Chapter 8 — Before the Expedition (2) — The Madness Principle

Finn flew around the room like a tornado, his arms moving so fast it looked like he casted a blur illusion on himself as he tried to gather up his belongings into a suitcase.

"There's no point," William said, looking at the message on his phone again.

"No point of what?"

"Check your inbox. We're not allowed to bring anything on this expedition."

"Not even clothes?"

"Apparently not."

Finn collapsed into his couch. "This is really sudden, William. Really sudden. I don't feel ready."

This whole endeavor did feel quite sudden. William felt like something was coming together, that the final piece of the puzzle had revealed itself. He paused for a moment, then spoke softly, deciding to air out his thoughts for once.

"Finn, tell me, what do you know about the madness principle?"

Finn looked confused. "Isn't that the rule where monsters go insane when they enter our world?"

"Right. And this is proven. Twelve years ago, a group of farmers from the lowlands outside Albane trapped a two fanged hound in their barn. They used pitchforks to guide it in."

"Sure."

"The hound had been weakened already, it was near death. The farmers decided to let it die slowly in the barn since it was still vigorously snapping at them. But the farmers noticed something. No matter how hurt the hound was, no matter how close to death, it would try to bite them. The hound had a good sense of smell, so when the farmers fed the pigs in the morning and walked closely to the barn, the hound would get up, snarl, and head to the corner of the wall closest to the farmer."

"Right."

"One of the farmers observed that when he walked by the wall, the hound would also walk inside the barn walls, following him. The farmer tried to throw in a stone, and then a small piece of raw meat into the barn, but the hound ignored them both. It only followed the farmer."

"Okay."

"Then the hound died."

William paused, and Finn looked more confused than before.

"What does that have to do with the madness principle?"

"It has everything to do with it," replied William.

"I don't get it."

"Two months after that incident, a group of researchers led by Ferdinand Casper—if you didn't know, Casper later coined the term madness principle in his Papia di Silva Monstaria research paper—this group of researchers went down to the Albane lowlands and interviewed these farmers, who had conducted what was at the time an unprecedented experiment."

"I see."

"It was previously thought that the monsters were overgrown animals that acted on known vectors of behavior—hunger, thirst, territorial guarding—but Casper came up with a new theory. The monsters acted with an all consuming aggression that overrode their sensibilities in way that borderlined madness. They did not care for their bodies or their needs, but rather had a singular intent on killing humans no matter what condition they were in."

"Right."

"But was this always this case? Building upon this discovery, Casper started to experiment with his own captured monsters, then eventually monsters captured beyond the gate. The monsters beyond the gate acted normally—they ate and they slept, they communicated and they nested. Sure, they were still far more aggressive than terrestrial entities from our own world, but they still had their senses. That all changed when they were brought to our world. The moment a captured monster crossed the threshold, they lost everything. The same two fanged hound that would communicate with its pack while caged in the other world, would be reduced to a drooling, snarling, stalking mess in ours whose sole purpose in life would from that point on be to hunt down humans, no matter the cost, no matter the situation."

"Okay, but why are you telling me this?"

William took a deep breath. "Last night, when I was delivering as you know I usually do, I ran into something. At the time, I thought it might just be my imagination. In retrospect I am pretty certain that it was a monster."

Finn stood up in alarm. "Really? There was an alert?"

"That's the thing!" William said, his voice rising. "There was no alert. It was dark, but I saw it and I heard it clearly. The thing could climb, Finn, and there was no alert!"

Finn's eyes bulged in fear. "How did you get away?"

"I ran. It chased me for god knows how long, until I got to the streets. And the second I got there, it stopped chasing. I never saw it again. I went directly to the police station and told them about the incident, but they didn't believe me."

"You're not messing with me?"

William shook his head. "I'm dead serious."

"Then that means..." Finn was in thought. "It stopped chasing you."

He nodded. "Yeah."

"That means it has strategy."

William nodded again.

"So it can think!"

"If my theory is correct, then yes, it can not only get through gates without raising an alarm, but it can also think. In direct contradiction to the madness principle, and in direct contradiction to our current understanding of breaks."

"Shit, man. We're in deep shit." Finn looked nervously at the window. "We have to tell someone."

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He stood up again and looked like he was about to walk out the door, but William grabbed his arm and spoke. "No. Keep it a secret for now."

"Why?" Finn said, agitated.

"I think the government already knows that something is wrong," said William. "That's why they're mobilizing students all of a sudden. They're scared, but they don't want us to panic. It's possible that they don't know what exactly is wrong beyond the fact that their scanner readings are off. I have a feeling that if we reveal this information, their first reaction will be to silence us, to prevent a breakdown of order. You remember how bad it was during the last great panic."

Finn gulped.

"It could also be that my theory is wrong. Keep this between you and me for now, and when we're back after the expedition, stay away from the alleyways."

William took a look at his phone. "It's almost time. Let's go."

-----

The courtyard was brimming with Trinity Academy students in vaying degrees of excitement. A handful of reporters could be seen outside the school grounds snapping photos of the military convoy as it arrived.

Several officers quickly rounded up all the students into lines to board the buses.

"Clothes will be issued at the gate's entrance!" a staff officer barked. "When we arrive, you will change and deposit all personal belongings in the lockers. That includes phones, watches, wallets, jewelry, and eyewear! We have prepared a set of everything you need in your individual pouches based on your student records."

They were quickly guided by rifle wielding soldiers to the buses. William walked up the stairs into the bus with Finn and noticed that the bus was structured more like a double decked tram rather than anything else. He sat with Finn at one of the compartments, while Evelyn and Isabella sat further up. They only exchanged looks.

"No, no, no!" a female student screamed from outside the bus, while being carried by the arms by two soldiers. "I'm not going! You can't make me!" She was small framed, with short blonde hair that went down to her shoulders that curled up slightly at the end. If William remembered correctly, she was in his theoretical physics class from two semesters ago and from an ordinary family.

Evelyn stared out the other window unbothered, although Isabella seemed troubled. Finn had gone silent like usual while watching the girl struggle against the soldiers.

The resisting girl was thrown onto their bus by the soldiers as the door closed behind her. The trip began promptly at 5 P.M.

The ride lasted thirty minutes, and was conducted in complete silence.

A sputtering engine signaled that they had arrived at the first military checkpoint, beyond which the swirling orange gate could be seen from their seats on the bus. The gate was as tall as a five story building, and as wide as a field. Its opening felt ominously cavernous.

Their convoy passed through the checkpoint and parked in a designated zone to the left of the gate. Several hastily constructed structures stood in front of them. William wouldn't call them buildings, but rather shipping containers that had been welded together.

“Form a line and take your standard issue equipment here!” a sergeant shouted as he passed out the equipment. “Changing room is over there! Individual pouches are on the trucks and will be distributed on the other side!"

William lined up and took one of the gray bags, then headed to the changing room where he discovered that the contents consisted of synthetic body armor, pants, a pair of durable socks, underwear, combat boots, and an overshirt. It was basic but effective.

After changing, he entered into a fierce internal debate while putting his belongings into the locker. He really didn't feel comfortable leaving his phone here, especially now that he knew it was connected with his ability. Leaving it made him feel naked. But what choice did he have? There were soldiers waving metal detectors all throughout.

No. He couldn't leave his phone here. He was a defenseless level one student who almost died last night. He needed to preserve any advantage he had, even if it was a trivially small one, and even if he didn't know fully understand it. The difference between life and death came down to the finest of details, and in light of the strange sequence of events that had occurred over the last twenty four hours, he needed to maximize his chance of survival by grabbing onto anything he could. After examining the production tag on his body armor, a plan formed in his mind. Taking a piece of sharp plastic from the packaging, he went back to the changing room and cut open a thin slit in his body armor that was just wide enough to slip his phone in while still retaining tension, like a tight pocket. This synthetic armor padding was made with Magflax, according to the tag, and he knew that this particular fiber material had frequency disruption properties.

Before long, they were lined up once again, this time in two lines in front of the gate. Two soldiers flanked either side of the gate, and a metal ramp had been erected leading up to it. Soldiers did a quick pat down and a scan with the metal detector over all the students.

"No phones," an officer said, yanking the phone out of a cowering student's hand.

"Please, I'll put it back!" the student pleased.

"Put it in your locker and don't try anything smart."

William bit the inside of his lip, trying not to show any sign of nervousness. He wasn't Finn, for god's sake. This was easy work, and he could rely on the thick padding of Magflax. The soldier passed the metal detector over his body, and William unconsciously tensed up a bit, but it didn't go off. His deception passed the test.

He was beginning to wonder why the military was so adamant on having them put away all their personal belongings. Were they worried about recording devices? And if that were the case, what exactly were they worried that the students would record? Conversations, or something else?

"The gate will be open for another hour! Proceed!"

And with that order, all the students began to file in through the gate. The students from elite families had no right to complain—military duty was expected of them since time immemorial.

"Do you think they know?" Finn whispered, referring to the soldiers.

"Let's observe them. We might be able to find out," William replied.

The regular soldiers appeared too relaxed to know anything, William thought. They looked like they were just following orders. He recalled the lackadaisical attitude shown by the four soldiers from last night at the police station. These soldiers here appeared to share the same attitude.

But the commander, who stood at the side of the procession in his decorated cap, seemed bothered. So did the officer to his right. They whispered to each other in a hushed tone, and the commander constantly stopped the conversation to look around if anyone was listening in on them. He was also receiving from his earpiece. Perhaps they knew something. And the bald general at the initation as well, he would be in the know.

His train of thought was cut short as the soldiers flanking both sides of the students began to usher them through the gate. The handful of hesitating students were nudged forward via rifle butt, and before long it was William’s turn.

Well, this was it. He stepped up the metal ramp, his boots clanking on the pattern on the ramp, then forward into the swirling portal. He passed through without any resistance at all, almost as if he had casually stepped into another room. But instead of meeting concrete like at the checkpoint, his foot stepped into grass. He had just crossed into a completely new world.

The first thing he noticed was how dense the air was. It felt easier to breathe, and for some reason easier to move in, and as he inhaled, he looked around in awe at the new landscape. He was in an expanse of wildly growing grass surrounded by a lush forest of strange tall trees that spiraled upwards on one side, and a lake on the other under a looming mountain.

There were clear signs of human activity, with a large building and concrete floor with a generator and lights in the middle of the plains. Several wooden outposts had been installed around the perimeter of the military camp, and there was an assortment of vehicles and even a few tanks parked by the side of the building. On the armor of one of the tanks were distinct claw marks, although they seemed to be old.