The Purification: Book 3 of the Evaran Chronicles

by Adair Hart

  As she went through her morning routine, she thought about Dr. Snowden, Evaran, and V. What would they think of all this? What would Evaran have done to that creature when his stun baton failed? She concluded he would have done the same as her, unless he had other tools or gadgets she was unaware of. Maybe he would have run, but given Evaran’s strength displayed after one round, the creature would have probably fled. It would have known this was not someone to mess with, but with her, it decided to. It had no way of knowing she had nanobots that would give her strength.

  Her mind drifted toward the nanobots as she headed to the specimen surveillance lab. They had pulsated with a ferocity she had only felt for brief periods before. During the fight, they were steady, and she could move faster and focus much easier, and she felt stronger. She wondered if she could call upon them as needed or if they were only triggered by life-and-death situations. Her head bobbed as she contemplated staying for a bit to focus on trying to reach that state in a safe environment.

  When she arrived at the specimen surveillance lab, she sat at a workstation and began to peruse the system. It seemed the communications system was down, like at the first facility. “Kal. Activate.”

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

  “When did the Coraanan leave this facility?”

  “The Coraanan left this facility three hundred eight years ago.”

  Emily rubbed her chin. “The same time as the other facility. I don’t suppose you know why they left.”

  “The Coraanan left due to an assault on Central Command. Before communications broke down, a general alert was issued to all researchers to leave their facilities and head there.”

  Emily jerked her head back. The first facility must not have gotten that message but ventured out due to the communication system being down and breaches in the tunnels. “What attacked Central Command?”

  “The assailants were unknown.”

  Emily studied Kal for a moment as she decided to look up the message. It took her a bit of navigating through the various menu options, but she found the alert. It was a planet-wide evacuation order. All researchers were to proceed to Central Command for extraction. Her heart sank at the thought that Central Command might have been destroyed. If the rift door had been shut down there, what did that mean for her? She swallowed hard as her eyes misted. Living the rest of her life at one of these facilities alone was not something she had given much thought to.

  With a sigh, she opened the overland map. She had gone forty miles so far, and with the ten to the first facility, that meant only one hundred miles to go. Going through tunnels again was not something she was interested in. The fresh air and daylight did wonders for her mood, whereas the pitch-black darkness of the tunnels kept her on edge. In addition to that, there were not many options on places to go if the tunnels had an obstruction she could not pass, only back the way she had come.

  She tilted her head as she noticed that the next facility did not have a tunnel leading to it. Instead, it went east. The tunnels and facilities seemed to ring a chasm, with a total distance of about four hundred miles. The tunnels were out, not that she minded. She zoomed into the chasm. It looked large and very deep and was four miles across. No wonder they did not try to build a tunnel through this. There was a path over the chasm. Her eyes lit up. Maybe it was a bridge.

  She pointed at the path. “What’s this?”

  “It is the air route over the chasm. There are two facilities on each side that provide transportation.”

  “What type of transportation?”

  “An automated air pod system transports passengers across the chasm.”

  She tilted her head. “Can the air pod be overridden to fly elsewhere?”

  “Overriding the air pods’ destination is strictly forbidden.”

  She sighed. If the air pods were hackable, Kal was not going to be much help. Although Central Command had been attacked long ago, a sense of urgency pervaded her. Even if it had been attacked, it might still be the best place to be on this planet. There may even be other people there.

  She stood up and stretched. “Kal. Deactivate.”

  Kal shimmered out of view.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent in the main area of the living quarters. She focused on trying to connect with her nanobots. Straining and wishing for them to activate did not seem to help. A glimmer of hope spiked through her when she relaxed and imagined the tingling sensation in her left forearm. She ran her hand over it and then focused on imagining it on her upper left arm.

  After a few minutes of targeting other body parts, a gentle wave pulsed over her body. It was not quite at the level it had been with the creature around, but it had a definite impact. She could sense things with more accuracy. Her hearing and eyesight were improved. She stood up and went through several combat moves she had learned from studying Evaran’s videos. Everything flowed with ease.

  Another few minutes went by, and the tingling subsided. Her breathing got heavier as she took a seat on the ground. It seemed there was a tax to be paid for activating them like this. She imagined it more as a burst ability than something that would always be on, but wondered if she could raise her base level with them. It was a new challenge for her, something her competitive side appreciated.

  She spent the rest of the day training, but did take several breaks. The first one was for dinner. Eating at the facility was a luxury compared to the pellets. The second one was to verify that the creature that had attacked her in the transportation hub was still dead. She figured it was, but the thought of it regenerating and breaking into the facility skirted the edge of her thoughts.

  After a full day of activity, the cocoon-shaped bed in her living quarters welcomed her with open arms.

  The next morning, she woke up in a sweat. She had dreamed about being in a building with metal walls and floors. It was empty, but after running around for a few days, the sound of others approaching filtered through the air. To her delight, it had been Dr. Snowden, Evaran, Lord Vygon, and V. The excitement was short-lived, as Evaran said he did not know who she was. Dr. Snowden had snapped and yelled at her. Lost and confused, she had run before waking up. The way Evaran had said what he did was something she could see him saying. She shuddered as she got up and got a drink of water and then proceeded with what would be her daily routine.

  Several weeks later, she was ready to go. Her nanobots could activate on command to several levels higher than where they were. After much conditioning, the tax it had caused before was gone. She did not come close to the life-and-death levels she felt with the nanobots, but figured over time, she would get there.

  Her training had progressed as well. She discovered that in a heightened state, moves became instinctual and learning was rapid. Staff fighting and unarmed combat were the focus, although she spent time practicing sword fighting and moves with the stun and repulsion beams as well. If she ever saw Evaran again, she would have to thank him. She frowned as she once again thought of Dr. Snowden, Evaran, and V. With a heavy sigh, she did a quick check that she was restocked and then headed out from the facility.

  The air pod facility was a few miles to the north, and there were no issues getting there. The fresh air and sunlight made the trip almost enjoyable. After arriving at the facility, she noted it was a large warehouse-like building. Pillars stood just outside each of the building’s corners. A beam scanned her, and the door slid open. When she walked in, the lights turned on and machines whirred to life.

  The building was one large room with multiple small cubed metallic ships. Kal had said the system was automated, so with a deep breath, she approached one of the ships. It had a window on the front and a door on the side. The back of it had a blue ring, and various antennae-like structures rested on the top.

  She ran her hand along the roof before opening the door. The seats were small. It was obviously built for Coraanan, but with her small form, she was able to slip in. It was a tight fit, b
ut as there were no controls, it would do. Once the door was closed, the ship trembled, then lifted off. An opening at the far side of the building opened up, and the ship flew out of it.

  As the ship flew over the chasm, she peered out the front window. The chasm was deeper looking at it from above. No wonder the Coraanan did not build a tunnel here. She swallowed hard around the halfway point when the ship trembled. The thought crossed her mind that maybe the ship would have issues being so old, but given that the Coraanan were obviously advanced, maybe not.

  When the ship reached the other side, she saw a similar warehouse-like building. It had an air pod entrance that struggled to open. Her heartbeat increased as she saw it approaching the semiclosed doors. When it was twenty feet out, she opened the air pod door and jumped out.

  The ship crashed into the building, but with little damage. It tried several more times to go in, but eventually settled on the ground.

  She shook her head as she realized she must have jumped fifteen feet. Her fall had been graceful, and she landed without any injury. The nanobots had kicked in, and she was sure her focus on landing on her two feet helped things. She shuddered to think what that would have been like without the nanobots helping.

  A white silky web encased the bottom half of the building. She had not seen it or the busted pillars when coming in. This building had been claimed by something, and she had no desire to find out what owned it. The shrieking and skittering noises coming from inside helped confirm that decision for her.

  She scanned the pathway ahead. Seven miles were done, four of them over the chasm. Another thirty-two to go until the next facility. The overland map had shown the next segment of her trip to be a forest, but there was a path through it. The thought that she had not seen any type of land transportation crossed her mind. A dirt bike would have been great for these.

  She shook her head with a sigh and headed out on the path into the forest.

  Dr. Snowden examined the hallways they walked through with great intensity. The nanobots were still pulsing inside him, and every detail he could see was amplified. From the miniature cracks in the walls to the impaled corpses, it was all available in high detail. The downside was the pronounced smell of rotting corpses. He could raise his helmet, but he wanted to sense everything in this state. Each step was effortless, and he felt like he could run a marathon.

  Evaran and Lord Vygon walked ahead of Dr. Snowden as they wound around various corridors. V had been flying around, and since Dr. Snowden had his helmet down, he did not know where V was.

  After five minutes, they came to a large room. Inside it was a mix of rift technology similar to the rift door and the advanced portion of the pyramid they were in. Workstations lined the walls with a command table in the middle of the room.

  Dr. Snowden’s eyes narrowed as he studied the impaled corpses. “They were caught by surprise.”

  Evaran faced Dr. Snowden, then scanned the corpses. After a moment, he said, “I would agree. Whatever created these spikes moved quickly. I do not suspect it was a creature at this point.”

  Lord Vygon sniffed the air. “Yeah … not smelling anything in here except death.”

  Evaran placed his UIC on a console, and after a moment, it connected. He perused his ARI and then faced Lord Vygon and Dr. Snowden. “Perhaps I can find something here. There is more access and information available here than the first stop. However, it will be difficult to obtain and will take some time. You two can find Emily while I work on this.”

  Dr. Snowden glanced at Lord Vygon, who nodded.

  They exited the room together.

  Dr. Snowden could feel the nanobots beginning to wind down. He shook his hand in front of him at the odd sensation. “Starting to come back down.”

  Lord Vygon half smiled. “That’s normal.”

  Dr. Snowden smirked. “I forget, you’ve seen a future me. I guess I learn to control them at some point.”

  “Of course. You’re a scientist.”

  “Yeah … I guess,” said Dr. Snowden. He cocked his head as they continued down the corridor. “I guess the Emily you know learns to control them too …”

  Lord Vygon chuckled. “I forgot how persistent you can be.”

  “Oh, c’mon … you obviously know who it is we’re looking for and whether it’s Emily or not.”

  Lord Vygon shook his head. He paused and raised a hand. “I detect movement ahead, in the room to the right.”

  Dr. Snowden focused his senses. He noticed it too, and not just the sounds of movement, but the smell. He homed in on the door and thought he could almost see the air fluctuating. With a wave of his hand forward, he stepped in front of the door.

  Emily was curled up on a bed in the corner of the room. There was not much in the room in terms of furniture, but there was a smaller door farther inside the room.

  “Emily?”

  Emily looked up with a wet face and puffy eyes.

  Dr. Snowden exhaled from his nose. “Look … I’m sorry what I said back there. I was just … confused. I was expecting …”

  “Not me,” said Emily as she sat up on the bed. She looked down.

  Dr. Snowden sighed. “We can figure all this out. Why don’t you come with us, and we can talk to Evaran about it.”

  “You hate me because I’m not her,” said Emily. “What am I?”

  Dr. Snowden entered the room and knelt in front of Emily. He grabbed her hands as his eyes misted. “I won’t lie to you. I don’t know what you are, but you act, sound, and smell like Emily to me. You may be her in another form, I don’t know. Until then, you have the benefit of the doubt.”

  Emily looked up and sniffled.

  Dr. Snowden opened his arms, and Emily leaned forward and hugged him. He ran his hand up and down her back. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out and get through it.”

  Emily trembled as she cried. After a few minutes, she pulled back. With a half smile, she rose, wiped her eyes, and gestured at the exit. “I’m ready then.”

  Dr. Snowden looked at Lord Vygon, who nodded, and they proceeded back to the room where Evaran was.

  Evaran sat at one of the workstations, studying the embedded screen on the wall perpendicular to the desk. He turned his head as Dr. Snowden, Emily, and Lord Vygon entered. With a quick swivel of his chair, he stood and faced Emily. “I am glad you came.”

  Emily drooped her head while looking at Evaran.

  Evaran scanned Dr. Snowden and Lord Vygon, then proceeded toward Emily. He extended his arms. “No hug?”

  Emily lifted her head and, with a big smile, bear-hugged Evaran. She squinted as she sniffled.

  Evaran hugged Emily and rubbed her back.

  Emily stepped away and sighed. “This is so confusing.”

  Evaran nodded and gestured for everyone to take a seat. After everyone sat, he raised a finger. “I have found some interesting information.”

  Dr. Snowden sat on the edge of his chair as he rested his arm on one of the desks. Whenever Evaran raised a finger, it usually meant something big was about to drop.

  “I am going to go through what I found in chronological order in terms of events,” said Evaran. “The first event was the arrival of Emily here from Lord Vygon’s base. There is no visual feed of her arrival or departure, but there are logs that show she was here.”

  Dr. Snowden let loose a controlled breath.

  “Second event. They took a nanobot sample from her and then tossed her through the prison planet rift door. It is powered down, most likely due to the rift controller being disintegrated.”

  “Well … how are we going to know where this prison planet is?” asked Dr. Snowden as his nerves pulsed.

  “We will get to that,” said Evaran. He tossed out an orb. “Third event. The nanobot sample was brought to a research lab deeper in this base, and they tried to fuse it with rift technology. They were trying to weaponize it, but the end result was a nanobot swarm that fanned out, killing every living thing it found.” With a swipe through h
is ARI, a projection shot up from the orb. It displayed different locations, but each scene was the same. The ground pulsed like a wave toward the Purifiers, and when it hit them, a spike shot up.

  “Is the ground … rippling?” asked Dr. Snowden.

  “Yes,” said Evaran. “It is actually the nanobot swarm traveling through the ground. They formed a spike on any living creature they encountered.”

  “Well … that explains the surprised looks,” said Lord Vygon.

  Evaran nodded. “It moved relatively quickly.” He swiped at his ARI. “Fourth event. Once the nanobot swarm cleared the facility, this occurred.”

  The projection showed a room with a slab. The ground around it came alive and crept up the slab. It then formed an exact replica of Emily lying on top.

  Emily gasped with wide eyes.

  “They formed you,” said Evaran, looking at Emily. “However, before they did, they scoured the base in search of rift technology and devoured it, all except the crystals on the rift door. Unfortunately, the rift controller was a victim of its hunger.”

  Emily narrowed her eyes. “I’ve only been here a day or so. I think.”

  Evaran shook his head. “Not quite. You were on the slab from the moment you were created until we arrived. Approximately three days.”

  “What? How … how is that possible? They pricked me with a syringe, I blacked out, and woke up on that slab, and now you’re telling me I’m actually a murderous nanobot swarm that’s been asleep for several days?” said Emily. Her breathing intensified.

  Evaran extended a hand out. “Relax. You may be the end result of the nanobot swarm, but you are not it.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Emily, swallowing hard.

  Evaran looked down for a moment.

  Dr. Snowden could see that Evaran was wrestling with a decision. He remembered seeing it on the Krotovore ship when Evaran had first explained what was going on when they were awakened out of the virtual simulation. This must be something important given how long he was looking down.