In yesterday's episode Adam woke up in a XenTek medical facility with, Marcus, the security guard XenTek operatives mistakenly kidnapped from twenty years in the future. Marcus shared some horrific details of the state of the world and quality of life in his own time. At the end of yesterday’s episode Marcus also hinted of the major role the future Adam Harkin plays in bringing this horrific world about.
Adam felt confused and disgusted that he could have possibly contributed to the misery of Marcus' time. He’s smart enough to understand he must do everything in his power to change this timeline. Today, Adam and Marcus are presented with a hard fork in the road. The plot will begin to take a major turn depending upon which direction they choose.
Hold onto your seats and I hope you enjoy today’s episode of Alarm Clock Dawn!
Adam was stunned. “Green communities?”
Marcus laughed. “Oh right, I keep forgetting. That little detail hasn't happened yet, either. Forgive me, I'm not used to this time travel business.” The guard paused to reflect, and Adam watched as his eyes grew angry. “I'd say about eight or so years ago Director Busby and his second in command, Dr. Harkin, announced their idea of consolidating everyone who had achieved the 'Green' credit status, separating them from the rest of society.”
“Wait...did you say Director Busby and DR. HARKIN?”
“Yeah, the CEO of XenTek and his weasel of a right hand man. They call him the ‘The Architect.’ Together, these two rule the entire sorry world. Dr. Harkin published this bestseller called ‘A New Prosperity’ that sold the whole idea that the Greens needed to separate themselves entirely from the rest of society. This book paved the way for Green communities and brought both narcissism and consumerism to a whole new level. As I was saying, Dr. Harkin said in his book that we Greens deserved a safer environment where we could fully enjoy the prestige and privilege we worked so hard to achieve. He said the world was becoming a much too dangerous place for good and responsible consumers. The book was classic propaganda full of half truths and flattery. Looking back, we were all so easy to deceive. They just made it so easy to believe.”
Adam could hardly comprehend what he was hearing, and the prospect that his future self played a role in it sickened him.
“It took a couple of years,” Marcus continued, “but eventually a majority of the Greens separated themselves from everyone else. We were all contained in this homogenous environment where all the inhabitants could focus on one thing, acquiring more stuff. The Greens are blind to the realities of the world. XenTek has built close to forty of these massive self-contained cities throughout the world.”
“In truth, they're massive storm-proof concrete and glass domes, secure fortresses surrounded by several impenetrable layers of security, but their occupants live in the very height of luxury. Like mammoth cruise ships floating on a sea of chaos while the world around them continues in misery, crumbling around them. By law, they aren't allowed to associate with anyone but other Greens. Because of this I haven't been able to see my family in years, ever since my credit score fell and the government labeled me Orange. It's a mistake. This is all a crime against humanity the way they're placing people into these categories, breaking up families, but I guess it doesn’t matter now. It's far too late to change anything.”
Adam's heart jumped as the doors of the lab slid open. He instinctively let his body go limp and closed his eyes, pretending to still be unconscious.
As the medical technicians got on either side of Marcus, one took out a thick syringe, turning it upside down and flicking a drop of clear liquid off of the tip of the long needle. “Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit. When you wake up you'll be back in your old familiar surroundings. It’ll be like this all never happened.”
“Please, I’ll do anything. Just let me stay here. You don't have to send me back. I will help you in any way I can, just don't send me back to my time!”
“I'm sorry, we have strict orders from the director himself,” one of the technicians answered, his voice muffled from the surgical mask he wore over his mouth.
Adam just lay there, much too afraid to open his eyes. After what Marcus had just told him, he felt as though all the oxygen had been sucked from the room and desperation eclipsed his soul. How could the future Adam Harkin have anything to do with something so sinister? More urgently, what would happen if Marcus found out who he was?
The medical technician rolled up the sleeve of Marcus' gown. The technician on the other side of him quickly ripped open a foil pack. The pungent smell of isopropyl alcohol burned Adam's nostrils as the technician quickly dabbed a small area of Marcus' arm with the small cotton pad.
Adam barely opened one eye and just as the needle was about to puncture his arm Marcus sprung up like a lightening bolt. In one fluid motion he balled up his fists and forced both massive arms upwards with all of his strength, snapping the thick restraints like thin rubber bands. His hammer-like fists continued their upward arc until each met their target, the faces of the bewildered medical technicians. Adam watched with a mixture of fear and awe as both technicians dropped to the floor simultaneously.
“Adam, get up!” Marcus yelled as he unstrapped his legs and rubbed his fist. “We have to go. You're going to help me get out of here.”
Marcus quickly undressed one of the unconscious technicians and threw Adam's neatly folded pants and shirt towards him. He grabbed Adam's arm, pulling him off the table.
“Put your clothes on as fast as you can and put the gown on over them.” Marcus said, as he suited up in the scrubs and grabbed a box of scalpels from the table. “Come on, hurry up! We need to find a way out of here. I'll die before they send me back.”
After the picture Marcus had painted of the future and the ghastly role he was to play in it, Adam felt his usual uneasiness multiply tenfold. It was as though he was pushed over the edge of the cliff that he had been thinking of jumping from for what seemed like an eternity.
In this, his virtual free fall, an uneasy mixture of helplessness and desperation, washed over him. It then became clear that if he wished to change history he needed to alter the course of his own life. Every fiber in his being was telling Adam that the decision he was about to make would drastically change something that was much larger and more important than his own life.
“Okay, we need to move. If XenTek security is as efficient as they are in my time, every second is going to count.” Marcus grabbed Adam's arm, dragging him towards the door.
“W-w-wait!” Adam cried out, wincing in pain as he ran his fingers across the bump on his head. “If we're going to get out of here, we're going to have to really think this through. Do you have a C.ID card?”
Marcus said nothing but pointed to the white plastic card clipped to the outside pocket of the green scrubs he had just put on.
Adam nodded once. “Whatever you do, k-k-keep that card close. P-p-put on one of these surgical masks. It'll hide your face.”
Marcus handed Adam a scalpel. “If things get ugly you may need this blade. Now hop aboard,” Marcus said, gesturing toward an empty wheelchair.
“Let’s get out of here.”
Alarm Clock Dawn is the first novel of a trilogy. The sequel entitled, Truth Is Stranger, will be published in the Spring of 2017.
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