*
The path continued to lead them deeper into the light-starved woods, away from the safety and warmth of the river. The twisted trees only let slivers of sky shine through, making it almost impossible to distinguish friend from foliage. Time passed, though no one in the group -save Maloch- could have told you how much. Their direction was determined by the path, though Kingston estimated that they were now heading due north. The cold, which had disappeared since leaving the abandoned city, returned with a vengeance. What little they could see of the clouds above was grey and black, which meant that they were laden with snow and only waiting for a signal to release their powdery cargo. Around them, they could hear dozens of animals moving in the underbrush, occasionally calling out to each other with a crescendo of howls and chirps.
“How is he doing, Maloch?” asked Kingston, watching Barsch with unmatched concern. The boy had eventually stopped mumbling, although he could not decide if that was a good or a bad sign.
Maloch, still carrying Barsch, turned away from his vigilant scan for potential threats and answered, “That is... a difficult question, Kingston. On one hand, the damage he suffered was extensive, and it's a miracle that he's lasted this long, but on the other hand, I’m worried. He is recovering too fast.”
A puzzled look spread across Kingston's face as he asked, “He's recovering quickly? Isn't that a good thing?”
“This is more than just a quick recovery... at the rate his body is healing... it simply isn't humanly possible...”
Simultaneously, they looked at Alza, who was several feet in front of them. “Do you think... she is doing something?”
Maloch seemed to study her for a moment, noting that she seemed to be preoccupied with something, judging by how she gave no reaction when a bramble left a line of blood on her arm. “It is possible that she is healing him unconsciously, but I will not know unless we can separate them and see if there are any changes.”
It was Kingston's turn to study Alza. “No. As long as Barsch is getting better, that's all that matters. If things take a turn for the worse... I'll ask her if she's... affecting him, and I won't take silence for an answer.”
Up ahead, the bramble path suddenly opened up. Alza, finally returning to her senses, called out, “Hermit. Re-mech. I think we're here.”
Kingston gently pushed past her, staring with wonder at the scene before them. They had arrived at a semi-frozen lake, chunks of permafrost peeking out from the calm waters. The lake lay in a semicircle, with a snow-topped beach on their side and a ring of mountains cradling the lagoon and protecting it from the noon sun. At the apex of the lake, a clear-blue waterfall fell from some hidden stream. On one side of the beach, a solid spire of rock stood awkwardly, as if it had been placed by a deity with no sense of style. As they stood and stared, the heavens decided to release their burden, sending soft, white but above all, cold snow falling towards the awestruck travellers.
Alza, having decided that the view was not so spectacular after all, began to walk towards the iceberg infested lake. With an impatient glare, she turned and called out, “What are you waiting for? We have to look for the entrance.”
Despite himself, Kingston let out a small chuckle, earning him a cold glare from Alza. Hurriedly, he spoke, “Don't forget, I was a famous scientist before my exile, so, even though I was cut off from the scientific community, I still stayed in contact with some of my former colleagues. One of them, an earnest man named Dr Felix, told me about this station, and about its defence measures.”
Alza gave him a look that said, “Get on with it.”
After clearing his throat, he continued, “Well, it seems as though the site for this station was considered fairly dangerous, but they built it nonetheless due to time constraints. So, in order to protect all of the people inside, they decided to use the unique geographical features of the land as a giant defence mechanism. Maloch, would you be so kind as to walk over to that strange rock formation and press the top.”
Without questioning Kingston's strange instruction, Maloch gently lowered Barsch to the ground and lumbered over to the unusual stalagmite. With no dramatic pause or theatrical flourish, he placed his four-fingered hand atop the rocky peak. There was a crunching noise, followed by a mechanical whirring that seemed to come from within the spire. A moment later, a portion of the rock-face slid away to reveal a dimly lit computer screen. For a moment, it was blank, until lines of text began to appear on the decades old monitor. Kingston strode forward and reached out a hand towards the screen, it's touch-capacitive surface now displaying a line of text which read, “Please place palm on screen.” Following the devices instructions, Kingston gently laid his palm on the glass.
A moment later a computerised voice rang out from an unseen speaker, “Human DNA confirmed, deactivating primary defence measures.”
“What happens now?” called Alza, showing interest for the first time.
“Watch the lake,” was Kingston’s terse reply.
Something was happening beneath the ice-studded water, and Alza watched as a multitude of bubbles rose to the surface with a great churning sound. Like a silent submarine rising to the surface, the bubbles were followed by a massive grey bridge. It was soon lifted into the air by hundreds of expanding support beams. Dozens of lights -running down the length of the bridge- lit up, making it seem as though the bridge was floating in mid-air instead of on the surface of the water.
Across the lake, where the bridge met the waterfall, something else was happening. As if a wandering swordsman had reached down and cut the water, the waterfall parted in two, revealing a carefully concealed door. The gate looked thick, and appeared to have been constructed to repel anything that would pose a threat to the clueless people sleeping inside. Above the entryway, carved into the rock, were the words, “WELCOME TO REVELATION STATION 52. PLEASE WIPE YOUR FEET BEFORE YOU ENTER.”
Alza read the sign above the door twice, as if to be sure of what it said, before commenting, “That was surprisingly easy.”
“That was only the first step. The stations were built to withstand nuclear impacts, so you shouldn't take their security lightly.”
“Kingston. Alza. We have a problem.”
Behind them, Maloch was leaning over Barsch's tortured figure. The boy had been forgotten in the commotion, but had now become the centre of attention once more. Sweat streaked down his brow, pooling into the hollows that had once held plump cheeks. His eyes were whirring around in their sockets, as if they were trying to find a way out of his dying body. His limbs were flayed out, and each breath was ragged and weak.
“What is happening to him!” asked Kingston, face gaunt and heart pounding.
“I do not know! He was fine before I set him down. I don't see how this could-
The re-mech paused for a micro-second, just long enough to steal a glance at Alza, who was standing nearby. Her face was serene, as usual, but her hands were trembling.
This is just a guess, but I think that his body is having some kind of reaction to the accelerated healing? Maybe his body couldn't take the stress of recovering so quickly?”
Immediately, Kingston rounded on Alza, grabbing her forcefully by the shoulders and barking, “Look at what you've done! You have to stop whatever it is you're doing! Otherwise Barsch will die! Do you understand me?”
For the first time since he had met her, Alza looked confused. It was enough of a shock for Kingston's grip to loosen, allowing Alza to slip free and skip back to a safe distance. Within heartbeats, the confusion had disappeared from her doll-like face, replaced by her usual icy demeanour. Although her face had been wiped of anything resembling emotion, a keen eye would have seen her gaze soften and flicker towards Barsch before hardening and returning to Kingston.
“I have done nothing. Back in the abandoned city, when I told you that my powers aren't always under my control... I wasn't lying. I've been trying to heal him... but nothing has worked. Whatever is happening to him... has nothing to do
with me...”
With those honest words, Kingston seemed to deflate. His anger towards her, mixed in with the hope that she might be able to do something, left him in that instant. With an audible sob, he sunk to his knees, his eyes staring at nothing.
“Maloch, how much time does he have?” asked Alza, already wiping the old man's presence from her sight.
The re-mech looked up, his eyes conveying sorrow and loss. “With his current rate of degradation and pulmonary excitation... minutes.”
To Kingston, everything stopped. He couldn’t take much more. Something told him that if he let Barsch enter the light, then he would be following close behind. At the very least, the boy would not face death alone.
Thankfully Maloch chose that moment to speak words of hope, “However, if we could get him to a cryogenic chamber and freeze him, we might be able to save him.”
“Then there's no time to waste. Old- ...Kingston, stand up, we need to go!” called Alza.
Kingston's body shuddered with every word, but his eyes gained focus at the same time. With great effort, he pulled himself up, his body seemingly charged up from Alza's stern words.
“You're right, Barsch needs me. I promised her, that I would never let him come to harm... I have to save him!”
In two heartbeats, Kingston was kneeling beside Barsch, his withered arms showing some of their former strength as he easily lifted his dying protégé into the air and into his arms. “Follow me!” he cried as he began to jog towards the raised bridge. The setting sun made finding the crossing hard, but the embedded lights helped them find their way across. Dead ahead lay the imposing station entrance, it's thick steel door an obstacle that Kingston would not tolerate.
With authority in his voice, he bellowed, “Alza, Maloch, break it down!”
Without thinking, Alza raised her hand and began to summon the power that lay buried in her mind. Before she could wonder why she had complied so readily, the power had awoken and flooded her consciousness with liquid fire. She breathed out, feeling more alive than previously thought possible. The energy within her continued to swell until she feared she would burst.
She knew that she had to release it, or it would consume her and leave her a burnt out husk. But she persevered, mentally shaping the ferocious pressure into a more manageable shape. In her mind, she pictured a spark blossoming into a white-hot flame. She took that image and merged it with the created shape, holding it in until she was sure that she had gone too far. With a burst of concentration, she forced the flame outwards, watching it come to life as a stream of molten fire that impacted the door with an audible roar.
Only then did she become aware of the re-mech running beside her, it's right arm upright and ending in a clenched fist. Without slowing, she watched Maloch slam his titanic hand into the super-heated metal. A thunderous crash resounded as both fist and door shattered. For Maloch, only a broken stump remained. And as for the door: it was simply gone.
Without bothering to stop and inspect his missing hand, Maloch rushed forward into the station proper. And stopped dead in his tracks.
They were in a large white room, roughly twenty feet long and ten feet high. The walls and floor were bare, and the only furnishings were the retractable lights in the lofty ceiling and a sealed airlock on the opposite side of the room. In the centre of the room, unseen at first due to its subtlety, was a blue ringed circle, roughly 3 feet wide.
“Kingston, what is this?” asked Alza, staring at the unfamiliar sights.
For a moment, Kingston didn't respond, as his eyes tried to comprehend what had happened. Alza opened her mouth to snap him out of it, but he responded before she had the chance.
“I'm sorry, I should have known that there would be a decontamination chamber. They must have built this after Felix died... This will slow us down, but it's necessary in order for us to move forward. If the A.I doesn't like us, it will enter lock-down mode, and then nothing will be getting in or out. For now, just head into the scanner at the centre of the room and wait for it to scan you.”
With something akin to trepidation, Alza strode forward. As soon as her foot crossed the circle's perimeter, it lit up and a voice rang out, “Good afternoon Sir, Madam or Other. If you would be so kind as to stand in the middle of the blue circle and stay still, I will commence the scan. Do not worry, this scan is designed to pick up molecular impurities and remnant pollution, so you should be fine as long as you followed the U.N.O.E Pod Release Decontamination Instructions. Please stand by for scanning.”
From a recessed groove in the ceiling came what looked like a cross between a laser turret and a fire hose. It snaked downwards, its elongated body supporting a wide-nozzle on one end, from which came a soft blue laser. The beam struck the blue border and began to rebound, an invisible lattice keeping it from arcing off towards the others. Soon, Alza was enveloped in a web of blue light, her lithe figure barely visible. Seconds later, the scanner retracted into the ceiling, its job done.
After a few more seconds, the voice reappeared, “Scan complete. Error. Subject does not match any DNA signature of station occupants. Calculating... DNA is abnormal... tampering suspected... Possibility that DNA irregularity is due to faulty scanning equipment... calculating... there is a one in six hundred-thousand chance. Odds accepted as possible. No other abnormalities detected. No pollutants in genetic sequence detected. You are clear to enter. Have a nice day.”
At the opposite end of the room, the airlock swung open with a gentle hiss. If Alza was disappointed by the results of her scan, she did not show it. Instead, she slowly walked towards the inviting doorway, her retreating figure mysterious, yet somehow melancholic.
As soon as Alza stepped through the steel portal, the heavy frame swung shut. It seemed as though the way would only open for the person that had been scanned, to prevent those who would try to cheat the system from gaining entry. Maloch, coming to this realisation first, walked into the sapphire circle. The voice reappeared a heartbeat later, spouting off an identical message to the first. Once more, the serpentine scanner descended from the ceiling and began mapping Maloch's entire structure. More precious seconds were wasted, until finally...
“Scan complete. Beginning analysis of scan data... analysing... analysis complete. Subject is a revitalization mechatron, serial number: 76654-B. Model type: ARK-13. Warning, extensive structural and core damage detected, advise immediate scrapping or repair. Malfunction in A.I. Limiter detected... emotion engine anomalies may be present, please report to deactivation cradle immediately. You are clear to enter. Please continue to serve your masters with grace and loyalty.”
Once again, the airlock opened just long enough for Maloch to step through. The re-mech gave Kingston a look that could only be described as “worried” before the solid steel structure closed once more. Finally, it was Kingston's turn to be judged. Still carrying Barsch, he quickly moved towards the blue ring. Something made him stop before he could step forward. It was a lingering sense of hesitation, born from a paranoid side of himself that he had thought was long gone.
“Will it accept us? I've lived outside of the station for decades… it might see me as a source of contamination. And Barsch? The decontamination system was designed to deny entrance to anything that might threaten the people inside. And he's hurt, burned by liquid pollution. Not to mention that something is messing with his healing, and those things Raigan said...”
“Mom... please... don't let me hurt any-more... please… just let me die....please...” Kingston looked down in surprise, searching for the source of the voice. With a sad sigh, Kingston gently laid Barsch in the scanning ring, while saying, “It's okay m'boy, the pain will be gone soon. I just need you to hold on for a little while longer, okay?”
There was no reply, as Barsch's rambling words continued to grow more and more frenzied. Carefully, Kingston knelt beside his fallen friend, while above them the automated message began to play. Seconds later, the slithering scanner descended for t
he third and hopefully last time. Again, it's azure beam struck the floor, sending a lattice of energy spiralling upwards and obscuring the duo. The scan lasted longer than Alza and Maloch's combined, though it ended just as Kingston started to worry about it. However, the scanner did not disappear as it had previously, and merely hung in mid-air with its barrel pointing towards Kingston's chest.
“Scan complete. Error. Error. Significant amount of pollutants detected. Warning. Warning. Please vacate the area immediately. You are a risk to the 135 250 humans in cryogenesis. If you do not leave... you will be terminated. Warning. Warning. Please-”
Kingston stopped listening to the ominous voice, its message repeating once more before disappearing. It was not gone for long before another voice was heard. It was much harsher than the first, saying, “You have refused to comply with our orders. You are endangering the people under my care... and I will not allow that!”
Then, in a slightly calmer tone, it continued, “Please prepare for your imminent termination in three, two, one.”
The docile scanner suddenly dropped down, revealing a very real and very dangerous plasma barrel sliding out from a hidden compartment. After a quick charge, it fired three bolts of lethal energy towards where Kingston had been. The shots hit the floor with a disappointing fizzle, the serpent-like turret already shaking it's long tube shaped head in surprise. Directly beneath it, Kingston was making a frantic dash for the still closed door, Barsch held awkwardly in his arms. A moment later, the scanner twisted around and began to fire again, its plasma bursts somehow always managing to just miss the fleeing duo. One might say that they had luck on their side, but, as it has been said before and will be said again, they are unloved by Fate.
An errant bolt of energy struck Kingston's left leg, causing him to stumble and fall. The blast had only landed a glancing blow, but it was enough for the twisting turret to catch up to them. It hovered overhead, it's energy spewing barrel glowing red with malevolence. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, giving Kingston just enough time to scramble up and throw his body over his defenceless companion and whisper, “Forgive me...”
“KINGSTON!” There was a sudden crash, followed by a loud whump from the barrel of a laser.
For a heartbeat, Kingston thought that the computer above had called out his name in mockery of his imminent demise, but he quickly realised that the caller was much closer, and much friendlier.
Opening his eyes, Kingston started in wonder at the scene before him. Around them, forming a semi-transparent dome, was a shell of pure energy. The plasma shot had left a crimson scorch mark at the apex of the shield, which, as he watched, faded away. Maloch was just outside the dome, his mining laser still in the process of changing back into a hand. Alza was a few feet away, standing by the now empty doorway. Gingerly, Kingston raised himself up, his body still ready to move at a moment's notice. At the other side of the room, a pile of metal was rapidly cooling. What remained of the door had collided with the scanner, fusing the two in a molten forge. The computerized voice had fallen silent.
Alza's shield dissipated as Kingston meekly asked, “How?”
The re-mech was already bending down, arms outstretched to help the hermit up, when he said, “I hacked into the terminal on the other side of the door, and found out that the scanner had rejected you and Barsch. I managed to temporarily disable the Station A.I., allowing me to break through the door without triggering the lock-down. After that... well, you can see what happened.”
“I see. Thank you, Maloch,” said Kingston, tears welling up in his eyes. For a moment he thanked whichever god had seen fit to bring Maloch into their group. Alza was already walking through the door when he called out, “Alza! I'm sorry about before... I should have trusted you. Thank you.”
Alza gave no reply, but her step seemed lighter somehow. After helping Kingston to his feet, Maloch reached down and felt Barsch's brow with his sensor-studded hand.
“This is not good. We need to cool his body down, now!”
“The cryogenic pods should be in the main area. Follow me!” With a lurching start, Kingston hurried through the devastated doorway, vaguely noting that the door had come cleanly off its hinges. Beyond the airlock was a small white passageway, no more than seven feet high, causing Maloch to duck low to avoid hitting the ceiling. Multiple paths branched off from the passage, but Kingston ignored them, leading them deeper into the station.
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