Evolving Crane

by Dave Welch

  Still invisibly bound, I calmed myself enough to eavesdrop on the conversation behind me.

  “The Feuler? Did what?!” The colonel yelled.

  The doctor spoke in English when talking to me, but when he spoke to Colonel G, he used a strand of syllables and sounds.

  “Switch the procedure!” The colonel ordered.

  The doctor sounded again.

  I never heard such erratic noises. I thought that his voice turned into a cybernetic computer full of clicks and motherboard surges.

  “Alright! Alright!” Colonel G shouted. “This is the last time, doctor.”

  I couldn’t turn around to see what was happening, but my table had stopped drifting.

  The doctor calmly approached the side of my floating bed, breathing wildly.

  “Hi. I’m Doctor Phlaxlur. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he huffed, holding out his hand.

  I reached out to shake his hand, and mysteriously, my constraints lifted. I shook his hand firmly while finally turning around to gather my visual perception. Did I gain full mobility?

  I tried to get off the table.

  Nope.

  I was still bound to this floating bed of damnation.

  “What’s about to happen to me, Doc?”

  “Ohh man…” He muttered. “Good question. Let’s just say that this is one of three different processes. This entire procedure may take about three years.”

  “That’s about… Let’s see, three Earth days, maybe.” He bleated.

  “What? Holy fuck!” I hollered.

  I was in so much fear, but Doctor Phlaxlur was laughing.

  I turned around, scuffling again to free myself. I looked back to see Colonel G in the distance, still floating at the main entrance of the hallway.

  “Now, now,” whispered the doctor as he walked into my line of sight, blocking my view of the wooden man.

  “Let’s not wake the neighbors.” He giggled as he pushed the hovering table deeper into the hall.

  “NNNooooo!” I screamed.

  Then I thought for a second.

  This is what I wanted. I wanted to die. It was just… the way I was about to die that darkened my future. I didn’t want to be tortured to death. I wanted it to be fast.

  I sighed while siding with this unfortunate occasion.

  “Fuck it,” I shrieked as I finally gave into my dissolution.

  Doctor Phlaxlur was still laughing. I soon joined him. We both ended up laughing diabolically as he trekked me deeper and deeper into the raw white light.

  The weightless table rocked me to sleep.

  Time elapsed.

  I woke up, feeling restored.

  And without the interruption of dreams, it was utterly the best sleep I ever had.

  When I opened my eyes, the white light had dimmed. I was staring at another doorway that only reflected my own mien.

  This door was extremely huge. It was so large that I didn’t think it could open. But the door started opening, and I had no time to prepare for what was on the other side.

  Dr. Phlaxlur hurried to the front of the table. I could tell his alert, and giggly demeanor had changed into a form of fear. Then, with his back turned towards me, we entered through the doors.

  Confrontation of this room did not aid in my comfort.

  Transparent holograms, hovering DNA strands, molecules, atoms, and particles were strayed over this magnificent corridor. I saw over several hundred floating monitors and rows and rows of advanced devices. They were all controlled by thousands of scientists. This visual extended for so long that the flooring and the basic structure of this chamber began to spiral. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

  This unfathomable hall was not in a stir. Actually, the scientists were pretty composed and very orderly about their conductive nature.

  Dr. Phlaxlur walked over to a nearby wall that contained a built-in filing system. He took a small green disk from the wall and stuffed it into his pocket. I had no idea what he or the other doctors were working on, but it had to be big.

  The doctor walked in a bit further, and I caught a glimpse of a very peculiar floating dialect. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed to resemble some sort of formula.

  As the enigma presented itself to the massive body of experts, they all stopped in their footsteps. Everything froze as if they were studying this closed book. One alien reach into its lab coat, and a digital hologram (about the size of a small rectangle) appeared beside his head.

  This small rectangle was filled with symbols that I didn’t recognize. The alien single-handedly typed into the rectangle while still studying the hanging formula. Several other scientists began to do the same thing. They all acted as if the doctor and I weren’t even there.

  Suddenly, the room went crazy.

  The scientists switched from one station to the next. One scientist pulled out an archaic laptop, which was very strange.

  Doctor Phlaxlur was still pushing me on into the intersecting hall, sitting adjacent to the oversized doorway.

  But I couldn’t take my eyes off this extremely long hall.

  I pierced through the transparent formula only to capture the sight of another being, far off into the room. Even though the being sat at a grave distance, I was still able to discern this image.

  The being rested at the end of this elongated hall. It was a man, and he sat in a massive chair or a throne full of artistic engravings, diamonds, gold, rubies, you name it. All the precious jewels and elements of matter, that I never knew existed were infused into this seat. But this man was so spectacular that his mighty chair was of no comparison.

  His presence was immeasurable.

  As I gathered myself, I saw that this man appeared to be of human descent. He was shirtless, but his wrist and ankles were decked out in gauntlets and exotic bracelets. His structure was just like mine, but his face was incredibly masked. I couldn’t make it out. His mask was so sharp and classy that all my attention waxed in its sighting.

  The being began to lift his head slowly, and as he did, my eyes traveled up to his scalp. And that’s when I noticed his hair. It was a deep black bush that extended high into the ceiling of this grand room. His hair split up into two large pieces that fed into a couple of rings about the size of roller coaster loops. The rings had been coupled to the left and right corners of the ceiling.

  His hair filled the entire gaping of the rings. And behind this impressive being was a field of black grass. But the more I looked, the more I found that this field was not made of grass. It was his hair, just the same, expanding beyond an even more incalculable space. It looked like a black ocean.

  I was just about to scream, but Phlaxlur stepped in front of me, leaning close to my ear.

  “Don’t look him in the eyes.” He whispered.

  “Whaaaa… Who… is that?” I stuttered in fear.

  Phlaxlur didn’t say anything else. He just double tapped the edge of my floating death bed.

  The hovering table turned to the right and proceeded down the adjacent hall.

  Now I considered myself to be hardcore. But all my knowledge of self-defense could not combat the impetus of my eyes. These guys were utterly extraterrestrial celebrities!

  Time elapsed.

  Doctor Phlaxlur stopped by a wall as he pulled out a flat green disk.

  The disk was about 14 inches in diameter.

  He immediately typed into it. The disk floated up beside him, projecting holograms into the air.

  “Doc…who was that in that big ass chair?” I bellowed with fear.

  Phlaxlur kept walking beside me, typing into the disk.

  I just knew that that being was God.

  “Doc!” I screamed.

  The table stopped as he snatched away from the floating disk, pointing with sternness.

  “We speak not of him… Never!” He yelled.

  I shut up, gulping a bunch of spit.

  The doctor continued to point and stare into my face.

  “Just don’t look in
his eyes,” he ordered while turning back to type into the green hovering disk.

  Phlaxlur glanced to the table, then he looked up at me.

  “What’d you do?”

  “Huh?”

  Just then, the table started back floating.

  Phlaxlur glared into me for a moment before he started back typing into the green disk.

  I didn’t want to wonder about what I had seen, but that wide opening behind that significant being was just too big and overwhelming. I thought I was gazing off into a chain of monstrous black mountains. But all such forming originated from his scalp. Even more amazing was that all of this was contained within one large planet of a room.

  “How big is this ship?” I mumbled to myself.

  “Ship? You’ve been off that ship for a while now,” Phlaxlur interjected.

  “I don’t remember the landing,” I quietly replied.

  “Of course… You, like most, fall asleep during the Time Buckle. Besides, you wouldn’t have noticed it anyway. It’s quite seamless.”

  I didn’t know what he meant by a Time Buckle. I did, however, notice that every equation of time had been modified greatly.

  “What’s Time Buckle?” I asked.

  “The Time Buckle is a thesis that hundreds of scientists, including myself, has explored and later interpreted. However, it can only be explained by the complete breakdown of time.

  You humans operate on time. But here, there is no time, only coordinates and light-based formulas known as Layian cycles. This asteroid is just too massive. It’s a compilation of overlapping galaxies. There are too many zones to govern, and they all have a standard of placement. Layian Cycles locate each placement. They erase your idea of time.” He explained.

  “There are only a few here that can equate the many zones and convert them into cosmic events. I’m familiar with Earth conversions. That’s simple. Your model of time is so kiddy that our light equations tally every spin, even down to the teeniest, weeniest rotation.” He gestured.

  “But doing that for the Layo Galaxy? Ha! Not even I could do that completely.” Phlaxlur chuckled. “We don’t spin here.”

  I wasn’t expecting that answer. But I did opt-in for the pop quiz.

  “You said that we are on an asteroid?”

  “Yes,” answered Phlaxlur. “And it’s about the size of several galaxies congealed together.”

  “…If this asteroid is so big, how do you commute?” I pried with a face of shock.

  “Great question Crane. Every large spacecraft moves at the speed of light here. Then, the Unitran System, which travels ten times as fast as light, provides us with quicker routes for longer travels,” he informed.

  He stopped typing into the disk. Then he turned to look at me.

  “I keep forgetting. You haven’t seen this place.” The wild doctor whispered as he looked into my eyes.

  “I just wanna die, Doc! That’s all! Fuck! Just kill me already!” I whined.

  “Due to the recent events of Space Void, your procedure will have to be staggered.”

  I glared at him like he was mad.

  He stared right back and giggled.

  “Yea, the Feuler just fucked up everything. And, you shouldn’t have stood up.” He hinted, turning away from me and typing into the thin disk.

  The disk shrunk to the size of a dime, and Phlaxlur put it in his coat pocket.

  We finally came to a stop in our awfully long travel. As we approached another door, I froze at the sighting.

  This door was stained with several types of blood.

  Phlaxlur walked over and swiped his index finger against a small panel.

  The doors opened immediately.

  He stood to the side and faced me.

  I ogled into the room as a deep red light emerged.

  Phlaxlur smirked as he double tapped the edge of the floating table.

  The table filtered into the risky mist, seeping slightly from the room.

  I drifted in so slow that I began to panic.

  Suddenly, two aliens snatched me into the room.

  I flew off the table, tumbling headfirst to the coarse ground, breaking my wrists on impact.

  The bloody doors slammed behind me.

  CHAPTER 4:

  Gastropoda Gray Garden

  Part 1

  “I’m not resisting! I’m not resisting!”

  Wham!

  They slammed me violently onto another deathbed.

  My floating table streaked off to a zap of light.

  Screaming from the throbbing fractures in my hand, I finally glanced into their faces.

  It was the black-eyed, big-headed, little gray aliens from Area 51. I stopped yelling.

  “You're real…” I whispered.

  They didn’t speak. They just kept handling me like crappy luggage.

  Suddenly, I bolted stiff to the table.

  “Agh!” I shouted as my invisible constraints remitted.

  The thought of anal probing had me glancing neurotically.

  This space was about as big as my house on Earth. But I couldn’t understand the structure. I believe the room had three sides. The corners just didn't fit the formation. This, of course, made no sense to me. The more I tried to understand the room, the more complex it became.

  As my eyes wandered, I noticed another gory bed beside me. It sat next to a tub built into the coarse flooring. It was filled with entrails.

  I snatched away from the sight, shaking.

  I glared into the ceiling for relief. But there were so many sharp, menacing tools hanging from the roof. The gizmos were attached to the ends of, what I perceived to be, a jumble of intestines, nerves and spinal cords.

  Snatching from the ceiling, I stared straight ahead.

  Androids moved about the room, with century-old machines built into the walls. And with every stop the droids made, the computers in the walls would turn into a different type of equipment. This happened all over the room and high into the gory ceiling.

  I grew nauseous. The technological overlay was just as disturbing, for my mind could not grasp this makeup.

  The aliens scuttled over the room, collecting their tools.

  Suddenly, the door opened.

  I snatched over to see Dr. Phlaxlur walking.

  “I apologize for my excitement. I forgot to upload your procedure.” He voiced in laughter.

  I was relieved that he was here.

  The door shut fast as the computerized room finished adjusting.

  Phlaxlur stood at the head of my bed. Facing me, he slid a disk into a crack in the wall.

  A diagram of circuits, images, and mathematical expressions filled the air. The entire room dimmed in its coloration, and a great calm followed as I marveled at this amazing sight. This formulated chasm.

  The small gray aliens pointed at the images, communicating in their native tongue. Doctor Phlaxlur joined in as he walked over, pointing in certain areas of the diagram.

  I didn’t want to see this. But I was still stuck, listening to them quarrel. I closed my eyes because I was still alive. I just wanted to die.

  Then, the door opened again.

  I opened my eyes as they all stopped.

  Everything.

  Both aliens gawked at the door while Phlaxlur dropped his head. It was like he knew who entered the room. It had to be someone of importance to stop these guys.

  The suspense was overwhelming. I just had to see…

  The door closed as I peeped over to see Colonel G creeping in, hovering smoothly as usual.

  He stopped and looked at me. Then he looked at the transparent diagram that took over this surgical lab.

  We were all stiff, even the little gray aliens.

  Colonel G skimmed over the images. Then, he floated over to the wall behind me.

  Alas, Phlaxlur whirled around, pointing sternly.

  “Tussami, don’t you start this shit!” He yelled with a twitching hand.

  Colonel G looked at the doctor. The
n he looked over to the slot in the wall, where Phlaxlur inserted the disk.

  “Guitussami???” Phlaxlur shouted.

  Colonel G had yet to respond, and Phlaxlur was still pointing as rigidly as possible.

  Suddenly, the entire diagram glitched.

  It happened so fast that I barely noticed. The only thing that gave it away was when Phlaxlur lifted his head to the ceiling.

  He closed his eyes and yelled.

  “…God! Damn it! Tussami…"

  “He hates that.” The Colonel noted, keeking at me with a smirk on his face.

  “You do this every time!” Phlaxlur howled. “This is my procedure.”

  “Yeah, but it’s my project.” The Colonel returned as he floated over to Phlaxlur.

  A tiny box ejected from Guitussami’s midsection like a disk drive.

  “Here. Use this in conjunction with your formula.”

  Phlaxlur snatched the box from his abdomen.

  “Agh!”

  “I'm sorry!”

  “Just kidding.” He grinned as the abdomen slit closed.

  Phlaxlur leered at Guitussami, gripping the box firmly.

  The big-headed aliens were just as lost as I was. The only difference was that I was about to die at the hands of these fools.

  “Is that all?” Phlaxlur sassed. “Sir?”

  “Yes…that is all.” Colonel G replied as he turned to me.

  He looked back to Phlaxlur and then sadly down to the ground.

  Phlaxlur kept gawping, tapping the box against his hand as Colonel G floated in disapproval.

  They looked worried. It must’ve been something serious to rowel up my company of aliens.

  What was it?

  What could possibly stew them?

  “You may begin, Doctor…” The Colonel concluded.

  Phlaxlur tossed the box up in the air and caught it.

  “Awesome.”

  “Let’s go, guys!” He shouted, whirling around to the aliens as they goggled with hesitation

  Phlaxlur waited a second. Then he reiterated his joy for stardom in their native tongue and they all shot over to their devices.

  Colonel G stared into the ground as he began his slow and studied exit.

  “You leaving me?” I asked as he graciously passed.

  I could see the concerned look on his face. Because I still saw him as a friend. He kinda reminded me of Tom. I felt like he was about to leave without saying anything else to me.