Genie and Engineer 1: The Engineer Wizard

by Glenn Michaels

  So he folded his arms and said nothing.

  • • • •

  The workday was finally over, and they were free to go home. It was like receiving an executive pardon from the governor. Everyone was locking up their desks, grabbing their coats, and heading toward the door. Paul managed to make it outside the building and halfway to the parking lot without collapsing from exhaustion.

  “Hey, Paul! Wait up for a moment, will ya?” shouted Ken, trotting up the sidewalk behind him.

  Paul stopped and turned, trying to screw on a “happy face.” He failed.

  “Listen, man! It was my bad! I’m sorry,” Ken apologized profusely.

  Paul shook his head sadly. “That we’ve got a jerk for a boss? Not your fault. And to tell you the truth, I first thought it was the computer too.”

  “But you were right. You saved the test. It would have taken me an hour before I tried resetting the demultiplexer. And even though you were right, you still got yelled at. If I had just kept my big mouth shut....”

  Paul managed to shrug indifferently. “We got the data with only a small impact to the test goals. Cantrell will get over it. I won’t get any recognition for being right, but I’m not worried about it. So, go home, rest up, get ready for Christmas. The big test is done, for now.”

  “There will be another one early next year,” observed Ken with a rueful look.

  “There always is,” Paul agreed. “It’s our jobs, such as they are.”

  “Yeah. Hey, thanks. I’m just glad you aren’t mad at me,” Ken said with a thankful smile.

  Paul sighed. “Not you, no. Not you.” And then he slowly plodded off toward his Toyota Corolla. Toward home.

  • • • •

  He barely managed to stay awake during the drive home. At the house, he left the car in the driveway and stumbled inside, the genie’s box loosely gripped under one arm.

  He just couldn’t put the genie quandary off any longer. He was so tired of the stress it was putting him under. And he wasn’t going to risk having another one of those horrid nightmares. The genie needed to be dealt with. Right now! Then Paul could get back to living his life in peace.

  He trudged into the garage through the kitchen door. Nervously biting his lip, Paul took the object from the box and set it floating above the workbench again.

  “Ati Kispu Alka,” he babbled feebly.

  “You look terrible, Majeed (Honorable) Paul,” the baritone voice rumbled.

  Once again, the genie was there in all his power and splendor. Paul weakly nodded, actually relieved to see the big guy again. For a fleeting moment, he had feared that he really had dreamt the first encounters. Wobbling somewhat, his knees buckling, Paul lowered himself and sat on the cold concrete floor, his back to one leg of the workbench.

  “At least when I show up, little old ladies aren’t diving behind pews,” Paul muttered sarcastically.

  The genie gave a sly smile. “You look very tired. Perhaps a nap...?”

  “It’s true that I haven’t been sleeping well lately,” Paul admitted in a louder voice.

  The genie grinned merrily. “Too busy thinking of what you might wish for, no doubt. I can help you out there. Would you like to know what the All-Time Top Ten Most Requested Wishes are? That is, according to the latest official Genie Guild charts? I’ll give you a hint. Number one is a shiny, yellow, soft metal....”

  Paul ignored the genie’s smirking and said, “I’d like to ask you some questions.”

  “Of course! What would you like to know?” the huge apparition asked buoyantly.

  “Have you always been a genie?” Paul asked, studying the genie’s face intently with tired eyes to see how he might react.

  The question startled the genie, and he suddenly appeared troubled by it. “A snow-covered mountain endures forever,” he muttered in a subdued manner.

  Sure it does, Paul thought in sudden sarcasm. “Do you enjoy being a genie?”

  The genie’s reaction to Paul’s question was totally unexpected. The grin was gone now. Sweat appeared on his upper brow. The genie was visibly shrinking, too, right in front of Paul, no longer a tall figure. Moreover, his clothes had ceased to glow.

  “The sun arises in the east each morning and shines on the earth,” the genie weakly declared with a gulp.

  With growing certainty, Paul was beginning to get the feel of the genie’s answers. The fact that the apparition was now only four feet or so tall and his clothes had taken on a disreputable appearance told Paul that he was getting warm.

  So he pressed forward.

  “If you had a wish, what would you wish for?” Paul asked, again watching closely.

  The genie now stood less than three feet tall and was still continuing to shrink. His turban was a dirty gray now, and the ruby was gone. He looked increasingly old and worn out.

  “Those who serve reap many blessings,” he mumbled feebly.

  Paul felt like he was on firm ground now and decided it was time to make his offer. “There is a wish that I want. Just one wish. But I want no strings. Therefore, I will make you a deal. You can have the other two wishes for yourself, to use as you would wish. Is it a deal?”

  Without a word, the genie vanished, and the empty garage was all that Paul could see. Getting slowly to his feet, Paul mentally kicked himself, thinking that he had blown an opportunity to have a genie grant him a wish.

  “Geez, man!” Paul screamed, balling both of his hands in frustration and shaking them at the rafters. “Where did you go, Genie?! What about my offer?! Where is my wish?! Blast it, what a total idiot I am! How many times am I ever going to have a chance like this again? What am I going to do now?”

  Then a solid explosion of white light blinded him, and after that, there was nothing.

  FOUR

  Unknown location

  December

  Friday, 10:17 p.m. PST (by Paul’s watch)

  Paul slowly became aware of a softness supporting him. Gradually, this was followed by a sense of the warmth of the sun on his face, the fragrance of flowers, a warm gentle breeze, and the general sense of being outdoors.

  He snapped open his eyes. He was lying on an incredibly large, cushy bed, a pure blue sky above him. Sitting up, his eyes bulging, he saw that the bed was in the center of a patch of closely mowed grass. Scattered around the lawn were manicured flower beds in which brilliantly colored flowers of many different types swayed quietly in the light wind. Fifty yards beyond him, in all directions, the lawn and flowers ended abruptly. Beyond that was the most incredible vista he had ever seen.

  Mountains all around, all of them snowcapped and breathtakingly majestic. A few pure white clouds swam among the peaks. It was a magnificent vista of nature, overwhelming in scope and power, yet peaceful and serene. Paul stared at it for several moments, unable to move or even to think.

  A truly inspiring scene, but eventually, Paul wondered where the heck he was and how in blazes he had gotten there.

  “‘Look...just so I can tell my friends what this dream is about, okay? Where am I?’” he muttered, quoting Kevin Flynn from the movie Tron.

  Slowly getting to his feet, Paul walked to one edge of the plateau and looked down. It was a sheer drop, thousands of feet to the bottom. Nothing but rocks everywhere below him. Indeed, the bottom of the chasm could not properly be made out due to the haze of distance. Dizzy, Paul hurriedly backed away and turned around.

  The bed was gone. In its place was a modest alabaster round table with decorative metal legs, the type often seen on the sidewalk in front of a French café. A matching set of cushioned wire-framed chairs bracketed the table. A tall frosted mug was parked in the center, a rainbow-colored straw poking out the top.

  This sudden and soundless exchange of furniture made Paul’s skin crawl. He crept warily to the table and picked up the mug, taking a tentative sip through the straw. The flavor was unfamiliar, but incredibly delicious.

  “Good, is it not? It was always my favorite drink. Please, h
ave a seat,” said a deep bass voice from behind Paul.

  His heart racing, he spun around, apprehensive. There stood before him a middle-aged man, balding, with black hair, a dark green short-sleeved shirt, baggy gray pants with a wide belt around the waist, and a large metal armband on his right arm. Instinctively, Paul knew that this was the genie, though the man bore no resemblance to that visage now. Puzzled, but for some strange reason not feeling threatened by him, Paul relaxed a little, lowering himself slowly into one of the chairs, where he waited for the genie to join him.

  A mug identical to Paul’s magically appeared in the genie’s hand, and he sat in the chair across from Paul, imbibing his drink deeply.

  They sat in companionable silence for several moments, continuing to sip their drinks, while a million questions roared through Paul’s mind. However, he managed to swallow his impatience while he waited for the genie to speak first.

  “You have no idea what has happened, do you?” the genie casually asked.

  “No, I don’t,” Paul replied guardedly and with a small shake of his head.

  The other man nodded, apparently expecting that answer, and he casually leaned back in his seat. “Many centuries ago, I was a young man, an apprentice to a merchant in the area you know as Saudi Arabia, in a city that no longer exists. I fell in love with Princess Aria, a beautiful, sensitive girl. And she loved me too. But her father, Sheik Taslim, was not amused that his daughter was interested in a mere commoner. At first, he forbade me to see his daughter. Then two of the palace guards, dressed as thieves, broke into my room and beat and robbed me. It took weeks for me to recover, and then the merchant unexpectedly sacked me. I was penniless and heartbroken. I pretended to leave the city but snuck back in at night. Aria and I met and fled the city. I had it well planned, and we managed to escape pursuit for two months. But they caught us. Instead of killing me, Aria’s father gave me to an evil magus, a man who experimented with magic. The magus was trying to create the perfect genie, and I became his experimental subject. In a way, I was lucky. His experiments did not kill me and actually did make me into a genie of sorts. But the wishes I granted were imperfect.

  “A part of the spell he cast upon me was that someday, a generous man could release me from the enchantment if I were allowed to use one of the wishes. However, I was forbidden to tell anyone of the conditions of my genie spell.

  “At first, I thought it would take very little time for someone to figure out my predicament and give up one of his wishes. I had no idea that people were so greedy and so unimaginative.”

  The genie smiled at Paul. “I gave up the hope long ago of ever being free of the spell. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that I no longer have to wander the face of the earth granting imperfect wishes to greedy people. Thank you.” His sincerity touched Paul’s heart.

  But Paul’s feelings at this point were otherwise quite mixed. He had helped someone out of a difficult jam, yes. But at the same time, he had lost the opportunity to use any of the wishes for his own purposes. With a sense of regret, he put that consideration to one side. No sense in crying over spilt milk. There were other issues that he was still confused about.

  “If you are no longer a genie, how did we get here?” he asked, waving his arm around. “And how do you make things appear and disappear? Oh, and where on Earth are we? What is this place?”

  The genie gently smiled again. “I will answer your last question first. This place is a special wizardly retreat, created for wizards of ancient times to visit, to rest, and to contemplate new magical spells. It is apparently a forgotten place too, since I have found no evidence that it has been used in centuries.

  “As for your first question, you gave me two wishes, remember? I used one wish to make myself into a wizard, one who can manipulate space, matter, and the laws of physics. I then used the second wish to free myself of the genie spell.”

  Paul blinked in surprise. From genie to wizard? Okay. That was truly interesting. Up until now, he had never believed in wizards. Oh, Harry Potter was supposedly great entertainment (since Paul hadn’t seen the movies or read the books, he could only accept what others had told him about them), but science allowed no room for wizards or magic in real life.

  Or even genies, for that matter. Yeah, okay. That was a really good point. Maybe it was time for a new scientific hypothesis: if genies were real, then maybe wizards were too. Right.

  The genie continued on, oblivious to Paul’s suddenly thoughtful look. “And now, I ask, what great thing may I do for you to repay the gift that you have given me?” he asked. “What is the wish you wanted me to grant?”

  Paul blinked again, his breath catching in his throat. So, there might be a chance to have a wish fulfilled after all?

  He jumped to his feet and began to slowly pace back and forth. How to best ask for this wish?

  Tentatively, Paul cleared his throat. “I was, ah, going to ask for world peace,” he stated, faking a degree of nonchalance but anxiously awaiting the genie...uh, wizard’s answer. Would he say yes?

  The wizard/genie stared at Paul for several moments and then softly began to chuckle.

  “Paul, in all the centuries of my existence, and I say this quite truthfully, I have never before known a more humble, selfless man on the face of the whole world. Truly, it is an honor to meet you,” his voice rumbled.

  “So, you can grant me my wish?” Paul asked, a hopeful lilt in his voice, as he stopped pacing.

  The wizard/genie smiled apologetically at him. “I regret I cannot do so. I am not a god, so I am not able to bring about world peace. Some things are beyond even the power of magic to accomplish. I’m sorry, but you must choose some other wish. No, hold on a moment. That is not quite true. I am no longer a genie, but a wizard. You need not confine yourself to one wish. I now have the power to grant you multiple wishes. I can grant you fame, power, money, love, a younger, healthier body, and a long life. Would those things interest you?”

  Paul’s shoulders slumped, disappointed, but he was quickly trying to find alternatives to his first wish. He barely heard the wizard’s counter-offer. It overtly reminded Paul of the American Dream, a vision by which he was so thoroughly disenchanted. Did he want more of the same things he already had, but at some higher level of comfort? A small man in the back of Paul’s head was shouting through a megaphone, “No way!”

  Another idea came to Paul.

  “Okay, if world peace is too much to ask for, what about my stepson, Douglas Bouffard?” Paul asked, trying to keep the squeak from his voice, hoping for a more positive response this time.

  The wizard/genie cocked his head to one side, looking suddenly thoughtful.

  “Still thinking of others, heh?” he inquired with a small grin. “Very well. Hmm, let me concentrate for a moment.”

  Closing his eyes, the wizard/genie hummed softly to himself for a minute. Apprehensively, Paul watched, his body tense, a small twitch developing in his left pinky as he grasped the back of the white chair.

  The wizard/genie opened his eyes and frowned. “I just used a small spell to call forth the specifics on Douglas Bouffard. Yes, I see why you are so concerned about him. Not a very nice or productive man, is he? I understand your desire to help him. Very well. What did you have in mind? Do you want me to force him to be a good person? I can do that. In his case, it would require a total replacement of his personality. Is that what you want?”

  Startled, Paul quickly shook his head. “No! Not that! I don’t want you to wipe out his personality! Isn’t there some other way? Can’t you just...you know...make a few tweaks to his character...to kind of make him be a better person...?” Paul’s voice trailed off into nothingness.

  The wizard/genie gently shook his head. “In his case, a few tweaks, as you call them, would not accomplish all that much. However, there is an alternative, one that is more difficult to bring about and less certain in the end results.”

  “And that is...?” Paul asked, raising his eyebrows.
>
  The wizard/genie pursed his lips in thought, staring off into the distance. “I can arrange a series of events to instantly punish him for bad deeds and thoughts and to reward him for good ones. Despite how far gone his morality is, I believe that a series of such events will force him to want to change. In all honesty, he will probably never become a truly good person. But with the proper punishments and rewards, I think he will cease to be the loathsome, degenerate person he is now.”

  Nodding in agreement, Paul gave a sigh of relief and slowly lowered himself back into his seat at the small table. “Yes, that sounds good to me. You can do this?”

  Smiling generously, the wizard/genie replied, “But of course. It will take a little time, but you can consider it done.” Then he clapped and rubbed his hands together. “And now, Paul, I really must insist. I want to do something for you. I have seen your life, your existence, and I have seen the path that you walk. In two more miserable years, in your current mode of reality, you will die of a massive heart attack. I’m sorry, but I simply cannot let that happen to you, not after the great gift you have given me. You like to help others. For once, let someone else help you. Let me return the favor that you have done for me. Tell me how I can help you.”

  The twitch in Paul’s finger subsided, and the tension left his body. Doug would now get the help he needed. For that, Paul felt profoundly grateful.

  “Thank you for promising to help Doug. And I appreciate your offer,” Paul heard himself say, “but I really can’t think of anything that would fix my life. I’m afraid that it is a little too late for that.”

  The bearded man stared at him with a bitter smile. “Paul, please! Don’t go back to your beastly existence. I’ve told you what will happen to you. Don’t you value your life more than that?”

  Paul winced and looked down at his hands. “True, my life isn’t all that great. However, I’m serious. It really is too late to do anything meaningful about it. And to be honest, I really can’t think of anything else that I want. Certainly nothing that would make me happy.”