Scene Eight

And now, we have only one further step to take, a precaution, only." The Austrian told his creation.

"A precaution, only." Courier echoed.

"Liesl, come to me." Aynsley called. The frail, black draped, girl was instantly at his side. Her eyes were two wells of darkness and brilliant with excitement. "Liesl, hold out your hand. Show him the sapphire. "The flashing, fiery stone caught and held Courier's gaze at once He was instantly entranced.

"Fire." Courier muttered, automatically.

"Yes, fire. You will carry the fire with you, Courier, and when you see the fire again, you will forget all that was said or done here, from the moment you came within these walls. You will remember nothing. You will forget all, as if it never was, except the fire. And if you forget the fire, Courier. You will be lost beyond hope of recall. You will wander the boundaries of oblivion, where I found you. Therefore, Courier, you will forget." The Austrian warned his creation.

"Forget." Courier responded.

"All but the fire." Julien Boudin added, once more taking up his role in the automaton's preparation.

But this icy voice triggered a very different response. Suddenly Courier found himself seeing a place and time he did not know, from West's eyes. "I am… Courier/Jim heard himself saying in a memory he couldn't place. I was a soldier…I am…I was and officer…and there are rules, there are oaths, there are conventions and traditions we must …we have to uphold… We have to. We can't…go against…we can't…I can't…I tried…I tried…and I can't…" He was speaking just barely aloud, but caught, trapped in a memory he didn't recognize, by the Georgian's entrance into the present nightmare.  . "I've defied, you, I know, I've defied, you and I …can't…I tried…and I can't …"

''Courier! '' Aynsley called out harshly, as the automaton visibly struggled with a moment from West's past Aynsley and Boudin both knew very well. It was something out of their war-time search for a Courier-candidate. ''Courier, you will not, you cannot step from the faultless path! Return to it, and immediately! Therefore, Courier you will forget, all but the fire.''

" All but the fire." Courier echoed, relieved to have his creator resume control.

"If you begin to remember, Courier, there is a final precaution. Tell me what that last precaution against betrayal is, Courier '' Aynsley asked.

The One must be at all times and under all conditions protected. The One who set our Great Work and all our Endeavors in motion must never be … betrayed. The One who is at the core, at the center, at the heart of our Great Work and all our noble plans must not be betrayed to our Great Enemy, ever!  Thus we will not speak, or allow his name ever to be spoken. We will not by word or sign or action give any acknowledgment of his presence at the core of The Great Work.  That is forbidden, now and forever.

And this is the way in which the One for whom all the Great Work is set in motion will be forever protected:  If I remember what is forbidden, I must die. If I remember what is forbidden, I will gladly die rather than betray. Rather than betray the One, I will die. If I remember what is forbidden forever I must die. Rather than betray, I will die. If I am in any danger whatever of betraying the One, I must die.

"How, Courier? How will you die?" Boudin, the One in question, an old backer of Aynsley's methods and 'research', avidly asked the created entity.

"By my own hand, by my own means, and without hesitation, I will die, rather than betray. '' Courier replied. ''There is no other option, no other choice to be made if I am to walk the Faultless Path.''

"From here, you take your hired rig and drive to Baltimore. At the Bridgeport Hotel, you will meet with your colleague, Mr. Gordon.'' Aynsley instructed.

 ''Gordon.'' Courier echoed, straining for the sketchy memory Aynsley gave back to him.

'' Artemus.''

 "Yes, Artemus Gordon. You will wait at that location, until the date and time of your meeting with Grant. You will allow him to note that you are restless, tired, frustrated by your latest, fruitless efforts, and impatient to see Grant. The President expects you and your report.

And that report is most urgent.'' The Austrian continued, watching as Courier made no reaction whatever to this first reference to West' colleague, in months. That was exactly what his patterning demanded.   '' But you will not allow Gordon or anyone to say you are impaired, to say you are ill, and thus prevent your meeting. For that reason as well as it being part of your orders, Courier, you will not agree to see or talk to those of your colleagues with medical training; Those would be Jacques D'eglisier for the most part, but also to a lesser extent, Pike and Macquillan. Nothing must prevent your meeting Grant. It is your highest duty and privilege to report to him directly on what you have learned. ''

"Not sick, not ill at all, a little tired; haven't slept well. Bad dreams. But nothing to worry about… urgent, vital meeting with Grant… expected to meet, urgent I report. Duty, and privilege.'' Courier said, shuddering.

" Now, Courier, come here once more, look at Liesl's ring. Look deeply. Do you see the fire within the stone?"  Boudin asked.

Courier's eyes widened. He was once more caught in the ring's blazing light. "Fire." he murmured, lost again in those fiery depths.

"From this moment, Courier, you will forget this place, this surgery, and all that passed here. You do not know my name, nor do you recall my face. You have no recollection of my colleagues or me. For example, you have never seen this young woman, never in your life." The Georgian demanded.

"Never seen, I've never seen this young woman, in my life." Courier agreed, blinking in confusion at Liesl Branoch.

"From this moment, you are James Torrance West, Federal agent, who has been searching for the killers of street beggars in Washington, without success. You found, instead, quite a number of former Confederates, who gave you a petition, and a message, which Grant must hear." Boudin coldly insisted.

"Grant must hear." The automaton answered

''Correct. From this instant, you are Major James Torrance West, late of the Army of the Potomac, retired.  Like so many of your comrades, you remember the horrors of the late War of Secession, vividly. And of course, you wish only for those horrors, and thus the War itself, to finally, finally end." Aynsley finished.

"I want that war to finally, finally end! TO END! " Courier repeated, locked into Stephan's patterning once and for all.