Erych And Teddi Journey Back

PerfectWorld story (The INTERIM) Erych & Teddi chapter 1

INTRODUCTION:

I write to avert disaster:

Soon into my soliloquies it became apparent that I was in danger of losing my audience. All none of you. I mean, who wants to be pounded with theory day after day? I know it would bore ME to tears.

So I came up with a plan. What if I wrote a book?

Nah, I'm not the book-writing type-- I'm an essayist. Which is to say, I don't have the concentration needed to write a whole book.

But then I thought: What if I wrote a series of essays as CHAPTERS in a larger book? Now THAT was an a-ha moment!

But what to write about? Well, the subject matter is obvious. I'd put together an epic, multi-generational book which starts with a look at life on the planet Earth right around now (warts and all) and ends smack dab in the middle of our brand-spanking new Perfect World!

I love the optimism and spark of youth, so I'd want to write from the perspective of a young protagonist (or two). And since the book would span the better part of two centuries, I'd better create several heroes to take us all the way through.

And what better way to link our heroes than by family history?

So now I begin. Not at the beginning, mind you, but right in the middle. Join our two friends, just barely into their teens, on a visit to a now-deserted city which once hosted millions and is now a rich source of history...

BOOK TWO

Chapter One- Naughty Kids

It was late; past evening meal at least. Erych and Teddi, both thirteen, were exploring the old city without the Fathers' knowledge. "We're gonna get caught, Erych!" Teddi said resignedly, dreading yet another day in O.T."I fixed it-- they won't know a thing. Come on, Teddi! I wanna get to the old library before dark. I found a cool room last time. Don't you wanna know about the Ugly Times?" Erych pedaled his hyperbike faster down the deserted old broken asphalt streets.

"No! It's called the Ugly Times-- that tells me all I need to know. I wanna go back." Teddi's feet were dragging, slowing the hyperbike down, albeit imperceptibly.

Few people went to the old cities-- all previous knowledge could be found on the computers at home anyway, and the place was somewhat unstable, as the retrobuilders were dismantling the cities for reusables, then slowly returning the grounds to pristine.

Erych wasn't any person, though-- he was an Explorer, and Explorers were encouraged to explore. It was in his strands, and that was all the Fathers needed to know. Teddi was his best friend, but wasn't an Explorer. No, Teddi was a Cipher, and Ciphers were NOT encouraged to explore because they had a nasty habit of falling into trouble. But the young did not always do as they are told, though, and now these two seem destined to learn the secrets of the past.

"Shouldn't we leave the past alone?" Teddi complained. "It's taken years to change society over. Do we really want to let the genie back out of the bottle? And I sure as whatever don't wanna spend another weekend in the Obedience Training facility--"

"Forget the O.T.! We're here!" Erych shouted, triumphant. "Let's go!" He dismounted the floating transit toy and headed towards the front doors.

Grumbling and muttering, Teddi followed obediently. Erych always took charge, Erych was always the leader. But... why not? At the top of every subclass, Erych seemed ready to integrate with the Whole, a full two years before normal, and took every opportunity to lead.

The children climbed the stone stairway littered with overgrowth, past the noble stone lions and their thick crusting of bird castoff, and on in through the unlocked front entryway. Teddi turned to gaze at the old city, peering through the narrowing gap before the tall doors closed. Imposing and silent, there was a certain menace to the stiff old buildings, as if they were frozen giants awaiting a signal to awaken and march off to some ancient tribunal somewhere. Teddi shuddered at the thought, then turned to catch up with Erych, who had disappeared into the gloom.

"Erych! Wait up! I can't see you!" Teddi squinted and could just make out his receding form, so chased after it.

It was part of the Change to preserve a few structures from the old city, and this library was one of them... it was a grand old building, but was in a state of disrepair. The smooth marble floors were caked with dust; massive cobwebs hung from every projection, but all the decayables had been sealed where they stood-- every row of books in the library, shelves and all, had been wrapped and sucked with vaccu-foam and were quite impossible to get to-- they looked like huge misshapen marshmallows.

"How can we read anything?" Teddi asked, catching up to Erych in a rush. "We can't even get to the books! They're behind 16 inches of solid vaccu-foam." Teddi rapped on a nearby blob with a fist. "Ow! Hard as a rock!"

"We're not there yet... follow me!" Erych bounded towards a wide set of stairs and headed down. Before Teddi could complain about the darkness, Erych reached into his pack and found a floatlamp. He waved a hand over it and brilliant light issued forth, then floated up and settled in orbit a few feet above his head. It might as well have been the sun-- suddenly the library was as well lit as if the roof had been hinged up.

Erych approached the stairs with Teddi at his heels. Three, four, five flights they descended, and then Erych stopped at a door marked 'Robotic Historical Theater'. "This is it! Prepare to be amazed!" He opened the door and stepped inside, with Teddi at his back and the floatlamp above his heat.

They were in some kind of auditorium. Rows and aisles of seats filled the room. They were all pointed forward, towards a large white rectangle mounted on the front wall.

"What is this place?" Teddi asked. The words fell silent in the muffled room.

"Sit in one of the chairs-- you'll see," Erych replied playfully. Teddi reluctantly inched toward a chair at the end of an aisle. Looked harmless enough, so Teddi sat.

The rectangle in front immediately began glowing, and a form coalesced in the center... it was a man, dressed in clothing from long ago. There was something odd about him, Teddi felt, but that feeling was minor when compared with the overwhelming rush of fear. "Erych! Erych! There's a MAN over there!"

"Well, a PROJECTION of a man, yes," Erych whispered.

So THAT'S what was weird about him! Before Teddi could have another thought, the man spoke, in a loud, echoing slap. "WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME TEACH?"

"Huh?" Teddi was confused.

"WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME TEACH?" the man boomed.

"Say 'the Ugly Times'!" Erych prodded quietly, sitting in the chair next to his friend.

In the smallest of voices, Teddi responded, "Ummm... the Ugly Times?"

Immediately the man vanished and was replaced with a burst of images and sounds, shrill and flashing. Cars on a busy freeway, a killer tornado, a military incursion, devastation from a seven point earthquake, crowds at an airport, a fast-food drive-thru line, a burning neighborhood, a hundred-year flood, polluted brown skies.

All images were shown staccato style alongside thumping heavy metal music, as an acrid stench wafted through the room. Erych watched with mild interest. Teddi was more strongly affected and was clenching the chair's armrests, pupils dilated, beads of sweat washing down. Erych calmly draped his arm across Teddi's quivering shoulders, who squeaked, "please make it stop..."

As if by thunderclap, the sounds and images ceased, fading quickly in the now dark and muted room. All that could be heard was the sound of Teddi's rapid breathing. Erych thought he could also make out Teddi's heart pounding and tousled the other's hair.

"What's the matter? Too much for you?" Erych grinned in the dark. "That's nothing-- that was just the beginning! Things get much worse from there!"

A long pause, and Teddi finally spoke. "W-worse? How is that p-possible? That was like w-watching my own death!"

"We live in a good time, all right. I doubt many of us today could stand living before the Change began-- people lived like animals back then. Did you know they used to KILL each other?"

That was too much for poor Teddi, who turned away from Erych and puked. Erych averted his eyes, but held Teddi's long blonde hair away from the worst of it.

Panting and unfocussed, Teddi sat silent for a long while before sighing, "Tell me again why you wanted me to see things you know I can't unwatch?"

Erych responded seriously. "It's our responsibility-- we HAVE to see it, Teddi. We can't forget our roots, or we may come full circle and become that way again. I know we're only halfway through the Change, but somebody goofed. They think we're not supposed to see these things, but they're wrong!"

"What do you mean, they're wrong? The founder spent years designing the plan, experts spent years implementing it... and you're just a kid! How do you know they're wrong?"

Erych stared at his companion. "You KNOW I know."

"Oh." Teddi knew immediately that Erych was one hundred percent right. Whenever Erych made an 'official pronouncement' like that they always proved true. Teddi had no idea how he did that. Maybe it had something to do with his incredible talent or his ridiculous luck-- it didn't really matter WHY it was true, only that it WAS-- and Teddi had long ago learned to trust him implicitly.

And now was no exception. "Hide!" Erych suddenly shouted, and the both of them dove for the floor, narrowly missing being caught by the strong white light which burst from the front door. The door bumped open, and a large humming cylinder floated in, a white metal hulk shooting bright light in all directions.

"Oh, no!" Teddi thought, and looked at Erych, who peered back, eyes wide. They both mouthed the same thing:

"THE O.T.!"

...

Well, that's it for today, folks. Look for future chapters in the coming days and weeks (as I write them... this blog IS a work in progress, after all).

An aside: I showed this post to a friend for editing purposes. His only comment? "Does Urch have superpowers?" That's right-- he pronounced it 'Urch'.

While I will admit Erych is not a normal spelling for the name, I just assumed most people would read it as 'Eric' and carry on. So, for those of you who (for whatever reason) see the name as something other than 'Eric', well, I have to give you kudos on your creativity. Knock yourself out. Call him whatever you want.

And by the way, if you want to know whether 'Urch' has superpowers or not... you'll just have to continue reading.

Copyright 2009 Bruce Ian Friedman