Upon further inspection, Sarah’s portable scanner had found traces of unnatural and apparently harmless radiation in the atmosphere. Sarah and Ulquonar had walked in a straight line for three hours but not made it very far because of the difficult terrain. Turning back, Sarah spotted their ship between the rocks. It was camouflaged quite well with its grey rock-like color. The sun burnt hot on Sarah’s dark clothes despite the light anomaly. She was sweating. After midday, they reached a cave that, as the scanner showed, reached deep into the ground.
“Is this what we’ve come here for?” Sarah asked.
“Perhaps. We’ll go inside and see.”
Sarah rolled her eyes and followed the imposing Zephalan into the cave. Immediately she was relieved that the temperature was much lower inside the cave than on the surface. The scanner hadn’t picked up any volcanic activity or geothermal spots that would cause it to heat up. The rock was littered with sharp edges and deadly spikes, almost seeming crystalline at times. Venturing further down the cave, a vague feeling of dread crept up in Sarah. This was an unnatural place; an unnatural planet, and Ulquonar was searching for something. Technology? Weapons? Something less material? Sarah stayed close to Ulquonar as he seemed to know what he was doing. They followed the biggest pathway down deep below ground until they reached a large opening resembling a hall, with mist floating above the floor.
“What is this place?” Sarah asked.
“I don’t know,” Ulquonar said and walked towards a large gateway in the middle of the hall. A faint red light on top of a dust-covered computer terminal caused Sarah to conclude this was a machine, currently deactivated. She wiped off the dust and saw that the terminal was dark. Ulquonar stood beside her, observing. Sarah couldn’t find a way to activate the terminal. No switch, no signs of where to push. Ulquonar walked away behind the gateway and knelt down near a triangular rock. Suddenly, a booming voice sounded: “Who has come?”
Sarah was startled and her hand jumped to her Forcesword, but she did not activate it. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.
“Who’s speaking?” Sarah asked and saw that Ulquonar was looking around. If she wasn’t mistaken, he was nervous.
“Answer first;” the voice said.
“I’m Sarah Tanas. I’m here with Ulquonar. Who are you?”
“I am nothing.”
“How can you be nothing?”662Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3HTMngzuz
“I am without body.”
“Were you born that way?”
“Yes.”
“Were you created by the Khal’Shelim?”
“Yes.”
“Are you an AI?”
“Yes.”
“So you control the machinery here?”
“Yes.”
“What is your purpose?”
“To guard the facility from outside interference.”
Sarah glanced at Ulquonar, who had returned to her side.
“Will you remove us?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I like the company. 934.756 years do not pass easily, even for me. Why have you come here?”
Sarah looked at Ulquonar, expecting him to answer.
“We are here to investigate a strong magical presence contained in your facility. We hope to learn through our discoveries.”
“I advise against that. This facility contains entities security level Theta. Containment breach must not be allowed. Further entry is disallowed.”
“We can’t explore further?” Ulquonar asked.
“You cannot go further than this room. Your presence on this planet is not permitted. Your arrival constitutes a breach of protocol. I will remove you soon.”
“Will you tell us when we must leave so that we can leave on our own?”
“Yes.”
Sarah circled around the gateway.
“What is the gateway’s purpose?” she asked.
“The information is classified.”
“No way for you to let us know a bit more?”
“No.”
“Very well. We’ll come back in a minute.”
Sarah and Ulquonar nodded at each other and walked back into the corridor by which they had entered the hall before.
Around a corner, Sarah and Ulquonar sat down on a pair of rocks.
“So what now?” Sarah asked, burying her face in her hands. She was starting to get a headache.
“I’m not sure. I think what we’re looking for is the gateway. We need to get past the AI and find a way to activate the mechanism.”
“And what do you hope to find once it's activated?”
“The world beyond the veil.”
Sarah jumped up and stared at him, turning pale. “You want what? Are you insane?”
Ulquonar chuckled. “No, not at all, I assure you. In my dimension, many hundreds of years ago, we touched it, even explored it, but the records tell of a corruption that began to eat away at it, causing its order to decay into chaos. We stopped exploring it and began to monitor the situation from the fringes. But it grew more and more distorted and violent and we stopped entering it at all. In the end, we had to defend ourselves from an incursion into our dimension and successfully closed the barrier between us and them.”
Sarah sighed. “You want to see if our magical sub-dimension is like yours. Well I can confirm that right away. There's a reason for why research into it is so highly regulated and widely prohibited.”
“No, you don't understand. Until we passed into this dimension we had no proof that multiple dimensions existed. Only theories and thought experiments. I believe that your veil is just the same as mine. That our dimensions all connect to it as the center of all existence. We know its powers leaking into our dimensions is what enables those of us with the right genetic makeup to tap into it. I hypothesize it is the source from which all life stems from and I'm going to prove it.”
Sarah regarded him with a deadpan expression. “What if you’re wrong and we all die right here because you just had to release the devil himself?”
“I believe I can make sure we get out of it alive and without ending whole dimensions worth of existence.”
“Mhm.” This would definitely hurt. Alive would probably turn out to mean ‘expressway to the hospital’. Ulquonar beckoned her to follow and they returned to the hall. The fog had disappeared and Sarah heard the noise of the ventilation system.
“You have returned,” the AI said with its booming voice.
“Indeed,” Ulquonar said, kneeling down before the gateway’s terminal. “I just want to take a look at this station here.”
“Why?” the AI asked.
“I'm impressed by its design. Sleek, efficient. We can learn a lot from you.”
“The terminal offers you nothing to learn. Step away from it.”
Sarah looked around. Everything was quiet in the hall, except for the ventilation system. Was she in error or was it becoming louder?
“I won't take long. If you could just give me a moment to take a closer look.” Ulquonar turned his to Sarah and whispered, “You should be ready.”
Sarah slowly moved her left hand to the fold in her top that hid her Forcesword, placing her hand on it. The ventilation system really was getting louder. As Ulquonar continued to check out the terminal and the AI protested all the more profusely, the ventilation system revved up to a deafening volume and suddenly, automated flying drones came out of the walls. They swiftly surrounded Sarah and Ulquonar, aiming at them with inbuilt guns. Sarah pulled out her Forcesword, leaving it in pistol-mode for now. She was ready to shoot but avoided aiming directly at the drones. Over the noise, the AI’s voice hurt in Sarah’s ears.
“You are no longer welcome here. Leave immediately or face termination.”
Sarah glanced at Ulquonar, who didn't seem to let himself be disturbed.
“Hurry up!” Sarah shouted so loud that her throat hurt. She took a few steps backwards, towards the gateway. Then a bright, yellow plasma ray shot towards Sarah’s head and suddenly all went blank. Moments later she felt something brush on her back. She turned around, startled. She couldn't see anything, but her surroundings weren't black. They appeared a dirty yellow with darkened spots fluctuating through it. Sarah began to feel dizzy and off-balance as another presence now brushed along her left arm. Then her head started to hurt and something hit her in the back, making her fall down. She groaned at first but stopped when she felt something enter her mind, causing a tingle which rapidly turned into a painful sting that got worse and worse. Sarah screamed from the top of her lungs as the presence searched every last corner of her mind with unprecedented brutality. Then she felt someone pick her up and she passed out.
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