The Birth of Dystopia

by A. Q. Moser

  “Try following the path that few people take and you’ll find all the answers you seek. The journey may be difficult but the voyage is well worth it,” Aerial advised encouragingly. “Whom do I have the privilege of meeting today?”

  May extended her hand towards me. “This is Joel and this is Billy and this one behind me is Wolfgang.”

  “You’re all welcome here.” Aerial smiled joyously. “It’s great to have all of you here. From the bottom of my heart I’m so pleased.”

  “Thank you for having us.” May returned with a gratuitous smile, uplifted by the visit.

  “Let’s begin. Please sit.” Aerial indicated for us to find chairs scattered about the mystical room while she returned to her chair by the centre table.

  Billy grabbed an old wooden chair. When he sat, the chair squeaked noisily as he tried to adjust himself to find a comfortable position. Wolfgang never moved, instead sat in the back where he stood, on a chair situated near the wall. May sat the closest to Aerial. I joined in as the fourth corner of a four-person diamond. Four chairs placed exactly to our mood to this outing.

  “I’m really so happy to see you all.” Aerial rubbed her hands together, her face beamed with anticipation.

  With my full attention on Aerial, her hands, wrists and forearms showed her as extremely skinny—almost bony in nature. Her arms were riddled with protruding veins. I had the impression that she sacrificed more for her spiritual call than for provisions. Unlike politicians, she was not a fat cat living well off the trust of others but somehow living out what she believed in. I had a strong feeling that I had to pay attention here.

  “Do you know the process of my séance?” Aerial looked to May, contemplating her involvement in explaining the psychic process.

  “I tried to explain it to them but I got sidetracked,” May defended, in a nice way.

  “A skeptic?” Aerial murmured in May’s direction.

  May nodded inconspicuously.

  “Let me inform you who and what I am.” Aerial inspected each one of us, ending with me. “I’m very devout to my spiritual being and understanding of my gift. You might refer to my work as an occult practise possibly a bogus enterprise for money. But I’d tell you you’re wrong. I find joy in helping others, not in the profit. Money comes as a way to live, that’s how society works. Remember I know before you know. In time, you will understand.” She scoped out the audience again, pausing at me a split second longer.

  Was Aerial reading expressions? Was she drawing information from our emotions? Was I readable by my facial gestures? My aim was to show a poker face and thus give Aerial as little information to work off of. I frowned and concentrated on clearing my mind.

  Aerial looked directly at me. I felt uncomfortable so I glanced past her towards the back doorway. The opening was obscured with the multi-coloured plastic beads stringed down from the archway. The transparent beads reflected the opaque lighting from the wax candles. I could not explain why but it just felt like there was an extra presence in the room.

  “It’s always a delight in enchanting and mystifying people,” Aerial explained with confidence and sincerity of an expert soothsayer. “Some say I put on a mask and enter a new realm but I feel I’m still the same person, no matter what the outcome. Please don’t feel threatened by my persona and remember always question anything I say or do.”

  “May I leave at any time?” Wolfgang posed, as if trying to be difficult.

  “Never follow the trend but let the trend be,” Aerial replied cryptically. “Never follow the trend but let the trend be,” she repeated in a deep, barely audible voice.

  I had no idea what Aerial was talking about. What trend? Was being discourteous a trend? Maybe?

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Wolfgang answered his own question.

  May focused on Wolfgang, expressing a sort of mental message of disregard. A look a teacher would give to a misbehaving student—be quiet and listen. May was completely complacent with Aerial.

  Bored already, Billy was sliding down the chair with his upper torso reaching a perfect forty-five degree angle with respect to the floor. His baseball cap covered nearly his entire face. He was out to lunch.

  “Shall I continue?” Aerial said, anticipating this moment. “I know your type.”

  “I know your type.” Wolfgang appeared to react as a reflex. “What’s up with the fictitious name Aerial,” he mocked.

  “My real name is Miriam. Miriam … Powers,” Aerial addressed the issue to release the tension towards the non-believers. “But I answer to my spiritual name Aerial.”

  Wolfgang nodded, appeased by Aerial’s directness.

  “You’re a wise one and a strong skeptic. There’s nothing wrong with that. The world needs people like this.” With her eyes, Aerial indicated Wolfgang. “Do you believe in existence?”

  “What do you define existence as?” Wolfgang nonchalantly replied, placing the onus back on Aerial.

  Aerial smiled as if expecting nothing else. “I define existence as a means to perform or do an action or word, a thought, a dream, a nightmare. Do you agree with this?”

  “I guess so. I’ve never tried to define it,” Wolfgang remarked, almost abandoning his interest in the debate before it begun.

  “If you agree, then tell me if empty space does something. Does empty space exist?” Aerial tested.

  “Is this part of your séance?” Wolfgang responded with an underlying rudeness.

  Billy coughed and choked, oddly drawing the attention to him. His arms were touching the floor in boredom.

  Aerial rose to her feet and walked out of the room through the stringed back doorway. The plastic strings rung dully on each other—just a tad old-fashioned for my tastes.

  Meanwhile, May looked confused as if expecting a different process to the séance. I had no idea how a séance was to be conducted but my impression was this one was out of the ordinary.

  Billy perked up in fear as he sat up in the chair. “What’s goink on?” he whispered to May, alive and interested all of a sudden as if the end of the session was drawing near.

  Before May could explain, Aerial returned with sheets of yellow paper. She sat down gracefully, gently resting the papers on her lap. She looked us over one-by-one. “I have prepared something for all of you. Rather than talk more, I want to present you with this.” She held up a stack of papers folded along the midsection.

  “Are you some sort of conduit?” Wolfgang crudely engaged without even looking at Aerial.

  Aerial slowly turned towards Wolfgang. “Do you seek peace of mind?”

  “Maybe?” Cautious, Wolfgang scratched his beard. “Who doesn’t?”

  “Your reaction is a common reaction,” Aerial admitted unabashed. “The trick is to realize people express themselves differently when confronted with a unique or controversial situation. We’ve come so far in life and it was only when things go really bad that we seek new venues. New conduits. New mediums. I’m aware of a lot of people who see me as a last resort. They’re cautious as though I’m going to take advantage of them. I want to prove to them and you three, of my devotion to my work. If my paper helps so be it, if it doesn’t I’ll admit it then. There were times when I was wrong as I misinterpreted the visions.”

  “How often is that?” Wolfgang sought a weak point and got it.

  “People may perceive what I offer as being wrong because they expected a different result. In essence, they see things through a different set of eyes,” Aerial suggested, hopeful in reaching a truce.

  Wolfgang raised his hand to interrupt Aerial again.

  “We,” Aerial continued, “must acknowledge that we all make mistakes and then move forward beyond those mistakes. We must look forward and move to find what we’re looking for and make it better. Remember that.”

  Wolfgang lowered his hand, unsure what to ask.

  “Very profound.” May was excited by Aerial’s speech. She put her hands together as if wanting to clap too.

  �
�I’ll tell you this. The dreams aren’t yours,” Aerial dramatized with an intense pitch in her voice. “What you are and what belongs to you has changed you through the dreams. A possession cannot own the possessor just like a dream cannot own the owner. You are what they wanted you to be, but now, you must stand up and make them accountable.”

  My mouth opened in disbelief. What was Aerial saying? Was she saying I was not me? Our nightmares were deliberate? Our minds were rewired on purpose? I was interested in her unique perspective but was she being legitimately profound? Or was she using double talk to confuse us? How could we trust her? Did she know about the nightmares or was she told too much by May in a previous encounter?

  Wolfgang’s eyes widened and then stumped his head back in a theatrical feat of confusion. Billy remained motionless in his chair. His eyes were glazed over as if he were in another world. It was his longest stretch of silence ever.

  “Wow,” May sounded out in amazement.

  “As individuals you’re weak but united together you’re stronger,” Aerial surmised with a fist in the air.

  “We fight a lot,” May volunteered our disruptive flaws.

  Aerial nodded knowing full well. “With these personal documents I prepared.” She held up a stack of yellow papers. “These will guide you to your next plateau in life, a journey of mountains and valleys. I’ll tell you as a group to search for someone. Someone some of you already know from the past.”

  “Who’s this person we need to find and how’ll we find him … or her?” May accepted the premise without any reservations.

  Aerial raised a finger to silence May. “First, you must know each other. Tension is strong but it must be overcome. Build the trust and follow your signs.”

  “Are you still in a trance?” Wolfgang curtly interrupted.

  “I had the visions before you arrived.” Aerial once again flagged the yellow papers in the air. “Your answers are here.”

  “Can we see them?” Wolfgang accepted with frankness. He leaned forward wanting to sneak a peek at the documents.

  Instead, Aerial held them tightly in the palm of her hand, covering it from being seen. I too was eager to see what she wrote about me. Could she explain why my recurring nightmares continue to haunt me? Rubbing the savouring taste from my lips, I leaned back in the chair. I had some reservations on how she could know anything? This was a dumb idea to begin with. She could be playing us?

  “First, return to the old place,” Aerial monotonously proposed. “And look for this person. The old place you know so very well. The old neighbourhood.”

  “And then what?” May was immersed deep into Aerial’s dramatic words.

  “There’s someone there. Someone you must find. He’ll guide you.” Aerial closed her eyelids, anticipating a fuss.

  “What? How are we going to figure this out?” Wolfgang doubted.

  May turned to Wolfgang while her lips moved, but no sound came out. Do you mind? was the expression she bore. She frowned heavily and the rest of her face projected a terrible tiredness of the repeated outbursts.

  “I want an explanation of her remarks,” Wolfgang demanded, looking to the rest of us for support. “We need to understand what she’s telling us before we can try it. Basically, stop talking in riddles.”

  “Riddles?” Aerial repeated. “Riddles are your dreams, your nightmares and your core. You’ll learn to see the truth, and then you’ll see properly.”

  “Aerial, who do we have to look for?” Adjusting herself on the seat, May drove ahead to the path set by Aerial.

  “This person knows things. He is versed in the way. Tall. Lots of problems.” Aerial spoke with her eyelids shut, exhibiting deep wrinkles about the eyes and mouth from concentrating. “A loner, yes. A loner with no friends. Living life alone. Short hair or missing some. A very unique individual.” She tilted her head up and exhaled noisily.

  “We need more. Please try harder,” May begged, convinced the mysterious person existed. “It could be anyone.”

  Aerial opened her eyes, relieved by the release of an unknown pressure. “One knows and then two know. The link is through another. I’m sorry, that’s all I have for you.”

  “Are you saying we know who this person is?” May wanted further confirmation.

  “Yes,” Aerial reassured, “but I don’t know exactly who this person is. Maybe this person knows you or you know this person?” She eerily glanced directly at me and now I was under the spotlight.

  “I don’t know anyone who could help us,” I irrationally defended.

  May drove a glance my way as if I were participating in Wolfgang’s acts of sabotage.

  “There’s something about your old high school. Actually some of you have seen this person before,” Aerial acknowledged the three people closest to her. “Maybe an outsider with no friends?”

  “We know this person?” May checked.

  “No, but you may have seen this person. Maybe these two know the person best. Seek the nickname.” Aerial restricted the group down to two people.

  “I know lots of people.” Responsive, Billy brushed off Aerial’s comment. “Could be anyone? I need more info in order for this to be of any use.”

  “Yeah, what are the odds of us finding this guy?” I asserted, stuck on this impossible quest for an unknown loner. How would information about a nickname help us without knowing what was the nickname?

  “You must continue for the sake of the truth,” Aerial pleaded. “You will know when you meet the person. I’m sorry but that’s all I know.” She ended abruptly.

  “That’s it?” Wolfgang replied childishly. “All this for what purpose?”

  “Wolfgang,” Aerial announced, “do you not want your paper listing pertinent information about your journey? I ordered the items so you can check them off as they occur.”

  Wolfgang smirked unconcerned by what Aerial had to offer; a stance taken by someone who was more accustom in delivering disapprovals than receiving anything.

  “I’ll make sure he reads it,” May whispered to Aerial but loud enough to be overheard by all.

  “Allow the list to serve as your guide. For it’s what you’re searching for in life,” Aerial smoothly explained.

  “We won’t forget,” May assured, knowing her list from Aerial helped her out with her journalistic success.

  “I know all of you are not the type to read and forget,” Aerial attributed an unknown trait to the four of us.

  “I’m sorry but what’s with this encrypted language you keep using?” Wolfgang pestered uncomfortable about the discussion. “Just tell us what’s going on.”

  “It works for me,” May defended with satisfaction, sitting straight.

  “Give us something concrete,” Wolfgang bellowed out, annoyed and angered. “What a waste of time!” Flustered for being ignored, he threw his hands in the air and retreated from the discussion.

  Aerial’s chest expanded large as she inhaled deeply like a comedian unable to shake off the heckler in the audience. “Only patience will win out as proof is in the pudding. Be very careful. All the best and good luck.” Her raised palms crossed across her forehead and down over her closed eyelids. Her lips moved too but nothing was verbalized as if she was praying. Her eyes opened. “I want to personally hand you your lists but I have one condition you must agree upon. You may only read these once you have left my place.” She offered her ultimatum with a serious yet embarrassed expression—typical of a new artist hiding a masterpiece for fear of criticism.

  “I’ll see to that,” May contended with an iron fist.

  “Thank you. Another thing is that I’m not sure whom each paper belongs to. Three papers, three guys.” Aerial waved the yellow papers in the air.

  Wolfgang propped up in his seat, struggling to pull up his sagging pants.

  I could hear Wolfgang’s thought. Psychic? Should Aerial not know whom it belongs too?

  “I know what you’re thinking. A psychic should know but my dilemma is I know people on
ly by character and not by name.” Aerial beat Wolfgang to the punch line. She separated a sheet from the pile. “This belongs to a skeptic.” She reached over and handed it to May since she was closer.

  May swung around and tossed it over onto Wolfgang’s lap. He had no idea what to make of Aerial’s remark. Instead, he graciously accepted the list and waited for the rest of the paper gifts to be handed out.

  Billy drooped low on his chair as a bored teenager during a school assembly. He looked more interested in the random street noises.

  “When you reread my list, let the words flow through you and then you can understand it. All of you will be back.” Aerial filled us with some final words.

  “There’s one of her prophecies about to fail,” Wolfgang mumbled in a harsh undertone. “There’s one of her prophecies about to fail.” He repeated it a little louder in order to provoke a reaction.

  We simply ignored the provocation as if never to have heard it.

  Aerial looked to Billy and me. “I cannot differentiate between the two of you as both of you have been kindly respectful through this entire process. All I have to say is that there’s one paper here for a greater one and one for a lesser one. Sorry but I do use those terms loosely.” She handed the remaining two copies to Billy letting him to decide.

  Greater one, huh? Anymore obvious Aerial was not talking about me. Billy was the big time rock star and I was the lowly computer packager.

  Billy handed the bottom paper to me. First over the greater. I humbly accepted my list.

  May stood up and reached out to shake Aerial’s hand. “Thank you for your help. We’re all forever indebted to you. How much do I owe you?”

  Aerial held May’s hand, grinning at the moment. “May, you received your list already so there’s not much else for me to add to your list. For today, it’ll be two hundred dollars.”

  With the free hand, May pulled out a stack of bills, counted it and handed it to Aerial. “I know you’ve done a lot for us. Thank you.”

  Two hundred dollars was a steep price to pay for a short séance—although I had no idea what a typical one would cost. I placed the list in my front pocket and rose to my feet only to notice Wolfgang had escaped already. Billy was the last to get up and acknowledged Aerial with a gentle wave.