The atmosphere of libraries, lecture rooms and laboratories is dangerous to those who shut themselves up in them too long. It separates us from reality like a fog.
-Alexis Carrel
Speaking into the air in front of him as if to himself he said, "Tomos Alpha LXV." And Tomos Alpha's voice immediately answered him from the air in front of him. "Yes Clark, how may I help you?"
"Have you analyzed the data from the travel yet? I think it is time that we found out exactly what my abilities are and started more advanced training based on them."
"I could not agree with you more Clark. I have enough data to know to the ninety ninth percentile that the power that sent you into the between flowed through you. So you have the ability to walk as well as knock. And we already know that you were responsible for the Gate at the city gate in Metazorlan today, so there is no question of it. The only real question that I cannot answer at this time is why you are still alive. The final calculations show that the amount of power that flowed through you when you opened the Gate and left the between, which appear to have happened simultaneously, far exceeded my earlier guess. I have no knowledge of anyone ever being able to summon such power let alone survive it. I am sure that we can use this data to formulate a training program, based on the standard training programs for the arties and the walkers. I also have a few ideas on how to start testing you to see what your true abilities are."
"That sounds great, just what I wanted to hear, I will be back up to the agency control room in a few minutes and we can get started." Clark said.
"No this control room is not suitable for what I have in mind for this training. We will need one of the research labs for what I have in mind. We are covering new ground here and we want to make sure that we monitor every little detail of what we are about to do."
Clark's brow furrowed as he replied, "It almost sounds like you intend to use me for a guinea pig Tomos Alpha LXV. What research labs, I haven't been told about any research labs here in the agency control center. I am not sure if I like where this is going. I want to learn about my abilities and how to use them, not be used as a Guinea pig by the agency so you can train others."
"Fear not Clark I have no intention of doing anything that will put you in harm’s way during these test. You could conceivably be the single most important person in the entire Multiverse at this time. What we will be doing is finding out just how powerful you really are. If you will leave your quarters and go past the mag lift station that you normally use and continue to the end of the hall you will see the mag lift that will take you down to the research labs."
"I will meet you there shortly Tomos Alpha LXV, good bye." Clark was not aware that there was another mag lift station down that hallway. Furthermore he thought that other than a few levels of machinery and utilities that kept this place running that the residential level was at the bottom of the agency control center. Very interesting that there was more to this place then he had known. He was not naive enough to believe that he had been shown everything but he could not believe that he was so in the dark that he was unaware of a whole level devoted to research.
Clark left his quarters and turned left toward the mag lift station that he normally used. Going past it he continued on down the hallway till he came to where it ended in a blank wall. Not exactly what he had expected, maybe he had missed a turn somewhere. Before he could turn to retrace his steps Gracie's voice spoke in front of him. "Clark clearance has been received for you. Please proceed." Where upon the wall opened in a similar fashion to the wall in his bed room and the wall in his kitchen. Pretty handy having walls like that, he never even suspected that there was anything there.
"Gracie,” I said, “why didn't I know about this lift?"
"You did not have the proper clearance Clark damn-it." Gracie stated matter of fact.
"What else is there that I don't know about?" I asked feeling irritated at the subterfuge.
"Unfortunately Clark damn-it, unless you undergo longevity treatments your life span is not long enough to list all of which you are unaware. Your realm is behind in many of the sciences, to say nothing of the histories of the known realms of the Multiverse in general." Damn she could be so literal!
He stepped up to the opening in the wall and looked inside. The open shaft of a mag lift waited for him. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. It was still like a leap of faith stepping into thin open air like this. But he had come to realize that it was safe to do so even if his mind screamed in terror each time he stepped into one of these things. The mag lift worked on some principle of magnetism that was way beyond his understanding. All he knew was that when he stepped into a down mag lift he was gently lowered down to the level that he wanted. And when he stepped into an up mag lift he was raised to the level that he wanted. Normally he said the level number as he stepped in and the mag lift delivered him there. This time he realized that he had no idea what the level number was for the research labs. So he just said "Research labs please. Gracie what level are the research labs on?"
"The alpha research lab you are going to is on level 89." I could use her literal answers to find out a lot if I framed the questions right.
"What other research labs are there on level 89?"
"You are authorized for alpha research labs only by authority of Tomos Alpha LXV, Clark damn-it."
"Okay then take me to the Alpha research labs."
At which point Clark started sinking down the shaft. His quarters were on residential sub level twenty seven, as far as he knew that meant that it was twenty seven floors beneath ground level. Ostensibly the living quarters were that far down to protect them from any attack on the agency control center. He had no idea how far down the research labs were, level 89 could be a mile down for all he knew. He had been told that the living quarters were in the lowest levels other than the support levels that had the machinery to keep the Center running.
If he was cleared for entry to the alpha research labs did that mean that there were other research labs that he was not cleared for? Well obviously it did, or else there would have been no reason to specify that he was only cleared for the alpha research labs. He had been descending at a steady rate which appeared to be the same speed as the mag lift he normally used, but he noticed that his descent seemed to be increasing in speed. He had already been in the lift longer then it took him to get from the agency control room on sub level twenty one to his living quarters on sub level twenty seven. And his speed was still increasing, how deep did the agency control center really go? After approximately ten minutes in the mag lift he began slowing down. As he slowed down the wall which was in front of him opened about twenty feet below him and he coasted to a stop in front of the opening. As he stepped out of the mag lift onto the white floor he looked between his feet down the shaft of the mag lift and marveled that it continued to go farther down, dwindling into the distance below him.
Coming down the corridor toward him was a tall skeletal figure dressed all in white from head to toe. It appeared that he had a white cap on his head that came down to cover his neck. Upon closer examination he wore a full suit that covered everything except his face. It was skin tight and left no doubt that the wearer was male.
"Clark follow me if you would please. Tomos Alpha LXV has asked me to take you to the alpha research lab area and prepare you for the testing."
"Wait a minute; you are not going to prepare me for anything. I came here to be trained and learn how to use my new abilities not be tested like a lab rat!" Clark said with anger.
"Clark I assure you, as I know that Tomos Alpha LXV has, that we will be determining the limits of your abilities in order to find the full extent of them. Please do not let our form of word usage cause you distress. All is well and shall remain so; you have my word on this agent."
Agent huh? Clark thought he might like the sound of that. He followed the tall figure as he turned and headed back down the hall the way he had come. "What is your name? Or
at least what should I call you?"
"Forikdmp Delta CCL is the designation that I am known by in the agency control center. My name of birth on my realm is Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit."
"Wow that is quite a mouthful, if you don't mind I think I will just call you Fork." Clark said with a grin on his face.
"Clark you may feel free to call me whatever you like, it has no bearing on what we do here in the alpha research labs."
"Hey wait a minute Fork; if you are a delta what are you doing in the alpha lab?"" Clark said with confusion.
"The delta signifier in my name usage has no....." He paused, ""perhaps this is a subject better left to Tomos Alpha LXV to explain. I fear that any explanation I give to you will only make matters worse. It is not my specialty to explain things and I find that it is best left to someone trained in the profession of training to explain the training which is..."
"Stop right there," Clark interrupted Forikdmp Delta CCL, "say no more. I get the idea; you don't have to beat a dead horse."
"Clark I know not of this deceased animal of which you speak. Perhaps it would be best if we did not confer again until such time as we have a common subject on which to speak. We will be in the alpha research lab shortly. Please continue to follow me." Said Forikdmp Delta CCL
Oh boy these brainy types sure could be a pain in the ass Clark thought.
As Clark walked into the Alpha Research Lab there was an electric charge in the air that made his skin tingle and the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end. There was wall to wall equipment that was foreign to him. He did not recognize a single piece of the equipment that was packed in everywhere, all he could tell about it was that he was sure that he had never seen anything like it before. The room was huge; it was at least one hundred feet long and eighty to ninety feel wide, a fat rectangle that was almost square. The ceiling rose into darkness above him, the lights hanging about forty feet in the air and the light fading into gray and then black above. As he followed Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit through the room all sound was strangely muffled as if it was swallowed by the equipment in the room. They made their way to the other side where Clark saw a door set into the back wall. They went to the door and Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit placed his hand on a biometric panel beside the door. There was a soft beep followed by a loud click from inside the wall, then the door slide to the side into the wall. Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit stepped into the room on the other side and Clark followed him in. The room was not much wider than the door they had come through and only about ten feet long with another door on the other end. As they stepped in the door behind them closed and a blue glow seemed to fill the air around them. A hissing came from the ceiling above him and Clark realized that this was some type of decontamination chamber. A mist floated down from the ceiling to engulf them as the blue light started flashing like a strobe light.
"We must be cleansed of all contaminates before entering the lab proper." Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit told him as they waited.
The mist had a pungent smell to it and Clark instinctively held his breath as it came down over him. The hissing came to a stop and a motor started up somewhere and all of the mist was sucked down through a grate in the floor. The blue light stopped its strobe effect and then went out completely.
"What exactly was all of that?" Clark asked.
"The light is ultraviolet and other forms of energy to kill bacteria and other organisms. It also weakens other forms of life and allows the disinfectant to kill them. This is a very sensitive environment that we must monitor closely to insure that no variance enters. The research done here is the basis of all the equipment that the alpha division puts into the field."
"I’m relatively new to field work so I really haven't seen any field equipment yet. In fact the only realms that I have been on are sword worlds so I have not even had a chance to see any equipment yet."
"Clark what are you talking about? Each mission that goes out only takes the alpha equipment that is created in this lab."
"Well that may be Fork but the only mission that I have gone on was nothing but swords and knives." Fork, swords and knives sounded like a weird table setting, "Of course Khasa Maurie had his battle ax which is the biggest and baddest but not exactly cutting edge."
"You have had no training at all have you? That is why you were not given any equipment on that mission. The swords and the daggers are not just bladed weapons but advanced weapons that were developed in this lab. Each division has its own weapons and they are closely guarded secrets. It is very important that no other division discovers the secrets of the alpha division. You will be trained in the use of the weapons of the alpha family research labs before you go out again, and then you will see what it is all about."
"What do you mean alpha family? I'm confused, what is alpha division or family?" Clark asked.
"I have said too much Clark. It is not my place to explain the workings of the agency to you. You must speak to Tomos Alpha LXV and Fanya Alpha IV of these things. It is my job to start the process of testing you to determine your abilities. If what we believe is true is in fact true you may be the most powerful traveler ever found." Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit stated.
Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit proceeded to a console and sat down in front of it and faced a panel of controls and screens that would intimidate a NASA technician. Directing Clark to a chair on a raised platform in front of the console Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit said, "If you will please be seated there we can begin.""
Clark walked to the chair and took a seat in it facing the console that Fork was sitting at. Then Fork began making adjustments to the panel and a wire frame rose from the floor around Clark. The frame stopped after reaching a point just above the level of Clark's head. "I will be charging the testing equipment and will have to adjust it to your particular physiology," he paused, "well it is beyond your comprehension at this point. Just know that I will be calibrating the equipment to take readings from you specifically. There will be some noise and visual effects but you will be in no danger as long as you stay seated. I must warn you though, do not stand up or put any part of your body above the frame. It would interfere with the test and may be dangerous to you."
"Well I have no intention of doing anything that will get me fried, so don't worry I will not be moving much at all." Clark stated.
The researcher nodded his head and bent to the console to begin. He waved his hand over the panel off to the right side from the bottom up to the top. A humming began in the frame around Clark and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. The wire of the frame started to glow red, first dull and then getting brighter. Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit made adjustments to different controls on the panel and read various indicators on the different screens that Clark could not see, and would not have known what they were if he could. Fork looked up at him "Raise your right hand to the right side of your head and place it over your ear like you are cupping your ear." Clark did as he was told and held his hand cupped over his right ear. "Now lower your right hand and do the same with your left." He was instructed. Clark did as he was told and waited. "Now lower your hand and say your name."
Clark lowered his left hand and said "Clark" at which Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit frowned. "Tell me where you are right now, and use as much detail as you can."
Taking a deep breath Clark said, "I am in the alpha research lab in the lower levels of the agency control center on the North American Continent on the planet Earth, on line number 25700 the first line of the home sector."
"Very good Clark now I will initiate a sequence of different scents for you to identify. Tell me what it is that you smell and if you are unfamiliar with the smell then tell me the closest thing that comes to mind that smells similar to it." Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit told him.
Fork made more adjustments and activated a few switches and turned a few knobs, well at least it appeared to Clark that he was doing that. Suddenly the smell of waffles filled the air
around Clark, fresh just off the griddle waffles. "Waffles, it smells like waffles." He said. Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit made a few adjustments and a peppery spicy aroma came to Clark's nostrils. ""Umm, I'm not sure on this one, maybe chili or tacos, something spicy." Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit made further adjustments, "And now?" he said.
"Onions, very strong onions, but my eyes are not watering or stinging." Clark said making a face.
"This is an olfactory test only," Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit stated, ""we will be doing further testing for your other senses in a few moments.""
"What type of testing is this? How are you producing these odors, especially onions without my eyes being affected?"
"I am not producing any odors or anything else. I am stimulating areas of your brain to produce the effect of odors. I am fine tuning the equipment to your specific brain physiology in order to be able to correctly read the energy of your brain. Once everything is calibrated to you specifically I will be able to better tell what your brain is doing during the testing. Hopefully we will be able to capture what your brain is doing and what parts of it are involved when you travel. There is a set pattern for knockers, walkers and arties. The area of the brain is basically the same in all of them as far as the actual act of traveling, but each type is slightly different in the intensity of the activity in the brain and there are slight differences in the area used. Walkers and arties are the closest but still they are slightly different. We will be looking to see how your brain matches up with the set patterns of the different type of travelers to see where you fit in. If Tomos Alpha LXV and Fanya Alpha IV are correct in their assumption that you are different we should be able to see a difference in your brain pattern during the test. We still will not be able to determine exactly what you are capable of but we will have a better idea. And then we will be able to formulate a plan to determine exactly what you can do. But we are getting ahead of ourselves here. What do you smell now?"
"Berries, almost strawberries but it is a little bit off. Almost like a cross between strawberries and blue berries." Clark paused and sniffed before continuing. "I can almost taste them.” Smacking his lips, "in fact I can taste them."
A puzzled frown came over Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit's face. He made more adjustments to the console and looked up at Clark," and now?" he asked.
"Well now it is definitely strawberries but I can't smell them but I sure can taste them. In fact my mouth is watering, it is so realistic."
Still frowning Forikdmp Viatlal Ol Kliemlit said "This is not right, I have not made the change yet to go to taste, you should still smell these not taste them. Either the equipment is off and needs to be re calibrated or you are so much different from a normal traveler that we may not be able to map your brain pattern for testing." He looked like he had tasted a lemon; his face was frowning so much. It was obvious to Clark that Fork was not use to not getting the results that he anticipated. "Let me do a quick calibration of the equipment and we will try again. This will only take a few minutes, please remain still while I do the recalibration."
"Are you sure that I should not get out of the frame first?" Clark asked.
"No remain where you are this will only take a moment." The white clad researcher said as he began doing a diagnostic check of his control panel.
Clark waited while Fork played with his toy; some brainy types lost all track of what was happening around them when they had a problem to solve. He sat there waiting and looking around at the lab wondering how many others there were. And what was that business about alpha family labs, he was beginning to think that there were a lot of things that he had not been told by Tomos Alpha LXV and Fanya Alpha IV. Why would the alpha division as it had been explained to him be worried about another division of the agency here at the control center stealing their research? He had been told that the agency was in a war with the arties coalition and that the whole purpose of the agency was to monitor and protect all of the lines from this coalition. That this war had been going on for thousands of years. Well if that was true what did it matter who developed what? It should be for the use of the agency in the war, each and every new weapon or device would be an added advantage against the coalition. Things were starting to get confusing to Clark. He was starting to realize that there was much more to the agency then he had been told so far. Maybe he could talk to Farren and find out a little more. The Dreamer seemed to be willing to talk about anything so there was a good chance that he would tell all he knew. What was that smell? Suddenly the air was thick with the odor of decay. The smell of long dead things lying in the sun spoiling and decaying filled the air. Clark’s eyes began to water and he could feel his last meal trying to escape. He gagged and his head reeled. He was going to vomit and there was nothing he could do to stop it. All of this came upon him in a matter of milliseconds, faster than anything should have been able to, almost instantaneously. He started retching and fell forward out of the chair onto his knees as a roaring noise filled his ears. As he vomited on the floor he squeezed his eyes shut. With a loud pop the roaring stopped, and suddenly there was no floor under his hands and knees. He opened his eyes as he dropped, and the ground rushed up to meet him from two or three feet below. He landed with a jar to his bones on his hands and knees.
He raised his head to look around but there was no light, it was suddenly pitch black. There was a hard gritty surface under his hands and knees. His hands stung from the sudden slap from the short fall. Rising up on his knees he reached into his pocket and took out the small flash torch that he had slid in earlier before leaving his quarters. It was part of his plan to never be unprepared again. Turning on the small but powerful light he shown it around him and the darkness became light. Rough rock walls greeted his eyes, he was on a stone floor and pointing the flash torch up he saw a jagged stone dome about six or eight feet above him. He got up to his feet and turned in a complete circle. He had obviously traveled; how he did not know. He was in a cave of some sort, which only made sense as far underground as he had been. One of the reasons that the agency control center had been built where it had been was because there was nothing there in all of the lines. The only thing that existed on that spot in all of the lines was what the agency wanted there. It provided them with security from attack from the coalition and allowed them to control that area in all of the lines. It appeared that on this line there was either no agency base or if there was it did not extent this far underground. He had traveled into a cave that was undeveloped by the agency. After turning in a full circle it suddenly hit him. There were no openings to be seen. He had traveled into a closed bubble in the rock. With no way in or out, no natural openings and no doors, he was trapped.