The suns light had long since gone and left the neighborhood when Michael pulled up to his modest two story house. He let out a sigh of relief at finally reaching somewhere comforting, exited his car and walked up the path to the front door. The coral colored bricks always felt warm and inviting. The high pitched gray roof reminded him of a fairy tale that he had heard as a child, but the title of said fairy tale had escaped him for at least a decade. The tall windows added to the illusion of a great castle on a hill over looking a small village.
The front door made of glass, with white trim swung open as he grabbed the simple wooden hand rail of the short stair case up to the porch.
A beautiful woman stood in the entry way. Her long flowing dark red hair shone brighter from the light coming from the inside of the house. The gentle yet motherly worn face that looked down at Michael was very familiar and he smiled at his wife, Marie.
“Where have you been?” Marie said, her face distorted into a scowl. “You're an hour late.”
“What?” Michael said, staring at her. “Oh, sorry. I meant to call when I was getting off of the freeway, but something strange happened.”
“Can you tell me about it over dinner?” Marie asked, with a smile that showed Michael everything was going to be alright and she wasn't very angry at him. “The foods getting cold and you need to hear what happened to Wilma today and Mark got his report card.”
Michael smiled back, continued up the walkway and through the front door. He set his briefcase down next to the stair case that led upstairs to the three bedrooms. A glance to his left showed him that Marie had cleaned the living room thoroughly, again. She could never let anywhere or anything in the house get too messy.
Turning to his right and meandering into the dining room, he found that Marie had already sat back down in her seat to the right of the empty chair at the head of the table. Wilma, Michael’s daughter and oldest child, sat to the left of the empty chair. She smiled at her dad and he saw, as he always did, her mother in the warmth of her face. She turned to her left and sneered at her brother, Mark, who had taken his straw from his drink and was flicking it up and down. His messy black hair looked like he had been caught in a wind storm, but Michael knew that he had done it like that on purpose. He looked into Mark’s eyes and noticed how much he was looking like him.
“Stop that.” Wilma said. “You just got me wet.”
“Make me.” Mark bit back.
“Mom,” Wilma whined, “can you stop him?”
Marie, noticing the half empty plates in front of Wilma and Mark, said in an annoyed tone. “Thanks for waiting for us. What's with the hurry?”
Wilma sat in silence for a not to brief moment, but then answered. “I need to get back to work if I’m going to get it done by Friday.”
“Aren't you going to tell your dad what you are trying to get done?”
Trying to avoid the whole topic Wilma said, “I turned in my Biology Paper yesterday.”
Marie was too persistent and continued with a simple, “And?”
“And I got an ‘A’ on it.”
“And?”
“Mom.” Wilma's voice trailed off. “It's nothing, really.”
“Fine then, I'll tell him.” Marie turned her attention to Michael. “She has been invited to enter her paper in a State competition.”
Michael looked over at Wilma and smiled. She looked down at her plate of food and Michael noticed that her cheeks were turning red.
It felt like yesterday that he held her in his arms and hummed silly songs to her. Michael could see himself laying her in the crib and watching as she slowly fell asleep.
“That's great, Wilma.” Michael finally said, feeling the pride swell in his chest. “So what do you have to go work on?”
“I have to check it for mistakes and make sure that my sources are accurate.” Wilma turned to her mom. “May I be excused?”
Marie nodded. Wilma scooted her chair back, picked up her plate and took it to the kitchen. On her way back through the dining room she leaned over and gave Michael a hug.
Michael patted her on the back and then noticed that his headache was back again. He felt his eyes begin to burn and then his fingers tingle. It wasn't until he heard Wilma's bedroom door close upstairs that he noticed Marie and Mark staring at him.
“Honey?” Marie said, her voice wavering slightly. “Is it the headaches?”
Michael nodded. He forced himself to look up and smile.
“You had something to tell me, Mark?” Michael said, trying to avoid the question.
Mark smiled. “All that studying paid off, Dad. I got an ‘A’ minus in Algebra.”
“That's great.” Michael heard the words, but they felt foreign to him. “Marie?”
“Mark, why don't you go up to your room right now? I'll get Dad to help me clear the table.”
Marie's voice echoed through Michael's head. The headache intensified. The walls and ceiling closed in on him for a brief moment. The colors in the room shifted to a brighter shade and then to a pale, dull hue.
“Do you need me to take you to a medical facility?” Marie said.
“No, I just need my medication.” Michael said, as the room swayed back to normality. “Medical facility? You mean a hospital?”
The room had returned back to normal, but in the short time it had taken to shift, the table was clear and Marie had disappeared.
Michael leaned over to look into the kitchen and immediately saw Marie. The kitchen, even though devoid of any mess, looked of. Pictures that usually hung on the wall had disappeared. The counters and cupboards spotless of all messes reminded Michael of when his family had first moved in to the house.
Michael jumped to his feet and moved quickly out of the dining room when he first saw Marie. She seemed out of focus while everything around her looked crisp and clear.
She turned and spoke, but all that Michael could hear was what sounded like a broken speaker pushed too far or a radio station coming in only half way.
“What's going on?” Michael said, his heart pounding somewhere in the vicinity of his throat.
He backed into the wall and noticed two people looking down at him. Mark and Wilma stood perfectly still at the top of the stairs. Both had their heads cocked to the side and stared with unblinking eyes.
Wilma opened her mouth and spoke, but the sound came out much like Marie's had in the kitchen. Everything was distorted and unintelligible for a few moments. Then it changed.
“Where is the one designated as Amadeus?” Wilma said, her voice changed into something evil and twisted, too low for a human and sounding as if it had been overlapped many times.
“Who is Amadeus?” Michael replied, calmer than he currently felt.
“The one designated as Amadeus Edwards is near by, I know this.” Mark said, his voice now the same as Wilma’s.
“No one . . . named Amadeus li-lives here.” Michael stammered, realizing that his forehead, palms and back were covered in sweat.
“No one lives here.” The evil voice said as both Wilma and Mark's lips moved. “This will be easier for you if you give me the information I am after.”
Michael backed into the front door. Mark's head began to shake violently, twisting and vibrating in a blur of movement. Wilma's eyes turned a dark deep red.
“Please, I beg of you.” The evil voice said, only coming from Wilma’s mouth again. “It's not you I want . . . or need. I am looking for Amadeus.”
“I already told you, I don't know--”
“I KNOW HE IS HERE! IN YOUR MIND!” The evil voice reverberated through Michael's skull. “Please, tell me where he is and I will leave. I need his coordinates.”
“I have no idea--” Michael began to say, but something took his voice away.
The room fell silent. The slight breeze passing through the window had died. All motion stopped, just as it had on the freeway. Then Wilma and Mark broke the silence with a subtle movement. Michael stared in horror as they moved down the stairs.
“Your world is crashing down on you, Michael.” The evil voice resumed from Wilma's mouth as Mark continued to shake violently. Every step for them a labored movement. “You are a pathetic imagined little man. You have no idea that you are a lie and that no one cares about you. They are only using you to protect someone.”
As the statement pierced through him, Michael heard himself say. “Who are you?”
Wilma stopped and smiled as Mark kept moving. “I am Xekignar.” She said. “I am the one sent to this region of space to cleanse and make ready for the Master's. I will”
Wilma moved slowly down the stairs again following Mark whose whole body now shook violently like a marionette stuck in fast forward.
“Nothing will stand in my way.” The evil voice said, now coming from all around. “I will use you to get to him.”
Michael fumbled the doorknob until it turned. He lost his balance and fell into an abyss, landing softly on his back in a grubby bed.
* * *
Slowly old, weathered walls formed around him out of the nothing and a well worn gray shag carpet spread out from under the bed. A yellowish ceiling that was once white fell into view as Michael stared up. The shear height of it and the weathered old furniture gave the room a feeling of a hotel that was once beautiful and fit for the upper class American. Now, it looked like a place for whores and drug addicts looking for a place that rented by the hour.
Michael sat up as a lump formed and then grew next to him in the bed, under the sheets. He froze in his spot looking at it.
A hand came out from under the blanket and Michael jumped to his feet. He was almost naked. Only white briefs clung to his sweaty body. A head became visible as the hand pushed the blankets and sheets down the bed.
“What's a matter?” A familiar voice said. “Too much for you to handle?”
“Marie?” Michael finally mumbled.
The woman looked like his wife, but not entirely. She had too much make up on, her face looked like it had lived a hard life and a scar ran across her cheek, from the corner of her left eye straight down to her jaw.
“Who is Marie?” She said with a smile. “Oh, I get it. You want me to be Marie. That'll cost extra, but whatever you want Mister.”
She stood up and walked slowly and seductively towards Michael.
“Mister? It’s me Honey.” Michael said. “Where am I? What is this place?”
“I'm not really sure.” The doppelganger said. “You picked this god forsaken place. Frankly it kinda creeps me out. And don’t call me ‘Honey.’”
“I've never been here before. How could I pick this place?” Michael asked, moving away from the woman. “You're not my wife!”
The woman stopped. “Sure as hell I'm not. Good of you to figure that out though.” She stopped, shifted her weight to her left leg and put her right fist on her hip. “What? You miss her?”
“No.... Yes, I mean.” Michael struggled to think a coherent thought. “You look like my wife. You are my wife. What the hell is going on here?”
Michael dropped to his knees and clutched at his hair with both hands.
“Where am I, Marie?”
“My name is Lucy. Not Marie.” She said. “If you keep calling me, Marie, I’ll have to get more money to stay here.”
“But you are Marie!” Michael said, as his mind panicked.
“I've never heard of Marie, or used that name.” The woman said, clearly agitated. “Besides, I don't like you calling me by your wife’s name.”
“Please, Marie, stop this act.”
“I AM NOT MARIE!” She said, only her voice wasn't her own. It had grown into something evil.
Michael jumped back automatically and ran into the door. He reached slowly for the doorknob behind him and gripped tightly onto it.
Lucy let out a scream that chilled Michael to the bone. Black ooze pored from her skin like thick tar seeping through thick fabric covering her entire body.
Michael pushed against the door, his hand still gripping the doorknob.
Lucy threw out both arms and began to grow up and around. The room got very crowded, quickly as she now took up the majority of it.
“You can’t hide him from me.” The evil voice said as Lucy’s eyes stared through Michael. “I will find him and he will be destroyed for making a fool of me.”
The black ooze that took over Lucy’s skin became shiny and appeared to solidify. She continued to grow in all directions. Her arms grew along with her body, but her legs shrank and disappeared under her.
Michael fumbled with the doorknob for a moment and finally threw the door open. He fell backwards out into a hall and scrambled back against the wall opposite of the room.
The beast that had once been Lucy stopped growing. It now filled the room to the point where the ceiling was cracking and the floor creaked and moaned. Its huge dome shape covered with black oily skin. Many eyes looked all around, with a huge one in the center fixed on Michael. Two huge arms extended from both sides. No mouth or nose was visible, but short thick tentacles gave the impression of a squid and Michael could only think of a beaked mouth tearing at him from underneath the huge beast.
It raised an arm and brought it down through the wall as if nothing was there.
Splinters and various debris sprayed out over Michael. He guarded his face with both arms for a brief moment, not wanting to keep his eyes covered for too long.
The beast closed in with surprising speed, using its massive arms and hangs as legs and feet. Michael dived out of the way with only a moment to spare, its fist plowing through the wall just behind Michael.
Michael rolled and hit the ground running. He could feel the beast following behind him. He dared not look back.
“You can’t run forever!” The beast yelled into Michaels mind.
Michael flew through a door at the end of the hall and found himself in the stairwell. A window invited him on the other side to a quick escape, but Michael hesitated like a deer in the headlights of a car and turned around.
The beast was coming down the hall with amazing speed, taking out both sides of the hall with every movement. Running, elevated on its two arms its mouth visible on the bottom of its body, round with rows of sharp, jagged teeth.
Michael backed to the other wall, standing in front of the window. He raised his arms in front of his face, as the beasts arm came flying through the door and part of the wall, the force of which sent Michael out the window, falling down the side of the building.
The building then disappeared and a black void took over again. The sound of broken glass mingling as it fell around him slowed and then disappeared.
* * *
Michael fell through the void for sometime. Thoughts and images passed through his mind, many that weren’t his own. Voices spoke in weird languages that Michael didn’t understand.
He came to rest on solid ground, but the blackness did not dissipate. After a few moments the blackness finally gave way to the light of day. The wind whipped from all directions. Michael sat up and looked to the sky and clouds. They looked normal except for the red hue that made him think of blood and the fact that it appeared to be looping over and over again in five to ten second intervals. The blackness that he laid on turned to dark brown dirt. Grass then broke through the ground and grew almost instantly to two feet high.
Michael finally recognized the area as a field he had been camping in when he was younger, but he had never been camping when he was young.
“Time is running out.” A familiar feminine voice said. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Michael turned to find Marie standing next to him. She was dressed in a beautiful evening gown that hugged her tightly.
“Marie? Is it really you?” Michael asked.
“Of course it’s me.” Marie smiled her usual silly grin. “Who would I be?”
Michael moved towards her, slowly, wary of what had happened to him earlier.
“Why are you scared?” Marie asked, stretching her arms towards Michael.
“This isn’t real.” Michael whispered.
“Why isn’t it real?”
“I know this place, but I’ve never been here.” Michael said. “It’s like it’s from a dream.”
“This place is as real as you make it.”
“What?”
“This place will be as real as you want it to be.”
Michael stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around and realized the surrealism of his situation. Even the mountains off in the distance seemed too tall and warped to be real.
“I don’t want to make anything real. I just want it to be real.” Michael said as his heart pounded. “I just want to be normal and take things for granted like everybody does.”
Marie’s eyes sank into her head, leaving nothing but black caverns.
“You selfish, pathetic man.” Marie yelled. “You think that anyone cares about you?”
Michael slowly stepped away.
“I can’t believe the shit I have to put up with from you.” Marie said as her hair whipped around in a new stronger wind. “Be grateful for the time you have had.”
A gun appeared in Maries hand as she extended her arm towards Michael.
“Be happy that you will die quickly.” She said and pulled the trigger.
Michael felt the warmth of the bullet enter his chest. The slight pressure of the tiny object in foreign territory crippled his already fracturing mind. He leaned back and fell again. This time into a black void that felt more like death than anything else.
* * *
“I’m not getting anything, Joac.” A deep rumbling voice said from out of the darkness. “The system isn’t reading either now.”
“Fine.” Another voice said, this more lizard like. “Get the defibrillator. I can monitor both systems for a moment.”
Michael had lost all feeling in his body after the bullet entered his chest. Now some of that feeling returned, but it felt foreign. He knew that this was not his body.
“Okay.” The rumbling voice said. “Uh . . . where is the de--?”
“Other side of the table.”
“Oh, okay.”
Michael felt the movement of something huge coming around by his face. He opened his eyes, but couldn’t see anything. The sensations in the new body had gone far beyond those that he had ever felt. Everything, except for sight, now functioned better than Michael had ever felt.
“I have a faint signal.” The lizard voice said. “Wait on the defibrillator for a few minutes, Koolah.”
“Do you still want me to prep it?”
“That’s a good idea. Use this tray to set it on.”
Something rolled next to Michael and bumped into his arm.
“Oops.” The rumbling voice said.
The bustling of things being haphazardly tossed onto a metal tray filled Michael’s ears.
“What does this—?” The rumbling voice said, but stopped abruptly. “Uh, Joac? Should Amadeus’s eyes be open?”
There was that name again. Michael closed his eyes instinctively, but with the view being the same with his eyes closed as it was open, he couldn’t tell if it had actually happened.
“Don’t joke around, Koolah.” The lizard voice said. “I’ve isolated Amadeus’s algorithms.”
“Who is Amadeus?” Michael thought.
“I’ve got something on the monitor, Koolah.” Joac said. “It’s . . . a question.”
Michael heard the sound of many hands typing on a keyboard, but no other sound to give any clues as to how many more people were in the room.
“What does it say?” Koolah asked.
“It—“ Joac said. “It . . . um. Who is Amadeus?”
“How does he know what I thought?” Michael allowed himself to think.
“Koolah, is anything out of the ordinary with the body?” Joac asked.
“Besides his eyes being opened wide?” Koolah asked, with a defiantly sarcastic tone. “Everything seems pretty normal.”
“You’re serious?” Joac asked.
Michael heard the shuffle of small feet coming towards him.
“Oh no.” Joac muttered. “This is not good.”
“What’s not good?” Koolah asked.
“I think I know why we can’t find the Michael program.” Joac said as the shuffling small feet moved around the room.
“What is it?”
“I think we flushed Michael into Amadeus’s brain.” Joac said breathlessly. “He’s trying to communicate through his own algorithms. That’s what keeps coming up on the monitor.”
“And that’s not good?”
“To say the least.” Joac said. “To say more, it’s very bad.”
The many hands typed maniacally at the keyboards again.
“There,” Joac said, “that should give him some more control. I have Amadeus on stand by.”
“Who is Amadeus?” Michael heard himself say, but the words were foreign. It was his own voice, but the accent sounded like Joac’s.
“Just stay calm.” Koolah said.
Michael’s sight shifted through all the colors in the rainbow and then back to black. Slowly, his vision came back to him.
He found himself in a room filled with different shades of gray conduit and various colors of wires running across the ceiling. There was not much different about the walls, except the consoles of computers running around the room.
A huge shape filled Michael’s field of view. A huge bald head with cool blue eyes staring at Michael greeted him. The skin on the face looked thick and very stone like.
“Are you there Michael?” The mouth on the face said and Michael recognized it as Koolah.
“What are you?” Michael asked.
“Let’s not worry about that right now.” Koolah quickly said. “Hurry up Joac.”
“I’ve got it.” Joac said.
The shuffling feet moved towards Michael. He felt a cool hand on his right wrist, one on his forehead, one on his shoulder and one on his chest. A grayish face came into view and Michael squinted at it.
“That didn’t take long.” The new face said with a forked tongue and Michael recognized it as Joac. “We have something’s to work out with you Michael.”
Michael felt dizzy and lightheaded as the scope of everything finally hit him.
“This isn’t my home.” Michael said.
“No, not really.” Joac said.
“What are you?” Michael asked. “What is this place?”
“You are on the Koje Space Station near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. I am a Macaneon. My name is Joac Boca Osak.”
Michael leaned to his right and immediately noticed the difference between himself and Joac. Namely, the four arms coming from Joac’s body, two on either side, a lower and upper set. Also, the fact that he looked like a lizard standing on its hind legs that bent in strange places.
“I am from the planet Jabro.” Joac continued. “My colleague’s name is Koolah.”
Koolah nodded his head.
“He is a Klisk from the plant Montar.”
“I’m confused.” Michael said. “This can’t be real.”
“This is real, Michael. As real as anything can get.” Joac said as he removed his four hands from Michael’s body. “I’m afraid that I need to apologize for everything that has happened to you.”
“You did this to me?” Michael said. “Why?”
“Let me start from the beginning.” Joac said. “This may take a while.”
“I think that I have some time.” Michael said.
Koolah chuckled.
“Amadeus Tanner Edwards was born on March 21st, 2012 according to your calendar. He is a second generation Refugee from Earth. His parents died when Amadeus was very young.”
“This is all very interesting,” Michael interrupted, “but what the hell does it have to do with me?”
Joac and Koolah looked at each other for a long moment.
“You are in Amadeus’ mind.” Koolah said.
Michael cringed at the thought of this and knew immediately that it was true.
“Thank you, Koolah.” Joac said. “Next time say it with more tact.”
Joac sighed.
“Listen, and listen carefully, Michael. How do you think that you are speaking Macaneon? You are a program set up by me to protect Amadeus from a terrible being.”
Joac sighed again. Michael finally realized that it wasn’t just the accent of Joac that he was imitating, but also the language. It felt very natural to him.
“Amadeus went into the Cybercon Military at a young age, seventeen I believe. He was killed in the line of duty, but was such a good soldier that Cybercon saved his brain and put it into a robotic body.”
“He’s a cyborg?” Michael said.
“Yes, he later retired from Military service and became a mercenary for hire. He’s been through several bodies and captured by several enemies. One being that captured him created a body for him made from a technology that hasn’t been seen in this or any other galaxy. Unfortunately, that body was destroyed, but the box his brain was contained in was saved and Amadeus received another frame.
“I thought—hell! We all thought that the Ax-Doiyoki would lose interest in him. The body was destroyed, taking the technology with it. We were wrong.”
Joac smiled a weak and desperate smile. Michael thought that it might be because he had no lips.
“They killed many people trying to find Amadeus and all our efforts to hide him failed miserably. Somehow they knew where he was at all times.”
“Joac found the answer though.” Koolah said.
“The key was his brainwaves. We found that out when we put Amadeus’ brain in stasis. Something altered his brainwaves when he was in the deep sleep. The Ax-Doiyoki lost his trail, but there are certain things that happen to people, even cyborgs, that are left in stasis for a large amount of time.
“That’s where you come in, Michael.”
Michael felt as if he knew the end to the story already.
“I built this I.O.S. System and the Ax-Doiyoki have not been heard of for a while.”
“I.O.S. System?” Michael asked.
“It stands for Input Output Server System. I fed Amadeus’ brainwaves into it and the computer did the rest. It changed Amadeus’ brainwaves slightly, but enough for the Ax-Doiyoki to lose the trail again. The only side effect was the creation of you Michael.
“I know that sounds mean, but it’s true. You are the by product of Amadeus’ altered brain functions. Without him you would not exist.”
“Next time use more tact.” Koolah said with a smug smile.
“The point I am trying to make is—“Joac said, but paused.
“That I am not real?” Michael interrupted.
“You are real, but the body you are in right now is a borrowed body. It is Amadeus’.”
“The processor is complete, Joac.” Koolah said, looking behind Joac.
“I’m not going to remember any of this.” Michael said.
“You’re right.” Joac said. “I’m going to put you in with Amadeus’ brainwaves and sort both of you out. When I am done, you will not remember most everything that has happened to you over the last couple of hours.”
Joac turned and walked to a computer terminal. Both sets of arms typed on two different keyboards at once.
“You’ll be okay, Michael.” Koolah said. “It’s only until we find out what the Ax-Doiyoki are after.”
“What’s going to happen after that?” Michael asked, but Koolah only smiled.
“Upload beginning.” Joac said. “Complete in three . . . two . . . one . . .”
Joac’s voice trailed off as Michael was greeted again by the blackness.
* * *
A warm white light caught Michael off guard. As it dissipated he found himself standing in the middle of a young boy’s bed room more familiar to him than that of his own. The dark blue walls, covered in posters, looked fresh and smelt like new paint. A simple four post twin bed sat in the corner with one side under the lone window.
“This was my room.” A voice said.
Michael turned to find a man standing in the open doorway of the bedroom.
“It was mine until I ‘volunteered’ for Military service.” The man smiled.
“You’re Amadeus.” Michael said. “I want my life back.”
“Relax, dipshit,” Amadeus said, “Joac will give you your life back. He’s good at that computer thing.
“Me, on the other hand, I don’t know anything about computers . . . . Other than I am one . . . kinda.”
Michael threw a strange look at Amadeus that asked, “Why are you trying to make small talk?”
“Look,” Amadeus said, “I’ve never been good at this small time chat bullshit. I’m trying to make the transition as smooth as possible.”
Amadeus took a small step into the room.
“I’m sorry this happened to you.” Amadeus said.
“Me too.” Michael said, flatly.
Amadeus looked up at the ceiling for a moment.
“They are ready.” Amadeus said. “Joac says to walk through that door to get back to your family.”
Michael stepped towards the doorway without any hesitation.
Amadeus grabbed him by the shoulder. “Thanks for all you’ve done for me. Thanks for going back for me. You’ve saved my life.”
“I’m not doing it for you.” Michael said. “I’m doing it for my family.”
Michael continued on to the doorway as Amadeus’ arm slipped from his shoulder. He stepped through and felt the jumble of technology and suburbia.
* * *
He was lying on the couch with his shoes still on. His tie was loosened and the top two buttons of his dress shirt unbuttoned. He sat up with a start and then forgot why he had sat up in the first place.
“Are you okay, Honey?” Marie said as she walked into the living room. “I heard you gasp.”
“I’m okay.” Michael said. “I just had the weirdest dream.”
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