Seclurm: Devolution

by Noah Gallagher

  Her line of questioning was interrupted when a digitized voice came on a speaker somewhere in the room. “Rosalyn, how are you feeling?”

  She jumped at the shocking sound of the voice. Then she narrowed her eyes. “SNTNL?” she said incredulously.

  “I’m sorry if I surprised you. I’ve got—”

  “You-you’re supposed to be broken! What in the hell are you doing on the intercom of the alien ruins?”

  “Yes, that is an excellent question. Look to your right, near the doorway.”

  With an indignation rising from her confusion she turned to look as SNTNL had instructed and beheld by the door a terminal with a screen that projected out a three-dimensional image made from tiny beads that lit up like pixels. There she saw footage of Terri, Sam, and Randy riding in a large elevator of some sort.

  Her eyes lit up. “They’re okay! Wh-where are they?” she asked aloud, mostly to herself. Anxious desires to protect them all started to arise within her once again.

  Her job wasn’t done yet.

  SNTNL answered her. “This is some of the most recent footage I have of them. Rosalyn, Sam killed the alien on the Novara and placed you in the cryo-cell to save your life. Now he and the others are here in the city, and I have reason to believe that they are in great danger, probably soon to be dead, if not already. I was communicating with Sam through his smart device, but his battery ran out, and I’m still working on finding out what’s happened to them. There is much to explain to you besides that.”

  “Can we start with how you’re back online?” she asked. “Actually, prove to me that you really are SNTNL before you waste my time.” She did not trust this “SNTNL” one bit.

  She must have imagined it, but she thought she heard a soft, smirking laugh in the A.I.’s voice before it replied, “Fair enough. Would you be satisfied if I told you something only an A.I. who was aboard your ship would know?”

  Rosalyn thought for a moment. She slowly nodded, interested to see what it would say.

  “I’ve watched you since the ship set off from FAER’s primary hangar. You were slightly irritated with the decisions the higher-ups were making of what asteroids to visit and in what order at first, but when we started off from the asteroid Lucius towards 730-X Zacuali, you started to acknowledge that the decision they were making was probably the most fuel efficient so long as what was found on the last stop was profitable. You felt a bit distanced from the crew because of your prior relationship with an ex-leader of FAER, John Traynor, but you’ve stepped up as the captain with an impressive zeal. Is that enough for you? If so, there is much I need to explain about what has happened to bring you up to speed.”

  Rosalyn made a hmmm noise, eyelids halfway down her eyes. Then she said, “Speak.”

  For the next few minutes, she was treated to an in-depth explanation of what had happened since she had fallen unconscious. She was told of SNTNL’s so-called “emergency mode” that he was functioning on; the strange fact that the atmosphere in the ruins had been regulated to allow humans to breathe safely; what Seclurm was and how it was turning creatures here into dangerous predators; how something had drawn Terri and Randy deep into the ruins, which had cut off their communication with Sam; and how Sam had subsequently entered the ruins to go after them only to discover that the entire place was reactivated by what Shauna had accidentally done in one of the “evolution chambers”.

  SNTNL displayed footage on the screen with accompanying audio of Sam and the others to support its claims. Like a whirlwind, Rosalyn took it all in as best she could.

  The knowledge about Seclurm gave her the missing piece to the Shauna puzzle, and she could not help but shed a few tears at the realization that her friend and captain had been turned into that horrible creature. Yet with everything else SNTNL was saying, she had little time to process that fact.

  This room Rosalyn was now in, the A.I. told her, was called a “reparation room”, built by a highly advanced civilization for healing almost any physical wound or deformity in living organisms. SNTNL had discovered it and led Rosalyn to it when she emerged from the cryo-pod. Yet SNTNL had no answer for how she had ended up being sent here in the first place. SNTNL couldn’t have activated the pod remotely considering the extremely damaged state of the Novara, and Sam hadn’t known this place was here. That question lingered, eating away at her after all else was explained to her and making her only barely trust SNTNL now.

  “I understand your hesitance after everything that has happened to you. But there is an urgent need to leave this place. There are likely swarms of Seclurm aliens down there near the reactor, which is near where I last spotted the other crewmates. I was helping lead them to the place where you stand now. Just before my connection cut out, I believe they were approached by a hostile alien. I hope they managed to get away, but if that were the case they should have made it here by now, so I am…doubtful.”

  This version of SNTNL was so much more involved than the old one. Yet that was not beyond the technological capabilities of scientists back on Earth. Still, Rosalyn wondered furiously why she had never once been instructed about the existence of this “emergency mode”. She refused to believe that she had merely forgotten she’d been told about it. Had FAER really designed something like this without telling anyone? For what purpose?

  Yet those thoughts, as bothersome as they were, had to fade into insignificance as Rosalyn listened to what SNTNL was saying. There were huge things happening here. She listened to audio captured from Sam’s smart device just before it had gone dark—almost forty-five minutes ago, now—and recognized that her friends truly were in mortal danger.

  “So this Seclurm substance is flowing through the entire city,” she said, waiting for SNTNL to confirm.

  “Yes.”

  “The others… Were there places for them to hide from the Seclurm aliens where you last left them?”

  “Certainly, but there’s as high of a chance that they were simply overrun. I wish I knew for certain, but I can only assume, at this point, that they are dead.”

  As Rosalyn spoke again, the sheer weight of what she was realizing came to her more and more with each word. “And FAER…FAER has no idea they are about to stumble upon.”

  “No. They do not.”

  “From what you know, SNTNL, do you believe Seclurm was created for the purpose of making these monsters? Is that what it’s supposed to do, or is that just a—a side effect?”

  It waited for a moment before replying, “What is your ultimate question, Captain?”

  She swallowed. “…Will this substance create monsters if it is brought to Earth?”

  “I believe it will,” it said ominously. “I don’t believe Seclurm was necessarily intended to create these monsters, as I’ve found evidence that only a certain predatorial gene found in animals will cause the resulting evolution to be monstrous and hostile.

  “The moment that DNA-rich Seclurm enters the system of something that has feral DNA, or even if it brings feral DNA into a humanoid recipient, it will create something monstrous—which, from that point, is difficult to prevent from spreading. The Seclurm substance will remain in its victim; it’s never expended, only duplicated. If a Seclurm creature chooses to, it can place some of its own Seclurm into another organism, causing it to evolve. Probably to evolve into something worse. And always…always more intelligent.”

  SNTNL’s observations were starkly different from what Rosalyn was used to hearing from it, and it drenched her with horror as she contemplated their ramifications.

  “When FAER explores this place they are going to all die at best, or bring Seclurm back to Earth at worst. Oh, no…”

  “Yes, you are correct. If Seclurm reaches Earth, it will spread to animal creatures, cause widespread and uncontrollable mutations, and lead to the end of all civilization. That is why…that is why I caused some damage to the energy reactor that is powering this entire city. It’s near where the others are at now. I damaged it so it would overheat and
destroy this entire place beyond recovery. It was on its way to explode before the day was up. Not thirty minutes ago, however, something threw a wrench in my plan. From camera footage I’ve seen, there are so many evolved aliens that have emerged from their cocoons and gone down to the energy reactor that they have managed slow the energy flow almost to a standstill. It will still overheat and explode, but at the rate it’s now going, that will not be for several months, very likely after FAER has already arrived.

  “I tell you all this so you can know what you’ve missed and why it’s vital that you escape from here. You have the cryo-pod. You need to get in it, send a message to FAER to ward them off, and get yourself to safety. I understand it feels wrong to leave the others, but…with what is lurking down there, there is just no chance that they’ll survive. I’m sorry, Rosalyn.”

  She had been leaning forward, her hands grasping the cold sides of the computer terminal for a few moments. She thought about getting into that frigid little vessel and sailing off into the blue, hoping FAER would heed her theoretical message. She stood up straight and ran her hands over her dark brown hair, smooth to the touch.

  “Are there any weapons here? Anything at all that can be used as a weapon?” she said, brow furrowed.

  She could sense a sort of eyebrow raise in SNTNL’s voice. “A…weapon? You won’t need one, Captain. The pod is right in the other room, and I have no visual on any creatures near this place.”

  “I’m not talking about going to the cryo-pod.”

  “Rosalyn, I cannot ask you to go down there! Looking for your crewmates alone is probably suicide, and trying to re-engage the energy reactor is definitely suicide. I assure you that no one—absolutely no one—would question your decision to save yourself at this point.”

  “They’re probably stuck down there, hopeless and terrified,” Rosalyn said in a soft tone that ignored SNTNL’s complaints.

  “Rosalyn, you don’t even know if they’re still alive! I don’t even know if they’re still alive. You could be going down there for nothing.”

  “Even if I find them dead, I’ll still be able to make sure this place blows up and is never set foot upon again.”

  “That isn’t necessary, Rosalyn. I’m taking care of it. Really—there are other things I can try. I’m expendable, not you. And besides, if you message FAER before you enter cryo-sleep they—”

  “—Won’t listen,” Rosalyn countered. “You know FAER as well as I do. They’re greedy. We can tell them this is dangerous and should never be touched and they still won’t be able to resist. They’ll think taking extreme precautions will be enough. Tell me I’m wrong, SNTNL!”

  There was a pause. “It’s not my place to do that, Captain Pulman. I simply don’t want you to throw away your life needlessly. You can trust me to take care of things.”

  “Spare me,” she said with a scoff, wondering for a moment if SNTNL’s concern was really genuine or not. “I have work to do. Now, where can I find a weapon?”

  “Very well… Very well. As for a weapon, there isn’t much left over from whoever inhabited this place in the way of weaponry. But there is something that you’ll need, and that is what the alien computer system refers to as a ‘neutron-scatterer.’ It isn’t made to be lethal weapon for war. I suspect it was a multi-purpose tool primarily made for damaging objects. Like a mining drill. It may not directly kill the aliens—at least not as easily as a gun with bullets would—but it can at the very least warp their bodily processes with its force. Its effect isn’t necessarily predictable. On certain Seclurm alien species it may only cause some blood wounds to open up. There are only a handful of working neutron-scatterers left in the entire city. I can’t promise it will save your life. But I guess it will do in a pinch.”

  “Lead me to it,” she said. The thought of escaping drowned out in her mind, unthinkable until she knew that the nightmare was over for good.

  SNTNL led her out of the reparation room and down an adjacent hallway made of metal-reinforced stone. After turning a few corners, she saw a wide and very dusty room empty of all except racks upon racks that apparently had once held weapons or something. Now there was only dust, rusted metal, and four silver objects in the corner. They looked like heavy guns with fat barrels, boxy parts, and metallic-yet-pliable straps. Only one of them looked well-preserved, however. Rosalyn went to it and heaved it, sizing it up. It was remarkably heavy. She slung the strap across her back to help lift it and smacked the top of the gun with her hand, feeling strength to it.

  “Let’s see if this thing still works,” she said, grimacing as she lifted the beast, grateful she had kept up her exercise routine along their journey through space. She wasn’t trained in weapon use, but if this tool was originally for something like mining, maybe it was actually all the more appropriate for her to use it.

  She pointed at the empty wall and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened at first, and then SNTNL, able to learn about the guns from the records in the computer, gave her a few pointers on how to set it to fire. It didn’t seem to require any reloading of ammunition, but SNTNL warned that reckless firing would cause its reserves to go dry eventually, though even having the computer data SNTNL didn’t understand entirely how the gun worked. Best to be restrained with it, but it was worth one practice shot to see if it still would function at all. Again, she pulled the trigger.

  A flash of violent light exploded from the barrel and a noise almost as loud as a gunshot assaulted Rosalyn’s ears as she felt the knockback from the gun nearly blow her out of her shoes. The wall she had shot at was covered with small, blackened dents in a wide circle five feet across, and smoke was rising from it.

  Rosalyn took several triumphant breaths as the ringing in her ears died down.

  She had a chance. A slim chance, but it was all she needed.

  “SNTNL, is there any way you can patch into my smart device like you did with Sam’s?” She felt at her pockets. “Damn! It’s gone, isn’t it?”

  “Unfortunately, Captain. But I’ll find a way to help you, I promise. I’ll be with you for part of the time, at least.

  “Head out and to your left. You’ll connect with a main hallway, and along the wall will be a large elevator. You need to head down there.”

  She nodded and set off at a jog.

  “This is your last chance to turn back, Rosalyn. But I suppose you’re alright with that, aren’t you?”

  She stopped and gave a smirk, grateful that the A.I. wasn’t trying to stop her now. “I’m going to honor Shauna’s memory. I’m going to save my crew.”

  A small, but discernible excitement started building in SNTNL’s voice. “Yes… Yes, let’s go save our crew!”

  17

  “The energy reactor runs on heat,” SNTNL was explaining to Rosalyn as she rode down the large, circular elevator shaft, so full of energy she could not help but move around holding the heavy neutron-scatterer gun close and fiddling with its buttons. “This civilization found a way to harness all the heat energy that would normally be lost from just about every machine in the entire city, funneling it to the reactor to power everything in a nearly self-sustaining fashion, using part of that gathered heat to distribute throughout the mountain to keep it at livable warmth. I believe the Seclurm is being transported through the same channels.”

  Rosalyn looked on as the elevator descended, pondering on that and every bit of information SNTNL had informed her of while letting her mind be absorbed more by the cityscapes she could see now through the long windows on the elevator wall. It was too much to take in, more than anyone could have explored in weeks.

  “SNTNL,” she asked suddenly, “can you give me a ballpark number of how many Seclurm aliens are down there?”

  “Near the reactor itself I counted upwards of two hundred. There are undoubtedly many others around, however.”

  Two hundred. She could feel those words like a two hundred-pound weight across her back. Many of them probably evolved from the multitude of shelled, snail-li
ke creatures Sam and Shauna had encountered upon first entering this place, each one dripping acid wherever it went. Walking destruction incarnate.

  Even as advanced as this alien civilization apparently was, Rosalyn didn’t have difficulty imagining how, through Seclurm, it had been overcome.

  She felt prepared to do what was necessary now. She wished she had something to tie her hair back, and her face felt strangely naked without the need for glasses.

  Her gaze turned back to the cityscape, which she saw from a high angle. As the elevator descended the long windows on the walls would scroll upward, remaining for seconds at a time before disappearing and leaving only wall for a bit until another long window would appear. She jumped as she saw an enormous head appear propped up against the glass on the latest window. She might have dropped her gun had it not been strapped to her back.

  The head was twice or thrice her size, cracked and dirty white—only a skull. It hung on the edge of a cliff, staring with dead, hollow eyes at Rosalyn, who just managed to compose herself to stare back at it for a few moments before it disappeared above her. With it disappeared the windows, leaving her stuck in the claustrophobic shaft alone.

  This place has many things in it that will never be uncovered, she thought. Pretty soon—if she accomplished what she was setting out to do—no one would ever find this place again.

  The elevator eventually came to a stop at a very wide entrance, the walls sloping outward like an enormous mouth. Hefting the gun, she started jogging forward, wiping sweat from her face. It was time for her to fade into the background and let the weapon do the thinking.

  She emerged into a wide place absolutely covered from end to end with bridges through the air, boilers all around, and countless extra rooms on every side. Many levels continued downward and upward as far, almost, as she could see. Of all the parts of the city she had seen, today and even before, this felt by far the most alive. A factory, she thought. She could hear things moving all around. Mechanical parts scraping and creaking and hissing; faraway, inhuman shrieks; and a distant but powerful hum of what she realized must have been the city’s reactor. It was down there somewhere, surrounded by upwards of two hundred killing machines.