00066

Xavier Bright the Governor stayed up late into the night, watching and re-watching the news accounts of "the Incident" on the screen in his inner office.

One report showed a man standing before the smoldering ruins of what was left of the old miners' building. His voice tinged with drama, the man intoned, "Nobody knows just who or how many had been caught in the blast. This is all that is left, these ruins you see behind me. One thing's certain, however- Over the next few days, the Security Agency will be tracking down the names of all those lost in this terrible, terrible disaster. And one more thing is certain- no one has escaped this explosion. Now, at last, the illegal house church has gotten what it always wanted, to be closer to God."

"How clever," mocked Gov. Bright. "All that excitement in your voice, as if you genuinely care. All you care about is what kind of award will you get for your coverage." Disgusted, Xavier Bright changed the channel.

“A middle-aged woman (who tried unsuccessfully with too much make-up to look young) tried to use a confidential tone as she shared a "secret" with all the viewers all over Sparkle City, both those watching in the privacy of their homes, or those watching on public screens. "Our station has learned of a rumor going about regarding the Security Agency investigation, that what caused the explosion was not what had been originally believed, but that it is possible that the whole responsibility for what has happened here tonight rests squarely upon the shoulders of the illegal house church people themselves. It is probable the illegal, radical group was on the verge of going violent. They wanted to be sure to be heard, by starting a bombing campaign! However, the Security Leader struck first, before they could blow up anything. They wanted to build a bomb and blow up public targets, but something went wrong with their bomb, and it detonated ahead of time. The only ones they blew up were themselves." She said this with a slight chuckle at the irony.

Gov. Xavier Bright shut off the screen. "Clyden, you are a clod," he muttered. "Nobody will believe that story."

After another heavy sigh, the Governor stood. It was time for rest.

In the dark of his bedroom, Xavier Bright tried to sleep. It seemed impossible. But finally, he nodded off anyway. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he sat up in bed, wide awake. He saw a shadowy figure standing at the foot of his bed. "Selina? Is that you?"

The figure moved closer. Despite the darkness, he now could see her features plainly. Impossible. “So, it is you. Then, I am still dreaming."

"You are, Xavier," she agreed. "I am just your subconscious, speaking with you."

"Hmph. You have nothing important to say to me." He laid back down and turned his back to his dream. "Go away. You are only imaginary. My sister died in an accident years ago."

She kicked the bed to get his attention. "Yes, I did. Do you miss me? Did you cry for me? Did you shed any tears at all when I was gone?”

Xavier Bright did not bother to look at her. "What good would that do? You would still be dead."

The phantom sat down on the side of the bed. "Hey, isn't that just what you told me, when Mom and Dad died, during our freshman year at college? And that was just before your new room-mate, George McCleer, arrived, huh."

"I remember. I also remember what a slob he turned out to be. I managed to train him somewhat during the time we shared the room. I had to, if we were to have any hope of co-existing in such a small shared living space. What is your point?"

"I always liked him. When I came to your dorm room to visit you, and I met him, I immediately saw that George was a great guy. By the way, what's he doing these days?"

"Ha ha, very funny. My sub-conscious has a sense of humor."

"Anyway, when George and I began dating, you actually made some effort then to get along better with your room-mate, for my benefit. I really appreciated that, Xavier.”

“I know."

"George made me happy, and so I decided you needed someone in your life to make you happy, too. Someone who would mean something to you, not like those girls you were always flirting with but who meant nothing to you. That's why I insisted you double-date with me and George, with that blind date I set you up with. You told me it would be a waste of time, but you actually let me talk you into it, anyway. Imagine that!"

"Selina, or whatever I should call my annoying sub-conscious, I think I know where this is going. Just leave, and let me get some quality sleep time." He pulled the blankets up over his head.

"Yep, and I think I picked well for a blind date for you. Nina. I had met her in Dr. Kitchen's science class. I know you took a liking to her, because, within the week, as long as you two were seeing each other, you had stopped your flirting with every pretty woman you ran across on campus. And you always brought Nina roses. And I think she liked you, too. She listened to all your viewpoints and opinions on everything, and seemed to hang onto every word you said. Do you remember that, Xavier? ...What went wrong?"

"Nothing went wrong! Stop bothering me!" Xavier Bright complained, keeping his head under the covers in a futile attempt to block out her voice.

"Oh, I think I know what it was," Selina persisted. "It all started that day in the coffee shop. You and Nina were there, and so were George and I. You told us all what a wonderful Professor you thought Dr. Kitchen was. And then, shudder, Nina did the unthinkable. She disagreed with you! She said she found Dr. Kitchen far too cold, which led you to try and show her your opinion was right, as it always was. You tried to persuade Nina that what she regarded as a character deficiency- Dr. Ktichen's coldness- in reality proved to be a good thing for Dr. Kitchen's field of studies."

Xavier tried to huddle under his covers, to shut out this annoying noise, but, in a flash, he discovered he was no longer in his bed. Instead, he sat at that table in the coffee shop. It looked exactly as his photographic memory recalled it. Selina sat across from him, with McCleer at her side, and, much to his delight, Xavier found Nina to be sitting with him on his side. And they were all young again, college-age!

The delight quickly vanished, as he considered it to be but a dream only, nothing more.

Xavier told Nina, "You see, Dr. Kitchen's coldness makes her the perfect science researcher. She is objective and has no loyalty to any one theory. She has no scruples to keep her from trying something new, something frowned upon by society at large, to see if it will work or not. Knowing is all-important to her, and in her field, that is a good quality to have."

Xavier slapped both hands over his mouth. He glanced at Selina. "Don't do that to me. Yes, I said that to Nina, word-for-word on that day. But it is the past. It is long gone. Stop making me say and do things without my consent, even things that I, indeed, have already done!"

Selina laughed. "Wait. Now George has his own opinion about Dr. Kitchen, and he let us all know it, too.”

George McCleer put down his coffee. "Xavier, Dr. Kitchen may be objective, but she is also highly objectionable. She would test out a new scientific technique on her own grandmother if she could learn something from it."

Xavier scowled at his old room-mate. "Of course, McCleer. Why do you think I asked her here to the World of Hope, to be on my Research and Development team? Even as I sleep, she must be hard at work, making new weapons or other useful things for my world. With no concern for what anyone thinks, or what happens to anyone else, she is sure to guarantee productive results. Do you know, she worked on building a smarter robot-" Xavier clamped up. "But, that's classified."

"Mmm, I'm not so sure, Xavier," said Nina. "I think George may be right on this one."

Xavier stared coldly at Nina. He turned to Selina. "Okay, she said it. Just like she had said it to me before. Are you satisfied, my back-stabbing sub-conscious? Can we go now?"

Selina gasped. She said to Nina, "Oh, no! My brother doesn't like you disagreeing with him. He's never wrong, you know. And this was only the start of many more disagreements with him. Of all people, to think you should have an differing point of view- that cannot be! Why did you do that, Nina? Why did you disagree?"

"Yes, why?!" demanded Xavier. "Thanks to George's meddling! It's his fault! Tell me, Nina, was something going on behind my back with you and George?"

Nina looked shocked. "What?!"

Xavier sneered. "Don't act so surprised. What else can explain the fact  that, not much later, you no longer were interested in me or my thoughts? Or, how else to explain that, a few weeks later, I saw you and George together on campus, after McCleer had kicked aside my sister. I am no fool." He spoke with fury anger.

"Hey, wait a minute-" Nina protested.

"It's all crystal clear. It always was. But, who cares? Your betrayal is nothing important to me, anyway.” Xavier's passion faded into a dull coldness. "I won't let that turn of events bother me. Why should I?"

"Yes, why should you?" asked Nina. "Did any of the past bother you? Like when Selina died, did that affect you? Did it bother you enough for you to shed any tear for her loss? I know you appeared unaffected when you lost your parents. What about what you did to George when he came to this world to evaluate you- did that bother you? Or, when you lied to me about it?"

"Why should it bother me? I had no choice.”

"Oh, my," jeered Nina. "The great and brilliant Xavier Bright, without a choice, a mere puppet on a string."

"I had no choice, if I wanted to look out for the good of the World of Hope.”

“Really? For the good of Hope? Or for the good of Xavier?"

"It is one and the same," Xavier replied.

Selina asked, "What about all those deaths in the Incident? Nina's death? Did any of that bother you, Brother?"

"Huh! Good-bye to rubbish. The illegal house church went against my order, against the Religion Board. And Nina took part in it. She joined in with them in their public protests. She took part in publicly humiliating me. No, I didn't shed any tears. What good would that do?"

"Yeah, I didn't think so," said Nina. "That was always your trouble. You mostly lack concern for anybody else but yourself and what you want. You're a bit like Dr. Kitchen, if you ask me."

"Oh? Thank you for the compliment," said Xavier arrogantly.

Once more, Xavier sat up in bed. He looked around the room. He was alone. "I do think this time I am really awake. Stupid dream. And yet, a bit sad, too.”

Xavier Bright felt his eyes. Dry. Not a tear in them. He sighed, shrugged, and laid back down. "Nothing I can do about it. Some things are just not humanly possible. Even I have my limitations. Rest in peace, Nina. I will probably miss you”

(c) drk 2012