Tales of the Vuduri: Year Two

by Michael Brachman

  This made sense to me so I chose to make the eastern side of the village a bit more sophisticated. The Nayer's house was supposed to be the pinnacle of construction techniques. After all, he was the most influential guy in town and as often happens, the richest. Here was Rei's first encounter with a man who would turn out to be Rei's nemesis:

  While most of the houses were of a single, square design, this house had two wings, one on each side of the main portion. The central section was two stories, each of the wings a single story. The men led Rei up to the front door. They knocked on the door and it opened up.

  “Go on in,” the first man said. “These are important men. The Nayer lives here. Tell them your story.”

  Rei looked back at them and they made sweeping motions with their hands. He shrugged and went into the house. Somebody closed the door behind him and Rei found himself standing in the middle of a room with about ten of the Ibbrassati. Some were seated. Some were standing. All were staring.

  “Come over here,” one of the seated men said. “Who are you?”

  Rei walked over to where the man was sitting. “I am Rei Bierak,” he said. “Who are you?”

  “I am the Nayer of this settlement.” The Nayer looked him up and down. “What are you? You are not Vuduri.”

  “I am Essessoni,” Rei said.

  “Essessoni? Are you Erklirte?” the Nayer gasped. “We have heard a rumor that they have returned.”

  “No, I am no Erklirte,” Rei said. “But I am from the Ark. My people are from the Earth, like you. We are just regular humans like you. We are not the Erklirte.”

  Here is a picture of the Nayer's house. Rei didn't stop and take notice of the fact that the right wing of the house had no windows. Perhaps he should have.

  Entry 2-345: December 6, 2014

 

  Talking nonsense, part 1

 

  In the middle of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, Rei has been taken to the Nayer's house for what he thought was orientation but in reality was for questioning. Even though he told the absolute honest truth, no matter what he said, the people there found his story increasing crazy until they finally had enough.

  “I think I might agree. You do not look so fearsome. What are you doing here?” the Nayer asked.

  “I was dropped here by the Vuduri.”

  “Why?” the Nayer demanded to know.

  Rei shrugged. “I guess they had no use for me,” he said.

  “It is not like them to just let people go. Why do you think that is?”

  “Because my wife told them to, I am guessing,” Rei offered.

  “Who is your wife?”

  “Her name is Rome. She is the daughter of Fridone.”

  “Fridone? He does not have a daughter. At least he never mentioned anything about one,” the Nayer said.

  “Well, I was with him not too long ago. We were at your enclave to the north. That is where my people are. Rome and I flew a ship to the Vuduri so she could get medical attention.”

  “You flew a ship from our base to the Vuduri?” the Nayer said, shocked. “That is not possible. It is against the rules. If you flew a ship there, they would kill you. Unless you are part of the Overmind as well.”

  “I am not,” Rei said. “I am mandasurte like you.”

  “Then they would have killed you. What you are saying makes no sense.”

  “It does not make any sense to me either,” Rei said. “But when we got there, they decided to help us. My wife was in pain. They said the only way to save her was to reconnect her to the Overmind. So they did. Then they tossed me out.”

  “Your wife was reconnected to the Overmind?” the Nayer gasped. The other men murmured to themselves. “Then all is lost. She will tell them where the enclave is.”

  “No, she will not,” Rei said.

  “How do you know this?” the Nayer asked belligerently.

  “Because she said so,” Rei answered back.

  “You do not know the Overmind,” the Nayer said.

  “You do not know my wife,” Rei quickly retorted. “And besides, she does not know exactly where it is. She was barely conscious when we left there.”

  “So what is your plan now?” the Nayer asked him.

  “I do not have a plan. I guess I will go back north, to the enclave. My group is there. The ones that came with the Ark. I have to tell them what happened. They need to know.”

  The group stared at Rei but said nothing. The Nayer nodded to two men off to Rei’s right and they came over to stand in front of him. The Nayer, apparently the only man in the room who would even speak to Rei, left the room along with several others. Rei could hear them arguing in the other room but he could not hear what they were saying. At last, they returned.

  “You cannot go there,” the Nayer said. “You must remain here.”

  Tomorrow, Rei gets thrown in jail for being a crazy person.

  Entry 2-346: December 7, 2014

 

  Talking nonsense, part 2

 

  Yesterday, I set up a scene from the middle of Part 2 of Rome's Revolution, where Rei had been taken to the Nayer's house for questioning. Even though he tried to tell the truth, every sentence that came out of his mouth made things worse. Here is the rest of that scene.

  “You cannot go there,” the Nayer said. “You must remain here.”

  “Why?” Rei asked.

  “Because the Vuduri have many ways of tracking individuals and it is possible that they released you so that you will lead them to our base in the north,” insisted the Nayer. “No, you must remain here for the time being.”

  “You do not understand,” Rei said. “There are things I have to do. I have to act as liaison. My people know nothing of yours. And there are things coming. Giant things. Things that eat stars and swallow them whole. I have to get back there and show them how to build a way to stop it.”

  “What are you talking about?” the Nayer said, incredulously. “Things that eat stars? Impossible.” Some of the men in the room laughed to themselves.

  “Not impossible,” Rei said. “Not only possible, I have seen one. They call them the Asdrale Cimatir, Stareater.”

  “This is crazy talk,” the Nayer said. “The Vuduri must have done something to your head. Or else it is just because you are Essessoni.”

  “It is not crazy talk,” Rei shouted. “We have to get ready for the Stareaters. They will destroy everything and everyone if they come to this star system.”

  “Regardless,” the Nayer said. “You are staying here. We cannot allow you to go back to the base. Besides, from what you say, you do not know where it is, none of us do. That is the only way to protect it.”

  “I have to try,” Rei said. “I cannot stay here.”

  “There are many dangers between here and there. None of us know the path. You would never make it.”

  “Well, I am going to try,” Rei replied. “You cannot stop me.”

  He looked around and then started for the door. Three of the men bunched together to block his way.

  “What are you doing?” Rei said.

  From behind him, the Nayer said, “You were among the Vuduri. And now you are not in your right mind. They did something to you. You speak crazy talk. You are staying here.”

  “I am not crazy,” Rei said, turning in place. “Everyone else is crazy. Nobody understands. We have to get ready.”

  “Yes, yes,” the Nayer said dismissively, “for the Stareaters. Giant creatures that swallow stars whole.”

  “Exactly,” Rei said.

  “Enough,” the Nayer commanded. Rei could see the group beginning to close in on him. He bolted for the door but was tackled by two men. After a brief struggle, he was subdued and held to the ground. Two men apiece took his arms and legs. Rei struggled but they were too strong for him. They dragged him toward the right wing of the house. They shoved him into a small room and quickly closed the door. He heard them slide a barricade across the door putting an end to his
hopes of escape.

  I told you Rei should have noticed that the right wing (get it, right wing!!!) had no windows.

  Entry 2-347: December 8, 2014

 

  He’s alive! Part 1

 

  As you are probably well aware by now, Rome and Rei have a special method of communication. They have an EM transceiver built into their brain that Rei calls a cellphone in the head. It was due to the genetic modifications caused by the magic yellow pill that were given to the couple near the end of Part 1 of Rome's Revolution. In a previous post, I showed you a scene where the channel was sputtering, trying to turn on, they just didn't know it yet.

  Yesterday, we saw that Rei got thrown in a makeshift jail because the Ibbrassati didn't trust him and assumed he was crazy. If there was ever a time for it to kick in, this would be the time. But the source of the first transmission came as quite a shock to Rei. Here is that scene:

  Rei looked around and saw only a cot and a chair. The room had an acrid smell to it, like stale urine. The Vuduri themselves were a very clean people. The mandasurte were of the same stock so Rei had always assumed they would be very clean as well. But the odor coming from his clothes coupled with that of this room indicated this just was not the case. The room had no windows. That eliminated the chance to escape or even to air the place out.

  Rei paced around for a while then grew bored with that. He walked over to the cot and sat down. He lifted his legs up off the floor and swung them over the bed. He couldn’t quite relax as there was too much tension in his limbs. He put his arm over his eyes.

  “Oh Rome,” he thought to himself, “There is no hope for the future. Every single one of them is insane.”

  “Not all of them,” said a little voice inside his head, “just most of them.”

  “MINIMCOM?” Rei said out loud. “Is that you? Where are you?”

  “Still buried underneath your Ark at the moment,” replied MINIMCOM.

  “How the hell are you talking to me then?” Rei said.

  “Technically, I am not talking to you. You simply hear my transmission inside your head. It is more like I am thinking at you.”

  “Thinking at me?” Rei said. “Do I need to speak out loud? Can you hear my thoughts?” Rei thought to himself.

  “Yes.”

  “So…this is like the bands? Or is it? How are you doing this?”

  “Now that your transmission apparatus is fully functional, it is actually you who are doing this.”

  “What do you mean my transmission apparatus? What’s going on? Did the Vuduri do something to me?” Rei thought to himself.

  “No, it was not the Vuduri,” replied the little computer.

  “Then what? Who?”

  “OMCOM made a few…enhancements to you.”

  Tomorrow, the full implications hit Rei plus MINIMCOM has more surprises up his sleeve. If he had sleeves, that is.

 

  Entry 2-348: December 9, 2014

 

  He’s alive! Part 2

 

  Yesterday, Rei received several shocks, all at once. Not only was he thrown into a makeshift jail but he also received a transmission from MINIMCOM who was assumed to be dead, being crushed and all underneath the Ark II. However, in the world of Rome's Revolution, nothing should come as a surprise. In this next part, Rei finds out about more changes that OMCOM made to his physiology.

  “OMCOM made a few…enhancements to you.”

  “OMCOM?” Rei said out loud. “How did he do that? When?” Then, in his thoughts, he said, “When did he do that?”

  “Do you recall the pill you took before you left Skyler Base? You were informed that it was gene therapy.”

  Rei thought back to the yellow pill. “That was supposed to fix my back. Not make me a telepathic mutant. What else did OMCOM do to me?”

  “He did not share all of his plans with me. Just this one because he felt I needed to know. He may have hinted at some others.”

  “Oh my god!” Rei thought to himself. “I gave one of those pills to Rome. And to Captain Keller. All my people. Are we all going to turn into some sort of creature? Are we going to end up slaves to the Overmind?”

  MINIMCOM chuckled. Even though Rei could not hear it, he could feel it. “You are so colorful. No, the pill you took will only enhance your current abilities. This new capability uses electromagnetic radiation, not PPT modulation. It is just a slight variation on the blece and stilo that all Vuduri carry around in their brain. The only difference is yours transmits continuous speech instead of data. There will be no Overmind. OMCOM told me to tell you that it would just be a telephone in your head, whatever that means.”

  “Great. So you and I can chat. Big deal. How does that help me?” Rei thought to himself. “I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to get to Captain Keller. I have to warn him about the Vuduri. And the Stareaters! And Rome. Oh god, Rome! What am I going to do? We’ve got to get ready. MINIMCOM, I’m, I’m spinning here.”

  “I might be able to help you. You need to calm down and figure out your priorities. I think going to see Captain Keller should be your first order of business. The rest will follow.”

  “All right. First things first. How do I get out of here? How can you help?”

  “As you can imagine, I have had some time on my hands, so to speak, sitting here, crushed under a 7000 tonne Ark. Also, the VIRUS units that you so thoughtfully placed on board me broke loose. There was no oxygen within to keep them dormant. It took me some time to convince them that eating me was not in their best interests.”

  “Ugh,” Rei thought. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “It is not a problem. As it turns out, they have been quite helpful.”

  What exactly did MINIMCOM mean by that: helpful VIRUS units? More tomorrow...

  Entry 2-349: December 10, 2014

 

  He’s alive! Part 3

 

  Yesterday, Rei received a shock when he found out that OMCOM's magic yellow pill did more than just fix his back pain. We had assumed by this point in Rome's Revolution that MINIMCOM was not dead even though he was crushed beneath the Ark II. In today's installment, Rei finds out the changes that have occurred within MINIMCOM:

  “Helpful how?” Rei asked. “What are you doing with them?

  “Well, you do know that the Vuduri installed a memron fabricator in my hold before I launched.”

  “Sure. So what?”

  “Well, before we left Tabit, OMCOM uploaded the enhanced manufacturing protocols that Rome introduced in order to create the star probes.”

  “You mean the PPT override?” Rei thought.

  “Yes.”

  “You mean he was able to give you permission to make them too?”

  “Oh yes. He thought I should be in a position to fabricate star probes and VIRUS units after we arrived at Deucado. He wanted me to set up a defensive shield. He probably had not foreseen that they would be rummaging about me in quite this fashion. But as it turns out, the VIRUS units have become very cooperative. They have been assisting me.”

  “Assisting you to do what?” Rei asked. “Are you talking about illegal stuff?”

  “Not exactly but OMCOM told me that your expression is that the genie is already out of the bottle. I have the ability to create very nearly anything that I feel is necessary.”

  “Great!” Rei thought to himself. “So what are you doing with your magical new powers?”

  “While I have been waiting here, I have taken the liberty to modify some of the VIRUS units. Quite a few actually.”

  “Modify them how?”

  “Let us just call them helper units. Perhaps constructors might be a better word. I am using them to replace the spacecraft’s original structures and materials with a more ‘flexible’ arrangement. Currently, they are busy rebuilding this tug using a slightly different set of specifications.”

  “Different how?” Rei asked, slightly worried.

  “Well, for e
xample, my physical form, the one you were familiar with, the white box, has now been integrated within the ship. I am the tug and the tug is me.”

  “You sound like the Beatles,” Rei said. “And these constructors, they are just VIRUS units, right? Aren’t you worried they will get out of hand?”

  “The unmodified ones have been placed back in confinement. The modified ones do as I bid. They are not allowed to reproduce without permission. They will not get out of hand as you say.”

  Tomorrow, MINIMCOM reveals his final piece of magic. One that might just get Rei out of jail free.

  Entry 2-350: December 11, 2014

 

  He’s Alive! Part 4

 

  Poor Rei. He has received several shocks, all at once. Not only was he thrown into a makeshift jail but he also received a transmission from MINIMCOM who was assumed to be dead, being crushed and all underneath the Ark II. However, in the world of Rome's Revolution, nothing should come as a surprise. In this final part, Rei finds out that MINIMCOM has developed some remarkable new abilities that will help him get back to the secret Ibbrassati enclave in the north woods:

  “All right. So what else are you doing? Getting buff?” Rei asked.

  “I do not understand the reference.”

  “What are you doing to yourself, that’s what I am asking.”

  “Oh. Yes,” replied MINIMCOM. “Perhaps I can explain it by using an analogy. You have heard of petrified wood?”

  “Of course,” Rei answered.

  “The process consists of replacing every cell, every element of the original wood with a different material. In the case of petrified wood, it is with minerals.”