“I think I understand.”
“I’m sure you do. But to continue, I never developed an aversion to patterns. Instead I craved them. I sought out more and more complex sets of variables merely to satisfy my curiosity.”
“So the jungle you’ve created around you here is a challenge?”
Rolling his eyes dismissively, Wilson replied, “No, not a challenge. But it is something, as opposed to a void. At least the plants grow and change and interact and die and give birth. At least there is a relatively complex system which, most important, is ever-changing.”
“I get it. Living inside the complex, with its static structures, furnishings, and such would bore you instantly.”
“Bore is far too understated for the effect it would have. You see, what society has called my ability, my gift, is probably an unmeasurably rare and undiagnosed mental disease. If I had to spend the remainder of my time in an apartment, especially one without even a window, I would surely go mad.”
Wilson stopped for a moment and looked at Elias, as if to measure the impact his words had so far.
“All of that being said, I am now led to my denouement. I was completely immersed in the progress and the workings of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. As I mentioned, I not only observed, I facilitated the progress. Yet, my mind being what it is, I also studied the underlying patterns, until the conclusions I began to reach were so disturbing, I had no choice but to extricate myself from it all.”
Elias realized that his entire body was tense in anticipation. Whether it was the surreal nature of the setting, the nearly hypnotic delivery of Wilson’s words, or the almost mythical reputation of the man himself, Elias was certain that he was on the verge of hearing something of the utmost importance. “Please, go on. What did you find?”
The mathematician did not appear eager to deliver his judgment. An expression most closely resembling distaste spread across his face as he continued, “I became convinced that the patterns, all of the symptoms of progress I’ve criticized and denigrated here, were not merely the serendipitous occurrences of an evolving and advancing society but, rather, were the intentional and deliberate increments of a plan.”
As he finished his statement, his eyes were riveted upon Elias, watching for a reaction.
“What plan, Wilson?”
“Why, Elias, I would have thought it would be obvious from my previous comments. The plan is to carefully and systematically devalue every aspect of life itself for all people on Earth.”
Elias was unsure as to what his next comment should be. So much of what Wilson had said earlier echoed his own theories and beliefs, yet it had never occurred to Elias that it was all deliberate, that it was some sort of plot.
“I sound like one of those pathetic crackpots, don’t I? One of those people who see a conspiracy behind every event.”
Smiling, Elias replied, “There is no better way to neutralize the voices of those who are attempting to alert the public than to marginalize them. No, Wilson, I don’t think you sound like a crackpot, and you are anything but pathetic. But what is the ultimate purpose of this plan? What’s the goal?”
“That,” Wilson said with more than a little chagrin in his voice, “I don’t know. Maybe you can help me find that answer.”
“Why me?”
“Why not? You’re as good a candidate as any.”
Elias could not help but be charmed by this man. “I don’t think I’ll be making any analytical breakthroughs that you’ve missed, Wilson.”
“Have it your way.”
“Do you mind if I ask a question?”
“Please do.”
“I understand that it is de rigueur to avoid asking the residents of Aegis why they came, but I can’t help but be curious with you.”
With a soft laugh, Wilson answered, “You’re wondering why someone…as rich and famous as I…would want to commit suicide, or at least the modern version of the act?”
“No, not the rich and famous part. Plenty of rich and famous people do it. But why would someone with your intellect and perceptiveness want to…?”
“Flick it in?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t.”
Elias started to speak but was cut off. “I did not desire to end it all. I didn’t enter Aegis as an alternative to suicide.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I saw it as a refuge. If the developing pattern was global, where else could I go? I was hoping, since Aegis was cut off from society in so many ways, that it might offer a haven from the impending…whatever it is that is about to happen. And I am not the only one. I would venture to say that a large percentage of the entrants to this facility have come for the same reason.”
Elias glanced around at the lush vegetation and the ramshackle living quarters. With a tinge of sarcasm in his voice, he queried, “And how’s that working for you?”
Wilson laughed. “At first, not bad. I’ve been here for several years, and for quite a time I was left alone. The sheer space of this facility was enough to allow me the privacy I wanted, and the population seemed quite tolerant of the old kook who wanted to live in the atrium. They didn’t mind when I transplanted bushes, plants, and trees from some of the other atria into this plot to augment the existing landscaping. There was more than enough finished space for them to not miss the occasional building material I salvaged from unused portions to use for my shack.”
“You said ‘at first.’ What happened to change things?”
“My gurse.”
“Gurse?”
“As I mentioned earlier, my gift and my curse… I call it my gurse.”
Elias chuckled.
“I couldn’t help but begin to see the developing pattern within these walls.”
Elias, knowing where Wilson was going with this train of thought, nodded.
“It is not at all the same pattern as the outside world is experiencing. It is something very different and very ugly. And frighteningly rapid.”
“I noticed it, as well.”
“I’m sure you did.”
“What do you see as the timetable?”
The mathematician stared blankly for a while before answering. Elias felt that he was rerunning the equation or simulation or whatever visualization the man used to arrive at his answers. Finally, he concluded, “It’s hard to be certain. I am not one hundred percent comfortable I’ve identified all of the variables, especially the most recent. Weeks. Maybe days.”
“Variables? What is the most recent?”
Wilson again leaned back in the conference room chair, tipped back his mug to drain the last of the tea, and replied, “Why, you, of course.”
CHAPTER SIX
“Me? Why am I a variable?”
A full-throated laugh erupted from Wilson. As it subsided, he said, “I asked you when we met if you thought me a fool. Elias, you are anything but the usual entrant to this place.”
“What do you mean? I’m sure there have been lots of guys just like me who have checked in to Aegis.”
Wilson stared hard at his porch companion, his mouth tightly pursed in a look of either frustration or irritation. Elias was not sure if the scientist was trying to read him, or simply deciding his next conversational course. “I was right. The pleasantries are instantly spoilt the moment the dissembling begins. Let me make certain that I understand. You wish me to believe that you are some poor slob who couldn’t stand life anymore, so you decided to check in at Hotel Aegis because you didn’t have the wherewithal to off yourself?”
Elias said nothing, waiting.