The Cupel Recruits

by Willshire, Susan

  “Their leader, why does he do it?” Juliet asked.

  “Some would argue because he must, but I don’t believe that. I believe his choices led him to where he is now,” Saraceni responded.

  “You know him,” Gabriel surmised. This was not a question.

  “Yes. He was one of us, our friend and comrade,” Saraceni reported.

  “What happened?” Gabriel asked.

  “He never really agreed with The Cupel in the first place. He argued against it, but in the vote he lost, so he participated in the project teams on the original creation. He is a brilliant scientist and programmer. When we started having problem with The Cupel and realized we each had to do a cycle there to reset, he was furious. He said we were playing with fire and he knew we never should have built The Cupel.”

  Juliet looked at the floor, exactly what she’d been thinking.

  “But we had to go. The consequences here are dire if we don’t so he went. The problem was, when it was time for him to return here, he did not pass the minimum standards test to return, so he was brought to this holding area and advised he would have to do another cycle in The Cupel in order to return. He became furious and refused to go,” Saraceni continued.

  “Wait, I thought for those of you here originally, you had screened for disruptive thinkers in the first place. How was he let in originally and then not back through?” Jack wondered.

  “His choices. He made some questionable choices in his lifetime in the Cupel and tested at a level of morality below acceptable here by a small fraction. He barely passed the disruptive thinker test initially, but he did. And we all knew his level of brilliance came with a bit of eccentricity. He was our friend, so barely passing was still passing as far as we were concerned and we thought nothing further of it.”

  Ruth interrupted, “In retrospect, had we been more advanced then, we would have put him on restricted duty and area assignment until he further proved himself, until we were sure.”

  “Like quarantine,” Jack absorbed.

  “Yes, that is why new recruits are separated for a time. Privileges must be earned, not freely given, plus you do need time to calibrate,” she responded.

  “So, he refused to go back, then what?” Enam prompted, eager to get back to the story.

  “After about a week here, he began to degrade physically without recalibration. Our council met and decided we would put his soul back into The Cupel, but provide him his own team of Kajika to guide him, and 24 hour a day monitoring. No one else had ever not been cleared to return,” Saraceni added.

  Kyle interrupted, “or has since.”

  “Or has since,” Saraceni agreed, “So, we knew we had to do all in our power to make sure to bring him home again. So, we reinserted him.”

  “Little did we know, while he was here, he used the equipment and freed himself from all monitoring or guidance while in The Cupel, and made himself retain his memory, as if Kajika, when he was really a reset. So after he returned, we were unable to help him. He thought he could complete it himself, but he couldn’t. He viewed our reinserting him as a betrayal, as if we were not his friends. He thought the fact he only missed the test by a small margin that friends should allow a small margin of error.”

  “Was he above the level of Chandra, or Jack, or Phoebe?” Juliet asked .

  “ What?” Saraceni stepped back, off guard by the bluntness of her question.

  “Was his test less than theirs? You’ve made exceptions in emergent times for some people to come here before they were really ready. Could you have done the same for him?” she asked. Everyone looked at her as if she were arguing pro-Hitler and she reacted.

  “I’m not saying I agree with the guy, I just want to know if he had a point. You can’t fight an enemy you don’t understand,” she clarified.

  “No,” Saraceni answered slowly, “his test was not less than theirs. By today’s standards for emergency situations only, he would have passed.”

  “Those standards didn’t exist at the time,” Kyle defended, “we only relaxed them when it became a matter of life and death for everyone in both systems.”

  “Right. When it was important to you, you made an exception, but when it was important to him, you did not,” Juliet concluded.

  “It’s not so easy, Juliet,” Ruth leaned in, sitting right next to the woman, “The test picked up proclivities in him that are dangerous here. We will loosen standards on ability, or insight, but not on morality, that one is not flexible, and for good reason.”

  “Which did play out; He came close the first few times, but with each cycle he became more and more bitter and farther and farther from passing. Now he is so opposite of what he once was. He decided if he couldn’t be here, he would prove all the errors in The Cupel that he claimed from the beginning: Ding all the chinks in the armor, pull at all the loose threads, just to prove he was right. He dedicates his time solely to being destructive, destroying the environment and recruiting others to do the same.”

  “But you made him like that! You had someone who was basically good, but a little conflicted, and instead of helping him, you kicked him aside and let him slide into being wholly evil and self-loathing,” Juliet accused.

  “We didn’t! We were going to help him! He just cut all ties to our help and then chastised us for his decision.”

  “Because he didn’t think he could trust you. I wouldn’t go in there with ties on me in that situation,” Juliet added.

  “Juliet-” Gabriel gently grabbed her arm in brotherly fashion, “If you were going to die unless you reentered The Cupel, you’re saying you wouldn’t trust us to monitor and guide you, if that’s what was needed?” He motioned to the rest of Molior.

  “Or me?” Wood added, bolstering the argument. Juliet stood in pensive contemplation, on the edge of her answers. Ruth made a note on a chart and knitted her brow slightly.

  “Well, if it was you guys,” Juliet peeled back each word one at a time, “but, I haven’t had a reason to mistrust you guys. If you had ignored me, or not listened to me, or if it were them instead,” she motioned to Stone and Saraceni, “I can’t say for sure.”

  “Hindsight is perfect, “Saraceni concluded, “and I personally will wonder until the end of time if I had handled it differently if things might have been different, but it is moot now. He is so far beyond redemption there is no hope for him now.”

  Chandra was vexed by this, “Aren’t we all allowed redemption? Isn’t there always a chance-no matter what?” she asked.

  “Alexander!” Saraceni prompted, jolting Alexander Aquila to attention from the intent listener he had been, “Does energy always have potential?” Alexander thought for a moment.

  “Well, conservation of energy says it is always preserved, but that doesn’t mean it is potential energy in every case.”

  “Right,” Saraceni was a bit more forceful than usual, “and when dark energy becomes too destructive, where its destructive potential is hundreds of times greater than any constructive use, that dark energy is just cast out into the universe, with no potential to be born. It just is.”

  “So, if people go through so many cycles and don’t progress, you cut them loose?” Juliet pressed.

  “Not if they are not destructive,” Ruth added quickly. “ If they just fail to progress, then they won’t be born here, but can continue to exist in The Cupel quite comfortably, just as organic, just as real, just no upper-level soul development.” Juliet stared at Ruth coolly, expecting her next sentence.

  “If, however, they are actively destructive for multiple cycles and can’t progress, then their energy is relegated outside of an organic body and their destructive influence not empowered any more than it has under its own existence. Regular dark matter is required to maintain balance. They are necessary.”

  “The Dark Janae?” Gabriel asked.

  “Some of those that are actively destructive are Dark Janae,” Kyle explained, “They only become Dark Janae because Valswak empowers their
bodyless souls. Without him, they would just be free-floating energy, with very minor abilities to influence, but nothing dramatic.”

  “You’ve created all your own enemies. Maybe they wouldn’t be so destructive if you didn’t treat them so,” Juliet nearly spat the words.

  “You are mistaken, my dear. We have given them every chance and tried to help them. They are what they are,” Ruth answered.

  Chapter 20

  “Stone, please check on Phoebe. She should be in the holding area, ready to be assimilated. I’d prefer you stay with her, even though she’s not yet with body or conscious,” Ruth instructed. Stone departed soundlessly, with a nod to Gabriel on the way.

  “I’m going to check on George, and stop in to make sure the project team is on task. You don’t need me for this,” Ruth relayed and then she, too, exited soundlessly.

  “It’s time for this team to learn monitoring and guiding souls,” Saraceni began,

  “Gabriel, let’s start with your connectors. Wood?” Wood flipped on the two monitors again, but this time Lela and the Africa crew, in the cavern, appeared on the monitor on the right, and two unshaven, dirty men appeared on the monitor on the left. Gabriel watched for a moment, taking in the scenes. Lela was sleeping, as most in the cavern were. It looked to be late afternoon there, perhaps just prior to sunset. The unshaven man was punching away on a waterproof computer resting on his knees as he lay behind a rock in what appeared to be an environment out West, or at least somewhere very dry. He snapped the computer case shut and spoke to his partner in a language Gabriel did not understand. It was the voice Gabriel recognized, for the man before him did not look like James at all. Though he’d met the man several times through Lela, Gabriel wouldn’t have recognized James if he passed him on the street. His hair wasn’t long, but not short either. Bleached out by the sun, it appeared nearly platinum blonde and the sun had etched lines into his face Gabriel did not remember. Add to that a pile of dirt, a 12 o’clock shadow and about a 20 pound weight loss, and the thin man with dark circles under his eyes just barely resembled the inner shell of James Matthews.

  “Geez, he looks like hell,” Gabriel muttered mostly to himself. Wood, being the only other person close enough to hear him agreed.

  “Yeah, the Dark Janae have been after him for a while. He’s strong, though, he won’t turn,” Wood reassured him.

  “What do you mean ‘after him’?” Gabriel asked.

  “You know, making life seem hopeless. Nudging the variables so all his challenges and lessons hit him at once rather than spaced out over time. They have limits to what they can create outright, but there is no end to the manipulation.” Gabriel nodded understanding, crossing his arms slowly in front of his chest as he leaned back slightly and shifted his attention to his sister. She slept completely sprawled out, shifting around frequently. Definitely not the cute little kitten-like sleeping he loved so much about Gretchen. Gabriel remembered how he loved to watch Gretchen sleep and then chuckled a bit as Brett Davies stepped over his sister’s sprawling form to gather a backpack from against the wall.

  “Do we have any ability to impact that manipulation? Push them away or anything?” Gabriel asked.

  “We can’t outright push them away. The only person who can directly manipulate from outside is Valswak. We can introduce countermeasures, though, and provide tools, encouragement – ancillary things mostly, but they do seem to make a big difference sometimes.”

  “How come he can manipulate directly?” Gabriel said incredulously. It hardly seemed fair; the rules should at least be even.

  “Because he wrote the code,” Kyle supplied. “He secretly gave himself full access and no restrictions in the very program itself. It can’t even be rewritten; he locked it.” Gabriel sighed deeply, realizing they were not in as good a position as all the surrounding technology made it seem. Wood pressed a button and the controls to the monitor slid out of the space beneath the screen. He tilted them down at a slight angle toward Gabriel.

  “Okay, let’s give him some help.” Wood said. After a few taps of the keyboard, the field radio at James’ hip beckoned and he answered.

  “Red Wolf 2,” James droned in rote fashion. He was barely awake, coasting on fumes.

  “Red Wolf 2, return to base. You and 1 there have a 24 hour sleep pass. We need you fresh before tomorrow. Head out in 10.”

  “Yes, sir,” James affirmed, marveling at his good luck as he shared the news with his partner.

  “Gonna take a lot longer than 24 hours for us to be fresh again, but I’ll take it!” he replied. “Real food!” the man added as he shoved the MRE he had just withdrawn to eat back in his pack. Reflexively, they continued scanning the horizon as the ten minutes passed before they could leave. Wood showed Gabriel, who then held the controls. After a moment of silence between the men on the screen, Gabriel managed a small guidance.

  “You gonna call your girl?” Red Wolf 1 asked.

  “What girl?” James said. He had given up hope of that at least a month ago. He could barely survive, how was he supposed to keep someone an ocean away in consideration?

  “The one in the picture that’s so worn her face looks like my Grandma,” Red Wolf 1 replied. “You better get a new picture or she’ll be like 90 by this time next month!” he teased.

  “I don’t understand,” Gabriel said plainly, “We’re supposed to be helping. Certainly there is something more important we could be working on than my sister’s love life.”

  James rubbed the back of his neck and barely even considered the question. He almost didn’t care at this point. Of course he cared, but not overtly. It just seemed an untenable situation to him in his present circumstances.

  Saraceni explained, “First of all, he is her binary soul match, which means they will work closely here and need to prepare for that there.” He adjusted the controls so that each person on both screens reflected in a series of colors, much like heat-sensored photography, but with distinct color signatures and patterns. “And secondly, we need him to help convince her to complete her mission there.” Gabriel focused intently on the screen , noticing that Lela and James had color patterns that matched identically: bluish toward the top, magenta in the middle, yellow to the center left and green at the bottom part of the body with a thin red line right across the knees. Quite distinct from everyone else. The other people showed as their own unique rainbow mixtures of varying colors, but each very distinct from one another. A couple pairs looked very close, but none as identical a match as James and Lela. It was then they noticed one figure in the cavern in Africa was solid gold light from head to toe.

  “Who’s that?” Alexander pointed at the man on the screen, worried his daughter might be in danger from one of those creatures.

  “That’s a Kajika.” Kyle explained. They flipped the screen sensor back to the regular picture view. The Kajika was an African guide hired to assist the team, the one who had spoken to Lela on the bus, in fact, though Gabriel did not know that. He sat in the dirt in native clothing and no shoes eating rice.

  “He is protecting,” Saraceni informed. “We assigned him to her when you came here and we made the decision to leave her there.”

  “You decided to leave her-Why?” Alexander asked softly, “Why couldn’t she just come here with us?” Saraceni patted him on the back, much like he had seen Alexander do to Gabriel.

  “I’m sorry, Alexander, I know it is difficult. She wasn’t ready. If we bring her here too soon, she will be unsuccessful and frustrated, and hold back the others. Besides, she is the only one we trust in position where she is to complete the assignment there. It is imperative and we needed someone of one of the highest levels within The Cupel, which she is.” Saraceni attempted to lessen the blow. Alexander looked at his daughter asleep on the screen and suddenly became overwhelmed with thoughts that she had been left all alone and now she’d have an assignment to complete on her own. Gabriel returned to the controls on James’ monitor. He pressed the final stroke and
nothing happened. He looked at Wood.

  “Here, you forgot the suggestion,” Wood said, making the adjustment.

  “How can you tell when there’s one loaded and not?” Gabriel asked, “I thought there was one in the holding box thing over here?” He pointed to a box at the bottom right of the controller.

  “No, that’s for direct suggestions. Indirect suggestions are up here.” Wood adjusted and a smaller banner box revealed at the top.

  “Oh, the decagon design, I see,” Gabriel then moved the controller to see the indirect suggestion at the top banner and in a moment it was gone. Red Wolf 1 turned to James.

  “I really think you should call her while we’re on sleep pass, or at least email her.” James did not respond. “You might not think you want to now, but you’ll regret it later and I don’t want to be the one dealing with you crying in your beer and sobbing hysterically in front of the women I’m trying to pick up when we’re in a bar back home.” James smiled slightly. As if he would ever publicly cry in his beer-or privately, for that matter. The two men rose and began to run at a measured pace back toward the base. Wood muted the volume on the monitor and shifted his attention to the cavern monitor.