Short Story: Affections Forbidden

“When I came back to Dublin I was court-martialed in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence.”

Steam gently curled and drifted from the fragile porcelain cup on the desk. Its contents were a simple chamomile tea. Felix, the man who had brewed the humble elixir, sat rigidly in his tall leather backed chair staring intently at the wisps of steam. He donned an all-black suit that was nearly indistinguishable from his lacquer black skin. It was within this vortex of darkness that Felix attempted to navigate the storm within his mind.

Behind the stoic man was a wall lined with books. It was the only wall in the room that was not composed entirely of glass. Old leather-bound spines of maroon, sage and navy (amongst an assortment of other fading colors) spread across the wall like wallpaper with gleams of gilded book titles twinkling in its dark expanse. There was more than merely books sitting on the shelves. One object stood out from the rest. A small hologram projector. This modern piece displayed pictures of times long past. It was this object that weighed heavily on Felix’ mind.

Felix swiveled his chair and realigned his gaze towards the hologram projector on the shelf. Currently displayed was a moving image of two men: one of the men being Felix. In the image, Felix sat on a large fallen Redwood entangled in moss and ivy. The other man stood on the ground in front of Felix being embraced from behind. Both men appeared to be laughing, enjoying the company of the other and living in the moment.

Slowly rising from his plush chair, Felix reaches for the treasured memory on the shelf only to be interrupted. Sirens begin to ring and a large red warning appears on the glass pane to his left followed causing Felix to knock the hologram onto the floor. “Security Compromised. Intruder Alert (!)” it displayed. Breaking glass and mechanical thuds of feet could be heard from the floor below. They were here.

Felix stands straighter, adjusts his blazer and calmly returns to his plush chair, swiveling to face the doorway. Taking the cooled tea in hand, he takes a sip and waits.

A battering ram crashes into the old mahogany double doors sending splinters and sawdust flying. A second swing sends the large doors crashing to the floor enveloping the room in dust and debris. Through the cloud emerge two armed robotic beings who assume positions on either side of the door jamb aiming their menacing green retinal displays at the calm man behind the desk.

In their wake enters a tall, severe-looking man with sunken cheeks dressed in an official government-issued emerald tunic. His right hand holds a glowing tablet from which he reads the following…

“Felix Timothy Mackenzie, by order of the Supreme Magistrate, you are under arrest. Now please, cooperate and we will have no reason to use more force than we already have used in tracking you down”

Felix takes another sip of his chamomile tea in the fragile porcelain cup.

“And what might the charges be, your Excellency?” Felix replies.

“For violating the rules of the state, of course. You and I both know to what rules I am referring to. I know you are an intelligent man, Mr. Mackenzie. Don’t play coy with me” the man in the emerald tunic says sneeringly.

“If you have tracked me so faithfully, you would know that I have not been within your Magistrates jurisdiction for some time. Personal affairs have led me to travel. I have only returned to gather my effects. I promise to be long gone before the sun sets” Felix says.

“You have no choice but to come with us” declares the man in the tunic.

“Is that so?”

            “Yes. Now please, come with us before we give you the same treatment as your…friend.”

            Felix twitches a bit at the mention of his deceased friend and lover.

            “I would rather die than be arrested by your heartless drones. And that friend was more than just a friend. We loved each other; not that you would understand what love is” Felix declares.

            “Two men can’t love each other. It is unnatural!” exclaims the man in the emerald tunic.

            “And having robotic soldiers to fight your battles is natural? Your logic is irresistible, your Excellency. If only I could think with such clarity” Felix retorts and then takes another sip of his tea.

            “Very well then. Felix Timothy Mackenzie you are hereby sentenced to death. May you quickly rot and decay in passing. No one will miss you in this life.”

            “You already killed the only person who ever mattered in my life. Now hurry and reunite us once again” says Felix.

            The man in the emerald tunic quickly turns and leaves the room as he orders his robotic guards to complete the sentence.

            In a flash, Felix is sprawled in his plush chair dead. The tea cup that was in his hands falls with a small crash to the floor spilling the remnants of his soothing tea on the floor and all over the hologram

            For a moment the moving image of Felix and his lover flickers brightly. The two seem to be smiling wider and holding each other tighter in that moment. Then the hologram dies and the room is left in darkness. All is silent.