Future Chronicles Special Edition by Samuel Peralta

Author:Samuel Peralta [Peralta, Samuel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Windrift Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Alex woke up to a red-faced doctor thumping him in the chest. He groaned to make the doctor stop. Dr. Granger’s face appeared above him. “What the hell were you thinking?” screamed the psychiatrist, “You could have died.”

“That was the point, doctor,” gasped Alex, rubbing his sternum to make it stop aching.

“I meant for real,” spat Dr. Granger, “and to chase a delusion—”

“It wasn’t a delusion. I’ll prove it. I’ll— I’ll stop time. Let me see your watch.”

Dr. Granger shook his head. “I’m not indulging this fantasy, Alex.”

“Let me just—” Alex tried to grab Dr. Granger’s wrist, but found his arms and legs were bound to the gurney again.

“I had to put you on suicide watch,” said Dr. Granger. “What did you expect to happen?”

“I wasn’t committing suicide,” protested Alex, “It’s your therapy.”

“I take full responsibility for your irrational behavior. I pushed too hard. And now I need to take precautions for your safety.”

“My safe— no doctor, you don’t understand. I’ll show you. It’ll clear the whole thing up.” He shut his eyes and concentrated. “Watch the clock,” he said. There was a long moment of utter silence. He willed the clock to slow down, to tick back, just one second.

“What am I watching for?” asked Dr. Granger.

“Just wait for it,” said Alex, still with his eyes shut. Believe, believe, believe, he urged himself.

“Why is this so important to you?” asked the doctor, watching him.

“Because I matter. I’m significant. You’ll believe me when you see what I can do.”

Dr. Granger shook his head. “I think we’ve wasted enough time here. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

“No,” cried Alex, “Just give me a minute. I’ll show you— I matter.” The nurse began rolling the gurney away from Dr. Granger toward the elevator. Alex struggled to turn his head toward the psychiatrist. “I matter, I’m unique. There’s only one Alex. Only me. You wouldn’t exist without me!” he screamed.

The staircase carpeted itself with a long red runner and Alex blinked in again, halfway up the stairs. He sagged and then sat down on a step. “What’s with the carpet?” he asked.

“Means you snuffed it for real this time. I have to say, I wasn’t sure that’d happen with this iteration. It means the world had a specific beginning and a specific end. You can go back and experience everything again. Or bits of it. However you like. But it’s like a movie. The events are all done, the choices decided. The experiment is over.”

Alex nodded. “You were right, by the way.”

The Alex-God-thing nodded. “I know. How’d you finally get free?”

“I didn’t. There was a conflict. The Infant Wars. Since nobody died, no one was allowed to be born. But people still were, in secret. The world’s governing body found themselves fighting a terrible, unending war against the Childbearers. Everyone that died was just revived and told to go on fighting. Eventually someone came up with a weapon that wiped out the cortical backup systems and the organic printers. When people died, they stayed dead.

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