by Seth Rain
‘About what?’ Scott asked.
Gabriel clenched his fists and stared at the floor. ‘Scott,’ he said, ‘what is more important than people understanding that free will exists? Even today, maybe especially today, in the time of the 144,000? Each of us must choose to be good, to do God’s work, if we’re going to find our way into the kingdom of Heaven.’
‘Free will is dead,’ Scott said.
‘Not yet,’ Gabriel replied. ‘And you will show the world it is very much alive.’
Eight
‘There’s an app on the phone,’ Scott said.
‘There are lots,’ Rebecca replied. She smiled and sat back on her bar stool, placing her phone on the table between them. She picked up her wine glass and took a sip.
‘It’s designed to measure compatibility.’
‘Is it now?’
‘You answer questions.’
‘And it works out if we’re compatible by asking these questions?’
‘There’s more to it than that,’ Scott said. 'You allow it to learn your behaviour, read your texts, your internet searches, the music you listen to, the films you watch, track where you go, where you shop, your heart rate when you’re near certain people, everything…’
‘How does where you shop help work out compatibility?’
‘Not on its own. Combined with everything else.’
A woman walked past holding a writhing toddler.
‘So are we?’ Rebecca asked. ‘Compatible?’
Scott laughed. ‘I don’t know.’
‘That doesn’t sound promising.’
‘No, I mean, I haven’t used the app. It needs to pair with your phone.’
‘I don’t have the app.’
‘You can download it.’
She took her phone, unlocked it and handed it to Scott. ‘Go ahead.’
‘You sure?’
She nodded and took another drink.
Scott scrolled through her screen and started to download the app. ‘It’s been developed by relationship experts. Apparently, it’s the most accurate way you can measure compatibility.’
‘What about love?’
‘Well, that too.’
‘It can measure how much someone loves another person?’
‘It can get close.’ Scott paused. ‘So they say.’
‘So they say?’
‘It takes around a month to reach its first reading.’
‘A month? Then what?’
‘It gives you a percentage,’ he said.
‘Of what?’
‘A percentage chance of making the relationship work.’
‘So don’t you want to risk any more dates?’
‘I just thought it would be fun to test it.’
‘Have you done this before?’
His face flushed. ‘Once.’
She smiled. ‘Liar.’
‘Only once.’
‘And what was the score?’
He handed back the phone. ‘It needs to scan your face to download.’
‘Oh, come on. Tell me. What was it?’
He bit the side of his bottom lip, then said, ‘Twenty-three per cent.’
She tried to hide a smile, then placed the phone face-down on the table.
‘What?’ Scott said.
‘I tell you what. I’ll do it – for a whole month.’
‘But?’
‘But we don’t see each other for that month.’
‘What?’
‘Or you forget about that app and we find out if we’re compatible the old-fashioned way.’
‘And what’s that?’
She blushed, just as she had the day they met in the phone shop. ‘How about we just see what happens? Your choice.’
Nine
It was raining – again. In Birmingham, though, the rain was slowed down by the close, dense air that hung like a shroud. The only indication it was raining came from the slow-moving rivulets of water collecting on the glass, made gold by the street lights on the road outside.
Gabriel stared into the fire. ‘Throughout history, religions have had a difficult relationship with sacrifice. It is a complex idea. But at the same time, it is simple. We have arrived at the same conclusion every time: that to communicate with or appease God, we must offer something we value – something dear to us.’
Scott scanned the room, from the two Watchers, to the fireplace, to the open window streaming with rainwater. Everything that had led to him being here had been out of his control. It had seemed as though he had made choices, but he hadn’t. Like now – he felt as though he could choose to leave at any minute but, deep down, he knew the Watchers surrounding him would not allow that. He was trapped. And no one was acknowledging it.
‘We have to take control,’ Gabriel said. ‘It is time to reclaim control. But we don’t have much time in which to do it.’
‘You keep saying that,’ Scott said. ‘Why? What’s going to happen?’
Gabriel flexed his fingers. They cracked. ‘It might sound strange for me to ask for your forgiveness, Scott, but that’s what I must do. Ultimately, God will judge me. But in this moment, here, right now, it feels as though it is you who must forgive me.’
Scott waited for a sign from the Watchers that would tell him what was about to happen? But they stood motionless.
‘It is the only way,’ Gabriel said. ‘I have tried. But we are at a crucial time in history. It is now or never. We must prove the AI is fallible.’
‘What are you talking about?’
Gabriel nodded at the two Watchers. The white-haired Watcher came to stand behind Scott.
Then the door flew open and a man was pushed into the room. He fell to the floor then lifted his head. His face was bruised and bloodied.
It was Paul.
The Watcher who had thrown Paul to the floor pointed a revolver at his head.
Scott moved to go to Paul, but was held in his chair by the white-haired Watcher who pointed a revolver at him.
‘It must be done,’ Gabriel said. ‘If you die today, Scott, on a date other than the one you were given, we will show the world the AI is wrong.’
The steel of the revolver knocked against the back of Scott’s head. Do it. Do it, he thought. He held his breath, his chest cold, his throat blocked. There was no choice, only inevitability. Do it. Since Rebecca had died, this was what he’d wanted. Do it. But there was the rain against the window, a glowing orange log in the fire, and a staring defiance in Paul’s eyes.
‘Please,’ Scott said, raising his hands. ‘Wait.’
‘It’s the only way,’ Gabriel said. ‘We must know. This could change everything. One sacrifice is all it will take.’
‘We’ll work it out,’ Paul said, his voice cracking. ‘We can figure this out. Together. I believe you, Gabriel – his date could be wrong. Let me take him to Mathew. There will be an explanation. I’m sure of it.’
Gabriel stared at Scott. ‘It could save billions of lives. If your date is wrong, we have to know. We must show the world.’
Scott shook his head. The revolver grazed his hair.
‘Billions? It doesn’t make sense,’ Scott said. ‘How can what happens to me affect so many people? I don’t understand.’
‘Don’t do this,’ Paul said. ‘Please, Gabriel. Don’t do this.’
Gabriel’s voice was deep and slow, as if reciting a prayer, his eyes fixed on Scott. ‘The Watcher’s revolver has five bullets and one empty chamber. This empty chamber belongs to Him, to do with as He wishes.’
Scott had heard those words before and knew what they meant.
Ten
Freya jumped out of the self-driver and checked the tracker on her wrist.
‘Thank you for using Omni-Taxi,’ the electronic voice said. ‘Have a good day.’
The building was notorious, although few people had been inside it. Freya avoided the main entrance, instead circling the building to find another way to the third floor, where the tracker was telling her to go. Behind
a row of overflowing bins, against the building adjacent to the one in which Scott was being kept, stood a ladder that led up a steel fire escape. The frame creaked as Freya climbed to the first platform. She checked that no one was watching, the darkness and smog keeping her hidden, before making her way up the next ladder. She peered into the window opposite, but there was no sign of Scott, or any of Gabriel’s Watchers. She looked up towards the next platform then climbed the ladder. The rungs were wet and slippery. Water dripped on her head. In the window opposite, there was movement. Gabriel! Freya took the revolver from inside her coat and made herself as small as possible. She pushed her wet hair from her face and peered through the window; Scott was in there – he had to be.
The sash window was open. She cocked her head, focusing on the voices coming from inside.
‘It will save billions of lives,’ someone said. ‘If your date is wrong, we have to know. We must show the world.’
It was Gabriel. Had to be.
Freya edged closer to the window.
It was him, and he was holding a revolver. And there was Paul. On his knees. And Scott. Sitting on a chair. Why wasn’t he doing something? Why was he just sitting there?
Then Gabriel spoke again. ‘The Watcher’s revolver has five bullets and one empty chamber…’
The Watcher’s recital.
‘No,’ she whispered, edging even closer to the window, her revolver aimed at the glass. But she didn’t have a clear shot. It was too dark. She wiped the rain from her eyes and squinted.
‘This empty chamber belongs to Him…’ Gabriel said.
The revolver trembled in her hand.
‘…to do with as He wishes.’
It was no good. She was too late. She’d let Paul down. Let everyone down.
The sound of a gunshot made her fall backwards onto the wet fire escape.
Eleven
Scott waited.
He felt it before he heard it. A revolver firing. A loud metallic bark.
No sensations, no feelings, no understanding.
Gabriel fell backwards against the window, holding his right shoulder.
Another gunshot. Then Paul’s body hit the floor.
Another gunshot. And the Watcher behind Paul fell backwards.
Someone tried to enter the room but the muscular Watcher held the door shut.
Gabriel was alive, slumped against the wall, the top of his arm bloody. He shook his head.
‘No, Isaiah,’ Gabriel said. ‘Don’t do this.’
Isaiah, the white-haired Watcher, walked towards Gabriel. ‘You've gone too far. There is another way. There has to be.’
‘There’s no time,’ Gabriel said through gritted teeth, his hand red with blood. ‘Killing Scott is the only way to be sure. If we can prove the AI is wrong, then the world will see what we know is true: that we have free will. That every soul is free to choose his or her own path to righteousness.’
Isaiah looked at Scott. ‘Not like this,’ he said. ‘Killing an innocent man? Whatever happens, it can’t be like this.’
‘Then we’re all lost,’ Gabriel said. ‘And it’s your doing, Isaiah.’
‘We’re leaving,’ Isaiah said. ‘Don’t follow us.’
Gabriel winced in pain. ‘You know I can’t promise that. This is more important than one man’s life.’
‘Mathew will find another way,’ Isaiah said.
Gabriel held his bloody hand in front of his own face and grimaced. ‘Don’t take him to Mathew. He’s not interested in the truth. He wants the 144,000 to be absolute, to be true, and he will do everything he can to hide the truth. You know that.’
‘Isaiah!’ the muscular Watcher shouted as loud thuds vibrated the door behind him. Gabriel’s Watchers were trying to get in. ‘We need to go.’
‘Scott,’ Isaiah said, ‘will you come with us?’
Gabriel was slouched in the corner, his face twisted in pain. Scott would take any way out of the room he could. He reached for Paul but his body was limp. He was dead.
‘Isaiah!’ the Watcher holding the door shouted again.
Scott felt a hand grip his arm and pull him away from Paul’s body.
The other Watcher, fumbling a set of keys, finally managed to lock the door to stop Gabriel’s Watchers getting inside the room, then stooped over Paul. He waited a moment, unsure.
‘Noah!’ Isaiah shouted, pushing Scott towards the second door into the hall.
Scott stumbled into the hallway and down the stairs.
Behind, there were more gunshots – Gabriel’s Watchers chasing after them. Isaiah and the other Watcher burst through the doorway into the hall and followed Scott down the stairs.
‘Go,’ Isaiah called, taking three steps at a time until he was directly behind Scott.
Isaiah kicked open a fire door and they found themselves inside a dark stairwell. They ran down the stairs. The stairwell echoed with their footsteps and heavy breathing. Scott reached the last few steps and pushed open the door, falling out into the open air. He was on the road outside the hotel, self-drivers rushing past, a tram clattering by, pedestrians staring.
‘This way,’ Isaiah said, pointing.
Scott followed. They chicaned through dark, wet alleyways.
Finally, they stopped. Scott bent over, hands on his thighs, gasping. ‘What happened?’ he asked. ‘What happened to Paul? Why’d they do that?’
‘They’ll follow us,’ the white-haired Watcher said. He held Scott’s shoulder. ‘My name’s Isaiah, and this is Noah.’ The muscular Watcher nodded at Scott.
‘You were going to kill me,’ Scott said.
‘No,’ Isaiah replied. ‘It was wrong of Gabriel.’
‘Wrong?’
‘We don’t have time to explain now. We need to go.’
‘Where?’ Scott asked.
Isaiah paused, wiped his hair from his brow, then said, ‘The canals.’
Noah threw his hands into the air. ‘The canals? Fuck that!’
Isaiah held out the palm of his hand to Noah. ‘It’s the only way we’ll get to Mathew before Gabriel finds us again.’
‘But…’ Noah said, ‘the canals? The clans…’
‘It won’t take long,’ Isaiah said. ‘We’re not far from Mathew and his Watchers.’
Noah peeked around the corner of the alleyway. ‘And what… his Watchers are going to welcome us?’
‘We’ll explain everything to them,’ Isaiah said. ‘They’re looking for Scott too.’
‘I hope you know what you’re doing,’ Noah said, again peering around the wall. ‘Wait – someone’s coming.’ He took out his revolver.
‘It’s me!’ a woman’s voice whispered loudly.
Freya.
Noah lowered his revolver.
‘What happened?’ Freya asked. ‘Where’s Paul?’
Isaiah bowed his head and shook it.
Freya glanced at Scott, then at Noah.
‘I’m sorry,’ Isaiah said.
Freya lifted her head, her expression changing from pain to anger and back again.
‘We need to leave,’ Isaiah said to her, his voice coaxing. ‘Find Mathew.’
Noah held Freya’s arm and led her out of the dark alleyway. Scott and Isaiah followed.
Twelve
Scott half walked, half fell down the grassy bank and onto the canal towpath. His throat and chest burned. Sounds were muffled, dense and slow moving. He leaned against the wall beneath the bridge and dropped to the damp ground.
Freya fell beside him and held her head in her hands.
‘They killed Paul,’ she said, staring at Isaiah. ‘You could have done something. Why didn’t you do something?’
Isaiah, stood with his hands on his hips, gazed along the towpath. ‘We had to wait for the right moment. Otherwise none of us would have made it out. Paul made it clear when we should act. I’m sorry.’
‘I should have snapped Gabriel’s neck,’ Noah said, his voice echoing beneath the dome-shaped bridge.
Isaia
h shook his head.
‘I’m just saying,’ Noah said. ‘I’d have ended it a long time ago.’
‘And what would have happened to us?’ Isaiah asked. ‘To Freya. To him?’ He pointed at Scott.
Noah opened his mouth to speak but stopped.
Isaiah glanced at Freya. ‘We’ve known Paul for years. He contacted us recently to tell us about Scott. He’d heard that Scott’s date could be wrong. This is God’s will and we need to understand why it has happened, not kill Scott. Paul made it clear that we had to do all we could to protect him from Gabriel. Whatever it takes.’
Freya stood. ‘You’re as crazy as Paul.’
‘I’m sorry about what happened to Paul,’ Isaiah said. ‘I wish it could have been different. But Paul said the most important thing is to discover the truth. We’re running out of time. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but Paul made me promise I would get Scott to Mathew.’
‘What if I don’t want to go?’ Scott asked.
Isaiah looked as if he was contemplating this question for the first time. ‘Paul was convinced,’ he said. ‘If we don’t find Mathew, Gabriel will find you again. If he does, this time there’ll be no one to stop him killing you. If he kills you, he will prove to the world that the AI is fallible. If he does that, it will cause chaos. Your date,’ Isaiah said, pointing at Scott’s hand, ‘is wrong. Paul believed that.’
‘Do you believe it?’ Scott asked.
Isaiah didn’t answer. He stood and squinted through the darkness.
‘Of course he doesn’t,’ Noah said. ‘No one believes that.’
Freya threw her hands in the air. ‘So what the hell are you doing here?’
‘Paul believed it,’ Isaiah said. ‘And he was right about everything.’
Freya shook her head. ‘Leave him with me. You can go. I will get him to Mathew.’
Scott pushed his back against the brick wall, using it to get to his feet.
Isaiah checked his watch. ‘I promised I would help him reach Mathew. He will know what to do.’