Joshua Minton’s Online Pulpit : Rising Earth and a Shadow of the Moon’s Conspiracy: Part I of VII

It is just after 0:00 hours when the boy is brought to the cell. He is taken from his classmates and drugged. His body is transported from the Tranquility Colony to a small depot on the dark side of the Moon. He is unaware that he is now property of the state.

He comes to, around 02:30. It is dark and there are no sounds. He calls out and no one answers. He listens and nothing happens. He nods off around 05:30 and is awakened when a tray of food is slipped into a slot underneath the door to the chamber.

A voice trails away from the door. “Time to eat boy. Wake up!”

He looks at the food, which is composed of 60% carbohydrate, 20% protein, 7.5% fruit, 7.5% vegetable, and 5% lipid-cholesterol. There are mineral supplements and a glass of purified water, synthesized from the elements of moon soil. The minerals are in the exact ratio of seawater in the Great Inland Sea of China on Earth. The ratio of trace elements in this seawater is exactly the same as that of human blood. This diet is normal for a healthy individual in the Tranquility Colony, except for a bio-chemical compound that inhibits dreaming. The boy looks at the food and sees none of this. He eats and chews slow.

He examines the wall, a metal alloy constructed from Helium-3 mined in abundance on the Moon. Helium-3 is the main source of fuel and engineering since all contact was lost with the Earth after the Final War. The boy looks at the wall and sees none of this. He continues to eat.

The boy was never taught about the Final War in his studies. The Elders of the Colony thought it best that the children not be exposed to the ignorance of their terrestrial ancestors. They are taught mathematics and computer skills. They use laptop computer consoles that are assigned to them at birth. They have a name that includes a number that places them within a greater number known as their family. Any family’s history can be traced numerically back to the foundation of the Colony in 1999. This history is now only 51 years old and extremely precise. The biographical data on each individual in lunar society is so immense that it includes an hour by hour synopsis of every individual’s activities. Every child is fed mineral supplements from birth and is never allowed to breastfeed. The Elders felt it created a maternal-child bond that could lead to the psychological adherence to symbolism and cause a war within the Colony.

The boy goes to sleep again. He is awoken around 12:30 by the sound of a voice on the opposite side of the wall he is sleeping near.

“Boy…Boy…do you know why you’re here?” There is a pause. “Boy. Do you know why they’ve brought you here?” The boy doesn’t respond.
“Jordan…Jordan

Mabosco-67-1812. You were born to Meredith Mabosco-67. Your father was Peter Mabos, ruler of Earth during the Final War. I know you boy and I know you hear me. Answer me!”

Jordan is shocked by the strange voice’s knowledge of his biography. Of course, anyone could have gotten access to Jordan’s file from any laptop in the Colony. And Jordan could have accessed his own file and viewed a list of everyone who had inquired into it. The Lunar Colony was a society of watchers. Every person watched everyone else and each was completely aware of who was watching them and why. No one left their homes, there was no need. Anyone could contact anyone else and keep tabs on everyone.

The voice on the other side of the wall was guttural. It had years behind it. Jordan responds, “I hear you old man, what’s your business with me?”

A creaking and crackle. Syllables and words. “I have something for you, but you’re not ready yet, Jordan. I’ve been sent here to give you a heart, and you must consume this heart. But you’re not hungry enough yet. The meal you just received will be your last Jordan. Your last, until you take the heart into your mouth and chew the flesh I’ve brought for you.”

There is no reply Jordan can make besides, “Old man, you’re crazy. You’re speaking nonsense. Shut up and resume yourself!” Jordan turns his back and leans against the wall.

“You’ll be hungry soon enough, boy.” The voice is gone and the silence is heavy and dark.

Jordan brushes his hand over his bald scalp. Every citizen of the Colony has a bald head, as hair allows infestations. Since the Colony is within a bubbled dome, the heating is regulated to the individual’s comfort and there is no need for body hair to protect one from the elements. Every child’s hair follicles are neutralized at birth, and no child born in the Colony has ever heard of a barbershop.

Jordan rubs his eyes. No citizen wears glasses or contacts, nor have they heard of these relics. Every person’s eyes are corrected through genetic means before they are born. Jordan was the last child to be birthed through a mother. There had been experiments in birthing children in the laboratory. These experiments yielded proof that the maternal-child bond was non-existent through genetic manipulation. The Elders were pleased with the findings and immediately instituted a complete genetic birthing process. This also allowed for population control down to the single DNA strand.

Two days pass before Jordan hears the voice again. He has completely forgotten about it.

“Boy. Are you hungry enough yet?” The same guttural tone, with an over-emphasizing enunciation of the ‘O’.

Jordan is experiencing severe mental reactions due to lack of proper sustenance. “I’m hungry, old man. What do you have for me?”

“Before I give it to you, I have to tell you a story. Do you agree to hear it?”

“I do.”

“Good. Now boy, I’m going to tell you about the end of the world as our ancestors knew it. The people you’ll soon meet will know more than I do. So listen up boy, because time is short and we need to be honest with each other. You don’t know my name and you never will. I am completely irrelevant once the heart is inside you. All questions you have will eventually be answered, so save them.”

Jordan is so disoriented that he follows the command without question.

The voice continues, “The Tranquility Colony was constructed in 1999. The citizens of the Earth had no knowledge of its existence. At that time, the countries of Earth were still separated in the minds of the people. The actual truth was the warring nations had begun to unite under the common currency of computer numbers. There was no ruler and economic anarchy was law. The ones who had money prospered for awhile. The poor caught diseases and robbed the ones with money. I was there and I know this from what I saw.

“Your father was an upcoming thinker, scholar, and social reformer. He was brilliant. I knew your father; a very special man he was. He was an idealist. He had a dream and he stuck to it. He felt it was his goal to rid the world of all the ignorance he could never rid himself of. I know this all sounds abstract and that you’ve never heard of your father before I spoke of him, but the people you’ll go to after this will have all the details to fill in my abstractions. Boy are you still there?”

Jordan replies, “Yes, old man. I’m here. But hurry up and tell; I’m as hungry as I’ve ever been.”

“Right. So your father walked into politics at the same time that it was crumbling as an institution of society. He attempted to reunite the people of the planet before all hope for change was lost. He tried valiantly and he failed. The people you’ll see after me will explain to you how he failed. They have the records. They know the details. I’ve been sent here with this story and this heart in my chest.”

Jordan interrupts him, “Old man, you’ve spoken about a heart since you started speaking. Tell me what you mean when you say I must consume a heart. Surely you don’t mean I must physically ingest it?”

“That is exactly what I mean, boy. You must eat it bloody and not let one drop go to waste. This heart has traveled through many bodies to come to you. This heart needs you and you need it. And human existence as we know it needs you both right now. Never has there been more urgency for this heart to have its owner. You are that owner, boy. Are you ready to receive the heart?”

Jordan is so delirious and so hungry that he would eat moondust if any were present. “Yes, old man. I’m ready.”

The next few moments are filled with the sick sound of skewed flesh and cracking bone. Jordan hears the old man’s grunts of pain as he performs an absurd self-surgery. It seems like a dream. Out of habit, Jordan looks for his laptop to write his feelings about the symbolic elements and how they relate to his innate hunger at the moment.

The door opens and a shadow man brings a tray to Jordan. On the tray is a human heart. Jordan has never seen a heart in person, and it looks nothing like his laptop file pictures. He looks up at the bearing shadow but he can’t find a face.

The shadow speaks, “Eat boy. Eat it, so we can solve the mystery. The time has come. The circle is full. We must know. Eat it!” The voice trails away and the figure disappears.

Jordan looks at the heart again. He doesn’t know anything of the superior and inferior vena cava. He isn’t aware of the atrium or the ventriqiual valves. He sees death. He sees death and he’s hungry. He bites tenderly and small. The taste is bittersweet. Animal passion consumes him and he attacks the heart. His fingers plunge into its inner structure and blood spits in his palm. He licks his hands clean and doesn’t waste a drop.

As he feeds, he is consumed by visions. He sees stone-stepped temples built by slaves. He sees great pyramids and a lion-faced sphinx. He sees burning bushes and flame chariots ascending to the stars. He sees Caesars, Emperors, and democracies with feathers. He sees a man sacrifice himself for his community. He sees a community sacrifice a man for their own sins. He sees an institution making war on other institutions. He hears rumors of war, and smells the iron-stench escalation of war. He sees fleeting independence with a guitar strung over its chest. He sees satellites and lasers. He smells burnt flesh. He hears a low hymn of human wailing. He sees his own birth. He sees the destruction of everything he once considered stable. He vomits but swallows it all back down.

Jordan opens his eyes. He sees the wall and understands Helium-3. He sees the door and knows it is unlocked. He can see the shadow man in his mind and is aware of the Elemental Protection Suit laid out for his journey back to the Tranquility Colony. He has a fire-blown desire to see the Earth in the Moon’s sky. He feels power in his blood. He understands with complete simplicity, he is now immortal. He does not understand that he is only immortal in human terms.

photo credit: şãÐ FέëŁίήg™