Beyond Redemption Read Online Free

Aufschlag’s heart filled with strengthened faith. “It’s so obvious. Of course there could only be one god. Too close to the experiment, I suppose. I became blinded.”
    â€œNot to worry, my friend.” Konig patted Aufschlag on the back as if they were the closest of comrades, which once, long ago, they had been. “Your task has always been the details. It falls to me to see the bigger picture, but we’d be lost without you. You are the heart of this project.” Konig turned to stare at his gathered Doppels. “I am nothing without my friends. Soalone. You are with me, right? Aufschlag? I can’t do this without you.”
    Aufschlag bowed low. Konig would never be alone as long as Aufschlag drew breath. He’d give everything in the service of this great man. Everything.
    â€œI will never abandon you,” Aufschlag swore with utter sincerity.

    The moment the heavy oak door closed behind Aufschlag, Abandonment chuckled. “He’ll abandon you. They’ll all abandon you.”
    Konig smiled sadly at his Doppel. “Yes. But not yet. Notice how he didn’t use the word ‘trust’? The day he tells me I can trust him is the day he dies.”
    Trepidation coughed nervously. “But you always tell people they can trust you .”
    â€œTrue.”
    Abandonment gestured at the closed door. “You told him the plan was for only one to Ascend.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œBut we wanted—”
    â€œI wanted.”
    â€œâ€”you wanted as many to Ascend as possible. With only one child left, our . . . your plans are in grave danger. Should something happen to the child . . .” Abandonment left the thought unfinished.
    â€œYou lied to him,” accused Acceptance, no longer facing the corner. “I thought he was our friend.”
    â€œAll communication is manipulation,” said Konig. “All interaction, social or otherwise, is a means of getting what you want. It’s the basis of society.” He paced the room, the hem of his crimson robes caressing the richly carpeted floor. “I need Aufschlag and he needs me. Underlying all friendship is a level of mutualdependence. Need, and need fulfilled. Without me Aufschlag would be nothing, a small man with small dreams. Without Aufschlag I would be hard-pressed to create my god. We need each other. We use each other.” Konig grinned at Acceptance. This would bother the Doppel. “When he betrays me—and there can be no doubt he will—I will kill him.” Konig gave his Doppels a hooded look. “You can trust me on that.”
    Acceptance laughed, a quiet chuckle. “And here I thought I was not only the embodiment of your need for acceptance, but also the sole manifestation of your sense of humor.”
    â€œI wasn’t joking,” said Konig.
    Acceptance, looking disappointed, glanced to the floor. “Oh.”
    KONIG SENT THE three Doppels to another room to give himself space to think. They crowded his thoughts with their demands for attention and constant infighting and bickering. For a brief moment he thought they wouldn’t leave, until Acceptance bowed his head and exited, with the others following in his footsteps. Not long ago he could cause them to fade out and vanish with a little directed will. Now he had trouble ordering them to another room. Someday he would not be able to banish them at all. They were his curse and a sure sign of his immense power. Unfortunately, as his power grew, so too did the strength of his Doppels. There would come a day when they no longer obeyed him. They would hound his every moment, muttering to him as he tried to sleep. His thoughts would be infested.
    And then they would bring him down. His delusions would overthrow him, topple him from the throne of his mind, devour his intellect. There was no way to know how it would happen. Perhaps he would be dragged into a mirror and forever imprisoned. He might