A circular dome emerging from the disk’s base began to surround them. Upon forming an elongated bubble-like structure around them, they were whisked down the tube at well over two hundred miles per hour. The lights on the side of the tube were timed so as they traversed, it provided the illusion of moving at a slow pace.
As the disk came to an abrupt stop, the dome surrounding them disappeared and the wall to their front dematerialized. William cautiously peered his head into the adjacent room only to be amazed by the vast underground network that lay before him.
A pale, thin man with his arms crossed slowly walked over to their position. Looking as if he’d not seen the light of day for years, he wore a long, white lab coat that extended down to his knees. His pale skin was accentuated by the wispy remnants of a once full head of blond hair that he attempted to spike along his colorless scalp. Despite his ghostly appearance, he possessed a youthful face and broad shoulders.
With his tired, red eyes, he looked over at Jules. “So nice of you to finally stop by. Frankly, I thought you forgot about this project or completely lost interest in it.”
“Dr. Harding,” Jules interjected, “I’d like you to meet my friends.”
William cleared his throat at the absurd statement.
Ignoring Jules, Harding walked up to Alex and began to inspect him closer. “Is this who I think I think it is?” he asked in utter amazement.
“His name is Alex Pella,” William said, looking down at the doctor as if he were intruding on their space.
“Yes. I know,” he responded, waving his hand. “My apologies.” He looked a little closer. “I’ve seen your picture but never placed it all together until you arrived here at the Training Grounds.” He turned to Jules. “I think there’s something you need to tell me.”
“We need to get him into the system,” Jules responded as he, Alex, and William exited the tube and walked past the doctor. “Cue up The New Reality Alexander the Great montage and switch the bodies.”
“Hey there. Slow down,” Harding said, following the three. “First things first. Aren’t you a wanted man? And what’re you doing bringing anybody at all, no matter who they are, down here?”
Jules seemed amused at the accusation as he walked over to a large glass console in the center of the room. “And that makes you an accomplice,” he responded turning to Harding, hoping to arouse a response.
Harding’s stone-faced stare hid what he was really thinking. After years spent at the poker table, he had mastered the look. “Jules?” he more sternly reiterated, not moving any further without an adequate response.
While Jules explained their current circumstances to Harding, Alex and William began to look around the room, in awe of its complexity.
“There are enough computing power and electronics in here to run an entire country,” William exclaimed.
Alex was more impressed with four elongated canisters in front of them, standing at about seven feet tall. Two were filled with a dark, gold-tinged solution while the others were empty. Upon looking at the filled containers, he could only guess at the contents.
As he went over to give them a closer inspection, William put his nose and head against one of the filled containers. “I wonder what’s in here?”
Alex surmised that inside one of these two filled canisters must lay another Alexander clone. He then imagined Albert Rosenberg studying him and whoever else once resided in the tubes, watching how they lived and thought. Alex felt disgusted with the whole project and at Albert Rosenberg for perpetuating such an affront to human rights.“Hey!” William exclaimed. He then began to bang on the canister. “Can you hear me in there?”
Dr. Harding quickly ran over to him. “What’re you doing? What’s all this knocking and shouting? Whatever you do, don’t touch the containment pods.”
“But I wanted to know if the person inside it could hear me,” William rebutted.
“Of course he can’t,” Harding bellowed. “His brain is directly linked into the New Reality virtual system. But that’s not the point.” He then looked at the container. “I just don’t want you to crack it. If it breaks, the person could go into shock and die.”
“What’s the glass made out of?” William scoffed. “Cellophane?”
“Could you please step away?” Harding asked. “I don’t like anybody getting too close to them.”
Alex noted Harding’s tension and nudged his friend back as he did the same.
“I suppose one of those pods will be for me?” Alex then said pointing to the nearest open container.
William looked at his friend as if he were crazy. “You’re not serious are you?” he asked. “Why the hell would you want to go in one of those containers and enter some fictitious virtual world when we have the real world only a day away from catching us?”
Like William, Harding, too, was taken back by what seemed to be a preposterous suggestion.
“You see,” Jules explained matter-of-factly. “Alex can easily enter the specially designed Alexander the Great virtual reality world already playing out at this moment without causing the slightest of disturbances in the system.”
“Plus,” Alex added, “you probably already possess a genetically compatible bio-suit available for me to wear, making my entry seamless.”
Jules admired Alex’s mental fortitude and felt a kindred spirit with him. He nodded his head in agreement as he turned to Harding. “Could you please?”
“Just because we have a perfect genetically compatible bio-suit doesn’t mean it’s at all safe for him to immediately enter The New Reality,” Harding protested.
“It is necessary,” Jules rebutted. “Remember what I said about the key and the lock?”
Harding folded his arms skeptically in response.
“Because this entire cloning project is hidden so deep within The New Reality’s computer network,” Jules went on to say, “it’s not subject to any of the vast and redundant security systems. Alex will essentially go unnoticed when he enters the system—”
Harding shook his head as he walked behind the semicircular glass table. “But that still doesn’t make it safe,” he interrupted as he tapped a few flat, transparent buttons on it. “Alex’s brain hasn’t even been primed to enter the virtual world.”
He looked at the holographic reading projected above the table. “At best, it would take a month to have him safely prepared.” He lifted up his head. “And even under those circumstances, it still would be risky.”
“I’ve already been primed,” Alex responded to the doctor’s surprise.
Harding then looked down on the table and after manipulating the control system a holographic brain, twice the normal size, appeared next to Alex. After tapping his red eyes with a pen-shaped object known as a delucidus, his vision became clearer while the redness in his eyes earned from a long night of poker playing vanished. He then walked over to the hologram and watched as parts of the brain rapidly changed color as numerous fluctuating numbers displayed beneath it. “How’d this happen?” he asked aloud.
“A gift from Albert Rosenberg,” Alex answered.
“This is amazing,” Harding commented. “It’s lucky that you didn’t start seizing or simply die on the spot. But…” he looked a little closer, “you still aren’t ready to enter. It will take a few more days for the priming to fully mature.”
“We don’t have that kind of time,” Alex responded. “By then, a few full battalions of WOGs will have already ransacked this place.”
“Where’s the suit?” Jules insisted.
“It goes against my better judgment,” Harding argued.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Alex?” William asked. “Even the original Alexander the Great was not invincible.”
It was not a question of whether or not he knew what he was doing. Alex realized the proper question would be why he was doing it. He understood there were no other options available. He had run through myriad possibilities, but each time he arrived at the same conclusion—he
had to risk entering the New Reality virtual world.
Alex responded, “If you had one chance to save our entire generation and numerous future generations from the oppressive tyranny of The New World Order created by The New Reality, wouldn’t you take the risk?”
“I’ll have your back,” William said, nodding his head decisively.
A portion of the wall next to the pods dematerialized, revealing a dozen specially designed bio-suits. Each were suspended in their own individual glass case and blackish-gray in color with small red lines running longitudinally from the neck all the way down to the feet.
“Whoa,” William commented with his usual eloquence.
Harding proudly led the men over to the room. Because he had created these suits, he was especially proud of the craftsmanship. As he approached the fourth glass case, he pressed a button on a control panel along its side, and it began to melt down to its base on the floor, leaving no puddle in its wake.
Alex, too, was amazed by the superiority of these suits. They appeared to be of much higher quality than those provided to the usual paying customer entering The New Reality.
Harding pointed to the suit. “I think you know what to do.”
Alex disrobed and stood behind the suit with his body touching it. As if somehow genetically attracted to him, the suit then slowly enveloped him from the top of his neck to his feet, covering his entire body. Once complete, Alex rejoined his colleagues, leaving small puddles of gold-colored liquid behind him with each step.
“Usually this isn’t how it’s done,” Harding warned, “but under the circumstances—”
“It will do,” Alex assured.
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” William asked again, still uncertain. Though he trusted his friend, the more he thought about the plan, the less confident he felt letting Alex proceed with it.
“As long as you still have my back,” Alex smiled in response.
Dr. Harding walked behind the desk after leading the three of them over to one of the empty pods. After he moved his hands across the top of it, the outer cylinder descended into its gold base, making a hissing noise in the process.
“How do I find the lock?” Alex then asked Jules.
“Simply concentrate on the lock, and your mind will lead you to where it needs to go,” Jules answered. “You’ll be at one with The New Reality computer system, free to mentally navigate wherever you please.”
“But do it when you are alone and your mind is completely at rest,” Harding warned, continuing to manipulate the controls.
“Why so?” Alex asked. “I thought I had free realm of the place.”
Harding stopped typing and looked up at him. “That’s beside the point. Because your brain hasn’t appropriately been primed, improper cerebral overstimulation could possibly send you into an irreversible state of shock. Any major physical injury that you incur in this virtual world may also lead to the same outcome.”
“At least tell me I’m entering at a safe time in the virtual montage,” Alex responded, “so I have ample opportunity to access the system.”
“You’re entering the ancient Greek world during the summer of 333 BC” Harding said. “Your men could turn on you and kill you at any second. Your father and much of your family were already assassinated. You are at constant war.” He shook his head. “There is no safe time, and death is always but a moment away. To keep your entrance undetectable, I have to enter you at the exact moment the current Alexander montage is running.”
“I don’t like these odds,” William commented. “I don’t like them at all.”
Harding raised his hand and pointed to the open container. “If you would, please.”
Alex stepped onto the silver base and stood with his hands along his side.
“Good luck,” William said.
Jules nodded. “I’ll be counting on you.”
“Before your mind enters the Alexander montage already running,” Harding added. “I’m going to bring you up to speed on your current situation in this virtual world. Over an entire year will flash by as if passing in about an hour.”
The canister began to rise up around Alex. Before it shut, he heard Harding wish him luck. William, too, gave him a thumbs up. Alex’s body tingled as the air around him was energized. The effect began to blur his vision and sent goosebumps running up his spine.
A helmet emerged from the top of the tube and descended down to his scalp. Upon contact, it morphed over his head and attached to the other part of the bio-suit at his neck, leaving only Alex’s face now exposed. Two thick red wires connected the helmet to the top of the pod.
A gold-tinged fluid began to fill the canister. As it reached Alex’s mouth, he blacked out, sending his consciousness into the computer-generated virtual reality system.
***
Time to Alex did not seem to change upon entering the ancient Macedonian world. Despite feeling as if he were consciously participating in the events around him, they were in fact complex digital memories rapidly transcribed into his cerebral cortex. In essence, Alex experienced almost 300 days in the mere span of an hour.
As Alex entered the virtual world, he initially experienced the adulation of leading his mighty Macedonian army into Asia and winning his first battle against his country’s mortal enemy, the Persian Empire. Its success was a motivational blockbuster to his army. Since they had a long, arduous campaign ahead in their war against Persia, this early victory provided a needed boost to sustain their morale throughout the protracted ordeal.
The memories of Alex’s next few rendezvous flooded his cortex, taxing the ability of his temporal lobes to process the rapidly incoming information as he continued his mental journey through the western edge of the Persian Empire in what is now referred to as Turkey.
Wanting to consolidate his victories, Alex and his army began their liberation of the previously governed Greek city-states now under Persian control. While some ancient Turkish cities such as Sardis and Ephesus freely opened their doors to the incoming Macedonian army without a fight, small minorities of others like Miletus and Halicarnassus were taken by force.
Unlike conquerors of the past, Alex was not a tyrannical leader bent on enslaving the populations he encountered. On the contrary, he usually left in place most of the governing body that was already established while embracing the people he now ruled.
Because he was king of Macedonia, ruler of the Greek city-states and commander of their eastern expeditionary forces, he spent the remaining time running his expanding empire or physically and mentally conditioning himself for battle.
Once spring arrived, Alex’s troops received welcomed reinforcement due to an enlistment drive back at Macedonia. Ready for action, he marched his men later that summer southwards through the Taurus Mountains and into the city of Tarsus. A small expeditionary force led by the Persian general Arsames fled upon first sighting the oncoming Macedonian army.
After leaving some of his sick and wounded men at the coastal city of Issus, Alex continued marching south. Believing that King Darius and his Persian army would be waiting to stop his advance into their territory, he determined that they would meet there in battle.
Upon reaching the encampment just after leaving the city of Issus, Alex felt peculiarly strange. It was as if somehow he suddenly took back control of his life. This sensation flickered in and out over a few days, causing him great physical and mental distress. While he lay in his tent, a sudden, breathtaking sense of autonomy overtook him.
After taking a moment to adjust to his surroundings, he realized that the memory download must have completed, and that he was no longer a passive participant in this New Reality montage. With a sudden burst of excitement, Alex sat up abruptly.
A beautiful, young attendant rushed over to him and pleaded, “King Alexander, please lie back down! Your physician, Philip, does not want you to strain yourself in this state.”
Alex gasped when he attempted to speak. “I’m…” he managed to s
ay before being overwhelmed with fatigue.
His attendant grabbed a basin of water from beside her. Wringing out a white cloth, she wiped Alex’s forehead and cheeks while laying him slowly back down on the pillows.
Alex felt his head begin to throb, as if he were being pummeled by an endless barrage of bricks. He remembered what Dr. Harding had told him about his posterior cingulate cortex not being adequately primed. Even so, he hadn’t imagined that the transition into this virtual world would be so debilitating.
You would think The New Reality could program out all sensation of discomfort, he lamented. Although, he knew all too well that this virtual montage was designed to be perfectly realistic—pain included.
Just as Alex remembered from his brief time at the Training Grounds, his tent was small with only minor conveniences. Wanting the respect of his men, he remembered that Alexander refused any special quarters or treatment. Simple yet adequate, it served as a reminder that he did not set himself above those he led.
The attendant continued to swab his face with the cool water from the basin. The sensation did ease the harshest pain, but the throbbing continued.
A middle-aged, bearded man in full military uniform suddenly entered the tent. Wearing a bronze chest plate known as a corselet, a leather kilt, and a white tunic underneath, he displayed the standard gear of a Macedonian companion cavalryman. Alex realized this slightly graying gentleman was his top general, Parmenio. Battle-hardened from his campaigns with Alexander’s father, he had proved invaluable in the march against the Persians.
Too weak to speak, Alex simply met his general’s gaze and nodded. This minor effort caused him to cough repeatedly until he was red in the face and gasping for air.
Parmenio dashed over to Alex and knelt down next to him. With his helmet under arm, he said softly, “Sorry to intrude, King Alexander, but there is something important that I must tell you.”
Parmenio glared at Alex’s female attendant. “These matters are not for you! Be off until your services are required once again.”
The young female scurried out of the tent. A slave since birth, her mother had been one of the spoils of war against the Thracians many years ago.
The Hidden Reality (Alex Pella, #2) Page 16
