Purgatech: Aaron's Terrible Realization

Chapter 19

I saw...

Turner. He was again in the cramped computer lab with his colleagues. He was again the center of their attention as he paced in front of the seated group.

"Gentlemen," he said. "Can you tell me what happened last week? What went wrong?"

"We were mugged," said one, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You were hurt," chimed in another.

"Yes, but before that. What went wrong?"

"Well," said one particularly acne scared individual, "I guess the scientific community didn't feel like we had enough evidence to be taken seriously."

"You are right, John. They failed to take us seriously," said Turner. "But was it really about the evidence?"

The group was quiet.

"Do you think that the audience really considered the evidence?"

A few heads shook slowly.

"What if we had been discussing a cure for cancer, some miracle treatment? How might we have been differently received?"

"I guess," ventured John, "that more people would have been willing to give us the benefit of the doubt." Turner moved over toward John, seeming to speak directly to him.

"Yes! Precisely. And why should that be?"

John only sat, looking confused and slightly intimidated by Turner's proximity.

"Well," said another member of the group, "I suppose folks really would like to have a cure for cancer."

"And would they not like to have the treasure that we can provide?" asked Turner.

"It doesn't really seem like it," said the man.

"No. No it doesn't." Turner stroked his chin, continuing to pace. "People know that cancer is real. Almost everyone has seen it affect their lives in some way. Most people, however, have not had a paranormal encounter."

Turner let this statement hang in the air, giving it a moment to sink in.

"People are afraid of what they do not understand. They would rather continue with their blind ignorance than expand their understanding. They brush us off, they laugh at us because what we propose is so radically outside of their worldview. They treat us like cult leaders, spouting gibberish.

“We are actually speaking facts, though. We know exactly what is out there, what is on the other side of this reality. Every one of us has witnessed proof of life after death."

The group nodded along with Turners sermon.

"Just think of the possibilities that lay ahead of us. When we manage to bring a spirit through to this world, and I assure you we will, there will be no end to the possibilities. Robots will become obsolete in the wake of a powerful, maintenance free work force."

The seated men shifted in their seats and nodded again in agreement.

"I am working on plans to ensure that our message is heard. I will not allow them to laugh at us again. When we have perfected the technology, I can assure you, my friends, we will be respected."

There were smiles in the group.

"And men like these muggers will learn their place. They will learn that their fellow man is to be treated with respect. They will learn that evil deeds are met with justice. Are you with me, brothers?"

The men in the group nodded in agreement.

"I said, 'Are you with me?'" said Turner, raising his voice.

"Yes!" they all yelled in unison.

Turner smiled. The scene faded.

I saw...

Turner, yet again. He was again addressing the same group of men, though, rather than being seated at random, the men were clustered in pairs. Even Turner had a partner in close proximity.

"Alright men, you've all been partnered up based on high stress compatibility and personality traits. Have you all received your addresses and targets?"

The group nodded.

"Good. Once you've have finalized the purchases on the properties that I have assigned to you, you will be responsible for making contact with the spirit I've assigned. It won't be easy but with persistence, you should be able to locate them."

Turner's audience listened raptly.

"These spirits have been carefully chosen. They were leaders in their times. And they were men who were not afraid to do what was necessary to achieve a goal."

One man cried out an excited affirmation. Turner seemed to take heart at this.

"We will convince these spirits of deceased leaders to join our cause. They will help us to manage the hordes when we bring them through."

"And how exactly will we bring huge groups of ghosts through to this world?" asked one of the men. Turner only smiled at him.

"Don't you worry at all about that. That is still years down the road. I am working on a solution to that problem, but in the mean time, we will all begin laying the groundwork. Remember, we are moving in discretely. Do not simply rush into town and demand to own your property for any sum. Take it slow. Buy an apartment and live there for a minimum of six months. Get to know the locals and learn to blend in. We do not want to arouse suspicion. We already know how the world feels about what we are trying to do." The scene faded.

I saw...

Turner and his partner, sitting in the living room of the Purgatech house. His partner seemed a bit agitated.

"What is it that is troubling you, John?" asked Turner.

"Well, if I'm going to be honest with you, I'm getting a little tired of the secrecy."

"Secrecy? What do you mean?"

"I mean that you’re hiding some information, Turner." John gave him a hard look, asking for answers. Turner sighed deeply and folded the paper he'd been reading. He took off his glasses and polished them thoughtfully before tucking them away into his coat. Then he turned a serious face on his partner.

"You are right, my friend. I have been deliberately vague with some parts of my plan."

"You can say that again," said John, seeming a bit relieved for some reason.

"The truth is, I have a solid plan, but we lack the technology to fully implement it. I have had each of the houses working independently on the same problems and then reporting back to me. I will fill everyone in eventually. You, however, I will bring in now. It is only fair, you have been working so hard for me."

"Thanks Turner. It's good to hear you say that finally." John looked exceptionally proud. Like a puppy that has finally mastered a new trick.

"My plan is quite simple, really. There is a new technology on the horizon. As cellphones improve, they are beginning to take advantage of programs referred to as 'apps'".

"Apps are programs designed to do a certain task. Some are games, others are task managers. I plan to develop one that will utilize the new advances we have made in communicating with spirits."

"How will that help us?" asked John.

"Think of it. Everyone with a modern cellphone will have the ability to communicate with the dead with only a few buttons. They won't be able to resist. Dead relatives, deceased friends, there will be all sorts of communications between our reality and the next."

"Se we will design the app such that spirits are very simple to download. If everyone around the world downloads even just one ghost, think of how many spirits will be at our disposal.

"Our disposal?" asked John. There was uncertainty in his voice.

"Why, yes. We will control the system. We will have the power to access anyone's downloads at random. We could even access all downloads simultaneously if we so desired."

"How would we ever be able to control so many spirits? There are only a few of us and we are so scattered out now that..."

"Honestly, John," said Turner, "can you not figure any of this out on your own? I told you that the targets I assigned everyone were spirits who were great leaders in life. The man that we made contact with early today, Henry Slade, used to run this entire town. It will be no problem for him to help us control the ghosts of those same men."

"And what will we have the ghosts doing, assuming that we actually can control them?"

"That," said Turner, "is the best part." He picked up a glass of whiskey from the table next to his chair and smiled as he took a long swallow. His eyes gleamed with excitement. "We can make them do anything we want." The scene faded.

When the darkness faded and I began to see again, I found myself back in the bunkroom. Jada was trying to pry loose the death grip that I had on her hand.

"Aaron," she said (with her mind), "Aaron, let go, you're hurting me." I shook my head and it cleared somewhat. I dropped her arm and rubbed my eyes. Those memory infusions were really tiring.

"What the hell, Jada?"

"I know. Isn't it crazy?"

"Crazy isn't really the word. Turner is absolutely nuts. He really thinks that he can rule the world with a ghost army?"

"I don't know," Jada said, "but he's definitely behaving like he believes it."

"We've got to stop this. We can't let him get away with this stuff."

"And what exactly do you think that we can do?"

"Something..." I said. There had to be some way to stop this in its tracks. Turner was right, if this technology were introduced to the public, it would spread like wildfire. A free ghost communication app would go viral in a matter of days. There would be millions of ghosts downloaded to hard drives all over the world. With the clicks of a few buttons, Turner would be able to launch his army almost instantly.

"We have to do something to the computers," I said.

"So we try to smash them all?"

"No, that's not going to do it. I don't really know enough about this stuff to do it myself but I know that breaking the computers here won't entirely fix the problem. All of the information stored on those machines is definitely backed up somewhere, some sort of central server. Especially since Turner said that this isn't the only house. There are others out there that are working on the same kinds of projects. We would have to get to that central server and destroy all of those hard drives."

"There's no way. How would we even find it?"

"We can't," I said. The truth of her words sank in. We were the lowest of employees at Purgatech, insignificant pawns on Turner's chessboard it seemed. They had given us no information and they surely wouldn't be starting now.

"We are fired any way," I said. "Tomorrow they will escort us to the street and tell us to hit the road."

"Wait," Jada said. I looked over to her and was surprised to find her smiling. "We don't know much about computers. We don't know how the houses are communicating or where they are storing their information. But I bet we know someone who does."

It took me several minutes to catch up with her line of reasoning. And then it hit me.

"Sparks," I said.

"Exactly."

"But do you really think that she would help us? I mean, she's working for them."

"Yes," said Jada, "but I don't think she is really like them. She seems too genuine. There were definitely things that she wasn't telling us, but if she knew what was really going on, what Mary has told us, I'm sure that she would want to put a stop to it as well."

"Okay," I said. "Let's say that I'm willing to try it. How could we even try to talk to Sparks? We are locked in here and we don't even know what part of the house we would need to sneak to if we did get out."

"Simple. We use our only really friend here to bring her right to us."

Again it took me a moment. "Omri," I said.

"Yes. He'll be happy to help us. He thinks the world of you."

"But we are locked in, Jada. We can't get out."

"Maybe there is another way out besides that door."

"How could you possibly know another way out?" I asked.

"She doesn't." Jada grinned at me and then her eyes flashed purple. I realized I wasn't talking to Jada anymore.

"But I do." It was Mary.

"Come on," she said, "we don't have much time."