The Science Prophet (Complete)

Chapter 7: Defender of the Faith

The computer beeped to indicate its work was complete.

Now, after nearly two hours of work searching for Rob’s brain scan and reassembling it, Darwin finally had it! She let out a quiet grunt of contentment, afraid that shrieking in triumph as she desired would spook the student or cleaner she heard walking down the dark hall outside her lab.

Then as if echoing the computer, her phone beeped to indicate an incoming message.

She glanced down at her phone to see that the message was from Lucy. She glanced back up at the computer screen to see that Rob’s brain scan had loaded.

Rob did have an unusually strong anomaly, as he had claimed on the stage two hours ago. But his anomaly was wrong.

Darwin felt a deep inexplicable sense of terror rising from deep in her gut. She suddenly regretted having avoided the sunlight for so many months. She had an elemental desire to be bathed in the sun's warmth, protected by its light.

She turned back to her phone to urgently message Lucy and nearly dropped her phone in fright when it unexpectedly rang.

It was Lucy. She answered. “Lucy I –“

“Get out of there! He’s after you. Go somewhere safe and call me again,” came Lucy’s panicked voice.

“How do you—“

“Just get out of there and I’ll explain.”

“Ok, ok, I’ll go.” Darwin fumbled with the mouse to upload the incriminating file from the computer into her personal cloud data folder.

Behind her, the door to the lab squealed open. She turned to talk to the cleaner. “Sorry, I’m just –“

And now she did drop her phone, for standing in the doorway was Rob, still dressed in his white and orange robes, and carrying his golden spear.  His face was lowered toward the ground, but his eyes were focused directly on her. “Hello, Nurse Darwin,” he sneered with an evil leer.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I work here, don't I?" he said with a sneer. "I made my discovery here. I have as much right to be here as anybody."

He took a menacing step into the lab towards her.

Darwin’s eyes involuntarily focused on Rob’s stylized spear.

It wasn’t just a prop. It was a spear. 

"What are you going to do with that?" she asked.

He made no answer, just continued to walk deliberately towards her.

"Rob, now, come on now." she was trying to stay calm and reason with him, but all that was comign out was babble. She took a deep breath. "Rob, in your religion don't you say harming another is the same as harming yourself. Why would you hurt me?"

Now Rob lifted the spear and smiled as he stared at its sharp tip. "I've spent a lot of time learning to use this, Darwin. I can kill instantly with one painless thrust. And so you see, I won't be hurting you. I'll just be killing you."

Darwin heard herself letting out a little gasp. She felt her desk pressed into the back of her legs as she tried to back away from Rob. She recalled what Adrian had told her -- Rob was a psychopath, bound to commit some great crime sooner or later. 

Rob continued. "Because death is rebirth. Upon death one life ends and you immediately begin living the next life in the queue. It's an endless cycle that exists outside of time."

"But you said--" she stammered.

"And maybe the next life in the queue is mine, so in twenty odd years you'll be standing here, spear in hand, ready to stab the woman who's trying to interfere in the spread of Solarianism." He took another step forward. "And when it's your turn to be me, you'll realize that killing you is for the greater good. Solarianism can bring peace and harmony to humanity, meaning that our billions of shared lives will involve so much less suffering. What is the painless extinguishment of one life if it improves so many billions of others?"

Darwin's eyes shifted from Rob to her computer screen, which still depicted his brain scan.

Rob followed her gaze and his eyes narrowed. "Ah, but now you've seen my little secret, Darwin."

Darwin felt her eyes filling with tears. "What does it mean?" she implored Rob. "Who are you?"

He closed the final distance to her and smiled condescendingly. "Always the scientist, aren't you, Darwin. Even when facing certain death, all you want is an explanation of a brain scan."

"What does it mean? Please tell me before --" 

Rob raised the spear. "It means you were wrong to spend your life disbelieving," he snarled as the thrust the point home.