I12DT: Machine Were Men and Men Were Lions

[Narrator]

In a park in Maldon, an old homeless man is a regular fixture. Every day he can be seen mumbling to himself, wandering around the park, and occasionally sitting at the chess tables like he's waiting for an opponent. He's known as "Jack" or just "The Old Man", depending on how friendly someone is with him. He's mostly harmless, although he has spent some time in lockup for yelling nonsense at people. All in all, just another person who's fallen through the cracks of the system that no one pays much attention to.

[Mallory Davis]

Usually she wouldn't have spared as much as a glance, but she's bored and disturbed minds can be curious so on her way to school this morning Mallory stops at the park with her coffee, sitting down on one of the benches.

[Narrator]

"'ve seen 'em," Jack says, talking to no one in particular, "False faces and cold metal hearts. Don't tell me I ain't seen 'em. I've seen 'em."

Jack suddenly turns to Mallory. He studies her for a moment before just shaking his head and chuckling.

"I thought you were her," Jack says, "Harmless though. Are you a lion, kitten?"

Something about that tickles Jack. He laughs an old and cackling laugh. It's an old and well worn laugh, the type that's seen a lot of use through the years.

[Mallory Davis]

"I didn't think lions were harmless." she smiles politely, though it's a little less convincing than it could be.

[Narrator]

"To a man with a gun, all cats are the same," Jack says.

[Mallory Davis]

"And you have a gun?" she asks, reaching out to the man's mind.

[Narrator]

Jack raises his hands, showing that they're empty. He takes a step back from Mallory and looks down at the ground submissively.

"No gun," Jack mumbles, "Harmless, miss. Missing my mind is all. Just misplaced it."

For her efforts, Mallory received what amounted to a telepathic slap across the face.

"You're mistaken," Jack says, "Those are my things. They're mine. You can't have them."

[Mallory Davis]

"How about that." she says, sounding genuinely amused. Of course she wasn't going to be deterred that easily, taking a mental step back and regarding the homeless man, looking for that tell-tale jump between thoughts that would let her slip in unnoticed. "I don't care for your things. Merely wondering where you've seen cold metal hearts."

[Narrator]

"In a maze," Jack says, "There was a voice. Asking questions. Making demands. Her voice. She's always watching, always testing. There are always more tests for us."

Jack was clamped down tight, but as his voice drifted off Mallory would spot the tiniest of cracks.

"I was married once. I think I remember that," Jack says, "Was that me? Where was I...I remember her eyes but not her name. She had the most beautiful eyes."

[Mallory Davis]

"Show me her eyes..." she latches on to the crack and slips into his thoughts alongside that memory.

[Narrator]

At first, all Mallory saw was dark violet eyes. Slowly, the rest filled in. A young woman, dressed like it was 19th century, was sitting at a window. She looked out across a great field of flowers with sad eyes.

It was a beautiful and lovely image.

It was also clearly fictional.

[Mallory Davis]

Now who gave you that image... Did some clumsy telepath break your mind? she muses as she tries to find how that image connects to the rest of the man's mind.

[Narrator]

Following the thread, Mallory would find another image. A modern day teenager with long black hair who smiled shyly.

Also fictional.

I don't remember her. No one remembers her anymore. I saw her crying over a corpse once but that was two or three lifetimes ago, kitten.

[Mallory Davis]

How old do you think you are... she wonders and keeps following the false memories.

[Narrator]

As old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.

Dozens of false memories led in and out of each other like a maze. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for them at all. There were men and women, both young and old. They were all from different time periods and cultures. None of them was recognizable in the slightest and all of them were completely made up.

[Mallory Davis]

You know what you look like? You look like a training dummy. A portfolio of mental pictures.

"I wonder..." she taps her lips with one finger, then grabs her phone from her purse. She dials the university's number while she tries to find her way past the patchwork of memories.

"Yes, hello, this is Mallory Davis. Could you put me through to the head-mistress please, I believe we have a situation here."

[Narrator]

"Do you play chess?" Jack asks, apparently having not noticed (or remembered) the mental contact.

[Mallory Davis]

"As a matter of fact I do." she says, holding a hand over the phone's receiver, even if it's just to keep the man occupied.

[Samantha McManus]

The call was finally directed through.

"McManus speaking."

[Mallory Davis]

"Yes, hello, this is Mallory. I'm at the little park near city hall in Maldon and I believe I found someone who was a victim of telepathic manipulation. I assumed it'd be better to inform you than the police..."

[Narrator]

"Is that your move, miss?" Jack asks, "A rook to a knight?"

[Mallory Davis]

She nods before covering the receiver again. "Aye. I'm quite fond of my rooks."

[Narrator]

"Liar," Jack says, "I can see your hands, miss. I ain't fool. You don't care about rooks, you prefer a pawn."

[Mallory Davis]

"You're certainly something else."

Speaking into her phone again she adds. "He's quite disturbed. I'm not sure what happened to him, but someone gave him a series of false memories."

[Samantha McManus]

"I'll be there as quickly as I can. Will he be staying there?"

[Mallory Davis]

"I'll try to keep him. We're playing chess right now."

[Samantha McManus]

"I'll be right over."

[Narrator]

Jack takes a dirty chess board out of his backpack and sets it on the bench, carefully placing the pieces.

"Once upon a time, when it was twice upon a time," Jack says, "There was a war. A great king attacked my people for...well, I don't quite remember. Some crime or another. Violence and violence adding to violence."

"They prayed to me," Jack continues, "My people, not the others. So I stirred the waters beneath the earth until they were boiling hot and I sent them to erupt and drown the armies in ash and water."

Jack picks up the black king, "I felt like I could drown the entire world then."

[Mallory Davis]

"Why didn't you?" she asks, hanging up the phone.

[Narrator]

Jack sets the king down in its place, "You see? It's that simple."

"You can have all the power in the world, kitten. You'll still have your place on the board. You'll fight. You'll struggle. You'll die."

"The end."

[Mallory Davis]

"Yet the game isn't over as long as the king still stands. And that's what makes it all worth it, isn't it? The dance of the figures on the board." she says, finding herself enjoying the conversation with the insane man. Too much time all by herself lately.

[Narrator]

Jack laughs, "Are you dancing, kitten? Are you dancing for your king, waiting for him to fall?"

[Mallory Davis]

She laughs. "In a way. Though I don't dance for anybody."

[Narrator]

"Do you hurt your feelings when you lie to yourself?" Jack asks, "Do you make yourself cry?"

[Mallory Davis]

"You're good. But you're not that good." she smirks.

[Narrator]

"I built a tower once," Jack says, "It's gone now. The world changed and everything disappeared."

"Do you remember what it was like before?"

[Mallory Davis]

"I'm afraid I don't. When did your world change?"

[Narrator]

"You can't have every secret, kitten."

[Mallory Davis]

"You'd be surprised."

[Narrator]

"Then tell me," Jack asks, "Where did the moon go?"

He moves one of the pawns.