Encompassing (28 page)

CHAPTER 73

“The miracles of, what many religions refer to with different names as one person or sometimes many, still happen.  We have come together, holistically, and named them science.” – from the book of Illumna

Renfield descends the stairs to “S.I.R. Labs” as he’s decided to name it.  He chuckles to himself as his mind wanders back to the day he reserved that name.  The girls liked the name a lot.  It stood for ‘Solstice, Illumna, Renfield Labs’.

Rounding the bottom of the stairs he goes into command mode and asks, “”Okay, where are we with weapons development?”

Illumna states, “I’m working on the big boom stuff and I have some pretty cool toys ready that are small and portable.”

Solstice replies, pointing to her screen, “And this is one of the neat toys you’ll be carrying.”

Renfield leans in and stares at a mini-assault rifle with a hydraulic-based buffer to accept the shock of the bottom mounted grenade launcher with a short barrel.  He notes the laser on top and asks Solstice, “Is that for aim?  If so, I don’t need it.”

Solstice proudly points out the butt of the weapon and notes, “It has a lithium-ion battery in the butt that is large enough that you will be able to cut one or two more things in half with it.  Since that is a short fast burst energy source, it won’t do more than that, but it’s there if you need it.”

Renfield grins, but looks at Solstice and then points to the screen, “There on the end of the butt.  Can’t you shape that into a can opener?”

Solstice looks at her father, “Umm sure, should I also shape the trigger to work as a bottle opener?”  She frowns at her father with the sarcasm intended.

Renfield ignore the obvious sarcasm and pats her on that back, “Good idea!”  Then he stands and moves towards Illumna’s workstation to see what she’s been working on.

Solstice yells out at him, “You do get sarcasm, right?”

Renfield turns to her, “Huh?  Yeah.  But it’s a good idea anyway.”  Solstice shakes her head at him and decides sarcasm or not, she’s going to add that in and a few other things just to make her point.

Illumna shows him several devices that are extremely small in size that make for huge explosions.  She runs a few simulations for him and he stares down at her and asks, “How can you make those so small?  If that were possible, everyone would be doing it.”

Illumna leans over her should to look at her father, “Everyone isn’t us.”  She replies.

Renfield nods and thinks, “It makes sense, her mind is about accuracy.  She thinks in smaller increments and this is just an extension of that.”

Illumna looks back, “Want to see your shirt and pants?”  Renfield nods.  Illumna brings up the design for new pants and a shirt.

Renfield nods, “Good lots of pockets for your devices.”

Illumna holds up her pointer finger and says, “Wait!  Watch this.“  She then plays a simulation of a bullet striking him in the back.  It becomes lodged in the shirt, but doesn’t pass through it.

Renfield looks at her and asks, “Does that really work?”

Illumna responds, “It depends on several factors, but under all simulations it slows a bullet knife, etc. down drastically on impact. You’ll still feel it, but it will do a lot less damage to you.  Best is that it’s flexible and lightweight, so it won’t slow you down.”

Renfield begins to question her how it’s better than Kevlar, but then he again realizes that micro threading is something Illumna would master due to her natural mind for accuracy.  He smiles, impressed by his daughters as Brady enters.  “Have you seen what they have created?”

Brady responds, “What part?  I’m guessing you liked the Superman suit the most?”

“Okay, so you have seen all of this before I did.”  Renfield responds and looks back at Illumna’s monitor.

“I was the first to tell them what I thought was missing from our bag of tricks.  The rest they have done in only nine months while raising kids that are now walking.  And yes, I am as proud of them as you are.”  Brady mentions.

Renfield looks up as if startled and looks down at his watch.  “Speaking of which, I promised Christina, Sara and Angela, I would watch the kids while they went shopping.  Gotta run!”  He scans the room to be sure his departing doesn’t annoy any of them.  Not getting an immediate response he clicks upstairs immediately.

Brady leans in to looks at the changes Solstice is furiously making and then says to the two girls, “He’s feeling guilty for everything.  He shouldn’t, but that’s him.  I know you girls made your own decisions but he feels like he dragged all of us into this.  What he doesn’t realize is that all of us would again jump at the chance to save the world.”  He pauses then continues, “He proud of the two of you.  I am too.  Your shining lights, girls.  The world may not ever know that we all gave up on normal lives to do this, but we’ll know we did the right thing.”

Illumna replies, “No reward.  Weird life.  Yeah, great plan.”

Solstice looks across to her sister.  “I owe.  I almost did it myself.  Why do you do it?”

“Because you pulled back from the edge and changed direction, Solstice.  That’s more than admirable, it’s heroic!  Most people can never admit their mistakes.  Most people never look inside to what they did wrong when something goes wrong.  It’s inspiring.”

Solstice looks up from her monitor to her older sister and explains, “Wasn’t it Dad who said, ‘While doing something wrong, the knight doesn’t realize his folly.  It is a true knight who can look back and realize he is not pure and resolves to change that.’  I am far from pure, by some standards.  By my own, I’m working on who I will be.  Day by day.”

Illumna sits silent for a moment and then says, “Well some would certainly think some of your thoughts are impure!”  She laughs.

Solstice looks back at her and replies, “I’ve decided.  Yours are worse!”  Then she looks at their monitor than back up at Illumna.  “Intention isn’t the road to hell.  Intention speaks to the soul and judges.  Religion, politics, things like that.  They try to guide.  However, they are always influenced by people who use them to both make their own opinion and rules.  It may not be the intent of the founder of a religion, but those who swear to follow re-interpret the goal to garnish personal power.”  She stops for a second and swallows then she continues, “Personal power is not in and of itself a bad thing.  It equates to survival.  When used to mislead, it is evil.  At least I never did that.”

Illumna responds by quoting their father, “You are responsible for your wake.”

Solstice looks back, “Exactly.  Although I think someone said that to him about driving a boat and he took it to have a deeper meaning.”

Illumna asks, “Do you remember who?”

Solstice shakes her head.  “No idea, but obviously he’s had his influences in life as he is one to us.”

Brady moves forward and leans in over the center of their duo desk and orders, “Okay, enough philosophical speeches for today.  Let’s get to work.  The first thing I have to do is figure out where we are going to get the metals and other materials from.  I do have some ideas.  I need you two to start working on a very specific list for me including amounts, weights or whatever.  Angela and I can work on that while you two modify your designs to what I can actually get.  Deal?

Both girls look up at him, “You’re starting to think like him.”  Illumna says to her grandfather.  “However, I understand the logic.”

Solstice looks up and says, “Yeah, hadn’t thought about that.  Basically; so far all we have is rough drafts until we know what you can actually get.  Then we modify based around that.”

Brady shrugs and says, “Life didn’t change, you…”

Solstice interrupts, “Play the cards your dealt.  Did Dad get that quote from you or the other way around?”

Brady looks at Solstice and responds, “Him, he said someone gave that quote to him and he remembers it every day.  In fact, if I’m not mistaken, I’m pretty sure he said that the night you were created.  Which was the night before he went to get you.”

Then, as if a lightbulb went on over his head, he looks to Illumna, “Illumna, you can travel back into previous versions of yourself, right?”

Illumna looks at her grandfather and tries to get where he’s going with the thought that just animated him.  She answers, “Yes.  It’s a form of time travel, but it’s rudimentary.”  She answers.  She sits for a moment while Brady looks at her and adds, “Plus it would break Dad’s rules against time travel because he’s trying to keep to this timeline.”

Brady responds, “Maybe not.  I have an idea.”

Solstice replies, “Uh oh, a cop, a map and a plan, this can’t go well.”

CHAPTER 74

“Before a storm the ions in the air charge and make your hair move.  You shouldn’t be able to feel your hair, but you do, despite the fact they are your dead cells.” – from the book of Solstice

As they all sit around on the deck talking and eating burgers Renfield is flipping over his shoulders for them to catch on their plates, Angela stands.

“I can’t take this anymore!”  Angela bursts out.  “Brady, I truly do love you.  I would never have married you if that weren’t true, but I can’t take this anymore!  Renfield knows more than one future.  It’s why he recruited me.”

Renfield whistles and then adds, “And now we get to the juicy part.  Who likes their burger rare?”  He turns and leans against the railing with his elbow while holding his chin and crossing his left leg around his right.  “Go on Angela.”

Angela looks at Brady pleading for his understanding in her eyes, but pointing over and over at Renfield, “You want to know who’s behind the ‘enemy’?  It’s him!  Not him, the him now, but him!  He knows!”

Brady looks at his wife and then to Renfield.  Renfield shrugs with is face.  Then he stands straight, arms crossed.  He looks remarkably relaxed when everything has suddenly gone so drastically south.  Brady turns back to Angela and says, “Go on dear.  I suppose this explains why you have always looked at him with such anger.  It’s not like I didn’t notice.  I just assumed it was something else.”  Brady sees her panicked looks and holds out a hand to her, “I’ll believe you, but I need you to explain.”

Angela whirls and looks at Solstice, “He told me to stop you at all costs!”

Solstice doesn’t look surprised and Illumna looks at her sister and suppresses a giggle.

Angela continues, “He”, she says while raising her voice even more, “”Gave a very compelling argument as to why.”

Brady looks over at Renfield to gauge his reaction, but there is none.  He turns back to Angela, “Okay, what was the reason?”

“He said that she has the ability to end everything and he would need us soon.  When we saw you two at the nightclub, we assumed you two were there on purpose to let us know it was time to act. Instead you and I are married and living in this house!”  She begins to cry.  Brady moves to her.  Angela makes motions with her hands that she wants him to stay away from her.  He backs away and looks at Renfield.

Renfield nods.  Then addressing everyone says, “Okay for the purpose of this conversation and with respect to Angela she’s right.  It was also a different timeline.  One in which I had not yet succeeded in stopping Solstice.  We’re past that now.”

Angela screams at Renfield, “You know the fucking future, asshole!  You explained it to us!  That’s why we did all the things we did.  It’s why the damned ‘zombies’ even exist because you taught the engineers how to make them based off Solstices own work.”

Brady looks extremely accusingly at Renfield.  “Is that true?”

“What they are doing now?  I don’t know.  I and the girls are learning what they did to change the technology.”  Renfield answers.

“That is not what I am asking!”  Brady yells.

“Technically it is, but I see your point.  Yes, Angela is without a doubt telling you the truth.”  Renfield responds.

Brady shoots a look at Renfield, but makes the decision to focus on Angela instead of bashing Renfield’s head in.  He looks at Solstice who seems very calm about her father plotting against her.  As Brady stares at her, Solstice turns to him and says, “Well, I get the logic.”

Brady looks at Illumna.  His mind is flooded with thoughts exclaimed with the thought of taking her, Brian and Angela and getting as far away from this madness as he can.  Illumna responds, “I agree with Solstice.  Dad had to have a back-up plan in case he failed again.  So he clicked to an earlier time and began recruiting.  Some of whom were under your command, Grandfather.  Aren’t you responsible for not noticing and stopping discourse in your own team.  As Commander, sir?”

Brady begins to think he is in the mouth of madness, when Christina speaks up.  “I think I get it.  I don’t like it, but he had to deal with one threat at a time.  At that time the threat was Solstice.”  Sara, who has remained silent looks to Christina and nods.

Brady looks back at Angela, “What do you want to do?”

Angela is rigid and says nothing for a while and then looks at Brady.  Then she speaks slowly, “I understand , but either way it’s his fault for spending a night with Christina and having Solstice that all of this is happening.”

Brady considers the thought and looks at Renfield with his head over Angela’s and blinks at Renfield in a begging fashion.  He understands reality.  He then speaks to Angela, “Nothing is anyone’s fault. All hasn’t gone wrong, yet.”  He continues to hug her for comfort, but doesn’t know what to say next and he eyes Renfield and shakes his head to indicate that Renfield, of all people, shouldn’t say a word.

Illumna says it for Renfield, “On a Mobius strip there is no end and no beginning.  There is no inside and there is no outside.  You’re just there and you deal with it to keep it together.  Isn’t that why Escher chose to put ants on it.  Workers keeping the strip together.  Isn’t that what we are?”

Angela stops crying and composes herself.  She pulls free of Brady and says to Renfield, “You are blessed.  I still think you are the curse, but you have a smart daughter and I get her point.”  She looks back at Brady, “I want to leave here, please.”

Brady hugs Angela again and waits a few moments and then says, “I know my family.  They will forgive you if you can forgive them.  You said what was in your heart and I think all of us are glad you did.  I don’t think anyone here views you or me any better or less for it.  If you want to leave…We’ll go.”

Solstice casually takes a bite from her apple.

Angela looks at Brady for a long time.  Then she again pushes away from him.  She walks to Solstice and holds out her arms.  Solstice accepts the hug as Angela whispers in her ear, “I have to stop this madness.”  She pushes the blade she’s had up her sleeve deep into Solstices midsection, twists and pull as hard as she can upwards cutting through as much tissue as she can before Solstice can click to safety or Renfield can click to stop her.

Renfield moves to Solstice, grabs her and clicks.  Illumna clicks and appears behind Angela and snaps her neck quickly.  She turns to her Grandfather.  “Your choice in wives is as bad as our choice of fathers.”  As she says that Brady just stares in shock, a million disagreeing thoughts going through his mind at once.

Sara jumps up to ease his fall as she notices him going slack.  As he goes to the ground she has her hand on his jugular the entire time.  She turns and shouts, “I think he’s having a heart attack!”  She puts her hand over her father’s heart as if she could feel if she is correct and realizes her action is in vain.  Not knowing what to do her mind races.  She yells to Illumna, “At least get the body out of here!”

Illumna turns never having heard her mother raise her voice.  She clicks.  Soon she reappears next to her grandfather.  She begins to punch him in the chest and finds her rhythm.  The emotions in her head swell and she punches harder and harder.  Sara looks at her oddly.

Christina yells, “Calm down, Illumna!”

Illumna yells back, “I’m trying to force his heart back to rhythm.  It’s a rare medic trick, but it can work!”

Brady, stops looking so taught and looks up at Sara.  “My wife?”  Illumna clicks away.

Sara responds.  “Thank the universe you are still in it, Dad!”

Brady looks up and gazes into Sara’s eyes, “YOU!”  He says accusatory, “You brought that monster into this world!”  As he speaks he quickly reaches down, pulls his service pistol, puts it to his own daughter’s head, pauses for the slightest moment and pulls the trigger.  Sara ceases to be.

Christina screams at him, “That’s my daughter!”  Her eyes light with the fiercest of looks.  She picks up the steak knife next to her plate and plunges at him driving the blade deeply and swiftly through the heart Illumna had just revived.  As she stands, blood everywhere she looks around and realizes she is alone.  So much madness and she is alone to view the body of her own daughter.  Lifeless.  And worse, the face of the man who made her and murdered her.  Her mind screams to nothing, but screams nonetheless.

Illumna appears and looks at her mother’s lifeless body and her grandfather’s.  She can’t process it.  She grabs Christina and clicks.

Christina, Illumna, Renfield_1, and Solstice lay in nothing.  But they are aware Solstice is dying.  Illumna knows she has to update her father so she thinks all the insanity of the current situation to him.

Renfield _2 comments in her mind, “I think for once, he can’t hear you.”

Illumna thinks back at Renfield_2, “How am I here?”

Renfiled_2 responds, “You were unable to focus on where you were clicking to and ended up here.  This is the place of nothing.”  Renfield_2 concentrates so hard it sounds like a scream in their ears.  Then they are all back in the kitchen at Renfield’s house.

Christina sees Renfield is kneeling over Solstice in the area of the few tiles Solstice had pointed out after the talk with Sara, her daughter.  Christina begins to move toward Renfield but Illumna clicks in front of her instantly and demands, “Stay away!  He’s thinking very hard right now.”  Her voice softens and she turns to her grandmother, “I suppose I will be seeing you soon Grandmother.”

Christina gives Illumna an odd look.  “What does that mean?”  In all of the madness she struggles to make sense of Illumna’s last statement.