Prologue
"Don't worry. *inhales deeply* All these words will eventually make sense to you."
- Mirana Augusta, Patient Zero of Earth 2.2
"I didn't care. I saw what our machines were doing to Duskrise and I just wouldn't try to think in a different direction. Now I realize where I and others could have gone if we pursued studying physics instead of that stupid magic. What a waste of time!"
- Biros Dimagi, Ultimate of Duskrise
"It's like one of those masquerade balls I love so much. Everyone puts on a different mask and goes on dancing and having fun. Our masquerade partners are kids with their grown up masks hiding the immaturity. And if their way of having fun means massacres happening every day, then the ball must come to an end."
- Patricia Mirage, Victus Morti of Duskrise
"These notes represent me and start with mi, and the true meaning of Requiem they shall be."
- Anton Nerath, Death Bringer of Earth 2.2
"How do you know sex with another man is horrible if you haven't tried it?"
- Mordagon Vonneghaut Junior, Nightstrider of Auroria
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
- The NOISE of Duskrise
"How could I possibly imagine three different histories happening at the same time? GET AWAY FROM ME!"
- Jade Quinn, Phoenix of Earth 2.2
"I know how to end the pain and start immense pleasure. Remember? Now think of the pain you're currently in. What do you think will come next to you, after what you've done?"
- Irene Strange, Lauriel of Auroria
"Would you get a grip of yourselves? We have the privilege to meet aliens. No. To meet people, other human beings just like us, from another world. If you keep behaving like that, you are all going to reinforce the idea that our world, our marvelous Auroria, was truly inhabited by nothing else than a group of peasants waiting to be ruled over!"
- Aurelia Powerglade, Tink of Auroria
"Even the seas have changed. All of our water creatures face extinction. Only some species of jellyfish manage to thrive in this new environment. Those goddamn brainless creatures."
- Garry Ulbert, Too Stronk of Earth 2.2
"With their technology, the possibilities are endless."
- Claire Benton, Madness of Duskrise
"Listen to me carefully now. This is the fourth time I ever needed to repeat myself, and I'm doing it only because some people are going insane in the new world circumstances. I can get you anything. Anything you'd ever need."
- Mordrang Thrall, Silence Gatherer of Auroria
Chapter 1 - The Last Experiment
Location: Earth 2.2
Scientist 02 was feeling dizzy again. He knew that once the setup of the experiment was over, he'd reacquire his name and the related memories. Nevertheless, his mind resisted the idea that he was "just a number". Even though it was the second best number - right after 01, the leader of the experiment. And despite being the second most important person in the facility, he still felt empty.
Sitting at his desk in the office 02 he thought:"How stupid it is to share the name of an office space. Like I'm nothing more than a piece of furniture, or a door, or, perhaps," he then looked around for possible comparisons and poured himself another cup of coffee "Or another mug, just like the the other 95 people of this team. We are all just cups of coffee".
He tasted the energizing taste of the brown liquid and thought: "The fuel of every hard worker that frequently works long nights". This always helped him focus, and his mood shifted towards a more optimistic one and related to the task at hand: "The Greek letter lambda symbolizes a decay constant of a radioactive element, inversely proportional to the half-life. It can also symbolize the wavelength of a wave. Lambda can also be used to indicate eigenvalues of matrices in Mathematics. It is one of those Greek letters that are in use across a wide spectrum of fields."
He sat for a while, rearranging the words and ideas in his head. While deeply in thought, he started frowning and in all his years it started to show on his forehead. Even more so, because there were hardly any hair left on the top of his head. He promised himself several times to go to surgery and have his hair re-grow. And in the meantime, the hair on his side, that were still resisting the baldness, grew almost to his shoulders. This particular look of his cost him many frowning glances, but he didn't particularly care.
"No, no no. It's not good. I can't start the last log entry like that. Should I tell about all the good times we had together? Should I write an explanatory log entry hoping that it won't be destroyed by something or someone? Should I give instructions? What?" He sighed out loud and stretched his hands and legs. He then looked out of the window and saw a beautiful sun shining and bathing the office in warm light.
"Too bad it's just a hologram and an imitation of the heat radiated by the sun and not the real deal. We've been closed in here for far too long in order to guarantee a hundred percent bias-free experiment. Every parameter under control, nothing that could go wrong. And yet there's always the chance of human error. Surprisingly enough, given the right people and right circumstances, errors can turn into enormous successes. No, I won't talk about what I did. Someone might try to interfere and abort the experiment." Even though the sun was shining, outside it was still dark. And the early hours together with hard working conditions took a toll on his brain. He started having conversations with himself in order to remind him what's real and what not.
"Right. Let's do this," he heard himself say, while his fingers approached the surface of the desk. There, a keyboard appeared. As he moved his fingers in the air, tapping gently, the keys lighted-up in response and produced words on the screen. And the screen itself was placed atop two heavy books, to be at the appropriate eye-level. As he typed, the text began to show:
Log entry number 365
How does one start the final log entry for an experiment so important that because of it, we, the humanity as a whole, have decided to change the name of Earth 2.1 to Earth 2.2?
If we fail, then there was no point in renaming the Earth. Nothing new would be discovered.
If on the other hand we succeed, then calling it Earth 3.0 would be far more appropriate. The next stage in the human evolution. Will it be one or the other?
The humanity is facing an unprecedented crisis. The current leading theory supposes Earth 2.2 is being slowly drawn away to an invisible and undetectable super-massive object. It's not important which year is it, if all we've got left is 25 years before the impact. And since nothing in the current collective knowledge pool points to a possible answer, the society is falling apart.
We're decaying as an organized and intelligent race, and this is the only reason why the λ-ex, or, the lambda experiment, has been allowed to exist and is in the final moments of preparation. An experiment so unethical and of dubious nature that we'll have our recollections of it erased permanently and no credit will be given to the people who conducted it. Its existence will be kept hidden for 20 years.
Here's to hoping the second outcome will come true, and that the last 5 years on Earth 2.2 will ensure humanity lives on. On a more personal note, regarding all my colleagues in the team, here's to hoping our year worth of sleepless nights will save us.
Log entry by scientist 02.
"Heyo two, it's four in the morning and you're still up?" the scientist 02 was visibly shaken by the sudden appearance of a voice that was not in his head. While he was typing and editing the text, his younger colleague known to him only by the label scientist 57, perhaps once his student, entered the room. After receiving no immediate answer, the younger scientist moved towards the nearest chair and made himself comfortable. He was a middle-aged man, with brown hair neatly combed and always wore a shirt to look smart and classy as he'd describe it.
"Why are you so tightened up?" he asked, jokingly.
Two responded:"I've been trying to round up this whole nightmarish experience."
"Why so serious?" was the response, and soon after, the scientist 57 burst out laughing: "Come on, in two hours time it will be all over for us! We'll remember our names, our families if we had them. No, wait, you look like a real lady killer to me. Like in a parallel universe where ugly dudes are considered hot you have plenty of fangirls. Please get a haircut, will you?"
And this was the end of the scientist's 02 good mood until the dawn arose outside of the experimental complex, in the real world. Until that time however, two hours remained.
"Watch your tongue boy. Why do you take the matter of universes so lightly?"
" 'Cause they are shit. Well, not literally. But seriously, for how long have these theories been lying about? 150 years, 200 perhaps? And even if it turns out there are actually parallel universes, what makes you even remotely think that our theories are correct? But don't change the subject. Why are you not preparing a bottle of champagne and some glasses, or partying?" The younger of the two tried to put on a serious face in an effort to have a serious conversation with a person he knew he admired immensely and yet didn't know why. He'd learn about it soon, when his memory would be regained.
"Why should I be excited? It's true, I'll regain my old memories, but I'll forget what we did here. Why on Earth would something like this make me happy? It will be like we lost a year of our lives."
The scientist 57 made a grimace before responding:"That's exactly the reason why you should be happy. You'll forget what we did here! I know for one I'll be finally able to have a good sleep, and there's nothing in the world I await more! Well, perhaps my girl or wife if I have one. I can't wait to get hold of my old memories!" Soon after he continued with a more worrying voice:"You thought this through, haven't you? There's something you're hiding from me. What is it?"
The second scientist tried his best to smile - and failed:"Don't worry, it has nothing to do with you. It's a personal problem."
"And now you said the only word that could possibly make me worry more. Personal you say? By default, this experiment was designed to be detached from personal opinions and other subjective bias, in order to guarantee a higher success probability and now you're telling me there's something personal involved? It has everything to do with me and with the whole world as well. You know full well the nature of our experiment. Tell me what you did." While saying this, 57 tried to sit straight and face his older colleague with a determination in his eyes.
The 02 mirrored the movements of 57, and tried to reinforce his authority with a firm and strong voice:"Ah, I've chosen the wrong word to describe it. At any rate, stop over-thinking it, we'll be free soon as you said. Now that I think about it, why are you not sleeping or partying like the rest of the team?"
"I wanted to see if you were awake. I think that we've had a past story before this experiment. I have a feeling of particular friendship towards you and I don't remember why. Such a funny feeling." He smiled before continuing in a more serious tone:"And yet you're trying to sidetrack me again. What is it that you're hiding?"
Two grunted in response. "Don't you think you should use some of that friendship feelings towards me and trust me?"
"Normally, I would. And I would trust you even during this experiment, for the whole year. I have trusted you and everyone else on this team based exclusively upon feelings of respect, friendship and sometimes pride. I think the whole team worked together before. Or perhaps we met during a symposium. Either way, I knew I could trust you all, as scientists and as people." The scientist 57 paused for a moment. He was hesitating to continue his speech, even though there was no more doubt about his older friend's dishonesty. He was fighting his friendship feelings of unknown origin with the evidence of what was happening. And then, as a sudden realization happened in his head, fifty-seven froze in shock.
The second scientist saw his reaction and quickly started talking:"All right, I can't hide it from you it seems. Well, you're not the first one. Here's the plan B. Try to convince you to see that I'm right, and join me in my cause."
The scientist 57 gripped the handles of his chair in order to quickly stand up. But the second scientist was, despite his age and appearance, quite fast. In a split second he was standing, with a swiss army knife ready in his hand:"Don't. This is your warning. If you'll stand up, I'll stab you. Please remember that even though I threaten you with the knife, I'm doing it only to stop you from doing something foolish. Consider this me saving your life, because I feel like you did the same a while ago. Will you listen to me?".
Fifty-seven remained still during all of this, and observed his perhaps ex mentor, who was now completely calm and with a confidence of a winner. Still, behind that appearance, 57 spotted hint of a dubious and restless mood, which gave him food for thought:"Ok, so he's crazy, but it seems like he's regretting parts, or all of what he's done. He seems to be able to control himself easily, but deep inside, he's fighting with whatever he's done. Perhaps I can talk my way out of this and alert others."
"Ok. I'm all ears." he finally said.
The second scientist relaxed a bit and lowered the knife, knowing full well his colleague did not have the possibility to leave unless he decided so:"Let's start at the end. Let's start with the premise that there's nothing you can do right now to change the course of events. You're bound to the chair, unless I change my mind. Keep this in mind during the remainder of our conversation, will you?" He then closed the door to prevent a quick escape and went back to his chair where he made himself comfortable before continuing. But he was struck short of words, as the scientist 57 suddenly spoke:"How did you bypass the memory wipe to carry on your plan?"
The 02 was visibly confused and answered with a cryptic:"Well, I didn't really. I had my memory erased, like we all did."
"Ah come on. You said it was personal, therefore you must have some recollection of who you were before this. And I'm scared to think that the biggest flaw of this experiment was exactly what we thought would make it work. An experiment as objective as possible. This eliminated or perhaps only reduced the possibility of any of us meddling with the parameters. But you did it anyway. Oh, the irony."
"You got it all wrong. I don't have any idea as to who I was." the older responded.
"Then how?"
"I was getting to that if you'd let me continue." He said impatiently.
"Well, please do. I'm really interested to understand how and why you intentionally destroyed what we were set to do." The 57 was boiling with anger at this point, and couldn't release it in any way other than words. He was forced to sit upon the chair and stay there. He tried to interrupt his older colleague as often as possible in order to disorient him. He didn't care at all what his colleague was about to say. Optimist to the end, he didn't want to believe it was all over. Not like this.
The second scientist cleared his thought and continued:"Right. To answer your question, I didn't bypass anything. Well, that's not entirely true." He then pulled up his shirt to show a tattoo on his chest which was hard to read. There were some letters and numbers, as well as equations and drawings of mostly geometrical shapes.
"That's a tattoo. Congratulations, are you feeling any younger because of it?"
Forcing a false smile he patiently explained:"I'm not going to tell you the details. But I'm quite proud of the idea I had. They removed all the personal memories and stored them away. My tattoo however, is a puzzle, an enigma if you will. And I knew I'd be intrigued into solving the equations and understanding the meaning. That's how I carried on with my plan, despite the memory wipe."
"They seriously allowed you in with a cryptic tattoo on your chest?"
"Oh, but I didn't have it at that time."
"Ok, now you're really messing with my head. How could you remember? Where did you get that tattoo inside here?"
"I didn't have to remember it, I reconstructed everything. I didn't have the tattoo for the first month I was here. I assume that I've used some of those coloring nano-bots. They're considered harmless and didn't show on the scan, because they need time to grow. And the growth takes about a month, depending on a person and his or hers physiology. It all adds up."
"Shit," scientist 57 couldn't avoid swearing, while beginning to admire more and more the person before him. He said: "That's truly something. A temporarily invisible enigma. And what was your plan?"
"That's something I think you figured out yourself, when you seemed terrorized for a second, just before I stopped pretending."
"You have a son. Or daughter. And you made him or her part of λ-ex ."
"Correct."
"You idiot! Why? What is the point of ruining perhaps the most important experiment that we as a species ever devised? Why destroy it all?" the fifty-seven almost screamed in despair.
"Now that's where you're wrong. I didn't destroy it, I merely improved upon it. And I hope at least you come to see my reasoning. I'm not a monster, I want you to understand and simply do nothing until the morning, when you'll forget everything done here. Scientists 03, 04, 10, 33 and 42 also managed to discover my plans, didn't listen and so I had to kill them. Such a shame. I am too careless it would seem and I attribute it completely to the memory wipe. There's something that's disquieting about what I don't remember. Still, I'm in luck to be the second in charge and can easily prevent and interrupt communications."
In his mind, brief flashes of images passed by, glimpses of the events he went through.
The first memory was of scientist 03, trying to reach 01's office after he couldn't connect to his computer, only to find 02 waiting behind an empty crate that was used to transport electronics. A quick stab and it was all over.
The 04 was more prudent. After his computer's "malfunction", he closed himself inside his office. A few minutes later, an explosion emanating from the 04's office attracted the attention of the whole team. After close inspection they concluded 04 disabled the safety mechanisms in the equipment in his office. Some of the scientists still remained suspicious, yet most were reassured that it was a simple malpractice. None of them were aware of a bug that enabled 02 to disable the security from his office.
The three scientists that remained suspicious were starting to investigate on. Luckily for 02, being in charge for most of the manual work, he sent them to certain deaths doing checks on security circuits that he intentionally left operative. They didn't have a clue.
Returning from his memories, 02's mouth stretched into a wicked smile and he almost wanted to pat himself on the back for the good work.
"Oh, so you're not an idiot. You're rather a murderous psychopath then? I assume you are not joking and in fact, it makes sense. I haven't seen any of them at the party. What if somebody else will notice?"
"Who? The last meeting was already held and most of the people on the experiment are now either drunk or asleep. Some perhaps both. Fifty-seven, I know who trusts who in this team, little groups of friends that have formed, and most of them prefer leaving me alone. And even if somebody else notices, I have something prepared just in case." He wanted to continue talking, when he was wildly interrupted by the 57 again:"Ok, I get it. There's intelect behind all this madness. But have you ever considered that perhaps you got your tattoo-riddle all wrong?"
"Impossible. Were you even listening? I designed the tattoo, so obviously I let only one possible answer. I had almost a year of time to think about multiple solutions and there's only one." After this nobody of the two spoke. The pair of scientists just sat and had a staring contest with each other. Finally, 02 spoke again:"So will you sit in this office for the next few hours?" Then, looking at the watch, he corrected himself:"One hour and forty-eight minutes. After that, you'll forget about it all and we can be friends again, assuming that was the case in the past."
Scientist 57 began laughing all the while trying not to move too much. He was genuinely scared 02 will take any of his sudden movements as a sign of attack, and he learned once already how agile his older colleague was: "So my choice is to either allow you to doom humanity and live another 25 years, or simply die trying to stop you? Both solutions include me dying sooner that I'd like and I'm not agreeing with either."
"Why are you so stubborn in believing that I want to destroy us all? I'm a person, just like yourself, I want to live on and enable a future for our offspring. What I did will work, there's no doubt about it." The 02 said it while sitting with his arms crossed and a stern expression that demanded obedience. 57 observed that 02 still had the knife ready in his right hand.
57 started thinking fast:"Should I trust this madman? Of course not! He killed five people in hopes of covering his tracks, and he's prepared to kill some more. If his plan made any sense whatsoever, surely some of them would listen to him. Didn't he say he tried to explain it first? Perhaps my only option is make a run for it. I'll have to distract him somehow." What he said out loud was:"What if someone else comes to this office? What then?"
The 02 smirked and turned towards his computer screen:"I have everything under control. As I told you, my position of power gives me several advantages. One of them is easy control over security cameras and one of them is just outs-" he stopped when he heard a sudden movement and immediately prepared for an attack, with his knife at the ready, arm raised.
To his surprise, 57 sprinted to the door, and tried to open it in vain.
"Did you know that the doors can be locked from the terminal? I set up a trigger to lock them automatically each time the door closes." 02 then stood up, to face a genuinely scared 57, who was deciding if it's best to try and bring the door down, or the crazy person that was sharing the room with him. Neither seemed like a plausible course of action, but knowing the doors were made resistant in case of any danger, he opted for the second.
57 darted towards 02, who swiftly avoided the attack, bringing the blade to 57's chest, straight through his heart. The impact of 57's momentum and 02's expert timing, the younger scientist only had moments left to breathe, before his mind went blank. 02 pulled the kinfe out and let 57's body fall down on the floor, where quickly, a pool of blood was forming.
"There's no use in explaining," 02 was talking to himself now, or perhaps, the body, that might still have a glimpse of conscience in it:"in the end, nobody listens to me. There's not a single person in this experiment that would think outside the box and listen to my reasoning. They're all blindly convinced I'm the bad guy." He then proceeded in disposing the body. He took the body by the shoulders and dragged it to a ventilation shaft. There, 02 opened the grate and shove 57's body into it, letting the blood act as a lubricant, for gravity to transport the body down the shaft. Afterwards, 02 went to one of his cabinets, where he took out a cleaning chemical and removed all traces of blood that could be seen, as far into the shaft he could reach without having to crawl in.
"Voila', last mistake I've made is undone," He passed the remaining of the time in silence, pondering on tonight's events.
As the clock was approaching 6 in the morning, he started thinking forward, and a smile crossed his face: "All right, I've done everything I could. Now only ten seconds remain before my brain will regain old memories and lose ones related to this place. And then I'll be able to leave."
The clock turned 6:00 and nothing happened.
"I don't understand. What's going on?" He was staring incredulously at the clock. 6:01. "Why do I still remember everything?" He looked around, and everything was the same. He seized the invisible keyboard and immediately saw a sign on the screen: "Self-Destruction imminent. Thank you for helping us shape the future of mankind in the λ-ex."
"Whaaat?" he screamed out loud, and started panicking and clicking on different keys. Of course nothing worked. "W--why? Who would have done something like this? Who even knew? And I thought I was the mastermind!!" with every passing thought, he panicked more and more, and the last question that remained unanswered in his head was:"So we were, after all, merely cups of coffee for the puppeteer behind this charade?"
Everything went blank for him and the whole experimental complex imploded inwards, leaving no trace of the facility on the ground.
Ni komentarjev:
Objavite komentar