Heroes (The Young Neos Book 5)
Page 14
“Uh, yeah, I should be able to do it,” said Shell, momentarily distracted by the thought of getting kissed by both Treehugger and Blizzard. “I will definitely be able to do it, actually. When I first got my suit-up watch, I took it apart and put it back together again and learned the names of each individual part. Here we go.”
Shell had finally managed to pry off the back of the watch. He held up the watch to his face as he said, “I just need to find the right part and we should be all right.”
“What part are you looking for, exactly?” said Treehugger. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“It’s called the Dimension Engine,” said Shell. “It was designed by Genius twenty years ago when he developed the first suit-up watches. It can open access to the pocket dimension where our suits are stored when we’re not wearing them. Assuming I can access the Engine, I should be able to use it to take me home.”
“Uh huh,” said Treehugger. “But what if it just takes you to the pocket dimension where our costumes are usually kept? How would you get back to Earth from there?”
“I’ll figure it out,” said Shell. “Ah, here we go. Found the Engine. Unfortunately, I need a tool—a screwdriver or something—to mess with it.”
“But the Servants did not give us any tools,” said Blizzard in a disappointed voice. “And I sincerely doubt they’ll give us any, even if we ask nicely.”
Shell lowered his watch and looked around his tiny cell, hoping against hope to find something he could use as a makeshift tool. Blizzard was right about the fact that the Servants had not given them any tools, nor were they likely to, but that did not mean that things were entirely hopeless for them. He just needed to be creative.
Then Shell noticed the plate of disgusting food on the floor near the entrance of his cell. He jumped off his bed and ran over to the plate, where he grabbed the fork and knife resting on the food and looked at them closely. The fork—at least, he assumed it was a fork, though it didn’t look like any earthly fork he’d ever seen—was shaped somewhat like a Phillips screwdriver head. The knife, on the other hand, looked like a normal Earth knife, which meant it would be useful for the work Shell needed to do.
“Looks like our situation isn’t entirely hopeless yet,” said Shell as he walked back over to his cot and sat down on it. “I’m using the fork and knife for my food to work on it.”
“Will that even work?” said Treehugger. “I’m not much of a techie, but even I know that cutlery isn’t the right tool for this kind of job.”
“I’ll make it work, don’t worry,” said Shell. “It would be even better if I had a microscope or something to help me see it better, but my hands are pretty small and I’ve got good eyesight—”
“You’ve got glasses, though,” said Blizzard.
Shell ignored her as he continued speaking. “—So I should be able to work on the Engine and reprogram it to take me where I need to go.”
“Well, I hope it works out the way you say it will,” said Treehugger. “And I hope it happens before any of the Servants come to check on us. If they saw what you’re doing, I bet they’d take away our watches, too.”
“You heard that Omanx guy,” said Shell, looking closely at the watch for the Dimension Engine. “He said they weren’t going to come and visit us until they reached the Starborn, so I’m going to be able to work without interruption for a few hours at least. Now, let’s see what I can do.”
The Dimension Engine was a small computer chip, set next to the watch’s battery. If Shell had not taken his watch apart before, he probably would have overlooked it, because despite its fantastic properties, the Engine looked no different from the various other parts of the watch.
Unlike other parts of the watch, however, the Engine had a few small switches on it. It would take a little skill, but Shell could already see how he could reprogram the watch to allow for interdimensional travel. As carefully as he could, Shell started flipping the switches on it. He had to be careful, because the watch’s switches were very fragile and he did not want to break them accidentally.
A few seconds of tinkering later, Shell finished messing with the watch and replaced its back cover. Placing his fork on the cot next to him, Shell put his watch back on his wrist and said, “Okay, guys, I did it.”
“You did?” said Treehugger excitedly. “Does it work?”
“I don’t know yet,” said Shell with a frown. “It should, but I’ve never reprogrammed a watch to do this sort of thing before, so who knows? I’m about to try it.”
“Wait, don’t leave just yet,” said Blizzard. “What about me and Treehugger? We still have our suit-up watches, too. Couldn’t you walk us through the process you used to make your watch into an escape device?”
“Possibly, but you two don’t know enough about tech for anything I say to make sense,” said Shell. “Besides, I can’t see what you’re doing, so I won’t know if you are actually following my guidance or not. It’s just quicker for me to go home by myself, but I’ll be back as soon as I can with help to rescue you two.”
“Okay,” said Blizzard, who sounded quite disappointed by his answer. “But don’t spend too much time away. We have no idea how much time we have before we reach the Starborn.”
“Right,” said Shell. “Anyway, time for me to test this out.”
Shell hopped off the cot. Having no idea how big the portal he might make would be, Shell walked backwards until his back was nearly against the bars of his cell in order to ensure that it would have enough room. He raised his right hand, aimed it straight ahead, and then, after a brief moment’s hesitation, tapped the button on the side that normally opened the watch to allow his suit to come out.
Shell’s watch suddenly heated up on his wrist, nearly burning his arm. He cried out in pain as the watch became hotter and hotter and felt something like burning liquid pass through his body and into his watch. Reality itself seemed to shake around him and for a moment he felt sick to his stomach.
In the next instant, however, a portal about his size exploded into existence before him. The portal was so loud that Shell was nearly knocked flat on his back, though since he stood against the wall he didn’t fall down. The portal showed a multitude of strange colors and textures swirling within itself, including several that Shell was pretty sure could not be found on Earth. The sight of the colors and textures made him feel ill, though his feeling of illness was rapidly overtaken by his feeling of excitement at the success of his plan.
“It worked!” Shell said, not even bothering to keep his voice quiet. “Guys, it worked!”
“Awesome!” Blizzard said. “I can hear it. Can you see Earth on the other side?”
“No,” said Shell, shaking his head. “To tell you the truth, I don’t even know if it will take me back to Earth. But it’s not like I have any other choice. Whatever is on the other side of this portal has to be better than this place.”
“I hope you’re right,” came Treehugger’s voice. “But please be safe anyway. Because if you don’t make it back to Earth, then Blizzard and I will … well, you know what will happen to us.”
“Right,” said Shell. He grimaced at his burning wrist. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this portal open, so I’m going to enter right now before it closes. But don’t worry; I’ll be back as soon as I can with Bolt and the others!”
Shell dashed through the portal without another word … and found himself falling off a tall cliff in the middle of nowhere.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Blizzard heard Shell pass through the portal in his cell and then heard the portal close with a soft pop. She listened more closely than before, hoping against hope to hear Shell return already, even though she knew that it would likely take Shell some time to get the others ready for a rescue mission to save her and Treehugger.
“Is he gone?” said Treehugger; her voice was slightly muffled thanks to Shell’s now-empty cell, which was between hers and Treehugger’s. “I heard a pop.”
“I hope he comes back soon,” said Treehugger. “If Omanx is right, it shouldn’t be long before we reach the Starborn, and then we’ll be sacrificed.”
“I’m sure Shell will be back soon enough,” said Blizzard. She looked down at her own suit-up watch. “I do wish that he had stayed just a bit longer, though, to help us hack our own watches to do what he did. Maybe we’re not techies like him, but I’m sure we could have followed his instructions to the—”
The sound of stomping footsteps outside of Blizzard’s cell interrupted her. The footsteps were coming from the hallway outside her cell and it sounded like they were getting closer and closer every second. Blizzard sat upright, doing her best to look as innocent as she could as two Servants of the Starborn suddenly walked past her cell without looking at her. She heard them open Shell’s cell and enter it; based on the sounds of stomping feet and angry growls, it was obvious that the Servants were looking for Shell. She did not know how they had learned about Shell’s escape, but perhaps they had secret cameras in the cells recording the every move of the prisoners.
Regardless, it wasn’t long before the Servants reappeared outside of Blizzard’s cell. They opened her cell and entered without saying a word, while Blizzard just looked at them as innocently as she could. She had no idea what they would do, but she hoped that if she played dumb, they might just leave her alone.
But the Servants didn’t even ask her anything. They just grabbed her roughly by her arms and began dragging her out of the cell, grunting and making weird noises all the while in what may have been their native language, though Blizzard didn’t know. She just tried to resist, because she could sense that they were not taking her some place nice, but one of the Servants immediately slapped her upside the head hard enough to make lights flash in her eyes. Thus, she stopped resisting and allowed the two Servants to drag her down the hallway.
“Blizzard!” Treehugger cried as they dragged Blizzard past Treehugger’s cell. “Blizzard, are you okay? Where are they taking you?”
“I—” said Blizzard, but she got hit in the head again by the same Servant, which once again made lights flash in her eyes.
That was the last Blizzard saw of Treehugger, because one of the Servants stabbed her in the neck with some kind of needle. A hot, burning fluid entered Blizzard’s veins, causing Blizzard to scream in pain before she suddenly blacked out.
-
Blizzard’s body was as stiff as a board. That was the first thing she noticed when consciousness returned to her. It was like she had been frozen in a block of ice for months, although she could already feel movement starting to return to her body. Even so, Blizzard still felt sluggish.
It didn’t help that she had a splitting headache or that her eyes were closed. Blizzard tried to open them, only to be blinded by a bright light directly above her face, causing her to close her eyes again. She felt soft padding underneath her, which made her think that she must have been thrown back into her cell, but at the same time, she could sense that the room in which she was kept was larger than her cell. In addition, thick chains were bound around her wrists and ankles; at least, that’s what it felt like.
What happened? Blizzard thought. Where am I? Am I still in the Incinerator?
Deciding that she wanted to find out where she was, Blizzard opened her eyes. Again, she was blinded by the bright light, but her eyes quickly adjusted to the bright light when she turned her head to the side. In seconds, she was able to see clearly again, only now she wished she hadn’t.
The good news was that Blizzard was not in her cell anymore. The bad news was that she was surrounded on all sides by some of the most disgusting, gruesome, and bizarre monsters she had ever seen in her life. One monster looked like a jellyfish with the head of a wolf and the eyes of a snake; another monster had organic tread-like feet and claws like a lion. Yet another monster had two heads, a fish head and a bee head, in addition to a muscular humanoid body; on second thought, that creature might have actually been two creatures, because Blizzard noticed what appeared to be a second, much smaller body clinging to its back.
The appearance of so many nightmarish creatures in one place would have made Blizzard scream if she hadn’t realized, somewhat belatedly, that she actually wasn’t in danger of being killed by these creatures, because they were all in full-sized tubes preserved by some kind of strange green liquid which made them look even worse than they already did. Raising her head, Blizzard noticed about a dozen similar tubes, each one containing a monstrosity even worse than the last, but none of the monsters seemed conscious. Though their eyes were open, none of the creatures appeared even remotely aware of their own condition.
Such a thought would have comforted Blizzard normally, because it meant she was safe, but it also amplified the horror of the situation. All of these creatures looked far more powerful than her, yet they were all equally stuck inside their tubes like some kind of twisted scientific experiment. She wondered what kind of being could imprison these obviously powerful creatures and how long they had been imprisoned like this.
Then Blizzard looked down at her own body and saw that, while she was not preserved in a tube like the creatures, she was not free by any means. She was lying on a padded table of sorts, with thick, heavy chains holding her arms and legs down. She still wore the power-inhibiting collar from before, though, which explained why she could not use her powers. Her suit-up watch was missing; no doubt the Servants had removed it from her wrist so she couldn’t use it to escape like Shell.
“You are awake,” came a voice from the shadows at the other end of the room. “You must have a rather hardy frame, because the sleeping injection usually takes a lot longer to wear off than half an hour or so.”
Blizzard did not recognize the voice, but it sent chills down her spine. It was slightly raspy, with a small buzz to it, like what an insect might sound like if it could talk. Blizzard didn’t want to see its owner, but unfortunately, something stepped out of the shadows and into the light and it was by far worse than all of the creatures in the tubes put together … and unlike the imprisoned creatures, this one was free to move as it saw fit.
It looked nothing like the Servants of the Starborn that Blizzard had seen so far. It was vaguely slug-like in appearance, a stinky green liquid constantly sweating down its disgusting skin. Instead of a shell, it wore a large metal covering over its bulging back; it looked kind of like Shell, if Shell was a disgusting alien beast from another dimension and not a teenage boy. Its three eyes were supported by bendable stalks, while its mouth looked unfinished, as if it had been born without a mouth and had had to cut out a mouth with a knife. She also saw what might have been stubby teeth, but given how alien this creature’s biology was, she couldn’t be sure that this thing even had teeth.
In place of arms, the creature had strange biomechanical limbs sprouting from its sides, two on each side, and instead of legs, it had some kind of strange hover device that seemed to allow it to move easily. What was even stranger about its arms was that Blizzard couldn’t tell if they were organic arms enhanced with machinery or mechanical arms enhanced with organic tissue and flesh. Regardless, the sight of the creature made Blizzard feel much the same way she felt whenever she saw a snake.
“What … what are you?” said Blizzard. She bit her lower lip. “A Starborn?”
“A Starborn?” said the creature. It sighed. “No. I am not worthy of such a title. Indeed, the Starborn are my creators and therefore are greater than me.”
“So you’re another Servant of the Starborn, then,” said Blizzard. “Just like Omanx.”
The creature snorted. “Don’t compare me to that barbarian. He knows only about war and battle. I, on the other hand, am more in tune with the deeper physical and scientific realities which form the foundation of all of reality, i
ncluding the multiverse itself. Whereas I spend my days studying the deepest secrets of the multiverse, Omanx spends his days sparring with beings even less intelligent than him, getting bigger muscles but becoming no wiser or more knowledgeable. Indeed, sometimes I wonder how he and I can share the same creators given our drastically different personalities and talents.”
Blizzard blinked. “So you’re a nerd?”
“I do not know what a ‘nerd’ is, but based on your tone, I can guess that it isn’t meant as a Earthly compliment,” said the creature. “No, I am what you humans would call a scientist. Under the dictates of the Starborn, I study the deepest mysteries of the multiverse and of reality itself, all in order to facilitate and add to their own vast library of knowledge. I also use my discoveries to make the Servants stronger, though it always seems like such a pedestrian use of such secrets as I have discovered.”
“You don’t look like a scientist to me,” said Blizzard. “You look like a slug.”
“That’s because you humans have no idea what science truly is,” said the creature with a huff. “It is not merely formulating hypothesizes and testing them against reality, adjusting as you receive new facts and findings. Such ‘science’ is child’s play, limited strictly by the limits of whatever universe you are in. The science I do, on the other hand, has no limits save those that the multiverse itself imposes on it … and so far, the multiverse has been rather lenient.”
“If you’re a scientist, does that mean you’re responsible for these … these things?” said Blizzard, gesturing at the monsters in the tubes all around her. “Did you put them in these tubes?”
“They are experiments,” said the creature. “Some of them were once free beings who I kidnapped from their home universes. Others I created in my laboratory. Each one has taught me something new about reality, in addition to helping me figure out other ways to biologically enhance the Servants.”
“They aren’t dead, are they?” said Blizzard with a gulp.