A pink neon sign reading, 'Welcome to Purgatory' flickered through the smog-filled street. Ancient street lights from a time long passed still burned, though the orange glow did little to penetrate the hazy cloud of pollution. The roads were empty, and the only sound that could be heard was the electric hum of the neon sign. The silence was cut short as the roar of an engine sounded in the distance. Within seconds four men stepped out of an old black car. Three men wore patchy jackets, dirty pants, and stitched-up hoods. Their hands were rough and scarred from years spent fighting. The fourth man stepped out of the driver's seat, he wasn't wearing a hood like the others, but his medium-length black hair was a mess, as though he tousled it himself. He held his head high, but his eyes flicked down at the clothing he wore, the same scrappy clothes that his companions had on, and scowled. He glanced up at the dark sky and then back down at his watch. It was nearly noon. He looked back at the thugs he was bringing with him and raised his eyebrows at the dumbstruck expressions that looked back at him.
"Shoddy work," he muttered under his breath; he jerked his head towards the dark alleyway in front of them, "Follow me."
They set off down the narrow path, grimy walls looming all around them. The darkness of the alleyway would have blinded them if it wasn't for the faint glow up ahead. The light was escaping underneath the small opening where the metal door didn't quite touch the road. Its blue glow illuminated the shoes of the four men as they lined up outside the door. The leader lifted a gloved fist and gave the metal door a hard knock.
Cyril's face was protected by a blast shield as blue flames and sparks flew all around him. His black hair was an unkempt mess. It stuck out in every direction from the static electricity, it framed his head like a mane of darkness, and it glowed from the flurry of sparks. A loud knock got his attention, and he switched his equipment off.
"Nikola, would you please get the lights?"
The octopus replied with an affirmative, "spoon!" The cybernetic implant Cyril had installed in the Cephalod's brain translated his brain waves into a crude robotic imitation of English.
Cyril sighed as he watched the marine creature hop from one jar filled with water to the next. One day, he would broaden the vocabulary for Nikola's sake. He made his way over to the garage door and removed his blast shield so it rested on his head. The protective gear left his face relatively unscathed from the sparks, leaving a rectangle of pale skin in its place. Cyril rubbed his bleary blue eyes as he waited for his cephalopod friend to reach the light switch.
The knock came again, only this time with more force. Cyril scowled at the impatience, "One-second Tooth," He glanced at Nikola, who finally wrapped a wet tentacle around the light switch.
Cyril flexed his neck, feeling the vertebrae crack as the lights turned on, their pale artificial glow made his own skin appear even whiter. When he lifted his wrist in front of his face, a small metal implant hummed, and he pressed a couple buttons on its panel, causing the garage door started to rise.
"I didn't think you'd actually be on time-"
Four men stood in front of Cyril; the leader had his hands clasped behind his back, a look of anticipation on his face. The other three stood as menacing as possible behind him, and they wore the familiar style of Purgatory, but Cyril didn't recognize them. The leader gave Cyril a quick up and down and extended a hand, then he opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.
"Excuse me," Cyril's voice was tight as he addressed the stranger. "What exactly can I do for you?"
The leader hesitated for a moment before flashing a bright smile, "Good afternoon, Cyril, I'm here on important business regarding your work."
It must have been a lie, though the fake smile could have given it away just as quickly. Cyril had told no one of his latest projects. He disguised his actual work with half-finished gadgets, weapons, and machines. While they added to the clutter of his garage, they helped establish his failed scientist reputation. Meanwhile, he had dedicated most of his life to his true project, the Cyril v74. There was no possible way this man or anyone would have knowledge about it. No, these men had to have a much more sinister reason for being here.
Cyril glanced around him; the men who had retreated a couple steps further into the alleyway shared looks of uncertainty and confusion.
"I'm not sure why they're here either," the man said, catching Cyril's quick inspection, "Supposed to help me blend in, don't worry about them."
There was something incredibly unsettling about these intruders. Cyril could feel the hair on the back of his neck rise, the animalistic urge to put as much distance between himself and the newcomers overwhelmed him. The stranger caught the look of doubt on Cyril's face, and he started to slowly walk forward, his foot just barely crossing the threshold of the garage.
He reached for something in his pocket. "I think there might be a slight misunderstanding. "I'm here about the...,"
The man stared emphatically at the metal sphere behind Cyril, the very one he was working on before he had been interrupted, and Cyril's blood turned to ice. He took a couple instinctive steps backward and jerked his arm up to press a three-button combination on the implant in his arm. The garage door came flying back down, propelled by an internal engine designed to close the door as fast as possible in case of emergencies. This was an emergency. The man howled in pain as the door slammed shut on his foot, his curses now muffled. Cyril glanced at Nikola, who bobbed his rusty brown head violently in his small jar of water.
"Fork fork fork" The animal screamed at him.
"I have no idea!" Cyril yelled back, biting his nails as the man outside shouted at him, "Once they figure out that I never had time to finish the locking mechanism, I'll be finished."
"Tongs," Nikola suggested
Cyril whipped his head over to the octopus, "it's not finished. I only built it to scare away tweakers." The animal only blinked at him, his tentacles swirling underneath until Cyril finally nodded. "You're right Nikola, it's our only chance."
Shouts to open the door could just barely be heard through the barrier. Cyril lifted his arm once more and punched a few more combinations into the implant. The wall behind Nikola folded out of view, revealing a shelf wall lit up by small LED lights. The shelves were stocked with various pieces of equipment and gadgets. In the very center was a metal box nearly the size of Cyril himself. He hurried over to it and yanked it off the wall, the weight of the thing almost sending him toppling over. With a grunt of exertion, he hoisted the cube until it rested on his hip. He pushed a button that extended out the top with a free hand, and the cube started to transform. After a few seconds of metal scraping and slamming together, Cyril was holding a massive cannon the length of his own body. A long cylinder extended two feet in front of him. The sides of the cube had folded out of view, revealing a smooth metal oval that spun effortlessly in an anti-gravity chamber.
Exhaust ports jutted out from behind the machine, already expelling steam as the weapon started to warm up. Cyril positioned it facing the emergency barrier that was now being yanked upwards. He slid a leather strap around his shoulder, which helped take the weapon's weight off his arms. He looked over at Nikola for courage, bolstered when the octopus nodded his head in encouragement. Cyril grimaced, time to put on a show. Slowly the door started to inch upwards until it was violently thrown upwards, sending the metal gate crashing into its track in the ceiling. Cyril's maniacal laughter froze them in their tracks as they mindlessly charged into the garage, the barrel of the weapon now pointing directly at their stomachs.
"Get the hell out of my lab" Cyril's eyes were wide and wild, his heart pounding in his chest."
The three thugs stared dumbfounded at the cannon, realization that they were in imminent danger slowly setting in. However, the leader looked at him calmly, his hands raised defensively to appear non-threatening.
"We're not here to rob you, Cyril, you and the Cyril v74 need to come with me."
Only two people in Purgatory knew that he was on version 74 of his project, Cyril himself and Nikola. The octopus bobbed in equal surprise, a small amount of water splashing on the floor.
"Do you want to get vaporized? "He screamed, trying to make his face as crazy as possible "Nothing will be left of you if I pull this trigger. You'll be just like that smog outside."
He forced out another crazy laugh, fighting the foolishness he felt. He had to seem genuinely psychotic for this to work.
Cyril saw the brief flash of fear on the man's face. He lifted a finger to his ear and turned his face to mutter something under his breath before turning back to take a deep breath. It was essential to remain composed. It was already too late for his companions; those men cowered under the barrel of the weapon. Cyril thought he could see tears glistening in their eyes. Ugh, children. How did manipulation come so easy? Cyril took a confident step forward, and the intruders subconsciously matched the step backward.
"My name is Jericho," the man said, his hands still raised in a non-threatening position. "I'm here on what's called a delivery and retrieval," he let out a shaky breath, "I have something for you, and in return, you and the Cyril v74 come with me."
Cyril's finger tightened around the trigger. No way in hell that was happening. "If you don't get out of my garage, I'll kill you."
It was a lie; Cyril had never killed anything in his life. He relied on camouflage as protection, half-built machinery and 'failed experiments' maintained his harmless incompetent reputation. A reputation that managed to keep a low profile, which was invaluable considering Purgatory was a city dominated by turf wars and gang recruitment. On the rare occasions that things did manage to penetrate his defenses, Tooth was his failsafe. Though he was nowhere to be found now, not that Cyril was surprised. The man spent most of his life stoned or in a gunfight. Whatever had caused him to stumble into Cyril's garage that night remained a mystery, But they'd both been better off for it. He paid Tooth to be his bodyguard despite rarely needing his services.
Jericho set his jaw, "I know that weapon was never completed, "
Cyril shot a questioning look at Nikola, who was too busy squeezing his malleable body into one of the smaller jars to notice. Someone had been watching him. That was obvious.
Encouraged by Cyril's hesitation, Jericho flashed a weak smile and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small metal device, oval. He grabbed one end and pulled, revealing three needle-like prongs.
"I need to insert this into your neck-" he said, pointing to a spot on his own neck directly above his shoulder.
Before Cyril could react, a loud bang blasted in his ears. He squeezed his eyes shut as blood splattered everywhere. Screams of pain and confusion were barely audible over the ringing in his ears. He wiped the blood from his eyes and saw Jericho writhing on the floor, both hands clutched at his neck as blood squirted out between his fingers. Frozen but willing himself to react, he looked over at the garage door to see a tall, thin man fire an old pistol at the other goons who dropped dead without a fight. The new visitor wore a red plaid shirt with the sleeves torn off. It draped over his bony shoulders like a toga revealing a grey undershirt filled with stains and a couple small holes. His lopsided frown was concealed behind patchy facial hair.
"Tooth!" Cyril exclaimed, both out of surprise and relief.
"What the fuck Cyril," Tooth said in a raspy voice, the product of years spent inhaling polluted air.
"I- I should say the same to you!" Cyril balled his fist in frustration, stomach still churning from bodies occupying his garage.
"I told you I would be here at noon," he lifted a thin arm; three watches hung limply from the wrist, though only was functional. "I'm actually three minutes early." He motioned to the corpses sprawled out on the floor. "What the hell is this?"
"Spoon," said Nikola climbing from the jar. His body inflated back into full size.
Tooth whirled around; pistol raised in a flash. It took him a second to comprehend where the voice came from. "Did that squid just speak?"
Cyril realized that Tooth had never met Nikola before. The octopus often kept to himself around guests.
Nikola grunted. "He's a veiled octopus, not a squid. You can call him Nikola, but there's no guarantee he will speak to you; as a matter of fact, Nothing is certain with him."
A moment of silence passed before Tooth just shook his head, "Ya, I really don't give a shit. You know why I'm here Cyril."
"Fork"
"I suppose you actually earned it this time," Cyril said, impressed at Tooth's ability to act like Nothing had just happened.
Tooth raised wispy eyebrows but then frowned and shrugged his shoulders, "yeah, you're probably right."
Cyril tapped a couple buttons on the implant in his arm. A sharp hiss sounded before a metal box unfolded itself out of the ceiling. It dropped down on a slim pole, coming to a stop at chest level between the two men.
Tooth smiled; his teeth stained yellow. "So, is that what they were after?" He nodded at the metal sphere behind them; his smile deepened as Cyril pulled a wad of cash out of the vault.
"Yes," Cyril repeated the code he had pushed earlier and the safe retracted back into the ceiling.
Tooth shoved the wad of cash into the back pocket of his stained jeans. "And what does it do?" He asked pointedly.
Cyril narrowed his eyes. Someone had told these people about his work. Should he risk sharing valuable information with Tooth? He glanced at the bodies noticing absentmindedly the lack of blood, before deciding that Tooth had earned a little information.
"It's a portal generator," Cyril said, excitement bubbling unintentionally in this throat, "It has, or will have the ability to create portals."
"Portals?"
Cyril nodded; he carefully lifted the sphere off the stand that was holding it. "Interplanetary portals, a doorway to a new world."
"A new world" Tooth murmured, inadvertently glancing at the smog swirling outside the garage door.
Tooth reached out to touch the sphere but was stopped by a sharp, "Spoon!"
Cyril protectively pulled it tighter to his chest, "Careful, one wrong move and the Nihonium core could implode."
"What would happen then?
Cyril sheepishly set the sphere back on the stand. "The Nihonium core would collapse in on itself, the density would tear a hole in the fifth dimension, which would cause accidental nuclear fusion." Cyril shook his head, "The results would be... devastating, and his planet would be obliterated within minutes."
Tooth took a step back, his face filled with horror and disgust, "Why the hell would you build something like that?"
"It would never happen," Cyril said, stifling a laugh, relishing the rarity of Tooth showing fear. "It only needs a couple more tweaks until the core is properly stabilized; I was only a couple minutes from completing the project before I was interrupted. I just managed to log a completion record before these morons arrived."
A gurgle sounded from below, and both Cyril and Tooth started in surprise. Jericho had somehow survived, one hand still pressed tightly around the bullet hole in his neck. Blood bubbled from his lips as he tried to speak.
"Oh shit," Tooth aimed his gun, but Cyril waved off. He didn't think he could stomach another execution.
The dying man weakly lifted a hand to his ear and gathered his strength, preparing himself for one last attempt at speaking. He gasped loudly and croaked out, "Scenario... Four... Confirmed."
Blood stopped bubbling from Jericho's mouth as the remaining air in his lungs escaped through parted lips. Tooth and Cyril stared at the man for a couple moments and then back at each other. All the lights in the garage flickered. At the same time, Cyril blinked hard, feeling as though his brain had just skipped several seconds of consciousness. He looked at Tooth, who stared mindlessly back at him with dark, dead eyes.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"Tooth?" Cyril attempted, but no words actually came out of his mouth.
Seconds later, darkness consumed them as if every light had winked out of existence. An immense pressure-filled Cyril's senses, completely debilitating him. He started to feel his consciousness slip away, but he fought against surrendering to the abyss.
Cyril's untethered mind drifted to his friend. "Nikola!"
There was no answer, he heard Nothing, he felt Nothing, and within a matter of seconds, he thought of Nothing. Unconsciousness took him.
Cyril blinked his eyes slowly, giving them time to adjust to the harsh artificial light bearing down on him. He heard the echo of footsteps all around and quickly realized that he was being carried in a stretcher down a brightly lit hallway. He looked around and noticed men wearing white bodysuits with faces covered completely. Black sun visors stretched across their heads where their eyes would be.
"Take Cyril to agent halldeen," A gruff voice said
"Yes sir," replied a man to Cyril's left. "And the others?"
"The synthetic can go straight to the recycler but bring the octopus to zoology."
'The synthetic' must have meant tooth, Cyril tried to sit up, but the slight bouncing of the stretcher made that difficult.
"Who are you?"
The four people carrying him didn't stop but the man leading them sharply turned his head. "Glad to see you're awake Cyril, if you just hold on a couple more minutes, we can sort out all your problems, I promise."
The man spoke with the crisp of a military officer. Judging by the shining gold collar and the neatly trimmed white beard, he must have been a high-ranking official.
"What are you talking about," Cyril tried to dampen the panic rising in his stomach. If he was going to get out, he would need a cool head. "And where are my friends."
The older man gave the stretcher carriers a quick nod, and they stopped at once, jerking Cyril forward a little with their momentum. He came closer, his grey eyes glittering with what Cyril could only guess was fascination.
"No need to worry, Cyril. We'll get you somewhere more comfortable." He glanced at the other man who was following the group, "Agent Tyk will make sure your friends are taken care of."
The tone in his voice made Cyril's stomach churn, "Wait, what's the recycler?"
The old man averted his eyes and straightened himself up, "Let's get moving, Agent tyk, Halldeen's waiting."
Cyril tried to swing his legs over the side of the stretcher, but a firm hand stopped him, "Wait a minute," He grunted as he fought with the multiple arms now pinning him to the stretcher, "What's- Let me go! Hey! What's the recycler!"
The man didn't answer; he turned on his heel and marched away. Cyril shouted after him, but received no notice. Then they moved again, strapping Cyril to the stretcher to prevent him from struggling further. He couldn't move an inch, but he shouted in protest the rest of the journey down the hallway wanting, at least to annoy his captors. His shouting stopped when the men turned sharply and brought him into a nicely furnished room twice the size of his garage back home. It was darkly lit except for a couple of expensive-looking lamps on small wooden tables. They brought him to a leather chair and unstrapped him. Immediately Cyril tried to make a run for it, but they easily overpowered him, forcing him back down.
"I'll take it from here gentlemen, thanks for the quick delivery." It was a woman's voice who spoke, low and full of ice. Cyril tried to pinpoint the direction it came from but couldn't see anything past the shadows.
The men left without a word and Cyril realized that someone else was standing in the shadows near the door. He wore a black jacket over top of the same white bodysuit, but his face was visible. He was clean-shaven with a military-cut hairstyle. He rubbed his neck nervously when he caught Cyril's gaze.
"That means you too Tyk."
Tyk took a step out of the shadow, "Ma'am he hasn't been restored yet; that's not the real-"
"I said" She stepped out of the shadows behind a large wooden desk as the far end of the room. "I'll take it from here."
Cyril's breath caught in his throat; there was something strikingly familiar about the woman standing in front of him. She wore an all-white dress with a black jacket like Tyk's overtop. She appeared to be roughly the same age as Cyril, and there was a hardness about her that he found strangely attractive.
Agent Tyk made a tight line with his mouth and nodded in submission, he slowly walked out of the door. It made a soft click as it closed after him.
"I should be yelling at you right now," Her voice was smooth, "Jericho probably wasn't the best person to send. That one's on me. But he was a good man."
She stepped further into the light of the lamps, the menacing look on her face melting away. "Cyril," She said a little breathlessly, a smile widening on her face, "It's been a long time."
"I've never seen you before in my life, "Cyril said hoarsely, though he had a nagging feeling that wasn't true.
Her smile dipped as she sat down in a chair across from his. She gave a long sigh as she sank into the comfort. "You have a cybernetic implant in your brainstem. We used it to knock you unconscious. It was really only meant as a failsafe in case you outsmarted every other option," she raised her eyebrows slightly. "Looks like Tooth did that part for you."
That's right, Tooth had been with him. "Where is he? Where are my friends?"
She laughed out loud, "friends? Cyril, it doesn't take your level of IQ to understand that Tooth is not your friend." The slightest hint of jealousy laced her words.
"He's... muscle that you pay cash for." She inclined her head, "If you could call him that, that synthetic is all skin and bones."
A knot started to form in Cyril's stomach at her choice of words. "I don't have time for this. Send me back." He struggled to find the confidence for his voice. He was in no position to make demands, but he had the feeling this woman was not here to hurt him.
She looked at him thoughtfully and crossed one leg over the other, "send you back? To Purgatory?"
Cyril didn't answer. She spoke like she knew something that he didn't, a situation that Cyril despised. Agent Halldeen pushed herself up out of the chair and walked with a languid sway of her hips towards a window that was covered with a heavy black curtain.
"Purgatory is the reason you built the Cyril v74."
His breath caught in his throat, it was her, the one watching him in his garage. She drew the curtain back. Light filtered through the window and lit up the entire room, its natural brightness blinding Cyril for a quick moment.
It was impossible. This world had been cut off from the sun a long time ago.
"You see, Cyril, you built purgatory." She looked at him, the sadness returning to her features. "it's not real." She gestured to the sunlight, "this is real."
Memories from his childhood flashed through his mind, lessons in school about how the sun was overpowering the atmosphere, how humankind made the unanimous decision to cut itself off from the sun. How the foolish conclusion had doomed humanity to darkness and lab-grown food. Those memories were real he was sure of it. The years spent building the Cyril v74 were real.
"You're lying."
Halldeen sighed and reached into her desk, "you always insisted that you needed Purgatory to help you finish the Cyril v74." She pulled out a small oval device, the same one Jericho had shown him earlier in the garage.
"At the time I thought you just needed a place to hide," Hurt had crept into her voice, "But I think I believe you now."
Cyril swallowed hard, dumbly taking the device when Halldeen offered it to him. This was all a foolish attempt to trick him into handing over his invention, it was the only logical explanation.
"It's not possible," a sudden thought crossed his mind, "people were living in Purgatory with me. Tooth was one of them."
Halldeen sat down in the chair at her desk and gave him a flat smile, "That is my only contribution, synthetic AI. Around here we just call them synthetics."
Synthetic, as in created being. Tooth had been manufactured? It was too much to take in. He looked down at the thing in his hand.
"All you need to do, is insert the needles into the base of your neck two inches above your shoulder blades."
Cyril grabbed one end and pulled, the smooth metal soundlessly popped open, revealing three sharp needle-like prongs. He looked at it doubtfully, questioning why he was even listening to this strange woman. Every logistical neuron in his brain screamed at him to drop the device and run.
Halldeen stood up again and walked over to him, "this is a memory pod, it converts the electrical activity of the brain into digital data that can be stored and re-uploaded." She grabbed his hand, her fingers feeling soft and cool to the touch, "This is your pod."
Her voice was confident and calm, and the way she touched his hand implied a level of care that Cyril had never experienced before. Just as he decided to take a leap of faith, the door was kicked open.
"Spoon!"
He whipped around to see Tooth standing in his overly large plaid shirt, one long arm aiming his pistol at Halldeen while the other balanced Nikola on his shoulder. His face seemed even more gaunt than usual he held his head high. Two of Nikola's tentacles were wrapped around his neck for support.
"Yeah, what the octopus said"
Immediately Cyril could see that Nikola was not sitting in a container of water, his deflated body was already starting to look a little dry. He frowned. Halldeen on the other hand, was more concerned about the gun. She raised both hands, palms outwards to show Tooth that she was unarmed.
She lifted a hand to her ear to contact help from the outside, but Tooth cut her off before she could speak.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," The classic clicks of the pistol being cocked was enough to emphasize his point, "Not unless you want to end up like those assholes in white."
Halldeen paused for a moment, "You have no idea what you're doing synthetic."
"I'm doing what I was paid to do bitch," His cracked lips parted as he grimaced.
Halldeen laughed at the irony, "You're doing what you're made to do."
"Tooth, while I do appreciate your timeliness this time, I don't think this woman is dangerous."
"Like hell she isn't," Tooth spit on the ground, his arm still raised "where the fuck do you think we are Cyril? Last I checked this wasn't your garage."
Cyril knew he should agree, but there was something about this woman that he trusted, he couldn't explain it, not to himself and certainly not to Tooth. He focused on Nicola, who blinked his eyes but said nothing. He bobbed is head slightly, telling Cyril that he was happy to see him. He itched to go get him a container of water.
"Put the gun down Tooth, it's okay. Besides we need to get a bucket of water for Nikola."
"Fork"
Tooth lowered his arm slightly, both confused at Cyril's strange lack of apprehension and the sudden realization that the octopus was drying out on his shoulder.
"Well shit, he didn't tell me he needed water. He just kept yelling spoon!"
Halldeen cleared her throat, the two men looked at her, and she pointed at a container of water sitting beside her desk. "To be honest, Cyril, I was expecting Nikola to be with you, I already had this prepared."
Tooth rushed over to the container and carefully pried Nikola off his shoulder, the suction cups on the Cephalod's tentacles making quiet popping noises as they dislodged from his skin.
Cyril smiled slightly at the level of care Tooth was taking, he found it fascinating how quickly a person could change from new experiences. If Tooth really was a synthetic, he was a damn good one.
"What kind of light is that?" Tooth asked, both Cyril and Halldeen had been watching Nikola fondly and were startled by Tooth's loud and raspy voice.
"It's... sunlight." Cyril replied
"But I thought we blocked out the sun, like a thousand years ago or somthin'."
Halldeen sighed and gave Cyril the faintest of glares, "That hasn't happened yet, the blockage is scheduled for the year 3400, in roughly two more years."
Tooth gave her a bizarre look, but Halldeen turned her attention to Cyril, "this is what I've been trying to show you Cy," she motioned to the device in his hand. "The sun is superheating the surface of this world; we've already lost 95% of wild flora and fauna. 75% of the world's oceans are heated to unlivable conditions for marine life."
Cyril looked down at the needles that he still had out in his hand.
"There was only one scenario that the collective powers of the world could come up with..."
From his childhood lessons in Purgatory, Cyril remembered, "They decided to block out the sun.
Halldeen nodded," but, there was another solution."
Cyril already knew what she would say because it was exactly what he had spent his life devoted to. "Intersystem travel"
Halldeen nodded again, ignoring Tooth's confused looks sudden onslaught of questions. "You said you could do it, and for whatever reason, someone rich believed you. They offered to fund the entire project."
Cyril found himself watching Nikola float happily aquarium. Something was calming about his friend's swirling tentacles that helped his process the information Halldeen was feeding him.
She continued, "Construction for Project Eclipse started a year ago. It's happening whether we like or not. We need the Cyril v74 to work, or this entire planet is going to look like Purgatory."
"Why did I do it?" Cyril whispered, "If what you're saying is true, why did I build purgatory and put my memories in this" he held out his hand, staring at the device with displeasure.
Halldeen hesitated, and for a moment, she seemed to struggle to find the right words, "You needed the distraction... the motivation."
"That's bullshit" Cyril shouted, anger flaring inside of him. "I wouldn't do that; I wouldn't cripple my mind like that."
Halldeen didn't reply, she only nodded at the device.
Cyril took a deep breath and held the device up to his neck. There was something Halldeen was not telling him, and if this little machine would give him that information, than he had to do it. His inventor's curiosity was overtaking his better judgement.
"Now hold on a moment-"Tooth said, realizing what Cyril was about to do. "This is crazy! Cyril, you know better!"
The needles punctured his skin as he quickly jabbed them down into his neck, his heart skipped a beat as his vision started to blur. For a moment he thought he had made a serious mistake. His vision continued to blur and he could no longer hear anything in the room. The last thing he saw was Tooth standing over him, shouting something inaudible. He watched as Halldeen lifted a finger to her ear and mouthed a couple words. All expression left Tooth's face as his whole body stiffened, and then Cyril saw nothing.
His vision was dark for a couple moments, but his mind was racing. Halldeen had simultaneously eliminated Tooth and him from the equation, leaving only Nikola to defend his work. Panic started to rise in his throat, Tooth was right Halldeen had tricked them. He was about to scream out in frustration, but his vision exploded into a thousand images, and his brain was overloaded with information. He could almost feel his brain replacing new memories with the old ones. In a flash he remembered his real childhood, his friends, his parents. Information flooded past his eyes as his brain filed it away. It wasn't until he remembered meeting Halldeen that the memories started to slow down. He saw her, only much younger, with a smile filled with joy. He saw a room, his room, with Halldeen lying on the bed. He saw the news as riots continued and solar storms wreaked havoc worldwide. He saw his parents' funeral, killed in a riot over the lack of farm-grown food. He saw another room, Halldeen's room, one wall was a built-in aquarium with multiple octopuses swimming around. He watched her press up against the glass, telling him how they were the smartest creatures. He remembered rolling his eyes and hearing her laugh. He saw their child, a young boy named Nikola. He felt the fierce intensity of a parent's love, and he felt his heart rebreak after the news of Nikola's death. He felt the emptiness that filled his mind and soul, he felt sorrow that plagued his heart. He felt hatred for the state of the world that had taken so much away from him. Sadness and rage-fueled his mind until he had come up with a solution to fix the world; they had to leave it. His relationship with Halldeen continued to wither away as they both used the Cyril v74 as a distraction. He saw blueprints of the portal maker, the original plans he drew up before he had even built the Cyril v1. He saw a computer screen, digital data for synthetic AI displayed on the screen, the best imitation for human life mankind had ever come up with. He heard a discussion with another man, plans for a simulated world, the ultimate distraction and motivation. He saw a world being built, a dome large enough to imitate a small town, and he was overseeing the constructions. He heard Halldeen crying, begging him to stay, imploring why he had to do it. He felt his own anger at her sadness and anger at himself. He felt the frustration over his lack of focus, the grief that clouded his mind and prevented him from working. He felt the longing desire to lock himself away, to free his mind from distractions and to forget. He saw the world as it was, one step away from transforming itself into Purgatory, the simulated world he was about to move to. He felt the burning desire in his heart to change the world.
Cyril opened his eyes. Tears continued to stream down his face. He was somehow now beside Nikola, who wrapped a tentacle tightly around his hand.
"Fork!"
Cyril smiled at him sadly and looked up at Halldeen sitting in her chair, watching him carefully.
"I'm sorry I left."
"No," Halldeen shook her head, " I was always jealous you could escape like that."
Cyril pushed himself up to his feet, gently shaking his hand free from Nikola's hand. "I'm here now," He swallowed, suddenly unsure how to carry himself around the woman he used to love, he didn't even know if those feelings could still exist after so many years hidden away.
Halldeen breathed in and smiled but said nothing. Cyril lightly shook his head, his vision still swam, but the dizziness was starting to fade. He looked at Tooth who was frozen in place, the same lifeless look in his eyes from before.
"What did you do to him?"
"To put it simply, I 'paused' him." She gave Tooth a thoughtful look, "He was one of my best ones. Honestly I'm not surprised he got the better of Jericho." She shook her head ruefully, "AI are damn smart."
Cyril studied the drug addict, the only man he had ever called a friend in Purgatory. It was surreal and he found himself getting lost in his memories. Recollections from Purgatory and his real past were getting jumbled around.
"Well," Halldeen said clearing her throat, "With that out of the way I suppose I should bring you down to the testing site. The other workers will be happy to see you."
"Testing site" Cyril echoed, not sure what she could possibly mean. He had the Cyril v74 to finish, that took precedence. "What for?"
Halldeen laughed, "For the Cyril v74 of course, as soon as you logged your computer that it was finished, I sent Jericho and some synthetics to retrieve you." She gave him a weird look, "you know this."
Cyril felt his blood turn to ice, "It's not finished."
"Spoon?" Nikola's robotic voice was low, and Cyril knew he had spoken out of fear.
"What did you say?" Halldeen said, worry lines creasing her forehead.
"The Nihonium core it was never properly stabilized!"
"Cyril" Halldeen's voice was loud and filled with panic, "What do you mean."
He only looked at her, horror filling his mind as his stomach turned to stone. "Where is it." He whispered.
Halldeen said nothing.
"WHERE IS IT."
Halldeen swallowed and pointed out the window at a taller building a few hundred meters away.
There was a blinding flash of blue light as the building exploded, and Cyril felt nothing.