Imperfect Memories - The Eye of the Storm (Part 3)

Posted on 10 Apr 2024 @ 4:26am by Lieutenant JG Montgomery Vala

1,476 words; about a 7 minute read

Previously on The Eye of the Storm…

He slowly stood up, pulling himself up by the edge of a counter. Amidst the eerie blue glow was a familiar pale green of a glowing console. A smile ghosted his lips, but there was little time for celebration. He lurched over to the screen and began tapping out sequences. Next time the anomaly activated, it would brick the temporal modulator and the cloaking device. Elements willing, that would put an end to the thing.

Finishing the final piece of code, Rh'vaurekorn authorised the script and shoved himself away, making as swift an exist as was possible in the heavy suit.

His feet his the plating below with difficulty. Something was… changing. He kept moving forward but gravity itself seemed to be eluding him. Each step was like wading through mud… or molasses.

He glanced around. What was happening?

Though completely silent, he could see movement. No. He could feel movement. In the dias. He focussed on the nearest machine - the cloaking generation. A pilot light was flashing.

No sound. His eyes widened. He wouldn't have heard the warning.

He shoved himself forward, scrabbling for the slope of the dias, desperately trying to put distance between himself and the anomaly. He dragged himself forward. One step, another step then…

A blinding white light.

And now the conclusion.

The idea that he was dead momentarily crossed his mind as the white light continued to consume him. Having an idea, though, tended to preclude being dead. The end, Rh'vaurekorn was fairly certain, would be free of any ideas - either pure certainty would reign, or utter nothing. Perhaps they amounted to the same outcome.

The light persisted for some time, blinding him, taking over the full visible spectrum. He felt a little solace to be within the heavy isolation suit for whatever… this was.

It could only be the anomaly of course. Its final incursion having swept over him before his algorithms finally ended it for good. There was an unfortunate poetry in it claiming him as he attempted to get away.

What came next he did not know. Others had come to the dias to try to do as he had done, back in the early days. The anomaly was less intense then, but it was understandably a good deal more fatal to have a part of your body thrown into the ether as opposed to the whole. The corpses had been horrible. He surmised that he'd encountered a measure of luck being taken in his entirety, but whether there was any coming back from it remained to be seen.

Time seemed to work differently here, and Rh'vaurekorn could not ascertain whether it had been seconds, minutes, or days when the light began to fade. His vision finally began to clear. Well, no. Clear was the wrong term. The light dissipated and he was provided with a dizzying array of scenes and flashes of life. It was incomprehensible. He could only catch glances…

Tall figures surrounding a fire.

A female military officer.

Blood.

Blue eyes.

Monolithic trees.

Trenches.

A hand reaching for his brow.

An ovation.

Bones breaking.

Moss.

Screams.

Then blackness. The void.

His head ached. Too much information, too little context.

Something had changed. He could… feel. Feel the ground beneath him. He was, well, somewhere.

And it was not completely dark. He was in a barely lit place.

He shifted his arm. A solid surface. Stone. He could feel it beneath the heavy gloves.

He shoved himself up and sat breathing heavily for several moments.

His eyes began to adjust to the inky space around him.

A cavern. Natural mostly, but also carved in places. A giant room with shadowy… were they alters? Gutters criss crossed the floor too in a large pattern. Branching out and heading towards the walls. All originating from… He looked around.

A dias.

The dias.

He winced as pain almost blinded him once more. The hand that instinctively went to his forehead seemed to slowly drag and blur as it moved. He took several laboured breaths, attempting to ground himself.

Movements in the shadows at the edge of the dias gave the increasing impression that he was not alone. Figures in long robes, hoods obscuring their faces were congregating.

They didn't seem to see him though.

He could hear… chanting of some kind.

Low and guttural.

He tried to stand, but as he moved reality seemed to stutter, then with another blinding flash he found himself looking at a familiar sight.

The Variance Lab. Scientists moved to and fro in emerald coats, equipment blinked, the room was softly lit by chemical lamps and spotlights…

But that wasn't right. The lab he had left was frozen. The lights did not work. No scientist in a labcoat had entered it for a year.

"Dr Ar'Vul!" A voice called from behind him. It sounded oddly muffled.

He began to turn to look at its origin, his body still feeling like it was immersed in molasses.

A tall Rihannsu with slightly disheveled hair. Young, eager with a slight air of arrogance.

"Ajoi!" He said under his breath, it was him.

Blood rushed to his head and he felt faint for a moment, steadying himself as he could on the stone floor.

"i'Varul," the hawkish tone of Dr Ar'Vul was also muffled, "What news?"
"There's… There seems to be an aberrant source of chronitons. Not within the chamber," the other Rh'vaurekorn pointed in his general direction, "I can't get a mark on it but its localised to that part of the dias."

The elder doctor peered in the direction of the other Rh'vaurekorn's finger, then grunted, "Run a diagnostic on the equipment and if it's in order try to narrow it down. We can't have any leaks before the first test."

Could they not see him? Rh'vaurekorn of the future surmised they surely could not. He waved his hand in front of his face and again it seemed to drag slowly across his vision in a great streak. Perhaps he was phased slightly out of their time. If so, it was very fortunate. He did not want to get overly involved in any paradoxes, and meeting one's past self was always fraught with danger.

The other Rh'vaurekorn tapped on a console a few times then picked up a dataslate, holding it out and approaching his position. It was uncanny. Unsettling in the extreme. He was wearing a deep emerald lab coat, the signature of the Academy, and was clearly brimming with excitement for the project he'd been assigned to.

The figure approached and took a sensor bead, gesturing with it, his eyes on the slate. They were barely apart. Past Rh'vaurekorn frowned and looked from the slate to the space in front of him. The aberrant chronitons seemed to be in the shape of a… figure.

"Dr. Ar'Vul," he called, "You should examine this, it is most unusu-"

There was another stutter in the fabric of reality, then a flash of blinding light once again consumed Rh'vaurekorn's vision.

Another eternity passed.

Pain. His head felt as if it had split in two.

That was… good. As long as he had pain he was not dead.

After an unknowable amount of time he felt a shudder, then heard a little patter. Drips of something. Falling onto his visor.

Drip, drip, drip.

The light faded slowly.

"Elements preserve me!" A muffled exclamation echoed from nearby, "Is that him?"

Shuffling feet.

"Fvadt! Is he dead?" Still distant.

Rh'vaurekorn's vision began to coalesce. Figures stood over him, lit by chemical lamps on the ceiling. Water was dripping somewhere.

More shuffling and suddenly his visor was prised open and an ice cold slap rang over his face.

"Look's alive to me. Barely." A more snide tone entered into the conversation.

"i'Varul!" A familiar hawkish tone. Dr. Ar'Vul?

Rh'vaurekorn took a laboured breath and things came into focus. Four scientists were standing over him, wearing thick coats, breath crystallising in front of their mouths.

His mentor peered down at him with a slightly imperious visage, "Alive indeed," his voice maintained its usual tone but was laced with a small amount of relief, "i'Varul you've been gone for days."

Two figures leaned down and grabbed him under his arms, pulling him up to reveal a view of the surroundings. Large puddles of water dotted the floor, the air was cold but no longer freezing. The Variance Lab was finally in a thaw.

"I hope you don't expect any gratitude for your reckless behaviour," Ar'Vul said with a flinty sharpness, "But it is… good to have my lab back." He snapped his fingers, "Come, there is much work for us to do." With that the two scientists dragged Rh'vaurekorn towards the exit.

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