So Close to Home

by Galen Surlak-Ramsey

“Stuck in a powerless elevator.”

  “In the casino?”

  “Yeah. Why? Is it going to take long to get us out?”

  “Possibly,” he said. “The entire casino has gone dark.”

  “Blow a fuse?”

  “No. The power is being redirected to the Progenitor facility,” he said. “We’re showing a massive power spike inside.”

  I grimaced. “The one that’s locked?”

  “The same,” he said.

  I relayed the news to everyone else. After a slew of mutterings and curses from all, I came back to the conversation. “So I take it this means no comedy show.”

  “No. Meet me on the first floor,” he said.

  “Might be kind of hard, seeing how I can’t see a thing and we’re stuck in the elevator,” I said.

  “Then break out and find me. We’ll be the ones with all the lights.”

  The line went dead. I looked to Tolby. Well, I looked where I thought he was. For all I knew, I was staring at Jack’s butt. Check that. I was not staring at his butt, would never stare at his butt, and if that remote thought ever gets back to him, I promise I’ll feed whoever tipped him off to a school of starving space piranhas.

  “Tolby? Can you get us out of here?” I asked, trying to feel my way to the door. You’d think finding it would be easy, and I eventually did, but not before finding two furry tails, a wall, a paw, and a hip. Thank god Jack wasn’t turned more when I grabbed that.

  “Got it,” Tolby said, right as there was a terrific screech of claws on metal that made my skin nearly jump off and run away.

  Beyond the door was more black. However, this new black was interrupted here and there by beams of light from semi-nervous patrons and Kibnali. Most were trying to play it off cool, but it was easy to tell they knew something was wrong, and whatever it was made them jumpy.

  Since the elevator had stopped a little below the actual floor, I had to boost myself up. Navigating the casino at that point felt chaotic, and at times noisy as guests seemed to be losing more and more patience with each other, but eventually, we made it to the first floor and then out altogether.

  I’d taken, at best, five steps into the bright, fresh air when a blue, six-wheeled armored transport ran up to us. The door slid open, and inside sat Okabe with a few other Kibnali, armed and armored as if they were about to pick a fight with a family of star dragons.

  “Get in,” he said, motioning at one of two empty seats across from him. “There’s no time to lose.”

  “I don’t think we can all squeeze in there,” I said.

  “All of you aren’t,” he explained.

  “I’m coming,” Tolby said, coming to my side. Okabe was about to argue, but my furry bud growled and put an end to that. “This isn’t up for debate.”

  “Fine. You may come. Another Kibnali may prove useful.”

  “We’ll see to Empress and make sure she’s safe,” Jainon said.

  Okabe chuckled. “She is still with Goshun. There is no safer place on this entire planet.”

  At that point, we parted ways, though I don’t think Jack was keen on it. He gave me an annoyed, helpless look, to which all I could do was shrug. Once I took my seat inside the transport, the door slid shut with a hiss, and off we went, darting through the Kibnali city.

  Colors permeated everything around us, from the countless streets to the shops and business centers. Most of the entrances to places big and small had colorful signs above and well-manicured miniature gardens flanking both sides of the doors. There were also plenty of hanging gardens on the awnings above, which gave the entire area both an organic and modern sensation.

  The entire town bustled with activity—I presume because by now everyone knew the power had gone out at the casino. I wondered what they were thinking, then grew sad realizing I was looking at the last generation of Kibnali before the Nodari war would start. The war that would eventually spell the end for the entire species.

  I frowned. “Screw that,” I mumbled. “Not going to let that happen.”

  “Pardon?” Okabe said, looking up from the tablet he had in his lap.

  “Did I say that?” I said with a nervous laugh. “I thought I was in think-mode.”

  “You definitely spoke. Now elaborate.”

  “I…know things about the future,” I said, hesitantly. I know I’d promised Tolby we’d discuss things thoroughly, but that was before the casino went dark, power surged through whatever facility we were headed to, and I wasn’t stuck inside an armored transport with the planet’s chief researcher.

  “Grim things?”

  “Very. But…paradox worries and all.”

  “I see,” he said. “Does this have to do with what’s going on now?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably. At least related, I think. I have a feeling that me being here is going to mess up anything I think I know.”

  The corners of Okabe’s lips drew back. “Almost certainly.”

  I settled back into the seat. “Since I’m going to this secret facility anyway, what can you tell me about it?”

  Okabe grinned like a child who had brought his favorite toy to show and tell and now has the opportunity to get in front of the class. “I’m not sure if I’m allowed to,” he said, “but then again, I’m not sure I’m forbidden either.”

  “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, eh?”

  “Not if you’re a tailless or at the bottom of the caste,” he said. “But since I’m neither and circumstances are unique, I think we’ll be fine.”

  “I don’t want to put you in a bad spot,” I said. “Maybe you could tell me how you found the place? Surely that’s not a massive secret since I don’t believe you simply happened to build a random outpost somewhere and stumbled upon a Progenitor superstructure.”

  “Right you are,” he said. “A hundred years ago, my mentor created a massive sensor array that was finely tuned to detect Progenitor signals through subspace. Or at least, that’s what he claimed. For fifty years he tried to get it to work but was met with failure and frustration at every turn and had nothing to show. Funding was eventually cut, and the project was terminated. However, he had enough private backers that he had it installed on a scout ship that inadvertently picked up a weak signal and traced it to this planet about twenty years ago.”

  “You’ve been here for twenty years and haven’t gotten inside?”

  “Says the girl who lived for three years in her apartment before discovering the pool,” Tolby said with a grin.

  “That pool was tough to find,” I said, crossing my arms.

  “Yes, next to the towel drop off,” he said. “A devious place to put one.”

  Okabe cocked his head at our brief exchange but offered no input. “To your question: our original trace took us to the casino, and until recently, we thought that’s all there was to it,” he explained. “We didn’t discover this new area buried underground until a few months ago.”

  “Still, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten in yet.”

  “And what archaeologist do you know who uses force to break into a subterranean structure the first chance he gets?” Okabe said with a touch of condescension in his tone. “I would sooner burn the original diaries of the first Empress by my own hand than risk destroying such a key find on a whim. Surely you didn’t get those implants of yours by being so careless.”

  “Getting those implants? No,” Tolby said with a deep laugh. “Afterward? Absolutely.”

  “Yeah, well, let’s see how careful you are when your brain turns to tapioca.”

  “And that is precisely why you’ll never catch me with those,” he said, pointing to my implants.

  Okabe dropped his brow, and I filled him in on the details—well, some of them. Mostly the parts about me losing my mind after I’d jump forward or backward in time.

  “Interesting,” was his only comment.

  The transport soon hung a left off the main highway and stopped near what looked like an entrance
to an old subway terminal. A heavily guarded subway terminal, but one nonetheless.

  “We’re here,” Okabe said. “Do you think it will take you long to get in?”

  “If it is like any other Progenitor facility, I should be able to pop in without any trouble,” I replied as I climbed out of the vehicle.

  Another armored vehicle pulled up next to us, and from it came ten more Kibnali soldiers. They, too, carried enough arms and armor to mount a frontal assault of an enemy stronghold. As I thought about that, however, I realized that notion might not be far from the truth. After all, Tolby and I were batting a thousand when it came to finding horrific, ravenous monsters inside long-lost Progenitor facilities. Maybe life as a one-armed exile wouldn’t be that bad.

  The leader of the group squared off with Okabe. He was one of the most imposing Kibnali I’d ever met, standing a full head higher than Tolby and probably packing on another hundred pounds of muscle. “Once the tailless has opened the door, stay clear,” he said in a rough voice. “The Eighth Guard will have the honors of breaching the facility first. Understood?”

  “Understood,” Okabe said with a slight bow. “Do you feel that many soldiers is necessary, Captain?”

  “I do, though I doubt you and the tailless would agree with me. Fortunately, and for the sake of the Empire, that is why I am at my station, and you are at yours.”

  My mind drifted back to what had happened on Adrestia, specifically, the Nodari and Nekrael we’d fought. To that, I glanced at the number of soldiers with us, and my stomach tightened. “Actually, Captain, I think you might have wanted to bring a few more.”

  There was a hint of respect in the captain’s eyes as he glanced down to me. His right ear twitched, but he gave no other reaction. At least I hoped it was respect. Maybe he was insulted that a lowly tailless like myself had bothered to address them directly. “Your concerns are not misplaced, tailless. The universe is hostile to those who would not dominate it from the start.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” I said, again laughing softly at the misadventures we had. “Definitely had my share of hostile encounters.”

  The captain grunted with a short flick of the tail. “Good. Let’s go.”

  I followed Okabe and the others down a short ramp and into a tunnel. Made of concrete, it ran about twenty meters before dumping us into a massive underground art gallery. The lobby we were in was kidney-shaped, with multiple levels, multiple pools of water fed by multiple waterfalls, surrounded by multiple colorful lights and even more colorful plants. A dizzying array of art hung on the walls, all created from countless different mediums and focusing on a near infinite number of subjects.

  On the walls I saw holographic pieces of landscapes, oil paintings of alien ceremonies, charcoal smudges that were so abstract, they made Picasso’s most famous work look like that of a realist. Sculptures of five-headed, three-footed creatures stood near others of three-headed, five-footed beings. And then there were the three-headed, three-footed versions, and of course, if you’re even remotely savvy, you’ve already guessed about the five-headed, five-footed pieces, too. Whoever came up with them really, really liked the numbers three and five.

  At least it wasn’t four. I probably would’ve had a nervous breakdown at that point.

  Sadly, I could only gawk at them all as Okabe practically dragged me through. We worked our way down a number of halls, twists, and turns. Far too many to count, as well as several stairs and ramps.

  Eventually, we came to a large antechamber way in the back. At the far end of said chamber, about thirty meters away, stood a massive bunker door with a console nearby. It looked a lot like the one at the Lambda Labs in that it looked like a giant gear with huge teeth, and like the one at the labs, there was also a console nearby. Although this time instead of a console sitting on a pedestal nearby, the console was embedded into the rock wall.

  “How on earth did you miss this?” I asked with a disbelieving laugh.

  “Ahem, pool,” Tolby said.

  I gave him an incredulous look and threw up my hands. “What? Really? Come on. This thing is as big as a titan. You can’t miss this.”

  “We didn’t,” Okabe said.

  “Ha!” I said, hands on my hips. “Wait. What?”

  “We didn’t miss it,” he said. “But all our scans when we first found it said there was nothing behind it, and since the console hadn’t lit up until recently, we assumed it was part of the art exhibit.”

  “That would make a bizarre exhibit.”

  One of the soldiers behind Okabe chuckled. His laughter became infectious and soon all the Kibnali, save Tolby, shared some sort of inside joke I hadn’t a clue about.

  “When we’re done, you should see what’s on the ninth floor,” he said.

  “What’s there?”

  “I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but it’s weird,” he said. He then motioned toward the door before pulling out a triangular device and pressing a few of its buttons. “Now it’s time to prove your worth to the Kibnali Empire. Open it up. I’ll monitor what’s going on between your implants and the console.”

  I walked up to the console and lightly touched it with my right hand. The screen was cold and had a light film of water across it. I hope that didn’t mean it was no longer functional due to water damage. Surely the Progenitors had been skilled enough not to let such a thing cripple one of their facilities.

  The captain of the Kibnali Guard growled with displeasure. “We’re waiting, tailless. In case you forgot, something’s going on in there.”

  “I need longer than half a second,” I said, not bothering to look back at him over my shoulder. That was done partly because I was starting to concentrate on making the mental connection to the Progenitor interface, but it was also done because I knew my face had soured enough that he would take my physical reaction as an insult, as well he should. Stupid furball (no offense, Tolby).

  I took in a slow, deep breath and reached out with the implants in my arm to make the remote connection. I was afraid that my attempts would be met with failure as they had when I tried to get into Lambda Labs, but in under a second, I heard a distinct pop and click inside my mind, and my arm tingled as if it were on pins and needles. The console screen flickered to life and cast a warm, orange glow on my skin. An array of ancient, alien symbols flashed across, but they quickly rearranged themselves into words I could understand.

  Before I knew it, all of the Kibnali surrounded me, each one muttering words of surprise and quiet whispering thanks to the gods.

  “Can you read that writing?” Okabe said, staring at the screen perplexed.

  “Yeah, of course,” I said, but then I quickly realized that the only reason I could was that the implants in my arm had long since made modifications to my brain so that Progenitor language came second nature to me. “It’s a side effect of the implant,” I explained as I held up my arm and hoped to smooth over any transgressions. “I’m more or less the universal Progenitor translator.”

  Thankfully, Okabe—as seemed everyone else—was far more interested in getting inside than reprimanding me for some breach of etiquette. “Can you open it then?”

  “I should be able to,” I said, working my magic. After some finagling, the first output the computer gave me was:

  Facility reactors online. Entry door sealed. Reboot required. Restart all processes?

  Not seeing any other options, I hit yes. The moment I did, extra lights popped on from hidden recesses above the door and filled the air with a light static sound. The screen then displayed a new prompt:

  Systems rebooted. Have a nice day.

  I shrugged, not sure what to make of how easily it all came together, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I tapped the screen so that the prompt went away and quickly found familiar menu options. It took only a few moments before I found the door controls and ordered it to cycle open.

  A loud, pressurized hiss came from the door before it drew back
with a horrendous screech and rolled to the side. I had expected such a thing to happen and had already covered my ears, but the Kibnali surrounding me were caught off guard and cringed in obvious pain.

  Hot air blasted that felt like it came from the belly of the fusion reactor. As uncomfortable as it was, it proved to be no deterrent for anyone. The entire Eighth Guard rushed in, rifles leading the way, the moment their captain gestured inside with a paw.

  Much like the Lambda Labs, the entryway was L-shaped with several consoles on each side. The lighting, however, was much better, and a vaulted ceiling loomed five meters above us. There were also a couple of doors set in separate walls as opposed to the lift in Lambda Labs that descended even further underground. I know I’m superstitious at times, but since two is a lucky number and generally makes me feel good thinking about it, I took this to be a good omen.

  The last distinct change from Lambda Labs was on the ceiling. Hanging from it was a massive cylindrical contraption that had a rod sticking out one end. I wasn’t entirely sure what it was for, but it looked like it could extend if it wanted to and reach the facility door.

  “Tailless,” the captain said. “What’s beyond the doors?”

  “I honestly have no idea,” I said. “Storage, classrooms, or a five-headed cybernetic hydra for all I know.”

  The Kibnali soldiers fanned out, and Okabe walked over to one of the computers. Like the console at the door before I got to it, its screen was dark and unresponsive to his touch. “Can you bring these online?”

  “Yeah, I should be able to,” I said.

  Before I took a step forward, however, the door at the opposite end of the room zipped open, and in flew another grapefruit-sized metallic sphere with a singular lavender eye set in the center and lime-green circuitry all across its skin. It screeched as it shot toward us, but its flight was short-lived.

  “No, don’t!” I shouted as one of the Kibnali soldiers raised his weapon, but it was too late. The soldier fired a single, well-placed shot that struck the drone dead center, causing a crash. “Why did you do that? He was only coming to help.”