Oblivion (Epilogue: The Vaccine)

- You will need to start from scratch. All the samples you’re working with are contaminated.

- But I do not have the original DNA for starters. It’s too late now.

- No. It’s not!

The doctor and the chief of scientists looked at the young man. Leona was the first one to realize what he meant.

- What are you saying now? Do you have it?

- I told you I came to help and try to save what can be saved, but we are running out of time.

The pupas were almost ready to eclose. One of the colourful chrysalis would hatch in a very short time and by then, a sample of the fluids running in the fragile body could be taken immediately and used for the production of the vaccine.

The doctor and the chief of scientists had to fight against death and time, both being very strong contestants. That would be a risky operation and had to be done in a very short notice, or it would be too late to save that poor human being, going into such a strange mutation.

- What do we do?

- It’s important to get the sample when the fluid has started running through the wings and body of the new butterfly, a little before it is strong enough to fly by itself. It is when the elements in the DNA are more effective.

- So I was told… this is why I brought them in different phases.

- How long are we to wait?

- Not long, really.

- Now look! It’s eclosing. Slow, my dear…

- Help her!

- Never. The struggle is the most important part of the hatching. If we help her out, she will never fly. She needs the fluids to run through all the parts of her body. Patience is all we need now… and extreme care… to get the fluids at the right time…

- Now. Help me out here, please.

The chief of the lab took a syringe with a very thin needle and got ready. The doctor smiled. Time could be on their side…

***

- I’m glad we could produce the vaccine which is now effective. I was afraid we would never get to it.

Leona was serious and still concerned. The young man standing with her was thoughtful and feeling detached of the drama of that scene.

- But we lost that battle. Some of the very ill clones died before the operation.

- But not that one. He was not impossible to recover. Good he was such a strong specimen.

- We can make more clones, now we have it working properly. We have the means to make better ones!

- We will have to select the best of the best this time, to have his blood helping us to make the perfect others…

- He will be the guinea pig…. A prototype… for a new generation!

The two scientists were over excited. The death of the clones was nothing but a side effect in favour of science. They were babbling like two kids with a new toy.

The woman looked at the young man, standing behind them, in silence. She knew there was a purpose for his trip through space and time and the cost for the favour was yet to be charged. His eyes met hers. She knew it was time to pay her dues.

- I think we must go now. Come with me.

He followed her through the corridors of the Stellar Station to where the old and unused transport terminal was located.

- You’ll have to promise not to change anything. Your presence should not be noticed. The consequences are disastrous if you don’t follow my instructions. It is this or nothing at all…

- OK. Deal.

- Are you really sure you want to do this? You’ll be confined…

- I am. This is the main reason I came here for. Let’s do it. We’ve got little time.

- Remember this: you’ll have just one hour and then you’ll be brought back ahead in time to the time and place when and where you belong to.

- What?

- You won’t be coming back here. Ever again.

***

- What have you done?

- I’ve sent him back… to the past… Wasn’t that what you wanted, after all?

- What did he want here? How can you trust someone you do not know?

- He came to bring us hope. He brought the original material for the manufacturing of a new vaccine. You know the others were not working anymore and that was our last chance.

The supreme got serious, as if disturbed by a thought.

- I know it. And did that work?

- It did. We saved the Thirteenth. He’s recovering quickly. You will need to try one sample yourself: your patches are showing…   

- I will. Thanks for the concern.

- He asked about the 'Oumuamua'.

- What? 

- You know: the first Centaur detected by the Earth scientists...

- Stupid time travellers...

- I know. And he also said something so unbelievably absurd.

- Did he? What was that?

She laughed shyly.

- He said you were planning to destroy the planet…

- Ah! And why would I do that? That’s ridiculous!

- I know it. That’s why I sent him back to the time and place he came from, but I added a sample of ‘Oblivion’ in the capsule. He’ll be OK.

- Good… very good. I wouldn’t have done it better. Very well thought, Leona. You’re a very smart woman.

She smiled. He left a sigh come out as they entered the laboratory and met the two scientists working hard on the production of the new vaccine. The Supreme greeted them and stretched his forearm for the examination of the back furry patch growing over it.

The doctor got a syringe and targeted the blue vein which went up at the pressure of his finger. The man smiled when the needle pierced his extremely pale skin. He had some things in mind and very little time left to do them.

In minutes he was back to his quarters. He stood by a large window, looking to the dark sky outside. He mumbled something to himself and programmed the computer for two actions.

He needed to see the Thirteenth, to check the result of the new vaccine, before hitting the right key. There was something else he needed to do before…

***

- I knew it was dangerous. He is not coming back. We killed him.

- Calm down, man. Something must have happened. It’s not too long…

- You said one hour and that is long gone. Two hours have passed. We killed him.

The young soldier was feeling gloomy and guilty for the fate of his fellow friend. Too late for lamentations. Too late for everything. He’s lost his best friend. He wanted to cry.

He looked at the pale man standing in front of him, who was staring at a niche on the wall of one of the many passageways of the city intricate underground sewage tunnels. A strange hissing sound was followed by a bright glint. There was another flash and then they saw him. 
  

- He’s back!

The soldier felt a twitch in his stomach when he saw his friend lying on the floor. He was not awake.

- Is he OK?

- He’s unconscious, but he’s breathing. Let’s bring him up.

The young soldier opened his eyes as soon as he got up, helped by the other two men.

- Oh, man. I thought we had lost you! Where have you been?

- Uh? I think I fainted. Where are we?

- By the transport terminal in the tunnels.

- What are we doing here?

- You don’t remember? You just travelled to the future and back.

- No way. I had this strange dream, but I don’t remember much of it. I’m so tired now. Can we go home?

The two men exchanged their stares. The young soldier shook his head. The pale man spoke what he had in mind.

- Oblivion.

- What?

He smiled.

- I’ll explain later.

***

Stares (Final Part)

I no longer knew whether to believe in everything, anything or nothing at all, for I could not clearly distinguish when I was dreaming or when those things were really happening. For the sake of my sanity I decided to accept that there is a bit of truth in everything.

Although still somewhat clumsy by the effect of the medication, which ran in great quantity through my veins, blurring reality and confusing my perception, I read the message still open in my hand again and again.

"Don’t be afraid of what will come up for you in the future. Our minds are extremely powerful. A man who does not believe in anything, does not have many reasons to live.

You are not alone! We've always been around.

Come to the place where we met before as soon as you can. "

Although I considered the content quite intriguing and vague, that message, for some reason, seemed to bring a hidden meaning that I did not immediately understand.

*** 

For a few days I followed the diet, took my medications seriously, and committed myself to physiotherapy to speed my way out of that place. I knew it was imperative to get well soon. In those days, I was practically alone all the time and did not receive any visitors except for the nurses and the doctors, which, in a way, was a good sign.

Better left alone than...

I urgently needed to return to my quiet boring life and the less intrusion I would have during the recovery process, the better it would be. I took that lack of interference as a gift and tried to do my best to build up my strength and health as quickly as possible.

But the words, put that way in the message, would not leave my mind at ease...

***

- We had to leave you alone, so you could recover faster.

- I should have known there was something behind that apparent serenity...

- The final diagnosis was given. The doctor is on his way. We better leave you alone, now.

The doctor entered the small hospital room less than one minute after they left. I was sitting on the bed when he handed me a report and allowed me to read it before telling me anything.

***

I held the small dark wooden box in my hands, still closed, with an unusual affection. I was melancholic and that nostalgia made sense in the face of what I had just read. I sat down on the floor of the room and slid forward the thin cover, decorated with small and delicate arabesques, detaching it from the main body of the box and placing it near my leg.

My little travel souvenirs from other eras, lay dormant in the background covered with a fine burgundy velvet: a brown urchin, the fragile dried and empty flower petal shaped husk of a Physalis, a few seashells, two pebbles smoothed by the constant action of the river water, a bronze kitten, smaller than my thumb, a piece of scrolled paper given to me on the street by a stranger, where my favourite phrase was written,...

“Be careful of what you wish for, it might just come true"...

Funny that I had never noticed that there was a symbol drawn on the outside of the paper scroll, which was now familiar to me: a stylized eye. After a brief survey, I discovered that it was the symbol of knowledge. That made all sense…

On the bookshelf above my head, the mahogany shelves served as a frame for my collection of art books, where the life and work of Salvador Dalí stood out, not only because it was placed right in the centre, but because it was the most colourful and significant volume of all.

I thought of how my life fit into the few records left inside that small room, with the window facing the seaside.

So little in quantity and so much in emotional load... my living in this strange world...

I had decided to leave it all behind. Going away, that way, was a difficult decision, but it had to be done. I had not told anyone, and for all intents and purposes it was just another trip, like so many others… but it was not really that simple...

***

My soul was heavy, as if a very dark shadow hung over me, in spite of the warm and sunny day and the sky being almost as clear as my prospects for the future.

The piece of paper, with the most important information of my life, was still in my fingers. My gaze was lost in the horizon. The sea roared against the great rocks at the corner of the beach. It seemed to want to challenge me to face the great secret.

My mind came back in time a little to rekindle the memory of the decisive moment...

***

I read the report, with the diagnosis, in deep silence. There was not much doubt for interpretation. I looked up and saw that the doctor was staring at me very seriously, unable to hide the worry in his face.

- Any doubt?

- Only one. How long, I still have?

- It's hard to tell. In brain damages caused by clots this size, there is no way to give an accurate answer. It may be just days... Since we cannot operate, everything depends on the patient... We've had cases...

He stooped the sentence halfway. My expression told him, clearly, that I was not interested in other cases...

- Got it. Was that the reason for the hallucinations?

He smiled lightly. That sad smile made me feel completely lost and unsupported. How many times had he had to do the same procedure, knowing that the control over the lives of his patients was not in his hands, after all...

I stood up, shook his hand, and walked slowly out along the bright corridor where the morning sunlight coming in from the rectangular windows sketched obtuse geometric figures on the walls.

Inside, I felt a huge void, like nothing ever before.

***

The shrill lament of a solitary seagull brought me back immediately to the present and I broke my silence.

- We spend an entire lifetime searching for the purpose and the reason why we are here and now, without realizing that the true meaning of life is simply to live! There is no reward, no eternal life, no heaven and no hell...

- But for many, it is so much easier to "believe" in an all-powerful, over-manipulated truth and to live a big lie, which makes them happy, hopeful and lighter.

- If on the one hand it is simple, on the other hand it is extremely complicated, because we only realize that we had not enjoyed the best life can offer, when we have lost almost everything.

- Eternity is just a concept. The intensity of what we live is far more important than anything else...

The man with ginger hair and dark blue eyes, sitting next to me, faced me and stared into my eyes once more. Then, standing up, he lightly touched my shoulder, turned and left me sitting there following his walk away from me with sad eyes. Before disappearing behind the little sand dune, he turned around and waved. From afar, his eyes, although it was perhaps and only my impression, glowed with that power it did on the first time. He moved his lips and I, at that moment, fully realized what he meant.

I tore the paper into very small pieces, several times, and opened my hands, letting the wind carry away those tiny white confetti, tainted by the black fragments of the printer ink, which no longer had the same force of a few seconds ago, when the letters made words and those, brought together, composed one of the most difficult information my reason had to digest.

I got up and walked to the car which was parked next to the little restaurant. As I entered, the woman seated in the shadow of a large red and white umbrella rose and came toward me, walking steadily on top of her stiletto heels and defying the notion of balance. The elegant suit and the way she kept her hair lined up in a bun on the top of her attractive head gave me a sense that beauty, despite being a very personal concept, was a reality that always made me feel so peaceful. She opened the passenger door and said, smiling:

- Are you ready? Let's go?

I smiled, lightly, without saying anything. I just turned the key in the ignition and drove the car out of the parking lot.

In my mind, the message mumbled so many times by the redheaded man, was still evident and kept repeating in my memory, over and over again.

"You're not alone!"...

I had always believed, however, that in reality, from the beginning to the end of our lives, we had always been alone...

I adjusted the rear view mirror to check if the transport case in the back seat was securely fastened to the seat belt. The cat, an ordinary European tabby, was dozing calmly in it.

Maybe they're right, after all…