Italic text represents a thought. Please note that if you are not viewing this on fanfiction.net you may not see italics. Just remember - anything that sounds like a character talking to him/herself probably is.
Legal mumbo-jumbo can be found prior to the introduction to this story.
Chapter Seven
Seamus Harper leaned back in his chair, trying to collect his thoughts. Mabye he's right and it is all a dream. Mabye I just have amnesia. Next thing I know - someone's just gonna magically appear out of nowhere and tell me the truth.
Suddenly a third person was in the room.
"Harper!"
"Rommie?" Well what do you know...
Rev Bem looked up at Rommie. "Greetings, Andromeda. It it good to see you again."
Rommie turned to face Harper and Rev. "Harper, you know why I'm here. Rev could probably take a guess."
Harper put a confused look on his face. "You're going to give me the answers... aren't you? You know why I can't remember anything."
"I know this will be hard for you to take, Harper - but you don't remember the time in between speaking with Ajax and arriving here because it never happened."
"Ajax?"
"He's the scientist whose head resembles an Earth trout."
"Okay...so what do you mean when you say it never happened? And why can't I remember what I said to this Ajax fellow?"
"Harper...do you remember the device that he was fiddiling around with? It was called a dream catcher. You offered to help him repair and test it."
Dream catcher... More memories flashed back into Harper's head. What was it for? You fixed it, and put it on, what happened next? COME ON HARPER, THINK!
"AAAAH!" Harper screamed, the memories becoming too much for him to take. The headache was at its peak and would not stop. He grabbed his head and fell to the floor.
"It's okay, Harper, let me take the pain." Rommie closed her eyes.
"DYLAN!" Trance screamed at the top of her lungs.
"What?"
"Something weird is going on. Harper's neural activity was peaking to the point of extreme shock. But Rommie's done something. She's using her program as some kind of filter between Harper and the Dream Catcher. To put it in human terms, she's letting herself be a punching bag so that Harper can remember."
Dylan looked up at Rommie. Her body was twisting and jerking, obviously Harper's intense neural activity straining her program to it's limits.
"Trance, keep a close watch on Harper's vital signs. I'll keep watching Rommie's connection. Ajax, you get ready to pull Rommie out on my word. Okay?"
Trance and Ajax nodded. Dylan rubbed his eyes - how could this get any worse?
As suddenly as Harper's headache had started, it had vanished. Harper got up, only to see Rommie in the same predicament as he was earlier. She was collapsed on the floor, still concious but unable to move. She's taking my headache for me. If there was ever a time when a genius needed to think, it is now.
And almost miraculously, Harper's missing memories returned to him. He jumped up in shock. "Rommie! Rev! I did it! I remember!"
Rommie struggled to get up, but she managed it after a few tries. Harper could tell that she had suffered serious damage. Harper's happy expression turned to shock and sadness when he saw Rommie. "I'm sorry, Rommie. I didn't mean to hurt you like that."
"No, Harper. It was necessary. But you can repair me when we get back."
Harper paused for a moment. "What do you mean, when we go back? I never said that I want to go back. Rommie, this dream has become reality to me. I would rather be here than aboard the ship. I mean, some people like Dylan would like to be there because he wants to go out and restore the Commonwealth. But I just want a happy life on Earth, free from the reign of Magog. Here, in this dream, is everything I ever wanted. I don't want to go and I won't."
Rommie stepped back, shocked. She didn't expect to hear that. In fact, she almost felt offended that Harper would rather spend his time living in a dream that walking aboard her (well, she was the ship).
"Don't you get it, Harper? This isn't your dream world. I mean, think about it. Do you really want to be standing here, having this boring conversation with me right now?"
Harper thought about it for a second, and realized that she was right. "No, I don't. But no dream is perfect."
"Wrong again, Harper. All dreams are perfect. You don't seem to understand. As an artificial intellegence, there are hopes and dreams that I have every day, which I know will never become a reality. But you, Harper, you have a future. You can make a difference.
"God...that sounds like something Dylan would say."
"And he says it because it's true. People like you can go out and change the world. So why deny yourself that opportunity, why live in your happy paradise on Earth when you know that it isn't real, that on the real Earth there are hundreds of humans being raped and killed by bloodthirsty magog.
Harper didn't want to admit it, but she was right. He could never live with knowing the fact that other humans, like him, were subjected to life on the real Earth.
"The dream catcher was designed to show you a possible future. I think you saw what you needed to see."
Harper nodded. He couldn't take any more of this weird cross between Rommie, Rev, and Dylan, so he decided to end the conversation.
"You're right, Rommie. Mabye not today, mabye not tommorrow, but someday... someday Earth will be free. And I'm gonna be there when it happens."
Ajax was watching the viewscreen, tears forming in his eyes. As he had predicted, the young man named Seamus Zelanzy Harper saw what he had needed to see, and would make a difference in the world because of it. He turned to face his computer, and pressed several buttons on a control panel.
Rommie opened up her eyes. She was damaged, but it didn't matter. She turned her head to the left to see Harper do the same. Everyone crowded around him. She got up and stood next to Dylan.
Harper stood up. Were they watching what I was doing? Man, I was way too emotional in there. Guess I had better act normally, or they might think I have permanent brain damage.
"I'M BACK!!!"
The others burst out in laughter. "We know," said Dylan.
End of Chapter Seven
Author's note: WAIT! The story isn't over! There's still a thrilling
conclusion...only a few more days!
- ~Thissa~