by Lea Tassie
Since time was no longer very important, a year passed while the scientists poked and prodded Abarth, trying to unlock the secret of his mysterious connection to the strange object. He grew more resentful and frustrated. "I have had just about enough of this!" snapped Abarth to one of the scientists. "This damn thing has done nothing and will obviously never do anything with all this dancing around and poking me!" He picked up a heavy tool and flung it at the alien device.
The device reacted immediately and Abarth was knocked flat by an unseen force. "Now that's a response!" growled Abarth as he regained his feet and proceeded to fire another, heavier tool at the device. Again, he was thrown to the ground by the unseen force.
"Is anyone measuring this? One of you guys should be trying to figure out this shit!" Abarth yelled at the scientific team. But they were too stunned to react. Abarth rose and this time gave the device a good shove, intending to knock it over.
The response was impressive. With the shove, the device started to tip over, then teetered a moment and landed firmly upright again. Abarth was thrown clear across the room and slammed into the wall, the wind knocked out of him. Gasping for air, he again retaliated, but this time the device emitted a force that froze him where he stood. An alien voice started speaking from the device, and small random lights erupted from the surface.
"Son of a bitch!" came from Abarth's mouth as if he were a ventriloquist's dummy. He was frozen so firmly that even his lips could not move.
The scientists were hurriedly trying to decipher the alien language and make sense of the powers involved. Suddenly everyone stopped moving, shocked into immobility. Then they checked the response from the computers twice.
There could be no mistake. The language was that of the Gray aliens from old history. Alarm bells rang out and staff poured into the room. A restraining field was quickly placed around the device, shutting it down and releasing Abarth. Humanity might have become passive, but the instinct for self-preservation hadn't waned.
Most of the Grays' technology was now considered primitive compared to that of modern humans, but the fact that this device had not been recognized as Gray property was alarming. With no understanding of its capabilities, the scientists now took even more extreme precautions.
But it was too late. This device was radically different from any Gray technology known to humans, for it had been one of the Grays' black projects, a forbidden knowledge that even the Grays in their prime rejected because of the danger it represented.
The process had begun. The time-lock was shutting down, releasing Charger R/T, the First Ones, and the black sphere god, locked in an endless battle, back into alignment with the present world of humanity.
***
Dart speaks to Reader:
Describe the time-lock? The easiest way is to compare it to a more primitive concept, religion. The time-lock is a layer of space akin to the concept of purgatory. It's a place where energy and mass exist but, because no time is present, cannot evolve. Like the mythical purgatory, anything caught in the time-lock is frozen in a timeless environment.
No, heaven is a myth, too. If it did exist, eternity would be a living hell. Being in heaven would be unending boredom for humans, a celestial wasteland where they could never touch, taste, love, or think for themselves.
You think it might be fun to live forever? Just stop and consider that in more detail. How many times could you go to the mall before it got old? How many times could you visit places before they all start to look the same? How much stuff could you gather before you realize you have too much stuff? How many times could you stand to hear the same jokes and the same stories? Now try and imagine doing that forever.
That's immortality. When you don't have it, when your life is short, you wish you could live forever. But when your life is ridiculously long, you think, what is this all for? And how soon can I stop?
Like the time-lock? Yes, exactly.
If the black god had lived in such a heaven, it would probably think the time-lock was a perfect environment to control and thrive in.
You're right, Charger R/T wouldn't like that. With his active, twisted mind, existence in the time-lock would have been a nightmare for him.
***
The action began with wicked flashes of blue lightning racing across the floor from the device, a shuddering of the ground, and a cold frost forming in the air of the secure room. Authorities were put on high alert as the scientists tried desperately to contain the time-lock event. Unsure of what was happening, the city's task force, similar to the military units of history, sprang into action, sending heavy weapons and armor to the secure site. It was as if two rooms were trying to occupy the same space and time: the room of the humans and another room with Charger R/T and the First Ones battling the god. Shocked at the images of violence and chaos, the scientists began retreating from the secure room.
Abarth alone remained, facing an immense, violent, demonic being. All around it were beings of light, the size and shape of a human, battling an oily black sphere that seemed to radiate a brilliant golden light.
"Help me, child, and drive this demon back into hell!" a voice boomed from the sphere, in a language Abarth understood. He stood there in shock, slow to act. Then he reached over to the control panel next to him, clicked a few buttons and moved a few dials. Within seconds, each life form that had emerged from the time-lock was held secure and helpless within its own confinement field.
Abarth stared at the black sphere. It was hardly any bigger than Charger R/T. The mythology that he'd heard as a child said it was enormous, perhaps the size of a moon. So had it shrunk because of being in time-lock? Or had it lost power because it was so far away from the parent mass at the center of the galaxy?
Now that the three entities were held helpless, Abarth waited for their rage and anger to settle. The heavy task force had finally reached the secure room. They stopped and stared in through the window, surprised to see Abarth standing alone and in apparent control of the situation.
Stunned by their confinement, the three beings began to settle down, except for Charger R/T. His rage burgeoned and he fought, wild-eyed, to break the confinement and continue attacking. It was only when Abarth spoke that Charger R/T slowed.
"Wait a minute, I know you," Abarth said, moving toward Charger R/T for a better look. "That's right, you're the guy from the statue. Are you a hero?"
Charger R/T growled "No!"
"How is it possible that you speak my language?" Abarth asked, as he poked a finger at the containment field that held Charger R/T. The demon resumed raging.
"That's pointless,” Abarth said. "Our containment field has no difficulty holding you." He continued to poke and tease the beast in the cage. Seeing that Abarth had no fear of the situation, one of the task force commanders entered the room.
Abarth snapped, "Typical! A planet of sheep, and the bravest one to enter the room is packing a weapon!"
The commander was not amused by Abarth laughing at him, and started barking orders to try and assert some dominance. He demanded that Abarth leave the room.
Abarth responded coolly. "The scientists hiding out there will attest that the device is linked to me in some mysterious way. If I leave, the device will shut down. Do you think that wise?"
Abarth’s arrogance chafed the commander badly but, considering the options, he relented.
"That’s a good little sheep," Abarth said. "How about you just piss off and let the scientists back into the room?"
For a moment, it seemed as if the beast laughed. "Oh, you think that’s funny?" Abarth asked. "How about I tighten this confinement field up until I make you shit a bit?" Charger R/T focused his gaze on his tormentor. No one could tell what thoughts rolled around inside that twisted skull, but that they were bad was a good guess.
Another year passed and much was learned. The black sphere claimed to be the god of all humanity, but offered no proof. The light beings had been explained as the First Ones, an ancient early rac
e of humanity created by the Grays, but this could not be verified. The beast refused to divulge anything but its name, 'Charger R/T.' This fascinated Abarth and, during every visit to the confinement site, he would spend hours talking to the beast. It refused to respond.
"Tell you what, Charger R/T," Abarth offered, as he moved closer to the confinement field holding the monster captive. "You tell me where you're from, and I'll see to it that you get a look outside these walls. I'm guessing that being locked up is getting old, huh? What do you say?"
There was a long pause, then Charger R/T spoke. "Earth."
"That's all? One word, Earth. Well, a deal is a deal." Abarth operated a few controls and the two were blinked from the underground room to the surface. "Welcome to New Eden." Still held firm in the confinement field, Charger R/T stared into the light of the red sun once again.
"What's the date?" Charger R/T finally asked.
"I've known you for over a year, and in all that time, you have said seven words," Abarth said. "Let's make a deal. You talk more and I'll tell you more."
Word number eight exploded from Charger R/T's mouth. "No!"
In the meantime, the most amazing discovery had been made by the scientific team. One of the First Ones had offered to work with the humans to better understand each other. It said it was named Enoch. The scientists were to learn later that all the First Ones were named Enoch. This particular Enoch provided all the missing information lost over time, even explaining the reason for Charger R/T's existence.
However, the truly exciting discovery was that these beings of light were in no way different from present humanity. In spite of all the advances humans had made, these beings in the time-lock device were equal to modern people. Realizing there was little to fear from these captives, security was relaxed.
The most puzzling behavior came from the object claiming to be the god of all humanity. Unable to exercise power over the masses, it began trying to negotiate a position of power. In desperate attempts to convince humans to obey it, this god offered the most bizarre claims. It seemed truly depressed at the realization that it could no longer wipe out humanity as it had once claimed was possible. In spite of empty threats of fire and brimstone, it was apparently impotent. No one could believe that this ineffectual black sphere was a god of anything.
"Well, it seems we are not so different after all," Abarth remarked as he approached Charger R/T, now released from his confinement cage. Charger R/T was standing in the security room as Abarth entered and approached with confidence, sure of the scientists' new findings.
"Not true!" snapped Charger R/T as he thrust his fist hard into Abarth's chest. Had this happened in the far distant past, Abarth would have been dead. Now it was even difficult to hurt him, let alone kill him. Humanity's understanding of the newly discovered elements in the periodic table, and the useful ways this knowledge could be applied, had created a robust and durable new breed of humans, perhaps truly superior humans.
"Well, I guess I had that coming," Abarth gasped, activating his genetic structure to repair the damage caused by the blow. "How about I atone and buy you a beer?"
For a moment Charger R/T seemed to smile. He was trying to decide if he liked these new humans. At least they weren't as frail as he remembered.
"Good, I'll take that as a yes. Follow me," Abarth said with enthusiasm. A quick blink and Abarth was at his favorite haunt, but Charger R/T was nowhere to be seen. He blinked back to the secure room and found him just sitting there. Then Abarth realized that Charger R/T was technologically primitive and had no ability to travel. "Sorry, I didn't realize." Abarth held Charger R/T's arm, and blinked both of them to the bar.
Being able to blink to any desired destination is a unique experience for the first-time traveler, and Charger R/T was no different in that respect to an ordinary human. The process of a blink involved imagining the destination one wished to go, then separating one's entire being into individual molecules and sending them one at a time through a layer of space and time in the same way one might fire the full magazine from an old-time machine gun. These molecules traveled instantly to the target and, on arrival, reassembled into the exact original pattern that the human had before the blink.
Abarth explained this as he leaned heavily on the edge of the bar and hammered down a pint of beer with a vodka chaser.
Charger R/T paid little attention to what Abarth slurred, and was instead fixated on the fact that he was pinned into a booth between a table with a large mug of beer sloshing about and the bench he was sitting on. Frustrated and impatient, Charger R/T simply ripped the table from the floor and tossed it toward a few patrons, sending them ducking for cover.
"See! That's what I’m talking about," Abarth carried on. "Fucking sheep, the lot of them. Now, if you threw a table at me, I would throw it right back at you!" Abarth chugged another pint of beer and swigged a vodka. He was really enjoying Charger R/T's company.
Charger R/T growled, the sound emanating from deep inside him, and thought about snapping Abarth in two, just to see if he could survive and reform.
"I know what you're thinking," Abarth said. "I can read minds!" He snickered to himself as he imagined how this would affect Charger R/T. "How's about we fight!" Abarth blurted, as he staggered toward Charger, holding his fists in the air and trying to dance like a boxer in the ring.
Charger R/T backhanded the man so hard that he disappeared from the room. The patrons quickly grabbed their belongings and left. Charger R/T stood motionless for a time, trying to figure out what to do next. He decided to walk outside and look around. He didn't understand this world he found himself in and decided the strategic thing to do was to get information.
Crunching the stairs with his weight as he climbed up to the street level, he removed the small doorway to gain passage outside. Being in sunlight once again caused him to squint, making his contorted face look even more evil. Pedestrians hurried to cross the street rather than risk being in his path.
Abarth had recuperated from the blow to his body and, staggering up to Charger R/T, shouted, "Hey, let's try that again!" Abarth struck Charger R/T with all the gusto and strength he possessed, but it was like a bug hitting the windshield of a speeding car.
Charger R/T stood unmoved and, with another backhand, sent Abarth screeching through the air some five or six miles before he slammed into the ground. Within seconds Abarth blinked back into Charger R/T's path, much to the surprise of this giant human.
The fight continued. Every time Charger R/T hit Abarth, he would reform and hit back, bouncing upright like an inflatable punching bag clown that falls over when hit, then bobs up again. Abarth unleashed hundreds of years of pent-up frustration as he lashed out at Charger R/T as a substitute for those who caused the death of his beloved wife and children.
It finally got to the point where Abarth was crying and pounding on Charger R/T's chest, tears mixing with every blow. Between blows, he begged the beast to kill him, begged for a release from his grief and the life he had come to hate. Charger R/T stood unmoved and indifferent. Then started walking away.
Outraged at his inability to affect the monster, Abarth grabbed him by the arm and blinked high into the atmosphere. Abarth then blinked back to the ground for safety as he watched the helpless Charger R/T fall back to the surface. The heat of re-entry from such a height caused Charger R/T's body to catch fire and start burning. Without so much as a yell, Charger R/T impacted the ground so hard that his body was driven several yards into the earth. Unfazed, he crawled out of the hole.
Angry now, Charger R/T headed toward Abarth, who was yelling some challenge. Charger R/T caught the man by the throat and ripped Abarth’s body in two pieces, tossing them on the ground. Still outraged, Charger R/T began smashing buildings. Wildly out of control, he continued trashing and raving. He was stopped only by the presence of a reformed Abarth standing in his path once again.
"Now do you understand?" Abarth asked. "It's almost impossible to destroy us. We may b
e immortal. Nobody knows yet for sure. We live each and every day just the same as the day before, with our memories fresh in our minds. I live every moment of every day in every point of time thinking of my wife and children, and looking for some way of getting justice for the wrongs that medicine caused."
"Screw you!" snapped Charger R/T. His great hand reached out, grabbed Abarth by the throat once again and squeezed, wondering if humans still required oxygen. But it didn't seem to matter. Charger R/T dropped the man on the ground and said. "I will just let your memories beat you up." He walked away, intent on exploring this new world.
Abarth stood helpless and fuming, trying desperately to think of a way to kill Charger R/T for this disrespect. From the dark pit of Abarth's twisted mind came an answer. He built the idea slowly, planning the details necessary to destroy this abomination called Charger R/T.
Abarth did not stop there. He would take revenge on all humanity as well.
"You will pay! You will all pay, if it's the last thing I ever do!" shouted Abarth to the world. Then he blinked.
Chapter 3 Pennington on a mission
Dart speaks to Reader:
Do you remember Pennington? She's the nice little old lady who started a new religion before the world ship traveled from New Eden to the Grays' home planet to destroy that evil species. She's still going strong a thousand years later, thanks to the medical advances in extending life, and she's still calling herself a pope.
Mm, yes, you could say that she's cracked. After all, she thought the Grays were a wonderful, benevolent species, based on one solitary incident which didn't even happen to her, but to her great grandmother. But, as you know, religion is largely based on imagination and Pennington has plenty of that.
