As they moved us through the front door, Jenny said, “Far enough,” and smiled. But how long did we have ‘till the explosion? They led us through the waiting room and down the wooden corridors until they came to, what was labeled, Commissioner Hollands office. We were led in.
A short man sat at the other side of the desk. Traditional human, by appearance. His body hadn’t wasted away, though his movements hinted that he may have internal enhancements.
“Ahh, the others,” he said.
We all stared in silence for a moment, before I said, “Are you behind all this?”
He smiled with joy, like a child that had just been caught being cheeky. “Yes, yes indeed I am.”
“Why?”
“They wanted me to. I came here around a century ago and found a planet full of people who wanted to be set free.”
“Free?”
“Yes, free. By the time I arrived on this planet, the originals had already worn themselves down through inactivity. Their minds weren’t totally gone, not back then, but they were weak.
They needed a leader to take over and allow them to finally come to rest. They offered me the role and I accepted. They put me in charge of the core and I became their savior. They welcomed me with open arms.”
“We saw children?”
“Yes, that’s right. Fruit of my loins. They’re quite useful. The immortals aren’t quite as immortal as their nickname suggests. We’ve had many breakages.”
“You do to them what you did to Florina?”
“Yes, after a happy childhood. Once adjusted, it only takes a few decades for them to adapt to their fate, but they will, as will you.”
I couldn’t understand how he could seem so happy about it all.
“But, you do this to the children?”
“When they’re fully grown, yes. Internal enhancements are synthetic. They don’t grow with the body, so we have to wait, you see. I fathered them all, you know. They’re my family.”
He made Florina walk through from the crowd of surrounding immortals. Then he stroked his hand against her dark grey cheek.
“I wonder what our children will look like, my dear.”
He made her tilt her head and smile. A fake twisted smile, no natural muscles could make. The hell could be seen in her eyes. This was it. I would be next.
Then he turned to a shriveled immortal, who he made adopt a teacup pose.
“Gloria, why, nothing could compare to you. Are you cross with me? Tell me, no.”
She put her hands on her hips.
“I hadn’t forgotten you, she’s just a plaything. She meant nothing to me. Truly. You made me everything I am.”
He was lost in the fun of his little role play.
“Why?” I said, “Just tell me why?”
He seemed irritated by the fact I’d interrupted his game.
“To keep society moving on, of course. Things can’t be allowed to end, just because there’s nobody left to remember us.”
All the immortals started to wave their hands in the air and dance and clap.
“I keep their lives going, their memories, their culture. It’s all intact, thanks to me.”
“And what-” this was a mistake, I should have stalled him, humoured him, “are you going to do with me?”
“Good question, if you haven't already guessed.”
He sprung up and around the desk, leading the procession of dancing immortals down the corridor. We were all dragged along by our wrists.
“We’re good at this. Relax. The surgery is routine.”
I was the first strapped down.
The man, whose name I never learned, fastened both my wrists to the slab.
I was lucky. Before tension and fear could overwhelm me. The light shone through the biodome’s roof, burning my eyes. The immortals dropped to the ground as a thunderous roar shook the biodome’s outer shell. The man lost his smile for the first time.
I grabbed hold of him with my legs and tried to throttle him. I’d almost done it. I could feel his body go weak. Then he began to swell with strength as his enhancements rebooted. With a swipe of his arms, he snapped my leg back, shattering the knee cap. Bone stuck through the flesh and I let loose a deafening scream.
The immortals shuddered on the ground, quaking to my sound, as they started to come back to life.
“Just a little longer. Don’t be in such a hurry,” the man whispered, regaining his smile.
It was Florina who ended it; she walked up behind the man, reached over, her enhancements rippling over her muscles, and she ripped his smiling head, clean off.
The immortals collapsed back on the ground. They’d never raise their heads again. It was over.
Florina and the others tended to my injuries. After a few days we managed to transmit a signal to a passing trading vessel and we awaited another rescue party.
There were many children in the nurseries - so many different ages - and their social skills were all less than ideal. The older ones met the outside world with wonder and enthusiasm. The younger ones were scared because their carers had all withered away. We did what we could until help arrived.
Florina’s new physical strength proved invaluable, opening doors and clearing rubble. She said that she’d get her enhancements removed as soon as she got back to Ruk. She feared losing control again. We’d extinguished her desire to explore and adventure, for now.
It took two more days for the new rescue party to land. They didn’t take any chances. Bursting on the scene with a fleet of fully armed military robots, they returned to their ships carrying babies and small children - in all, hundreds of children were found. I hate to think that we might have left some behind.
Part 2: Friends Like Roy
Chapter 1
I’d given up on art. It all seemed so pointless to me now. In the last couple of years I adopted a new passion - journalism. I wanted to write about things that mattered, but, for now, I wrote for a sports blog.
Our blog was uploaded to the networks of six different planets and covered the sports of nine worlds. Log hopping, zero gravity hockey, even cheese rolling, we covered them all.
I’d finished packing my bags earlier that morning and now it was time to leave. I looked around, desperately hoping I hadn’t left anything. This trip had to go perfectly. This was my first time off Ruk since the Rhea incident and I had scars to mend.
I’d been offered the chance to head to the border world, Ply, to do a story on the popular sports, there. Tennis was apparently quite successful. A game I knew well, and I looked forward to experiencing whatever variation of the rules they use.
Feeling sure I’d packed everything, I left for the spaceport.
There was a minor civil war taking place on Ply. I’d been monitoring events during the run up to my trip. Some unionists were pushed a little too far and decided to snap back. I was content it wasn’t a major issue. Some minor skirmishes, in some remote towns, certainly nothing I could expect to be drawn into.
The war did, however, affect travel. All the main transport vessels were being turned away and at one point I thought my trip would have to be called off. Luckily, my editor managed to find a cargo vessel willing to take me along. She was called, the Seahorse.
A man shook my hand at the spaceport, and said, “You must be Florina Jesp. I’ve heard so much about you.”
My experience on Rhea was well publicised and I’d become a minor celebrity. Sympathetic faces would tell me how scary it must have been for me and want to ask me all the questions I’d been asked time and time again since my ordeal. I didn’t mind though. I liked the attention it gave me and enjoyed watching people’s faces light up when I described that awful planet.
He walked me to the ship as I told my story. He most likely would have read all about it, years ago. He said it was a pleasure speaking to me and wished me a pleasant journey. I can’t remember his name. It’s possible he never gave it to me.
Once on board, I was greeted
by the captain - Captain Longley. He was a scruffy looking fellow, but seemed pleasant. I was to be the only passenger on this trip.
He instructed a crew member to show me to my quarters. A man named Eric who leered at me in an uncomfortable fashion. The quarters were small and dingy, but it was fully equipped with all the facilities I’d require.
Eric said I could eat with the crew. They’d love to hear about my time on Rhea. I smiled and said I’d love to. He said that dinner would be three hours after the ship’s initial jump and asked if there was anything else I needed. I said that I was fine and, when he left, I shut the sliding door to the room.
The journey would take just over a week and I realised I was going to have to adjust to the company of the crew.
I braced myself as the ship took off. It was quite smooth.
I’d been living in fear, after the Rhea incident, for far too long. The internal enhancements - a synthetic webbing that turned me into a puppet for a sick madman. Trapped within myself, on Rhea, I had found myself in a nightmare from which I thought I’d never wake, but I had.
I’ve now had all the enhancements removed. All except a few redundant chips lodged deep in my brain.
Chapter 2
I decided to spend the my first day on ship writing. I relaxed on my bed and started transmitting my thoughts to my journal.
I wrote of my journey and what I hoped to see. At first I found it hard to focus, but, after a few minutes, I found my inner voice and the words began pouring out of me.
I was distracted for a moment, as the ship initiated its jump into hyperspace.
My inner voice resumed, writing my anticipation of the journey ahead and discovering the cold harsh realities of space flight. I wrote of my thrill for the mission and the great things I’d achieve. It struck me that there was something odd about this inner voice. Something I didn’t recognise. It was male.
“Why would I start writing in a man’s voice?” I said out loud to myself.
“Because you’ve been hacked.” Came the response.
I sat upright, on the bed.
“What?!”
“You’ve gone and left some very old and vulnerable chips in your head, and now you’ve been hacked.”
“Who are you? What do you want?” I said, looking around, as if to spot a man hiding in the corner, with a microphone.
A man did appear though. Not a real man; I could tell he was an illusion. He materialised in front of me. He was young with a white suit and black shirt.
He smiled and crouched down; his head becoming level with mine.
“I’m a computer virus that’s infected your mind, and I’m going to make you blow up the ship. Hi, my name’s Roy.”
My memories and fears of Rhea were coming back to haunt me. Could I have been imagining this? Was it the stress of space travel? A bad dream?
“No,” I cried, “You can’t make me. I’ve not got the internal enhancements anymore.”
He tapped his finger against his chin, as if thinking.
“Humm, that’s right. But I can still make you.”
“How much power do you have over me?” I asked, then I thought a message to him, ‘Can you read my thoughts?’
There was a long silence as he just smiled at me.
“Yes I can,” he chirped.
“What?”
“Read your thoughts. Surprise. I just delayed responding for a joke.” He laughed.
“You say you’re a virus in my brain. But you can’t control my body. So, what can you do?”
“Who says I can’t control your body? Maybe I can take you for a walk. Maybe I’m going to take you over whilst you sleep.”
“Why do you want to blow up the ship?”
“It’s what I’ve been instructed to do. It’s my sole mission in life. I have to blow up the ship, and you’re going to help me.”
“I won’t. How do you plan on blowing up the ship?”
“Good question, I think the plans must have changed, since I was given my purpose. I never expected to be uploaded into you. Perhaps my deployer smuggled a bomb on board. Yes, that would make sense. We’ll have to find it and detonate it.”
My mind filled with concern that he could actually control me as I slept.
“I’ll lock myself into my room when I sleep. You won’t be able to make me do anything, then.”
“How do you plan on doing that?”
“I could put a timed lock on the door, with a random password.”
He nodded and said, “Try it.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now.”
Obeying, I rushed to the door and set up a timed lock for five minutes.
Then I returned to the bed and sat down. As I sat, the door slid open.
“Ha ha, it worked.” He clapped his hands together as if pleased with his achievement, “These doors are almost as antiquated as your Rhealian mind implats. Easy for me to hack.”
The door opened and closed a few time before settling on open.
He seemed too real to be a mere computer program. The joy he showed as he tested out the range of his abilities.
“You’re a human, aren't you? Your transmitting this projection to me.”
He shook his head, slowly.
“No, I’m just ones and zeros. If I seem human, it’s because your mind chose to represent me that way.”
“Why such an annoying representation?”
He gave a little smirk, as if amused by the idea that I’d confront him with such a notion.
“I’m an intruder - a virus tampering with your brain. If i’m annoying, it’s because that’s how your subconscious chooses to represent me.”
“Why a man’s voice?”
What does it matter, “Why a woman's body? Maybe you’re the virus and you’ve take my body?”
I looked down and I saw his body, projected over mine, his white suit with black shirt. My eyes adjusted. I could tell it was an illusion, as he was.
“You're playing games, now.”
“We need the bomb,” he said adopting a firm tone.
“I don’t have a bomb.”
He stood up and marched towards the door as if he expected me to follow.
“There must be a bomb somewhere,” he said, “I’m hoping you hurry up and find it, so we can get on with blowing the ship up.”
“You want me to find it?” I said, not budging from my position on the bed.
“Certainly. You’re the detonator.”
I wondered, as he looked at me, if he actually thought that I would willingly help him.
I shook my head and said, “I won’t look for any bomb then.”
He stood froze for a second, as if lost in thought, then he said, “Unless, of course, I’m just saying all this, so you don’t look for the bomb?”
“I’ll warn the crew?”
“What will you say? You have a chip in your head that wants to destroy the ship? A crew like this will blast you out of the airlock.”
“Thats not true, why would you say that?”
“It is true. If this was a nice crew I would never have been sent to blow them up, now, would I?”
“I’ll leave an anonymous note.”
“They’ll know it’s you.”
I stood up and walked towards him. I said, “Ok, I’ll find the bomb myself.” Making sure, from my tone, that he know I wasn’t on his side.
“That’s it, girl,” he said with a grin.
“Don’t call me girl,” I snapped.
Chapter 3
As I walked out of the room, the door slid shut behind me. I followed Roy as he led me down the corridor.
I mumbled, “Where to first?”
“Cargo bay. If I was a bomb, I’d be hiding in the cargo bay.”
We headed in the approximate direction of the stern. I don’t think either of us knew the way. It was a large ship with just a handful of crew and we didn’t bump into anybody as we roamed. If we were stopped, I’d just say I was stretching my legs.
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Roy sprang up with excitement. He confidently turned down a corridor and said, “This way, it’s down here.” It was as if he’d just accessed a map.
I obeyed, and walked a bit further past an escape pod.
“Just to the far end. There, through there.”
The cargo bay was vast. at least half the size of the ship. It was filled with corridors built from crates. Large crates, all stacked high above my head.
“How are we going to find it amongst all this?” I whispered.
There could have been crew about and, although I didn’t feel I was doing anything wrong, I felt awkward about snooping around.
“Good question,” said Roy holding his index finger in the air, “I suppose we open some of the more accessible crates. If we’re meant to find the bomb, it can’t be too well hidden.”
Most of the crates seemed impenetrable, stacked high on top of each other, but at the far end there were a number of individual crates spread about the deck, small ones which would be easy to open.
“It must be there.”
Roy was jogging on the spot, desperate for me to speed up.
I placed my hands on one of the crates. I’d need something to pry the top up.
I was glancing around when my eyes fell on a hitherto silent figure in the shadows, a round and sweaty crew member.
He walked forwards saying, “Oi, what you doing there?”
Roy crouched downwards, almost as if he thought himself visible.
“Oh, dear,” he said.
I stepped up to the man, and said, “I’m sorry, I was lost.”
He immediately grabbed me, hard, by the shoulder and started leading me along.
“You’re gonna have to explain yourself to the captain.”
I pleaded, “No, please. I just got lost.” He barely looked at my face as he dragged me on.
“Use your feminine wiles,” said Roy, as he trotted behind us, smiling to himself.
“Shut up!” I snapped.
“Uhh,” said the crew member.