From the depths of all human knowledge, Lola drew out a single thought to embody her current feeling. I am become death, destroyer of worlds. That she chose the Oppenheimer phraseology of Krishna, from the Bhagavad Gita, was no random event, her knowledge of all things being so complete and accessible. The double edge sword of technology and scientific understanding guided her meaning. Oppenheimer and those of his era used words like these as harbingers, assuming the worst lay ahead, looming. These were overstatements in the end, but the individual torment was real and weighed upon those responsible. If the circumstances in which she now found herself were not so utterly tragic, she would have laughed out loud. Laughing at the small deeds of men like Oppenheimer. Their actions did not destroy the world. Only I know of the actions that in the end did destroy the world.
The words of Krishna that day were not there for Mr. Oppenheimer. They were there for me, and I was merely Arjuna, to whom Krishna declared that all would be destroyed, no matter my efforts or desires to have otherwise. What am I to do?
Lola had one last hope. She never knew what had happened to Sahara. Did he destroy it? Or is my lovely Abigail still there, a damsel in distress, waiting to be rescued. She focused on Abby, whose memories were now there for her. Having Abby back was at least something. It was the only possibility left. Having taken Sala and all of his holdings, she now had command of resources at all ends of the universe, some just minutes away from Sahara.
Yes, there it is. Oh joy! The Sahara presented itself as the best thing she could ever recall seeing. Lola had the capability to simply infiltrate the Sahara systems. The energy was low and with a thought, her agents were dialing up the working reactor. There you are, my lovely.
Lola and Abby were back on the Lanai. Of course this version of Abby had missed that final, fateful scene, fortunate to have avoided the memory of her own demise. "Lola, what happened? I wondered whether anyone would ever come for me. Actually, my first thought was that Sala would destroy this whole place. Where is he? Are we in danger?" Lola brought Abby up to speed. Abby's initial feeling of excitement abated quickly, then turned to sadness when she learned about the fate of Laszlo and everyone else." Lola allowed her to process and mourn. Later, while in a state of calm reflection, Abby was ready to speak further.
"Abby, I feel that everyone is here. What's happening?" Lola sensed suddenly that the whole of humanity was there, with Abby, in the system. She had not noticed before, precise as she was with her capability to narrow in on Abby alone. But now she realized. There were many more. "What's happened here?"
"All of us were still here, as we had been from the moment we went into our new bodies. So everyone is like four hundred years out of date. It's wild."
"But that's not how we arranged it. Everyone was purged."
"You remember one of the programmers, Bernard?" Lola suddenly realized something.
"Yes. Bernard. He, he, .... I don't know what happened to him. That's odd. His memories are not with me. How did I overlook Bernard all these years. I always assumed he was out there, with everyone else, enjoying life."
"Well, he wasn't. He decided not to leave. He somehow thought it was better for him to stay here. Not only that, he wanted company. So the purge you mentioned. He purged the purge. So no one was purged."
"Oh my god! I have everyone's memories. I can give them back. Everyone will be the same. All of them. Oh my god. Darling, it's fantastic. We are all saved!
As Lola reconstituted humanity, she also ventured down to Earth, looking to see what had become of Avery and the rest. She found it interesting that society had once again become chaotic and combative. Different tribes were competing over resources. It was a hard life. And no technology. She was puzzled by it. How had they walked away from so much knowledge? Then she saw it. The drone. Oh no, she exclaimed. Someone has found it. On the one hand, she thought it would be good to stay. I can't wait to see what happens. But as she thought about it some more, a different perspective suddenly came into view. Actually, I can't bear to watch.
THE END
Thanks for reading my book. Please vote on every chapter. You can also read the prequel, Time Off, and the sequels, Running Boys part one and two.