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Aria 52 by Terry Draper. A song, but probably not art
Chapter 3
Mattias came to his senses in the heart of a desert
and thought he was dead. He then tried to solve a math problem of impossible
difficulty, but failed, which meant he was definitely not in a better place.
‘Agh, it's you again! You seem bigger to me, how
curious.’
The young researcher was looking at an enormous black
hole in the sky, trying to recollect at least any laws of physics. Icarus-2P
was already on the brink of death, a dark eye of the dangerous destroyer in its
fading skies was sipping the last from the planet's desolated lands, and people
were bound never to leave the station without any special equipment. But the
thing that drew Mattias' attention was the fact that the destroyer was now much
closer, and he experienced not even a headache despite wearing just a lab
uniform.
Mattias slowly stood up, squinting against sandy
winds. The desert was boiling hot, but he felt neither heat nor destructive
effects of radiation. What happened to him? The last thing was…
The man felt tremor of horror in his spine when his
memories flashed in front of his eyes. Yes, they were expecting an abnormally
massive wave of destroyer radiation and they were running out of supplies.
‘The weather is getting worse, we might not get all
the data banks inside on time...’
‘Screw the procedure! Leave that useless scrap and
move to the shelter, now!’
Mattias was barking out orders annoyingly. Due to the
inaccuracies in calculations the storm was nearing ahead of time, and the space
investigation department (SID) had already left the planet in a hurry with the
mission to find a more suitable place to accommodate people. The rest had to
stay in the shelter on the dying planet and wait for rescue mission in
hibernation capsules.
‘We're ready to close the gates,’ said a strict young
woman with crude tanned skin and strong looking arms. Apparently a mechanic.
Mattias nodded, but the next moment something caught
his eye in the desert.
‘Wait.’
Behind violent sandy winds there was a lone spot of
light - a golden-haired child was standing in the distance, and it wasn't
moving as if waiting for someone.
‘You said you accommodated all people!’
‘Y-yeah, we kinda did...’
The girl started looking nervously though the lists,
but there was no time for that.
‘The storm comes in seven minutes, if I don't come in
five, close the gates.’
‘But...’
‘It's an order!’
Mattias left the shelter quickly. He wasn't supposed
to be here in the first place. As a member of the SID he had to leave this
planet a while ago, but was excluded for his illegal educational activities. He
explained this failure to himself as his hatred for illiteracy and ignorance,
but hardly it could be the reason why he risked his career to teach local
people and was now risking his life for that child.
‘It's okay! Don't turn around!’
The man tried to sound calm, while looking at an
explosive wave running through the desert towards them. The boy didn't show any
hints of emotions and just reached for Mattias, inviting him into his arms. The
man grabbed the child and held him tight to hide the end they were about to see
in the eye of the destroyer.
‘Don't look...’
Mattias shuddered, awaking from memories. There was no
sign of the boy, no sign of anyone, anything, only endless silent desert.
How did he manage to survive? And where is the child?
Is he alive too? Mattias' mind ached from questions. But he believed
whenever you get lost, it's a good idea to build up priorities. And the top
priority was now to find the boy and check the shelter.
The hot desert air went into violent ripples, as if
the reality itself was falling apart under pressure of destroyer's deadly
breath. Its blackness had already swallowed most of the sky, and weak gravity
was letting sandy dunes pour into it, revealing dry crumbling earth, but all of
that had nothing to do with Mattias. He was walking steadily through the
weightless veil of the sand storm, followed by the dark eye.
Mattias had no idea how long he went, but eventually he
ended up in front of the dark outline of the mountain ridge, and here was the
place where sandy storms subsided. It was familiar in a strange way. Clarity
and peace came to Mattias' heart, and he was sure that if he raised his head,
he would see nothing but the bright, warm sun. Although human civilisations
were born under destroyer, he was sure he knew how the sun looked like.
All it took was a glance upward, and the sweet vision
was gone, changing into reality of the omnipotent destroyer, and the peaceful
mountain appeared to be the research centre dome. Mattias shook his head,
freeing himself from dreams, and eagerly quickened his pace. The building was
half buried in sand, but the shelter was still closed, which gave hope that
people inside might have managed to live through the cataclysm.
The entrance to the lab building on the other side was
closed too and the lock panel was dead, presumably damaged by the storm. There
was no way in, and even though it all seemed to be a dead end, Mattias felt
indifferent about it. He had to get in and he will.
With the loud noise the armoured door darted away the
moment Mattias kicked it violently.
‘Rusty scrap.’
But the main disappointment was only about to happen -
there was no power in the whole building. Power generator, batteries, emergency
system, everything was beyond repair.
Piercing anger devoured Mattias. And that's it? Without
power he won't manage to open the gate of the shelter… The capsules! They need
power too in order to maintain people in stable condition.
Overwhelmed with desperation Mattias punched some
useless rummage, which reacted with a sudden deafening explosion. Mattias fell
down and covered his head with arms, but there was no fire. He watched the
rummage cautiously for some time and then hurried to check the contents. They
were just empty charred data banks boxes.
Mattias looked at his hands. Was he the cause of the
explosion? He checked himself for any injuries, but there were none, even
though the whole room was black with soot. And that entrance door… Might not
have been rusty at all. What happened to him?
He sat down at the lifeless control panel and stroked
his face exhaustingly.
‘What's the heck is going on...’
‘Request processing.’
Mattias jumped on his chair. Following a relaxed
robotic voice, the screen flashed with an image of a white digital woman,
blindfolded with a circuited logo, and the lights on control panel began to
blink - the system was starting up.
‘No results found. Please, refine your query.’
The scientist couldn't believe in his luck and gaped
at the woman on the screen - he had no idea that this thing had to be turned on
with voice. It was Enitheris, an advanced AI technology brought by the SID from
Icarus-3G, which was known to have the most advanced technologies in civilized
cosmos, but they were gone with the destroyer impact.
Shortly before the storm all her systems mysteriously
stopped working, so the SID didn't bother to take the AI with them, but the
fact that she was functioning again meant the power situation wasn't in its
worst condition.
Mattias nervously stroke his hair, trying to gather
thoughts and give Enitheris an acceptable request.
‘I need current data on the preservation project.’
The screen flashed with lines of numbers. Mattias
sighed with relief - people were still asleep safely inside the capsules.
However, it was no use to open the gate before the rescue mission returns for
them.
Then Mattias asked Enitheris about the planet
condition. The data shown on the screen was horrifying. Destroyer was growing
fast and it was the matter of days when its horizon will get to Icarus2P, but
something was wrong. Mattias checked the previous enquiries, and all current
data showed the same date.
‘I have been outside… For so many years?’
His gaze was wandering unfocused, while Mattias was
trying to build up the whole picture in his head. He wondered what could
preserve his life for so long and whether there were any mutations caused to
his body, but all those questions were too difficult for now.
‘Alright. At least this… This explains why the
destroyer is so close. Such a long time! They just didn't return… They have
never meant to return!’
Mattias swore and fried the control room with several
explosions. He was furious.
‘Bloody Eim!’
The screen cracked, and Mattias forced himself to stop
as he was about to destroy the control panel out of rage. Dr Eim was a member
of the SID, which wasn't native to Icarus-2P. In fact they were space travelers
and supplied nations on different planets with high technologies. Dr Eim always
looked down on locals, and although there was a recruitment to the space
department, trainings and entry exams were of impossible difficulty. Naturally,
since the very moment Mattias joined the SID there has always been tension
between him and Dr Eim.
‘Enitheris, send a distress signal.’
‘Request processing... A distress signal has been
sent. Would you like to clarify frequency?’
‘Every five minutes.’
Mattias rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. He then
took a deep breath and looked around the room, lost in thoughts. An image of a
golden-haired boy suddenly got into his mind, and Mattias started to remember.
He knew that child.
It was a while ago, when Mattias started working for
the SID and immediately became a stranger in the eyes of his people. His
demeanor changed, an arrogant look, a bossy tone showed in him an average
member of a greater society. Dr Eim thought that only chosen ones with
exceptional intellect could join the team, a good reason for Mattias to be
proud of himself. But this was nothing compared to the feeling when you get
your first student, no, when your student shows first success.
That boy was a little genius. He couldn't speak
because he was too small, but he tried his best to hold an e-pen in his tiny
hands and scribble numbers. One day he just appeared out of nowhere in life of
the young researcher, just to sit next to Mattias and draw little planets on
his reports. And maybe Mattias needed him more than he thought. Grand
opportunities were now opened to him, but it was a lonely path.
So he started speaking to him. He showed the boy
pictures of distant planets the SID used to send missions to, he told him about
stars and destroyers, rules of nature, powers of cosmos, and he taught him
everything he knew. The boy didn't answer anything, but he seemed to be
enjoying his time with Mattias, and he was a brilliant student.
That was the time when the idea of a local school came
to Mattias. People of Icarus-2P as well as this nameless boy were about to meet
a crisis of the nearing destroyer. This wasn't something new for the SID, their
ship would travel again to the distant planets along with the cradle of
knowledge they were carrying. Dr Eim said he would do everything possible to
help, but the spaceship couldn't accommodate everyone.
Mattias was sure that only knowledge could let his
people survive and master technologies to make their own shuttle. And he also
knew that he was a very bad teacher, not just because he was unbearably strict,
never forgiving mistakes and constantly losing his temper, but because no one
of his students ever left the dying planet.
‘Enitheris, show me the lists of evacuees.’
Again and again Mattias looked through the names and
photos he knew by heart, but he couldn't find what he searched for. Then he
asked for the list of the whole population of Icarus-2P to compare it with the
previous one, but to no avail - there was nothing about the mysterious child.
There was one more option left - surveillance
materials. Mattias hesitated. He wasn't sure how ready he was to see it once
more, but he needed to know if there really was anything in the desert on that
day. Enitheris processed the request readily, and the video of poor quality
appeared on the screen. It showed the moment Mattias left to the desert.
‘Enlarge the picture.’
The video playback paused, and Mattias hold his breath
when he recognized a blurred shape of the child. It was a brief moment before
the screen started flashing violently, and the picture melted into disappearing
fragments of code.
‘Error occurred. Data damaged. Restarting the system.’
‘No, wait!’
Mattias was shaken with realisation that rebooting
will take a long time, and Enitheris might want to erase the damaged files.
‘You know something! You know! Tell me! Tell me what's
happened to me...’
Mattias slowly got down on the floor and lowered his
head. He sat there motionless with vacant glare for a long, long time. Maybe it
was days, maybe months or years, maybe just a few hours, he didn't know. But suddenly his restless sleep was disturbed by a
strange noise, echoing in the sky. Mattias woke from his slumber immediately
and rushed to the window, tripping over the mess he created in the control
room. He felt thrill in his limbs when he saw the Radiance, a huge spaceship
landing the planet - the distress signal must have reached the SID.
‘Enitheris, we did it!’
The young man put arms on his head excitedly. Through
the window he saw some skiffs moving between the shelter and the spaceship,
evacuating the capsules. Mattias recognised his inventions, stolen by that
slippery Dr Eim, of course, - light and fast, those skiffs could be used in
multiple ways, whether travelling by land or exploring the cosmos. He designed
them to carry Icarus-2P natives away from the destroyer, but it never happened.
Mattias was ready to leave the control panel,
imagining how violently he will beat explanation out of Eim, but remembered
about Enitheris. Priceless technology like this shouldn't be left in vain.
Copying data could take ages, hopefully they will have time for that.
‘I mustn't forget to tell Eim about you,’ he said
thoughtfully while leaving.
‘Restarting the system.’
‘Are you serious?!’
With another rebooting it will take not ages but
eternity to transfer her data.
‘Don't you dare, you stupid piece of scrap! If I don't
leave with you right now, we'll both get stuck here forever!’
AI was silent for a moment as if considering Mattias'
proposition.
‘Please, insert a storage device.’
‘I have no storage devices on me, you fool!’
Mattias was desperate, the skiffs were already
finishing with evacuation. Suddenly he remembered about portative computers -
e-wards, small enough to carry on the wrist. They should be somewhere in the
stock next to the control room… Yes, here they were, empty of charge, of
course, but it didn’t matter, charging must be available on Eim's spaceship.
Enitheris didn't want to make a copy of her system and
for some reason it was cut from the computer entirely and put into an e-ward
without a trace. Maybe in terms of confidential security. The process also took
just a few seconds, the SID technologies were truly impressive.
Gates of the spaceship opened as soon as Mattias came
closer, it seemed he had been expected. But when he got onboard he was greeted
with a closed transparent door. A notice flashed on the screen next to it -
infection detected, please wait for purification.
‘Glad to see you in such good health, my friend.’
The glass door shook the moment Mattias landed a heavy
punch onto the spot where Dr Eim's smiling face was seen.
‘It took you a long time to return, you dirty scam! I
knew you had no intention to come back.’
‘Don't be so harsh on me, dear Mattias,' said Eim with
subtle amusement and adjusted his glasses, as if they were somehow affected by
Mattias' failed attack. 'We went through a lot before we finally found a safe
place.’
Furious expression on Mattias' face turned into a
surprise.
‘You… Found a safe planet?’
There was an uncovered hint of admiration in a way Eim
looked at him, which made Mattias feel a bit uncomfortable.
‘So you remained untouched by the destroyer… You can't
imagine how important you are, Mattias. It'd be a pity to leave you to decay in
Ark City.’
He ignored Mattias' inquisitive gaze and input a
command into the panel next to the door.
‘We will have time to discuss everything, my friend.
First a quick procedure of purification, we don't need you to bring traces of
radiation on board, right?’
When he left, Mattias' cell started to fill with white
gas, while the young researcher went deeply into his thoughts. What did Eim
mean when he said Mattias was important? Did he know what happened to his body?
Is there anyone else like him? Suddenly he was distracted by a persistent
vibration of the e-ward on his arm, flashing with Enitheris message - hazardous
substance detected. Please, proceed to the cover.
Mattias frowned, trying to process what was happening,
and the next moment he hurried to cover his face, turning away from the white
gas. Was it another joke of this slippery doctor? Mattias brought a rain of
blows on the glass door, but it didn't give in.
‘Hazardous substance detected. Please…’
He started to feel dizzy, but still tried to suppress
panic and think. A dare idea came to his mind, and he pressed his e-ward
against the screen on the wall. Enitheris was well familiar with the SID
security systems, and the door executed her command with no further questions.
Alarm system went off as soon as the gas started to
get inside the spaceship, but Mattias had a few seconds to escape unnoticed. He
slipped to the cargo bay, where capsules with people were transferred to. They
were already been filling with the white gas too.
‘What the heck is this...’
Mattias frowned and looked at the screens at the
control station. There was a folder with the name ‘Evolution project’, the
files in it were secured with complex verification, but Enitheris nailed that
too. The data considering evacuees was confusing, but Mattias managed to get
the general idea - their memories were about to be erased and replaced with
some sort of script.
‘I see you found Enitheris.’
Mattias froze when he heard Dr Eim approaching. He
didn’t have any time left to damage the system, but he needed to do at least
something.
‘I thought her program died out a long while ago… But
here she is, reborn in your hands.’
Mattias glanced at the screen and saw one of the
evacuee's forms, there was a photo of a young tanned woman, looking very
familiar - Onica. Apparently she was a mechanic who closed the door to the
shelter, the last person Mattias talked to on Icarus-2P. His fingers quickly ran
over the keyboard, and the single line was added to a perfect order of the
deceptive script.
Don't trust them.
‘Would you please step aside and not touch anything?’
Eim's voice had a dangerous undertone.
‘Interesting experiments you carry out, Eim. Do you
really expect me to be nice after you decided to feed me to the destroyer or
make me one of your puppets?’
Mattias returned him a threatening look. Eim broke
into an insane grin and kept approaching confidently, his voice turned into a
gentle whisper.
‘Show me what you can, Mattias.’
‘You want me to show you? Okay.’
Mattias reached his arm towards the compartment with
evacuees and Eim's expensive equipment with presumably important data.
‘Put away threats if you really think I care,’ said Dr
Eim calmly. ‘You were the only one to worry about those… lesser species,
weren't you? And yet, you've always been all alone.’
Doctor aimed for the wound, but Mattias maintained a
confident façade. Eim had to believe that it wasn't just empty threat.
‘Maybe you don't care about the people, but I bet you
don't want your precious ship to be fried up, huh?’
‘Dear Mattias, the only thing I want now is you,’ his
eyes enlightened insanely. ‘You are a precious sample which can help me finish
my experiment, you can save humanity if you work with me, don't you understand,
Mattias? Save humanity!’
‘Oh, okay, it changes everything.’
Mattias nodded resignedly and put his hand down only
to raise it next moment at Eim. Massive explosion lit the room, but then
something strange happened - the outburst slowed down like a spreading paint
underwater. Eim walked through it unharmed and kept approaching with the same
unhealthy smile. Mattias understood he was dealing with something he couldn’t
comprehend, so he turned away and started running, but something was making him
lose the speed until he could barely move, frozen in time.
‘Impressive. But you are not the only one with special
powers here, my friend.’
Everything was getting blurry and even thoughts were
slowing down in Mattias' head. With the corner of his eyes he managed to notice
Eim preparing a sedative injection.
‘Thank you for returning Enitheris back. I missed her
so much...’
The e-ward was vibrating desperately, but Mattias
could barely sense anything with his mind trapped, when suddenly the lights
went out - the spaceship power was just cut off. As soon as the doctor was
distracted, Mattias used this opportunity to escape through the dark passage, while
Eim was busy turning all the systems back to life again. As Mattias took a look
at his e-ward, he noticed that Enitheris had already logged into the spaceship
navigation control remotely and now was displaying the map, where Mattias could
find the flight deck with skiffs. He had only a minute to get there and leave
the spaceship before Eim restores energy supply.
When the lights came on again, Mattias was already at
the flight deck. Eim could follow him any moment, and Mattias knew he wouldn't
escape anymore - Eim's abilities to control time were… inexplicable yet
dangerous. However, when Mattias got into the skiff, he stumbled upon another
problem - it refused to start up. Identity requirements weren't met, and even
Enitheris couldn't make a miracle.
‘You are predictable, Mattias.’
Eim's relaxed voice in the skiff speakers made Mattias
feel cold down his spine.
‘If you haven't guessed, I've already changed the
access keys for Enitheris. These skiffs are controlled only from my spaceship,
I wonder how far you will travel without power supply permission.’
Mattias nervously stroke his face and then punched the
navigation panel, screaming curses. Rage and despair were overwhelming him, he
was crashing the panel and speakers so that he couldn't hear Eim's disgusting
voice, and a deafening explosion followed his rampage. Suddenly the skiff
gained second life and started up. It wasn't working on engine controlled by
Eim, but the power Mattias gave to it.
‘It's… It's working! Go, go, go!’
There was no time to process what had just happened.
The young man took control of the skiff, and as soon as he left the spaceship,
a sudden idea flashed in his mind, so he set the deck on fire with a massive
explosion.
‘It'll hold up this jerk.’
Clinging to his last chance Mattias forgot that one
electric discharge wouldn't be enough for the skiff to function steadily. His
abilities were powerful, but he couldn't control them properly just yet. The
skiff started to crackle with electrical arcs, and the e-ward spoke with
Enitheris' nonchalant voice:
‘Warning. Unacceptable system overheating detected.
Please, shut down the power supply.’
Mattias tried his best to hold back anger, as the
skiff was apparently not going to survive another attack. And it wasn't all the
bad news. The ship was moving with high speed, and when Mattias shifted his
gaze aside, he found out why - it was gravity. Apparently, as Enitheris shut
down power supply on Eim's ship, their spacewarp was interrupted, and they
ended up passing by some unfriendly looking planet. Mattias realized that it
was now the best idea to take control over the skiff as soon as possible.
‘Entering the atmosphere. Entering the atmosphere.’
‘Quiet, I know!’ Mattias cursed, trying to reanimate
the skiff. ‘All better than the company of that madman...’