Intrinsic: Book One of the Terran Cycle

by Philip C. Quaintrell

  She looked down at her touchpad in the fabric of her sleeve and saw that it was no longer responding. It had to be Kalian. Despite his drastic change in emotions she had to agree with him. She thought about her father and felt angry herself. Savrick had pulled the trigger but everything he did could be laid at ALF’s feet. The AI had made bad choices and trillions, including the Terran civilisation, had suffered for it. And now a completely separate society that had nothing to do with the Terran was paying the price. They had come between Savrick and them with nothing but death to show for it.

  “I think it’s time for another lesson.” ALF gestured to the descending subconducer while eyeing the flickering lights. “Your combat technique is predictable,” he went on as if Kalian had said nothing. “You need to master your emotions and learn control. These micro EMPs you throw off are dangerous. Once you have an understanding of your capabilities, you can integrate the two efficiently. You must have complete mind-body connection.” The chair had fully formed, just as before. “When you face Savrick or any of the Gomar, they will not hold back. They are each veterans of a war they were strong enough to win. You must be better.”

  Kalian strode over to the machine without hesitating. She respected him for that; to put everything aside in view of the bigger picture, the more immediate issue. She could see the difference on his face. This was no longer the man she had met only a week ago, he would do whatever he had to. She tried to bury the thought, but she had seen the way he looked at her. She had seen how angry he became after Savrick hurt her in the Highclave chamber.

  “He needs to rest!” She objected. “He hasn’t slept and you’ve been fighting for hours. He needs food and water and sleep.” Kalian stopped before sitting in the chair. He turned his head but didn’t make eye contact.

  He hesitated, “Do it...” He sat back in the chair and allowed the faceplate to cover his head. Light poured out of the edges around his head as the machine began the next download.

  “I have made mistakes, unforgivable choices.” ALF surprised her by not simply vanishing. “But with Kalian there may be a way to wipe the slate clean and start again, to do things right. He must be better, Li’ara.”

  “You’re going to kill him if you push him too far. You don’t know how much of this machine he can take.” She retorted.

  “It goes both ways,” he tapped the subconducer. “He can see into the machine and the machine can see into him.”

  “You mean you can see into him.” She would not be led astray by his choice of words.

  “Yes I can. There’s a very fortified part of his mind that contains something he feels is precious to him. Do you know what’s inside that part?” She already knew the answer. “I calculate that he considers you more important than the entire Conclave. It seems you’ve made quite the impression. But don’t worry, it’s a good thing. You give him strength; he’s going to need that.” She didn’t like the idea of him being inside Kalian’s head.

  “Do you have a point to make, robot?” ALF gave her a coy smile.

  “His sense of control is acutely connected to his emotions, Miss Ducarté. Something I believe you should be keenly aware of in the coming conflict.”

  “Stay out of his head, and mine.” She didn’t want to enter into a mind game with an AI. She would keep Kalian alive, whatever the cost; she didn’t need ALF to make her aware of anything. He moved round the machine until they were side by side.

  “Savrick is only the beginning. I believe that something worse is coming, something older. If Kalian isn’t strong enough to beat him then I fear everything will soon come to an end.” Li’ara wasn’t sure what ALF was hinting at but she had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

  “What do you mean something worse? And from what I’ve seen Savrick isn’t the beginning, he’s the end.”

  “Before the war I discovered several artefacts on the outer reach of the Norma Arm. Naturally I began investigations into their origins. Based upon the level of surrounding rock I believe they were ancient probes from before my time, possibly even before the Terran. Before I could confirm my findings however, Savrick attacked the Larena system with the Gommarian. He destroyed the entire system with a single strike. I had to leave the investigation to smaller programmes and concentrate on the war. But there was no mistaking the comparison. The ancient probes were made of the same material as the central processing unit at the heart of the Gommarian. The Avatar’s findings proved that much.”

  “What are you saying, Savrick found some ancient technology that predates the Terran? Something worse than him?”

  “I’m saying I believe Savrick is being used to cleanse this galaxy of Terran life, but I don’t know why. That’s why Kalian is so important. If something is trying to eliminate all Terran life, even in its devolved state,” he nodded at her, “it’s vital he not only survives but he’s as strong as he can be. It’s possible the entire war was manipulated from the beginning.”

  “The only being to ever manipulate the Terran was you. You’re just hoping there’s something worse so it can’t all be blamed on you. But don’t worry;” she said with no lack of sarcasm, “It’s a very human trait you’re emulating, so good for you.” She turned from the delusional robot and focused on Kalian. He lay perfectly still as if his whole body had separated from his mind. ALF became a cloud of blue stars in the corner of her eye.

  Everything the AI had said was crap. She was surprised it could feel guilt but knew it was grasping at straws. Savrick is the enemy and he is coming, not some bogeyman made up by a machine that’s been on its own for two hundred thousand years.

  Light flooded in as the mask withdrew from his face. Kalian shut his eyes tight but the light remained, as if the source was inside his retinas. He felt hands reaching for him as he stumbled out of the chair. The sensation was nauseating; he knew the hands were reaching for him before they touched him and without seeing them. He thought he was going to be sick as fingers gripped his armoured chest and back trying to steady him. He knew it was Li’ara but he didn’t know how.

  Kalian fell to his knees as his mind pulsed out into the room, building a mental picture of the surrounding complex. Even through the armour he could feel every imperfection on the skin of her hands and knew she had a cut below her thumb. She felt different from everything else; it was like his brain recognised something familiar in her. They were the same and not the same all at once. He could feel her worry turn into panic as his auditory senses switched back on. Every word was accompanied with a high pitch frequency that made his head feel like it was going to split in half.

  “What’s happening to him?” It was Li’ara.

  “His mind is like a computer.” ALF’s voice had a strange electronic filter on it. “His brain has the capacity but it isn’t used to the speed, he just needs some buffering time. His mind is creating the extra space. As we speak, his brain will be reconfiguring into a more efficient layout.”

  Kalian tried to make sense of that through the pain. He had images and voices in his head that felt familiar but he couldn’t place them. He knew he had been learning but it felt like years ago in another life. He lost all concept of time. In a moment of clarity he knew the machine had been taking him through what a normal Terran would experience in just under a hundred years. Except all that learning had been dumped into his brain in what had most likely been only a day. Or was it a year? The pain increased and he could no longer tell the difference between a day and a year. And just then the blinding light became total darkness as his thoughts lost their cohesion.

  Hours later he regained consciousness like a light being switched on. His first instinct however was not to open his eyes, not the dark brown ones anyway. Instead he let his mind pour out like a stream filling the area with his invisible awareness. He had to stop himself from laughing out loud, the experience was truly profound. He perceived the physics of reality like a god. He knew how everything worked right down to the orbiting electrons of every atom. It was as if a hologra
m had overlaid the world and explained anything he looked at. Even his sight made him feel omnipresent as he saw everything around him in one view without having to turn his head.

  What was more was the feeling of control over this reality. If he wanted he could manipulate the atoms and molecules to form new structures at will. He resisted the urge to cause the oxygen molecules to spontaneously combust just for fun. The feeling was overwhelming as he experienced everything at once. He focused on Li’ara for a second, or a day, or a year, it didn’t matter. He knew he was sitting back in the reclined chair and she was sitting next to him. She had fallen asleep across his stomach with her arms folded.

  He reached out to her glowing golden form. He could see every atom that grounded her to reality. But her mind was something else all together. It looked or felt, he couldn’t tell the difference, to be a simple structure and a complex one at the same time. He knew then he was seeing the potential of her human brain stuck in the devolved state his had once been.

  As well as seeing how expansive this new reality was he could also sense the almost infinite possibilities within his own mind. If he retracted back he felt he could live inside his own head for centuries, exploring new worlds his imagination created.

  Li’ara stirred in her sleep and focused his attention again; it was so hard not to get lost in his exploration of everything. He could feel the frequencies that flowed out from her mind like waves of an ocean. Out of curiosity he changed his perception from that of sight to something more akin to touch. Using a metaphysical finger he dipped it into the waves and watched it light up in ripples like the surface of a calm pond.

  The reaction scared him and he withdrew from the world with a speed that made his physical body wake up. Li’ara shot up the moment he intruded on her mind’s personal space. He opened his eyes and sat up to see a very confused Li’ara. Her confusion only lasted until she realised Kalian was awake though.

  “Are you ok?” Just like she had on the Icarus station, Li’ara ran a critical eye over him. He knew she wouldn’t find anything wrong, he had never felt so good. He hopped off the chair with a new found agility and control of his muscles. The armour felt like a second skin as he connected with the intelligent nanocelium.

  “I feel great!” He held his hand out flexing it experimentally. As he did the lights dimmed with every clench of his fist. Only this time he was doing it on purpose.

  He felt the particles in the middle of the room change. Molecules of atmosphere being pushed away as trillions of stars replaced the empty space. He saw the apparent chaos of the pattern coalesce and he knew what was coming.

  “It’s a start.” ALF was standing in the centre of the room. He knew the hologram of the AI would have appeared in half the blink of an eye and wondered at his new perception and awareness of time. ALF walked round him with a critical eye similar to Li’ara. Kalian then became aware of the surge in neutrinos that passed through his body; it made his skin feel itchy. ALF was scanning him on every level. Kalian’s first reaction was to recoil from the intrusion. To his surprise he felt the nanocelium react to his recoil and change their molecular structure. The scans then fell short, unable to penetrate the exotic metal. ALF gave him a knowing look as a silent conversation passed between them.

  “That’s lazy. You shouldn’t need to use the armour.” He continued to pace while he tapped his temple as an indicator to what Kalian should really be using. Li’ara looked more confused, unaware of what had taken place between the two. Kalian ignored her look for a moment to think about what ALF said. Just thinking about repelling the scan brought memories to the surface. Were they memories? He knew with certainty that if he created a telekinetic cocoon he could keep the scanning particles at bay. Furthermore he knew he could actually use those particles to his advantage. By vibrating the molecules on the surface of the cocoon he could absorb the neutrinos and convert them to stored energy.

  He connected to the hub of nanocelium in the belt buckle and commanded them to stop blocking the scan. His skin began to itch again. He reached out for the atmosphere that surrounded him and condensed them into an impenetrable fort. His skin stopped itching confirming his success. Now he forced the molecules within this static field to vibrate. He saw the air around him ripple, as if he was standing in a desert heat. He felt a build of intense energy in his spine and he had to fight to contain it. His body wanted to expel it immediately but he didn’t know how. His concentration wavered as his left hand began to open on its own. He could feel a growing ball in his hand that wasn’t there. Now his entire left arm felt hot inside the armour.

  He couldn’t believe his eyes as he witnessed the molecules around his hand begin to coalesce in a swirling vortex of light. The phenomenon was localised to his hand but he noticed Li’ara take a step back. They had seen this happen before when he repelled Savrick in the council chamber. He focused on releasing the energy in small amounts, so he could see it build in his palm. Again he felt the memory float to the surface and he remembered learning about plasma. He knew it was one of the four fundamental states of matter. Right now he was ionising the air molecules by turning his own body into a living dynamo. He could feel the electromagnetic fields ebbing from his body and being pulled into his hand as the ball grew. It occurred to him that plasma comprises the major component of a star, but he didn’t know how he knew that.

  His sudden lack of concentration altered the levels of electromagnetism. The miniature sun in his hand grew beyond his control and his body instinctively rejected it, launching the energy across the room. At the same time his electromagnetic field expanded into the room with explosive consequences. The moment the plasma burned into the wall, the Novaarians’ and Li’ara’s weapons became overcharged. The Intrinium was ignited beyond the guns normal capacity. Kalian reacted as if he had experienced this scenario a hundred times. He flicked his right hand out towards the circular portal behind his friends. Mirroring his action, the weapons flew from their owners and into the corridor beyond the translucent door. At the same time ALF commanded the nanocelium to solidify the door back into place.

  The lights flickered and the ground shook briefly as the weapons detonated on the other side. Everyone turned back to Kalian with shock on their face. Li’ara’s expression turned to concern as she raised his left arm. His hand was burnt again from the heat of the plasma. He looked up to see the smoking hole in the wall where the ball of energy had impacted. He felt his emotions struggle between the thrill and horror of what he had just done. It might have been the most incredible thing he had ever done, but he had also nearly killed everyone.

  The pain in his hand was becoming hard to ignore. ALF came closer and inspected it himself with little concern on his artificial face.

  “You don’t need to remember,” he touched his own temple again. “You already know what to do; you just need to believe it. Think and react, Kalian.” ALF stepped away and ushered Li’ara with him. Kalian knew he was right to do so, who knew what he might do next? Like the AI had said he thought about what he needed to do to fix his hand. On the Valoran his body had done it without thought, but that was before he learned control.

  He connected to his body and felt the movement of every cell and electrical signal. It felt like the most complex factory in creation as it teemed with life. He focused on his hand trying to ignore the intricacy of everything else. The first thing he did was stop the signals being sent from his nerve endings. The pain shut off instantly. He was impressed with his new knowledge of biology, though he wasn’t sure if it was the subconducer or just his connection to his body. He wanted to bypass the clotting stage and regenerate new tissue as quickly as possible. He stimulated the stem cells in the dermis and the basal membrane of the epidermis in his skin. He used contraction to bring the connective tissue back together and seal up the margins of the wound. After he was satisfied he reconnected the nerve endings and was happy to feel no pain.

  He showed the new palm to Li’ara, who gripped it in her own for a
more tactile inspection. Her look of amazement quickly turned sour as she looked back up at his face. He gave her a questioning look before realising she was focusing on his nose. He reached up and felt the blood trickling towards his mouth. He looked to ALF for guidance before the room slipped into infinity. He backed up and felt the wall behind him. No, not the wall, it was the floor. He had less than a second to realise he was lying on the floor before reality left him.

  “Holy shit...” Roland couldn’t believe his eyes. He knew the ship was big but the narrow corridors had helped to disguise that fact. But the structure he was standing in now was epic in proportions. They were occupying a gantry half a mile up from the masses of humans and Laronians below, all of which had been dumped into a similar situation to the one on the Laronian warship. He could see the Laronians had clumped together in one corner while the other seven thousand humans milled around.

  It was the sight above that gave him pause. The massive Laronian warship easily fit into the expansive hangar as it lay suspended a mile above. As he watched, the alien ship was pulled apart like a dissected frog in a biology lesson. Every piece was surgically removed and passed along giant black arms into the walls of the bigger ship. The Laronian vessel was being ripped apart and used for raw materials. He could just hear the people below over the sounds of the operation above and wondered if Captain Fey was in there somewhere.