An Obsidian Sky (6 page)

A creaking
came to me audibly. I spun, searching with my torches, but could
see nothing. Again I heard it from the same area. It creaked again
and then again. Something was out there. Something was watching us.
I could feel its eyes burning holes into me. Something grabbed my
shoulder.

‘Are you
okay,’ asked Aeniah in a comforting voice. Well for her it was
comforting but in reality it felt cold and stilted.

‘Fine. It’s
just...nothing,’ I managed. I was certain that I was going crazy. I
felt as though I was seeing things, first in my room and now here.
I wondered if what they had done to me could have caused me to go a
little crazy, but I thought better of it. I certainly didn’t feel
crazy. Aeniah just nodded and turned to a faint blue light.

‘About time
Sean,’ she said to the light.

‘My apologies
Aeniah, I needed to be transferred to this device. The process
takes a little while.’

‘Computer?’ I
inquired, recognising instantly the unflappable voice of the
ship.

‘Yes George I
am the computer. Aeniah calls me by my original name for the
purpose of continuity.’

‘You knew each
other from before?’ I asked. If they had been able to see my
eyebrows, they would have been raised.

‘Of course,
Aeniah and I have a longstanding past...’

‘Enough,’
Aeniah huffed, ‘you need to get me some bloody systems online
before I throw your perfectly spherical ass into a power
distributer.’

The blue light
turned and revealed a small sphere no bigger that a fist suspended
in the air as if by magic. The blue light at the front appeared to
function, I supposed, as an eye.

‘It is
difficult. So little has been left responsive. I can perhaps get
the systems to boot independently of the network. This would allow
access to lighting and door controls, but with the AI down there is
little chance of other systems being capable of functioning. Do you
want me to execute this plan?’ Sean enquired.

‘That would be
lovely,’ replied Aeniah dryly, ‘and whilst you’re at it how about
giving this place a little heat.’

Just as Aeniah
finished talking a faint holo appeared somewhere in the distance.
Then another, and another, until images made of light resolved in
front of us. The language was unfamiliar. It was not written in
symbol characters but some sort of fluid squiggle. It dragged
itself from one end to the other and did not appear to move in
columns. A piercing pain hit my head and suddenly the words
rearranged themselves into something familiar. Then they were back
as they were before and the headache was gone. I was becoming
convinced that I was crazy. I drew in my breath sharply, I had to
stay sane enough to do my job.

Aeniah moved
towards the holo. Scanning the texts and images she pointed with
her finger and said, ‘this way.’ She moved forwards with purpose.
We followed behind her in formation. Well they were in formation, I
was simply in a position that I thought made sense.

We arrived at
a larger holo, something that appeared to be a console. Aeniah and
Sean seemed to spend an eternity analysing it. My thoughts turned
to Adrian. He was lying there alone on a slab, in a tank, under
some surgical equipment, being worked on. I felt guilty for having
forgotten about him in the excitement of the moment. I thought back
to the early days when we had walked along the hills talking of
what could have been, what might have been. Back then the world had
been easy. Then it all happened so fast. I remember the pain, the
anguish; I saw the sorrow in his eyes. I had tried to help, I
really did. But I keep seeing his eyes, his face, like I could see
into his soul, or at least the pieces I had taken from him.

‘George!’
screamed Aeniah’s voice. ‘Get your ass to that waypoint or you and
I are going to have a serious falling out.’

I moved
towards the location that was flashing on my wrist screen. The
waypoint was labelled
door aperture opening
. Aeniah and I
were side by side as we moved towards the door. Crossing the
threshold we did not know what to expect. The unease we felt was
being shared between us. Feeding one another’s apprehension we
moved forwards into the unknown.

A violent
slashing sound pierced the silence of the station. We spun in
unison and our torches illuminated a freshly closed door. The door
we had just been through.

‘Tactical this
is Aeniah, what the fuck just happened...tactical...tactical?’

We were alone.
Aeniah, the faint blue light and I. We were alone.

7

A
Sleeping Dragon

We were not
alone. There was a gasping ahead of us. The faint scratching of
claws against metal could be heard distinctly in the distance.
Aeniah looked towards me. I knew now that I had not been the only
one hearing it.

‘Sean, what
is
that?’ Aeniah whispered through her teeth.

The noise from
Aeniah’s lips must have been picked up by the thing in front of us.
In an instant it could be heard rushing towards us, growling as if
through barred teeth. Aeniah grabbed my shoulder and we ran. I
could not tell you where. We just kept moving, faster and faster.
No matter how we ran, whatever was behind us was still there.

Rounding the
next corner Aeniah flashed out her arm and from it flew a huge
spark that exploded against something. Visible for that moment the
creatures face could be glimpsed. It had no lips, its teeth were
long and jagged, its skin was white and oozing fluid. Great red
holes perforated its abdomen as the shot hit. But still it
continued towards us. I almost thought I heard it laughing.

Seized with
terror I dragged Aeniah around the next corner. Then another. We
ran at a tremendous speed, but it was not fast enough. The monster
was getting closer. Aeniah discharged yet more sparks into the
creature, but this had little effect. It staggered only for a
second, and then continued after us faster than ever.

Sliding as we
turned, Aeniah lost her footing and crashed to the ground. Her
lights went out instantly. I spun on my heel racing back towards
her. I could hear the stampeding feet of the creature and knew that
it was seconds away. It was meters from us now. It was close enough
to smell. Part way through lifting Aeniah to her feet a colossal
impact punctured my body and I was on the ground feet away.

Aeniah
screamed but I could not see her. Terrified beyond all belief my
mind began to separate itself from reality. Searching for an energy
I did not have, my mind connected to some innermost repository of
knowledge and blinding light filled my vision. Like before the
light danced and spun about the surfaces. It appeared from no
apparent source and moved outwards like spears. Ahead of me the
creature was visible, making its way towards Aeniah. She screamed
again and one of those spears leapt towards the creature. In that
instant, it was gone.

Running
towards Aeniah I grabbed hold of her hand and ran. Possessed by
some abstract thought I followed some path laid out by providence
in my head and we arrived. I am not sure where we arrived, but I
knew it was someplace of significance. Yet it was too dark to
see.

‘What the fuck
was that?’ Aeniah demanded after we had caught our breath. She was
staring straight at me accusingly.

‘I don’t
know,’ I returned truthfully.

‘I do,’ chimed
a musical voice ahead of us. Sean was humming to himself as he
glided around the room revealing strange half-seen instruments and
architecture from his blue glowing body as he moved. The stupid
machine had not even bothered to help.

‘What?’ stated
Aeniah, ‘how can you know what that is?’

‘Simple, you
asked me to find out and I did. Well at least partially.’

‘Well?’ she
replied impatiently.

‘Genetic scans
confirm that the entity is of unknown origin. Not simply unknown
origin in terms of the Earth species chain, but unknown in terms of
design and genetic configuration. Simply put it is not even made of
the same building blocks that you are. In all probability it did
not even share the same genesis.’ Sean replied in a self-satisfied
manner.

‘So
essentially, you don’t know’ I replied, tiredly. I really was
beginning to lose interest in this whole end-of-the-world
chased-by-monsters thing.

‘On the
contrary I have gleaned a vast field of data. For instance they
heal quickly. Sensors estimated that it took the entity four point
nine seconds to recover from Aeniah’s pulse blasts’

‘And what
exactly was that Aeniah. I thought you said that we weren’t allowed
to bring any weapons with us.’ I flashed my eyes accusingly towards
her. Instead of seeming startled she laughed briefly with
mirth.

‘Oh no, you
misunderstand me. I said that
you
couldn’t bring any
weapons. I on the other hand don’t go anywhere without one.’

‘So what
exactly do you bring about with you’ I enquired.

‘Why a
pocket-plasma-launcher of course.’ Seeing my confusion she
continued. ‘Ah, of course, little before your time I suppose. Well
before the Wars PPLs were all the rage. People practically couldn’t
visit another country without one. Mine I suppose is one of the
last ones left. But enough of my baby and I.’ She turned back to
Sean. ‘Where exactly are we.’

Sean began to
glide around the room again and restarted his infuriating humming.
He appeared to observe the room in the way a child might observe
their presents wrapped beneath the tree. He was full of glee.

‘Why Aeniah,
can’t you see, we are inside a data control nexus’ he replied.

‘And what
exactly does that mean’ I enquired.

‘DCN’s were
commonly used as part of a chain link network of processing for
United World nations. Activating one link in the chain allows
another link in the chain to come online. With each link in the
chain activated more and more meta-systems come online until a
complete AI is formed. Most importantly each DCN contains all the
basic power and processing requirement for the section in which it
is placed.’ Smugly Sean turned towards Aeniah as if looking for
approval. Aeniah did not appear to be in the mood for giving
any.

‘So
effectively, we turn this on and this section functions at a basic
level. Turn them all on and we get all the bells and whistles’ she
stated dryly. Without waiting for a reply she grabbed hold of his
frame and said ‘then turn the bloody thing on.’

‘Aeniah you,
perhaps, are better suited to activating these systems. United
World systems typically reject unauthorised computer entry. Manual
interfacing is always preferred, and with your background...’ He
trailed off.

Aeniah strode
over to a large slab of glass surrounded by many others at
different heights and orientations. Placing her hands above the
glass she drew images into life. The slab had become a screen and
the language again was unfamiliar, radically different and yet
somehow meaningful. Aeniah appeared to have no trouble
understanding it as her fingers began to fan wildly about the
screen. She proceeded to spin a box this way and that, enter text
into another, then rotated a pulsing circle. In all the entire
procedure was needlessly complex.

All of a
sudden there was a chiming followed by a laboured dialogue in that
language. The crass and unyielding language sounded so familiar and
yet it was completely incomprehensible. The ground beneath my feet
started to hum, I could feel it all the way to my ankles.
Incredibly I began to smell fresh air, with a purity and fragrance
I could not describe.

If the room
had appeared large before it was massive now. Lights that had been
dormant for so long began to force their way into the room. Blues
and purples and reds, burst into existence. The world became
warmer, better, greater. The room (if it could be called such a
thing) now revealed itself. It curved at either end and expanded in
the centre, the effect was a room shaped somewhat like an eye. Huge
diamond shaped crystal pyramids rose and curved like sculptures.
Within them was imprisoned a violent blue light, which performed
motions almost too fast for the eye to see. In the centre of this
eye was its pupil, more exactly a huge ring around which pure
energy, immediately visible to the naked eye, rose in spirals. It
appeared organic. It appeared alive.

Aeniah turned
to me quizzically and opened her mouth, ‘George the system says
that a language update is available for you.’

‘I don’t
understand’

‘It appears
your...modifications, have given you the ability to receive, as it
were, updates.’

‘Like genetic
memory,’ I enquired.

Sean spoke the
words ‘
exactly’
before Aeniah could open her mouth. Crossly,
Aeniah turned to me and asked, ‘well do you want to update or
not?’

‘Go for it’ I
reasoned, ‘what harm could it do.’

Aeniah turned
and began to suck on her bottom lip as she began to play her
fingers about the screen. Soon, gradually, I felt a slight
tingling. It was curious that the information did not appear to
come from anywhere other than me. I felt a foreign presence but
could not distinguish what was in my memory from what was being
given to me. It felt odd not to know reality from fabrication. Then
I felt it. My eyes were opened. Images I had mistaken for art
became letters, and slowly, ever so slowly, became words. I saw the
words ‘Blue Clarity’ rise from the centre of the ring of energy.
Turning to Sean I asked him a question ‘What exactly is ‘Blue
Clarity’’?

‘Blue Clarity
is a type of energy production. It is named after the way that it
appears to the naked eye. Blue Clarity is by many degrees the
perfect source of energy. It produces power infinitely, never
running out’ Sean answered amicably.