Descendant

Somewhere in Space, Year 3072

Hark was tense in the pilot’s seat. He closed his third eyelids for total darkness and imagined his crew was back and safe, Si by his side. He felt a moment of peace. But pings from the Nexus’s automated operations disturbed that almost immediately. He lifted his opaque lids with a sigh and looked out the panoramic window through his shaded secondary lids, allowing him to view the spacescape. Zantanor’s twin suns were soft golden orbs in a sky the shade of unbuffed steel, while red Zantanor itself bulged from his right. Along the curve of the planet’s shadow, distant stars were revealed in a crescent of cosmos. If Si were with him her face would be scrunched in a squint, her one-lidded Earthian eyes straining behind those peculiar glass eyeshades.

The Nexus emitted an alarm and the knot in Hark’s gut tightened. He scanned the Nexus's modelled computations, projected in a holograph before him. He needed Si here to make full sense of the matrix – to him the simulated neural pathways meant little, except that the Nexus was deep in “thought”. But the Nexus wasn’t relaying output, and he knew enough to know that there should be output.

‘Nexy? Where’s your output?’

The Nexus didn’t respond, but the matrix shifted formation before switching back to its previous state. Almost like it was preoccupied. Hark furrowed his brow.

‘Nexy, tell me what function you are currently performing.’

Nothing.

He operated the holographic dash rapidly, cutting off two of the smaller supplementary neural cores powering the Nexus’s intelligence. Pathways in the matrix faded as it simplified.

‘Okay Nexy. Don’t act up on me now,’ he said softly. He expelled a deep sigh. ‘Show me the crew's locations on the surface.’ There was a pause before the Nexus replied, ‘Certainly.’ The holograph flickered and displayed the surface of Zantanor in a semi-transparent blue gradient. On the surface, the desolate planet was an arid flatland, with only small rises and the odd cropping of rock, but below was a complex series of interconnected tunnels, many flowing with an unknown liquid. A cluster of blue dots moved along one of the subterranean paths. As Hark watched, one of the dots split off from the other four, moving faster, as if running. He opened comms.

‘Team. Who just left the group?’

There was a pause of static before Captain Lorem responded. ‘It's Si.’ The Captain's voice quivered slightly. ‘She bolted. Whatever is down here, Hark...it's powerful, even if it's not mobile. We can...feel it.’

Hark gripped the edges of the control panel.

‘Your vital signs suggest extreme discomfort, Pilot Harkin,’ the Nexus said.

‘Cut the diagnostics, Nexy. Prime the thrusters. We're going down.’

Hark steered the ship towards the haze of ochre dust swirling just above Zantanor’s surface. As the ship approached the nearest tunnel mouth to the crew, a strange humming began. A sort of stilted, discordant symphony of pulses. ‘What’s that?’ Hark asked the ship.

‘Transmission from an unknown source, sir,’ the Nexus told him.

‘What does that mean? What’s it saying?’

‘It is not speech, sir. The data is not communicable through language.’

‘So…what is it? Is it coming from a ship? A handheld device? A building?’

‘You misunderstand. It is not a technological device sending the transmission.’

A sweat broke over Hark and he was soon sealed in a cold film of it. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to take action to find Si. Ensure she was safe. ‘What then, what is it? Tell me!’

‘The information database I have access to is comprised of uploaded knowledge and the data I have obtained from input into the Nexus since I was created. I do not have a term for what is sending the transmission.’

‘Analyse and come to the most likely conclusion as to what is emitting the signal.’ No matter how advanced, it seemed AI could never detect tone – in this case, urgency.

‘What variables would you like me to include in this analysis?’

‘All of them!’ he yelled. ‘Everything about the situation. Just analyse, dammit!’

‘I will perform the analysis to the best of my abilities, but I would point out that this is a profoundly flawed process. It will not be fast, and the lack of rigorous parameters may yield inaccurate outcomes.’

Hark practically barked at the Nexus. ‘How long will it take?’ He ran his fingers through his lank hair.

‘Average processing time for performing analyses is 9 seconds. This may take between 55 to 65 seconds, several standard deviations more than mean processing time. Verifying if this extended timeframe is accepta–’.

‘JUST DO IT!’ Hark roared.

‘Requesting access to all neural cores.’

‘Granted.’ A loading bar appeared on his holo-screen. 58 seconds later, Nexus informed him the analysis was complete.

‘Tell me with as little fluff as possible, Nexy.’

‘The outcome of my analysis suggests the source of the transmission is an approximation of life.’

He choked on air. ‘Life?’ The Commander had told them there was no life on Zantanor. ‘How? Where is it? Why did we not pick it up?’

‘Perhaps it would help you understand if this lifeform was framed as consciousness, untethered from any material form that you associate with living. Yet its ability to communicate suggests it is alive.’

‘Well what the hell is it trying to communicate?’

‘I believe it desires a material form to inhabit.’

It wanted a body. ‘Show me its location. Now.’

The holographic map zoomed out until the whole planet of Zantanor showed, its dense maze of tunnels highlighted in electric blue. Suddenly Hark could see it: a matrix of interconnected pathways, not dissimilar to the Nexus’s model. Its location was throughout the whole planet.

‘Nex, is there any way to get through to Si’s comms?’

‘Si's comms are still connected, sir.’

‘Si! SI!’ Hark yelled into the interface, knowing it made no difference to the reception of sound. ‘Answer me Si!’

Equilibrium Wellness Hub, Earth, Present Day

‘Malcolm Carey? Come in. How are you today?’

Malc gave a neutral grunt and entered the small room. His eyes flickered over it. He sniffed the air. He expanded his senses, finding no hint of residual preternatural energy.

‘Take a seat.’ The therapist held a palm towards two low cushioned chairs across from a single one. Malc looked from left to the right. Was this was some sort of test? He could sit directly across from the therapist, or at a more adjacent angle. He chose the one across and settled in.

‘I want to get right to the point, Doc. The reason I’m here, I mean.’

‘Just Seth is fine, please,’ he said, taking the seat opposite Malc. There was a soft smile on his lips. He had enough thinning grey hair left to comb it across his head in a dignified fashion and a prominent forehead that looked like a miniature plowed field. Two bushels of white eyebrows sat above the rim of his spectacles. His eyes were calm, still, seeming to capture all in their scope with Malc in the centre. He interlaced his fingers on his crossed legs. ‘You want to be direct. Good. Tell me why you came here.’

‘Well, first, what happens if you decide I’m cracked, psychotic, cuckoo or something?’

‘I’ll refer you for psychiatric evaluation.’

‘And would I have to go?’

‘No.’

‘Hm.’ Malc sat back and clasped his hands together. ‘I’ve been having visions recently. No history prior.’

‘You say visions, not hallucinations. Why?’

‘I guess just the feel, y’know.’

He nodded understandingly. ‘Can you describe “the feel”?’

Malc paused. ‘Like I’m experiencing something really happening. It’s like…an unquestioned assumption that it’s real. I’m seeing out of a woman’s eyes, I can feel her mind, and I know she believes she exists. When I come back, no matter how long the vision feels, only moments have passed, but I’m left with a…I dunno. A concrete knowledge that it was a reality occurring somewhere.’

‘Is there a consistent setting or theme to these visions?’

Here was the true litmus test for whether the therapist thought he was mentally broken or not. ‘Yeah. Space. Other planets.’

Seth remained silent, pensive. The silence stretched. Eventually, his all-encompassing gaze roved and centred on the room’s one tall window overlooking a parking lot two stories down. ‘On your application, you said you were a private investigator. Tell me more about that. What type of cases do you investigate?’

‘Uhhm. Well. All sorts, really.’

He looked back at Malc and leaned forward slightly. ‘Let’s cut to the chase, Malcolm. I knew since you came in you were not my average client. It’s a sense I have. You might know the sense I’m talking about.’

Malc narrowed his eyes. ‘I investigate abnormal cases,’ he said cautiously. ‘Ones where there’s no conventional or rational explanation.’

‘I’ve worked with your type before. The gifted.’ Malc found himself re-evaluating Seth’s sharp gaze. But if the man could use magic, he could sense none of it. ‘Tell me every detail of your latest vision.’

‘That…may bring one on. Even thinking about her draws me to them. I’m resisting one right now.’

‘Don’t. You said only a brief period of time passes when they occur.’

‘Yes, but I could feel like I’m in it for hours!’

‘Malcolm.’ He removed his glasses and looked at Malc and nothing else. ‘People like you don’t end up here by coincidence. This is important. Go into the vision. Why waste time and money on more sessions before we do this anyway? We’ll have to anyhow, if for nothing more than to resolve the visions themselves.’

‘Yeah, seventy bucks a session…’. He shook his head. ‘Fine.’ Malc closed his eyes and let his consciousness drift out of his material form. It siphoned from his body as easily as water swirling down a drain.

#

A needle punctured Si in the crook of the elbow. She cringed, expecting pain, but realized she could feel no pain, anywhere. She could barely feel her body at all. With great effort she heaved her head up and felt a foggy sense of alarm when she saw not a needle puncturing her arm, but a luminescent tendril or vine of some sort. Despite her numbness, she felt a vague sensation of the stuff creeping up her neck and slithering into her ears. She realized she was lying cupped in a swathe of the root-like tendrils, yet she was strangely calm, as if even her emotions were numbed. She introspected some more, seen as outwardly she had little control over things. She felt a current of melancholy fuelled by a sense of desolate loneliness. But…she wasn’t alone. Where were the others? she wondered, with a lethargic curiosity as to their whereabouts. As if hearing her thoughts, Hark’s voice sounded in her ear.

‘Si, are you there? Please respond.’ She felt something at the sound of his desperate voice in her earpiece. Hope. Love. But muted, unimportant. Also, relief – at least she could talk to Hark in her final moments.

‘Hark,’ she managed to rasp.

‘Si! The others are searching for you. Where are you?’

‘Hark,’ she repeated. ‘I love you.’ It came out a faint whisper.

Captain Lorem spoke over the comms, voice strained. ‘Si! We’re trying to resist this thing’s pull. O’Malley had to restrain Little Mech. I’m staying here with Mech while O’Malley comes for you, she has the strongest resistance to whatever is drawing us. Listen to Hark’s directions so you can find each other.’

All Si could think about was how she wanted Hark to tell her he loved her, in case it was the last thing she heard. Instead, O’Malley’s crass Irish accent came on the line, eager to capitalize on any chance to disparage Mech, no matter the circumstances in which the opportunity presented itself.

‘Little Mike the Mech should’ve stayed on Nexy, fiddling with wires and whatnot. I’m coming for you Si, hold on lad.’

Si couldn’t help but grin through gritted teeth – everyone was a “lad” to O’Malley. ‘Leave me. Not worth the risk,’ she told O’Malley.

‘Si, we are not leaving you. We’ll find you,’ Hark said.

‘Just say it back, Hark. In case it’s the last thing I hear.’

There was nothing for a moment and then his voice came on the line, taut and emotional. ‘I love you, Si. Please, hold on.’

Then there was a voice inside her head, a male voice. Si? Get up.

‘I can’t,’ she replied instinctively.

‘You can’t what?’ Hark said. ‘Si, describe your surroundings.’

Great. You can hear me. If you want to see that guy again, not just hear his voice, listen and do as I say.

An older male voice spoke. Take that thing out of your arm. It’s sedating you.

What the hell? You’re here? The first voice.

I came along for the ride. The older man’s voice was calm and assured. Let’s give her a hand.

Si felt her body energize. Focus the old voice told her, and she felt a boost of acuity. She fumbled at the tendril embedded in her arm and managed to grip it. She squeezed and jerked and it came out with a spurt of blood. She groaned, finally feeling pain. A huge, dull, growing pain.

The two voices spoke in unison. Up.

Up she got. The tendrils clung and then gave way, sliding out of her ears wetly. The basket she was cupped in reacted, trying to seize her.

Weapon? the younger man asked. She grasped at her hip for her pulser, ripped it free and fired into the tendrils beneath her, which recoiled with a collective writhing. She scrambled away, falling to her hands and knees. She rolled onto her back and unloaded a barrage.

You’re in a cave. Find a way out. Look for light. The old voice.

‘Si? What’s happening?’ Hark asked her.

‘I’m moving,’ she grunted. ‘Direct me and O’Malley.’

Si got to her feet, her limbs slowly coming back to her, helped along by the rush of adrenaline from her body’s still-sluggish fear response. Adrenaline. She pulled an epinephrine shot from her belt and stabbed it into her thigh with a sharp intake of breath. She ran for a smidge of light that led to a tunnel, followed it to a junction, her head spinning but her legs clodding on.

Hark guided them through the labyrinth of passages, turning them towards each other. She came to a swaying stop at the centre of a junction. She leaned on her hands and knees and huffed, squeezed her eyes and fought down the nausea rising up her gullet. The adrenaline was wearing off.

‘Si, stay where you are, O’Malley will…’. Her vision swam and she landed on her rump with a jolt. The voices in her headset were muffled as if she was underwater. She rolled and grasped at a damp wall for support but misjudged and stumbled into it headfirst, spun awkwardly and slid down the slick wall, legs buckling. Then her body turned and crawled back the way she’d come. She felt relief as she went back – what had she been thinking, going the wrong way? O’Malley soon passed her out, her gaze distant.

It's strengthening. The old voice. Let’s try something else.

Si blacked out.

And awoke on the Nexus, a med-clamp securing her arm to a med-bay chair.

‘What happened?’ she asked huskily, in disbelief. The whole crew surrounded her. Hark crouched before her, grinning, his cheeks damp.

‘You tell us,’ he said. ‘You hurt it bad. Must have killed it.’

Foggily, she remembered shooting. And then she frowned. The voices. Had she imagined them?

Captain Lorem entered, smiling when he saw her awake. ‘Good to see you’re back with us, Si. Are you able for a call with the General?’

The General!?

‘Commendations, and dare I say, apologies for sending us into this blind,’ Lorem explained, seeing the shock on her face.

‘That thing made Zantanor its brain. We were in a brain,’ Little Mech said. ‘Better be giving us promotions and a goddamn bonus,’ he grumbled, eliciting laughs from everyone.

To the voices, Si thought, thank you. Real or imaginary, they had saved her. But they didn’t respond.

They were gone.

#

Malc awoke in the chair. ‘Unnghh.’

Seth had his hands folded on his lap, his expression neutral. His hand moved, stroking…a cat?

‘What happened? I’ve never felt this shitty afterwards. Why’ve you got a cat?’ Malc added as a groggy afterthought.

‘I gave Si some of your life-energy, possible because…you’re related. Likely a direct descendant. I let you recover. Session’s almost over.’

‘Direct descendant?’ Malc’s almost choked. He had never wanted kids, and relationships…not his strong suit. ‘And the cat?’ Malc asked, still lightheaded. The tabby purred as Seth squished its head under his palm. ‘Do you just have one of those on hand?’

Seth rumbled with a chuckle. ‘Keep one in the drawer for emergencies. Works better than any SSRI.’

‘I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.’

He stroked the cat very firmly, but it seemed to enjoy it. ‘I saw many things when I was in contact with that entity through Si’s mind, Malcolm. Not good things. Potentially, the extinction of humanity. It couldn’t be left there. So, I pulled it back with us. Now it resides in Herb. It seems content, and Herb seems unfazed.’ Seth hoisted Herb up, the cat’s body elongating like a slinky as he passed him over to Malc’s lap.

‘Thanks?’

Herb promptly cozied himself in the nook between Malc’s thighs. ‘Is it safe?’

‘Probably, though that’s not my area. I just See.’

Malc nodded. ‘A Seer. That’d be useful in your profession. What am I supposed to do with it?’

‘It just wants companionship.’

‘But what if I don’t?’

Seth smiled and tapped his temple. ‘You just think you don’t. Same time next week, then?’