"Where am I?"
"In your Tasker," said Sonia quietly.
"Yes, but what’s the location and where exactly am I living?"
"You live in Planet H, and more precisely here in the infirmary, in the pirate extension created by Sven.”
"What are you talking about? I don’t understand!"
"I want to give you a little demonstration that will make you understand. Actually it will probably scare you, but you will learn a few things allowing you to see them from a different point of view.”
Sonia told me to take her hand and observe it carefully
I noticed her silky skin, long slender fingers and manicured nails.
She told me to let go of her hand when I had finished my observation and I did so after a few moments.
"Now this may scare you, but you should try to remain calm. It's nothing dangerous.”
She asked me to again take her hand to observe it. It seemed stupid and pointless but I did.
I could not grasp it, and not because she moved but because my hand went through her!
I began to stammer something and I drew back in fear. She said,
"My body is made of a material different to yours."
The image of the hand was perfectly visible, but ethereal at the same time. It unsettled me to the point that my thoughts were short circuited and I fainted.
I found myself again in the next room, next to Sven fiddling with my Tasker who greeted me enthusiastically, saying: "Congratulations Kate, your ability to create your mental body has remained intact, but I do wonder why you kept that stain on your blouse.”
I looked at the stain. I had no time to think about it before it dissolved. I felt myself possessed of a capacity for analysis and thought far above that which I had a couple of minutes before.
I could utilise lucid and effective logic. I looked at my empty Tasker and asked Sven how the work work was proceeding.
"It’s going well, the lower diffuser has been analyzed and we know what to do, while the upper is the one that has undergone the most changes. Automatic thoughts were introduced, phantom circuits and circuit demons. It even seems to have a radio and cigarette lighter," he added ironically. "The black flow in the upper diffuser has been increased to such an extent as to create a sort of total amnesia, but with your help I am sure that we can disentangle everything.”
"Well Sven, I'm sure we can count on your invaluable help."
Sven told me I was about to be recalled back to the Tasker. He had made somechanges to give me a wider range of actions and the recall by the Tasker was now softer.
At these words I felt a strange force that sucked me inside.
The lower diffuser started with a slight buzz and a feeling of warmth.
Thanks to that softer return I had more time to see how the upper diffuser acted.
A black light emanated from within it hitting the face, drawing a circle that covered a circular area from the middle of the eye to half of the nasal septum.
This black light had, among other things, the function of blocking and removing any thoughts to make sure that the mind was completely empty and receptive. It was also the cause of the loss of memory.
A sort of luminous halo was projected onto my face. It emitted a loud noise like a high-voltage current. It approached with a pulsing, pressing and drawing movement until it was pasted onto the face and mingled with the black light.
A tremendous roar and lightning put an end to the mingling of light and energy. The dazzling white light then began which launched you into the game.
I opened my eyes and found myself in the infirmary with Sonia before me. Re-entering into that body my mind had slipped back into its usual confused, imprecise and slow method of functioning.
Without taking my gaze from Sonia I collapsed exhausted onto the stool next to the desk.
“But what is actually happening? And where are we?”
“Come with me, let’s take a walk.”
She wanted to try to answer my questions by asking specific questions in order to get me to reply myself.
I followed her and waited to learn more.
Sonia led me up to my office. Alice was not there, she was probably on their lunch break.
"Look out into the parking lot, exactly where your car is," she said and she asked me to point out exactly where it was in relation to the desk.
Without having to turn around I already knew where bay number four was.
It was exactly in the direction of the center of my desk, right behind my chair.
With this she told me that we would go up on the terrace upstairs and I followed her.
When we arrived I said,
"I didn’t know that there was a large terrace on the floor above ours.”
She took me to where I was opposite my car space and asked me, "What do you notice?"
I looked carefully. The car park was in the usual place, the car had not moved, but I was standing at the corner of the terrace that should have continued on for more than thirty metres. Half of my office was missing as well as the offices of Matt and Sonia not to mention the door of the archive with everything in it.
I looked down, but saw only the smooth wall and a safety ladder.
I looked at Sonia looked with disbelief.
"Here we are in Planet H, right? But where are your offices, archives, the theory classroom and the infirmary and how come my office ends in the middle?”
Sonia led me down the stairs to our office floor and I saw that the offices were still in place. I did not understand.
Exactly halfway across my office Sonia stopped.
"If you move past the middle of your office you’re in the pirate extension of Planet H created by Sven. Everything is just like in the other half except for the fact that here time passes differently.”
“But why…. I mean,... what is the purpose of all this? 'I said incredulously.
"This is our secret entry point into Planet H, although it would be more correct to say Prison H. From this point we can get you in and out."
I absorbed information that was temporarily parked in my mind, when I tried to analyze it or understand it, I felt stuck.
We came out of my office and walked to the Archive. Sonia went to the infirmary and, stopping at the couch, she said,
"At this very point the pirate extension ends. Up to this point you are in a middle world, a bridge designed to allow interaction with Planet H. Beyond this point, and the room where your Tasker is I am outside the extension.”
I took the bait. I approached her, passing across the point she indicated and asked her, "So here where am I?"
Sonia replied with feigned nonchalance. "You are aboard the Nemesis."
I had to sit down. Too much sci-fi information to digest. I stared into space for a while, unable to think of anything. I was joking in fact when I thought I wanted to be Trinity! I seemed to have been thrown into the Matrix.
Sonia patted my hand and I instinctively drew it back. I stopped when I felt that she had touched me with a real hand. The skin was still smooth.
"I'll leave you alone with your thoughts Kate. Ask Sgrunff to give you a ride, he will be happy to show it to you.”
I stayed in the infirmary for about ten minutes. Bones handed me a raspberry-flavoured liquid meal and I drank it. Returning to the classroom I found Valdes intent on reassuring Sgrunff that at the end of his work there would be a long-awaited promotion.
Valdes passed me and greeted me with a gentle caress, leaving me alone with my multi-armed instructor.
I had raised the barriers to thoughts and questions again, trying to concentrate on what I was doing. I complimented him for the promised future promotion.
I asked him what it was and he told me that he was a Lieutenant of the eighth class and he had to carry out this delicate work to get promotion.
“Great! So you will become ninth class, I'm happy for you!”
He smiled and told me that he would rather not be demoted to n
inth grade.
"No, I hope I get promotion to class seven!"
Then he asked me,
"Do you want to go for a ride? Sven has changed your diffusers from the first day so that you can also visit other places.”
I followed him firing off questions like, "What is this? What's that?"
I gasped when we entered a large room. There were ramps and walkways that seemed to be made of metal, but as we went across them they produced no noise beneath our shoes. The space I saw was so large I could not imagine how it could be hidden behind N Technology.
I asked him where we were exactly and he said,
"I thought that Sonia had told you that you are over the infirmary aboard the Nemesis!"
I wanted to ask what it was exactly the Nemesis, but that question reminded me of another, so I asked,
"Sgrunfio, what is Silver Thunder?”
He chuckled to himself, amused. He didn’t seem to want to answer but I persisted.
"Come Sgrunfio, tell me please! Or I'll tickle you! " I felt like a curious child.
He waited a little, he seemed to want to accumulate the suspense to the extreme then said, "Silver Thunder is‘Silver Fireball’!"
Silver Fireball! At those words something snapped in me, but I could only picture my car.
“Come on Sgrunfio, what is it exactly? Can I see it? Dear Sgrunfietto ... please?"
His laughter became more intense and he told me that he had no permission to show me Silver Thunder.
I asked him who could give such permission and he told me that we needed a senior officer, but at present the three officers in command were not available.
"How can we do this then?" I asked in a disappointed and appealing tone.
He said we could try the fourth Commanding Officer, but he did not know where he was.
"Let's try and find the fourth officer!" I said, making me a sign for him to follow.
Yes, we had to find number four. I asked,
"Sgrunff, what happens if we try to squeeze aboard secretly?"
"Apart from the fact that with my size it would be difficult to‘squeeze’anywhere, I could hardly sneak in as you propose when I’m on the brink of promotion. I would not want to be put under arrest.”
At that moment my friends came in and questioned us about what we were doing.
"We’re looking for number four," I said as if it was an epic undertaking.
I turned to Valdes and asked him if he had any idea on how to get us permission. He said he didn’t know what to do. He was a mere third class captain.
"You should at least find a first class Lieutenant," he said with that smile that mademe think of how much I enjoyed being in his presence.
"That's true," said Matt who was leaning in the doorway.
"You absolutely have to find number four, but I have got a weird idea."
Sonia's eyes widened at him. Knowing him, she was afraid he would do something crazy. She said,
"Honey, look, it's much better to look for number four."
That word kept pounding in my head.
I was distracted by Matt’s brilliant plan that he was revealing in whispers as if afraid that someone might hear it. He motioned us to follow him.
"We’ll get as close as possible to the hangar which houses the Silver Thunder; we can do it casually, pretending to be Japanese tourists who are lost, for example."
He called it brilliant, but Sonia pointed out that we had no cameras.
Meanwhile, we had reached the entrance of the hangar and I peeked inside.
I saw her. She was beautiful, sensually sinuous in her glittering plumage.
A real fireball of silver. I was ecstatic, I smiled so much that I blocked the middle of the large entrance that led to Silver Thunder’s mooring.
Sonia told me, grabbing my arm,
"Stay down Kate, we don’t want to get discovered!"
At those words, I looked around for cover. There was in any case no one around. The hangar seemed completely devoid of human presence. An anonymous container that hid a treasure.
Matt madeus get closer stealthily. He said we had to find another strategy - Japanese tourists was not going to work in fact. I was careful and alert, ready for any eventuality.
He explained a new plan.
"So, Sgrunfy goes ahead throwing smoke bombs, maybe he can launch four at a time. This will create havoc. Valdes, you throw out confetti and streamers. Kate, you go in as if you are on the catwalk with some graceful ballet steps. You’ll be the first to go. We’ll certainly have the element of surprise. Sonia and I will look after the rear guard, all clear?”
Everyone agreed. I thought the guy was a genius! One of those genes that usually get hospitalized in psychiatric wards but I trusted him.
"Action!" said Matt.
I made my entry with some graceful jumps in the classic style. After the third I froze, turned to Matt and said,
"But you're really an asshole!"
"And you are completely gullible," he said, laughing as the others were already doing.
I too laughed. I realized that I would really have danced the rumba if he had asked me.
There was in fact nobody there. This was a fact and I was hoping that if we were caught, my friends would not get into trouble. We approached the large support ship.
I stroked and admired the fuselage in metallic silver, so shiny and plastic that it looked like liquid mercury. It did not reflect my image or anything around it - there were no shadows at all - it was just perfect.
I asked how we could get on board.
Valdes came up with,
"We can try to ring the bell. Maybe the cleaning lady is around, then Sgrunfy can stick her in a sack and torture her by tickling.”
I stuck out my tongue at him.
“I thought Matt was the group joker!”
He smiled and began to run his hand over the side of the ship. At one point he stopped and called me.
"Come Kate, I found something. Put your hand here and tell me what you feel."
He took my hand in his and gently rested my palm on the strange metal.
"I don’t feel anything." I whispered, turning my face to his, so close you could feel the hot breath from his lips on my skin.
At that moment the door of the Silver Thunder opened, showing a staircase that led inside.
"Let's hide! Quick!," said Sonia," maybe someone’s coming out!"
"Yes, dear. Maybe it's the cleaning lady bringing out the trash," said Matt.
We all flattened ourselves against the fuselage in an attempt to hide.
I was a little girl playing with her friends, with the strange feeling that they were pulling my leg.
We let a few moments pass and when we were sure that no one would come down we decided to get on board.
A few lights illuminated the interior, but without hesitation I went up to the central station and sat in a comfortable armchair.
I picked up the stick and said "Silver Thunder ... Silver Fireball, like my car parked outside!”
I looked around. There appeared to be room for six people.
A hope was born in me - I wondered if they would let me fly it.
Sonia looked at me and almost seemed to have read my thoughts. She told me that the commander was quite jealous of his toy and that we would do better to leave in order to avoid any unpleasant encounters.
I left the ship reluctantly and went off with my friends to the theory classroom.
Everyone said goodbye and went back to their various occupations. Sgrunff told me that I had to calmly assimilate the new information and experiences.
"For now, do not spend more than twenty four hours inside the Nemesis. With your current body it would not be very healthy."
Sven was able to make the necessary changes so that I could get inside, but we were dealing always with a space and a time that was not very compatible with my Planet H body.
I was also advised to use the energy shower for a maximum period of two a
nd a half minutes, two minutes only would be even better.
"Now I want you to continue working on your analysis, especially on the dichotomies that you think are present in the higher mind."
"But after what I saw, I want to know more! I want to know about you and Nemesis and me! Where do you think that silly analysis work is going to take me? I find it terribly boring in comparison now!"
"Everything has its time Kate and there will be a moment for it."
Sgrunff convinced me that I should not rush ahead this way otherwise I would not be able to understand it in its entirety.
"You have to trust me. You have to trust all of us and do as you are requested.”
I gave up and told him that I still wanted to see around N Technology because I wanted to clarify a couple of points.
He agreed and I slipped away to my office.
I went to say hello to Alice who was doing all the work admirably. She greeted me and thanked me again for the promotion.
"It’s more than deserved having seen the enthusiasm with which you take care of your work.”
I sat down before my Mac. I wanted to check on the military ranks. Those of the army didn’t appear to correspond and neither did those of aviation.
The navy appeared to come closest but there were no lieutenants of the eighth class or third class captains.
The Captains were in charge of corvettes, frigates and freighters.
I wasn’t really getting anywhere but then maybe they used another type of hierarchy.
I let it go, took another look at my car and then went back up on the terrace. The sky looked like it was painted by a very skilled painter who had distributed fluffy white clouds here and there across the canvas.
Planet-H: The End of the Beginning Page 20