Known Afterlife (The Provider Trilogy, Volume One) (23 page)

The question hurt more than any punch.
I knew the immediate impact of my recent actions would hurt Stalling, but I never feared he would not move on, even find a way to empathize with my struggle. And not only did he quickly move on, he managed to find a silver lining to it all. Antone is a different animal altogether but the one friend I desire back in my life more than he could ever know.

Janison stood taller, dabbed his nose that now bled
freely from both nostrils and a gash across the bridge, and answered his friend as best he could. "I made a mistake. I do not regret the spirit in which it was made but I now realize it was not a good decision."

"When I first met you, you were no different
to me than any other self-righteous Drakarlean who felt entitled to a better existence then the rest of us. Your devout faith only confirmed this initial perception. But it was not so, was it Janison?"

Janison knew better than to answer the rhetorical que
stion. He simply stood there, one hand held to his nose while the other probed the goose egg forming on the back of his head. He knew this was coming and, prepared as he thought he was for it, his knees still buckled in anticipation for what Antone said next.

"No, you introduced me to a Leviatus that broke through all the metaphorical bullshit. You provided substance, real life meaning, to what it meant to treat others as I wanted to be treated; to not judge others; to love my enemy!" Antone spat. "Eh, Jani
son? Isn't that what you taught me?"

"Nothing I have done has changed any of the truth behind those lessons," Janison replied with weak conviction.

"Save it for some other puppet! I have learned the only lesson that will ever matter from you or your make believe prophet. Shame on me if I ever have to learn it again." Antone straightened, brushed his hands down the front of his sport coat and popped his starched, white collar.

Once composed, he addressed Janison in the same tone reserved for a disrespectful
underling. "Let’s get a few things straight. Stalling trusts you, I do not. I don't begin to think I understand the layers of experiences the two of you share that would result in your return. If Stalling says we need you to pull off this final step, then so be it. And once we are done," Antone paused with a coy smile, "well, nobody knows better than you do just how irrelevant your fantasy will have become to the world."

Janison watched Antone walk back out the narthex without another word. "On the contrary
my friend, once we have completed our mission, Leviatus and his teachings will mean more to the world than ever before," Janison said to the empty chapel before turning to follow his old friend.

*****

"Vital signs are perfect," Tallison reported. "The rest of the body checks out perfect as well: muscle mass, up 23%; bone density, up a 17%; all biological systems displaying continual improvement in both functionality and performance. Brain activity is normal, at least for him. I see the anomaly you were talking about but not sure what to make of it. Regardless, I don't see how it will impact the procedure."

Physically, he is twenty years younger and most likely the most superior human specimen in history, Jennifer observed with a certain pride. She quick
ly tampered the rise of her self-esteem, reminded that Muzar’s anatomical improvements, no matter how wonderful, were but a secondary byproduct of the project. Completing the primary objective had yet occurred.

"Excellent," Jennifer replied as she closed o
ut the three dimensional image of Tallison's analysis being projected from her visor resting on the table. "As always, your thorough attention to detail has proved vital in double checking my work."

"Well I'm glad you feel
that way because most of the time I feel pretty useless."

"I don't blame you for feeling that way and believe me, there are plenty of days I wish I could have you do more," she said genuinely, patting the young scientist on the arm.

"Don't get me wrong, this has been a dream position. The knowledge both you and Mr. Alterian have entrusted with me over the past six years has been overwhelming. I have learned things that....well...I am still processing."

"Trust me, your day of being able to piece it all toge
ther is fast approaching. And when that time comes, your days of idleness will feel like a distant dream," she informed her trusted assistant with a broad smile.
And I will truly be glad to unload every bit of it.

"Well I am ready and able," she said enthu
siastically.

Jennifer uncrossed her legs and stood up. Tallison matched the movement and turned to face her superior. Jennifer could not help but notice the way Tallison had been looking at her since she arrived, making her conscious of her altered appeara
nce. Gone were the functional body suit, bland lab coat and comfortable running shoes her assistant was used to seeing her in every day. In their place, she wore a tailored lab coat—typically reserved for rare public appearances—over a stylish white blouse, a pencil skirt stopping just above the knee and chunky heals. In addition, she had styled her short hair into a chichi wave, and touched up her eyes and lips with a little make-up.

The slight dilation in Tallison's pupils and the o
ut of character shy demeanor in her assistant amused Jennifer and was an unexpected but welcome ego boost. She had been vicariously living, socially at least, through her understudy who was only a few years younger than she was. From their frequent conversations over lunch or coffee, she had developed a healthy envy of Tallison's life as a single women living in a town primarily populated with the most up and coming and talented professionals and scientist the world had to offer. Jennifer wanted to believe, if given the same opportunity, she would have sampled the same diverse pool of possible companions with the same reckless abandon as had Tallison over the years. But, alas, her true feelings would surface, reminding her why she made the choices that she did.

Sensing Jennifer's detection of her inability to hide her thoughts, Tallison spoke frankly. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you Tallison," she said, graceful in her acceptance of the compliment. "You don't think it’s too much?" she inquired, welcoming the other women's opinion.

"No, not at all. It is all very professional. It's just that I haven't seen you..."

"Much outside this lab," she said, finishing her sentence.

"Exactly. I can say one thing for certain, if you should ever decide to 'get out there',
the rest of us will be reduced to your seconds."

Jennifer blushed at the compliment, surprised by the vulnerability it exposed. "Your flattery is too kind but I will take it all the same." Both shared a laugh that settled into a comfortable silence for sev
eral seconds before Jennifer looked her friend in the eye and rubbed her arm affectionately. "Thank you Tallison. For everything."

"It has been my pleasure."

"Alright," Jennifer said, reaching for her link visor and tucking it into the top of her hair. "We are done here for now. Update Stalling, Antone and Janison on our latest analysis when they arrive before sending them on to meet me in the mainframe."

"Understood. Good luck," Tallison said, giving Jennifer's arm an affectionate rub of her own.

Jennifer used the five minute walk down the server farm's main passage to cool her recently stirred libido. The cool temperatures of the subterranean chamber helped but she remained flushed and out of sorts by the time she reached the entrance to the mainframe.

Int
ellectually, she acknowledged the feelings she had for a man she barely knew to be both adolescent and irrational.
No one knows how he will have changed upon his return but it does not take a romance novelist to predict the last thing on his mind will be asking me out for a drink.
Still, she would not deny the fact that the only reason she chose to change her appearance today was in the hopes that somehow her long in the making crush on Muzar Tarcones would materialize into something tangible and reciprocated.

Dark tinted, glass paneled double doors parted at her approach and she entered the small annex room. Still distracted by the foreign emotions swirling in her heart, she absently stared at the wall before her as the doors sealed behind and patiently wai
ted for the room to be sterilized, barely noting the slight increase in air pressure and subtle hiss of invisible gas pumped from the ceiling vents. A minute later, a green light appeared above and the wall slid open to provide entrance into the mainframe.

Lighting from the floor panels activated as she stepped into the circular room. The black, biometric walls sparkled with life as their gel-filled centers transmitted the trillions of data packets per second between the servers outside and the three superc
omputers centered in the room. The cylindrical, eight-foot tall computer towers formed a ten square yard triangle of space in the middle of the floor. Jennifer placed her link visor back on, promptly walked over to a spot in-between the southern two towers, interfaced with the virtual control panel, entered the encryption code and then proceeded to punch in a sequence of procedures.

Once done, she took a deep breath and stepped back. Seconds later the floor space centered between the computer towers became
transparent, revealing a storage chamber within. The rectangular chamber slowly rose to knee level before coming to a halt.

Every
day for the past decade, Jennifer had remotely observed the contents of the chamber. Now, having entered the hermetically sealed mainframe for the first time in ten years, seeing things in person generated a response she could not have anticipated and, as if her recent emotional state were trying to warn her, it was an experience she was ill prepared to process.

*****

"Our thoughts form deep channels in the mind," Stalling confidently stated to the auditorium packed with skeptical authorities. "This phenomenon has been well documented for the past twenty years by many of you here today. Why then do we balk at the idea of manipulating it to our advantage, to do our bidding? Not only do I stand here before you today proposing Drakarle prioritize the development of such technology, I say we, as the world's leaders, are morally obligated to do so."

Dramis Clortison paused the archi
ved video and yelled over his shoulder to no one in particular. "If we had listened to the arrogant bastard back then, we could have avoided a great deal of anguish."
Stalling was naive back then, enough so that we could have convinced him the Church was aligned with his vision. By the time he learned otherwise, it would have been too late.

Dramis cut his conniving short and continued to study the determined face of the then twenty-three year old Stalling paused on the larger than life wall panel.
But we underestimated him, more than once. Maybe the innocent intentions conveyed in this first of many public appearances were simply the first calculated move.
He hit play, anxious to uncover the evidence that would affirm the hunch appearing the moment Janison surprised them with their unexpected gift.

"This is all fantasy. There is no existing technology to support any of what you propose. Neocortex entrainment? Physiological communications? Virtual networks? Maybe you ought to consider a career in writing s
cience fiction and leave the real science to those prepared to put in the hard work it requires." A loud mumble of agreement followed by a raucous laughter erupted with Dr. Florentine's critical retort.

The young Stalling stood taller as he strai
ghtened his arms resting on the podium, allowing the din to settle.

He really was the perfect poster child for all outward Drakarlean appearances, Dramis mused. Slim, tall, athletic with a rugged handsomeness, at twenty-three, his supple youth, far from reaching its
apex, openly defied the toils inflicted by the physical world. Blue-gray eyes sparkled with a thriving intellect that commanded respect and intrigue. Persuasive charisma, probing genius and the sole heir to the most influential and wealthy family in all of Drakarle's rich history, Stalling had all the tools to be one of the greatest leaders of the modern era.

Showing patience beyond his years, Stalling waited long enough for the silence in the room to become uncomfortable before responding. "One's life is
only limited by their ability to be independent of the good opinion of other people," Stalling quoted from the book of Drestan.

What a clever boy. Florentine never did figure out if he had been complimented or insulted, but it shut him up all the same.

"Technology is not something to be observed from the protective confines of a lab, like a caged animal," Stalling continued with his lecture. "Technology is an extension of life; it selfishly wants us to grow, to accelerate our diversity. With the proper guidance, we can and should leverage the energy inherently captured in our current information processes, within the piles of data we so cautiously study."

Clortison fast-forwarded through the next forty minutes as scientist and engineers from varying fields b
antered back and forth with Stalling. None, as he recalled, made any significant dent in his theories. As he did so, the visceral response felt that day while observing quietly in the back of the auditorium stirred from the murky depths of memory. How, within a few minutes, Stalling's palpable magnetism had distorted the reality of the situation, consciously applying his assured communication skills to alter opinions and beliefs forged over a lifetime.