Chapter Twenty-Five

Mirror Box

Tuesday, March 20. 3AM. 125 S.A.

Annecy, France.

Griffin let out a tired sigh and scratched his bandaged head. He had removed his dark glasses and only black eyes could be seen under the bandages.

He was sitting in an old swivel chair, with his feet resting on another chair in front of him. The room had once been an office, but was now in a dilapidated state, with the furniture full of dust.

Of course it was not necessary to clean all the facilities, that would have been stupid. After all, they only needed certain parts of the site, along with the control station, to make the place run efficiently. Once all that was finished, it would be abandoned, and the other facilities, along with that room, could continue to gather dust for eternity.

The silence of the place was comforting, a break from the hustle and bustle outside. Griffin closed his eyes for a moment, letting the peace of the moment wash over him, as he seemed to concentrate on something completely unrelated to the situation he had found himself in over the past few days.

Everything had been finished a few hours ago and the facilities were ready. Although, he was not one of the team of scientists who had worked the hardest on the whole thing, that did not mean that he had spent the last few days doing absolutely nothing.

Checking pressure and radiation levels. Checking with the droids to make sure the cooling systems were stable, to make sure there were no leaks. And he had even been helping, as best he could, with the repair of old wiring. He had also been helping with repairs to the refurbishment of the facilities. Not to mention the strategic placement of the twelve harmonic needles in the part of the ring that they had to close the circumference with the other thirty-six placed along the circumference.

Everyone involved had been working, sometimes for days without sleep, taking shifts when fatigue got the better of them. Only the droids, tireless, had kept going day and night and, thanks to them, the work had been completed in a week. Just as planned.

It had also been hard to control the new magnetic superconductors liquid layer, which had been brought in on SDD systems. Those had been installed in the circumferential area that had been designated as the perimeter of the station.

The Annecy station control area was to connect midway with the other two control stations. East to Boneville, and west to Seyssey, over an area of 29.5 kilometers, and then connect the circumference at Gibebra to close the entire 118-kilometer circumference ring.

It had been a tiring week for everyone involved in the work. Miles and miles of circumference that, for the most part, the heavy duty droids had been in charge of reconditioning. Clearing debris and weeds in the first two days, and also ventilating the environments to ensure that the personnel could work safely. It had been a tiring, but quick task, considering they were all more than 1500 meters below the surface. The droids had carried all the hard part, something that in the past would have taken months and years to recondition, was brought up to speed in a week.

That facility was part of a huge particle accelerator, which had been built almost two hundred years ago and abandoned after a couple of decades in operation, due to budget cuts and war conflicts, which had forced even more cuts in other areas of research, to redirect funds to other objectives that had higher priority at the time.

Its construction had taken twenty-five years, and it had made advances in the detection of new members of the particle zoo, in the development of critical high-temperature superconducting materials and in the areas of medicine, with new therapies against certain types of cancer. But that had been halted by the drumbeat of new conflicts and challenges facing the human species.

CEEN's massive particle accelerator had been a feat for its time. An engineering marvel, it had made new approaches to the study of supersymmetry, studying the counterparts of the Standard Model particles. As well as delving deeper into the study of the Higgs particle, which had already been discovered decades earlier in the smaller hadron collider, before the supercollider was built with its new detector.

It had four control stations, located in four different cardinal points, which each had different areas of study that were complemented with the data extracted from the collisions. For example, studying the hierarchy problem, CP asymmetry, the enigmas of the muon, or approaching new electron, lepton and positron discoveries. It had been a true quantum detective, whose collider, like a giant magnifying glass, had tried to unveil the criminals hidden in the heart of matter.

Beyond these advances in the world of the very small, there had been breakthroughs that had had repercussions in other areas such as metamaterials that would later be used in the space industry and for the development of magnetic engines. All this thanks to a new generation of superconductors, which counteracted the effects of synchrotron radiation produced by the accelerator circumference, and was later used by the vehicle and spacecraft industry. Much of that research was carried out in other experiments attached to the Annecy area, for testing the resistance of materials.

In particular, the Annecy station area had been exclusively for the control of experiments with electrons, leptons and positrons. The other three stations had their own study areas. But the central part, in Geneva, had been the nerve center of activity in the past.

Due to the war against the Fractus the area of that part had been the target of several conflicts and razed in 2096 of the Old Era. Then earthquakes sank the ground in several places of what had been those facilities and, although, it had been a historical piece of scientific value it was nothing more than a memory in the physics books.

After all, after the war, and with the development of the Orbital Belt, the largest accelerator and collider ever created was built and used its location in space to study new astroparticles, with improved detection systems.

But that the CEEN facility was abandoned so long ago was good for the teams now working there. The few French cities above them, were not even suspicious of the activity that was now spreading around the circumference of the accelerator, more than a thousand meters underground.

But that didn't seem to matter much to Griffin at the moment.

"Tsk," he clicked his tongue, and rubbed his eyelids a little with his bandaged hand. "I'm never going to get used to this shit," he said wearily.

He then removed a contact lens from his right eye and placed it on a small container on a table. It was a customized multimedia interaction device.

He had been searching for some information, but all his search results had been fruitless. Just as Janus had said, and there was no need to give more thought to the matter. His only function was to fulfill what he had been ordered and nothing else. To memorize and not to screw up was his mission.

He put his feet down and yawned tiredly. He had slept enough the night before, but he had been that day making sure that from the other three stations everything was in order.

Everything was running like clockwork and the simulations had already begun.

There was not much time left. He too would have to leave.

He had no obligation to help, but he could not feel useless. Even so, he felt much better than when he had arrived. His skin had stopped itching and even the remaining open wounds were now closed. One of the doctors had helped him in the past days by checking that, under the bandages, everything was healing fast and ready.

It had been a long time since he had seen his face. But he would still have to wear the bandages until the healing was complete. They had applied a special dermal culture cream, to increase the degree of healing faster.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Just as Janus had told him, he too had to be ready.

His thoughts began to wander as he immersed himself in labyrinthine scenarios. He imagined himself somewhere far away and serene, away from the stress. He visualized white sandy beaches, crystal clear turquoise waters and the sea breeze caressing his skin without those bandages. Maybe a woman on a deck chair and a couple of mojitos at a nearby table would be perfect. Maybe even a pulp magazine to read and pass the time. The afternoon would find the two of them embracing as they watched the sun set on the horizon. No one around, just peace. Just the sound of the waves, and the woman's smile. Then would come a little girl running towards him, looking for him.

He had not asked too much of life. Or rather, that other man had not asked too much.

If what Janus had said was true, who was he really? Could he even allow himself to think of those scenarios as belonging to him?

If not, why the hell did he have all those memories to begin with? Would it be better not to think about all that and just follow orders? It wasn't as if he couldn't follow them on the other hand either. That man named Janus had rescued him and for that he owed him too much. But was everything else true?

What a crazy world, Griffin thought.

He was there. And from the data Janus had given him it all matched up.

"Hey!"

The sudden call startled him and he jumped in his chair. In the doorway stood Jansen. But he wasn't alone, a couple of scientists were following him.

"What's going on?" Griffin asked.

"Gifts from the sponsor, he says you know what it's about," Jansen replied, with a grim look on his face. That man had the grumpiness as if his face had been sculpted with those features from birth.

"Oh! That," Griffin said and nodded, "of course. Where is it?"

"Upstairs!" said one of the scientists in a somewhat excited tone. He was a man in his fifties with gray hair and wearing a white jumpsuit.

"Well... let's go see it," Griffin said giving up and letting go of the last memories of his daydreams.

The time to move had come.

The four walked through the corridors full of tools and droid movements, going back and forth, carrying cables or instruments. There were a few humans among them, walking in other directions, while carrying papers or other tools in their hands or metal suitcases in their hands. Even though it was all over, the place was ablaze with activity. And it was because the important part was coming at that moment.

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/42dd80f9-5ac6-42d5-8ccc-bcea020b6152/dgbcfu8-8bd424ef-b895-46ff-bb10-af922d83ee25.jpg/v1/fit/w_828,h_1172,q_70,strp/nevermore_enygma_vol_3_chapter25_by_hasegawakein_dgbcfu8-414w-2x.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTE5MyIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzQyZGQ4MGY5LTVhYzYtNDJkNS04Y2NjLWJjZWEwMjBiNjE1MlwvZGdiY2Z1OC04YmQ0MjRlZi1iODk1LTQ2ZmYtYmIxMC1hZjkyMmQ4M2VlMjUuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTg0MyJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.lNe5v4jBsfXyazkmxZCyeq2c1_EWl6icZgEJyX4y68A [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/42dd80f9-5ac6-42d5-8ccc-bcea020b6152/dgbcfu8-8bd424ef-b895-46ff-bb10-af922d83ee25.jpg/v1/fit/w_828,h_1172,q_70,strp/nevermore_enygma_vol_3_chapter25_by_hasegawakein_dgbcfu8-414w-2x.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTE5MyIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzQyZGQ4MGY5LTVhYzYtNDJkNS04Y2NjLWJjZWEwMjBiNjE1MlwvZGdiY2Z1OC04YmQ0MjRlZi1iODk1LTQ2ZmYtYmIxMC1hZjkyMmQ4M2VlMjUuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTg0MyJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.lNe5v4jBsfXyazkmxZCyeq2c1_EWl6icZgEJyX4y68A]

But if Janus had already sent that, it meant that he would have to leave for the new point without delay.

Where everything would come together.

Yet there was still a little more than a day left, if Griffin remembered correctly.

But the scientists had to gather the data in simulations first at low energies, and then gradually increase the experiments, so that the cities on the surface would not be alarmed by the different types of electromagnetic radiation coming from the accelerator, when the test collisions occurred.

After all, that thing was going to operate above 100TeV. One mistake could be fatal and so, even though the hardest part of the work was over, now came the part where the controllers' minds would intervene, to manage the experiments in sync between the four points to make sure everything went right.

The group finally reached a yellow elevator and slowly ascended to the surface. It had been days since three of them had been upstairs.

While the air inside was not bad, and the ventilation systems had been restored as a first step prior to connecting the power cubes, they could not deny that the surface air would do them good.

Jansen for his part, who had spent the last few days on watch with his mercenary team on the surface, along with the tactical security droids, did not find that particularly novel and simply looked up with his enhanced eyes to make sure that the elevator was working properly. He was not amused to think that he was inside a box that had not worked for almost two hundred years, even though it had been restored and made safe.

Finally the group reached the surface and, as the doors opened, Griffin felt the night breeze hit his bandaged face, sneaking through the broken parts of the building.

They walked down another hallway in silence, moving through the semi-darkness of the place. The place still had many of the old posters of the facility with security signs, but they were almost illegible. There was debris and one of the scientists almost tripped and fell because of rubble on the floor. Even the grass had taken over the place and, from between some parts of the concrete, plants were peeking out, claiming the place as new permanent tenants.

Finally they came to a part of the building that in the past could have been used for loading heavy machinery due to its enormous space, although it looked in a state almost as decrepit as the rest of the building.

A small tactical truck with its rear cover disabled was parked in the center of the place, surrounded by masked and black-clad figures moving with military precision. They were unloading metal crates from the back of the truck and carrying them towards an imposing metal structure at the opposite end of the hangar.

Surely it would be some more parts ordered by some of the teams, Griffin thought.

The tactical truck was carrying something larger in the back. It was an industrial container a little more than two and a half meters by two and a half meters in diameter, and at least a meter and half thick.

The mercenaries around them gave way and Griffin approached the container and, touching it on one side, the top cover of intelligent metamaterial shifted to the side and disappeared from sight. That thing could only be opened by his biometric pheromone identification and by scanning the veins of the hand under the bandage.

Everyone, including the mercenaries guarding the truck, turned to see what exactly it was that they had carried.

Griffin twisted his face slightly at what was in front of him. "It's ugly."

Jansen looked at it, but he couldn't quite figure out what the thing, a little over two meters by two meters, was. "What is it?"

Griffin stared at it for a while and then shrugged. "As far as I know it's something called a Mirror Box."

"Box?" Jansen asked.

"Oh! It's disassembled now, but I assure you it's a box," said the white-haired scientist. "The mirrors are pointing down."

Griffin walked around the shipping crate and ran his hand over the contents, that surface of what appeared to be some sort of metal. He peered over the side and looked down. There were twelve of those things stacked on top of each other. They must be at least ten centimeters thick each, and they were separated by different layers of safety foam to ensure they wouldn't break.

In front of him, the first face had some strange engravings and writing in some unintelligible language. But that was only on the frame. The central part was engraved with a finely carved bas-relief of ancient appearance. It represented something that could well be some mountains and from which protruded some pillars that rose towards the sky, they could well remember some kind of monoliths, or very tall buildings.

The representation of the sun, in the center, seemed to be radiating rays that ended in what looked like arrowheads. But the sun itself had a crescent moon inside it, which led those who saw it to wonder if it was really a sun or simply a crescent moon.

"What's it for?" Jansen asked again.

"Honestly? I wonder the same thing," Griffin said. "But apparently it's a vital piece to what we have to do."

"I guess it's time to get moving," said the scientist who until then had remained silent.

"Yeah," Griffin nodded and looked at the other white-haired scientist. "Don't you guys screw this up."

"Everything is under control," the scientist said. "We're doing intervals to increase the power by twenty to forty-five minutes for now, probably in seven hours, when the sun is high we'll have reached the maximum so the dissipation systems will work better and the surface detectors won't detect any anomalies. Our twelve harmonic rods are already in sync with the other thirty-six along the ring."

"Is it going to work?"

"I don't see why not. The measurements are all done and there is no problem."

"I mean be careful. There's no replacement for the forty-eight."

"We know. Don't worry."

Griffin nodded and sighed. "Well, I guess that's it then."

The white-haired scientist extended his hand to Griffin silently. He accepted the greeting, leaving Jansen confused. He didn't think the strange fellow's departure would be so quick, even though he didn't know what the man's function had been subway.

The truth was that Griffin had only been there for convenience and, once the restoration of the accelerator was finished, to take one of the final pieces to its destination.

Geneva.

"I guess we'll see each other once when this is all over, if we're still alive," said the scientist, still shaking Griffin's hand.

Griffin' only drew a smile on his face at those words. "I'm afraid this is going to kill us all."