by Tom Hoffman
“Get closer to it so we can see what it’s made of.”
“Are you sure it’s safe? Proto, Abacus, are you seeing this?”
Abacus gazed at the monstrous wall. “It is a permanent and deadly enhanced weather formation created by the Anarkkians to block the passage of low flying vessels. I am referring to vehicles incapable of leaving the atmosphere, incapable of dark space travel.”
“Vehicles like The Dragonfly.”
“Yes.”
“Can we fly around it? How long is it?”
“We could fly around it if it were not in the form of a circle. Judging from the visible degree of curvature I would guess the storm wall has a circumference of roughly two thousand miles. To further compound our difficulties, I’m afraid the MV Bermitar is located somewhere inside that circular storm wall.”
Orville gave a groan of despair. “Why do we always run into things like this? Why can’t it ever be simple?”
Sophia rubbed Orville’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay. You know how the universe works.”
“I know, but sometimes I get tired of all the obstacles.”
“We wouldn’t grow without them.”
Orville frowned. “Abacus, you’re sure we can’t just go really fast and fly through it?”
“If you attempted that, The Dragonfly, your first form, and Sophia’s first form would be transformed into a small cloud of glowing dust before you ever reached the wall. This is not the first time I have seen such barriers. The Anarkkians used them in the same way the ancients used castle walls, to protect themselves against ground based invasion. They always positioned their central colony inside a Black Wall. When the war was over they deactivated the wall and reseeded the remainder of the world at their leisure.”
“What do we do?”
Sophia scanned the desert below. “I am sensing something. My inner self is pulling me to a location outside the Black Wall. We’ll need to land there.”
Abacus leaned forward. “What do you mean, your inner self? How are you capable of sensing such things without engineered faculties? Do you possess a technologically advanced sensory system unfamiliar to me?”
The way Abacus asked the question gave Sophia pause. His curiosity regarding her inner voice was more than a casual interest. He didn’t just want to know, he had to know.
“Abacus, it is accepted among shapers that all living creatures are made up of both a physical body and a mind. The physical body is temporary and is not the true form of the creature. It’s true form is the mind, and I am not referring to the creature’s physical brain. The mind is something else entirely, a consciousness which exists outside of space and time and is connected to all other minds. When I get information from my inner self I am not listening to the sensory input systems of my physical body, but to thoughts which arise from outside of space and time. I am listening to thoughts which come from my true self, my eternal mind.”
Abacus’ golden eyes flashed wildly. “I was correct. My second form, without it my first form would still exist. If this is true, even my first form would... Abacus MV Expergo! Seven reassemblies. He must have discovered this. That’s why he left for the forty-ninth quadrant, why he created The Dark.” Abacus looked at Sophia with a frightening intensity. “We must get through the Black Wall.”
Sophia did not understand what Abacus had just said, but she didn’t need to. She had felt the power of it, knew that something inside Abacus had awakened. “Orville, take us down to a hundred feet and head west around the Black Wall. I’ll tell you where to set down.”
Orville pulled back on left stick, banking the ship sharply to the left, staying several miles away from the dark and deadly Anarkkian creation.
The Dragonfly traced the Black Wall’s perimeter for over an hour.
Finally Sophia called out, “Set us down here.”
“I don’t see anything, it’s just sand and a few plants.”
“This is where we must land.”
Orville set The Dragonfly down on the rolling desert sand. Sophia sprang out of the ship, surveying their surroundings. The monstrous storm wall was over two miles away but she could feel its dark tingling forces passing through her. She realized even her most powerful sphere of defense would not last a second in such an impossibly malevolent environment. She closed her eyes and raised one paw. She was close. She could feel the pull of her inner self growing stronger.
Orville watched as Sophia turned, her arm extended like a strange organic antenna, step by step advancing across the desert. Fifty yards later she stopped, lowering her arm. “Over here!”
Orville, Proto, and Abacus hurried over to Sophia. “What is it? I don’t see anything.”
Sophia took Orville’s paw in hers. “I’ll need your help creating a colossal whirlwind.”
“A whirlwind? What for?”
“To carry away all the sand.”
“Why? There’s something under the sand?”
“Yes, it’s old, very old. We’ll have to hold paws and link our minds. Master Marloh has been teaching mind link theory in our advanced shaping class. By combining our shaping powers we can multiply them many times. Neither one of us has enough power to create a large enough storm on our own.”
“We link minds? Is that dangerous?”
“I’ll be doing the tricky part. The only thing that can go wrong is we might not be able to do it. You’re the first one I’ve ever tried it with. Just pay close attention to your thoughts.”
“Wait, this is the first time you’ve done it? Are you sure it–“
Sophia took a long slow breath. “ Okay, remember what the Thirteenth Monk taught you. We are all one consciousness, the feeling of separateness we have in this world is only a temporary illusion. You already know this. First, let go of your physical form, be your inner self. You don’t need to do anything besides that, I will initiate the connection.”
“Okay.” Orville relaxed, focusing on his inner consciousness, soon leaving his physical body behind. He was his inner self, his mind, infinitely large and connected to all things. He sensed Sophia’s growing presence in his thoughts. Before he was completely aware of what was happening his mind and Sophia’s mind were one.
Proto watched with extreme curiosity as the two mice stood silently on the desert sand, a powerful golden light growing around them. The pair of shapers simultaneously raised their paws. At first Proto felt only a gentle breeze, then a miniature dust devil sprang up above the sand a hundred feet in front of them, its force multiplying over and over, the wind beginning to howl, the dust devil transforming into a powerful cyclonic whirlwind. Four minutes later the adventurers were standing in the eye of a raging tornado towering a thousand feet in the air, ripping up tons of desert sand every second and spewing it out across the vast desert.
Finally the two shapers lowered their paws. Orville became aware of his physical form again. “Unnghh. That was weird.”
Sophia opened her eyes. “Look.”
Orville looked down into a hundred foot deep cavernous crater. “Whoa, what’s that thing?”
In the center of the massive depression was a thirty foot wide glass dome. Inside the dome Orville could see a gleaming green floor decorated with colorful inlaid stones. In the center of the dome’s floor was a twenty foot tall rippling black cylinder.
“That is our ticket past the Black Wall. We can’t go over the wall and we can’t go through it, but we can go under it. This is an entrance used ages ago by the Anarkkians, buried over the centuries by the shifting desert sands.”
Sophia slipped and slid down the steep slope of the massive hollow, hurrying over to the dome. She approached a clear blue arched doorway at its base. “Proto, Abacus, I’m going to need your help. Your thoughts on how to open this?”
Proto approached the entrance to the dome, inspecting it carefully.” I will scan for energy fields.” His eyes glowed brightly, two wide beams of light traveling across the doorway. “This rectangular section of glass next to the doorway
is emitting a strong electromagnetic field. I believe it controls the doorway.”
Abacus stepped in front of Proto. “I am quite familiar with this.” He placed his bulbous pink fingertips carefully on the invisible panel, moving each finger gingerly in a circular motion. “Locks hold no reign over a Mintarian Abacus.” The ends of his fingers flashed with a brilliant pink light. The arched doorway vanished.
Orville grinned, stepping inside the dome. “I’m impressed. What now? What’s that big black cylinder?”
Abacus strode over to the massive whirling cylinder. “There is nothing curious about this.” He walked directly into the black cylinder and was gone.
“Creekers, he just vanished.”
“I guess it’s not as solid as it looks.” Sophia stepped into the cylinder, followed shortly by Proto.
“That leaves me. I wish I knew what it did.” Orville poked one paw tentatively into the cylinder but felt nothing. It was as though the cylinder did not exist. With a sigh of resignation he stepped into the blackness.
Chapter 26
Let’s Go Dancing
“AAGGHHHH!!” Orville was falling, plummeting through darkness for fifteen very long and quite terrifying seconds. When he stopped falling he discovered his feet were firmly planted on solid ground. “Whoa, that was scary, but I didn’t get smashed to pieces.” When Orville stepped out of the cylinder he found himself facing a brilliantly illuminated two hundred foot tall pale green tunnel.
Sophia darted over. “Wasn’t that fun?”
“Except for the part where I thought I was going to turn into a flapcake named Orville.”
“That was the fun part!”
“What is this place? It looks like a giant tunnel. How long is it? I can’t see the end of it.”
“It goes under the Black Wall. Abacus says they used tunnels like this to transport land based vehicles and personnel in and out of the central Anarkkian colonies. He’s seen them on other planets.”
Orville spotted Proto and Abacus striding down the tunnel far ahead of them. “We should get going.”
Sophia strolled along next to Orville. “We did a good job shaping that tornado, didn’t we?”
“It was amazing, but it was kind of weird linking minds.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I sort of knew everything you were thinking.”
“That’s what happens when you link minds. Master Marloh told us all about it.”
“I mean, I knew everything you were thinking and everything about you, everything that has ever happened to you.”
“I knew the same things about you. I don’t mind, you’re my best friend.”
“Did any of my thoughts seem weird to you?”
“Not weird at all. What about mine? Did they seem weird to you?”
“No, I liked your thoughts. Some of them I liked a lot. You’re really smart. A lot of stuff you think about I didn’t really understand.”
“I’m glad you liked them. That’s why we’re best friends, because we like each other’s thoughts. We should hurry, Proto and Abacus are getting way ahead of us. They walk really fast and never get tired.”
Orville and Sophia continued on, watching as Proto and Abacus disappeared around a wide curve in the tunnel.
Orville clapped his paws together. “Dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy dah.”
Sophia laughed. “You’re in a good mood. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you sing.”
“Oh, it’s just a catchy little tune. Dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy dah.”
“It’s a little catchy I guess. What’s it called?”
“A little catchy? It’s really catchy. I’ve never heard a catchier tune.”
“Where did you hear it? In Muridaan Falls?”
“I’m hearing it right now. They’ve been playing it since we got in here but I just realized how catchy it is. Haven’t you been listening?”
An uneasy smile appeared on Sophia’s face. “Are you trying to be funny? I don’t hear anything. No one is playing a catchy tune.”
“Are you joking? It’s the catchiest tune ever. It makes me want to dance.” Orville began swaying back and forth, his feet and arms moving in time to the music only he could hear. “Dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy dah.”
Sophia was getting a dark feeling. “I didn’t know you could dance. When did you learn to dance like that?”
“It’s easy to dance to a catchy tune like this one. They’re playing it louder now. I love this song, it’s the best. Dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy dah.”
“Orville, no one is playing a tune. Do you hear what I’m saying?”
“Dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy dah. The stairs up ahead go down to the big dance floor on the lower level. Let’s go. It’ll be fun, we can dance. I love dancing. It will be fun dancing with you. Dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy dah!”
“How could you possibly know where those stairs go? Orville, listen to me, no one else can hear your catchy tune. I don’t think you should go down those stairs. I have a really bad feeling about this.”
“Bad feeling or not, that’s where I’m going. Gonna do some dancing! Come on, have a little fun!”
Sophia’s sudden cry for help echoed through the vast tunnel. “PROTO! ABACUS! HURRY! SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH ORVILLE!”
She raced after Orville as he danced his way toward the set of stairs descending to the lower levels of the tunnel. He stopped and looked back at Sophia, a frightening wild look in his eyes. “Hurry up! I want to go dancing! Everyone is going to be there. We’re missing all the fun! Look at all the tasty cakes they’re bringing! Tasty cakes! Look at all the tasty cakes!”
Sophia grabbed his arm. “Orville, please wake up! Pay attention to me! There is NO song playing. Nobody else is here and nobody else is going down those stairs. There are NO tasty cakes. We are alone in this tunnel. Do you hear me?”
“Are you blind? Look at all the mice running down the stairs. Dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy dah. Come on, let’s go dancing!” Orville dashed toward the dark stairway.
Sophia flicked her wrist and a heavy iron chain wrapped around Orville’s legs. He fell with a crash at the top of the stairs. “What are you doing? What’s wrong with you??” Orville flicked his wrist and the chains vanished. Sophia flicked her wrist and the chains appeared again.
“I can do this all day, Orville. You’re not going down there. There’s something very, very bad waiting at the bottom of those stairs.”
“YOU CAN’T STOP ME! I’LL BLINK DOWN THERE AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!! YOU’RE NOT MY MUM!!”
Sophia’s mind was racing. She couldn’t stop him and she couldn’t let him go. “Orville, please don’t go!!” It was her inner voice that provided her with the answer.
“Wait! I do want to go dancing with you! We can go together, it will be fun! Wait for me!”
“Now you’re talking! Come on, let’s go dancing!” Orville’s eyes were bulging and unfocused, his hands shaking.
Sophia stepped over to Orville, rested both her paws on his neck and kissed him on the lips.
Five seconds later Orville pulled away from Sophia. “You kissed me! On the lips. Why did you kiss me?”
“I didn’t want you to go dancing.”
“Dancing? What are you talking about?”
Sophia put her arms around him and gave him a long hug, singing softly in his ear, “Dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy dah.”
“Are you going loopy? Why are you singing in my ear?”
“Sit down, we need to talk.”
Ten minutes later Orville was staring at Sophia, his mouth hanging open. “Whoa, you couldn’t hear the song, but I could?”
“I didn’t hear a single note.”
“This is a good puzzle. Why was I the only one to hear it? How am I different from everyone else?”
“You’re way more immature?”
“Stop. Seriously, why would I be… I’ve got it! I’m the only one who was born on
Earth. We know I wasn’t hearing the song with my ears, because you couldn’t hear it. They must have somehow projected the catchy tune into our brains, but it only took hold in mine. Whatever is at the bottom of those stairs is targeting Earth creatures.”
“That makes sense, but why? Who would still be here?”
“Here comes Proto and Abacus.”
Sophia looked up, spotting the pair of automatons dashing through the tunnel toward them. “We heard you shouting! What’s wrong with Orville?”
“It’s okay, he’s fine now.” Sophia told them the story of Orville’s sudden fondness for catchy tunes and dancing.
Abacus did not laugh. “You were lucky. What you experienced is a biosecurity system used by the Anarkkians to terminate specific unauthorized visitors. The system continuously projects packets of neurodata throughout the tunnel which enter the intruder’s brain. The data targets a specific group of life forms, in this case creatures native to the planet Earth. The electropacket is released, forming a neuronic loop in the creature’s mind, one that grows in strength until the victim is drawn into a fatal trap. Whatever you did to break the neuronic loop worked.”
Orville grinned. “It’s still a little blurry to me, Sophia. How did you break the neuronic loop? Maybe you should show Proto and Abacus exactly what you did?”
Sophia’s expression did not change. “It wasn’t much, really. You remember, I told you I’d changed my mind and wanted to go dancing, then I walked over to you, put my paws on your neck like this, then... then I...” Sophia stomped her heavy boot down on Orville’s foot.
“OWWWW! Why did you do that?”
“I thought you wanted me to show Abacus and Proto how I broke the neuronic loop?”
Abacus nodded. “Well done. The sudden shock and severe pain of having his foot stomped on would create a wave of synaptic impulses powerful enough to break through the loop. The good news is you should now be immune to Anarkkian brain loops.”
“I’m going to be limping for a month.”
Sophia snorted. “Let’s go, we have a world to save. Hey, on the way you can teach me some of your fabulous dance moves.”