by Isaac Hooke
“When you came to this moon, endangering yourself by landing on a world populated with oversized kraals, senior command decided to pull the plug. I told them to wait. I told them you had taken down an entire fleet with your mind. That you could easily handle a few kraals. And that we might be able to manipulate you from afar via the puppets we had created. They didn’t listen. You see, it wasn’t just the kraals that worried them. The true deciding factor was the dark artifacts. They feared that by interfacing with these devices, you would become too powerful, and eventually rise beyond even our reach.
“Because you were obviously planning on visiting all of those artifacts, senior command felt it was beyond time to put you firmly in our grasp. They deemed the risks to your brain acceptable. If you lost your ability to Siphon the Dark, well, then at least no one else would ever have it either. Not the aliens. Not the Volur.
“How did we know you had gone to Sigma 231, you might ask? Good question. We arranged for Lyra to keep in touch with us at all times. She placed a certain holographic stick in the specially designed storage pouch we gave her. You see, ordinary storage pouches contain slots that open into random places in the Umbra. However, hers was designed by our Engineers to share a slot with another storage device of ours, so that both could access the same pocket of the Umbra. On our end, we periodically checked the slot until we found the holographic stick sitting inside, and her message contained therein. We returned any instructions as needed in the same manner.
“Perhaps my words have failed to calm the panic that has no doubt taken root inside of you, and perhaps even fanned the flames of said panic, but hopefully I’ve answered at least some of the questions you might have, so that you don’t remain completely oblivious. I tell you all of this as a courtesy, from one man to another, perhaps the last courtesy you will ever have, as you will spend the rest of your days locked inside your head, capable of independent thought but incapable of acting on it, a mere observer trapped in your own body. You will obey every instruction of the Paramount Leader, of whom I am but an agent. After I hand you over, no one else will ever give you the courtesy of an explanation ever again. Most probably won’t even treat you as a human being, but purely as the weapon that you are. I’m sorry that this had to be your introduction to the TSN, but it’s the way of things. We’re usually better than this. Usually. But not today. Welcome to the Thorran Star Navy.”
Tane was still staring into Jed’s helmet; the Volur seemed overcome by a mixture of pity, and a profound sadness. Nelson had obviously shared the communication channel with him as well.
The military man stepped away. “Scan him,” he told someone outside Tane’s view.
The sense that Tane was going to black out had mostly subsided by then, and he had gone from feeling almost dead back to bone-weary. Phosphenes had also stopped randomly marring his vision.
Strong arms rotated him so that he was lying on his back and staring at the ceiling of the geodesic dome.
The ladybug portion of the surgical robot attached to his helmet, and a pair of binoculars telescoped over his eyes. The familiar bright white filled his vision.
A moment later the brightness subsided, leaving yet another afterimage.
“The nanotech has successfully taken,” the surgical robot replied melodiously over the comm channel. “The new chip has formed in the primary motor cortex, and has successfully branched out into the adjacent neural tissue. There has been no scarring. The subject’s brain remains completely intact. His original chip also survived the process.”
“Excellent,” Nelson said. “Now get out of my way.”
The crenelated underside retreated so that Tane was staring at the ceiling once more. The afterimage from the scan continued to float in front of him.
Nelson’s face came into view as the man knelt beside him. Tane felt an incredible urge to please him.
No. I’m not going to do what he tells me. I’m not!
“What is your name?” Nelson asked.
“Tane Ganeth,” Tane replied immediately. That wasn’t me.
“And who is your master?” Nelson said.
I’m my own master. “You are,” Tane heard himself saying.
Nelson grinned slightly behind his faceplate. “Why?”
“You speak, I obey,” Tane said.
Nelson nodded. “Very good.”
Tane felt a glow inside him at the man’s positive words. No doubt the new chip was messing with his dopamine reward system. Never a good thing.
Nelson removed an energy dagger and cut away the net that bound Tane.
Now that he was free of his binds, Tane wanted to reach up and rip that stamina-draining knob from his helmet, but his body refused to cooperate. He simply couldn’t move.
“Stand,” Nelson said, doing so himself.
Finally Tane’s body obeyed, and he set down his gloved hands on the asphalt and hauled himself to his feet.
The one named Xescartes stepped forward. He was still holding the dark artifact in a gloved hand. He spoke over the same comm channel. “We have to test that the new chip is functioning properly before proceeding further.”
Tane took a moment to observe the face behind the translucent pane of Xescartes’ hood. Youthful. A button nose. Long silver hair. Tane would have almost thought him a woman were it not for the all-too-thin lips, and that deep voice.
“He answered the questions as expected,” Nelson said.
“Yes, but it’s possible someone told him how to answer.” Xescartes gave Jed an implicating glance.
“Boundary condition test?” Nelson asked.
“It would seem appropriate,” Xescartes answered. Still holding the miniaturized artifact, the Volur reached inside the storage pouch at his belt with his free hand, and removed a long scepter similar to the one Lyra possessed. It was obviously Chrysalium.
Nelson shrugged, then turned back to Tane. The man was caressing a small metal device attached to his hip with a gloved thumb. It looked like it could be... a lighter?
“You will not Siphon either Essence unless I give you permission to do so, is that understood?” Nelson asked him.
“Yes,” Tane said.
Nelson glanced at the Volur, who shifted his grip on the Chrysalium scepter.
Nelson removed the knob from Tane’s helmet.
Tane felt stronger immediately, though still weak from the previous Siphoning he had done. Still, without that knob, he was certain he could step into the Essence. And he was convinced he could override Nelson’s order not to.
He tried, but couldn’t step into the stellar wind. It was completely blocked to him. Apparently the tendrils from the new control chip extended not just throughout his motor cortex, but also that part of his mind responsible for Siphoning.
No.
Nelson deposited the knob on the desk and then returned to Tane’s side.
“Bring her in,” Nelson said.
Escorted by scepters, Sinive was led inside. Dressed in her spacesuit, she stood there like a zombie, her eyes glazed over behind her faceplate. No doubt Tane looked similar.
Nelson handed Tane a pistol and nodded toward Sinive. “Kill her.”
12
Tane instantly raised the weapon and pointed it at Sinive. The trigger guard expanded to fit his gloves, and he easily wrapped his index finger around the trigger.
From the ten-centimeter proximity of the robots standing on either side of Sinive, he knew her shield generator was offline. He knew that when he fired at this close range, the resultant plasma impact would eat through the relatively weak armor of her spacesuit and into the flesh underneath. She would die.
Those thoughts seemed distant as he aimed the weapon at his emotionless friend, and yet somehow he managed to resist squeezing the trigger.
Tane’s hand shook. He wanted to please Nelson. He really did.
No I don’t.
He couldn’t harm Sinive.
He started to lower the pistol.
“Kill her,”
Nelson repeated.
Tane once more raised the weapon and aimed it at her center of mass. His hand shook even more forcefully this time, and for a moment Tane thought he was going to be triumphant. But then the trembling began to subside, as if the control chip inside of him was fine-tuning, adjusting to this last bit of resistance.
A boundary condition test, Nelson and Xescartes had called this. Killing a close friend was an extreme test of loyalty—a boundary condition. Having the chip adjust now for any resistance he might offer these “boundary conditions” ensured that Tane would obey any and all commands going forward, his own feelings and morals be damned.
His hand stopped shaking. The chip had won. His finger closed a millimeter.
He was going to squeeze the trigger entirely this time and kill Sinive.
He frantically attempted to step into the White Essence once more. And like the last time, it was blocked from him. Try as he might, he couldn’t force himself past: it was like trying to step through Chrysalium to the stellar wind, and instead finding himself embedded inside only more Chrysalium.
His finger closed another millimeter.
Frantically, he tried reaching for the Dark Essence instead, and was surprised when the raging conflagration actually shot through him. It burned his being, and he almost succumbed to multitude of fires that erupted around him. He quickly doused the flames in that fight for his life that was Dark Siphoning.
Nelson’s command to him had blocked the White, but not the Dark. He guessed it was because the TSN had no actual human subjects to test the controlling nanotech on. They had been so worried about damaging his brain and burning the ability out of him that they had missed it entirely.
And now he had a way out.
He still couldn’t control his body, but he directed his mind to create the Dark Essence timeline that would form the work he desired. He just had to resist squeezing the trigger until then.
Unfortunately, his index finger moved by another millimeter. There were maybe one or two more such increments left before the metal contacts of the trigger element touched the receiver, completing the circuit and firing the weapon.
Thankfully Jed intervened.
The Volur warrior spun on the ground, issuing a sweep kick that knocked Tane off his feet.
Tane squeezed the trigger before he hit the ground. After he slammed into the asphalt, he opened his eyes and saw Sinive still on her feet. One of the robots beside her had collapsed into a pile of metal: its midsection smoked where Tane’s plasma bolt had struck.
How Jed had been able to find the energy to kick him like that with the stamina-draining knob still attached to his helmet, Tane didn’t know, but he was thankful either way. Despite his fall, Tane managed to continue creating the Dark Essencework, no doubt partially thanks to his level two skill in Dark Siphoning.
“Annoying,” Nelson said. “We’ll have him kill you, next, Volur. Stand, World Bender, and complete your task.”
Tane stood, and Jed fell into his line of sight while he got up. Tane had been wondering why Jed hadn’t done anything else, but the question was answered when he saw the man: Jed was frozen in place, no doubt thanks to Xescartes.
Tane continued the Dark timeline as his hand moved of its own accord and aimed at Sinive once more. He resisted, but this time his arm didn’t even bother to shake. His index finger squeezed...
Tane completed the Dark work and released it immediately.
A dark sphere exploded outward from him to a diameter of three meters as Melt Metal took effect. He quickly excluded the metallic components of his spacesuit, but not the pistol. The sphere vanished and the weapon in his hand immediately liquefied; he felt the spike in heat through his gloves and managed to release the remains of the pistol before it could burn through his suit—apparently reflexes still overrode the control chip.
The pistol holstered to Nelson’s waist also melted away, as did the lighter-like device the man had been petting.
With that device gone, it felt like a weight had been lifted from Tane. He had control of his body back again.
Tane deemed Xescartes the greatest threat at the moment, so he released two Essence Missiles in rapid succession at the Volur and dashed toward the man at the same time. Sinive meanwhile ripped away the pistol from the robot beside her, and she opened fire first at the robot, and then at the lieutenant colonel and Nelson, both of whom ducked behind the collapsible desk just in time.
Tane’s Essence Missiles struck Xescartes, and the surprised Volur dropped the dark artifact. The man’s armor absorbed both blows, however. Tane was too far to reach him in time: invisible bonds formed around Tane’s body, and he was trapped the same way Jed was. Sinive, too, also froze. Xescartes went to her and took the pistol away with the hand that had dropped the artifact, and aimed the weapon at Tane.
“Intriguing,” Xescartes said, stepping toward Tane. The ferrule of his Chrysalium scepter clanked upon the asphalt with each step. “If you had been a little faster, you could have had me.”
Though his body was restrained by those invisible bonds, Tane was still able to launch another Essence Missile. This time Xescartes was ready and easily Deflected the work before it reached him.
But Xescartes’ actions and words were evidently intended as a distraction, because a hand appeared outside his helmet, and a familiar, stamina-draining knob attached to his helmet.
Tane felt the incredible weariness immediately and lost access to both Essences.
Nelson stepped into view. “Well that was a close one.”
“Crap,” the lieutenant colonel said, standing from where he had hidden behind the desk. “You two sure like to play with fire. How the hell did he break free of your controller?”
Nelson pointed to the spot on his hips where the small lighter-shaped device had melted away. “This is how.”
“Sure, but how did he melt away your controller in the first place?” the lieutenant colonel said. “I thought the chip was supposed to prevent him from using the Essence?’
“He used a work of the Dark,” Xescartes said. “Obviously the control chip doesn’t have the ability suppress Dark Siphoning. Which isn’t surprising, considering we had no actual test subjects for the technology. We’ll have to tweak the models and apply fresh nanotech now that we have an actual brain to work with. In the meantime, he is to wear the Restrainer at all times.”
Xescartes stepped back, but just then a broad distortion tunnel formed directly behind him. He must have noticed Nelson staring in shock past the Volur, because Xescartes started to turn around, but then several dark smears slammed into his armored robe, staggering him. Black cracks appeared all along the armor’s exterior.
At the same time a tentacle shot out from the distortion tunnel, slamming Xescartes into the wall of the geodesic dome behind the desk. The man struck hard and slid to the asphalt floor, the scepter slipping from his grasp. He didn’t get up.
Tane was free the instant those cracks formed in his captor’s armor.
Nelson dove for cover behind the desk as a dweller without a protective suit emerged from the distortion tunnel. It unleashed the dark smears of Fingers of Ruin at the lieutenant colonel, who had been too slow to take cover, and his armor split open as cracks formed. The darkness penetrated through to the flesh underneath, and he screamed as black veins shot up his face.
Two of the dweller’s smaller tentacles shot out, one scooping up the storage pouch on the desk, the other the dark artifact Xescartes had dropped on the asphalt. A pair of larger tentacles shot toward Tane at the same time. He dodged to the side and reached up, intending to remove the Restrainer attached to his helmet, but the fingers on the tip of one tentacle grasped his hand before he could touch it, while the other wrapped around his chest. A third tentacle took Jed, so that both Tane and the Volur warrior were hoisted into the air.
Tane couldn’t use either Essence, not with that damn knob still attached to his head. And there was no way to remove it with both arms restra
ined by the tentacles.
The alien retreated, crab-walking through the tear in the fabric of reality.
“Sinive!” Tane said via his external speakers.
But the dweller had already made the jump, and the distortion tunnel closed behind Tane as the words left his lips.
Sinive…
Tane was expecting to find himself surrounded by dwellers, but there were none. Instead, the alien had carried Tane and Jed into an empty underground concourse of some kind. Glow panels in the ceiling provided illumination. The blurry outlines of concrete passageways led away from the far left and right sides of the open area, and connected to some sort of underground pedway system.
There were piles of refuse nearby. The area would have reset after the dweller left it, so those piles would’ve had to exist in Tane’s universe as well.
There was also a Dirac floating nearby, the size of a human head. Tane recognized the food source of the kraals immediately, because the dark, pulsating crystal seemed to call out to him.
Tane understood what had happened immediately. The dweller who held him had to be—
Something struck the alien from the side.
The dweller shifted its legs, swiveling its carapace toward the attacker, and rotating Tane and Jed along with it. Tane spotted a human in a spacesuit below.
The individual leaped at the dweller again, grabbing onto one of its spindly legs. The human carried a small energy dagger, and promptly stabbed it into the leg.
“Let go of him!” cried a female voice over external speakers.
“Sinive!” Tane said. “Stop. It’s G’allanthamas!”
A tentacle shot out and wrapped around the spacesuit, plucking Sinive away. The dweller pulled her toward those sideways-oriented jaws, as if to study her.
Or devour her.
Sinive struggled in the alien’s grasp.
“Let her go, G’allanthamas…” Tane warned.