Journey to Ohmani (Across the Infinite Void Book 1)

by Ashley Grapes

  “Whoa,” Levi remarked in astonishment.

  “Those are the Extension cubes. The lasers are sending a constant stream of information about the controller’s movements to the synced avatar, creating a cyber-link,” Fletch explained.

  “What about the white leotards?” Levi said, not looking forward to putting one on. The one-piece suits covered every square inch of the students’ bodies including their hands and feet.

  “That makes it easier for the lasers to read your kinetics, but also, the suit is made up of special adaptable cells that can help simulate the environment you are extending to, temperature and pressure mostly. The robot’s outer shell has similar material, but in a metalloid form. The cells on each suit, this white one and the metalloid one, are synced.

  “So whatever I do here, the robot does. But what if someone moves the robot? Will my suit move too?”

  “What? No, you’ve got muscles and free will, a suit can’t make you move. Let’s go put one on. You look like a…large. They’re very stretchy and a lot more comfortable than they look, trust me.”

  Levi wanted to trust Fletch but the leotard made him feel extremely self-conscious. He stood in front of a mirror to assess his appearance. Good thing he didn’t have any food in his mouth or he might have choked on it. He looked like an albino penguin on steroids. The leotard even had a piece that wrapped around his head so that the only flesh visible on his entire body was his face.

  “Looking good,” Fletch teased. “Now, no time to waste. Mantys’ flight arrives in thirty minutes. We can spend that first bit of time getting you used to extending.”

  Levi and Fletch walked out of the changing rooms and made their way across the control floor toward a set of empty cubes. A couple of girls stood giggling as Levi walked past them, making him feel incredibly self-conscious of how tight the suit was across his lower body.

  “No, you two, you’re in the grade A cubes today,” Mr. Franklin yelled from across the floor. “I want you in the Life3000’s.”

  “Yes!” Fletch said and made a ninety degree turn towards a set of larger control boxes on one end of the room. “These are one of the best Extensions on the market. High-tech everything.”

  “Like what?” Levi asked.

  “Everything. Your voice isn’t distorted at all, better sensory equipment, and the robots are super real-looking. They don’t hover like the cheap ones. Our avatars will have legs and toes, every joint in the fingers and every vertebrae of the spine. They’ll probably even have eyelashes on top of having eyelids,” Fletch joked. “They were donated to our school but no one is allowed to use them except for special occasions…like escorting Mantys Ti himself,” Fletch giggled excitedly. “Now, when you get into your room the computer is going to ask you to put in some codes. Use these.” He handed Levi a piece of paper with a series of numbers and letters on it.

  Levi could sense how eager Fletch was to get started and it was getting him excited as well. After all, he had never extended before, and it sounded like he was going to have the best first-time experience possible. He stepped into the box and shut the door behind him. When the motion sensors detected his presence, dozens of lasers shot out of the wall in every direction. He crossed the cube to stand in front of a podium, which had the helmet sitting on top. He picked up the helmet, turning the podium it had been sitting on into a digital display.

  ENTER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER

  Levi typed 4578 and then pressed enter.

  ENTER LOCATION

  OAHD13. Enter.

  ENTER EXTENTION NUMBER

  Y6B4442727FL. Enter.

  ENTER AUTHENTICATION NUMBER

  How many passwords did this thing have? He typed again, F5J99.

  LINKING…

  STAND ON THE ‘X’ AND PUT HEAD GEAR ON

  Finally. Levi picked up the helmet and placed it over his head after doubling back and standing on the ‘X’ located in the middle of the room. All of a sudden the helmet started to become tighter, the inner fabric conforming to the curve of his entire head except for his ears. He could not see anything inside the helmet except for pitch blackness. He could not hear anything except for the sound of his own breathing. Levi waited another thirty seconds and when nothing happened he went to take the helmet off thinking it was broken, but just when he grabbed its base, he saw something flicker – a speck of light. Then another. A pixilated image started forming in front of him, touches of color that made no sense. Slowly the vision became sharper and sharper until he could make out the rough image of a room with androids lining the wall and a red EXIT sign in front of him. He stood watching the picture form, fascinated at how clear everything was becoming. Levi felt like he was actually standing in this room. His line of vision, including his peripherals, was completely filled with the high definition display in the helmet.

  He held out his arm and jumped backwards in surprise. Instead of his tanned flesh, he saw a smooth silvery hand shining back at him. He curved his fingers and watched the malleable material do the exact same thing. He opposed his thumb with each finger, made his hand undulate like a wave, and twirled his wrist — all of which were exactly replicated by the metalloid flesh in front of him. Suddenly he seemed to feel a touch colder and felt his feet tighten. He looked down and saw that his android was wearing a pair of black tennis shoes laced in a perfect bow. He was wearing a navy blue uniform with the same ‘OAH’ logo Fletch’s Extension had been wearing at the spaceport in Santa Fe.

  “Doesn’t take as much getting used to as you thought, huh?” he heard Fletch say to his right ear.

  Levi turned his head and saw Fletch’s Extension. It was unlike any avatar he had seen thus far; just as ambiguously androgynous, but much more humanoid. It seemed to have every bone, indentation and crease that gives definition to a person’s face. Even the mouth of the Extension had lips and the little groove between the mouth and the nose. Instead of a hard outer-casing, these avatars were smooth like they were really a person who had been painted with a thick coat of liquid mercury.

  “This is awesome. I feel like I’m actually a robot.” Levi said.

  “I know. Even I’ve never been in a Life3000 before. Just watch your first step because the bottom of your avatar’s feet are charging. Sometimes they stick a bit, especially if they’ve not been used for a while.” Fletch stepped off his platform and started walking towards Levi.

  Levi tried to follow Fletch’s lead. He picked up his feet and started walking, but became frustrated when his avatar would lift up its legs but not move off the charging dock…then he hit a wall and felt pain shoot into his forehead. He reached out in front of him and felt a barrier, but did not see one.

  “You just ran into the wall of your cube,” Fletch said. “Don’t forget that you are not actually here. You are in a box with four walls and not a lot of space.”

  “Well, how am I supposed to walk forward here without walking forward there?” Levi asked.

  “That’s the main part to get used to. In order to tell the Extension cube you want your avatar to walk forward, you have to lean forward while you pick your feet up in a walking motion. Stand up straight and distribute your weight evenly and your avatar will stand in place. Lean back and pick up your feet and your avatar will walk backwards. The same thing applies if you want to walk sideways, but I don’t know why you would need to do that unless you’re going to a school dance or something.”

  “Well, what if I wanted to make my avatar walk forward while leaning forward?” Levi asked.

  “Why would you need to do that? Don’t make it too complicated. Come on, give it a try.”

  Levi walked backwards until he thought he was back in the center of his cube. He leaned forward, putting more weight on his toes and started lifting up his feet, walking in place. His avatar began to walk. Fletch began to laugh.

  “You look like a carnivorous chicken stalking its prey,” Fletch said between snorts. “Why are you bobbing your head and crouching like that?”

 
“Good thing you are not an inspirational speaker,” Levi retorted. He made a couple of big circles around the room, getting used to relaying his movement in real-life to the avatar’s movement at the spaceport. “I think I’ve got the hang of this,” Levi said after a few minutes of not running into any walls.

  “Great. Well, let’s get to arrival gate C then. They closed the half of the spaceport that was…bombed,” Fletch said with a flinch, “so it’ll be a little crowded.

  They walked out of the android room and into a hallway that contained other, less-expensive Extensions and a few people. At the end of the hallway was a door that led to the public area. It automatically opened as they approached and Levi walked into the body of the spaceport, which was just as crazy sober as it had seemed when he was drugged. A security guard walked past him with a strange leashed animal that looked like a hyena, except it had a reptilian face like a komodo dragon. The creature licked the air with its long, skinny tongue, sniffing around legs and between baggages. It gave Levi the heebie-jeebies.

  “They must have increased security. I’ve never seen a krit being used here. They can sniff out a flea. Come on, this way,” Fletch beckoned Levi into the crowd.

  After walking for several minutes, Levi noticed they were getting a lot of stares. Was he still walking like a pre-historic chicken? “Why are people looking at us?” he finally asked.

  “Because we are in Life3000’s. To them, it’s like seeing a flying Lamborghini in-person instead of in hologram. We’re like rock stars,” Fletch explained. “The gate is right over here.”

  The media was out in full force, poised and ready for Mantys to get off the plane. Reporters were talking into their microphones, emphasizing and pausing in a way that would sound strange in normal conversation. Levi and Fletch stood at the edge of the crowd, waiting with them until the passengers started disembarking from the Spaceark. After a few minutes, the first of them began trickling out, causing an energy to sweep over the reporters. The Spaceark had flown in from Dedrake, and most of the passengers were midaki. The problem was the Sydces looked so much like humans, that Levi couldn’t tell the difference between them. In fact, with the way humans looked on Ohmani, they looked more like aliens themselves. A couple minutes went by, and there still hadn’t been any sign of Mantys in the throng of people getting off the ship.

  “Isn’t he going to have a lot of security?” Levi asked, remembering the security guards for Vernean. “How are we even going to get close to him?”

  “I asked that before we left. Mr. Franklin just said ‘you’ll know.’ Whatever that means. I figure when he gets off the plane we’ll just try to tell one of his security guards,” Fletch said.

  Levi was wondering how they would even breach the tight circle the media had created. It was a barricade of cameras, tripods, and bodies that were drenched in sweat from waiting and holding their equipment for so long.

  “There you two are,” Levi heard a voice and felt pressure on his right shoulder.

  He swung around and came face to face with a man wearing a baseball cap, a stained t-shirt that said ‘maintenance’, and a pair of torn blue jeans. The man was a foot shorter than the Extension and so Levi could not get a clear look at his face, but by the sound of his voice Levi could tell he seemed to be very old.

  “Come with me,” he said, looking up and winking at them as he pointed to the ‘OAH’ logo on their uniforms.

  Fletch’s avatar stood up a little straighter and his voice cracked a little bit when he said, “yes, sir.”

  They walked along the edge of the crowd at a bored, unhurried pace. Every now and then, someone would peek over at them, but their attention immediately focused on the Life3000 avatars.

  “Awesome Extension,” he heard one reporter say as they walked by. The man flashed a couple of pictures and then turned around, waiting again for his celebrity to make an appearance.

  The three of them continued walking until they reached a ‘Personnel Only’ door, which they entered. The man took off his baseball cap and a head of black and silver crimpy hair fell around his shoulders. Levi had to admit, one man to another, it was beautiful hair. He was an elderly man that would have had a sweet face if it weren’t for his big black eyebrows and facial hair. His right sideburn swept down his face along his chin, circled back on the left side and ran underneath his nose.

  “At first I thought those fancy Extensions were going to blow my cover, but as it turns out, they probably helped more than anything. Those reporters are easier to get around than a krit with a bone,” the old man laughed. “My team hates it when I do that, but they indulge me.”

  “Mantys Ti, it is an honor. My name is Fletch Hemingway and I am the president of the senior class at the Ohmani Academy with an interest in political science.” Fletch gave a slight bow.

  “Fantastic. Let’s keep walking. And how about you, young man?” he directed towards Levi. They all began walking down the hall at the same leisurely pace.

  “My name is Levi Avondale and I am a new student at the Academy as of today,” Levi said. He went to bow just as Fletch had done and his avatar fell over, crashing to the ground with an echoing thud. He lay there, mortified.

  Mantys burst out laughing.

  “Touché. I guess there is a scenario where you would need to walk and bend over at the same time,” Fletch said between snickers.

  Levi stood up and checked his avatar over for damages — after all, the thing was a Lamborghini of Extensions. “I’m sorry, sir,” Levi apologized. He hoped Mr. Franklin had not just witnessed Levi falling over in his cube.

  Mantys’ guffaws slowly died down into sporadic hoots. “You just made my day, Levi. First time in an Extension?”

  “Yes.”

  “You are human I presume?” Mantys asked.

  “Yes, how did you know?”

  “For one, your accent is very American. Second, most midaki grow up using Extensions. Why did you move here?”

  “My mom is the new hospitality manager at the Stellar Grand….well, actually my grandmother is now. Long story,” Levi said, almost immediately regretting his openness. He wasn’t supposed to be engaging in conversation, per Mr. Franklin’s orders.

  “Do you like that hotel?” Mantys asked.

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Except for the murders, Levi thought.

  “Then the Stellar Grand is where I will be staying. Come on, my team is waiting for me at one of the unloading docks.” They began walking down the hallway again. “My security team wants to put me in more secure accommodations, but I figure what’s more inconspicuous than staying at the most popular hotel? No one will expect it. Plus, I hear they have a great breakfast,” Mantys said over his shoulder.

  Personally, Levi would choose staying in one piece over eggs benedict, but it certainly wasn’t his place to counter Mantys’ logic. They kept following the exit signs until they came to a door that led them to…an elevator. Levi’s heart started to race at the sudden vivid memories of his previous spaceport ride. He stepped into the elevator, reminding himself that he wasn’t actually there in the flesh. If another bomb went off, his body would be safe and sound in room D of the Careers Center.

  “Those Extensions really are impressive,” Mantys began. “I can read on your face that you are nervous.”

  Levi would not share the bomb-experience with a famous midaki world-leader. He just smiled and stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor. “No, I’m fine. I just don’t like elevators.”

  “Ah. Well, you don’t get much longer elevator rides than this one,” Mantys said as the elevator jerked upwards. “So, Fletch. What is your race?”

  “I am a Ryley.”

  “A Ryley and an American. What a great mentoring combination. Are you interested in politics too, Levi?”

  “Absolutely not, sir. No offense. I am supposed to be learning and listening and accepting change,” Levi said, remembering Mr. Franklin’s words.

  Mantys chuckled. “I see. With t
eachers like that, no wonder the Academy is so highly revered. I’m sure the thought has crossed your mind as to why you are here exactly? I can assure you that even as an old man, I am perfectly capable of walking off a ship and sitting my ass in a chair to be chauffeured to my hotel. I would like for you two to think of this as our introduction. In my culture, Levi, the young are given the most attention and the elderly the most respect. We believe the old should mentor the young at every opportunity, and so I will foster this ancient tradition now. I also think it is just as important for the elderly, who can get a little stuck in their ways, to listen and learn from youth. While I am here for the conference, you both will be invited to sit in and listen to the negotiations, and then we can meet afterwards for discussion.”

  “That would be an amazing opportunity, sir.” Fletch said. “I would love to hear your perspectives and be a witness to the conference. It’s historic!”

  Mantys laughed. “Well, my perspectives are going to be quite different from Wandrew’s…that is the Ryley sect leader, Levi…but it is always good to be well-rounded. Remember that in life, even though we are expected to uphold the same values as our family or our culture, it is important to remain open to every word that is spoken, every action that is taken, and every thought that enters our own minds. Question, question, question. Then take what you have learned and sort it, store it, and weave it until you have built the framework for your life. Only you know what works best for you. A foundation you have built yourself will be a stronger one.” Mantys pounded his chest where his heart was.

  Levi decided he rather liked this man. Even though his words were strange, they came from a place of sincerity and kindness. The shaft elevator dinged and the doors opened. Levi took a deep breath and stepped out, thankful they were not blown to bits. He had expected the elevator to lead them to the heart of the city again, but he now stood in a black asphalt area about the size of a large house and circular in shape. On all sides, concrete walls shot up several stories, blocking the light from reaching the bottom of the pit. A blue ship sat humming in the middle with doors swung open like gull’s wings. A small man with glasses stepped out of the vessel. He had thick orange hair down to his waist that whipped in all directions under the strange aerodynamics of the ship pit. Levi concluded that all Sydces, whether male or female, had the most impressive hair he had ever seen. Although the thought had never crossed his mind before, Levi suddenly questioned whether or not he wished to grow his hair out.