INTERFERENCE (A Short Novel)

X. The Shift

X. The Shift

 

“Do you believe all that?” Jeremy asked Clifford.

Clifford scratched his sideburns. “I… guess.”

Jeremy shook his head as if trying to clear his vision. “For all we know, we might have been talking to an AI program from some spacelab or something…”

“I don’t think so, Jer. You see, Alizé exhibited some… uh… complex human behavior that can’t be seen in computers. I don’t know, man. Maybe it’s time to reassess our perspectives. Paradigm shift, Jer.”

“Paradigm shift.”

“Yeah. Alizé could be ‘the real deal’, man.”

Jeremy fell silent, lost in reverie. After a minute, he said “What do we do now?”

Clifford glanced nervously at the ceiling, as if anticipating to see an entity to loom over him anytime soon. “I really don’t know, Jer. Maybe I should start going to church on Sundays. Something like that. I have a lot of praying to keep up to. How ‘bout you?”

Jeremy closed his eyes. “Maybe I should go tell my boss that God is real, and that he will burn in hell for being such a dick.” He opened his eyes. “And then I’ll tell him to shove his damn phone up his gay ass.”

Clifford smiled. “That’s the spirit, bud.”

“But that’s just an option. I still need a job. My job.”

Clifford clucked. “What’s the other option? Go to your boss, apologize, get charged with more than a thousand bucks, feel crappy. The choice is yours.”

“Well, like you’ve said, we can always make a third option. And now, I have a third option to think about.”

Clifford flexed his arms. “That was the longest three hours of my life. Should we call it a night?”

“I’d like to know more about Alizé and all those things that she mentioned, but it’s already past eleven so… I guess I better be going.”

“Good. Because I have something to do.”

“Online games, eh?”

“Nah. I’m going to write a blog. About… this. About Alizé. About her revelations. I think we should warn the world about the consequences of our abuse of power; our hunger for knowledge.”

“Wow. That’s nice of you, Cliff.”

“Been a sinner all my life. It’s the least I can do.”

Jeremy dampened his lips. “Do you think people will believe you? I mean… it’s not everyday news that some random guys get an epiphany from an evolutionist angel with an ADHD.”

“And a knack for all things Japanese,” Clifford added with a smile. He shrugged. “But… I dunno. I guess I’d keep this experience to myself, and share Alizé’s message to the world. Everybody needs to hear that.”

Jeremy beamed. “Yes. We all do.”

The old pals gave each other a half-hug. Jeremy then picked up the phone from Clifford’s desk. He was heading for the door when he turned around and paused.

“Do you think I should call Alizé again?”

Clifford’s face grimaced. “She was clear about the ‘never calling her again’ part.”

“But I’ve got so many things to know, so many questions to ask. What hurt can a single call make anyway?”

Clifford looked him in the eye without an expression on his face. “The choice is yours, man.”

Jeremy pressed the call button.