Soul Foundry
Soul Foundry
1
He felt like yuk. There was a problem with his soul, all the years of sins were wearing on him. He had eloped with hookers, strippers and waitresses. He had to have seven or eight kids that he didn’t see and his job was a mess. He got all the work from the others and he didn’t fit in. He, Robert Bradford, or Bobby B., was the butt of many in house jokes. He had bags under his eyes and dirt under his nails and he was barely awake from the horrible dreams of fire. He knew he would go to hell and at 59 he was beginning to worry that the aches and pains would only get worse until he was burning in fire. He didn’t want to burn in hell forever. He grew up Christian and the terror was there imbedded in his brain.
He sat in his cubicle and he looked at the postcards from family, and they weren’t to seedy countries with cheap cocaine and hookers like the ones he visited. He didn’t much like the heroin but he adored hash and opium. He had a couple grams of opium in his pocket. He got up and went to the stairs. He went up to the top floor, that was abandoned, and he went to the bathroom.
He took out his pipe and packed it with opium. He lit it and inhaled. The world had taken a turn, the once loved then hated opium dens opened back up and the place was living in sin. The red light districts were up and running. As the opium made its way through his veins he felt better. Software engineering was slow work, he had enough skill so that he didn’t have to code much and had a lot of spare time. They wouldn’t notice he was gone.
Robert still had the pamphlet in his back pocket. He pulled it out and looked at it.
“Soul Foundry Corporation, where all your dreams come true.” He opened the pamphlet and continued to read. “Here at Soul Foundry we extract your old soul an implant you with a new soul, completely cleaned and ready for use. With Heaven’s new rules of a max of ten a thousand sins to be entered into Heaven you will need a new soul eventually.”
He thought about it. He really could use a new soul. Then he could sin and be covered. He knew he could just repent and things would be good but his old soul was too old for that. Too many years had gone by, too many swears, too many sins. The soul replacement business was an old mans game. After years of raising hell he would get a new soul and probably feel pretty good about it. So it was decided and he put the pamphlet back in his pocket.
2
“Hello sir welcome to the Soul Foundry Corporation’s main office right here in Boston, MA.” Said a petite blonde who was very skinny. She smiled as she talked.
“Thank you.” He said.
“What can we do for you today?”
“I would like a new soul.”
“Ok we can definitely accommodate you. We have slightly used souls at nearly half the price of a brand new one.”
“No I think I will take a new one.”
“Ok sir that will be twenty thousand for the extraction and fifty thousand for the new soul.”
He felt like he was getting ripped off but at the same time he had the money to buy it. “What the hell. I’ll take it.”
“Is this something you would like to do today?”
“Yes as soon as possible.”
“Your soul is in bad shape huh?”
“Yes it is.” He coughed into a handkerchief and some phlegm came out.
“You know that bad souls make you sick. We should start right away.”
“Ok.”
“Just go to the red door.”
“Ok.”
Inside there were a variety of closed doors. They like to paint here, he thought to himself after seeing all the colored doors. The soul business was good.
He saw the receptionist and she guided him to a green door and once inside told him to sit in on the table. “Lay back if you want.” He did and he felt a little worried when he looked up at the variety of machines over his head. He had the feeling this was going to hurt like the dentist pulling a tooth.
3
“Hello Mr. Bradford how are you feeling?” Asked the tanned Doctor in a lab coat and with a name tag that said Steve.
“Feeling my age more and more each day.”
“You’ve got the scent of opium to you. Does it help?”
“Most days it does but I take it to ease my mind.” Said Robert.
“A lot on your mind these days?”
“Somewhat, planning for death. Maybe I’m starting early but I am getting older.”
“Well you shouldn’t feel your age after we input a new soul. You’ll feel like a kid again.”
That was good news for him. Maybe he could cut back on the opium but he did really did like it.
“Just lay back.” Said Doctor Steve.
Looking up he closed his eyes and suddenly he wondered where all the souls went. Did they have a portal to hell and just send them down? It seemed like a good system for hell which would be overflowing with souls now. Or maybe it was God who decided to up entries to Heaven.
“You might feel a pinch.” He cut into Robert’s forehead and Robert winced. It was just a small cut. Enough to get a hold of the soul and pry it loose.
“Ok I got it. You may feel a little queasy but that is normal. If you have to throw up do it in there. He pointed to a silver dish that was connected to a drainage pipe and also had a water squirter as well.
He could feel it coming loose in his toes. “The soul is basically a parasite that keeps track of your actions and feeds on them. It isn’t something that you can do without though, it’s more of a curse than a blessing but we all have to have them.” That made Robert think for a minute.
“What happens if you don’t have one?”
“Any number of things if you sin you will be in big trouble and probably get murdered. It happens a lot.”
“Oh.”
“But don’t you worry we will get that fresh soul for you in just a minute.”
He left.
4
He came back a minute later carrying something that didn’t much look like a soul.
“Ok here we go a fresh soul for you.”
“What is it?” Asked Robert watching the Doctor take the red plastic off the rolled up soul.
“I just connect this part to your head and it will wrap itself around your insides. Only takes a second. You ready?” He said putting the soul up to the cut in his head.
“Yes.” He said and instantly felt the soul unraveling inside him. It felt like a calming breeze, all his aches and pains were being healed by the soul. He felt great.
“Feel like a new man?”
“Doc this is amazing.” Said Bobby B.
“Worth the money?”
“Oh hell yes!”
“Watch out on those swears. You’ll rack up those sins in no time.”
“Alright Doc. Thanks I really feel great.” He said sitting up.
“Go out there and have fun.”
5
He decided to take a walk in the park. He was walking fast, enough walking slow. He never wanted to walk slow again in his life. It was something that he would give up, like the Opium and Hash. Well maybe not the hash, it came from an herb it couldn’t be that bad for you.
He got quite a few looks from stunning female runners and one of them stopped to talk to him.
“You look great for your age.” She said as indeed the soul had tightened him up a bit. Bobby B. could feel it he had the metabolism of a teenager.
“Thanks what’s your name?”
“Elizabeth. Nice to meet you. And you are.” She said extending a hand.
“Bobby B. Nice to meet you as well.” He said flashing a not-so-much-anymore ancient smile.
“Well I got to run. Here give me a call sometime.” She handed him a business card. She was a Lawyer. By the looks of the card she was a good one, he spotted gold.
He was mesmerized by her still as he walked to cross the road. He checked right but forgot to check the Left. Immediately there was a shriek of tires on pavement. He didn’t have time to look at the bus when it hit him. It rocketed him fifteen feet and when he hit he knew it was over. The one last thought he had was, “Well damn I guess only the good die young.”
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