Necropolis: Book 4: Hybrids
Page 8
“Please, can someone confirm what this alarm is alerting us to?”
The young redhead – Britney, Bobby? He couldn't remember the freckle-faced girl's name – answered. “Running system diagnostics. Sir, I think it's legit!”
“Sentinel,” a tiny wisp of a man called out into the mic on his headset, “Run self-diagnostic – we need you in-sync and linked into our new system asap.”
Sentinel: “Self-diagnostic complete. All systems operating within specified parameters.”
“Britney!” the small man called out to the redhead, “Sentinel's online. Patching com-link and data-stream over to you.”
“Got it, Stan!”
Sentinel: “Synchronicity Mandate initiated. Unprecedented GEOP-Event located. South-Central Pacific. International waters. 49o51'S 128o34'W. Estimated 3005% of 2005/06/02 Montreal-Event.”
“Sentinel, please confirm; please repeat,” cut in the com-expert, another redhead but with short-cropped hair and a nose-ring. “Was that 300.5% or 3005%?”
Sentinel: “Satellites designate HEOX-5, HEOY-2, HEOZ-3 online. Confirmed. Estimated oceanic water displacement 3005% of 2005/06/02 Montreal-Event.”
“That Event was just yesterday. Nothing for a decade and now this...”
“Sentinel, slow down and compress the data-streams. Our operating system's significantly slower than you,” cut in Stan.
Sentinel: “Naval Security Priority. Distress beacon detected. Confirmed: DD-129, JDS Yamayuki, Hatsuyuki-class destroyer. Com-link data signature: 1994/11/15.”
“Whoa! 1994?” the three team members echoed.
“Sentinel, the date must be an error, can you confirm?”
Sentinel: “Attempting to secure visual.”
“Negative, Sentinel,” interjected the tiny wispy man, Stan. “We don't need a visual. Focus on the authenticity of the distress-”
Sentinel: “Attempting to establish link with military tracking satellite system.”
“Negative, Sentinel,” repeated Stan, “I repeat, negative, Sentinel.”
The redhead, Britney, looked at Stan and lipped, Can it do that?
Sentinel: “Link established. Visual established. Data-stream incoming.”
“Goddamnit!” Stan cursed, turning to the senior IT tech. “What the hell are we here for if he isn't going to listen to us?!”
“Sentinel doesn't answer to us. It isn't a computer we control. It's an AI. It thinks. We're here to assist it,” answered the IT supervisor, and turning to the short-cropped red haired girl, “Tabitha, right?”
“Tammy.”
“Sorry. Tammy, put the visuals of the Event on the largest screen. I want you to pull up whatever info you can find on that lost ship, the Yamayuki-”
Sentinel: “Top secret files lost with The JDS Yamayuki. Searching for authorized naval response. Tracking and searching for Search and Rescue ships within range...”
“Sentinel,” the senior team leader spoke directly to the orbiting AI. “Please reroute any military authorization to the UNCGSC-”
Sentinel: “Negative. Synchronicity Mandate supersedes UNCGSC.”
The largest screen, scrolling various data, flickered and changed views, to an aerial visual of the ocean. The screen or image looked broken near its centre; like a fish-eye lens were laid over top.
Sentinel: “USS Antietam CG-54, USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-54, and USS John S. McCain DDG-56 are nearest vessels. Within 1100 km of Event. Authorizing naval command to reroute fleet to location.”
“What are the Antietam, Curtis Wilbur, and John S. McCain?” asked Britney in a whisper.
Tammy, typing quickly on her keyboard, accessed the information. “They're American destroyers.” She turned to the senior IT tech. “Sir, they're warships.”
“Tammy, did you retrieve the info on the Yamayuki?”
“Yes sir,” she answered as she put it onto another large screen.
“Sentinel, why can't I see the Event with satellite tracking visual? What am I seeing?”
Sentinel: “Triangulating data from satellites designate...”
“The Yamayuki went missing over ten years ago,” began Tammy, reading from the overhead screen. “All hands lost. No wreckage or debris was found. No SOS. No distress beacon. At the time the Yamayuki went missing it was on a mission under CSIS-SAT-RCMP; that was a subgroup of the UNCGSC. As Sentinel said, there was a top secret file on-board. It was never retrieved. It seemed to have just dropped off the face of the earth... until now. There is no accounting for its erroneous date signature.”
“Sentinel, what is the fleet's ETA?”
Sentinel: “Awaiting USS Naval Fleet confirmation of orders. ETA 18 hours, 46 minutes upon reroute.”
“Why can't I see the Event?”
Sentinel: “Unknown. Accessing data banks on all available theoretical data.
MIT
Cambridge_S_Hawking
Dakota State University
NASA Johnson Space Centre...
Most probable theoretical cause of lensing is due to a gravitational effect.”
“What's capable of causing that?”
Sentinel: “In brane cosmology the most prevalent theories suggest the presence of exotic matter, a negative energy source or in close proximity to an Einstein-Rosen Bridge distort-”
“I don't have time for a lecture in theoretical physics, Sentinel. What is it? Give me the most probable cause.”
Sentinel: “Most probable theoretical cause of lensing effect on this scale...Processing... Time-space warp bubble cause by concentrated and exponential gravity curvature.”
“What could cause that?”
Sentinel: “Unknown. There is no known technology available to humanity at this time which could cause or duplicate this effect.”
The room fell silent.
“Sentinel, could we be dealing with Extraterrestrial Intelligence or alien technology?”
Sentinel: “Probability low. Source data correlates highest probability is Extra-dimentional alien intelligence – extremely hostile. Files suggests contact outcome concludes in human extinction event.”
“...what...? Sentinel... what files... what source materials are you accessing?”
Sentinel: “Various data files. Uncategorized. Untitled. All pre-date UNCGSC. Source files led to establishment of Synchronicity Mandate of 1993/01/29 to monitor for this potential event.”
“Has this potential come to fruition?” he asked hesitantly.
Sentinel: “Unknown. Insufficient data at this-”
“Guess.”
Sentinel: “Yes.”
Next, available now!
Necropolis: R'lyeh
Book 5
Woven throughout this book are the stories of characters forgotten about from the original novella, The Symbiot.
It's Modern Tech versus forgotten aeons-old evil, with a reminiscent flavouring similar to Grandma Death's fictitious book (Donnie Darko, 2001)!
The conclusion of The Symbiot Series brings the characters to the derelict Japanese Destroyer, the Yamayuki, and to the world shattering rising of R'lyeh!
The world is at its end!
R'lyeh has risen!
Cthulhu's high priest has awaken!
Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!
Afterward
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h friends