Revelations

Monday morning it rained. An unremarkable fact, except that it didn't stop. It rained for two weeks. It rained across the entire globe. Something had gone wrong with Rick's brain. The experiment was too successful.

Ten years earlier, a Korean team of scientists had thrown a microchip into a slice of rat brain, just to see what it would do. The dendrites of the neurons attached to the silicon and used the circuitry to send signals. The microchip was then hooked up to a mmory source, which was loaded with a simple flight simulator.

In a month, using routine methods to condition brain cells, the slice of rat brain could fly a fake plane. A week later, a remote controlled plane.

President Rick Dubois had access to secret information. There were at least two thousand soldiers with wired brains. They flew the Predator Drones in Afghanistan. Rick saw his chance.

He gathered the world's top scientists and asked them to create remotely controlled interfaces for anything on the planet that could be manipulated. Then, they attached all the devices to one deep computer, the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence. Rick had it hooked up to his brain.

Then, it rained for two straight weeks, everywhere. Downpours. He sat mute, watching every video feed, every readout, every medical report. His brain did the only thing it could. It dreamed. While it dreamed, it rained.

Deserts turned to grasslands. Global warming halted from the cloud cover. Crops were abundant. Guns malfunctioned.

When he awoke, the sun came out. He knew everything there was to know. He had the knowledge of the universe. Rick Dubois, former telemarketer, American Boss, ambitious to a fault, had all the answers. The world held its breath as Eden returned and their savior, a man who lead fearlessly and performed signs and miracles promised an end to human suffering.

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Tracking

The Gold and White was a curse. Harmless figured that out soon enough. Too late. He hid in the tunnels and subways, dressed as a rag picker. He drank just enough to reek. He picked fights to get his face swollen. He didn't dare return to Guise for surgery. The game was up. They'd nearly finished him off.

The American Boss became the American Brain, and worse. Harmless read his Bible and mumbled to himself. He was near the end. He prayed for it. They'd beaten him as a child. They'd discarded him. They'd ignored him as a young man. He'd been mugged, cut, slapped, insulted, jailed, raped, broken and tortured. They hunted him and he hid in man made caves. The Brain would find him soon.

Hope was a picture. It was dirty and creased. A small creature, a baby human, at once ugly and beautiful stared back at him. If he could run for a while longer, hide for enough time, his son would save the world.

It was the last thing she'd given him. It was the reason Guise turned on him. It made him angry and sad and proud. His only shame was abandonment. He had no choice. Mercy would never allow it. He didn't know the boy's name. The photo appeared with a not in a blanket roll at a homeless center. Words burned his soul from the back side of it.

"This is what we created. This is what I fight for now. You aren't capable of fighting for him. Go on and get yourself killed before he's old enough to meet you.

M."

To old, he told himself. To old for any of it. Run. Hide. Lay down. Wait for the final moment. His Son was in the Good Book. His Son would save them.

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Boss World

Prosperity reigned supreme. No one went without. Hydrogen power flourished, saving the environment and producing clean water. Nations who fought for oil and food lost power. Religions proclaimed the Age of God. The Antichrist, the Destroyer, the Deceiver retreated.

Disagreement flared, but guns were seldom fired. New pharmaceuticals curbed violent thought and criminal urges. The justice system became a hospice of complete care and rehabilitation. Anyone who could not be fixed was healed by the World Brain. President Dubois was the first. The European Union followed. The United Nations did the same. The Heads of state across the Middle East saw the work of Mohammed in this and accepted.

Trouble spots were quickly overcome. No one named names but certain despotic dictators vanished or capitulated. Africa returned to a paradise. Egypt was rebuilt. Records thought lost were pieced together. All of man's quest were slowly brought to total and satisfactory fruition.

Those who were unhappy had choices. Reconditioning, exile or chip implantation. When explained by a trusted doctor, chip implantation not only improved mood and intelligence, but gave access to simple powers that made life a joy to live. And it turned out to be true.

Harmless knew why he was hunted. All of this improvement was real, for now. Humans are not God. Humans suffer from temptation. Harmless had worked for Rick. Rick would be tempted first. He would ally his forces. peace would not be enough. He live for the sale, the kill. He would control.

Even benevolent control in its ultimate form flies in the face of the Free Will God gave us to choose. But he was old and weak. For now, he'd recover and hide.

One thought nagged at his mind.

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The Beast

He wanted to run things. People encouraged him. He never aspired to be a political, let alone a world leader. He never dreamed of having a chip in his brain wired to every computerized device worldwide. Even still, his mind hardly kept control

Fear can create evil. The best intentions are subverted by it. The American Boss, Rick Dubois, the Miracle Worker, the savior of the free world was turning. Inside, he could feel it. He could not stop it. Information overload overcame his sense of decency and common sense.

In a chaotic environment, people crave order. Rick's mind was information chaos.

There was another more disturbing thought. He had the power to bring harmony throughout the world. He did not have the character to do so. As his feeling of inadequacy mounted, his passion for control, for proof of his worthiness consumed him. The righteous need an enemy. Rick found enemies.

A wise man confronts his enemies with calm reason. Rick confronted them with Law. Strangely, no one opposed. Paradise became the tranquilizer. The need for an easy life lead people to watch friends be hauled away. People disappeared. Others towed the line and forwent their principles for the sake of peace.

The Blue and Red Union ensured order. Chronos followed the letter of the law. Only two of the union began to doubt. The letters still came. News conferences from hidden locations broadcast the words of an old, tired, beat up man who pleaded for sanity. A perfect world required tyranny.

Some could not accept tyranny for the sake of peace.

Chapter Fourteen | Chapter Sixteen