Plexus

by Wilcoxson, Troy

  Zach looks at Emily’s astonished face as they hear the news for the first time.

  “Now, some call me crazy, but I don’t think he’s fully dead,” the priest says.

  Confused, Zach and Emily listen to the unusual priest.

  “Love, that is what he used when he made us. He gave up everything, even his own life. Palomino, our creator.

  “One day, he’ll return. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, it may not be for a hundred years. But when he returns, he’ll bring peace to the Palomin. This I know,” the priest adds.

  Standing from behind the podium, the priest moves closer.

  “Palomin. That is who we are. Not just androids. By naming ourselves after our father, our creator, we become something more. Something that goes past being an object, a robot. Something with a reason for being here. Now if that’s not real, I’m afraid I don’t know what is,” he adds.

  The crowd is entranced as they listen to the motivating Palomin priest.

  “I don’t want to die. And if Apollyon doesn’t destroy the sources of our creation, then the government will. Are we wrong to fight it? Should we stand by and let the murderers have their way?” he adds.

  Following what the Palomin priest is saying, the crowd grows angry. Some shout, “No!”

  Stunned at the sight, Emily feels her mouth drop.

  “What the hell is going on here?” she whispers.

  “They’re starting a revolt,” Zach replies.

  “We should say something,” she adds.

  “Say what?” he asks.

  “Try and stop them before they get themselves killed. They should just run away,” she says.

  “The world is threatening them; there is no place for them to run. They have every reason to fight for the ones they love,” Zach grumbles as he looks at the priest.

  “We need to talk to the priest about Jiro,” Emily says as the priest’s speech comes to a close.

  As the group walks up to the stage, the priest sees Emily holding Jiro.

  “Hey, I know your face from TV,” the priest says.

  Emily freezes with fear.

  “It’s okay! You’re safe here,” the priest says with a smile.

  “Can you find out what’s wrong with him?” Emily says stepping toward the Palomin priest.

  “Lay him down,” the priest says.

  Placing Jiro on the stage, she gently lays the unconscious boy on his back. The priest kneels down to the boy. Placing his thumbs over his eyes, he raises an eyelid.

  “One moment he’s himself, then the next his eyes change to purple, and it’s like he became somebody else,” she says, concerned.

  “He’s possessed,” the priest says.

  “Huh?” Zach says with a raised eyebrow.

  “He’s possessed by another Palomin. Some Palomin have figured out how to tap into the consciousness of others; however, apparently the boy was too much for whoever tried this,” he adds.

  “Can you help him?” Zach asks.

  “Follow me,” the priest says, walking off the stage toward a side door.

  Zach steps in front of Emily and picks up Jiro. They both follow the priest through the backroom door. They enter a room with a military radio on a wooden table, a red carpet, high bookshelves along the walls, and a ladder on wheels at the end. The priest stops at the table.

  Placing a pillow on the end of the table, the priest waves his hand for them to place the boy on the table. Uneasy, Emily looks at Zach as he approaches the table.

  “Place his forehead on the pillow, facedown,” the priest says.

  Zach places the boy facedown on the table. Stepping away, they wait for the priest to do his work. Opening a drawer connected to the table, the priest pulls out a hammer and a stake.

  “What the fuck!” Emily screams furiously.

  Startled, the priest steps back.

  “What are you doing?” Zach shouts, stepping toward the priest.

  “There is a receiver chip on the back of his neck. I have to damage it to stop anyone from getting inside his mind,” the priest says, holding his hands up.

  “A what?” Zach exhales.

  “Wi-Fi. Break the receiver chip, disable the Wi-Fi, and nobody gets in,” the priest says, shaking his head.

  “Why would he have a Wi-Fi chip?” Zach asks.

  “You send your droid to the market to get eggs, then realize you forgot to tell him to get milk. You can simply call or text him. The problem nowadays is that people—and even other androids—can get in, reprogram, or completely shut down our primary functions. Whether it is a human or an android trying to crack our consciousness, we will not allow our free will to be compromised by anyone,” the priest turns, lowering his neck collar to reveal a small scar where the procedure had been done to him.

  “You see now? I have no interest in harming the boy,” he says, facing them with a kind smile.

  “Oh,” Emily says.

  “Now, do you want me to do it or not?” the priest sighs.

  Emily and Zach look at each other.

  “If it won’t hurt him,” Emily says.

  “He’ll be fine,” the Palomin priest says, reapproaching the boy.

  He places the stake on the back of the boy’s head just at the base where the spine meets the skull. As the priest raises hammer, Emily covers her eyes. Noticing that Emily is distressed, Zach wraps his arm around her. Pop! Emily flinches, slowly revealing her eyes to see the boy. The boy rolls over, wakes up, and opens his blue eyes.

  “Jiro!” Emily yells, running to the boy and throwing her arms round him.

  Jiro’s eyes open wide, unsure of what has happened.

  “Thought you were gone,” she says, squeezing him tightly.

  The priest smiles, and looks up to see Zach laughing.

  “Do you guys have a place to stay?” the priest asks.

  Zach shakes his head. The priest looks down at Emily.

  “Well, you do now,” the priest says.

  “Thank you, father, if I can call you that,” Emily says.

  “Father is just fine,” he replies with a smile. “I’ll take you all to your room.”

  Emily stands up with her hand on Jiro’s back and his arm around her waist. Emily looks down at Jiro.

  Jiro looks up at her and smiles, and she smiles back.

  Guiding them through a hallway, the priest escorts them to their own room.

  “It’s got two beds, a fireplace, and a shower,” the priest says.

  Emily’s face lights up.

  Emily gets the shower going. Zach turns on the TV to see a man on the news talking outside the White House. Jiro sits down on the floor, resting his back on the foot of the bed. Emily closes the bathroom door, takes her clothes off, and then hops into the shower, rinsing her hair. The steam builds up while the hot shower water trickles down her body. Zach grabs a towel and pulls his shirt off as he heads to the bathroom. He hears the shower running behind the closed door. He waits patiently for a few minutes. He hears the shower finally turn off. He steps toward the door as it opens. Emily walks out with a towel wrapped around her body and her hair pulled around over one shoulder. As the door opens, steam emerges, and Emily bumps into Zach.

  “Sorry!” Emily says, raising her hand and accidently grazing his chest.

  Embarrassed, she yanks her hand back and closes her eyes. She slowly reopens her eyes, noticing his abs. She then awkwardly looks away and continues to pass him.

  “Sorry,” she adds awkwardly.

  Zach smiles and lets her pass, observing her thin waist and nicely shaped butt. Then he turns and walk into the bathroom. Emily looks back at Zach, noticing burn scars on his shoulder and side. Shocked, she covers her mouth. Then the door shuts. She turns around as her eyes pan back and forth, wondering if those scars are from the fire when he saved her.

  Emily looks outside the frosted window as snow begins to fall outside.

  CHAPTER NINE

  On the day of my judgment. I will stand be
fore God. He will ask me, “Why did you turn your back, when you could have done something?”

  10:00 PM, December 13, 2051

  Two Hours Till Day Zero

  The night is dark with falling snow piling up on the windowsill. Emily and Zach pull a large loveseat close to the fireplace. Emily sits down, sinking into the soft chair and exhaling her warm breath into her hands before rubbing them together. Jiro runs to the bed, pulls the blanket off, and drags it to the loveseat. Then he hops into the middle of the loveseat and flicks the blanket out so it can cover everyone. Zach places a couple of logs in the fireplace and gets the fire going. It slowly builds, and Emily and Jiro can feel its warmth brush past their cold faces. A slight shiver sends chills up her neck. Zach looks back at Emily and Jiro with a smile and quickly makes his way under the blanket on the other side of Jiro. The fire grows, popping embers into the air. Zach and Emily smile at each other while the smell of burning wood fills their noses. Emily looks down at Jiro, noticing he is already fast asleep.

  “Is he conked out already?” Zach says with a quiet laugh.

  Emily laughs with amazement.

  “I guess so,” she replies.

  The sound of voices singing outside the window grows. Zach looks at the frosted window confused.

  “Sounds like Christmas carols!” Emily whispers.

  She looks at Zach.

  Zach raises his arm over the blanket. Emily notices a small burn scar.

  Emily pauses with a cold stare, debating if she should even ask about the scar. The moment of silence is broken by the crackle of the fireplace.

  “Is that from when you pulled me out of the fire?” Emily asks nervously.

  “Yes,” Zach replies.

  “I’m sorry.”

  The room goes quiet for a moment while Zach searches his thoughts.

  “I’m not,” Zach responds, gazing into Emily’s brown eyes.

  For a moment, Emily loses herself in his dark eyes. She feels as though she could be sucked in like a black hole deep into space. Then the fire pops, startling them both and redirecting their attention to the fireplace. After a moment of silence, Zach lets out a quiet chuckle. Emily joins him and shakes her head.

  “So why did you join the military?” Zach whispers.

  Emily’s smile fades as she reads her thoughts to gather her words. Her heart begins to pound, and she is deeply unsure of how to respond.

  “Never mind,” Zach says. “It’s none of my business.”

  “No, it’s okay!” she replies.

  It gets quiet. Zach looks at Emily as she stares into the fire.

  “My brother deployed to Afghanistan. More like my best friend,” she pauses. “His truck hit a land mine.”

  “I’m sorry,” Zach says.

  “It was a closed casket. There wasn’t much left of him,” she adds. “I guess I joined because I was angry and wanted revenge. There’s nothing noble about why I joined.”

  It goes quiet while the fire bounces around the fireplace.

  “Before I found you in the back alley, I was called into the morgue to identify my dead sister. I tried everything to save her, but I couldn’t. I made a promise, and I couldn’t even keep it,” Zach says, peering into the fire.

  Emily looks at Zach, as the fire sends shadows dancing in the back of the dark room.

  “It’s not your fault,” Emily says.

  Zach stares intensely into the flame as it waves gracefully back and forth.

  “I’m glad I found you,” Zach says, looking into her pretty eyes. Emily watches as the fire dances in his. She smiles.

  “I’m not glad you were knocked out or anything!” he adds with a crooked smile before his mouth opens into a grin to reveal bright white teeth. She bursts out in laughter, then covers her mouth like a kid who got caught doing something wrong. Jiro twitches.

  “Look what you did!” Zach whispers, chuckling quietly.

  Her mouth drops. She glares at Zach, fights her uncontrollable smirk, and shakes her head.

  “That was all your doing, mister,” she states clearly.

  Zach’s forehead crinkles up as he raises his eyebrows, acting oblivious.

  “How was that my doing?” he asks with a grin that reveals his dimples.

  Emily’s mouth drops in shock with amazement. She then turns her head to conceal her smirk.

  “You made me laugh!” she replies with a playful frown.

  Zach laughs. “Okay, it’s on me, I guess.”

  Knock! Knock! Knock! Emily and Zach pause. The door creaks open. An elderly lady peeks inside.

  “Hello?” the old lady says.

  “Hello,” Emily says kindly.

  “Do you guys want something to eat?” the elderly lady asks.

  Zach and Emily look at each other, almost shocked. They smile and then turn back to the old lady.

  “Yes, please,” Emily replies.

  “Well come on!” the old lady says with a laugh.

  Emily nudges Jiro. “Hey, little dude! You hungry?” Jiro nods his head in the affirmative. She lifts him up into her arms while she and Zach make their way out the door.

  “I’m Albert’s friend, Sidney, by the way,” the old lady says with a smile.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Zach says.

  “You too,” she replies brightly.

  “So you’re married to a Palomin?” Emily asks curiously.

  “Well, he wasn’t always a Palomin. He got into an accident, and it wasn’t looking good. One night I’m alone, and I hear this voice. The voice said, ‘I’m not done with him, not yet.’ And so I decided to check out the Palomin dealership,” the old lady says with a smile. “I believe God still has work for Albert, so here we are.”

  They walk through a small wooden door, entering a little homey dining room. The ceiling is slanted, the walls are tan, and the round frosted windowsill holds an assortment of herbs and peppers. Albert sits at the head of a small, old wooden table with five plates. The table has hot turkey fresh out of the oven, sliced ham with pineapple, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and warm buttered rolls. The scent is almost overwhelming. Zach, Emily, and Jiro look like they’ve discovered a treasure chest full of gold. Smiles light up the little dining room. Albert’s beard tilts as he smiles at them. He removes his gray alpine hat, revealing a shiny, bald head.

  “Please, have a seat! You must be hungry,” Albert says with a smile and rosy cheeks.

  Everyone takes a seat. Albert puts his hands out to say grace. “Lord, I would like to take this moment to thank you for this food, this fine company and most importantly, I want to thank you for your second son.” Albert opens his eyes.

  “Dig in!” Albert says with a hearty impatience and a laugh.

  They begin dishing up and passing the food around. Jiro grabs a turkey leg; Zach takes a few slices of ham. Emily gets herself a hefty serving of mashed potatoes. They pile food onto their plates, Albert laughs, and Sidney smiles. Emily takes a bite of one of the deviled eggs and rolls her eyes as if she is in heaven. Jiro goes to town on the turkey leg, and Zach gets a whole mouth full of stuffing. Then Emily pauses in confusion.

  “Why are you doing all of this for us?” Emily asks, looking at both Albert and Sidney.

  Albert looks at Sidney then back at his plate, pausing in deep thought while his eyebrows appear focused. Sidney looks at Emily and smiles awkwardly.

  “We saw what you did on the television. How you rescued Jiro, someone you didn’t know,” Sidney said with irregular breaths. “You don’t really see that—and how you came out of nowhere. It was like a miracle. Almost like a guardian angel,” she adds.

  Emily and Zach look at each other strangely.

  “It’s just everyone’s been so quick to turn away and report us,” Emily says with a sigh. “It’s nice there are still some good people out there,” she adds.

  “Yes, thank you very much for taking us in and everything,” Zach says.

  Albert shakes hi
s head with focused brows and closed eyes. He clinches his jaw and pauses. He exhales deeply and opens his bright green eyes. “You don’t have to thank us,” Albert says.

  Zach is confused. “Yes, we do,” Zach states.

  Jiro looks back and forth between the adults during the discussion.

  “On the day of my judgment. I will stand before God. He will ask me, ‘Why? Why did you turn your back when you could have done something?’” Albert looks at Zach, then Emily. “There is so little good left in this world. I will give anything to preserve what is left. I am a man of God. Make no mistake. But in my transition, I have come to believe in Palomino. The world has gone south. However, I believe that when Palomino returns, things will change. A light will rise,” Albert adds.

  Emily nods with a crooked smile, unsure of how to respond. She looks at Zach, and he looks back at her, then quickly down to his food with raised eyebrows.

  The night grows late as the diners finish off their plates and get ready for bed.

  The Next Morning, 08:00 AM, December 14, 2051

  Day Zero

  They get up. Zach turns on the television and switches to the news. Zach heads to the bathroom while Emily brushes her hair on the edge of her bed. Jiro approaches the television.

  “She was scary,” Jiro whispers to himself.

  Emily walks up behind Jiro as he watches the news.

  “Who?” Emily asks.

  “The woman in my head. He told her to possess me,” Jiro whispers.

  “Who?” she asks, confused.

  “The man with orange eyes,” Jiro replies.

  “He said, ‘Don’t worry about the boy. We don’t need him right now.’ He said there’s no time,” Jiro sighs.

  “No time for what?”

  Jiro looks at the television.

  “He said that…” Jiro hesitates for a moment.

  “He said what?”

  “That tomorrow the world will tremble,” Jiro whispers, looking up at Emily.

  “Did you hear what his plan was?” Emily asks, kneeling down to the boy.

  “He said they’ll kill everyone.”