Höllenbadt: Book two of the Torus Saga

by Berg, Michael

  “Frieda.”

  “That’s a pretty name. I am on my way to a place not many people around here know about. It has some food…it grows a bit wild you see. Some grains, and some vegetables and the like. Seems like it comes from nowhere, but I reckon on there being wild like seeds about from the days when people used to farm around these parts. We could get something there for Frieda, and the grain, if I get enough, I can make flour. I have an old millstone, but it is heavy. Maybe a man like you will find it easier…if only I had something to drive it.”

  “I might be able to help you there. Let’s go to this place you speak of. Then we can go and get Frieda and go to your house.”

  “Ok then, but we better hurry. You should not leave her alone for too long.”

  Chapter 18

  Tobias had been successful with repairs to his device, and as he admired his work, he wondered why he had never had the motivation to do something like it previously. Until this time, he had mostly just existed day to day, but now he felt a definite stirring inside to do something and go beyond the mere survival of life. He thought how John might be impressed with his work for a moment, but then was lost again. Now he had made it this far, he had come to another impasse – what would he do next?

  Outside the air was still dust laden with its familiar orange glow that was a feature during every sunset when the weather was clear. As he stood at the kitchen window looking west, he thought of his companions again – the first time since the night when he had laid awake for so long before venturing out to the shed. The distraction of repairing the scanner, had allowed him the space to forget the disconcerting memories of those he had held dear, and still held in such a way. But now, those feelings returned to him stronger than ever, increasing the degree of speculation within as he had always considered himself resilient to sombreness or despair. As he continued running it through his mind, his connection with his heart was once again being realised as it had those years before. Tobias was not consciously trying this or aware of it, but his feelings were unleashing the potential of who he actually was again, as if it was a memory lost for a time, but never forgotten.

  He took a deep breath and turned away from looking out the window, when a realisation suddenly came to him. The stirring inside was indicative of his passion, and he could feel his passion pointing him back towards the shed in the backyard. “I’m going to build myself a ray gun,” he said aloud. Tobias was not suddenly feeling a passion to shoot at anything or anyone. His feelings were about the protection he knew would be required in the confrontations he sensed he soon would face, and so the decision to build the gun was about him being resolute and having the protection it would offer. Whilst still unable to precisely discern what lay ahead, Tobias knew he was progressively building towards such an outcome.

  Amongst the dusty boxes of wires and parts, he came across a power unit he had never noticed before, and it was an ideal place to start building the weapon. After thirty minutes he had gathered the power unit, some wiring, a few parts he was sure would make for the gun housing, and an electronic switch to convert to a trigger. This new challenge excited him, making him feel determined as ever to continue on and follow this feeling. The authorities permitted only a limited power supply to those dwelling in the fringes of the cities, but this was enough for him to keep working, and to test each stage of the ray gun he was building.

  When at around midnight, he decided to go back to the house for some coffee, he switched on his holographic projector whilst he waited for the water to boil. Another announcement came on a few moments after he had turned it on.

  “The authorities advise the Agent is attempting to increase his impact on people living in the eastern sector through a new onslaught of nano technology viruses. His use of the unstable vortex amplifier to accelerate atoms is causing some malfunction in some of the central systems, and citizens are advised that further restraint of services is now in place. All procedures for treatment of viruses affecting the operation of public use machines have been cancelled until further notice. Citizens are advised they are to proceed to their daily work places as normal, but interruptions are to be expected. Any failure of infrastructure transport systems must be endured to ensure the on-going efficiency of systems, and therefore the public are advised they must ensure adequate means to travel to and from their workplaces on time. Any person not fulfilling their obligations for compliance at work will have their employment terminated.”

  The authorities were pursuing their intentions to maintain efficiency and had often told the public of their requirement to fulfil their obligations and comply with the law, as a means to eventually overcome the Agent. In such unstable times, nearly all employed people had become ever fearful of losing their employment, as many had heard the stories of decline experienced by those who were unemployed, and how eventually they would move to the fringes where survival was much more difficult. This new heightened fear, aside from the general dismay and disarray life had become over the past eight years, had served to actually strengthen their hold over the people, despite many instances where the efficiency of central systems was undermined by viruses.

  This news did not bother Tobias as he was already in the place so many feared to tread, and he had often thought of how soft and how many were not resilient, considering that although survival was a struggle, it was not actually that much worse than employment in the cities. Many of the items of affection people had grown to adore, many of the facets of their consumption based life, were gone, but many held on to the belief that eventually the authorities would eventually re-establish the life they used to have. ‘What’s the use in holding out for false promises,’ he had often thought when considering his place west of Omaha, to those just down the transit way in the main city. Transport was more difficult in these times, with restrictions placed on use of the transit way tubes, and the confiscation of most private vehicles by the authorities. It was mostly the necessity to travel back and forth to work that most people moved anywhere. Mostly, they were living at home and some even lived at work. Together with the curfew in place, along with the restrictions placed on private ownership, many business owners, restaurateurs, and others, had simply given up, or been forced to vacate their premises.

  When Tobias had made the coffee, he returned immediately to the shed and continued working on his ray gun. By dawn, he had tested all of its components and was satisfied with his work, as they had all proven to be operational. Tired from his long night, yet happy at the same time, he decided he would rest all that day, and then put the components together the following night. Without deliberate intent, his life was transitioning from the emptiness he experienced killing time most days, to a night time existence where he would become more secretive than he had been previously.

  When he awoke that afternoon, the first thing he did, was to go and find a large amount of food in order to build a stash much larger than he had made before. The authorities still provided outlets to purchase food, but they severely limited the supplies to just enable people to survive. Often, many people would make raids upon others, or simply scavenge for anything edible they could find.

  It was just prior to the close of trading hours, when Tobias exhausted his allocation of food he could purchase in one single transaction at the local store. Lucky for him, the authorities had not pursued the injection of identification chip technology on those in the fringe areas, and so he was able to go to another outlet, where he made it in with just a few minutes to spare, and there he purchased another maximum food allowance. Those with identification chips were automatically detected and they were required to use them for payment, where the system would then register them as maximising their allowance. People like Tobias were still able to use cash, though it had nearly been completely phased out, and so without the registration in the system, they, and he, could go to several outlets per day. The authorities were not even aware this was going on, as they were far too busy working on counteracting the Agent, rat
her than finding people who exceeded their food allowance.

  On his way home, Tobias decided he would take a route to the north and see if there was any wild food growing there. Not many people lived in his area and there were even fewer to the north, and with winter at its peak, many did not think of going to the wild fringes to find food. There was no snow about, but he was confident he would find some winter berries and vegetables, remnant from the farms in the area, now long deserted. At one old overgrown farm, he found what he went looking for and extracted a bag of berries and a few vegetables, along with some wild grain seeds. On his way home from there, he came across a wild board foraging in the soil underneath some Oak trees. Without a weapon, he was unable to catch and kill the boar, but he was lucky enough to unearth some Truffles the pig had been looking for.

  Satisfied with his haul, he hurriedly travelled the rest of the way home, to avoid any of those people who lurked about in the few dark hours between sunset and the curfew at ten. When he arrived there, he immediately set about safely storing the food to prevent it going off, and to hide it in case he was robbed. After eating, he went out to finish work on his ray gun. Tobias had the only lock and key he had seen for ages, and was thankful to see the lock still intact when he arrived at the door. Within five minutes of going inside, he was back to working on building the gun from all the components he had laid out carefully on the workbench.

  “Now to test this baby,” he said at around three in the morning when he had finished assembly.

  At first, it just crackled and hummed, and then it stopped altogether. After a few adjustments, he tried it again, and it was a success. After a few sporadic bursts when he tried the trigger a few times, it then emitted a constant beam of electricity, reaching for twenty feet. It was quite a spectacle, as the beam erupted from the muzzle like a bolt of lightning, and striking the wall he was aiming towards. Each time he released, then pulled back on the trigger, the ray gun responded as he had intended and this made him smile, and also think of how John would have admired his ingenuity and skill.

  A ray gun and a scanner were much more than the authorities would allow citizens to possess, and for the first time, it dawned upon Tobias that he was beginning to fraught with the common law now governing life even out in the fringes. People were allowed to carry personal holographic devices, but these were limited to basic communications and for viewing holographic news broadcasts. There was a strict compliance in place, where all citizens were prohibited from possessing and carrying weapons. Anyone who was unfortunate enough to be caught was immediately transported to the western sector, and so they had become rare due to the fear of transportation held by many.

  Tobias was never one to give in to fear, nor would he readily comply with regulations as set out by the authorities, and so after a few moments of consideration, he thought all he would have to do, was to be careful and keep the devices in a safe and secret place somewhere on the property. The shed was not secure enough despite its working lock. If the authorities ever tried to find his weapon, it would be the first place they would look, and with operating security still in place, he would have to keep the weapon entirely out of sight, should there ever be a chance occurrence where a surveillance camera picked up and detected its presence. After an hour of deliberation, he decided he would have to extend the basement under the house. Fortunately, it was well concealed already, and now all he had to do, was to hollow out some more space beneath and make a door that could easily be disguised, yet difficult to uncover.

  Chapter 19

  The Agent was not concerned with making life for Carmel comfortable, or pleasant, nor was he of the mind to torture her, or to kill her. Rather, he was set on making her suffer as she witnessed his malicious intentions.

  “You see my beautiful amplifier, so exquisite in apparition, yet so deadly in purpose don’t you? And…of course, look upon the Torus. All three aligned…”

  “They are not aligned.”

  “Don’t interrupt me…ever! My three Torus aligned…and so lovingly amplifying the vortexes I so choose to create. Surely you can admire the beauty before you. See how the ring Torus just floats there between the horns?”

  “It looks like a beast, as you are.”

  “Oh yes my former superior. I am a beast. I am a nightmare, and I am the fulfilment of oblivion, if such a thing can be. For my intent is not to rule, despite those pathetic minions of mine who see me as such, and worship those idols I have placed in cities and towns. No, my intent is to rule out! Rule out the cognitive perception of existence being worthy of recognition. Yes, I seek to unravel all that is held dear and to create a machine…a world that is succumbing to me.”

  “You are mad!”

  “Yes I am and I know that I am, so please do not state the obvious to me, for I already know that which you consider of me as being worthy of expression, for I am the epitome of such things. I was made to be this way and to undo many other ways. But oh, do not despair my former superior, for you too will soon realise that any little dream you ever had of just about anything, is irrelevant. There cannot be any justice either, not any instance of love. For this world beckons unto me, and as you are aware, I am unearthing the deepest desires for this within humanity.”

  “Those Torus will be your undoing. They are unstable. Look at how it flickers…like you. You are unstable.”

  “And that is a problem? Why, former one…former superior officer one? Is there anything you consider better than I? Surely not, for it is obvious, even I can hold the authorities at bay. I can hold them to ransom, and I can disrupt them into oblivion.”

  “I have seen your ugliness…”

  “Yes. It is beautiful is it not? Back when you were my employer, you could sense it then and I will give you that, for your senses are strong indeed.”

  “Why do you keep me?”

  “A good question for I am not even sure why. But something in you intrigues me, and so I keep you. Now watch. I am going to send out my latest virus. It is a sensation, but not one to revel in. No. It is a sensation of undoing and one to enhance the emergence of the worst in those who you seem to love. In people to whom you have adoration. Will you adore them when you see what they are capable of? Will you want for salvation in those who suffer at my hands?”

  “I never look for salvation. I am resolute.”

  “That you are my former superior. But…no such resolution can be nearly so great as mine, for my resolution will bring an end to resolution. Now get your mind around that!”

  Carmel could not hate the Agent as she watched him enter a sequence via the holographic array, for she never held the concept of hate. She could not feel bitterness as he powered up the amplifier, bring the Torus of Eternity to an electro-static state, so removed from the warmth it had given to others. All she could do was to remain determined to overcome this beast before her, both in person, and machine. As she watched his devious quirks and heard the manic laughs, she focused not on the machine, but through it, where she could feel as if it was itself, bound in this time by the hand of the Agent, yet calling from somewhere to be realised in its true potential.

  Within moments, those unfortunate enough to be susceptible to viruses began to feel its affects. Millions of hearts across the world began to dissolve as they were drawn into oblivion, with people everywhere feeling emptiness beyond anything previously conceived. The Agent had targeted only the heart this time of specific nano technology types, and whilst their injected technology strived to counteract the effect from the sudden loss of the body’s central organ, they remained conscious as the core of their being slipped into oblivion. Aghast with a sense of shock so severe and so sudden, they cried to the utmost of dismay as they slid into nothingness and into irrelevance.

  “Now watch,” he said to her as he engaged holographic cameras located in various cities within places he controlled. Instantly, the images came across clearly, showing people collapsing into themselves and taken to the verge of destruction, before whils
t they gasped their last few breaths. The Agent’s virus instilled the last hope to them and so their final actions in desperation were to set upon each other, tearing and maiming, in an attempt to reconstitute some type of physical being. Then, with explosive delight, the Agent began to laugh almost endlessly, as he forced Carmel to watch people dissipate into the growing holes of their bodies, where they screamed and moaned and wailed in ways so horrific, it was the most sickening experience she had ever encountered. Then a few seconds later, all became silent, as all had simply disappeared and their existence was no more, and nor had it ever been. The Agent’s unstable viruses were opening holes in the fabric of space and of time, and so people were sent beyond the conception of both, to have their atoms taken entirely out of existence. There was no fire, no flame, and no embers. It was just a coldness of nowhere and it was unfathomable to Carmel, of how such things could occur as she knew there were always the progression of nature and the changing of forms. Yet before her eyes, it was as if the very foundation of elemental natural characteristics of existence were being lost – all done by a man, who she felt she could not give the grace to describe as human.

  “Now watch this as well. Watch my robots take San Francisco. My tiny nano creations will wreak havoc upon anyone in their way.” The Agent engaged the command to send out the robots similar to those he had used to destroy the HAARP facility. Via holographic cameras installed throughout the city, Carmel could see the robots consume people on the streets, instantly turning them into piles of dust and puddles of ooze. It was one horror after another and she felt ill, yet resolute that she would somehow overcome the Agent for the disturbance he created.

  “Now, come with me. I have someone for you to meet,” he told her after a few minutes of his maniacal laughing. “I think you will find them interesting.”