I Have A Super USB Drive

by <unknown>

  One day, during one of his many thieving episodes, a large, vicious man caught him in the middle of the act. They struggled for several minutes on the ground and Shaw accidentally killed the man with a brick.

  Only this time, there was no way for him to escape and he was soon arrested by the local authorities.

  What followed after was several months of prison before circumstances changed again.

  One by one, the prison inmates were drugged and secretly shipped off to a secret institute. In this place, Shaw and the rest of the inmates were well fed and taken care of for the better part of the year until one day, he was injected with a mysterious substance.

  Shortly after that, he was blinded. He lost his regular sight and the only thing visible in his lens were luminescent objects.

  Since he had been stripped of his freedom already, what difference was losing his sight was going to make anyway?

  The trials and tribulations did not end there for he was further subjected to many inhumane experiments like a discardable asset. In time, he found himself put into a rocket and transported to outer space against his will.

  "I wonder how many people can say that they have lived a life like mine..."

  Stepping into the spaceship, Shaw broke into a sour smile while he contemplated everything he had been through so far.

  Some time ago, Shaw had realized that there was no hope left for him in this sorrowful life and there was no point in preserving anymore. However, with a strange twist of fate, this person whom they call to be the boss of Blackwatch just extended a chance at freedom to him, provided that the experiment was a success.

  Although this promise was merely a faint mirage yet to be realized, he had to admit that it gave him strength.

  Perhaps this was not another attempt at swindling him...

  Shaw reflected while the Black Knights ushered him to his isolated room.

  Upon entering the room, he inspected his surroundings by using his palms to feel the walls. He found out that he was now locked in a single room only roughly three square meters large. There were only the bare necessities here which were the bed and a toilet.

  Shaw sighed and slowly settled himself into the bed. After so long, he had grown accustomed to life without regular vision so he honed his senses in other departments such as hearing and touch.

  "Good afternoon, Delta-level research subjects."

  In the midst of Shaw's silent contemplation, a broadcast broke his stream of thoughts. He was startled by the suddenness of it and could tell that this was an electronically synchronized voice of a female.

  "As participants of today's subspace navigation experiment, there's one thing that you are to keep in mind."

  The voice said with fixed composure, "You all are familiar with the term 'psionic' by now. You've been injected with the L compound and thus successfully gained psionics abilities. The reason for your participation in this experiment today is that we have specifically chosen you as the suitable candidates.

  "In one hour, the spaceship will embark to perform a crucial task. Your only responsibility during the course of the experiment is to await orders and shut your eyes when you're instructed to do so."

  "Shut my eyes?"

  Shaw frowned at this mention, what sort of crucial task was this supposed to be?

  "Due to the significance of the experiment, your full cooperation is requested, otherwise, you'll be stripped of your rights to freedom after the experiment concludes..."

  "Rights to freedom..."

  Shaw's breathing accelerated when he heard this. As cynical as he tended to be these days, he was certainly moved by the prospect of freedom. Though he was still skeptical, he was willing to hold on to the slightest slither of hope!

  "This is all that is needed of you all."

  The voice went on. "After you shut your eyes, there's a small possibility that I may issue further orders. The only thing you should keep in mind is that you must follow whatever orders I provide. Once the experiment is completed, you'll regain freedom!"

  This final declaration marked the end of the announcement.

  "Phew..."

  Shaw tried to contain his anticipation with a dragged-out sigh. He clenched his fist and felt something warm and fuzzy burning inside. He dearly wished that these people would fulfill their end of the promise.

  Then, Shaw felt the floor beneath his feet trembling vividly. He felt his balance being slightly thrown off. It was an extremely subtle sensation and he only managed to feel it because his blindness had sharpened his other senses.

  "This... Has the ship taken off?"

  Shaw quickly understood what was happening. A faint smile formed on his lips. With how things had worked out for him since adulthood, he never expected himself to be able to board a spaceship at any point in his life. Yet, it seemed the impossible had happened.

  In time, he felt the spaceship's gradual acceleration. The acceleration was rather tepid. There were hardly any signs of acceleration apart from the first slight turbulence he had felt. At one point, he even began to doubt if it was all in his head.

  However, by the one-hour mark, another broadcast confirmed his suspicions.

  "All participants, the Courage Voyager will be preparing for space warp. Please shut your eyes immediately."

  Space warp? Did it not only exist in sci-fi novels?

  Shaw was perplexed by the usage of this queer term. He was aware that humans were now in the era of space travel but based on his understanding, they were still eons away from achieving something like space warp.

  The gap between current technology and space warp was like comparing wooden gears to modern machinery.

  "I repeat, please shut your eyes immediately. Your cooperation will determine the outcome of this experiment!"

  Shaw found this prompt almost insulting and shook his head. He was a blind man and he did not need anyone to tell him to shut his eyes. They were already shut in the first place.

  "Space warp countdown: Thirty seconds..."

  "Ten seconds...

  "Nine, eight, seven...

  "Three, two, one!"

  Nearing the end of the cooldown, Shaw's heart was thumping like he had just ran a marathon. A second the end of the countdown, he took a deep breath. The entire spaceship suddenly jolted violently. His ears were filled by the vicious roar of gushing currents.

  "Swoosh…"

  Shaw listened to the sound of this strange, vicious current. It was around the same point when he smelled something obscure in the air. The reason it carried such an obscure quality was that it did not exactly feel like something he "smelled" with his nose. It was closer to an unplaceable awareness of its existence.

  "Is this sulfur? Or biogas?"

  Shaw found the experience disorientating. He even tried to sniff it deliberately but something in his mind recognized that this did not exist and that it was just conjured by his mind.

  While this odd sensation continued to arrest him, the spaceship shook again. The jolt this time was so strong that it nearly threw him off the bed. He was taken aback by this. How could a spaceship in the void of the universe possibly encounter anything that would cause it to quake so greatly?

  Unless it collided with something in the middle of the space warp...

  Chapter 609: Sobbing |

  How could a spaceship in the void of the universe quake so viciously? It must have hit something in the middle of the space warp...

  Only seconds later, Shaw debunked this theory in his mind.

  It was an illogical assumption in the first place. After all, this was not any ordinary vehicle but a spaceship coursing at extraordinary speed. Any collision would have torn it into pieces. How could he still be sitting here in one piece?

  If the spaceship had not collided into anything, could it have been obstructed by something else?

  While Shaw was rummaging his mind for an explanation, he suddenly heard a muffled, soft whimper.

  It sounded distant. It seemed to trave
l to his room from the furthest end of the corridor outside. It was a hoarse sound and he could not make out the gender of the person.

  Shaw frowned.

  Who was this? Could it be one of the ten members participating in this experiment? Based on his recollection, there was not a single female among them.

  If it was not any of the ten subjects, then it could be the original crew members of the spaceship.

  Shaw contemplated briefly before brushing it aside. What piqued his curiosity now was why did the spaceship in the midst of space warp suddenly come to a screeching halt?

  Shaw's polished senses recognized that the spaceship was idle now. This was not a good sign considering that they were stuck in the middle of nowhere in the vast universe.

  Since it could not have collided into something, was it a case of the engines stalling? Could nuclear fusion engines encounter such issues in the first place?

  Shaw was puzzled and grew increasingly concerned.

  "Uuu..."

  Shaw's stream of thoughts was once again interrupted by the muffled sob from before. There was no mistaking it. It was growing louder, even if just slightly.

  At the same time, the faint smell of sulfur that seemed like a mere illusion was growing stronger...

  Shaw was feeling unsettled. He felt as if some dark entity had its sights on him. He tweaked his hips and moved closer into the bed.

  Was it all in his head? Why did that voice sound so familiar?

  Shaw could not fling these thoughts out of his mind. Then, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor.

  The thump of feet stomping against the floor was heavy and solemn. It echoed along the narrow corridor and carried with it a sense of melancholy.

  There were more than one footstep...

  It was an extremely odd sensation. With Shaw's sharpened sense of hearing, he could tell that more than one person was walking. Only their footsteps were so synchronized and stacked on top of one another it sounded like there was only one steady thump of footsteps. There must have been at least two people approaching.

  Was it the person sobbing earlier?

  Shaw was getting agitated by this point. He turned to the entrance and concentrated on the sound of these footsteps drawing closer.

  "Knock, knock, knock..."

  At last, the series of footsteps arrived at the entrance then came to a stop. It was soon followed by several knocks and the creaks of the door unlocking.

  "Who's that?"

  Shaw exclaimed as loud as he could to hide the shakiness in his voice.

  "They are sent here to collect you."

  Before the sudden visitor could form a response, the broadcast system turned on and announced. "Mr. Shaw, please relocate to the bridge immediately. We have a task for you."

  Shaw felt two people approaching him and they held him up by his shoulders. When he felt their iron grip on him, he immediately noted that these two were extremely large and strong. His heart drummed against his chest repeatedly.

  Just like that, Shaw left the room with his escorts.

  "What's going on?"

  Sensing something off with the situation, Shaw could not resist the urge to ask, "Didn't you mention that we were performing a space warp? How come..."

  "The Courage Voyager has completed space warp."

  The same robotic voice of the broadcast came overhead. While Shaw continued his advance down the corridor, the voice followed him. "However, there were some issues with the spaceship. The commander has instructed us that should the spaceship encounter any issues, we're to call for you to see if you can come up with an appropriate solution."

  "Spaceship issues?"

  This only further confused Shaw as he answered irritably, "I want to help you guys too but I'm not a mechanic. You're looking for the wrong person for the job."

  "These are the direct orders from the commander."

  The voice continued. "I'm the artificial intelligence system of this spaceship and have been pre-programmed to act according to preset procedures."

  "What?"

  Shaw was startled by this discovery. He was once in the IT industry so he was very familiar with the subject matter. He raised his head in disbelief and questioned, "You mean to say that you're not talking to me using the built-in communication systems?"

  "I'm afraid not."

  The reply came swiftly, "I'm the artificial intelligence of this spaceship or also known as the main control systems. I'm not a human."

  "How, how is this possible..."

  Shaw shuddered involuntarily. If this was not some kind of ridiculous prank they were trying to pull on him, then it would imply that Blackwatch had developed some ridiculously potent artificial intelligence.

  In the current landscape of artificial intelligence, the Androids and XTN model robots were still considered low-level artificial intelligence. These systems could only communicate with humans dynamically by utilizing the cloud server processing engines. Outside of the cloud network, this low-level artificial intelligence could hardly accomplish most basic tasks.

  High-level artificial intelligence, on the other hand, was a different subject entirely. These were full-fledged independent systems with distinct personalities and emotions. To a certain extent, they could even be described as sentient life forms!

  "No such thing as impossible. Based on my knowledge, my mother system has been developing since more than a decade ago."

  The artificial system continued. "But this isn't the time to discuss these matters. Mr. Shaw, we need your help."

  Shaw took a deep breath and asked cautiously, "What do you need me to do?"

  "The Courage Voyager seems to be tangled by some kind of entity."

  The artificial intelligence stated, "This is the third time we've performed subspace space warp experiments. The first time proceeded without any hiccups. The second time, something similar to what we're experiencing now happened as well. It took us five hours to wring ourselves free."

  "How did you do it that time?"

  Shaw digested this information as well as he could and asked.

  "Based on what we've collected so far, this bonding state isn't permanent. In time, it will loosen on its own and allow the spaceship to exit the subspace."

  "Then, why can't we just wait idly like the last time?"

  Shaw was perplexed.

  "Because the longer we remain in the subspace, the higher the chances of the crew members dying are."

  The artificial intelligence stated calmly, "The subspace airflow is corrosive. Staying here for an extended period will expose the hull to these corrosive currents. There's no telling if the spaceship can preserve long enough to escape the subspace since there's a risk of it falling apart in this environment."

  Shaw tightened when he heard this. "What do you mean the longer we stay here, the higher the chances of crew members dying? What is this subspace you speak of?"

  "What we refer to as the subspace is a dimension that doesn't belong to the real universe."

  The artificial intelligence explained patiently, "The unique quality of the subspace is that it greatly shortens the distance between points of the real universe. The ratio is roughly ten thousand to one. This means that every kilometer traveled in the subspace equals ten thousand kilometers in the real universe. This is why we're capitalizing on this quality to greatly improve the efficiency of space travel. If used correctly, the duration of space travel can be reduced dramatically and can be conventionalized."

  "I see..."

  Shaw was truly awed by this. Before he could follow up with anything else, the artificial intelligence went on. "But subspace navigation isn't without its dangers. The risk subspace navigation carries is severely greater than in the real universe. The last time when we only stayed in the subspace for five hours, nine out of ten crewmates lost their minds and died in the duration."

  "It's... it's more dangerous than I thought..."

  Shaw quickly realized the urgency of the situation over the c
ourse of this conversation. Meanwhile, he could tell he arrived at his destination because the firm grip placed around his shoulder finally gave him some breathing room.

  "This is the bridge of the spaceship."

  The artificial intelligence informed, "And your task is to open your eyes."

  "Open my eyes? Do you mean that there's some psionic presence in this sub..."

  Despite his confusion at this request, Shaw decided it was easier for him to just do as he was instructed.

  The moment he opened his eyes, his voice was latched in his throat. His eyes expanded wide as he beheld what he saw before him.

  There were two panels of floor-to-ceiling windows in front of Shaw. Outside the windows were nothing but a pitch-black sheet of nothingness, that was, for the regular person. Shaw's eyes saw something different amid this ocean of darkness, something that circled the ocean and seemed to stretch endlessly...

  "What is this..."

  Shaw shuddered and took two steps backward.

  "Tell me, what do you see?"

  The artificial intelligence prompted.

  "Can't, can't you see it?"

  Shaw looked pale and distraught, his eyes skirted around the view outside. "There are so many things shaped like vines surrounding this spaceship, they entwine and move like cell tissues..."

  The artificial intelligence kept silent for a while before it broke its silence. "No, I cannot see it. Not only myself, neither any other people nor the most sophisticated camera lens can see these vines you mentioned. The only thing we can see is an endless mist of sulfur..."

  "What, why..?"

  Shaw was startled by this and asked.

  "It must've something to do with your psionic powers."

  The artificial intelligence said, "Inside the subspace, only those who have lost their vision can observe the ongoings in the dimension. With the added facet of your astral sight, you can see the true form of the subspace."

  "The true form..."

  Shaw could not find the words to express what he was feeling.