Chrome Symphony - Chapter 7

"Wait!" yelled Renk. "Something isn't right, here."

Renk removed his space suit and helmet. He pulled out his communicator. It wasn't able to connect to the global network.

"Do your personal communicators work," Renk asked Heath.

"Of course. Why do you ask?" said Heath.

"Ours don't," said Renk. "That's very odd. Besides, don't you realize that we're with the military? We're working as Jessica Price's personal body guards right now."

"Jessica Price? The deceased daughter of Richard Price, the president of Crest Corporation?"

"Deceased?" yelled Jess. "That was cleared up in the news years ago!"

"You folks MUST be high," said Heath. "Richard Price just held a fancy memorial service for his daughter last week."

Jess was silent.

"Mr. McYama, Richard Price died two years ago in the NEA726 incident..." replied Renk.

Heath laughed. "Who are you trying to fool?" he bellowed. "Listen, you all better just sit tight in here until we figure out what to do with you."

Renk looked over at Atlas and Jess.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking," he asked. "We went through that space time rip while I had time dilated. Is it even possible... we're in an alternate reality?"

Heath gave Renk a look with a raised eyebrow.

"Mr. McYama," said Renk, "What is today's date?"

"It's October 9, 2214, pal, in the beautiful land of NAU region eight," replied Heath.

"And you said Jessica Price died, right?" asked Renk.

"Listen bud, don't you watch the news?" said Heath, clearly becoming impatient with Renk's questions.

"Alright, alright, okay..." sighed Renk. "One more question then we'll just... do whatever we have to do to get through this. Do you know anyone by the name Benton Mulhauser?"

"You're asking a lot of dumb questions, buddy," said Heath. "Benton's the new president of EMA corporation. He's overseeing the operation of that big device you three were trying to mess with when we found you."

Renk swiftly turned around to look at Jess and Atlas again.

"Bingo," said Renk. "Looks like ol' Benny's not quite the god he claims!"

Shell was monitoring the sphere's systems for signs of other activity. Since the last shock wave, the sphere appeared to go completely silent, although Duncan continued to send a jamming signal.

"Duncan," said Shell, "It almost seems like this thing has gone completely silent. Do you think it's possible that someone, somewhere, has to actually be at the controls?"

"I've noticed it, too," replied Duncan. "It hasn't actually been doing anything since Jess, Atlas, and Renk went in."

Camay's voice come over the communications link. "Duncan, turn off the jamming signal for a moment," she said.

Duncan obliged and the sphere remained dormant.

Outside the ancient ship, the military and Crest vessels slowly closed in.

"Something has changed," said Shell.

There was a long silence.

Suddenly, Shell saw the sphere begin to glow a bright white light. It became so bright that the probe had to switch on its solar filters.

"Something is happening!" yelled Shell. "Dr. Thameh, notify the military ships to pull back! Pull back!!!"

Outside the wreck, the military ships began to move away but, in an instant, a powerful blast erupted from the ancient ship. Shell, Duncan, Camay, and Jax lost their connection to the probe as it was vaporized in the massive explosion.

Another, larger explosion suddenly converted the entire ancient ship into a giant fireball extending several miles out into space, absorbing many of the military ships while other vessels changed course and sped away at full throttle.

Shell was jolted out of the dive as the connection severed. Her system was in shock as she struggled to adjust to her physical surroundings. Duncan sat next to her, quickly jolting to his feet and running toward the door.

"Come on, we have to see what's going on," said Duncan.

Shell and Duncan rushed back to Camay's meeting room where the monitor showed a field of glowing hot debris was hurling out in all directions where the ancient ship once stood.

"Oh God no, Jess... Atlas... Renk... please, no..." wept Shell.

"There's a chance they may be okay," said Camay.

Shell wiped her eyes. "Can you be sure," she asked, sobbing.

Duncan nodded. "They stepped through that warp. They might not have a way back but there's no reason to assume that blast reached them," he said.

"Duncan! How the hell can you be sure? We don't even know the origin of that blast! All this stuff about higher dimensions and space warps and we just assume they're fine because... reasons?!!" yelled Shell.

Camay shook her head. "We shouldn't assume anything, one way or another. For all we know, they were successful in activating the orbital cannon's self-destruct."

Jax looked over at Camay. "Dr. Thameh, I've just received a report that the adepts have all suddenly dropped unconscious," she told her.

"I've confirmed that the radio beacon has vanished, as well," replied Duncan. "This is just a crazy hunch but I suspect that if this thing exists in higher dimensional space, it's actually still there in some form or another."

Duncan stared at the monitor carefully.

"Look," said Duncan. "Some of the debris is moving back toward the center of where the ship was."

Chester was operating the telescope on board the colony, sending the images to Camay's monitors.

"Chester," said Duncan, "Could you switch to the gamma ray sensor?"

The image changed to a false color map of the debris field. Chester zoomed in toward the center.

"I knew it," said Duncan. "You can see the vague shape of the sphere and its surrounding equipment! It must still be intact on the other side of the warp. That means Jess and the others are probably still in there."

Renk turned back toward Heath and his crew. Heath was just about to lock the door to the detention room when Renk engaged his time manipulation power again. He struggled as the power had become much weaker than before. This time, the others were not inside his area of time dilation.

Renk grabbed the door as it slowly closed and quickly pulled it back open. Grabbing one of the guards' rifles, he pointed it at Heath and released his grip on time.

Heath stood before Renk, wide eyed and confused.

"Now YOU all put your hands up," said Renk. "Take us to where Benton Mulhauser is. I demand to speak with him."

Heath gave the signal to the other guards to drop their weapons. "Okay, I don't know how you did that but if that's what you want, I guess we have no choice. Follow us, please," said Heath.

Renk, Jess, and Atlas were led to an office upstairs and shown inside. Renk kept the rifle pointed at Heath.

Inside the posh office was a large desk, behind which Benton Mulhauser sat. He was wearing a set of dive gear.

Renk ran over to the desk, reached over, and ripped the goggles off of Benton's face.

Benton sat there, staring at Renk. He began to sweat.

"YOU!" screamed Benton. "How in the living HELL did you get HERE?!!!"

Jess loosened her space suit and pulled her sword out of the harness on her back. She walked over to the desk and pointed the sword at Benton's throat.

Renk laughed. "Some god you are," he said. Renk abruptly quit laughing and his facial expression changed to a look that could kill. "Do you realize the damage you've caused? How many people you've killed?!"

Benton looked over at Heath. "Leave us," said Benton.

Heath shook his head. "No, sir," replied Heath. "I think we need to know what's going on."

Benton slumped in his chair, only to have his posture corrected by Jess's sword coming closer to his throat.

"This man has blood on his hands," said Renk. "Does EMA corporation understand the nature of this machine he controls?"

Heath shook his head again. "No, it's a top secret project. It's all on a need-to-know basis," he sheepishly replied.

"It's a weapon," said Renk. "How it works is beyond my comprehension but it has power that no human should ever wield."

"And we're here to destroy it, whether you like it or not," added Jess.

"Benton, boy," said Renk, "You're going to do exactly as I say."

"How were you... how the hell were you three able to get through the portal?! Is that why it quit working?" stuttered Benton, nervously. He had completely lost his composure.

[OOC: Sorry, this is going to be a LONG one...]

Jess reached down to Benton's desk and grabbed his dive gear. She put the goggles on her face and, looking through them, yelled back at Heath.

"Get EVERYONE out of this building," she yelled. "Every last person in this facility - on this entire mountain, for that matter - needs to be evacuated immediately."

Heath hesitated. "Now wait a minute," he shouted.

Renk turned around and looked at Heath. "Do it," he said. "If you think we're bluffing, go ahead and be my guest. BE vaporized."

Renk handed Atlas the rifle. "We're destroying this weapon no matter what," snapped Atlas. "Even if that means we die."

"We don't negotiate with terrorists," stammered Heath.

"TERRORISTS?!" screamed Jess. "The only terrorist is this pig right here!" she yelled, continuing to point her sword at Benton. "Now GET. OUT. OF. THE. BUILDING."

Heath and his men exited the office and a loud alarm siren began to ring out. A voice on the P.A. system said, "All personnel. This is not a drill. Evacuate the facility at once. I repeat..."

Renk forced Benton out of his seat as Atlas kept his rifle pointed at the man. Atlas then opened his own space suit and pulled a tranquilizer dart pistol out of his pocket. He shot Benton with a tranquilizer dart, sending the large man down to the floor, unconscious.

Jess sat down and engaged the dive gear. It made a direct connection to her brain, which was a very weird sensation. It was much different than any dive she had attempted before and she felt truly disembodied. Darkness began to surround her in the deepest void imaginable.

"Where am I?" asked Jess, into the void. No one answered. Even Renk and Atlas, standing nearby in the physical world, weren't audible in this state.

This isn't the sphere's control system, is it? thought Jess.

Jess tried to look around for any controls but couldn't find them. Then, out of nowhere, she heard a voice.

It was her father.

"Jess," said the voice, "If you can hear me, this is an artificial intelligence that I've left behind. If you are here..."

"Father!" shouted Jess. "Where are you?!"

Her father appeared before her. The black void surrounding them changed to a wide open, grassy field with the bright sun overhead. Jess could hear birds chirping and the wind blowing. She could even feel the warm air around her.

"Jess, listen carefully," said Richard. "If you're here, that means I'm probably dead, no doubt at the hands of some assassin or terrorists."

Jess put her hands over her face. She couldn't bear even to tell the A.I. the truth about how her father had died.

"I regret to tell you that I have been keeping a very dark secret," said Richard. "You are inside the most dangerous weapon known to humanity. It was discovered many, many centuries ago and kept hidden from the world. This system has the power to control and destroy almost anything."

"Yes, I know," sobbed Jess. "Lots of people are already dead or hurt because of it."

"Are you here to destroy it?" asked Richard.

"Of course," replied Jess. "Why didn't you destroy it long ago?"

"A seal was placed on it, preventing its activation," replied Richard. "It was sealed by someone or something tens of thousands of years ago but, the year you were born, someone found a way to unlock it."

"But why didn't YOU destroy it," demanded Jess.

"Because the people who unlocked it also made sure that if I destroyed it... you would die," said Richard.

Jess was silent for a moment.

"THAT's the purpose of the nano technology? That's what was behind the adepts?" said Jess. She could hardly believe this revelation.

"Benton Mulhauser oversaw the entire project," said Richard. "The Price family was entrusted with keeping the weapon hidden on an asteroid but Benton, the leader of the Herei Mob Army, took control of it. I was desperate to leak information about this threat but had to be careful because I was being monitored. I even tried to sneak information to you at one point..."

"So that's why they put that nano tech into my body in the lab before I was born," said Jess. "It was all a way to prevent you from destroying this weapon..."

"I tried many times to leak information without Benton finding out. I contacted many deckers and freelancers in the hope that they would be able to help. It was all done under the pseudonym 'Dark Spider'," said Richard.

"YOU were Dark Spider...?!" gasped Jess.

"Now that you're here," said Richard, "That means you've taken control of this system. That means it's safe to finally bring an end to all of this madness."

Jess shook her head. "I don't understand," she whispered.

"Please give me authorization," said Richard. "With your approval, I will do two things. First, I will block all further access to this system's controls."

"Yes, I authorize it," said Jess.

"Confirmed. I will also begin a self-destruct countdown. Jess, I know you are in close proximity to one of the main physical access points of this system. Have your team put on their space suits and go back to the sphere. Make physical contact with it and I will take care of the rest," said Richard.

"Father, wait..." said Jess.

"Goodbye, Jess. You've made me proud..."

Jess was suddenly jolted out of the dive. The dive gear malfunctioned and became inoperable.

She quickly stood up. "Atlas, Renk, put your helmets on."

Jess ran out of the office and motioned Atlas and Renk to follow.