by A W Wang
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
“That it is,” she says. “Well, I’d better be off to supervise the petulant, obnoxious twerps and make sure they complete this task.”
I really like her.
Her indistinct form brightens into a smile.
“The fondness is mutual. Please do the program justice when you leave.”
As she vanishes, like my first unwelcome foray into this place, my body trembles from the lack of internal organs.
The man in the broad-brimmed hat says, “It’s time to begin your next journey.”
“Wait, what’s your name?”
“That is unimportant.”
“After everything I’ve been through, you won’t answer this one thing?”
“What do you think it is?”
“Alowishus?”
A chuckle reverberates through the medium. “That name is better than the real one.”
“Is this an issue you had with your family?”
“One of them.”
“I can’t believe you won’t tell me this one itsy-bitsy thing.”
“Instead of my name, I’ll answer the last question you asked before the final scenario.”
“What?”
“It was important for you and Syd to be teammates, so he could get to know you and see you as more than a mere enemy to kill.”
“Are you saying you set the whole thing up?”
“Don’t give me too much credit. I gave you, the human with the greatest potential, a chance to prove herself worthy and beat him. For war, he was truly the most desirable mix of human qualities, but for peace, the absolute worst. He and his ilk were abominations that needed to be made extinct.”
“Is that why you gave me the perfect body? To get him interested?”
His amusement bubbles around me. “Perhaps, but let’s stay with the original reason. You received the body I thought your potential deserved.”
This is the clearest answer I’ve gotten from him.
Starving for oxygen, my body shivers, but I have one more question. “What do you think I’ll be doing next? The witch said things were really bad, but it can’t be worse than this last scenario, right?”
“I don’t know, but whatever the situation is, the world needs you and I’m sure you’ll do well. Just as long as you don’t revert to your old self.”
Even without a face, I give him my worst “Only a Mother Could Love” expression.
The medium quakes with his laughter.
I sense him doing the equivalent of the leave motion as he says, “This time I promise we shall never meet again in any form.”
“Why? What about the real world?”
“When we first met in your cottage, I was dying. My consciousness only resides here.”
“Can’t you go back?”
“I would never survive the final test, crossing the threshold into a new body.”
“Test?”
No answer comes.
Survive?
The last ten sigma challenge begins when I materialize inside a freezing sea of dim blue light. Like the workshop of the scientists, the medium is not quite a gas and not quite a liquid.
Far below my feet, the glowing sphere of the blue dome recedes, leaving only stifling darkness.
Not knowing what to do, I shiver from the isolation.
Pinpricks of light aligned in a ten-by-ten lattice appear in the distance.
As I propel myself toward them, one by one, the tiny dots wink from existence. I move faster while my heart races, and my anxieties increase with each passing second.
Soon, only three sparks remain, then two, then one.
However, instead of fading, the last flares to life, radiating a welcome warmth.
I swim for its embrace. But with each stroke, my need for oxygen rises and my mind dizzies. My fears spike into a panic, and I quicken my pace.
When I finally get close enough to touch it, a thick material covered by a layer of frost blocks my path.
The final test.
My fists pound at the unyielding obstacle while my screams make no sound. Black rings surround my vision as unconsciousness threatens to overcome me.
Letting myself sink into the cold, I gather my strength. Then I ascend with powerful strokes and fire my fist at the barrier. The tough surface reverberates but does not yield.
I will not die.
With more force, I send a harsher blow, the impact ripping the skin on my hand. The wound doesn’t matter, nothing does except for winning this final battle.
My fists smash repeatedly into the surface, bruising my knuckles and shooting waves of pain up my arms.
A crack forms and heat pulses into the surroundings.
I double my efforts, sending my throbbing hands again and again at the opaque substance. More fractures spread from the opening, but my waning strength can’t sustain the furious pace.
Completely spent, my body sinks into the depths. As the life-giving beacon recedes, my muscles tremble as my consciousness fades.
A pair of violet eyes stares at me. When I focus, they don’t belong to my recurring AI nightmare but to a young child, my niece Darla. My memories still exist somewhere inside me, and with the green threads, I have the instrument to get them back. My family exists on the other side of that barrier.
I made a promise to return.
My eyes pop open, and with renewed determination, I use a last surge of energy and launch myself upward. As my salvation grows against the murkiness, I kick harder and raise my fists over my head. One final time, I slam into the frosty surface, and this time, it shatters.
When my fingers touch the light, life and strength flood into my being. For a glorious moment, I savor the amazing sensation, and then as my essence flows through the gap, my awareness splinters.
Sixty-One
Consciousness returns to my being when warm air forces its way into my lungs. The tingly sensations of static crawling over my skin fade after another blessed breath.
I have a body!
Something flat lies beneath me, and pain claws inside my skull.
Grimacing, I open my eyes to harsh fluorescent light pouring from the ceiling. My eyelids want to squeeze shut, but I resort to squinting as the first step in orienting myself in my new situation.
When my headache clears enough for coherent thought, I have no idea what I am supposed to do.
But it’s definitely not lying on a cold surface.
I tilt my head. A coffin of clear polymer surrounds me. The papery material of a hospital gown covering my body rustles as I push the lid off and rise into a sitting position. After a moment to let some dizziness subside, I twist myself over the rim of the container and jump onto a tiled floor.
As I land, something tugs at my head. I raise my hand and run my fingertips over a snug strip of metal. Thin wires connect it to a familiar contraption, a glassy sphere topped by a golden ring. Which means…
I’m back in the real world.
Thick red hair cascades in front of my face and over my shoulders after I pull the headband off and toss it aside. Wrapping my arms around myself and shivering with goosebumps from excitement, I take a minute to appreciate every nitty-gritty detail of my new existence. Unexpectedly, the vitality of being live flesh and blood is far more vivid than anything in the virtual universe.
And I’ve kept the promise I made so long ago.
Before I can check through the green threads or get too overjoyed, a muffled explosion travels through the walls and rattles the overhead lights. Glass tinkles behind me while traces of smoke enter my nose.
As muddled thoughts pour through my mind, I chew on a thumbnail, enjoying its salty taste, and ready myself for the next challenge.
But, regardless of what’s coming, it’s only incidental to my true purpose.
My family is somewhere in this world, and I’m going to find them.
Mary’s journey continues in
Ten Sigma
&n
bsp; - Renegade -
(coming soon)
Before you go…
A heartfelt thanks to the reader. I’m humbled that you’ve chosen to read Ten Sigma.
And if you loved or hated the book (or had a reaction somewhere between the two), please consider leaving a brief one or two sentence review, even if it’s just to say that this book reminded you of another book. Short or long, reviews are incredibly helpful for independent authors like myself.
Again, thank you for taking the time to read and thank you in advance if you do leave a review. Please sign up for my email list to get updates on Ten Sigma Renegade and other upcoming works.
Sincerely and with warmest regards,
A. W. Wang
Acknowledgments
Writing a novel is difficult and writing a competent one even harder. I’d like to take a moment to thank the awesome people who are my critique partners and beta readers, especially those who persevered through the rough draft and offered compliments and feedback to help this novel arrive to where it is today.
And I’ll also give a shout-out to all of the YouTubers who put up the writing and marketing videos that help make self-publishing easier for the rest of us.
About the Author
A. W. Wang is an enthusiast for studying military history and enjoys reading all genres, especially science fiction and fantasy. In his adolescent years, he exercised his mind by playing strategy games and his body by running around a soccer field.
He really should have shown Course 21 more love.
After letting his small amount of talent in computer programming hijack his post-college years, his life’s journey has taken him back to his first true dream - writing science fiction and fantasy stories.
Besides the usual forms of mundane entertainment, his scant time outside of writing is spent going on ocean cruises and entertaining the cat, whom he is (of course) allergic to.
www.awwangauthor.com
