Chapter 4 – Lights of Northern Ghosts...
"Make yourself at home, boys," Maven Burns tossed his dripping coat onto a cushioned seat and waved Paul Seton and Marshall Lincoln to enter the observatory. "Looks like Reese has stepped out, but she won't stray far into the wind and cold outside. Relax, and I'll get a fire burning."
They had flown for less than an hour, enough time, Paul reflected given Mr. Burn's incredible plane, to span much of the globe. They left the faceless, robotic escort and tram behind on the plane as they stepped upon a wind-swept, barren plain that struck Paul and Marshall, both dwellers of the modern age's teeming cities, with its simple emptiness. Lowering their heads against the wind, they slowly progressed towards a round building topped with a still-golden bronze dome. The snow pulled at each of their steps as the unchallenged wind cracked their lips and penetrated their goggles to sting the eyes. Paul and Marshall grunted in their efforts and were rewarded as the observatory's fire danced to life and warmed their cores.
"That's better," Maven prodded the fire with an iron poker. "I'm going to start some tea. Do us all good to get something warm in our guts."
"Sounds wonderful," Paul answered, "but why did we leave the robot and tram behind? They would've made the trek from the plane a lot easier."
Maven chuckled. "Because I would rather face that wind than Reese's wrath. She's adamant that I leave all artificial intelligences behind whenever I come to visit her in her observatory home in the cold north. Reese says she deals with the computer mind enough as it is, and she won't suffer a pack of robots circling about her feet. Trust me, the cold is nothing compared to Reese's chill should we upset her in this, her favorite, of places."
"And where is this place?" Marshall asked.
"I never like to use names," Maven answered. "Just know it's the far, cold north. A place still not touched by concrete or steel. It's an empty place, a place made beautiful because of it. Leave it without a name for a little longer and be content that it's a place still not trampled by the boot."
Marshall rubbed his hands as a tea kettle shrilled. "And that's why your daughter chooses to live here?"
"It's a part of it. I envy her for the privacy," Maven responded. "There are times when even I can't stand the company of all my robots, and then I retreat to this observatory for a few days. But Reese loves this place mainly because it provides such an incredible view of the stars."
Paul leaned into the warm sofa while Maven retreated back down the hall to attend to the tea kettle. Large windows dominated the curving wall of the round observatory, offering a sweeping view of the flat, snow-covered landscape. The wild was so alien to him, strange though there was so little to look upon. He saw not a living soul no matter which direction he looked - saw no towers of steel, no roads of asphalt, no glowing, computer monitors, no staples of the modern world. As the fire warmed him, Paul wondered how he had travelled so far in a single day, how the morning had so surprised him by bringing him to a land far stranger than anything he had dreamed.
"There's a light in the wilderness, Paul." Marshall pointed out the windows.
Paul shifted his attention onto a light that bobbled and swayed in the blowing snow. In a breath, a bundled figure bounced into view, riding a sled pulled by a pack of white dogs whose excited yelps penetrated the observatory's inner quiet.
"Ah, that's Reese," Maven returned and set a steaming tea service upon the room's low table. "She doesn't go anywhere without her pack of white huskies. That pack's the only thing that ever gives her a reason to hesitate to travel into the stars."
Reese entered the observatory alongside a gust of wind and a flood of white fur. The dogs bounded about the room, yapping at the guests, leaping to lick at Maven's face before circling the tea service in hopes of a spilled scone crumb. Marshall tentatively reached towards a white dog and giggled as the rare animal rolled upon his back and offered a canine belly to the touch.
Paul's interest centered on the bundled woman who discarded layers of coats and scarfs as she walked to the tea service. She was the reason why Paul had come to such an empty and cold place. She was the potential client who sought their Singularity.
Paul instantly saw that Reese was no frail, sick woman seeking solace from suffering in a digital world. Her vibrant, golden hair, her gleaming green eyes, the grace with which she held her bearing all painted Reese Burns as a woman in the very prime of life, a gem that would sparkle in any crowd found in the huge cities of their day. Had another motivation delivered him to that observatory, Paul would not have ignored the attraction emanating from Reese Burns. Yet the Singularity's business had brought him to that empty land of snow, and so he shook any soft thought from his mind. Reese Burns was a mark. She was a woman without disease, who would place her soul into his care, who would believe his promises until a button would be pressed to snuff out her vibrancy and life.
Paul shuddered. She was too beautiful for such thoughts.
"You convinced them." Reese smiled at her father and the room glowed. "I knew you brought them with you when I saw your scramjet's engines smearing across the night sky. The masters of the Singularity sit in my observatory, the men who will package my soul so that I can travel between the stars."
Paul cleared his throat. "I fear we've not agreed to anything more than a visit to your home as of yet."
"What bothers you?" Reese asked. "Do you think me too delicate of a creature?"
Paul shrugged. "I won't lie and claim that's no small part of it. But my partner and I must also consider the law, and the law clearly tells us we may offer the Singularity to only the terminally ill."
Reese frowned at her father. "You didn't tell them much, did you?"
Maven held up a hand. "I might've mentioned the larger plan in passing. But we didn't discuss it in any depth."
"Larger plan?" Marshall's eyes widened.
Reese rolled her eyes. "You inventors and innovators are so distrustful. It's amazing anything gets created at all. Our goals are much larger than just me. Understand that my father's pockets are deep, that his enterprise touches every sector of the world's economy. That gives him clout, gives his voice gravity. The law regarding the Singularity is about to change. Lawmakers across the globe are rethinking their moral concerns tied to the practice of euthanasia. At my father's urging, they are starting to wonder if a citizen can truly live free if that citizen is denied the most basic of rights in deciding when to die. And with your work, Mr. Seton and Mr. Lincoln, our wiser lawmakers are questioning if transferring into the Singularity even constitutes death. Momentum is building to provide you gentlemen with every right to provide the Singularity to whoever asks for it."
A dog yelped as Marshall's trembling hand spilled steaming tea upon its fur. Paul gulped at his drink.
"Did I say something wrong?"
Maven laughed. "You didn't say anything wrong. Their white faces are the reactions of many a man upon suddenly learning fortune is about to flood upon him."
"You do see then?" Reese started. "I would only be the first to rocket into the stars. There are already hundreds of others lining up to upload their souls into the Singularity and claim their residency in the heavens. People are so tired of this crowded, spent planet of a home. More crave to leave with each day. The two of you can deliver them their wishes."
"But do you understand what you're really asking for?" Paul asked with a whisper. "Your soul would be launched into such vast expanses of absolute nothing. You will be alone, alone like no one else in human history."
Reese smiled. "Both of you follow me outside. Let me show you the reason for my desire."
"Bundle up, boys." Maven tossed a new set of dry coats to his guests.
Paul and Marshall willed themselves out of the observatory's warmth into the blowing wind. They envied the fortitude of the dogs who so easily jumped through the snow next them. With Maven's encouragement, their steps ascended a steep hill as cold nibbled at their toes. Paul
and Marshall once more bent low into the wind, and their eyes concentrated to follow the prints Reese and Maven's boots left behind . So intent in their efforts, they did not look upwards until they nearly stumbled upon reaching the top of the hill.
Reese laughed. "All this way in the snow, and neither of you looked up once."
Paul and Marshall finally turned their sight to the heavens and gasped.
A legion of stars twinkled over their heads. They gazed upon a black sky teeming with diamonds which nearly chimed in the cold. Thousands of stars waited for their consideration, stars untainted by the polluting light of a giant city's illumination. No moon rose to compete against those stars' luster. The sight stirred Paul and Marshall's imagination, thrilled their hearts so that their blood warmed no matter the blowing chill.
"You start to see the why," Reese nodded at them. "But turn around and see the complete picture."
That dark sky did not alone reserve its splendor to the stars. Paul and Marshall twisted to stare at the sky behind their shoulder and were thunderstruck by the color shimmering in the night. Luminous veils of pastel greens and blues danced in the night, curtains of light wavering like streamers in an unfelt wind. Paul and Marshall chided themselves. How had they not sooner looked upwards? Had the world so crowded around them that they had forgotten an entire cosmos rotated overhead?
"The Northern Lights," Reese's voice drifted in the wind. "The aurora borealis. Charged particles the solar winds deliver to our atmosphere. Specters of color dancing between the stars. I want to ride that solar wind and spread our kind into the heavens. Now do you understand?"
"It's incredible," Marshall spoke, "but would you die to drift through such color?"
Reese shook her head. "You of all people should know that I will not die. I will only be exchanging my temporary flesh for a sturdier, longer-lasting vessel, for a body that can withstand the demands of time."
"But where would you go?" Paul asked.
Reese shrugged her shoulders. "Point me at any star. Why would it matter if I have an eternal reserve of time?"
A terror squeezed at Paul's heart. Reese could not know what she truly requested. Had they indeed possessed the power to preserve Reese's soul in the Singularity. If such a magic could be wielded, they would transform her into but a ghost sent to haunt the black between the stars. The body's limitations might be scaled, but what of the limitations of the mind? How could one not go mad upon such a journey? Paul shook in the cold and stared at the veil of greens and blues shimmering over his head, dancing to no melody he could hear. Would a false Singularity not grant Reese Burns mercy from such a plan?
"So what do the two of you think?" Maven asked. "Will you help my daughter achieve the stars? I will deliver you both great fortune if you will."
Paul glanced towards Marshall for any indication of his partner's thoughts. Paul could convince himself that he would give Reese Burns mercy by selling her a false service, but what of the others who would follow? How many would ask to be freed from their flesh so that their souls could be launched into the stars? Could he destroy enough of his soul to live with the fortunes granted him by killing so many others? Could Marshall? Yet could either of them survive the bite of the chains and the locks that would certainly fall upon them if they dared now admit to their Singularity's truth?
Paul hesitated before answering to give Marshall a chance to voice his opinion. But Marshall kept silent and shivered in the wind.
"We're in," Paul vowed to the wind. "You change the law, Mr. Burns, and we'll give your daughter the Singularity. We'll do our part, Reese, to see you lift into the heavens."
They were seated in the observatory's warmth in a matter of minutes. The Burns brought two fine bottles of wine from the pantry. They shared toasts while Reese told them of nebula and pulsars, of dwarf stars and asteroid clouds. The fire raged through the night, but Paul and Marshall failed to find much comfort to help them sleep, for all the blankets were too thin, and the wine did nothing to combat the chill that soaked into their bones' marrow.
Their small business of creating ghosts was about to explode into an industry.
* * * * *