Infinite Testament (4 page)

It was Lisa Binsby.

A week later, the whole world was watching Stephen Pandora.
This was the biggest moment of his life and here he was, about to give a speech
to every living person on the planet.

He was in the United States Capitol at a joint meeting of
Congress. As Campbell told him before, this was different from a joint
session
.
A joint session was typically only given by the president and was far more
formal and full of tradition.

Stephen, in a suit and tie, approached the podium.
Countless presidents and foreign leaders have spoken from this very spot.
Stephen was not overwhelmed by his predecessors; he was determined to
accomplish his mission. The well-dressed, fancy members of Congress
flooded the intimidating half-circular room. They were attentively
waiting for him to begin. He looked at everyone as the American flag hung
vertically behind him. There were three Teleprompters to guide him
through the speech. One on his left, one on his right, and one right
above the camera in front of him. He had practiced and was fairly
confident he could handle them. The text sat and waited on the screens to
be read. He took a deep breath and began.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, members of Congress, thank you for
allowing me to speak to you today. It has been almost two years since my
team and I stumbled upon the ILD. For those of you who don’t know, ILD
stands for ‘Infinite Life Discovery’. Without getting procedural, what we
discovered is that at the instant of your death, you are reborn.

“This idea of rebirth differs from what you may
traditionally identify as ‘reincarnation’. With reincarnation, a person
dies and later comes back into a new body. Further,
with reincarnation, a person’s rebirth can happen any time in the future after
he dies. With the Infinite Life Discovery, we found that when someone
dies, he starts his life exactly as he had begun it before. So if you
were born in 1960 but died in 1999, you would be reborn in 1960 exactly as you
had been before.

“Take for example, President John F. Kennedy. He was
born in 1917. He grew up, became Senator, and later President. He
was assassinated in 1963. At the instant of his death, he will be reborn
in 1917. He will grow up, become Senator and later President. He
will then be assassinated again in 1963.

“Each and every one of you will die. When that
happens, you will be born again, just like before. You will grow up and
do exactly what you have already done. And later, you will sit through
this exact speech again. This is your ‘Infinite Life’- the same life over
and over again.

“The history of the world repeats itself an infinite amount
of times.”

Campbell watched on a television monitor from a small room
in the Capitol. So far, so good.

“What started out as an experiment to track ape behavior in
their natural habitat resulted in this groundbreaking discovery.
Experiment after experiment yielded the same result: Instant rebirth upon
death.”

Stephen took a break from reading the Teleprompters to
examine the audience. Their faces were stoic. Stephen couldn’t
figure out if they were interested or bored. Either way, almost every
face had the same look; it was an expression he’d seen on people right before
they fell asleep. He couldn’t imagine them not paying attention; this was
the greatest problem of their time. That fact provided him solace.
He turned back to the Teleprompter.

“For some bigger perspective, think of the Universe.
It started with the Big Bang, which you are all familiar with. The
Universe’s ultimate end will be the Big Crunch. Imagine it this way: the
Universe starts out as a little dot, a period. It explodes with the Big
Bang. Because of gravity, this little dot expands and expands for
septillions of years. Eventually, it does the opposite: it begins to
contract. It shrinks and shrinks until this big Universe goes back to
being a little dot again. This is the Big Crunch. What happens next
is this same little dot, that same little period, will explode and expand
again
to form the Universe. The course of the Universe is then exactly the same
as it had been before and the process repeats an infinite amount of times.

“Now, if
everyone
starts their lives over, you have
to assume it is impossible to change a single event in history. Let’s say
your parents are born. Your father changes a decision in his life and
never meets your mother. You are not born, your children are not born,
and everything is affected. This is known as the Butterfly Effect.
Ultimately, one tiny little change will reshape
everything
. If we
accept the fact that everyone is infinitely reborn, then everything has to
replay exactly for the rebirth to occur. Otherwise, some people may never
be born. Therefore, you will simply be unable to change the slightest
event in your life.

“To reiterate simply: you will die, you will be reborn, and
you will live the same exact life you previously lived. Change is
impossible
;
it will not happen.

“All these facts render suicide useless, and above all,
foolish. Unfortunately, many misconceptions and false promises have
surfaced. Organized groups and individuals have convinced themselves that
they can start over and fix their lives. They have chosen to ignore the
fact that nothing can be changed. 1.5 billion have committed suicide and
sadly most of them did so because of this false hope.

“Unfortunately, they made a grave mistake. You will
live your life again. You will live your life a trillion times
over. But you
will not
remember the life you lived before and you
will
not
be able to change a single thing. The life you live again will be
the same exact life you just lived.

“The ILD may be new, but the core ideas have been around
since before our discovery. Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, ‘This life as
you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and
innumerable times more; and there will be
nothing
new in it, but every
pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small
or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession
and sequence.’ Of course, when Nietzsche wrote that from his book, “The Gay
Science,” it was just an idea without any credence.”

Campbell was analyzing every aspect of the speech.
Stephen was doing well with the Teleprompters. The practice at UCLA the
week before had surely helped. That speech was not as fluid as this
one. Though Stephen was probably dying on the inside, he seemed
confident. Campbell stood with Al, a secret service member who was
assigned to watch him for the day.

“Are you understanding all this?” Campbell asked him.

“I knew this before,” Al responded.

“Good.”

Campbell resumed watching Stephen on the screen.

Stephen continued, “The reasons for suicides are
plentiful. Someone may face a death in the family or might not get the
job he was hoping to get.

“We need to make sure people understand that if they kill
themselves they will be doomed to repeat it forever. They will not have
their miracle shot at changing the past. Not a thing in their past can be
changed.

“Not a single thing.”

Al was confounded. “Jay, how can you stop them from
killing themselves if they did it the last time around anyway?”

Campbell responded, “While what they’re going to do is
already determined, it hasn’t happened here yet. So it’s as if it’s for
the first time.”

“Do we have Free Will?”

Campbell’s face quivered. This was the trickiest part
of the equation and the reason so many people had killed themselves
already. No one could accept that they didn’t have a choice in their
lives. Free Will was a concept embraced by most on the planet. Not
having a choice and already having a planned course was beyond comprehension
for a lot of people.

“Free will…” the television muttered.

“Perfect timing,” Campbell said to Al. Stephen was
about to relieve Campbell of explaining further.

Stephen continued, “Free will is the biggest problem people
face. With what I am presenting to you today, Free Will seems to become
an impossibility. I can confidently tell you that we all have a
choice. We can all do what we please. The fact that we do not
remember what we’ve already done enables everything we do to be fresh and
new. However, no matter what we
choose
, it will be exactly as
we’ve chosen before. This might seem like a paradox, but we nonetheless
all have a choice.”

Al looked at Campbell with a baffled look. “What?”

“You have Free Will,” Campbell reassured.

The television abruptly flashed with static. Where
Stephen’s face had been was now replaced with nothing but rapidly moving white
and black lines.

“What is this?” Campbell asked Al.

Al looked at the television, perplexed. “I don’t know.”

The static stopped and a man’s face appeared on the
screen. He was scruffy looking, dressed in all black and eerily
confident. His long black hair extended to his shoulders. He had a
noticeable scar running perpendicularly over his left eye. It had to be
recent as it was still healing. The poor lighting and pale white
background of the room were overrun by the man’s dominating presence.

He spoke, “People of the world, what you are hearing now is
false. Everything Stephen Pandora says is a lie. When you die, you
indeed have a fresh start.”

Campbell and Al watched in horror as this intruder somehow
interrupted Stephen’s speech with his own crazy rhetoric.

He continued, “In fact, the state of the world has gotten
so bad, we have decided to grant everyone a new beginning. Tomorrow at
3:33 PM Pacific Time, we are going to destroy the world. There will be an
explosion. It will cover the entire planet. There will be no
survivors. There will be no escape. We don’t want to drag this
out. We just want a chance for everyone to start over.”

The man paused and stared directly into the camera.
He wore a smile of immense satisfaction and terrifying confidence. It was
easy to see that, to him, this was not a joke. “I’m telling you this
because we can’t be stopped. You deserve to know of the great day
awaiting us. Enjoy your last day. Tomorrow we start anew.”
The man paused and timidly lowered his eyes. “I will see you again,
Sara.”

He disappeared and Stephen’s speech seamlessly came back on
the television. “…I hope we can work together to solve this problem…”

Campbell and Al continued watching the speech.
Campbell was dumbfounded. He stared through the screen. His mind
was too busy racing for words to be spoken.

Later, Stephen sat in a limo with Campbell. They
stared at each other as they whizzed through traffic. Not only had they
failed to get their message across, but now someone was threatening to blow up
the world. Thoughts zipped through Stephen’s mind. Was it even
possible to blow up the world? How could that man have nuclear
weapons? The afternoon was a colossal failure. Stephen’s meeting
with the president had been postponed indefinitely. Not surprisingly, a
nuclear threat was more of a pressing issue than meeting with Stephen to
discuss the ILD and mass suicides.

Stephen had seen that man before. He couldn’t figure
out where or how he’d seen him, but he had the strongest feeling that he knew
him from somewhere. Maybe it was the deep scar over his eye that threw
Stephen off. Either way, he could swear he was familiar.

He didn’t know it, but his inkling was right.

Stephen and Campbell entered Stephen’s hotel room where
Miles anxiously waited. Stephen picked him up and Miles licked his face
in return. Stephen paced to the bed and sat. Campbell stood with
his hands on his hip and stared at the ground. There was silence between
them. For most of the ride over there had been silence. With a
supposed end of the world looming, there was too much deep thinking for any
words to possibly keep up with. Stephen looked at Miles, whose tail
viciously wagged. How nice it must be to be him. Not a care in the
world. He had no idea of the troubles plaguing dogs’ best friend.
It was too bad traditional reincarnation didn’t exist. If it did, Stephen
would come back as a dog. Unfortunately, he’d have to settle for living
his life all over again. And again. And again. Stephen tried
not to think of it. What a prison for humanity to have to live every pain
and every regret over again. An infinite amount of the same mistakes;
this was the fate of man. There were plenty of things Stephen would
change if he could. Discovering the ILD would probably be one of
them. If the wheel was man’s best discovery, the ILD was probably the
worst. 1.5 billion people have killed themselves since and most of them
did it for a chance to start over. The worst part, Stephen thought, was
these people would be doomed to kill themselves again in the same fashion at
their next go-round. At least it wasn’t as bad as people who lived truly
terrible lives. People who were tortured or killed in horrendous ways
would be forced to live through it an infinite amount of times. It was a
fate Stephen was glad he would not have to face. There were plenty of
things Stephen would change in his life, but one stood above the rest.

“Lisa Binsby!”

Campbell was excited to see her.
The
crowd was excited to see her. Stephen’s jaw dropped. He didn’t
think he’d ever see her again. Lisa and Paul Higgins kissed. His
tongue found its way into her mouth; a disgusting sight for Stephen to
endure. Stephen held his pool stick. One ball remained on the
table. There was $2,000 riding on the game. More importantly, there
was a big ego to crush. Paul Higgins glared at Stephen while keeping his
confidence in tact. “Take your shot.”

Stephen’s eyes were fixated on Lisa, who was smiling at
Paul and enjoying the gawking crowds. His heart fell to the floor and it
felt like his entrails were sprawled out for everyone to see.

Stephen had seen Lisa many times onscreen. She had
been in plenty of movies that he kept tabs on. But seeing her in person
was different. Much different. He was reminded of the smile that
used to radiate his heart and illuminate his soul. His mind had
forgotten, but his heart would never forget. She hadn’t noticed him
yet. Her laugh was the same one he heard many years ago. Stephen
wanted to ditch the area to avoid the inevitable. It would be best for
both of them.

Too late. Amid the excitement, Lisa finally turned
her head and looked at Stephen. The exuberance in her face abruptly
weakened. Her smile dropped and her eyes widened. She was
stunned. Stephen looked into Lisa’s eyes and she became visibly
shaken. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking at the ground, but always
shooting back to Stephen. She attempted to regain her composure before
Paul figured out something was wrong.

The crowd refocused on the pool table while others drifted away.
Stephen pulled his gaze away from Lisa and back to the table. It would be
hard to make any moves without feeling her eyes on him. He walked toward
the end of the table to get closer to the cue ball. He tiptoed his way
past Lisa and Paul. Lisa, who was snug in Paul’s arm, kept a laser view
of Stephen as he snuck past.

Stephen looked at Lisa and whispered, “Hi.”

Lisa half-smiled in response. Her eyes were
unsure. He could tell she was a wreck on the inside. He wanted
nothing more than to reach out to her. To give her a hug. A
reassuring hug, a caring hug, it didn’t matter. But he had to focus on
the game.

Stephen lined up his shot. “8-Ball corner
pocket.” He wasted no time. The shot was quick and perfect.
The 8-Ball obediently traveled into the corner pocket. The game was over.

Stephen walked over to Paul’s guards to collect his
earnings.

“That was great!” Campbell exclaimed to no one in
particular.

“It was nothing,” Stephen said as the guard handed him his
cash. “In fact, here.” Stephen transferred the money directly from the
guard’s hand to Campbell’s. “Thanks for your help.” Stephen no
longer cared about the money or the game.

Campbell looked at the huge wad of cash in his hand.
It was times like these he really loved his job. The guard glared at
Campbell, who said, “Take it easy fella,” with a giant smile.

Stephen went to the bar. He found a seat where Lisa
and Paul were still in his view. They kept hidden across the way, in the
corner with their guards. They were chatting with friends and fans.
Stephen figured he might as well keep an eye on them in case Lisa decided she
wanted to talk. He couldn’t approach her. That would ruin whatever
she had with Paul. It would be better if he waited. At least that’s
what he figured. So he sat and watched.

The multitudes of people in the bar made it difficult to
maintain sight of them. Stephen drank and drank some more. For this
occasion, he opted for some shots. It was the best way to numb the
emotions he didn’t care to feel. The drunker he became, the louder the
bar seemed to grow. The music and nonsensical sound of people talking
over it started to give him a headache. He wouldn’t stay much longer.

The Lisa Binsby sighting reminded him of his regretful
life. It killed him to think he’d have to live it all again, naïve of his
miserable future.

Campbell sat next to Stephen, “Thanks for the cash, old
friend.”

“Who you calling old?”

Campbell laughed, “Can you believe Lisa Binsby is
here? She’s so great!”

“Yeah… She’s great.”

Stephen kept his eyes on Lisa. Paul Higgins had his
arm around her with her body closely tucked to his. She inconspicuously
glanced around, probably looking for him. Maybe.

“What’s wrong Stephen? You took down that jerk and
you look depressed as hell.”

“Just nervous about the speech.”

“It’ll go great. We got a practice run tomorrow and
then we’re gonna nail it in Congress. Don’t you worry.”

Stephen laughed. He took his eyes off Lisa and looked
at Campbell, who gave Stephen a bizarre wink. Instead of winking with his
eye, he used the whole side of his face. Stephen chuckled. Campbell
couldn’t do anything suavely.

Stephen asserted, “You’re right, partner.”

Lisa had spotted Stephen at the bar a while ago. For
the past hour, she wanted nothing more than to go talk to him.
Truthfully, the past has haunted her, as she could only imagine it has for
Stephen. There were so many mistakes she had made in her life and none
was bigger and more devastating than what happened with Stephen. Her heart
was always fearful, always guarded. The one time in her life she truly
let someone in, she screwed it up. Would Stephen still be upset?
There was so much she wanted to talk about. She itched every second away
as her mind prodded, “Go talk to him! Go talk to him before he
leaves!” Now she had her chance. Paul was going to the bathroom and
finally leaving her alone. He was a possessive boyfriend. Truth be
told, their relationship was close to being over. Lisa was strong and
independent and Paul seemed to want a submissive, obedient woman.

She struggled through the packs of people and headed to
where she had located Stephen sitting at the bar. The anticipation built
with every step. She was more nervous than she had been in years.
She once loved Stephen. Surely, she couldn’t allow herself to feel that
way anymore, but she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to hear his voice
again.

She wanted to smile again.

She approached his seat.

It was empty.

Stephen Pandora had already left the bar.

Campbell stood, staring at the floor.
Stephen was sitting on his hotel bed with Miles.

“What should we do now?” Campbell wondered aloud.

Miles looked up at Stephen.

Stephen didn’t have the answers. They had done all
they could in D.C. and failed. There was nothing they could’ve done to
prevent the deadly broadcast of their new rival. Nonetheless, it was an
empty feeling for both of them.

Stephen had many thoughts plaguing him: If this mystery man
really did have weapons, he must have had some big-time help. Government
help maybe? A large terrorist organization? But why would they want
to blow up the whole world? They couldn’t have thought they were doing a
favor for everyone. If they really believed everyone was going to get
another chance to start over, it didn’t make sense for them to force it.
He mentioned something about seeing someone named Sara. Did a family
member die recently? Maybe that’s what caused it. The guy lost
someone and snapped. But what were the odds he
really
had these
weapons? And where were they? There was just no way. With the
technology available today, someone would have been caught somewhere along the
line, especially if the weapons were all over.

Stephen looked at Campbell’s eyes. They were filled
with doubt. They bounced around, looking for answers in the room.
Stephen knew what he had to do. He had unfinished business to take care
of.

Stephen declared, “I’m going to back to Los Angeles.”

Campbell’s darting eyes landed on Stephen’s.

“What?”

“I’m going to Los Angeles in the morning. It will be
our last chance to travel. Airspace will probably shut down. End of
the world threats might do that. We’ll stop in Michigan so you can be
with your family.”

Campbell laughed at the idea. “I like L.A.
Count me in.” Campbell had come too far to give up on his friend
now. Whatever he had up his sleeve, Campbell knew it would be important.

Stephen knew what he had to do: he had to find Lisa.