Originally published in Planet Magazine No. 27–28 (September/December 2000).
“When I try to explain this to other people, they usually snicker.”
Dan shifted nervously on the couch and thought ‘Uh-oh’, wondering what could possibly follow such a statement. The man speaking, Dr. Ken something, had a rich, deep voice, and Dan was curious as to what could bring such a dignified individual to such a mismatched grouping as this.
“But as stupid as it might sound, it does bear some interesting implications.” The speaker held out his hands. “I guess that is the case with all of us.”
Dan thought to himself, sure, I guess.
Dr. Ken paused, and everyone in the room felt a little more uncomfortable. “Ok, all right, it never did get easier to tell people, and I haven’t told anyone in a long time, but…”
C’mon, you jerk, say it, thought Dan.
“…I’ve never gotten a busy signal in my entire life. On the telephone, I mean.”
The response from the room was overwhelming silence.
Dr. Ken cleared his throat. “I mean, I have never even reached an answering machine. I have never gotten an operator telling me to call back later. I didn’t even know that could happen until I saw it in a movie one day. What I’m saying is this: I have never called someone and not had them answer.” He held his hands out again, as if to say, why aren’t you impressed?
By this point in the evening, Dan was not impressed at all.
Maybe no one else was either, because the room stayed still for several minutes more. Finally, another man stood up. It was Max, the elderly man who had invited Dan here, and the man who owned the basement they were sitting in. Almost timidly, he asked Ken to sit back down.
Max turned around, looking worried that this meeting had not started off all that great. “All right, I know most of you are probably still confused,” (Most of us, thought Dan? There was only a total of six people here.) “But please bear through these introductions. Everyone needs to speak before we can start making sense of this.” Max looked around the room and held his hand out to a thirtyish looking gentlemen, who stood up and moved towards the center of the basement.
“Hi everyone,” he started, but Dan had already lost interest. He was thinking about a nice, cold beer, or a football game, or home. He wanted to be home. What a waste of a Sunday, he told himself.
Despite the revelations, his mind kept coming back to the fact that he would have to go back to work tomorrow. It was a depressing thought.
The man talking, Brian something, was talking about even numbers and even quantities.
Dan thought, what?
Brian was explaining that any significant number in his life, like change he might receive from the store or any telephone number he might call, were always even.
Dan thought, oh, and tuned back out.
Two weeks ago, Dan had received a strange letter in the mail. The letter explained that Dan’s power was known to the sender and that if Dan wanted more information, he should meet with the sender at the place and time specified in the letter.
Dan thought, my power?
Brian was explaining the frequency of even-numbered dates and times in his life, and pointed out that today’s date was even, and there were six people in the room. A hand was raised and somebody asked, “Are you just unconscious for all odd-numbered days then?”
Dan snickered, but Brian was unbothered. “If you remember, I said that all of these values I was talking about were ‘significant’ ones. Obviously, numbers and quantities are expressed everywhere, and the hard part is interpreting them. Believe me, I have spent a great deal of time realizing this. I would not be here otherwise.”
The same joker left his hand in the air. “How come there is only one of you then?”
“Don’t be stupid,” was Brian’s only reply, and he sat back down.
Max returned to center stage, and once again pleaded with everyone for tolerance. He invited the man who had been heckling Brian to come up and talk, and Dan was just happy that it was still someone else’s turn.
What was it about this situation that made Dan feel like he was in high school again? When he had met with Max at some outdoor bistro that was at the address on the letter, he was intrigued by what Max had to say, albeit a little skeptically. Max seemed shy at first, mumbling some apology about the ‘letter-approach’ and another cryptic remark about ‘keeping the numbers low during the first meeting’.
At the time, Dan thought to himself, what an odd man.
The current speaker, the guy who had just been heckling Brian, was named George. He was going on about how he really did not have a power or ability. The thing Max wanted him to talk about was nothing special, ‘just part of George’.
Dan thought in a resigned tone, oh brother.
His meeting with Max that day in the bistro finished on an anticlimactic note. Max had continued to shift around various topics, finally launching into a speech about ‘patterns, and energy, and the universe’. Those were his exact words, and Dan wondered what motivated this guy. Even now, down here in his basement, Max was still the shy and gentle host, never really getting into it as one might expect. If anything, Max almost seemed slightly embarrassed from the proceedings.
On the other hand, George’s more subdued enthusiasm was manifesting itself more and more. According to George, he had the ‘magic touch’ when it came to machines, especially computers, and a device that might not work for others almost inevitably worked for him. That was his ‘ability’, but it was not an ability, any more than someone who could play the piano had a special ability. It just ‘was’.
That’s almost impressive, thought Dan.
As an afterthought, he added, my power?
Dan leaned back further into his chair, and took a deep breath. The original meeting with Max had gone well enough, but Dan had not thought he would actually attend tonight. Max had described this event as ‘the big get- together’, which was all the more reason not to go. But for some reason, when tonight had rolled around, Dan made some excuse to his wife and came anyway. Despite being across town, it had only taken him ten minutes to get here.
Dan did not know why he did this, but he took his gun. It made him feel a little bit better about lying to his wife. Dan did not like carrying his gun, but he felt it was an important item to have in today’s world, and after all, he was getting together with virtual strangers.
George finished and took his seat. For a moment, nothing happened, until Dan realized Max was looking right at him.
“Uh,” said Dan, “What about that guy?” He pointed his thumb at the sixth man, curled up on a chair in the corner, removed from the main group.
“Oh, he’s not really one of us, he’s more of my… business partner. You see, he’s psychic, and he helped identify all of you. Don’t worry, I’ll explain more about that shortly.” He paused, and looked back at Dan. “If it will make you feel better, I can go on now.” He paused again, possibly hoping for someone to challenge him, and failing that, started talking.
“Well, I also have a unique ‘talent’, similar to everyone here tonight. So, let me just ask you, how old do you think I am? Take a good look.” Max held out his arm and spun around, so everyone could get as good a look as they wanted.
Dan appraised him, seeing Max as an older gentlemen, possibly late fifties or even early sixties? Not that old, and definitely healthy looking. Dan wondered if Max might even be in better shape than himself. He found himself thinking, all right, he’s in good shape, what’s the big deal?
However, Dan was somewhat surprised when Max said: “I’m ninety-three years old.”
Whoa, thought Dan.
Max continued. “Maybe it’s not an ability, if you went by the strict definition. But it does relate when you consider that I’ve never been sick in my entire life, not a cold, not a sniffle. Besides an occasional scratch, I have never been seriously hurt either.”
Max spun around again, trying to make eye contact with everyone.
“I wouldn’t call it genetic, because my dad died at the age of thirty-seven due to serious health problems; my mother, forty-one. I wouldn’t call it upbringing because both of my siblings have also died within the last ten years, prognosis: ‘old-age’, whatever that means. And I don’t know what they call it when you outlive your children. So…” Max trailed off into a very quiet room.
Dan was chilled by this sudden change in Max, and was relieved when Max looked around and clapped his hands to break the mood. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get so serious on you guys. But that is what is special about me. Here, why don’t we let Dan go now? His ability is one that is much lighter in nature. Once he has said his piece, we will get down to some serious discussion, and hopefully everyone will see why this is so important. Dan?” Max gestured for Dan to get up.
Dan was still thinking, my ability?
He hoisted his body out of the chair and slowly moved to center stage. He paused, cleared his throat, and felt more foolish at that moment than any other in recent memory.
Here goes nothing, Dan thought.
“Hi everyone, my name is Dan, and I…”
Just say it, he told himself.
“I have never gotten a red light in my entire life. On the road, that is.” He looked over at Dr. Ken.
Like everyone else before him, Dan was greeted with silence.
He told himself, way to go!
“I picked up on this not long after I had started driving, but I try not to make a big deal out of it. I guess I feel somewhat similar to George; it’s not really a major thing in my life, it’s just something that ‘is’.”
Dan coughed, and absent-mindedly rubbed his stomach. The other people continued to stare at him.
“I don’t really understand how I fit in here. I will be the first to admit that it is certainly strange that I’ve never gotten a red light, but overall, it’s still so… mundane. Is that the purpose of this meeting? To gather people with mundane powers? Sort of a crossover of between ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘The X-Files’?”
Max was about to interject, but Dan continued. “Other than that, I don’t see how I could possibly relate to a guy who works magic with the telephone, or even computers, or even his own body.” Dan gestured at Max, and looked back at the others. He let out a big sigh. “I felt a little silly when Max started calling it my ‘power’. But the truth is, I’ve never really questioned it, because I’m afraid if I look my ‘power’ right in the face, I’ll lose it.”
Dr. Ken suddenly spoke up. “I know how you feel, Dan. ‘Abuse it and lose it.'”
Dan nodded. “Exactly, and maybe that is why I felt so apprehensive about coming here tonight.”
“Rightfully so,” broke in a new voice, and Dan spun around to see the sixth man, the so-called psychic, up from his chair and leaning against the wall, looking quite pale. The psychic glared at Dan, and turned to look at Max. “I’m afraid some of our earlier fears are coming true.”
Dan said, “What?” at the same time Max said “Uh-oh.”
Dan repeated himself, “What?” and a couple of the others voiced similar sentiment.
Max looked concerned about the changing mood of the meeting, and looked back at the psychic. “Let me know if anything changes, all right?” To the others, he said, “Please everyone, let’s not panic. There were some concerns about gathering so many of you in one place, but perhaps that is exactly why we needed to do that very thing.”
Dan looked around nervously, and could not help but think, danger!
Aloud, Dan said, “What concerns? Was anyone else here aware of any concerns?”
The others started to indicate that they were not, but Max spoke over them. “Dan, please do not try to incite a riot in my basement! You have no reason to be suspicious. I know you have at least an idea of what I’m talking about. You all do.” He turned around, looking everyone in the eye. “Don’t you feel it? The feeling in your stomach? The electricity in the air? Since you’ve been here with everyone else, I’m sure you all felt the same strange feelings, like a tickling of your awareness just below the surface of perception. That is the concern of which we speak.”
Dan knew the old man was right even before he finished his sentence. He put his hand up to his stomach again, aware of the ever-so-slight feeling of nausea he had. Dan held his breath and focused on his heightened sense of discomfort. All along, he thought it was just the company. Based on what Max just said… well, it was still the company.
“Max,” Dan said slowly, “Why would having so many of us in the same place cause these sensations? What sort of danger might we be in?”
Max paled as Dan spoke, but was quick to respond. “I don’t actually think anyone here is in danger. Listen – everyone must understand the importance of all this. Dan, you asked earlier what the connection was between you, and me, and Ken and George and Brian. Obviously, we are all linked by these strange ‘abilities’ that no one else has. You were very close to the truth when you said the only similarity was their mundane nature.”
Max was talking quite fast now, but stopped with a sudden coughing fit.
Some power, thought Dan.
Max regained himself and continued: “I don’t know for certain what the truth of our situation is. But I do know that at least this much is true: each one of our abilities deals with something chaotic… and imposing order over it. Forcing a pattern, if you will. Please, I know it sounds strange, but you must understand. Dan, you are the best example of this. Name a system more complex than traffic! But anywhere you go, you have a green light. Do you know how impossible such a feat is? These lights have to be green before you get to them to allow you to drive right through them. This in turn affects other lights in the area, which affects even more lights, and so on. Maybe ‘mundane’ isn’t the right word after all, maybe ‘impressive’ or even ‘downright amazing’ would fit better!”
Max was practically shouting now, shouting into a room as still as a museum.
“Dr. Ken, the same applies to you. You place a telephone call, and the person you are trying to reach answers the phone. Always, without doubt, every single time. Instead of coordinating traffic lights, your influence extends to people, people who have to be right by the phone when you call. Do you realize this is a power that extends through time? It’s like trying to shoot a moving bullet with another bullet. It’s… it’s mind-boggling!”
Max took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Now here’s the overzealous behavior, thought Dan. Despite that, Dan could still hear the truth that rang in Max’s words.
“The same applies to you, George, and you as well, Brian.” Max said, appearing a little more calm now. “You both can influence many different factors, all to produce similar effects.”
Brian interrupted. “But, how did you figure this all out? How did you find any of us? And most importantly, why might there be danger?”
Max took a deep breath. “To give you the quick version, this idea originally came about from conversations between myself and Hector over there, the man I introduced as being psychic. Psychic powers are certainly not unheard of, and Hector’s powers make him into a ‘detector’ of sorts. For example, you can not sneak up on him because he’ll ‘feel’ you first. He will even be able to identify you by the ‘flavor’ of your mental presence. And believe me, I am not trying to discount Hector’s powers at all, but he currently is not the focus. He is special, but along different lines than you and I. For now, please just accept what I say about him.”
Max paused again, and Dan thought he was trying to gauge everybody’s reaction. Dan was satisfied with that explanation, and Max continued.
“Originally, he sought me out, detecting something unique about me through the use of his psychic powers. Neither of us really understood the significance, though, until we met Dr. Ken about two years ago.”
Dr. Ken nodded, and Max continued. “Hector literally picked Ken out of a crowd, noticing that his vibes were similar to mine. Once we convinced Ken we were not crazy and talked with him, the similarities between our powers became quite clear.”
Max was talking almost as fast as he had been earlier, and Dan did not understand what was alarming the old man so much. Everything sounded all right so far, and the earlier threat of danger almost seemed like a misunderstanding now.
“When Ken and I first got together, Hector almost passed out. Our close proximity caused such an amplification in our signals that Hector was overwhelmed. As time went on, Hector built up a resistance to our combined presence, but I must say I’m still surprised he can stand all five of us together right now. Regardless, over the months that followed, Hector identified several more individuals like us. First Brian, then George, and finally Dan. Hector and I decided to chance a meeting, and that is when I sent letters to everybody.”
He stopped suddenly, and fumbled in his pocket for a handkerchief.
Dan thought, all right, we cast these signals. One more mundane effect in the universe. What is the big deal?
Max started to speak again, but in a much lowered, almost conspiritorial tone. “We all know our powers can’t be natural. So where do they come from? Are they accidental, or maybe they were deliberately given to us by an unnatural source?”
Hector cleared his throat and said “Max…” but the old man did not seem to hear him.
“And if you think something or someone gave us these powers, do we really want to go broadcasting these disturbance signals around? Like you said earlier Dan, you feared having your power removed. Well, in my case, my power is my life. Without it…” He trailed off, letting Dan and the others draw the obvious conclusion.
“Max,” Hector repeated, his voice wavering with signs of strain. Max still did not seem to hear him; he was staring off into the ceiling, obviously caught up in his own explanations.
In a total whisper, he said to those who could hear it: “I can’t really back this up, but I know we’re in this together, I know we are linked somehow. It’s like a series of ripples in a pond. Each wave interacts and reinforces parts of the other, forming a new pattern over the already complex backdrop of the water. Throw some different rocks, change those splashes, and you change the whole pattern.”
“Max!” Hector’s voice was almost a scream now.
“Or you destroy it,” Max finished, barely audible.
The sudden silence of the room was broken by the sound of Hector collapsing to the ground.
Max finally snapped out of it. “Oh my god!” he shouted, and ran over to Hector’s fallen form.
Dan watched Max run over, he heard Max say, “Thank god, he’s alive”, he saw the look on Max’s face. But it was all distorted, as if Dan really was home and he was just watching these events on TV. It felt like something was scratching at his brain.
The others apparently felt it too, and Dan’s camera panned over to show their confused reactions. Pan back, and Dan saw Max running his hand through his hair.
“Oh my,” he whispered.
He took the words right out of Dan’s mouth.
The sensation increased, and grew to a level just below painful. Then, with an almost actual popping sound, it ceased.
Dan let out a huge breath of air.
A new voice, a seventh voice, rang out from behind them: “Enough!”
Dan whirled around, reaching for his belt, and was shocked to see a very regular looking man standing in the corner of Max’s basement. The man had a dark blue suit, dark brown hair, and an expression of disgust.
“Don’t bother with that gun, Dan,” the man said with a sneer. “It won’t do you any good.” He started to walk over to them. “It was known this might happen someday, but it’s a little too early for my tastes.” He shook his head.
Dan thought, what in the world?
He turned and looked at Dr. Ken, and Brian and George. They looked just as confused as he did. Max also seemed dumbfounded, and remained seated by the unmoving Hector. The strange man looked at them, and finally broke the silence.
“Well, after all this talk, none of you have anything to say?”
Dan stared at him, and finally mustered a response. “Who are you?” he asked incredulously.
“Well, I am glad you asked that, Dan.” The stranger beamed at him. “I am one of the chief experimenters on this project, and I must congratulate dear old Max over there for making some impressive guesses based on almost nothing. Way to go, Max!” The man held out his hands and clapped lightly.
Dr. Ken took a step forward. “Experiment?” he asked in that rich voice of his.
“Yes, an experiment. Complex System Interaction, just like Max was getting at. Complexity on a global scale. What is a more complicated than traffic? Or the phone company? Or even the human body?” he asked, looking down at Max and Hector. “Let’s not forget computers; indeed, your modern computers and electronics are like mini-worlds dropped onto the surface of this big one.” He looked at George and then turned towards Brian. “And making even numbers appear in front of you all day was the biggest headache of my life. I wanted you canceled a long time ago.”
Brian looked dumbfounded. “Canceled?” he asked.
The man raised his eyebrows and turned away. He started to pace back and forth. “Well, it’s over now. On hold anyway. We’ll need to back up a little. Nothing catastrophic, but still…” He stood over Max, looking down at him. “It is quite a pity.”
The man wiped his hands together, and brushed them down the side of his jacket. He looked like he was just about to say something when Dan finally spoke up.
“What?” He said it with vigor, not even attempting to hide his anger. “Just who the hell do you think you are? How can you possibly claim to be responsible for all…” Dan waved his hand around the room. “All this?”
The man stared at Dan for a minute, looking a little surprised. “Dan, when you work, when you live on a long-term cosmic scale, you need the best methods to actually discover something new and innovative. Do you know how scarce original research is out there in the universe? Well, of course you do not, but let me tell you this: nowadays, the best research has to be the biggest. Anything else has been done already.”
A chill passed through Dan.
The man continued, “What else is bigger than an entire country? An entire society?” The man pursed his lips together. “An entire planet?”
This made Dan almost laugh. “You’re telling me, all of this, everything on Earth is because of you and your research team?” He practically spat the words out.
The man laughed in turn. “Don’t be stupid, son. We didn’t create the Earth, we’re just using it. These experiments are set up all over the galaxy. All the over the universe even!” He smiled, and shook his head. “You have no idea what we can gain from these experiments, each on a greater scale than the previous one… It’s just amazing. Sure, it’s not cheap, and sure, it’s not immediately gratifying…”
Dan cut him off. “Sure, it’s immoral, sure, you’re using innocent people…”
“How does the phrase go? ‘Whatever!'” The man rolled his eyes and flipped his hand as might be expected of a teenage girl. “I must say, there is no culture like American culture. Regardless, no one ever said we cared. As I already mentioned, these experiments use up resources, the equivalent of what you call might call ‘money’. Do you think we’re here only studying the effects of n-factor, multilayer…” A string of techno-babble followed which was lost on Dan.
What the man said next, Dan understood too well.
“We watch your people, we learn about your people. One day, we’ll be back… for your people.”
Dan was stunned. The man went from MTV to Hitler in thirty seconds. Out of the corner of his eye, Dan saw Hector stir.
“It’s all quite standard. I know you’re ignorant of the ways of the galaxy, but invasion and wars can be quite expensive. But you do know about budgets and cutbacks, so you can understand that we only want the most ‘bang for the buck’, as your phrase goes. He gave them his gleaming, white smile again. “Don’t worry, none of this will be your problem in a moment.”
Dan thought, not good.
He said the first thing that came to his mind. “Well, haven’t you just ruined it then? Doesn’t revealing yourself and telling us all this information wreck the experiment? We’ll never act the same way again, knowing what we know, so how can your results be valid after this?”
The man continued his friendly smile. “Actually, it is a part of the overall experiment to reveal to the participants the true nature of what is going on. To study their reactions, you see. As I said, our goals are to learn about the big picture, as well as the little details.” He walked up to Dan and poked a finger into his chest.
“You, Dan, are a little detail.”
Dan could see Hector finally sit up in Max’s arms. Barely audible, Dan almost did not hear Hector’s croaked words: “Dan, your powers are gone… I can’t feel them any longer.”
The man rolled his eyes. “Well, the experiment has been turned off for the time being. That’s why your exceptionally gifted friend can’t feel them. I thought that part was obvious.” He smiled once more and shook his head. “But it’s almost ready to be reset, and all of you will return to…”
Dan went rigid. “Reset?” he asked, very slowly and very carefully.
“Of course, you said yourself, you can’t have knowledge about the experiment, and I have discussed this enough with you to satisfy that particular tertiary goal we were talking about. Your memory will be erased, and all of you will be placed back…”
The man stopped talking when he saw Dan draw his gun. His amused expression suggested that he did not stop talking because of fear.
“Go ahead and shoot me, moron. It won’t change a thing; it won’t even hurt me.”
Dan stood perfectly still and kept the gun pointed at the man.
“Do you think this is my body?” the man asked, sweeping his hands up and down his person. “Do you think I am a human? Do you think?” he paused and gave Dan a hard look. “Do you think you are anything more than my toy?”
Dan looked at the man, he looked at Max, he looked at the others in the room.
The man sneered at Dan. “You don’t know anything about the mechanics of this experiment. I don’t have to be down here to reset it. In fact, if it weren’t for that stupid goal, I wouldn’t be down here at all!”
Dan watched the man, waited for him to finish fuming.
When Dan spoke again, it was not to the man. “You know Max, I think you might be right,” he said at last.
“About what?” Max responded.
“About the ripples in the pond.”
Dan whipped the gun around and shoved it in his mouth.
The stranger jumped and screamed “No!”
Even with the gun in his mouth, Max still heard Dan’s muffled words: “About destroying them.”
There was a bang, a flash, and Dan’s head whipped backwards, parts of it spraying outwards. His body crumbled to the ground, the gun clanging loudly as it spilled from his hand.
The smell of smoke filled the air.
The man stopped just short of Dan, and stared down at his body, speechless.
Max heard him whisper, “Son of a…”
The man looked up at the others, and turned his gaze right onto Max. “All that research! Inconclusive now!”
The man kicked Dan’s body with enough force to make it slide a few feet across the ground.
“Because of your meddling! Because of his impulsiveness!”
He stepped over Dan and stormed up to Max, shouting, “Do you know what it will cost to undo this? To erase these mistakes?” He slugged Max hard, right in the nose, and slammed his foot into Hector’s head at the same time. “It wasn’t catastrophic until someone had to go and be a martyr! This has never happened before!” The man was literally bellowing now, shaking with rage.
He spun around, and looked at the other three. Brian stood up and fled the room. The man walked back over to Dan, and gave the gun a kick, sending it across the floor. His rage seemed to subside a little.
“Hmmm… we’ll have to forget the locality principle. It’s obvious we can’t choose candidates too close to each other.” The man’s face suddenly brightened up. “In fact, this establishes precedence. Hey, maybe this wasn’t a waste after all!”
When Max rolled over, clutching his nose, he saw the man walking away from them, back towards the corner in which he appeared. The man was still talking, but it seemed to be more directed at himself than the others.
“Yeah, I can point out the added likelihood of candidate self-discovery and draw some conclusions on…” The man’s voice faded out, and when Max looked again, he saw that he was gone.
* * *
On the same day, not too far from the basement that a man named Max used to own, a man named George was calling the bank, trying to keep them from foreclosing on his repair shop.
At the same time, a doctor named Ken was calling the repair shop to check on the status of his VCR. The phone was still busy, and he slammed the phone down in anger.
And right outside at a busy intersection, a man named Dan impatiently waited for the light to turn green.
Story copyright ©2000 by Derek Robinson
Illustration copyright © 2000 by Sam Crowe
<http://www.pennygraphics.com/samdragon>
