FREEDOM OF CHOICE (Chapter 1 part 2)

                                                        CHAPTER ONE
                                                          (Part two)
   
    The  tone  of  Simpsons  voice  changed,  you  could  tell  that  the  Cardinals  questions  were  beginning  to  annoy  him.  He  had  spent  countless  hours  working  on  this  and  he  did  not  welcome  someone  trying  to  berate  his  efforts. 
  “In  this  present  situation,  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  continue  to  exist  as  we  are  now,  I  have  presented  you  with  an  alternative,  one  that  may  not  be  ideal  in  everyone’s  eyes,  but  never  the  less,  one  in  which  you  will  not  expire,  if  you  cannot  accept  that,  then  I  suggest  that  you  ask  God  for  a  better  one.” 
  “SIMPSON,” Shouted the President. 
  “I  am  sorry,  I  have  done  the  best  I  can,  saving  the  human  race  is  no  small  feat,  in  an  ideal  world  there  might  be  another  way,  but  no  one  is  perfect,  I  have  given  you  a  choice,  continue  or  perish,  the  decision  is  up  to  you,  I  can  hover  here  for  weeks  explaining  everything  to  you, but  it  will  change    nothing,  this  is  your  solution, take  it  or  leave  it.”
   
    At  that  Simpson  turned  and  left  followed  by  his  wife.  The  board  were  silent,  each  one  deep in  their  own  thoughts  on  the  subject,  but  at  the  end  of  it,  it  all  boiled  down  to  one  thing,  one  question, accept  it  or  perish.  To their amazement Simpson returned. 
  “One  thing  I  neglected  to  add,  there  are  at  present  over  thirty  five  billion  people  populating  the  planet,  I  however  can  only  save  ten  million.”   

    Then he turned and left.  The  reservations  that  the  board  had  been  feeling  about  the  situation  disappeared  with  that  last  statement.  What  at  the  beginning of  this  had  been  a  simple  choice  had  now  been  turned  into  a  three thousand and five hundred  to  one  chance  of  survival. 
The board simultaneously  looked  at  each  other,  and  each  one  of them were  experiencing exactly the  same  thought;     
   
    What  had  at  the  beginning  been  a  race  for  survival,  had  now  been  turned  into  a  fight  and  not  so  much  as  a  choice  as  a  desire  to  survive,  a  desire  that  would  spurn  everyone  to  survive,  no  matter  what  the  cost.  Simpson  knew  this, he  had  planned  it  this  way,  he  had  given  them  the freedom of  choice  and  then  taken  it  away,  such  is  the  will  to  survive,  it  will  override  everything.  Simpson  was  not  as  foolish  as  they  thought,  he  had  tipped his hand,  he  had  taken away their apprehension and replaced it with the will to survive. The human race needed to survive whether they wanted to or not.  With one statement he had taken away the fear of continuing in his condition and replaced it with a greater fear; the question on everyone’s lips now was, who would be saved and who would not. Simpson returned to his lab, he began preparing his wife for the transition; The preparation and transition would be performed by Bill and Ben, Simpson’s two robot assistants; he wanted to make sure that she would be with him, before the panic began;
   
    At  the  last  count  there  were  still  seventy five  percent of the population remaining,  around  twenty seven billion give or take,  so,  how  to decide who survives,  and more importantly, who decides. When faced with annihilation people are no longer people, they tend to transform into primates, primates that will do anything to survive.  Once the news had broken, it was inevitable what was to come and that was when the killing began.  No one was safe, friend turned on friend, family turned on family, and it was an all out slaughter.  Everywhere you looked the streets were covered with bodies, the sewers were overflowing with blood; the rivers the lakes and even the ocean were beginning to turn red.  The human race that had needed to be saved were no longer human.             

    The people in power were helpless; they could do nothing to stop the slaughter. They ended up being slaughtered by the forces that they looked on to protect them.  The police, the armed forces, everyone was affected by the madness.  No  one  was  exempt, it  was  not  simply  a  case  of  the  fittest  surviving,  more  like  the  best  armed.  In  a  matter  of  days  the  human  race  had  been  reduced  to  a  few  thousand.  But  out  of  the  madness  came  a  purpose,  the  at  that  time  survivors  were  all  heading  to  the  same  location,  the  location  of  Simpsons  lab.  Out  of  this  melee  came  one  man,  one  man  who  managed  to  stem  his  appetite  to  kill,  how,  how  could  it  be  possible  to  stop this madness,  what  could  have  brought  about  this  miracle.  It  was no miracle, it was actually something simple, it  was  in  fact  stopped  by  a  simple  mirror.

    One  man,  in  the  middle  of  this  frenzy  happened  to  see  his  reflection  in  a  mirror.  What  he  saw  in  the  mirror  horrified  him so much,  that  it  shocked  him  back  to  normality.  Without  thinking  he  ripped  the  mirror  from  the  wall  and  proceeded  to  show  the  others,  one by  one  those  that  were  still  alive  were  returned  also,  by  the  same  means  as  he  had  been.  By this time there were only a few hundred left.  All  the  world  leaders  were  gone,  they  were  without  direction,  everyone  turned  to  the  man  that  had  saved  them. At  that  precise  moment,  a  leader  was  born,  and  his  name  was  Christie.  Now  a  new  threat  began  to  arise,  bodies  began  to  decay,  everything  was  contaminated,  disease  was  in  the  air.  Survival  was  primary,  with  Christie  leading  them  they  descended  on  Simpsons  lab.

      When  they  arrived  they  were  confronted  by  a  high  tech  security  system.  Whilst  Bill and Ben were making  preparations  Simpson  had  been  monitoring  the  events  outside.  Now  he  had  observed  this  mass  of  people  approaching and  was  taking  no  chances.  He  had  not  come  this  far  to  be  stopped  by  the  very  people  that  he  was  trying  to  save.  Everyone  turned  to  Christie,  he  cautiously  approached  the  gate  and  pressed  the  buzzer.  The  fence  was  electrified  and  there  were  automated  guns  positioned  in  prime  positions.  Simpson had left nothing to chance. 
  “Yes.” 
  “You  have  to  let  us  in,  we  are  here  to  survive,  can  you  help  us.” 
  “How  do  I  know  that  you  will  not  just  come  in  here  and  destroy  everything.” 
  “You  don’t, you  will  just  have  to  trust  us.” 
Simpson  looked  at  this  man,  this  man  standing  at  his  gate  covered  in  blood.
    “I’m  afraid  that  I  am  all  out  of  trust  in  lue  of  recent  events,  you  will  have  to  convince  me  that  you  are  worthy  of  saving.”
Christie  felt  his  temper  beginning  to  rise,  he  checked  it  and  turned  to  the  others. 
  “Find  me  some  water.”
   
    Within  moments  he  had  been  given  a  bucket  of  water,  he  emptied  it  over  himself,  he  then  turned  to  the  camera  and  looked  into  it.  Simpson  could  tell  by  his  face  that  he  was  no  longer  affected  by  the  madness,  the  gate  opened  and  allowed  them  to  enter.  Out  of  the  whole  of  the  human  race  only  four  hundred  and  sixty  five  people  remained,  including  Simpson  and  his  wife,  and  one  other  familiar  face,  that  of  Cardinal  Smith.  It  would  appear  that  turning the other cheek  and  survival  did  no  go  hand  in  hand.
 
    The  survivors  were  a  mixed  bunch, but  amongst their  numbers  were  various  experts.  The list was too long to name them individually, suffice to say that they were the kind of people that you would want if you had to choose them. Simpson had in the meantime been busy.  He had instructed his small army of robots to collect Data, items of importance, the type of things that you would not want destroyed, things that you would need if you were planning to start over.  They had been doing this unnoticed whilst the slaughter had been taking place.  He had also been busy perfecting his experiment; the transition of the survivors did not take long. Adapting to the transition however was another thing, not everyone was comfortable with it. Having said that, the spheres were easy to control, all that  was  required  was  for  you  to  think  what  you  wanted  it  to  do  and  it  did  it.  As  for  speaking  you  merely  thought  it  and  the  words  came  out, you  had  no  eyes  yet  you  could  see.

    The spheres were composed of a transparent alloy, but they unfortunately were not indestructible, a fact that Simpson was quick to point out. Seventy five percent of the survivors readily accepted their new existence; unfortunately the other twenty five percent could not.  They immediately began to destroy themselves by ramming the spheres into anything hard enough to destroy them. Out of a population of Thirty Five billion there were now only Three hundred and Fifty left. All of this took place One hundred and Thirty years ago, the year now is 3055.  But it was in the year 3050 that the unthinkable happened.

    Existing in a sphere had its bad points and its good, the bad was the loss of senses, touch, smell, taste, etc, the main good point was that they had developed telekinesis, therefore the lack of bodily functions had been catered for. Most of their time was spent overseeing the rebuilding of the planet; they spent their free time reading some of the literature that had been saved and playing board games. It was when they were overseeing the rebuilding that it was noticed, Christie was in the middle of a game of chess and Simpson was in his lab when the ruckus started. They immediately sped to the scene to see what all the fuss was about. When they arrived everyone turned towards them. Then they saw it, a blade of grass, one singular solitary blade growing out of the ground. That meant only one thing, the unthinkable had happened, Mother Earth had begun to repair herself. Out of the silence one voice spoke,
  “Well,” Asked Smith.

    Christie turned to Simpson,
  “Well  this  was  unexpected,”
  “Unexpected  but  not  unforeseen,” replied Simpson. “This  was  always  a possibility,  although  it  was  unthinkable  it  was  never  impossible, nature  has  a way  of  doing  that.” 
  “So  how  do  we  rectify  the  situation?  I  for  one  am  sick  of  existing  in  a balloon,” said Smith.
  “Well  I  have  been  busy  over  the  last  few  years,  I  could  not  rule  out  the  possibility  of  this  happening;  and  with  that  in  mind,  I  began  to  make  preparations,  and  I  have  come  up  with  a  solution.”

    “What?  Another  of  your  famous  solutions,” said Smith sarcastically?
  “Shut  up  Smith,” said Christie. “If  it  were  not  for  him,  you  would  no  longer be  existing  at  all.”
  “I  will  return  to  my  lab  and  continue  working  on  it;  I  will  call  you  when  I have  perfected  it.” 
  “Fair  enough,  we  will  continue  on  as  normal,  until  that  time,  and  then  we  will  hold  a meeting  to  discuss  the  outcome.” 
  “I  can’t  wait,” said Smith, “In  the  meantime  I  will  also  continue  to  work  on my  solution, I  also  have  something  in  mind,  something,  that  could  alter  our present  condition.” 
  “Very  well,  you  can  have  your  say  at  the  meeting  until  then,  keep  your opinions  to  yourself.”
Christie began to fear that Smith was going to disrupt the harmony of the population.
At that, Smith turned and left. 
  “He  is  going  to  be  trouble,” said Simpson.
  “I  know  I  was  just  thinking  the  same  thing,” said Christie, “But  everyone  has a  voice,  and  everyone  has  the  right  to  be  heard.”

  So it was, everyone returned to what they were doing, but also kept an eye so to speak, on the regeneration of the planet. Once it had begun, it did not take long to escalate.  The ozone layer had restored itself; grass was growing, along with shrubs, bushes and now trees. Air was now plentiful; Simpson announced that he was now ready so a meeting was convened.  The year was now 3060.
   
    Because of the significance of this meeting, everyone had been invited to attend, as it involved everyone’s future.  (Everyone except Mrs Simpson that is, someone had to keep an eye on things back at the lab.)

  (‘This  brings  us  up  to  date,  and  so  back  to  the  meeting.’)
  “I  have  perfected  a  way  that  we  can  be  returned  to  human  form,” announced Simpson. 
Everyone  was  quiet, except  one.
  “Great,  and  where  do  we  find  these  human  forms  to  return  to?” asked Smith. 
  “Well,  I  have  been  working  on  that  also,” replied Simpson.
  “What? Are  you  going  to  invent  them?” 
  “Shut  up  Smith,” said Christie, “You  will  have  your  chance  to  speak, so,  in  the  meantime  let  him  finish.”
  “Thank  you,  what  I  have  been  working  on  is  not  a  new  concept,  in  fact  we  were  experimenting  with  it  before  all  of  this  began, -------Time  Travel.” 

    “Jesus,  this  is  your  solution,  are  you  mad?  I  think  that  you  have  lost  it, Time  Travel,  poppycock.”
Christie was about to berate Smith when one hundred and twenty of the spheres moved behind him.
  “What  is  the  meaning  of  this?  Explain  yourself  now!” 
  “This  is  my  fraction,  my  supporters,  and  I  am  their  leader.” Replied Smith:
This took everyone by surprise; they knew to expect trouble from Smith, but not this.
      “Don’t  be  so  stupid,  we  have  to  work  together  on  this, if  we  wish  to resolve  the  situation  we  need  to  stick  together,” said Simpson.
  “Well  you  can  stick  together and  follow  this  madman  if  you  wish, I  however have  other  plans  and  it  does  not  include  his stupid  solution, I  also  have  a solution  and  it  is  more  acceptable  than  his,” said Smith.
  “Very  well,” said Christie “Lets  hear  it.”

    Simpson although affronted by this knew it was Smith’s right, the right to speak, so he gave him the floor, so to speak, more out of curiosity than anything else.
  “Before  I  took  to  the  cloth  I  majored  in automation, and  Henderson  here was  experimenting  with  bionics,  together  we  have  now  perfected  a  formula that  can  create  synthetic  bodies, in  other  words  androids,  androids  that  we can  occupy.” 
  “Androids, hah,  I  pondered  over  that  concept  but  ruled  it out,” said Simpson.
  “Let  him  finish,” said Christie.

    This took Simpson aback; surely they were not going for Smith’s solution when his was better.
  “Our  life  force’s  can  be  transferred  into  these  androids  and  we  will  be  able to  function  like  normal  people  once  again.” 
  “But  without the  ability  to  feel, to  touch, to  taste  and  to smell,” said Simpson with a hint of desperation in his voice, he was beginning to think that the others were finding Smiths solution an attractive alternative.
  “Ok, lets  hear  you  silly  solution  then,” said Smith, he was feeling confident that he was winning over the others.
 
    “As  I  said  I  have  been  experimenting  with  time  travel, and  I  have  now perfected  it,  I  have  gone  back  in  time, several  times, it  works.” 
      “So, how  does  this  serve  us?” asked Christie. 
  “Simple, we  return  back  in time  and  obtain  some  bodies.” 
  “Obtain? Don’t  you  mean  steal,” asked Smith.
  “Whatever.” 
  “See  I  told  you, he  has  lost  it, he  is  mad.”
  “I  am  not  mad; imagine  how  it  would  feel, to  once  again  occupy  a  body.” 
  “What  about  the  person  who  already  occupies  the  body,” asked Christie?
  “That  I  cannot  answer, I  have  no  idea.” 
  “Well  it’s  pretty  obvious  to  me,” said Smith, “Two  people  cannot  co-exist  in the  same  body  so, if  you  occupy  it, they  cease to.”
  “So, you  would  be  killing  them?” asked Christie. 
  “Hold  it  right  there,” said Simpson, “Before  you  begin  to  get scrupulous remember  how  you  got  here,  all  of  you.” 

    Everyone was silent, even Smith had no comeback for that one. 
  “All  right,” said Christie, “Assuming  it  could  be  done, we  would  have  to  be very  selective, everyone  would  have  to  be  monitored, I  mean, if  for  instance if  you  took  the  body  of  a  relative, then  you  could  cease  to  exist.”
  “That  is  correct,” said Simpson, “Every  candidate  would  have  to  be  screened.” 
  “I  cannot  believe  that  I  am  hearing  this,” said Smith, “Are  you  two  seriously contemplating  this?” 
  “Well  living  as  a  human  takes  preference  over  an  android  any  day,” replied Christie.  Then he turned to the others.                 

    “Well, it  looks  like  we  are  faced  with another  choice, everyone  must  decide, either you  are  with  Simpson  and  I, or you  are  with  Smith  and  Henderson.”
When the others had chosen, there were two hundred with Simpson and one hundred and fifty with Smith. The choice had been made, Smith and his followers then left, they had preparations to make, he was going to show them that his solution was the best. Christie turned towards Simpson.
  “Are  you  certain  that  you  can  pull  this  off?” 
“Positive,” replied Simpson.
“I  sure  hope  so,” said Christie.
 
    (“Well  there  you  have  it,  that  brings  us  right  up  to  date,  back  to  more or  less  where  we  were  at  the  beginning  of  all  of  this,  looking  for  a  solution  to  rectify  our  situation,  but  instead  of  one  solution,  we  are  now  faced  with  two.  From  here  onwards  the  story  now  takes  two  different  but intertwining  paths,  can  you  follow  them?  I  hope  that  you  can.”)



       
STORYMAN1