The Crucible of Immortality: Book One: Synthesis
by Leto Blackman
The Crucible of Immortality:
Book One: Synthesis
A self published novel by Leto Blackman
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Copyright © 2017
Table of Contents
Prologue: ArkShip Eden
Chapter One: Creation Realm
Chapter Two: The Real World
Chapter Three: Go West, Young Man, Go West
Chapter Four: The Lair, Part 1
Chapter Five: The Lair, Part 2
Chapter Six: A Ninja with a Butler
Chapter Seven: The Village
Chapter Eight: The Caste
Chapter Nine: Home is Where the Heart is
Chapter Ten: This is Not a Training Drill
Chapter Eleven: Full House
Title Page
The Crucible of Immortality:
Book One: Synthesis
A litRPG Series
By
Leto Blackman
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my family, Belle, Lola, Kase, Adria, and my lovely wife Lizzie. Thank you for putting up with me, I love you all.
Prologue: ArkShip Eden
"Jax, wake up. Jax...."
I feel a slap across my face. "....ugh.... stop hitting me." Is what I was trying to say, what actually came out was "...uggg... sssooop hiieng eeee.". I try to open my eyes, but they feel glued shut.
"Take it easy, Jax." I feel someone spray a liquid on my eyes. "That should help. Slowly now, your eyes have been shut for over two-hundred years." The voice tells me. I feel like I'm submerged in molasses, my body fights against every small movement I try to make. "I'm going to give you a shot, Jax, it will help you get jump started. We don't have time for the standard week for stasis recovery. Please remain seated after I give you the shot" I feel a pair of hands hold me down and then a sharp prick in my arm. The world surges to life, my eyes pop open and sounds intensify. I try to leap out of my seat, but arms hold me down.
"Jax, calm down. You are disoriented, look at me. Focus on my voice." A pretty redheaded woman smiles at me. She looks familiar, but I can't place where I know her. "Are you with me, Jax? I'm stasis tech, Kala." Her voice seems to have a calming effect on me and I focus on her.
"Kala? What are we doing here? I thought we were on the planet?" I put my arm around her waist to bring her close to me. My vision flashes and Kala is replaced by another person for a second, and then Kala is back. She looks down at my hand on her and looks uncomfortable.
"Well, this is new. I've never had a stasis patient come on to me before. Who's Kala?" She laughs and wiggles out of my touch.
"Jax, we are still on the ArkShip. We still have eighty-two years before we reach the golden world." She looks behind her and motions for someone. "I'll let the Commander fill you in on the rest." She turns around quickly and walks off.
A man in his late forties with a starched military uniform walks up to me. Everything rushes back to me. This is the Commander of my team, we are a select few reserved to handle unique situations that may arise on the extremely long voyage through space. "Jax, were you just groping that tech?" He asks me, the corners of his mouth hinting at a smirk.
"Sorry Commander, I was confused for a moment." I try to stand and end up tumbling into the Commanders arms. He catches me with finesse and places me back in my seat.
"Jax, take a moment and then meet me hanger bay four. Full suit up for excursion, you have one hour." He says, the Commander was always all business, all the time.
He turns to walk away "Wait!.... sir. May I check on Jill?"
He looks at me for a moment and then taps his watch, "Tick-tock, Jax." Then he briskly walks away.
I now notice that I am nude with some gel like substance on me. I see a towel on the floor that fell off of me when I tried to stand up. I quickly grab the towel and look around to see if anyone saw me. The only thing I see are rows and rows of stasis pods. I let out a sigh and dry off the best I can and then put on the clothes that are in a small compartment under the pod.
I stretch and my body creaks and cracks like an old oak tree. That was quite the nap I took, first time I have ever been asleep for two-hundred years. Well, more like an induced coma, but you know, semantics. I jog over to a console and enter in my sisters name and then press enter. Lights on the floor light up in a path for me to follow. It takes me to a small four person tram, I hop on and it speeds along at eighty miles an hour to the section Jill is in.
The tram stops and I hop off and fall to the floor dry heaving. I guess it wasn't the best idea to ride that thing while I'm still experiencing stasis sickness. I walk/run as fast as I can and finally stop in front of a stasis pod. I look through the small window showing the face of my sister. I place my hand to the glass "We are almost there Jill. I'm not sure what's happening, but I have been woken up early. I'll see you in eighty-two years. Everything will be different, we will be free from the bullshit of Earth. You won't need to worry about Adam or any of the other assholes." I chuckle softly to myself remembering the last time Jill saw Adam "The bigger the asshole, the harder they fall." I say. I touch the glass once more and then return to the tram.
I look at the tram and sigh "Alright buddy, please take it easy on me." Ten minutes later the tram stops at my destination. I tumble off pale faced and nauseous. I look at it and say "dick" and kick it, only to hurt my foot.
"Jax! Stop fucking around and get suited up." The Commander yells from across the hanger bay. I scowl and stomp over to the lockers and get dressed. I walk over to the scout ship that the Commander and another person are standing in front of. "Jax, this is Petty Officer Davis. He will be providing support and piloting the scout ship." I nod to the young man, who looks like he just hit puberty. "Alright, lets go. We have a long trip ahead of us." The Commander says.
We get on the ship and Davis continues on to the bridge. "Jax, I had your device loaded into the cargo bay. I know you would have thrown a fit if I had left it behind. Go check and make sure its all hooked up and functioning..... we may need it." I look at him with confusion on my face. I begin to speak "I will answer your questions, first go check on the device and then meet me in the mess hall." He gets a rare grin on his face "I feel like I haven't eaten in hundreds of years." and then slaps me on the back.
I make my way to the cargo bay and check on the device, everything seems to be working. I walk over to the mess hall, thinking I will not be able to eat for a long time without barfing. As soon as I enter the room smells of food hit me and my mouth salivates. I see the Commander scarfing down food making happy noises. They only time I have ever seen that man even remotely happy is when he is eating. I chuckle and press a button on a panel. A prepackaged tray of steaming food appears.
I sit down across from him. "Ah, Jax." He says between bites. "Two-hundred year old food has never tasted better." He says, spraying a few bits of food onto the table.
"What is going on sir? Where are we going?" I ask him and then take a bite of my food. Damn, he's right, it does taste fucking amazing. He takes a long drink of water and then clears his throat.
"We have detected a signal." He places a tablet in front of me. My eyes widen as I look over the information.
"My god, do you know what this means?" I ask him.
"It means we are not alone, Jax. I don't know what we will find, but we are charged with finding out what or who is sending that mes
sage." I choke on my water.
"Message? How do we know it is a message?" I ask.
"Sais says there is an eighty-seven percent chance this is a message." He informs me.
My mind is spinning with possibilities. The Commander finishes up his food and then stands up. "You have about thirty hours until we reach the source of the signal. I want answers before we get there, Jax. Do your thing and study the signal." He looks at me and grows serious. "We are flying in stealth mode. Under no circumstances are you to send any signals back to whatever is transmitting. Do you understand?" He looks at me waiting a reply.
"Yes sir." I say.
Log entry 589, Jax Stone, Head Scientist of Special Situations
Colony scout ship, Delta 01
Earth date: 2307
Time: 0807 hours
"This is Head Scientist Jax Stone aboard colony scout ship Delta Zero-one. After two-hundred and fifteen years in stasis sleep the A.I. of ArkShip Eden has awoken key personnel to investigate a signal. The Commander, Petty Officer Davis and I are in transit to the source of the signal. The signal repeats every seven minutes. The ship's A.I. has yet to decode the message and I can not make heads or tails of it. The only thing I can determine is that it is not naturally occurring and is beautiful in its construction. This is the first sign we have received of other intelligent life in our universe." I sit back lost in my thoughts, "Pause log entry Sais". I say.
"Yes, Jax, log entry paused and waiting your command." A woman's voice says. I had changed the default voice of S.A.I.S. (Shackled Artificial Intelligence System) from male to female. I found her voice calming and somewhat sexy. Even with half my life in space I get the occasional panic attack. Space is immensely vast and she is a cold-hearted bitch. I turn my head and gaze out the small round window in my cabin. A small shiver runs through me. Space is my love, my passion, my life. But for all my love, she would kill me in an instant, without remorse.
I rub my eyes, which are still killing me from stasis sickness. We were only awakened twenty-two hours ago, stasis sickness can last up to a week. "Sais, how far are we from the source of the signal?" I ask her.
"We are six hours and fourteen minutes from the source Jax." She calmly says. Always calm.
"Do we have a visual?" I ask.
"Yes, Jax, would you like for me to pull it up on your screen?" Sais replied.
"Yes! Immediately!" I almost shouted at her. My excitement getting the better of me. I jumped off my bed where I had been laying. I look at my screen and gasp. It is a planet. A lovely blue world with green land masses. There is a large gray ring around the planet, similar to Saturn.
"Sais, how did we not know this planet was here?!" I exclaimed.
In a now frustratingly calm voice she replied "I was unable to pierce the massive interference until thirteen minutes ago."
I sigh, "Okay, have you been able to process the message that the signal contains?" I ask.
"No, Jax, I have finished running translation simulations and have concluded that it will take another eight years to decipher the message" She replies.
"What the fuck! Eight years? How is that possible? You are the most advanced A.I. ever built!" I yell.
"Yes, Jax, however the message is more advanced than my systems by far." She states.
I begin to pull my hair in frustration. I look back at the image of the planet. "Sais, can you detect any life or artificial structures on the planet?" I ask after calming down.
"No, Jax, there is something blocking all attempts to scan the surface of the planet. I am able to detect an atmosphere conducive to carbon based life. The planet has a mass almost twice that of earth and is well within the habitual zone in relation to this system's sun." She says.
"Okay, this is amazing! It's not the planet we were on route to colonize, but it would cut our time in stasis by eighty-two years. Please inform the Commander of your findings. And please Sais, inform me if anything changes." I ask her.
"Yes, Jax." She replies.
I pace back and forth, my eyes never leaving the screen showing the planet. This could be our new home! I leave my cabin and head to the cargo bay. With myself, the Commander, and Petty Officer Davis the only ones on the ship I encounter no one on my way. I enter the bay and look at my passion project. It is a silver sphere the size of a large man sitting in the middle of a larger sphere of dark metal and wires. The purpose of the device is to move matter from one location to another. Somewhat similar to the old science fiction show from the twenty-first century.
"Beam me up Scotty!" I say to no one and chuckle to myself. It is still in the prototype phase. I have only tested it on microorganisms, but to great success. I run my hand along the smooth surface of the silver sphere dreaming of beaming down to planets where adventure awaits.
I head back to my cabin stifling a yawn. I have been up for eighteen hours straight. I better try to nap, I think to myself. I need to be clearheaded when we get to the planet. "Sais, please wake me in five hours, or if there are any new developments." I say while yawning.
"Yes Jax, goodnight." She says.
I lay there too excited to fall asleep. I think about how I got to this point and what motivated me. My little sister, Jill. Yeah, Jill and Jax. Guess my parents had a thing for J names. She is eighteen, ten years younger than me. Our parents died when she was ten and I have raised her since. It hasn't been easy, but she is the reason we are on our way to a new planet. Earth is barely habitable, its severely over populated and large parts are too toxic to live. The moon colony is not the life I want for Jill, it is a sterile environment strife with ridiculous and frightening dystopian rules. The Mars terraforming project has ground to a halt and the different Earth governments are at the brink of war over who "owns" Mars. The final straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was a certain rich asshole who was tormenting and assaulted Jill. So, that is why we are now millions of miles from Earth, in the dark of space, on our way to a new world.
"JAX!" I startle awake. "JAX! Get to bridge now!" The Commander yells through the intercom.
"Yes, I'm coming now!" I respond. With adrenaline running through my body I run to the bridge.
"What's happening?" I ask the Commander.
"We are a little over one hour from the planet. About three minutes ago we detected something moving from the planet on a direct course with us." He says. I look at the main screen. What I see looks like a swarm of gray insects.
"I don't understand what I'm looking at Commander." I say.
"Nor do I, Jax! Thats why I called you here! Do your fucking job and tell me what we are dealing with. Is it an attack?" He yells at me. The Commander can be a bit of a dick sometimes.
"Sais, can you determine what is heading towards us?" I ask.
"Yes, Jax, the objects have left the interference field of the planet." she explains.
"Wait, what? Objects? How many, Sais? And what is it? I ask.
"There are currently 765 million nanites on a direct course with the scout ship, Jax" she says in a matter of fact way. Just another day in space for Sais.
"Nanites! What the fuck? Where did they come from?" The commander yells.
"Due to a lack of available data I can only hypothesize the nanites form the ring around the planet." Sais responds.
"Holy fucking shit! Look at the rings of the planet. There must be trillions of nanites! We need to get out of here now!" Petty Officer Davis yells.
"Shut up, Davis! What do we do? Sais, are the nanites a threat to the ship?" the Commander asks.
"Due to insufficient data I can not determine a threat level, Commander." Sais says. "The message contained in the signal has changed and is repeating every thirty seconds. I would hypothesize we have entered the airspace of an alien race. I would suggest that we return to ArkShip Eden and gather more information." Sais informs us.
"How long do we have until they intercept us, Sais?" I ask.
"If we do not alter course or speed the nanites will be on us in six minutes, J
ax." she says.
"Six minutes! How is that possible?" I yell at her.
"The nanites have a velocity of ninety percent the speed of light, Jax." She says.
"Davis! Shields up and turn us around!" the Commander yells. Davis is still staring at the screen of the nanites heading towards us. "DAVIS NOW!" The Commander screams.
Davis snaps out of it and yells "Yes sir!".
"Everyone strap in. Jax, man the main cannon." The Commander says. I run to the station and strap myself in.
"Commander, the ship will not gain sufficient speed to outrun the nanites. I am predicting minimal effect of our weapons on the nanites." Sais informs the Commander.
"Shit crap! We have to do something! Send a message to ArkShip Eden of everything that is happening. Jax! Fire the cannons now! Now god dammit!" The Commander yells at me.
"Firing cannons!" I yell. We all hold our breath and watch the main screen as the twin balls of bright energy I fired race toward the nanites. As we watch the screen the cannon projectiles reach the nanites and all of a sudden wink out of existence.
"Sais. What happened?" The Commander asks.
"Commander, it seems the nanites absorbed the energy. No damage detected. Sir, there are twenty-three seconds until the nanites reach us." She says.
We all sit there stunned. The main screen turns gray as the nanites surround us. "The nanites will overwhelm our shields in four minutes!" I yell.
"Jax! Use the transporter, get to planet. You are the smartest human alive out here. We can't lose you." The Commander says to me as he looks me in the eyes. I can see it in his eyes, he knows this is the end.
"Commander, I have never tested it on a human before! There's a good chance it will kill me." I respond even though I'm already unstrapping myself from my seat.
"God dammit, Jax, GO!" The Commander screams at me.
"NO NO NO NO NO!" Davis is screaming and trying to get out of his seat as he points his sidearm at me. He drops the weapon as he is fumbling with the buckles of his seat. BOOM! I jump and yell at the loud noise. Davis slumps over dead with a hole in his head. I look over to the Commander to see him holding his pistol.
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