A WORK TIME

Bernard woke from his dreamless sleep. It was an entity in a time continuum that took an infinitely small space. It existed only as an idea that could take shape, mass, and life, only when conceptualized by an external power. Only then was there a temporary form of material existence. Only then could Bernard exist with the appearance and form of a material being. Only then could Bernard exist in a body and function with a memory and a purpose. It was a part of a system made up of many others like itself. When called into existence for a purpose, they could be innumerable, a virtual host. Blessed with a purpose, their powers could be of the Infinite to accomplish the tasks assigned. It could influence the environment and the behavior of other living things. Bernard was an angel.

Bernard’s agenda and purpose were those instantly implanted in its mind on awakening. It had an individual consciousness. It had full recall of all past assignments and experiences over an immense temporal period. It had an individual personality. Performance could vary among the entities of which it was an exemplar. A hierarchy existed which took performance into account when assignments were allocated. Bernard was never informed as to its status relative to other like entities.  Bernard had been assigned generous periods of consciousness over the temporal period of which it had memory.

Entities like Bernard had some freedom of action in the performance of their duties. Indeed the degree of freedom granted was a function of the success experienced in the performance of the duties assigned. Bernard had been given no direction in his assignments except for an indication of the desired outcome implanted in his mind on awakening. How the task was to be accomplished was left to individual initiative. If failure was experienced within the time allotted, the assignment was given to another entity. Indeed, the time allotted was often a function of the past success experienced by the entity. Successful experience seemed to translate into a degree of more patience by those carrying on oversight.

The entity would not necessarily be aware that its efforts had been crowned with success. Assignments would end when their period of wakefulness had come to an end. Bernard was not aware of ever having failed an assignment.

Bernard was in the middle of a war. It was the second day of what was known as the Six Day War. It was in a jeep bouncing over cobblestones. He was helmeted and carrying a rifle. It had been with this particular unit for several days after having found its place in the army. Beside it was the driver, whose name Bernard knew was Yossi. It was all Bernard could do to keep from being tossed out of the jeep. Bullets were flying all around them. They passed the wreck of a burning jeep.

“Yossi, Yossi, slow down before you turn the jeep upside down,” shouted Bernard.

Yossi speeded up, thinking to avoid sniper fire.

Bernard found it was speaking fluent Hebrew. It knew the Israelis were seizing the occasion of the war forced on them by Egypt’s Nasser to try and capture the Old City of Jerusalem from the Jordanians who had occupied it during the War of Independence in 1948. It was acting the role ofa soldier taking part in the fighting aimed at liberating the area on the second day of the Six Day War.

“Yossi” Bernard shouted, ”there’s a group of soldiers sheltering in that building over there. They could follow us down that street to the right, and we could give them some shelter from the firing. How about that?”

Bernard studied the map in its lap.

“That could get us near the Wall, if this map is right.”

Yossi slowed down and beckoned to the soldiers, and they fell into place around the jeep. On the radio one of the soldiers carried came the voice of one of the senior officers.

“Stop firing, they have surrendered, we have captured the Temple Mount!”

Yossi came to a narrow street beside an ancient wall made from massive blocks of stone towering many* feet high.

“Yossi, Yossi, it’s the Western Wall!” Bernard shouted, and the jeep shuddered to a stop.

Soldiers came running from every direction, flooding the area around them, some touching the wall in reverence. Others were silently praying. A Rabbi arrived. “Blessed are Thou, Lord, our GOD, who has brought us to this day.” the Rabbi intoned.

Soldiers began singing “Jerusalem Of Gold”. Bernard sat in the jeep, enjoying the scene. Mission accomplished, its work time was over. It would vanish unnoticed in the hullabaloo, along with all past consciousness of its presence.

*When centuries of accumulation had been cleared away, the Wall proved to be almost 60 feet high.