CHAPTER 28
~T-minus 33:51~
It was a long walk from the hotel to the DuFresne residence, a stroll through roadside weeds and along vacant sidewalks beneath skies burdened with rain. Sam drew back a bit as they approached the door, and even Will felt a little apprehensive, for Dr. DuFresne had not chosen the friendliest of homes. Will had heard stories about the place - it was one of the oldest structures in Patmos, dating back to the first years of the settlement when it was constructed for the wealthiest man in town. In ages past the house had been an opulent thing, a bastion of Victorian elegance standing against a dull, prefabricated world. The ravages of time and the ever-changing world had turned it into something wholly different, an overbuilt monstrosity looming menacingly over a peaceful little neighborhood. It was the kind of place to send a tremor down the spine, the kind of place that would lead otherwise rational souls to cross the street rather than pass before it. This place had sat empty for decades before DuFresne bought it, and no doubt had the property for a song in spite of its size.
"What are we doing here?" said Sam. "This is the kind of house a vampire would live in."
"Well, that's not who we're here to meet. Just an old scientist with very weird taste." Will's eyes fell upon the heavy, antique knocker affixed to the door. "I guess this is the best way to announce our presence, huh?" He lifted the knocker and dropped it, sending a deep tone reverberating through the house. "You think he heard it?"
A moment later, there was a crackle as the decades-old intercom crackled to life. "Someone there? Who is it?"
Will cleared his throat and pushed his lips close to the intercom. "Sir, my name is William Scarborough. I'm here with my brother. We didn't mean to just drop in like this, but I met some people who insisted that I speak with you."
"Ah, I see." There was a faint hiss, though Will couldn't tell if it was coming from the aging electronics or the speaker at the other end. "The door's open. Let yourself in and take a seat in the sitting room. I'll be with you shortly."
Will jiggled the doorknob. "Unlocked. Hey, this is like an adventure, right? Meeting a famous scientist?"
"Yeah, I guess." Sam pulled his thin jacket against the chill breeze. "You know, in a story this would never end well. There would be something awful on the other side of that door."
"Well, life isn't as interesting as a story. Sometimes it's just plain boring." Will pushed the door open. "See? Let's take a look."
Will had never met any world-famous scientists and had just a few expectations of what such a man's home might look like, and this certainly wasn't it. Dr. DuFresne's "sitting room" better resembled an awkwardly curated museum of scientific history than a person's home. The walls were covered in medical and scientific charts - the Periodic table, human anatomy, astronomical guides - as well as Gnostic diagrams, Daoist alchemical charts and biorhythm graphs. The floor space was dominated by bookshelves in a variety of sizes and styles, some filled with old textbooks and bulging binders, others cluttered with pieces of research equipment from ages long since past or reconstructed animal skeletons. Somewhere in the middle of it all was the sitting area, a tiny clearing containing a couch, a sturdy wingback chair and a coffee table piled high with yellowing newspapers. The whole mess was arranged before an antique grandfather clock, its hands frozen at 11:59.
Will was uncomfortable, but was not about to further unnerve Sam by putting that feeling on display. "This is interesting, right? Yeah, this is...a lifetime collection right here."
Sam's eyes drew weary circles around the room. "Is there something moving around in here? I hear something."
"It's just the house," said Will. "Old places makes weird sounds."
Suddenly, one of the bits of clutter moved of its own volition. Sam spotted it first, clasping both hands over his mouth to suppress a scream. Will whirled toward the sound and found himself eye-to-muzzle with a live squirrel, a fat little creature that had endured his share of winters. He swung a hand at it by instinct and the creature leaped to the next bookshelf, studying Will with fearful intensity.
"How the hell did that thing get in here?" Will searched for something to swing at the creature. "It must have followed us in. The old guy's gonna be pissed if he finds out we let pests in."
Then there was a new voice from the back of the room: "Morgi? Are you scaring out guests?"
Somewhere in the back, there was the soft click of a door opening, and a moment later a little old man entered the sitting room. His face was half-hidden under an oversized newsboy cap, showing only a funny, half-mad grin atop a few wisps that passed for a beard. One hand rested heavily on his cane - a stout hand-carved thing adorned with arcane symbols and grotesque faces - yet he moved with a dexterity and ease that belied his age. As he spotted his guests, that grin broadened into a strange smile, quizzical yet knowing, the expression of a man who was privy to a great and hidden truth. The squirrel bounded over to the old man, perching on his shoulder, its timidity gone at the sight of its master.
"Morgi, you rogue, I warned you against exploring," said the old man. "Pardon him, he is curious about strangers. Your name is Scarborough, correct?"
"Sure," said Will. "How did you know?"
"It is my job to know things. Dr. DuFresne is all-knowing, didn't you know?" Dr. DuFresne made a hand gesture and the squirrel pranced off into a nook. "He won't bother you again."
Will shrugged, his eyes not leaving the squirrel. "Well, he wasn't really bothering us..."
"Did you see something that interests you?" Dr. DuFresne hobbled into the center of the room, slowly lowering himself into the chair. "You must excuse the mess. I have so little energy for tidying, and it is so easy for an old scientist to grow used to a bit of chaos."
Sam picked up a framed photograph featuring a young boy standing alongside a familiar figure. "Whoa! Is this you with Albert Einstein?"
"That it is. I had a chance to meet the master a few years after he became a citizen. He taught me the secret to grasping the universe...Creative madness." Dr. DuFresne chuckled, a lilting sound that well matched his deliberate, yet oddly lighthearted cadence - the voice of man listening to a song no one else could hear. "What is your name, son?"
"Samuel." Sam returned the photograph to its place atop one of the bookshelves. "We've read about you in school. Did they really call you Dr. Doomsday?"
"Ah yes, a sobriquet from my days sparring with anti-nuclear activists," said Dr. DuFresne. "The 1970's were an interesting time for men of my profession. In colorful times, one must be a little colorful to maintain stability."
"It would have been cool if you could have come talk at the school," said Sam, taking a seat on the couch. "I guess no one knows you live here."
"By design, my boy. After twenty years, I grew weary of the limelight." Dr. DuFresne glanced at Will, who was running his hands along the grandfather clock. "Excuse me, what do you think you are doing?"
"Your clock's stopped," said Will. "I was just checking to see if there was a switch off or something."
"Does everyone think they know my affairs better than I?" Dr. DuFresne tapped at Will's leg with his cane. "First the reporter, then those young people who came before you. I'll have you know that this clock is exactly where it should be."
"Sorry, I didn't know you were so sensitive about it." Will sat down next to his brother. "See? Not touching it."
"Thank you." Dr. DuFresne cleared his throat. "Now, I take it that you are here to learn about Rudra? The great engine of progress at the heart of this, eh, latest controversy."
"I'm not here for anything," said Will. "All I know is that everyone's telling me I need to talk to you, that you're so brilliant."
"I'd like to hear about Rudra," said Sam. "I heard that it was your idea, and Dr. Richter stole it. Is that true?"
"This is...a complex question," said Dr. DuFresne.
"Well, then simplify it for us," said Will. "Because that damn machine has been nothing but trouble for us, and I'd like to know who to blame."
"I shall try, but the story is not a short one." Dr. DuFresne shifted in his seat. "The concept was borne from the AEV panel in the 1980's - that's Atomic Energy Viability, if you don't know, we didn't exactly advertise it to the masses. I had entered the council confident that nuclear energy would remain a cornerstone of our energy policy. By the end, I had some doubts. We all did. So we began work on new, highly theoretical energy sources to replace fission."
"So you created Rudra and Richter ran off with it," said Will. "Seems simple enough to me."
"So impetuous. But this is your right." Dr. DuFresne reclined in his chair, his smile growing wider. "Perhaps you would like some refreshment before we continue? I don't have much, but I can offer you tea. I have many varieties."
"What, is the squirrel going to fetch it?" said Will.
"A talent beyond Morgi, I'm afraid," said Dr. DuFresne. "It would only take a few minutes to prepare."
"Nah, let's just get on with it," said Will. "I'll keep my mouth shut and everything."
"Very well." Dr. DuFresne lay his cane across his lap, his gnarled fingers resting gently upon it. "You see, I conceived of the device, but it was Otto who designed it. I didn't feel it was practical, so it remained only a concept until Otto learned of it. In truth, I would have nothing to do with that wretched machine."
"Otto's story is a long one, so I'll give you the abridged version. He was the youngest member on the AEV panel. We had a certain rapport, being the only members who entered the study with a positive view of atomic energy. But he also felt that our debates were missing the point. He felt that, in the long term, society could be simplified enough that energy would no longer be a concern. Even nuclear power would be an unnecessary relic of the past. This was what passed for optimism in our world. Then he began his voyage."
"He went to Russia, right?" said Will.
"Eastern Europe, yes," said Dr. DuFresne. "What he saw disgusted him. This was a simplified society enforced at the point of a gun, and it caused only pain. This was a true epiphany for him, this revelation of the outcome of a sound idea executed with cruelty. When Otto returned home, it was to a new world. The rich were growing richer on the backs of the poor, and everyone was seeking only to acquire more. This, too, was an epiphany. He saw that his simplified society could not be achieved either voluntarily or through force. There was simply no 20th century philosophy that offered a solution to 20th century problems, and he felt it would only grow worse in the 21st. So he chose to seek a more pragmatic solution. If he could not make society simpler, he would have to find a way to sustain it as it grew more complex. Thus, Rudra was born. My scientific concepts given life through his practical designs."
"Fair enough." Will stood up, brushing the antique dust from his clothes. "If there's nothing else, we should get moving before the rain starts."
"I have a question," said Sam. "Is Rudra as dangerous as everyone says?"
"A good question," said Dr. DuFresne. "When Dr. Richter drew up the specs for the first version of the Rudra Engine, we ran some computer models. It was a prudent move, given how radical the device was. What we discovered was that the device had the potential to unleash a catastrophic event. The effect could range from a simple conventional explosion to an uncontrolled reaction in the stratosphere, combusting the atmosphere and causing untold damage and death. Of course, this was only a possibility. It's also possible that it would work exactly as Otto had imagined. Unfortunately, our tests could not narrow it down past even odds either way."
"So you're saying that this is a coin flip?" said Will. "Jameson is betting it all on blind luck?"
"No, I phrased that badly. There is either a one hundred percent chance that it work, and a zero percent chance of catastrophe; or a zero percent chance that it will work, and a one hundred percent chance of catastrophe. But until we switch it on, we have no way of knowing which will happen." Dr. DuFresne leaned forward in his chair. "Perhaps I was getting overcautious even then. Dr. Richter was not a man prone to excess risk. And I do have faith in Otto, he was the only man I know who could truly understand me, and if he is willing to advance this project, then maybe he fixed the flaws in my original design. It could be that this terror is all for nothing."
"I can't believe that you're so calm," said Sam. "It's all so big. How do you keep going knowing that it could all be over tomorrow?"
"Questions I've grappled with myself." Dr. DuFresne rose from his seat. "I've spent my life striving to add a few decades, a few centuries to the lifespan of the human experiment, knowing full well that ultimately it was doomed regardless of what I did. Such is the nature of the cosmos. In the end, the fate of all things is dust, and at times my work felt futile. But this is the wrong way to think. It may be the fate of every human artifice to crumble, but what of our deeds? No matter what else, I have improved the lives of many people in some small way. This is a legacy that cannot be destroyed, not by Dr. Richter or Joshua Jameson or by the ceaseless ravages of time. In the end, each of us is only the product of what we have done, and nothing in heaven or earth can erase that. And that is why I am serene, and why you should be as well." He let out a cackle, a sound louder than either of the brothers could have expected the old man capable of. "But maybe the ramblings of a crazy old scientist mean nothing."
The room was silent for several seconds as the three of them pondered Dr. DuFresne's thoughts. It was Will who finally broke the silence. "I just don't know if I buy it."
"That is your right," said Dr. DuFresne. "Now, I have a question for you. Why would a man want so dearly to experience the end of the world?"
"How..." Will snapped his fingers. "Right, you're all-knowing. Well, then you know why."
"Because life is boring, yes?" said Dr. DuFresne. "How little must you have to live for that this is desirable?"
"Everyone thinks that they understand me," said Will. "That's not it, damn it. It's a unique thing, it's unfathomably big, I want to see it. Maybe I'm limited...hell, I know how limited I am, but I can't imagine anything more beautiful than what's about to go down at that laboratory."
"Not even life?" said Dr. DuFresne. "You would tell me that another year, even another day of life is not a beautiful thing? Better that it burn than experience the wonders in that one spare day of existence?"
"I...you just don't get it. And we'd better get going anyway. Come on, Sam." Will walked to the front door. "Thanks for your time."
"And thanks for yours, Mr. Apocalypse," said Dr. DuFresne. "May the fires of your catastrophe always burn with beauty."