Prodigy

  It took over thirty minutes of patiently waiting until Mara fell asleep. As she slipped deeper into an unconscious dream state, she began to see a stage emerge in front of her. She was now transported back to her early twenties. Mara, then known as Alexandra, sat in the audience watching a young, charismatic Maxim Morrison take the podium at the Annual Leadership Convention. She had never met Maxim before, but as soon as she saw him, she was captivated. With his beautiful smile and perfect bone structure, he was truly a remarkable specimen. In addition to his physical stature, he was charming, articulate, and poised, but also had a calm demeanour that put people at ease. Mara was looking for a flaw in him that would snap her out of the haze of infatuation that had unexpectedly consumed her, but she could not find one.

  The dream sequence skipped ahead to a time when they were together as a couple. Maxim spoke about how he was going to be the Leader of the New World.

  The dream jumped forward again. This time, they were in an apartment, discussing plans for a space program. Maxim had a series of documents laid out and Mara attentively reviewed them.

  “Alexandra, I want to let you in on a little secret.”

  Mara’s eyebrows furrowed and she tossed around in the dream state.

  “Do you think she’s alright?” Milo asked.

  “Yeah, she’s fine. I’ve never heard of anyone dying from a dream,” Alex said.

  “Alex, you’re committing a false dilemma fallacy.”

  “What’s a false dilemma fallacy?” she asked.

  “You’re kidding, right? It’s when you erroneously present two possible choices, forcing a conclusion based on one of the choices being false. You claimed that since she cannot die in a dream she must be okay. However, you are ignoring a third possibility that she could be seriously harmed.”

  “That’s interesting,” Alex said casually.

  “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Milo asked. He looked over at Alex and noticed she was flush in the face.

  “You know, now that you mention it, I am a little warm.”

  “We must be over 200 feet below ground and it’s freezing down here. I can practically see my breath.”

  “You know what, I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”

  “Alex, something is seriously wrong with you. You forget some elementary logic and then complain that you’re too warm.”

  “Hey, cut me some slack, I just built a dream recorder from memory in a matter of hours using random gizmos.”

  “Wait, which ones were the gizmos?”

  “Milo, it was a hyperbole,” Alex replied.

  “I’m surprised you know what hyperbole means,” Milo whispered under his breath.

  Alex heard the remark, but chose to ignore him. She tried to keep it together, but knew something was wrong with her. Then, her nose suddenly started to bleed.

  “Alex, your nose,” Milo pointed out as he handed her a tissue.

  Alex wiped the blood from her nose and felt disorientated. She rubbed her eyes and tried to shake off the feeling she was having.

  “Maybe I just need some fresh air,” she said. As she tried to stand up, she lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Alex woke up in a daze. She was in a room she did not recognize and could not remember how she had gotten there. The feeling was becoming a habit as of late. The only thing she found comfort in was the two familiar faces standing over her.

  “Where am I? What day is it?” she mumbled. Her judgement was still a little bit cloudy as she was trying to make sense of what was going on.

  “Alex, you’re safe. We were helping your mum with the dream recorder and you blacked out,” Milo said.

  “How long have I been out for?”

  “Just a couple of minutes,” Milo answered.

  Milo and Mara helped Alex sit up.

  “Did we capture your entire dream?” Alex asked, showing little concern for herself.

  “I had to wake your mum up so we only obtained about an hour.”

  It was incidental for Alex to try to be deciphering dreams at that point. She had a splitting headache and had no idea what was wrong with her.

  “We need to get you tested,” Milo said.

  “Stay here,” Mara instructed. “We have a shaman in our camp that can help.”

  “A what?” Milo asked in confusion.

  “A shaman,” Mara repeated. “He’s a spiritual healer who deals with the inner workings of the universe.”

  “Let me guess, in exchange for his mystical healing powers, he requests you pay him money up front?” Milo derided.

  “No, of course not. Trust me, the shaman will be able to identify your illnesses and remove any foreign elements from your soul.”

  “Sounds like some spooky voodoo science.”

  “Well, he probably thinks a lot of the things in your world are spooky voodoo science.”

  When Mara returned with the shaman, he asked Alex to lie down. Alex was sceptical, but followed the shaman’s instructions. He lit several incense sticks and placed them around her.

  “What’s that for?” Milo whispered.

  “The incense contains biotic materials, which enhances the senses. It allows for a smoother passage into the spirit realm. This technique has been around since the ancient Sumerians.” Mara said, familiar with the shaman’s ritual.

  The hot embers smouldered, causing the incense sticks to release an aromatic smoke. The shaman waved his hands over Alex’s body as the spiritual healing process began. The shaman inhaled deep breaths in an attempt to release himself from the physical world and communicate with the spiritual realm. By now, he had placed one of his hands on Alex’s forehead and another on her chest. Milo and Mara stayed back so they would not get in the way.

  A few minutes of silence grew into over a half an hour. Milo had just about seen enough. His scepticism rose to a new high and he was about to interrupt the bogus ceremony and bring Alex to a real doctor. Milo thought things could not get any more ridiculous, but then the shaman began speaking in a strange dialect that sounded like his words were being processed through a blender. Milo’s curiosity allowed the shaman to proceed without interruption. Just then, the shaman’s eyes opened wide.

  After a brief pause, the shaman said, “My spirit has been to the other side and has now returned.” He removed his hands from Alex’s body and extinguished the embers of the burning incense. Alex opened her eyes and sat up.

  “I am troubled to tell you that I saw darkness in your future.”

  “We weren’t looking for a fortune teller, we want to know what’s wrong with her… medically,” Milo said, growing ever more annoyed.

  “Have faith my son, you may know a great deal about the physical world, but you know not of the mysterious forces in the spiritual world. It troubles me to say this, but your friend’s soul is infected.”

  “My soul is infected?” Alex reiterated in disbelief.

  “Infected with what?” Milo followed up.

  “I saw a great darkness that will affect the lives of many. An illness unlike anything humanity has encountered before. A plague of biblical proportions,” the shaman chanted with intensity.

  “Okay, okay, we get it. Did your spirit lords provide you any more details other than that?” Milo asked condescendingly.

  “Only that it appeared to be from nature.”

  “That’s great,” Milo repeated. “That could be anything. Thanks, pal, we’ll allow science to take it from here. Your services will no longer be needed.”

  Mara thanked the shaman as he gathered his belongings and slinked away. When he was out of earshot, they focused their attention on what the shaman had told them.

  “Okay, let’s review what we know about this illness,” Alex suggested.

  “That’ll be easy, we don’t know anything.”

  “That’s not true. Great mysteries and crimes have been solved with less information than we have. We just need to piece together a
cohesive story with the facts. Now, what are the facts?”

  “Nose bleeds,” Milo offered.

  “Good, what else?”

  “Memory loss, light-headedness, loss of consciousness.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Whatever the shaman said – something about being natural and some darkness mumbo-jumbo. I did my best to forget whatever nonsense he was saying.”

  “Let’s focus on the nature element,” Alex suggested.

  “You want me to start telling you some natural elements?” Milo asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Um, okay, let me see. Wood – that’s a natural element. Strawberries, that’s another one.”

  “Milo, I need you to take this seriously. Wood and strawberries are not the kinds of things that cause illnesses. What exists in nature that is all around us?”

  “Air is, wait that kind of sounded like Aris. Now that I mention it, he is constantly around us, maybe this whole thing is somehow his fault.”

  “I doubt it, but you did give me an idea.”

  “I did?”

  “Yes, we should call Aris and see what he thinks,” Alex suggested.

  “We could do that, or we could sit here and put our minds together and think of a solution.”

  “You and I think too much alike. Aris offers a different perspective. He may not have the right answer, but he has an unorthodox way of thinking that has proven useful in the past. He helped us find Mara.”

  “That’s not true at all. I found Mara in jail, which by the way, you and I both ended up in jail within days of being around him. I’m telling you Alex, the guy is bad news.”

  “True, but you wouldn’t have even known what Mara looked like if it weren’t for his suggestion about getting renditions of my image done.”

  “Again with the renditions, if I have to hear about these stupid renditions one more time, I’m going to—”

  “You’re going to what?”

  “I don’t know, but I assure you it will not be very pleasant.”

  “Quit being so immature. I’m going to call Aris and invite him over.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Without any sort of direction in life, Aris occupied most of his time by playing video games. The ease of life made him lethargic and complacent. The only success he strived for was in virtual reality, perhaps because it was much more exciting than his actual life.

  In the middle of his game, Aris was interrupted by an incoming message. He removed his video glasses and had the message read to him.

  “Meet us at 49°15'N, 123°6'W,” the automated voice said.

  Each attempt to reply to the message had failed. He figured the message was either using a trace scrambler, or it was on outdated technology that could only send messages one way.

  “Meet us,” he said aloud, re-reading the message. “Who’s ‘us’?”

  As far as he knew Mara and Alex were still locked up in prison, and Milo would not refer to himself in the plural form. The idea stirred around in his head as he went to the kitchen to get a beverage. The news site was enabled, providing background noise as he puttered around his apartment.

  “Scientists are still baffled at the abrupt outbreak of an illness that has plagued people of all ages. Reports are coming in from all over the world, indicating this is a global pandemic. So far, there have been thousands of reported fatalities with countless others hospitalized and seeking answers. The Leader made an emergency webcast moments ago, advising citizens to remain calm and that the government was doing everything in its power to investigate the causes of the sickness.”

  The news piqued Aris’ interest, but not enough for him to devote his full attention. With his head buried in the refrigerator, he began taking out the ingredients to make a sandwich. The news still blared in the background.

  “Local authorities are pursuing several leads in the hostile infiltration of the Megalopolis Penitentiary that occurred Tuesday night.”

  This was definitely news that captured Aris’ attention. He stopped what he was doing and stood in front of his computer.

  “Masked assailants swarmed the prison in the middle of the night, immobilized the prison guardians, and deployed several detonations. Two people are reported missing: 40-year-old Mara Miletus and 18-year-old Alexandra Gray. According to testimony from several inmates, Miletus and Gray are related. Although it has yet to be confirmed, Mara Miletus is believed to be Alexandra Gray’s estranged mother.

  “Ms. Gray is no stranger to the public eye as she has become renowned for being the youngest person ever to have graduated from the Facility. The young prodigy and her alleged mother are believed to have orchestrated the breakout. However, authorities have no substantial evidence linking them to the crime.”

  Aris was now staring at the two images displayed on the screen; a young beauty and another pretty woman that bared a striking resemblance to Alex. This was the first time he had set eyes on Alex’s mother. Aris now had an idea of who the ‘us’ from the message was referring to. He turned the volume up and leaned in closer.

  “This incident marks the first attack on the prison since inception and although none of the guardians sustained any serious injuries, most are pretty shaken up about it.”

  Aris instructed his access pod to pull up a satellite image of the coordinates. When the images populated, they revealed a dense forest. What would Alex be doing in the forest? he asked himself. He was of course assuming the message he received was from Alex. There was a possibility that it came from Milo, or anybody else for that matter. Am I being set up here? Is this a wrong number? Maybe they entered the coordinates incorrectly. Aris’ paranoia kicked in as he began to question everything.

  He decided to take a chance, put the video game down, and for once experience a real-life adventure.

  Aris went into his room and retrieved a black duffle bag from his closet. The bag was filled with some survival gear he had put together in case of an apocalypse-type situation. With all the deaths and the secret meeting in the forest, he figured it was as good a time as any to use it. He slung the bag over his shoulder and left his apartment immediately.

  Chapter Thirty

  With Mara’s dream stored on an external hard drive, the process of uploading it into Alex’s brain for further analysis was underway.

  Alex laid down while Milo hooked up the nodes to her head.

  “Be careful, Milo,” Mara said. The thought of anything bad happening to her daughter was difficult to bear.

  “Don’t worry, mum, it’s completely safe,” Alex assured.

  “Okay, are you ready?” Milo asked.

  Alex took a deep breath and said, “Yes, I’m ready.”

  “Okay, I’m beginning the extraction now.”

  Milo entered a few commands and the process began. It was a bit anti-climactic to watch since it appeared as though nothing was happening at all. Nobody said a word as they patiently waited for the machine to do what it was designed to do. After a minute, Milo was getting frustrated at how long it was taking.

  “Calm down, Milo, it has only been a minute,” Mara reminded him.

  “A minute is a long time to wait for such a small file – especially for Alex.”

  “We’re not exactly at the Facility here. This technology takes a little longer to process data. Just be patient,” Mara urged.

  “How could anybody stand the processing speed of these old computers?” Milo lamented as he paced anxiously around the room.

  Fed up with the sluggish processors, Milo quickly rigged up another one.

  “Is that safe to do while Alex is hooked up to the machine?” Mara asked.

  “Yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong.”

  “Isn’t that what people say moments before something terrible happens?”

  “Mara, you worry too much.”

  Stretched to its limits, the computer made a succession of strange noises as the internal drives spun rapidly.

  “I hope you know what
you’re doing,” Mara said, watching on nervously.

  “Relax, I’m an expert and a professional. I have everything under control.”

  Alex remained still with her eyes closed as the data transferred. Images from her mother’s memory flashed through her head. Milo kept a watchful eye on Alex while he checked her vitals manually. So far everything was going smoothly.

  Part way through the process, the machine suddenly started displaying problems. An error message populated on the screen and the system was making a high-pitched squeal.

  “What’s happening, Milo?” Mara asked.

  “I may have routed too much power to it,” he said casually in an attempt disguise his concern.

  “You shouldn’t have messed with it, I told you to be patient!” Mara said anxiously.

  Milo ignored her.

  “Can you fix it?” Mara asked.

  “I think we need another CPU, it’s trying to process too much data and it’s overheating,” Milo said, as he frantically searched through the pile of discarded rubble to find yet another processor. Once he located the equipment he needed, he quickly connected it to the machine and the horrible sounds reduced until they emitted the proper frequency – a nearly inaudible hum.

  Milo wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. Shortly after, Alex awoke. Her eyes slowly opened and she looked around in confusion.

  “Oh my gosh, Alex are you okay?” Mara said as she threw her arms around her.

  “Who are you people?” Alex said as she winked at Milo.

  “Alex, it’s me, do you know where you are?” Mara asked frantically.

  “Yes, I’m fine. I was just messing with you.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The taxi had been commuting for about three hours through many neighbourhoods that Aris had never been to before. He was tracking his trajectory via the GPS app on his access pod and was growing evermore curious as the taxi approached the city limits. Beyond the city was nothing but forest.

  The taxi eventually slowed down and came to a complete stop on the edge of the city. Aris got out and was now looking at a wall of trees and a dense overgrowth of shrubbery. Despite double checking the coordinates to make sure he was reading them correctly, he still thought, This can’t be right?

  Although he was having serious reservations about the adventure he was about to embark on, he proceeded anyway, giving his secret messenger the benefit of the doubt.