Spheria

by Cody Leet

  The door beeped, and the lock disengaged.

  “Stop!” yelled Max as Min grabbed the handle. He was there before she could open it and placed both hands on the door to hold it shut.

  “Let me out!” she yelled.

  “What the hell are you doing in here?” he demanded.

  “I'd ask you the same thing!” Her heart pounded. She didn’t want to be talking, fearing for her life.

  He took one hand off the door and reached for her neck. This was her opportunity. She pressed down on the handle and yanked the door open. For some reason, Max wasn't prepared for this, and it forced him to take a step back. His foot landed awkwardly on a single Qube and slid sideways. He tried to steady himself with his hand on Min, but his grip closed around the thin strap of her gris-gris, which snapped under his weight. Max fell backward and hit his head, with a dull thud, right on the side of the ladder.

  A part of Min wanted to run over to him, to put a cold compress on his head, to soothe his pain. But she fought the instinct and darted through the door. It led into a small dark room filled with filing cabinets and storage boxes. There was one other door that said “Exit” above it. She pulled that open and it led into the main hallway. As she left, she glanced back as the inside door was closing. She saw Max lying on the floor, rubbing the top of his head. He was conscious.

  #

  Max tried to rise. A sharp pain shot through his brain, and he literally saw stars. He sat for a second, trying to regain his orientation. He quickly recovered and realized he had to stop Min. Finding her in the room was the last thing he expected, and it was imperative that he prevent her escape.

  The urgency compelled him to push through the pain and stand up. He crawled to the door, worked through the locking mechanism and exited the computer room. In the storage room he called out “Min!” No answer, not that he expected any. She might be hiding in here, but he doubted it. He ran to the other door and exited.

  Just as he stepped into the sixth-floor hallway, he heard a ding. Turning toward the elevators, he saw Min enter one of the two.

  “Wait!” he shouted and began to run toward her. Each step was met with a jolt of pain in his forehead.

  Hearing his voice, she turned and saw him charging toward her. Her previous look of panic was replaced with calm deliberation. She pressed an elevator call button, then stepped in the one that was open. It closed just as Max reached it.

  Damn, he thought.

  He watched the numbers over the elevator change from six to five and pressed the down call button. The up button was already lit.

  Double damn. She’d pressed up. It would cause a delay, but only one floor since the building had seven floors.

  He watched the second elevator rise through the numbers, stopping for what seemed a little longer on five. Finally, it opened, and he jumped in. He pressed button one, and that was when he noticed the problem.

  “God dammit!” he shouted, and kicked at the number panel.

  #

  Moments earlier, Min watched Max charging at her. She knew what had to be done. She pressed the up button. It would call the second elevator, which usually parked on floor one. That would give her enough time.

  She got in and pressed five, then one. The doors closed. She heard Max’s footsteps outside as the elevator began to descend. Ding. The doors opened on five. Min opened the utility door inside the elevator and pulled the stop lever. The elevator locked in place. This was a seldom known feature of elevators, but one she used before loading dorm items, not wanting it to take off without her. She jumped out into the hallway and pressed the up button, just in time, too. The second elevator door opened.

  She ran in, holding the doors open with one hand, and pressed every button on the panel. That should help, she told herself. Returning to her elevator, she disengaged the stop, and the elevator began descending once again. Max would take a ride to seven, then on the way back down he’d have to stop on every floor except for six. That should give her a couple of minutes of lead time to get to Dana.

  Chapter 40 - The Machine

  “Imagination and invention go hand in hand… Shift a few pieces of furniture around the living room, and you have yourself a fort.” - Alexandra Adornetto

  In the dim, hazy light, Fa∙ro rested in the chamber at the apex of the largest structure in the Colony. It was spacious when empty. Looking around, he recalled the carnage that filled this room when the Council was eliminated. It was his Chamber now. As the sole ruler of the Colony, sitting on his throne, he was truly the greatest Polyan in the world.

  He heard footsteps approaching from outside. He stretched his legs long, intending to intimidate any who entered. He awaited an arrival.

  Ga∙zo appeared and approached the throne. The leader of the Soldiers never wavered from his loyalty to Fa∙ro. As such, he was one of the few allowed to approach without permission. Still, it was early, and Fa∙ro wasn’t fond of being awakened. Ga∙zo stopped in front of the throne, bowed, then looked up at Fa∙ro.

  “Your honor,” said Ga∙zo, “we have a problem!”

  Fa∙ro eyed him wearily. He grumbled, “A problem?”

  “Yes, the Workers… the Workers are gone. All of them!”

  “What do you mean?” inquired Fa∙ro, not comprehending.

  “Gone. There are none in the Colony. They seem to have vanished during the night.”

  Fa∙ro, only caring about a possible delay to his project, jumped off his throne. He ran through the columns to where he had a perfect view of the tower and the mountains beyond. The tower stood majestic in the dim light of the morning Source, a silhouette against the world beyond. It rose halfway to the Source, the tallest erection that ever existed. Taller even than the mountains.

  He activated his artifact and scanned the horizon. The outline of the tower appeared yellow in his vision, as this was the thing he’d tuned it to observe. However, he could also sense, even through obstructions, every living creature, outlined in violet.

  Not far beyond the tower, he could thus see a milling herd of Zalisk. Very dangerous, he thought, even to a god. Then he noticed them, a large mass of Workers huddled around the base of the tower. They were moving about, forming lines of some kind. Something was happening, something he hadn’t approved.

  #

  Hi∙ma stood at the base of the tower, facing the Rift, which was nearby. The next bubble, green, was just rising over the edge. She followed its trajectory with her eyes to the Source. It was still dim from the previous night. Soon the bubble would hit the Source, and the world would be filled with green light causing the plants to grow. Her gaze shifted to the tower. It was so tall, even half finished, that the top seemed to vanish at a single point. It would never be completed.

  Several more Workers arrived from the foliage. They made their way through the crowd to Le∙ma, who stood beneath the tower.

  “It’s done,” said Pu∙ma, “The perimeter is secured.”

  “Good,” said Le∙ma. “That’ll buy us the necessary time. Is anyone else there?”

  “No,” answered Pu∙ma. “I walked the length and it’s complete. I was the last one out.”

  “Then things are going smoothly.” Le∙ma had a bad feeling but didn’t want to show it. Sa∙ma should have been there by now. They definitely didn’t have unlimited time to execute their plan.

  As if reading her mind, Hi∙ma asked, “Where’s Sa∙ma?”

  “He’s completing the last piece of the plan and will be here shortly.” Trying to distract her questioners from his obvious tardiness, she changed the subject. She stepped on a pile of beams to speak over the crowd and said, “It’s now or never. Whether this plan succeeds or fails, we’ll never be accepted back into the Colony. Any caught by Fa∙ro will certainly be killed. If any of you are having second thoughts, now is your chance to return to the Colony.”

  “There is no return,” said Pu∙ma.

  Le∙ma realized she was right and the error of her words. Before she could fo
rm a response, Hi∙ma did. “Nobody wants to return; we’re in this to the end. One way or another, Fa∙ro will oppress us no longer.”

  “For the Colony!” they all said in unison. Le∙ma didn’t miss the irony.

  As if on cue, the foliage on the far side of the tower began to flutter. Sa∙ma emerged, pulling some sort of contraption. The gathered Workers stood motionless, not comprehending what they were seeing. It wasn't a structure like a building, but an interconnected series of various colored stones, similar to a sculpture. It resembled a cylinder, lying horizontally, but wasn't completely solid. The shape was formed by six long segments. Each was a sandwich of colored rock: brown on the outside, then red and blue toward the inside of the cylinder. Between the blue surfaces was a hollow tube-shaped space.

  Sa∙ma dragged this jumble of parts toward the tower. Others, overcoming their surprise, rushed to help him.

  “Grab the base,” he said. The structure was supported by a brown rectangular platform, which behaved like a sled. Those who could fit pushed it along. Sa∙ma guided it up to one of the legs of the tower. He shifted it so that it formed a line with both the closest leg and the one beyond it.

  “All, gather over there and take hold of the rope trailing behind it,” directed Sa∙ma. Those who’d been pushing it moved behind as told. Indeed, a line was dragging on the ground. It fed through the cylinder and emerged from the front as well. The length inside floated in the air, repulsed by the surrounding blue rock. Sa∙ma took a beam from the construction pile. He attached the front end of the rope to it and held it near the sculpture.

  “Pull,” he said, “and don’t let go.”

  The Workers began to pull on the rope, and it easily slid backward. The beam touched the front, and a massive amount of tension developed on the line. The blue crystals were pushing the beam away. But since there was a space between them, the beam slid inside, suspended in the center, as had the rope.

  “Pull!” commanded Sa∙ma again.

  They pulled harder. Slowly, the beam moved deeper into the cylinder. It wobbled and spun a bit, as the conflicting forces of the blue rock competed to eject it. The rope creaked with the strain, and pulling became harder.

  Sa∙ma joined the others and grabbed the remaining length of rope. They all strained together. The beam moved further into the cylinder and was nearly to the back.

  “On the count of four, release it,” directed Sa∙ma. “One… two… three… four!”

  The rope was released. The beam was ejected out of the front of the cylinder with incredible speed and force. It slammed into the first leg of the tower, completely obliterating it, and continued into the second leg, knocking it to the side.

  #

  Fa∙ro watched as the Workers lined up around an object. They seemed to be forming a line and moving slowly away from the tower, stopping, then moving a little more. They all fell backward at the same time.

  Something caught his eye. The tower appeared to shudder. He focused on it, and something wasn’t right. The tower wasn't pointing exactly at the Source but leaned slightly to one side. It began to tilt, slowly at first, but then faster. In a blur, it collapsed sideways. His dream of reaching the Source had been thwarted by the same Workers he’d enslaved to create it.

  If Fa∙ro’s core could’ve turned red, it would have. “Ga∙zo! Gather your Soldiers. I want all of them, every last one, destroyed.”

  Chapter 41 - Button Mashup

  “One thing I'm not going to do is chase staying alive. You spend so much time chasing staying alive, you won't live.” - Patrick Swayze

  The elevator arrived on the first floor, and Min exited. Sunlight rained down through the skylight, illuminating the potted trees and benches. It was blinding to her red, puffy eyes. What time is it? she wondered. She looked down the hallway in the direction of campus security but headed in the opposite direction instead.

  #

  Dana was preparing for the board meeting. In one hour, she was to present their grant awards to Graham in the Experience Room. Appropriate, as this was their gateway to another world – a world with different rules that made sense, in a weird way. It was completely opposite of the grant process on earth. She wondered how anything ever got done given that some of these government agencies were still functioning in the Dark Ages. She saved her presentation to a flash drive just as Min stormed into her office.

  Min was out of breath.

  “Can I help you?” Dana scowled at her.

  “… Max… wrong…. weapon…” she stammered, barely able to get the words out.

  “Weapon?” Dana was intrigued. She stood and assisted Min to a chair. “Relax. What’s gotten you so flustered?”

  “It’s Max… I found a room… a duplicate of the server room… but all red… he's working on a super weapon… working for the military.”

  Dana stared at her blankly, trying to process what she’d heard. Min knew what she said didn’t make much sense. But she also knew she was in danger. She needed Dana to know about the room in case something happened to her.

  “Olivia... It all makes sense now,” said Min. “She didn’t commit suicide. She was onto this, and something bad happened to her. I want you to know before it happens to me.”

  Dana rose, went to her office door and locked it from the inside. Then she pulled a bottle of water out of her mini fridge and handed it to Min.

  “Please, calm down,” she said. “We’re safe here. Let me know what this is all about.”

  Min twisted open the bottle cap and began to chug it down. She realized she’d not drunk anything all night and was parched from the dry air in the server room. She drained the bottle.

  “Well, I sense you've had an exciting night.”

  “Very,” Min replied.

  “How so?”

  “I was in the server room, our server room…”

  “Our server room,” Dana repeated. “What other server room is there?”

  “I'm getting to that. I was up in the server room and spilled my coffee.”

  “You know drinks aren't allowed in there!” Dana scolded.

  “I know, sorry. But I was cleaning it up, and it got under the floor tiles. That’s when I found a duplicate server room directly below ours, and it was full of only red Qubes. There was a terminal there, and I hacked in. The Qubes were being used to calculate a power source for a new military super weapon.”

  “Is this some kind of joke?” Dana asked, incredulous.

  “No… No… I wish it were. I'm serious. Max found me in the room, and he tried to kill me. He was furious.”

  “Max,” Dana said with a look of shock. She walked back to her desk and squatted underneath to get her purse. “We need to find him.”

  “No. Why? He’s after me!”

  “We need to question him.”

  “No, we don’t. We need to get out of here.”

  “Maybe you’re right. Let’s go to my house. We can talk there without him around.”

  Dana unlocked the door and exited the office. “Follow me,” she commanded.

  Min trailed behind her.

  #

  Chelsea tried to stay awake as Dr. Reynolds lectured from the podium in Massey Auditorium. Behind him was a large projection of a fractured bone. He zoomed in on a clump of blood cells in the gap between the break.

  “After the bone is set, these hematoma cells will gradually be replaced with hyaline cartilage,” he said. “It will then be calcified into new material, fusing the bones together. Your assignment over the weekend is to research how this process works – a process we call ‘endochondral ossification.’ Please turn in a two-page paper on Monday describing it. And if you copy it from Wikipedia, I will know. Have a great weekend.”

  He turned off the projector and began packing up his laptop.

  The students began to mill around. Some talked in small groups. Others gathered to privately ask the professor questions, having been too shy to do so in front of the class. The rest began to shuffle
into the hallway.

  Chelsea loaded the thick textbook into her backpack and hoisted it onto her back. She followed the crowd out of the lecture hall. For the most part, the students all headed toward the academic lobby, which led to the building exit. A few stragglers went to the library, or in the opposite direction to another class or a laboratory.

  Two women abruptly rushed into the same hallway from one of the management wings. They seemed to be in a big hurry, and Chelsea watched them curiously as they merged into the flow of students.

  Suddenly a tall man appeared on the opposite side of the crowd, seemed to recognize the women, and began to push through the crowd. Beneath unsightly fresh bruises, his face was red with anger. The gaggle of people moving towards him impeded his progress.

  The older woman noticed him, grabbed the other’s arm, and pulled her in the opposite direction. “Let’s get out of here fast!” she said. “Stay close.”

  They broke from the crowd and rushed down the corridor, entering an inconspicuous door on the side of the hallway. The man pushed his way through the students, shoving many aside.

  Chelsea heard rumors of other experiments going on in the research building, but now she decided she didn’t want to know. She continued on her way, wondering about bone ossification.

  #

  The door led into a stairwell. “We can get to the parking lot this way,” said Dana to Min. She dashed downward. Min pumped her legs to keep up.

  As they reached the bottom, they heard the door above open and someone start down, skipping stairs.

  “This way,” whispered Dana. Instead of ducking out the exit door, they entered the basement and sprinted down a long hallway. Min knew Max had heard them since he was just one floor above. He’d assume they went outside, so Dana was trying to throw him off their trail. They got about 30 yards down the corridor when the stairwell door opened, and Max nearly fell through. Min and Dana both glanced back and locked eyes with their pursuer.