JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

Chapter 7

Freedom, Truth, and Consequences

   "Lobotomise!? My goodness, that IS extreme!" the harp exclaimed to herself. (The three men nodded frantically) "However, I guess I have no choice." (Three men shook their heads frantically and groaned through their gags to no avail. And the harp just thought they were trying to make a last minute plea.) "And poor Corin! No! I cannot risk his safety! I must obey!" (Loud mmmphh-ing and frantic shaking of heads.)

   She looked at them sorrowfully. "For what I'm about to do, I'm truly sorry. I'm usually a very peaceful creature. Well...you better brace yourselves." And she reached down, plucked a few strings and began to play.

   Jack knew what was coming and was able to quickly school his thought into a meditative state, similar to what he had done before. However, Brian and Justin had no idea what to expect or to do and got the full brunt and effect of it.

   Oh, it was terrible! It wasn't like real harp music at all! Imagine an electric guitar, the highest note possible, as loud as possible. Now imagine those sounds that tweak on your nerves, scraping along your very spine. Now imagine if there was an effect like that along your brain. Each pluck of the string, each note was like that, each one higher and more painful and torturous than the one before. The strings mixed and melded in new and terrible ways.

   Brian and Justin yelled in agony. Their eyes bulged. They spasmed and collapsed and quickly succumbed to the harp's power. Soon they mercifully blacked out.

   Jack, however, had been able to quickly lull himself into meditative state, similar to the one he had managed before to escape her power. He put himself into his own trance and pretended he was at a lovely, actual harp concert. And the more she played the deeper he led himself and the more still and tranquil and peaceful he became. On another level, he was aware of the harsh, brainwashing sounds but it was as if he were in a room 6 brick wall levels thick. And the noise was far away, six rooms blocked, and faint. He knew it was futile, that the harp would eventually break through the defences and crush him but for survival's sake, he had to try.

   The harp frowned and focused her attention on him. Jack felt the noise break through a wall. However, he remained stalwart and tranquil, sitting cross-legged and back straight.

   The harp continued in this way for a few minutes but she grew more and more puzzled. Finally, she stopped. Jack sighed in relief. Nobody would know this but himself, but she had been down to his last wall.

   "I do not understand," she said. "You should be like them." Them, were on the floor still spasming slightly with the pain. Justin was foaming unattractively at the mouth. "Stockwell said you were a violent man. But no man of violence could achieve such a state of tranquillity or resist my power. I do not understand."

   Jack took a deep breath and came awake. He looked at the harp steadily and grunted through his gag meaningfully.

   "Yes, you are right. To gain understanding, I fear I must risk releasing you." She plucked a single string. This time the note was sweet and clear and full of goodness and might. Jack's handcuffs popped open.

(A/N: Yeah, that's right! The giant's harp can open locks now! Doesn't make sense! you cry? Don't like it? Well Tuff Stuff! That's what you get for leaving me alone with my own thoughts and bizarre ideas!  Eventually all sorts of strangeness that makes absolutely no sense comes popping out, that makes a white rabbit with a waistcoat and a pocket watch look positively tame. Welcome to the Wonderland that is my warped brain!! If you don't like it, next time send a few REVIEWS my way! UPDATE: Maris not included in this. Maris gave a cool but rather expose type review and is cool.  Until next time, enjoy!)

   Jack shook free of his handcuffs and grabbed his gag and pulled it viciously away.

   "Oh at last! Stop! You must stop and reverse what you have done to my friends! Please!"

   "Why?"

   "Because there is no need! We are not violent men! We are prisoners and tortured men simply because we found a way to release Corin! He is free! He went back up the beanstalk a little while ago! There is no need for you to do this to us or follow Stockwell's orders anymore! Corin is free!" It was with great relief and satisfaction that Jack was able to get this out at last.

   "Corin is free!? Truly?" the harp asked.

   "Yes! I did it myself and sent him home. You were wondering why you were brought here blindfolded! It's because you had to be brought right by where Corin was tied down to the floor. And he isn't there anymore! Stockwell is the liar! Not us!"

   "Prove it!" declared the harp.

   "Please! Reverse what you have done to my friends and get us out of here and we will prove everything!"

   The harp thought about it and then decided. "I want to believe that Corin is free and that this nightmare can finally end so badly. I will trust you. But if I discover you are lying I will incapacitate your friends with one pluck of my strings and this time there will be no return from where I send them. Understood?"

   "Yes! Understood and agreed! But you will not regret this!" Jack raved rapturously.

   And so, the harp played once more and this time the music was clear and sweet and healing and a few minutes later Brian and Justin started to come around and return to normal. Their cuffs snapped off.

   "Ohhhhh! My head! I have got to stop buying that cheap shit from Anita!" groaned Brian. Then he looked around and remembered. "Oh shit! Keep that thing away from me!"

   "Brian...relax! It's OK! She's on our side now. I managed to convince her we were the ones who rescued Corin."

   "But how?"

   And while Justin took his time coming around and they all recovered a bit, Jack entertained them with the story of what had happened.   At last they were ready. The harp struck a deep and powerful chord and the door unlocked with a deep ‘clank!' and they were outta there!

   The first thing they did was run to the edge of a railing to show the harp the empty space where Corin used to be. At first, the harp was grateful but then her face turned dark with purposeful fury.

   "So...it is true....Corin is now free. And that wretch tried to deceive me to kill you! Not to mention all this time when he used me! Used me and enslaved my power to enslave others! Well....No more! I am free! Free to wreak a terrible vengeance on Stockwell that will make him sorry he ever laid eyes on me much less dared to pick me up and steal me!"

   "NO!" yelled Jack.

   "No!??" they all yelled back in surprise.

   "Hey! Prisoners escaping!" someone yelled in the distance.

   "This must end! This thing...this enslavement ...of you, of Corin, of my people, must end! It has gone on for way too long, years and even this last adventure seems to have gone on way too long! We did not free Corin...and you to start another vendetta! We did it to bring freedom to your people...and to mine," said Jack. "Speaking of which..." he gestured toward the angry and approaching guards.

   "I see what you mean," said the harp, "Very well...we will start here." And she strummed her strings just as the angry guards reached them. They were frozen in their tracks by the beautiful music.  The harp kept playing and the music grew louder and fuller and filled the underground cave. Again, the music was dulcet and sweet and filled with power. She played for several minutes and when she finally came to a dwindling finish, the spell was broken.

   Everybody in the complex was shaking their heads as if they were just waking up from a long sleep. All the guards lost that intense, driven and/or stupid look on their faces and began to look at each other in a kind of what the hell am I wearing?...What the hell was I thinking?...kind of way. All the computer techs awoke and looked at their screen as if it were the first time they'd seen...whatever was on the screens and pushed back from their desks. Everyone began milling around, remembering, wondering, asking questions that had no answers and generally started standing around, wondering what to do next. More than a few pulled out flasks from their pockets or purses.

   Jack went to a central location where he could be seen and heard easily.     

   "My friends! MY FRIENDS!" he orated, "Most likely you are confused or angry or just wondering what is going on. For five years now, we have been trapped in a kind of hell, brainwashed, hypnotized, and enslaved by a magic force all to maintain and protect...this...thing!" he gestured to the beanstalk and the huge machinery, still laser beaming away. "However, the time of liberty is at hand. You have all been released from bondage but we are in a cavern deep below the glue factory. We are not out of the woods yet! There are still countless townspeople at work above on the night shift and even more at home. We need to free them and if we went upstairs we'd still be hopelessly outnumbered if we tried to fight them."

   "Hypnotized!!? Magic?" Questions and murmurs swept through the crowd but suddenly, one woman screamed, "Oh my God, I remember now! Stockwell! It was Stockwell! Oh my God, the things I've done!! The things I've seen...." She began to scream.

   At that, it was as if the floodgates were opened and person after person began to remember in a chain reaction. Screams and wails filled the cavern in a terrible noise. Jack held his head in consternation as he looked down at the wailing crowd who now sounded as if they were being chased by all the powers of Hell!

   Finally, he clanged on the guardrail with butt of his gun. "People! People! Calm down! QUIET!" he yelled. The crowd quieted to whimpers and sniffles.

   "I know what you have witnessed and I know it's been traumatic but this is no time to go to pieces! We have to rescue the rest of the town. Many of our kinsfolk are still slaves and must be freed! And when they are, we can leave this factory, this run down town and have a new life and new jobs. We'll be happy in the sun....FOREVER! Who will be a part of this future!? Who will help me!?"

   The crowd cheered and shouts of...I will!...and We're with you Jackie-Boy!...filled the air.

   Justin wiped away an invisible tear. "He's really stepped up to the plate! He'd make quite the politician! I'm so proud of him!'

   "He's a ballsy little breeder, that's for sure!" Brian agreed with his tongue firmly in his cheek. Now that it wasn't gagged, it was good to have it back where it belonged.

BJBJBJBJBJBJBJBJB

   It was a few minutes later.

   Now that relative peace and freedom had been restored, the atmosphere was that of content and joy. A mini party was breaking out and couples all over the place were starting to make out.

   Best of all, within a few minutes, a burly guard made his way up the stairs and addressed them. "I hear you're looking for a way to free the others upstairs."

   "That's right. Will you help us? It could be a dangerous job. Stockwell could sic hordes of people upon us and overwhelm us before we could get to a place to play our deprogramming music." Jack said.

   The guard, whom Brian had already dubbed Moose in his mind, smiled and quickly proved that he was not just a brawny bod.

   "My, what a dramatic. If you come with me, you'll find things are not as dire as all that. But we must be quick...and careful...to do what I hope. Hurry!"

   Moose led them quickly to the left of the complex, that is to say, left of the elevators and up to the fourth and highest level. Down this hall, the guardrail was on their right and on the left there were strange shaped doors cut to fit the cave entrances that led to the chambers beyond. Moose stopped at a tall door that was perfectly arched at the top. It was fire engine red with stark white lettering that said in big bold letters: KEEP OUT! NO ADMITTANCE! THIS MEANS YOU!

   The whole effect made it look like the door was made out of candy cane and the portal to a candy house and yet as dangerous as the witch who was fabled to live within.

   "Gee! I wonder if we should go inside!" Brian said sarcastically.

   "Not without a gun drawn," Moose said seriously, doing so. "This is the communications room. It's completely soundproofed so whoever is manning it right now will still be Stockwell's man. We'll have to get the drop on them and take them out if need be."

   "You will not need to...take them out...as you put it," came the harp's gentle voice, astonishing Moose into stupefaction. "Just make sure they do not fire and I will do the rest."

   "Uhhhhh....ok" Moose was still questioning reality a bit but he was able to obey. He stood to one side of the door and counted: "One...two...three...and then threw open the door with a sudden move and pointed his gun in. "FREEZE!" he yelled impressively.

   The two guards inside were young and inexperienced and taken completely by surprise. They had glassy eyes that otherwise took on a dour, sullen expression but they wisely raised their hands in surrender.

   "OK...time to...do your stuff," Moose said, keeping them covered.

   Jack came in next and the harp in his arms played for the two guards and it was so sweet it was like listening to sugar and cinnamon. The two guards perked up and closed their eyes and listened as if they were at a classical music concert, just drinking in the music. Then they had a sudden intake of breath and opened their eyes, blinked and looked around and stretched. They looked like they were waking up from a long sleep, which of course was the case.

   "What...what's goin' on?" asked one.

   "Geez, Reg...put that down! (Oh so that was his name!' thought Brian.) "That ain't no peashooter! What's happening here? Where are we?"

   "You've been working in a complex deep beneath the glue factory for a long time," Jack said, "You've been victims of mind control but the day of liberty is at hand. There's a party outside or you can go home out the elevators but whatever the case we are commandeering this room! Help us, or get out now!"

   The two guards were too confused and frightened to do anything but shuffle past them all and hustle out of there as fast as their bustles could carry them.

   Brian and Justin hustled inside just as fast and slammed the door behind them. Finally, they were able to breathe a little easier.

   "So, what's next?" asked Justin eagerly.

   "From this room, we can communicate with any room in the factory...or all of them!" revealed Moose. (Brian decided he liked this name better.) "You speak into there," he pointed to a large microphone on the counter. "And get orders from up top from there," He pointed to a large speaker mounted on the wall.

   All along one wall was a control panel and all along this was three rows of switches, all turned off. Moose started flipping them all on.

   "Each one of these is a room. Help me!" he cried.

   Jack, Justin, and Brian all began flipping switches. Soon they were all on. There was one more large one marked ANTENNAE.

   "What's that one?" Justin asked, pointing it out.

   "Good eye," Moose said. "That one will be a real pleasure to flip." He grasped it deliberately and switched it on. "This raises a large antennae out of one of the smokestacks. Stockwell made me broadcast out of it quite regularly, mostly how wonderful he was how benevolent, how prosperous and good the factory was for giving everyone jobs. And of course, how wonderful the OATH was. Nothing out of the antennae can be heard consciously, just on a subliminal level."

   "That's why everyone thinks the only place to go for jobs is the factory!" Jack cried in revelation.

   Moose nodded sadly. "I thought that way myself, once upon a time. And once I was here, I was forced to perpetuate that lie. However, with your dohicky thing-amajig there, whatever freedom message you play should filter down into the village. People won't really perceive they've been freed, it'll just happen."

   "What about Beddy and Randy? This won't damage them, will it?" Justin asked worriedly.

   "No," Moose said, "They've never been exposed to the OATH...or whatever the OATH was....so whatever happens now shouldn't affect them in any way." He pushed a big red button in front of the microphone marked SEND. "There... you're on," he said, momentarily covering the mike so his voice wouldn't give them away.

   Jack placed the harp reverently on the control panel in front of the mike. The harp, who was extremely pissed at being called a thingamajig, shot him a look so dirty that it made Brian's language seem clean as a whistle. Then she took a deep breath, cracked her knuckles with a surprisingly loud crackle and began.

   The music flowed out as sweet as honey, as rich as chocolate and as smooth as any verdant wine. The music held a certain quiet power and life of its own, like a willow tree drawing energy from where it grows beside a brook in the springtime.

   All the men in the room were affected erotically by the music. Moose and Jack as heteroes were hit by vivid memories and thoughts of their girlfriends. They closed their eyes and re-lived certain recent earthshattering mutual climaxes.

   Brian was filled with an erotic rush of heat that went straight to his dick and gave him an instant woody. His pumped body was filled with power and a sense of domination that he could not resist. A wild joy overcame him. And so he did what he knew most wanted, nay, needed to do with every fibre of his being.

   He grabbed Justin and bent him deep in a dip and smashed their lips together. And Justin, who was feeling that same erotic insanity, kissed him back just as hard. His eyes closed and in the back of his lids he saw stars. The stars formed into specks and the specks blinked and opened into eyes. There was another burst of gold and there was a head of soft curly blond baby hair. A face melted down from the hair and Justin could see fat baby cheeks and a rosy mouth and there was a skip like a rapid scene cut and Justin could now see it was himself, holding a little baby boy with blond curly hair and blue eyes with golden flecks. The eyes of the baby turned to look up at Justin (the real Justin, not the one holding him.) The baby blinked once, and his eyes turned to a dazzling gold with blue specks. The gold turned dazzling, then flashed brilliantly and the scene went dark. Justin's eyes flew open and saw that Brian's eyes were opening wide as well. They were gold with brown flecks even though it wasn't the day for that. They both pulled apart and were only faintly aware that the harp was finishing with a last, low, throbbing, fading note. And then there was silence.

   Moose turned off the mike.

BJBJBJBJBJBJBJBJ

   The two men straightened up breathing like they'd just ran (or biked) a marathon.

   "What the hell was that?" gasped Brian.

   "You mean you saw it too?" Justin gave a shuddering sigh.

   "You bet I did! Did we...did he just share the same dream?" Brian asked.

   "My music has been known to cause visions," said the harp, "Tell me what it is you saw."

   Justin told her.

   "There can be no doubt. A shared vision such as this can mean only one thing. You have seen the child that you were promised that will come at the promised time... I think....yes....I'm almost certain....next year."

   "I...I...don't understand. Are we going to adopt? And if we do, there's no chance to know what we'd get."

   Justin clasped his hands within his own and his face radiated pure joy.

   "No Brian, we're not adopting. This child we'll be ours...Born of your seed...and my body. He'll be ours....free and clear."

   "But...how? How is that possible?"

   And so, Justin was able to at last to tell Brian about the Ward who before leaving had touched him so sweetly and granted him the gift of male pregnancy. All the other men were dumbfounded with wonder. So much so, that Justin grew a little worried.

   "Brian!? You OK?  Are you OK with this? You don't think this makes me...a freak...do you?"

   Brian crushed him to him. "NO! I love you! Now and forever, there is nothing you can do or say to stop that and I would never...NEVER...think that about you....period. You understand me you little twat?"

   "Seems that nickname just became quite literal," quipped Jack, as the two men embraced fiercely in tears. Everyone had a teary laugh over that one.

   "Come on! Let's get out of here!" Brian said and they wasted no time in doing just that. Indeed, now that they were done their task, the small room had begun to feel stuffy and confining.

   They walked back toward the elevators and were just rounding the corner to join the party which was now in full swing.

   Just was they reached them, there was a BING!...and the elevator in front of them opened and Stockwell got out.

   "Well! Well! Well! Look who it is and who isn't lobotomised! I guess this explains what's going on upstairs! Free thought! Once loyal people telling me to fuck off! Every single employee walking off the job. Any thoughts on that?" His eerily calm voice showed that whatever part of him had been sane had boarded the train to Crazytown. He was mad as a hatter.

   They all started backing up from him and closing ranks. "I have some thoughts on that! You are a liar and I am free of you and your threats! Everyone in this place and this town if free of my power and I will NEVER do anything you say AGAIN!" shouted the harp.

   "Ahhh yes, YOU! Ahhh well, it was good having you while I did! But all good things must come to an end. Isn't that what they say?" He laughed a long, high giggle that displayed his madness.

   "And what is it they also say? If you can't get something done...."

   He drew he gun and pointed it at Justin's head.

   "JUSTIN, LOOK OUT!!" Jack shoved Justin to one side, his own weapon drawn.

   BAM!!!

   Jack was hit point blank in the chest. He was knocked off his feet and thrown back several feet. Then he hit the floor, flat on his back and moved no more.

   "Blah....blah....blah...." finished Stockwell.

TBC