Page 112 of Sparktopia
“Trust me, administrator, I’m very familiar with the details.”
“You will refrain from comment. This meeting is not about you, it’s about procedure. Something you obviously have trouble with.”
The eyes on the floating head of Tyse roll in scorn. Clearly these two people are not in the same room. Tyse is somewhere else and his head is being projected into the space where the administrator is. This is not any kind of technology I have seen before, and this assumption about being in different locations would be ridiculous in my world. But after my trip to the health center, anything seems possible in this version of Tau City.
Regardless, the substance of the meeting is clear. Tyse messed up in some major way and he’s getting kicked out of the Sweep Army.
Something he sort of admitted to, in a way, but certainly didn’t explain to this level of detail. But then again, why would he? I’m a complete stranger. One doesn’t go around announcing life-altering mistakes to strangers.
I’m about to let go of the disc and put it back—this is really none of my business, even if he is using a fake name these days—but then a new projection takes the place of Tyse’s head.
It’s still, not moving, but appears to be the middle of some kind of action. War action. Five people are shown mid-movement, but frozen in time. They are all wearing the same kind of uniform, though small details about it are different. For instance, the one woman has her sleeves cut off. Another man, not Tyse, is only wearing some kind of thick vest up top, but nothing underneath. It looks like they’re in a desert cave and something very stressful is happening because all their expressions convey shock, and fear, and pain.
“I was there,” the voice of Tyse says. “I remember it vividly. So you can skip the replay.”
“Sorry, Mr. Jarvinen?—”
“Mr., is it now? What happened to Captain?”
“When this final meeting is over, your ranking will have been stripped and there will be no public record of it anywhere.”
Since Tyse’s face has been replaced with the soldier scene, I can’t see his reaction. But I think he’s pissed. Like maybe this part hadn’t been explained to him.
“As I was saying,” the administrator continues, “this is procedure. Close your eyes if you don’t want to see it, because the replay starts now.”
And then all the soldiers spring to life. There is sound, but it’s low, so I can’t really make out the words. Plus, everyone is in a panic. Something very terrible is happening. Then one of them—the woman—falls to her knees, screaming and holding her head like her brain might explode. This part I do hear, because her screams are so loud, there’s no way to miss it.
“It’s inside me, Tyse! It’s inside me! Get it out! Get it out!”
The next thing I know, her head explodes. Bits of bone and blood just go everywhere. I’m so shocked, I almost drop the little disc. Not even sure how I manage to keep hold of it.
Because whatever she meant by her last frantic words, whatever was inside her head—that wasn’t what exploded it.
It was Tyse.
The scene switches to another point of view and there he is, with some kind of weapon, still smoking from the discharge, pointed where her head used to be.
Then another soldier is screaming. A man, the one wearing only that thick vest. And he’s saying similar things.It’s inside me. Get it out.The other two soldiers start up as well. And then Tyse discharges his weapon three more times and all the heads explode.
He puts the weapon up to his own head and I gasp. Even though I know he didn’t kill himself, it’s still shocking to me. Then he waits—eyes closed and gulping down breaths—for whatever invaded his team’s minds to invade his as well.
The scene ends and Tyse’s floating and rotating face is back. His eyes are closed here now too. Like maybe he didn’t watch the replay.
“You were accused and found guilty of murdering your own team. This is a high crime in the eyes of?—”
“Ihadto.” Tyse cuts him off, spitting these words out between gritted teeth. “They wereinfected.”
“The trial is over, Mr. Jarvinen, so save it. The conditions of your sentencing and discharge are the following?—”
I let go of the disc and the image disappears.
He killed four people. Just… blew their heads off.
Of course, as a soldier, he’d have killed many people. Dozens? Hundreds? Does it matter?
The take-home message here is that Tyse Saarinen is lying about his identity and he’s a convicted murderer.
I pinch the disc again, the image appears again, and I watch it all the way through again.
