A Potpourri of E. W. Farnsworth by E.W. Farnsworth

Author:E.W. Farnsworth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Weird, War, Steampunk, Supernatural, E.W. Farnsworth, Celestial Ink Pubishing, Short Stories
Publisher: Celestial Ink Publishing
Published: 2019-03-17T16:00:00+00:00

Supernatural Stories

Soul Train to Nogales

Homage to “The Celestial Railroad,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

My grand vision to make the state of Arizona the destination for retirees from all over the United States was being accomplished without the initial bureaucratic impediments and, now, without me. The naysayers had lost their fight to exclude outsiders on one pretext or another. The water problem, for example, had been solved by ingenious new methods to refashion old Indian irrigation works as a single water recycling capability. Now the boundaries of Greater Phoenix stretched from the New Mexico border west to the Grand Canyon and from Flagstaff south to the Mexican border. The lynchpin for traffic on the north-south axis of the territory was called the Soul Train. Its name derived from a catchy popular ethnic song, but its purpose was not as much to celebrate multicultural unity as it was to open a frontier across the Mexican border, first to Nogales and, ultimately, to Mexico City. The train was a model for future, ultimate transportation. Fully automated and staffed by intelligent robots, it was being replicated worldwide.

As an impresario of impossible projects, I have always made it a habit to practice what I preach. I had become a supercentenarian in Phoenix, having celebrated my 110th birthday without having had my entire body enhanced with mechanical parts. After my latest replacement surgery, my hospice team advised the Soul Train as one final fling before I launched into the hereafter. Other practical choices were repellant to me. I had no wish to become one of the faint blue neon figures mourning by the cinder-block community walls. I also felt strongly against entering one of the many paloverde-tree domiciles, those twisted and gnarled anthropomorphisms that line Phoenix’s regular, gridded city streets. The train ride promised to provide all the amenities I would have received in my long-term-care facility. From my private Pullman car, I could view the Sonora Desert to examine what remained to be done to complete my grand vision. My insurance plans covered the excursion and guaranteed my satisfaction. What did I have to lose?

On the appointed day, I was transported from my care facility to my reserved Pullman car without difficulty. I was delighted that my assigned 3Maggie robot was personable and witty. She was also highly qualified medical aide. She explained the rules of my passage and gave me the password for accessing the artificial intelligence that would answer my questions. She also showed me how to attach the Virtual Reality appliance. In short, she made me feel at home though, to tell the truth, I had known no home for the last forty years but institutional care facilities—hospitals, nursing care facilities of various levels, and the hospice facility I had just left. 3Maggie assured me I could have whatever opiates I felt I needed to keep my pain to an acceptable level. All I needed was to ask the AI, and the appropriate fluid would be rushed into my body through the attached IV.

3Maggie warned me the train’s passage was slow.

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