A table rose ominously from the floor along with a variety of monitoring equipment and several IVs, one of who's contents were pale blue and elicited a faint glow. Gondo laid down on the table and Lowell began attaching the necessary gadgets, most importantly the Cognitive Crown, the device that communicated his brain with the bank of monitors and computers Ignasius now configured.
The Cognitive Crown. A groundbreaking piece of technology that changed the face of the planets. This device could record a person’s thoughts and experiences, even their dreams. Its application effected every industry. Entertainment was dominated by Dreamers, people who spent their days filling their minds with the fodder for their nightly broadcasts. The private sector latched onto the science for military training and espionage. Like the internet before it, the Crown shaped the universe around itself, as common place now as the toaster or the holo-visor.
The version Gondo now donned was a spiky affair, jet black. While the technology that allowed the Crown to work had grown so advanced it could fit in a cranial patch, the amount of intricate machinery needed for Casting had a bigger footprint. Lowell and Ignasius had developed the technology inside the crown in tandem. The design was the Caster’s own, as always. Gondo had a flair for the dramatic and had modeled his after the Iron Crown of the Dark Lord Morgoth.
The crown alone wouldn’t be able to push Gondo's mind to the limits it needed for interstellar travel. The additional components were supplied via the IVs Lowell attached to Gondo’s arms. The substances inside were a proprietary blend. A mixture of ancient tinctures and psychoactives, modern sedatives and illegal drugs, and the culmination of Lowell’s current research: a compound they called the Moonshield. It glinted menacingly beneath its plastic sheath, a slight mist hovering over its surface.
Of course, none of this would mean anything if there was no way to track his journey. The Crown worked with the mainframe Ignacius had created to establish communication between Gondo and the team, and to map his consciousness’ path through the outer reaches of space.
Not just anyone was able to travel in this manner. When a young person reached adulthood, they were tested to ascertain their psychic capabilities. The small portion of the population that passed that test was then ushered off to the S.P.A.: The Solar Psychic Academy. It was there that they learned to harness their abilities. The S.P.A. created some of the most powerful members of society. Politicians and spies, researchers and academics. But not everyone excelled in the program. Just ask the warehouses full of slave-Casters whose astral ghosts haunted the cosmos in search of the rare elements needed to keep the power on for the inner planets. Once located, the A.E.C. would send unmanned drones at the fastest speeds possible to collect the minerals and bring them back to the spheres. Even now century old missions were returning each year with payloads gathered in the early days of the program.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
The A.E.C., or Astral Engineering Corp, was the most powerful company on the planets. Their stated mission was to seek out and collect the rare stellar metals that kept humanity running. But their ties to political entities and the church hinted at a different mission. “They’re trying to make a god,” Lowell had stated one evening while in their cups.
Every now and then an undocumented psychic would reach maturity and wreak havoc across their activation zone. Specialized teams were on standby on every major planet to respond to an event. But these incidents were exceedingly rare. The A.E.C. hated to squander an opportunity. They were very thorough in their screenings.
Gondo had been a prodigy at the Academy. While never finding his way in computing or micro-mechanics he excelled in all things related to Casting and Astronomy. He was fast tracked through the program and given a heavy dose of brainwashing. Lucky for him, there were other forces in the world interested in his abilities.
“Ok you know the drill, we’re gonna do a test mission today to see how Lowell’s new compound effects your Scry,” Ignacius boomed pleasantly from the control deck, “This will be a turn and burn, but we’re still gonna put you all the way on ice. For safety.” The light in is his chest blinked, as if winking. “Did you know there's not a Latin word for mustache?” Ignacius blurted out suddenly. The robot had a glitch in his system that made him produce random trivia facts in any conversation. Lowell had given up trying to track it down, and now they all quite enjoyed it.
Lowell quickly interrupted, “The Moonshield is completely safe, as I’ve already tried it on myself, under Ignacius’s careful watch of course.” They nodded to the robot who tilted his body back to them, “We’ll be recording through your Crown to determine the detail you’re able to collect. Are you ready?”
Gondo closed his eyes and relaxed in reply. The regular substances would be first, those that would put him into a sleeping state. Then the limiting agents. Nobody wanted a psychic explosion in their lab. Afterwards a period of monitoring as Gondo reached the R.E.M. phase of his sleep. For a trained Caster like Gondo, this time was brief.
Once he dreamt stably it was time to elicit a lucid state. This involved another modern miracle, a revolutionary substance called Trinalyte G4. This incredibly valuable drug was able to induce lucid dreaming. The subject was able to gain complete awareness inside their own sleeping consciousness. This rare and closely monitored substance was unavailable to the public. After its initial release, the resulting health crisis had taken it off the market permanently. Society couldn’t keep running while it was sleeping.
Finally, the conduit for today’s adventure. The Moonshield. Its polar ice-like contents would hum into action as they pulsed into Gondo’s veins. Whatever happened next could be groundbreaking. Lowell entered the command to begin his Cast. The IVs hooked to his body activated.