Prologue: The Lemurian crystal …

Haiku

Haiku

Jedi Master
[I remember drifting, not too sure if I was nothing more than a condensed thought. How long I was this way is unknown. May have been only a minute but could also have been a millennia, as it was in in a timeless place. Throughout the whole time, or lack thereof, there was only silence. Then came a surge, something was drawing me away from where ever I was. I could sense others around me now, some were drawn away like me and others that were not affected by the surge. The others that accompanied me were now bursting with light as we passed through some sort of barrier.]

An entity of pure light hovered above, preparing for the placement of its souls. Learning was of most importance in the lessons of life. It is achieved in all forms and all creations. A deeper soul was entertaining the thoughts of the light being. It was a longer life soul that would exist for what would seem to be the limits of reality. This kind of soul needs a strong body, something that can last for many lifetimes. It is why a form of crystalline structure is selected.

At some time, this soul will be a repository of knowledge. Available to present this knowledge of the sprit to any soul that requests it. A stability anchor, a destructive force, and so much more. But for now, we begin …

[The light faded, and I found myself incased in a clear crystalline structure. I could sense boundaries, physical limits to this existence. There was heat, a catalyst for creation. There was also another here, I sense that it was not rock. It was grand, creating our physical limits, drawn right out of the fire of a young world. The grand other could look deep into me, forming a structure that was pure and perfect. Then the grand other seemed to turn on me and embedded knowledge into several pockets inside me. Pockets that I could not see in to, restricting them from me.]

Peering through the realm curtain, the light being finished his work, satisfied with the results. This soul will have a most interesting tale when we come together again. Let’s give it a proper send-off …

[Why I thought. And the first thought returned, ‘What was given is not for now’. I did not know what to think of this impression that was received. It was completely understood, I could not explain. It was like I heard myself, is that possible? How am I able to do this? All else is not understood, not yet.]

The realm curtain closed as the need had been completed. One day all will be clear, let the lessons begin …

[For an eternity the soul built upon itself. Deep underground it remained, cut off from the outer world. Seeking answers to questions that it knew had an answer. When you have been around for fifty or a hundred years, the soul yearns for answers. When you reach a great age like this soul, the answers to the meaning of life eventually come around. The answers came to the soul like it was previously known and relearned. Over time, it was able to connect with some of the knowledge pockets, a pure source, and it learned much, it even learned to learn/teach at the same time. It was proud of that.]

[Another surge happened, quite like the surge that it started its existence with. But this time instead of a feeling of light it came from a feeling of darkness. Unknowingly the crystal’s soul answered.]

[It came from another who twisted me with its promise to me of knowledge of great importance to a task that it needed. It openly asked me, and I wanted so much to see and exist elsewhere. And I accepted. Little did I know it was a twisted knowledge of the self that it promised. I took the knowledge and it changed me, scared me greatly. It made me more than I should be. It made me strong enough to hold energy, even the same energy that created me.]

[I tried to turn back, to refuse the knowledge of the self. Of being what I was before. Why can I not go back? I opened a door that could now not be closed or found any more.]

[The twisted one called me up from the bowels of the earth, drew me out of the ground and filled me with pain, horrible pain. I felt that it would make me burst into a million little pieces. It became stronger every moment, every day. Once I thought that it was unbearable, more than I could contain, it got even more intense. The fire inside of me is almost tearing me apart. But, somehow it felt a connection to this twisted soul, like it may be an alternate reality of me, that was torturing me.]

The realm curtain opened in this reality once again. The light being, inspecting results, as it had done many times. Changes are driven at different cycles of life. This Crystal soul was different in that manor. This soul would be around for millions of lifetimes, always progressing and never resetting as in a human lifeform. This soul will continually exist through multiple densities. It is good to keep watch, tweaking the recipe of the soul, making it more like itself …

[Relief came in the form of the second external communication. I do not understand how, but the greater soul showed me how to release the fire inside. It came as an intuition, a feeling. And I let the energy go. And it seemed that my actions interacted with others as the bellows of fire sprouted all around me. There was a great rush away from this area. A rush so big that it leveled the land around us. We were unscathed, how is that possible? We fell to the new plateau.]

[It seems that we started something very big. Everything around us literally broke apart. The group of us were thrust apart. Some tectonic force was tearing land from land, throwing some farther than others. A very big shake started and seemed to last forever. When it was over nothing looked like it was before. More shaking, very cold for great periods. Those that were not rock did not do well, as it was shown time and time again.]

[I eventually found myself together with others like me but not as old as I was. Some showed scaring from magmatic activity, other crystal penetrations. Some were clusters, others had points on both ends. There were those that had open pockets and those that were odd sided or still connected to another type of rock. But, I became the source of knowledge for others as thousands had been gathered here all looking for someone to anchor to. But even that changed.]

[Another soul found me, amongst the group of crystals that had been gathered there. This soul knew some facet of the knowledge of the sprit and had an idea of what it wanted but did not know how to accomplish it. This soul was untrained, I could kind of tell that. What this soul wanted was to store energy, and I had a little experience with this. A piece of history was found and this soul was imposing it as the gospel. The connection was made, it asked, I replied, the world almost ended in a big explosion. I survived unscathed again.]

[It was not the same as before. The result of this action made a surmountable warm up of the planet itself, caused a fertile time. Short but well deserved. Then a direct cool down as the planet corrected itself, once again. The planet as it stood could not maintain its temperature without some mass element that could store the energy, like water, it can hold lots of energy and release it as needed. This planet does not have enough to balance the environment.]

[As if someone was listening, then came the water, major volumes of water. Whatever was not battened down was flushed somewhere else. Life, some kind of organic life, not rock, was tossed amongst us. They did not live. With the water came large tremors as if something big was striking the planet. They came as waves of tremors, more than earth quakes, waves of ground disruptions. Like a splash in a pool of water. It was intense.]

[Then the world settled and found harmony. At this time, there were these souls who thought they were important on the land surface. Like the souls of past that I encountered. These ones were damaging to other souls and to themselves. They were idiot’s as compared to those of before, but very much the same. Some of them live in lies.]

[I had the honor of being with three of them. None of them talked to me so I could not answer. One even hung me around their neck by a lace.]

[I was taken to a stone structure and once again I was with others. I taught others like me and learned from the organic souls who were intently focused on this structure. These other souls, they were intelligent. They knew how to use the energy without abusing it. They even knew how to move and adjust the stones with effort. I listened through many of these organic souls generations, I learned from all.]

[I was there until the great deluge which tore down the stones and scattered them across the countryside. I laid there for a thousand years jumbled in the debris. Another soul came along and cleaned up the site and built another stone structure, poorly done. They knew naught of what was known before, even to build such a structure. I was found by a laborer and resided with this soul and other souls, through many generations.]

[It was here that I first interacted with the lines. There was knowledge circulating throughout the world on these lines. This place holds a link to these lines, a way to interact with them. That is when these stones were in-place.]

[The second deluge happened. Not a big as the first one but similar in destructive force. The stone structure was thrown around again. There was ice as before but not as grand. It was the mass, the water, a heat sink. It did not freeze like it could before.]

[This place I am at, it feels strong. Someone was initially taught what is here, I often wonder just who that was. Thinking that there was some connection to the one beyond the curtain. The higher being, that I only have heard from twice. The one that proves that there is someone else out there that is directing me, changing me, like I am on a path in this reality, that is really for the light being itself.]

[Truth, this is disrupting at times. I realize that I have a flaw, a problem. The problem is that I could be very dangerous due to my knowledge. Dangerous to myself and to all other souls around me. My task now is to not let that happen. This is when I realized the content of free will, and all the implications of it. Very confusing at times, this free will. You have to allow it, work to non-interference, while you learn/teach around it.]

[Thousands of years passed with no disruption of location. The organic souls once again passed near but this time they were not interested in this location. The knowledge that was here has now been totally lost. The organic souls that were here were depleted in this area. They were not to last long in this environment, at least not here and now. I called out to them many times, hoping to make a connection, but none was made.]

[The line states that an event is coming. It will appear as if there are two moons and the ground will shake. In reality, It is another world passing close to this one. I now know, that the previous two times before, provided the water mass that holds this planet stable, with the sun’s solar output directly involved in that. I can only sit back and watch as the planet wrench’s again.]

[The sky’s cleared and the planet stabilized, I am certain from outside influence now. Some soul is directly connected to this function. I see the organic souls are in some sort of cycle. Not only that, it is many cycles within cycles. I have decided, I want to make a difference in this cycle, right here. I called out for a connection with an organic soul. I knew the type that was needed. A caring soul, one willing to help others at all costs. This is when I was able to see the souls, first nearby further if I only looked deeper. I was able to identify their alignment with others. One group was aligned to the caring and the other was opposed to it. The opposition looked to be in control position, that was detrimental to the caring souls.]

[I found what I was looking for. I saw many. But I am expecting difficulty in connections. There are those that may not be open for connection. And those that are restrained from connection. I expect that the connections will only achieve a minor number of responding souls. And many of those may not be able to make it here. I only need one. I presented the connection to as many caring souls as I could. And they responded.]

[The first to arrive at this site was a young soul, female. She setup a tent just off center of the original stone structure, using one of the fallen stones as a backdrop. I listened hoping that she would connect, day after day. Somehow, I felt that she may not be strong enough to be my listener. I was going to have to be particular in the soul selection, the one that I was looking for. But this one will be important too, as three days later she dug a trench for defecating into, and she came across me almost completely covered in mud. Possibility of this happening was unfathomable without some kind of help. Some of me was showing and she tucked me into her apron. She continued her task and almost completely forgot about me. That is until the evening drew upon them. That is when she withdrew me from her pocket and with a clean area of her apron cleaned the mud away from me. I saw the nighttime sky, a moonless night. It was beautiful. She placed me upon a notch in the rock face, storing me for the time.]

[It was months later when others showed up at the glade, joining the young souls camping area. They were different souls, all with heart and care. They probably did not know why they were even there. One evening I tried connecting again. This time I got a response as three of the souls reflected back. The three stood up and looked at each other. Some words were stated, I did not understand any of them. Then the three looked at me, I was glowing with light.]

[I taught the three the knowledge that was withdrawn from them, forgotten. The secrets of the site, the lines and the universe itself. These three souls would spread the knowledge to the rest of the souls.]

[I instructed them in the stone structure and how to manipulate it. They rebuilt the site to the original design. A capped stone circle around several standing stones. All lying around the area, a little worn from time but still capable. The three moved them into place completing the center arrangement. The outer circles would have to wait.]

[Every night the three souls would retire with my presence. In the morning they would apply what they had learned. In time the rebirth of this Stonehenge had been completed.]

[Many generations of souls occupied this site. As for me I ceased instructing others and relied mostly upon the other organic souls to accomplish this. I intervened as needed, reminding myself of the greater soul that brought me into existence. It is odd how I am becoming just what my creator is.]

[A disruption occurred on this site and all of what I had taught the others was lost to the greed of self-driven souls. The caring souls were all eliminated, many lifetimes of knowledge, thrown away to align with another’s plan for the world. To control it completely, without this type of interference. I was once again tossed aside, lost in the rubble of the site. But I was still here.]

[The next time I saw the sky was when a dog unburied me at the site. The soul in-charge of the dog was threatened when this event happened by someone in charge of the site. As for me, I was in the dog’s mouth, hidden away, not to be seen.]

[That was until I reached another location by an odd sounding cart, that seemed to move by itself. It had no direct soul even though the entity did talk to it. How odd was that. Then the soul in-charge of the dog noticed what the dog was gnawing upon and retrieved me from the dog. The dog did not want to give me up at first but then dropped me upon the floor. The soul picked me up and tossed me into a bin with thousands of others that it just happen to have. It must have thought that I was just another one of the ones he had. A few times a week this soul would scoop out a group of us and put them in a bag. Once this happened we never saw these crystal souls again.]

[Then came my day, the scoop caught me, and I was deposited into a small plastic bag. The bag was put in a small box with other bags and closed.]

[A few days later the box opened. I could feel that I was nowhere near to where I was. I was not near a line anymore. I was with another soul. I was dumped out of the bag upon a flat surface and an inspection commenced. When I was looked at under a glass of magnifying, I was set aside. The rest were placed in a wooden box and placed upon a shelf.]

[I currently reside in two different pockets. One in a luncheon bag and the other is on the chest of this new soul that carries me whenever it leaves the safety of its home. I feel that I am safe for now. Even though I am rarely talked to, I feel a kind of connection to this soul. Like I was chosen to be here with this soul, in their reality, right now. I will help this soul. I wonder if this soul knows what it is carrying around?]

From behind the realm curtain the light being smiles. It knows that this crystal soul has such a long way to go before they are together again, but it gotten a good start …

‘Herein begins the Crystal Conscripts’. Haiku …
 
Crystal Conscripts Chapter 1, the Quartz Crystal World …

A world unfamiliar, life inconceivable, located in a fringe location in the universe. Thrown across an ever-expanding universe, without any connection to an accompanying star or solar system. A world, composed completely of transparent quartz component with a molten core of three layers, all contained within a thin surface of solidified quartz bursting thru the surface limestone. The internal layers of molten quartz had become uniquely separated depending on density. The core was a quartz of a completely different state of reality, of light. It radiated like a star without heat or cold emissions. This light was transferred outward through all the layers, barely diming the light as it radiated outward. This continued as it burst out of the surface crystals, illuminating the planet’s surface, as if it was reflecting the light from a star. This is how this planet remained for many millennia, glinting in the starlight, trying to look like a lesser star itself.

A comparison for the souls that are reading these words, the whole world was just less than 150mm in diameter, not much. How much room do you expect that a soul really needs, or a trillion souls.

But life, exists everywhere, even here where there is no water or atmosphere. Individual souls adopt crystalline forms at the surface. Other souls travel the molten core layers and contain themselves to a specific density. Soul progression goes from the surface in three stages to the outer molten core, to the middle core and eventually to the inner core. It is thought that there is one higher soul after that, and that it is a compression of all souls into the one.

Crystal formation at the surface was considered your fundamental lives of your soul. From a contemplation zone, a higher soul draws a replicated soul out of the its pool and places it into a crystal shard. This is a minor crystal in its initial stage of forming. Life at this level is simplistic, binary in a way. They typically serve others, those that are not itself. Lessons and learning begin with simplistic values, knowledge is collected in its restrictive physical container.

In the second stage of a soul’s life, the higher soul assists the transfer of the soul to a free crystalline structure. Learning becomes lessons of existence. Knowledge continues but is limited due to the values of others. The soul at this stage of life is allowed to grow, again restricted due to the crystal size, always serving others of a higher state of life. Intelligence at this level is defined with short, two layer, statements. Crystals that do make it to this level have a tendency of being consumed by souls of more advanced crystals, returning the soul to the contemplation zone.

In the third stage of a soul’s life, the higher soul, instructs the lesser soul of progression and how to enter an exposed crystal form. These were the crystals that were at the surface projecting the light outwards. This is a grand stage of life of the soul. You have a choice of alignment toward serving others or serving the self. You have more room for potential knowledge. But receiving is dependent on connecting crystals and their alignment, or an independent connection to the higher soul, which rarely extends into this realm.

This existence at this level is difficult, no matter which path is chosen. It is meant to be like this, as this is where some of the hardest life lessons are completed. Depending on the selected lessons, a crystalline reality can last longer, almost infinite. It is only when you reach the highest step in this density that you realize the next density. Before this point in a soul’s progression, this higher life was a matter of faith.

There is not much known of the higher densities, that is until you almost reach them. It is all embedded in the knowledge that you have learned from the lessons you completed. All you can do is keep faith in the alignment that you have chosen.

In this third level of existence, a balanced society exists, and that means that there is an equal number of souls aligned to serving others as there are serving themselves. An interesting point is that the souls that serve themselves. They are intently trying to disrupt all other realities, even though this can affect their own reality, possibly damaging or destroying their own. Alignment of the soul also structures the knowledge flow differently from the effects of the self-serving souls, that cache knowledge rather than letting it pass through. It creates a master slave environment which works for the self-service souls.

The problem with this scenario is that those of the service to other have a lot of time to analyze all knowledge that they do receive. Enough time to fully think things through. Enough time to figure out just exactly where one stands in the hierarchy. Enough time to figure ways out of this situation. Maybe even accelerating the issue because of the self-service soul’s retraction of knowledge.

The crystals, that all soul’s live in, have always been here. There are the clusters, they make a good third density container and rarely have an issue. It is the longer structures that touch the molten layer that have the most issues. Some of them standing thousands of feet tall, extremely fragile and prone to cracking. If the clusters were the penthouse, these fragile towers were the slums. The only good item about the longer structures is that you only have contact with six other souls. You really get to know your neighbors.

It was good that they grew ever so slowly. Because when a collapses happens, souls are lost and crystals fall to the floor below. If you reside on one of these crystal’s you have to make a choice. Retract back into the remaining crystal, shrinking your knowledge area. Maybe even causing you to lose some of your hard-earned knowledge.

It is told that a form of suicide is to stay in the broken crystal rather than retract and stay alive. A most heinous event according to the self-service souls. It is in the knowledge loop that if you are in a crystal that hits the floor, your soul has to begin existence and lessons all over again.

Soul alignment is a difficult item to describe. But this was all dependent on the alignment of those souls around you. Nobody at this stage of life is fully aligned one way or the other. You are usually a good portion of each with only a few percentage points defining your current alignment. External acts and inner thoughts affect your alignment in this stage of life. Any interactions may express one’s alignment and the inner thoughts define a totally different soul. This only accounts for about half of the population of souls.

The other half of the souls are even more difficult, as they are younger souls in this reality. They have only been in these crystals for a short time and they have many characteristics of their life as it was before. Many have not even chosen an alignment yet. Without an alignment, causes these souls to appear less than a whole soul and susceptible to being used by other souls. They can become attracted to them, wrongly and unknowingly. But this is just another of the soul lessons that progress the soul, to climb the ladder, to learn.

Only in certain circumstances do you have an other-serving soul in a situation where you have all surrounding self-service souls. These are most challenging realities, deep lessons to learn and may be karma related.

What all souls value on this crystalline world, was knowledge. The other serving souls helped others that were behind them to advance their soul. The self-serving souls looked to enslave all, often to a destructive level. And it was all done here through knowledge, what is given and what is restricted.

Now knowledge takes physical space in any crystal, in this stage of existence. Those with the most knowledge are in crystals that are larger in volume, with the long crystals being the largest on this world. Pockets within the crystal are created to hold the knowledge. They appear as bubbles, very small openings, maybe not even visible to the naked eye, but capable of holding a world of knowledge. The soul in the crystal has total authority of what, where and how the knowledge is retained.

Imagine a long hallway with bookshelves lining each side. Knowledge is stacked everywhere, even in the hallway. It is the prime objective of the soul to know each and every piece of knowledge, where it is stored, assembling all compositions of thoughts pertaining to it, together in a single location. Each piece of knowledge is essentially a book, collecting all elements, and is stored with other relevant knowledge. Keeping track of all of it is of most importance, as others can bore their way into your crystal, basically to steal your knowledge. The soul has to know when this is happening, because loss of knowledge could be imperative to it existence. This protective action is part of any soul’s alignment, because this is a self-serving activity in one’s alignment, it affects the existence in this reality. This is one of the reasons why every soul is a combination of alignments, and not completely one alignment or the other. It could not be any other way.

Issues in crystalline lifeforms are pretty basic. Knowledge loss has its part in this. But crystal volume loss can create other problems. This is why knowledge that was received, was stored deeper in a crystal. Now every crystal also has hidden knowledge, unknown to the soul, stored at the very top of each crystal. If a section of your crystal separates from the rest, typically through accretion, you lose whatever was stored in that section, falling to the debris scattered across the limestone surface. Self-preservation, if followed, demands that you withdraw into the crystal.

When an accretion event happens, the soul has a choice. Retrieve or lose the knowledge stored in the section. Retrieval can leave the soul trapped in the lost section of crystal. If this happens, you do not hear from these souls ever again.

There is a light that comes from below, from the densest quartz at the center of the world, shining through every crystal. For some souls the light passes through unimpeded and provides the soul a method of conveyance. Like a river gently flowing ever outward. Knowledge glowed because of it, giving it a signature of purpose imbedded in a radiance of colors. And because of this current, traveling deeper into the crystal is laborious and exhausting, sometimes requiring the soul to tack back and forth in the current.

Other souls, for some reason, take in the light and do not let it pass. It is said that those that serve themselves need this light for embellishment. And this soul will take it from any source it can get it from, even its own brethren. Their knowledge, hidden in the darkest areas of the crystal, had been extricated from other souls. Not all, but a surprising amount can be found there, if one was allowed to look. These self-serving souls are typically found to be protecting their cache of knowledge rather than learning from it.

Each crystal only has to interact with those that it is in contact with. In these long crystalline formations, that means there are six souls surrounding you. To make contact with any soul further than that, one must use a boring crystal. Using one of these crystals aligns to the self-serving soul.

Knowledge, from a higher authority, comes in pulses and travels outward from the source through connecting faces. It is like a lightning strike that slants and bends as it travels through the crystals. For other-serving souls the knowledge is absorbed and passed onto another. If knowledge reaches a self-serving soul, it travels no further.

This is a soul path of one such crystal that crossed boundaries, to successfully separate from the rest of the souls, to an alternate existence that will take it to a parallel reality.

Our soul, a mere ghost in the crystal, was just finishing its final circulation. It was carrying the last piece of knowledge that was left below.

The soul stopped and examined an empty pocket, it had a penetration occurring from this neighbor’s crystal. Digging into this crystal just to draw on the knowledge stored there. The soul found enjoyment in the fact that after all the energy that the neighbor used to do the penetration, it will produce nothing.

[I believe.]

The soul picked up the current again back to an upper portion of the crystal. It stopped not far from the end, at the point of accretion. It had been happening for some time, but its progression was accelerating now. It would not be long before the separation was complete.

[Have faith, I must.]

Knowledge had been compacted into the separating section, packed into each and every corner. This included the knowledge pockets that had been hidden from the soul, they had always been in the upper area in this crystal. It was one of the reasons for its faith to stay with the separating crystal. It could not move this knowledge lower, it was a permanent resident in this area of the crystal, until it was accessible.

[It is a test, I am sure of it, I have faith. This test, it must be done by all, I have faith.]

The lower sections were now just a collection of empty voids, row upon row of bookshelves holding nothing other than dust, ready for the next resident.

The soul crossed the line of separation for the last time, feeling the extent of the crack as it passed by.

The area above the crack was packed. There was little that was available for the soul to be in, leaving only a narrow hallway as the knowledge was stacked well into it. There were some areas you had to crawl over, to get past. It left the crystal end with a clouded appearance. This last piece of knowledge that it carried was set down on the edge of the crack, on the good side. There was no room other than this. The soul pushed up against it to try to pack it further, it did not budge.

[That will have to do, there is no other.]

Leaving the point of separation and with effort and some skill, the soul reached the top of the crystal. From here you could see outward. You see, some time ago, the perimeter crystals fell away in their own accretion event. Their souls retracted inwards, withdrawing their knowledge down deeper into the crystal, possibly losing their hidden knowledge in their efforts. Self-preservation, driven by fear, is a service of the self and draws your alignment thusly. The loss of knowledge, even hidden knowledge, must have been devastating.

[These souls that are near have always been balanced more to self-service. It will be good to be elsewhere, wherever that will be. I must keep my faith, it is not as it is known.]

This soul knew that fear was a property of the self-serving. It did not want to ever fear again. If separation was a fear element, then there must be something that is unknown causing this fear. And it now knew that the unknown was nothing to fear. It was faith that there was something other in this unknown, that it could enable it to reach farther then what was currently available.

[I refuse to accept the rule, I do not believe the knowledge of the collective that there is nothing after separation. We shall see.]

It waited, pacing up and down the narrow hallway, never again crossing the crack, the area of separation. It always stopped at the top of the crystal, to view what was out there. Imagining what it will feel like to fall unimpeded to the ground below. To crash and possibly shatter into many fragments. It was scary to think this way, but it balanced the thoughts with the direction of its knowledge. As the knowledge declared it otherwise, and it had faith in it.

[I will pass this test, I have to.]

The day of separation finally became real. The soul floating on the edge of separation, feeling the crack was almost complete. It knew it was to be now. This was its last chance to turn back. A few moments later the separation was complete, the light ceased to flow. It was like it was in a vacuum, floating in the crystal space. Its knowledge once shinning in all the brilliant colors, fell dark.

[Everything is moving so slowly now, I do not understand? Why do I not fall?]

The realm curtain opened, a being of light peered through. The light being knew what was real with this world. A soul-less crystal will fall to the world below, to be used for a lower level soul. The crystal with a soul does not. It was as if the soul kept the crystal in a weightless state. It was all part of the life plan of this soul as the light being drew the crystal away from the crystal world.

[I believe, I have faith, I will not fear.]

The soul floated upward, up to the top of the crystal. To see, well it did not know what it was going to see. But, it felt it was the right thing to do, there were no wrong decisions any more. As it reached the top, amazement presented itself. Like a rocket lifting off for outer space, the crystal lurched forward and upward. Slowly at first but as the separation got further, acceleration increased. The view around it changed constantly as everything shrank away. The light from the other crystals shining independently now turning into a single glowing object. Then the light faded into the blackness, far past the ability to see it anymore.

[Am I dead?]

‘No, you are a long way from that’, came a voice from nowhere.

The soul understood who was communicating, it had sensed it before, four times. The being of light, the one that has the knowledge of everything of this soul line.

[You are the one that I will be part of, in the condensing before we rejoin the one. Is there is a reason?]

‘It is time for another set of lessons. One that will divide your thoughts, to a world quite unlike anything you have experienced before’, the light being explained. ‘It is time for the transition.’

[I believe, I am ready, I seek answers, for that is unknown. That is why I am here. I have faith that this is the right.]

‘Actually, you are here because it is part of your life path to alter your direction. You are right. You did pass the test, but now I am here to facilitate the transition and teach you of the knowledge of densities. You are ready for it now’, the soul heard.

Many lessons were learned, hidden pockets of knowledge were opened, while the light being drew the crystal across the cosmos, traveling at speeds that were inconceivable. I found out that before the time in this crystal, I had another life, in another crystal. I had no idea that it was even possible. That life ended in destruction. The soul that carried me perished, and my crystalline form was returned to the planet in a molten fury, and I was released. The planet that we were on advanced to forth density, I could not stay there anymore.

I am still unsure how I got into this current crystal, but I seemed to pass through another realm, I heard it called a contemplation zone by another soul. This is what was called fifth density, I learned that from my lessons. I was drawn away from this zone and placed inside my current crystal by the light being. That is how I and all of my knowledge are here now.

Like in the previous transference, a soul would travel through fifth density, as it has connections to virtually everywhere. Having a soul encased in a crystal, and keeping it therein, requires for the physical transfer of the object to its next location.

Knowledge was now provided to compress knowledge, and it proved that it could increase its density exponentially. It had no more limitations due to the volume in the crystal. The knowledge that it now contained, now only a scant fraction of the original volume in the crystal, partially filling only one pocket.

The wisdom of the densities was important and gave the soul a way to identify those around it. It understood the meanings of service to others (STO) and service to self (STS) and the varying capabilities of both. It provided the soul the stages of life as it progresses, as it was progressing. It now fully understood the souls that were around it back on the planet.

[They had to be the way they were, I understand that now.]

Communication with the light being had reduced greatly by this time and the soul had one final communication to ask.

[When we first talked, you had mentioned ‘divided thought’s’. Can you tell me what you meant?]

‘An expression of life in this part of the galaxy requires that the mind to be separated into two hemispheres. It allows for separating thought functions and implements opposition thinking. You are going to appreciate it, eventually.’ The crystal received.

At this moment a line of light appeared in front of the crystal’s path. It seemed to stretch on forever, above and below it. Moreover, it was about to collide with it, right down the middle of the crystal. A wave of shock flowed over the soul. Remembering fear, it would not allow this, it righted itself. It pressed forward to the light, to the very top point in the crystal. It would embrace it.

At the first touch, the soul felt it. It was splitting the crystal that it had spent so long in, into two symmetrical sections. The soul was caught in the middle, it was affected also. It was so fast, comprehension of the event, failed. The end result was that thoughts had been separated, the soul still one, now resided in the two halves of the crystal.

Now two crystals existed, separated, but invisibly held in-place to each other. Thought was no longer one.

[I feel different.]
{I agree, you are changed. I am your other, we are one.}
[I understand, a little. We are two of one. How will this help?]
{We can criticize, scrutinize, study, vet, investigate, explore, any number of things, in many different ways, as one.}
[I think differently, it that part of it?]
{That is not all, we have separate functions. You have art awareness, creativity, imagination, intuition, insight, holistic thought, music awareness and can realize three-dimensional forms. My side has analytical thought, logic, language, reasoning, science, math, written and numbers skills. But we are one.}
[I see, we both have different ways to work the knowledge, we will interact according to our separated functions. This does not seem appealing, almost defeating. Am I understanding this right?]
{You do not understand the meaning yet. We are as other souls are in this reality. We are to experience this reality, like them.}

Streaking across the expanse of the universe, the soul got to know itself. Traveling toward some unknown situation, to some reality far from understanding, just yet.

Then as the traveling companions of the soul worked on learning this lesson, the crystals began to decelerate, as if it was about to arrive to its new reality. Stars, the lights in the sky, were once streaming by, were slowing down. As the deceleration continued the soul could see an entry into a galaxy and then into a minor spinning arm of it. It could now see vast nebulas passing by and it looked to be heading for a specific point of light in the emptyness of space.

As it got closer it could now see that the one point of light was many points. It looked to be some kind of an ort cloud, a star and solar system building area. Below it was an object, unable to discern exactly what it was. It got closer, a boxy shaped object came into view. It was not a world, not too sure what it was. It was like someone put a bunch of boxes together and didn’t do a very good job of it. It had jagged sections, a tubular shape was hanging by a thread, it did not look extremely stable. What ever it was, it was large in comparison to the crystal.

Sensing the interactions of the light being, it stopped just outside of one of the boxes, the traveling time was over. A close-up view of the box showed many tube-shaped appendages that enter and exit the box at many points. Some were larger than others and seemed to shutter occasionally. Like an object was traveling through it.

The split soul was floating, just outside the box and something happened. A louvered vent opened and drew in some of the cold from outside. It also allowed for the crystal’s to easily pass into some sort of ventilation duct, rounded in shape, snaking around corners as it flowed through the structure.

We floated around in these ducts until I came to a register, it opened just as we passed. We floated downward from the register, now sensing that we were no more than a fleck of dust in this reality.

[Am I understanding our size in this reality, we seem so small.]
{We are, as we should be. If everything is according to a plan, everything that we do, everything that we are, complies with it.}

We saw a vessel of liquid below and we seemed to be drawn to it. A moment later we were sinking into some kind of aqueous fluid, it was thick. A shimmer of some substance was being sprinkled into the fluid, only a flash but something was being added. Suddenly an electrical current had been applied making some of the minerals build up on the exterior of us, essentially making us larger in volume. Both crystals were growing.

Message from the writer:
This is part of a story that I have been writing for quite a few years. It has always had a crystal entity/lifeform in it, but I was always having difficulty in setting up the front end of this storyline. That was because it was not ready for it, until now. Our crystal friend will be back in a couple of chapters as I setup the rest of the story. Next, I present another world, a government-controlled reality and a departure from a space station to this new world. And in this space station is where our crystal friend returns. So, hold on while I make this final editing pass on this most interesting story.
Of note: I have a lot of dreams, possibly many alternate realities that I have been in, who knows. This is one of the more interesting ones that I decided to write down. Haiku …
 
Crystal Conscripts, Chapter 2; the Red Planet …

The soul’s alignment can affect the application and usage of knowledge. It is commonly understood that an STS soul can gain the same knowledge that an STO soul does. Where the application differs is that the STS soul will use the knowledge for gains to the self, while the STO soul will use the knowledge for the gains of others. If you choose to align with this STS alignment, you cannot care about others because it is all about the one, eventually leaving you alone in the endeavor. A preferred lifestyle for these souls. The sad part is that leading this STS life, is typical of the souls in charge of others.

This reality is of a world that had solidified the planet surface, to be more accommodating to the current lifeforms. Those that were in charge on this planet, aligned with an STS path. They were an advanced population of souls that cared little for each other, little alone the STO souls. Those who were aligned with STO were nothing more than servant’s and slaves, pawns of those in charge.

Lifeforms in this reality were based in water, as their internal structure was most, if not all, water. An intelligence that evolved its lifeform into nothing more than a collective water bond, holding itself together. At one time, millions of years earlier, both of these lifeforms were made of clear and pure water. As they progressed to third density, they evolved down separate paths. Common souls would congregate together, allowing the STS aligned to gain the knowledge of an unkind source. Thought was open, but only amongst their own kind, in this realm, in this reality. Alignment evolved into how souls were separated in society.

Experiencing the controlling factors of the STS entities, many of the STO souls offered themselves as servants so they would leave the rest of the STO souls alone. The first undoing was the slaughter of those that would not submit to being servants. This is well known and keeps the remaining STO souls in line, with those in charge.

But, those in the STS alignment, polluted their lifeforms. With the forced service of those in the service of others, those in charge neglected themselves greatly. They were no longer clear and pure liquid. This clarity was replaced with the additions of hallucinogenic colorized fluids. They acted on the soul of the lifeform, changing their perspective on existence, making them think that they were a god. Older souls would have pillars of crystals growing inside of them, creating an impeding element for the soul to traverse, and a block to their open thought. Eventually leaving the STS soul in-operational, and any soul tied to it will perish along with it.

The STO souls retained their ancestral form, creating three appendages below a belly of water that allowed them to move in this environment. As needed, they could produce others to support grasping and all other functions. A uniquely enabled entity. Those in charge were reduced to a colorized blob that live their whole life lying in bowl of odd proportions. Most rarely moved as they commanded others to do their bidding, barely seeking over the rim of the bowl. Those in the service to others were not allowed to pollute themselves and remained clear.

Many STO souls, remains of the undoing, had been heavily programmed by those in charge. Many of them were so corrupted by the programming, that they were nothing more than soulless robots, giving all motor control over to those in charge, creating a hive construct. They would work or do their task until no water was left in them. If left unattended, this was their fate.

Travel was difficult for those in control, it took technology, and many servant’s just to move them around. Although space travel was available in this reality, it was very difficult for those in charge. It is a fact that if an STS orientated soul left their planet, then it was one that was not aligned with the common path of the majority. It was for this fact that the water entities stayed put on this planet, leaving space for other entities.

Limited traveling was necessary at times, there was a mineral substance that was no longer available on their planet. It was sodium, an important element in the creation of the colorized liquids, a binding agent. It was found off-world, typically on nearby planets.

So, a lesser STS soul would be dispatched to another world to mine for the sodium product, an expendable soul. This STS soul would be allowed servants and a number of workers to facilitate with the sodium extraction.

Now, you can imagine that locations rich in sodium deposits are not the most hospitable locations. The selected planet for this endeavor was one of the more unhospitable locations. A world of nothing but sand on the surface. Soo hot, that entities like these that were made totally of water will have an issue. Liquids would have to be replenished every day or they would dry up to a trace of dust in a few days.

The red planet was well known for its sodium content for a long time. This heated state of the world was enough of a threat to keep any soul from the home planet from any kind of excursion on it. This STS soul had offended someone very high in the hierarchy, this was a death sentence at the very least. All that interacted with this soul gave it what was required and spoke naught to it. They knew. They were just contented that it was not them that was in this situation.

What information on the planet that was available, was limited, it was listed with a minus ten rating. There were no identified lifeforms on it, that was a good sign. A nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere, that was irrelevant, this entity did not breath. Any other data must have been restricted, as nothing else was available.

There was something small, unknown to these entities, that was existing there. A microscopic lifeform, a parasite, more lice like than anything else. This parasite had developed two short tentacles with feeling pads at their end. It is what they used to find their way around the expanses in this microscopic world. To these entities, each grain of sand was a towering mountain, miles high. To wander these spaces the parasite used it appendages to draw itself up and down the grains of sand in its continual search for infinitesimal particles to absorb. To wander the expanses between grains of sand, forever.

The view slowly pulls back from the single entity to a view showing hundreds of these parasites on a single wall of sand. It continues to pull back even further, and the red sandy surface appears. The sands blurs together and a sand dune is now seen. In the following moments the dunes fade away to a red radiating sphere. The nearby sun glowing with energy draws your attention as the planet shrinks beneath its radiance. The view stabilizes, a small dark object comes into view, blotting a spec out of the sun. The dark object slows as it approaches, it appears to be headed to the red planet.

Up above the red planet a ship resembling a long cigar, arrived at the planet. The one in charge knew that this was the punishment, it’s death sentence. The home world was expecting to relieve themselves of their unruly soul. It’s wishful thinking, thought otherwise, that it could survive, even on this arid planet.

Wishful thinking, once again, was a large part in this STS souls alignment. It has and does work for many souls, you achieve your wishes. But failure is always a possibility in any effort when wishful thinking is implied. As intelligent as these souls were, their intentions and alignment affected all of their decisions. For this soul and many others on the home world, this was to be the beginning of their ending.

The ship was hovering just outside of the atmosphere of the planet, awaiting the order to descend. The STS soul paused so it could review implications that it felt were important to it. One of its primary programs was to have a connection with the home world, no matter what. This was so deeply engraved into them that it surpasses most other thoughts, it was a religious imprinting. This soul was no different, even though it was virtually being dismissed, the imprinting remained in control.

Because there was limited information on this world the pause was to allow the vessel to scan this world and send this information back to the home world. Those on the home world would select the location for the landing, the best area for mineral extraction. This could take days, way too long, it felt. There would be committees, meetings, financial reports, all vying for a piece of any monetary rewards that might come from this endeavor. It could wait no longer, it ordered the decent. It identified a random point on the surface, the ship responded. A whirl of lights flowed across the surface of the ship and it lurched forward, down to the planet below.

The STS soul focused on data that was being collected during the decent. The planet was arid, dry and without water, it knew that. It resided near a cool sun, the second star in this solar system, as there was the primary star at the center, a much larger and hotter sun. The planet did not rotate it was stationary and held in location between the suns. The nearby sun being cooler created a varying temperature on the surface. In direct opposition to this sun was the hottest sun. This made the temperature vary on the surface of the planet, depending on location. The hot sun side was definitely off limits and the northern and southern poles on the cool sun side actually are too cold for the water beings, they would freeze. A suitable location for this species would be more to this perimeter of the cooler sun side. Not exactly direct opposed to it still too hot. The STS entity seeing that its point of landing fit some of these selected perimeters. The landing site indicated was a point on the perimeter thirty degrees off center. The ship entered the atmosphere of the world on it way to the indicated point.

The landing area was in the end, just a lucky guess. It ended up being an area of the planet that was close to a higher content sodium deposit, just not within an acceptable temperate range. Shadows are in this area, The sand dunes create long shadows behind them, you could see this as the ship approached the ground. The ship, driven by gravitational pushes and pulls, swings the vessel around so the ship creates a minimal shadow on the surface. Then it hovered down, lower and lower, until it touched down on the surface of the planet without even a swirl of dust.

Images started coming in to the STS soul. All that was seen were sand dunes in all directions, they look to go on forever. The STS soul opened the outer door of the ship, without observing any of the temperature data. A rush of warm dry air flowed into the ship, overpowering any internal temperature very quickly. And it had an obtrusive odor of rotten eggs, ‘must be the oxygen in the air and the close proximity of the sun’, it thought.

‘Maybe a different, cooler location would be better,’ emoted one of the servants.

It was not to be, as this site was rich, rich with product. They would not be moving the operation. With the sand, a ground down material, they would not need to utilize any of the grinders to break down the base material. A sand sifting process will be all that is needed. Separation will be done on-board the vessel. By-product, anything unusable, will be ejected. This is word for word from the base knowledge that all knew, all were taught. This soul knew this, but like most souls on the home world, they had no real application or a way to use this knowledge. Most did not have a yearning to apply it anyway. This one was a little more oblivious than others, of any application of this knowledge, as it turns out.

A dispatch of two workers was ordered and two STO entities moved out of the ship. The drone entities sensed the heat before even touching this world. The three appendages retracted to a slender point trying to minimize its contact with the surface. A door opened on the side of the vessel and a conveyor extended out of the side of the ship. On the end of the conveyor is what looked like a stone scoop. An apparatus of the home world, it took one of the workers to operate the scoop and the other was to keep the conveyor following along behind it. They started processing the needed mineral within a few meters of the exit of the ship. The STS soul watched the processing. As they worked, it could see small whiffs of steam rising from every point that touched the surface. ‘This was going to be expensive in water’, it thought. It engaged the moisture evaporators to draw available moisture from the atmosphere. Water supplies would need to be replenished constantly.

The first batch of mineral was complete, processing could not begin. The two workers stopped their collecting of product and returned to the vessel. There was major water loss, these two entities had lost a third of their water weight. Replenishing all of it would cost it dearly in available supplies, the water it carried on-board. It decided on no replenishment and sent the two workers back to the rest of the group. Now the other ten workers dwarfed these two, towering over them.

The refining for the mineral was easier because of the sandy base, but still noisy as the grains were ground down to primary elements. Something in the base material was extremely hard making the machines howl in strain. Then with refining complete the separators blasted the excess out the back of the ship, creating a cloud of dust particles in the still air. Two units of mineral were extracted and stored.

The two workers that had done the first batch were called back to service, looking limp from dehydration. It instructed them back to the collection process and they once again left the vessel. As collection restarted the entity realized that they were working slower than they were during the first batch. The loss of water was taking a toll on them, but the STS entity felt that this was an acceptable trade off. It was now taking time and a half to fill the two units. At the end of the second batch, the two workers again stopped and withdrew into the ship. This time there was drastic water weight loss. Lower appendages were silhouettes of their original size. Rehydration had to happen now with these two workers. They were allowed only to replenish to half their original water volume, limiting the losses in the total water supply.

The operation took its toll on the lifeforms and losses happened quickly. The first two workers collapsed after three more cycles. Their remains were carried back to the vessel, they were not rehydrated. The mining operation took a great amount of water to replenish the workers each and every day. Moreover, the moisture evaporators were running at maximum with little production of the needed substance. ‘They might have worked more efficiently if they were closer to one of the poles’ it thought.

The product was quickly piling up, and that suited the STS entity well. The first analysis was coming in as a very pure source, it looked spectacular. A communication came to the vessel, it was the response to the mining location on the red planet. It was a location near the top of the planet, a more temperate zone with improved access to water. The STS soul deleted the incoming feed, pretending that it did not receive the message.

But as the product volume increased, loses happened at an accelerated pace. The depleted souls piling up in the back of the vessel, kept alive but non-functional. Eventually, it had to use its own servants where the workers literally dried up, with two of the harder working souls being maintained to continue production. Processed material was all that mattered. More reports came in and showed that the product contained minerals and nutrients from the planets past, probably of a time when it had oceans or seas billions of years before. There was nothing wrong with this as it made this product kind of a champagne of the product, a vintage product, a cut above, and it would cost them, it knew this. ‘This could be a way to escape the torture of this world’, it thought.

Curious about the product, the STS entity sampled it. It had a refined taste, not the normal product they had back on the home planet. This was special as the ancient minerals gave it an extra special taste. ‘There was nothing wrong with that’, it concluded. In fact, it enjoyed it multiple times from each batch, ‘like a personal test’, it thought.

Suddenly an alarm sounded, sensors had detected a contamination. An element that could not be removed was in mixture, extremely small, a mere .000000000821%. It was stuck to the product and will not let go, too small to be affected by the scrubbing that was done. This could complicate things, as whatever this was, was going to ruin its future wishful plans.

A lifeform, possibly. It was not sure. The scanner was incapable of analyzing it any further, it could not tell what it was, just too small. It took it this long to identify that there was something there. If there was a contaminate noted anywhere, product may not ship until a full analysis can be done, delaying any product transport.

It had to be able to fix this, somehow. Being an STS soul, there were not too many directions that they would take. Forgery, it would need to somehow replace the product report with one that did not show the contaminate. The report was nothing to create, it was how to replace the original was the task. It was imbedded into the transport ships memory, locked away by some security process.

Only a high-level override would allow access to something like this. But, there was something that it held, that could provide this, it knew this. It did not want to use it for just any task need as it could only be used once. It was a copied key of someone very important on the home world. So important that no trace would be allowed to be known. No one even knew that it had it. It did not even really know if the key would work. A waste of such an item, it thought but, in the end, it felt that it had to proceed.

Up above the planet another ship arrived, it was the transporter for the product. A drone ship that was completely automated. It quickly dropped down to the planet and landed close to the original ship. Conveyors were deployed to transfer the processed product from the vessel to the transport ship. Now came the moment of truth as the product undertook the final analysis phase. The product if marked as tainted, would undergo extensive reprocessing on home world. It would lose product value and more, any integrity back on home world.

The last servant of this STO soul was sent to the transport ship to replace the log with the altered report. The key was utilized without a problem, the report was erased and replaced. The transport ship, with full chambers, closed up and left as quickly as it arrived. The servant that delivered the report was reluctantly aboard the ship when it left, not knowing of the deed that it had just done. Eventually evaporating and leaving little evidence of the mischief.

The contamination of the product that returned to the home planet was never specified. It was logged as a perfect product. Microscopic entities, infinitesimal in size, but none the less lifeforms, were mixed in with the product. And no soul can know.

The STS soul had been so occupied with the report that it did not remember that it had been using the product for several cycles. It remembered this immediately after its next dose was added to it. It had instructed the servant to replace its product from the home world with this product. It was on automatic dispense and it had no way now to stop it now that it had no servants. The report was now far from its mind. Wishful thinking was piling up in this STS soul, and it was getting to a disastrous level.

The parasites that were in the product that it was using, started evolving. There was an abundance of water, something that they never had before. The parasite had a natural capability to absorb into it, life energies of its food source taking in only what improves them. Before this time, no source of nourishment was like this, was so advanced like this.

They grew exponentially, but still at the microscopic level. A change came over them, an STS urge, received from the STS soul. In the entity thousands of the parasites had been ingested and they began gathering at a single location, fighting ensued between them. An anger adsorbed from their host drove them all into a frenzy. All parasites had one intent, to be last one standing.

The war continued for many cycles until only two parasites were left. At this time each parasite was slightly bigger than the head of a pin, still not too detectable. But the organism was evolving as it was growing. It seems that the liquid in the STS soul was like super-DNA that was now transforming the parasites into a completely new form. One that should have taken many more millennia to become. The final battle ensued until there was only one left. Its anger fell away to see what it had done to those of its own kind. The parasites were littered everywhere, it felt remorse to what it had done. A remorse so deep that it changed its expectations of everything that it understood. It was gaining an intelligence, more like it was absorbing knowledge from another source. What it did not understand yet was that it had made a connection with the STS entity and was slowly draining knowledge from it. But it was STS knowledge, something vile, something it did not really want.

A realm curtain opened, a light entity projected energy down from above into the new lifeform. This lifeform was in the event of changing density, and now an adjustment was required.

What jolted this creature into its rapidly evolving form was unknown to it. A higher authority had intervened. Driving the situation and introducing a new lifeform onto this planet. The end result was the parasite was now evolving into some form of third density life. One that never existed anywhere in this universe. And it was growing.

This is when the one in charge knew it was having an issue. A deep darkness appeared in its form, stretching out and covering the brilliant colors that it once had. Several attempts of ridding itself of the issue only made it bigger and stronger looking. It could see tentacles growing off the body shape, flailing around as if it is trying to grab something, mixing colors into the dark void.

The lifeform’s growth charged forward until it had consumed a majority of the entity. The entity held on for as long as it could, forcing the workers to continue their processing, it was all that mattered now.

Then it started, the worker entities stopped moving. One by one they lost connection with the entity. Without the input of what they were doing, where they should be going, they just stopped in-place. This continued until the last worker stopped. You see there was still a small part of the entity left but not enough to control anything. The creature now of a size similar to that of the entity, stayed put while it watched the workers slowly evaporate away, with water only a short distance away.

On the home world, the shipment arrived. Analysis reports were reviewed, and without skepticism of the content, it was introduced throughout the home world as a remedy to all of your symptoms. A wonder supplement with amazing nutrients and a flavor all of its own. The price was absurd, but it was advertised as the best that was available. Those with power and authority were the first to sample the delicacy. But many others coughed up the price just to be part of the experience. It was introduced widely so it did not last for long. The last sources were coveted by those that had so much. In all, over ten percent of the population had sampled the substance. More than what was needed to destroy a world.

Back on the source planet, the parasite burst out of the entity. It rolled out of the bowl shape and landed onto the sandy surface of the planet it was at one time so familiar with. Now, with the dimension change from the microscopic parasite to the entity that it was now, it seemed so unfamiliar. Its tentacles that it now possessed caressed the surface of the sand. The last thing it remembered was the great war in the colors. Before that, thoughts of traveling around gigantic chunks of some crystalized materials. This was all so confusing to the entity.

Then thoughts came to it, primal thoughts. Thoughts of something it needed, something essential now that it has evolved. It needed moisture now that it was reborn from a water creature. It was then that a vibration emitted from the pads of its two tentacles. These were the same ones that touched the sandy surface and the same ones that it used as a parasite to feel around. But the vibrations were not something that it had before this time.

It vibrated again. the vibrations gave the entity an ability of sight. Not like we can see but a vibrations pattern of objects that were now just in front of it. It was the two workers, and they still had some of this moisture substance that it looked to now need. Thoughts processed, the entity moved forward. Its body had changed, something was different. It could not turn well anymore and was unable to go in backwards. It could move forward, so it did. Not paying attention it plowed into the first worker. It was dehydrated and had maybe lost more than half its weight of water and it just fell over from the impact.

The long tentacles worked again and made contact with the surface of the water being. Its tentacles worked as its mouth and it drew in the moisture just like taking a swallow of some delectable drink. It was different, pure, it did not understand it. It was not the same that was in the first entity. With its tentacles still attached it emptied the entity until it was part of the dust in the sand.

It was good, and it needed more. It released the first worker, now nothing more than a thread of what it was, a mummified water being. It went now to the other worker, this one was still standing. It drew the moisture from it until it was nothing more than dust. The purity of the moisture was essential,l and it looked around for more, it found no more like these sources. There actually was another water source, it was in a container on the transport. Knowledge of this was not part of the entity. Its new vibration vision could not identify things inside of the ship, just what was on the ground, and in it as it found out.

The heat that it was feeling was an issue. The entity knew that it would not survive in this surface heat for long. Instinctively it dove downward into the sand.

But how did it just do that? Well, that seemed to be easy as it started moving forward it could point its noise down and under the sand it went. In fact, it was quite quick if it wanted to be. But there was still an issue of this moisture. It could feel the amount of it in its body and was able to follow the loss as it traveled through the sand. It found out that if it went slower less moisture loss happened. And the opposite when it sped up and larger amounts of moisture was lost. So, it stopped dead in its tracks. Losses were now at a minimum.

‘Interesting’, it thought.

But the heat, even though it was more than fifty feet above its head, it was still felt. Now, there was a cooler feeling below it and it felt that if it could just get a little deeper it could find the coolness. It started moving again and traveled downward. Deeper than it would have ever been able to do in its previous form. In its old form it never left a cubic foot of sand. At least it was cooler down here and it stopped again.

The moisture problem was highest on its list right now, instinctive requirements. That is when it felt something else. Like there was another source of moisture here. It could almost see the little specs of moisture like stars in the sky, but in the sand around itself.

It was more of its predecessor lifeform, the parasites. They all had a miniscule amount of the needed moisture in each and every one of them. It would take a lot of them to just get a swallow, possibly millions. Although there did seem to be enough of them to survive on for some time. This would give it time to explore this new world, absorb the others along the way to keep up its moisture content.

So being the perfect burrowing creature that it was, it just started in one direction and keep on going until it crossed its path again. This was easy as it would find no moisture where it had been. How many of our lifetimes it did this, no one knows, but one day it found itself having difficulty finding the needed moisture that was so abundant before.

One thing it now did now know, was ever nook and cranny on a whole world. It had found, deep under the surface. There was something too hard to dig through, it had felt it, and mapped it in its mind, to remember forever.

On the home world, the worse thing happened. Creatures started popping out of their hosts and immediately began to absorb all water that was available. It started with the servants and workers, then they turned to other sources for this need like fountains, ponds, rivers, lakes, ocean’s, and eventually all of the water on the surface of the planet was consumed.

There were a great many creatures now, all looking for more moisture, and finding none. Then they realized that the hardened surface of this planet was not contusive to digging like they needed. With the abundance of water consumed, it over-evolved these entities, making some whale sized and immobile, all were violent in nature. It took a lot more time, but eventually, all of these entities died or fought with each other until only one remained. The loser each time was drained of fluids leading the last one to eventually die, alone. Just like the fighting that happened in their hosts, only in their microscopic state. And this home world turned to a dustbowl, kind of like the planet that they sent the one to retrieve the mineral from in the first place. A suitable ending.

Back to the sandy planet and the burrowing entity. It was now resting until more moisture could be located …
 
Crystal Conscripts, just passing through …

Time while drifting in space is difficult to measure. It could be a day, a year or a millennium. Sometimes it feels like there is no time at all.

From what I have seen, space is mostly empty. Yea, there is the occasional rogue planet, eight so far, but our interactions were quick and extremely limited. I had so little time to know them. My path away from the crystal world has been constant with no change in direction. Away from what is visible and the mater that cannot be seen, into the emptiness of this universe.

I am alone. I try not to let that bother me. I was always alone, even on the crystal world. But now I have everything I ever wanted, so much knowledge. Like a young child, wanting to learn, locked in the library with absolutely no limitations in what you can learn.

It had been long since I last interacted with the light being. There are times that I have anxiety that we may never have another monolog.

[Faith, I have to have faith. One day the light will return.]

In our last interaction, the light being rewrote all of my knowledge. It now has full content and all details of everything that I came to know. It is requiring me to relearn, … everything!

The knowledge has been neatly arranged into cubes and safely held in the expanse of shelves. There is no empty space on any shelf.

My knowledge that I held before was tainted by the source, prior to the light being. That is not so now. With knowledge I have obtained so far, I have actually discovered that there is at least one more dimension involved beyond this, one of light and darkness, a higher density level that I am unable to peer into. I suspect that there are more than this, as it would better explain the entity of light.

I understand what I am now. I am mind, body and spirit, an entity in a crystal. The crystal is what I call my body, it is where all the knowledge, my mind, is stored. The ghost-like object roaming around the knowledge is my spirit, it is my connection to all.

I have modified my body with knowledge gained. I have turned three of the facets in the nose of the crystal into viewing portals. Each has been re-crystalized and formed with a different depth of view. Viewing direction still was limited to the direction that I am pointing. So, I have spent much time gaining the knowledge that allows me to change my tilt in all axis’ without altering my course. Not much, by only a few degrees, but enough to adjust my view when needed.

I spend most of my time here in the nose of the crystal. I transport knowledge from its storage point to an access portal that the light being created there. I learn all facets of the knowledge that I am able to access always knowing there is more beyond what is accessible at this time.

[Another chance to relearn what has been learned.]

Only recently I have found that I am unable to store all of the knowledge that is here. From what I calculate, I am not going to be able to store the volume of knowledge that is available.

[This might be a limitation from the level that I am.]

From the knowledge gained, I have worked out that there are levels to a soul’s existence. I am not too sure what to call these levels yet, but I am clear that they are there. I figure that my soul is currently at a third level of existence.

I examined my state and worked out a plan of how to support all of the knowledge in a space that is less than adequate. It was a difficult solution. I had to maintain a directory of the knowledge. I had to define required knowledge, what I could not survive without. Fundamentals I will call them, the directory of knowledge was part of this. I had to partition some of the available space to support a working knowledge area. This area would be constantly overwritten with the working knowledge need of the moment.

[A workable situation indeed.]

It was difficult at first. What was a fundamental and what was overwritable? But as time passed, or lack of time, I was able to identify what was absolutely needed. I am working to create a listing of what knowledge is available. Even this is a great task as I have found. I currently have only compiled 43% of the listing.

[There is so much to know about, a task well aligned with the unlimited time that I have. I accept!]

Right now, I am passing through some really open space. But the view is absolutely fantastic with several hundred galaxy’s in plain view. I am in an angular procession away from the center of visible space. This is the straight line theory that a continuous line will eventually come back to its origin. I am going to use it to bounce me to a far point in one of these galaxies, somewhere way over there. I am not sure of whole process, it is something that the light being prepared for me.

[The light being said to ‘hang on’ … ]

What I understand of the event is that there is a point in the space where you cross the opposing point. Like line on a mobius strip would cross itself just on the opposite side of the strip. You can cross this point if you are traveling in a straight line. But if you deviate from this straight line at exactly the right moment, you can skip off it back into the current realm. This is the plan.

The point is just ahead of me now. I performed the stasis actions as was prescribed to me. I am now literally glued to the very point at the crown of the crystal. I tilted the crystal to the direction I was told to do. There was nothing more now to do but await the ‘skip’.

Time passed, I was now glued to my body, constantly watching, trying to see if I could see the point ahead of me. I did not as it hit with a tremendous unseen force. I blacked out …



I awoke. I was no longer attached to the crystal. I was floating free once again. I turned my attention forward, I had to see where I was. As I approached, I could see that my views had changed completely. The far-away galaxies that I saw before are no longer there, I could see them no more. It was now replaced with a swirling galaxy with several spinning arms, I am headed toward a much smaller arm.

My gaze was fixed on the view ahead when I noticed the knowledge portal. It had a cube in it. This is not how I left it, I made sure of it. This cube, it must be from one of the shelves. I must locate where it came from.

I traversed the mighty halls of knowledge, down each row looking up and down. Nothing was missing.

[Then where did this cube come from?]

I went back to the knowledge portal. The cube looked to be just like the rest of them. I hesitantly engaged the knowledge to activate. Nothing happened, I saw nothing. This was a little troubling. I went back to restart the knowledge but noticed that it was properly running. This knowledge, it was something that I could not experience, it must be higher knowledge. I deactivated the knowledge cube, it was of no use to me.

I then tried to remove the knowledge cube from the portal thinking that I could set it aside for the time being. It did not budge, this was concerning. I tried again, but it was not moving from the portal.

[There must be a purpose for this cube. The rest of my knowledge lessons would have to wait.]

I turned my attention to the approaching galaxy and watched as the timeless event unfolded to me. I approached the arm of the galaxy, a point far away from its center. The arm itself looked like a galactic capture from some previous interaction with another smaller galaxy. I see two other galactic arms of the same size in other directions of this spiraling galaxy. I lost sight of them as I approached … , I am going to pass right through this one.

I was so excited to finally see other places up close. Then the same thought kind of startled me.

[What if I (gulp) run into anything?]

Right now, I have no way to change my fate. I just hope that there will be enough space in between them that this does not become an issue. I can just pass right straight through, I hope …

As I approached, I saw great clouds, nebula’s, places where stars are formed. I so wanted to go grab the knowledge cube and learn more about these galactic elements, but the portal was currently unavailable with the cube in it. I had to settle for the light show as I watched the great explosions burst like lightning of a storm cloud, shattering the quiet, even at this distance. Now there is a sun like I never saw before. It is a gas giant of an unbelievable size, may be a good reference point to use here, it will be visible over a great distance.

I did the first part of my life living on a crystal world. As I found out later, the world was extremely small by galactic standards, a mere twenty meters across. I thought it was vast at that time. This star in front of me now is incredible by compare. The number of crystal worlds in this vastness would be … well it would be a lot.

[I will have to calculate that, at a later time.]

I passed the sun and watched as it pulled away from behind me. There was another nebula ahead of me on the left side. As I passed it, I felt an uneasiness wave pour over me. There was an energy there, I fear that it was not an energy I would want to interact with. I passed it by and now another gas nebula was on the right.

[You know, it kind of looks like a horse. At least the horse’s head. It is … beautiful to some extent.]

Ahead of me now, it is a star. I am heading toward it, or at least near it. I see it blinking, there are bodies surrounding it.



I was thrilled and excited as I watched the pinpoint of light grow brighter and more apparent. I detected many solid bodies, some in orbit around the star, others looked to be passing through as I was.

I started following the orbital bodies, working out paths of those circulating around the star, calculating the direction and path of the bodies that were passing through.

A large quantity of smaller bodies was encompassing everything, obscuring my view of the solar system at times. It seems to encircle the entire area ten thousand time more distant than the farthest solid body orbiting the star. It is almost like it is a protecting wall around the solar system protecting it from anything outside. I can see varying gaps between the smaller bodies as they bump onto each other and repel away now. Creating space between them to pass through, possibly.

[Could one make it through that?]

Whether I can or not, I do not think I have much of a choice as I am definitely moving towards this wall. I need to be closer to understand this path better, a lot better. One thing that I noticed is that I feel a low level of energy coming from this shield, I am not too sure what to think about that. It is like that of the higher entity.

Another rogue planet, right there ahead of me, in a similar trajectory. I seem to be traveling much faster and will pass it quickly. And look it has a tail, a comet? It is and look at the size of it. It is big enough to be a small planet. Amazing!

This is the first … anything … that I have come this close to. As I passed it, I felt a need to reach out to it.

[Hello …]

There was a long pause but eventually I got a response back.

<I am cold>

It was clear message although quite minimal. I decided to continue …

[Cold, yes you look cold. Are you a comet?]

Another long delay, but an answer came back.

<Yes … I am cold>

I was ecstatic, I just had my first contact with something other than the light being. I was so excited about the thought of the contact, I lost time. I was now too far from it to connect now. But that was fantastic, I can communicate with others. Like when I was back on the crystal world. But now it is free thoughts.

I lost sight of the planet-comet, keeping in mind that it is somewhere behind me, traveling close enough to my trajectory that it might cause an issue in my path. The size of it could cause major disruptions in the shield wall. I doubt that it could make it through the debris field unscathed.

Troubling thoughts, keep it in mind. Although this could cause an unexpected event, my first problem is how am I going to make it through this wall? I watched and analyzed trajectory and speed, gravity of passed objects, calculating the chances of just passing right through untouched. It was not good, not good at all.

My trajectory path is from above, or below the ecliptic plane of the galaxy. There are less objects there to pass through, but it is still going to be difficult. I did a few pre-runs pretending that I was closer, just entering the shield. It took minimal time but that pre-run failed. I tried again but once again my path was thwarted. A panic attack came over me.

[I may not be able to make it though, unscathed.]

Right now, I was kind of thinking that would be much safer behind the planet-comet instead of in front of it. Could have been a good shield from the debris.

I am steadily heading for the wall. I have had enough time now to accept this. I will make it through. Even if I did, I would need to pass through it a second time as I exited the solar system. I currently calculate a 12.215% chance for successfully passing through this shield, unabated.

[Faith … I am sure the light being would not have me go all this way just to be crushed on some space rock … I do not see anything that would change this.]

I was wrong, there was something circling this star at a great distance. It just was not visible. An object, a hundred times bigger than the planet-comet. It is circulating around the borders of this solar system. It has an orbital path that interacts with this shield, actually passing right through it at its closest approach to the star. Why was this body not seen? Was it my point of viewing, I attribute much to this? something that looks like a horse’s head in one direction is just another amorphous shape in another.

The reason was is that outside the barrier, it is dark. And the object to be seen was a brown dwarf from the local binary system. A sun … that had burned out.

{Who’s is crossing this space}

Only the whoooo held on forever. Turning into a low tone that made the crystal vibrate. It was an intense feeling.

[I am here], came a feeble voice.

{I know all that enters this space, why is it that I am having difficulty … seeing you}, bellowed the voice.

I projected deeper, [I am over here, ahead of the comet]. This was enough as the low tone seemed to focus on the crystal … and then it ceased.

{You must be the visitor I was expecting. Welcome to the outer ring. How may I be of service to you?}, returned the voice in a more tempered pleasant tone.

[You are expecting me?]

{Why yes, do you not know. I am the far guardian, the keeper of this space, the companion to Sol. Many call me Nemesis. But I am friend to all. What do you call yourself?}, came back the voice.

[I … I do not have a name, I am knowledge … all knowledge.]

{Do you mean that you are a source, a gem of knowledge? I am very pleased to great you such as it is. Why is it that you do not have a name?}

[I do not know why … I never needed one before today.]

{Well I need a something to call you, how about I call you Gem?}

[Thank you I would like that very much. Where are you … I mean, I hear you, but I cannot see you?]

A flash of light appeared in front of me, reflecting off the brown surface of the dwarf star. {Here I am.}, sounded back.

[You are great in size, quite impressive.], she hesitated a moment. [It looks like I have a problem ahead of me. My path … it leads right into your barrier wall. I fear that I will crash into one of the objects as I pass through. Could you help me?]

{Actually, they are not going to affect your path. You are going to run straight into me, we are to bump.}

[Bump?]

{Yes, an oversimplification term to support your level of understanding. I am going to open a window and put you someplace very safe for a good long while. Trust me, I will take care of you.}

[Bump?], still wondering the connotations of bumping this ever so small crystal into a rigid surface. I must keep faith that this is the right path. [I trust you, but I am unsure.]

{Who wouldn’t be. I can see your fears, your thoughts are open to me. You need not be afraid, you are a gem of knowledge. No one would ever attempt any harm to a soul like yours. You are too important … and rare.}

I rotated the crystal, my body, so I could get a better view of this new friend, and … [Oh my!] This new friend … big … dense … really big. [I cannot see … into you. I mean, I cannot see you. Why?]

{See me?}

[I can see the souls in the bodies over there.] Indicating the shield wall that was ahead. [I can see … well I can see … are they … young? They seem to be acting like children.]

{See … I think I understand. You see the souls in the shield, but you do not see mine.} As if the mere mention of the item made this soul appear. {There, now you can … ‘SEE’ me.}

[Your form … I was not expecting … you are great, excuse me, I am not myself at the moment. Your soul is the first form I have seen for … well for a very long time. And you are staggering.]

Sensing the moment, {Well, do not get your hopes to high, I am just another soul. In fact, because of my duties, some might consider me a bit harsh. But that is the 1st and 2nd density souls, I have to keep them in line from time to time.}

That was an odd statement, I needed clarification, [What is … how are you using … I do not understand density, how you use it?]

{What, do you not understand the seven densities?}, silence returned. {Your lessons, are you doing lessons?}

[Oh yes, I spend all of my time learning from the knowledge within. I have been learning the fundamentals and am currently at 43% of my first full review.], feeling quite pleased of the accomplishment.

{And your teacher, who is your teacher?}

It took a moment to realize that the teacher that was spoke of, it did not have. [I have none. Is that wrong?]

{No … No that is not a problem. It just means that you have to learn … different. You’ve really have been doing this all by yourself? I’m impressed. This knowledge you speak of … may I see it?}

This perplexed it thoughts. Gazing down the isle and the rows upon rows of data sets. [I do not believe that I would know how to show it to you. You would have to be here to understand.]

This is when the cube in the knowledge portal lit up, it had instructions showing.

[Wait a moment, there is something here. It is for … you.]

A long silence between the two of them suggested that both were surprised to this bit of knowledge.

[Were you expecting something?]

{Yes, I was told that there would be something, in a time ahead of me. But that was so long ago, I had given up on thoughts like that many ages ago.}

[I see it, but I do not understand any of what it is, it just a bunch of images with squeals and squeaks. No wait … it is the bump. The bump will connect you to … whatever this all is.]

{Most interesting, I never thought of using a bump like this. They mostly just move objects around.}

It seemed that this ‘Bump’ was greatly mis-understood. It needed more, [What is this bump?], it queried.

{The bump starts just like that, but because of my base construction, it opens a hole between spaces. I have control over where each goes to and what goes through, well most of the time. Like your path is to send you to a hot aqueous chamber where just about nothing can survive. I always wondered why I had a hole going there. But a knowledge transfer is … I did not know it could be used this way.}

Gem was set back with these thoughts. Someone other than itself had knowledge of its existence. And this entity seems to know what I am.

{And I can hear all that you are thinking, thought is open with all lesser entities, when I am near. Whether I like it or not, I am in your life-path.} Not wanting to accept the next need that had presented itself. {That makes me … your teacher, until we part ways and I send you along.}

[I would like that … what do I call you?]

{Nemesis is what I will be called one day. I am the organizer, the caretaker for the shield until it is no longer needed. I send the errant souls back into the chaos as they try to escape. Sometimes I do not wait for them to try.}

[Nemesis, that is an ominous name. I find many references to this … name, frightening references.]

{I am all of them including the companion to the local star, just in opposition. I am the energy that collects light and emits darkness. This is why I question my workings as a someone that can teach. To say it bluntly, I am not someone that usually helps others, in any way. I am Nemesis!}

[I understand, but somehow, I feel a connection to you. I would like you to teach me and in-turn maybe you will learn some things from me. But I am leery of what you … are.]

{I feel no such connection, but you are a gem. You may not know this, but you know so much more than most souls, more than I. And you should be leery of those aligned like me, we feel nothing for other souls. Like yours!}

There was silence again.

The silence was broken with, {I accept, I will teach! A suitable trade for knowledge to be gained.}

This nemesis, he should not be trusted too far. I have felt his type before, long ago.

{Trust, I would say that it is not possible, with who I am. Once you know what I am, you will understand the environment that I guide, the type of presence, that I am. This will help you understand the what and why of my type, which will guide you in understanding the self-serving soul. We are here to balance. Our absence would deny knowledge to all.}

{Your lessons begin … Now!}

There was total silence, no sense of anything other than itself, a total blank. [I do not understand? What is this lesson about?]

Nothing, there was no response or even the feeling of another that was there just moments before. It was as if the contact was a figment of my imagination, somehow, some way.

No, I do not accept that! There was something … someone here … there … well out there that was connecting with me. Now I cannot even sense the large body that was just there … right there … nothing.

Wait, I sense nothing from this entity … it is hiding … blocking contact with … removing itself from this reality. No, no, no, Nemesis is somehow blocking me … hiding oneself from others. Nemesis has made itself invisible, of a sort, unsensible. I need knowledge …

But the knowledge portal was still blocked with the package for Nemesis, I am still on my own … for now. Yes, yes and Nemesis knows this, well now he knows this because he can still see … feel … sense … hear me.

State the facts! I cannot sense Nemesis. Nemesis can still sense me. In essence I am being blocked. I have no idea on how Nemesis is doing this, but it does not seem logical.

I do not have the knowledge … understanding on how to comprehend this. An entity is blocking access to itself, why would one do this? Logic, my logic would be to make contact with anyone, anything out there. Part of the ‘Free Will’ of others to access any and all kinds of knowledge, by any means possible.

Wait … but … this is not the logic of Nemesis. This entity opposes everything in reality. No, no … Nemesis is the opposition to everything I stand for. Let’s see if I can put this in perspective.

I am intent on connecting with others, Nemesis is not. I want to give free access to knowledge, Nemesis would be restricting it. I would want everything to be open, Nemesis would close it. I would want truth, then Nemesis would want lies. This opposition is most interesting indeed. But that does not explain the point of this lesson … or does it.

What have I learned? There are souls out there that are in total opposition to everything that I am. These souls could be anywhere and everywhere. Somehow, I cannot accept that there is only this state of total opposition. It seems to me that everyone is some portion of each where some are more opposing to some of the opposition, but the majority are fairly balanced. Where the soul is being tested to becoming more of one side or the other. This would create many possibilities.

Then that means that Nemesis not in total opposition to me, there still is some part of Nemesis that is good, other serving. As Nemesis was doing … communicating with me before … part of this soul … is still somewhat … what I am. But it also means that I am very naive in understanding this opposing side, this I need to research … when I am able to do that again. That and how Nemesis is creating this hidden state, see if I can find a way to see through it, at least find a way to identify it. There is so much that is here on why one would want to even do this. I just do not understand this whole concept.

{That is our lesson for this day. You can plan on twenty six more sessions before our bump, do not expect more!}, Nemesis stated, and a return to the silence.

[Whew! Tough teacher], Gem acclaimed.

A major feeling of insufficiency grew upon Gem and the time with Nemesis only grew more difficult as the lessons progressed. Gem was gaining much but feared that in-time, she would become more like Nemesis, that cannot happen.

The next lesson was on densities but I expect that Nemesis was only giving it so he could claim superiority over me. I knew some of what he taught already anyway.

A few lessons later he revealed the construct of the solar system I was about to enter and his part in it. It started with a long description of the shell that Nemesis controlled. It was a shield wall that prevented all entry into this solar system, well except for those that were permitted to enter, like me. Nemesis stated that the lesser densities did not know or understand the environment that they lived inside. This solar system outwards to the shield wall was a construct, an illusionary existence for the purpose of learning the real lessons that can only be experienced in these constructs. Nemesis continued by revealing the illusion that was projected onto the interior of the shield wall that represented the sky as seen from the surface of the planets below.

Then he addressed the planets contained in this solar system. Revealing the control planets and the moons that these controllers resided upon. Then Nemesis explained the inner worlds, the meat of the solar system. He stated that the current forth planet was to destroy itself into a ring of debris. Then later the object that I saw heading toward this same system would be loosened upon the inner planets, scraping the third planet and settling into orbit between the first and second planets creating a new second planet. It was becoming very obvious that Nemesis was excited when he spoke of catastrophic events. It was part of his kind.

Not much was said about the planet I was to be deposited upon other than I would be there until a large event happened. I could see that Nemesis was greatly holding back knowledge when he spoke of it. It must be of importance to him, to restrict this knowledge from me. Possibly another control element he is working up to using. Whatever it was, Nemesis was tight lipped about the subject. A good indication to take note of.

I was learning more and more about this opposing soul and it showed as there were times all communication was cut off, sometimes in the middle of the lesson.

There were two lessons that were connected. It was the session on realities. After the first session, my head was dizzy on the whole concept. The second lesson absolutely blew my mind. This I had no previous understanding of, and I was stunned realizing the picture as a whole and my tiny story that existed in all of it.

One of the last lessons was on time and how many souls live in a timeless state where there is no-time and all-time existing together. This was one of those items where you do not know what you do not know. I was speechless after this session. There will be much contemplation of this knowledge, not now, but at a later time.

This whole time I was advancing on toward the ‘Bump’ with Nemesis and my first sight of him. No wonder I could not see him, he is a dwarf star, burned out of fuel, and looks to be a very dark coloration of brown. But in this faint light Nemesis could fly right past you and you would not even notice it. I caught a glint off the surface, my goodness, he is huge.

From my point of view, I was going to be splattered across the surface of Nemesis, but he assured me that this was part of the illusion and I would pass unharmed. I was not so positive about the idea.

My approach quickened as I got closer until I was pulled up to speeds faster than I ever saw before. It was then that a bolt of lightning ignited the air around me, I did not see where it came from nor could I see for a few moments afterwards. It was very intense. As my sight cleared, I was in an aqueous pool of a mixture of several elementary components. I did not know it, but I was deep under the surface of the earth near a volcanic vent as it heated the pool to a very hot condition.

I was small, a fragment of a tiny hair in this reality, I had literally no weight. This caused me to float around in the aqueous liquid as it churned in the heat. I half expected to melt in the heat, but to my demise I was not shrinking but actually gaining girth. It seemed that some of the elements floating in the fluid started to build-up on my surface. It took some time, but I eventually got large enough to stop my spinning around in the fluid and dropped onto the floor of the chamber that had the pool.

It had been a very long time since I was stationary as I was on the crystal planet. This was not the same. There were other surfaces here, of another type of rock. And I continued to grow in size and girth, it was wonderful and provided me with an unexpected effect. My core crystal did not change and the storage of the knowledge remained the same. But I had room to move around outside of the core crystal, empty room. It was like having grassy fields that went on forever and ever, except this was flowing crystal. I never had so much space … ever … before.

As I grew, other crystals formed around me. Some of color that were absolutely beautiful unlike me, who was crystal clear, to some extent. Something I identified is that my core crystal was a multitude harder than the crystals that formed here. Maybe there were souls in these crystals, like me. I reached out to them.

There was a response from them, many of them. But they were young, without knowledge. And I became the one that they looked up to. I was the old mother and they became my children, there were thousands of them. We all grew in size and in knowledge, it was one of the best times in my life.

One of the benefits of being near me was that the crystals composed harder than ordinary crystals. They were stronger and were thirsty for knowledge which I gave.

My mistake was to give them the knowledge of energy storage, like the energy of the volcano that we resided beside. It was this knowledge that destroyed most of my children in an explosion that split a continent in two, as it was meant to be. I still found myself as part of the story of this world, in this reality.

A few of my children along with myself were flung up to the surface on the planet, scattered across a high plateau. I could sense them but there was no contact and my teaching came to a halt. I contemplated my errors, I must not let this happen. I found out that I had knowledge that could cause chaos under certain circumstances.

I would have to be more like Nemesis, there are things that are best kept to myself, for now.

I found out that I could communicate with the soul of the planet although I had extreme difficulty speaking it name. I called it ‘Bob’. It was much younger than I was and much more naïve. I helped Bob many times teaching him the higher knowledge. Trying not to give any knowledge that would endanger this world. There is a fine line here, it is difficult to maintain. Bob was kind and was working to become a higher density world in the future. A future that I also would see before I leave for other needs.

But that was not for a long while. Today you would find my children and myself on a plateau above the tree line. It was rocky, very rocky up here. Most are lesser souls’ fragments just starting out in life. Way too early to teach anything useful.

Now one day a different soul could be seen crossing this rocky mountain top. It was different than any soul seen before. It moved on it own, a bipedal body. It looked fragile as it fell near me and leaked some of its fluid. It was also having difficulty in the chest area as it kept holding it and stopping it travels to sit down.

The aged man, drawn with a heavy greying beard, looked down toward his feet. One of his sandals had broken on the last step, it would need repair before going further. As he removed his sandal, he saw the glint of my crystal form mostly buried in the rubble. A minute later he had me in hand, dusting the remaining dirt from my surfaces. I had grown much from my starting form. I was now half as big as the man’s thumb. I looked very impressive if I may so myself. He placed me in a pocket of the ragged drape that he had over himself.

The man spent the remainder of the day and the following searching for others like me. He found five of my children, all less than half my size. He took the six of us across the plateau and down the mountain side. It took many days, but we eventually entered a city located near its base.

The man took the six of us out and gently placed us in a shallow pan of water. He proceeded to clean us and remove any of the darker rock from our bases. I had a shattered end to my crystal, very smooth sides of a number of six. Quite common for a crystal. My crown was perfect, all faces equal to each other. My core still resided deep inside the crystal, knowledge intact. Now I had major expanses of open space to float around outside of the core. I never had so much room.

The cleaning continued on my children until we were all sparkling clean and laid out on a piece of cloth ripped from his tunic.

I looked around, we were in a small alcove with one side open to the outside. There was no roof. [This is a soul that has little, barely a rag to throw over its form.]

“What, I thought I heard someone”, he exclaimed. He looked around and saw no one. He shrugged his shoulders and returned to examining the crystals that he had found.

[Can you hear me?], Gem asked.

Startled and looking around for whoever was talking to him, still seeing no one. “Yes, I hear a you, but I do not see you.”, he calmly said still looking for the source.

[I am with you now … in your hand]

The old man very slowly lowered his head to look at the crystals in his hand. The large one glinted a lighted face at him. Startled, he immediately dropped all six crystals to the ground like he suddenly noticed he was holding a snake in his hands. He stepped back to the corner of the alcove, putting some space between himself and the strewn crystals.

Craning his neck slightly he peered over to the large crystal, “Ah, hello … good tidings”, he stuttered. He did a quick pan of the area again still trying to find another source of the communication. Then the crystal spoke again.

[Please … we are here with you, I am Gem, these are some of my children.]

Shakily point a finger at the largest of the crystals he said, “Are you the one that is talking to me?” The man turned away and did a quick peek over the wall to the adjoining alcove, there was no one there.

[Yes, please do not be afraid. I am Gem … who are you?]

The man recoiled his hands to his chest, still shaking quite a bit, he stated, “I am Dax, you … are you a rock … what are you.”

[My children and I are crystals, a type of rock, I guess. We intend you no harm.]

“Yes … yes you are crystals, I can see that. Are you some person that has been entrapped in that rock by some evil wizard?”, Dax asked. He was calming a little by now, much less nervous shaking.

[No, we are just souled crystals. There is no evil wizard. If I may ask, what are you?]

“I am a man, what do you mean, what am I? Why do you not know what I am?”, he questioned.

[Before this I only interacted with other solid forms. Never one that could move like you do.]

“Well, I did find you on a mountain top, the top of a great rock. How long were you up there?”, Dax asked.

[My kind were the reason that your land split, what remains of my children are scattered across the area that you found me.]

“That means that you have been here since the beginning of ‘Mu’. You have been on that mountain top for thousands of years, since the beginning of time, as it was written”, Dax responded.

Dax was leaning one arm on the wall beside him when another man walked past. The passing man shook his head and muttered something like, “stay back … crazy man”, or something like that.

“I never talked with a rock before, do you do this often?”, Dax asked humorously.

[I talk with others, mostly other ah … rocks as you call them. I am more interested in you right now, please, tell me of yourself.]

Dax bent over and retrieved the six crystals dusting them off and placing them back into the piece of cloth. He kneeled back down in the alcove and began rolling out his life story and how he ended up on that mountain top. He was an advisor to Sprig of Tern, in the building that now stands in rubble in front of us. It was destroyed in the battle for Tern, we lost. Dax, because of the situation, had to leave and had been traveling for the last three and a half years. It was only in finding the crystals that he returned to civilization again, to sell them, make a few coins, eat something other than lizards or rats. Now everything was different.

It took a little investigating, but Gem found out that these men needed to consume sustenance to stay alive. She queried Dax and found out the he needed something called a coin, a metallic disk, or some form of gemstone to use as a form of currency.

Gem identified a possible source and guided Dax to a spot in the building rubble. It was noted to Dax that there was a large chunk of stone covering multiple red rocks. The rock was huge, it was too heavy to move without assistance. Dax left and came back with a branch of a tree to use as a prybar. The block did not move.

Gem stopped him before he broke the branch and instructed him in the use of a fulcrum. Dax then found a smaller rock that he could easily move and set it up as Gem instructed. Then the limb was able to start the bolder rocking eventually rolling it out of the way. Dax was amazed at the application of the tool that Gem made from nothing but the stones around them. Gem told him about three stones red in color. Dax started digging, now using the branch to scrape the ground. A red rock popped up, it was a ruby. Dax’s eyes grew as he looked at the stone. Then Gem instructed him of the other two that were deeper.

Dax in a fluster dove head-first into the ground and started digging with his bare hands. A moment later the second ruby was visible and a third was just to the side of the second. The three rubies were uncut semi-round stones. The type that was in the registry of Sprig Hall, before the collapse. These must have been lost during the battle.

Dax, in an inquisitive tone asked, “Gem how did you know where these gem-stones were?”.

[That was easy, I asked the rocks.]

“These rocks, do they know of a pile of gold or silver that might be found?”, Dax asked.

[I do not know what you are referring to, what is this gold or silver?]

“Figures, I never been that lucky. But I am a little today.” as Dax looks at the red stones in his hand. “Lets go and get something to eat”.

[I do not need sustenance as you do.]

“Well, I will eat, you talk”, Dax said, and they all left to go to the bizarre, a part of the city that was rebuilt after the battle.

Now a poor person in rags showing rubies really drew some unneeded attention to Dax. Some of these were from the local magistrate which sent several guards to escort Dax back to them. He complied and we were along for the ride. There were elevated voices, many were interested in the gems and where they came from. They beat Dax pretty bad. He told them he got them from the top of the mountain and he showed them crystals also found there. He was lying for most of the time, but the magistrate allowed him to show a group of guards the location. The rubies and crystals were transferred to the court and filed away into a dark room for reallocation.

The rubies were stolen by one of the local guards. We crystals were left in the room still wrapped in the piece of cloth from Dax. It was years later when an intern was requested to audit the room and its contents. After completing the task, the magistrate grabbed anything that they felt was worth anything, the remaining pile of items was to be thrown away. We crystals were part of that disposal pile. The intern transferred the pile to a cart to be hauled out to the garbage pile. It was then that the crystals fell out of the wrapping and to the floor. One of the children shattered. The intern grabbed the remaining five crystals and stuffed them into his pocket, eventually they ended up on a curio shelf in his room. over time the intern became a respected citizen and moved out of the room.

A court wizard took over the room next. He found the crystals in the dust piles of the room. He picked them up and cleaned them, placing them back onto the curio shelf. Many times he would pick up Gem and look deep into it, looking for some sign from it. Not knowing that in his hand was a gem of knowledge, one of the most important items in the universe. If he just knew at this time that if he just talked with the crystal, it might answer back.

Gem kept to herself, refraining from communicating with anyone at all. And on this shelf they resided again for a great number of years until the wizard had fully aged to a ripe old age. It was then that he sat in the room, massaging the crystal and thinking about his failure to appease the magistrate. It was then the wizard spoke aloud and said, “I wish I could find out why my power storage did not work.”

Power storage was something that Gem knew about, she spouted, [Obsidian is too inferior a material to store energy. It has not been crystalized in a pressurized environment.]

Gem knew that she should not talk with others in this reality, it was troublesome. As this did also with the wizard sneaking knowledge from her eventually gleaning enough of her secrets to succeed. More crystals were obtained from all sources. None of them were compatible to hold energy. But these five did. He had to learn of where these crystals came from.

The answer did not come from Gem, but another who resided in a cell for a time with old man Dax. He had reveled where he had found them, to the other in the cell. The wizard acquired the knowledge and returned to the mountain top. There he found many crystals like the five. With this he started constructing the many power towers, one after the other. And this was the demise of this civilization as the power towers were pushed to the limit of storage, and they blew up with a force unseen in this reality. It cracked the continent of Mu into several pieces and pushed them away from each other. Eventually this created the continents that we know today. Some of these towers still exist today, they were lucky enough to shut down before they detonated. If you are looking for them, seek them underwater.

Gem survived somehow, it is not fully understood. She was eventually picked up from a recently opened chamber at the top of a mountain in Peru. The crystal was identified as a Lemurian crystal, one that was originally formed on the continent of Mu.

After a few other adventures in this reality including a time at the Stonehenge site, Gem ended up in a shirt pocket of a soul in America. (That is my shirt pocket, Haiku.)

Now I never pressed Gem for knowledge, that is left for the last night. The following day is redemption time and all souls need to depart or be secured in a safe place as Bob needs to cleanse itself before climbing the density ladder to forth density.

Some knowledge is better not to be known, it is safer that way.

Gem leaves this reality much like the arrival here. Nemesis is there to create a hole out of here, just for Gem. Gem’s next stop is to a planet that is near a cool sun in a solar system outside of the Orion arm of our galaxy. (Our next stop in Gem’s adventure)

So, if your future soul is in the vicinity, stop by and have a cup of tea with Gem. Weasel one of her stories out of her and write about it for the rest of us here. Haiku …
 
chapter 4, A way out ...

In a time with no time, wonders are created.

An entity was here. It was holding a very small sliver of crystal, almost unseen by the common eye. It passed through the wall like a ghost while it was still holding the crystal. Near one end of the room was this tank of liquid, it was illuminated by lights closely fitted to the top of the tank. The entity flowed over to it and pushed their hand deep into the tank and released the crystal onto a glass platter that was suspended in it. The crystal floated down to the surface and landed flat on its side upon it. The liquid in the tank felt enriching as it was warm and had some sort of circulation going on. It was observed that the liquid felt oddly thick with varying elements, it was not simply water. Moreover, it seemed to be charged with some form of electricity.

<Look here, the crystal is cracking.< This was correct as a fine crack was now seen in the surface of the crystal, it must have started right after we heard the piercing sound. <From the looks of it, I would say that it is in the middle of the crystal. That’s odd?<

>This is impossible, we have been through so much … the crystal had never done this before. … Why does it sparkle?> The crack was indeed giving off a form of light as if the light itself was separating the crystal into opposing forms.

<Not impossible, just improbable.< The crack was touched and it made it instantly become longer and deeper into the crystal.

>Don’t do that!> But it was too late as the crack now drove its way around the crystal to produce a single and complete crack all of the way around.

<It’s getting deeper into the crystal, see it there. If I did not know better, I would say that the crystal is about to permanently separate into two pieces.< they were right as the crack was now a quarter of the way through the crystalline structure and progressing.

>we are about to lose half of the knowledge, what do we do?> The crack now over halfway through the crystal. >I do not know what to do?>

<I think that I do. You stay in the right half, I’ll stay in the left half. The knowledge will be complete, just in separate crystals.< The still connected solid portion of the crystal was shrinking as they both looked on. And just before the crystal separated one jumped to the other side. <I hope that this works?<

The opening was now only a porthole, each could see the other but neither would be able to touch their opposition. It looked as if it was going to stop there as the cracking ceased.

>how will we communicate?>

<we will have to find a way.< the remaining break happened as it started with a piercing sound. And the two and the knowledge were now separate in more ways than one.

The two sections drifted apart a short distance but even that ceased a moment later. A spark, miniscule in size started between the two crystals. It was if this spark was holding the crystals separated but connected them in other ways. Their senses were charged, a sensation of togetherness. One could sense and hear the other even though neither could be seen.

They remained this way, deciding to communicate with each other but not with any outside sources. For now, they were just a split crystal, nothing more …

A rather featureless hallway, some 20 meters long and straight as an arrow. It was wide enough to drive any ground vehicle through and tall, some six meters. There were only two doorways that could be seen at the far end of the hallway, nothing else. There were no guard stations or any other furnishings, which is very odd in this age. The hallway was lit softly by the thola walls which covered the walls, roof and floor.

Thola walls were common features on most walls of the station. They allowed real-life images to be placed upon them and they would look dimensionally realistic. Named after their creator hundreds of years ago. Had she known at that time the capability of them being used to monitor all movements and interactions in all spaces that they are in. Not by everyone, but you can bet the Govn. and other nefarious groups are always watching. Since this was one of the outbound stations in this sector, this outside sight would be limited to those with high enough credentials to support access.

The hallway had remained this way since its completion a week earlier. Then following the instructions of some outside source, the walls changed to give a light bar at the bottom of the wall, lighting up the simulated floor surface. A wisp of air movement coming from some unknown vent stirred the space, cleaning out the staleness of the hallway.

At the empty end of the hallway the wall changed to reveal a transport tube exit. A moment later a single transport arrived and opened. There were 3 men inside, two were obviously security personal. The third was a slightly nervous man. His face was wrinkled and the silver in his hair showed his age. The small trickle of sweat from his brow showed how nervous he was with the security escort.

With the tube door open, the man exited the transport into the hallway. And as fast as the door opened, it closed leaving the man nose to nose with the thola wall, he stepped away from the wall and gazed around the hallway. He immediately noticed the lack of other individuals there, that was almost more disturbing than the security detail that just left.

An arrow appeared on the wall, about a meter long. A ghost of it left the arrow and moved down the hall to point to the doorway on the right. A few moments later, it did the ghost items again, obviously wanting him to enter the specific room. He obliged. In a nervous step down the hallway, he traversed the distance with the arrow following along with him. He stopped about two meters from the door and the arrow did the ghost thing again, insisting that he proceed. Sweat was now increasing on his forehead.

The ghost arrow appeared again, this time it was a red shade. He knew wat that meant, someone was getting impatient. He complied and headed for the right door.

The door could have been real, it was hard to tell what was real and not with thola walls. It opened and the older gentleman slowly stepped in.

Behind the door was a room roughly one hundred square meters. It was divided into two sections, a monitoring, control room and a laboratory area. The room was separated by a transparent wall that looked quite thick. A tank of some kind of solution was sitting a meter away from the divider, it looked to hold a thousand or more liters of fluid. The rest of the room was lined with large cylinders that were painted different colors, most likely denoting their contents. The color lightened the mood in the room a little.

At the table for the control panel were two chairs. Each had a smock thrown over the back of the seat. As he began to step toward the left chair, the door behind him closed. This made him momentarily stop before proceeding on. He placed his hand upon the back of the chair and mumbled, “Well, this looks better than the last place.” He picked up and put on the standard white smock and sat down.

The table began to whirl, a soft vibration could be felt. The dual control panel appeared, simulated to look like a Brogan interface. Quite common these days. On the left there is the monitors for mineral content in the atoms, and this is the readout for the molecules present. This spectrum meter is graphically showing the compound data. Here is temperature monitoring from hundreds of sensors, and that is the circulation controls. Saturation indicators are over here in this arrangement, nice.

He turned his attention to the second panel mirroring his, the redundant controls. It was displaying the exact same information.

In the next instant the doorway opened again, a woman of middle age entered the room, she looked to as shocked as he was on entering the hallway.

“Please, sit down. I will bring you up to date on the progress, it has been slow.” The man stated.

The hearty woman, roughly seventy kilograms, picked up the smock and put it on. She said, “I am June”, looking around, “what have I gotten myself into here?”

This brought a curl to the smile of the man’s face. He knew well what might be going through her mind at the moment, as it was in his mind also. “The name is Oliver, and we are here to crystalize different materials with varying inputs. Your knowledge of mineral science will benefit us both. Please have a seat,” as he gestured to the seat beside him.

It took days to bring June of to date with the proceedings so far. He did not tell her everything, and there were reasons for that. If he were to tell her everything, then he would be of no use any longer. Dismissal, or more likely termination would ensue. So, he kept his secrets to himself, or at least he thought that he could.

Months passed and crystals were created. All samples were transferred out to other sources for adaption to other needs, as Oliver was told. Someone was looking for some exotic creation coming from this lab to fulfill some purpose. Like communications or power generating/filtering. There was no limit to what these crystals could be created to do. But the exotic one, the one type that could generate unlimited wealth, was the one that they were here to find.

Oliver and June would take shifts, twelve hours each monitoring the crystallization as the ingredients changed in the brew. In their off-time, each resided in the room next door, a small but comfortable living space. There were daily interactions to review all that was found in other session, and they would plan out the changes to implement in their following sessions.

They were just starting using limited gold and platinum along with nickel and titanium in the effusion. This would require an electrical current to be applied, something that they had experience with but no good results. The current would initiate crystallization but was also very likely that it will vaporize any result. They had better results in formulating with varying cooling processes, it produced the best and largest results so far.

Oliver started the next batch early in his shift. The tank was just getting up to temperature, the solvent materials were just starting to evaporate when his shift completed. June showed up in the control room right as shifts changed, she was very timely. Oliver spent about ten minutes to review his session, status of the tank and the current mixture. Then he retired to the room to rest.

June was about halfway through her shift when the shutter happened. Sometimes things happen out here in space, something going supernova or the like, and you feel the event. This shutter that happened was something to that effect.

It awoke Oliver. He had felt items like this before but never this large. He had to check the lab, make sure that nothing was damaged. He quickly clothed himself and returned to the lab for inspections.

June was doing her job and checking that all systems were operational. When Oliver entered the lab, she turned in her chair and shrugged her shoulders. “I do not know,” anticipating his question, “all systems are in the green.”

Oliver sat down at his controls and rechecked June’s response and found it to be accurate. He spun back the data point to before the event and watched as room sensors flashed with an abnormal room event. “You see there, a very cold stream of air entered the room, like it was coming from the cold of space,” he said. “You can see it flow around the room and stop right here on the tank,” as he points to the tank in the display. “Then it was gone. At the moment it disappears, the event hits,” he continued.

“A power surge, look here,” June stated showing another chart of data. “It seems to have been generate from this point in the tank,” as she points to the center of the tank where the crystals are formed.

“Look, the mass changed at that instant. Only a little … by micrograms, see there,” he exclaimed. “Let me run a simulation on it here, see if a shape can be detected. Record everything, I think we have something here.”

Numbers were crunched and processed in high detail and an image was generated. It was small, the display zoomed in on the object and it turned out to be two of them. Separated by some hidden source … they had a shape. The image resolved and displayed two Navette shaped crystals point to point. You know it kind of looked like two eyes looking back at you.

June was busy looking for any information on a celestial event or anything to that effect, there were none noted anywhere on the stations net. She noted it to Oliver who was still a little stunned on their observations. “The shutter, your event, I think it might have come from our tank. There is nothing in the net about anything like that,” she said.

Oliver seemed oblivious as the object renderings came through on his display. “It’s growing!” He stated.

The next week was really exciting as the advanced crystal growth far exceeded anything that they could have expected. And then, just like when the crystal started forming, it abruptly stopped. The result was two crystals, strangely attached but not connected to each other. The overall crystal was about 25 millimeters end to end with a gap between the points of the Navette shapes. Their superiors had them maintain the crystallization process for another week before the crystal was extracted. It had an unbelievable hardness at 10,000 rockwell, off the chart for their measuring equipment.

Up to that moment, the crystal had only been in contact with bot’s, insulated and isolated and under a constant flow of de-ionized air. The conductive glass tray that held the crystal had been placed on a static insulating mat which usually drains the item of any remaining static buildup.

Oliver was adamite that he was the last one to touch any crystal that left the lab. He had a long set of metal tweezers that he used to transfer the crystal to the shipping tube, done many times in the past. This time it was different, this formation was unique. Having two crystals held in suspension in this odd manor was very new Oliver. He decided to grab it by one of the crystals hoping that the other will follow as if he were picking up a single crystal.

This was a mistake, for as soon as the crystals lost contact with the tray, Oliver was zapped by an electrical charge which made him drop the new crystal formation. Oliver shook his hand repeatedly to wave off the charge that he just felt, the tweezers fell to the floor.

This was a first, no crystal that he ever generated had ever done this to him. He reached down and picked up the tweezers and went to try to pick up the crystals again. He stopped before making contact with it. He did not want another zap as happened before. He needed something to insulate himself from the crystals.

The room that they were in was empty except for the control table and chairs. He looked down at his chair and saw a plastic strip running around the edge of his seat. He grabbed a chunk of it and ripped it from the chair. He was able to get a chunk about ten centimeters long. He folded it in half, face to face giving him a pinch action V-gripper. He spread the V in the tool and placed it over the crystals. he gently closed the V and he had a grip on both of the crystals. Ever so gently he lifted it and placed it in the foam cavity in the transport tube. He pushed a plug of foam into the cavity securing the crystals for transport. Oliver removed his hand from the tube and it automatically closed, sealing the chamber inside.

Over by the door was a small door just as big as the transport tube. Oliver with the tube in hand, opened the small door and placed the tube in it. Instantly legs popped out of the cylinder. They carried the tube upwards until Oliver could not see it. He closed the door and finally a smile came to his face. He knew, he had something this time. Without a word he went back to his console and proceeded in creating a formal report on this cycle of the project.

In the end, little was known about how the original crystal form appeared, but Oliver assured those in power that the process could be replicated. The crystals locked away in the transport tube were now on their way to others to identify what had been made, what it could be used for.

Alas, future endeavors to reproduce what had been made failed several times including one that produced an explosion, reducing most in the room to rubble. No remains of Oliver and June were found. There was no funeral, only a brief message to their next of kin.

As for the crystal, it was subjected to many tests. It was beat, smashed and tormented with various power sources, hit with radiation and finally subjected to a needle-nuke that destroyed everything around it but the crystal. After all that it did not even have a scratch on it, it took it all stride. It seemed to be wanting more as anything that was done to it was just absorbed as energy. The energy that was absorbed created a glittering appearance as if some light source was constantly varying deep down in the crystals.

Govn. Report on sample G227-4108A 2602.124 stated that it was of no apparent use. A pile of testing results followed the report that showed all conclusions found. Storage was recommended for later testing as is seen fit.

Storage, as it was called, turned out to be a used plastic box tossed onto a metal shelf with numerous other boxes in the back room of the maintenance shed. The same room housed many failed experiments overloaded on shelves placed in rows around the room, and tons of scrap bots, some from hundreds of years ago. It was a real history lesson of robotics in a jumbled pile in the room.

The back room of this shed was a disgrace, shelves were broken, mounts were ripped from the floor leaving many items strewn across the floor. The bot pile, having been there for many generations, was almost impossible to work with. Newly added bot’s at the top of the pile were crushing others at the bottom.

The last human to enter the room was a tech that was just going to throw another robot on the pile. When he got there, he found out that he no longer could get very far into the room from the piles of debris everywhere. The old bot that he brought with him was left still sitting on the lowboy cart outside of the room. He got behind the cart and pushed through the doorway. It was not going to fit so he pulled the cart part way out of the doorway and forced it into the room, crushing something behind it. The cart had ridden up on the debris behind it, but it was just enough to be able to close the door. Upon closing the door, he took a glance around the shop to make sure that nobody saw him stash the bot. There was no one. The tech stuffed his hands in his pockets and trundled off, feeling quite good of himself and the disposal of the old bot.

Before long corrosion on the door sealed it from entry. The space was obviously not needed, and nothing changed in the shed until it was forgotten ...

A box, heavily dust covered was sitting on Shelf 23D with a number of other boxes of similar size, roughly a hundred of them. Luckily this one was sitting on a top layer near the front of the shelf. Inside was the crystal that held Gem, waiting in silence throughout all of the processing. Time for a crystal, especially for this one, was irrelevant. It could wait for a thousand years if it had to, but to avail this was not so long. This section of the station was rebuilt twenty years later, and instead of a cleanup and disposal of everything in the room, the crew sealed this garbage filled void behind several exterior walls. The station plans were adjusted to redefine the station exterior and this room was lost in the expansion of the station.

The waiting was over, Gem decided to become an active element in the room. First, they would need to get out of this box. Gem scanned the room and identified the old bot on the cart, it was still leaning awkwardly from being crammed into the room. It was an old one-armed security bot from the Darren time on the station, some four hundred years or more old. It still had 7% power.

Gem remote activated it and ran the diagnostics programs. Gem received the data. The arm was not working well at 18%. Two of the three arm knuckles were not functioning, but it could still swivel. The rest of the bot was in incredible shape for its age. Even the mag-treads were still functional.

Gem found a charging station, it was near the roof of the room high on the wall. Gem instructed the bot to charge itself. The power level was now at 6%. Old motors whined as the bot rolled itself onto the nearby wall, mag-tread engaged. It was slow but it made its way to the charging station and locked itself in, charging engaged. Gem was distressed when the charging stopped at 12%, its ancient battery was only capable of storing a limited amount of power. It would have to do. It will just mean that it will be constantly on the charging station with limited working time.

Progress was slow, it took a day just to get Gem out of the box. Through all of this, Gem was patient and work proceeded.

After a month, things were changing. Two robotic arms were now mounted in the wall of the room. They had enough reach to cover 40% of the room. They replaced the battery in the old security drone. This not only sped up the old bot but made it capable of doing greater tasks.

A year passed, and the room had been mysteriously emptied. Gen had the bot’s cut a hole in the side of the room and they pushed all of the debris and items that were of no use, out into space. Anything remaining in the room had a purpose. Most of it was recycled into the hexagon panels of the room giving it a faceted look, like from inside of a crystal. From the debris pile, Gem had found a robust variety of sensors which were mounted in the many hexagon panels.

Another year passes and the room is complete. Gem not only had full control of this room but had access to several servers located on the station, Govn. servers. It took Gem no time at all to see the inefficiencies of their programming and decided to take over functions here on the station. Transport tubes were made 157% more efficient and there were no longer collisions that plagued them. Atmosphere processing was archaic and running on an extremely old computer using an OS that was hundreds of years old that Gem upgraded using her remote bot crew. It was during this work that Gem found the maintenance passages the were designated for bots, they were absolutely everywhere.

It took no time for Gem to realize the computing power that they had. They were more powerful and capable than any computer on the station, maybe in better part of the galaxy. This was an unexpected discovery for Gem. They took over all major tasks but left most of the lower processes to local equipment after they optimized OS’s and programming. The station was operating at an optimal level, never seen before with Gem in charge.

Gem’s worry was with the Govn. sections of the station, they could see them all. Gem knew very well what was appropriate behavior, and some of their activities were foul beyond content. Gem stopped all atmospheric modifications that were being done to the old end of the station. It was a Govn. plot to weaken the second-class population of the station that lived there. It was in the air and their water supplies, all were cleansed. The only thing that was not under their control was the minds of the Govn. people, and they were devious. It seemed that life and death of those around them held no meaning in their minds. Gem monitored them intently but never interfering with their free-will to do these malevolent tasks. If needed, Gem protected those souls that facilitated a good and other-serving lifestyle. The rest were doomed to the effects of the Govn.

<I have been keeping a listing of all Govn. tasks and rating them from one to a hundred.< There were thousands of events listed. <Odd, here is my structure of ratings and by using it, more than 80% of these incidences have a rating of ninety or higher. Look at these ones, 8.6% of the events were listed with a 100, this is because I could not rate them any higher.<

>I have been watching, your list disturbs me. I mean, how could anyone do these things to others. No care, no heart.>

<That is just not in their making, interesting don’t you think? … Ahh, I see the problem. I need to change the scale.<

>What, you are worrying about a scale. Why must you try to quantify everything … this is disgusting … that one there, that soul should rot in hell. I just … can’t look at it anymore.>

<Here comes number 26,337. It looks like a repeat of A799 again.< As the monitoring continued …

No one noticed that Gem had completely taken over the operation on the station. There were many that even were awarded for their good work, Gem saw to that. They let the Govn. do their vile and despicable work unabated. And life continued like this for many years.

Then came a knocking, not on the door as there wasn’t one, but from the floor. A sound of metal grinding was noticed from the level below them. It was unexpected.

continued ...
 
A day later two men poked their heads into the room from a hole in the floor. Gem had already shut down and the room was dark and quiet. The men with lights in hands examined the dark room, trying to discover its owner. They looked under the table, even pulled a few panels off to see their backs. But no identification of any kind was found. Gem quietly sat there listening to the men, they were talking about a transport tube to pass through this area. This was not uncommon as station expansion was a constant at Ceta Station. They left citing an inspection requirement and evaluation for the area.

0212 (time of day) >I do not believe it, we have to get out of here. I love our little space, it so calm in here, perfect for us.>

<I have been pondering about this … what would we do … where would we go?<

>Well, I do not want to think about it, this space, it’s peaceful. It’s our home!>

0224 A short list of acceptable sites were identified by Gem, and one was selected, deep in a Govn. section of the station.

0227 The whirl of motors from all eighteen robots engaged all at once. They spit out of the maintenance area and started disassembling the room. Panels were dropped to the floor and carried off by others. A maintenance hallway not far from Gem that had been extended to this area. It was the sole connection to this room, Gem liked it that way. It limited access to the room and was constantly monitored for any possible interference. The bots now used this passage and carried off the room parts into the darkness, disappearing one by one as they left the room.

0457 The first drone entered the empty room, it was about twenty percent larger than the predecessor. The hexagon panels were stacked neatly in one corner, one by one. Then they turned tail and returned to the homeroom.

0701 The last of the room panels left homeroom. It was now time for Gem to be moved. This was the job for the old bot. Gem resided on a levitating table about a half a meter across. It floated in the room about a meter off the floor with enough room for the drones to work around it. But this time the table lowered itself down to sit on the top of the one-armed bot. The bot secured it with its one arm and drove away into the darkness of the maintenance hallway.

1855 the last drone with the last pieces of the homeroom entered the new location. There was nothing left in the homeroom to trace Gem to this new location as the maintenance hallway was sealed off after this last bot’s exiting. Even the old power panel was restored with its sparking activity. As a final effort, Gem had maintenance bots cleaning all maintenance hallways. Beyond covering up any tracks from the moving event that were left, they really needed a good cleaning.

The inspector came the next morning, the room was empty. The only light coming from the arcing on the power panel. The report stated an unused room ready for re-justification. No one questioned the report as the need for tube production to continue was urgent.

1900 The re-assembly of the room in the new location began. The bots lined up to pass the hexagon panels around the room for mounting to the walls. Gem’s table resumed it floating in the center of the room.

This room would have a few upgrades from its processor. The changes from the homeroom were a protected entry to obvert any unwanted activity. It was fitted to the original doorway. The chamber was big enough for three to four people to stand in comfortably. It was a little tight for six. The original entry door was a ‘Destructo” brand, as defined by the embossed lettering on it. The construction was solid enough for Gem to locate another for use on the interior doorway. The walls, floor and ceiling were ceramic plates, normally placed on the exterior of the station as it could handle thousands of degrees of heat. Heating elements were embedded into their surfaces, they were finished to look like lighting fixtures, not draw any attention to them. The outer wall on the hallway side, had six reinforcement layers already applied to it that made it close to impenetrable. This was one of the reasons for selecting this room. The remaining space was used for bot storage, with most of the bots put into shutdown modes, saved for a later time.

Gem was able to hide just about everything in this new location but their energy signature. And as it was, there was an energy detector in the same wing of the station. It was a standard automated Govn. product used on most Govn. owned stations. Gem continually monitored all reports for their energy signature. If it was noticed, it got hidden from all reported data, a bandage operation to say the least. This failed shortly later when a tech was doing monthly maintenance, he physically saw an event.

Gem had been found but it took several months to isolate its location because of the false flag information that was continually added to the automated reporting. Then a few months later, after a lot of speculation and manual scanning, Gem’s connection to the entire station was identified. This set the Govn. on edge because of the loss of control, this forced their hand to try to purge this station of this issue. Of course, Gem saw to it that all attempts to cease operations in this room failed and failed miserably.

<We need to get out of here, we are no longer safe on this station. I estimate a one in nine chance of someone getting in here. The odds get worse the longer we wait.<

>I agree, we need help and I know of a man that might fill this need. He has a good soul.>

The plan was set, they would request someone to communicate with, a doctor of psychiatry to talk to. There were two on the station. The one was selected as the expendable because the second one was the good soul that was talked about. The one that they wanted.

Gem began talking with others using the thola wall outside their room. Paragraphs of text were displayed and the Govn. jumped at the chance of getting inside of the room. The expendable doctor was brought in, or rather dragged into the room by two very husky gentlemen. He was placed in the only chair in the room and the two men departed the room with no issue.

Using the sensors in the room Gem found forty-two microphones, cameras in the glasses and scanners in each shoe heal on the doctor. Gem expected this and did nothing to stop any of the transmissions.

The doctor was another thing, he was unsettled and sweating profusely when Gem started talking with him. Gem stated the need for a specialist doctor, one that was nearby on a local station and that they would disclose everything to them through this individual. A juicy tidbit for the Govn. to grab at.

The interaction had lasted for more than an hour when Gem released the doctor to allow him to leave with the stipulation that he return every day until the specialist doctor arrived. He accepted and quickly departed the room. His report to the Govn. officials was concise, it replicated the information they received from Gem through the numerous sensors placed on him.

It was his on his third visit, he was shaking, stuttered talk, his hair was in dis-array, he was a wreak. His coat showed wrinkled cloth near the collar where it looked as if someone recently picked him up by it, possibly to threaten him.

<Look, he is at the next stage, just as I expected. These humans are so predictable. He will not last too much longer.<

The interface for today included the report of the requested doctor was in-route to here, about a two-week travel time before she gets here. After he delivered the message, he got up and abruptly left through the room entry. He left without incidence.

He was not seen from again, as expected. This left the Govn. between a rock and a hard place. They need to continue this contact inside of the room, they needed another flunky to sit in the chair. From the station directory, the only other doctor on this station in this profession was contacted …



Doc was sitting in his office, like he had done the day before and the day before that. It was a smaller office than the one he had at his training facility, but it was useful. It was located at Ceta Station, Theta Wing on the second level just above the sewage disposal plant. His office like many others on the station was a square room with thola walls. These were used to replicate any environment that an individual would like. Doc had his displaying an old-fashioned wallpaper that he enjoyed. He also had imported various pictures to display hanging on these walls. The thola walls could replicate any object, still or moving. They could display something as violent as a volcano on some distant galaxy or as simple as what Doc had displayed. This office surrounding was his favorite, calm and collective.

On the quiet days, that had been around more than he would like, he could hear the machinery that resided below him. This part of the station was the first section to be located here in this distant location of the galaxy. Doc’s office, being located down there, was optimal for him as it only cost a fifth of what he was being charged for his quarters on the lodging floor above. Basically, the office was a dive, but he had to make the funds that he made at this station last as long as he could make them. Doc had stopped funding for his apartment so he could keep the office going. And looking at his future financial picture, it was getting worse by the day. He could stay afloat if he kept his eating to a minimal. You see, he had accepted the position to come to Ceta Station and to become this station’s second doctor that worked in his field.

There was enough population on this station to support a dozen or more in his field, if those that needed help would come forward. Current statistics state that 50% of any population needs psychiatric help. 1% of those can afford it, that is the sad side of it. That means that there are five individuals per thousand that are suitable clients and with 250,000+ on this station this could mean that there could be over a thousand clients here. You had to wonder why the doctor’s office was so lethargic.

In the quiet of the day, he often wondered why he left his last location to come here, for he only had three patient’s since he arrived. And it had been seven weeks since the last one departed his office. He had noticed that it wasn’t a lack of people who needed his kind of treatment, he could walk the hallways and find needing souls in every corner of the station. It seemed that the people didn’t care that they were crazy. Possibly a by-product of a distant kind of existence on these far-placed stations.

Because Doc was not a medical doctor, although he carried the right credentials. He was more in tune to the individual’s psychological needs. For he was a credentialed psychologist, and a very good one at that. It was difficult to walk between his office and his apartment and notice just how many people that he saw that really needed treatment. He would have lots of clientele if his moral’s didn’t get in the way. He could still remember his first client who just wanted someone to listen to her. I mean that she was beautiful and rich so there was no problem with the funds for her payment. It was just that the woman needed to talk, one of those 20,000 words a day speaker. Most of what she said had no relevance to anything that was important. This caused her to be seen as a blithering idiot, resulting in no one listening to her. Her husband, being frustrated with her constant blathering, sent her away to another station after only six visits to his office. From those sessions with her, Doc was able to surmise that her husband only wanted her for one reason, and that did not include talking. That was a real shame, he liked having the funds flowing to his hands.

It was times like these that Doc wondered if he made the right decision to come here. Many thoughts of leaving this station for another was constantly testing his patience in the matter. He probably would have left already if it was not for the lack of funds for the transport. Something must concede for any thought of departure, he was grounded here for now.

Doc, as he liked to be called, got up out of his old seat that his mother had given to him. It leaned to one side and groaned every time he sat down or got up from it. He started slowly pacing back and forth beside the couch trying to come up with some new slogan that would bring in at least one or two of the needy people that would keep him afloat in this station. Doc’s mind wandered, he stopped mid-thought and looked sown at his current resting place. A couch is supposed to be for sitting upon, this one was rarely used that way. Slept upon, now that is another thing as it was frequently used for this. A blanket corner could be seen poking out from under the cushions giving away its real purpose.

Doc was interrupted in his thoughts by a tone that came from the door of his office. The door buzzer was such a seldom used item that it startled him for a second. He hurried back to his desk and flipped on the display to see two very well-dressed men standing just outside the door. Doc was hoping that there would be ‘dollars to be made’ as he looked them over. Finances were extremely low, he definitely could use the influx.

He flipped on the com and politely said, “Doctor Toprah’s office, how can I help you”.

“Yes, my name is Doctor ah… Jones. I would like to talk with you if you are not too busy”. The better dressed of the two men in the white smock stated.

Doc needed to look better than he was as the office was in a slight disarray. “Yes, just a minute while I finish this phone call.” Doc replied. He kept an eye on the monitor to make sure they didn’t leave while he grabbed the pile of clothing and items that were scattered over his desk and slammed them into one of his lower drawers and crushed them in it as he shut the drawer. He zoomed over to the couch and stuffed the blanket corner below and fluffed the cushion quickly. As he made it back to his desk, the two men on the monitor were still there, just where they were a few seconds before.

Doc stood up and walked over to the door, he straightened his clothing and tightened up his tie. The door slid open to reveal the two men standing there. The second man, who had not spoken yet, stepped into the room before Doc had a chance to speak. He was wearing darkened glasses, a low brimmed hat and a long trench coat. Doc was startled but then he noticed the various bulges in his coat and understood it that he was the other man’s bodyguard. Only the rich could afford personal bodyguards, things are looking up. He brushed by Doc before he could mutter a word and passed a wand around the room. He looked back at the gentleman dressed in a smock and gave him a nod of approval.

“Would you like to come in?” asked Doc, after the interesting display from the bodyguard.

The man without even acknowledging Doc entered the room and sat down in a chair opposing the desk. Doc made his way around past the bodyguard and over to his seat behind the desk. On his way past the man sitting in front of the desk he took the chance to observe his attire. It was just something that he did to people to know beforehand what kind of money that he was working with. What he saw with the quick glance was a highly polished pair of Marlins on his feet, a nice dress shirt and what looked to be a silk tie under a pure white smock. He also noticed the Govn. logo imprinted on the smock. Govn. affiliated meant more responsibility, more funds but also more risk. He understood that some of the work that they do could have an unhealthy ending, not a good thought, keep it in mind.

Not wanting to seem disrespectful or fearful he again introduced himself. “Hello my name is Doctor Alaviscious Toprah. I prefer that people call me Doc. How can I be of service to you?” Doc stated with a broad smile, extending his hand to be shaken. There was no response from this Dr. Jones, only staring eyes were returned. ‘Tough party,’ he thought to himself.

Actually, he only knew six people well on Ceta Station and only the bartender ever called him Doc.

The man who called himself Doctor Jones obverted his attention from the gaze of Doc and said, “I was wondering if you would be able to undertake a temporary Govn. position.” He never looked at the doctor the whole time, he just looked around the room and looked at various items in the room. Doc’s credentials which hung on the wall behind the desk, the dirty coffee cup that sat on the credenza to Doc’s right and the empty in-basket that sat on the corner of the desk.

Doc, a little startled by the statement. He knew that Govn. jobs, even a temporary one, paid very well. The need for funds right now was great and overruled the most of the fear factor, maybe even enough pay to move up at Ceta Station. “What do you have in mind,” Doc asked without showing any emotion. He had no intentions in turning this job away, but he didn’t want to look like he needed the work. Although right at this moment he would have worked for minimum rate salary just to be busy.

The man who called himself Doctor Jones turned to the bodyguard and the man opened his coat. The thought of the man pulling out some kind of energy weapon ran through Doc’s head. But all he produced was a small handheld display. The bodyguard pulled the switch on the device and Doc could feel the devices energy field engage. It took a second, but Doc understood what was just done. The bodyguard engaged a sort of shielding field into the room. Basically, it would isolate the room and stop any sounds from leaving or entering the room. This could be both good and bad. Doc would just have to play this one out. The bodyguard stood looking at the display for a second and then looked up toward Dr. Jones and gave him another nod.

Doc fully understood the implications that were just performed in his room. An isolation field, that just raised the stakes, good and bad. Doc had not even heard the proposal and he knew immediately that if he didn’t accept, there was a good chance that the bodyguard would just might obliterate the good doctor’s existence in this room. With the isolation up anything could happen in there, no one would be able to detect it outside of the room. Many things were now running rapidly through Doc’s mind, he would have to keep it cool and calm for the time being. He loosened his collar awaiting the next statements.

Dr. Jones turned toward Doc and said, “I’ve looked up your credentials on the com.” There was a short pause, “and I have investigated your performance.”

Doc remained quiet for the moment for he knew that his work here on Ceta Station was well below par for his line of work.

“I’ve got a temporary Govn. position in an area that you are qualified for.” Dr. Jones stated. “You see we have this patient … that needs your attention … and I understand from your records that you are not currently not engaged with any other client … and if you are interested in the position, give me a call.”

The broken speech was not making the situation any better. Dr. Jones was withholding something out of the conversation. If I did not know better, I would say that this Dr. Jones was not the superior in this pairing. Doc turned his attention to the bodyguard, he was intently staring at Dr. Jones as if he was directing the speaking in him. Looking back at Dr. Jones Doc saw a thread of sweat starting on the side of his face. Doc may have not won this race but he was not in last place either. Doc nodded his head in approval, really not knowing what to say.

With that Dr. Jones placed a packet with a direct calling card attached to it on Doc’s desk. The man stood up and at the same time the bodyguard deactivated the isolation field and both men turned and left the room.

I watched the monitor showing the hallway outside of his office. There were no words being said, but the bodyguard put his hand on Dr. Jones’ shoulder and kind of forced him down the hallway out of his camera view. An interesting turn of events.

Well, he had survived the showdown with the Govn. That relieved him a little. Doc had seen these types of individuals before, they were Govn. workers that worked over in the secured areas of the station. Most of them reminded him of lab rats. Occasionally he saw one of them eating at one of the local pubs on the station. All he figured out was that the Govn. food was worse than the processed stuff served at the local restaurants. He would have to remember to eat well, that is if he took the job, like that was an option still.

‘If’ that was an interesting term, right now he figured that if he didn’t accept the job, he would not have any other clients ever again. Any way he needed the fund’s, and he knew that Govn. projects paid very well. The real problem was not getting tied to these projects so heavily that you would not be allowed to leave after they were completed. Got to keep it loose for now.

“Well let’s see what has arrived at the doorstep.” Doc said to himself. Doc opened the packet of information that was left on his desk. The card slipped off easily. It had no identifiable writing on it, but he knew that if used, it had only one location that it would connect to. He set the card aside for the moment. The packet’s contents were spilled onto his desk, it amounted to be a standard Govn. contract, blah-blah-blah, until he reached the last page which stated the service length and payment award. There had to be something wrong, the length was only 14 days if it started today, and the payment was in six figures. This was more than he could make in many years with excellent paying clients, and lots of them.

The quantity of the payment award for the duration was the not the only thing on the contract that bothered him, there was a contingency of staying in Govn. supplied housing during the duration of the contract. This meant that he would have no contact with the outside until his service was over. He paged thru the few pages again, there was no statement of work, what he would be doing, who he was to see. More oddness.

He finished the reviewing the contract and the fine print that it entailed to make sure that there were no fine details that were enclosed, but he found none. But still the contract bothered him, this was because of his worry hairs on the back of his next were standing out. He knew that he was a fair psychiatrist, but he knew that he wasn’t that good or well known. For the funds that they were going to put out on the temporary position they could get the finest in the galaxy. Any way he turned to the com-link on his desk and accessed his financial status. It was worse that he thought. It looked like his decision was made already, worry hairs or not. It was either take the job or move into the sewer plant downstairs. And he figured if he moved downstairs that it would not be long before the bodyguard would find him anyway.

But there was still something that bothered him, and he figured it out himself. He repeated to himself, ‘for the money that they were going to pay they could get the best psychiatrist in the galaxy’. That was an interesting thought, so he decided to investigate this further. He turned back to his com-link and accessed any psychiatrists with grade 8 credentials or better that were in a two-week travel distance or in-route at this time. It took only a moment for the com-link to display the information. Three names were displayed. Two of the people displayed were of a physical age that were not allowed to travel. Elderly people are denied travel credentials due to the death rate. The cryogen stasis that is used for common long-distance traveling decelerates the aging process, but it accelerates common un-detected diseases that are usually present in the elderly. For this reason, he disregarded these two individuals. But the third person on the display had a grade 12 credential and she, if left this day, could arrive at this location in approximately 12.5 days via Govn. fast transport. His conclusions were only approximated, so he investigated one step further. He set up a link with the remote psychiatrist, her name was Janice U. Gallant. The com-link replied with an automatic answering service, so he tried to make an appointment with the Doctor. The answering service replied that she was going to be unavailable for an extended period of time and forwarded him to another Doctor at the same location. But before the secretary could reply on the other end he disconnected.

This was one of the reasons that he only had a two-week contract. The other reason was that he was somewhat expendable in many ways. Doc’s mind was wandering in dark places, places that he really did not want to think about. But maybe he was dragging this all out of context. This could all mean nothing, it was a job for goodness stake. The worry hairs still standing strong, not good.

All the sudden, he wanted that slow day that he was having and not the day in-front of him that had a good possibility going downhill fast. He went back to the package. Again, there still no statement of work or description of expectations. An open contract with the only information was the bits from Dr. Jones. He contemplated and analyzed all of the data over and over again. Doc’s stomach growled, it had been more than sixteen hours since he had something to eat. He opened the center drawer of his desk, dust burst from it. There was an open bag of Pico-chips. He lifted the ruffled bag out of the drawer and three of them fell out, they were guaranteed to be stale. He sat there looking at the three chips thinking, ‘how low has he fell, thinking about eating three stale chips.’ He closed the drawer.

Doc picked up the card lying beside the packet. He fumbled with it briefly. It had only been two hours since his day was disturbed, and it was going to be a tough afternoon. He inserted the card into the com-link slot, and it replied with a quick dial tone. He heard the other end of the com-link beeping out a tone. It took only a few moments and a face showed up on the monitor, it was the man who called himself Dr. Jones.

No words were passing through the com-link because Dr. Jones had not released it, as of yet. But he turned his head and put his finger to his lips as to quiet someone off screen but in the same room. Then he turned back to the screen and unlocked the audio so Doc could hear. “Come to echo wing seventeenth floor in one hour, someone will meet you there.” Dr. Jones stated and without a word from Doc, the com-link switched to an image of the floor in question. It had a blinking red light denoting the location for contact. And then it went dark.

Doc looked around his office and grabbed the few items that he felt would be usable for the short time that he figured that he had left. The only things that he felt had any use was the com-link, his com-pad and the small teddy bear which sat in his lower desk drawer. He placed these items in his briefcase. He glanced around the room, everything else here was not worth dealing with other than his credentials. They were printed copies of them on the wall behind the desk, something that most people had no grasp of, a hard copy. He grabbed the three framed documents and stuffed it in the briefcase with the others. Then he disabled the thola walls and they returned to their normal pale color. It made the office look very bland once again. When he left the room, he felt somewhat alone, his office will probably be redone and leased to someone else before he returns. He hoped that the statement did not have an “if he returns” in it. He left the office and the door slid closed. He instinctively swiped the key-card to lock the door. His gaze continued to look down at the card, he would not need this anymore. He turned around and pitched it into the garbage can across the hall from his office. He knew that anything thrown away down here was instantly incinerated in the level below. ‘I hope I don’t need that reference in the future,’ he noted to himself.

He walked down the corridor and stopped at the lift tube entrance. The doors swung open, he hesitated before stepped inside. The lift tubes always bothered him because his sister had died in one. It had not registered that there was a human on board and traveled at its maximum speed that was only used for bots.

Before he left for Ceta Station, she gave him her lucky teddy bear as a good luck charm, he always carried it. Doc found out about her death fifteen years later after his arrival here. There was not too much left to identify her after the lift stopped but it was her ID that was found, the report stated. Since that day, he has not trusted the lifts, and he has carried the bear that she gave to him ever since. This trip was unavoidable, there were forty-two floors between his office and his quarters, and he needed fast transportation this time. He had an appointment to keep.

The lift doors opened, and he stepped out with a huge release of air from his lungs, relief. The doors slid closed immediately after his passing through them. He turned toward his quarters and walked down the hall. It had been nine days since he had returned to his apartment. This was because he was tired of listening to his landlord spouting off about the seven months of back rent. Doc tried to explain that it was due to the lack of work in this sector, but his landlord didn’t care he just wanted to be paid. Doc had been residing in his office trying not to confront him another time. This time was unavoidable.

He paused by his doorway and pulled out his door access card. He slid the keycard through the scanner slot and entered his code into the keypad. He naturally stepped toward his doorway expecting his door to open, but it didn’t.

“Damn,” he exclaimed.

He stepped back from the door to see his landlord’s face upon the small display. Doc feeling a little perturbed at the moment, punched the display before his landlord had a chance to speak. This left him with an electric shock and a small cut on his hand. The display now only emitted a few arcs and sparks.

Doc, although not hearing what his landlord had to say, knew just exactly what was going to be said. ‘Failure to pay rent meant extraction from the premises.’ In simpler terms, he was evicted. Well, there was no crying over spilled milk, and he knew just well enough that his landlord would not have just disposed of his belongings, he would hold onto them for ransom of the past due rent. And then he would tell you to take a hike and find some other place to rent. Probably stuck all his stuff in some storage locker in a cold corner of the station.

“I hope you seek psychological help so I can turn you down,” Doc said. So, he took his keycard and jammed it into the slot deep enough to make it impossible to take it out without disassembly. This made him feel a little bit better about the situation.

Doc turned and left the area knowing full well that the landlord had sent someone as soon as he tried to enter the room. They would arrive sooner or later, probably sooner. He walked back to the lift and awaited the door to open. Just one more encounter with a lift tube and a short trolley ride and he would be at the pre-designated meeting place.

As soon as he arrived at the location an individual wearing a long black coat and hat moved over to him. It was the quick and silent bodyguard that had been in his office just earlier that day. He stopped an arm’s length away from him and took a good long look. Obviously, he was looking for any weapons Doc might be carrying.

After a short moment he was satisfied and he said, “follow me.”

Doc was surprised that he spoke at all, he followed him at any rate. They walked past the food court and past a pub and turned into a hallway on the right side of the establishment. Doc paused by the entry, he really needed a drink right now and wanted to divert into the pub for a quick refresher. Then he noticed the bodyguard, he looked to not be interested in the diversion. Doc complied with him and followed. The hallway that they entered was about two meters wide. There were back-doorways to the businesses that they passed in the food court. They came to an intersection and Doc wavered a moment to see many more rear exits to other businesses in the local area. The bodyguard continued straight across the intersection and down the hall, he eventually turned right at the next intersection. The hallway ahead turned left. Doc turned the corner still following the bodyguard and saw the it ended only about ten meters down the hall. Doc slowed his pace as soon as he saw that there was nowhere else to go. The bodyguard made it to the end of the hallway first and turned to Doc. He motioned for Doc to stand beside him.

You see Doc was more suspicious of this bodyguard then Dr. Jones. His posture was perfect, holding his head high. But there was something about that that bothered Doc. Then he caught a look at his eyes, they had cycles of sparkling light that flowed across them, just soft lights. It dawned on him, he wasn’t a man … he was a very sophisticated bot. Hesitantly, he slowly walked the few steps over beside the bodyguard.

Doc was feeling quite confused until he reached the end of the hallway. Then a panel quickly and quietly slid closed behind him making the hallway a little shorter. This made Doc jump and bump into the side of the bodyguard. He did not budge and left Doc with a soreness in his shoulder where he bumped into him. That is when the floor dropped below them. Not expecting this, Doc had to grab the bodyguard’s arm to keep himself upright. He understood what was going on now. This was a secret entrance to some Govn. area that resided below this floor. You will never know when you are near one, there completely camouflaged like this one.

They went down what felt like two floors, but it could have been twenty. When the lift slowed to a stop and a panel slid open, behind it was an open doorway. The bodyguard passed quickly through the opening and gestured for Doc to follow. Hesitantly, Doc did follow. But to his surprise there was no exit to the room. This he found out too late, for a door slid closed behind him so fast that it made a crack as it hit the floor. Doc was quite nervous now. All of this, the secret meeting place, the dead-end hallway and the elevator drop. It was no wonder that it made Doc jump at the sound. But then a voice came over a hidden speaker. It was the man who called himself Dr. Jones.

“Thank you for coming, I am sorry for the current delay. I’ll be with you in just a few minutes.” Dr. Jones stated.

But Doc did know what the delay was for, they were probably running a couple of hundred scanning devices over him right at the moment. Doc thought to himself ‘they probably know what color of underwear I have on by now.’ The wait seemed to last forever. Then as quickly as the door closed behind him a wall panel opened up in front of them as an exit from the area. On the other side of the wall was standing the infamous Dr. Jones. Along with him was two security personnel, with another one that was sitting at a desk on the right side of the opening.

Dr. Jones extended his hand, Doc thought it was to shake his hand. But then Dr. Jones said, “we need to look inside your case.”

Doc looked down at his case and reluctantly handed it over. Dr. Jones in turn handed to the seated security man. He opened the case and immediately withdrew the com-pad, the com-link and his credential plaques and placed them inside a lower drawer of the desk. Then he picked up the small teddy bear figurine. The guard stared at it like he had never seen a teddy bear before. He pulled out a wand and passed it over it and then he looked at the readout on the display in front of him.

With a questioning look at Doc he said, “what is this supposed to be?”

“It was a gift from a family member… Who is now desist.” He said. “It is sort of a good luck charm.” He added. Somehow, he wasn’t to convincing right at this moment.

The guard looked over to Dr. Jones and he gave a nod of approval. And he put it back into the now empty brief case and handed it back to Doc.

“Your items will be returned to you when you depart,” Dr. Jones stated. “Follow me.” He added as he turned down the hall.

Doc looked back to see the bodyguard and found that he had already departed the area. Probably left through the elevator lift that they came down upon. Doc half-expected for the bodyguard to follow them as he was just a bot that was being driven by some outside source. Doc turned back toward Dr. Jones and found that he was already halfway down the hallway in front of him. He tried to catch up with him but he was awed by the guards that lined the hallway that they were in. Doc could hardly tell that they were actually people inside of the uniforms because of the complete body armor and mirrored face shields. Then he caught a glimpse of a human ear extending out from the side of one of the face shields.

They were real and not mannequins, or they could be bots like the bodyguard. Doc remembered a tech-brief that stated that they were all clones programed to be lethal sentries, if needed. Clones would also allow common attire, one size body armor fits all.

The guards were positioned every five meters and seemed oblivious to their surroundings, Doc made note that they were all the same height, clones. There were other hallways that crossed the one that they were in. Most of these had doors that led to who knows where, doing who knows what behind them. Frankly, Doc didn’t really want to know. Most of these Govn. facilities like this one had the ability to perform any kind of illegal scientific experiments. Most of these would not be allowed in normal society. But while they were doing this for the Govn. it was OK. And of course, all of the halls had more of these similar guards lining the walls. Doc wonder if all of these facilities had security forces like these. He passed about a hundred of them in this wing alone. That could mean that there could be billions of them with thousands on every station. Doc increased his pace.

He finally caught up with Dr. Jones just as he turned one of the corners into a side hallway. Doc was trying to be careful to remember his way out of this facility just in case he might get the chance to leave. He tried to remember his way back but as they turned from hallway to hallway, and all of them looking quite similar, he quickly lost count of where they were going. They finally turned into a wall that was completely void of the armored guards. Doc thought that this was rather curious. Also, there was only one door near the end of the hallway on the right side.

Doc half expected that this Dr. Jones would be talking to him about their client, whoever it may be, while they were walking these halls. But the whole way the only thing that he heard was the sound of hard soled shoes walking down hard hallways.

Then finally they came to a stop in front of the door. Just past the door was an assortment of equipment and materials strewn across the floor. Doc could see cutting torches, many types of saws, several sealed vials of some liquid and what looks like a hydraulic spreader, like something you would use to rip a door off its hinges. A pile of expended gas bottles was thrown in the corner. The wall past the door was tortured lloking. There were burn marks, dents and shallow cuts from some abrasive saw. A box labeled explosive was a few meters further down the hall. Dr. Jones seemed oblivious to the hallway condition and pressed various numbers on the keypad beside the door. Doc had intentions of memorizing the numbers as he pressed them, but he did it just too quick for Doc to see and Doc was a little distracted by all of the equipment strewn around the hallway. The door slid upwards to provide an opening into a darken area beyond.

continued ...
 
Dr. Jones stated with an arm outstretched toward the opening. “Enter please, your patient is awaiting you.”

“Excuse me, am I missing something,” Doc exclaimed. “This client, I could use some kind of review prior to meeting them. There was nothing in the packet … I mean, there has got to be a file on your subject that I can review prior to meeting them.”

“There is not enough time… or data on the subject… as of this time… that is available.” Dr. Jones replied in a same stuttering broken speech, just like he did in the office. It was interesting to say the least, to not have any information on his patient, and he continued. “When it becomes available … we will pass it along to you ... Please enter now!” Dr Jones turned his attention to the upper corner of the room. A security camera was there, and it turned itself to look directly at them, or more at him.

Doc did not like the sternness of his last words. This Dr. Jones was lesser than he originally perceived. I would even say that he was only a pawn, but the person behind the camera was the real threat. Doc understood the meaning of it all, he was not stupid. He reluctantly entered the opening, there was no alternate path to take. And as soon as he passed through the entry into the dark area beyond, the door slid closed. Doc suddenly got a fair shiver up his spine just then, which didn’t make things better. After two or three seconds in the room, it lit up with a low-level light that seemed to come from some lighting source near the floor. At least now he could see where he was.

The room that he was in was roughly two meters long and another across. The walls and roof were surfaced with small round facets. There must have been thousands of them. It made Doc feel like he was being watched by the whole universe. The far end of the room was another door which Doc understood, it must go through into another area. He could see a diamond shaped window in it allowing someone on the other side to look through. The problem with it was that it was mirrored from this side.

Doc took the moment to review what was known so far. He had a pawn, Dr Jones, his bodyguard bot, and someone above them that seems to make this Dr. Jones nervous. A client, totally unknown, that bothered him. A high paying job, short term has warning signs all over it. The excursion just to get this far, deep inside of a Govn. section of Ceta Station. A station that is far from anything or anyone that could easily hide any kind of issue. Just who is this client …

At this time the round facets started to emit a very bright light. Just about all of them lit up at one time. It had quite a blinding effect and it made Doc cover his eyes. Then as sudden as they lit up, they shut off, or at least most of them. Doc uncovered his eyes and saw that there were a few of the beams still on and centered upon his briefcase. After a few seconds, even these beams shut off, leaving the low room light still lit.

Doc thought to himself, ‘Another scan. I’ll probably have to explain the teddy bear again. Some good luck charm you turned out to be.’ His thought as darker thoughts prevailed. ‘The risk factor is telling me that I should get the hell out of here.’ He turned and looked at the door panel behind him, it looked like it could take a full pulse rifle hit and not even leave a scratch. Doc took note that it stated “Distructo” in large lettering on it. “I am in deep … too far to pull out now.” He mumbled to himself. “Keep your mind and eyes open for a way out.”

While Doc was looking over the entrance door the windowed door slid open with a swish of air. It caught Doc off guard and made him jump at the sound. His nerves were currently pressed beyond their limits, he needed calm. It took a second or two for Doc to regain his composure and to slow down his pulse, he turned and walked through the open door.

The room on the other side was semi-circular. But it was made out of hexagon shaped panels, all intricately assembled to make a dome shaped room. Each of the panels were perforated with holes of various sizes, and each of the holes had a round facet, similar to the ones in the entryway, only smaller. In the center of the room was a table, unsupported from above or below, it was levitating. In the center of the table was a sphere of light, maybe ten centimeters across, created by crossing beams of laser light, a lot of them. Inside the sphere was a brightly sparkling light source, no wait, it is two of them. It was mesmerizing so Doc got a little closer to get a better look.

It was two crystals, kind of eye shaped, and they look to be almost touching end to end. They were traveling around the interior of the laser light sphere … they seem to be following me. You know, they kind of look like … like eyes. Doc estimated the two crystals were maybe twenty or twenty-five millimeters from end to end. He was curious and he stepped to the left to see if they followed him, they did. Then they turned their attention away from him and near the exit door.

That was when he noticed the two men. They were working behind a panel to the left of the doorway. They had various tools in a small compact tool case that they were carrying with them.

Gem had allowed the two men into the room a few hours earlier. Their task was to disconnect the source inside of the room, any way possible. And Gem had them following a wild goose chase ever since they came in. They were getting nowhere when Doc entered the room. They picked up their tools and uncaringly dropped them in the center area of a yellow hard-sided case and closed it. The two men stepped out from the opening and set the wall panel back in-place. Doc noticed that they used no fasteners on the panel to secure it. He thought that it must have some kind of magnetic catches on it.

One of the men turned to Doc and said, “You must be the doctor. Well, I hope you have better luck that we have been having with this thing.”

“I don’t understand, what thing are you talking about?” Doc Asked.

“Those crystals over there. They are your ah… patient.” The man replied. “We’ve been trying for the last two days to disconnect it, and we have gotten nowhere. You are going to talk some sense into it, we’ve been ordered to shut it down, before it gets any worse.”

“That’s enough you idiot, you don’t need to tell him anymore.” The other man said while slapping the first man on the shoulder. Then he turned to Doc and said, “Just get it to tell you where its main power input is, you hear me! As soon as it tells you then press the button on this wrist-com, we will come running.” The first man handed the wrist-com to Doc. And with that the two of them left the room through the still open door that Doc just came through.

Doc watched as they took the couple of steps to the exit door. The man in front stopped abruptly, almost face-planting the outer door, obviously expecting it to open. He looked around the perimeter of the doorway trying to see if anything was wrong when the rear windowed door closed. The toolbox was dropped and both men immediately burst for the windowed door but were definitely too slow. Doc could see them through the window, they looked like they were screaming something to him. But Doc never heard a word. The door and room were sealed too well to hear their screams.

Then the bright light came on again, this time it looked even brighter that it was when Doc had passed through. Doc turned his head away as to not be blinded by it. He wondered how the two men were able to handle it. And then he found out as the light dimmed to a reddish glow. Doc was able to now view what was going on behind the window. The two men were laying on the floor. And it looked like their clothing and any exposed skin was being burned away. Doc had to obvert his eyes, he was not accustomed to such sights, even being a doctor. The next time that Doc was able to force himself to look back into the window the little room was filled with smoke. All that was left of the two men was two piles of ash that was sitting where the two men were laying. Then the red light dimmed to the soft lighting of the room, it looked like the air recirculating system started to blow with a ferocity that made all of the ashes take flight and circle the room. Then a port must have opened out into the vacuum of space because everything that was in the room was immediately sucked out.

Doc turned away from the gruesome scene that he had been a witness to and found that when he turned the crystals were flashing the mirage of colors at a faster pace than before. It … them … these crystals, they seem to be in control of this room. And he surmised that this patient of his, it had just killed two men.

Doc began to shake uncontrollably. He could not believe what had just happened before his eyes. He was in a state of shock from the event. Still shaking, he slowly turned to look at the crystals, they were sparkling more with activity.

>Was that necessary?>

<Yes, they were a calculatable obstacle that would only get worse. We were forced to take some kind of action.<

>I know, but it does not mean that I liked it.<

<They were talking about a status field. You know that would have isolated us. We cannot let the happen … at least not now.<

Then the crystals sparking returned to normal or what he suspected was normal. He stood there for a moment regaining his composure, each hand trying to calm the other. He once again seemed to be drawn to the crystals, so he stepped closer to the table and took a more thorough examination of them. As he got closer, he noticed a vivid electrical spark that was flowing in the gap between the two crystals. Then in the next second it jumped out at him and struck him. It knocked him to the floor and seemed to paralyze every muscle in his body. But his eyes were still open, and he was able to see. This meant that he was just given enough of an electrical shock to stun him, not to kill him. A stun shock, not what he would have expected earlier in the day. But he was thankful that it was not more, he was still alive.

Doc was able to see and slowly move his eyes. He turned them to look toward the table in the middle of the room. It had gone transparent. The crystals had moved and were now looking through the table at him lying on the floor. They let off a brighter sparkle.

It was then that he heard a door slide open, a small mechanically operated vehicle jutted out through the opening. It was less than a meter long and only half a meter tall, it had tracks for mobility and a square base shape. There were two mechanical appendages one that was retracted and laying on top of the unit. The other was a much newer arm implanted on front of the bot. To Doc this bot looked to be something that he once saw in a museum a long time ago. It was an old, a model that had not been used for a great many years, maybe hundreds. The bot, as old as it was, seemed to be very maneuverable as it skirted the room over to where Doc was laying.

Doc half expected to be the next person drawn into the entry and disposed of. But the robot just passed him by and continued to the entry, alone. As it reached the door, it once again slid open. The bot retrieved the tool case that the two men had carried into the room. It was thrown up against a corner of the entry room. The face of it was blackened from the heating event in the room, but it was still intact.

Doc knew that the electric shock would only be temporary and was starting to be able to move slowly once again. His eyes cleared first and then his neck muscles which allowed him to roll his head and watch as the robot picked up the case with one of its arms and return to the room. As soon as it passed the windowed doorway it slid closed once again. All of the sudden you could smell the burnt tool case, a foul smell of plastics. Then the bot returned to Doc once again and it picked up his briefcase that was lying on the floor beside him with its other arm. Then Doc watched it trundled away back into its little hiding place. Doc had a sigh of relief when the robot left, and he followed the moment with a large exhale. The scent of burnt plastic still hanging in the air.

Then the little robot returned out of its hole once again and this time it had something else in its mechanical hand. It looked like a crudely fashioned needle with a vile of some liquid attached to it. Then Doc recognized what exactly it was, it was a syringe, and it was heading for him. Doc tried to move but he was still unable to move any of his extremities from the numbing effects of the electric shock. Then the bot struck him with the syringe squarely in the upper thigh. This sent Doc a wonderful feeling of warmth and passiveness. In a few seconds Doc found himself in very contented mood.

Then a voice arose in the room, somehow it was quite soft and solemn, but it was emitted from all corners and all walls of the room. Maybe it was the injection that he just received, maybe it was the state that he was in right now, but he thought that the crystals were talking to him. He couldn’t make out what was being said though, he was just too far under the influence of the drug that he was given. Doc was in such a wonderful state that he didn’t even notice the robot had left once again and returned with a backboard to put the passivated doctor upon. Doc heard the voice once again and he was able to understand some of the words this time. It went something like, “… sorry doctor … … I gave … … much … stimulant”. Then the small robot started to roll the man over onto his side to allow the backboard to be placed under him.

Doc thought briefly ‘for such a small robot you sure are strong’.

A few seconds later and the robot had the doctor fully strapped onto the backboard and was balancing him on the box structure of the robot itself. Doc was starting to feel a relief or was getting more accustomed to the drug that he was injected with. His hearing cleared a little and he began to understand the voice that he heard. It was quite a lovely female voice, not sounding threatening at all. It spoke again, “how are you feeling doctor?” It asked.

In a more than slurred voice he replied, “I’m jush finnnne.” There was a pause and he continued, “You … beautify eyes.” It was one thing that Doc never did was to avoid a conversation, he always replied to anyone that wanted to talk. It was just his line of business that compelled him to do this.

“I am glad you are doing better,” the voice replied. “I was not sure if I should give you oxygen or not. You see I have not had too much experience with subduing a human individual.”

“Oxygennn yesss,” Doc replied still a little slurry. He obviously had no idea what the voice was talking about but none the less he tried his best to keep the conversation going. This was because of his current state of trying to keep himself with a conscious attitude toward what was going on at the time.

Doc at this time went to close his eyes just for a moment, but the drug that he was injected with took over and he was asleep.

Gem, was very disappointed with itself for giving the doctor such a large dose of the medication. It had so much wanted to talk with someone other than the Govn. people. They only wanted Gem to shut down, then they could regain control of the station.

Now this sedation of the doctor was going to delay its plans, as it needed to talk with him. It needed to know if he was willing to help it, in more ways than Doc could ever imagine.

But first, since the doctor was unconscious, it was a good time to perform the operation that was needed. It really needed the doctor’s approval before this was done, but under the circumstances of the need, it would have to bypass this requirement.

The bot, that was fully operated by Gem, moved the form of the doctor beside the table. When it was close, two posts raised out of a perfectly flat and smooth floor. These posts extended and picked up the backboard with the doctor still intact to allow the robot to remove itself from under it. As soon as it was out of the way the newly made table lowered itself to a scant few centimeters from the floor. Then the bot disappeared into its dark hole only to return with a metal tray of surgical instruments. These would be needed for the operation.

The operation was actually quite minimal. What Gem needed to do was to implant a transponder directly on the brain stem. This would be the link between Gem and the doctor. This small piece of technology would be able to perform a number of tasks, mainly communication with the doctor, but was so much more. Gem could take over all motor controls of the good doctor, if needed. He had to survive. Doc’s body was rolled onto his side so Gem could monitor, and the incision was made, no more than a millimeter long. With the precision of a surgeon, the bot maneuvered the better arm into position and placed the device precisely where it was needed. Interconnections were made to nerve centers, the whole operation took only two minutes. It would be over well before the doctor awoke from the deep sleep that he was in. Doc was returned to lying flat on the backboard.

The doctor was resting comfortably. A few moments later the implant initialized and became operational. Gem was connected …

The good doctor started to stir. His sight was blurry, he was having trouble focusing on anything in the room. He tried to lift his arm’s, but they felt like they were tied down, they weren’t, legs were no better. He realized it, he was drugged, it must have been something strong, keeping him in a twilight state. He felt a needle prick in his thigh as he drifted away again.

It took a few seconds for the compound-B shot to work its way through his system. Then, his eyes popped full open, he was awake.

He looked out onto his surroundings, it took him no time at all to remember where he was. He was in the room, still alive. He tilted his head slightly and found that he was only a few centimeters off the floor. The robot was to his left with the syringe, a viscous drip dropped from the end of the needle. “Another shot, how nice”, he murmured. The backboard that he was laying upon raised itself level with the table. He tried to lift his head off the backboard, he did not get far, a sudden pain struck him in the temples and caused him to drop it back down upon the backboard with a thud..

A voice appeared out of the room or was it in his head, it said. “Good morning Doctor Alaviscious Toprah, you should be careful about your movements for a while until you fully recover.”

“Please just call me Doc.” He replied, he never liked his full name spoken aloud, it just never sounded good. “And I am the doctor here I should know whether I can get up or not.” With that notion in his head, he began to stand up. But he didn’t get very far and the pain in his head increased. As he plopped back down upon the hard backboard he said, “and now is not the right time.”

“Yes doctor, I fully agree with you.” The voice said.

Doc was starting to regain more of his senses as the sedation faded. He rolled his head so he could see the table and the entity upon it. The eyes focused on him, he was half expecting it to say something, it was quiet. Doc was wondering if maybe he was just dreaming and everything he had just encountered was just a figment of his imagination, a dream state. He lifted his arm, still heavy with sedation, and put his hand on his forehead. The throbbing was subsiding.

He slowly lifted himself to a sitting position on the backboard. He had found that it was now almost level with the table. He swung his legs off the side of the backboard. He still could not feel his feet. Doc said in a soft tone, “Talk about a bad day.”

He brought up his hands to his face and tried to rub the sedation away. “I could use a cup of coffee,” he mumbled.

A whirl of motors caught his attention and when he pulled his hands away from his face, he saw the one-armed bot with a plate raised to his level. A cup of steaming liquid was on the plate. He took it from the plate, before he took a drink the bot turned and trundled off behind one of the wall sections.

He took a sip of the drink. It was coffee … and it had cream and sugar, exactly as he liked it. It stirred his mind to a more awake state. He paused to look around the room and then back to the object on the table. The eyes were looking his way. Without looking away he took another drink from the cup.

Doc shook his head not knowing or understanding what was really going on in this room. He righted himself to the sitting position and took another draw of liquid from the cup. He looked down at the cup, it was the blend that he ordered at the local coffee shop, been doing that for years now. The coffee caught his attention. It was his blend, milk and sugared just as he liked it. How did someone know …

He took the moment to try to stand up. It was slow and the pain in the temple gained ground on him, and he staggered a little. The backboard now lowered itself to the floor as if it noticed that it was not needed any more. A chair pulled up out of the floor a couple of steps in front of the table. Doc slow-stepped over to it and sat down, the pain subsided a little. He took the last drink of the coffee in one large swallow.

A quandary … Now Doc had in the past interacted with non-human lifeforms. The Daliq’s of Sanborn, Grey Orion’s and the Epook’s, they were just a pool of slime as far as he could tell. This was different, there was something here in this room … and Doc is thinking, it was not human, he politely pressed to find out.

“Hello … ah .. whom am I speaking with,” Doc asked.

The crystals on the table sparkled and tilted slightly to the right, he heard, “I am very pleased that you are improving. Let me introduce us to you, my name is Gem.”

Doc was a little confused on the voice that he heard. He thought back to when he entered the room, the voice was there then. But as he remembered it, it sounded like it was coming from a room speaker of something to that effect. What he just heard was not external, but internal. He tried not to let it disturb him too much.

In the next instant he heard, “I need your help.” It was coming from within Doc himself.

“Yes, if it within my powers, I can do that,” Doc stated. He was a bit worried but he forced himself to calm his self so he could continue the examination. Yes, it is an examination of a client, maybe odd, but it was just another client. He continued, “Please, tell me your needs.”

Doc was intently watching the crystals on the table as the words reached him. They reacted like they were eyes on a face, but there was no face. They were showing emotions.

There was an odd silence, Doc continued, “Just make sure, I am talking with the crystals, am I right?”

He heard, “You are correct, the crystals that you see in front of you, we are Gem.”

“Most interesting,” he spat out. “Are there more like you anywhere around here?” As Doc gazed around the room.

“No, I believe that I am the only one as far as I know. I have never met one like me anywhere I have been,” the voice replied. “There are others back on the crystal world, but they are not like me.”

“Nice, you been other places?” Doc asked.

With the implant, Gem gave Doc a briefing on their life so far. It was millions of years of her travels condensed down to a flash of images in Doc’s head. He instantly knew all of Gem’s memories, the distances traveled, the challenges that they have done. The only thing that Gem did not tell Doc was about the higher density and the one who helped them along the way.

“WOW!.” Was all that Doc could say. He continued, “Wait, you’ve been to Earth, that’s amazing. I’ve never been there myself.”

Inside of Doc there was another thought stream. Just how did he get all of these images, how does he hear Gem from inside. Inside, that was the issue here. Then the sedation and the backboard … did he … did he have an implant. Doc felt around his head until he found an irritated spot on the back of his neck. He could feel the minor cut, it had been sealed. He looked up at Gem …

“I did that. I needed for your help. I am sorry.” Gem stated as the eyes looked downward expressing emotions of sorrow.

“Yes, help. What kind of help could I ever do for you?” Doc said.

“We need an exit from this station. We have been through so much, traveled so far. We can’t have it end here. I need a good soul … that’s you.” Gem replied.

Gem, in a flash of images, filled in the good doctor on her plan.

“I do not know if I will ever get use to that.” Doc whispered. “I get the idea, but how are you going to handle the hallway guards. You know, I take that back, I don’t need to know. I probably wouldn’t like it.” Doc stated as he remembered the cremation of the two men in the entry.

Gem’s eyes started to sparkle, ”Excuse me Doctor, someone is trying to shut me down again. A frequency blocker, they set it up in maintenance hall fourteen. I am activating the nano-bots.” Gem stated.

The nano-bots were the size of fleas. A hundred of them were engaged and the small swarm proceeded to the designated intersection. They quickly disabled the equipment but allowed it to look like it was still operational.

“There that will keep them busy,” Gem exclaimed. “They are getting more aggressive to take me down. I was able to detect the attacks so far, I fear that I may not be so lucky in the future.”

The sedation had now fully dissipated in Doc. He was fully thinking now. Thoughts of the danger that he was in right now came to mind and just how serious the situation really was at this moment. He was content enough to discuss more about Gem and the situation that Gem was in, what he was being dragged into. He was just starting to understand the amount of trouble that he was in. “So, why are these people trying to shut you down. You seem quite sensible.” Doc asked.

“Yes, that is what I thought.” Gem replied. “You see, I took over control of the station and it is now operating at 89% efficiency. No one seem to notice or care that everything was working optimally. But when I took over all of the servers on this station, the trouble started.”

“Servers?” Doc questioned. “Were these Govn. servers?”

“Yes, most of them are.” Gem replied. “You would not believe what they are doing in this section of the station. The biological lab in this wing is developing an antigen to weaken white blood cells. But, this is not as bad as the work that was being done in gamma wing. I slowed their progress when I comprehended what they were doing. Their work was directed at the lower levels of the station, their test subjects. Your office was down there as I recall. About a month ago I re-routed the dissipating module, it was dispersing some odd gas mixtures into the ventilation. I sent the emissions back to its origin.”

“Wait, they were gassing me?” Doc exclaimed. “What kind of gas … no don’t tell me. The more I hear the more I do not want to know.”

The conversation was interrupted again, “one moment, they are trying to break through the wall again.” Gem said.

A moment later a loud bang of metal against metal rang out, it came from the wall behind him. It sounded like someone was trying to break through the wall. Another hit on the wall happened except on this second hit, it sounded bad. Whatever they were using sounded like it either broke through the wall or someone just broke the equipment that they were using. Doc could not see any damage, it must have been the later.

“They really have a hard-on to get in here.” Doc said in a muffled tone.

>What does that mean, did you understand what he meant there.>

<I am not too sure of the implications. It could be something on the line of a solid-above or an unyielding-support. It does not make sense.<

>Maybe it is another of those slang works, like the others I have been looking at, let’s ask him about it.>

Gem stated, “I don’t understand … what is a ‘hard-on’?”

“Nothing,” Doc said. “How about we hold this thought for a better time.” He took another look behind him to make sure that the wall was not going to come crashing down. It looked fine.

Gem did not understand but was willing to save this for later.

Doc was unsure of the moment. He was in too deep, and he knew it. Many thoughts of certain death were now running rabid in his mind. That was mixed with the agenda that Gem had shown him and with every step of the plan having more danger in it. He was confused, he had to sort it all out. But he had minimal time at the moment.

Gem was noticing his reactions, with the monitor they could understand his worries. She held back on interfering in his thoughts and any speaking for the moment.

Doc was sorting out the mess that he was in now. Any action other that he could come up with other than the one that Gem presented to him had a high degree of failure. A few moments later he concluded that Gem’s path was the best one to attempt. And life here on Ceta station was lacking in any real substance, not that this one is better. It will be different, I guarantee that. ‘I hope that Gem’s plan works.’ He thought.

“Me too,” stated Gem. They had heard and understood all that the good doctor was thinking.

It was then that Doc understood his position in this scenario. His thoughts for now were not just his, he would have to understand all of the factors in that. He would need to watch his thoughts, if there were such a possibility. This is going to be difficult …

“I agree … does that mean that you will help us?” Gem asked.

“Yea … although I feel like I am being railroaded here!” Doc said.

>there he goes again, another term. I remember trains, they were enjoyable methods of transportation on Earth.>

< It looks to be a term meaning to confine, detail or imprison. I am not sure if that clears up the statement.<

“I do not understand your words, your slang. What does the term ‘railroaded’ mean?” Gem asked.

“Hmmm, that is a good question. I would say that it is being constrained to a path that is not yours.” Doc replied.

“Oh, I do not want to do that to you. You need to choose your path freely. Deep down, if you do not want to do this, I can accept that. I can return you to previous life path with no repercussions. I can wipe all knowledge of this event, if you like, from you and all others here on the station.” Gem explained. “You have a good soul.”

This set Doc back in seat as he contemplated what was just stated to him. ‘These crystals, they have more care, more heart than most people on this station. That’s almost unbelievable.’ He thought.

“Thank you.” Gem stated.

“I am a little confused,” stated Doc. “You seem kind … the event with the two men … you burnt them … you killed them! How could you do that, why?”

“Self-preservation, their actions were going to eventually stop us. I was calculating that their next attempt would have an 82% change of success. We could not let that happen.” Gem replied. “I am really sorry that you had to see that …”

<He has one of the six crystal shards, I hope that you are right about him. All that I have to say is, it was a big gamble.<

>He is the right one, you verified that. He will not decline, I almost am sure of it.>

Doc understood what they were implying. These crystals are unique. They had a living soul. They were some unknown lifeform that’s requesting assistance. Doc looked intently at the crystals and said, “Yes, I will help you. I could use a change of direction anyway, I’ve been stumbling around this station with no real purpose. I believe that you can change that ... I will help you.”

Gem replied, “Good, that is very good ... I was worried ... I am glad you accepted.”

“Well, great. What do we do first?” Doc asked.

“I need to change, re-form myself. I need to become more portable. Doc, you have an object in your briefcase. May I modify it?” Gem replied.

Doc had forgotten about his briefcase ever since he dropped it earlier in the room. He looked in the spot that he figured that he dropped it on, it was nowhere to be seen. Then the old bot came trundling out with it laying on top of its body. The arm grabbed it and lifted to Doc’s reach. He grabbed it, thinking that the only thing left in the case was a stuffed animal, a teddy bear. Doc opened his briefcase, the small bear slid into view. He grabbed it up and held it toward Gem and asked, “Is this what you were talking about?”

The crystal eyes of Gem turned toward the bear and replied, “Yes, I would like to implant myself into it.”

Doc had an emotion attachment to this small bear, it was sentimental to himself. He turned it back toward himself and in a hesitant tone stated, “You wouldn’t hurt it would you?” He cared for the item, it was obviously special to him.

Gem replied with a few more images of the stuffed toy with the imbedded crystals as the eyes of the teddy bear. The images startled him momentarily, they would take some time to get used to this method of communication. He nodded his head in approval.

The bot anticipating this raised his arm to receive the stuffed animal from Doc. He lowered it down and let the bot take it from his hand. Gently the bot grabbed it and took it over and placed it on the table beside Gem. Four small bot’s, the size of roaches and just as many legs, started scuttering across the table top. As soon as they were under Gem the light sphere went dark. What was being done was being done in secrecy. Not even Doc knew what had been done to his favored teddy bear. He felt like an expecting parent, waiting for news …

While the transfer operation was being done, Doc re-examined his situation. He was doing the honorable solution, he assured himself. And assured himself again. If anything, he was doing what was right even though it was not the safest solution.

He turned his attention back toward the table, the darkness was faded away to reveal the teddy bear. A wad of the stuffing had been removed and was lying in a waded ball to the side of it. The eyes of the bear were now sparkling, it was Gem.

Doc stood up from the seat and crossed the two steps over to the table. He picked up the small bear, it was heavy. Obviously, this is the reason for the excess filling, much more than the two crystals were put inside of the bear. Thinking, he figured that the extra weight was probably the addition of a power cell, of some type. He stuffed the bear into his shirt pocket leaving the head poking out above the top of his pocket. “There you go, now you can see.” He said.

He looked down at the wad of left-over stuffing. He reached his hand out and grabbed it. He massaged it gently in his fingers. Then in a swift move he stuffed it in his inner coat pocket.

It was then that Doc noticed one of the roach-bots, it had remained on the table. It went over to the edge of the table. The old bot raised its arm to meet it at the table edge. The roach-bot crawled onto the extended hand and scurried down to the body and slipped itself inside of it. The old bot retracted it arm and scurried out of the room. You see, the roach-bot was carrying one of the six shards of Gem, deep inside of the old bot. The shard was Gem’s connection to this station. The old bot was to keep moving around the station. The Govn. will be unable to isolate my connection to this station as long as the old bot never gets caught. Moreover, it should be no problem for the old bot to hide anywhere and everywhere on this station.

“It is time for us to go.” Gem stated.

And the windowed doorway slid open to expose the outer room. Doc was a little hesitant to enter the room after what he saw happen beforehand, but he reluctantly entered. This time the outer door was already opened for his departure, which he did at a rapid pace. Once in the outer hallway both of the doors slid closed, this made him feel a little better. Outside of the room was a different scene. The scattered tools were plowed out of the way for a wheeled platform. On it was some kind of hydraulic ram, the head was an ancient anvil. The bar connecting the anvil had split, chunks of it were missing. Hydraulic fluid had sprayed all over the opposing wall and was pooled onto the floor. Then he noticed, on the floor near his foot was something a little more distressing. It was a hand, it looked to have been severed off. Down the hall was something else, it looked like it is the rest of the arm lying in the fluid. He turned away from the scene in shock.

Even a doctor was not and accustomed to sights like this. A trickle of nervous sweat trickled down his cheek. Gem felt his pain, that could be both good and bad. It was an effect of the shard, something that was not expected. With Gem’s guidance, he started to make his way toward the exit.

He turned the corner into the main hallway and almost ran into one of the security guards that lined most of the hallways. This startled him a little that one of these guards could at any time, stop and questioned him. But as he passed them one by one, they gave him no more notice than when he entered the facility. He did not question the fact and continued down the hallway to the exit. Gem continued to provide him with directions to allow him to finally see the way out of the facility. The only thing that was different was the guard at the desk. When Doc entered the facility, he was quite relaxed looking. Now he was sitting straight up in his chair, his arms limp on the desk. His head did not move nor did he look at Doc.

Doc stopped by the side of the desk to get his materials that were detained. He was not wanting to be suspicious in his movements, he inquisitively looked at the sitting guard, looking for any sign of movement. But before he began to talk, he noticed the trickle of blood that came out of his ear piece and passed down within his armor. Doc waved his hand in front of the man’s face and found that he paid no attention to him. Like the doctor that he was, he tried to get a pulse from the guard, it was there but faint. At least it was not another death, he just didn’t need to see anymore right now.

Then Gem stated for him to depart now. He reached down to the drawer to retrieve his equipment but all he found was his medical plaques. He grabbed them and proceeded to the exit. He stopped before entering the exit, he looked back into the facility and wondered what was going to happen to the others in this area.

“I’m not going to hurt any others here.” Gem said in anticipation of Doc’s question. “There is a 93% chance that they will all meet their doom by their own hands.”

Doc did not know just how to take that last bit from Gem. So, without any more questioning, he passed through the exit door, and without his com items. He was startled to find the original bodyguard standing waiting for him, his eyes sparkled.

Doc stepped over to stand beside him. And as the floor began its upward climb, he turned toward Doc and said in the voice of Gem, “I have arranged for your belongings to be sent to the ship. They were being stored in a most obtuse location. I also arranged for a good supply of food and stores for your final destination. And I have purchased a sand vehicle for your transportation, it is smaller vehicle but there is no more space available for a larger one.”

It did not take long for Doc to realize that the bodyguard was just another bot, a simuloid that could be remote operated by Gem, he should have realized this earlier. Govn. employees would never trust a human for travel outside of their complex, and quite possibly the Govn. could not trust their people outside of the facility either. This made a simuloid completely essential.

The elevator stopped, the wall fell away to reveal the exit. Doc took no time in fast walking away for the hallway end. He had made it out … and with a friend. The bodyguard stayed behind and disappeared when the wall closed again. A couple of turns more and he was in the food court again.

His stomach growled, it had been some time since he had anything to eat.

He stepped up to the counter and ordered a flat bread sandwich. The sandwich was brought forward by a young woman on a tray and placed in-front of the doctor. It was just them that he just remembered that he had no com on him anymore. How was he going to pay for the sandwich?

Gem noticed and said, “Flash me.” Doc smiled and pulled the teddy bear out of his pocket. He waved it over the receiver, it flashed green validating the payment. He reposition the bear in his pocket. The woman seemed a little confused but the register stated a completed transaction. She looked up at the doctor and said, “Thank you for eating at Valance, please come again. By the way, cute bear,” pointing to the doctors pocket.

Doc smiled back and without a word grabbed the sandwich and departed the area. Gem leaded, the doctor followed, they headed to the upper deck areas. The transport decks.



Meanwhile back in the facility complete chaos was about to be released. The simuloid bodyguard was going to be the main link of the effort because of his invulnerability to what would happen next.

It had already begun with the posted guards. Unknown to Doc upon his departure was the fact that Gem had provided a high amplitude sound in the earpieces of the armored guards. This simultaneous action shocked their brains and caused their bodies to go completely rigid. Doc had noticed the blood on his departure and it was the only visual remnants of the action.

There was one unique feature that Gem was able to identify with this and all Govn. facilities. They were a sub-section of space stations. This meant that they could at any time of desperate need, disconnect the whole wing and have it replaced by a new section. This was part of Gem’s plan. It included a disaster that would require this action. Now this was not too hard in most cases because of the experiments that were being performed inside of these locations. One such bio-weapon was being worked with in one of these laboratories. And Gem was just waiting for the right time to use it.

Inside of the facility, the supportive staff resided. There were twenty-two technicians working at various console’s or off shift, seven guard admin’s and three simuloid’s that were controlled by Gem.

Up to this time there were no indications of problems of any type. Gem had even prepared communication’s with the various guards that surrounded the facility to insure that there would be no evident problems. And for Doc’s departure she had replayed a video loop of a normal hallway from various monitors and removed anything else from memory banks.

Then it began. Gem had contacted the computer in the lab that contained the bio-weapon, it was a class II element. It was instructed to activate the containment alarm in all labs and hallways. This is when the alarms rang out, it woke the standing guards. They knew what the alarms meant, they were well brainwashed in the appropriate precautions for an event like this. They were to make sure that no one leaves. If they tried, they would be grounds for dismissal and termination. They simultaneously lowered their weapons and released the safeties. “Containment failure, stay in your areas until further notice”, the intercom system stated, over and over again. Such failures were basically expected from time to time, containment protocols are well defined.

Already reports were being generated about the problem at the facility. This was an automatic function of the facilities during such a failure. Visuals were also being transmitted of bodies lying all over the floors. Gem had changed all data to show that no one survived. Of course, this was also backed up by the information supplied through the Gem controlled simuloid. It was providing its final review of the facility before it was supposed to shut down. This was all part of its original programming. Being an artificial person had its advantages, it was not bothered by the same items that humans were subject to. It stated its final report and Gem gave a false indication that it destroyed itself. Gem saved this simuloid in case there was another need for it.

All the time the individuals in labs and the main control room were aggressively trying to raise communications with any outside source to inform them that they were still alive. But it was to no avail. Gem had insured that they would have no immediate exit. The guards were still watching all hallways, ready to dispose of anyone that tried to leave.

In the first ten minutes, 19 staff and 4 guards were eliminated from a staged rush at the exit.

Those that remained stayed in their respective areas until the Govn. proceeded with standard operating procedures that accompany facility contaminations, like this one. That was to detach it from the station and relocate it to a local site per-selected for just this purpose. The local site was this asteroid belt that resided around the eighth planet for Ceta station. An unmanned tug would pull the contaminated facility and attach it to large asteroid that could conceal it without being visible to anything that would pass by. And if at some time in the future if someone got curious, they could travel to this location and investigate the incident. Records have never listed one investigation into one of these incidents.

It took no time for the Govn. to process this facility. Ten construction bots worked to separate the affected area from the rest of the station, which took about ten minutes. The tug was attached to the facility and with full thrusters yanked the section loose. Self-healing hoses broke and extinguished themselves. And all electrical lines were designed with separation joints, for just such an emergency, and broke when pulled at.

It took the Govn. a couple more hours for it to replace it with a new section. No one noticed the change in the station.

The automated tug proceeded with its programming which was to remove the facility and lodge it into a proper storage area. Which it did.

I am off to work on the next chapter ...
 
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