Infernum

Sitting across the dining room table from Alex, Hope looked up and took a deep breath.

“Thank you, Alex,” she said.

“For the pasta… It was nothing,” Alex replied.

“No, not the pasta… For everything else you have done,” Hope said as if she was leading up to something. “I’m at a crossroads, Alex, I’m not sure of what to do,” she added.

“What do you mean, Hope?” Alex asked with a troubling concern.

“The laws of Caelo, my laws, dictate that I report in, tell the council of what I have learned and about you,” she said solemnly.

“What do you mean, about me?” Alex asked, now showing great concern.

“What Gabriel did … giving you his ánimam… It was against the law, Alex,” Hope said abruptly.

“It doesn’t matter, Hope, it’s not like they can punish him; what are you worried about? His reputation?” Alex asked with modesty.

Hope looked up at him contemptuously.

“You don’t understand our laws, Alex. The most fundamental and basic law of my planet is…Woe betide the house that brings shame upon itself… You see, Alex, in order to regulate the houses over the vastness of space the lords have decreed that we monitor ourselves; each member of a house is responsible for the actions of every other member,” she said, trying to get Alex to understand the scope of the problem.

Alex had no idea what Hope meant, but recalling the instant database function of his ánimam, he tapped into its knowledge for the answer. He closed his eyes and bowed his head for a moment while his ánimam transferred the information he requested to his mind.

A moment later, “Gabriel was part of your house… Oh my God, Hope, death. That’s insane,” Alex said with horrid disbelief. “That can’t be right, Hope. You had nothing to do with his decision… They can’t hold you responsible for his actions.”

“You know it to be true, Alex, your ánimam confirms it,” Hope said as she leaned back in her chair.

“I know the law. This thing will not let me forget it. It keeps telling me to go to Caelo… It is somewhat annoying actually. But that doesn’t mean I understand it or that it’s right, Hope,” Alex insisted.

“The law has been in place for thousands of years, this tandem system has propelled our culture in ways you couldn’t imagine. It has virtually eliminated crime, freeing up valuable resources for research and development, allowing us to create the technologies we have today, like the ánimam,” Hope said defensively. “As far as your ánimam telling you to turn yourself in … just turn off the alarm and it won’t bother you again.”

Alex looked over at Hope with a prospect of salvation as he closed his eyes and thought of the command, alarm off, turning off the alarm in his head.

“What about me, Hope? What will they do to me?”

Hope got out of her chair and started to pace. “The ánimam inside you is the property of Caelo, they will have it back, Alex, likely killing you in the process; it was not made to be removed,” she said.

“What are we going to do, Hope?” Alex asked with eagerness.

“We have some time before they come looking, Alex, but I’m not sure if it’s enough to find the answer to our little problem,” Hope said quietly as she made another turn.

“Little problem!” Alex blurted out. “Can we get away from this?”

“Even if you hide, Alex, once they find me they will get all the data from my ánimam and learn about you,” she said solemnly.

“What if we both run, Hope?” Alex asked. “There must be plenty of places to hide in the entire galaxy.”

“I can’t do that, Alex, to be dishonored and lose your house name is worse than death. Look to your ánimam and recall the knowledge of the Sully House.”

Alex closed his eyes and thought of the name Sully; an instant later his head filled with images and data on the subject.

“Holy shit! They really do that to people! Even after they killed them, it’s not right, Hope, not right at all,” Alex said in horror. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach and had to sit down.

“Yes, I know, Alex. Trust me; it is better to die than to face that. And you know what they would do to you, Alex, you know the only way to remove a ánimam is to…” Hope could not finish her sentence. She paced into the living room and sat on the couch.

“There has got to be another option… There has to be something we can do,” Alex offered.

“We will die with honor, Alex, with our heads held high and our dignity still intact,” Hope said with pride. “There is only one thing I don’t understand,” she added.

“What is that?” Alex asked as he joined her in the living room.

“Why did he do it? He knew what it would mean to our house, so why?” Hope asked.

“I’m sure Gabriel had a good reason for what he did, Hope, I just wish that I knew what that reason was,” Alex said as he sat down next to Hope. “I can’t seem to access anything more in the ánimam’s database, but I feel as if there was a good reason for all of this,” he continued as he stared around the room.

“That’s it, Alex, I am sure Gabriel had a good reason, maybe enough of one to redeem our house. Redemption is always possible if the reason is just,” Hope said with ambition. “But where do we start, Alex? How do we find the reason if there is no more knowledge in Gabriel’s ánimam?”

Alex’s gaze landed on a small coin on top of his mantle, it was a 9-11 memorial coin he had purchased while on vacation in NY City last summer. As he looked at the once magnificent Twin Towers on the face of the coin, it hit him.

“Twins!” he shouted, looking at the coin.

Hope quickly looked over at him as if he had lost his mind. “What do you mean … twins?” she asked inquisitively.

“Do you remember what Gabriel said to the daemon?” he asked. “Confirm what your twin said,” Alex said.

“Surely he would have killed it after he was done interrogating it, that’s protocol,” Hope informed Alex.

“I don’t think so, Hope. In his last moments he told me to destroy the daemon, now why would he ask me to do that if he knew you would need it to redeem his actions?” Alex said ardently. “Because he left the other daemon alive.”

“I guess that makes sense, Alex. He had you destroy the daemon on the hill to protect yourself so I could find you and because he knew I could still question the other daemon when I did,” Hope said animatedly.

Alex stood up and moved in front of her.

“So, all we have to do is track down the second daemon, capture it, and then force it to tell us what it told Gabriel. That sounds easy enough,” Alex said sarcastically. “Oh and pray the information we get is worth our lives. I forgot to mention that part,” he added as he began to pace back and forth. “Hey, it has to be better than the alternative, right?”

“I think you might be on to something, Alex, but there is no way I could let you do that, it’s too dangerous for you,” Hope said, fearing the worst for him.

“Hey I’m going too. I took on a daemon by myself already; how difficult could it be?” Alex tried not to let the hint of sarcasm show in his voice.

“Alex, you were not bonded to your ánimam, so it was acting on its own, following Gabriel’s last orders so to speak. Now that you have bonded with it, it will not do that again. It will only act as you order it to,” Hope told him. “To face a daemon is difficult, even for a veteran like Gabriel. I can’t let you risk your life for me,” she added.

“Hope, you owe this to me, to Gabriel. It was me who found him that night and he is part of me now… Please, Hope, let me help you,” Alex said with earnest supplication.

Hope thought on the request for a few minutes. “Okay, Alex, you can come. Only to track it though, once we find the daemon you are going to stay back,” she explained unwaveringly. “Are we clear?”

“Thank you, Hope, I won’t let you down.”

“No matter what, Alex, you are not to get involved with the daemon once we find it,” she reminded him with even more emphasis.

“I understand, Hope. Now, where do we start?”

Hope looked up at him and was crushed by his inquiry.

“That’s the thing, Alex, I have no idea. I was able to follow the first one’s trail until it solidified its armor. After that, I honed in on your ánimam’s signal to find it from there,” she said discouragingly. “I guess the only place we can start is back on the hill where the first one was and hope for the best from there,” she added.

“Well, okay then, first thing tomorrow we will go back and retrace its footsteps. With any amount of luck at all, we will find that twin, if it exists,” Alex said, clearly daunted.

The rest of the evening was spent talking about everything and nothing, anything to take their minds off of their impending doom. Hope was fascinated with the divergent culture on this small seed planet; Alex did most of the talking and the more Hope listened to him the greater her interest became. After a while she could not tell if it was an interest in this planet or if it was an interest in Alex. Either way she would keep listening to the rants of this primitive man and, to her surprise, she thoroughly enjoyed the rest of her evening.