Beast Machine (12 page)

Thane didn’t reply and
began trudging down to the renovated facility. He made it fifty
feet away from Jeffrey and turned to speak. “Have the other small
people make parts needed for machines we may need in the future.
Keep it simple. These people are not smart like you, smart man.”
Thane paused. “Or you could just keep it a mine. They do not know
any better.” Thane turned and kept walking toward the
facility.

“
What did you say,” said
Jeffrey, though he clearly heard the giant. “Parts we will need in
the future? Hmm. I guess I could phone Silva and ask him what tools
he will need to complete the task. Keep the mine open? Hmm. I’ll
think about it. The workers could mine the coal still, but all the
coal would be put into a strict reserve vault? Yes! That’s going to
be the idea – my idea – to present to Chairman Obelis”

Jeffrey pulled his cell
phone out and dialed Chairman Obelis’ home complex, a location
hidden from almost anyone and this particular complex had the most
personal defense equipment to keep away intruders, namely the
press.

Doctor Silva had been at
Chairman Obelis’ home since he defecated in his pants and sobbed
for an entire night. He had to recuperate from that incident and
was told to write down what he would need after the facility was
complete. Jeffrey had hoped this list would be complete, given that
Silva has had over a week to complete it.

“
Pick up, Silva, pick up
you stupid… Hello! Silva?” said Jeffrey.

“
Yes, Jeffrey?” whimpered
Silva.

“
Have you completed the
necessary-things-list? Or whatever we’re calling it?”

“
Of course, I told you and
Chairman Obelis in that email that I will not fail you. I am
completely committed to the cause,” replied Silva as if in a
trance.

“
Good, good. We will be
sending Thane to pick you up in the morning or at night. We haven’t
decided and want to keep you on your toes.”

“
Thane?” gulped Silva.
“That monster? Please, please send anyone else!”

Jeffrey laughed, “No one
else has the clearance to retrieve you, Silva. Just make sure you
shit before you enter the vehicle, okay? I don’t want you leaving
any stains in Chairman Obelis’ cars. I wouldn’t want to have to
burn it like we had to burn that puffy chair.”

“
I won’t do it!” cried
Silva through the phone. “Not with that monster!”

Chapter 12

Takeo, Dear Takeo

“I must get out of here,”
yelped Doctor Silva frantically as he hid in a closet in Chairman
Obelis’ house. “I must get out. I must get out!”

The house was locked from
the outside so Silva couldn’t escape, the windows were bolted down
and any sharp materials were removed so Silva couldn’t end his
life. Chairman Obelis was determined to keep Silva on this
project.

“
Or you could help our
cause and be rewarded handsomely!” rang out a wiry voice from a
speaker behind Silva. “We need you, Silva! We need your skills! We
need your immorality to help steer the tide of
humanity.”

Silva jumped and ran out of
the closet, knocking over a small box filled with glass vials.
“Leave me alone!” screamed Silva. He ran into the hallway with his
hands over his ears screaming unintelligibly. He acted as if he had
been possessed by a dark soul. Rather, he was just collapsing under
the mass pressure from his mind producing anxiety, fear, and
depression all at once. Not to mention, the possibility of being
embarrassed again by defecating in his pants.

“
Settle down, doctor,
settle down!” rang out the now cold, ghoulish sounding voice. Silva
kept his hands on his ears while the voice tried to reason with
him. He appeared to praying, yet still in an unintelligible tongue.
“Your skills are necessary for our progress as a species! Humanity
rests on your shoulders.”

The voice switched to a
warmer, more fatherly voice in attempt to draw Silva away from his
frenzied state.

“
Please, Doctor Silva, you
must reassess this situation clearly! You will be heralded as a
savior to the common man! You would be the doctor that went above
and beyond to help his fellow man – to help the downtrodden people
of this wonderful land! Chairman Obelis will make sure that your
name lives on for a thousand years and then another thousand years!
Do you not want to be a champion of mankind?”

“
NO! I will not, I will
not!” screamed back Silva. “I need to get out!”

Silva scratched at the wood
paneled walls, leaving deep scrapes in the wood. His fear and
desperation led him to pick up a small granite figure of a bipedal
lizard that had the head of a snake but the snout and teeth of an
alligator. The teeth were cut diamonds and the eyes of the figure
were made of emerald. Silva smashed the figure against the wood
paneled walls, knocking a few panels clean off the wall. A large
gash was left in the wall, but only revealed another layer of wood
paneled wall. Silva slid against the wall and fell on his ass. He
began to scream loudly.

The voice chasing Silva
around the house changed to a feminine, sultry voice, “Takeo, dear,
Takeo. Stop shouting and listen. Please embrace this opportunity.”
It was a familiar voice. It was a voice he had been longing to hear
again.

Silva ended his screaming.
The voice gently pried Silva’s hands from his ears. “Ch-Chelsey?
Is-is that you?” asked Silva, his voice slowly calming down. He
whimpered loudly and ran his hands down his face. “Is it really
you, Chelsey?” His whimpers continued. “It has to be your voice,
but how?”

“
Yes, Takeo, it’s me! It’s
been far too long, my dear. I needed to hear your voice
again.”

“
I… I don’t know how it is
possible to be you?! You died from that stupid muscle contraption.
I saw you lowered into the ground! I sat by your grave for several
days! I became a monster after your death. They want me to become
that monster again.”

“
My body is gone – yes –
but I still live on in your mind and in your heart. If I could have
stopped myself from using that device on that day, I would have
done so, but alas this is all that is left of me.”

“
I’m sorry I couldn’t save
you. I couldn’t keep your existence alive.” He cried into his palms
and used his sleeves to blow his now runny nose. “I should have
been stronger for
you
.”

“
I know, my dear Takeo, I
know but you now have the opportunity no other human may have ever
again. You could completely erase that terrible nightmare you
created after I died. You could help others make the
correct
choices like you
wanted to make with me! I didn’t know it at the time but if I had
taken your advice I would still be alive today! You knew that body
didn’t need any more treatments, pills, or surgeries done to it.
You thought I was perfect.”

“
You were perfect,” said
Silva quietly. “But, you’re right, Chelsey. You’re right! I must do
this to help the impoverished!”

“
Yes, darling. Please help
these lowly people become great once again! You will be known as
the savior of man for the rest of time! This is the beginning of
your rise into the annals of history.”

“
Yes! Yes! Yes, my love,
yes! I am so happy to hear your voice,” said Silva as he began to
wipe his sweaty face. “I will do this in your honor, Chelsey, I
will do this for you!”

“
I love you, Takeo
Silva.”

“
I love you too, Chelsey
Donovan.”

Silva began to gently croon
next to a speaker he found in the hallway. Silva felt at ease.
Finally.

Jeffrey and Chairman Obelis
began to laugh hysterically. “I can’t believe this
brilliant
scientist was
fooled so easily!” giggled Jeffrey. The two were in a control room
monitoring Silva. There were several video monitors showcasing
different angles of the downtrodden Doctor Silva. “What a
schmuck.”

“
I know, Jeffrey!” laughed
Chairman Obelis. “You were quite bold here! You were right about
convincing him over torturing him more. Torturing him may have left
him shell-shocked and inept for my plans. I
love
how you took control as
well.”

Jeffrey gulped nervously,”
Thank… Thank you, sir! It is an honor to work under you and learn
from you.” Jeffrey’s face turned rosy all over and his pants, once
again, started to tighten. He used his sleight of hand to put his
member up into his waistband before Chairman Obelis
noticed.

“
Come here, my boy. Give me
a gentlemanly hug!”

The pair embraced happily
for several seconds, several
amazing
seconds for Jeffrey. Both were entirely exhausted
from the planning of this grand ordeal and the campaigning for
Governor of Arkansas the past few weeks; it was mostly filling out
forms, sending out press releases, finding emails and addresses to
bombard with political junk mail and setting up times for future
debates – when Chairman Obelis would actually be found in the
flesh.

Jeffrey suggested they both
retire to the lounge and sip on champagne, or that they relax in
the spa. He even offered to give Chairman Obelis a deep tissue
massage after sitting in the sauna.

“
No, my boy, I must make
sure Silva doesn’t derail first. I must write more script into the
program for Chelsey, the nifty voice you created from old audio
tapes, to convince him to keep going when he gets down on himself.
He’s a frail man and we have to cradle him until he’s ready to
truly take on the cause.”

Defeated, Jeffrey whined,
“Okay, sir. I am going to sleep for a few hours then I will be
continuing our – your work in the morning.”

“
Thanks-a-million,
Jeffrey.”

Jeffrey slumped out of the
room and went to bed with the image of that amazing embrace stuck
in his head. He smiled wistfully.

Ring-a-ding-ding

Ring-a-ding-ding

Ring-a-ding-ding

“
Go with Thane, my love. He
will not harm you; he and Chairman Obelis have the same goals as
you – to help humanity,” Chelsey gently commanded Silva. “Go with
him, it is your first step toward greatness.”

“
Yes, yes, my dear,”
returned Silva. “Will I get to hear your voice ever again,
Chelsey?”

“
Of course, my love; I will
talk to you once you arrive at the facility.”

Thane opened the door after
realizing he had to open the door from the outside, not Silva from
the inside. “Doctor Takeo Silva, you are to come with me,” said
Thane flatly but loudly.

“
Yes! Thane, I am ready to
go with you!” cheered Silva as he skipped out the door with nothing
in hand.

Thane looked grimly at the
little man skipping to the car. Thane looked down the hall and
noticed the small reptilian figure broken into pieces on the ground
with pieces of wood sprayed all over. He shrugged and walked out of
the house.

The pair loaded up into the
vehicle and began the journey to the renovated mining
facility.

Chairman Obelis peered
around the room to make sure that Jeffrey had left. Once assured
that Jeffrey had left, Chairman Obelis made his way back to the
video monitors.

He flipped on the only
screen that had been left black.

On the screen was the worn
face of Senator Joseph McCarthy at a desk with a look of glee on
his face. It appeared Jeffrey and Silva successfully revived the
senator without damaging the senator’s original appearance.
McCarthy was already an ugly sort all on his own.

The room had been filled
with items of McCarthy’s time – a black and white television,
multicolored gelatin molds with fruit and a poster of a pinup girl.
It appeared McCarthy had roughly chiseled the words “FEAR THE RED
SCARE” several times on the wall behind him. He appeared beyond
content to be alive again and in that particular room of
nostalgia.

“
When can we set up a
meeting, Senator?” Chairman Obelis asked McCarthy.

Chapter 13

Bullshit

Gora awoke in the arms of a
sleeping Hitbear. Hitbear was sitting with his back against a table
as he held Gora. She immediately knew she had made a mistake about
revealing the truth as to why she so desperately wanted to end
Takeo Silva’s life. She needed revenge on
all
the doctors, scientists and
inventors that spiraled her career out of control, not just
Silva.

But in her mistake she had
found comfort in her two beasts, her two children. These two
historical figures from opposite ends of the moral spectrum had
learned to love her for being her – Owlbert and Hitbear wanted to
complete this task as much as Gora did. It was a warm feeling,
close to the feeling of being able to create those full-grown
trees. Still, would she let this love for her beasts stand in the
way of getting revenge at any cost?

“
Owlbert, where are you?”
yawned Gora as she gently removed Hitbear’s stub arm from around
her. “I need to fix that soon.”

“
I am in zee Beast Machine
room. Vell, this laboratory ist ein open room, so, uh… I am verking
on ein Harriet Tubman beast!” screeched Owlbert from the other side
of the dingy laboratory. The volume of Owlbert’s voice was always
the same, regardless of how close or distant you were from him, but
the inflection of his voice changed depending on his mood. In his
current exuberant mood, Owlbert’s voice was cutesy.