1984

1984 by George Orwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some people think that George Orwell got everything right, just missed the date by 30 years (that it should be 2014). I'm here to tell you that that is false and ridiculous. How could anyone ever believe that? First of all, this is complete science fiction. I mean, look at the technology in the book. It's all based on spying on you. There are TVs that look back at you. As if that were possible. (By the way, did you hear about the awesome Xbox One, where the Kinect can monitor your heartbeat, hands, and eyes? They say it needs to connect to the internet every 24 hours, as well, I guess for updates or things like that. Surely not to upload your data. We know we can trust this, because it's made by Microsoft, a good ol' American company.) In the book, there's also microphones everywhere, capturing your conversations. Lining the streets and country with microphones would be impossible, and would catch all the noise that wasn't wanted, like footsteps and crickets. If only people used devices to talk into, that would make recording conversations much easier. Now, aside from technology, it would be impossible for our government to ever be so corrupt and untransparent. There's no way we would listen to political messages that told us everything was ok, things were getting better, and try to indoctrinate us to their side. Plus, we have two political parties, they only had one. For us to revert to only one, the one in power would have to abuse that power to supress the other side. That would never happen. Orwell got it wrong in that he completely missed the internet, where we can speak out and do whatever we want anonymously, and no one would ever collect data on what we do with the internet in order to monitor conversations or try to sell us stuff. Nope, I know I'm safe with Facebook. And we all know that if we found out the government was spying on us, we would never tolerate it. For that to happen, some big event, a disaster, would have to strike terror in our hearts, and then maybe the government would step in, supposedly for our safety. But nothing like that has happened, nor will it, since we all love each other and everyone loves the United States. I hope you all realize that this book is obsolete and doesn't even deserve mention anymore, as Orwell got everything wrong. We all know our biggest threat is a Korean man who has nuclear missiles, and our government is doing everything they can to stop him.
Please leave comments on this post. At the very least, let the NSA agent who's monitoring you while you read this know you recognize his hard work and dedication.
Not doing so would be rude.

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Immortality

We live in a temporary world. Nothing we do is permanent. When asked to come up with a statement that would be all encompassing by an ancient king, his counselors told him "This too shall pass." People live, die, and are forgotten in time. Kingdoms thrive and then fall. Castles erected, standing against thousands of soldiers, but are driven to the ground by the wind and the rain. Even the earth will eventually be swallowed up by the sun, which will burn out and be swallowed by a black hole. People used to believe the universe had always existed, but were ever searching for a beginning and an end, so scientists eventually came up with the big bang theory, and are trying to figure out how it will end, whether in a big drifting apart or a big recyclable crunch. Everything that has a beginning has an end.
Faced with this pessimistic prospect, many story tellers try to counter it with tales of eternity and immortality. Tolkien's elves were immortal, only dying by the sword. The Greek gods were immortal, and sometimes were referred to by that name. Primal forces could be harnessed, and eternal magic used. Heroes left behind legacies that never would be forgotten.  But even in these stories, immortality could never be comprehended. The elves retired to the west. The gods had enemies that threatened their rule, the titans. Magic is forgotten, as well as the legacy of a hero. Immortality is against nature, and so it is never taken to its full extent. In fact, most people would balk at immortality, fearing they would grow tired of it, while simultaneously fearing death and the end it brings.
Of course, religion goes into immortality as well, but from a different approach. It usually says our spirits, the intelligence within us, never dies, but once the body dies, goes to another plane, higher than this temporary universe. Heaven, where God, who always existed, lives. There, our minds would be unlocked and be able to comprehend immortality, eternity, and infinity. But here in mortality, these words have little meaning when people are dying every day, through war, murder, sickness, and age.
Fantasy and, to a smaller extent, science fiction, are the only media to explore immortals among us. If you're religious, immortality exists on another plane, like I said, and is separate from our everyday existence. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it just means its not something we experience in this life (unless an angel comes and talks to you). But elves (Tolkien's elves were actually based more on angels than Santa's helpers) and other magical races are roads to exploring the concept, as much as our minds will permit. How would it be to be immortal?
What is the price needed to pay for immortality? Normally, we assume that we wouldn't age, but one Greek myth has a man who wished for immortality get that gift, but without eternal youth, and he kept aging. Some witches suck the youth from pretty victims to keep from aging. Vampires kill humans and animals to keep enough blood to survive. Some make pacts with the devil, losing their immortal soul for immortality in the flesh (which usually turns against them in the end). Can science cure death? Sounds nice if it ever happens, but what about all the people who died before? I don't think science will ever be able to bring back people from the dead, especially those who died years and years ago.
If you have a group that lives forever, like the elves, how would the others, like the humans, react to them? Jealousy is probably a big factor. "How come they were born to live forever and not me? Why didn't I have elves for parents?" Even the half elves would be resentful that their immortal parent didn't hook up with another. People might kill elves just to show them they do have some mortality in them.
What do immortals do with their time? Would they ever get tired? Bored? Once they learn everything they can, what next? Or is their mind limited as well and they have to keep relearning things? What would they feel is their purpose in life? Many who are religious believe this life is a test and once done, we'll be judged and if good, go to heaven. Their purpose is to be good for that judgment. But if you never die? You have no heaven to look forward to. What did Bella and Edward do after having their one child in Twilight? They can't have anymore. Do they get sick of each other eventually? If scientists can extend the life of the body, can they extend the life of the mind, fundamentally changing it to accept unending sameness? Or would people go insane and commit suicide? Would immortals be lazy, or hard working?
Right now, death and immortality are hard subjects to contemplate, because we can't imagine living forever and ever, nor can we imagine ceasing to exist. If there is no God, then nature is cruel, giving us intelligence enough to contemplate our own end. If there is, then there is hope, but usually dependent on whether we were good or not. Hopefully God is merciful and won't condemn us to unending suffering. But I wouldn't take the chance, if I were you. In the immortal words of the giant gingerbread man in Shrek 2 as he laying dying in the moat:
Be good

Reblogged from http://sageeyesblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/immortality/

Science Fiction versus Fantasy

These are two different genres that often get lumped together under the genre Speculative Fiction. I know in the library I go browsing and I find Star Wars next to Lord of the Rings. So often, they are together because people think: these are two genres that represent the impossible, so they should be together. I personally think they should be separated, but I can see where they are coming from. So let's define both of these.
Science fiction is usually defined as being grounded in reality and possible in some distant future. Fantasy isn't grounded in reality and admits the possibility of magic and supernatural creatures. Seems like it would be a pretty clear line separating them. In most cases, it is. But not always (of course, no genre is really clearly defined. There can be romantic thrillers or science fiction horrors). I'll go over the melding of these two genres farther down. But first, let's talk about what separates them
Lord of the Rings is fantasy. Someone wielding a gun in middle earth would be totally out of place. Many fantasy authors stop their world's technology growth before guns are invented. It makes it simpler, with swords and sorcery. Often the appeal of these worlds is the simplicity. Aside from unfair taxes and lawyers, the people didn't have to worry about modern problems like insurance, internet, mortages, car registration, subscriptions, paying the electric, gas, water, and heating bills, or voting in elections. Whether these things are improvements or not on life, who knows. But people like to fantasize about living in a simpler world, where going on a quest could make all the difference. Exploration, justice, politics, and religion are all themes explored in fantasy.
Asimov is science fiction. He based his books on what could be extrapolated from current understanding of science and the laws of physics. Exploration, politics, and social consequences of technology are all explored in this genre. It embraces the mortage and bill paying and complicates life even more with robots and space travel. Unfortunately, if you're a purist writer, traveling to other worlds is really limited, as there has been no realistic way suggested, that I know of, to surpass the speed of light. Even theories that haven't been disproven, like using dark energy to create a bubble in space, require so much energy that they would basically be impossible. Hyperspace, the catch all phrase for some way to bypass the speed of light, doesn't really have any explanations either. So much of science fiction is, in a way, fantasy, with guns and spaceships. So the definitions above don't always apply. Just remember this: sci fi deals more with technology, while fantasy deals more with magic. In crossovers, whichever element is emphasized determines the genre.
A perfect example of melding of science fiction and fantasy is an old movie series you might have heard of. Anyone remember Star Wars? Although it first seems very science fiction, there is one element that doesn't have any basis in science (despite George Lucas' attempt to inject it in episode I (Mr. Lucas, please read my post on magic and how it should be full of wonder)). The force changes everything. While subtler than some magic, it is there and plays a big role in the movies, despite Han Solo's attempts to deny it (which is kind of odd, since 20-30 years earlier, the galaxy kept peace through the Jedi and no one seemed to doubt them). So despite being labeled science fiction for space ships and blasters, it has some strong fantasy elements (the force, prophecies, monsters, swords, etc)
I enjoy fantasy more than science fiction, because of the element of wonder, of the existence of the impossible. Science fiction often tries too hard to explain everything. Not to say I don't read science fiction, though. Orson Scott Card is a favorite, including his Ender books. There are others as well, but generally I prefer fantasy. Sometimes, in crossing over between the two genres, it is done well (ironically, aside from Star Wars, the best I've seen in crossovers is in video games, especially the Final Fantasy series). Sometimes, though, I don't really enjoy it much. Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books, though I thought I would like them for having dragons, my favorite animal, but by making it based in science, the books lost their magic for me. Others might not have this problem. It all depends on your tastes and what you like.
For more information, please reference this site.

Reblogged from http://sageeyesblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/science-fiction-versus-fantasy/

First Contact

The grass bent beneath his boots as he stepped outside of the ribbon box. What would it feel like if he went bare foot? Wet? Raspy? Like carpet? Green spread out all around them, welcoming them to the small island. Kaleb took off his helmet and took a whiff of the air. So fresh, so salty. The ocean roared in the distance, jealous of the attention the grass received.
"That's dangerous, you know," his partner Foelhe commented, walking past him.
Kaleb shrugged. "If anything happens to this piece of property, they'll sew me right back up, and probably stick so many needles in my behind, I'll look like one of those…what are they called again?"
"Porcupines."
"Yeah, one of those." He looked around, finally focusing on the sky. Bluer than the ocean. Sure was different than from where he was from. "Think we'll see one of them?"
"Doubt it."
"Stop playing around, you two, we have a mission to fulfill," said Dalin, forty meters away, walking on the beach with his own partner. His voice sounded muffled, coming from the headset inside the helmet Kaleb was carrying. Foelhe shook his head as Kaleb sheepishly put it back on.
The two of them walked in silence until they reached the edge of the water. No sign of threats. Maybe it wasn't so dangerous here as most people thought. It certainly didn't look to be harboring danger. Kaleb watched the ocean steal his footprints from the beach.
"Call down the ATV, this island looks to be uninhabited, but to the northwest, satellites suggest there are people living there. A wonder they never made it to this one." Foelhe tapped something on his wrist. Kaleb did the same, instructing the vehicle to drive over and deposit the boat in the water. He didn't like the rubbery foam molding to his head nor the plastic visor that was fogging up.
A few moments later, they were speeding to the northwest. There were six of them altogether, three companionships. The boat went fast enough to see the next island growing on the horizon, but the fish in the water were dark blurs. Not even the screen in his visor could identify them quickly enough. Governmentally issued, they were.
The ocean stretched out as far as they could see, no less infinite than the stars. Each wave glistened in the sun like a show of lights. Kaleb sighed. What would it be like to immerse himself under that surface, without any body armor on? Opposite the empty vacuum of space, being filled instead of emptied? He couldn't believe he was here; it didn't feel real. So close to a world that touched each sense, yet a barrier that held him back.
Other, larger shapes began swimming after their boats. The shapes couldn't keep up, but it was obvious they were trying. They weren't just fish. Still, the screen couldn't identify them. Either it wasn't advanced enough to cut through the interference of the water, or there was no file archived with information on these creatures.
"What do you think those are?" he asked Foelhe. The only response was a shake of the head within his helmet. The others didn't seem interested either.
Soon they reached the beach, this time not covered in fine sand but in larger pebbles. Some of the rocks seemed sharp enough to cut open his feet, if he ran barefoot. Kaleb stepped out, his feet creating small holes that filled themselves up with rocks and water as soon as he left. His past prints on the world were being erased along with the past. He only existed in the present.
It seemed calm at first, but there was tension in the air, penetrating their helmets. No one said anything, although Foelhe kept his hand at his side, fingers clutching the handle reflexively.
The first sign of intelligent life was a broken spear hidden in the rocks. At first it looked like a wet stick from one of the trees, but the screen pointed out that there was a sharp rock tied to it. It also pointed out that something had urinated on it five hours ago, as well as a multitude of other useless details. But it couldn't tell him what had been following them.
"Is this an accurate level of their technology?" Dalin asked, more to himself. "I wish those up high would have shared the classified with us."
They stood there for a few moments, observing the spear, as if it would suddenly start talking to them. Kaleb felt impatient. There was life out there, waiting for them, but no one could get past the spear and begin contact.
"Come on, Foelhe," he said on the private channel. His partner looked at him wearily, sighed, and started following him to the growth at the edge of the beach. The others glanced at them, but then went back to analyzing the spear.
As soon as he parted the first leaves, longer than his body, the alarms went off in his suit. At first, he thought it was danger in front of him, but after a moment with nothing happening, he realized the danger was behind. Swiveling, he found Foelhe already rushing back to the others. The waves were high, nearly engulfing the ATVs. Strange. Then his screen pointed out the obvious. There were more than five others on the beach with him. There looked to be about ten, with more coming from the sea.
The fish!
These fish had hands, feet, and heads like humans. Except they were blue, with white stomachs and they were covered in fins, including their faces, replacing their hair. Crawling out of the water, they started rising onto their back legs. Some wore basic loin cloths, others nothing, although there didn't seem to be anything to see. A few looked feminine, but it wasn't as obvious as it would be on humans. His screen pulled up close ups of one of the faces. It was smiling, but with the sharpened teeth, the smile looked devious and dangerous. They approached the men with little apparent fear.
One got close to Dalin and spread his arms wide, still with that toothy grin, Dalin raised his gun, but the creature just took hold of it, and shook it, like it was shaking a hand. It was either mocking Dalin, or really playful and innocent. Dalin took it as the former.
"Get away from me, you monster!" he screamed. Kaleb heard it over the channel, but whether the actual creature did, he wasn't certain. Dalin pulled his gun back and aimed it at the blue humanoid.
"No Dalin!," Kaleb yelled. This was not their mission.
Too late. The gun tore a hole right through the light blue abdomen, searing everything the energy touched. The creature collapsed, dead. The others looked horrified. Some jumped back into the sea, others rushed forward to really attack the humans this time. Kaleb found himself running towards them, not sure what he hoped to accomplish.
Foelhe was the next to act, Dalin shocked at what he had done. He shot another of the blue men from afar. It fell back and its twisted bones could be heard from where Kaleb was standing. With the help of his helmet, of course, but that noise haunted him. Foelhe was going to take out another when Kaleb pushed him to the side. They both fell down.
The others with Dalin took aim, hesitantly. The hesitation cost them. Somehow, a large wave reached them, pulling them down to the depths. They let go of their guns and tried scrambling out, but out of the wave came more of the blue things, grabbing them and preventing escape. As long as they had their armor on, they would be all right, but if the creatures found a way to break in, they would drown.
Kaleb watched helplessly as three of them disappeared. Dalin was running, not trained against this type of fear. Foelhe punched Kaleb off of him.
"What are you doing? We have to kill them, or they'll take us down with them."
Kaleb didn't have an answer, but still couldn't allow his companion to slaughter the natives. Their job was to explore, make contact, and set up a friendly base. Killing them all would put an end to that idea, permanently. They might have ended it already.
His visor was full of mud and pebbles, so he tried wiping it clean, but didn't get much off. He did see Foelhe's figure get up, though, and take aim again. "Stop it, Foelhe! We were to make contact, not come as conquerers."
"Maybe these savages need conquerers," Foelhe said. Kaleb imagined him sneering. "We were never going to lower ourselves to their level. We were going to civilize them. Make them in our image. They have nothing they can offer us."
"What about control of the waves? Maybe they could teach us," Kaleb tried to reason.
Foelhe snorted. "They weren't controlling the waves, they saw it rising and swam in it. Now stop annoying me, I have to show them their place."
Kaleb stood up, placing himself between Foelhe and the natives. His back camera showed that the natives stopped chasing Dalin and were looking at him curiously. Maybe he could convince these they came in peace.
"Kaleb, you are making a mistake. I didn't come here to try to learn a language, or make peace offerings to these primitives. I came because it was the only way to get these suits and guns outside of a virtual sim. I want to hunt, and these violent monsters make the perfect practice."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're being recorded, you know."
"And I'm fully justified in everything I do. I doubt the men up top will care enough to listen, anyway." Foelhe waved his gun in Kaleb's direction. Kaleb spread out his arms in protest.
"I am the senior companion," Foelhe said. "You have to obey my orders. So get out of my way."
Kaleb felt his suit struggle to obey, but he quickly overrode it. Foelhe's influence wasn't as complete as he thought.
"Fine. There are natives that want to kill me. You will not let me defeat them myself. So I must use force." With that, he shot Kaleb.
It was a low setting, a warning shot, just stunning him. Fear entered into his mind. Foelhe was more dangerous than any animal on this planet. He had the mind of a killer, but had never had the chance to use it until now.
Foelhe was between Kaleb and the natives. Kaleb tried to focus his attention on himself. "You don't want to do this, we can still make peace."
Looking at him, Foelhe laughed. "You're not going to change me, Kaleb. If you don't want to be a murderer, sticking to some vague principle of rightness, do that. But I am not limited by your moral system."
By then, some of the blue natives had crept up behind Foelhe. They looked ready to attack. Kaleb began to talk to Foelhe again, ready to say anything to distract him, but Foelhe ignored him, turned around, and started blasting the creatures.
The back camera.
The screams would haunt Kaleb's mind for many sleepless nights, if he ever walked away from this. Taking out his own gun, he resolved to stop this. His finger reached the trigger, but the vague principles of rightness made him hesitate. The hesitation cost him, as Foelhe immediately turned around and shot him. This time at full power.
Kaleb breathed, straining. Finally he was able to feel the sand as it crept into his armor, now compromised. His bosses would not be happy with that. But it did have a unique texture. Foelhe's voice was no longer coming through the speakers, but his movements showed his glee. Vision going double, Kaleb shifted his gun in the sand. Only one shot. No suit-aided aiming. It was all him.
Kaleb stayed silent as Foelhe's screams mixed with the weeping natives. Dalin and the others were nowhere to be seen. Hopefully he had made some sort of difference. It was cold, even though it wasn't supposed to be cold on the beach except at night. The sun was shining. It looked different through the atmosphere. Not so lonely.
Both Foelhe and Kaleb died around the same time. Only thirteen point eight five seconds separating them. Dalin and his subordinates remained down there, but Helman decided to let them fend for themselves for a bit longer. His interest in Foelhe and Kaleb occupied his mind right now.
He went to the pod. Gas steamed out as it opened. Waving his hand to clear it away, he looked in, seeing a familiar shape. Kaleb's body looked like a baby's, cuddled up in a fetal position, with only skintight underwear on. He looked cold. Wires were coming out of every part of him.
A meter away, another pod opened. Helman put himself between the two. Foelhe's body looked much the same as Kaleb's from this perspective, just that his skin was a bit lighter.
Slowly, the two of them awoke, fingers twitching, eyes moving before they finally opened. Kaleb let out a breath of relief. Foelhe clutched the edge of the pod, eyes open wide.
"Well, good news for both of you. You're not dead." He let them take that in, since he was sure they didn't want to see him in an afterlife. "You never went down to the surface. That was a lie. You're still here, in Zeta. We got you all dressed up in your environmental suits, and had you sit down in what you thought was the ribbon, then drugged you and brought you back here."
"That sounds like a lot of work," Kaleb said, words blurred by a trembling mouth.
"The suits walked here on their own and deposited you," Helmen said with his tight smile. "This whole thing was a test. We needed to know how well you would handle it."
"So did we pass?" Foelhe asked, anger lacing his voice like an iceberg.
"I think we all know the answer of who passed and who didn't," Helman said simply. Foelhe glared at him, but he didn't even see it as he was looking at Kaleb. "Us men up top do listen."
"So what happens now?" Kaleb asked.
"You get to go down with others who have passed, if you want. You see, none of our technology works down there, except for the most primitive devices that don't rely on electricity. No one knows why that is, and we need someone to find out. Someone who will establish relationships and find the information we need," he said, finally looking at Foelhe. "Not someone who will think he's better than the sentients down there,"
Kaleb smiled. "Someone to make first contact."

Crucifixion

Here is a short story (not connected to Sage Eyes) to give you a taste of my style.

Crucifixion

John Remalto knocked on the door. Knock knock. They had told him this would be a story that only he could do, that they only trusted him with, no one else. He had no idea what was so special, but then, as an award winning journalist, it was his job to find out.
After two minutes, the door opened slightly. A chain kept it from opening more. "May I ask who you are?"
"I'm John Remalto, we have an appointment." John wondered if he had the right address. He looked down at the touchpad in his hand. Before he could double-check, though, the door closed. Why is everyone so rude? John thought, about to turn around.
"Sorry about that, I had to make sure you weren't some crazy out to get me," came the voice again as the door opened, this time all the way. Great, this guy's paranoid. But he was a professional, and didn't say anything, just smiled. "Come in."
The apartment had papers strewn all about, so that John had to look closely to see if there was a carpet, or if that was the papers' function. It was not like most people used much paper these days. John had his touchpad out, ready to take notes, record his conversation, and set to block any calls from his wife. This had better be worth his time. He noticed the window to his right was open. John had lived in this city when he was a child, so he glanced out from where he stood and tried to recognize anything from his youth. The buildings were familiar, but there was a mental ward below that he did not recognize. He tried to remember what had been there before. A dove flew past the window.
"Have a seat," came the voice again, this time with a body. John surveyed his newest story. Glasses, graying hair, white suit coat (even in his own house?), bad posture, and piercing blue eyes. He was holding a little necklace in his hands, fiddling with it. John sat down on the couch facing the window, surprised it wasn't covered in papers as well. The middle aged man sat down in front of him on a stool, backlit by the gray sunlight streaming in. The paper crumpled as he walked over it.
"So you are the famed Dr. Mark Nitlin, renowned scientist and theorist. " John stated. The man nodded. "Nice place you have here." Dr Nitlin looked around, embarrassed, as if suddenly aware of the state of his apartment. John waved a hand. "Don't worry, I'm not here to judge, I just want your story. They tell me you've discovered something that could change our lives forever."
Dr. Nitlin straightened up when John started mentioning the discovery, and his whole appearance changed. No longer was he the timid and awkward man from before, but one full of pride and self importance. Much better that way for John, because now it would be all the easier to coax any information from him. "'I have only shared it with other trusted scientists, but now that I am ready to publish my findings, I also want an article published, so the public at large could understand its significance, without having to know all the scientific details."
"Makes sense to me."
"Alas," (Who says that nowadays? John asked himself) "I believe some rumors have already leaked out, though, and my discovery has already made me enemies, which is why I was hesitant to open the door for you."
"Enemies, huh? Must be pretty important. And if it is, I assure you, we will be best friends." Controversies always sold more. It looks like he had come to the right place.
"My discovery is not so important by itself, I will admit, no more than any other number of discoveries that have come before it. I am not even sure there are any practical uses for it." What? If there was no practical use, then what use was there? John became worried. "What exactly does your discovery entail, Doctor?"

Instead of answering directly, the scientist stood up and went to the window, looking out on the artificial environment below. Where there had once been trees, now public projector screens played endless advertisements. "In the past decades, especially in the early 2000's, there have been several major scientific discoveries. With each one, humanity was able to let go of false traditions and turn an eye to the future, towards independence. My breakthrough has scientific importance, but more importantly, it had social and culture relevance."
What is he getting at? thought John. If there was no real story here, then he had wasted his time. He knew he should have used the teleconference option, instead of coming to meet the guy in person. The man beckoned him to the window, and reluctantly John got up, leaving the soft sofa. Paper crumpled beneath his feet. At the window, Dr. Nitlin rubbed his necklace, which had the number six on the end, and pointed to the mental ward John had noticed earlier.
"Do you know what that building was before?" Nitlin asked him.
Thinking hard, he came up with an answer, to the surprise of them both. "It was a church." He remembered his mother taking him there once, although he had been bored the whole time. Dr Nitlin scowled.
"Once, it was used to psychologically treat people's depression, with little success. Now it medically treats it, with much greater success. With our new knowledge and tools, we are evolving as a society. Just like with the Greek Gods, the notions of the past are systematically being replaced as science gives us new understanding of the human condition, our place in the universe, and where we came from. In fact, that is precisely what I discovered."
Now we are getting somewhere, thought John, wanting to get away from the subject of religion. Any mention of that made him queasy. His purpose in life was to make a lot of money, and he was doing well with that, so trying to make him feel bad for anything else he had done did not sit well with him. Although, sometimes he wondered where this world and humanity came from. If the doctor would get on and actually tell him, his visit might serve two purposes, one he had not even foreseen.
"What I have done is to complete what so many other scientists, conscious of it or not, have tried to achieve. I represent the culmination of their efforts. The evidence is undeniable; my colleagues agree with me. This is why I have enemies, because there are always people who oppose humanity's progress. Soon, the voice of reason will make the blind fools give up, and this part of humanity's history will come to an end."
I doubt any discovery you made could be so important as to mark an era in history. This guy's full of himself. "All right, Dr. Nitlin, you've got my attention. What is so important about your discovery? Give me a title for the article that is worthy of your achievement."
"Science has always warred against ignorance and superstition. Well, now, I have dealt the deathblow. Science has come out triumphant. What I have proven means there is no longer a need for the struggling churches. John Remalto, you want a title? Well, here it is." John looked at the scientist; he seemed almost in his own world now, the eyes not focusing on anything. His fist clenched the necklace. Chills went down John's spine as the doctor spoke.
"I killed God."