by Tom Hoffman
“I’m glad to hear it. Would you like to look at the machine?”
“I can’t wait. Lead the way.”
They walked through the laboratory to a set of wide metal doors. Master Tarami stepped on a metal plate and the doors swung open. Inside was a mammoth and highly complex machine. Shaped like a gigantic donut, it stood at least fifty feet across in any direction. The ring was elevated eight feet above the ground by a spiderweb of metal framework, allowing easy access to any part of the device. As they walked beneath the ring, Oliver noticed a transparent bowl-shaped platform hanging down from the center of the machine. He suspected this was where they would place the ferillium crystal when the machine was operational. Oliver soon left Master Tarami behind, striding enthusiastically around the machine, examining it closely. There were hundreds of feet of silver tubing, miles of wiring, electronic switches and panels, any number of steam valves, and twelve monstrous electromagnets. Oliver flipped open a large panel to look at the gauges and dials, then climbed a ladder up to the ring above. He wasn’t quite certain what the ring itself was made of, but suspected it was simply a more substantial version of the fabric used in shaper masks. The shaper’s thoughts would travel around inside the ring at incredible velocities as they were being amplified. When he had completed his inspection, he climbed down the ladder and found Master Tarami.
“You deserve the highest accolades for what you have created here. I am also pleased to say this is remarkably similar to one of my designs. There are some sections I would modify to increase the output of shaping energy, but those would all be relatively minor adjustments. The only thing which seems to be missing is a source for the initial input of the shaping forces before they are amplified. Will you be using breonium crystals?”
“We were fortunate enough to find a large ferillium crystal. It’s spherical in shape, almost a foot across.”
“A foot across? Impossible. How could that be?”
“One of our geology teams found an incredibly rich ferillium deposit beside an ancient volcano in western Grymmore. The heat from the erupting lava flow must have fused tons of the raw ferillium, creating the enormous crystal. We had to carefully cut and polish it to its current spherical shape, a very touchy procedure to say the least. We almost lost several scientists before we completely understood the process.”
“What a fantastic stroke of luck to find such a crystal, and what a boon for Grymmore to have a device such as this. Your country will never be wanting for food or medicines again.”
“Thank you, Oliver, for all your generous comments. I would like to introduce you to our group of extremely talented scientists, but before I do that, I have one last surprise for you.
“This has been a day full of surprises. All good ones, I might add.”
“Then I’m certain you’ll like this one. Guards!”
Four Grymmorian guards stepped out from behind one of the massive electromagnets. They swooped over to Oliver and grabbed his arms. There was a flash of metal, a clicking sound, and Oliver’s paws were manacled behind his back.
“What are you doing? Release me, sir!”
“Master Tarami rippled and blurred, reappearing as Zoran the emerald shaper.
“Did you think I wouldn’t be able to read your thoughts? I’ve known you were a traitor since the carriage ride. There is nothing I don’t know about you, including your feeble ploy with the red and green thoughts. I let you send the green thought out so your little unsuspecting shaper friends will be certain to pay us a visit. You may be assured we have an exceptionally unpleasant welcome planned for them. If you were Lapinor’s master plan to put a stop to King Oberon’s machine, then Lapinor is a sad excuse for a country, and the rabbits will be easy prey for Oberon.
“Guards, take him to the sub-level three cell we’ve prepared for him. Take everything from his pockets and take that silver ring off his paw before he can use it. Bring everything you find to me before you place him in the dungeon.” Zoran turned on his heel and strode out of the room.
The guards led Oliver out of the lab. Scientists and technicians watched with frozen faces as Oliver was roughly ushered past them. There was some murmuring, but most stood silently, knowing they could be Zoran’s next victim.
The four guards half walked and half dragged Oliver down the long hallways and stairs until they arrived at a massive staircase leading down to the second sub-level. After another ten minutes of walking they reached a wide corridor lined with barred cells. Each prison cell was filled with dozens of rabbits wearing shaper masks, but Oliver saw no sign of Clara. A final left turn led to a third set of descending stairs.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Big scientist rabbit like you get your own cell in sub-level three. Zoran don’t want you talking to no one but your own self.” The other three guards laughed. At the bottom of the stairs they turned left and headed down a short hall with a single barred cell at the end of it.
“Zoran made cell special. Nothing can break bars.”
They removed his manacles and one of the guards roughly pushed Oliver into the cell. Seconds later the cell door slammed shut behind him. There was a soft clicking noise as the guard locked it.
“Have good dreams, rabbit.” The guards sauntered away, leaving Oliver alone with his thoughts.
He sat down on a rough wooden bench, the only piece of furniture in the cell other than a straw mattress on the floor. There would be no escape unless someone came to rescue him. He managed a brief smile when he remembered Bartholomew coming to his rescue in the Swamp of Lost Things. Like Bartholomew, Oliver had changed a great deal since those days.
His cell was about twenty feet long and ten feet wide. The only object of interest was a metal star embedded in the wall about seven feet above the floor. The twelve pointed star was a dull silver color, about eight inches across, and looked as if it was part of the original Fortress. After an hour of sitting on the hard wooden bench, Oliver moved to the more comfortable straw mattress on the floor. He could feel his hope dwindling rapidly. He had failed in his attempt to sabotage the machine and now he was trapped in this cell with no chance of escape.
As he lay on his back staring at the ceiling, he noticed a row of symbols running along the top of the wall. He first gazed at them with idle curiosity, but his interest in them began to grow. They must be some of the ancient glyphs Zoran had mentioned. Oliver saw something oddly familiar about them. Pushing the bench next to the wall, he clambered up for a better view of the symbols. It became clear to him why they looked familiar. They bore a distinct resemblance to modern mathematical symbols. He read them carefully, making his way around the wall. If he correctly understood their meaning, the line of symbols was expressing two separate mathematical problems.
He jumped down from the bench and wrote out both problems in the thick dust on the floor. He had them both solved within a half hour. The problems were complex, but the final answers were simple. The answer to the first problem was seven, the other answer was four. Why would these problems be carved into this particular wall? Seven and four. Did they hold some cultural significance for the creatures who had inhabited the Fortress? His eyes moved to the silver star on the wall. Was there a connection between the numbers and the star? He examined the star closely from different angles, and made out the faint image of a paw on it. He pushed the star, but nothing happened. Nothing about this area of the Fortress made sense. Why would the builders put in a wide staircase leading to a dead end? He pored over the walls looking for a hidden door. Perhaps there was a secret button or latch?
The star had twelve points – could the two numbers reference two points? He stood on the bench in front of the star. He pushed the seventh point of the star, then the fourth point. Nothing happened. He put his paw in the center of the star and pushed. A section of the wall silently slid open, revealing a long hallway. Eureka.
The hallway was well lit, but with no obvious light source. The light seemed to come from everywhere,
as though the walls and floors themselves had a slight glow to them. Oliver stepped through the doorway, looking back to make certain the guards weren’t returning. There were two discs next to the sliding wall. One was yellow, the other pale violet. He pushed the violet disc and nothing happened. He pushed the yellow disc and the wall silently closed behind him. He had escaped, but to where?
Chapter 24
Oliver’s New Library Card
Several hours later two guards sauntered in to check on Oliver. They stared blankly at the empty cell, then unlocked the cell door and walked inside, searching for him in places he could not possibly be.
“Look under bench.”
“He not be under the bench. He is grown rabbit. Can’t be there.”
“Check under straw mattress.”
“He not be there either.”
“Maybe he digs tunnel in the floor and mattress is cover it.”
The guard moved the mattress. There was nothing there.
“What should we do? Who we telling?”
“We tell nobody, that who we is telling. Zoran kill us if he hear rabbit escape. We keep mouth shut. If someone ask about rabbit, then we need quick disappear.”
“Lock door and we go. Fortress bad. Not right.”
Oliver padded quietly down the hallway and found another set of colored discs on the wall. He pushed the violet one and a section of wall slid open, revealing a large room lit with the same strange ambient light. There were racks running along the walls, filled with numerous unidentifiable objects. This must have been a storage area for whoever built the Fortress. There was one large rack containing glasslike cylinders with four narrow silver tubes running down the length of them. There was a row of five blinking yellow lights inside the glass tube. He pulled one of the cylinders off the rack and examined it. It had a dark green elliptical button about three inches long near one end of it. Oliver pressed the button. The was a soft whoosh noise and when he looked up there was a two foot wide hole in the wall that hadn’t been there before. He could see through the hole into the hallway where he’d just been standing.
“Good heavens, did I do that?” He backed away from the wall and tried it again. A second hole appeared in the wall. Whatever this was, it could instantly vaporize physical matter. What kind of creatures could have created such a device? He carefully placed the vaporizing tube back in the rack and moved to another section of the room. He found larger, more complex, and probably far more powerful devices in the room but was afraid to touch them. There were also many smaller devices which vaguely resembled revolvers, but were fashioned out of glass tubing in much the same manner as the cylindrical vaporizer weapon. This must have been an armory.
He explored farther down the hallway, which stretched out for almost a half mile and was lined with innumerable doors. Many of the rooms were filled with objects he could not identify. He had no idea whether he was looking at scientific equipment, deadly weapons, or machines to make soup, so he refrained from pushing any more buttons. One room in particular gave him quite a start. He opened the door, then wildly scrambled backwards into the hallway. The room was filled with ten foot tall silver metallic rabbits with red glass eyes. When he examined them more closely he found small panels on the back of each rabbit which he was unable to open. He had no idea what the metal rabbits were so he left them behind and moved on.
He discovered one room that had a wide gleaming shelf wrapping completely around it about five feet above the ground. Running along the shelf were many brightly colored panels containing different colored buttons and levers. There were also colorful images of tall rabbits happily eating various kinds of food, most of which was unfamiliar to him. One machine had a graphic of a rabbit eating something which resembled a cookie. The machine had three round buttons on it and a small glass door at the bottom. Oliver pushed a pale green button, and with a soft whirring noise the door flipped down and a small tray slid out. There was something like a cookie on it. Oliver picked it up. It was warm and smelled quite good, like molasses. He took a small bite, then a large bite. It was delicious. An hour later he had a tray loaded with unfamiliar but remarkably delicious food. He set the tray down on the long shelf and began to eat, looking around at the machines. The line between science and magic was fading rapidly.
As he roamed through the rooms he found many which appeared to be the sleeping chambers for whoever had lived here. All the beds had curved glass lids on them. Whoever inhabited the Fortress must have been tall, as the beds were almost twelve feet long.
Oliver finally reached the end of the corridor and stood facing a massive set of doors. He pushed a violet disc on the wall and the huge doors hissed open. The room in front of him was at least three hundred feet long and thirty or forty feet tall. As far as he could see were massive racks at least twenty feet tall filled with books. This single room contained millions upon millions of books.
“Great heavens, what is this place? I could spend the rest of my life in one small alcove of this library and not read half the books there.”
He wandered down the aisles, scanning the titles as he went. Many were in languages unknown to him, but there were also many he was able to read. This was almost too much for him to absorb. He picked up a book which seemed to be about machines which were capable of flight. He opened it and began poring through the illustrations within.
“This is fantastic. This single volume contains detailed plans for any number of self-propelled flying machines. This would completely change the way rabbits–”
“Excuse me, if you wish to borrow a book, I’ll need to see your identification card.”
Oliver turned around faster than it seemed the laws of physics should allow. He stumbled backwards and tripped over one of the racks, falling onto his back. He was looking up at a ten foot tall silver metallic rabbit with glowing red eyes. Oliver’s eyes were, as they say, as big as saucers.
“Oh, dear, I didn’t mean to startle you like that. Are you all right? Would you like a glass of water?”
Oliver tried to gather his thoughts. At least the thing wasn’t trying to kill him. “What... uh... who are you?”
“I am the caretaker of the Central Information Repository. I hope you didn’t injure yourself, but rules are rules you know. A valid identification card must be shown to borrow a book.”
“You’re said you’re the caretaker here?”
“For almost fifteen hundred years.”
“You’ve been here for fifteen hundred years?”
“Approximately.”
“What is this place again?”
“The is the Central Information Repository.”
“Why are you here? Who borrows the books?”
“I am the custodian of this repository.” One of the rabbit’s eyes glowed brightly and a transparent wall of symbols appeared in front of him. He moved the symbols around with his paw. “Let’s see, the last book to be borrowed was Creating the Isle of Mandora, fourteen hundred and ninety-two years ago.” He frowned slightly. “I see the book was never returned.”
“May I ask you questions about this place?”
“Of course. My function is to answer all your questions. I contain within me the sum of all knowledge found in this repository.”
“I hope this is not offensive, but are you a machine or a rabbit?”
“I am not capable of being offended. I am a machine, an artificially intelligent Model 9000 Rabbiton with the optional A7-Series 3 Repositorian Module.”
“Ahh, I see. Who built you? Where did they go? Why did they leave?”
“The Elders created me. They are an ancient race of rabbits who built this Fortress and inhabited it for over ten thousand years. Through the combined use of science and shaping they evolved at an extraordinary rate. They grew weary of this world and decided to create one more to their liking. They first built the Isle of Mandora, a single island in a world where time does not exist. Once the environment was completely functional, they began to add more land and
cities. As far as I know, that is where they still are. I chose to stay behind and watch over the repository. I have been here ever since.”
“Have you ever seen the world outside of this library?”
“I have seen pictures of the world in countless books and morphs.”
“Morphs?”
“It is similar to what the Elders called dreams, but the experiences viewed in each particular morph always remain the same.”
“I see. Could I ask a favor of you?”
“Certainly.”
“I don’t have an identification card, but I would dearly love to read some of these books. If I were very careful, would you allow me to sit here and read without a card?”
“That would be quite acceptable. It would please me to see someone reading in the repository again. I will also create an identity card for you. Since I contain the A7-Series 3 Repositorian Module I have that functionality. Once you have the card, you would be free to borrow up to eighteen books every two days.”
“That would be kind of you, indeed.” Oliver gave the Rabbiton his full name and address and the names of three references at the Excelsior Corporation.
“If you return before the end of the day tomorrow, you may pick up your card. Welcome to our Information Repository, Oliver T. Rabbit.” The Rabbiton turned away and disappeared down the aisle.
Oliver found a large stuffed reading chair and sat down with a plate of semi-magical molasses cookies and a tall stack of books. He wasn’t in heaven, but he could see it from here.
Chapter 25
Finding Eftar
Morthram had devised his plan to enter the Lost Fortress well before Oliver’s green thought had arrived. One thing he knew for certain was that Oberon and Zoran must not suspect anyone was on their way to the Lost Fortress. If they heard rumors of shapers traveling through Grymmore, they would know who it was and what they were after. For this reason, Morthram had decided to avoid shaping altogether on his journey across Grymmore to the Lost Fortress. He knew he could easily travel on foot to the Fortress and arrive before Oberon’s machine would be operational. If he planned carefully and made all the necessary preparations, no shaping would be necessary until he reached the Lost Fortress.