Before I am Famous

literature is something we infer after the story is told

Steel Morality

Posted on | September 1, 2008 | 3 Comments

The black van careened around the corner into an alley. They saw an eligible guinea pig. Hunkered under flimsy cardboard boxes and wearing two coats, smelling of stale urine and cheap wine, they lifted him into the van.

“Don’t you think someone is gonna know he is gone?” asked one guy.

“If someone cares about him, he wouldn’t be homeless,” replied the gruff man and slammed the back of the van.

***
Floating through stars, that feeling of euphoria raced through his body. Thoughts on every speck of life his own and things he never knew exploded in his head. A face that could’ve been Helen of Troy floated in view, a face from his past, a face remembered loving.

***
Joram Steel shaved and dressed in a plain navy blue suit with a red and white tie under the supervision of the Caretaker. Caretaker instructed Joram to dress American proud. He finished his senator look with a neat little American flag pin. Leading Joram through the corridors where a black van with tinted windows and bulletproof glass awaited them, Caretaker put a mask over Joram’s face and helped him inside. The van started and Joram smelled city air of diesel and mixed with sweet spring air, not the city smell he remembered of rotting garbage urine and blood.

The van stopped and the caretaker helped Joram out. He never realized how pleasant the sun can be.

***
Once inside the building, the Caretaker took off his hood and led him to a dimly lit conference room filled with men and women of all races wearing suits. Joram sat on a chair behind a podium.

The caretaker began, “ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming today. You have been invited to look at a new prototype that can be anything you want him to be. This prototype can speak any language, remember more information then any regular person. This enhanced person can be a spy or even work in the military. You don’t have to worry about him dying because his brain is implanted with thousands of sensors and he his tied in with computers so all information he gathers goes right to the computer. And if he dies, we just make a new one. Ladies and Gentlemen let me introduce to you prototype Joram Steel.” Applause thundered through the conference room. Joram stood and walked next to the Caretaker.

“Let me reiterate, he is a man but he is enhanced with cybernetics, a man that can blend in with everyone else. If you need a black man or Chinese man, we can accommodate your needs. If you need a woman that can be done as well.” The Caretaker looks at Joram, “Joram, please say how are you in Russian, Cantonese, Tag a Log and Dutch”

Though he never remembered knowing any language other Spanish, he recited his lines as if he always knew every language. The audience oohed and aahed after each line. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are in the business of creating these special people, we don’t care what you do with them once you pay for them. He is incredibly intelligent, since he is hooked with computers you can ask him any question and with the speed of lightening he can search millions of databases and give you an answer as if he already knew.” The Caretaker randomly spit out mensa questions and Joram answered. After each answer the audience applauded.

“I will open the floor to questions.” A woman raised her hand, “yes you.”

“How much does one cost?” she asked.

“One billion dollars, the equipment inside of Joram is worth more than any human life. If for some reason, the human shell dies, most of the time we can recover the equipment and install in another person,” The Caretaker pitched the idea of the century.

A middle-eastern asked in broken English, “where do you get the human shells?”

“This man here was homeless. The world in itself is littered with homeless people. Using our enhanced people is also preforming a civic duty as well because we are taking the homeless off the streets and giving them a new life a new purpose.”

“Isn’t that a little immoral,” asked a husky suit from the back, “what if someone comes looking for them such as their family?”

“If they had people who would care, they wouldn’t be homeless,” retorted the Caretaker.

The Caretaker continued answering questions, Joram’s mind drifted back into secret places of his mind, the spots untouched by computer chips, his memories. He found himself thinking about his Helen of Troy, Maddie. Long blonde hair crawled down her back, her eyes were a grassy green. They met in college and after many years of breaking up and making up; they married. Another face came into view, a face like Maddie’s but younger, his daughter, Eve. When was the last time he saw them? The last time he saw a newspaper it was dated April 24, 2020 and at that time he didn’t see either for six years. Joram remembered his job and how he lost it. Depression and alcohol became his demons. Maddie and he had a big fight and she threw him out. He tried to come back and each time she said to clean up his act but he couldn’t do it. One sunny day in August, after she said no, he left and never came back to live in the shadows and in dumpsters. He thought today was April 30, 2025, Eve would be 15 now. He started searching in his brain for their address when it happened.

The building tremored and shook. Fancy chandeliers fell from the cracking ceiling. People screamed and ran for some kind of hopeful safety. The Caretaker ran for under a table. Continuing to shake, the ceiling came down on top of Joram. Within forty-five seconds the earth quake finished and the dust settled. Joram could hear the rise of panic and he survived. His mind turned to Maddie and Eve, where they okay? He tried to retrieve their address but he couldn’t do it. Joram had to get away from the Caretaker.

He felt around and there were open pockets and began crawling. The caretaker yelled for Joram. Joram continued the journey through the ceiling. His hands found a small door in the floor. Slowly and quietly he worked a breaking the ceiling tiles, finding a woman’s finger with the nail still intact. Inserting the nail into the screw holes, he undid the screws and opened the door and scurried away to freedom.
***
Two hours after the quake hit, the computers came online and the Caretaker and others searched for Joram. The Caretaker’s phone rang, “listen boss, I don’t if he is dead or alive. His GPS isn’t coming online. Joram is missing.”
***
He walked around the rumble. People cried in the street, water from the fire hydrant sprayed the streets. Joram searched for information about Maddie and Eve and now he had what he wanted. Joram started his way to Malibu.
***
“Boss, Joram just accessed the computer but we don’t know where is. His GPS must be damaged.”

“What and no back- up? What the fuck, we have a billion-dollar prototype running the streets of LA and no one can tell me where he is. I thought you guys were the best, how could this happen?” The caretaker screamed.

“Maybe we shouldn’t mess with God,”

“I am the new god,” the caretaker hung up the phone.
***
Joram walked the broken streets and highways for hours until he reached Malibu. The damage was great but much less then Los Angeles. Many of the homes still stood but no longer as beautiful. He walked to her house and she stood outside surveying the damage. Her short professional hair shimmered in the falling sun. She shook her head and lit a cigarette. Feeling his gaze, she turned around and dropped her cigarette and ran to him.

“Oh my god, Steve is that you? You look like you did when you I last saw you.”

He grabbed her hands and held them, “Maddie oh Maddie. I am not the same man you knew. Where’s Eve?”

“She’s back east with my parents.”

“Can I come in and tell you everything?”

“Yes.”

She smoked one cigarette after another as he told his story.

“Maddie, tell me one thing, why didn’t you find yourself a decent man and get married.”

“I don’t know, Steve. I never filed from divorce from you. I did have one guy but when he asked I said no and that was the end. Our kind of love never really goes away does it? Even when the person is somewhere else. You know what I regret, Steve, is not taking you back. None of this would have never happened. God, Steve, I loved you so much. I wanted the best for you and I thought if I gave you some tough love you would want to come back and clean up.”

“Maddie, it was never your fault. I am the one who drank and drank. Damn, there are days I can’t even remember. I screwed this all up.”

They sat and looked at one another, “Okay Steve, what is next?”

“You need to go. I gave you money in a Swiss account. Go and leave California, start a new life with Eve.”

“What are you talking about,” tears trickled down her cheeks, “what about the new us?”

“Listen kitten pie, I am not Steve any more I am a half machine half human called Joram Steel and I think I am the only one. If I die, then maybe there will be no one else. I have to take that chance.”

“How?”

“Fire, at that meeting he said that was the only way. I never was out in the world before today so they have very little data. I am sure they are looking for me and you have to go and start a new life with Eve.” He grabbed a pencil and wrote down the account number.

“How did you do this?”

“I am half a computer, remember? I made to break in any system and do what I want. I don’t know if they know I can do that. I learned it myself. See how dangerous I can be if I live. No one is safe. No one, Maddie not you or Eve or your parents.”

She took the paper and slipped in her pocket and pressed her lips on his, “I don’t want to say good-bye but I will.”

“Do you have gasoline?”

She nodded. He went into the garage and grabbed the five-gallon can and doused himself with the gas. He doused a chair and a path out the door. Joram followed Maddie to her car.

“Maddie I know this hard but it is for the greater good. Just remember you are saving everyone in the world.”

She nodded and went into her vehicle and started the engine. “Maddie, remember I love you.” She pulled out of the driveway and down the road. Joram dumped the rest of the gasoline in the front yard and sat on his chair holding a picture of Maddie and Eve.

Maddie sped by the house and dropped her cigarette out the window in the lawn and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

Special thanks to Dragon Blogger at Dragon Blogger for help with this story!!

Category: weekly shorts

Comments

3 Responses to “Steel Morality”

  1. Dragon Blogger
    September 1st, 2008 @ 12:24 pm

    Excellent short story, I love the genre and the profile you created for Joram. This story makes me want to start Role Playing again.

  2. Short Story Called The Rescue | Dragon Blogger
    September 1st, 2008 @ 12:51 pm

    [...] read the shorty story on the Before I am Famous website called  Steel Morality.  Which Ithere ia cool contest where you input the names and some information about a character, [...]

  3. Dragon Blogger
    September 1st, 2008 @ 12:52 pm

    Your Short story inspired me to post one of my short stories that I wrote, but never finished. Take a gander and let me know what you think.

    Dragon Bloggers last blog post..Unfinished Short Story – The Rescue

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