Mark McGinnis - The Simpleton

Cuddy could see the sadness on the alien’s face. “What happened to them?”

“The last of the Kartinals are gone. Massacred many years ago… but their essences were added to the heritage pod. At least, that is something.”

“Well… maybe you can you teach me to move things with my mind, too?”

“Maybe, but I don’t think your physiology would support…” he cut himself short. “We’ll see, Cuddy. But now back to my question. Do you feel I have gone too far… repairing your disability?”

Cuddy could see that the question was important to Tow by the concern on his face. That he was having second thoughts—some doubt. “You have done a good thing, Tow, I promise. A really… really… good thing.” Cuddy smiled and Tow smiled back.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course, Cuddy, anything.”

Cuddy looked up at the colorful sky. “Does what’s happening up in the sky have anything to do with you?”

“Indirectly, yes, Cuddy,” Tow said, gazing up at the beautiful spectacle above the treetops. “I did not come here alone. I was pursued by three other spacecraft. By other aliens.”

“Do they look like you… or maybe like me?”

“Neither. They are larger and covered with fur… like Rufus over there. And they are not friendly. In fact, they want to destroy the Evermore , me, and what lies within the lower deck of the ship.”

“How come?”

“Their beliefs are complicated, Cuddy. For them, there is no room for both the Pashier and the Howsh to exist together in the universe. To exist anywhere.”

“That is what they are called… the Howsh?”

“Yes, that is right.”

“Then we should figure out a way to strike them first.”

“That is not our way, Cuddy. It’s not the way of the Pashier. We are pacifists. Do you know what that means?”

“No… not really.”

“It means we do not use violence to resolve issues.”

Cuddy seemed to consider that, then said, “Well, I’m not a Pashier. I’m a human and I’m pretty sure it’s always been our way to fight back when others are out to hurt us.”

Tow, for some unknown reason, found that funny. He laughed out loud, and the more he thought about it the funnier it became. There was so much this savage human didn’t know—didn’t understand—but in an off-handed remark he said something fairly profound. Soon the Howsh would no longer be Tow’s problem for he would be dead, like all the other Pashier. That was inevitable, and the Earth humans would be left to deal with the Howsh alone. He wasn’t justified—passing over a particular ethical reference to pacifism, which was a conscious decision made by his people over millennia. One they were willing to adhere to even though it led to their eventual demise. The humans were free to act as they saw fit in their own world.

Tow, after regaining his composure, said, “I apologize. You said something that struck me as funny.”

“It’s fun to laugh. I laugh all the time,” Cuddy said, looking at something over and beyond Tow’s shoulder.

Tow turned to find the AI orb hovering within the open hatchway and his first reaction was immediate irritation. Until then, Tow hadn’t shared the outside world with this hovering artificial intelligence orb, and he didn’t wish to do so now. He didn’t want to corrupt this beautiful place with the cold, calculating machine.

“Proceed no further, AI. Tell me what you want.”

Tow listened to the orb’s reply before dismissing it with the wave of a hand and turning his attention back to Cuddy.

Wide-eyed, Cuddy asked, “Was that a robot?”

“Of sorts.”

“I heard you talk to it but I didn’t hear it talk back to you.”

“Yes… well, that was another ability the Pashier developed over many years. The capability to converse or command non-organic beings by using only our thought… like I just did with that AI orb. Based on Earth’s evolutionary progression, the same ability will probably present itself to humans over the next one hundred years.”

Cuddy only nodded.

There was so much for this human to digest in such a short period of time. But Tow did feel less guilty now since Cuddy seemed surprisingly well adjusted to his new, altered state of beingness.

“Will the Howsh hurt us?”

“Maybe. I am truly sorry. It is my fault… I led them here.”

“But when you leave, they’ll follow you. Right?”

“Cuddy… I am sick. I am dying. I have a terrible disease caused by the Howsh. I may not live long enough to—” Tow stopped speaking, seeing tears stream down Cuddy’s cheeks. He was taken by surprise; causing the human such distress was the last thing he wanted, and guilt over what he had done returned. “I am sorry, Cuddy. I probably shouldn’t have informed you in such a casual manner.”

Cuddy wiped his runny nose on the back of his sleeve, then lowered down to the dog and wrapped his arms around him. Burying his face in the animal’s fur, he seemed to find comfort there. The sadness of the entire situation became less abstract to Tow at that moment and he too felt himself become emotional. Placing a comforting hand on Cuddy’s shoulder, he said, “I’m so sorry, Cuddy.”

Tow watched the dog lick tears off Cuddy’s face and thought about the brief time Cuddy had spent within the wellness chamber. Though some remarkable things had been accomplished, this human, clearly, still had farther to go. Remembering Cuddy’s actual age was nineteen in human chronological terms, Tow surmised he was now, both mentally and emotionally, somewhere around twelve or thirteen years of age, up from age seven.

The orb roved back into view within the open hatchway and hovering there, said, “The humans have a saying— in for a penny, in for a pound. I suggest the human spend additional time within the wellness chamber.”

Cuddy wanted to bring Rufus into the wellness chamber along with him, relaying the fact that Rufus, too, had recently been injured, but Tow would not allow it. He also said he would not be joining Cuddy this time since there was a limit to the amount of time anyone could undergo such treatment. So now Cuddy sat in the chamber alone.

Cuddy’s thoughts wandered back to early that morning when, eating breakfast, he’d purposely acted dumb—like how he was before meeting Tow. Why did I do that? He suspected it was because he felt he’d done something wrong. That he was not supposed to be like other people—wasn’t intended to be smart—and wondered if Momma would still love him in the same way. Cuddy’s thoughts then turned to Jackie, who’d spent the night. Momma had put sheets on the family room couch and Kyle gave her a big T-shirt to sleep in. Cuddy didn’t like the way Kyle looked at her. Has he always looked at her that way ? He suspected so, but Jackie had ignored Kyle—was looking at him instead with the same narrowing of eyes. Like she was trying to puzzle something out. Jackie was the smartest person he knew—next to Tow.

Ten minutes into the session, Cuddy was thinking with far more clarity than he could ever remember. He looked about the curved enclosure—the soft surfaces within the sterile chamber—and took in the blinking, multi-colored lights on the control panel that were positioned midway up and to the right of the entrance hatch. Wondering what parameters Tow had set for him to undergo, he then puzzled about the word itself… parameters . How he knew what that word meant. It occurred to him that he’d heard Tow use the word earlier and now Cuddy made the mental correlation that it meant something similar to the word settings .