by Roy Malton

Created on: November 05, 2008

For hours, he sat in the dark, hunched over the computer terminal in his vast laboratory. His wizened face glowed with blue neon from the hologram screen he worked at, his gray-streaked hair an eerie electric color. He continued for a moment, his keystrokes silent against the virtual keyboard. Cocking his head to the side, he sat back in his chair, then grimaced as a lightning storm raged in his spine. For a moment, he thought of Elise.

He could almost hear her, "Eramis, you shouldn't sit bent over that computer like you do. You'll pay for it later on."

She had been right about that much.

"Why can't you stop fiddling with that thing and come down for dinner?"

He fingered his wedding ring idly, his mission momentarily fogged by the memory of his late wife. She had meant well, but never really understood the big picture.

He forced back his tears, closing his eyes tightly. He would not cry for her again. He had cried when the doctors had told him that her disease-ridden body would bear him no progeny. He had cried when her health was shattered after the doctors had said that she would make a full recovery. He had cried when the years finally had taken her from him, even though he had known it had been a long time coming. He would cry no more.

After a time, he was once again hunched over his work, his fingers working with all the wild vigor of his long-past youth. Soon enough, the pain in his back, as well as that beneath his ribs, was forgotten, lost in the ecstasy of creation. His mind was numb, working tirelessly through the coded strings of logic which he so revered, constructing pearly strings of connection for mathematical equations others could nary even grasp with any true comprehension.

He reveled in the static reality of his computer programs. It was all very calming for him. He wrote a section of his script, then tested it. A bug? Not a problem, toy with it for a minute and voila! If only all life could be lived on the terms of a computer system. As it stood now, he no longer needed to eat or sleep, those needs provided by intravenous vitamins and artificial energy replacement from the nanomachines his body was saturated with. He was almost there, and now he could work continuously until the opus of his creation was at fruition.

Once again, he was haunted by his wife's voice. "Eramis, put that thing away. We're running out of time."

He shook his head, a hint of a smile creeping onto his lips. He had nothing but time. The smile slowly curved downward to a frown

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