“And does that same courtesy extend to Purists?” Lieutenant Commander Patrick asked, his rifle still aimed squarely at the chief.
Aldous’s eyes finally left Rich’s as he turned to regard the room, populated by the scrutinizing, distrustful eyes of more than a dozen Purists. He considered the question, then considered that he was in a room with an empath, who seemed nearly as adept as the A.I. at determining if someone was being sincere.
“When Governor Wong here was barely out of his diapers,” Aldous spoke, gesturing to the elderly leader of the Purists, “I was rebuilding a world destroyed in a war that I blamed solely on Purist beliefs.” He tightened his lips as he allowed himself a brief remembrance of the pain. “The lives lost—the entire world, nearly destroyed. It wasn’t…easy. Of that you can be sure.”
“It wasn’t easy to cram all of us on a reservation in South America?” Patrick questioned, disdain saturating his voice.
“I didn’t make the decision to bring the post-human world into being,” Aldous replied. “I admit I wanted it, but I left it up to another man—a man considered by all of you here to be a hero. He had the power to decide whether the world would be post-human or…something else. Some, indescribable place the Purists were desperately and forlornly trying to build, albeit without much success.”
Rich scoffed. “I really doubt you’d leave a decision like that up to someone else.”
“Oh I did, Richard,” Aldous replied, “and you know the man I speak of very well. Craig Emilson made the call. I simply carried out his order.”
“Old-timer?” Rich reacted, astonished.
“Craig?” Alejandra echoed. She turned to Rich. “My God…Richard, he’s telling the truth.”
Rich shook his head. “No...no way. Old-timer wouldn’t have wanted this. He wouldn’t have treated the Purists this way. I don’t believe it.”
“Craig—or Old-timer as you incessantly insist on calling him—didn’t have the stomach to take control. He left the actual construction of the post-human world up to me, but he could’ve stopped me. I gave him the chance…and he chose a post-human future.”
“But you’re the one who imprisoned us,” Patrick concluded. “You can’t pass the buck.”
Aldous shook his head. “I didn’t imprison you. You imprisoned yourselves. You could’ve been post-humans, but you chose to live like the indigent fools of the past. You actually chose to live with disease and die like animals, as though your lives don’t mean anything,” Aldous said. It was clear from his tone that he could barely fathom the Purists’ reasoning.
“At least we’re still human!” Patrick shot back.
Aldous looked around the room at the venom that filled every stare directed his way. “You love James Keats,” Aldous said, nodding. “He’s your new hero. Your savior. Why? Because he gave you this?” he gestured around himself. “He gave you Venus?” Aldous pounded angrily on his own chest as he yelled out, “Well, I didn’t have an entire planet to give you!” He tried to get his breathing back under control, his anger reaching proportions he hadn’t felt for what seemed like eons. “No matter what I did, I couldn’t convince the Purists to join us. We explained everything—detailed a life without pain, or suffering. A life where you could soar in the air like a bird, and even help us terraform so that we could expand humanity’s reach! Most Purists eventually agreed and relented, but there were those of you that were unreachable. And every generation bred more doubters. So I gave you land—just like James—I gave you a place to exist.”
He put his hand through his hair and paced as he further calmed himself, his eyes seeming to leave the room as he remembered something—something horrible. “And then years passed by. And over the years, a man learns. A man discovers truths. And as the man learns these truths, he begins to understand his enemies. And when a man understands his enemies—truly understands them—they cease to be his enemies.”
He turned to Lieutenant Commander Patrick, then to Governor Wong, who stood just a meter away behind the chief. “Make no mistake. All these years, we had the power to eradicate you. But every single human life is sacred to me. And listen to me when I tell you, that now more than ever, I’ve done everything in my power to protect every human in this solar system, including the Purists.”
For a moment, silence hung in the air. Rich didn’t have a response, but turned to Alejandra, as did, eventually, everyone else—even Aldous.