TWO TOWERS

Klon was asked to move from his usual place to sleep so he was getting his things together and couldn't find his favorite duffel bag that he always had with him. He gave some clothes away recently so it might have disappeared with them but just to make sure he asked his sister. She couldn't find it either so she figured the conclusion Klon came up with was right. The next day he was asked to go to an office. It was first thing in the morning so he wasn't thinking very fast when a half dozen girls came in and said they were supposed to be inmates just as Klon was going outside for a smoke. He was outside thinking that it was a shame for them to be inmates. And then a beligerent lady came over to him and barked something like he wasn't supposed to be around there. It was first thing in the morning so he really got strange and was thinking of some big conspiracy against people by robots or something. So he swore at her thinking that would be an appropriate response like she should be on his side and like the fact that some were fighting this conspiracy. But she didn't take to kindly to the response. He left and it took awhile before he realized she didn't like being swore at. Finally he concluded that a swear word is still a swear word.


A few days later Klon got rounded up with some other guys and put on a bus. He had no idea what the reason was for him being there or the reason for the other guys being there. He was taken to a place where they informed him it was to be his home for the time being and to not raise trouble or else. He noticed that some of the guys literally had no choice but to do certain things with some kind of a tractor beam moving them around like puppets. He was hoping that wouldn't happen to him because there was probably a good reason for that happening to them and he would be treated more humanely. So he started to ask why he was here and the guard said shut up and be quiet. That was when he noticed a robot thing happening to him goading him to get angry and start something with the guard. So he shrugged it off but it had the effect of keeping him quiet which made him wonder if that was what it was supposed to do.

After only a few days he woke up and knew he had work to do but forgot what it was. It was like the first morning when just got there but if that was right then he wouldn't know he had work to do. He got excused from his duties and allowed to go to the gym. That was when he remembered the time he was getting an answer to his question about why he was being held. He was talking to some one about that who told him to relax because he wasn't the only one who asked that question. And to prove that he was to sit outside the room and listen to the next few guys. Sure enough the next three guys asked the same question and they came out and listened the same as Klon. Then they were ushered out to make room for the next group.

After standing in line for a while he only remembered the guard and his question when he was right in front of him. The fellow asked Klon to find his name on a list he showed him and thats when he remembered he couldn't find it in time before and couldn't go in to the gym that day. He took the list and as fast as he could he looked for it. The guard grabbed at it saying times up but Klon stopped him saying there it was and felt that robot thing happening again. Showing the guard where it was it was curious that that thing would calm him instead of him fighting with that guard. So he was allowed to go into the gym but the thought of fighting seemed like a better idea but it could wait.


There were some soccer balls and basketballs strewn about the floor. There weren't enough people for two teams to play basketball so they started a game like it but not the same thing. Klon got tired of that and quit to practice some shots by himself at a basket no one was using. It wasn't the game so much as the robot thing on his mind and trying to figure out if it had the same effect on the other players was too much. Watching some of them with that no choice effect trying to figure out if that really was going to happen or not distracted him from his thoughts. A few minutes later a girl came out of an adjoining room and trying to keep from being noticed by the other guys she motioned for Klon to join her. As soon as Klon got into the room with her he realized that him disappearing would be alarming to the other guys.

The room looked more like a bedroom with a window and some mats stacked up in the corner. She said she was friendly and had come to rescue Klon. He looked around and couldn't see another door so he said "okay so were going out the window then". She said no and she was with a space ship and beamed down into the room. She tapped on her com badge and said "hello, two to beam up" but got no response. Then she got out a phone-radio saying it was an alternate communicator in case the first didn't work. Klon was thinking maybe it would be a good idea to try the window anyway but then there were those mats and she looked pretty good so he said "better hurry." She said she had info that all that you see was a holographic imaging system but it looks and feels real. The noise in the other room changed and her radio crackled and a voice came on saying there was someone coming to her and the transporter is down so she was stuck there. Then Klon said that her intel didn't seem too good and that maybe someone tried to get her in trouble. Then two guards came into the room and she tried talking to them. One guard grabbed her and the other pushed Klon onto the mats in the corner. Klon thought that was a good time to try fighting and attacked the lone guard but the guard had a weapon concealed on him.

A few days later Klon was back on the street standing at a corner probably recovering from his wounds. A fellow went by and a crowd of people started harassing him because it looked like he was wearing pajamas. Then that female, that tried to rescue Klon, came along with some friends and broke up the crowd. She wanted to give the man a microphone so the people left her alone. The man went away with the microphone and the crowd dispersed leaving Klon still standing there. A little while later the man with the microphone came back talking with it and making a lot of noise. He was wearing a shirt over his other clothes that looked like the kind the inmates were wearing. When he realized he was back at the spot he was harassed he said "isn't anybody going to bother me about my clothes. This shirt is normal attire at that last bar I was at."

So Klon went back to where he was asked to leave and thought he would be alright. If not he would only get asked to leave again. He slept on a bench by a pool but it got windy and another fellow came needing a place too, so Klon packed up and went around to the other side of the building. He woke up early in the morning just when some kids were looking forward to using the place to play. It was still windy so they decided on playing cards and chose to start playing beside where he was sleeping. They thought they should inform him that they used the place as a clubhouse sometimes so sleeping there at those times would not be good idea. Then they got him invited inside for a look around and some coffee.

A few days later Klon met with an oriental looking girl who said she was the one that tried to rescue him from the jail a few days before. They went out on a date to get to know each other better. Klon knew the girl who tried to rescue him wasn't her but couldn't remember who it was exactly so he could have been wrong. They went looking for a quiet place and found one by the side of a road. He thought about telling her of the lack of memory of the person but she started to undress so he embraced her thinking that could wait until later.

A few days after that he was with a girl who looked more like the girl who tried to rescue him and couldn't figure out why there was two of them but wasn't complaining. She invited him to stay at an old house full of relics of a time long ago. So he asked "why the chairs where shaped so a person would sit up to watch tv or what was the purpose of them?" She came over and told him "that wasn't a chair but a bed for a small person. The house belonged to a proprieter of a rodeo show and the midgets where jockeys for the horses. A horse races and rodeo show." Klon pointed out that it looked like a video game chair without the speakers. Klon was offered a job driving taxi as a temporary means of money. He wouldn't have had that job if it wasn't for the snow bringing the need for more drivers than usual.

Klon started using an old station wagon that he slept in. One day when he was doing his laundry out back of the mall one of those robot fellows came along asking directions and other questions. Klon got him on his way in quick time and hoped he wouldn't come back. The robot fellow complained about Klon doing his laundry in the back instead of at the laundry mat, to a female, within earshot of Klon. She came along asking what he was using for soap thinking she could complain about something and send Klon on his way. He got out a bottle of alcohol (rubbing) and assured her it didn't leave a caustic residue like tide or cheer. She left thinking the other fellow didn't have a reason for complaining. After finishing a load Klon went for lunch and had a short nap before resuming his laundry. So the robot fellow came back and passed by Klon without saying anything. Being suspicious Klon went to see if he was still around and noticed his station wagon was gone. Klon was sure the robot fellow stole it probably getting the keys when Klon was asleep. Then it finally dawned on him that phoning the police probably wouldn't do any good.

Klon was thinking surviving that crisis wasn't going to be easy as he had to find a place to stay again. One day while sitting having a coffee he over-heard some people doing a lot of talking about looking out for the needy but Klon only caught part of the dialogue. He did hear the part about the homeless moving into a house but there wasn't much space because of the many people that moved into it. Nothing about that talking was noticeably striking at the time but Klon thought about it after walking by the house they were talking about. He had one of those memory flashbacks after seeing the place and he knew it was familiar somehow so he went in. The people in the house asked if Klon needed a place to stay and only said that maybe there would be a chance they could put him up if some room becomes available. Klon got a good look around anyway and started to remember staying there before but couldn't place exactly where.

Just as Klon was leaving he got a phone call. It was from a female he knew from when he was driving taxi. She wanted to know if Klon wanted a date. Thinking that might be the solution he was looking for he said sure. She sent some money over by courier that was only to be used for clothes and chocolates and champagne so Klon could show up looking like a beau. He got some nice clothes, chocolates, flowers, and a bottle of champagne, and took a taxi to the designated meeting spot. The taxi driver was a nice looking female who inquired if Klon was going out on a date and that started a conversation whereby the two of them got acquainted. But after waiting an hour for his date Klon started getting hungry as the date was to start with dinner. He opened the box of chocolates for something to munch on and that taxi driver went by him. Noticing him with open box of chocolates she stopped and asked if he was alright. He said he had been waiting over an hour and was getting hungry. The driver said she hadn't had her break yet and offered to accompany him. The thought of having a date and a ride together seemed nice so he asked if she could go by later and if he was still there then he would accept. That seemed to please the driver, giving her some time to prepare or something.

The nice looking driver came back and said she usually goes home to her apartment and she didn't want to do anything unusual that might cause some people to search for her. So he accepted her offer of some home cooking and went to her place. When they got there they were met by a fellow she knew as Marty who stopped them and asked what was going on. When she explained they were going up to her place for dinner he said that wouldn't be permitted. She wanted some time alone with this guy so asked Klon to wait out in the car. Klon got back to munching on those chocolates again after getting back to the car and was thinking it was a good thing he didn't drink or he would be out on a date by himself with these chocolates and champagne. When the driver got back to the car she apologized saying she didn't expect that. She knew Marty pretty good and nothing like that had ever happened before. Not having any other plans they just sat there for awhile and then decided on a drive-thru place.


Still in need of money Klon came across a bingo game in the downtown area along a section of a road closed off to traffic. He was thinking it might be worth a try to get a loan for the cover charge so he could play and went in. He pulls out some material from a project he was working on and said that this material was just as good as the money to pay for the cover charge. He must have said the magic word or something because the attendant took it and came back with a form for him to fill out, like an iou, for the cover charge so he could go in.

A couple of days later, down by the beach, Klon noticed a dank,foul smell in the air but kind of thought it could be brought in with the tide. He was thinking it could not have been natural unless it is possible for the ocean to become alkalined. Some people with kids were leaving the area and warned Klon of some terrible insects in the area, which was the reason they were leaving. Klon unrolled his blanket and tried to get some rest but it didn't take long for him to notice the insect problem also. After being bitten a few times he examined them closely to see what they were and he thought he was seeing things when he discovered they looked exactly like the triangular shaped micro-virus things on the voyager show "macro-virus" that was on tv not too long ago. But they didn't grow in size like the ones on the show so maybe it was possible to have the same problem here on the planet only different slightly. With them stinging him and the alkalined atmosphere he couldn't think very fast but managed to gather up his stuff and leave the place.

A few days later talking with a couple of fellows and strolling around they visited a swimming pool. Klon thought the weather was nice and there were a lot of females suntanning and swimming as he fought off the desire to go for cover. The two fellows left for awhile but made sure Klon would wait for their return before they left. They came back with an invite to where a girl was living who could use some help with something. They arrived at a house that looked like it hadn't been taken care of very good and talked with the girl for awhile. She needed help cleaning up the place and fixing some things offering what she could for services as she didn't have a lot of money. Klon asked where the washroom was and she told him but when he got there he found out the plumbing didn't work and it had been used anyway. He went back explaining he needed to use it and she said "go ahead". She hadn't been there long and even she had to use it.

It turned out she couldn't get much help and her and Klon ended up staying together at the house and every once in a while some other people would show up to help. After a few days of that she offered to get Klon a room at a cheap place she knew of because she was going to get a room herself and didn't want to leave klon alone in that place. A few days later when she invited him over to her room to visit she told him that she knew he called himself Ringo sometimes. Klon thought she was a nice looking girl so he resigned himself to listening to the twenty questions he could foresee coming. The first question she asked was "why do you call yourself Ringo" but before he could say anything she said it was the same name as a famous musician. He told her he is a musician but nobody recognizes him as such. Being friendly and helpful she offered to help if she could and Klon went on to say he wanted to make a recording of a song he wrote called "I want to hold your hand". Putting it all together she asked if he was that famous musician and he said yes but recounted the idea of being famous without being recognized. Probably still being a bit dubious she asked what happened to his accent. He replied that it is something acquired after being in the UK for awhile. He told her he remembered people traveling to the US to see if their accent would disappear or seem less noticeable. Then the conversation leaned to a parallel time-line theme whereas he could be that famous musician and that other fellow too. Klon asked why she asked so many questions. Then he said your probably worried I want to make love and maybe I'm planning on getting married also and she sounded like she made up an excuse for him to leave echoing that idea of not planning on getting married.

Klon was thinking that was a strange response to his question but she didn't sound like she was being a comedian so that brought up all sorts of possibilities. The first was that she was giving him the brush-off and didn't really like him. If that was the case then she would have to be pretending to like him so he tried finding some other reason. He thought of asking her questions himself but then that would lead to her asking what is with the twenty questions. Maybe she was in a government position so she had to go whithout sex like that would be a breach of public trust so she probably wasn't married. That and she could have been sent by the CIA to encourage him to take the government job that he quit because they said he would have to go without sex. So she was pretending to like him and wham now it's too late so might as well take that job like what happenned to some Navy guys. But in order for that to be true then they must have forgot that that was an impossibilty to do that job if they have to make sure your being freindly instead of that really being the way it is. Maybe she was told he was a person who liked sex so some people wanted him arrested for that and that could have seemed like a good reason for cornering him. So that brought it back to maybe she wasn't pretending to be freindly and had to find some way to encourage him to leave and make it look normal. Like some people couldn't have a boyfriend hanging around being nosey. He was happy to be alone to prepare for the next time he would see her.

On his way back to his room he noticed some fellows skateboarding in the field next to his hotel just as they were being told to leave. The field had been prepared for sports activities like that so there didn't seem any reason for them being asked to leave. Klon got back to his room and noticed that he was out of coffee and had to go someplace for one. On the way to get the coffee he was careful not to go through that field but on the way back with the coffee getting cold and it was a shorter distance through the field he figured they would all be gone so took the chance. Almost to the other side he noticed some people looking for the fellows who were asked to leave. He saw the boys leaning against the wall just as somebody shot at them leaving a mark on the wall. Then a few more shots rang out which made Klon curious if they got hit and so stood there watching to see them move slowly. Then he decided to take cover behind a concrete pillar where he watched them stand up only to be shot down by the next volley of shots. Before he could move he was cornered by some east Indian youngsters with rifles. One older man paler in color and unarmed and one younger African-American also unarmed. The group wanted to get closer before shooting and it was Klon who broke the silence saying "think". The younger African said shoot but the old man said no, turning to Klon saying "go, be on your way". The old man let Klon get near to where the other fellows got shot and then they opened fire on Klon.

After a few days Klon woke up in a hostel or shelter not knowing how he got there. Wandering around he knew he was a few stories up and the rooms had four beds to some and more if the rooms were bigger.As he was going to take a look outside he got to the desk on the ground floor where a girl was trying to go upstairs and the guy behind the desk was saying "no, this place is just for men". She was the same girl Klon was with and she turned and saw him and then said to the man behind the desk "never mind, I found the fellow I was looking for". Klon didn't remember her and headed straight for the door and she caught up to him and held his hand going out the door. She apologized for being so snarly the other night and explained how she looked for him the last couple of days. When Klon said he didn't remember her he quickly added he didn't remember a lot of things and didn't know how he got to this place and was just going outside to see where he was. She told him she was with him a few nights ago but they were just getting to know each other and she knew where his room was. He asked if she could take him there and wondered if she still wanted to get to know him.

So she took him there and explained to him on the way that the room they were in was rented by her because she actually lived in a big house. Her and some friends were playing around with holographic imaging devices and the room she stayed in was a holograph of the room she rented for Klon. That way she could invite Klon over to her room without telling him about the big house. After going to Klons place she took him over to her her house. Going by big houses on the way up the hill hers was the last house at the top. As soon as they got in the door the phone rang and she asked him to sit and wait. A few minutes later she came back and asked him to wait even longer as she just got asked to do something. He sat and waited and the doorbell rang. A butler came and opened the door and they went someplace. This happened a few more times and then a female cook started answering the door. The fellows that came over all sat in the same room Klon was in so after a few hours she still didn't come back but the room was crowded with fellows. Klon decided a walk would be a good idea and went outside and noticed a garden beside the house so he mulled around in there trying to decide to leave or not. Going back into the house the fellows had set up a table and were playing cards. Klon didn't feel like playing so he went back outside and decided to go home.

Returning to his apartment after a few days of thinking about those holographic imaging devices he wondered if that could be happening again because the room he usually called his now looked like someone elses and he had to ask directions to his place. A black fellow gave him the information he wanted and said there was a few changes Klon was to expect. Klon went there and the place was bigger so he was wondering how he was going to memorize his inventory with all the changes. He found his radio he used to communicate with and somebody had a phone installed but really puzzled him was what the black guy said about liking folgers so there was some folgers coffee and a coffee maker and he said to start a pot as soon as Klon found it. While he was doing that his radio started making strange noises and he heard a female call his name, whom he recognized as the girl he was staying with, saying "hello" and "emergency at the two towers" where she was at, in between the strange noises and then the noises got too loud to hear anything else. So Klon got on the phone to the police and they confirmed the emergency and asked for all the help they could get. When Klon said his radio was down because of loud noises the police offered an old style police radio he could use and went to the station to pick it up. Turning it on it was quiet for a few minutes so Klon said "hello emergency, hello two towers" but got no response. Then a Hispanic voice came on and said "hello, we now have the area around the two towers under our command and would like no unauthorized use of the police band. And that means to hand in your radios when a representative of us comes to get them." Klon went to the secretary who gave him the radio and thought he could do some fighting if he could talk her into getting a gun for him. Just as she agreed some fellows came walking in wanting the radios. They had guns so they got the radios with no problem but then they noticed Klons other radio and asked what it was. Klon was about to answer them when another voice came from nowhere telling them what it was. Then they asked if they should take that one too and the voice responded affirmative. Klon wasn't going to let them have it but they shot him and took it.

Klon woke up and that's when things usually come to light slowly, but this time he started out in a bare room and things started to materialize around him. First a table and then some mechanical devices materialized just as a girl came in the room through a door that hissed open and closed. She looked around and then went over to the table, ignoring Klon as he watched her, and it seemed like she wanted to play around with the thing like it was a toy. But after a few minutes he realized the the device was materializing so she could have a crane or robotic arm. Then she looked at him and he said "hi," but before he could talk to her very much he was beamed out of there and ended up on the shoulder of a road like he just got out of the car beside him. This was indicated by the fellow behind the wheel saying good-bye and wishing Klon good luck on the rest of his journey. The fellow sped off before Klon could respond and Klon decided to walk around to see where he was. Crossing a bridge he saw two girls cooling off in the creek below and stopped and sat down on the bridge dangling his feet off the side. Then one of the girls grabbed a fish with her hand. Thinking that was funny Klon asked her if it was a salmon and she replied she didn't know what it was. He was sitting high above the creek so there was no thought of competing for fish but a couple of large fin-nosed fish appeared and grabbed Klons leg in their jaws. Struggling with them he broke free and moved from his spot to be safe and worried about the girls safety also. Walking down the road he found some bench seats from a car among other car parts by a cliff that would be a soft place to sleep if somebody else didn't think of it first. It was too early for that so he went back to a restaurant he passed by earlier in the hopes of getting a coffee as he had no money. After trying to get a donation for awhile somebody paid for a meal for him and a girl who was also broke. They sat at the same table and after talking for awhile decided to both go back to the seats to have a soft place to sleep. The next morning she rushed off saying she would meet him back at the restaurant in an hour or two. Klon stayed there for awhile trying to see if he could put some of the parts back together. It looked like there were enough parts for most of a car but then deciding it would take more money than he could afford he went to the restaurant. The same fellow was there and paid for a nice meal for the two of them again. She ate without talking very much and left as soon as she was finished without saying if she would be meeting him later. Klon stayed there awhile and as he was leaving the restaurant that fellow who bought the meals for them came over. Saying he had something for him he gave Klon a wallet saying "it is a special wallet." Klon opened it and noticed it was also an empty wallet. The fellow said "you'll notice it's a special wallet later when you put it in your pocket" and left quickly adding "so don't lose it". After a brief inspection Klon put it in his back pocket and was put into a different space like he had just put on glasses. He thought that was nice and remembered how money put a person in a different space just by getting some.

...........by...........

John Chisholm

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