Submission by Jonas Springborg.
A beep followed by a hissing sound and then a beep. It was all normal procedure. He knew what to do.
The bright blue lights and the dark contours were slowly vaporized by the yellow glow from richly decorated oil lamps. He smiled. He had looked forward to this assignment.
Walking slowly on the stone floor he enjoyed the odor of flowery perfumes, strange spices and sweet sweat. The women had dark shiny skin and were clad in white silk. Beside them were heavy bearded men holding shiny broad sables and smoking odd pipes.
None of them saw him.
He played with the cold metallic sphere in his pocket. He was getting close.
Everyone knew he was the best but no one knew how good he really was. He smiled.
The moonlight lit the corridor in a silvery light and he savored the fresh breeze coming from the window. A faint voice seemed to dance along the walls. The beauty of the voice embraced him as he swept the garments aside and entered the room. Carpets in hues of red and pillows with golden patterns covered the floor. Men and women gazed in delight at a young blond woman wearing a pale dress speaking in the most wonderful tongue. He did not know the words but the images came pouring in.
So many versions of the same story. He had time enjoy this. No one would question him. He was ahead of schedule.
It was more then he had expected. 7.8469% of the tens of thousands on board knew of it. But it was perfect training and he knew he needed to be perfect. The other fairytales would be harder. Maybe 50 or 70%. But the Book would be the biggest challenge. It would be close to a 100%.
He pulled out the metallic sphere. Their victory humanity’s loss.
They did not know. How could they?
He hated it yet he knew it was the only way. He twisted the sphere and all around him seemed to brighten and freeze. A tear ran down his cheek as a blinding light turned everything white.
His stomach twisted and he felt the lumpy liquid quickly force its way up his throat before it erupted with a convulsing scream. He was back.
“Are you okay sir?”
He nodded.
The Helper started removing all the wires trying annoyingly to the best he could.
“That was a perfect Mindsweep, sir. You got them all. Congratulations.”
He nodded again.
“I presume that was the last of the day for you sir?”
“Yes”
He rose looking back walking towards the door. The Eleven still sat in their black chairs. Their eyes were closed and they had wires connected to countless places on their body. He doubted they could remember anything of the story after they had done a Mindsweep.
The space ship A-Eve had traveled for 250 years. ETA for planet New Paradise was 7 months and 3 weeks.
A-Eve’s council had spoken. New Paradise should be founded on the Book and only the Book. All books had been erased form the systems. Now they were making sure no one would remember. The Mindsweeps had been going on for almost three months.
No one outside the project knew about it. How could they miss something they didn’t remember?
He stepped through the door thinking of the warmth of the oil lamps. Could the other Eleven remember? Probably not.
He smiled. One month. In one month he would make his move and the Book would no longer exist.
