Chrome Symphony - Chapter 6

"That would make sense," replied Duncan, breaking a moment of awkward silence.

Duncan displayed some information on one of the large screens mounted on the wall of the conference room:

[OOC: Taken from user link on en.wikipedia.org]

"Perhaps this is overkill and irrelevant, but I've done a considerable amount of research regarding the beacon that ship appears to transmit," said Duncan. "First, I've discovered the encoding scheme of the beacon. Second, I've successfully decoded it. Third, from what I can tell, the content of the message doesn't seem to have any significant meaning but there are strong indicators that, assuming the sphere is indeed transmitting it, this thing is OLD."

Duncan cleared his throat. "I'm talking centuries old, folks. Much older than me."

"Because of the format?" asked Camay.

"No, Dr. Thameh," replied Duncan. "The format dates back to the year 1997 but, due to how this thing vanished and re-appeared, I have a strong hunch something far more bizarre is going on here related to this thing's origin."

"Care to elaborate on that hunch," asked Jax, incredulously.

Duncan adjusted his glasses. "Well, if you insist. It's just a wild theory of mine, anyway. Have you ever heard of radio signals going backward in time?"

The room erupted in raucous laughter.

Duncan sat back down. "Yeah, yeah... hey, never mind."

Shell stifled her laugh and apologized to Duncan. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me," she said. "At any rate, the fact that something out in space, which was once controlled by terrorists no less, is responsible for the adepts phenomenon... that just doesn't make me feel very safe."

Camay nodded. "Right now, we're strictly gathering data," said Camay. "If it's warranted, we could propose something regarding moving or securing the sphere afterward."

Shell scratched her head. "From what you told me before, Dr. Thameh, everyone who received the artificial blood from that specific batch has become an adept. I know that when I became a cyborg, I was given blood from that same batch but my powers never manifest."

"It's just a theory right now," replied Camay.

"The proximity to the sphere has something to do with it but I would have figured something would have happened on NEA726, being right up next to the thing," said Shell.

"I think getting there as soon as possible and setting up some kind of security perimeter after we've checked things out should be our first priority," said Chester.

Atlas nodded. "We could certainly put some private security up there once we know exactly what we're dealing with," replied Atlas. "It's only a matter of time before someone tries to take it over again."

"By the way," said Chester, "I checked out the ship before coming here. It's a typical configuration so I'm good to fly as soon as everyone's ready to go."

"Thank you, everyone, for coming here tonight," said Camay. "I believe we are prepared to begin the mission."

Camay looked at Chester. "Chester, thank you for your advance preparation. The robotic arms should be ready now so we can open the cargo bay doors on the ship once we're there."

Camay headed toward the door. "Duncan, Shell, and Jax, when you are ready, please meet Chester and me at the shuttle dock. We should leave as soon as possible, so please do whatever you need to do before we go."

Jess, Atlas, and Renk waved to the group and left the room. Camay settled the rental fee with Elise and Elise headed back to work at the bar.

As Jax, Chester, Duncan, and Shell left the room, Camay turned out the lights and left the Velvet Room with Chester. The two of them headed to the shuttle dock and boarded their ship, which Crest had provided. The robotic arms had been attached and were tucked inside their compartments in the hull of the spacecraft. The technicians had already left for the night.

Sitting inside the spacecraft, Chester and Camay waited for the other three members of their team.

About a half hour later, Duncan, Shell, and Jax entered the spacecraft. Chester started the engines and took the spacecraft into the night sky, heading toward the mysterious ship just beyond the moon.

END OF CHAPTER 6