The Hunt: Symbiosys

by Michel Weatherall

  By now nearly all of the mechanical, undead horrors had freed themselves and were walking, stumbling, or crawling about.

  One thing walked straight for her! Its one organic eye gawking blankly and its robotic eye scanning anything and everything. But it walked past her. It didn't even see her! She wasn't part of their world. Not now, not anymore. For she was of the old world. She no longer belonged! These mechanical corpses had inherited the planet. It was theirs now.

  It was awful the way they carried on like it was completely normal. Like this was how society revolved. They seemed to be playing a sick and demented game. They called it life! Oh, they knew! They all knew. They only ignored the obvious fact! The fact that the whole world was undead! They all carried on ever so normally. The light drizzle and gray sky and the silence only amplified the horror.

  Marie hugged her arms around her waist. How could this have happened? Is this Necropolis our future? Oh God, please don't allow this to hap-

  But as she thought this thought, all of the undead cyborg-things stopped their many activities. They all became aware of her. All of their blind dead eyes and robotic lenses focused on her and even the rain became silent. They watched her. What had she done? What had she said? But even as the question was posed did the answer strike her.

  'Oh God,' she had said, 'please don't allow this to happen.' But she hadn't finished the thought. Had God Himself done this? Had God forsaken mankind?

  Something shifted in the air. Like the very laws of physics had bowed to a new and more potent force or will. The muddy, black ground buckled with a shock-wave. Marie fell in the mud as it bowled her off her feet. She sensed the arrival of something... something very powerful... something directly related to the undead cyborg population... something... God-like!

  The polluted earth exploded and a monstrous edifice boldly thrust itself up. It was near instantaneous it was so quick. It was a nightmare structure. On one hand it seemed to be some sort of church or place of worship. A building in which harboured something. The Undead Cyborg's God. But on the other hand, it appeared to be a giant stone sarcophagus. Strangely it retained the appearance of both somehow.

  The metal covered mechanical door clicked open, gear by gear, revealing darkness. Something stirred within the darkness. Became conscious. Active. Aware.

  An object launched itself out, or Marie thought it was an object. It was multi-limbed and mostly mechanical! It landed only yards before her with a spray of black mud. Due to its enormous bulk it immediately began to sink.

  It was - and the emphasis must be put on the word 'was' – a human being. It had a motley assortment of arms and legs and octopoid tentacles along with mechanical stainless-steel limbs. All of these clawed and flailed in a hopeless attempt to arrest its sinking in the mud. Just under the sucking and splashing sounds of the absorbent mud could be heard the soft purring of its motors and generators.

  Its body was mostly mechanical and horrid! It seemed that all of its terrible appendages were anchored to this spherical steel body in some torturous method! But worst of all were its heads and faces, for it possessed more than one! It had seven faces! Seven heads! There was a Hispanic face, two Filipino faces, the face of an old aged woman, that of a pale gaunt man, an Asian face, and.... Marie gasped at the seventh! That of her husband's, Lorne S. Gibbons!

  “Oh my God!” she cried.

  MARIE! Lorne's voice thundered throughout the Necropolis. All of the Undead Cyborgs cringed. HELP ME!

  All the other six heads and faces turned their attention on her now. Each and every one of their expressions mirrored Lorne's: That of panic and distress! All seven heads and faces stared at Marie and kept glancing down at the quickly rising mud!

  All seven voices screamed, MARIE! HELP US! WE'LL SUFFOCATE!

  The thing's movements became sporadic. Its limbs thrashed in madness and covered her with mud.

  MARIE! THIS IS NOT A DREAM! THIS IS NOT A NIGHTMARE! YOU MUST WAKE UP! NOW!! The thing sunk up to its necks. Its appendages waved and rippled beneath the black mud.

  MARIE! THE NAME IS MASSAO YOKOMOTO! IN THE CEMETERY! QUICKLY! GO THERE! MARIE? WAKE UP!!!

  Just as the Necropolis shattered there appeared an image in her mind. An image of the cemetery itself. She didn't recognize it, but the Shantigra-facet did. She knew exactly where it was.

  The apocalyptic Necropolis disintegrated...

  Shantigra Takahara came awake with a startled jerk. Her breath was ragged and hoarse.

  “Lorne!” she shouted. She had received the message! She threw the bed sheet off her naked body and sprang out of bed. Quickly, she dressed and grabbed her car keys. Time was of utmost importance now!

  * * *

  She found the grave easily enough. As if she were guided to it, as, in fact, she was.

  It was a new grave. No more than a few days. The black soil was still loose and gritty. She fell on her knees and began to dig with her hands madly. It was a desperate act of futility. She openly wept and kept repeating her husband's name.

  Beneath the ground Lorne both sensed and heard her, however faintly. He began to pound on the wooden lid; kick and squirm!

  “Lorne!” she screamed, his name racing across the silent graveyard like wildfire! “Lorne! Help me!” her voice broke into sobbing, “I can't do this alone!” The alien-facet in Marie reacted to her panic and distress. Clumps of sod and dirt began to dislodge themselves and fly out of the hole! Her fingers bled freely but still she dug.

  The symbiot within Lorne was triggered by his emotional state and powerful telekinetic forces began to push up! Lorne beat the wooden coffin lid to a bloody pulp and the earth collapsed in.

  Marie tumbled into the grave as the ground caved in beneath her.

  Their hands met and grasped one another through the black soil. Lorne's head surfaced! His mouth yawned to an impossible cavern and sucked the air hungrily.

  Marie grabbed him by the lapels and crushed his head to her breast.

  “Oh God, Lorne! Oh God! Thank you!” she wept. “Oh God, Oh God, Oh God....” but she trailed off, remembering her nightmare and what had happened when she had called upon the divine.

  Lorne had caught the thought from her mind and looked up at her. He smiled . “It's okay!” he choked out through tears. “We're together now!”

  Chapter 3: The Masters of Foxhounds

  The United Nation's Headquarters,

  New York City,

  January 28th, 1993

  A month had passed since Howard Neilson's nightmare, but it was still very fresh in his memory.

  This Conclave was to be very small and extremely secret. The assembled council in this situation would be composed of only eight members, including himself. Dr. Joselyn Belanger, France, Professor Theodore Chernenski, Russian Federation, Dr. Boris Kazakevich, Germany, Professor Elizabeth Lefebvre, Canada, Mr. Philip Lestlie, U.K., Dr. Navid Ramakrishna, India, and Dr. Francisco Velazquez, Brazil.

  Neilson sat and awaited the group to finish with their greetings. When they were done, he stood, cleared his throat and addressed the Conclave.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen: You have all read the documents on Mr. Lorne Samuel Gibbons. I don't feel the necessity to recount the events that led up to the night of June 26th, 1992. Our planet,” Neilson paused, “quite possibly our entire universe, came to the very brink of annihilation that night seven months ago. The Lurker at the Threshold had nearly stepped through and the Great Old Ones nearly awakened. Nyarlathotep had been freed.

  “Lorne S. Gibbons had, in some way, converted physical matter, including himself, into some form of energy and destroyed Nyarlathotep's host body. It was banished into the Prison-Universe. The Gateway was closed and Lorne himself, destroyed.” He paused for a long time. The council all knew the story. Neilson knew they knew. “Or so we are led to believe.

  “Please, allow me to change subjects for the moment,” Neilson continued. “Dr. Ramakrishna,” he addressed the East Indian council member, “What would you say if I
were to tell you that in our world, there exists a singular creature which has existed since the beginning of Life-on-Earth? And has accomplished this immortality through reincarnation?”

  Dr. Ramakrishna smiled, showing her bleach-white teeth. “Of course! The Hindu Religion holds this true of all life forms.”

  Neilson nodded. “Yes. And what if I were to tell you that this singular creature had retained all of its intelligence, experiences, memories, and knowledge throughout each and every one of its incarnations?”

  The Indian woman remained quiet. It was the Russian Professor Theodore Chernenski who eventually answered. “Since the beginning of 'Life-on-Earth'? It would be god-like. Possibly even God Himself... at least in theory. But come now Professor -” he began to say incredulously, but Neilson cut him off.

  Neilson snapped his fingers and pointed at the Russian. “Exactly! Now, what if I were to tell you all, that this creature truly exists?”

  “There is no such documented creature!” roared the German, Dr. Kazakevich, clearly annoyed.

  “I agree,” added Dr. Ramakrishna levelly.

  Neilson shook his head. “No, no, no...you're both wrong. There is one creature. The common amoeba! The tiny single celled animal. Take any given amoeba and you'll have an exact copy of the very first amoeba on the planet. Any why? Because they reproduce by fission. That is, splitting apart. Their nuclei divides and their protoplasm divides and there exists two amoebas which are exactly the same – except for their smaller sizes – but they both will grow!

  “In humans and in most higher life-forms, reproduction is accomplished sexually. Whether it is vivparity, oviparity, or even hermaphroditism, the offspring is a mixture of the two parents. There is absolutely no chance of the offspring being a clone of the original parent.

  “Of the asexual methods: parthenogenesis and fragmentation: Neither reproduce an original copy of the parent. Oh, in physical form, possibly, but not in experiences or memories. The offspring must reproduce its missing parts and acquire its own memories and experiences. The intelligence and memory of the parent will not be received by the offspring. The brain is not cloned, only duplicated.”

  The council sat quietly, unimpressed with being lectured on biology basics, but Neilson clearly didn't pick up on the point, continuing his lecture. “Of Sporulation and Budding: Again, these are only parts of the original parent. Each separating and growing.

  “It is only through Binary Fission, as in the amoeba, where we find exact duplicates. Since the nuclei itself divides, then both offspring must retain its parent's memories and knowledge.”

  The council members wore either bored or sour expressions.

  “Sorry Neilson. You're wrong,” chimed in Dr. Kazakevich. “There is no parent – as such – in your example of the amoeba. You only end up with two offspring. No remaining parent. Is there a point to all this?”

  “I do have to admit,” Neilson continued undeterred, “I do not believe that amoebas have any intelligence or memories. They react to external stimulus through basic instincts. As for them being god-like? Well, if they could retain memories, experiences, knowledge, and intelligence, then, and only then, might things be different.”

  “This is all very academically interesting, Professor Neilson,” commented Dr. Belanger, “but I sincerely hope you haven't called us all here to voice your theories and fantasies. Let me be blunt. Where is this leading?”

  “Ah... sorry. You're right. I do apologize. I used the example of the amoeba to prepare your for my next point. I want you to understand that a life-form that has achieved a sort of immortality is not as strange as you may think. The fact that a life-form that can reproduce through Binary Fission could be extremely powerful should it be able to retain its memory isn't as alien sounding as you may think.

  “Now, Nyarlathotep and the rest of Its species are immortal. At least there is no known lifespan. From what we have learned in the past, this alien-species grow more and more powerful as they become older.”

  The assembly all conceded and agreed.

  “Nyarlathotep's species has to reproduce through Binary Fission -” Neilson was interrupted by Dr. Kazakevich:

  “-We don't know if they do reproduce at all! They may have all simply existed. There might have been a finite number and always will be.”

  “Not true!” snapped Professor Lefebvre. “We all agree that the older the specimen, the more powerful. If this species all began at once, in a finite number, there would not be an oldest or youngest, Dr. Kazakevich.”

  “Precisely,” cut in Neilson. “And for the same reasons this alien-species must reproduce through Binary Fission, like the amoeba! Seeing that at one point in the very distant past there existed the first and only one of its kind: Nyarlathotep. It had nothing to reproduce with, so it had to have split. Like the very first amoeba. But the difference is that this life-form is intelligent and does retain its experiences and does learn knowledge and does in fact have memories. Even worse! It has the ability to take another creature's memories and knowledge!”

  Dr. Ramakrishna added, “...god-like...”

  The council again fell silent. This time it was Mr. Lestlie who spoke. “So? What is the problem?” he asked in an English accent. “The report states that both Nyarlathotep and Lorne S. Gibbons were lost into the Prison-Universe. There's no one left on Earth who knows how to open the Gateway. I cannot see a problem, Neilson.”

  Howard pursed his lips and remained quiet for a full minute before answering. “A month ago, I had a dream. A nightmare. Mr. Michael Richardson talked to me. He told me that Lorne S. Gibbons survived the explosion somehow and was free in our world. And as you all know, Lorne knew how to open that Gateway, but the potential's worse than that.”

  “Howard,” Professor Cherneski dropped the formalities. “It is not uncommon to have dreams about lost family and friends. We all know Richardson and you were very close,” he said sympathetically.

  Neilson's eyes dropped to the floor. “Yes, I know. But this dream was... different. Nevertheless, dreams can seem more important than they really are, I know. That was why I called Dr. Francisco Velazques in Rio de Janeiro after I awoke.

  “Francisco...” Neilson turned the floor over to the Hispanic man.

  Dr. Velazquez stood up. “As the report states, Mr. Lorne S. Gibbons, through his relationship with one of the symbiot-species, has attained the ability of metempsychosis. A form of reincarnation, if you wish, but with memory and intelligence intact – as well as the target organism's memory and intelligence - creating a multimind, but this is unconfirmed.

  “The Lorne-symbiot's ability of metempsychosis would seem to span continents and even time itself. We believe that the Lorne-symbiot took possession of Senor Juan Emilio Sanchez-Vasquez's body around the 23rd of June, 1992, in Rio Gallegos, Argentina.

  “We have acquired records of Senor Sanchez-Vasquez's private jet stating that it left Rio Gallegos and traveled to Buenos Aires where we have credit card statements and receipts of his purchase of a plane ticket from Buenos Aires to Montreal, Canada. Canadian Customs and Immigration confirms he entered Canada on June 25th, '92. From there he rented a car for the week. The rental was returned one and a half-hours later. Senor Sanchez-Vasquez paid for the entire week. He is – or was – a very rich man. From there he purchased yet another plane ticket to Boston, Massachusetts. U.S. Border Guard confirms his entrance into the U.S.A.

  “In Boston, he rented yet a second rental car and that was the last we heard of him. The car was rented for a one day period but was not returned the following day. The car was eventually found by the police in the Miskatonic University's parking lot four days later following the explosion in the Audio-Engineering Building.”

  Dr. Francisco Velazquez stopped and took a drink of water. “All this collaborates with what truly occurred,” he continued. “The Lorne-symbiot, in possession of Senor Sanchez-Vasquez's body traveled to the University as our reports states. Senor Sanchez-Vasquez suffered a heart
attack and Lorne died, again. We now believe he reincarnated himself in the body of Mr. Samuel in the Philippines, nearly four months into the past!