The Troll (18 page)

“
I’m
not going to kill you Troll.”

“
You
can’t just go back,” The Troll said. “You’re
in this too. They’ll want to know where you were and what you
did.”

“
I
will talk to The Moderator for you. I’ll tell them you tried to
help us until the end.”

“
I’m
not opening the door and I’m not sliding you the keys.”

“
Then
we both die here.”

The
words hung in the air and The Troll seriously considered. Stalling
forever would inevitably kill them. The only way through the door was
to find a way to trust The Acrobat. He’d considered sneaking
through while The Acrobat slept, but The Acrobat knew he would and
slept light, waking up at every noise. They would either leave
together or not at all, and if they left together, The Troll didn’t
know if he’d leave the building at all.

They
spent the next hour in silence and The Troll reflected on the events
since The Chameleon entered his life. For the first time since it all
began, he began wondering why he of all people really stood out. He’d
always assumed there were plenty of Trolls on the boards but he’d
never known he was the best of them. Iris had been wrong about him
though. She knew that now. What she’d needed all along was
someone like The Guide. He hoped they’d live and find a way to
be content with whatever happened. Vegas would never happen. It had
never been in the cards. Not for him or anyone else, but they were
survivors. They had that stubborn way about them—the same
stubborn he’d fooled them into thinking he had. If he ever got
out of the cell, he wondered if he could ever re-establish his
persona. Would the users on the boards know he was the same troll
picked to restore life before Psi? If so, his trolling days would be
over. They likely already were.

As
his eyelids grew heavy, he wondered if this would be the time he
wouldn’t wake up. It would happen eventually. Maybe in a week.
Maybe two. One day, he just wouldn’t wake up. It wasn’t
such a bad way to go. He’d probably never know it when it
happened, but he wasn’t prepared. What he wanted was a cake, or
an apple, or a glass of water…

He
began to close his eyes, but was shaken awake by a flicker of light
that suddenly turned into a screen that covered the wall. Outside,
screens lit up in the sky and all over in the distance. The Moderator
was transmitting a signal and apparently the message was something
for everyone to see. The sky filled with screens and the countdown to
broadcast began.

He
turned to The Acrobat with a raised eyebrow and The Acrobat struggled
to his feet, equally curious.

The
Moderator suddenly appeared on the screen, a pleased smile plastered
to his face.

“
Hello
world,” he said with a pleasant smile. His neck twitched and he
took a deep breath. “As you know, at the trial of The criminal
known as The Surfer, I was challenged by a faceless enemy known as
Iris. This Iris made the claim that Psi was unpopular with the masses
and that any chosen citizen would prove this by using what we have
called Rainbow to where it can destroy Psi forever. The claim came
with a strong assumption. The assumption was that people would gather
together and the population would collectively bring Rainbow to its
destination and destroy Psi. Of course, we at Circular Prime see a
better world—a world without crime—restrictions that have
created peace and deprived society of material things that at one
time became gods to everyone.

I
am not a fool though. Understandably, some of these things are
missed. Surely, you must remember going to movies and watching
television and buying CDs and driving cars and flying in planes. I
apologize to those of you who reflect on these memories fondly, but I
want to remind you that it was conveniences—shortcuts in
life—that led people to consume until consumption became more
important than relationships. One thing I have never forbidden has
been relationships.

We
all lost something when Psi created order. It was necessary to…reboot
so to speak. If I could have found a way for Psi to act more
immediately, I would have. I lost my wife…my daughter…”

The
Troll frowned, studying The Moderator’s face as he spoke,
trying to find in his eyes a tear, or any kind of sadness.

“
I
wish things had been different, but we needed order and we needed it
fast. Psi allowed me to see the habits of the population that are
invisible when you live among each other. You wouldn’t believe
how many of you were living amongst active serial killers, child
molesters, rapists, common criminals… They were everywhere,
and no one was safe. I can tell you with one hundred percent
certainty that you are all safe now. With Psi, I was granted the
ability to see horrendous motives and I have been able to monitor and
prevent awful things from happening before they happen. For these
criminals, there was no judge or jury, no politics or paperwork. A
man kills another man, and I shut him down. It's that simple, and it
has deterred violence for quite some time. How long has it been since
you've needed to lock your doors?

This
ability has come at a great cost, but one day when the population has
reached its new high, and it is filled with decent people who love
one another and not the newest computer or automobile, you will all
fully understand what my motivation has always been.”

His
smile faded and suddenly The Moderator was serious.

“
However…,”
he continued, “…let’s talk about The Troll and the
journey he was tasked with. The Troll proved to me that the
population was not against Psi. The first thing he did was give
Rainbow to someone else to carry out his responsibility like a
coward. This candidate has been captured along with the criminal
known as Iris. They are being held in Heritage Square in what was
once Illinois and will be executed tomorrow at sun up for their
crimes and Rainbow will be destroyed as a symbol to you—that
the sun
will never set
without Psi.

That
leaves one loose end: The Troll.

He
has committed crimes of which he will need to pay for. We would like
to have him in Heritage Square tomorrow morning as well. The
captures, and my dear friends, credited with the capture of Iris and
a man who goes by the name Guide, are The Coach and The Mortician.
The Pilot also had a large hand in the search and seizure. I will
allow them the opportunity to punish them by whatever means they
choose. The event will not be televised due to the possible nature of
the punishment.

I
would like The Troll to be alongside these criminals. I’m sure
he is watching right now…”

The
Troll’s face was blank. At the bounty hunter dinner, he
declined to speak out against The Moderator, but suddenly he wished
he had. It might have been his one chance to expose him in some
way—to troll the man who wanted him dead.

“…
Troll…you
have until tomorrow morning to reveal yourself. It is my
understanding that you have stolen a transmitter from Circular Prime.
You may use this transmitter to give your location up. If you do not
surrender to the world before Iris and Guide are executed, I will use
Psi to deactivate ten percent of the population and if that happens,
their blood is on your hands.

I
apologize to those of you who this will impact, but the only way to
maintain the peace we’ve sacrificed so much for is to be firm
and enforce zero tolerance for those who try to take it away. I do
hope I will not be forced to take such actions and I ask of you
Troll: Reveal yourself. When you surrendered Rainbow to another, you
failed the challenge. You have until sun up.”

The
broadcast ended and The Troll stared at where the screen had been for
a long moment, his mouth wide open. He turned to The Acrobat, who was
seemingly distraught by it. Their eyes met.

“
Looks
like you have some choices to make,” The Acrobat said. “You’d
be wise to transmit at this point.”

“
Yeah…”
The Troll said, but remained in his own head, trying to digest
everything he’d heard. “We have to go,” he finally
said.

“
What’s
that mean?”

“
If
I transmit, they will kill Iris and The Guide and all those other
people.”

“
Not
if you turn yourself in.”

“
But
then what?” The Troll asked. “They’d still kill
Iris and The Guide. They’d probably kill me. I…”
he trailed off, uncertain of what to do.

“
Do
you think you have another option?”

“
I
want Rainbow back. I want to try again.”

“
Not
an option.”

“
I
failed because I gave up Rainbow. What if we get it back?”

“
What
do you mean we? There’s no ‘we’ Troll.”

“
Yeah,
there is. Because you don’t like when The Moderator punishes
people like this. You don’t want him to kill one in ten of
what’s left.”

“
What
is this to you? How is it that you’ve never cared about this
and now suddenly you do?”

“
For
the same reason that a decent guy like you can live in Chicago,”
The Troll said, “Among The Moderator and all those other guys.
Because you detached yourself from what you all did. You justified it
by looking at how the world improved and disowned the fact that you
killed billions of people.”

“
I
didn’t kill anyone.”

“
You
see? Exactly!” The Troll said. “You disown it
because
you didn’t push the button, but where was your opposing voice
when The Moderator did it? I don’t speak out against it because
I didn’t commit the crime. We’re all safe as long as
we’re not the ones with our fingers on the buttons. We can say
“I didn’t do it” all day long, but we didn’t
stop it either.”

“
You
have no idea what you’re saying Troll.”

“
When
Psi first took over, I was as pissed off as everyone else. I was a
troll before Psi and I initially trolled it too. I was one post into
ripping into The Moderator’s character when my screen went
blank and my head suddenly felt a stinging burning sensation. I
thought I was going to die and I might have been moments away, but
suddenly it stopped. My computer came back on and the words “Too
far…Never again…” were displayed on my screen.
They were then deleted and never came back. I was warned, and so I
never did it again and adapted like everyone else. And yeah, I saw
the good that came of it all, but we’ve all forgotten what it
was like at first and how much pain it caused, and the good that came
out of it was just an unintended effect and we used that effect to
stand up for The Moderator and call it noble because to call it
anything else meant we would just be killed by him. And I don’t
regret that I never spoke out again because I wouldn’t have
lived
another day if I
had, but we can’t pretend like he’s a great man and that
he’s doing what he does to keep the peace. He’s going to
kill ten percent of the world and this
time,
it will be on our heads Acrobat. This time, in this moment, there are
two people in the world that can stop this from happening. He will be
the one that pushes the button, but if we don't do anything, it's our
fault too”

“
I
agree
,” The Acrobat said.
“All you have to do is transmit.”

“
And
tomorrow when I’m dead, he’ll find a new reason
to
kill a bunch of people. And next week. And a month later. And you
will be eating well and you will know you could have stopped it.”

“
There
is no way to stop it.”

“
Maybe
not, but that’s not good enough right now.”

“
What
are you proposing Troll?”

“
We
get to Heritage Square, help Iris and The Guide get away with
Rainbow, and I’ll turn myself in. Maybe he won’t kill all
those people and maybe they can get to Vegas. I don’t know, but
here’s the deal Acrobat…I’m opening this door and
I’m walking through your cell. I really hope you don’t
kill me and I really hope you don’t take me and turn me in. I
can’t fight you. I already know that. But I’m begging you
to just get me there. Let me try to reason with the Moderator.”

They
stared at each other for a long time, The Acrobat contemplating his
words. Finally, The Acrobat took a step back, allowing The Troll the
space he needed to unlock the cell door between them. The Troll never
took his eyes off The Acrobat as he stepped forward and slowly turned
the key.

The
door slowly swung open and The Troll stepped into their cell. The
Acrobat stood still, waiting for him to open the last door to
freedom.

“
Are
you going to help me?” The Troll asked.