The Count entered the building and walked up the stairs to Guardian Angel’s room. Father Dophyl was watching the comatose agent. It had been decided that Angel should be under human (or clone) supervision at all times, in case he woke up or something else happened.
“Good afternoon, Father. It has been a long time.”
“Good afternoon, Your Excellency. Jules told me you were coming. It has indeed been a long time. Isn’t Agent Bond supposed to be with you?”
“He is with Goulu now. He may come later.”
“I see. Poor thing. I hope Agent Bond can help him. He hasn’t been the same since the incident.”
“So I have heard. I am sorry, Father, but would you mind waiting outside while I work in the room? Another person in here with me might cause psychoscopic interference.”
“As you wish, Your Excellency. I shall wait outside.”
The Count closed the door behind him, as well as the blinds on the windows between the corridor and the room. He never understood why Doc made this clone a priest. Was it because he had a crush on Valeria back then? What was Doc’s logic? Oh well, it did not matter at the moment. He looked around the room and saw Guardian Angel smiling. He felt a little guilty that he had only visited him a couple of times since his accident. That had been years ago. Not that he had many opportunities to go to HQ since his attempted retirement.
Where should he start? Direct physical contact with his comatose colleague could be dangerous for both of them. There was no need for it yet. He chose the bed and the beeping machine. He could never remember its name. A vital signs monitor? Yes, maybe it was called that.
He rubbed his hands together, grasped the metal bar of the bed with his right hand, and laid his left hand flat on the beep… on the vital signs monitor’s screen. He closed his eyes and waited.
The images flew backwards at the speed of light before his closed eyes until he felt some disturbance. He slowed down and stopped rewinding a few minutes before Guardian Angel moved and spoke.
The room was dark. Guardian Angel’s heartbeat and breathing were slow, but regular. There was a broad smile on his face. In the hallway, Goulu was mopping the floor. Soon, the monitor’s beeping began to speed up. It got louder. Goulu mopped the floor, unaware and uninvolved. The beeping accelerated. Guardian Angel’s head began to move from left to right, very slowly at first, then faster. There was a faint sound in the corridor. Goulu was humming. The Count couldn’t recognize the song. Some kind of nursery rhyme. Goulu stopped mopping and singing. He stood up straight. There was an unusual twitch in his face. Angel became more and more agitated. Sounds began to come out of his mouth. Whimpers at first, then mumbles, then he spoke:
“Oh?… Hi!… Wait… What?… You’re alive? Am I alive too? Are we all alive? Or dead?… Are we all dead?… Not yet?… Why are you here? Next month? What happens next month?… What will happen? When?… In six years!? Why are you telling me all this?… What? Oh no? Please, no!”
It was all exactly the same as what they had watched on the screen a few minutes earlier. If nothing else, it was proof that the video hadn’t been tampered with. But that wasn’t what the Count was looking for. He needed something else.
There was something else. He felt another presence in the room. Very faint. Somewhere. The person talking to Guardian Angel. The Count couldn’t hear what the presence was saying. There was no real sound in the room, otherwise the camera would have picked it up. The flash of heat the Count felt left no doubt. The presence was in the room. Not in Guardian Angel’s head. But it wasn’t corporeal. Not really. And then Goulu screamed in terror and ran away, and all was quiet again.
The Count opened his eyes and let go of the metal bar and the monitor. He looked at Guardian Angel.
“What have you summoned?”
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Author(s)
Frenchman, exiled on the other side of the planet, DavidB writes. It's not always very good, but who cares, the goal is to write. Sometimes, he also does other things.
MetaStructure is one of his longest-running projects. It was started in the early 2000s. Stopped many times. Started over a few times. Let's hope this time is the right one.
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