“Glad you enjoyed yourself.” He appreciated the incomplete truth, which seemed at least more respectful than an outright lie.
Ray rose from his chair, moved behind Lena, and encircled her waist with his arms. He felt her stiffen.
“Please, Ray, not now,” she said, wriggling in his grasp. “I don’t feel like I know you anymore.”
Her words stung. He flung open his arms and backed away. Her body shook with sobs. She brought her hands to her face to wipe away the tears that now flowed in rivulets down her cheeks.
He was back in the endless tunnel. She was only an arm’s length away from him, but she seemed so lost in the darkness that he feared he might never touch her again either in this life or the next.
12
NATASHA CAME INTO
the world both as bald and as exquisite as her mother. Marcus was smitten from the moment he first saw her. She was his consummate creation, a legacy both more salient and more personal than Takana Grass, a living human being who embodied his bond with Corinne. With her birth, the finite duration of his own life seemed to matter less, while the complexities of his situation mattered all the more. Someday, she would become a young adult who could hardly fail to notice when he looked no older than she did.
The clock ticked away. By the time Natasha’s second birthday came around, Corinne had still not agreed to undergo the Transformation and the window of opportunity closed forever. The difference in their biological ages might go unnoticed for a decade or two, but at some point it would stare them in the face and he would have to answer to them both. His secrets grew more burdensome day by day. Marcus struggled to keep them crammed within the remotest recesses of his mind so he could settle into family life and be a father to his daughter. But often, in the middle of the night, they would sift into his awareness and concoct an endless variety of compromising scenarios.
If Corinne discovered that he’d had the Transformation or that he was implanted with a MELD chip, would she also eventually find out about the contract? And if she did discover that he’d sold his future, could she ever forgive him or would their marriage come to an abrupt end?
Marcus also envisioned chance encounters between Corinne and Terra that would be difficult for him to explain. And he wondered whether Terra or her organization posed any danger to his family if they were to discover his secrets. He tried not to imagine Corinne’s first encounter with his double. It wouldn’t matter how angry she’d be, he told himself, if he was already dead.
One day, soon after Natasha’s third birthday, Corinne came home brimming with excitement. She’d been driving down a country road on the outskirts of town and became entranced with the music swelling from within a vintage stone church that had been abandoned for decades. She felt compelled to stop as if the notes were reaching out to her and sweeping her gently inside. Once within, the sounds of the pipe organ blending with the harmony of voices seemed to emanate from a heavenly source and filled her with wonder. The once deserted structure was now filled to capacity with joyful singing people.
Corinne and Marcus had both grown up in a world in which religion had gradually faded away during an age in which knowledge of science was in the ascendancy and religious faith became increasingly untenable. Neither Corinne nor Marcus had more than a passing familiarity with churches or had any inclination to learn more. Expanded life expectancy and diminished preoccupation with eternity further eroded religion as naturalism came to dominate the culture. So many places of worship like this one had fallen into disuse and disrepair. But in 2039, the spark of God was rekindled from an unexpected source.
While seeking the purpose of the last remaining bits of “junk” DNA in the genetic code, an advanced intelligent computer discovered a pattern in the code that appeared to be the work of an intelligent entity. Sequences of base pairs found at regular intervals, when worked into a matrix, bore a message that could only have been embedded deliberately by sentient beings. The first part of the message described the origin of the universe, the Big Bang. It went on to describe the nature of the multiverse and told the story of a civilization somewhere in a parallel universe that had faced annihilation and sought a way to preserve its genetic legacy by reaching across the boundary between their reality and ours. There were no clues in the code about whether or not their civilization survived.
There were so many new questions. If exceptional beings had written the story of their civilization into our genetic code, did they also design the rest of the genome? And after years of believing that humans emerged as part of an evolutionary process, could it be that we were created de novo after all by these extraordinary godlike beings? Could we have been created in their image? The discovery that arose out of scientific inquiry turned classical science on its head.
This revelation followed not long after another remarkable discovery that had been facilitated by superintelligent machines. While evidence of microbial life had been discovered in 2017 by a space probe to Jupiter’s moon Europa and hundreds of earthlike planets had been identified by the early 2020’s, no evidence had yet been found of intelligent extraterrestrial life in our universe. Particle scientists, however, discovered in 2034 an unusual pattern of neutrinos appearing and disappearing in their detectors. The regularity of the pattern suggested that the particles were being controlled by an intelligent agent, most likely located in a parallel universe.
The pattern was determined to be digital and was eventually translated into a digital image of an anthropoid being remarkably similar to us.
These parallel discoveries provided compelling evidence that an intelligent agent, perhaps from an advanced civilization in a parallel universe, may have had something to do with the creation of life on our planet, and provided the impetus for people to come together again in the name of faith. Churches were resurrected and new liturgies evolved. Skeptics wondered, however, whether the translations were valid or whether they might have been fabricated by advanced artificial intelligences to keep us in line. Others compared the discovery to the Bible Code, a series of messages seemingly embedded in the original Aramaic scriptures that predicted events occurring in modern times. That discovery had long since been debunked as a combination of wishful imagination and faulty computation.
And so, Corinne Takana on a glorious spring day in 2051 wandered into the Church of the Double Helix and was swept up in the passion of the congregation and enthralled by the message of its scriptures. Once she felt the spirit of the community of worshippers, she wanted it to become part of her, and she wanted to share with her family the same sense of belonging that came so naturally to her that day. Natasha could grow up with other children who would experience wonder in something greater than themselves. And perhaps even Marcus would embrace the faith and relinquish his quest for immortality.
“It felt as though I was always supposed to be there,” Corinne gushed, “like it was my destiny.”
Marcus listened as the energy she’d absorbed from the congregation seemed to pour out of her. There was no stopping the flow of her words.
“I’ve got to go back. Come with me next week,” she pleaded. “I know you’ll feel the same way. You’ll see.”
The following Sunday, Corinne and Marcus stood side by side and joined their voices with the music of the Church. He was happy to be there with her even if he wasn’t as moved by the service as she was. At least while the music enveloped them, the terrible chasm that divided their futures faded into the background and he could imagine that they might journey together to the end of their lives.
Week after week, he looked forward to the transient escape from his singular reality and found comfort among the throng that shared a common vision with them. Marcus and Corinne blended easily into a congregation composed mostly of people who, like them, had grown up in an age of scarcity and had learned not to waste precious resources. Many of the congregants, like them, remained slick-skinned and hairless in the style of their youth as a symbol of their commitment to preserving the earth for the coming generations.
Marcus appreciated most the anonymity that he enjoyed within the Church. Of course, most of the people knew who he was. He was too famous to go completely unnoticed. But to most of their fellow congregants, it didn’t matter. He was just “Brother Marcus” or “Marc.” They came together to worship and to share a vision, not to compete with one another for status or to conduct the business of the secular world. He and Corinne felt safe with Natasha learning and playing among their children.
Between the sanctuary he found within the Church and watching Natasha grow and thrive, life began to feel almost normal. He could forget for days at a time that he kept secrets from his wife and that at any moment without any warning, he could suddenly cease to exist. Despite the Transformation, which conferred permanent fitness, he continued to run at
least five miles every day. Running became another refuge from the burden of his future. When he ran, the rhythm of his feet striking the ground and the rhythm of his breathing were all that mattered. As long as he was running, he wasn’t thinking, and the exhaustion that followed kept his mind empty for a little while longer.
An extraordinary man can only expect to live an ordinary life for so long. Marcus’s treasured obscurity came to an abrupt end when he was overtaken on a run one sweltering day by an athletic looking young woman who trotted beside him without breaking a sweat. She had close cropped dark hair and was clad in a form fitting black jumpsuit. A slender four inch long cylinder was barely visible under the sleeve on the inside surface of her left forearm, its translucent tip peeking just beyond the edge. Marcus noticed the partly concealed weapon, the destructive power of which belied its small size.
“Mr. Takana,” the woman said without a hint of breathlessness, “Please come for a ride with me. We have something to discuss with you that is of utmost consequence.” She gestured toward a sleek, black hovercar that was pacing them on the roadway that bounded the track. By now, Marcus had concluded that she was a SPUD, whose function was likely security for a person of influence.
“I’d rather not,” answered Marcus. “I’m not interested in anything you have to say.”
“This is an invitation you really shouldn’t refuse,” she insisted. “At least hear what we have to offer. You may find it hard to turn us down.” Despite the weapon, there was nothing threatening about her tone.
Marcus remembered another time in his life when a run had been interrupted by someone bringing him a preposterous offer, one that perhaps he should have turned down. He wondered how his life would have turned out had he rejected
Terra’s proposal. His instinct told him to nip this one in the bud, but his curiosity was sufficiently piqued to go along. The woman signaled to the car, which pulled over and waited for them.
When Marcus was let into the back seat, the face of the person waiting in the shadows stunned him. And as the car lifted off the ground and sped away, he wondered what new dilemmas would face him in the days ahead.
13
“THEY’RE A THREAT
to the very fabric of our society and must be stopped.” The steady voice rang out over the crowd, whipping it to a frenzied pitch.
Hector Lasko’s eyes were riveted on the speaker, an athletically built young man with steel blue eyes, wavy blond hair, and the smooth clear skin of a young adult. The speaker’s fist thrust upward to punctuate his words.
“Some people claim that SPUDs are our allies,” the young man went on, “but mark my words, They can never, ever be trusted.” He lowered his head and voice as if confiding a secret. The crowd settled down so they could hear him.
“They’re nothing more than mindless tools. They have no morals. They’ll even destroy their own kind if directed to do so. There’s no limit to their capacity for evil.” His voice rose again with the last sentence. The crowd cheered. Hector’s voice mingled with those around him. The message spoke to the pain that had gripped him for more than a decade.
Images from the past began flashing through Hector’s mind. On his seventeenth birthday, Arianna had accompanied him to a party. She’d often accompanied him when he got together with his friends. Like him, they’d taken her presence
for granted over the years, but he’d gradually begun to notice others within his group stealing the same hungry looks at her that he did when he thought she wasn’t watching. He’d instinctively begun to keep her close whenever they were around. His own feelings for her were becoming almost too much to bear.
Hector didn’t notice at first the man standing beside the speaker, a stocky man with almond colored skin and graying hair. But at the height of the tirade, the older man reached behind the speaker’s back and the tirade abruptly stopped. The earnest young speaker hung his head, his arms fell forward, and he became immobile. His operating system had been deactivated, a living example of the speech’s thesis. The older man watched the trick’s effect on the crowd, then took charge.
“They will never be our equals,” he proclaimed, “and they must always know their place. They’re here only to serve us. We must never succumb to the illusion that that have feelings or that they can reason or make decisions like we can.” Hector felt the electricity running through the crowd. They were on their feet, shouting and cheering.
Hector hung around until most of the crowd had dispersed and approached the older man as he was packing up his props. The blond SPUD stood in the same fixed pose he’d assumed when he was powered down. The difference between this doll-like figure and his lifelike appearance when animated was striking.
A lithesome young woman who appeared around Hector’s age approached the speaker and handed him a rolled up banner. “Anything else you need before I leave?” she asked.
“I think everything’s under control. Thanks for asking.”
She spotted Hector out of the corner of her eye as she turned to leave and flashed him an enticing smile. He felt the
warm flush wash over his face, but before he could respond she was gone.