Victernus - Chapter 25
Namara stepped into the undercity and
took a deep breath. It was dead silent and extremely dark, though still light
enough for him to see with his wolf eyes. The ground was littered with brown
stones and stalagmites. Gigantic metal beams came down from the platform above,
providing support for the main city. These things separated, however, and a
smooth path led down into the darkness. He took it, a little bit anxious to
find what was waiting for him on the other end.
It wasn't until five minutes after
he started walking that he found a room that spread out for hundreds of feet.
Its walls turned at an angle, making it appear to be hexagonal, and they rose all
the way up to the city above. The only entrance was a small doorway on the left
portion of the wall facing him. As he walked towards it, he heard a monotonous
humming. It loudened with every step he took on the dry ground.
When he reached the door, it slid
open for him. He walked into a dim corridor that led to a larger room. The
walls were made of metal panels with grooves in between each one. The corners
of the corridor were missing, having been replaced with panels turned at
forty-five degrees. The area was spacious and fairly straightforward - there were
no other rooms along the way. At the end of the corridor, he could make out the
railing of a balcony. There was a yellow, pulsating glow within the room. He
felt drawn to it, as if someone were there calling him.
Namara walked down the corridor in
quiet anticipation. The glow brightened and the humming grew louder as he drew
closer. When he reached the room, he lifted his hands up in awe and then set
them down on the railing. Stairs rose upwards along the walls of an enormous,
circular room. On the floor below were a series of empty chairs that had
special helmets. Floating in the center was ball of light that glowed brightly.
Thin yellow bands circled around it, flowing in a smooth, random pattern.
Something felt strangely hypnotizing about it. Assuming it to be the power
source, he wanted to find out exactly what
it was made of before turning it off, in the case that it might become
unstable.
He scanned the room for some kind of
computer terminal and saw a small station on the next level. After jogging
lightly up the curved stairs, he stopped at the station and summoned the screen
to appear in the air. It flickered on and showed all kinds of information,
including the progress of the operation related to the swirling mass and
guidelines regarding its use and its charging.
Namara read the text, looked away,
and then read it again. No, this can't be
right... He tried digging through more files about the operation, but they
all confirmed the same thing. Holding his hand to his chest, he breathed in
shakily and stared into the pulsing ball, feeling responsible for what New
Selania had become. He whispered, "I'm sorry..."
A voice emerged from the balcony
below, "Isn't it just brilliant?"
Namara felt like he wanted his eyes
to roll back into his head and disintegrate. He growled, "I destroyed my
research for this very reason!"
Lynn's heavy footsteps trudged up
the stairs. "Oh, you didn't get all of it. I managed to snag some while you
worked so diligently on it. And look
at what it has become! It is the greatest form of efficiency created to this very
day."
Not wanting to fall victim to his
mind-games, Namara stepped up the next set of stairs. He shouted, "You used my
research to enslave your own people? Anyone who dissents or doesn't fit well
enough in your 'perfect society'... You do realize that they are conscious in
there, do you not?!"
Lynn nodded, continuing his ascent towards
Namara, "It's necessary to keep the core running. Otherwise, it would never support
a city such as this."
He kept his eyes trained on the
stairway - he only had one more balcony until he ran out of space. Trying to
buy time to prepare, he ran up to the very last one and said, "You will pay for
the lives you took, Lynn."
Lynn shook his head and activated
his device. "Only you, Namara, will be the one to pay for all of this... Or
rather, you will die, and I will take your body as my own."
Namara watched as he rose up the
second-to-last flight of stairs. He narrowed his eyes. "This is all about
jealousy, isn't it? Yes... That's the whole reason you funded my project. You thought
that with a mind like mine, you could conquer the world... and now, with a body
like mine, you'd be unstoppable."
He agreed, "I couldn't have said it
better myself. I'm glad you finally realized it, now that your mind is about to
melt away into little tiny animal pieces."
Seeing how close Lynn was, Namara sunk himself
into a near-wordless state and then backed up against the railing of the
topmost platform. He ground his feet against the floor as if he was trying to
move further backwards. While he did this, he looked down at the floor in a
nervous fit. "No...n...no... please... d...don't..."
Lynn laughed and put himself right
in front of Namara, grinning evilly. "You're mine now, puppy!"
Namara lowered his ears and whined,
trying not to make eye contact. While he did this, Lynn turned and walked a few
feet away. "Come on, pup - it's time to strap you into the big machine
downstairs!"
He followed briefly before stopping
in his tracks and barking loudly at Lynn. He tensed his left arm up as much as
he could, and when Lynn turned around to ask what the problem was, he swung it
in an arc and smashed his implant against Lynn's head.
Dr. Lynn immediately fell limp on
the ground. His heartbeat still pulsed madly, but he was knocked unconscious.
Namara got down and fished through his pockets until he found the device that
was forcing him into a feral state of mind. It was a small tablet that had a
purple metal extension fitted to the back. He tapped the screen on and then hit
the big button, turning it off. When his words came back, he snapped the tablet
in half with his hands. "Only you
will pay, Lynn!"
Namara stood up and faced the sphere
of light that held the hopes and fears of countless individuals. Each
consciousness had been converted into a stream of light, and now the ball was
nearly bursting. Despite the remorse for ever having created the technology
that allowed for this to happen, he knew what he had to do. He grasped the edge
of the railing in front of him and then shouted his mind straight into the
center of the mass.
His mind was instantly filled with
chaos. Hundreds of thousands of thoughts filtered past him. Many were looping
what may have been their final thoughts, which were mostly hopeless ones. The
weight Namara experienced became heavier and heavier the longer he stayed. But,
he eventually filtered many of the thoughts out and put them off to the side in
his awareness. He did this until he felt himself standing in a yellow expanse,
looking over the carnage. And then, he spoke.
Selanians!
Listen to me!
The voices broke out of their loops and silenced.
Please, listen!
I am the reason you have been forever awake in this void. I do not know of any
words that can make up for what I have done, but... please. His voice changed from woefulness into calm
certainty. Take this. I will give you the
peace you seek. He bowed his head and splayed his arms out as if he
granting them access to his mind. While he did so, he brought his Koanthanatus
to his awareness and made it known among them. He spoke slowly and elegantly, This is Koanthanatus. Hold it quickly, and
don't let go! I cannot hold it long, but you can!
The voices joined together in an excited roar. The
yellow mass moved towards Namara slowly and then enveloped his body. As more
and more of them aligned with his own mind, he spoke slowly again, but with
finality.
Your peace is
complete.
The pulsing mass of consciousness collapsed in on
Namara until the room became pitch black. A dark-blue marking surfaced on
the right side of his face and glowed faintly. He brought his hand to it, and
when he touched it, he could hear them living on within it. He smiled bitterly
to himself. Finally, they can rest...
Glancing down
at the balconies below, he saw the screen that he had accessed earlier flicker
out into oblivion. The power was going out. Reminding himself of where he was,
he left Lynn for dead and climbed down the stairs carefully. With a new resolve
about him, he went back out of the core room and headed for the tunnels.