I have been forced by the nurses to wait outside of his room for close to an hour before now finally being allowed entry. They've become like a bunch of paranoid invalids; nobody, not even me, is allowed to see him without their first ensuring that he is in good condition. I am now finally allowed entry since they have finished “ensuring that his immune system is stable.” They must think that I am some kind of a disease-ridden tribal, which is a laugh; I am about as Aryan as you can get, more than their no-doubt barely passable blood could ever be.
I've been allowed to enter his room just as they are serving his lunch. They offer to feed him but he refuses their assistance and asks for them to leave. The nurses give a final glance toward their Fuhrer as he fumbles with his cutlery, hands shaking profusely, and then leave. As soon as the door closes he puts the cutlery down and looks up at me, a smile forming on his face and laughter under his breath. He returns to being the man that I have always known.
“Lock the door, Wilhelm. We can't have the nurses intruding on us.”
“They seem to be rather difficult to deal with.”
“They're just being thorough, which is exactly what they are being paid for. They think their Fuhrer is dying. I can forgive them.”
I lock the door and sit in the chair that had been left for me.
“It's tiring, Wilhelm. Dying. And voluntarily, at that. It's absurd. I would never imagine myself to be the type to commit suicide.”
“Kind of goes against your entire ethos, doesn't it?”
“Yes, it does. But the people can't yet be made aware of the anti-aging technologies that we have. It's too soon and we haven't worked out the social and legal ramifications. We have been able to cure every illness known to man but it is not yet the time to cure death. Wheel me over to the window.”
I do as he says.
“This planet, Wilhelm, is healthier than it has ever been. It has been born again. It was sick before we came and it will continue to be healthy as long as we are here.”
“Well I hope that the day doesn't come where our society falls.”
“Yes, that would be a shame. We have succeeded in purifying the world. First the Jews and the Slavs, then the Mediterraneans, the Muslims, the Africans, and the Asians. I only wish that you could have been there for when we executed Truman.”
“Well, I was there for the execution of Hirohito, at least.”
“I know. I remember the smile on your face. It's a shame about the Japanese, but their honorary Aryanship could not hold in the face of worldwide purity. Enough about that, though. I have asked you to come because we have to discuss the future.. I have some files that I need to give to you.”
He rose out of his wheelchair and walked over his bedside safe. Entering the combination, he pulled out several documents.
“Wilhelm, I need you to read these. Outlined within are the plans for the future of our Reich. I've arranged a meeting for you with the cabinet. I will be withering away over the next year and you will need to be prepared to take the reins once I have passed. I wish that I could live forever but my time has come. The Reich cannot continue under my leadership at this age; there is already tension in various corners of the world over my continued leadership. I must die and you must take over. Perhaps by the time you grow to be my age, we will have figured out how to properly integrate extended lifespans and, eventually, eternal life into society.”
“Well this scientific revolution wouldn't have happened without you.”
“I had nothing to do with it. The one thing the inferior races were good for was experimentation. I doubt that we would be where we are without such free access to living subjects. We can reverse anything now.”
I can hear his voice begin to tremble and I notice his eyes beginning to water. I grab a tissue from the end table and hand it to him.
“Thank you, my boy. It's just so beautiful, seeing my life's work stand before me wherever I go. I look out of this window and I see a world reborn. No disorder, no dissension. Nothing that goes against what is natural. The only thing that could possibly cause any trouble at this point is me. They see my continued leadership as unnatural. I'm too old. I'm an antique.”
“No, you're not. You're a brilliant man. You have changed the world a thousand times over. We have a sustainable population, a vast surplus of food, a world government, no war or violence, no perverse thought; we are living in a utopia.”
“Thank you. It means a lot to hear that from you. I have had the joy of watching you grow from a child into the man you are now. I couldn't ask for a better son to take my place. I love you so much.”
“Thank you, Dad. I love you too.”