Chapter 14

Ryker

Each step closer I took to my destination fueled my unnatural curiosity that I couldn't understand. Never before had I ever felt such an urgency to simply know… anything… not like this. One step closer, I felt my focus narrow; another step, all I could think about was the vat; and another, then I was running. In what felt like an eternity trying to get closer to the answer I sought, I made it. I found myself standing mere inches away from the dark fluid behind the glass.

As I stared with a single-minded intensity into the void-like substance, I could make out flickers of movement in the dark. I reached up and placed my right hand on the glass and began to hear a noise inside my head. It was like listening to a room full of people whispering in a different language, unable to quite hear any single voice or make out any specific word, but you could feel them focusing on you.

Just as the whispers started to reach a crescendo and I felt my knees begin to buckle, I could make out a small sinuous form no larger than my pinky finger swimming up to the glass. It had a smooth segmented body with no appendages and a circular mouth with small but sharp-looking teeth. Its chitin had a mesmerizing pearlescent sheen to it that I found out of place on the worm-like creature. Then it opened its eyes and locked onto me. I was shocked by the flood of emotion I felt in that instant. I felt like a wave of rightness had arrived, and I was being swept away by it.

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As quickly as the euphoria had taken hold of me, it was gone in an instant. I felt two hands grab me by the shoulders and spin me around, and I found Amy looking at me with a concerned expression on her face. I heard her voice start to rise in volume as she spoke. "Ryker, Ryker, snap out of it, dude!" I blinked twice and then looked over my shoulder into the water, and the creature was gone. All I found was the darkness.

I shook my head to clear the last vestiges of the foggy feeling that lingered before answering. "Yeah, sorry Amy, I didn’t hear you… what's the matter?"

She gave me that same concerned, motherly look. "What the hell do you mean you didn’t hear me? I was basically standing on your head, shouting at you for 2 minutes while you stared at that big fish tank like it was about to take its clothes off."

Now it was my turn to give her a concerned look. "Really? I just got here and saw the little worm thing and heard the… I dunno, noises… I couldn’t have been here for more than a minute."

"Yeah, I don’t know about that Ryker… it's been 3 hours since you took your little walkabout, and Ruby has had time to get everyone settled into their living space, cleaned up, and dressed in our new techno-grabby suits."

Now I was really starting to feel uncomfortable… "That's impossible. After getting dressed, I saw this out the window and… felt… like coming here… I dunno, it's fuzzy. I think we should leave."

Suddenly, I noticed Ruby step out of Amy's shadow and hold up her hand. "Not so fast, you two. You are exactly where you need to be… I need you to be more powerful, and this is the first step on your path to the pyramid."