The Lawless One and the End of Time

by Lonnie Pacelli

  Caleb arrived at the Jerusalem Capitol Complex, his arm still bandaged from his bullet graze. The complex was erected in 2049 just north of the Dome of the Rock where some historians believe the Temple of Solomon once stood. The complex replicated some elements of Solomon’s Temple, with an outer court, inner court and capitol building. The dedication was to occur in the outer court, with the monument standing at the outer court entrance for everyone entering and exiting the complex to see. Caleb made his way through the gates of the outer court with its six-meter-high limestone walls surrounding the complex. Next to the outer court entry was a three-meter structure draped in deep purple fabric surrounded by a red rope barrier. Members of the Europe Ethnarchy Senate and other world dignitaries filed into the outer court, filling it to capacity. President Dichter and members of his cabinet entered the outer court. Dichter took his place next to the structure draped in purple. Caleb switched on his HoloSpecs, entered HoloRoom LFTP-939, and switched on the portable camera on his HoloSpecs so others in the HoloRoom could see the dedication.

  “This is Caleb Todd at the Jerusalem Capitol Complex, where Israeli President Ari Dichter will unveil the Peace Monument celebrating peace between Israel and its neighbors. He’s about to speak.”

  President Dichter switched on his HoloSpecs. “Distinguished guests and people around the world, three-and-a-half years ago, Israel entered into a peace agreement with our neighboring countries, allowing the citizens of Israel to live their lives without a constant fear of military strikes. What was once a society steeped in terror is now one of love and hope. Israel owes its freedom to the Europe Ethnarchy and the tireless efforts of Chairperson Paul Ambrosi. I am pleased to dedicate this Peace Monument in hope that peace will be maintained not just for the next three and half years, but for generations to come.” The peace treaty was signed on September 1, 2062 between Israel and its neighbors Egypt Sinai, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The peace treaty mandated seven years of cease-fire between Israel and its neighbors. The Europe Ethnarchy established military bases in Israel as a “peace through strength” move to remind Israel’s neighbors what would happen should they break the treaty. Due to the high degree of mistrust between Israel and its neighbors, the agreement would be only for seven years, with future negotiations to begin at the beginning of year six. The peace treaty only existed because the Europe Ethnarchy threatened military intervention against Israel’s neighbors.

  Dichter pulled the purple fabric from the structure, revealing a polished gold statue that glistened in the sunlight, almost as if the statue was illuminated. There were oohs and aahs from those in the outer court followed by rousing applause. Caleb marveled at the attention to detail and its god-like grandeur. He looked at it from head to toe, struck with its lifelikeness, it was almost as if it was alive, as if it could talk if it wanted to. He then looked at the base and the etching, Paolo James Ambrosi, Europe Ethnarchy Chairperson, Dedicated March 1, 2066. Caleb smiled at the distinction bestowed on his cousin who helped him so much through his life. He considered it an honor to pay for its commissioning.

  Three Nows

  2062

  S eptember 1, 2062 marked the 1,000th HoloBlog episode of Growing Up Autistic with the Winns. Through the years they had covered a wide range of topics--autism, parenting, faith. Millions had watched JT, now 14, grow up with autism, cheering his strengths, grieving his challenges. The last few years saw Bert and Laura increasingly critical of DarkRooms, with their ruinous effects on relationships, and their seductive addiction claiming hormone-raging teenagers. They had psychologists, pastors, and other experts as guests speaking about DarkRoom HoloDiction and its detrimental effects. Talking out against DarkRooms became an obsession for Bert and Laura, just as puzzles were an obsession for Bert when he was a toddler. Bert and Laura didn’t care if they repelled followers because of their crusade, they felt it was more important to be evangelists against DarkRooms. Their following increased, while DarkRoom visitor instances declined by ten percent. Caleb was livid over Bert and Laura’s campaign against HoloMate’s meal ticket but feared any action against them would hurt their business even more.

  Bert introduced the day’s episode, “Today we have as a special guest, Dr. William Ellison from the University of Arizona in the United States. Dr. Ellison is the executive director of the Autism Alliance of Southern Arizona and has done extensive research on DarkRooms and their effect on the autism community. Thank you for joining us from Arizona, Dr. Ellison.”

  Ellison was sitting with a cherry cola in his office in Tucson, having already switched on his HoloSpecs. Ellison, Laura, Bert, and JT’s hologram images were sitting at a table in their HoloRoom, a beautiful picture of the Tucson desert at sunrise in the background.

  “Thank you for having me, Winn family.”

  “Dr. Ellison tell us about your DarkRoom research,” Laura said.

  Ellison sipped his soda, preparing for a long explanation. “Happy to. For five years we’ve conducted hundreds of experiments,” Ellison was interrupted mid-sentence by a deep bass voice. The voice was slow and deliberate, loud but not piercing to the ears. The voice said Now three times, then Ellison heard a perfectly-pitched Middle C trumpet sound, starting soft, gradually growing louder. The trumpet, like the voice, was loud but not annoying. Ellison, Bert, Laura, and JT were confused as the trumpet sound overtook every other sound. After five seconds of the trumpet crescendo the sound turned into a loud screech, hurting Ellison’ ears. At that same moment Bert, Laura, and JT disappeared from the HoloRoom, leaving only Ellison in the room. Ellison looked at the three empty spots where the Winns sat just moments ago.

  “Bert, are you there?” Ellison asked. “Laura? Bert?” Total silence. “Bert, are you there?” No response. “Must be a technical problem,” Ellison thought to himself. He stayed in the room with his HoloSpecs on for another minute, then started hearing screaming outside his office. He removed his HoloSpecs, got up from his desk, and opened the door. He looked across the room filled with cubicles, his colleagues running from cubicle to cubicle, wondering where their colleagues who had been working there just seconds earlier had gone. He walked over to his assistant’s desk and looked at her empty chair, only seeing a dress draped over the chair, her jewelry and HoloSpecs where she sat just moments ago.

  Bert’s parents, Ryan and Hayley, had been watching the HoloBlog from their home in Naples when the voice and trumpet sound commenced. Ryan removed his HoloSpecs and looked at Hayley. He watched her facial expression as the trumpet sound built. She had a glow about her, with the most peaceful look he had ever seen on her face. She removed her HoloSpecs and looked at Ryan, still looking radiant with the lovely smile. As the screech began he watched Hayley’s glow turn into a bright light, then she disappeared, the bright light sucking into itself as her clothes, jewelry, and HoloSpecs fell to the chair and ground, her simple gold wedding ring rolling to Ryan’s foot. Confused, Ryan went to Hayley’s chair, seeing only what was left of her personal effects. Her bra, necklace, and earrings and fell to the floor as he picked up her blouse. He saw a surgical screw from when she had shoulder surgery years before still in the chair next to a ceramic dental crown.

  Nothing left of her--skin, hair, nails--all gone.

  He called out to her, still in disbelief. “Hayley, where are you? Hayley? Hayley?” He looked around the apartment, calling out to her, his voice becoming more frantic with each word. “Hayley? Hayley? Sweetheart? HAYLEY!”

  Nothing.

  He went back to his chair and put on his HoloSpecs. The HoloRoom where Bert, Laura, and JT were interviewing Dr. Ellison was empty except for Dr. Ellison, who was sitting there for a moment, then disappeared. Ryan picked up his phone and called Bert. No answer. He left a message, “Bert are you there? Something’s happened to Mom. Call me back.” He called Laura and JT, no answer. “What’s going on?” He said as he put down the phone.

  Sal and Zola were honeymooning in Mykonos, Greece. They had split up a year earlier after Sal confe
ssed of his one-night-stand with MacLurig. Sal recognized he messed up when he cheated on Zola, his intense guilt forcing him to confess. Sal had never loved a woman like he did Zola, and he almost lost her because of an evening of indiscretion. She eventually forgave him, and when he asked her to marry him six months later, she said yes.

  Sal and Zola sat on the balcony of their beachfront villa, enjoying some wine before heading off to dinner. The sun was setting just above the Aegean Sea horizon, tips of orange reflecting off the water. The two sat with their feet on the balcony railing, enjoying the warmth of the setting sun. Until Zola, Sal had never understood what it was like to unconditionally, romantically love a woman. Before Zola, women were objects of physical love, but his love for Zola was far beyond sexual expression. He looked at her enjoying the sunset, eyes closed, smile on her face, completely at peace. As he watched her, he was startled by hearing Now three times, then the trumpet sound. He looked over at her as she opened her eyes and looked at him. Keeping her peaceful look, she smiled at him, then he heard the screech. She didn’t appear to hear the screech, she just kept smiling as she began to glow. The screech stopped just as he saw her clothes and jewelry drop to the chair. It was completely quiet for about ten seconds while he attempted to digest what had happened.

  He heard screaming from the beach below, peering over the railing at a woman frantically looking around an empty stroller that just held her one-year-old daughter. He looked at Zola’s chair, her dress dangling from where she sat, jewelry on the ground, MDChip nestled in her clothes. As he looked around, it all started making sense to him. Zola had become Christian when they first started dating and was doing a Bible study on the end times. He remembered her reading about the rapture in First Thessalonians and talking with Sal about what would happen--a shout, then a trumpet, then believers being caught up in the air to meet the Lord. She had talked with him a number of times about becoming Christian. He thought it an interesting fairy tale but never believed it was true. Now the love of his life was gone, and he was still there.

  Left alone again.

  Sekarang

  2062

  I t was a long evening. Reports of disappearances began coming in around 5:30 p.m. the day before. Paul was preparing for an upcoming meeting with the chairperson from Asia when he heard the low-bass voice, trumpet, screech, silence, then people screaming. He left his office and saw his assistant. “What was that?” he asked. His assistant just sat there horrified, staring at the empty chair of one of Paul’s staffers, his clothes crumpled on the chair. Paul walked down the hallway toward the door outside the Europe Ethnarchy government building, his security detail running behind him. As he was walking, he peered into offices, seeing some people confused by the strange sounds, not knowing what happened, others stunned at the sight of coworkers’ clothes left where they had stood just moments before.

  Paul walked out the front door to the street, aghast at what he saw. There was a gridlock of cars and trucks on the street, with drivers honking horns at driverless cars, and passengers horrified as they stared at empty driver seats. Paul slowly walked down the street, seeing some people crying, some just wandering and looking downward at crumpled clothes, a prosthetic arm, porcelain teeth, surgical screws and plates, saline breast implants, rings, necklaces, watches, wallets, phones, HoloSpecs. He watched a man numbly pick up his wife’s wedding ring. He went back into his office, his security detail still in tow. As he got to his office he saw his assistant, still dazed from the event.

  “What happened, sir?” his assistant asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  Paul went into his office and closed his door. He put on his HoloSpecs and tuned into HoloMate News. A special channel, FFF-29a, was immediately set up to provide continued coverage of the disappearance. He sat there through the night watching the reports around the world. Witnesses talked of the deep-bassed now, the trumpet, then the screech. As people recounted what happened he noticed that the voice spoke in each person’s native language. A witness in China reported hearing “xiàn zài,” one from Indonesia heard “sekarang,” and an Estonian heard “nüüd.” Even though the spoken word was different, the sounds and events were identical. HoloMate News then broadcast a Catholic cardinal from Chicago whom he remembered from his days working for the Vatican. He was being interviewed by a reporter.

  “Cardinal Bala, can you describe what happened?” the reporter asked.

  “The rapture, the rapture happened.” Cardinal Bala was distressed not only about the events which occurred, but that he was still here to talk about them.

  “Can you explain it?”

  “In First Thessalonians chapter four, verses 16 and 17, the apostle Paul wrote about the Lord coming down from heaven with a loud command followed by a trumpet sound, then the dead believers of Christ rise to meet him in the air, followed by the living believers, who also caught up with him in the air. Those who are gone were believers who made the decision to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. Those who remain didn’t.”

  “What about the babies and young children?” the reporter asked.

  “He took them too; they were too young to make that decision, so he took them.”

  The reporter only knew of the rapture through joking banter, that a rapture was a way of escaping bad things about to happen. He was intrigued with the cardinal’s account. “What happens after the rapture?”

  Cardinal Bala lifted his HoloSpecs to wipe his eyes, his hologram figure momentarily blurred. “Some theologians believe the rapture marks the beginning of a seven-year tribulation period where the Antichrist rises to world prominence. Scripture refers to him with various names, The Son of Perdition, The Beast, The Man of Sin, The Lawless One. He, along with another individual called The False Prophet, will captivate the world with their wisdom and charisma, then will ultimately bring about the end of the world as we know it. According to the book of Revelation, there will be 21 judgments during the seven-year period. The first seven are called seal judgments, the next seven, trumpet, then the final seven, bowl judgments. It’s literally going to be Hell on earth, then the end of the world as we know it will happen.”

  “So we’ve got seven years left before the world is done with?”

  “If you believe what the Bible has to say.” Cardinal Bala grew more distraught as he explained what was to come.

  “Do you know who the Antichrist is?” The reporter asked.

  “It’s not clear yet, but he will make himself known.”

  “How?”

  “According to the Book of Daniel, he will negotiate a peace agreement with Israel and Palestine. That’ll be the first sign.”

  “Who was the other person you mentioned?” The reporter asked.

  “The False Prophet. He’ll be the Antichrist’s right-hand man, providing a path for people to worship the Antichrist. The two, along with Satan, comprise what’s called the unholy trinity.”

  “So, Satan’s involved too?” The reporter gave a sarcastic smile, not buying what the Cardinal had to say.

  “He’s the one behind it all.”

  Cardinal Bala’s account of what happened and what was to come sounded like an interesting science fiction fantasy. His skepticism showed with his next question.

  “Cardinal Bala, you’re a man of the cloth, you’ve dedicated your life to your religion. If only believers were raptured, why are you still here?”

  The cardinal knew the question was coming. Through tears, he gave the best answer he could, “I didn’t believe in Jesus as Savior, I thought doing good deeds was enough.” With that, Cardinal Bala turned off his HoloSpecs and left the interview, his hologram disappearing from the HoloRoom.

  Paul stayed at his office the entire evening, watching events and occasionally dozing off for only minutes at a time. At five in the morning, he showered in his private bathroom, got dressed, and laid out his plan. First and foremost, he needed to assemble the senate, or whatever was left of them. At seven, he gave the order to his assista
nt to assemble the senate in one hour on the Europe Ethnarchy’s secure HoloMate channel. Thirty minutes later, his assistant knocked on his door.

  “All 99 senators are confirmed to attend at eight, sir.”

  Paul laughed to himself, “No Senators raptured.”

  At eight, Paul put on his HoloSpecs and tuned into the ethnarchy HoloMate channel. He asked the senate caretaker to take roll, but the caretaker wasn’t on the meeting. Paul continued without the him.

  “Senators, I’ve been up all night watching the world recount the event which happened yesterday afternoon at 5:30. I watched the same story over and over being described by people of every race. The deep bass voice, the trumpet, the screech. People hearing the same voice and word in their native languages. Crumpled clothes, MDChips, prosthetics, jewelry, surgical screws and plates, other personal effects everywhere. Mothers and fathers weeping over empty buggies. Mass gridlock due to abandoned cars. Pilotless planes having to be auto-landed with petrified passengers sitting amid empty clothes. A Chicago cardinal talking about how the Bible foresaw the events, how those of us still here are somehow second-rate citizens in God’s eyes. Whether the Bible reference is true or not, the fact remains that we have a worldwide crisis that not only impacts those in the Europe Ethnarchy, but across all ethnarchies. Our most important job is to reassure our Europe citizens that we plan to care and protect them, to restore and keep order. As leaders, our job is to remain calm and in control. If our citizens see us getting nervous, it will only make them more agitated. Any questions so far?”

  Paul took a sip of cappuccino and waited for reactions. All 99 senators were silent, waiting for Paul to continue.