Double Trouble
Am I losing my mind? My image just moved his left arm. It was quick, barely perceptible, but it did happen. My intuition is never wrong.
What are you hiding? What are you trying to communicate? "Can you hear me? It's safe to talk. If you want to."
***
"How much wine did you say you had?"
"Fuck you!" They laugh. Carlos' brother had flown in from Arizona. Javier liked New York and made any excuse to visit. The excuse this time was his birthday.
"Look, when we were young, we used to finish each other's sentences, but that had to have been because we knew each other so well."
"Bullshit! As many times as we've discussed it, we have come to the conclusion that it's because our mother was one of an identical pair of twins and that they passed down their abilities to us. Why are you denying that something happened?"
The waitress walks over with a pitcher of iced water. "Anything else I can get you, gentlemen? Some more wine, perhaps."
Fuck off!
Stop it, she's just doing her job.
"Better bring over the entire bottle. I'm celebrating my 58th birthday."
"I'll be right back." She smiles at Javier and ignores Carlos.
"Since I've relocated to Arizona, there's been no need to use any of the abilities, and, I have to say, it's been peaceful."
"Javi, ignoring it doesn't make it go away."
"Here we are, gentlemen." She makes eye contact with Javier. While at the same time filling Carlos'glass. Doesn't spill a drop.
Will you send this bitch away!
Jessica, may I have your number?
"I'll just leave these napkins for you." On the top one she writes her name and phone number and walks away flustered at her boldness.
"Thank you, Jessica."
Turning back to Carlos, Javier asks, "I thought I was the only other you; what do you think he wants and why hasn't he reached out to me as well and who is he really? Another us? From another dimension? What the hell is this, a bad sci-fi movie?"
"Will you pay attention now that you know? In case there is a message of some sort."
"If it was anyone else telling me this story, I would suggest therapy. Hell, I would dial for an ambulance." After sighing deeply, "Fine!"
They clink their wine glasses and continue the celebration.
***
One hundred storys underneath the island of Puerto Rico world politicians discuss the possibilities of their new discovery. Everyone vies for the opportunity to explore their other lives. One voice is alone in opposition.
"There is no advantage in uprooting someone else's life for your convenience. Suicide rates are at ninety percent and those that have survived the abrupt change are at the psychiatric center. We're ignoring the most basic human right. The right of choice."
'Doctor Salama, please calm down." The director of the program bangs his gavel calling order. The doctor walks off the podium.
"You will all regret your arrogance. Mark my words. There will be irreversible consequences."
The audience rumbles. Some fear the discovery. Others welcome the changes that hold the promise of a better world.
***
Doctor Salama steps from the main corridor to the garage. He searches for the car keys while walking to his car. Waiting for him, off to the side, in the shadows is the last person he will ever meet.
***
"Found dead in a car was the dead, naked bodies of a man and a woman. The bodies were discovered by an officer that was about to issue a ticket for the illegally parked car..."
***
"When they finally figure out that it's Doctor Salama, it will look like he and his whore have overdosed."
"The deposit will be made by end of the business day. Always a pleasure." The director puts away the gavel presented to him when he first finished law school. Thirty years ago seemed only yesterday. His office phone rings.
"Gutierrez."
"Your Honor, the scientists are ready."
"Thank you, Mr. Yu. I'm on my way. Take the rest of the day off. I'll see you in the morning."
"Thank you, sir. Shall I take your breakfast order now?"
"I'm not sure yet what time I'll be getting in. It all depends on what happens tonight. I'll contact you when I get in."
"Very good, sir."
**"
"Here he is just stepped off the elevator. Let's have him catch a glimpse of his doppelganger. Your honor. Good evening. Step to the chair, there. Put on the mask."
"Is the mask really necessary?"
"Yes, sir. The chances of the other you seeing you are fifty percent. It's the reason why you're now sitting in the shadows. The doppelganger may be in bed already, which would be ideal, but on the chance that he is not, we prefer keeping the advantage until the time determined for the exchange. Look at the mirror. Here we go."
Computers work in the background quietly. Directly in front of the mirror, the director feels self-conscious at the image of him in a mask. It conjures memories of the last encounter with multiple partners and compromising positions. His imagine fades to black, then he sees the bedroom at the other side. The mirror is as clear as any doorway into the other room. He slowly rises from where he sat. Taking a step forward, he catches the foot of the bed.
Naked, male feet could be seen from where Judge Gutierrez was standing. He approaches cautiously to get a better angle. A naked man sleeps soundly. "This could be anyone."
From the headphones that he wears, he hears, "Take off your left shoe and sock. Compare birthmarks."
Gutierrez complies. Just above his ankle, a mark in the shape of what to him was Australia. He steps closer to the mirror.
There! On the same location. The exact same shape. How can this be? It's a trick. I won't believe it.
"Tap the glass and step back."
Gutierrez uses the ring on his left small finger to tap twice. Stepping back, he watches as the naked body turns to face the mirror. The other Gutierrez yawns as he listens for the sound that woke him.
Here, on this side of the mirror, Gutierrez is leaning over the chair, retching.
***
Mr. Yu gently knocks at the office door. "Breakfast? Shall I go for a run?"
"No! God, no! Sorry. Something disagreed with me last night. I won't be eating anytime soon. Cancel all of my appointments for today. I'll be with the science department. If anything demands my immediate attention, call me on my cell. I won't pick up. Leave a message."
***
At the science center Gutierrez is in conference. "What will the other me experience if we trade places?"
"At this point, we don't even know what he does for a living. We would have to study him for at least a year in order for the transition to go smoothly. There are no guarantees. For all we know, he could be a plumber, a murderer, gay. There's just no way to know without observations."
"Couldn't we make the exchange while he is asleep? Once on this side, you could give him something to keep him asleep, just for the night. While I'm at the other side exploring, he could be dreaming. That would decrease any trauma that he could experience if he were awake."
"What if we do use anesthesia to keep him under? What if our medication makes him slip into a coma? Or worse, he goes into anaphylaxis and dies! We don't have enough information about his physiology to dare do anything like that; we can't!"
"Where is your sense of learning, of adventure? Of exploration? Aren't you scientists?"
Director Gutierrez, we cannot in good conscience support the decision to move forward without more planning, more investigation. We simply have no answers or assurances as to what the ramifications would be.'
Damnit! I've got to escape this life.
***
Judge Elias Gutierrez is at the back of his wine cellar. He hobnobs with the elite of society. The governor, state senators, congressmen, some film executives and friends of the theater. His influence has afforded him the luxuries that surround him.
Today, none of that matters. As he holds a pistol in his hands, he weeps uncontrollably. On the floor, next to an empty bottle of wine is a picture of his wife, Sonia and seven year old daughter, Cecilia. Both lost to him in a car accident.
It was his baby's birthday. As a family, they had gone to a family themed restaurant, watch a kid's movie and on their way home, they were going to stop for ice cream sundaes. They were pulling out of the parking space, when a car chase between police and a couple of thugs that had just stolen money from a nearby gas station collided into the judge's car.
The first car slammed into the front, passenger side, killing his wife instantly. As the car spun, his daughter was thrown out of the back window, landing on the hood of the police car. When Elias regained consciousness, first responders wete covering her lifeless body. Several days later, he had walked out of the hospital and went straight to his empty home. Since the incident, he's relived it relentlessly in his nightmares.
Drinking is the only thing that allows him to sleep. Needing oblivion, he sat on the floor of his wine cellar, hoping for a reprieve from the heartache and the headache that has never gone away since that hateful day.. He thought of nothing else but seeing his loved ones. He wondered if the other him had the life that Elias has lost.
"I can't live here any more. I want you back. It's not, not fair not fair. I am, was a good husband, a good father. It's not fair. I need you. I don't want to live without you. Please, please, please come back. Please."
***
Phone rings.
"Mr. Gutierrez, good day, sir. Is everything alright? You were expected this morning. I've rescheduled you with the lieutenant governor. for tomorrow morning at ten. Is there anything that you need at the moment?"
"Mr. Yu," whispers Elias, "what time is it?"
"11:30, sir."
"Oh. I've overslept. Cancel the rest of the day. I'm not myself at the moment."
"Understood, sir. See you in the morning."
Mr Yu cuts the call and leans back in his chair. He's worked for Judge Gutierrez for the past twenty years. A temporary assignment that became permanent. The judge liked Dustin's work ethic and offered him the position of administrative assistant. Dustin could not say no. He is well compensated for his service and the judge is sponsoring him while in the country and helping him with his education, both financially and through the experience gained by working with Elias. They've discussed opening a firm together once Dustin has graduated. He is on his last year and at the top of the class for the fourth year in a row.
Though they maintain a formal relationship at the office, after hours, they are friends. Dustin's intuition tells him that Elias is suffering the loss of his wife and daughter. After all the phone calls and rearranging the schedule, he decides to pay Elias a visit. He hopes that he can coax his friend out of the house for a change of scenery.
***
The doorbell rings. Elias' eyes flutter. He realizes that he is on the floor of the wine cellar. He manages to lift himself off of the floor and staggers up the stairs. Dustin and he lock eyes.
Allowing himself in with his own set of keys, Dustin walks through the house towards the entrance to the wine cellar. He sees Elias. Vomit covers the front of the suit that he wore to the office yesterday.
Dustin moves to Elias, taking the gun from his right hand. Without skipping a beat, he pockets it and swings his friend's arm over his own shoulder to support him and they stumble into the first floor bathroom. He turns on the shower and helps Elias to undress. Elias is exhausted with anguish and unable to resist.
***
They sit at the breakfast nook, wrapped in towels. This space overlooks the valley. The doors are open and a constant breeze makes the drapes dance.
"Sip your tea. Camomile. It's good for the central nervous system."
"Of course it is." Elias smiles and complies.
"What was the plan, suicide?"
"No! You know me better than that. I was drunk."
"You're that more often than not these days. We've talked about therapy."
"Fuck therapy! That's not going to bring them back."
"I know it's not," whispers Dustin. He tries with every comment to keep Elias calm.
"I want them back. Please, help me."
"We can't bring them back, Elias-"
"But I can go to them!"
"What? No! You can't steal someone else's life from under them and not expect things to go well. Stop this!"
"Give me my gun."
"Elias."
"Give me my gun."
***
After putting Dustin's body in the refrigerator with the white wine, Elias changes into casual clothing and heads back to the science lab. The skeleton crew is scheduled. They are the ones tasked with observations. They report only to the director, Judge Elias Gutierrez.
"Director, sir! What a privilege. Your visit was not on the schedule. I do apologize for the oversight."
"Nonesence. I dropped in unannounced. It's good to see you, Phil. How are Martha and the kids?"
"Oh! They're well, sir."
"Elias, Phil, Elias."
"Yes. Sorry! It's just that I only see you during the holiday parties. I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing. Let's change the subject. Tell me, who is being watched this evening?"
"Oh, um. I'm embarrassed to say that it's you, sir, um, Elias. I mean, the other you, of course."
"How fortuitous! Excellent! Well, show me, please. Lead the way."
From the front desk, they turn left to the elevator bank. Two doors can be seen. These burnished bronze doors are emblemed with a hint of a large arrow that covers and is split by the doors as the elevator opens. One elevator is used for the above floors and the other is for the deep recesses of the island.
"Tell me, how many of you are usually on site during what I like to call 'The Vampire Shift?"
Phil laughs and is pleased that Elias is in a good mood. This helps to calm him down. Up to that point, he was concerned about the surprise visit.
"Since it's only observation, normally, it's just two staff members. Felecia and Song were scheduled for tonight, but we just found out that Song is expecting twins. We were all so happy for her that I gave them the night off to celebrate. It's just me tonight. I hope that's not a problem. I can always call for backup, if we need to."
"Don't even think it. I won't be long. I just wanted to see what progress we were making. Since we're observing me, tell me -they laugh- what do we know so far?"
"Here, take these headphones and this mask. Sit there, in the shadows. What we have so far is that he/you-"
Elias remembered to bring the silencer. Phil's head explodes only on the left side. The body stood for a moment, then fell sideways, away from the control panel.
"I'm sorry to have taken you away from Martha and the girls, Phil. I left word for the other me to fully compensate them."
***
Javier stares at what should be himself in the mirror, but he is on his bed, this other person stands looking in, unaware that the doppelganger on the bed is awake.
Am I still asleep? Impossible! Intuition is never wrong. I was dreaming, but that is not this. Will he see my message scribbled in soap on the corner of the mirror? I wrote it backwards so that he could read it.
On the other side of the mirror, the message is read. Fear causes him to stumble backwards. The light is extinguished.
Javier slowly sits up on his bed and, while still in the dark, he calls Carlos.
"Hey, isn't it there in the morning where you are? Have you not been to bed yet?"
"Carlos, you're not going to believe what just happened!"
***
Hello. My name is Javier. What's yours?
(?sruoy s'tahW .reivaJ si eman yM)
"There! He knows I'm here, that, that we're here. His name is Javier, just like mine. He may have a brother Carlos too!"
"Stop! Someone is playing a prank on you. Didn't you say that Javi, Jr likes practical jokes. He probably wrote that there."
"I knew you were going to say that. It's what I would have said. Javi is ten. Here. Take this glass cleaner and the rag. Wash it off. See? It inside the mirror. You're not going to tell me that a ten year old can do that are you?"
Scrub as he may, Carlos could not remove the message. "Hello. My name is Javier. What's yours?" Written so that they could read it on their side.
"What are we going to do?"
Carlos stares at the words. His intuition was always nagging at him about the other side, but he thought that he was suffering from hallucinations. Tears well to overflowing at the relief that he feels. Javier holds his brother. They're in tune with one another.
***
"'I will be staying awake. I would like to talk to you,' is the message that I wrote. I'm hoping that the other me will come to the mirror."
"Can I join you? We could use your laptop."
"I don't want to scare him away. What if other me doesn't have a twin? Let me establish communication first. We'll move on from there."
"Can we connect and you put the laptop where he won't see it? I don't want you to be alone when you do this. Please!"
"Alright. The last time that I saw him, it was three in the morning. I'll connect with you about fifteen minutes before."
***
A slight tapping at the mirror makes Javier look up from the computer. "He's here," he whispers. "I'm going to the mirror."
Javier cautiously rises from the edge of the bed. His doppelganger keeps completely still.
"Hello. Can you hear me?"
"Yes."
The exact same voice. How?
"I'm Javier."
"I'm Javier."
"Your name is Javier too?"
"Yes. I have a brother. His name is Carlos."
As the doppelganger said the name, Javier whispered it.
"Would you like to meet him?"
"Very much so, yes!" Javier's heart slams against his chest. Please be an identical twin!
From the left side of the mirror, the other Carlos emerges. "Hello."
It's Carlos' voice, but how. Carlos is in New York. On my computer. Wait!
"I also have someone I would like you to meet. Please wait." Javier steps slowly backwards. He is afraid that if he takes his eyes off of them that they would disappear, that he is just dreaming all along. Picking up the computer, he walks back. Slowly, he begins to turn it to the mirror.
"Javi, what's happening?" Javier's mechanical sounding voice chimes in.
"Javi, talk to me. Don't leave me in susp-"
The four stare at each other in silence. After what seems like an eternity, the other Carlos asks, "Where are you that I can't sense you?"
"New York." Carlos was so struck that he sounds like a robot.
Carlos'doppelganger leans on his brother for support. He cries, overwhelmed with happiness. "All this time, I thought you were dead or that you didn't exist. We could always sense Javier, but not you. You're not with your brother."
"We, on this side, have separate lives. I live here, with my wife and children. Carlos lives in New York. He is single."
"We, on our side, live together. Here. In our California."
"I have been able to sense you, Carlos. You came to my mirror recently. I asked Javier to watch for your coming." His voice was small but audible. He hated not being in California right now.
"No. That wasn't me that you sensed. I've never visited you. This moment here is the first time that I know of your existence. There must be other Carlos and Javiers."
"How is all of this even happening?" The four stare at each other weighing the mind-blowing implications.
***
Elias Gutierrez stares at the control panel. Everything is set for the exchange. Moving to the shadows, he waits for his other Elias to get to bed. His plan is to replace him.
Once he reaches this side, he will, of course, be disoriented. I'll write a long note and leave it on the panel. I'll explain that I would take good care of the other Sonia and Cecilia. When he reads how I lost them, he will understand. I'll promise to let him see them at night, while they're sleeping. It'll be alright.
The elevator springs to life.
Who can this be. Damn!
Running to the doors he is determined not to fail. He points the gun at chest height, breathing hurriedly. Sweat threatening to obstruct his view. There's no time to wipe his face. The doors open. He shoots.
Song's chest slowly lets out a trickle of blood. Her eyes close. Elias aims at his own heart and shoots.