The Reality Engine Ch. 11

"Okay," Shauna said. "Why are you telling me?"

"Because I think you're the only person I've ever met who I can share this secret with who won't think I'm an idiot or delusional," Calvin said. "The story I'm about to tell you is absolutely true, I swear it, but I know exactly how others would react if I told it to them. No one would ever believe me. I'm only telling you because you're the first person I've met who might."

"Wow, that's pretty heavy," Shauna said. "Okay, I'm listening."

"This stone is from outer-space, and it's a crashed meteorite," Calvin said.

"Lots of stones are, aren't they?" Shauna asked.

"Not like this one is. When I was eight years old," Calvin said, beginning his tale. "I was playing outside late one evening. Before this neighborhood had seen so much housing development, there used to be a huge vacant field next door to our home. We used to fly kites out there during the summer. I was out one night doing just that. My sister Violet was 4 at the time, and my sister Bridget had just turned 1, so they were both at an age when they required a lot of parental supervision. My parents were at home with them, while I was out alone flying my kite next door. Suddenly, off in the horizon, I saw a blazing red meteorite falling to the earth. It was so fiery red, that it was distinctive in the night sky. It crashed down to earth about a 100 yards from where I was. I brought down my kite, and I went over to the crash site to see if I could recover the stone. I saw it lying there on the ground, and it was still glowing bright red."

"Holy fuck!" Shauna said. "Well, what happened? I know you must have touched it eventually, since it's in the shoe box right now."

"I thought it would be hot to the touch, but I reached out and picked it up, and it wasn't hot at all, it was cold," Calvin said. "When I held it, the bright red glow transferred from the stone to my arm. It lasted only a few seconds, and then, it was gone. All that was left was this rock. I took it home with me, and I put it in this box, and I've kept it in my closet, buried under a stack of books, for 17 years now. I've never told anyone this story, because, who would ever believe me?"

"I believe you," Shauna said, with a smile. "Can I pick the stone up?"

"Sure," Calvin said, as Shauna picked up the stone out of the shoe box and held it. "Yours are only the second set of human hands to ever touch it."

"Wow, this came from outer space," Shauna said, as she held it in her hands. "A piece of the sky, and a piece of the time before time. This is tripy, Calvin."

"Thank you for believing me," Calvin said, and Shauna could tell how much it meant to him that she believed his story.

"Do you know what that fiery, red glow was?" Shauna asked.

"No," Calvin said. "However, shortly after that incident, my life began to change. It was harder to get along with my family, and it was more difficult for me to do well in school. I figured it was just the onset of teenage hormones, you know?"

Soon enough, Shauna and Calvin put the stone back into the shoe box. Shauna went to use the bathroom, and while she did, Calvin pulled the small piece of tissue paper she had wiped herself with in the park from his pocket, and he placed it in the shoe box next to the stone. He put the shoe box back in his closet, and under a pile of books. As soon as Shauna returned from using the bathroom, Calvin took her home. They arrived at her place at half past 8 PM, and Shauna insisted that Calvin had to come inside for a few minutes. He did so, and he found Shauna's mom and dad were both home.

"You kids have fun tonight?" Mrs. Lomb asked, as soon as the two young people walked in the house. Shauna and Calvin both nodded yes.

"Hey Calvin, can I ask you for a favor?" Mr. Lomb asked.

"Sure thing, what do you need?" Calvin asked.

"I have an emergency business trip I have to go on, and my flight leaves tomorrow morning. Can I ask you for a ride to the airport?" Mr. Lomb asked.

"It's okay, sweetie," Mrs. Lomb said. "I'm always willing to drop you off at the airport, you know that."

"Yeah, I know, but I also need someone back here in town to take care of some important business for me while I'm gone, and I don't want to put that burden on you," Mr. Lomb said. "I think Calvin would be the ideal choice, what do you say? Interested?"

"Sure," Calvin said. "You can explain to me what you need me to do while I drive you to the airport. Happy to help. What time do we have to leave?"

"My flight leaves at 8 AM, which means we should leave here by 6 AM," Mr. Lomb said. "Is that going to be okay?"

"Absolutely no problem," Calvin said.

"You will be here tomorrow night for Bible study, won't you?" Mrs. Lomb asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," Calvin said.

With well wishes exchanged, Calvin left Shauna's house, and went back home. It was past 9 PM when he arrived home.

"Did you drop Shauna off okay?" Mrs. Longfellow asked Calvin, as he walked in the front door.

"Yeah, mom, everything's fine. I'm going to bed," Calvin said.

"Since when do you ever go to bed earlier than 1 AM?" Mrs. Longfellow asked Calvin, with a smile on her face. Calvin thought for a moment he had the wrong house, as he couldn't remember the last time his mother had smiled at him.

"Since I have to get up early tomorrow morning to drop Mr. Lomb off at the airport for an emergency business trip he's taking," Calvin said. "He wants to leave his house at 6 AM, to catch an 8 AM flight, which means I have to get up at 5 AM to make sure I pick him up on time."

"Then go take a shower, and get ready for bed," Mrs. Longfellow said. "I'll bring you a mug of hot cocoa to help you get to sleep faster."

Calvin had no idea where this was coming from. This wasn't his mom, as she was much too nice to him. However, he didn't feel like investigating the matter any further, so he said thank you and went off to take a shower.

That night, Calvin had a strange dream. He was in a room that was completely white, with no windows or doorways or furniture. Off in the distance, he saw Shauna, completely naked. He raced up to her, but just as he was about to reach out and take her into his arms, he made contact with a transparent barrier that separated them from each other. He looked at her lovely, naked body as she danced for him. Calvin desperately wanted her, and he threw himself against the barrier to try to get to her.

"Why aren't you coming for me?" Shauna asked, as she continued to dance. "Do you not love me?"

"I'd die for you," Calvin told her. "Please, come to me."

She smiled, as she continued to dance. Suddenly, her belly started to grow.

"What's happening to you?" Calvin asked.

"This is what happens to a woman when she has sex with a man often," Shauna replied, with a smile. "I'm pregnant with your baby."

"Oh God!" Calvin yelped, as his heart broke with happiness. A moment later, and Shauna's belly was back to normal size, and she held an infant in her hands.

"What do you think?" Shauna asked Calvin, as she presented the child to him. "Do you want to be a daddy?"

"More than anything, please!" Calvin begged, trying to break through the barrier, but still not being able to. "Let me love you!"

Shauna's belly began to grow again, and a moment later, it went back to normal. She had another infant in her arms, and a small toddler by her feet.

"Your family is growing, my love," Shauna said, with a smile. The cycle repeated three additional times, until Shauna was surrounded by four children, and carrying a fifth child, an infant, in her arms. "I love you more than anything in the world, Calvin."

"Please, how do I get you, and my kids?" Calvin begged.

"This world is at your fingertips," Shauna said. "All you must do, my love, is cast aside your self-doubt and self-hatred. What you see before you is one possible future, and this could be our family in five years. If you want this, wake up and seize it."

"This barrier won't let me through!" Calvin said, as he struggled against it in desperation. "Please, let me through!"

"The barrier is only in your mind, and it's not real," Shauna said. "You can get through it anytime you wish to, but you choose not to. Misery and depression is easier for you than trying to be happy."

"I can't lose you!" Calvin screamed, as he threw himself against the barrier with the full force of his being, but it would not give way. "I'm not strong enough to get through!"

"You have far more strength than you know," Shauna said. "What you did today, showing me that space rock, that took real courage. You had never done that before. That is something to build on. Tomorrow, you will take another step. Little by little, the barrier separating us will fall, I promise. I will see you soon, and I love you."

"No, wait!" Calvin exclaimed. "I beg of you, tell me how to get through this barrier. I need your help. I'm not strong enough to do this on my own."

Shauna smiled. The five children disappeared, and the figure of Shauna transformed into a humanoid being composed of pure light. The figure extended a hand to Calvin, through the barrier, and Calvin grabbed hold of the extended hand.

"I am proud of you," the being of pure light said. "You took a gigantic step in the right direction today, you showed Shauna the stone, and you told her everything you witnessed on that night 17 years ago."

"For the first time, since that night, I don't feel alone anymore," Calvin said.

"You've never been alone," the being of pure light said. "You've always had a brother, who is your mirror image, and who extended a hand to you when you needed it most."

"Scott?" Calvin asked.

The being of pure light nodded, "that is why he chose Shauna, and not anyone else for you. He knew exactly what you required."

"How do I make the future I just saw into reality?" Calvin asked.

"You know exactly what you must do," the being of pure light said. "You are not alone, there are more people than you are even aware of who will do whatever they can to see to it that you succeed. Do not try to do it all yourself. Humble yourself, and ask for help, if you need it."

"How can I ever pay Scott back for what he's done for me?" Calvin asked, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Someday soon, when he needs a hand from you, help him," the being of pure light said.

The being of pure light disappeared, and Calvin woke up in a cold sweat. He looked at his bedside table: 11 PM, still early. Calvin was not yet used to sleeping at this hour.

Calvin looked at the spot next to him in bed, and it was empty, just as it always had been. He wished Shauna was there, that night, in bed with him. He reached over to his bedside table, and picked up his cell phone, and unlocked it. Calvin so badly wanted to call Shauna, and to hear her voice again, if he couldn't have her in bed with him. He started to cry. Calvin knew he couldn't just call Shauna, because she would be asleep. Even if she was awake, she would think he was weird for calling her so late at night. Before Calvin had met her, he had been utterly miserable, but now that he knew her, and had a chance at being happy, he realized just how utterly miserable and terrified he really was.

Calvin didn't think Shauna wanted to hear from him. He put the phone back on his bed side table, and went to sleep.

Moments later, in Frostbite Falls, in the basement of a small rental house located a block from city hall, a man in a panama hat, a green poncho, blue jeans, and a pair of cowboy boots entered a special room with a large view screen opposite the door. He closed and locked the door to this room behind him. The view screen activated and showed the image of the silver haired man.

"What do you want?" the man in the green poncho asked.

"Watch your tongue, bounty hunter," the silver haired man replied. "Never forget who pays you for your services. Show some respect."

"I have a name, you know, learn to use it," the man in the green poncho responded.

"Very well, Lynx. I suppose you have earned that right," the silver haired man replied. "You have stopped following Scott wherever he goes, why?"

"The invisibility gadget is no good, Scott can see through it," Lynx replied. "He spotted me the other day, I'm sure of it. I've aborted that mission objective, as you ordered me to in the event of discovery."

"An unforeseen difficulty, but not an unexpected one," the silver haired man mused. "We've never known anyone who had the sight before, so it was always possible that Scott could use the sight to see through your cloak. How did the invisibility ring work otherwise?"

"It's terrible," Lynx replied. "I got to town on Friday, just after you hired me, to do that job at Bleakly House, and it worked fine for that, but only because the mission took less than 15 minutes. It's okay for a quick strike, like killing off our would be murderer on Friday night, but for anything longer than that, it's worthless. It overheats and the invisibility field integrity starts to fluctuate after only a short time. It broke down, and I had to send it for repairs, after I used it Friday night, and the backup ring broke down after I used it yesterday. I'm never using it again, as it's a complete liability."

"The difficulty with attempting to reverse engineer technology that we have no formal comprehension of," the silver haired man said. "Our people did the best they could, but they aren't Eric. He's the world's foremost expert on invisibility. The one he has is an amazing piece of technology. Well, no matter, I have another assignment for you. I need you to check up on our friend Doja Heningway."

"Your mole in Eric's organization?" Lynx asked.

"I fear he is troubled by the deeds of Friday night," the silver haired man said. "You know Doja, he never had the strongest stomach."

"You didn't tell him how I killed Juan Benoite, did you?" Lynx demanded. "As long as he doesn't know about the invisibility ring, he can't prove anything, and he won't flip unless he can, if he's a rational man."

"No, my dear sir, nothing of the sort," the silver haired man replied.

"Then why are you worried about Doja Heningway?" Lynx asked.

"I fear he may spill the beans to Eric, due to a troubled conscience," the silver haired man said.

"Ah, well, that's certainly a problem," Lynx said.

"Find out if he talked," the silver haired man said.

"If he did?" Lynx asked.

"Then kill him," the silver haired man ordered. "We cannot have loose ends lying about, not with the stakes as high as they are now."

"Agreed, you will pay my standard fee?" Lynx asked.

"Of course," the silver haired man said. "There can be no mistakes, Lynx, and I know I don't need to remind you, of all people, what the price of failure is."

"No you do not," Lynx said. "I will start on the new mission objective immediately. I will report to you when I have reached my conclusions."

"Good," the silver haired man said.

"One thing I don't get," Lynx said. "All your problems seem to have a very simple solution to me. I can't believe it hasn't crossed your mind before, so what gives?"

"You mean simply kill Eric?" the silver haired man asked.

"Yeah, that's the path of least resistance," Lynx replied. "All your problems are caused by Eric. With Eric out of the picture, you could easily assert direct control over the experiment with the reality engine, no more cloak and dagger. With Eric dead, you could easily acquire his invisibility technology, and eliminate the need for bargain-basement knock-offs. So, what the fuck gives?"

"Eric is a personal favorite of my father," the silver haired man replied. "When my father dies someday, Eric will inherit a large part of my father's empire. My father sees Eric as a man who can lead humanity into the next generation, as a man with the ability to save the entire world from itself."

"So, he's under the personal protection of the Dark Lord himself?" Lynx asked, shaking in his boots.

"No one with any degree of sanity in their brains will so much as touch a man under the aegis of my father's personal protection," the silver haired man said. "Including me, and including you. I am my father's son, so I know the price of disobedience."

"Your father would murder his own children for disobeying him?" Lynx asked.

"Disobey my father, and death will be the least of your worries," the silver haired man replied. "Disobey my father, and you are guaranteed to live a very long life, full of pain, and suffering, and misery as you slowly watch everything you ever loved wither in agony and die."

"Then why are you trying to interfere in Eric's business at all?" Lynx asked.

"My private affairs are none of your concern," the silver haired man said. "I would still like a detailed log of where Scott goes, and who he interacts with. If the invisibility ring is no good for that, then I need to hire a tracker. Any recommendations?"

"Call the guild and find out who's available," Lynx said. "Foxtecha and Rinar are the two best, as far as I'm concerned, but this isn't a high level job. Anyone the guild sends you will be capable of following around a 22-year-old dweeb."

"I appreciate the advice," the silver haired man said. "Contact me when you've finished your investigation of Doja."

With that, the view screen turned black, and the conversation ended.

End of chapter 11.