The grand meeting

As evening falls, Mary comes to fetch me for the grand meeting. To say I'm nervous would be an understatement, I'm shaking in my boots like a rattlesnake.
While wandering the compound, I notice a few heads turning towards me and Mary. I wonder if they know who I am. But then again, I'm probably seeing things and they are eying Mary.

“Hey Mary?”
“Hm?”
“Where's Zach anyway? I thought you two were together.”
Without looking back at me, Mary replies, “We were, for a while. But that was over 10 years ago. Life happened and so went our separate ways.”
I reply with a raised eyebrow “Well, his loss I'd say.”
“Actually the way my body turned out was part of the reason why we broke up.”
“How so? Did he have some sort of Lolita complex or something?”
“Nah, he did like my body. What he didn't like however, was how others suddenly started looking at me as well. He had a mean jealousy to him. At one time, he made the computer of some poor guy crash and erased all his files just because he posted in his blog that he saw a cute girl on the street we were walking on. That was pretty much the last straw.”
“And...what became of him? I mean, is he also...?”

Mary stops abruptly, turns around to face me and finally says, “Gordon, I appreciate that you're trying to help us and I feel for you having lost your memory and I understand that you're just trying to get up to speed, but my love life is, quite honestly, none of your business. Okay?”
I am taken aback by Mary's rather unusually strong outburst and eventually reply with hanging head, “Yes, of course. I'm sorry.”
“As long as you understand, it's fine. Besides, this isn't the time to be worried about my love life. We're about to change the world after all.”
I mutter, “'If every means is justified in the battle against evil, our intentions can soon no longer be distinguished from the evil we seek to vanquish.'” but Mary doesn't respond.
Instead she turns back around and resumes walking at a quick pace.

After a few more steps I ask, “Say Mary?”
“Is it something related to anyone's social life?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“You said that you have gathered everyone from the resistance here today, right?”
“Pretty much. At least the important figures.”
“And...you aren't worried?”
“About what?”
“...now, if this was one of my stories, the government would be sure to have a spy or two among the resistance. And once they learn of this meeting, it would be a prime opportunity for them to destroy the resistance all at once. It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel.”
Mary stops, obviously irritated and asks, “Another one of those completely outdated quotes from the 21st century? Why would anyone put fish into a barrel? And why shoot them?”
I sigh and mutter, “Must...resist...she's not going to get it anyway...”
“So you're suspecting that they're using the meeting to trap all of us in one spot?”
My finger itches as the reference within me wants out, but I eventually manage to say with a tormented smile, “Let me show you a few of those old movies one day, okay? Anyway, yeah...that's what I think could happen, with all of you coming here.”

Mary smiles ever so slightly, “Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen.”
“Okay, now I don't follow.”
“You'll see in a moment. In here.”

Mary ushers me into a darkened room, with just a few people standing inside. One of the walls is adorned with a great number of monitors, which show similar rooms, all darkened so no facial features can be recognized.
Mary replies with a big smile on her lips, “Welcome to the grand meeting.”
“An...online conference? The internet still exists?! I thought...”
“Oh, they did try to shut it down after the Night of the Manifest, but no dice. The results were catastrophic to say the least and bordered on a civil war. But yes. We figured this was the most efficient and also most secure way to get together on such a short notice. Plus, we don't need to all be in one place, where our enemies could catch all of us at once.”
I scratch my head and wonder, why I didn't think of that.

My train of thought gets interrupted, as someone else enters the room and greets the others with a short, “Sorry, I'm late.”
“Took you long enough, Robert. Lance is holding the fort?”
“Yeah, he's running interference, as usual. Either way, what's with all the secrecy?”

Mary turned around and explained for everyone in the room, “I believe all of you know who Gordon here is, right?”
“Of course. Gordon, the slayer of hundreds,” one of the shadows on the screen replies, to which Mary quickly bows over and alerts me silently, “Don't argue. Use it.”
Mary nods and adds, “Gordon here has made contact with the Manifest moon.”

Uneasy murmuring goes through the room and a few gasps can be heard until Robert asks, “So...what exactly do you mean by 'made contact'?”
I explain what happened and also what I've learned and finally close with the words, “So you see, if we can wake the great dreamer, the Manifest will go away. Any questions?”

Of course there were like a hundred questions if not more. I answer them to the best of my abilities, up until the point, where Marty suddenly interrupts, “I am sure you all have a lot more questions, but unfortunately time is not on your side. Thanks to our insiders, we know that the government is nearing completion of the Manifest program. We need to act and get rid of the Manifest before that happens, otherwise we won't be able to stop them any more.”

One of the persons on the screen asks, “Okay...so what do you need to make this happen?”
Marty replies with a smile on his lips, “Why, we need project PAL to be reactivated.”
I whisper over to Mary and ask, “What is 'PAL'?”
“What, you don't know? You of all people? I mean, I know that you probably don't remember naming it, but...”
I think for a moment before I begin to smile, “Peace At Last.”
Mary nods gleefully, “Same old Gordon after all.”

I shake my head and ask, “Still, just because I can figure out the name, doesn't mean I suddenly remember what it is. So what is 'PAL' all about?”

Mary points over to Marty, who is looking over to me with a stern look on his face.
I make the zipper gesture and patiently wait for him to continue, “As a refresher, project PAL requires a small task force of volunteers to invade the Manifest moon during the transition phase, which happens once every full moon. It is well understood, that this task force will most likely meet with extreme resistance and probably not make it back alive, while the overall success chances were beyond small, which is why the project was abandoned before.”
“We know that, Mr. Thomson, however what has changed? What makes you believe that we should exploit the only weakness the Manifest moon has ever shown us now? As I am sure you remember, we believe this weakness to be unknown to the aliens. If we invade using this method, they will without a doubt reinforce their defenses, closing this window forever.”

I casually throw in while leaning against the wall, “Oh, they know about it, don't worry about that.”
Momentarily all eyes are on me and I reply, “I had kept this to myself up to now, because I want to be on that task force, but the Manifest showed me the perfect way to access its resting place. We will succeed, because the Manifest itself wants us to. But I cannot say when it will change its mind, which is why we need to act soon.”
Mary pulls on my sleeve and asks, “Are you absolutely sure that this information comes from the Manifest and not from one of your memories resurfacing? They're right, you know? If the aliens don't know about this backdoor we discovered, we go in and fail, they'll close it without fail, ruining any further chance to destroy the Manifest moon.”
I look Mary deep into the eye and reply, “I'll bet my life on it.”

Mary looks at me with a pitiful expression and finally asks, “No offense, Gordon...but you don't have that much 'life' to gamble, do you?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, your amnesia. You remember almost nothing but your name and a few basic things, but that's it. I...just don't think you're in the position to make educated guesses like this.”
Marty sighs and reminds Mary, “Keep it down a little, okay? We're still in a discussion after all.”
“What's this about 'amnesia'?” one of the people on the screens asks and in that moment I realize that they never told them. By speaking out of line I just ruined my entire credibility.

I let out a big sigh and mutter, “Me and my big mouth...may I speak?”
Marty shakes his head and makes way for me.
I stand in the middle of the console and address the people on the screens directly, “It is true, I do suffer from Amnesia. Until about 2 weeks ago, I was convinced that it was still 10 years ago and the Night of the Manifest was still to come. I was told many things about the world of today. I'll be honest, I have a hard time believing even just half of them. However I know for a fact that this isn't the world our ancestors wanted to leave us. I also know for a fact, that this isn't a world I want to raise my future children in. I want to take strolls in the actual moonlight, not the superficial light this abomination over our heads gives off! I want to play in the sunlight without having to fear my dreams at night! I want to have the life back that was taken from me! And yes, for that I am ready to lay down my life! And even if I have to go alone, I will take this chance!”

Marty shakes his head at my little speech and pushes me to the side, mumbling something like, “Headstrong as usual...” before addressing the screens again, “Alright, that makes one volunteer already. Anyone else?”
“A hopeless endeavor for the future of mankind? I think I know just the right guy. A bit trigger happy, but you'll find no better marksman.”
“I think I've got an engineer for you. Lost his wife to a Manifest attack. He should be raring to go to even out the body count.”

The list goes on, from ex-soldiers over engineers up to writers and roleplayers. At the end of the discussion, we have at least a dozen people including myself signed up. We probably would have gotten a lot more, however after the twelfth Marty pulled the stops and reminded everyone, that we were unable to send more than 12 people up to the Manifest moon.

I leave early with Mary, leaving Robert and Marty to sort out the specifics.
Once outside, Mary admits, “Nice speech. Did you practice that long?”
“Nope.”
“Completely ad lib? That's quite amazing.”
“Want to know a nice trick?”
“Sure, may come in handy.”
“I'm imagining that it's not me holding the speech, but a character in a book I'm writing. Helps the nerves.”
“Yeah right, as if it was that easy. Tell you what, you're a naturally born leader.”
“No, I'm not. I'm just a guy, who believes in what he says.”
“And that's exactly what makes a great leader. Everyone can mince words, but to actually believe in what you're telling...that inspires people.”
“You felt...inspired?”
Mary winks, “Nah, not really. But you know, I started this whole resistance mess with my hack. It's only right that I end it. Or at least die trying.”
“I think we're full already though.”
“You still don't remember a thing, eh? The shuttle has 15 spots. One for the pilot, one for the computer expert, who needs to bypass the shield protecting the Manifest moon, one for the gunner seat and 12 actual transport seats. Marty is the pilot, I am the computer expert and you're the gunner. You don't have a problem with that, do you?”
I reply quickly, “No. I was ready to kick some ass going in after all.”
“Just what I wanted to hear. Alright, you should go and get some rest. Tomorrow we need to get your reacquainted with the controls. And for that, you need to be in top form.”
I nod and we part ways. I spend the rest of the night reading up on a few classics on my tablet, however I can't seem to focus at all.

Eventually I close the book I started and switch to writing mode and begin writing a letter to whom it may concern. Maybe, someone in the future will find this tablet and if they do, I want them to know what is on my mind today.