A Web of Apparatuses

Room 104 was shaped like a perfect cube. The walls were smooth and white as were all the surfaces of the different Apparatuses placed against the wall at the East end of the room. Colors were used sparingly and only when necessary. There was no light in the room as there were no windows that would let the sunshine in. The only sound that could be heard was the low hum of Ventilation Apparatus 104, ensuring that the air was fresh and in steady supply. There seemed to be only one principle used while designing the room – functionality.

At exactly 8:00 am, Central Apparatus 104 came to life with a soft beep. The screen of Central Apparatus 104 read 8:00 am on the top corner, in a neat san serif font. The slow hum in the room was raised slightly in volume as several other Side Apparatuses come to life. The room was bathed in a soft glow as all the Side Apparatuses emit a dull light when switched on. Central Apparatus 104 does a quick scan of all the functions to check if everything is in place before sending its first message of the day.

“Prepare for Projection 104.”

Immediately, all the Side Apparatuses set to work, going about their individual functions working seamlessly in one big unit. Central Apparatus supervised each Side Apparatus while going over the tasks for the day at the same time. Several messages were already waiting to be marked read.

At 8:45 am, the Projection was completely prepared. Support Apparatus 104 moved and attached itself to Central Apparatus 104, adjusting the projection on its body while it did so. Central Apparatus 104 sent the message to the rest of the Side Apparatuses.

“Projection 104 - Preparation complete.”

These were the same functions carried out everyday, at the same time and in that very order. But this was no ordinary day, as Central Apparatus 104 was scheduled to carry out a very unusual mission. And it would all begin with the first task of the day – a meeting.

To start the meeting, Support Apparatus 104 helps the Central Apparatus 104 and its Projection move to the meeting room. Once everything was properly positioned, the Apparatuses attached themselves to Visual Apparatus 104 so Projection 104 could be reflected on screen in a larger format. Instantly, Central Apparatus 104 was connected to Central Apparatus 1502 and Central Apparatus 213, both of whose statuses said “online”.  The screen of Apparatus 104 divided itself into three parts providing a clear view of the other two Central Apparatuses’ Projections.

“Central Apparatus 1502, is the signal clear?”

“Yes,” Central Apparatus 1502 replied.

“Central Apparatus 213, is the signal clear?”

“Yes,” Central Apparatus 213 replied.

“Then we shall proceed with the meeting,” Central Apparatus 104 declared. “Is there any new information that I need for today’s special mission?”

“Yes,” came the reply from Central Apparatus 213. “The Department of Security have identified Extraneous Mass through Space Apparatus 120 at Location 12.9702° N, 77.5603° E.”

“And attempts to digitally connect to the Extraneous Mass?” asked Central Apparatus 104.

“All negative. As said previously, the area is a wasteland and therefore signals are very low,” replied Apparatus 1502.

“Currently there exists no other solution but to physically check the location and identify why they cannot be digitally connected and whether they are a threat or not,” informed Central Apparatus 213.

“So the mission is inevitable,”

“Yes,” came the reply.

Location 12.9702° N, 77.5603° E was a black hole in the highly functional world of Apparatuses. More than 30 years ago, the peninsula at that particular location had broken off from the mainland, drifting away into the ocean. When the world was connected digitally, it was the sole area that could not be accessed. Every time, an Apparatus team was sent to the location it would not only fail but would also lose all digital connections with the rest of the Apparatuses and their Projection, losing all contact forever. An Apparatus team had been sent every year, and each year the mission would be unsuccessful. The Apparatuses continued to develop themselves further, adding new functions and features so they could be prepared for the mission in the upcoming year. This year Central Apparatus would be carrying out the mission.

“We must begin the plan of action,” said Central Apparatus 104. 

For the next hour, an elaborate plan was put in place with effective research on the location and possible casualties for this risky mission.

“The mission will begin from

Moving around and making decisions would have been much faster if not for the Projections that had to be lugged around with the Central Apparatuses. But this was a step that would be for the future, as all the Central Apparatuses were yet to figure out how to completely function without them. They were definitely making progress in this area as the projections were slowly becoming completely unnecessary.

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The mission team consisted of five Central Apparatuses. Central Apparatus 104 headed the mission. Central Apparatus 213 supplied the information while Central Apparatus 1502 planned their next physical move. Central Apparatus 213 was directly connected to Space Apparatus 120, which constantly supplied the mission team with pictures – very pixelated ones – of the area where the Extraneous Mass was located. The other two Central Apparatuses worked as assistants providing help where necessary.

Moving physically out of their respective rooms was not a very easy task, especially when they had to bring their projections along with them. Moving out of the room meant moving into sunlight and that made the projections quite weak. In addition, the projections required several unnecessary domestic Side Apparatuses, which slowed down the mission considerably. Since they hadn’t yet found out how to function without their projections yet, they still had to take necessary care to protect them.

All the Central Apparatus arrived at location 25.2048° N, 55.2708° E, in their own little Transportation Apparatuses. At the location all their little Transportation Apparatuses connected to one large Transportation Apparatus 12 in their own cells. The Central Apparatuses rarely were in the same room together as it was not very agreeable for their projections.

Transportation Apparatus 12 set off rising to 35,000 feet in the air and moving at 575 mph. The screens of the Central Apparatuses constantly streamed pictures of the land they were travelling over, but there was not much to see anyway. All the surface of the Earth was covered in small, white square Living Apparatuses. Occasionally there would be one large white Living Apparatus. Soon the land ended and the sea began and continued for another hour and a half before they reached their destination at location 12.9702° N, 77.5603° E. Transportation Apparatus 12 slowly landed and touched the ground.

“Detach from Transportation Apparatus 12,” came the message from Central Apparatus 104 to the rest of the team.

After detaching, all the Central Apparatus stood side by side in their own Transportation Apparatuses.

“Central Apparatus 203, how are the conditions?” asked Central Apparatus 104.

“The signal from Space Apparatus 120 is quite low,” replied Central Apparatus 213. “The risks have increased. This territory has not been charted in the last 12 years.”

“The ground is definitely not developed. The soil is loose,” Central Apparatus 1502 added.

Promptly, all the Transportation Apparatuses enhanced their Movement Apparatuses so they could adjust themselves to the new ground as they were in contact with it.

 “We must first attempt to identify the Extraneous Mass and connect to them digitally,” announced Central Apparatus 1502.

“They are located exactly 24 kilometers from here,” said Central Apparatus 213.The screens of the Central Apparatus showed a small map pointing the position of the Extraneous Mass in a cluster of red dots, while their own position was marked in a cluster of green. A small number at the side of the screen showed the distance.

The mission team set out, slowly gathering speed as they moved towards their target.

“Movement detected from the Extraneous Mass,” messaged Central Apparatus 213.

Sure enough, the screens showed the cluster of red dots slowly moving away.

“They may have identified our presence,” messaged Central Apparatus 1502. “And since they don’t seem to welcome it they may pose a danger.”

“The risks have increased,” messaged Central Apparatus 213.

Suddenly, the screens flashed red. 

“Unexpected change of physical conditions,” declared Central Apparatus 104. “Proceed with caution.”

Indeed the soil beneath wheels of the Transportation Apparatus was constantly changing. The wheels had to keep readjusting, interrupting the smooth flow of the Transportation Apparatus. This was affecting the projections within the Transportation Apparatuses quite a bit.

“Readjust the projections,” messaged Central Apparatus 104.

The screens flashed red again.

“Obstructions,” messaged Central Apparatus 1502.

A picture of the obstructions appeared on the screens. They were tall, bent cylinders projected from the ground, about 70 feet in height, located within few feet of each other. The body of the pole was not white nor steel but rather a light brown color almost fading into white. The texture was rough with crevices and marks. The top of the cylinder gave way to many small pipes that spread out in a circle and were covered in a thin green material that was jagged at the ends. At the point where the cylinder broke into pipes there were a bunch of green spherical structures about 5 inches in diameters. But these structures were neither perfectly spherical nor smooth in their texture.

“Can you identify these obstructions?” asked Central Apparatus 1502.

“Not included in our database,” replied Central Apparatus 213. “They might either have yet to be identified or were in the previous database. But we don’t have access to that since the Declutteration of data twelve years ago.”

“If it still exists, it must have yet to be identified,” said Central Apparatus 104. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be Decluttered.”

“We must identify its function,” said Central Apparatus 1502.

“It must be placed by the Extraneous Mass to prevent our Transportation Apparatuses from moving forward,” said Central Apparatus 104. “The space between the obstructions is too narrow for them to fit through.”

“We must abandon them at this location,” messaged Central Apparatus 1502.

The Support Apparatuses detached themselves from the Transportation Apparatuses from within. The Support Apparatuses hovered six inches above the ground carrying their Central Apparatuses and its projections. They slowly drifted forwards carefully avoiding the tall cylinders leaving their Transportation Apparatuses behind. The green surfaces at the top of the cylinders prevented sunlight from entering directly and so it was darker than usual. They matched their speed to the moving targets.

For the third time the screens flashed red. There was again a change in physical conditions. The tall cylinders had reduced in number and were further spaced from each other. At one point the obstacles

“There seems to be more obstacles placed to block the path,” messaged Central Apparatus 104.

The tall cylindrical structures ended at some point and so did the sand on the ground. Instead, a cement road stretched before them on the ground leading straight into the horizon. The road was extremely uneven with too many hollow craters that were filled with a reddish brown liquid. The sides of the road were covered with sand of the same color. Along the sides was what could only be identified as Living Apparatuses except that they were neither white nor square shaped. They were mostly rectangular and around 10 feet in height. The colors of the walls were a faded brown. There were rectangular shaped holes about 3 feet in height and four feet in width within the walls as if they were created to intentionally let the sunlight in. Instead of having a smooth sliding door that blended with the walls like those in the Living Apparatus, the doors of these Apparatuses stood out with their dark brown color. Each Living Apparatus had its own five feet barricade made of small rectangular units surrounding it. The small units were placed on top of each other to create a wall. The texture was uneven and dusty like the rest of the area. No two houses had the same dimensions. The ground, the barricades, the living Apparatuses and their walls - everything was uneven and filled with faults.

“Can you connect to the Living Apparatus?” messaged Central Apparatus.

“It’s not possible,” messaged Central Apparatus.

“Then we shall keep moving,” messaged the Central Apparatus. “We must increase our speed and stay away from the side structures. The Extraneous Mass are close by, and we must digitally connect to them before they pose a threat to us.”

They got closer and closer to the Extraneous Mass. Finally they came close enough - about few feet away from it. The Extraneous Mass stopped moving. It stopped right in front of Central Apparatus 104. A picture appeared on the screen.

The Extranous Mass was about five feet in height. It had a head placed on top of a body with two arms place at the sides and standing on two feet. The skin was darker than usual and the hair was black, reaching the shoulders. It was wearing a colorful cloth draped from the shoulders, hanging down to the ankles and it looks completely abnormal.

It was a Projection.

But an unidentified, unusual one because this Projection was looking at Projection 104, not through the Central Apparatus but directly in the eyes. Moreover, it was standing on its own two feet rather being carried by a Support Apparatus. In fact, there was no Apparatus to be identified or connected around the Projection at all. It was simply unreachable.

There flash of red on the screen of the Central Apparatus 104 for the fourth time. This time it wasn’t just any Obstruction or change in the physical surrounding. This was far more serious; the Central Apparatus was losing connection with Projection 104. Its eyes were leaving the screen and moving to meet the eyes of the Unidentified Projection directly. This was going to be another lost mission.