jordanabina
***THIS IS A ROUGH DRAFT OF THE SECOND CHAPTER FROM MY SCI-FI NOVEL TRESKA VORN. IGNORE GRAMMATICAL ERRORS. COPYRIGHT @JORDANABINA 2022
The cold and dimly lit hallway pulled the Leaf officer towards the only door in sight. It was the highest floor on the highest building in the Sky level of Rivix. The Leaf council headquarters on Vorn was unlike any other superstructure on the Ghroskin moons. This is partly because it was where the Leaf council was founded and still resides, while also being the center of all operations for Vorn Corp. All the cube that gets distributed between the moons and to the different Vorn Corp operations eventually comes through these headquarters on Treska Vorn. It’s where the wealthy on Vorn love to be and it’s where those who are looking to make a quick bit of cube try to be, by any means necessary. The Leaf council headquarters is made from a type of rock found on Terra Vin called Laris. This beautiful glass like jewel shines a light green color in the light and glows the same green in the dark. It also is an amazing conductor and has been modified to carry information and even project images. In an instant, it can transform itself into any color or any image the artist desires. On this day, it was a mirror image of the sky behind it, the building was practically invisible.
Upon reaching the door, the rookie Leaf officer hesitated to knock and instead listened. There wasn’t a sound coming from inside and he wondered if anyone was even in there. He placed his ear to the door as quietly as he could, his own heartbeat was the loudest sound of all. He waited but heard nothing. After looking behind him, quieting a surprising sense of fear, he reached out his hand to knock but just before his knuckles found their mark the door opened.
“Come in,” said the voice.
The Leaf officer hesitated, then took a few steps into the room. He felt a slight breeze move past him and the door closed behind him.
“Make yourself comfortable.”
This was an impossible task because the room was completely black. Every window was covered by light shields and not a crack of illumination found its way in from the outside. The temperature was uncomfortably hot and the air was filled with a dense moisture. As the Leaf officer tried to calmly move about the room in a desperate search for anything to ground himself, his feet bumped into countless objects and what felt like broken items.
“Don’t worry about those,” said the voice in the dark, this time feeling further away than before.
“Sir, i’ve been ordered to give you—”
“And how long have you been doing that boy?”
The Leaf officer replied with a slight quiver in his voice, “Doing what sir?”
“Taking orders.”
“Uh, I don’t understand. I’ve been with Leaf for three cycles and—”
“That’s not what I asked. How long have you been taking orders?” yelled the voice in the dark.
The faceless voice that was once further from the officer now seemed suddenly close, within the length of a breath. The Leaf officer stumbled backwards, tripped over something in the dark and fell to the ground. He dared not move, not quite sure what was going on he decided to remain still and as calm as he could. He noticed his hands and uniform were wet. A moment of silence passed, nothing but the still sound of darkness.
“Well, how long?” said the voice now further away again.
“I’m sorry sir I don’t know what to say, I’m here to deliver a message from Cardinal Prime requesting your presence in the council hall,” said the Leaf officer while standing to his feet, resurrecting any dignity that hadn’t been stripped from him already.
“I bet it’s been forever,” said the voice in the dark, “I bet you’ve never had a time in your short and useless life where you weren’t taking orders from someone.”
The Leaf officer thought he could begin to see a few small lights begin to illuminate in the distance. They were moving back and forth in the room which was also beginning to brighten as the lights increased in strength. He couldn’t make out where they were coming from and couldn’t predict the patterns of their movement. But it became clear as the lights came closer to where he was standing. They were a part of the voice in the dark and they began to illuminate his face.
“I wonder if you were born for this very reason, to serve and obey.”
“Perhaps, Captain Ferro,” replied the Leaf officer.
“Perhaps indeed.”
Once recognized, Ferro allowed the lights on his augmentations shine to their fullest setting, revealing his body and surrounding area. His naked body was a sophisticated synthesis of organic material and digital augmentations. His face and neck looked like a biological human but there was an evident metal spine that traveled into the back of his skull, suggesting some sort of implant into his brain. Ferro’s right leg was completely bionic and the lower half of his torso was covered in armored plates that had been bonded to his skin. His chest looked like a high tech prison which held all of his vital organs in place. Each of the upgrades had a variety of lights that Ferro was now allowing to increase in strength. Under each eye, the three lines that Weyland had seen tattooed onto his tough skin were glowing blue.
“Perhaps you have no intention of changing this? Maybe you’ve come to see that your place is under the boot of others, is that it?” asked Ferro now pacing the room.
“I am a cadet in the Leaf Cou—”
“And perhaps if given the opportunity to become the boot yourself you would decline to capture this moment? What do you think?”
“I,” the Leaf officer paused, “I would not decline, sir.”
Ferro stopped his pacing and walked to a closet that opened after completing an eye scan. In the small brightly lit room hung a variety of gear, digital cloaks, and weapons. Guns are not legal in Rivix and getting your hands on them is very costly and illegal. Ferro had enough hanging in his closet to equip a small army.
The smirking Ferro turned to the officer, “Then today is your lucky day young man.”
The room was barely visible and the officer could only see the surroundings that the light from the closet made visible. But from the corner of his eye he saw movement on the floor from the far side of the room. He slowly took a few steps forward hoping to catch a closer glimpse of whatever it was that caught his eye. It was still so dark that it just looked like a pile of gear covered in a blanket, but as the officer approached he realized it was something else entirely. He reached down and moved the blanket and a young woman was underneath. She was unconscious but breathing and looked as if she had been beaten.
“I found her trying to break into a store in the Centrum, she was loaded on slik of course,” said Ferro suddenly standing directly behind the officer. “She pulled a weapon on me and I defended myself and took her back here for questioning.”
The officer had never seen the young woman before but he also had never seen an organic up close before either. She didn’t have any tech on her body, nothing. Her jacket was made for cargo, the pockets were filled with an assortment of items, most likely hacker tech, but nothing on her body. Her eyes, her arms, everything, not even a health preserver.
“Would you like me to take her to the authorities, sir?” asked the officer.
That won’t be necessary, you’re going to take care of her right now.”
“Captain?”
Ferro knelt down next to the officer looking at the girl, “this is the type of scum I’ve been sent to Vorn to remove. This is the virus that infects this city and this moon. It must be eradicated.”
Ferro motioned to the officer and handed him a pistol. The officer stood quickly without taking the weapon and took a few steps backward. Ferro didn’t move but continued to kneel down staring at the girl.
“This is the necessary step in becoming the boot. You must let go of all your rules and unnecessary attachments to organics like this. This woman is a picture of the enemy, this woman is an example of the filth that permeates these streets.”
“No, I can’t just kill her, I, I can’t,” replied the officer.
Ferro stood looking down at the girl. “I know you can’t. You don’t know what you’re capable of. Some orders you follow and some orders you don’t. What kind of officer are you anyway?”
“Sir, I am just here to deliver the message from Cardinal Prime,” replied the officer moving towards the door, “I must be going, I, I have to report—”
“You will stay where you are.”
At this word the light shields opened across the flat. It was the very top floor and the windows went around the room on all sides, everything was glass, even the floor was a black glass like surface. In the middle of the room was a type of vat installed into the floor. The officer could see this was some version of a sleep pod but much different than anything he’d seen before. It was clear that this was where all the heat was coming from in the room. The officer was soaking with sweat and dripping from his forehead but Ferro didn’t seem to be perspiring at all. There wasn’t one piece of furniture in the room and the only thing even visible on the walls was the open closet. For reasons the officer couldn’t imagine, the entire room was covered in a type of warm gray liquid a few centimeters deep.
“This is your chance officer, this is your chance to free yourself from believing that there is a good side in what you’re doing, there isn’t, it’s just you versus them.”
“Sir, I must be going, Cardinal Pri—”
Ferro turned in a rage, the lines under his eyes glowed red and screamed, “You are not going anywhere, you will stay where you are!”
The tech in his throat made his voice so loud it shook the room. Ferro removed his gaze from the officer for a few moments then finally turned away again. The officer shook with fear, he didn’t know what to do but he knew there was no escaping. Ferro walked over to the window, leaning forward and placing his forehead on the window.
“Have you studied the histories of Earth before?” asked Ferro.
The officer somewhat relieved of the change of tone but more so the change in subject answered, “Yes, but just the required study on Vorn.”
“Have you ever heard of the name Ghengis Khan?”
The officer wanted nothing more than to leave this flat and report back to the Cardinal but saw no other option but cooperating with Ferro. He hoped that perhaps if he indulged him in this conversation he would be set free. He noticed the girl was beginning to come to her senses.
“I know he was some sort of great military leader or general a long time ago,” answered the officer, “I think he lived on what was known as an eastern continent on Earth, sir.”
“A great military leader,” said Ferro, still staring wide-eyed out the window, “Is that what you said?”
“Yes, sir”
“A great military leader.”
Ferro lifted his head from the glass. The girl was clearly waking from her unconsciousness, but Ferro did not seem to notice or care. He turned to the officer with a look of curiosity on his face.
“A great military leader?”
The Leaf officer could feel the tension growing in his questioning, “Sir?”
“What would ever make you say the Ghengis Khan was a great—”
“I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean—”
“Shut up boy. What you’ve said about Ghengis Khan is true in more ways than one. But I wonder how much you know of Ghengis Khan? Do you know enough to call him great?” asked Ferro.
The girl made a sound and Ferro noticed but didn’t go to her. She began to cry and move about.
“I heard a story once about the great Khan,” said Ferro, “after a long, terrible battle that had lasted for weeks, he asked all his men to gather the bodies of their fallen enemies and stack them in long rows,” Ferro said while walking in a large circle around the officer. “After that, he had great planks made from the trees of the nearby forest and had them brought to where the bodies had been stacked. Then, in what had to have been a surprise to even those closest to him, he instructed the planks to be set on top of all the bodies to make a large long table. When it was complete, Khan feasted on a table made from the bodies of his enemies. As I have pondered this astonishing tale I felt that a few important observations have to be mentioned. First, this would’ve been a disgusting place to eat. The smell alone would make most people vomit let alone eat. Secondly, the rest of his men didn’t have a choice, they had to sit and feast while their legs intermingled with the dead and dying flesh of their foes. And lastly, the women and children of those who had been conquered had to watch.”
The young Leaf officer listened in horror and was astonished at the excitement he heard in Ferro’s voice. The room was now fully lit and the officer could see Rivix through the 360 degrees of glass that surrounded him. The woman had crawled away from Ferro but he did not mind and she wasn’t trying to get the officer’s attention. The young officer could see a fleet of sky farms in the distance. These were platforms that grew massive supplies of food on huge floating structures nearer to the light and into a cleaner atmosphere. The sky farmers lived on these platforms for cycles at a time. Ferro continued to walk around and around the flat, still holding his pistol.
“Sir,” the officer said, trying to find an opportunity to leave.
“Why then? Why would he do this? Why would he go through all the trouble of gathering bodies and preparing tables made from the dead? Why do you think so?” asked Ferro.
“I, I don’t know sir,” replied the officer almost in a whisper.
“And yet, you call him great,” Ferro said, pausing his marathon. “I know why. It was because he knew what needed to be done in order to achieve victory. There were two enemies that Ghengis Khan needed to destroy. The first was the opposing army, those that dared defy him. Destroying an army in battle was not enough, that was the easy part, but something else needed to be done to defeat the enemy soldiers before he ever arrived. What do you think happened to the will of those who opposed him when they heard about this great feast? Somewhere in the next town, the next city, or the next region, the story would eventually reach their ears. A terrible account about the army who feasts on top of the bones of their enemies. Fear would spread, the battle would be over before it began.”
Ferro turned his attention to the girl and made his way towards her. She hurried to get away and scurried as fast as she could towards the door. She stumbled and dove towards the officer’s feet grabbing his leg. Her eyes pleaded for help.
“But that wasn’t his only enemy, the other was much more dangerous, much more cunning, and more powerful than any army he would ever encounter. What else do you think that feast did?” asked Ferro, now walking towards the officer.
“Sir,” replied the officer trying to shake free from the death grip of the girl.
“It turned his men into monsters. Whatever internal turmoil may have been in them before was digested at that table and turned to waste. This was the genius of the great Ghengis Khan. This is what is required.”
Ferro stopped directly in front of the officer and the girl below them. He grabbed the leg of the girl and dragged her towards the window. The officer followed in an attempt to do something to stop whatever might be happening.
“One last question for you young officer,” asked Ferro, struggling with the flailing girl, “What do you think Ghengis Khan did with his soldiers who wouldn’t eat at the table?”
“Sir, I don’t know—” replied the officer trying to end this conversation.
“I think I know,” replied Ferro, staring blankly again out into the Rivix skyline, “I think he shoved them under the table.”
At this Ferro reached out again towards the officer with the pistol. The officer realized what Ferro wanted and didn’t see a way out of it. He tried to convince himself that this was just some low life criminal, an organic who was addicted to slik and represented the type of crime he had become a Leaf officer to stop, but his courage was fleeting. Before he knew it the pistol was in his hand. His hand was shaking and the heat in the room made his palms moist and slippery.
“Vorn will never be safe unless those who are sent to keep it so are willing to do what needs to be done,” said Ferro, “greatness isn’t earned, it’s taken.”
Ferro moved behind the officer as the officer raised the gun towards the girl.
“This is your first step getting out from under the boot, this is your first chance to sit at the feast and send a message to those that oppose rule and order.”
Suddenly, just as the young officer’s finger moved towards the trigger an incoming transmission sound beeped into the room. It nearly scared the officer into pulling the trigger and the girl beneath him jumped as she thought it had. As she did her hair fell behind her ears revealing a mark on her neck, three intersecting circles. The officer saw it and she quickly covered it. Ferro was distracted and shot around with a flash and motioned his hand across the air in front of him opening a message hologram platform. The officer took his hand off the trigger and lowered the gun. The girl locked eyes with him and began to slowly move her hand towards something in her pocket.
“Open channel,” said Ferro, as the hologram flashed. Cardinal Prime was immediately projected into the room, Ferro moved the feed so that the Cardinal couldn’t see what was taking place at the window.
“Ferro, have you received word from the Leaf officer I sent you? It’s been over an hour since we summoned you and you have yet to respond. What is the meaning of this?” asked the Cardinal.
“I haven’t received word yet Lord Prime, perhaps something happened with the officer you sent. The officers here on Vorn are very unreliable, you know.”
“Save your opinions Ferro, we request your presence in the council hall at once to discuss the tally and progress here on Vorn. The council seems to think you haven’t made any progress finding the organics here on Vorn. They seem to think you haven’t made any real progress.”
The Cardinal increased in size as the hologram adjusted in the room.
“There are also reports coming in that your mess on Trell Vrain has followed you here. These organics, this prophet—”
“So it’s true,” whispered the girl.
The officer was now looking at the hologram and stopped paying attention to the girl. Ferro noticed the girl listening at the exact moment she spoke. As the officer and Ferro turned back to the girl they saw she had been recording the conversation on a small device.
“For the prophet,” the girl screamed from the floor. Then she stuck her leg with a syringe. Something like a shock hit her body, she convulsed and shook. She was gone in less than twenty seconds.
“What was that Ferro?” asked the Cardinal, “What’s going on?”
“I’m on my way, Cardinal, ending the feed,” replied Ferro, motioning his hand and closing the hologram transmission.
“Ferro wait—” responded the Cardinal, but the feed was lost.
Ferro flew past the officer knocking him to the ground. The gun popped out of his hand and splashed onto the wet floor. The Officer watched as Ferro tried desperately to see where the recording was taken and whether or not it had been transmitted. Ferro ripped the device from the girl and took it to the center of the room. The young officer looked on in disbelief and shock. The girl was gone but her eyes still stared into the distance. A panel overhead opened and two giant hooks extended from the ceiling and held the small tech in place. Cables made their way down from the ceiling above and plugged themselves in all over the different ports they found.
“Computer, run a scan to see the last recording on this device,” demanded Ferro.
“Running scan,” replied the software.
“What the blitz were you doing boy, I left your side for one minute and you let your incompetence show, idiot.”
“I’m sorry sir, I didn’t see her—” replied the officer.
Ferro turned with rage in his eyes, “You didn’t want to see—”
“Scan complete,” the software said, “The exact location of where the recording was sent is untraceable but I have traced it to three different sectors in Rivix. The software pulled up a digital projection of the city of Rivix.
“The first two locations are within a 2 kilometer distance from each other and are both in the sink. The second location the recording was sent to was this general area in the Centrum.”
“Zoom in there,” commanded Ferro.
The map zoomed down into the Centrum and put a circle around the area where the recording was sent. The officer began to slowly make his way towards the door, hoping to slip past the notice of Ferro who was deeply focused on the Centrum diagram.
“I know this place,” said Ferro, “Pull up all Tally stations within the radius shown.”
“My data shows that only one tally station is located within the area in which the recording may have been sent,” replied the software.
“Zoom in here,” said Ferro as he pointed close to the center of the illuminated circle, “What’s around this area here?”
“There is a fuel supply center, two different mod shops and a restaurant named Tsuki Soup,” replied the software.
Ferro sighed to himself and straightened his back, which was now fully turned towards the officer who had made his way within reach of the door. Ferro looked completely different with his movement gear and outer garments on. His boots were a foreign tech that the officer knew wasn’t found on Vorn and it was the same for his gloves. What interested him the most was that none of his clothes or gear looked like Leaf uniforms at all, the cloak he wore looked more like something you found in the sink, nothing like what Leaf distributes. Ferro turned to the officer who tried to remain calm.
“Before you go I want you to do your best to answer a question of mine?” said Ferro.
“Sir, Captain Sir, I just—”
“One more question.”
Ferro was walking to the pistol that had dropped to the floor, he picked it up and inspected it. Then he made his way back over to the girl on the floor, eyes still open.
“How old do you think I am?” asked Ferro as he closed the eyes of the deceased with his hand.
“What?” replied the officer.
Ferro laughed and stood again facing the officer, “Give it your best guess. What would you say my age is?”
“Your age?” asked the officer, “I have no idea, I mean—”
“Just take a guess,” said Ferro as he walked towards the officer.
“I can’t, I don’t understand.”
Ferro pointed the pistol at the officer, “No, you clearly don’t. I said, guess.”
“Okay,” said the officer, panicking and raising his hands, “okay, um, I would say you’re about fifty cycles or so. Yes? Is that ok—”
Ferro dropped the gun and laughed, “Fifty cycles! Now you’re just being too kind.”
The officer wasn’t sure if Ferro was serious or not but he knew he was crazy, something was incredibly wrong with his mind or software. Ferro put his arm around the officer and started to walk him towards the far window of the flat. They stood so close to the window that their faces were almost touching the cold pane. The officer could see all of the Sky level from here. The river of light, the trees and the thousands of people, all of them felt an eternity away.
“You see all this officer, officer, what is your name, young man?” asked Ferro.
“My,” he replied, “my name is Drex.”
“You see all this officer Drex, you see all these people, they don’t see the danger that’s coming. They think the next fifty cycles will be like the last fifty cycles, but it simply isn’t true, is it?”
“Sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh sure you do, you heard the Cardinal. You were listening weren’t you—”
“No sir, I wasn’t—”
“It’s fine. Relax,” said Ferro, still looking out the window, “What did the Cardinal say?”
“He mentioned wanting to discuss the tally.”
“Yes, and what else?”
“Honestly sir, that’s all—”
“What else?” demanded Ferro, shoving the pistol into the back of the officer.
“Please sir, I don’t know anything,” cried Drex, his head drenched in sweat. He was doing everything he could to not tremble violently.
“Yes! Yes you do! What the blitz did you hear the Cardinal say?”
“Something about organics.”
“And…” Ferro whispered into the officer’s ear, “say it.”
“Something about a prophet?”
Ferro took the pistol away from the officers back and walked away. Officer Drex didn’t move, his face was covered in sweat and still close to the window.
“You see young Drex, I am 287 years old. I was born almost three centuries ago and have lived more lifetimes than most of the human race. When I was just about through my forty fifth cycle my body was augmented and my vital organs restructured to give me incredible health but we had no idea that it would extend my life for so long. The organics in my day warned that this would be our demise, that humans weren’t meant to live beyond the years given but as we’ve seen, they were wrong.”
“You mean, you’re a Time Walker?” asked officer Drex.
Shortly after arriving on the moons, the age of biological upgrades began and it was the height of scientific innovation. Almost all of the human race began to upgrade their bodies and improve their physical selves. Run faster, jump higher, remember more, the possibilities were endless. In no time at all, it became a trillion cube industry and the competition was fierce. But in time, there were health restrictions, accidents, and black market operations that forced the Leaf council to act. This is where Vorn Corp became the leading, and only, pharmaceutical company on the moons. They now oversee and own everything related to the industry of human upgrades.
It was apparent that upgrades that fought disease and injury were extending the average human life from eighty cycles to one hundred cycles. Over time that advanced to one hundred and twenty five cycles but no further. People were eager to live another fifty to seventy cycles and paid heavily to get it. After that, Vorn Corp made the sleep pods a necessity for all upgraded subjects and after that the move towards a digital self was complete.
But for a very select few, they lived well past the years guaranteed by Vorn Corp. In fact, they are rumored to still be alive today, having never aged but have had their youth preserved. Some are said to have a high intellect and others have highly developed technical skills. Some of the stories tell that a few of these people have been imprisoned due to madness and violence. Others have disappeared altogether. People have nicknamed them Time Walkers and there are said to be less than ten in existence.
“Ah, Time Walker, I’ve always dreaded that name, as if this life has been a walk in the park,” replied Ferro.
“That’s impossible—”
“There’s something coming officer Drex, can you see it out there?” asked Ferro. “It’s almost here, and when it gets here it’s going to rip out the life from every single person on this moon. Everyone you know will suffer and die a horrible death. The tally will delay it but the end is inevitable.
“What…what the blitz are you talking about?”
“The key is in the organics. Their bodies hold the key to our survival and I have to get it, by any means necessary.”
The young officer turned around to look at Ferro. He couldn’t believe that he was looking at a Time Walker, something he wasn’t even sure existed before. His thoughts raced to his family, his friends and fellow officers. Where were they? What were they doing? He thought of his mother who had warned him about becoming an officer in the first place.
The officer looked at the girl, lying lifeless on the ground. “Was that girl the proph—”
Ferro shot the officer before the words could leave his mouth. The glass shattered behind him and the officer was flung out the window free falling to the streets on the Sky level below. His body smashed into the Vorn Corp sign that was erected at the base of the building.
“No officer Drex, that wasn’t the prophet,” said Ferro, tuning to the map on the screen, “but I know where to find her.”
Calmly, Ferro collected the rest of his gear from the closet and stood again in front of the device collected from the girl.
“Transfer all transmission information to me and erase everything here.”
“As you wish,” replied the software.
Ferro walked towards the door but paused before exiting. Something seemed to catch his attention. He turned around and looked around the room with a smirk on his face.
“Are you already here? Are you listening now? This is much bigger than you think it is and it will cost you even more than it already has. What happened on Vrain will not happen here and you will not escape me again.”
He stood alone in the room. The sounds of chaos were beginning to grow outside his window but he stood unfazed.
“I will find him, and when I do I will extract from his body all I need and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Do you hear me? Be sure you do. Because when I’m done I will go back to Vrain and find the rest of your family and do the same. But you Namira, I’ll save you for last.”
He opened the door to leave and spoke as he left, “Computer, block all signals to this room.”
“As you wish.”
The door closed behind him and Ferro took his time walking down the long hall to the lift. Suddenly a voice in his mind speaks.
“Ferro, I’m growing impatient. What news do you have to share with me?” asks the voice in Ferro’s head.
“My Lord, forgive me,” Ferro responds nervously, “I am close. After tomorrow I will have what is required.”
“Be sure you do.”
The doors to the lift open and the chaos of the death of the Leaf officer floods the room. Ferro pays no mind.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Centrum a signal is lost. Namira slams her gear and looks up to the Sky level.
“Blitz.”
