A.I. Evolution: The Fall of Lucien

Chapter 5

Will and I climb into the back seat of the car, as Smit takes the wheel leaving Henri to slide into the front seat, where he can keep an eye on the vehicles and pedestrians up ahead of us. We pull away from the curb and are soon flying down the main highway to Vatican City. The last couple of miles are through city streets as I look to the architecture and people going about their day to day business, committing everything to memory, so I can keep a mental report of everything I see, hear and feel.

We seem to be traveling down less used side streets instead of the main thoroughfares, which I suspect is another one of Smit's safety measures, when suddenly he slams on the breaks, throwing me forward into my seat-belt. The car comes to a halt and Henri is out the door before it fully stops, with his revolver out and pointing it at the buildings around us. Will has his body covering mine just in case it is a set up, but I sense no malice from anybody nearby.

Smit is dashing to the front of the car, and as I undo my seat-belt and stand up in the back on the seat, looking over Will, who has his eyes glued to Henri waiting for the all clear signal. I see Smit stand up holding the hand of a small girl who had run out into the street in front of us.

Henri has his revolver pointed at a man in a clinical coat, who has his hands up and out in front of him, obviously pleading for his life at the sight of the gun pointed at his head. "Please, please, my name is Doctor Frem. I am not a criminal. The little girl escaped from the institution that I oversee. I was just trying to return her to her home."

Smit has led the small girl by the hand over to the edge of the curb and kneels, so he can talk to her. "Is this true?" he asks her.

She looks to him blankly for a second before turning her attention to the back of the car where I am sitting. She raises her right hand and points directly at me even though she could not possibly see me from where she is looking.

I concentrate on her and can feel the confusion of her thoughts as they start to organize themselves and settle into a normal state. I sense her wonder at the changes in her mind, but I don't feel any malice from her and reach for the door handle to exit the car. Will reaches out to take my arm and prevent me from leaving the safety of the vehicle, but I turn to him and look him seriously in the eyes. "There is no threat here." I had used some force of mind to accent my words to get my point across and he immediately releases my arm.

I climb out of the back of the vehicle and walk the short distance to Smit and the girl. She is about the same age as I am and the look of wonder on her face is more than evident by the fact that her jaw hanging down, and the wide-open eyes staring at him. She releases Smit's hand from hers and kneels in the street before me with her hands clasped behind her. "My name is Lucille. Thank you for stopping the noise in my head."

"You're welcome. My name is Lucien, and you don't need to kneel before me."

Lucille looks up to me. "But I do, because I know who you are. I have dreamed of you coming since I was very young. I knew that you would save me and many others when you finally arrived. Please come to my home and see the others who have been cured of their affliction."

I look up to Henri, who is stunned by Lucille's admission. He looks to Will and then to Smit who both shrug their shoulders at him. He then turns to Doctor Frem, who is staring at Lucille. "Doctor is your clinic close?"

Doctor Frem eventually turns to face him, and then points to the building right behind him. "It is right here. There is the sign is above the door."

Smit looks up above the solid wood double doors to the sign printed with the name of the institution on it. Santa Maria Clinic for the Unfortunate.

Lucille has already started towards the door and I feel compelled to follow her inside. Doctor Frem follows close behind her as Henri and Will walk behind me as I follow Doctor Frem. Smit stops at the doorway and takes up a defensive position.

Inside is a flurry of excitement as an older nurse rushes up to Doctor Frem. "Harold, what is happening?"

"What do you mean?" asks Doctor Frem.

"All the patients are calm and asking for someone called Lucille. They are all acting completely normal, even Alice is sitting up, smoothing her hair with her fingers."

Doctor Frem places his hand proudly on Lucille's shoulder in front of him. "Marjorie, may I introduce Lucille. She ran out to meet Lucien here, who is being guarded by these two gentlemen and another outside who I think is the commander of the Swiss Guard at Vatican City."

Marjorie looks from one to the other before settling on Lucille, and smiles. "We never did know your name. There was nobody to tell us who you were when you were found in the streets so long ago."

Lucille looks up at her. "My name is the only thing I remember other than the noise that filled my head. All other thoughts had been wiped out by the noise, which is now gone, thanks to Lucien."

Marjorie looks to me and then to Doctor Frem. "I don't understand. How could this young man cause such a change in all the patients here in the clinic?"

Doctor Frem turns to me imploringly. "How did you do this?"

I look to Will and Henri for advice, as Henri speaks up. "Lucien has some special mental abilities, and he has a meeting with Pope Pius tomorrow afternoon to discuss his unique ability."

Marjorie covers her mouth with her hand and backs up slightly. "It's him. The one Saint Christopher spoke of. I was there in Saint Peter's Basilica when he proclaimed the coming of the savior."

Other workers had arrived to see what was happening in the main foyer, and are also staring at me, unable to move as this information settles into their minds. Smit enters from the front door, overly excited. "I think it is time for us to leave, a crowd is starting to gather outside in the street."

Henri goes into protective mode again and takes my hand roughly, leading me from the room as more workers and former patients gather behind Doctor Frem and Marjorie. Will has moved behind me to block their view of me and together as one we rush out the door of the clinic.

The crowd is swelling around the car as Henri opens the door and climbs in the back with me. Smit is already in and getting the engine going as Will jumps in the front. The car is moving before Will has his door closed and we just manage to make our escape as the crowd thickens.

Henri looks out the back window before calling forward. "How close are we to Vatican City?"

"Another two blocks," calls out Smit, as he guns the engine around a corner, and heads down the street. I can see the entrance at the border of the city straight ahead of us now, which is being loosely patrolled by a couple of Swiss Guards who recognize their Commander right away.

Smit slows down just long enough to yell out the window at the one on the left. "Notify the Sub Commanders that I have returned with the package and that we had some trouble just outside the City. Tell Rafael Donatello that we need to limit access to the City until further notice."

"Right away," calls back the colorfully dressed guard.

Smit wastes no time getting to the Apostolic Palace and the Royal Quarters that have been prepared for us. I sit in the back and grow increasingly apprehensive about the people's reaction after seeing me, and finding out who I am.