CHAPTER 24 - CUBISM

"... Bob--"

"Bubbles."

"...is a clone. Alright, now there are people that you have to meet. Beneath the files is a Laptop specifically dedicated for dealing with them. When you get it, there's a program labeled Comm. Once you open it, you've got a six hour countdown. "

" It's not a bomb. "

Thea hastily added. It was unneeded information that only served to exasperate the listeners.

"I think they'd know that."

"I'm just being sure, it would be a bit of a problem if something happened to the disc out of fear... or anger."

Marie slammed the laptop shut and left the park.

"Hey, what's your motivation? I mean, why are you here? "

Sam adjusted his glasses. He was lost in his thoughts and hadn't noticed when Bob returned and wanted to pretend that he wasn't scared by his voice.

He sat beside Sam which made him remember that he was asked a question. Sam stood and carried his laptop.

"I can't leave her by herself. Who knows what she would do..."

He looked at the fishes outside as he spoke.

"Stop. Damn, you trying to make me puke?"

"What?"

"What?"

"I think you're misunderstanding something so I'll say this... I have no roman..."

"Yeah, I know. She knows... But is that all?"

"All?... Oh, I am a bit interested in seeing how things play out. But not enough to risk my life. Marie and Tom are important to me, without them I have nothing."

"Normally, people call those type of friends... family," He paused because he wanted to see Sam's face when he spoke and he saw a mixture of grief and anger, "What's up with yours?"

"I know we're just clinging to each other because we have nothing else and that it might look unhealthy to others but what's wrong with that?"

"Your anger is misplaced. I never said such, also, you're not as dependent as she is and you know it. That's why you can't leave her alone. You know you'll have to someday and it makes you feel guilty and force yourself to be there for her. Yes, she's a burden to you. Are you prepared to... "

" Bubbles? "

" OK, I'll stop at that. "

" Thanks. "

There was an unnatural silence for almost six minutes then Sam jumped to Bubbles with his eyes gleaming.

" Did you say dark energy generator before? How does that work? Where is it hidden? "

" How the hell am I supposed to know? "

"Maybe I can answer that."

Marie had returned with a grave expression.

And several folders in her arm.

Looking at the papers, Sam remembered Jay's complaint about erased data and memories.

He remembered saying that everything would have been okay if they had hard-copies and Sam bursting his bubble with "good ol' shred and burn"... But then he had a weird feeling that he was missing something but was too embarrassed to press on.

*******************************************

Coulomb woke up looking at an unfamiliar night-sky.

He saw Schrodinger looking at the trees as if she was waiting for something... Or someone.

Laplace must have found something.

In Schrodinger's hands, a gun was secured tightly to her chest. They had only succeeded in finding five dinosaurs, he and Schrodinger killed two each and Laplace killed the fifth.

They found out later that eight other Savants got early passes because of hunting methods that completely denied others of prey.

Surprisingly, Franklin was among them. However, the rest were not as shocking. Zimmerman, Mozart, Volta, Vigier, Joule, Edison, Alcubierre and Cousteau.

They hunted the dinosaurs into extinction and scared the survivors. Without Laplace, Coulomb and Schrodinger wouldn't have been able to pass.

Coulomb wished Jolly would just cancel the game but he was glad that he didn't add more dinosaurs. Everyone understood how to hunt now, they'd just set fire to the forest and watch their kills rise.

Also, if Jolly decided that only Pterosaurs, which didn't count, and T-Rexes weren't enough and added more threatening species...

"You're finally awake. Laplace..."

"I know and I've been awake for quite a while."

"... How long exactly?"

She tried to sound as casual as possible but Coulomb could tell that the answer mattered a lot to her.

What exactly were you doing?

"Couldn't you have placed me somewhere more comfortable?"

Either she didn't notice that I didn't answer or she really didn't want to hear my answer.

"Like where?... My lap?"

"It's a special situation, requires exceptions, doesn't it?"

"Special?... Why don't you figure out how to use your abilities without fainting?"

"Says the girl with below average and unsuitable for combat abilities. You didn't even get affected by the limiter removal so you don't know what it's like."

"Hmpf... No, I got better alright, just didn't go into a vegetative state because I can't control my abilities like you weaklings."

They were illuminated by a flash of lightning and he noticed that their clothes were wet from rain he hadn't realized was falling earlier.

Coulomb released a dull blue-white glow and warmed his clothes then used his new ability to reduce friction to zero. The raindrops slid down his body and seeped into the soft soil.

Schrodinger was torn between staying directly under the sky or near a tree. The low rumble of thunder distracted her and she saw Coulomb's smug face illuminated by a now yellow light.

"You're really petty, you know?"

"I don't know what you mean by that."

"You can't act like you don't care when you're literally glowing with happiness!"

He ignored her shout and brought out a console from his storage. She grudgingly and reluctantly sidled to him. He sighed and extended his target to her as well while pretending not to hear her mumbled appreciation from behind him.

"You know, you wouldn't have bothered about a lap pillow if Zimmerman didn't say anything."

"You're still going on about that?!"

"Just saying."

She wanted to say something but stopped. He felt her shaking behind him. After a while she managed too speak.

"And I wouldn't normally get involved in petty insults..."

"I guess we just didn't matter to each other..."

She couldn't hear the music of the game or clacking of keys anymore. She moved to face him.

"What are you saying? I thought you didn't care about these things."

The rain made her move closer so she could get in his range again.

"I can't lie anymore, can I?... Look at me and you can see the truth. It's annoying that I can't remember anything and even more so because I know that I should be able to remember things that are important to me."

"No, the reason it hurts is because you know it's true but you want to convince yourself that it isn't. Nothing matters to you. Nothing. I know it because we're the same. I guess that's one thing we have in common."

She yawned and placed her head on his shoulder but he moved to her side and placed her head to his lap.

" Maybe we'll remember eventually, "She said sleepily.

" Want to try something that might help? "

She sat up suddenly.

" Why are you so jumpy? "

" Because I've seen a similar scene yesterday. "

" Great, I don't have to explain. You ready? "

" Are you? "

" Actually I'm not, I don't--"

She leaned forward and kissed him.

" Remember anything? "

" No."

"Me neither."

She placed her head on his lap again and looked at the stars. She couldn't summon the overpowering drowsiness she felt before again. She realized that it was her chance to try making constellations then gave up after a few minutes.

The star positions were so random she wondered how the people who first named each constellation thought they resembled an object.

"What are you guys doing?"

"Laplace, you're back. Find anything?"

Coulomb said without thinking or taking his eyes of the game.

"Yeah, I killed a T-Rex before the rain started then walked through mud and grime believing you'd set up a tent with a heater and I find this?"

Her borderline hysteria made him pause the game and look at her while slowly comprehending her speech.

"Huh... Tent... Heater..."

He remembered seeing such objects listed in his storage when pulling out the console but it didn't occur to him to bring it out and use it.

He sheepishly set up three tents and traps around the area then bid the girls goodnight.

Zimmerman's words were all he could think about as he went to sleep.

He could feel that there was a mistake from the very beginning.

Like as if he was added as an afterthought.

Someone like me could have never been a Savant.

***************************************

"Um... Marie ?"

Sam didn't seem too understand so she repeated.

"They're incorrigible. I thought they were just your run-of-the-mill bad guys but they're worse. They seriously want to kill everyone. It's horrible..."

Sam quickly read as much as he could.

She watched him as he read , he'd find out everything she had soon enough.

When she first read the draft, she thought it was a joke. But as she went on she saw a well thought out, detailed, step-by-step guide that ended in the death of eight billion people.

They'd hole up in Atlantis with all their tech and spur the rest of the world to war with misinformation and memory manipulation.

Then they'd clean the rest with biological weapons.

No, not ended. That was the beginning, what followed was a thorough scan of the future to ensure that no one but the Atlanteans survived. Then they'd jump to a time when almost all infrastructure has been worn down and rebuild.

According to Zimmerman, the ultimate human society is not one that relies on the relationship between large groups but instead one that relies on small communities. He'd eliminate indirect democracy and limit the growth and expansion of the population.

From there, she broke down running from one information source to another hoping to see that it was just a possibility that he had thought of and wasn't seriously considering but instead found even more plans. Lunar Terraforming. Mars. Europa. Space Exploration and even speculations about dimension travel.

All they needed to do was develop the technology. The plans were set. While you could find solace in the fact that they hadn't developed everything, they had certainly created enough to clean the planet and start over without time travel.

Without time travel?

She gathered everything and went to the park but she stopped when she heard voices from afar.

"... Motivation? I mean, why are you here?"

She saw Sam try to hide the fact that he was startled but he didn't fool Bubbles any more than he fooled her. She was just going to move and ignore it but his words made her stop and hide near a tree.

Bubbles noticed her and showed her that he did by waving but Sam didn't.

She listened quietly while clutching the papers.

And it was over as quickly as it began. She sat there feeling empty and confused until Sam spoke of a dark energy generator and she remembered what she was holding.

"Is the time travel really necessary, can't they just have everyone nuke each other and... Or just use their killer virus, forget the nuke. It's a plan drenched in grandeur for something simple."

Bubbles laughed.

"They could just stay underwater while waiting for the fallout to clear up.... But that takes a lot of time and remember, viruses never truly die."

"Then, they can brainwash the world into killing themselves or... Or, they could just..."

"...Make them accept the changes they want? No point killing, right?," Bubbles completed for him then tossed a burnt out stub, "Population is also a problem they want to fix, also there's no guarantee that everyone would get the device, what's the name again?... I always forget. And I can see the irony."

"Plus the cost and resources and time spent preparing... It's getting more ridiculous for something simple... Is it really necessary to get everyone?... One or two here and there can't really do... don't bother, I see it already. It's my kind of movie."

Bubbles smiled and brought out a new cigar which Sam promptly seized.

"So they thought of several plans and came to this... Fine, I get it. I can't find a fault in the work of several people over a long period of time but I still feel like something is missing."

Bubbles took out another cigarette and Sam moved to take it. He wondered if his pockets led to a different dimension of cigarettes and lighters.

"You would probably be in the Playground if you were a little bit younger."

Sam was stunned by the unexpected praise and forgot to take the cigar. He returned to his reading while Marie continued repeating "I am the sane one, they're all crazy." like a mantra.

"Did you know that you're a clone?," Sam asked innocently and the other two turned to him while slowly realizing the implications of Michael's words.

"How old is the technology?," Marrie scrambled to his side.

"Should only be as old as Atlantis, tops," Bubbles said.

"And how old is Atlantis?... These plans have been drawn since Zimmerman was twenty-four."

"Twelve years ago?"

They looked around but everything looked brand new.

"Why are you surprised?"

"I thought it was only five years old. We've not only lost memories, what's left has been corrupted. We can't trust it..."

"Is this even my real character? Who am I?"

"Sam, Bubbles, Get a grip. You're losing it."

"Let's search for any inconsistencies and replace lost data for now. We also have a proper blueprint and know where everything should be... Assuming they've been built. Let's get what we can, maybe we'll find more clues."

"Sam? Remember what Rodney said about the Playground... There's no data on the playground here."

"What he... I don't think I've heard this one yet."

"He said it was going to be a hit but he was sort of sleep-talking. And after he had recovered portions of his memory pertaining to my brother and his friends."

"Then maybe it was their influence? The Playground wasn't planned but Tom and the rest thought of it when they saw all the tech."

"...."

Sam noticed Marie had taken a dead expression and he realized he could have said it better.

"So, it's really just a game?"

"What if they wiped their memories themselves?... Could we not just be looking at the work of a few bored kids with access to technology that can destroy and create anything and resources plus skill to use the?"

But Marie wasn't satisfied with Bubbles and Sam's conclusions and she soon found out what was odd.

" Then, who is the Creator? How did he get access to the tech and... "

" Isn't that probably just someone they asked to mediate the game?,"Bubbles interrupted her immediately. She was acting like she found a hole but it wasn't good enough for him.

" Nah, watching is boring... I mean if you were that interested, wouldn't you be playing? I think we're dealing with A.I. set to mediate. Like the skeleton dude."

"Skeleton dude... Who's that?"

"Don't you watch the Playground?"

"I haven't in a whi..."

Marie didn't hear anything they said anymore. She was trying to find what was wrong with their assumptions but she couldn't. She just felt it was wrong and hoped the other two weren't too attached to their answer.

It wasn't wrong when she thought about it. Given the characters of everyone involved. It did sound like something they'd do. After all they treated killing off ninety-nine percent of humanity as child's play.

What's  memory manipulation and abduction compared to that.

"I'll go and check the Archives again."

She said but the men were already engrossed in watching a game. She caught a glimpse of a dinosaur and sighed remembering the dinosaur obsession of the Zimmerman's pilot.

The pilot?

Memory manipulation and abduction?

Didn't they kill that one time and the Zimmermans died too.

Did they really?

They have cloning tech after all.

Have they already succeeded in time travel?

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