The Purification: Book 3 of the Evaran Chronicles

by Adair Hart

  “Translation matrix has been initiated. Welcome to Coraanan research facility number thirty-four. I am the virtual interface, Kal.”

  Emily stared at Kal with her mouth agape. After a few moments of studying it, she said, “Umm. Hello?”

  “Hello.”

  “What are you?”

  “I am the virtual interface Kal.”

  Emily shook her head. “No … I meant … what species are you?”

  “I am modeled after a male Coraanan.”

  “Okay … what is researched here?”

  “The Coraanan researched specimens sent through the rift doors.”

  Emily circled her hand. “Specimens?”

  “Convicted offenders of Coraanan law.”

  Emily grimaced. This research facility was a glorified watchtower. She walked over to the first doorway on the left. “Where does this go?”

  “This door leads to the living quarters. It is composed of two levels, with fifty individual rooms each. Each room consists of a sleeping pod, a hygiene pod, an eating pod, and an entertainment pod.”

  “Sounds interesting … ,” said Emily. She glanced at Kal, who stood staring at her. Although Kal was not real, she was glad to have something to talk to that did not want to murder or eat her. It was a nice change of pace. She walked up to the second door on the left. “Where does this one go?”

  “This door leads to the specimen surveillance lab, which the Coraanan used to monitor incoming offenders. It consists of twenty workstations, each networked into the central database.”

  Emily was beginning to get a feel for Kal. He seemed to have short descriptions of everything, but it seemed that in order to dig for more information, the right question would have to be asked. “What else is in this central database?”

  “The central database contains records on each specimen. Audio, visual, and text is stored and identified by a specimen ID. Research, facility maintenance, and personal employee information is also stored.”

  “And how many specimens are we talking about?”

  “There are currently eighteen thousand nine hundred thirty-six specimen IDs.”

  Emily’s eyes widened. It was obvious this was a large-scale operation. If this was a prison planet as it seemed to be, then the Coraanan were either prolific in sending people through or they had been at it a long time. “How old is this research facility?”

  “This research facility is seven hundred eighty-nine years old.”

  Emily paused as she digested what she had just heard. A quick check on her math revealed that to be about twenty-four specimens a year, or two a month. She had been on the planet just a few weeks away from two months, so there would have been two to three others. The one she had seen devoured where she had come in crossed her mind. Then there was Ezekial, and the other one that Kazaal had gone after when she escaped. Her mind focused on the Coraanan. “Are … there any Coraanan here now?”

  “There are currently no Coraanan at this research facility.”

  “When was the last time one was here?”

  “The last Coraanan was here three hundred eight years ago.”

  “Where did they go?”

  “Unknown.”

  Emily sighed. “Did they leave a note or log or something?”

  “The central database contains many logs.”

  Emily wrinkled her eyebrows. “Any on why they left?”

  “There are three hundred logs with the word left.”

  Emily snorted as she walked over to the other side of the room. The difference between V, an artificial intelligence, and Kal, a virtual intelligence, was much clearer to her now. She had a vague understanding of it before, but the conversation she was having now was illustrating it quite well. One thing that was a pleasant surprise was that the place smelled clean. “What powers this place?”

  “This research facility is powered by both geothermal and nuclear power.”

  Emily bobbed her head as she pointed at the first door on the right. “Where does this lead to?”

  “This door leads to the specimen storage rooms. Specimens were brought in for study if they reached a certain distance from the portals. Native denizens of this planet were also kept here.”

  “Certain distance?”

  “If a specimen was able to survive and move away within a range threshold, they were brought in for study. Neurological and physical analysis was obtained.”

  “And … how was that done?”

  “The specimens were dissected and studied.”

  Emily harrumphed. Not only were these Coraanan heartless, they were also unethical. She shook her head. What was it about highly advanced civilizations and their perversion of ethics? Maybe it was her view that was perverse to them. She pointed to the next door. “And where does this one go?”

  “This door leads to the transportation system. Each research facility on a landmass contains a hub that is connected to other hubs at other research facilities. The hub at this facility is currently inactive due to breaches.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “The transportation system tunnels are not functional. The tunnels’ exterior walls have been exposed to the surrounding environment. Multiple blockages were reported.”

  “What caused it?”

  “Unknown.”

  Emily studied the doorway for a moment. She planned to check it out, but given what she had seen outside, it would be no surprise that something would have gotten into the subterranean tunnels. The fact that there were no Coraanan around and that their transportation system was busted probably meant something bad happened, something she would need to research. For now, checking out the living quarters and getting some rest, food, and water were on her mind. The thought of that creature outside gave her pause as she faced Kal. “Is this facility secure? I saw some pillars outside.”

  “This facility is secured by guardian pillars. The two entrances to the facility are currently shut down.”

  Emily let out a measured breath. “And there is nothing alive here?”

  “You are the only being with the status of alive.”

  Emily nodded. “Well then … take me to a room in the living quarters.”

  Kal bowed and floated off toward the first door on the left. Emily followed him into a split-level entrance. Kal went up the right side and into an elongated room with evenly spaced doors lined up on the walls. The first door on the right slid open at their approach.

  Entering the room caused Emily’s eyes to pop open. It was relatively luxurious from what she had been getting used to. The central room had a workstation and a couch, along with a large screen on the wall. Small tables were dotted up against the wall and between entrances to the other pod areas. She turned back to the door they had just walked through and looked for a console. She found it on the wall to her right. “How do you lock this?”

  Kal raised a hand toward the console and a performed a walk-through of how to lock the door.

  Emily repeated the steps to lock the door and then looked for the hygiene pod. Walking to her right, she peered in and saw a lowered platform with grill holes around the base. A console screen stood out on the wall. She was not sure exactly how it worked, but she would figure it out. Turning toward Kal, she said, “Okay … I think I’m good now.”

  Kal looked at Emily.

  “You can go away now.”

  “If you require my assistance, you can activate me from a console or say my name out loud followed by the word activate. To shut me down, say my name followed by the word deactivate.” Kal stared at Emily.

  Emily sighed. “Fine. Kal, deactivate.”

  Kal shimmered, then disappeared.

  Emily stripped down and stepped onto the lowered platform. She interacted with the console. It took her a bit to figure out the interface, but she was able to set the temperature of the water and intensity of it. She jumped when the water first came down since it did not come from a nozzle, but instead from holes in the ceiling. As the hot wat
er caressed her body, she let out a measured breath.

  The last time she had a hot shower escaped her, but the weeks of grime seemed to wash away. Looking around, she saw an indented area with several nozzles and a mesh glove. She tapped at one of the nozzles, and it spurted out a gooey blue substance. She sniffed it as best she could in the shower and determined it was some type of cleaner. Rubbing a bit of it on the ends of her hair caused it to foam up. Tapping at another nozzle caused a gel-like substance with miniature objects in it to spew forth. She scrubbed a bit on her forearm and half smiled at the feel. After putting on the mesh glove, which seemed to expand to the size of her hand, she cleaned herself thoroughly. Even though she had washed herself twice over, she spent some additional time just standing. It felt too good to move.

  After a while, she tapped at the console and turned off the water. She cocked her head at the drying options. Playing around with it showed that there were controls on air flow. She selected a warm air and its intensity and stood while the sides of the enclosure slid down to reveal slits every foot or so. Warm air blasted out. She felt her eyes droop. If she ever got back to the Torvatta, this would be something she would recommend as an upgrade.

  She grimaced as she thought of Dr. Snowden, Evaran, and V. They seemed so far away to her. At this point, she was sure something was wrong. There was no way they would not have come, unless there was some reason they were unable to. She would have to survive out here, alone. No help was coming. Her heart sank as tears rolled down her cheeks. She still had hope that she might be wrong, but as each day and trial passed, it was becoming more and more remote.

  After drying off, she headed to the bedroom with her clothes and equipment in her arms and found a cocoon-shaped bed. She checked her PSD and saw it would be roughly 11:00 p.m. back on Earth. Tossing her clothing and equipment at the side of the bed, she crawled inside and slipped under the covers.

  Exhaustion took over, and her eyes closed.

  Emily awoke the next day and lay in bed for a bit. She stared out at the clothes and equipment she had been using. They were still tossed on the ground next to the bed. The memory of how tired she was last night jumped into her mind briefly, then exited as she swung her legs off the side of the bed.

  She stretched and yawned and checked her chest for pain. The nanobots had been at work. She grabbed her PSD off the ground and checked the time. It showed eleven in the morning. A twelve-hour rest was unusual for her, but maybe the nanobots needed the time. At least there was no pain.

  She noticed a closet in the room and investigated it. It had several pieces of an outfit embedded in a block that took up half the closet. The other half was a space with a button on the wall. The flooring of it had a rubber mat of some sort. Her eyebrows wrinkled as she studied the blue jumpsuit. To the right of it was a smaller white garment that reminded her of a one-piece swimming suit. Under that was a thin silver wristband. She cocked her head as she noticed unusual-looking socks next to the combat-like boots on the ground. Everything seemed a bit small for her.

  “Kal. Activate.”

  Kal shimmered into view. “Good morning. How may I be of service?”

  Emily gestured at the clothing display. “What is this?”

  “It is a clothing adjuster that adjusts the sizing of the clothes based on your body.”

  “How do I tell it my size?”

  “Step into the clothing adapter pad and press the button.”

  Emily raised her eyebrows as she stepped onto the pad. She pressed the button and jumped a bit when a thin line of light scanned her from top to bottom. Once it was done, she stepped out and noticed that the outfit embedded into the block was larger. She grabbed the smaller white suit and slipped it on. It felt like underwear and was soft on the skin. She slipped on the blue jumpsuit, socks, and boots. With a few quick turns and movements, she adjusted to it. It seemed to flow much better than what she had on before. She sat on the edge of her bed and put on her bone pieces. That was not something she suspected this place would provide.

  The wristband slipped effortlessly onto her wrist. It was not fully closed but had a small gap that pulled apart enough to fit her wrist through. She eyed it. “Kal, what is this wristband for?”

  “It contains the translation matrix needed for translation and also records my interaction with you.”

  “Oh,” she said. “Guess that would be handy for other facilities.”

  Kal stared at her.

  She shook her head with a small smile. “Kal. Deactivate.”

  Kal shimmered out of view.

  She headed to the hygiene room and washed up. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and used a leather strip to tie it off. Putting on her fur head covering completed her outfit. Throughout the rest of the day, she kept Kal activated. Kal would follow her around in silence, and she was getting used to his presence. Although not a living being, it felt like another person.

  Over the next month, this would be her morning routine. Her afternoon routine involved her going to the specimen surveillance room and researching. She spent a few hours a day meditating and trying to focus on her nanobots. Other hours were spent on practicing her training and learning more about the PSD.

  She had no desire to leave the facility during this time, other than scouting out the transportation hub. Looking at the visual feeds from outside from time to time showed no signs of the presence. She had wondered if it was waiting for her to leave. If it tried to attack her, it would learn she was not easy prey, just like Kazaal did.

  If there was going to be any information on this planet, she suspected it would be in the specimen surveillance lab. That would be better than trying to figure out what keywords to use with Kal. He had mentioned that even though the Coraanan were gone, the rift doors still sent automated information. While browsing the latest entries, she found hers, along with Ezekial’s. The one statistic that stood out to her was potential strength levels. For Ezekial, he had one point four. She was not sure what scale was being used but assumed one was an average. Hers was four. She knew that she had additional strength at times but did not think it was four times a normal human’s, assuming Ezekial was a normal human.

  Studying the transportation system showed that there were multiple research facilities across the landmass. The tunnels connecting the facilities were also damaged. There was not a lot of detail on why, just that some areas of it were considered unsafe.

  The communication system between the facilities was down. Maybe that was why the last group of Coraanan left. She asked Kal how the rift doors could send automated information when the communication system was down, and he said that they were different networks. There were several, and the automated one had better redundancy according to Kal.

  The blue dot information had caught her eye. It was the exit point for the planet and was called Central Command. There was a rift door that allowed for travel back. It did not specify where, though. She had smiled as she read it. Maybe there was hope. All she had to do was get there. She tracked the various facilities she could use on the way. The trip was about 140 miles, with a facility every 40 miles or so. The next one she would need to get to went through a mountain range. Or she could take the tunnels.

  While her daily research took several hours, another few were spent focusing on her nanobots. She had learned that if she focused on them, she could get the tingling sensation all over her body. When her focus had been amplified, everything slowed down a bit. It was an adjustment to get used to the timing as she trained at staff fighting and other techniques from her PSD.

  The specimen storage room was one place she did not go much. There was nothing of value in there except rooms with glass-like windows and bones everywhere. It was apparent that the Coraanan left behind whatever was in there to die. It seemed to her that the Coraanan evacuated in a rush.

  At the end of a month, she was ready. She was dismayed that there were no weapons, but she did find a much more solid backpack and filled it with metal conta
iners of the cleaning goo and other hygiene gels. She also packed some hard candies she had found patterns for on the food replicators. One item she treasured was a flat, circular light beacon that she could wear around her neck. It was the size of a small dinner plate and shot a wide beam forward. She figured it would be helpful if she needed to use her PSD in a darkened situation. Although unsure of the power source, she hoped it would last to the next facility.

  The thought that maybe the presence would have found a way into the tunnels had crept into her mind. She felt she was ready to take it on if she had to. Her stun and repulsion beams should be more than a match for it. She hoped it would not come to close-quarters combat, but if it did, her nanobots and fighting training would help out.

  With a good night’s rest behind her, she stood at the entrance to the transportation system door. “Kal. Activate.”

  Kal shimmered into view. “Good afternoon. How may I be of service?”

  Emily smiled. “I’m leaving. I just wanted to say thank you.”

  “Visual log recorded.”

  “Kal. Deactivate.”

  Kal faded away.

  Emily snorted and headed down the winding ramp after going through the doorway. She had scouted the transportation hub under the facility during her month stay. It reminded her of a train station in that it had travel compartments on some type of rail in the middle, with wide platforms along each side. High above on each side were lighting strips. The tunnel was a straight shot to the next facility, and forty miles long. With a final look around, she began her journey.

  The first few miles went without incident. She had not seen any breaches in the metal walls. There was little noise outside her footsteps and breathing. The dimming of the lights as she progressed seemed ominous to her. It reminded her of scary movies. If she had been on a couch watching herself, she would have yelled at herself to go back to the safety of the first research facility. She used the PSD to track her progress and checked it occasionally. She was not expecting to reach the second facility for at least three days.