by Vincent Vale
I realized my connection to this revelation. “And you believe the people from my memories were all manifestations, as you call them?”
“I do.”
I felt ill, as if my stomach were in my throat. “Why would I have their memories? Surely you can see with your synthetic eyes I’m not one of these manifestations of the Fume.”
“Whatever was done to us in the sanitarium was the work of the Fume’s manifestations, and your memories are a result of them altering your mind.”
I went to my nutrition unit and had it dispense two ounces of Red Ethanol. Despite the audible warning for moderation, I chugged it down. “What else do you know of them?”
“From what we’ve observed, they can’t pass beyond the boundaries of the unnatural dimension they’ve created around Earth. It seems they’re connected to it in some way.”
“Have you attempted to contact any of the Fume’s manifestations?”
Sensimion was silent for a moment, as if struck by a devastating memory. “When we first discovered them, my closest associate and friend made a terrible mistake. He believed if we confronted them with our knowledge of their existence, they might reveal something of their purpose and plot. I was against such a bold tactic, but I couldn’t persuade him otherwise. I watched on with a surveillance drone in Earth’s orbit as he confronted one of the Fume’s manifestations. My friend spoke right to the point: ‘I know you’re not of this world. I demand to know why you sneak among men and manipulate humankind.’ The manifestation responded with a calm gaze, and my friend soon after burned to ash.”
“Then they are powerful beings,” I said.
“Powerful enough to turn a man to ash in the blink of an eye.” Sensimion shook his head sadly. “I blame myself for the tragedy. I shouldn’t have allowed the interaction to occur, since my experience in the sanitarium was a clear indication of the manifestations’ threatening nature. Ever since this powerful display, my people haven’t set foot within the dimension around Earth. We’ve hidden ourselves in a remote location of the solar system.”
Is this truly Sensimion? I thought. Can these revelations be real?
“I can sense your doubt, Theron. You must believe me.”
How could I? I looked out the window to Jupiter. “I stand here on the highland of my life. To finish the dimensional gateway, I’ve worked with all my soul. Why do you come to me, now, with these world-shattering revelations?”
“I’m not here by coincidence or bad timing. I’ve come here to help preserve this project you hold so close to your heart.”
“How?”
“Exactly one week ago, my people detected a trace of the Fume’s exotic energy on the Brahman Station.”
“I thought you said these manifestations can’t pass beyond the boundaries of the unnatural dimension around Earth?”
“We don’t know how yet, but the exotic energy we detected only lasted a few minutes and then vanished. If it were a manifestation of the Fume, there would still be traces of the exotic energy—which there isn’t.”
“What does it mean?”
“We don’t know,” said Sensimion. “Nevertheless, we believe the Brahman Station may be in some kind of danger. And that, old friend, is the reason I’m here.”
“Certainly you don’t expect me to abandon the maiden voyage? People will think I’m crazy if I tell them what you’ve told me.”
“I wish only to be given access to the Brahman Station during the maiden voyage. I’ll be able to detect the presence of any exotic energy with my synthetic eyes.”
“Giving you such access would raise suspicion among my colleagues.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be able to look over the entire station from these quarters.” Sensimion removed a large ocular device from a pouch. “This spatial rendering sensor can see through walls. If I detect something sinister transpiring, only then will I move through the station. I would, however, like a tour of the station and proper introductions to any important people.”
“With those eyes?”
“These are amazing times, my friend. Everything is new. If they ask, tell them they’re experimental. Tell them I was blind.”
I groaned. “How shall I introduce you?”
“As your brother, Simon Mobius.”
“I’ve known the people on this station a long time. They know I don’t have any family. It’ll be much simpler if I introduce you as a friend from my youth, who’s like a brother.” I checked the time. “The day has begun. Once I’m ready, I’ll take you out into the station, where you’ll stay close by my side. Understood?”
Sensimion nodded.
“Are you all right, Sensimion?” There was definitely something wrong with him. “You look sick.”
“A side effect of these synthetic eyes. They require a lot of energy, which is drawn biochemically from my body. They’re a tolerable burden, given the reward of seeing the unnatural dimension and exotic energy of the Fume.”
I made my way to the main control room of the dimensional gateway with Sensimion. I was scheduled to meet with some of the more important guests, and give them a private tour of the dimensional gateway.
“Good morning,” I said, greeting about twenty guests, which included the Prime Minister of Earth, Allienora Chang; Orsteen Hunn of the Mercury Miners; and Morion Morpheme, Prime Elitist of Mars.
All in the room looked with seeming fascination at Sensimion.
A stocky man with slicked back hair approached me. “I’m the Defense Minister of Earth, Renworth Vole. I wish to congratulate you on your achievement, Mr. Mobius.” He held out his hand.
I shook it and was surprised to feel nano-intelligent matter. He was a simulacrum. “It’s unfortunate you couldn’t be here in person.”
“Seeing the event via simulacrum will have to suffice. I have many important things to do here on Earth.” Renworth Vole stared into Sensimion’s eyes. “And who’s this?”
“This is Simon,” I said, simply.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Simon,” said Renworth Vole.
Sensimion squinted. “Have we met before?”
“I don’t think so,” replied Renworth. “I would remember a man with such exquisite eyes.”
“Where’s Atticus!” I shouted nervously. I glanced around the room, and then beckoned a nearby technician. “He was supposed to be here ten minutes ago.”
The technician responded, “He’s making a last minute round of the gateway.”
“Then I’ll have to begin the tour without him.”
I led the guests to a great oval window in the upper control room. It overlooked a massive chamber, constituting half the volume of the Brahman Station.
“Below us is the dimensional gateway engine. As you can see, there are eighteen enormous dimensional augmenters arranged in a circle, twenty meters in diameter. When they’re activated, they’ll generate the dimensional fissure, which will span the twenty-meter circle. If you look overhead, you’ll see the pod-ship I’ll be piloting. Once the dimensional gateway is open, I’ll fly the pod-ship down into the dimensional fissure, and be instantaneously transported to the designated coordinates, one light-hour away. And this, as simple as it sounds, will be the entire event you’ll be witnessing today.”
“Are you certain your trip through the dimensional gateway won’t be dangerous?” asked Allienora Chang, stepping close to me. “The human body is a sensitive thing.”
She smells fantastic, I thought, detecting the scent of vanilla.
“We’ve already sent an assortment of primitive life forms through the gateway, and have yet to see any complications. If there were a possibility of harm, I wouldn’t be so eager to be the first man to journey through it.”
A woman in a white business suit stepped boldly in front of Allienora. “The public has questions, Mr. Mobius.”
I noticed the small media orb floating just above her shoulder.
Great, I thought. Here comes the accusations.
The media just wanted
scandal and reaction shots. If they couldn’t find real scandal they did their best to create it. I hated these media skaggs. I wished I could shoot her out an open hatch into space. That’s where they all belonged.
“I’m here to answer all your questions, Ms.…” I looked to her I.D. badge. “Ms. Pendike.”
“As you know, Mr. Mobius, your biography was just released in the Neofrontier Chronicle.”
“Actually…” I interrupted, knowing it would piss her off. “I didn’t know. I’ll be sure to upload a copy.”
“Anyway,” she continued. “Your relationship with Atticus Roth is detailed greatly. He rescued you from the streets, mentored you both morally and academically, and eventually became your colleague in your pursuit to build this dimensional gateway.”
“This is true. He has made me the man I am. I trust him implicitly. He’s a friend and a father. He’s the biggest influence in my life.”
“What isn’t documented in your biography…” She took a deep breath to accentuate that something important was about to spill from her over-plumped, genetically engineered lips. “Is that Atticus Roth manipulated and deceived you.”
Chatter filled the control room.
Allienora stepped forward and held up her hand in a call for silence. “What are you talking about, Ms. Pendike?”
“Sixty years ago, Atticus Roth stole a prototype neural accelerator chip from the Tetrion Corporation. This is months before Theron received his first neural interface—when they were just hitting the market at the turn of the millennium. I believe Atticus secretly integrated this stolen tech into Theron’s implant. I believe Atticus made Theron the man he is, so he could reach the fame and fortune he has now attained. Theron’s breakthroughs in dimensional physics were only achieved after he was implanted with the hyper accelerated neural interface.”
Holy shit, I thought. How did she find out?
She was pretty close to the truth. She got two things wrong. I was willingly implanted with the device and I even helped Atticus steal it. It wasn’t about the money, though. It was about so much more.
Allienora moved closer to Ms. Pendike, who took an uneasy step backwards. It was exhilarating to witness the power Allienora held over people that stood in her presence. I found myself even more attracted to her.
“You still haven’t provided us proof, Ms. Pendike.”
Ms. Pendike held up a data node. “Here’s my proof.”
Allienora took it from her. Before she could uplink with it, her personal guard stopped her.
“Prime Minister. That is an untested data node. There could be malicious coding on it.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said, touching the node to the back of her neck to trigger the uplink. Her eyes fluttered as her neural implant took in the data and transferred it to her conscious mind. “This is hardly proof that Atticus was involved. All you have here are leaked documents from the Tetrion Corporation, confirming the theft of the prototype neural accelerator chip and its schematics. Nothing in them implicates Atticus.”
I felt relieved until Ms. Pendike revealed a neural analyzer.
A smug look distorted her over-altered features. “Then Theron won’t mind if I test his neural implant.”
Allienora grabbed it from her hands. “I’ll test Theron.”
What do I do? My heart raced. This could ruin everything.
Allienora separated the two halves of the analyzer. She placed one on the back of her neck and one on the back of mine. I didn’t resist. I just tried to play it cool. Though, I probably should’ve said something.
Allienora activated the analyzer and her eyes again fluttered as she took in the data. It was the longest ten seconds of my life. Her eyes finally stopped fluttering and she looked at me intensely. She must have seen the data imprint from the chip.
What is she going to do?
She smiled ever so slightly. “There’s nothing there. No trace of the neural accelerator chip.”
“Impossible!” shouted Ms. Pendike. “Let me look!”
“I’m the Prime Minister of Earth, Ms. Pendike. Are you questioning my ability to use a simple neural analyzer? There’s nothing there.” Allienora signaled her personal guard. “Get her off the station.”
What just happened? How did she not see it?
“The theatrics are over,” announced Allienora. “Theron, please continue.”
“Very well,” I said, breathing easier. I looked through the faces. “Before I take you down for a closer look at the dimensional gateway, I must know who among you would like the privilege to be aboard the rendezvous ship, which will be present at the pod-ship’s emergence point? You must decide now, since it’ll take the rendezvous ship an hour to get there at light-speed. Otherwise, you may remain here to see my departure with the rest of the guests.”
“Definitely I,” said Morion Morpheme, with an oddly impatient enthusiasm.
Allienora stepped forward. “If only a limited few will be present at the emergence point, then I too would like to be on hand to witness the spectacle.” She turned to Orsteen Hunn of the Mercury Miners. “Will you accompany me, Orsteen?”
“It would be my honor.”
“Very well,” I said. “Once your tour’s completed, you’ll be taken to the rendezvous ship.”
I finished with the leaders of the three solar nations and saw to their departure aboard the rendezvous ship.
Allienora was last to board.
She signaled her personal guard to board ahead of her. “I want a private moment with Mr. Mobius.”
I grew nervous as we stood there alone at the docking gate. Her large blue eyes examined me—as if she were measuring the depths of my being. It became clear what she was thinking.
She knows.
My head sagged in guilt. “Why didn’t you tell them?”
“Because it doesn’t matter. I don’t care how you did it, Theron. You’re about to change everything. Humankind will never be the same. This is the beginning of something great, and we have you to thank for it.”
“What about Ms. Pendike? She won’t give up.”
“I’ll take care of her. I’ll make her understand. I have ways of dealing with her kind.”
“I’m sorry, Allienora. I hope I didn’t disappoint you.”
“People have done worse things to achieve their goals. You didn’t hurt anyone, Theron.”
“I hope I’ll see you after the maiden voyage.”
“You can count on it.”
She gave me an unexpected kiss on the cheek.
I smiled. “Safe travels.”
“You too. Good luck.”
I returned to my apartment, where Sensimion was setting up various monitoring equipment for his lookout during the maiden voyage.
I went to a console. “These are the access codes to the entire station. You may upload them to your neural implant.”
While Sensimion interlinked with the console, I administered a drop of amber narcotic into my eye. It was early for another dose, but I had to make sure the memories wouldn’t return during the maiden voyage.
“What’s that, Theron?” asked Sensimion.
I relaxed as the liquid permeated the membrane of my eye. I then tucked the vial back into my pocket. “With this drug, I’ve found relief from those haunting memories, which were an unbearable undertow of pain.”
“Astonishing,” said Sensimion. “I hope when your maiden voyage is complete, you’ll consider cleansing yourself of this drug, so we can analyze the full scope of these memories. They could be our best means to discovering the motives of the Fume’s manifestations.”
“I suppose, if it would help. But it would have to be for a short period, since I’d begin to lose the clarity of my own true memories, which define me.”
“I understand,” said Sensimion. “Now, if you don’t mind, I must begin my surveillance of the station.”
“As you wish. I must see to a few things before I journey through the gateway.”
In truth, I h
ad very little to do. My only obligation was in two hours’ time, when I’d sit in the small pod-ship, direct its nose toward the dimensional gateway, and plunge. In the meantime, I set out to find Atticus, who I hadn’t seen all morning.
Strangely, I couldn’t find him.
I ate a light lunch in the dining hall and then dressed myself in a flight suit. Just as I was about to make my way to the pod-ship, I paused. “What the fuck are you thinking, you fool?”
I quickly returned to my apartment.
“What’s the matter?” asked Sensimion.
“Nothing,” I replied, moving straight to the dining table.
I retrieved the picture of my dead wife and took it into the bathroom, away from Sensimion. I breathed a sigh of relief as I relished her image.
“I almost forgot, my dear Cassandra.”
I removed the back of the picture frame and retrieved the thin silver necklace hidden within. I held it up and admired its delicate pendant—a fine, filigreed, cobalt-blue metal in the shape of an infinity spiral. I had given it to her instead of an engagement ring. After accepting my marriage proposal, she wore the infinity spiral over her heart, never removing it—until death.
“If anything happens...” I placed the necklace around my neck. “...we’ll be together soon.”
I tucked the pendant under my flight suit and left my apartment.
I went to the docking platform of the pod-ship, where I at last found Atticus on-hand to see me off.
“We’ve worked hard for this day, Atticus.”
“Nothing will be the same after you pass through the dimensional gateway.”
“Allienora and I were just talking about that.” I looked down on the ring of eighteen dimensional augmenters. “Humankind will see great change.”
“You have no idea, Theron,” uttered Atticus.
I found Atticus’ response a bit perplexing. I placed my hand on his shoulder. “You seem tense, my friend. When I return, we’ll calm your nerves with toasts of champagne.”
Atticus’ stomach growled. He clutched his abdomen with both hands, as if to contain any further volatility. “Excuse me.”