling line at all anymore.” He told the others. Amy nodded, she too recognized the area.

  The entire area was full of hospital beds with souls in various states of disrepair lying in them. Most were missing fingers, some were missing hands. There were others with arms whole arms or legs missing. The souls were apparently not well taken care of and it looked like the parts were removed and just bandaged up. “What the hell is going on here?” Bryan asked himself.

  Bryan nearly jumped out of his skin when he was grabbed while walking by one of the beds. The soul lying in the bed whispered “come down here” and Bryan obliged. “They can’t recycle any more so they have been transplanting our parts onto newcores. It is completely random what memories the transplants bring. I lost a finger and with it went small aspects of every life I have lived. They are sending these fragmented souls down to earth because nobody knows how to fix the recycling machine. The newcores are too ignorant to survive on their own so this was their solution.” Bryan shook his head, this was barbaric. “They have also learned how to flash newcores with recycled soul information. They have been flashing souls for weeks now but have a long way to go. Because of that all of us recycles have been detained. We cannot go back down because we would be blueprints. They don’t want a bunch of blueprints running around so they hack us up instead.”

  It was Amy’s turn to break down. This whole mess was so far out of control she wasn’t sure it could ever be fixed. How could this happen? Why wasn’t there someone in charge that could stop it? Did they not see the barbarism they were performing?

  Bryan thanked the soul and got Amy up and out of the old waiting room. Jeff lagged behind a bit and appeared to talk to a couple more of them. Amy looked at Bryan through teary eyes and asked him “What’s the point of going on?” Bryan didn’t have an answer but he couldn’t let her quit either. “I don’t know babe, I just know we owe it to the world and to these souls to right all the wrongs that have been done to them” he shook his head and fought off tears of his own, “I don’t know how we are going to do it, but I want to finish this more than ever. We have to finish this.”

  Amy nodded. He was right, they couldn’t give up now. Everything they had done so far would have been pointless. As much as it hurt and as hopeless as everything seemed, they had to finish the job.

  Jeff came out and he had something he wanted to share. “I know where the tower is” he told the two. “I also feel that we may be looking at this wrong.” Bryan and Amy looked at him with concern and confusion until he elaborated. “We are trying to put emotion into things we see. We see these guys all cut up and feel that something evil was done to them. I can agree that it was not right but what if it was just an innocent attempt to make things better downstairs?” Bryan narrowed his eyes at him. He saw the point but wasn’t sure he could buy it. “I mean look, the world is on the verge of being taken over by the reincarnation of Hitler. If you had to do some barbaric things to prevent that, would you?” Bryan rubbed his face and groaned. “This place really pisses me off” he said, “Let’s just get upstairs and get some answers.”

  The three weaved their way in and out of corridors to avoid being spotted by anyone. It was the best policy since you could not tell guards from souls to be sent back out into the world. They had an idea of where they needed to go; apparently the staircase was in between what was now the infirmary and the new section of factory where they “flashed” memories into sleeping people on earth. It would be easily identified by the guards.

  “So what’s the plan?” Jeff asked. “I say we walk by them like we are heading to the other side of the factory and jump them as we go by” Amy offered. Bryan grinned and shook his head in the affirmative. “That sounds like as good a plan as any” he confirmed and Jeff nodded in agreement too. “Hitler said these guys were legendary warriors so it is going to be tough but if we can gang up on them maybe we have a shot” Bryan added.

  The three rounded a corner and came face to face with a very angry soul. He pushed Bryan back into the other two and they all went down to the floor. “I might have missed down there, but I won’t up here. You three are done” the man said as he readied his fists for a battle.

  Chapter 25- Dave is back

  Bryan got up first to face Dave. He would be considered a pretty incredible fighter back on earth in blueprinted form. Even if you only fight once a lifetime you end up in quite a few scraps in 12,000 years. Up here, versus a man who has killed people for a living for over 10,000 years it was a different story. Bryan wasn’t even fully to his feet before Dave kicked him back to the ground on top of his friends.

  Bryan rolled and waited for Amy and Jeff to get their bearings this time. If they wanted to defeat this guy they would need to work as a team. Jeff and Bryan approached him from opposite sides and Amy took the middle.

  Dave figured Amy would be the weakest target so he side-kicked at her. She caught his foot and held on tight while Jeff ran up and kicked him in his exposed crotch. Amy pushed his foot up at the same time and he went crashing to the floor nearly head first.

  Somehow it didn’t faze him and he was back up quickly. Bryan realized that the blows he had taken didn’t really hurt either. If there is no pain up here maybe those souls in the infirmary weren’t as bad off as they looked. But if there is no pain how do you defeat someone?

  Dave decided to attack Jeff directly and swept his legs. As he was falling he roundhouse kicked him square in his chest and sent him flying into the wall. Jeff laid there in a heap until he realized it didn’t really do anything to him and returned to his feet.

  Bryan was back on Dave’s list after taking Jeff down but Bryan was be
tter prepared this time. He blocked the opening kick that seemed to be Dave’s trademark and moved in for a quick jab. Bryan punched Dave straight in his chest and he felt his hand actually enter into Dave’s soul. It freaked him out and he pulled back out. Dave’s face went from terror to amusement. He clearly didn’t know what he had almost done.

  Dave punched Bryan in the jaw in retaliation for the hit. He tried to grab him before he stumbled back too far but Bryan fell out of his reach. Amy took his place and punched Dave in the nose. The force of her blow pushed him back several feet. She chopped at his shoulder and probably would have broken his collar bone on earth. He grinned; she was the best fighter of the three. None of them were aware that Amy was a 2nd degree black belt in her last life. Her father practically forced it on her once he realized she was going to be a very attractive woman.

  Dave changed his approach to Amy; he would need to approach her like a fellow assassin, not like normal street trash like the other two. He changed his stance and motioned her to come on. He also had a thought about not killing her since she would be a handy addition to his lives. If he had something like her around he wouldn’t need to abduct women for fun.

  A kick to the face knocked him out of his fantasy world and back into reality. As he stumbled back Jeff and Bryan pinned his arms and left him open to Amy’s attacks. She pounded on Dave like she was stopping him from raping her. She hadn’t been really hit yet so she didn’t know that the punches and kicked inflicted no pain.

  “There’s something about the chest” Bryan yelled out to Amy. This spurred Dave back into action and he used the two restraining him as a pivot point. He kicked Amy back with both feet as hard as he could and she went reeling back nearly 10 feet before careening into a wall. She laid there stunned just like Jeff had done and you could almost see the light bulb go off above her head when she realized it didn’t hurt.