Dark Phase

by Jonathan Davison

  The remaining time it took to hike back to the city limits was not wasted by the resourceful troubleshooter. He took the opportunity to study a new way of capturing the energies provided by the searing light of the Star and construct a new, enhanced power cell which could remain operational beyond the dark phase. He quickly encountered significant problems however. Primarily, he did not know how long the dark phase lasted! It was an important factor if he was to put his theories to test. Secondly and more disturbingly, these modifications would require resources that could be hard to obtain without silicant contact, namely power cells. To his knowledge, he had never dealt with the replacement of power cells in his duties as a troubleshooter; this was one malfunction that often resulted in renewal. If Sarazen wanted to obtain power cells, it was likely that he would have to take them from a functioning silicant and in doing so, rendering them non operational in the process. These thoughts made Sarazen feel uncomfortable as he still felt the pangs of remorse from his unfortunate conflict with the operator. Sarazen would have to quickly decide whether his freedom was worthy of the termination of other silicants. They may have been ignorant of the realities of their existence but perhaps, if given the right conditions, they held the same potential to find this 'awareness' as Sarazen had demonstrated. Would it not be as heinous an act as the wilful destruction of the organics? Even that primary command had lost some of its relevance in Sarazen’s eyes. The only thing he could be sure of now is that he would do anything to avoid termination. Somehow he knew that to do this, he would face many more difficult decisions and moral dilemmas. He had tasted the freedom of thought and had no wish to return to his blinkered, mundane existence.

  CHAPTER 10

  A heavy shower of corrosive precipitation greeted Sarazen’s return to the city. He cowered under an imaginary shield as the fast falling droplets found their way into every crack and fold of his exoskeleton. A small unidentified structure lay half buried beneath a swathe of sandy earth which might aid Sarazen in offering a sheltered place to plan his method of entry into the city. The end of the light phase was imminent and Sarazen could not afford to dilly dally further if he did not want to be stranded in standby mode, open to the elements and the scrutiny of the city. He still did not have a hard and fast plan of action except to make his way to the disused buildings he had discovered whilst being pursued earlier in the cycle. How he was first going to cross several blocks of heavily populated offices and homes, he knew not. He could only hope that by not engaging in communication with any individuals, he would blend into the landscape and remain undetected.

  On approaching the small dilapidated structure, Sarazen realised that it was rather different to the other structures of the city. More resembling some of the architecture present in the industrial sector, it was clear that whatever this building’s function, it was no longer in use and it's capitulation to the elements could only mean that no silicant could have had cause to use it in recent cycles. The structure had crumbled on one side, its walls formed from smaller rectangular blocks, with a shiny enamelled tiled fascia. There was little of the original roof left to protect Sarazen from the rain but he took what little comfort it gave and was grateful for small mercies. Squeezing his body tightly against the wall, the rain began a particularly vicious assault and the sound of the drops as they beat the dusty soil grew in intensity. Sarazen adjusted his posture as he detected some softness of the ground beneath his feet. The longer he stood there, the more he could feel his feet sinking into the sandy mass that had been windswept up to the tiny building. Stepping aside on to firmer ground, he dabbed the toe of his foot into the soft sand and then dug it in a little deeper, kicking up a little as if digging inefficiently. The more earth Sarazen kicked up, the softer it seemed to become as if it were just enough to cover a concealed underground entrance. Remembering the tiny organic and its earthy lair and with his curiosity briefly consuming his will to enter the city before the advent of the dark phase, Sarazen could not help but continue to dig large lumps of soil from the sandy pit. After he realised that his feet were inefficient in their design for such a job, he sat back on his haunches and began to cup his hands, burrowing deeper and deeper into the ever expanding pit. Suddenly, Sarazen felt a strange sensation of movement beneath his feet and the soil began to subside without his influence. Sarazen began to fall forward into the hole he had dug and even a flailing grasp of thin air could not stop his momentum increasing till he fell head first into the pit. The ground swallowed him up into a black abyss and for a moment, Sarazen thought it was to be his end and cursed himself for even contemplating digging the wretched hole. The fall was thankfully not a long one and as his body came though the orifice, so did several tons of earth and rock which threatened to coat him from head to foot.

  Sarazen lay on his back on an uncomfortable hard and ridged surface. Looking up, he saw the entrance of the gaping hole in the landscape, the light and the rain pouring through. Turning his head, there was a great deal of darkness all around him. His visual sensors took a few moments to adjust to the new lighting conditions. They were not designed for use in such low light levels and thus his vision did not have its usual clarity. His first instinct was to move away from the darkness and into the swathe of light that beamed down from overcast sky. The hole was not out of reach. He felt satisfied that if required he could climb out, which gave him cause to relax a little and not to overheat his core by panicking unduly. The breach of light lit only the first few footsteps into the subterranean construction and then all that could be easily discerned was a flight of stairs leading down into the darkness. Odd, Sarazen thought, the silicants did not construct subterranean structures, to do so would be illogical considering their need for the light of the Star to perpetuate their functionality. The immediacy of his plight, however was more concerning at this point despite the intriguing nature of his find. Perhaps he had found a little fortune in this place? As long as he remained within the fall of light from outside the hole, he might find this location a pertinent place to stay for the impending dark phase. It was unlikely that even from the air this concealed entrance would be detectable, in fact like the spindly organic’s abode, this was a perfect place to stop, rest and consolidate the data obtained in this cycle. Sarazen could not entertain a suggestion to what may lie beyond the shadowy staircase in the depths; it did not concern him unduly at present. There would be time to explore the possibilities during the next light phase. As the light faded, Sarazen sat gazing upon the presence of the dark Star, its round luminescence offering an intriguing comfort as his power cells gradually gave up the last of their energy reserves and Sarazen fell into a cold, empty sleep.

  When Sarazen awoke, he was still sat with his head cupped in his hands looking up at the sky. The dark Star had long gone and its larger, fiercer cousin now ruled once again. The sky was very blue and the new warmth was comforting after the cold dark phase. Sarazen’s core temperature was very low, it was the first dark phase he had spent away from his home and perhaps he had misjudged how bitterly cold the outside world could become. Still well within tolerances, the cool conditions meant that for a few moments, Sarazen felt lacklustre and drained of power, his limbs were stiff, his thoughts muddied and difficult to process. He was also wet from the morning dew that had covered him as he slept. Sarazen shuddered to think what the corrosive fluid was doing to his exterior. After some residual heat was built up, he consciously used some of his core heat to raise the temperature in his exoskeletal plates and underlying weave, thus quickly evaporating any moisture.

  Sarazen climbed the last of the steps which had been showered in rubble and grit and poked his head out into the surface. He smiled to himself as on all four limbs, he crawled out of his hole like the leggy organic he had so admired in the previous cycle. Scanning the landscape, he felt safe in the knowledge that this hideout was well concealed and unlikely to draw the attention of silicants going about their cyclical duties. The new den had given Sarazen the opportunity to dwell a
nd think in safety, to plan and plot his next move, to prioritise his actions. Uppermost on his agenda was the capture of some phosphorylin. He knew that with every passing cycle, his functionality would deteriorate if he could not obtain some of the highly specialized substance. It was the chemical concoction that maintained the Vitalin, the fluid transport system inside the silicant anatomy. Without the recycling of Vitalin, its properties would diminish and the effects would be catastrophic for the individual. Secondly, Sarazen hoped to obtain the power cells and necessary spare parts which could be adapted for extended use in non light conditions. Both these and the phosphorylin could only be obtained in the city and with a certain amount of peril required. Looking back into the underground lair, Sarazen longed to explore the unprecedented find. However, it was clear that his power reserves would quickly be depleted without the constancy of the Star’s life giving rays. He estimated that only a few fleeting moments could be spent in the darkness before shut down. If that happened and he became stranded down there, he would remain, indefinitely entombed in the subterranean chamber.

  Curiosity, however, is a powerful driving force, and Sarazen’s need to seek the answer to the questions which confounded him was perhaps one of his most prominent traits. He shuffled back down the hole into the darkness once more, his back still bathed in light. Risk, Sarazen thought, a concept explained by his friend Cole, was now part of his cyclical existence. Every action that Sarazen performed now seemed to have an element of risk. He had to analyse the possible dangers and balance those with the possible rewards. Surely his power cells could last for a few brief moments whilst he surveyed the mysterious descending staircase? Sarazen engaged a number of energy saving modes, disabling some of his ancillary functions leaving only the cognitive centre and his motor system fully operational. He disabled his now redundant network port and some regulatory systems which could withstand a short outage with no major lasting effects, and wondered why he had not done this sooner. He leaned back and shuffled his body into the light and ensured his light receptors were well lit. Now he would have to wait. He did not know how long it would take to charge his power cells to capacity with so many systems off line or how long he could function thereafter in the darkness, but if it were only enough time to catch a glimpse of what lay beyond the dark steps, he would be satisfied until such juncture he could prolong his exploration.

  The Star’s prominence in the sky grew as the cycle passed, when it was at its peak and its blazing radiance had warmed the silicant to such temperatures that a haze of heat could be seen to emanate from his body, Sarazen decided that it was now or never. Moving slowly to save as much energy as possible, he shuffled down from the light of the surface into the gloom. He managed to stand upright as the stairs descended further into the earth. Sarazen hoped that when his power cells were running low, he would have the awareness to begin his ascent, however, the last thing he needed was to have to hurry back to the surface, using more precious energy and increasing the chance of permanent standby. Having never before encountered such a scene devoid of light, he quickly realised that his visual capabilities were not up to the task of peering through the gloom. As he took each step with agonising caution, so his sensory systems began to fail and he challenged himself not to look back into the light of the entrance which would only serve to scramble his adaptive circuits. Persisting with his descent, he now used his tactile sensors to compensate for the loss of his visual acuity. Sarazen paused to contemplate his position. He understood that diverting more power to his visual sensors could aid his navigation but thereby diminishing his power reserves and cutting short his mission. It was a logical step to take without the ability to understand what lay beyond, the mission was devoid of meaning. Diverting the necessary auxiliary energy, Sarazen’s visual acuity increased and despite his previous logic, he began to trot down the staircase with haste despite the possibility that this too would drain his power cells more swiftly.

  Into the moist, dingy atmosphere, the courageous silicant skipped down the thankfully evenly constructed flight of stairs, the tiled walls oozing with corrosive liquids. Sarazen could feel the slimy, dank walls become more arid during the descent as even the most primitive and hardy organics could not survive in such hostile conditions. The structural integrity appeared to increase with each passing step and finally the steep tunnel ended abruptly and Sarazen could just about make out that the tight confines of the descent led to a much larger, expansive chamber. The detail of the find was difficult to distinguish. Sarazen knew then that for further exploration, he would have to either adapt his visual settings for ultra low lighting conditions, or probably less troublesome, devise some kind of artificial light source which could illuminate his surroundings. Sarazen was frustrated and desperately wanted to know what secrets the underground chamber held but time and power were running short. Looking back up to the entrance, he could see the small speck of intense light that would guide his ascent to the surface. His instinct told him to begin the return leg of his journey - there was clearly no point in further exploration. Whatever secrets the chamber held would be preserved for next time and despite conflicting thoughts which demanded to acquire the knowledge now, Sarazen flinched as he realised that he must go without further hesitancy. He turned to take the first step back up the long shaft but as he did so, his visual acuity suddenly diminished. Sending his sensory network into overdrive, Sarazen realised that time was now short. Lifting his foot on to the next step was unusually difficult; his motor sensors were also suffering from power depletion. Scrambling to divert all power to these systems, Sarazen moved with all possible haste up the dark flight, each step becoming more difficult until at one point, he tripped and fell onto his knees. The confusion and panic served only to drain the power cells further and his worst fears were being realised. The light at the end of the tunnel was still too far away to have any impact on the silicant’s power attainment and Sarazen suddenly realised that he had been a fool to risk all for this fruitless venture. One more agonising step was all that Sarazen could manage before the Vitalin ceased to flow and his core functions slowed and then faltered. The spark of consciousness stifled, Sarazen ground to an eternal standstill, his body remaining perfectly still, statuesque in a posture which perfectly explained his final quest - the desperate reaching out for the light of salvation.

  CHAPTER 11

  There was a warm glow, a nourishing fire that replenished, reinvigorated. Sarazen was suddenly aware that he was once again awake and very much operational. He was not immediately aware of his surroundings. His systems were malfunctioning, misfiring. There was still darkness but there was movement. He went to speak but it was hard, he went to move but it was impossible. There were noises, muffled and unintelligible. How did he get here? What were his primary command functions? Sarazen battled to retrieve his memory from the addled mess that were his core computations. The tunnel, yes, he remembered the long dark descent into oblivion. He had not made it out, he had been unwise, letting his ambition overpower his logic. Was he still there, in the deep inhospitable hollow? Impossible, how could he be functioning if that were the case? There was a sudden flicker of light, then more blackness. A throbbing haze of colours and kaleidoscopic patterns began to overload his visual sensors. Despite their abstract nature, their presence was most welcome after the frightful darkness. The noises grew more distinct and he began to make sense of them. They were speech patterns but for some reason his auditory centre was struggling to decipher them. Still paralysed Sarazen had little choice but to remain there, patiently awaiting more functionality. There were now tactile sensory inputs, his body was being manipulated although he could not understand how and why. The visual stimulus continued to baffle but Sarazen was now becoming more aware of the voice patterns and their meaning.