Beast Machine (5 page)

“
Boys, boys, boys – let’s
cool it now, eh? You are both right and you are both wrong,” stated
Gora calmly.

Owlbert and Hitbear stared
at one another in confusion. “What could she mean that they were
both right
and
wrong?” each thought.

“
The reason I brought both
of you back into existence is because you each have immeasurable
strengths: Owlbert with science and Hitbear with military tactics.
You’re not supposed to work
against
one another, but work
together
to form something truly
stunning, magnificent and gnarly for us to put to use against my –
erm – our enemies!”

“
Pardon me, Gora,” said
Hitbear, “but why did you not select one of America’s war generals?
Like George Patton, Theodore Roosevelt, Omar Bradley, Robert E. Lee
or the always venerable George Washington? There’s a litany of
others to choose from in America’s young existence. You may draw
deep ire if anyone finds out I am in your employ.”

“
Ja, I must agree vith zee
bear; vhy did du select us vhen there vere at least equal or better
choices from America? I vorked vith so many American scientists
during the – is it declassified yet, frau?” questioned Owlbert.
Gora nodded. “I vorked vith countless talented American scientists
during zee Manhattan Project! Vhy not them, Gora?”

“
Not to mention the
incalculable military strategists through time from around the
Earth!” said Hitbear. “Attila the Hun, Tamerlane, Napoleon
Bonaparte, and Genghis Khan to name a few. I’d even toss in Joan of
Arc since she was a remarkable inspiration, despite her being
French.”

“
Ja und Marie Curie,
Nikolai Tesla, Thomas Edison, und Archimedes to name ein few
scientists too!” said Owlbert quickly.

“
Khan would have been the
most apt choice over me, to be honest, and I’m pretty fucking good
wi-,“ said Hitbear.

“
Except that debacle in
Russia,” quipped Owlbert. He giggled loudly.

“
Shut up, turkey brains,”
glared Hitbear. He swatted his paw toward Owlbert, but missed as
Owlbert bounced away swiftly. “Tell us, Gora, why us? What makes us
special to
you
?”

Gora did not want to
express her feelings directly to the two historical figures, now
mostly beast, the reasons she had them re-created. She knew there
were better options for military strategy than Hitler, and no one
would have blamed her if she selected Sir Isaac Newton over Albert
Einstein, but she knew she chose them for a reason. She was pitiful
with explaining these sorts of things – her emotions. Yet those
emotions frequently strangled her mind.

“
I selected you both, over
your equals, because I know you two can get the job done with the
proper resources and proper support,” Gora said. She moved closer
to both of them putting her hand on each. “Hitbear, aside from a
mishap here and there, your military strategy was nearly perfect
and you had to plan against multiple fronts! You were put in a
high-pressure situation – mainly because of your cruel intentions,
however – and you nearly succeeded. It’s incredible how far your –
shameful, disgusting, inhumane – empire grew. That is beside the
point, though.

“
Patton and Bradley would
have been excellent selections, but I knew they, even reincarnated,
would not have wished to join me in exacting revenge on my
tormentors. Do you think those generals would want to seek revenge
against Americans? I think not.”

Gora tossed back her hair
then put it into an unkempt bun. It had become grimy and matted
from not taking a shower in over a week. Her body and mind were a
mess and now she was in the middle of explaining why she decided to
revive the existence of these two prominent historical figures. The
beasts waited patiently for Gora to continue.

“
I, also, can only
insert
legitimate photographs
of humans into the Beast Machine, not drawings,
painting, or the like – yet. The limitations of the Beast Machine
are particular and purposeful. I imagine the only people that would
be able to work this machine are in this lab right now, so if it
did happen to fall into the wrong hands it would be a difficult
endeavor to get to work. I have no reason to try to bring back a
painting or drawing of a past human anyhow.”

Hitbear and Owlbert stood
close to one another. Hitbear accidently bumped into Owlbert,
causing the pair to sweetly apologize. Gora smiled at the
pair.

“
Believe it or not, I have
admired your strengths – in no way am I proud that you exterminated
millions of innocent people, Hitbear. Your existence will never be
forgiven for that. May your soul rot in hellfire and be sent to the
treacherous parts of the spirit world. But I can admire your mind
during a terrible time in human history. Plus, it’s a little
micro-experiment of mine to see if sentient beings are inherently
good or inherently evil! What fun?!” She grinned tightly, only
showing her top teeth. Hitbear returned her grin with his own odd
grin.

“And you, Owlbert, you are
the most genius person in the 20
^th
century and possibly in the
history of our planet! I’d say the universe, but we humans haven’t
made contact with extraterrestrial beings just yet!”

Owlbert blushed and Hitbear
shook his head.

“
I could have made Newton
into a crane or Socrates into a mink, but would they have the same
compassion and understanding of the modern world as you do? I just
do not believe they would be as accepting as you Owlbert. You both
were specially selected with traits that I adored and
needed.”

“
So, what you’re saying is
that I am back for my military acumen and confidence,” said
Hitbear. “And this canary,” as he points at Owlbert, “for his
intelligence and curiosity of science?”

“
Correct,” said Gora. She
nodded at both beasts. Her strange tight grin appeared
again.

“
Yet you go on to say you
have a ‘micro-experiment’ to see if intelligent beings are good or
evil? That doesn’t make sense to me because you want us to commit
evil acts. Evil acts of revenge. You’re leading us straight down
the road to evil! Is my soul forever destined for evil
ways?”

Gora pondered for a short
moment and then stated, “Though I want to figure out the inherent
nature – good or evil – of beings, I ultimately believe
every single
intelligent
being is good-natured once they enter this reality; they just
happen to do evil or bad things because of extenuating
circumstances. Be it to survive in a cruel world or to get to a
higher level in the social caste.” Gora’s eye color wavered
slightly but arrived back to their original color of
brown.

“
Once you’re put into
difficult positions you’re liable to do evil things for the greater
good – your original life may be one of the exception to this,
Hitbear – and you can’t help yourself from committing these acts.”
Her eyes flickered once again before returning to their healthy
brown color.

“
Good people do evil things
some times; that doesn’t make it okay, but it doesn’t make them
evil either. If we can prevent ourselves from committing notorious
acts after completing these revenge missions, then it may give me
insight into the actions of intelligent beings. If I can commit
these acts of revenge – which are lightly tinged with evil – yet
still stay a genuine, good-natured human, then I believe I have
succeeded in my micro-experiment. Though, I do believe
good
and
evil
are relative terms…”
She pondered off into the distance of the laboratory.

Hitbear wasn’t quite
satisfied with that explanation but felt it unnecessary to keep
pressing the issue. “That response will suffice for now,” he
thought.

“
Thank you for the
explanation, Gora. But how are we supposed to fit together?” said
Hitbear. “We’re from the same time, but we aren’t close to the same
person, erm, living being, uh, creature.”

“
You see, Owlbert here will
help me decide and create a few more beasts that will be used
in
your
strategies.
Or you two can come up with a crazy killing device that we can all
make together!” Gora’s loud announcement caused the beasts to
gently jump from fright.

“
Oh, so when will these
troops be ready to roll out?” smiled Hitbear, ignoring the killing
device comment.

“
An undetermined time,”
sighed Gora. “I have to discuss with Owlbert the correct course of
action that we should take in creating these soldiers because I do
not want them falling into the wrong hands and I do not want any of
this traced back to me, for I fear the wrath of powerful people
that reside on this planet. I just want to dispatch those that have
wronged me.”

“
Ja, ja. Vee vill begin
tomorrow morning, Gora,” cheeped Owlbert as he flew onto Hitbear’s
shoulder. Owlbert was an unusually large owl, but Hitbear remained
unaffected by the owl resting on his shoulder. “I quite like ein
spot here.”

“
Off me bird!” growled
Hitbear at Owlbert, as Hitbear chased Owlbert around the
lab.

Gora, still queasy from
explaining to Hitbear and Owlbert her intentions, traced the two
beastmen with her eyes as Hitbear playfully chased Owlbert around
and around. Her eyes flickered for the third time and then went
dim.

Hitbear finally got a hold
of Owlbert and gave him a tiny – but firm – bear-pinch and released
him. The two seemed strangely perfect for each other thought Gora.
She knew that they were direct opposites of one another
ideologically, and was beyond relieved when both agreed to the
tasks given to them.

Yet an uncertainty flowed
throughout Gora’s mind. Would others try to attack her if she were
seen animating the dead? Would humans be dismayed at her choice for
resurrecting Hitler, of all people? When will she let the beasts in
on her true motives? A million more thoughts like this flooded
Gora’s mind as she collapsed on the ground and began to yelp in
agony; her anxiety and inner fears were gripping at her stronger
than ever.

“
Gora! Gora!” screamed
Hitbear as he and Owlbert rushed over quickly. Hitbear knelt down
beside her stricken body and caressed her hair gently as she
contorted this way and that way. Owlbert gently fanned her entire
body with his wings and began to whistle a careful song through his
beak. The pair of beastmen looked into each other’s eyes and
through strange animalistic telepathy they nodded in agreement that
Gora was the most important thing in their lives. Anything that had
to be done to protect her would be done; no questions
asked.

Gora’s body started to
shake less and her breathing became normal once more. She drifted
off into a slumber and her two creations lay down by her, keeping
her warm and safe through the night.

Chapter 6

The Rosenbergs,
Continued

“Are you okay, dad?” the
young man asked his weeping father. He stood up and stepped to his
father’s side. The boy began to comfort his father with a hug but
was kindly rebuffed.

“
Yes,” coughed the father,
“just another damned coughing fit.” His guttural coughing fit
continued for minutes, but it felt like an eternity to his son - he
wanted to hear more about his grandparents and the
Rosenbergs.

“
Hand me some water,
Gaston,” asked the father between coughs. Gaston obliged and
quickly scooped a cup into a bucket of water. Though the father
taught the boy much about technology and innovation, he wanted to
keep their lives as plain and off-the-grid as possible. It was
exceptionally easy to be found when
plugged
in
even in the 1970s.

“
Thank you, son,” said the
father. “Now back to my story. Please take these words in with
great care.”

“
Of course, dad, of
course.” The boy resumed his cross-legged position and leaned in
with full attention to his broken, yet resilient,
father.

“
As I said, my family’s
lives were about to tremendously change forever.”

New York City,
1945

“
What is it Ethel?” asked
Caroline as she hurriedly prepared to boil water for tea. Ethel
liked to add milk to her tea, which was strange to Caroline, so
Caroline pulled out the fresh glass of milk from the
icebox.

“
It’s our husbands,
Caroline,” said Ethel quietly. “I’ve received some damning news
about them.”

Caroline dropped the
teapot. “No… they’re dead!” shrieked Caroline as she fell into a
chair. “That can’t be!” She fell forward onto her knees and covered
her face with her hands; she was in a state of disbelief and
shock.

“
They’re not dead!”
shrieked Ethel back at Caroline. Ethel grabbed a wet dishrag from
the sink and slowly dabbed Caroline’s forehead as Caroline now lay
back in her chair. “It’s much worse than that.”

“
Much worse than death?”
asked Caroline woozily. “What’s worse than death?” Caroline grabbed
the dishrag gently from Ethel and kept it at her forehead. Her eyes
slowly lost their beautiful brown coloring and looked duller than a
moon rock.