Of Minds and Masters

by Paul Ormond

  As he made his way towards the main dome, he followed behind a couple of people who were carrying boxes that seemed to be filled with merchandise of some kind. There were more people scurrying through the tunnel, but the guards at the doorway leading to the main chamber seemed a little less relaxed than the guards he had encountered earlier. They glanced at the two men carrying the boxes in front of Drak, but didn’t say anything. Drak gave them a nod as he walked by. The guards scowled, but didn’t say anything. Drak kept up is casual pace as he walked away.

  “Hold on a minute,” shouted one of the guards.

  “What’s that?” Drak said while looking back.

  “Where are you going with that cart? The mess hall is the other way,” the other guard asked. Drak’s heart stopped. He had to think fast. He looked down into the cart. The chef had loaded the cart with pastries that seemed ready for breakfast.

  “Ah, I just taking these snacks to main chamber. Some engineers are pulling all-nighter in there. Big day tomorrow you know,” he said trying to keep a straight face.

  “What kind of snacks?” the other guard asked.

  “Oh you know, kind of snacks go good with coffee,” Drak said. “There plenty here. You guys look like you could use something to pick up. It pretty late.” Drak said as he pushed the cart towards the guards.

  “I don’t want any pastries. Do I look like I eat carbs?” the skinnier of the guards said.

  “I like carbs. Why do have to be so uptight? Show me what you got, chef,” said the other guard. Drak quickly pushed the cart over to the guards and the skinny guard looked away while the other guard grabbed two filling stuffed pastries and then quickly waved Drak on his way.

  Drak let loose a huge sigh of relief as he walked away from the guards. He was almost there and he had managed to avoid any detection up until that point. He knew that he had been lucky, but there wasn’t any time to sit around and appreciate his good fortune. It was only a matter of time before the chef was reported missing and a security alert was issued. He needed to find a way to the main power generator. He hastily pushed the cart along the outer hall that ringed the dome. His eyes scanned for any sign of an entrance. Armed guards walked in pairs along the hallway. Drak knew that he only had one chance to get below. If the guards saw him wandering the halls multiple times, they would get suspicious and it was only a matter of time until somebody glanced at his badge. He saw a sign marked with an “electrical” symbol and he made his way toward it. He glanced about and didn’t see any guards. He knew that it was a risk, but he didn’t have a choice. He engaged his device and slid his hand over the door knob. There was a slight surge from his hand and the door jolted open. Drak stepped inside without looking. He let go a deep breath and hoped that nobody had seen him step through the door. He quickly got himself out of the baggy and cumbersome chef’s uniform and grabbed his backpack from under the cart. The doorway led to a steep metallic stairwell that dropped down several feet into a world of soft buzzing light and dark shadows. Drak dropped down the stairwell with ease and looked back. It didn’t seem like anybody was coming so he began to make his way along a metal catwalk that sat above an intricate network of wires and glowing devices. The catwalk led towards the center of the dome and alongside the catwalk were what seemed like an endless wall of servers that stretched into the darkness. MindHIve had brought along an entire server farm to keep the network stable for the convention. As Drak made his way further down the catwalk he could see an odd purple glow coming from what appeared to be the end of the walkway. As he got closer the glow grew in intensity and he gasped as he came to end of the catwalk.

  Before him stood the massive power generator. This huge device had been developed using the Masters’ knowledge. Drak could see traces of their handiwork all over the glowing apparatus. The generator was housed with a massive mesh cube. Drak could see the generator pulsating through the housing. It was an incredibly powerful machine. It took only a fraction of the device’s energy to power the entire complex. The MindHIve engineers had been able to find a way to retrofit a coupling device to the generator. Drak could see where they had attached their crude instrument to the unit. He followed the wires that the engineers had connected to the generator unit, which led him to what looked like a panel. Drak knew that he had to act fast. He quickly engaged his device, opened up his access panel and began to sync his device with the generator.

  He furiously moved his hands back and forth as he tried to connect with generator. Just as he established a connection he suddenly felt a massive lurch. Had he done something wrong, he wondered to himself. He looked up and he saw the ceiling above him begin to part, and he felt himself rising up. Drak stood helpless as he and the generator began to slowly ascend through the opening.

  He found himself in an enormous auditorium. The entire room was dark except for the purple glow from the generator. He wondered if he had triggered something while he had been pressing buttons. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and he looked out and saw several dozen figures hovering around him. His heart sank in his chest and he turned the other way. Behind him were more hovering figures. They wore metallic outfits and helmets covered their heads. An orange aura covered their bodies. None of them moved. Drak dropped his panel and stood before the hovering figures defiantly.

  “How do you like my little trap?” a voice asked from behind him. Drak turned and saw a tall man with a graying beard sitting casually in a chair on a podium. The man wore the same uniform as the hovering figures and he let his helmet sit on his knee.

  “You never win,” Drak said through gritted teeth.

  “It looks like I already have,” Robert said as he got to his feet. “I burned through a lot of resources trying to find you. It’s kind of funny that all I had to do get you was roll open my door and you would come running in.”

  “You think you know what you’re doing, but you be a slave just like the rest of them,” Drak said through gritted teeth.

  “Really now. Is that what became of your people? It’s amusing that lower life forms always think that they have some type of right to freedom. It’s the same here as it is anywhere, I guess. I know all about what became of your world, and I know all about you as well. I’ve heard your story. You were nothing but trouble from the start. And look at you know. I guess nobody can break their old habits. That’s a nice name you came up with, by the way: Drakon Trendago. Sounds straight out of a corny Science Fiction movie. I guess you needed cover, ain’t no way anyone around here could pronounce your real name anyway,” Robert stopped for a moment and stared Drak in the eyes for a second. “You think you can set your people free, but the thing is, people don’t want freedom. They want what we give them and what we offer is security and safety. They provide us with a valuable resource: their indentured service. That is how it has always been and that is how it always will be. All living things bow before the powerful because we set the natural order. If everybody was free it would be chaos,” Robert said as he walked slowly towards Drak.

  “You think you powerful, but they make you slave just like everybody else,” Drak said as Robert approached him.

  “Well, we’ll see about that, but in the meantime what am a supposed to do with you? Should I kill you or keep you around for entertainment? Now, I’m sure you’re going to say: ‘you’ll never take me alive or something like that’. The truth is that I don’t really care how I take you. I just hope you put up a bit of a fight. We’ve been itching for this for a while” Robert said as he stopped a few feet away from Drak. Robert looked Drak up and down for a second. “You look like a scrawny kid. I’m not sure why they made such a fuss about you,” Robert said as he looked out at his strike force hovering before him. “What do you think fellas? Can we handle this punk? There’s like fifty of us and one of him. I got a question, though, who wants the first piece?”

  “I do, sir,” several voices shouted out.

  “Babcock, come on down here,” Robert said as he glared at Drak. A stern faced w
oman floated toward Robert. “Look at this little punk,” Robert said to Babcock. “You think you can handle him?”

  “With pleasure, sir,” she said.

  As the woman bore down on him, Drak crouched down into a ball. Babcock raised her arms to strike and her fists were immersed in an orange glow. As she struck down, Drak leapt out of his ball and a massive wave of energy erupted from his body. The shockwave sent every single member of the strike force flying backwards. Drak propelled himself upward and he raised his fists above his head. He burst through the roof of the dome and blasted out into darkness.

  “What are you waiting for? After him,” Robert shouted as he gathered himself up. The soldiers collected themselves and then quickly shot towards the hole that Drak had blown through in hot pursuit of their target.

  Drak headed straight for the mountains away from the city with the MindHIve security force hot on his tail. There were no clouds that night, so instead of heading up he dropped down into the forest for cover. He shot between the trees while the strike force followed closely behind. They volleyed shots at him but the trees provided Drak with excellent cover. As they approached the mountains the grade began to rise and large rocks began to appear among the trees. Several soldiers struck trees or rocks as the terrain began to get more treacherous. Drak looked back as he saw the number of soldiers pursuing him begin to thin out. Before him was a steep gorge with rocky cliffs on both sides. Drak slowed himself as he entered the gorge. Below him soldiers shot out of the trees and began to open fire. Drak blasted the walls of the gorge and massive rocks began to fall from the edges. Some soldiers were struck by the rocks and the rest fell back. Drak shot up through the gorge and crested the rise. He hovered at the top of the gorge and fired at the cliffs again letting loose more rocks. The soldiers fired at him but he easily deflected their shots. From above him came more shots and he looked up and saw several more soldiers coming down on upon him. He shot out of the gorge and descended in to the next valley. As he did, he was suddenly blindsided by someone barreling in from his left flank. Robert slammed into Drak with full force and they both came careening down into the narrow valley. Drak was stunned somewhat but he managed to get to his feet. Robert stood before him grinning.

  “That was impressive, young man,” Robert said while he slowly clapped his hands together. “You just took on a whole squadron of some of the best soldiers on this planet. You are force to be reckoned with, but, unfortunately for you, this is not the kind of force I need disrupting my convention.” Robert said as he sent a burst of fire at Drak. Drak quickly brought up his shield and deflected the shots. Drak fired back and Robert steered the shots aside as well. They slowly circled each other.

  “You’re pretty brave,” Robert said. “You’re alone here, but you don’t seemed phased one bit. Your plan failed and now there is no hope for you. The only way you can possibly return to your home is as a prisoner.”

  “We all be slaves soon now thanks to you,” Drak said. He raised his hand and created a long staff which he quickly struck out at Robert with. Robert blocked the blow with his shield.

  “Impressive stuff, but two can play at that game,” Robert said and he raised his hand. A long whip extended from his wrist. He lashed out at Drak and the whip wrapped around Drak’s arm. Drak pulled back, but his hand was caught. He slashed the whip with his blade. On the horizon more soldiers began to appear and they rocketed towards Robert and Drak as they fought in the field.

  Robert struck at drak with his whip again and Drak was able to break free. As more soldiers approached, they all extended lashes from their hands and struck out at Drak. Drak tried to fend off their strikes, but as more soldiers arrived they were able to easily latch onto him from all angles. He became bound at every limb and he was unable to fight back. He tried to use his energy burst again but his device had been drained of power. A soldier lashed out from behind him and caught him at the knees. The whip tightened around Drak’s legs and the soldier yanked Drak’s feet out from under him. He came crashing to the ground. He could feel his heart beating against the damp ground as the sun crested the horizon.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Mitch sat sullenly in his chair. He was surrounded by thousands of people and they all seemed to be bristling with excitement. Mitch, on the other hand, was exhausted and morose. It was Thursday, June 21st, the first day of the MindHIve convention, and there was a feverish level of anticipation inside the complex.

  Mitch looked up at the ceiling of the massive dome. Workers were busy patching a hole that had somehow opened up during the night. Mitch was probably the only person sitting there that knew why there was hole in the ceiling. He had sat beneath the deck on the hillside the night before wondering what fate possibly awaited Drak inside the complex, but he had never in a million years thought that he would have seen Drak come shooting out of the Dome with all of MindHIve’s security forces in hot pursuit. Mitch had sat on the hill top with his mouth agape as he saw Drak’s figure disappear into the Darkness pursued by a squadron of soldiers that were all volleying fire in his direction. Drak said that he had a plan and Mitch had sat there wondering if this was all playing out as Drak had imagined it.

  Mitch left shortly after Drak and his newfound friends had vanished into the night. He didn’t waste time hanging around. After what had happened, security was surely to be on high alert and he didn’t want to get caught in their sights. He had made it home safely, but it took him forever to get to sleep. Adrenaline and anxiety had prodded him mercilessly until dawn. He had finally drifted off to sleep, but he was abruptly awakened by his father after what felt like a few seconds. He had gone through the motions of his morning routine in what felt like a trance. He stuffed a few things in his backpack along with the ID that had arrived in the mail a few days earlier and stumbled out the door.

  Getting into the conference could have been somewhat of a nightmare, but he had ridden his bike over and he was glad that he did. The road leading up to the conference had been jammed with cars. As he approached the complex a massive crowd stood before the main gate. His jaw had dropped as he took in the immensity of the crowd. Throngs of people were trying to shove forward and security personal wearing full riot gear were actively keeping them at bay. A lady wearing a blue shirt was holding up a sing that said: Do you have a pass? Mitch approached her with caution, but as he neared her she shouted at him.

  “If you have a pass, head to the left and get in line. If not step back,” She had screeched.

  He saw a line of people snaking away to the left. They were all marching at a slow and procedural pace through a heavily defended gate. A wall of security guards stood to the right of the line creating a barricade between the gate and the protestors. Mitch had found his way to the back of the line and he joined in with the other giddy attendees that had queued up with passes in hand. The line had moved surprisingly fast and Mitch felt his heart skip a beat as his pass was scanned by a formidable looking security guard. Mitch had felt a momentary sensation of relief when the scanner had beeped and a green light had lit up. The guard jerked his head to the left, indicating that Mitch could pass and he stepped through the gate and into the complex. From there he had been whisked through a series of lineups and kiosk desks. Several different MindHIve employees loaded him up with all types of merchandise including a new Hi5 phone and a textbook worth of orientation information. He had finally landed inside the massive auditorium overwhelmed, under slept, and anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was certain that security would pounce on him at any moment.

  The Dome had begun to fill up and the entrance ways were thronged with a sea of moving bodies. Mitch had never seen anything like what he was witnessing. He had been to big professional hockey games before, but he had been in a room filled with that much hype and expectation. Mitch couldn’t help but feel even more depressed as he watched all of the beaming participants take their seats. He felt like a fraud and a joke. A few people even recognized him as he walked past
.

  “Hey look! It’s #epiccrotchshot boy. Can we get a selfie?” they had asked and Mitch begrudgingly accepted their request. As the selfie was snapped, more people took notice and Mitch had to submit to a round of photos. A group of security guards came along and suggested that everybody take their seats as the event was about to begin. Mitch had never felt more relieved.

  As he took his seat again, the lights in the auditorium dimmed and the audience cheered wildly. The stage was in the center of the dome and the seats were arranged all around it. An array of lights swirled throughout the arena and the MindHIve theme song began to play. The auditorium was filled with the sounds of vibrant synthesizers and then there was a drop as the drums kicked in. The lights focused on the stage and the audience gasped as a crack in the flooring began to open. A bright light burst out of the crack, and the audience cheered its approval as the opening began to enlarge. The MindHIve strike team poured out of the top of the dome from an unseen vantage point. The soldiers joined each other in formation and did a slow circle above the crowd before coming to a complete stop surrounding the stage. From the open space below them a giant cube began to appear. It was all black and it rose formidably from the depths of the massive dome. The stage lights flashed rapidly while the music reached a crescendo. A bright flash of lights and an explosion of pyrotechnics brought the music to a halt. The entire dome was deathly quiet. The giant cube began to glow a strange purple and the light slowly filled the dome.