Legacy

The spark of wires ignites my creativity, while the wonderous smell of lavender refreshes my brain. High up in the attic of my house lies the workspace where my creations are born. With the latest and greatest idea of mine laying before me now. The idea for my creation came from a long time ago, and the persisting revelation of mind reading. All I want is to change the world, and with this I think I might just succeed. The ability to read minds would indefinitely change the world, I can feel it deep down in my bones. This is my purpose. I look at the shiny metal box once again, willing it to work as I connect the red and blue wires to my temple. A shock goes through me, jolting but comforting, and I begin to feel at ease as it dies down. A sharp ring of my doorbell sends me bolting down the stairs to a familiar face. A postman, dressed in his fine bright blue suit, greets me at the door. Words begin spilling into my ears, but his lips stay firm and upright as he hands me my package. I smile, and when he closes the door, I begin a frantic dance around my living room. “It works! It really, really works.” I scream and squeal during my crazed jig, my voice coming out as a single squeak. All of my dreams are about to come true.

The soft comfort of my pillows pulls me away from the world and into the beautiful confinement of a dream. It all changes suddenly when I am pulled from comfort and into a pressing unreachable threat. The faint sound of buzzing fills the air as darkness surrounds me, the lull of life the only thing pulling me back to reality. Something is wrong and I can feel it. The odd pressure in the dank and musty air, or what seems to be air. I can’t see a thing around me as I desperately search for something, but for what? Am I dead? How did I die. The buzzing becomes less and less faint, growing to a full-on roar, filling my ears to the brim and drawing me from the horrible nightmarish state and back to the grip of the real world.

My eyes jolt open, saving me from the dark and painful world I came from, but they bring me to a place that I have never been before. The streets are desolate and empty while the faded glow of the moon illuminates the solemn city. The silence stretches into the night, extending every second as I walk the lonely streets, looking for any sign of life. I must be dead; I have to be. As I get further and further down, I begin to recognize parts of this barren wasteland. Although familiarity seems to be far from this. The buildings begin to crumble and turn into piles of wasted rubble. Hazy smoke rises from the buildings and the sour stench of decay and death propel me away. Clutter scatters the ground, and I can’t make out a thing except the dangerous and looming fact that this is my hometown. Or was.

The ground has turned into a dry, cracked, desert, that looks devoid of any water or life. The trees stick up from the ground in pure pain, their bodies fading away with every footstep I take. Wonder fills me as I begin to think about what has happened to this poor forgotten world and, more importantly, why I am in this nightmare. With every questioning thought leads to another when I see a sharp silhouette of a figure standing against the city bereft of light. The dry ground crackles under my feet as I approach the being, and odd sense of belonging fills me to the brim with suspicion. I stand startled, as the being takes on a more human form, leaving me astonished that in the reflection of my eyes, is myself.  With the same shaggy blonde hair and creamy green eyes, she stands facing me with her gaze locked into mine. The cold harsh glare she emits makes me want to cower away in fright. I tilt my head at a voice that sounds distorted, but my own, which comes from the apparent other me.

              “This is our destiny, my child, it is your destiny. To destroy the world. To start the end. And there is no escaping what has to come.” A cold, chilling smile spreads onto her face. It makes me utterly afraid. For fear of the future and of myself. “You know what you do to create this.”

              “No, no, you’re wrong. I don’t break the world; I fix the world. I know what I can do.” I raise my voice trying to get the better of my swelling emotions. With a scattered mind I drag the pieces of myself together, pretending I don’t know what she is talking about, because I do.

              “What you created, has the power to create this, this beautiful world where there is no more living to suppress the hidden wonder of nature. Your device doesn’t help the world, it tears it apart. This is what you become. A legend. Your device creates massive chaos.” I don’t want to believe her fable. She sneers at me and sticks up a bony finger, pointed at the very center of my heart. “This is us.”

              “How does giving people the ability to know one another’s thoughts create worldwide chaos, and untimely death?” She snickers at my comment, making me feel insecure. How can a mind-reading device do this? How does my device do this?

 Her eyes flutter up and down, and the ground begins to rumble, shifting the dirt and pebbles beneath me. Something is wrong with her, with me, and I feel the ever-pressing urge to flee this place, which I should’ve done a long time ago.

              “Let me paint you a picture. There are some bad people in this world, who would do anything to get their hands on a device like this. If you give this to the world people will hunt you down to get one. Then they get access to some exciting, top secret information. Like the plans of the military, or in this case, nuclear codes. Causing war to break out, and nations to be eradicated all over the world. All of this, for a piece of metal that you created. Your little mind device.” Her face begins to droop, and her eyes turn glassy and downhearted. A look of indescribable pain comes from her face and only then do I begin to feel compassion. “This is our destiny, and there is no stopping it.”

The ground begins to shake harder, carrying me off my feet and onto the dusty ground. The other me laughs manically, her body throwing itself back and forth with the effort.  Her eyes roll back into her head showing only white instead of the green beauty they usually behold. Only then do I come to my senses and lunge myself away from her, but it is too late. The ground gives way with a mighty crack that sends both of us falling into the depths of the earth, shrouded in darkness and fear. I hear the screech of her beside me and I watch helplessly as the earth starts to cave in. The engulfing and ever-growing pressure and heat from the core of the earth dries up my breath, choking the air out of me. The temperature increases quickly and before long all I can think about is the feeling. My body is being crushed from the inside out. I can only begin to scream before it all goes black and I am back in my nightmare. The dark, dark void surrounds me and the horrid stench rotten air wafts towards my nose. What have I done? What will I do?

 A light appears and the dark begins to fade, replacing the reek with a sweet lavender. The walls begin to break, and my home reappears, trapping me in the dusty and lonely attic of my house, drenched in water. Soaking my floor, is ever persistent rain that comes gushing down from outside my window and I can hear the constant thump of raindrops hitting my roof in a loud and untimely manner.

It is this time that I have discovered the key to mind reading. Fantasies about what will happen in the future touch my mind. The hopes of fancy golden awards and crowds of adoring fans are high in my praises. I look back at my creation, with a vague memory of a distant dream reappearing in my thoughts, but I don’t dwell on it. It’s not like world-wide destruction could come from such a little device, a little piece of metal. Besides, it was only a dream. I toss my worries aside and pick up my phone. I know exactly who to call. The best is yet to come from this, I know it deep, deep down. I know what I have to do next.