Beyond Singularity

The patient patient

Kale’s face was twisted in delight as he ate the roast chicken. He had lived mostly on canned and dried food – fresh food was rare during his time. The juicy peas that accompanied the chicken were a new experience and they were delicious. Even the potatoes – he was quite familiar with potatoes though – seemed heavenly compared to the memories of the almost tasteless potatoes he had eaten in his past.

He had woke to see two stern faced men clad in white looking ahead while pushing him on a gurney through a hall. However, he nodded off to sleep before he could as them anything. He then woke again in this room – which was way friendlier looking then the last room he was in – when a nurse entered with the tray of food and a large juice box. He nodded when she asked if he would eat, and agreed that she could insert the straw into the juice box for him. Watching the straw slide into the box made him grimace and look around himself for the tubes that were last stuck into him and was pleased to discover them gone.

She left when it became evident that he wouldn’t eat with her around and returned a while later to take away the tray. Before leaving, he inquired about the time which she said was quarter-past-four in the morning. She then showed Kale a digital wall clock he didn’t see before and left while Kale lay down and quietly berated himself for not noticing the clock.

The wall clock also had the date displayed at the bottom of the time reading. 06-06. I must’ve slept for hours! But then again, he didn’t know what time it was when he talked with Theia and he didn’t want to incur a headache trying to puzzle it out. The date “06-06” tickled a memory at the back of his skull – some event that he felt was important – but he couldn’t retrieve it.

He got off the bed and walked around the room, trying to get used to his legs. Apparently, he was about ten centimetres taller than the body he was in last. Now, that sounds weird – the body I was in last.

He walked unsteadily to the draped window – amused by the unfamiliar weight of his hair – and gently parted the curtains. His breath caught as the sight of Utopia greeted him. Rows of buildings stretched on as far as the eye could see and the dozens of aircraft littered the sky – each seemed to be flying aimlessly as they carried out their tasks. Peering down and watched the armies of vehicles crawling across the asphalt roads. The height he was at rendered the vehicles at a toylike size. I must be in a bloody tower! He thought. Overcome with a sudden feeling akin to that of vertigo, Kale closed the curtain and decided to walk around the room.

After a while of pacing and flexing his legs, he sat on the edge of the bed and studied the room around him. Unlike the spotless white room with stainless steel furniture, this one had a cream coloured wall and light pink ceiling. The floor was of the same white tiles though, but Kale didn’t mind. Kale espied another door in the room and he assumed it must lead to a bathroom

Two cushioned chairs sat near the entry door while a large screen sat fixed onto the ceiling a little way from the foot of the bed and Kale decided that the remote on the wooden table beside his bed must belong to it.

On the table beside the remote were a PDA and a brown leather wallet. He took the wallet and opened it – wondering what he might find in there. A hard card with a photo of the face he saw in the reflection stared back at him. My face. It’s my face now.

Kale studied the photo of himself and toyed with his braided dreadlocks with one hand. Each was as thick as his thumb. He shook his head and laughed childishly with delight at the sight of them whirling in his vision. He mildly entertained the notion of attaching coloured beads to them before remembering the card in his hand.

Printed on the card was the name “Vincent Redwood” along with “Class C atmospheric aircraft permit”. Kale chuckled when he saw the date of birth. Well imagine that! Take a nap and wake up one year older, 35 years into the past!

Behind the permit was a work ID with another photo of his face and a plastic card with a magnetic strip and “Bank of Atlantis” in block letters. Kale also found a wad of pink plastic sheets with numbers on them and small magnetic strips at their edges. His eyes widened when he realised what they were. These are credit notes! I have 1320 credits in my wallet! Back in the future – Kale still filled with mirth when he thought of it like that – money had been rendered impractical by the invasion and he only learnt of them through history entries in the archive. I wonder if 1320 credits is a lot here though. For all I know, this could be enough to buy a single potato.

Just then the door opened and a uniformed man came in. One glance at his insignia and serious face made Kale toss the wallet on the table, leap off the bed, and stand at attention.

“No need for that. As you were,” the officer said and stood there studying Kale.

Kale relaxed a little and sat down again. He then met the officer’s eye and found himself wondering why he looked so familiar. The officer opened his mouth to say something when the door opened. Both men turned instinctively to the door but the officer turned his attention back to Kale when Theia walked in. That’s it! They must be related.

This time Theia wasn’t in her white uniform but had a pair of faded jeans and a plain yellow T-shirt. Her hair was tied into a bun on top of her hair and it wiggled as she nodded at Kale. She then eased herself onto a chair in the corner. She was boyishly slim but Kale found himself wondering what she looked like under her clothes. He then realised he was staring and quickly shifted his gaze to the officer who just stood there as if carved from stone – though he did raise one eyebrow when Kale met his gaze.

“I am Major Henry Reid,” the officer stated and if Kale looked at Theia then, he would’ve seen her rolling her eyes. He then asked, “You are Kale Frost?”

“Yes sir.”

“Recruited in the Moreen district?”

“Yes I was – In Port Zion sir.”

“That was on the ninth of the sixth moon,” he narrowed his eyes, “year 375?”

“Yes sir, it was.”

“Interesting. Let me tell you a story,” he said and paused – eyes daring Kale to object. When it was clear Kale had no objections, he continued, “When humans first came to New Earth, our military used Old Earths system of serialization. A hundred or so years later when terraforming was complete, the military then used what they called the Interstellar Warrior system. Two moons ago, it was decided that New Earth military forces needed their own system of serialization because we are now earthbound and are separate from the boys in orbit above our heads right now. I was tasked to create the serialization system. Now imagine my surprise when my sister shows me a serial number made using the system I didn’t propose yet that belongs to a ‘deranged man’ who just woke from a coma.”

Despite himself, Kale looked glared reproachfully at Theia who shrugged with an apologetic look on her face.

“Now either you are an excellent spy, a very lucky guesser, or you’re what you say you are,” Major Reid went on. “So, Private Frost, which are you?”

“I’m what I say I am sir.”

“Okay Private, maybe I believe you. Tell me how you came here.”

Kale told them about the invasion – well, as briefly as he could. He then went on to describe the Singularity Harnesser and his unit’s task to defend it. Kale found himself answering questions regarding the Reborn – their strengths and weaknesses. While Major Reid did not write anything down, Kale had the impression that he could write everything he said word for word.

“So you died?” Theia asked. Kale didn’t notice that she came nearer while he was being interrogated by her brother.

“Yes. No. I don’t know. Ma’am, all I remember is flying towards the singularity and seeing my own body trailing after me,” he replied.

“Interesting,” she remarked. Kale couldn’t help noticing how much she resembled her brother when she said that.

“What can you tell me about the invasion? What did they attack first?” Major Reid asked.

“They started with the fleet first sir. The records aren’t too clear on what actually happened. The invasion just started when landers carrying hordes of Thralls dropped in and pieces of starships raining down like a meteor shower.”

“What I am about to reveal is classified information,” Major Reid said while frowning at Theia. Kale gathered that Theia must’ve had shared classified information her brother told her with others before and the defiant look she threw back at her brother only confirmed his theory.

“Thirty-one days ago, we lost communications with the second fleet – they were performing exercises in the Aglaranna belt. This was classified to prevent public panic,” Major Reid explained.

“Wait! Thirty-one days ago? Isn’t that when –” Kale trailed off, unable to find the words to say.

“Yes Private. That is when Rachael Han and Vincent Redwood – you – got hospitalized for being exposed to a burst of exotic particles. So far I have come across five other reports of similar cases in various cities – though yours is the only one that had more than one victim. Additionally, that is the same time the Harpy, one of the nearest stars to us, exploded in a supernova! Now I believe three related coincidences is not a coincidence,” Major Reid said.

Kale didn’t dare mention that he thought it would be proper to include the five other reports separately so it’ll be seven related coincidences instead of three.

“It is believed that the radiation from the supernova is interfering with communications with the fleet. So, the attacks begin in space before coming down here?”

“Not exactly sir. From what I read, the attack up there was simultaneous with the ones here on the ground. The attack on the fleets just took away our capabilities to strike from space.”

“So what happened after?” Theia asked this time, though Kale was certain by the grim look on her face she had an idea of what happened next.

“The council – well, what was left of it – resorted to nuclear weapons. Utopia was destroyed along with many other cities in hopes to destroy the Reborn hordes in them. It didn’t do much to stop them though – they were already swarming through the countryside,” Kale said. Reading the unspoken question on Theia’s lips, he added, “Don’t worry about that now. We can start worrying in three years’ time.”

Major Reid stared thoughtfully at Kale as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a notepad. He then scribbled something on it with a pen before tearing off the sheet and placing it on the table beside Kale’s PDA.

“These are the credentials to a secure network and the URL to access it. Use it to contact me,” he said. Kale got the impression that Major Reid didn’t mean for social calls. “You report to me now soldier. I will go back to base and work out a way to get the military to stand on high alert – without telling them straight about the invasion. I doubt the brass will be as easy to convince that you are from the future as I was. To make matters worse, we received intel recently that the TMT are planning to make a move soon.”

Kale remembered archive references to The Trojan Movement – a large group of radicals that disdained the ruling council of New Earth. The ruling council was only made up of descendants of the original six captains that brought humanity to New Earth and the TMT argued violently that it was about time that tradition went. Kales eyes widened as the memory he couldn’t retrieve earlier when he saw the date on the wall clock suddenly came to him.

“Sir, if I remember correctly, some time tonight the TMT will attempt to assassinate the members of the council! They were quite successful,” Kale sputtered. A look of alarm flashed across Theia’s face and if Kale thought Major Reid’s face couldn’t look any more serious, he was wrong.

“Are you certain of this? The council is meeting here in Utopia tonight to discuss sending third fleet to discover the fate of the second fleet.”

“I am positive sir,” said Kale. He didn’t want to tell Major Reid that he was unsure though.

“What can you tell me about this attack Private?”

“There wasn’t much sir. All they mentioned was that on this date, a small group attacked the councillors and managed to kill a few during a meeting at night. Many records were lost during the invasion sir. However, open conflict between the military and the TMT in the time leading up to the invasion was one of the reasons why many cities fell quickly to the Reborn.”

“Then I must go back immediately. I will contact you later,” Major Reid said and nodded once at Kale signalling that he was done with him.

He turned to go and Theia hopped off her chair and kissed him on his cheek. He nodded at her and strode purposefully out the door. Theia turned to Kale as soon as her brother disappeared out the door.

“That went well,” she said with a smug grin.

“Your brother has a memorable smile.”

“Oh yeah, he sure does,” Theia said while nodding. Kale wasn’t sure whether she saw his attempt at sarcasm or not.

“So when you said you would find out about my unit, you meant you’d ask your brother uh?”

“Well, yeah. But then I thought you were insane and I just mentioned your serial to him at dinner as a joke. I thought he would swallow his spoon.”

“You guys live together?”

“Oh no. We have dinner at a steakhouse whenever he is in town.”

Kale nodded slowly while wondering what a steakhouse was and whether he came across the mention of one in the historical archives. Theia then reached into her purse and pulled out her PDA. After performing a series of complex looking gestures on her PDA she came over and sat beside Kale on the bed.

“You have to get ready though. The doctor will see you at seven and I may have noted ‘potentially mentally unstable’ in my report,” she said with an apologetic look on her face. “So you would have to convince him otherwise so he may release you soon.”

Kale gazed at the wall clock and grimaced when he saw they had an hour and a half before Doctor Blight came to see him. Doctor Blight? What kinda name is that?

“What if I fail to convince him otherwise?”

“Then my brother said he would have to extract you.”

“Ma’am, I hope it doesn’t come to that. So, how am I supposed to be convincing?”

“By reading this,” she answered and handed her PDA over to Kale.

Kale recognised photos of Vincent – himself – and several lines of text.

“Ma’am, I am supposed to read all of this?” he asked bitterly.

“Sure. I merged the bios of Vincent Redwood’s social media profiles there. You will have to learn to be yourself again. And please you don’t have to call me Ma’am. It was sweet at first but now I swear I’m starting to feel a year older every time you say it!”

“Okay ma’am,” he replied with a smile and she playfully punched his shoulder. He quickly turned his attention to the PDA so she wouldn’t notice his face colouring. Contact with the opposite s*x was something he thoroughly lacked when he was a soldier of Zion.

“Ah! A stroke of good luck! Looks like Vincent is an orphan! Good to know there’ll be no annoying relatives for me to forget names of,” Kale announced after a while.

“Hey Kale, I never asked you about your family,” Theia said. Kale knew that she was subtly asking now.

“Well, the only one I had was my unit. We were made in tanks – all the soldiers were. That was so we wouldn’t wear ourselves out with worry whenever a horde threatens Zion. That also made it much easier to die,” he said and gave her a sad smile.

“My parents used to work in the power plant outside the city. There was a nuclear meltdown and they both received lethal doses. I was small then – I really cannot remember their faces though – Henry is the only parent I have ever known,” she said, probably feeling now was an appropriate time to share her tragic story. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently.

After a moment of silence, they both became conscious of each other’s proximity. Theia blushed and quickly stood while Kale dropped his head and peered into the PDA – though he realised he was just looking at the words and not reading them.

“Hey, Doctor Blight will be here in less than an hour. I will go before he sees me and I will come back at eight,” she announced.

Kale nodded at her with a smile which she returned and watched as she slid out the door. He then went back to reading about the life of the body in which he occupied. Apparently, Vincent Redwood was from Olympus in the Avalon continent and came to Port Skye a year ago where he got his permit for flying utility aircraft. He had been working as a heaver lifter pilot since for the Interstellar Mining Corporation since then. Two months ago, he had been sent to Port Zion – which Kale now discovered was founded by the IMC.

Kale looked up from the PDA as the door opened and a short, roundish man in a white coat entered. The man was bald and he peered at Kale through a pair of glasses. Kale had a very good idea whom the man was.

“Good morning Mister Redwood. I am Doctor Edmond Blight,” the doctor said while offering a hand to Kale which Kale shook.

Kale straightened himself, cleared his throat, and prepared to be as Vincentish as he could be.