Heart and Soul

London 2025

Eric runs his hands through his long, tousled blonde hair, sighing as he takes off his glasses and cleans them on his sweater vest. The tablet sitting on the table before him flashes TEST FAILED. After hundreds of attempts over the course of four years, he takes a moment to focus on his breath alone, considering his options before trying again.

"Breathe."

Popping his wire glasses back on, he takes the tablet into his hands and begins reprogramming, tapping away at new variations of the code. In the dimly lit lab, the brightness of the monitor's reflection illuminates the room. A few minutes pass and his intense tapping grows slower.

Tap, tap, tap. Tap.

Enter.

RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS... RUNNING... RUNNING...

TEST SUCCESSFUL. LINK ESTABLISHED.

Eric's jaw drops as his breath catches in his chest. In a moment of disbelief, he whips his glasses off again, frantically cleaning them before restoring his vision again. “I… I did it. I did it!" The thrill of the established link leaps him out of his chair, racing over to a refrigerator labeled Cryohearts. Eric takes out a small metallic heart-shaped device, and walks over to the computer to pull a flash drive from it.

In the middle of the room, he injects the drive into a half-assembled robot's head. He takes a fond look at the heart-shaped device and places it in the chest of the robot.

The robot's eyes glow blue, flickering as it gains power. Its head begins moving, slowly at first, but suddenly jerking and looking frantically around the room.

“Mason? Mason, are you there?” Eric cautiously questions at the robot. The robot looks quizzically back at Eric.

“Dad.”

Its voice creaks and whimpers with emotion. Tears fill Eric’s eyes, “My boy." Mason takes a moment to soak in the images of his father, then turns his gaze to slowly overlook the room. “Dad… Dad, where am I?”

Puzzled, Eric glances around the room, Mason had been in his lab dozens of times. “Mason, what do you see?” Eric questions inquisitively. “I see here, your lab... but I can also see somewhere else,” fear filling Mason's voice. The scientist darts over to his computer monitor.

“Do you know where the other place is? Do you recognize anything familiar?”

“Dad I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s not from here. It’s not human!” The robot's eyes begin flashing sporadically.

Eric looks up from his computer. “What’s not human? Is there something there with you?” His voice is weighed with concern.

“Dad shut it down! Shut it down! It's following us!” Mason shouts full of dread. “Mason, what do you mean ‘following’?” Eric checks the diagnostics; All appears to be fine.

“Dad! Ru-”

The glow of his eyes flash for a moment more, and go dark.

“Mason!”

Eric shrieks into the empty room. In the darkness, small flickers of light begin to appear by the heart of the robot, little by little, then all at once. Noticing the light he races over to the robot, popping out the heart. But as the flickering continues, Eric slowly backs away.

2047, 22 Years Later

Heart peeked over the cliffside as the men in the valley tore apart his camp. He watched in vexation as they carried off the wicker basket of fish he spent the prior morning catching. He clenched his locket, from which he got his namesake, as they gathered his tarp and blankets - the only shelter he had. He slid back down the other side of the rock he hid behind, looking up at the darkening clouds. As his head pounded and filled with rage, all he could hear was the old man's gentle, graveled warning: “Only travel with what you can carry.”

His anger quickly turned to anguish. Memories of the old man played through his head. Sitting across the fire, flames kissing the old man's beard. He was twice Hearts size but spoke delicately as if they were equals. “I had a boy who looked just like you. He wanted to be a director, he knew every actor's name in every movie we saw. I used to test him.” Heart listened with gentle intent, but didn’t understand the stuff the old man spoke of. He was born into a broken world, he never knew a life before.

“I remember finding you floating down the stream,” the old man reminisced, changing the story to keep Heart's interest. “I remember hearing your cries. I could hear them a few kilometers out - you're lucky the Reapers didn’t get to you first."

Heart wiped tears from his eyes as he returned to his current reality. The rage returned. Heart wished the Reapers would appear, raining down on the men tearing apart his camp. With a controlled breath, he kneeled over the cliffside once more. The scavengers were gone.

Heart descended down the cliff. He slowly positioned his feet one at a time, making sure not to place too much weight until he was certain it would hold. His hands would follow, gliding carefully along the rocks until he found a grip in the small cracks and crevices. Thunder rumbled above, and a split moment following the rain came down on the rocks. “Figures,” Heart griped to himself.

The rain quickly turned to a storm as an aggressive wind began to pick up. Heart tucked his locket into his jacket. He pulled out his lantern and cast what light he could on the rocks below. Heart lowered his foot and connected with rock, continuing his descent. Down, down, down, careful not to slip.

"Whoa!" Heart went to place his foot, but was a little too quick. There wasn't anything below him. He grasped at the rocks to maintain his grip and balance, and pulled his foot back up. Once steady, he lowered the lantern and a small cave opening revealed itself.

Curious and knowing he needed some new shelter, Heart climbed into the mouth of the cave, resting his lantern on the rock bottom. Taking a seat on a slab beside the mud, he set down his bag and began to rummage through what little belongings he had left, mentally checking off each item just as the old man used to make him do. A faded branded Multitool that the old man gave him; a rubber mallet he had once used to pitch the tarp into a tent; climbing rope for rough terrain; rusted metal stakes for pitching things; a clip-on compass; a flint and steel lighter; a faded map; and a faded picture of the old man and his family. Heart lingered on the photograph between his calloused fingers. He wished he was in the photo. He wished he was Mason.

Splash!

A large footprint instantly manifested in the mud beside Heart. Slapping his hand over his mouth, he creeped back toward the rock wall, holding his breath while trying to remain completely silent. The silhouette of a Reaper began to form against the wall in the low light of the cave.

"Hisssssss," the creature gawks its head around the cave, inspecting it. As it creeps around the space, it crushes the lantern under its heavy claws. The shadow of the slimy tentacles on its head caress the walls. Heart pulls out his locket, clenching it tightly against his pounding chest. The creature's paws paint imprints on the cave wall.

“I need you to be brave,” the old man's words rattle through Heart's mind. Terrified but determined, Heart rapidly rises to his feet and extends the locket out in front of him. Hearing the shift of gravel beneath Heart's boots, the Reaper whips around letting out a terrifying shriek, springing forward toward the noise.

"Ahhhhh!"

Heart forcefully cracks open the locket as he watches the wall; the silhouette's mouth opening to reveal razor sharp fangs. Out of the center of the locket bursts an intense, piercing blue light. The reaper lets out a devilish howl as the light is cast through the room. With his other hand, Heart shields his eyes. More screams echo in their cave chamber as the reaper tries to fight the burning light.

"Come on!" Heart cries frantically.

With one more defeated bellow, the creature blazes past Heart and out of the cave. The blue light returns into the locket and snaps shut.

Heart collapses to his knees, holding the locket to his heart. “It’s okay, we’re okay,” he whispers. While catching his breath, Heart remembers his last memory of the old man.

“All this started because of me. Because of my mistake. Because of this.” He holds up the heart-shaped locket. “This is Mason,” the man exclaimed, proudly displaying the necklace. Heart's face was looked puzzled. “My son, he can’t be brought back, but he still remains. The only thing that can fight back against these creatures is the light of his soul.” He sat on a large rock, letting out an old, achy sigh. “I won’t let them use him, I won’t let them turn him into a weapon,” he mumbled to himself. Remembering Heart is there, he snaps his attention back.

“My days are numbered, I know this.” The old man held his hands up, and they began to shake. “I need you to save Mason,” his tone grim and serious. “I brought us this far. You're a week's journey from London. There you will find my laboratory with a device labeled 'Lazarus.' Lazarus has the ability to release Mason from the locket, finally letting his soul rest.”

“Am I expected to travel unknown terrain all by myself?” Heart began to worry. The old man grabbed his bag and pulled out a faded map. “I've marked where we are - I've shown you how to use this. ” The old man waved his compass. “I need you to finish my journey. Take the locket to my lab and place it into the machine. I've written down everything you need to know on the back of the map." Heart began to shake his head, tears welling up in his eyes. “Please don't make me do this, please, I don't want to go alone,” he pleaded.

“I need you to be brave.”

The old man places his hand on Hearts shoulder, taking in the view of the man he'd become. He sighed and explained “I have no strength left boy. My joints ache with every step. I can't do it. I can't!” For the first time in Heart's life, he sees the old man cry. “I need you to right my wrong. Please, Mason needs to be put to rest,” the old man begs. The two share a moment in silence, studying the face of the other, knowing it might be the last time they're able.

“Okay."

The memory of the the old man's faded eyes dissipates. Heart walks to the edge of the cave, gazing at the terrain before him. The rain pounds against the ground as the sky continues to rumbles with thunder.

Heart opens his clenched palm and looks at the locket.

He looks at Mason.