Patra finally broke. She began to weep.
The group began to move toward the monolith.
Patra stumbled over a dead man’s hand and screamed.
black
darkness parts.
THE PURPOSE WILL BE COMPLETED.
COMPLETION IS THE PURPOSE.
unease.
ANOTHER DISTURBANCE((?))
SEVERAL.
suspicion.
MANY. PERHAPS WE LACK THE POWER TO BREAK THEIR WILL.
BLASPHEMY((!)) YOU MOCK OUR STRENGTH.
NO, I—
WE ((WERE ARE WILL BE)) GODS TO THEM.
THEIR SOCIETIES BECOME INCREASINGLY INTRACTABLE.
WE WILL NOT FAIL. PROCEED WITH HARVEST OF NATIVE POPULACE REMNANTS. ANY FURTHER RESISTANCE SHOULD BE MET WITH FIERCE RETALIATION.
WE WILL BE BRUTAL. REINFORCEMENTS HAVE BEEN DOWNLOADED AND SYNTHESIZED.
REMEMBER THAT THEY ARE NOTHING BUT CODE. TREAT THEM AS SUCH, AND WE WILL PREVAIL. THEY ARE NOTHING BUT THE LOST CODES OF OUR GOD OMEGA.
THE WORD IS TRUE; THE SALVATION SHALL BE OURS.
GO THEN. PURPOSE BE.
PURPOSE BE.
the swirling of blackest fog, like a curtain closing.
the black fades…
they walked into the vessel, and time stopped
walk walk walk into the black
walk
they walked
eternal monotony
she had been here
forever walking
something grasped her
MIND
stifling waves of heat cold
CLAUSTROPHOBIA
choking struggle walk
into a haze
darkness encompassed them…
memories…
…the day Daddy brought her a new teddy bear “Brand new, Patty! Better than your ratty old bear!” and Honeybear Brown, tattered, loved, cherished, was thrown into the waste unit. “NO, Daddy. NO! I LOVE Honeybear!”
“You’ll love your NEW bear, too.” tears. the new bear sat for days on the chair by the closet until she
KILLED KILLED KILLED HIM
flung him out the window down down he fell thirty stories…
…years later. television. “Look, Patty, I’m on TV!! Daddy’s on TV!” TODAY, COLUMBIA STATE SENATOR DAVID JENNINGS, RENOWNED WAR HERO, ANNOUNCED HIS PRESIDENTIAL BID. THIS SPLITS THE POPULACE PARTY TICKET THREE WAYS. RUMORS OF UNREST AND DISSENT IN WASHINGTON HAVE SURFACED. INCREASED SECURITY HAS BEEN ORDERED FOR TOMORROW’S STATE OF THE FEDERATION ADDRESS. IN OTHER NEWS, TENSIONS IN QUEBEC—the television was snapped off. Mommy with a champagne bottle, hugging Daddy. “Now it’s time for bed, Patty. Big day tomorrow.” yes. big day…
…“Patra Jennings?” a matronly old woman asked as she stepped off the maglev. “Welcome to the Rodham Girl’s School. Let’s go to your dormitory, shall we?” the smell of old schools, darkened hallways, pre-Three tech. a small room, an uncomfortable bed, no weblink. “I’m sure you’ll be happy here. Many Congresspeople send their children here. You’ll meet others tomorrow at Plenary.”…
…UNDERDOG DAVID JENNINGS HAS WON THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE. WE GO LIVE TO THE CAPITOL…
…“Yes, Patty. I promise I’ll send for you soon, but things are kind of heating up around here, with the war in Quebec and all. You understand, don’t you, Sweetie? We’ll spend next Christmas together for sure.”…
…WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN WE’RE—OH, UM… NETNEWS SPECIAL REPORT, LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE MUST WARN YOU OF THE GRAPHIC NATURE OF THIS SPECIAL BULLETIN. CONTACT WITH OUR WASHINGTON BUREAU HAS BEEN SEVERED, SO OUR CHIEF SOURCE OF INFORMATION HAS BEEN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS. THE IMAGES YOU SEE BEFORE YOU ARE AMATEUR VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF WHAT WAS WASHINGTON, D.C. AT THIS POINT, ALL WE KNOW IS A SMALL-SCALE THERMONUCLEAR WEAPON HAS DESTROYED MUCH OF THE NATION’S CAPITOL. THE PRESIDENT IS RETURNING FROM THE G-15 SUMMIT MEETING IN MEXICO CITY AS WE SPEAK. HE IS EXPECTED TO—THIS JUST IN. SOURCES IN NEW ENGLAND SAY FRENCH INSURGENCE FORCES HAVE STORMED THE QUEBEC/U.S. BORDER. MILITARY UNITS HAVE BEEN MOBILIZED…
…her mother had been in Washington. she wept…
…AND A FUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED IN A COMPLEX IN THE ROCKIES. TODAY, AMERICAN FORCES LIBERATED NEW YORK CITY FROM THE QUEBECOIS…
…her mother’s funeral. ashes to ashes, dust to dust…
…SOURCES ON THE FRONT LINE TELL US THAT THE SEVENTH ASSAULT GROUP PUNCHED THROUGH THE FRENCH DEFENSES AFTER A THREE-WEEK STANDOFF AT THE CITY WALLS. THE EIGHTH ASSAULT GROUP HAS BEEN SENT IN TO TAKE THE CITY. WE HAVE WORD THAT THE SEVENTH SUFFERED NINETY-EIGHT PERCENT LOSSES. THEIR EFFORTS WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN…
…“Patra, your father simply cannot speak to you at the moment. After we take Canada, I’m sure he’ll call you. You have to realize that it is your duty as an American to believe in your government, your father, and not question his actions.”…
alone. utterly alone.
hatred flourished.
…SPECIAL REPORT. VICTORY IN CANADA! THE PROVISIONAL FRENCH GOVERNMENT STEPPED DOWN, SURRENDERING FROM THEIR MONTREAL BUNKER. AMERICAN FORCES HAVE TAKEN THE CITY AND FREED THE BESIEGED NEW ENGLAND AREA. NOW, THE LONG PROCESS OF REBUILDING WASHINGTON AND OUR WOUNDED COUNTRY MUST BEGIN…
…“Daddy? Please, can I come home?”….
…“Let Washington remain a monument for future generations. Let it be a testament to the courage and the perseverance of the American people. Let this empty plain be the quiet reminder of our painful past, and let us build again. Let us build again for the countless dead. The Wind River region of Wyoming will be officially designated as the new District of Columbia. The capitol will be relocated to Wind River, a much more secure area. The Federal Government will never be destroyed again. The sixty-four Allied States of America will live forever.”…
…an image burned into the minds of the nation, the weeping president laying flowers at the grave of his wife, Abrah Kennedy Jennings. He fell forward, embraced the stone monument, shook with the force of his sobbing. The nation mourned…
…deep depression. her mother dead, her father consumed in the process of rebuilding the fractured nation. so distant. she escaped the Rodham School by simply climbing out her window and walking out the main gate. the security guard within the gatehouse slept. she walked into the cool, moonlit night with tears on her cheeks and blackness in her soul….
