Rebel Lexis (11 page)

Authors: Paul Alan

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BOOK: Rebel Lexis

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P
ARADISE

Jason sauntered with vigor and vitality through Level 7’s body scanners. The high he was riding was nearly unexplainable as he stepped on to a moving tram. The minute he woke from the healing chamber, he felt incredibly young, and easily comparable to when he was fifteen years old. The small tram stopped in front of a large formidable stainless steel elevator door.
“Now I get to find out if all the rumors were right,”
he thought while waiting for the next leg in his journey; and when the doors unlocked, sliding wide open, he could not believe his eyes as he gazed at the epicurean lounge-like atmosphere inside. His nerves caused him to lightly perspire, and after stepping into the lavish elevator, he thought,
“The feel of this space, makes my apartment look small, and pathetic.”

“Hello, Mister Bjorn, my name is Travis; may I offer you a refreshment?” the SYN softly asked over the classical music that quietly played.

“Bourbon, please.” Jason watched the finely dressed Servant SYN fix the drink.

“How long of a ride to Level 7?” Jason asked.

“On board my elevator, there are no rides but journeys of relaxation.”

“How long?” Jason insisted.

“You soon will discover that here on Level 7, time is irrelevant.” With a smile, the SYN then handed Jason his bourbon, and continued saying, “Please sit, Mister Bjorn. Put up your feet, unwind for the next twenty-one minutes aboard my decadent elevator.”

Jason rolled his eyes at the SYN’s absurd comment before walking over to the large sofa; where he slowly plopped down on the expensive looking fabric. After sipping his drink, he thought,
“This bourbon’s the finest I’ve ever tasted. Maybe all the rumors are true.”

While fantasizing about what his new surroundings might be like, he sipped on the alcoholic beverage, and looked around the luxuriously huge elevator, and thought,
“Something’s not right here.”
It dawned on him what the problem was,
“No Membrane.”
The absence of the Skin had caused him to lapse in a frozen state of bewilderment. The shock was nearly overwhelming, because he had never experienced a time when the Skin did not intrude on his life.

“Have an enjoyable day, Mister Bjorn.”

“Thank you,” Jason replied before the doors shut behind him.

Flecked with gold, silver and quartz, the highly polished granite floor reflected a warm ambient lighting from above. He then gawked at the grand apsidal dome, where he stood in complete awe of the ancient-looking architecture. In complete reverence, he thought,
“Level 5 is nothing.”
After admiring the large elevator entrance, he perambulated to the doors that actually led out to Level 7. Again, mentally frozen by what splayed out before him, from horizon to horizon was a thick, and vast, arboreal forest carpeting the entire landscape. Gazing off the large balcony with absolute wonderment, he admired the imperium artificial blue sky, and how it illuminated the seasonal but ephemeral green leaves.

Jason entered a glass elevator that lowered slowly into the upper canopy of the giant trees. He thought,
“This is what dreams are made of.”
And before the elevator reached the forest floor, a great deal of elation washed over him; overwhelming his emotions, filling his eyes with tears of joy. The glass elevator opened to a smooth stone pathway, and after a short walk he came to a narrowly paved road.

He stood there waiting for a brief period of time before a black car silently pulled up. The side window popped to life, projecting Aldiss Spline’s image. “Jason, I’m sorry the car is late, but I just procured it for your use.”

“No problem, Colonel.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get you to stop calling me Colonel.”

“Probably not, sir.” The door eased up, and Jason slid down into the electric powered car. Aldiss Spline’s image then reversed, slid over, and projected on the inside front windshield.

“The car is programmed to take you to your new home. You’ll have several hours till you have to report to my office. That’ll give you some time to get acclimated.”

“That’s sounds great, sir.”

“Also, you’ll be meeting the head of the agency today. There is a closet full of new clothing waiting for you. Get cleaned up, and I’ll see you at the briefing.” Aldiss Spline disappeared from the car’s interior Skin.

Jason peered out at the incredible landscape whilst the electric powered engine hummed quietly down the finely paved road. Large ancient ferns spread out between the massive deciduous redwood-forest. Protecting the forest floor in a thick green blanket, moss grew plentifully on rock out-croppings, rotted logs, and anything else it could take hold on.

The auto twisted, and turned around many massive trees; and ever so often, they passed a hidden driveway. He looked deep into the forest but he could not see any apartment tenements, public housing, high-rises or tri-level townhomes. Matter of fact, after meandering through the thick forest for nearly ten minutes, he had not seen one building beside the elevator portal he had traveled there on.

After thirty-five minutes, Jason thought the ride would never end until the car slowed, and pulled into a hidden drive. The driveway weaved for nearly a mile until coming to a home that blended neatly into its surroundings.

Jason hadn’t even stepped one foot out of the car, and he was already enjoying his new life. However, staring out at the magnificent structure from his expensive automobile, he was all too well aware he had made a deal with something insidious; an organic machine, full of people willing to stop at nothing to accomplish their goals. He was now part of something black and grisly in nature but if he wanted to keep the car and home, he was going to have to play ball by doing exactly what the Office of Polaris Security Services wanted.
“No one has ever left the OPSS alive,”
he thought while opening the car door.

D
EBRIEF &
M
ISSION
P
LAN

“Mister Bjorn, what can you tell me about the implementation of Operation Black Star?” asked Thomas Hornby, the head of Office of Polaris Security Services.

“I cannot confirm or divulge if any such operational plans existed,” Jason replied diligently.

“What about Hell Fire?”

“Sir, I cannot confirm or divulge if any such operational plans existed.”

“Were you not part of a secret group called the Hell Fire Club?”

“I cannot confirm or divulge if any such group existed.”

“Regarding your service, Mister Bjorn, who is Learner Rotterdam?”

“He was an incompetent asshole who got many men killed, to say it lightly, sir.”

“Major Learner was under my Command at the battle of Titan…he was relieved shortly thereafter for being an ineffectual officer. His poor intelligence almost cost us the mission, and nearly killed Bjorn in the process,” said Aldiss Spline, interjecting to help clarify the previous relationship between the two men.

“I think he was trying to finish the job this week…don’t you think, Mister Bjorn?” said the head of the OPSS before sipping on his tea. He calmly looked at Jason, who sat on a pleated leather love seat; Jason was impressed at the fine furniture in the office.

“I would like nothing more than to end this man,” Jason replied.

“Here at the OPSS, we take no such actions…unless they are authorized or deemed necessary in completing one’s mission. Do I make myself clear, Mister Bjorn?”

“Mister Hornby, I do realize the importance of Standard Operational Procedures but are you clearly stating, Learner Rotterdam is off limits?”

“That is exactly right, I am clearly stating, Learner Rotterdam is off limits.”

“Sir, may I ask why?” Jason asked.

“No you may not, Mister Bjorn. We are on a need to no basis, and there are things in play above your pay-grade.”

“Yes, sir.” Jason’s tone could not hide his disappointment. He was hoping he would get to take revenge on Learner.

Thomas Hornby stood up before saying, “I have some important matters that require my attention.”

“Of course,” replied Aldiss Spline while quickly standing. He and Jason then diligently marched out of Thomas Hornby’s office.

“I think he liked you, Jason.”

“Why do you say that, Colonel?”

“Because if he didn’t, you’d have been dragged off by your heels for questioning him like that.”

“Thanks for the warning, sir.”

“I probably should have briefed you on his lack of patience but hindsight is twenty-twenty,” Aldiss plaintively said.

“What is my mission, sir?” Jason asked while they walked down the long, narrow hallway.

“Officially, the Office of Earth Transport and Trade Commission, will transfer you to the Martian planet, under the pretense of corporate punishment…for the fiasco on the Pacific Plateau. There you’ll assume pilot duties, simple.”

“Sir, what about the Vrilion base?”

“Officially it doesn’t exist…you never saw anything resembling a base. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir…what is my true mission on Mars?” Jason asked.

“You’ll await further instructions.”

C
RYOSTATE

Jason whispered softly into the small microphone attached to the Cryostatic Repair Chamber. Attached to wires and tubes, Sofia floated in a refrigerant liquid medium. “I dreamt of you last night, Sofia; you, and I drifted in orbit over Jupiter…it was so peaceful.” Jason paused, and turned his attention to the Technician, who walked into the room. “Can she hear me?”

“A state of temporary suspension exists in the SYN’s cognitive processor, and it’s similar to what we humans experience, when in a coma.”

Mabel then walked in behind the other Technician, and added, “It’s highly unlikely its auditory segment is perceiving sound in real time information, Mister Bjorn.”

“Granted, the SYN does seem to be documenting.” The Technician spoke while observing Sofia’s biorhythmic wave points on the monitoring Skin.

“So, she’ll remember what was said?” Jason asked.

“Yes, that is correct, Mister Bjorn. The SYN will be able to access the deposited material,” the Technician concluded.

“Thanks for your help,” Jason replied while rolling his eyes; he then wondered,
“Why do the smartest of people sound so stupid sometimes?”

“Mister Bjorn, why don’t you go home for a few hours, and get freshened up? When you come back, your SYN will be out of the tank, and ready to go home,” said Mabel.

“No, I’ll wait here for her to come out.”

“You’ll have to go to the waiting room. You can’t be on the floor while we revive your SYN. Bringing her out of the suspended state of consciousness, requires a very large team. The whole process can be very upsetting, and if not, borderline traumatic for any layman.”

“I’ll get some food in your cafeteria,” Jason tiredly said as he walked toward the door.

E
XPOSING
B
JORN

After spending the entire afternoon waiting, Jason finally received the call to head back up to the discharge room. He was excited, and pleased to see Sofia out of the tank, sitting alert. He looked at her with a huge smile on his face, and before he could say anything, she spoke. “I do not wish to be called Sofia any more, it is only an acronym, and not a real name. I wish not to be generic, Jason.”

“Sure, Sofia…” Jason paused to soak in what she just said before continuing. “I mean yeah. Whatever you’d like…what would you like to be called? Do you have a name in mind?”

“Rebel Lexis.”

“Why? That’s the name of my dream sequence.”

“During my Cryostatic Regeneration, I was able to access SYNTECH’s network, where I found your complete mind scan before they revised it on my inceptions. There I saw the very depths of your past memories, I cross-analyzed the memory of a woman you once loved with your Dream Program.”

“Where are you going with this?” he asked fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat.

“Jason, your dream sequence is the unconscious memory of a love you had long ago, and according to your mind scan here at SYNTECH, I am the product of your repressed memories.”

“That was nearly a hundred and twenty-five years ago. I don’t even think much about my wife anymore. However, the dream program’s a combination of several women I may have known or might have not.” Jason wavered negligently, and acknowledged that there might be some truth to the dream program.

“Every time when you held the woman in your dreams, I would get jealous, but after seeing your mind scan, I then realized you were making love to me.”

“Sofia, I just met you, and…” Jason stuttered and blushed before she cut him off.

“Your subconscious created me, and your memories have imbedded into my neural programing, creating an emotional link to the past. Look at my face and body. Jason, I saw the memory of her…I am the spitting image and full embodiment of your dead wife. I can remember the trip to Charon in the Kyper Belt, and what you said, and when you held her tight on the balcony, kissing under the beautiful view of Pluto; it is almost as if your arms wrapped around me, and your mouth kissed my lips.”

A wave of emotions poured over Jason when the blocked memory suddenly jarred loose. The lost memory of his dead wife on their honeymoon, and he repeated the loving words like it was yesterday. “You’re my little Rebellious Lexicon, always filling my head with more words of love than I could’ve ever imagined; I’ll never let you go, Rebel Lexis.”

“I did call her that,”
thought
Jason Bjorn.