Chapter Thirty-two
Pieces in place
Wednesday, March 21. 12:25PM. 125 S.A.
Lemac Lake, Lugrin. France
The FRT team had decided to take a break for lunch. They had been working long before Mai's team arrived and it was time to take a little break from work. One of the reliefs they at least already had was that as of a little less than half an hour ago, a final air analysis of the site had been performed and the residual fuel odor had been eliminated. There was no sign of any pathogens in the vicinity either, so they could remove their masks. Even so, the work had continued. Even with the new spider droids, combing the terrain, the work of tracking down pieces of the crashed plane had continued to slow.
They had been bringing different parts to a special tent, which served as the main station. There Oxy, and other military technicians, had been submitting those pieces of the plane to scans with special instruments they had brought from the ship, to make sure there was nothing abnormal. After that, they would be moved to another hangar, where they were being catalogued, in order to reconstruct all the pieces of the fuselage, avionics, and passenger area.
Oxy, meanwhile, would continue inspecting the different parts with the special readers. She was in front of a large, elongated-looking machine, on top of which was a series of rings in a vertical position, one next to the other. The most manageable pieces were placed in these rings and the scanners were in charge of cataloguing which part of the plane they had belonged to, or if they belonged to the passengers, and if they had any anomaly. For the moment absolutely nothing had been discovered. There was no abnormal radiation of any kind from the particles associated with the Dark Events. Nor was there any residual electrical charge on all the electronics they had been scanning so far.
Cell phones, cameras, watches. Everything was as dead as their owners, the victims who kept arriving at the other hangar where Shin and Lizbeth were working. Even the autonomous batteries of the plane's black boxes were discharged. The data on the terminals, as well as all the computers, were erased.
One of the first things that had occurred to her was that the plane might have been hit by a ball lightning strike, which had gone inside the plane. That was unlikely, since the fuselage would act like a Faraday cage. But there was also the possibility that something had struck and the depressurization of the aircraft had produced some electromagnetic effect that would have fried all the electronic instruments. Although checking the weather reports for that day in 2012 there was no storm, just a normal cloud buildup.
Even if that were the possibility, she had a serious problem with the reports that Shin and Lizbeth were uploading. Whatever had destroyed the instruments on board had also done something to the passengers. And, what was even stranger, was the presence of fractium material on the victims. Time was the strange factor. That some space-time anomaly had appeared was the simplest cause, but Oxy did not remember that an oopart had been found with so many victims.
What they had secretly discovered did not seem to have an association yet, until more could be discovered about what had happened. Oxy was at a loss for what had happened. Although she was trained to do that kind of work, the fact that it was a time-related disaster made her feel a little uncomfortable.
The terminal she was operating gave a new negative readout of parts and Oxy sighed. She took the parts and placed them in one of the special boxes, where they were coated with a self-wrapping material and a black label appeared on the side. Then she put smaller pieces back into the machine to take another reading. This time it was tiny pieces and she had put several of them in to speed up the reading process. Again another negative.
She was not the only one working there. There were four other people, and two other machines that were also taking readings. They were army personnel, so they only spoke to her when necessary. Oxy was not a fan of the silence. She was used to working in the anomaly study department at the university, and it was always a rather noisy environment.
As the scanning continued, the silence was such that she shuddered when an incoming call appeared on her Neurowire.
What? She found herself surprised to see who the caller was. But at least it made her smile as it was something to break the monotony at that moment.
[Hello? Jim?] Oxy asked, smiling. The caller was her former student, and the one she had shared a case with just a few days ago, Jim Stuart.
[Professor! How are you feeling?]
[I'm... fine,] she sighed. [How are you? Has something happened with the case over there? Any news?] Oxy was almost certain that the call was about what happened in Edinburgh few days ago.
[Nah. It's business as usual, for now. Thor is in charge, it seems he has to go to Germany for other business, but he'll be back as soon as he solves them. On the other hand I've been seeing that the criminals escaped from Pyrene's facilities, right?]
[Yes. We still don't know what's going on with those two.]
The conversation continued in a purely professional vein, but Oxy was sure that the call was about something else. She had received calls from Stuart in the past, but they were almost always for some kind of consultation. If it had nothing to do with the case, she wasn't sure why he would call her. She had always liked that fey redhead. Clever about some things, if a bit absent-minded about others, but always diligent about his work. A diligence that he had even shown in his time when he had been her student at the Siren Island University.
[Well?] She asked. [Why the call then?]
[I just wanted to know if there was anything interesting going on there with the case of the two who escaped. For some reason the reports aren't coming in properly.]
[What do you mean?]
[Well, I mean they're not being updated at the moment.]
Oxy thought about it. That's probably because what happened with the Vatican might have something to do with what happened here. She suddenly thought about it more carefully. Stuart always used to call her for something more specific and given the time of day he must be working, unless... [Jim, what are you doing now?]
Stuart's voice was slow to answer, almost as if he was thinking something through. [I'm on my days off, I have nothing to do.]
[Shouldn't you be enjoying your days, off instead of worrying about work?]
Again a pause. [I'm enjoying myself right now...]
His tone of voice seemed somewhat as if he was certainly doing it. It was strange. She had no way of checking why, but she felt he was telling her the truth.
[So, what are you doing then? Are you busy?] she asked, as she put a new set of pieces into the ring scanner.
[I'm free, I have nothing to do, that's why I decided to call you. Maybe it sounds a bit sad that I have nothing to do on my day off, but at least I want to be aware of how everything is going over there.]
Oxy smiled warmly at that. She knew she herself was a mess, but at least it was a comfort that those she had taught had come away learning and never let go of the curiosity she had tried to instill in each of her students. She looked at the light circling the rings scanning the pieces at that moment. [Jim?]
[Yes?]
[You want to help me with something?]
Stuart's voice did not hesitate for a second at that proposal, as the answer came out with a tone as crystal clear as the water of a stream. [Of course! I'd love to!]
[I haven't told you with what yet.]
[I guess you'll tell me now.]
Oxy smiled and told him some of the details of what she was working on. Not telling the gory details, but leaving the hint that possibly those who had escaped from Pyrene might have some connection to what had happened at the lake. Oxy was waiting every second for someone to come into the tent telling her to hang up, but that didn't happen.
That woman from the Council said that they could use their outside sources and support, as long as they did not violate the security line. She was not breaking the rule because, although it had been somewhat different, Jim Stuart had been involved in the case because of the two criminals who had stolen Sil Moore's body in Edinburgh. Although it might break the rules what she was thinking of doing at the time. But since no one was coming to tell her off, Oxy continued.
It was an abbreviated explanation, but Stuart seemed to be listening intently to every spoken thought Oxy was sending him. So he could get an idea of where she stood. [So that's basically a gigantic oopart?] He asked with a serious tone.
[We don't know yet. But there's a lot to analyze.]
[How bad is it?]
Oxy bobbed her head a little and answered, this time with a more serious tone. [It's not for everyone's stomach honestly. There are a lot of victims, but the help is for something different,] she said as she deposited a new set of pieces in the container baskets.
[I think we could take a look at it together, like the old days on campus. What do you say, professor?] Her former student's voice sounded genuinely excited by the offer. [Sounds interesting. Would it be okay for me to join?]
Oxy thought about it for a moment first. She liked the idea of having someone to help her with the tedious work, even if it was a remote connection, but she also liked the idea of having someone who had been her student working side by side with her.
At the same time, though, she couldn't help but feel like she was manipulating him a bit. She wanted to have someone at that moment who would at least pull her out of the pit of questions and dreary memories she had of her past. That feeling of a knot in her stomach, ever since she got off the ship, she had not been able to get rid of it with absolutely nothing. She could almost feel a twinge in her leg. But what weighed her down even more was the memory of Zuriqth.
Oxy took a short breath and returned to Stuart's question, trying to push away the thoughts that clouded her mind, like a stone thrown into a pool of placid and serene waters. [Only if you have nothing to do. I don't want to rob you of your days off.]
[Nah. It's okay. It'll be my pleasure to help you,] Stuart said in a nonchalant tone.
Oxy paused. It will be my pleasure to help you. That sentence brought back to her a distant memory like starlight. She swallowed hard, and for a second the image of that sentient android with the gentle voice appeared in her mind.
[Professor?]
[Y-yes? Excuse me.]
[Do you have a host body around?]
[What?]
[If there is a host body? You must have one with a biological synapse simulation, right?]
[Do you want to come here?] Oxy asked in surprise. The truth is that she thought Stuart could help her in her work, but only by keeping her company so that she could focus better. This was basically going to be allowing her to share the information from her visual cortex with Stuart, but without him moving his body from Edinburgh. That he wanted to go where she was was something different. It would be much better if he were there, but could she afford that?
[If it's no trouble of course, I don't want to bother you, but if I can help you I will,] Stuart added.
Oxy thought about it. Carissia surely had some support and spare body, but the ship wasn't there at the moment.
She walked over to one of the tent windows and looked around. She looked for a few seconds, zooming in the distance, and seemed to see some soldiers of considerable height and with metallic gleams on the sides of their temples. They were barely visible. When she looked at their hands, she noticed that they were strong although thin. She had no doubts. Those were military-grade synthetics for multitasking. If there were synthetic bodies around, they must have also had a tent with bodies to send the minds of those who wanted to get to the place.
Oxy smiled. [No problem, give me a few seconds,] she said and stepped out of the tent.
***
A few minutes earlier.
Jen Anderson had continued her work of monitoring the activities of the SID team members, while sipping tea. That woman must have loved tea and sweets. From what Mai had seen, she went every twenty or thirty minutes to the food printer in the tent, to eat something sweet and help herself to an Earl-gray from the machine. At least she had been concentrating on watching the team's holographic projections and hadn't been pestering Mai.
That was until she focused on Oxy, who seemed to be having an outside conversation. The information from the outside conversation could be accessed because the security to the outside was much better than the inside. That is why the woman had not noticed the team meeting earlier in the day, but at that moment she was looking at the information from Oxy's conversation.
Although Oxy had not revealed any of the team's secret conversation, she was revealing some details of the case to someone on the outside.
"Miss Izumi. Can you tell me what this means?"
Mai looked away from the report she was currently reading, and fixed her gaze on the projection on the operating table that was transmitting the text of Oxy's mental conversation.
A bead of sweat trickled down her cheek, she stood up and walked over to the projection table and stood next to Anderson. "She may simply be consulting with one of our agents from the FRT teams. That special agent was involved in what happened in Edinburgh and Oxy was also involved in the case, due to one of our agents being caught by an oopart found in the victim's apartment."
"The conversation doesn't seem to be having much to do with what happened in that case. She is revealing facts to him about what happened here."
"You said we could conduct the investigation by whatever means we thought necessary. Consulting externally is commonplace. Oxy is one of the best physicists Nevermore has, but many of her students are also part of the consulting teams. That special agent is the leader of an Edinburgh FRT team now and was also a student of hers. It's a common thing for them to talk about."
"I don't feel very good that information is being released."
"You know our oath, don't you?"
"What does that have to do with it?"
"Being part of the Nevermore SID is a vocation of service. We give part of our rights in exchange for being able to act globally. We won't be known and probably history won't remember us well. But we have each other. Our knowledge is part of the Council, but it is compartmentalized in case something happens to us. It is vital that we have each other to consult and help each other. Oxy has not had a period of inactivity in fifty years, for her teaching has also become an insurance policy in case something happens to her mind in the future. If she does fall into a period of inactivity that lasts for years, at least there will be agents who know as much about the science as she does and who can apply the methods to theorize the origins of certain Dark Events."
Jen looked at her in surprise. "Fifty years? But Professor Oxy is over two hundred years old, right?"
"Yes, she fears she may go into a deep coma that could last for years or decades. Her brain doesn't get much rest and has always been hyperactive. That doesn't take away from the fact that compartmentalizing knowledge isn't also a way to ease the burden on her mind."
"Doesn't she have any treatment?"
"Yes, she does, like most of us."
Jen looked at her with a suspicious expression. "What about you, Miss Izumi? You are of vital importance."
Mai sighed. "In my case I make up for it by sleeping, I always get my fair eight hours, but if I don't have some situation that warrants my immediate presence I extend my rest to ten or twelve hours. That way I have always compensated for my period of inactivity. On the other hand the chain of command always has the vice director of operations Tony, and the facultative director Rein Aogami, in case the first two links fail."
Jen in her Neurowire pulled out the medical chart with Mai's data and called the roll as she read. "You have been undergoing psychological treatment for several years, right?"
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Mai nodded. "Yes, but my mental state is stable and I have improved as you can see.
"Are you still afraid of water and space?"
"I'm making improvements on it, there's nothing to worry about. On the other hand, it is only restricted to the ocean, not to lakes or rivers."
"From what I read, that was due to first starting a relationship with agent Londonderry and then with rookie agent Aogami? I mean that you started to have better results in the treatments."
"Exactly." Mai would have liked to cut off the conversation at that point. She knew it was best to be polite to Anderson, though. She didn't want to talk about her private life, especially since her love life didn't interfere with her work at all. Although sometimes they might give each other some affectionate gestures when they were on a mission, that had never taken them away from their duties. They preferred to leave intimacy for when they were not working. The face of a certain girl floated into Mai's mind at that moment. At least I hope they don't find out about Kotori, yet, she thought.
Jen Anderson subtly looked at Mai with a quizzical gesture and lowered her voice. "Miss Izumi...are you and Miss Londonderry pregnant?"
Mai blushed and looked at Anderson whose eyes had bore into her stomach and chest. "No! We're not," she replied, holding a hand to her chest. Damn medical reports. Can't we even fart that everyone has to know about it?
"But...this report says that you...?" Anderson's gaze had been pinned to Mai's chest.
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/42dd80f9-5ac6-42d5-8ccc-bcea020b6152/dgghbyn-9f9d1ad0-49e5-4d56-8d2f-a1136decd000.jpg/v1/fit/w_828,h_1170,q_70,strp/nevermore_enygma_vol_4_chapter_32_by_hasegawakein_dgghbyn-414w-2x.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTY4NCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzQyZGQ4MGY5LTVhYzYtNDJkNS04Y2NjLWJjZWEwMjBiNjE1MlwvZGdnaGJ5bi05ZjlkMWFkMC00OWU1LTRkNTYtOGQyZi1hMTEzNmRlY2QwMDAuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTExOTEifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.bUKBBjEazgz0a9GZgx3BaO8e5CL3eV5LQLvxfsEuH5w [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/42dd80f9-5ac6-42d5-8ccc-bcea020b6152/dgghbyn-9f9d1ad0-49e5-4d56-8d2f-a1136decd000.jpg/v1/fit/w_828,h_1170,q_70,strp/nevermore_enygma_vol_4_chapter_32_by_hasegawakein_dgghbyn-414w-2x.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTY4NCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzQyZGQ4MGY5LTVhYzYtNDJkNS04Y2NjLWJjZWEwMjBiNjE1MlwvZGdnaGJ5bi05ZjlkMWFkMC00OWU1LTRkNTYtOGQyZi1hMTEzNmRlY2QwMDAuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTExOTEifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.bUKBBjEazgz0a9GZgx3BaO8e5CL3eV5LQLvxfsEuH5w]
Mai felt her ears flush. "That's because of the hormonal disorder that we have when we are in a relationship... hasn't that ever happened to you?" Mai asked annoyed.
At that moment she was grateful that the hustle and bustle in the tent made the conversation go unnoticed by others. But, at that question, Jen Anderson's gaze turned cold and Mai could have almost sworn her face had turned white as her soul escaped her lips.
"Unfortunately it has never happened to me." Anderson replied, twisting her gaze with a cynical smile, her eyes had lost what little sparkle they had.
Mai would have liked to apologize. It was obvious from Anderson's gestural language and change of mood that the question had struck a chord.
Although that gesture of subdued depression did not continue for long. Anderson looked again at the projection, which continued to show Oxy's conversation, and her expression froze. "What the bloody hell?!"
Some soldiers then passing in front of the tent turned away as Jen Anderson exit from the it, with a vein throbbing in her temple. Behind her was Mai, sighing somewhat wearily.
"What's wrong with you people?! Is it normal not to ask permission to bring an outside agent into a confidential investigation?"
"It is normal sometimes. More so considering that consulting with outside agents is normal. I told you that."
"She could have projected some of the information to him without bringing him here!"
"Yes, but in order to offer a better point of view it is always better to have the agent physically on site."
"Didn't she offer her support in the recent case remotely only, using augmented reality?"
"Yes. But we're not talking about her now. We're talking about the fact that in order for her to project the information, the remote user would have to take into account Oxy's brainwave spectrum pattern. Which in itself is different."
Anderson walked at a faster pace. She doesn't like to lose against logical arguments or what? wondered Mai, as she picked up the pace behind her.
At that moment they were both stopped. Allard, followed by another soldier, approached them both. "Glad I found you, I was just going to look for you."
"We're kind of busy right now," Anderson said. "What's going on?"
"Whatever you're doing, I think you should come. We have two visitors we weren't expecting."
"What? Who?"
"I think you'd both better come to the TA. Come with me."
They both looked at each other angrily, but followed Allard and the soldier to the transient airport. Anderson pursed her lips but said nothing.
Whatever it was, it would at least buy Oxy time before Anderson reprimanded her. From what Mai had seen in Oxy's private dialogue with Stuart, Mai knew what they were up to. She had nothing against it. Considering the magnitude of the disaster, the FRT personnel they had on site should have been larger, although much of them were in the health work in the south with the giant tardigrades. Therefore, it was good to have some extra personnel, even if it was the addition of an external team. Maneuverability and plasticity in handling the teams was another of the good personnel policies they could count on in emergency situations.
Allard led them to the sector where Mai and the others had landed upon arrival. Carissia's ship had gone to the restricted polygon to the east, to assist in the search but, in its place, there was now a smaller transport vehicle.
Mai frowned in confusion. "Van? What is she doing here?"
Beside the ship stood the pink-haired intelligence service agent. What surprised Mai even more, though, was to see who was accompanying her. It was the one who had supposedly been followed by the two criminals who had carried out the robbery at the Holy See. Mai had been aware of the details of the investigation and knew that the Rome station was taking over surveillance of Lee Reubens, but that he was there was something she hadn't expected.
Van stepped forward and greeted Mai and then introduced them. "Director Izumi, may I introduce Professor Reubens, professor of astrophysics at the University of Rome. Professor, this is Director of Special Operations, Mai Izumi." Had it not been such a severe situation Van would have done so in a more relaxed manner, but her instincts told her not to when she saw Anderson. She recognized the dark, unadorned clothing and the type of footwear as belonging to the Council. Yet she greeted the others as well, as etiquette required.
Lee gave a slight nod and offered his hand, which Mai took to return the greeting.
"Professor Reubens, it's a pleasure to meet you," Mai said.
"Likewise," Lee replied, and his eyes lingered for a moment on the petite girl. He had heard many legends about the war and Nevermore. If she really was the mysterious director of operations it meant she was a war heroine. Although she was somewhat different from how the legends painted her. Lee was given the appearance of a fragile, beautiful, fey girl, though it was hard to imagine such a person carrying the responsibility of the SID on her shoulders.
Mai looked at both of them and then focused on Van, asking quietly as Lee greeted the others. "Why is Professor Reubens here?"
Van looked at her quizzically. "I thought he could help us try to figure out what happened here. The professor has theoretical expertise in issues related to temporal distortions. If what happened here has anything to do with what happened in Rome, there may be a connection he can figure out."
"It's not exactly distortions, that's another field of study of mine. But maybe there may be something I can help with. I hope I can be of help," Lee corrected, with a modest smile. He had good ears.
Mai stared at Lee and then at Van, not knowing what to say for a few seconds. "Oxy is here too."
"Yeah, I know," nodded Van, poker-faced.
Mai frowned. What's going on? Am I missing something? Mai understood that expert collaboration could help, but she didn't see the need for Van to take Lee from Rome to there. That could have been done through an outside connection. On the other hand, Oxy could interpret some hypothesis of what happened without the need for the person involved to move to the site. This was not like Stuart's case, since he was part of the FRT, but Lee was an academician only and, considering that he could have been a target for kidnapping, he would have had to remain in the custody of the Rome station.
Although, on the other hand, given the amount of security in place Mai doubted that anyone would want to kidnap him surrounded by military personnel, the FRT and SID agents.
Does Van know something else she can't tell me? Mai wondered.
"Well, you tell me. If I can help you I'll be glad to," Lee said.
"We need to give you a credential and talk to Professor Ishijima. If you're going to collaborate with us you should be with her, since she's the one in charge of scanning the plane's parts."
"We were just on our way to talk to her," Anderson said.
Mai tried to put on a smile, but something made her uncomfortable. Bringing in someone from the FRT is wrong, but a civilian is okay? What kind of double standard is that? Is she trying to show a gentle side in the face of a civilian to make a good PR campaign for the Council? Hidden by the messy bangs, a vein pulsed in Mai's forehead.
Jen Anderson led the team and made her way to the tent where the military equipment Oxy had targeted was located.
"Hey, are you okay?" Van asked.
"Yeah..." replied Mai, with a crooked grimace, as her ahoge seemed to have lost the vitality it always had.
***
Before leaving Jim Stuart had made sure to make a backup of his memory and send it to the memory bank just in case of emergency. Then he had gone to bed and settled in as relaxed as possible. He hadn't even been up for a few hours and had already gone to lie down. But at least rest would be good for his physical body, while his consciousness would be elsewhere.
Jim Stuart had lost count of how many times he had carried out that procedure, but it always gave him the same feeling.
There was still some debate regarding the transference of the consciousness mind to a new body. But, beyond all the polemics, at least for Stuart, he had considered that the transition of mind and consciousness was real and his new self when he moved was still the same as the previous one, and that the process was the same in reverse. He had the same memories and sensations. Quantum neurology had made leaps in these areas, even though there was debate and dissent in other branches.
The procedure required that, before transferring to the synthetic body, the cognitive and sensory functions of the individual's brain were first mapped. This was the copy of the user's brain that would be installed in the new synthetic body. The mapping was done by the Neurowire functions, and sent the data to the brain in a liquid state in the synthetic body.
The gray matter would then copy the structure of the individual's brain, something called the transition state to soft substrate. From there came the transfer of the user interface: the quantum state consciousness, which created the link between the biological body and the synthetic body. The body of the individual would be at rest, while the new body was already free to move.
But it was the phenomenon of transition between bodies that attracted his attention. There was something terrifying and incredibly sublime about it at the same time.
The consciousness, as it traveled to the new body, entered an abyss that reminded him of virtual simulations of traveling at the speed of light. It was like a cosmic immensity, where reality unfolded and folded into unknown dimensions. It plunged into a whirlpool of thoughts and emotions that twinkled like distant stars and then died, plunging everything into the most unfathomable darkness of the universal night. There, for a space of time that could not have been more than a few seconds, the fabric of reality seemed to twist and dilate like an echo in space-time, while consciousness itself was stripped of its former shape, or self.
It was as if he was watching the story of a microcosm retracting and showing a universe full of life before it died. In a way it was like falling into a black hole, bending the light of the stars, so that a blue line was drawn in his vision before the darkness. At that point the explanation was that this sensation was the last remnants of the sensory cortex, being transmitted to the new body.
After a moment came a point of light. This journey passed through what seemed to be a tunnel of pure darkness, where the mind was subjected to a sensation that nothing existed beyond that point. The laws of physics gave way to a dance of particles and waves, and the mind became a flow of pure information, intertwined with the fibers of that microcosm. It seemed that everything was coming to life again from that point. A mini big bang at the sensory level, as the neural functions of the synthetic brain were turned on. The colors of knowledge and the sounds of the new universe merged into a unique symphony, a melody of deep understanding.
In a way, it felt like being born again.
Many had come to postulate that, if the soul and reincarnation really existed, it was possible that the strange effect of the point and then tunnel could explain the visions and traditions of the mystics of old who spoke of a tunnel of light. Even in the Near Death Experiences reference was made to that sensation, but in the sense that everything seemed to recede upon regaining consciousness. The explanation was simply that it was the transference from one body to another, but the similarity was curious.
Whatever it was, it was time to wake up in the new body.
His new eyes had photosensitivity parameters to self-adjust to the light in the room, so Stuart felt no discomfort when he opened them.
He looked around the room, and then focused at his hands. Strong hands, with long fingers and straight marks on the skin, mostly on the knuckles and wrist joints. He touched his head and when he felt on both sides of his temples, he felt as if he had two small rectangular metal parts.
He knew where his conscience was. That was a military multimaneuver synthetics. He knew them and therefore had no problem moving. He got out of the capsule where he was, and moved one of his hands to check that the Neurowire was working properly. It was at least two meters high and the issue of size and height was for maneuvering in space.
Looking around he saw that he was in a somewhat large tent, where there were at least ten other capsules on the ground and other military tools. On the far side were some terminals to handle the insertion of consciousness and on one of them was Oxy smiling at him.
"Welcome," she said.
Stuart looked at his new temporary body and saw that he was already dressed in a military uniform. He could feel that the body was adapted with muscle memory. It was much more muscular than his real body, but there were some differences. Those bodies had no stomach, the motor functions were maintained by the sequential release of proteins and amino acids, so the user would not feel hungry. Likewise, it did not release excretions and was devoid of reproduction organs as well.
He got up and walked over to Oxy. Seeing her so small gave him a strange feeling.
"There wasn't another one smaller, I'm sorry if it's too big. All the synthetics here are the same type," Oxy apologized.
"No problem," he said and held out his hand. "It's a pleasure again."
She accepted the greeting. "Are you going to stay with that configuration?"
"Oh, right!" Stuart remembered. Seeing her had caused him to forget that. He waved one of his hands as an interactive window unfolded in his eyes and searched through the body configurations. Almost instantly Oxy saw the featureless face take on a more human hue and reddish hair began to grow on the bald surface of the synthetic.
That change was due to the nano-skin system and rapid growth of hair follicles. Once the user left the body the synthetic would return to normal, since it was only an external configuration that was easy to reverse with a single control command.
But that face was somewhat different from the one Oxy remembered. Or was it the hairstyle? Jim Stuart always wore his hair slicked back and held his bangs back with a bandana. That style was a little messier, although it didn't look bad on him.
He noticed her look. "Oh this is one of the avatars I always wear in virtual reality."
"It doesn't look bad on you," she said.
"Thanks. Well! You name it professor. How can I help you with the scan?"
"Come on, let's go," she said, walking to the entrance of the tent.
At that moment someone else entered the compound that Stuart didn't know, and then a more familiar face.
"Wait a minute, not so fast," said the dark-haired man, stopping Oxy. "Here comes that woman." Then he looked at Stuart. "Hello."
"Hello..." Stuart looked at the man. Is this the Keelian? He had guessed as he looked at him more closely, and saw that he had a strange feeling about him. Behind him was a special agent with long blonde hair. He had heard of her from her missions, Lizbeth Londonderry.
Shin and Lizbeth had approached the tent, alerting Oxy that the Anderson was coming to give her a scolding. They had taken a lunch break, along with Granger and Jade, to see what Mai was up to. Unfortunately Mai had not yet taken her break, and they had to settle for watching the main tent from a distance. But they had seen Anderson and Mai leaving the tent. From afar Mai had sent a message to Lizbeth, to alert Oxy before Anderson arrived. But it had not gone as expected. Almost twenty seconds later the entourage entered and everyone stared at each other not quite knowing what to say.
"Hello." Stuart greeted by simply raising a hand and looking at the new arrivals.
Jen Anderson took a long sigh and simply faced Stuart and greeted him. Mai did the same. She supposed that, if Anderson wasn't making a fuss now it was due to the confused look on Lee Reubens' face, who was looking at everyone without quite knowing what was going on.
Anderson just swallowed what she had to say to Oxy, while Mai complimented Stuart on the last job.
"Honestly, we didn't do much. The explosion wiped out a lot of the clues that could have cleared everything up. Everything is moving slowly because of it."
"But at least that the containment was helpful, and there were no more civilian casualties is a good job," Mai objected.
"Thank you very much, ma'am."
Oxy meanwhile, to escape Anderson's gaze had walked over and greeted Lee. She knew who he was from the files transmitted by Rome, but found it somewhat odd that he was there. "Professor Reubens, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. Ehmm…"
"Ishijima Kanade. But you can call me Oxy. Professor of theoretical physics."
"Oh!" Lee raised his eyebrows. "Theoretical physics. Have all you theorists gone for any of the 68-dimensional cosmological polytopes yet, or are you going to continue to keep us like ducklings in a bathtub?"
"Well... even if we did it doesn't matter which one we leaned towards, everyone else would end up winning too. Right? In the end the ducklings would still float to the top."
Lee put on a smile. "Yeah, I guess that's true." He liked that fey teacher, that she had some sense of humor in all the chaos of physics at the moment was refreshing. But that smile on Lee's face slowly disappeared from his face as he looked at Shin. He held out his hand looking at him quizzically, something Shin had expected. But what Shin didn't expect was the question that followed their introduction.
"Sorry for the question. But do I know you from somewhere?" Lee asked, looking at him quizzically as his hands had frozen in mid-air.
"I hope not, usually when people say they know me from somewhere it's not good, they always try to sue me," Shin said with a serious face.
Is that a joke? wondered Lee. But given the seriousness on Shin's face it was hard to tell. But he had a strange feeling looking at him, his face rang a bell from somewhere.
Once the protocol was over, everyone left the tent. Oxy had escaped being reprimanded with Lee's arrival. And she was pretty sure that Anderson wouldn't say anything for the moment, considering that if he wanted to help, being with Oxy would be the best option. On the other hand, Stuart having more experience working with her would be good. The work force had increased for Oxy.
As the three discussed the events that had transpired at the site, Anderson trailed behind and sighed. Finally she turned around and headed back toward the operations tent. Allard along with the soldier turned away and returned to the search team on the ground.
"Well, problem over... for now," sighed Mai.
"So it seems..." mused Van, who had already put the pieces in order of what was going on.
"Have you eaten anything?"
The question had come from behind Mai, Shin and Lizbeth were looking at her. She smiled at them both. "I'll nibble something over there. Don't worry."
"Kiss," Lizbeth asked.
"Now is not the time," Mai scolded her.
"Tch, you meanie."
"Van," Shin interjected, "what are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to be keeping an eye on Professor Reubens. It's my responsibility that he's here. It would be really stupid for someone to try anything against him here but... just in case."
Mai then looked away and saw that Anderson had disappeared. [So, what's going on?] she asked Van mentally.
Van looked at her, somewhat confused by the sudden appearance of Mai's voice in her head through the Neurowire. [What do you mean?]
[Why did you bring the professor?]
[I thought he might be of help.]
Mai arched an eyebrow. [But why? Wouldn't it be better to have left him in Rome in the care of the station staff?]
[...] Van didn't say anything. Eh?
[I mean, if he has any information that is linked to what is here, you could have just sent it to him as a link. On the other hand, we're still not sure what happened in Rome is linked to what happened here. It's a very thin thread of connection.]
What's going on? Van's pupils were constricting and dilating, making her vision blurry.
[I'm not scolding you,] Mai said, [if he can really help us he's welcome, but he's a civilian. Take care that nothing happens to him.]
"Van?" asked Shin, looking at her. She was staring at a distant point as if she wasn't paying attention to Mai.
What is this? It was as if Van felt as if something had just cut off in her brain. It was the last feeling she had as her vision blurred and everything lost consistency. The three of them looked at her in confusion as Van's body slumped to the grass.
A thin trickle of blood trickled from her nose.
Mai's screams calling out to her were not long in coming, as Shin tried to accommodate her head because of the bleeding.
"What just happened?" wondered Lizbeth.