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Novel Preview.
For those who haven't seen it:
This is a preview for a novel I am writing. It's basically about how the world becomes illiterate and the few intelligent people left have to fight for their survival. I have yet to come up with a working title, though "Truthseekers" comes to mind. Help on a title would be loved.
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Since the beginning of time, people have always wanted to do two things: understand the how and why of life, and have the highest status among themselves possible. That is, most want to be the smartest, most powerful, most praised and beloved person ever. What most don’t realize is that they are already that to the ones they love. However, selfishness and arrogance are the two demons that humans everywhere struggle with, along with their too high expectations and rapidly expanding technology, the world rapidly crumbles towards destruction and world-wide shortages of natural and man-made goods. Desperate for a solution, the world split into two sides. It was argued if that the intelligent ones were separated and isolated from society, they would be better able to concentrate and make solutions to make their side of the world more powerful. However, the other side of the world disagreed, and said that everyone, intelligent or not, could work peacefully together to find a solution. Finally, after much debate, the world split into The Eastern Side and the Western side.
On the Eastern side of the world, a vicious and cruel dictator ruled over the entire Eastern side of the world. Arrogant like no one else, Baron Von Bonaparte decided to separate the people and children of high intelligence on the northern side, and the less intelligent on the southern side. He thought that emotions were not needed in a super-genius, and therefore separated the children even suspected of having high intelligence from their families, under the guise of limiting the household number as to conserve supplies given to the people.
The intelligent people lived in finery and riches, and were raised to tolerate pain, never love, for love was seen as a bad thing, and to just get smarter and smarter, with no breaks.
The lesser intelligent lived poorly, barely living off the land, for what the Earth gave these days was scarce. They were farmers, merchants, and servants, ignorant masses that obeyed the government without questioning.
Meanwhile, on the Western side, these two groups were mixed, and lived in fair happiness. No one was really rich, but no one was poor, either. They all lived peacefully, but small changes soon happened. Those that were more intelligent than others began to separate themselves, not really knowing why, but mindlessly obeyed their impulses. In a way, the Western side, though democratic, was no better than the East, for they went one step further than the East: they genetically manipulated 100,000,000 children to be super-geniuses, and placed them in random spots with the rest of the Western world. These children had chips implanted in their minds so the government could track their progress. Most of them did as told…they worked and played, and were programmed as par the scientists experiments.
There was one girl, however, that somehow defied her manipulation; she wasn’t as intelligent as the rest were, but somehow, she was still superior enough to be among the ones of intelligence. When another child hurt themselves in play, she would instantly go to that child and put her hands on the cut, meanwhile treating it, and the next day, there was no sign whatsoever of a cut. When they would ask the child what they felt, they would respond, “I don’t know, but she seemed to heal me, like she cared for me…but we’ve never met. How is that possible?” Her mental and psychological condition seemed abnormal; yet her intelligence was barely above the common person. But they kept her there anyway for a while, for they had another suspicion: if a person were around smart people, they themselves could surpass them somehow and be more intelligent than the smartest kid there.
They named her Dameon, after the patron of healing, and sent her with another group of children to a small town. They were all barely three years old…
Ten years later…
Within a small town, a group of teens had made fast friends with a girl named Dameon. They ranged in intelligence, the lowest being about 110 IQ and the highest about 140 IQ. Even though Dameon tested at a mere 106 IQ, barely above average, they invited her to eat and play with them, for they saw she was a nice person, and had something special about her. As they studied her, they found some things out.
One day, Christopher had cut himself on the knee, and as he hobbled to the nurse’s, Dameon stopped him.
“Hang on; I’ve my first aid kit on me. That darn nurse doesn’t do biscuits for you.” She pulled a box out of her pack and motioned Christopher over. She treated his cut, and Christopher wasn’t sure what he felt inside, but he swore the next day, there was no cut on his knee. It had completely healed.
Another time, she helped blasé with an English essay. It was a classic book. Blasé wasn’t really interested in the Idealistic Era, a time in history when mankind had decided to be the best they could. Dameon was terribly interested, so she took notes for blasé, and ended up nearly writing his essay for him. But in the end, she merely gave him her notes; she recognized that her essay was far too idealistic for his own good. She also quietly watched master from a distance. He would pass by, and she would stare in wonder after him, thinking and never saying a word. On occasions, she would salute him playfully, and whatever he asked for, he got, no questions asked. She was in love with master, but her self confidence wasn’t all that high, and she often thought that master would never love her back, so she kept her mouth shut.
One of the group watched Dameon from a distance. He had watched her long before they let her in the group. He wondered much about her, how she could stand being shoved around, how she could forgive them, and how she could go home to face more than what any human being should have to take. He also felt something inside him, although he wasn’t sure what it was. A need to help, perhaps? He shook his head; he had been taught that emotions weren’t needed. But…why did Dameon have them, and seem to make friends with those of high intelligence even thought they were taught to have no emotion or care for anyone? There was something about her that he wanted; he longed to have the feelings that Dameon did. But all he did was watch and wait. He watched as Dameon mysteriously healed Christopher after he cut himself badly on the knee. He watched as blasé became best friends with her, and they would talk long into the night about things like war and human nature. He would sit there, hidden at a distance, and chuckle to himself. Her insights on life weren’t the best, for she seemed very naïve, but in a sense, they showed that she had deeply thought about things of this world. She believed that there was a higher level of consciousness, a stronger form that all humans could obtain, no matter what level of intelligence. They need only know the truth. Blasé disagreed; only smart people could reach that level. Master longingly stared at Dameon.
Master flashed back to about six months before this dark cold night. He and Dameon were sitting under a tree, and Dameon was silently watching the sky. She asked him, “How is it that this Earth is so beautiful, and yet people want to destroy it so much by manipulating the very sanctuary of nature?”
Master murmured, “It’s because humanity has decided that’s what’s needed.”
Dameon sighed and looked at him. “Does it have to be that way?”
Master stared at her back. Her sincere question hit him in the heart. He saw the innocence in her eyes, the fact that she had studied the same thing as he, and she didn’t comprehend why. She somehow saw the world for what it should be, not as it was. Her mind was “wired different,” as she often put it. Master liked that in her. He felt so strongly about it, he practically wrote about himself in essay format and gave them to her, disguising it as literary course assistance. She would always read the essays, sigh, and then say something like: “The author seems to want to explain himself, but somehow, he’s unable to in real life speech, so he wrote about himself. From what I can see, this person thinks pretty abstract. Not in common terms, you know what I mean?”
And he would nod at her. You have the right to know about me, he thought. Because you love me, and I can tell that you do, but you don’t want to tell me, do you? Master looked at her now. She was gazing at the stars.
“What are you thinking?” Master whispered.
“About how big the universe is, and how small we are compared to it.”
He hesitated, wanting to hug her. It was a strange emotion within him. He had never felt love before, but he suspected that this was it. The scientists called Dameon flawed, for she defied her genetic manipulation. She also perceived herself as flawed; she realized that she wasn’t as smart as she ought to be. But her determination to catch up, her willingness to learn more things, somehow made up for her lack of intelligence. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. He hid it from Dameon’s sight, and said, “I’ve bought something for you.”
“Really? You didn’t have to…” she murmured. “But you probably did because I got something for you.” She smiled as she held out a dragon charmed necklace with a small sapphire eye. “I would have given it to you sooner, but…” she blushed. “I made it myself. I made a lot of the irregularities to show how…” she looked at him, “special you are. You might be among a million people, but you will always be you, the one that I…um…” she looked away. “Here it is.” She handed it to him. He immediately put it on, and took her hand.
“What were you going to say?”
She blushed a deep red. “I can’t tell you.”
“Yes you can…and you will,” master whispered.
Dameon hesitated, and then sighed. “Okay, okay. You’re the one that I…um…in other words…I…I love you.” She looked away. “Laugh if you want.”
Master sat back, stunned. “You what?”
“I love you,” she said simply. “I’ve been watching you for awhile. I can tell that you are not like anyone else, that you’re special in yourself. I also sense some more things about you, but I think I’m wrong.” She then hugged her knees and looked away. She was about to cry from humiliation. She didn’t think that master could ever love her back.
Master murmured, “I love you too.”
Dameon picked up her head. “What?”
“I…I love you too, Dameon.” He took her hand. “I’ve watched you for a very long time. I have heard you say that you feel ‘flawed’, that you’re a mistake to be in this world. I tell you now: I see no flaws in you.” He held out her present. It was a simple silver chain that had a simple circle as its charm. “The eternal symbol of perfection,” he murmured, “is the circle. I give this to you because I believe that you are perfect in every way. And I want you to remember that I love you, and you have no flaws that I can see.” Dameon put it on as she teared up.
“Thank you, master. I shall always treasure this.” She smiled as her fingers grasped the circle. He blushed slightly.
“What’s this?” he murmured. “I’m blushing.”
She touched his cheek. “Yeah, you’re blushing.” She giggled. “Did I do something that made you blush?”
“I just…I don’t know the feeling of love yet.” He choked on his words.
Dameon smiled. “Hardly anyone does…”
Master hesitantly held her close, and did not let go for awhile. The cold wind bristled about them, but neither noticed. They both now had the love they longed for. Neither spoke, for this was one of time times that words were not needed.
Presently…
Personally, thought master as he watched them, anyone could reach that level. But few chose to. And those that had had become warped with arrogance, forgetting their other fellows, and made mad by the power that had befallen them. Master listened again, for Dameon was speaking.
“I once read in a book this quote. Tell me what it makes you think: ‘For neither infinite power nor infinite wisdom can bestow godhood upon men. For that, there would have to be infinite love as well.’”
Blasé leaned back on the roof on which they were sitting on and thought about it. Master knew immediately what it meant and the theme behind it. Man could never be perfect, godlike, for those that were religious, (master wasn’t religious), even with the technology and knowledge that had gathered up to this point, for humanity also needed to love before they could be perfect. But no one these days loved anyone. Sex was a taboo topic among the super geniuses, made to be a disgusting procedure which must be done to reproduce. Psychology and other schools of thought were allowed to be studied (Dameon did intensely) but was generally discouraged. Emotions were not allowed among the group in which master resided, but nevertheless, master felt something towards Dameon. He decided to follow her home to make sure she got there safely. Although crime was unheard of in these parts, he decided to do so, for from a distance, he could observe her, and intervene, if needed. He watched as she and blasé said goodbye. She hugged him, and he awkwardly responded in kind. They then departed. Master felt something like anger hit him. He quickly suppressed it; what did he care if Dameon hugged her friends? She hugged everyone. He followed her as she walked. He didn’t understand it yet, but this is what he suspected what the common person called love.
Dameon, in the meantime, had no idea she was being followed. She sang in the darkness, when no one would hear her.
I’m a soldier that means I
Am both the defendant and the judge
I am standing on both ends of the flame…
Rounding curves, overtaking life and death,
I run and fight with false shadows.
No matter how many threads of deception are woven,
The truth shall illuminate the light…
Standing alone…where was life when it had a meaning?
Standing alone…nothing’s real anymore and…
Endless run…while I’m alive, I can remember to fly without falling
How to dream…how to love…
How to stay myself longer…
Her singing haunted master. The meaning of the song hit master’s heart deeply. The purity of which the song was sung reminded master of why he loved her in the first place. Dameon suddenly turned around. She sensed danger. Raising her fists, she prepared for a fight. Master, from two feet away and hidden, tensed up. Someone else was after Dameon. He prepared to fight…
It did no good to struggle, Dameon thought, for even as master jumped out of the bushes and attacked her attacker, he quickly put a knife against her throat. Master stood by helplessly. “Get back, super-nerd, if you don’t want her to die.”
Master stepped back. “Why are you after her? Who are you?” He pulled out his 9 mm and aimed at the assaulter.
The man tightened his grip. “This is my daughter, and I am taking back what is mine.”
Dameon glanced at master. This was the first time she had seen him come close to being emotional. She whispered, “I love you, master.”
He stood there, stunned. He began to shake to the core as they threw her in the car and drove off. Master immediately reported it to the police and they tracked her to the border of the town. They would inform the entire Western side of the world, but they never found her. Master moved on with his life, but never forgot the love that Dameon had declared for him…and only him. He never forgot the fact that Dameon, the not so super genius yet special person, loved him.
Meanwhile, Dameon’s memory of the past 17 years was erased, and Dameon was given a new past, with a new family, and a new life. She went on, and yet, always felt there was something more to her life than what was told. She felt that she belonged somewhere else…somewhere in her past, something traumatic had happened, and she needed, longed actually, to know what it was. Ten years later, she was a psychoanalyst for the government, trying to cure the “abnormal” people, and her life was about to change forever…
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