by Cole Anders
“So, what can we do?” Asked Simon.
“Well, since this isn't likely to be a violent confrontation, we'll pose as bank auditors and request access to their system. They are already expecting auditors thanks to Nerva, we'll just show up, install a computer worm that will reverse the transfers and wait. We will place a few lamp detectors inside the building and wait until an Oculus agent shows up so we can try and follow them. Pretty simple really, the only risk is if the Oculus agents notice us. Barring that, we are only going to follow them and see where they go, no unnecessary confrontation. Now, once you've finished eating, I think it's time to introduce you to the Flapjack transporter so you can get a feel for it. I want you to go through it once before tomorrow so you can see what it feels like.” Said Luke.
“I'm finished anyway, you mean that teleporter thing, right? I can't believe we have something like that, it's mind boggling.” Exclaimed Simon.
Luke popped the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and stood up having finished himself. “It’s a marvel to be sure, and it really makes things easier around here when we’re trying to get all around the world quickly, basically cuts round trips in half no matter where we need to go.”
Luke and Simon started making their way out of the canteen and across the facility toward the Flapjack room. Simon was apprehensive about using the Flapjack. The very concept of teleportation was a science fiction concept just a few days ago, and the way Calvin and the others make out, the machine could very dangerous or even lethal if used incorrectly. But Calvin said that as long as you were quick and careful, it could be used without any problems. They made their way down the corridor and turned to head towards the Flapjack transport center.
“I think Calvin is already there going through the startup sequence, so we shouldn’t have to wait long.” Explained Luke as the approached the automatic hatchway that lead into the Flapjack’s chambers.
Upon entering the Flapjack's iris room Simon could see that the Flapjack was much more than just the iris itself. The entire room was alive with glowing displays and the low hum of electricity. Calvin and David were already there discussing what looked like a real-time readout of a three-dimensional graph displayed on one of the wall panels. As Luke and Simon approached them, Simon caught the tail end of their discussion.
“David, I think we should reevaluate the maintenance cycle of the magnetic locks for the iris, the drift I'm seeing here is way ahead of schedule and at this rate we'll need to do a realignment in two weeks instead of two months as per the current schedule.” Calvin explained to David.
“After mission tomorrow, I'd like to bring the F.J. completely off line and run a full diagnostic on the entire locking sub-system. I want to find out why this drift is off the predicted model by so much. And there is no way to check everything while the iris is in standby mode.” Said David.
Noticing Luke and Simon, Calvin turned to address them clasping Simon on the shoulder, “Simon, you ready to do the most exciting and dangerous thing you've ever done in your entire life?”
“Of course I am. What kind of new-born secret agent surrounded by unbelievable technology at every turn would I be if I wasn't? Simon said without hesitating. A smirk crept across his face but he still had to swallow back a small lump in this neck.
“HA, good on you, it's been a lot to absorb these last few days I know. But we've all been through it, and it only starts coming faster from here on. Just remember, you aren't here by accident. Nerva selected you from thousands of possible cadets, and your own natural abilities have lead you this far, trust your training, and listen to your instincts, they will keep you alive.” Explained Calvin.
David looked over from the graphic display at Simon.
“Simon, you are about to do your first F.J. jump, I don't think I need to re-emphasize how dangerous this can be if you make a mistake, just know that Luke and myself and everyone else here do this all the time. Trust yourself. We are sending you and Luke just a few hundred meters away to the surface in the woods around the compound. Just jump through the iris and you and Luke can walk back here. If there are any problems Luke will know what to do. Are you ready?” Said David giving Simon a smile. Simon could see the apprehension at the edges of his mouth though, and that made him even more nervous.
It was becoming quite clear to Simon that everyone, not just David was worried about him going through the Flapjack, there must be a lot of problems with first timers, Simon hoped he could handle whatever those problems might be.
“Yes, I'm ready, I know what to do. Just jump straight through in one fast fluid motion, right?” Asked Simon.
“That's right, nothing to worry about, just don't screw it up.” Exclaimed David.
David gestured up to the iris and the turned back around to the wall display. With a sweeping gesture, David removed the graph being displayed and brought up the startup sequence panel and began executing the final startup check sequence. As he did, the low electrical hum suddenly revved up until it sounded like there was a jet engine under the floor. Simon's ears popped several times and his nose began to bleed slightly as the pressure in the room began to climb rapidly. He felt like his entire body was being rapidly compressed as if he was wearing a wet-suit and he could feel the deep rhythmic rumble of generators below him, pulsing in time up through his feet past his guts and into his teeth. He looked over at Luke apprehensively. Luke had his own head tilted back and a handkerchief below his nose. Luke dabbed at his own bleeding nose and then offered the handkerchief to Simon, who took in gladly, relieved to see that he wasn't the only one having his sinuses stomped on by the vibration and pressure. Ahead of them Calvin massaged the back of his neck and David tugged on both of his ears to help them pop and equalize in pressure. The noise in the room was still intensifying and Simon wondered when ear damage would start to set in, but before it did then roar leveled off and finally settled back to a dull thrumming roar. As the three of them ascended the platform to the iris the space between the two pylons began to grow dark, then pulse in rhythm with the fluctuating air pressure.
When they made it to the top of the platform, Calvin turned and addressed them yelling at the top of his lungs so he could be heard over the machinery, “Ok, Simon this is it, when the destination comes into focus, Luke will jump first, then I want you to follow him with exactly the same moves that he uses to go through, do not hesitate or you'll get cut clean in half.”
“I'm ready.” Simon screamed, unsure if he could even yell loud enough to be heard. Calvin appeared to acknowledge what Simon said as an affirmative however and turned to Luke and quickly did a series of hand gestures that looked like sign language. Luke responded with several practiced hand gestures of his own and nodded. David likewise make few more hand gestures and then stuck his hand up in a thumbs up to Simon. Simon guessed this was a signal meant for Nerva because just as he did it, the space within the iris flashed a brilliant white and then cleared to a peaceful wooded glen much like the area around the compound. Simon swallowed a knot that had risen back into his throat and looked at Luke.
“Do it just like me!” Shouted Luke.
Luke shook his hands and bounced on his knees in front of the iris. He dipped once, twice, then squatted low bringing his knees to his chest. Then, in one fast motion Luke sprung up and tucked his legs to his chest with his arms, the passed through the iris in a single smooth cannon ball motion. As soon as his body was on the other side he expanded and landed on his feet. Having passed through without a problem, he turned around and waved back in the direction of where he'd come though even though he could no longer see back into the Flapjack chamber from his end. Simon closed his eyes replaying Luke's exact movements in this head, a quick tuck and jump, leaving as little dangling as possible, fingers and clothes included. He moved to stand square with the iris, the roaring buzz in the room had started to give him a piercing headache. Through the iris, Luke waved a few more moments then moved off to give Simon enough room to come through. Simon d
ipped down as far as he could go to test where the best position to push off was. He bounced on the knees, once, twice, and leapt into a tight cannonball form.
9. Between
The instant the leading edge of Simon’s hand touched the threshold he felt like his skin ignited. The feeling that his whole body was being forced through a fine screen mesh of burning razor wire washed over him, and the urgent to flinch away from it was almost unbearable.
“Something surely must have gone wrong.” He thought, but Simon didn't flinch, and that saved his life.
When his face and eyes reached the threshold in the next instant there was a single overwhelming moment of overwhelming perception, like floating in a vast black void, the black void between everything and everywhere. This void was not empty however, dwelling at the edge of his awareness Simon could perceive great shapeless forms swirly and rolling across the blackness. It was like seeing a shadow pass over your eyes when they were closed, shapeless and meaningless, tapping deep down into that primal fear of the dark all men shared. Then, in the next moment a bright light washed over Simon, and something else too, the smell of pine and leaves pumped into his nostrils, it was the wholesome smell of the timberland around the Firewall complex, something Simon had not smelt in what seemed like a lifetime. Simon instinctively drew a deep breath, the kind you take after swimming just a little too long under water. Pulling the strong smells of the forest into his lungs for the first time in weeks.
Simon completely forgot only one thing, and that was to stretch back out and land on his own feet. He came down hard and bounced slightly as he unceremoniously flailed on the ground in front of Luke. Simon could hear him let out a short laugh as he walked over to check on him.
“Nice landing man, all the grace of a swan trying to fly with its feet.” Exclaimed Luke, still stifling a laugh.
“Perfect one-point landing, not bad considering I just cannon balled though hell.” Said Simon.
“There really is no way to prepare for your first jump, it's not for the faint of heart that's for damn sure.” Said Luke.
Simon spun around and sat facing back where the Flapjack had deposited him. To his surprise, there didn’t seem to be anything obvious to give away this side of the portal opening. No shimmering, no sound, nothing.
“How does this really work Luke? There is nothing here on this side, not even a breeze.” Asked Simon.
“The science is way beyond me, way beyond everyone except David and Nerva really. The chamber is pressurized to be equalized with the destinations local pressure, that's why there's isn't any detectable air flow. Air particles are flowing through it, so you could probably set up equipment to detect the tiny increases in airflow in front of the destination point, but it's going to be much too subtle for the casual observer to detect. But basically, you just jumped “through” the sub-atomic spaces between the elemental sub-atomic particles. And I’m not even talking about atoms, I mean the small stuff that those are made of, the infinite lattice work that the fundamental forces of the universe sit on. A place not of sight and of sound but of mind, ha ha.” Said Luke
The joke was lost on Simon, “It wasn't empty though, there were, I don't know, shapes out in the blackness.”
“We don't know what those are actually. It's but almost impossible to try and study them. For a long while, Nerva thought we were just hallucinating them, figments of the human imagine. But David developed an extremely sensitive visible light camera and sent it though. There really is something there in that blackness, and they move too. But so far no one has come up with a way to stay in that in between place for longer than a few microseconds. David things they might be gravity echoes from the Earth or the Sun, but who knows. Time doesn’t seem to work quite right when you’re there either. David explained to me once that what the Flapjack is doing is actually a form of time travel, but I didn’t really follow him.” Continued Luke.
Simon leaned back propping himself up on his hands and looked up into the trees. He focused on the sound of the wind as it rushed through the top of the canopy. It had been weeks since Simon had even been outside, and it was only now that he realized how much be missed it. The world he knew had changed so dramatically in such a short time that he hardly recognized it anymore. All the familiar pieces were still in place, but now everything he knew before felt like set dressing for the reality behind it. In addition to having his world flipped upside down, he also found himself drafted into an invisible war between two organizations he didn't even know existed just weeks ago. He wondered if he’d even been drafted into the right side, whatever right even meant anymore. At least everyone here seemed ok. Luke seemed like a guy he could trust, so for the time being Simon figured he’d just go with it. Simon hoped all this wondrous technology wouldn’t go to his head. Like Nerva, she seemed like a true virtual intelligence, whatever that even meant. And furthermore, she was the one holding all the cards at the table, and it looked like lot of effort was taken to make sure that everyone at Firewall could be naturally trusted from the start. But it didn't seem like anyone was checking up on Nerva and making sure she was trustworthy as well. Simon wondered if that was even an issue.
“You can trust a car to drive on the road. so why shouldn't you be able to trust a fancy computer to do what it was programmed to do?” Simon thought.
Luke reached out his hand and helped Simon to his feet.
“Well, looks like you aren't going to have a heart attack or a stroke by this point, so I'd say your first jump was a complete success.” Exclaimed Luke.
“How many times have there been accidents with someone going through this thing anyway?” Asked Simon.
“Five or six I believe, but I've only been here for one of them personally. It's not a pretty sight I can tell you that. We had a new fellow a few years ago, it was his first jump as well. I was the demonstration jumper for him same as you, and I'd already passed through and was waiting here on the other side. Apparently, he had walked right up to the iris and was looking back and forth along its thickness trying to see at what angle you couldn’t see the edge anymore. Well, he absently mindlessly stuck his head through the middle of the iris trying to look along the far edge. He did it so quick and spontaneously that no one had time to say anything or grab him. So, on this end I saw the top of his forehead and the most of the left side of his face slip into being at the exit point. He must have realized what he did and panicked because he tried to jerk his head back through the iris. But the instant he started the backwards movement he was dead. The left side of his face was perfectly sheared off, followed immediately by the top half of his body as he fell part of the way through the iris. Blood poured out everywhere on this side since there was no way for it to flow back through the iris, and the blood on that side could only flow out through the point of severance. It was a gruesome spectacle, to watch the top half man's body churn and squish out from nowhere. The worst part was the sound. Normally when a human body is experiencing extreme physical violence, there is a lot of noise and action going on around it. Cars crashing, gunfire, screams, are all mercifully louder than the awful sounds of a body sloshing its way through a grinder.”
Luke stood silently, gazing into the distance for several moments before he spoke again. “So, my advice is don't screw up using the Flapjack, ever.”
Simon felt that knot trying to raise up from his stomach into his throat and he swallowed it back down again. He could feel the color washing out of his face and hoped Luke hadn't noticed it.
“If we're done out here, let's head back into the compound. Suddenly this glade doesn't seem so peaceful anymore.” Said Simon.
“Ya, let's go.” Agreed Luke.
Simon and Luke turned and headed off toward the surface entrance. The thing that was watching them waited until night fall before finally leaving as well.
10. Briefing
The next morning Simon woke up early and after finishing his reliable morning routine, sat in the chair in his room staring at the Sup
plement cocktail Nerva had prepared and delivered for him. Perfect body health seemed like it was too good to really be true, but he knew that not using it would put him a disadvantage compared to everyone else. Simon thought back to when he was going through the intense training program Nerva had devised as a final vetting for potential agents. He now realized that the only real test they cared about was on the final day, and Simon couldn’t help but feel like he’d been tricked somehow, and he wondered why that hellish training was even necessary.
Nerva spoke up over the intercom. “Simon, if it makes you feel better, nearly everyone here has had the same hesitation when they first started using the supplements I make them. Just think of them as vitamins.” Nerva informed him.
“I suppose you are right Nerva, most of my life I heard about how taking stuff like steroids can screw your body up, so I guess I'm just wearily of this kind of thing.” Explained Simon.
“It’s an excepted response, when this behavior first started happening I conducted exhaustive research on the matter. Most humans are naturally leery of new substances, so you’re no exception.” Said Nerva.
Simon grasped the paper cup and quickly shot the entire liquid down his throat in a simple gulp. It tasted like strong cough syrup with crushed vitamins mixed into it. Simon grimaced and scratched the roof of his mouth with the tip of his tongue. In his throat, he could feel a not quite burning sensation, tingled almost like he’d swallowed a bitter piece of ginger root.