»Where do you think you’re going?« Vasina asked.
»I think I’ll walk around a little, look around and savor the feeling of moving over the surface of a planetoid without a spacesuit. That’s not hard to understand, is it?« Arkroid told her, more sarcastically than he’d intended. »Besides, I’m pretty sure we’ll find a hint of the Techno-Cleric’s whereabouts right here.«
Arkroid played with the crystalline rock in his hand, nodding at Vasina.
»Thanks for the souvenir! It’ll remind me of this place in the future.«
Arkroid moved on, cautiously followed by the others. 40028 caught up, hovering serenely beside him.
»No chance you’re going to tell me anything, eh?« Arkroid asked, seeing only his own mirror image on 40028’s surface. Arkroid’s face appeared warped due to the sphere’s curvature.
»Looks are deceiving,« 40028 repeated.
After a couple of hundred meters’ walk, Vasina yelled after Arkroid, »Toiber Arkroid, this is going nowhere. It’s one crater splattered plateau after another, and another one after that. That’s all the entire planetoid is. Didn’t you look at the map?«
Arkroid ignored Vasina’s question, addressing Lai Pi instead, »Pi, did you get any usable data yet?«
»As a matter of fact, yes. The average crust density doesn’t begin to explain the planetoid’s mass. An abnormally large iron-nickel core, as Vasina suggested, isn’t consistent either. Even if Vasina’s right, we still have a deviation of four percent. This place isn’t as inconspicuous as it seems.«
Vasina became more and more impatient.
»So … what do you want to do next, Arkroid? Take samples, drill holes into the crust or pitch a tent out here? Why are you so stubbornly certain that the crust is hiding some sort of secret?«
Arkroid squinted and scanned the horizon with his eyes.
»Actually, you should blame our little friend here.«
Arkroid winked at 40028, but the Techno-Cleric didn’t reply, showing no reaction.
»40028 told us that his people like to live in seclusion. This doesn’t change just because some of them leave to explore the Milky Way and visit other intelligent species. The majority of the robot society doesn’t give much of a damn about the rest of the inhabitants in the galaxy. His people are living by a high moral standard, and everything they encounter on their travels is imperfect.«
Arkroid made a short brake to see 40028’s reaction. The robot didn’t reply, and his mirrored surface was unreadable. Arkroid continued, »Nevertheless, the robots keep venturing out into the galaxy to gather information to submit to the collective. That baffled me a bit at first, but I think I understand it now. Only the one, who knows immorality, can define morality. Is that correct, 40028?«
»I’m surprised that you as a Human are capable of such strict logical thought,« 40028 replied.
»Did this frozen rock inspire you, Arkroid?« Vasina mocked.
Arkroid clenched his teeth. Vasina seemed to be developing a certain type of sarcasm lately, which he didn’t like at all.
»Their excursions can only have one purpose,« he continued, muted, »the Techno-Clerics want to track and monitor the Cosmic Morals, take note of improvements, question themselves against this backdrop to refine their methods and understandings, because their final objective is to obtain absolute perfection.«
»I’ve no trouble following your thoughts, Arkroid,« Vasina snipped back at him, »what has that all got to do with this forsaken place?«
She opened her arms as if she wanted to embrace the entire planetoid.
Arkroid just smiled.
»When you consider all that, we can’t compare 40028’s home-world to Earth or Atlantika. They would never live on a moon or planet … too easily accessible to outsiders or enemies. They need a world which can’t be found by a mere accident. Forget about finding a base or station on any ordinary stellar object.«
Vasina’s impatience was naked on her face. Slowly, she approached Arkroid and raised her voice, taking on an almost threatening intonation.
»Then quit dissembling, Arkroid. Tell us what you suspect, damn you!«
Arkroid briefly glanced at 40028.
»Our little friend didn’t seem to have a problem giving us the coordinates of the target system, despite the security algorithms in his programming. Nevertheless, he’s not permitted to tell where his home-planet is located. He knows we’d find it, if it were an ordinary planet and we looked long enough. Remember when he indicated that they have the means to hide or obscure their world from us? At first I imagined a planet-wide energy shield or some sort of disguise shield – but now I think he meant something totally different.«
The Techno-Cleric began pulsating strongly as Arkroid went on. His aura increased in intensity.
»I don’t agree and I am sick and tired of walking on this stupid planetoi … «
Scorge rudely interrupted Vasina’s outburst.
»Arkroid, you were right! There’s something happening on the scanners. I’m detecting an energy matrix of a higher order.«
Arkroid turned around and clenched his fists.
»Which direction, Scorge?«
Vasina and Lai Pi exchanged glances, hers fuming and his astonished. Obviously Arkroid and the alien had been keeping secrets.
It didn’t take long for Scorge to answer.
»Everywhere! It’s all over the place, Arkroid. We’re the unknown field’s focal point.«
Scorge needed no further words, because suddenly they could all see it for themselves.
»It is happening!« announced 40028.
The Dimensional Anchor
The landscape became blurred while the ground gave way underneath them – it seemed to dissolve!
»What’s going on?« Lai Pi whispered in panic, losing his balance. His body swayed. He threw up his arms instinctively. Then he felt a supporting gravity field, apparently generated by 40028, stabilizing him again. Vasina assumed a combat stance, expecting the worst. The landscape became unclear, appeared to rearrange, forming totally different structures before their eyes.
Fascinated, Arkroid watched the desert landscape smoothing into a flat, polished, clean cut, marble-like surface. The horizon retreated into the distance and widened. Whatever this transformation meant, it was clear that this new stellar object was much larger than Bachtar!
Scorge’s hectic voice cut through the impressive effects.
»That’s absolutely impossible! The scanners indicate that an exchange of two different worlds is taking place. A larger world seems to be superimposing over Bachtar! Yax K'uk'Mo's propulsion system just quit! We can’t make an emergency start!«
»Don’t even think about it, Scorge!« Arkroid responded heavily, and watched the transformation with staring eyes.
Buildings appeared out of nowhere. Vasina screamed in shock.
No, they’re not growing out of the ground, Arkroid fought to control his thoughts. It looks more like a wall of fog hiding the buildings it’s dispersing. They are now becoming our reality … or is it the other way around?
»40028! I think it is time for an explanation!« Arkroid insisted.
The Techno-Cleric just repeated himself, however.
»It is happening!«
In this moment, Bachtar’s remaining landscape vanished, making way for an entirely different scenery.
Arkroid, Vasina and Lai Pi were standing in the middle of a large plaza, surrounded by strange, towering buildings. With a quick glance over his shoulder, Arkroid assured himself that the Yax K'uk'Mo' was still standing behind them. Even the pyramid ship appeared dwarfed next to the tall buildings. The black, star-spangled night over Bachtar had been replaced with a reddish-blue sky of an unknown world with only a handful of stars twinkling.
Arkroid squatted and touched the ground. His fingers met smooth, cool resistance. Frightened, he pulled his hand back – his body protection field was no longer present! Lai Pi noticed it too and wiped his bald head.
&
nbsp; »The protective shield deactivates when the surroundings are suitable for us,« Pi concluded. He took a deep breath. »We have an oxygen atmosphere, a bit on the thin side but good enough for us.«
Arkroid just nodded.
The small group assembled and observed their suddenly altered surroundings. There were other buildings in the far distance – several hundred meters tall, their tops disappearing in lower lying layers of clouds. This was definitely a big city. As much as he tried, Arkroid could not see the beginning or the end of the city. The futuristic looking buildings filled the entire field of view from horizon to horizon.
»Welcome to Techno-Center!« 40028 said suddenly, in a friendly voice. »This moment is unprecedented, you are the first visitors to our world.«
»Can you give us some explanations then since your security program has neutralized itself?«
40028 pulsated slightly.
»I can only answer some of your questions. There are questions unanswered even for me. One of them is, why my brothers didn’t answer my calls?«
»Do you have something like a welcoming committee?« Lai Pi asked uncertainly, still looking around in awe. »Our arrival had to be noticed. Scorge’s ship is big enough. How did this transformation occur?«
40028 answered Pi’s last question first.
»It wasn’t a transformation, Lai Pi. Bachtar, the Dimensional Anchor, still exists, except that the planetoid was exchanged with Techno-Center. Bachtar is now located in a higher dimensional region till now occupied by my home-world, unreachable for other beings in this galaxy.«
Lai Pi had listened in fascination.
»Dimensional Anchor … that makes sense to me!«
»What are you babbling about, Lai Pi?« Vasina hissed. »This is beyond even Progonaut science. What makes you think you could understand it?«
Lai Pi favored her with a wide smile. Even when she was stunned Vasina couldn’t resist disparaging Earthly advances.
»Just a healthy dose of Human, common sense, Your Royal Highness. I can only imagine that Bachtar and this world are connected by unknown inter-dimensional means. The planetoid is a counterbalance to Techno-Center and seems to be adjusted and balanced in mass with this world. That would be a basic requirement to make this exchange work at all.«
»Your speculations are correct, Lai Pi,« 40028 affirmed. »Both bodies are connected by means of an energy bridge whose central location is established inside a neutral region. We call this phenomenon a Dimensional Swing. By increasing or decreasing Techno-Center’s shell energy we influence the Dimensional Swing in one direction or the other, so that either Bachtar or Techno-Center appears within the standard universe while the other world dives into a higher dimensional region or space, rendering it not only invisible but out of the reality of the other.«
»Dimensional Swing … hmm … good term for it,« Lai Pi responded.
»Let’s not get too technical, guys. We wouldn’t begin to understand how to transfer a world into another dimension or even bridging the two.«
»You asked for the information, Toiber Arkroid. I tried to simplify the answers,« 40028 replied amiably.
»Uh … it’s okay. So, this is your home-world? A world usually located inside another dimension! Unbelievable!«
»Techno-Center is not a planet, but a planet-sized artificial celestial body.«
Arkroid and Lai Pi just looked at each other. They had little room to be surprised after what they had seen so far.
»What happens next?« Vasina wanted to know.
»I don’t know,« 40028 replied truthfully, »returning Techno-Clerics are usually not met by a welcoming party. They just submit their findings and knowledge to the collective.«
»How is that done? Is the collective some sort of central mainframe computer?« Lai Pi inquired.
»No, we don’t need a central mainframe on Techno-Center. My brothers and myself do that. Everyone is part of the whole to make this world function. The pool of knowledge that I have called the collective is like a library of knowledge and experiences. A data collection reaching millions of years into the past. Every Techno-Cleric has access to it and can manipulate and learn from it.«
»What do you think was the reason why your brothers transferred Techno-Center into our dimension now?« Arkroid asked directly.
»I can’t tell you that,« 40028 answered truthfully, but Arkroid thought he seemed less sure of himself. »It’s never happened before.«
Techno-Center
Scorge briefly reported that everything was okay onboard the Yax K’uk’Mo’. The Shwakan expressed astonishment at what he saw of Techno-Center. A spherical, artificial world with a diameter of almost 6,000 kilometers! Not only were Arkroid and Lai Pi speechless, even Vasina needed a while to digest this information.
Techno-Center was a remarkable place. Arkroid noted that this fantastic world still reflected its creators’ ideas and visions. The oxygen atmosphere was one indication, as the robot civilization did not depend on such luxuries as did beings of flesh and blood. The architecture, with thousands of buildings, towers, plazas and domes suggested a high degree of aesthetics in the planning.
Techno-Clerics appeared, at first a few, then more, drifting by and not seeming to wonder about the pyramid ship and the visitors. Their indifference seemed strange to Arkroid.
As the small group crossed the marble-like plaza, they passed by rows of 30 meter tall sculptures. The statues displayed some bizarre-looking creatures as well as humanoid likenesses from different cultures.
»What’s the purpose of these statues?« Vasina asked, standing in the shadow of one of the giants.
»We don’t know,« 40028 replied, »these sculptures date back to a time when the Creators where still living among us. They brought these statues here, shortly after Techno-Center was completed.«
Arkroid rubbed his chin.
»Does one of these sculptures show the likeness of these Creators? I’d like to see what they looked like.«
»We don’t know,« 40028 repeated. »They erased all memory and data about their origin, their destination and their likenesses before they left.«
»Unbelievable!« Lai Pi whispered, who had just finished walking around one of these statues. »Why did they erase your memories? They created you to seek knowledge, didn’t they?«
»We asked ourselves the same question, but did not arrive at a conclusion. Maybe they wanted their teachings about the Cosmic Morals to be maintained and survive only within us – even without remembering our makers. Our basic programming, common to all Techno-Clerics, contains this philosophy – the Moral Decree.«
More and more Techno-Clerics came into view. Some of them hovered in formation, almost like pearls on a string. As the party reached the other side of the plaza a wide stair led downward, ending before a dome whose honeycomb-like shingles shone like gold. Arkroid estimated the height of the building at about two hundred meters with a base-diameter of easily double the height.
»Your world is truly beautiful!« Arkroid exclaimed. Glancing to the side, he added, »It was built for beings who resemble Humans and Progonauts. You can tell that from the step risers.«
»Arkroid, look out!« Vasina yelled a warning at Arkroid as a Techno-Cleric formation flew directly toward the small group.
»Please, let me facilitate the communication,« 40028 advised, and advanced toward his brothers.
While the first contact was being made, Vasina came closer to Arkroid.
»It was your idea to bring 40028, right? You figured that his presence would not be ignored by his brethren.«
Arkroid whispered to her without letting the robots out of his sight, »I was concerned about his brothers not answering his calls. 40028 mentioned they had not missed him, that’s why they were ignoring his calls. Nobody expected to see him. I found that strange.«
»Perhaps they miscounted,« Vasina replied uncertainly. She didn’t seem to believe her own words.
»A miscount can happen with Humans and Progonaut
s, but not them,« Arkroid corrected.
»What do you think?« she asked quietly.
Before he could answer, 40028 returned to the group.
»I overheard what you were talking about,« began 40028. Lai Pi and Arkroid looked at each other surprised.
»How? You were a hundred meters away from us.«
»I merely increased my translator’s sensitivity.«
»What can you tell us? What did your brothers tell you?« Arkroid wanted to know.
»The collective decided to return into normal space after they detected my presence at the Dimensional Anchor. This, however, creates problems for the collective, so that I cannot rejoin them at this moment. All Techno-Clerics who had been out on excursions have returned and are accounted for. Even I have returned to Techno-Center a while back.«
Lai Pi frowned.
»Are you kidding us?«
»I think our friend is trying to tell us that someone else has taken his place,« Arkroid butted in, »and I have a pretty good idea who that could be.«
40028 began pulsating faster, hovering up and down.
»But that is immoral! Besides, there can never be excess community members! None of us could achieve such manipulation. It would be contrary to our basic program, against our foundation and existence!«
Vasina swept a hair strand out of her face.
»Arkroid, do you suspect the Techno-Cleric who met 40028 in the void, before he lost his memory?« Vasina asked.
»I prefer memory lapse,« 40028 interrupted.
»Wherever this other brother came from is irrelevant right now. I believe that the unknown robot overpowered our friend, transported him into the asteroid and then took 40028’s place in the collective. Because it was impossible to destroy 40028, for whatever reason, he constructed the brypan prison, absolutely impenetrable under normal circumstances,« Lai Pi guessed. »However, the beings behind this plot didn’t count on Scorge. Our trader interpreted the gravitational anomaly the prison created as a distress call, and followed it to 40028’s rescue.«
40028 sank lower, almost touching the ground. His diameter had shrunk dramatically and his aura was almost extinguished. It seemed like a state of shock or depression. The Techno-Cleric could not find a weak spot in Pi’s theory and seemed to have reached his breaking point.
NEBULAR Collection 2 - The Expedition: NEBULAR Episodes 6 - 11 Page 10