Machine, page 7
part #1 of The Peradran Legacy Series
I could not imagine what else the crewman saw but I was sure it was his first time. I feared the worst; Kevin was dying. Trapped in the Suit with serious trauma, possibly caused by the Suit, without power. Drained somehow.
I got on the phone and called the recovery team. “Yeah, who's in charge today...Get him...I'll wait.” As I waited I watched the main screen, more specialists were approaching the scene, carrying equipment as they ran. Soon Kevin and the Suit were surrounded with people in lab coats. All were supplied with headset transmitters. The air waves were alive with their chatter;
“...Yes there is blood...”
“...Hold it! Its not on!...”
“...His arm moved, there!...”
“...There's no room for a camera, move back!...”
My recovery team member in charge called back. “Control room - what can I do for you?” Heavy machinery could be heard in the background.
“Eric Trayden here. I need a fork lift on the runway now. How long will it take?”
“We've got one but its slow, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes.”
With much volition I turned to the main screen. I felt helpless, then an idea struck me. Immediately I stood.
“Alan, I'm going to activate my Suit.”
He covered his microphone, “What?” He simply looked at me, unsure if I meant what I said.
“I'll transfer control from the isolation chamber to my console here.” Then to reassure Alan as well as myself I added, “We have control when the power is on right? So why not use it to get Kevin inside – as soon as possible.” I walked away then and called back to Alan. “Watch my console!”
I picked up my pace and ran toward the locker room. There I would grab a sensor suit. One was required to activate the servo sensors in the Suit. A two minute run and I was there, I found my locker and stripped. I pulled the tight-fitting suit on, slipping my fingers and toes into their individual pockets. The zipper went from the hip to my neck. A tight cap pulled over, with sensors for head movement. The yellow suit was one piece, requiring a bit of yoga to get in comfortably. Another two minute run and I was outside the isolation chambers. I made my way to the monitor room and entered.
The techs were busy recording data, there must have been a recent episode.
“Enough of that guys, I need to shut down the Suit and ready it for manual control.” I wedged my way to the console and began typing access codes for power up procedures. Over the speakers I could hear servos whining, like the Suit was moving. I glanced to the monitor and saw the Suit. It was facing the armored door.
As I continued to type, each command was followed by the computer. Momentarily I was in control. I entered the command to open the door to the isolation chamber. I then transferred command to the main control room.
I left the monitor room for the isolation chamber. When I arrived, the Suit stood obediently still, access panels open. I stepped inside, fitting my hands into the massive gloves.
“Alan, I'm in.” With that the access panels closed and the padding inflated around me. In a strange way it was exciting to be in the Suit again. I put my anxieties behind me and headed for the nearest freight elevator.
When in manual control the Suit was not capable of maintaining a run. It would only handle a well paced walk. It took three minutes to reach the elevator. People stood nervously to the side as I passed. The elevator ride took a minute. At that pace I would save crucial time. I climbed a flight of stairs and was on ground level. I began my walk to the runway.
I could see the Void field, shimmering in the midday sun. The black sun center blending with the mirage on the sand and runway. I could see the crewman, pacing near Kevin and the Suit. Afraid to look again at the horrific image up close.
As I drew closer I could see more clearly through the rising heat. The crewman rested against the Void Runner. I watched Kevin, the arms were moving. The crewman didn't notice. The arms groped reflexively for a handhold. When I reached Kevin, he was conscious. Staring hard at the hands of the Suit. Blood was smeared around the edge of the visor. His lips were moving but I doubt they formed words. He seemed oblivious of my presence. I bent to lift him up. Enhanced by the Suit I was strong enough to easily heft the nine hundred pound load.
I looked at Kevin's face, he stared at nothing, blinking slowly. His mouth open. I could see tiny wires that have worked their way through the padding. At first I thought they were loose, then I remembered the horrific recount of the crewman. I saw the wires, they had pressed themselves under Kevin's flesh - Fusion. Blood oozed from the tiny wounds. I could not tell where the Suits padding ended and where Kevin's flesh began. The moist seams were sealed.
Alan's voice came on the helmet radio. “Eric, bring him to lab five. I have a team setting up now.”
“Will do Alan - Kevin is in bad shape. He seems conscious, but he is incoherent. The Suit may be unstable, its done something to Kevin. Something you've got to see yourself.” That would make Alan more curious than worried. Science, for him was business. If Kevin should die Alan would be moved but not emotionally like I would have been. He wasn't a cold person, just distant, preoccupied.
When I arrived at the lab, the room was full of doctors and scientists. They all wore sterile gowns and facemasks. A large table was in the center of the room. Various devices lined the walls, most were on wheels. Alan was not present.
I placed Kevin on the table and backed away. They began by closely examining the new Suit. They found blood in various crevices, half dry from the hot sun. Further examination revealed many Void modifications. Differences in the new Suits design caused by exposure to the Void. All of the seams designed into the new Suit were fused together, trapping Kevin inside. Whatever damage the new Suit had caused would have to be determined by a CAT scan.
Lab five housed a CAT scan machine, I wheeled the table over. The information was reviewed as it was received, automatically compiled to computer memory. Cut-away views of Kevin's head appeared on screen as the scan probed through the layers of metal, plastic and flesh. Dark shadows appeared throughout the scan. There was heavy invasion into Kevin's skull cavity and brain matter. The shadows stemmed from Suit components, all originally designed as circuits that monitored Kevin's movements inside the Suit.
I began to understand what had happened to Kevin. In the Void, man became another machine. When the Void worked its miracle, man and machine became one - literally. The process was so extreme that Kevin's system went into shock.
I remembered the watch, how it was altered, yet it continued to function. Morbidly I realized what that could mean for Kevin. If his mind remained intact, he would become a cyborg. The Suit had probably fused so completely with Kevin's body that surgery would be enigmatic at best. That remained if Kevin was still human. His union with the Suit might have altered his mind, turning him into a monster. But he would be alive.
Meanwhile I remained, piloting my own creation of the Void, assisting in moving the new Suit when needed.
The complete scan took hours. When it was over I willingly returned the Suit to the isolation chamber. I had begun to feel like the Suit was moving with me of its own accord. As if it were mimicking my movements, not following them. Using the Suit felt like entering the spiders web and trying to get out before getting caught.
Kevin's condition changed very little. He began to blink more naturally. His eyes remained out of focus, but they responded to light evenly. The scan revealed certain parts that were not integrated into the Human-Suit union. The glass visor could be removed, giving access to the only part of Kevin that remained exposed. The smeared blood had been washed off, you could see clearly how complete the fusion was. Up close Kevin's eyes were changed. They had become Void recreations of human eyes. Tiny circuits replaced vessels. His retinas now reflected a faint steely-blue.
He looked at me then. He focused on my face and spoke. “How am I doin'?” His voice was mechanical, metallic and sounded like it was being amplified by a vox synthesiser.
“You're alive buddy, just relax.”
I called over my shoulder to the doctors present, “He's awake!” They literally dropped what they were doing and came over. They were a bit overzealous in trying to reassure Kevin of his current state. He became nervous, thick bolts secured his hands and feet. He struggled against them to no avail. The Suit responded to his movements very naturally. He began to thrash hard, testing the strength of the bolts. The doctors backed away in fear, they knew what might be happening. Kevin was unaware that he remained in the Suit.
“I can't feel my arms, my legs...” He stopped struggling. His eyes danced about, the realization was upon him. “...I'm in the Suit...it doesn't feel right.”
He looked into my eyes, searching for an explanation. He was pinned to the table, unable to move his body. He turned his head away when I answered with silence. He was alive. His mind seemed intact. But he was still a cyborg, a freak of the Void. How would I, how could I tell him.
I left Kevin's side without explaining his condition to him. He would find out sooner or later, he may well have guessed on his own. I wanted to talk to Alan. Alan, who would have been monitoring the whole examination from his office. Alan, who foresaw the outlandish results of the mission. The whole situation created a menacing weight on my shoulders.
I could hear Kevin in the background, he was crying.
“What's going on?” He demanded. “What's happened to me...” His words trailed off into mechanical sobs. He struggled momentarily, the heavy manacles ringing through the air. He then relaxed. He began to mumble, whispering broken words between sobs. His misery filled my mind. I wanted to console him, but there was no cliché that simplified his condition.
Before I left the lab, I had to look at Kevin's face again. I approached the table and he was clenching his cyborg fists and shaking his head, fighting the emotions that flooded his eyes. He didn't see me as I passed him lying there. I made my exit brief, saying nothing as I left.
CHAPTER SIX
THE VOID
I sat at a long table, various items were laid about its surface. The items were each a creation of the Void. Only a few results of countless efforts of delving into its mysteries. Each item had a tag with a description and a file with x-rays and photographs. I held in my hand what used to be a click pen, the type that screwed together in the middle. It still looked like a normal pen, but now it was fused into one piece. Inside, the simple machinations were fused as well. I compared the Void Pen to its ancestor on photo record. The visible metal parts were missing. It retained the same mass. It was the same shape and size as the original as well. The color of the casing had a red cast to it now.
All of the items were altered slightly or greatly. No two items were altered the same way. Always the basic function of the item remained intact, be it mechanical, electronic or kinetic. None of the Void items performed any function outside their original design. Extremely simple objects like a common comb were sent into the Void and returned unchanged. The unchanged items were located in another lab. Most often some annexation of fusion took place, with limitation to altering the construction of the item. The alterations may even seem to have improved on the original designs, forming Void duplications that would be nearly impossible for a man made machine to copy precisely.
Each item was in the Void for an equal period of time. Entering and leaving in the same fashion, via the micro Void field. It was the original Void field designed to accommodate items the size of a shoe box and smaller. Items exposed to the Void a second time showed no advanced changes, including the Void Runner. Organic materials present in test items such as wood resisted transmutation, possibly due to the immutable nature of such materials. That led to a series of tests involving living plants. Unprotected they returned shriveled and dying. Further testing on natural products provided the conclusion that such items held a resistance to the effects of the Void. Unfortunately none of those products would act as a shield. The Void would reach right through and work its wonder.
Early theories about the Void suggested that the Void was a primordial universe. Another idea was the Void was simply Dimension Zero and the Void field was the one dimensional boundary. This was the theory that retained the most support. Another theory that has not been thrown out yet was the idea that the Void was merely a loop through space like a stable wormhole. The loophole theory might explain the time distortion. Once something entered the Void it would travel the loop warping through the time barrier until its return.
Facts about the Void were few. The nature of the Void once inside was examined during my twenty hour mission. Once inside the Void basic natural forces were null. Gravity does not exist. No element known to man was found. There is no matter to create resistance, no friction. There was no inertia, like the Void would not recognize mass and relativity. The Void would not support life without protection. It remained unknown whether or not there was a displacement factor. If something should enter the Void, would it take up space or did it simply exist as a manifestation in the Void. My personal theory adds that when something enters the Void it becomes a part of it, sharing its nonexistence reality. Somehow becoming one with the Void and retaining its self existence simultaneously.
My first experience inside the Void itself was sadly simplistic, where entering and leaving was the only true excitement. Once inside the initial disorientation wore off in a couple of hours. The endless gray was featureless. It would hold my gaze as I looked into it, but that was due to the illusion of expansion. Like the Void grew more vast and empty as I looked into it. Once in a while the shade of gray would seem to change but when the videos were examined there was no measurable difference.
My second encounter with the Void involved a supernatural influence, as mysterious as the Void itself. The red cloaked figure seemed able to exert his control over the Void, transgressing its boundary and connecting with my mind. The purpose was clear, to impart a message to me, albeit it simple the memory remains crystal clear ...this is real... ...return... I couldn't take the message to heart. There is no experiment that could lure me into the Void. To return after witnessing its effects would seem unsavory. I would not break my promise to Lena.
I continued to examine the array before me. I searched for the most compelling item, the one that seemed the most affected. They all had a presence, like they carried the Void within them. The sensation was very alien. There was some discomfort to be found being in a room full of such items. To hold each item was like reliving the experience. I grew more aware of the sensation as I continued my examination. Slowly an image of the Void formed in my mind, the pen which I still held traveled fleetingly through its existence. I could sense the Void reaching down into the atomic structure, encompassing the pen. I could see in my mind's eye the changes as they started, the fusing molecules rushing to the rhythm of the Void. Moments later a new creation returned into normal space, carrying with it a subatomic memory of the Void. Undetectable to machines, I remained aware of the Void. I felt its presence in myself, I carried a calling card that only the Void would recognize. I felt vulnerable, the sensation began to overwhelm me. I dropped the pen, my vision filled with the gray as it expanded before me. Distantly the pen hit the floor, the echo rang out. Momentarily my head cleared. I left the pen on the floor, reluctant to trigger another experience like that. I had seen enough. It was time to visit Kevin.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SOJOURN
High above the forest floor Makad navigated the roped walkways, leading Morbannon and Cohiri to his home. The morning sun, low in the sky, cast multicolored shadows as it filtered through the abundant foliage. Most of the walkways this high in the trees were merely ropes. Woven in intricate knots into the branches. It provided ample footing for the three of them but the path had a tendency to thin here and there, giving view of more complete paths in the trees below. The path behind them blended into the foliage. It would be easy to get lost or miss navigate and fall if one was too rushed. Makad paced himself to allow the two warriors to keep up.
“My Khapr is the youngest of the eight in the northern forests, our homes are still quite simple.”
“Please, I'm sure your hospitality is more than adequate.” Morbannon knew that Makad's home was near but it remained hidden in the overgrowth.
Makad stopped, moss flourished all about them. It covered the rope-path and continued up the sides of branches until it fashioned an arboreal landscape. Here the path became a thick moss floor. Vines hung thickly all about, making it necessary to duck below them as Makad led them into a secluded grotto. Recessed into the thick moss was a door, he pushed it and it swung in revealing a surprisingly large room. They entered wide eyed. The entire room was fashioned from living wood. Branches of all sizes were made to grow together forming the walls, ceiling, floor and furniture in their entirety. Intricate carvings on the heavier masses depicted Lalgoran Priests blessing their most favored warriors and powerful beasts fleeing from them.
Cohiri inquired of her host, “How is it that your people could be new to the forest and have time to accomplish so much?”
“The answer is simple Cohiri.” Morbannon showed her the Amulet, twisting the chain so that the ruby spun around.
“I see...” She scanned the room, it had an ancient quality. From the curtained alcoves and windows to the carpeted floor, everything was apparently Lalgoran craft work, fashioned with Arcane methods. She could sense the magic permeating the very wood she touched with her fingers.
“Please, sit.” Makad gestured toward two free standing chairs next to a table carved from branches reaching up from the floor. The top was polished to a mirrored luster. He then retired to an alcove for glasses.
