Chapter 16 - Sea of Venus(8) - Home
Intergalactic law states that a system that is newly introduced to a cycle of the slip stream network will have a 25,000-year grace period before any wars can be fought to conquer them. During this time frame, factions close to the new gateway may send surveyors and trading fleets without military escorts. As soon as the grace period is over or any celestial object in the system has a transfer of ownership outside the indigenous population, all restrictions and bans on gateway entry are lifted.
If the system in question holds great strategic military value, it may be subjected to a neutral zone agreement left up to the discretion of the indigenous population. All factions interested in the territory must send an envoy to participate in the ruling of the neutral zone.
Venus A-L, Current Time
The door creaked open and the cold artificial light from the sky frame of the level streamed through the door. Zero stuck his head through the door and looked around.
He lightly stepped onto the tile and looked into the house. A thick grey doorless doorframe placed on top of a small wooden half step to enter the house. He saw three pairs of boots chaotically thrown on top of some strange black mat and figured he should put his shoes there too.
Above the shoes a metal bar with strange wooden objects in the shape of a V. They had a wire strung between the ends of the V and some red and black coats were placed delicately on each one. Zero moved one of them around and stared at the object in bewilderment. What was this strange thing? One of the coats was sliding off the object as it slowly swayed back and forth.
Two black briefcases with glowing red locks on them were on the other side of the entrance. Above them was a shelf with a candle. It gave off a distinct scent but wasn’t overwhelming. On the glass cylindrical container, a sticker reading “Rose” flashed out in large bold letters.
The boy kicked off his shoes and shut the door behind him.
Inside the house was a polished plank floor with light grey walls and a set of two staircases on the right side. On the left was a doorway to another room and down the corridor was a larger room with a piano that could be seen from the entrance. The boy stepped up the half step and peered up the stairs.
A high-pitched giggle reverberated from the room behind him, and he spun around to see a tall and thin woman in a black body suit. Her hair was a muddy red and brown with piercing red eyes that shined like rubies. A black gas mask with a large silver V covered the bottom half of her face. The faint sound of breaths could be heard as she breathed through the mask.
The woman clicked a button on the side of her chin and the gas mask seemed to fade away from where she touched it.
Zero awkwardly started. What do you say in this situation? Walked into a house you’ve never seen before and find some woman that you’ve never seen before who is staring right at you. A myriad of questions ran through his mind as he pondered what he should say.
Zero opened his mouth to speak and in a shaky voice blurted out, “Who are you?”
Not what he wanted to say. It was too late. The words had already come out of his mouth. He quickly turned his head to look down the corridor instead of looking at how the woman reacted.
“I’m your mother.”
Zero’s face twitched as he froze. “My mother?” he thought. He squished his face together.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“You’re not my mother!”
“How do you know that?”
“I’ve never had a mother before.”
“Hello?”
Zero’s eyes snapped open, and he staggered slightly as the woman’s voice pierced through his daydreaming.
“I don’t have a mother.”
Zero quickly covered his mouth. Another sentence that came out wrong.
The woman stared at him with sad eyes. He felt foot twitch as if trying to force him forward. He looked down to see his foot step forward. “Stop! Stop moving!”
He cleared the doorway to the kitchen in which the woman was sitting.
In front of him was a glass table with three white chairs that seemed to glow from the light streaming through the open window behind the woman. The room almost seemed to come straight out of an ancient painting or photo. A soft glow shined behind the woman.
Zero awkwardly walked up to the table and stared at a chair.
“Well, sit down?”
Zero reached down to grab the chair but his arm raised as if waiting for a hug. The woman’s eyes widened as she looked in astonishment. Zero’s face contorted into a mix of confusion and fear. He could feel his face flush. His head felt like someone was striking it with a mallet while his face felt like it was being stuck into a pot of boiling water. His legs shook as he lost control of muscle after muscle to some unknown force.
Zero closed his eyes and could hear faint screams from within his skull. He felt something warm envelope him and all the pain and screaming subsided.
I am... Good.
Phobos before the Fracture (4500) unknown time.
“Dr. Fritz! Long time no see!”
A bright middle-aged man clasped the other’s hand, “Good to see you Harper. Ah! Here’s my grandson!”
Harper looked at the other side of the table, “The future for humanity is bright. You’ve done well.”
Gaius nodded, "Thank you sir."
Dr. Fritz glanced at Gaius, “Are you okay with this?”
Gaius breathed in, “I- I guess.”
Dr. Fritz nodded towards Harper, “Give us the rundown.”
Harper stood up and walked towards a blackboard and pulled a fresh piece of chalk out of a cardboard box. Harper drew a quick sketch of a human body silhouette. He pointed at the head, “What’s the name of this experiment?”
The room went silent, and Harper turned his head to stare at Gaius.
“Me?”
A quick nod from Harper and Gaius leaned forward with both hands clasped together in his lap, “Psychic Amplification Experiment.”
Harper nodded, “So what are we amplifying?”
Gaius stared at the diagram, “Subconscious control.”
Harper flashed a smile, “Good. What is the best way to change the subconscious?”
“Mental trauma.”
Harper nodded, “Yes. The goal is to change your subconscious enough times your brain grasps the concept of manipulation of this so-called subconsciousness.”
“What would that feel like?”
Harper grinned a wide smile, “You’ll feel like you’re a god.”
Dr. Fritz leaned over the table, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Gaius stared at his grandpa, “When dad was deployed did you ask the same question?”
Dr. Fritz looked away and frowned, “Sure.”
Gaius looked up towards Harper, “What’s the procedure?”
“We’ll progressively increase the mental trauma and after each event we will send signals into your brain to erase all traces of the memory.”
Gaius leaned back in his chair and spun towards the wall, “So, what would the predicted results be?”
Harper stared at the ground for a few seconds, “We- We don’t know.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Your subconscious crumbles and we are forced to regrow your ego before reinjecting the stored memories.”
Gaius leaned forward in the chair covering his face in his hands, “Wow.”
“You don’t have to do thi- “
“Gramps, I am doing this because we have no choice. The republic is no more without a strategic unit.”
“It does-“
“It doesn’t have to be me? Well shit! You already know that only I can survive the tests.”
Gaius slammed his foot on the floor spinning the chair around towards the table, “The rebels are closing in and there’s thousands of nuclear missiles pointed at us in orbit. Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“Calm down Gai- “
“What do you mean calm down? It’s always been ‘Oh cute grandson try this!’ or ‘Oh cute grandson help your grandpa with this experiment!’ like what the hell! I’m tired. I’m supposed to be two-thousand years old, but I only have access to seventy-two years of it. Does that sound okay to you?”
Dr. Fritz stared at the table as silence set it. Harper raised his hand, “Why don’t you tw- “
“Shut up,” snapped Dr. Fritz.
All three of them stared at the middle of the table as they took in Gaius’s outburst.
Gaius looked up at Harper, “Okay so what’s the best case?”
Harper hesitantly turned back to the board, “An increase of point one efficiency to point nine efficiency.”
Gaius nodded, “From ninety percent loss to 10 percent. Nine percent increase. That’s… insane.”
Dr. Fritz added, “Remember it’s logarithmic. It’s a billion times better.”
Gaius put his hands on the table in fists, “So… When do we start?”