Scene 05-1 - Reprogramming and override

  Location: Alien site within the Nazca lines.

  Time: 01.01.24, 07:15:00 UTC–5

  Setting: Niajin interacts with the white crystal

  I watched her as she approached the white diamond crystal, from which water now flowed continuously. Niajin was deeply drawn to the water. Since she had emerged completely healed from the crystal, it was as if the water and the crystal had entered into symbiosis with her. She sat by the shore, staring at the point where the water sprang forth. It formed a small cascade. She touched it with her long fingers, letting it run over her tunic, soaking herself. The crystal shimmered, and under its light her skin glowed. Everything about her hurt me. Her gestures — regal; her dress, wet; her smile, pearly; her skin, red; her eyes, blue.

  She sat in the hollow where the water emerged, her legs folded to one side, resting her back on a throne of light, and she was the queen of the night. Once again, I saw the myxomycete hyphae forming — the same that had healed her. This time, however, the process was slow. A thin, delicate mycelium stretched to her left arm, wrapping it in regular coils that rose toward her neck. Niajin was sweating; her fluids mingled with the warm, vaporous water; a dense foam began to form on the surface, expanding through the chamber, its scent spreading everywhere, intense and intoxicating.

  I thought she might be in danger and started toward her, but she, as if waking from a hypnotic sleep, turned her gaze to me and raised her hand, stopping me.

  The hyphae climbed to her face, while the foam now covered the entire streambed, spreading across the hall and, beyond its banks, reaching the portal in the orichalc wall, sliding away with the waterfall.

  Some hyphae twined and braided together, forming a cord 5 mm thick, containing 500,000 long, thin, optically active cells that converged toward the feather implanted above her left orbit. The hyphae halted on the skin’s surface near the feather and began to differentiate. The tip flattened, forming a translucent disc adherent to the calamus. At the point of contact, the filament wall thickened, creating an appressorium — an organ of adhesion and mechanical concentration. The surface sealed with a thin layer of adhesive polysaccharides. The appressorium absorbed the fluid secreted by Niajin’s skin, generating a growing turgor pressure; the hyphae were pushed inside the calamus, connecting through the barbs and barbules, anchored with hooks to the nerve fibers beneath Niajin’s dermis. The fine fibers of the feather were embedded deep into the optic nerve, which received an immense discharge of photonic impulses. Her body reacted — legs and arms stiffened, convulsed. Her eyes widened and froze. The light pulses followed one another; the reprogramming of the implant advanced rapidly. Billions of data units flowed from the crystal to the mycelial structures, from there into the parenchyma forming the connection cord, into the calamus of the feather, and radiated through Niajin’s nervous system via the optic nerve. The reprogramming process lasted seven minutes and twenty-four seconds. Then the hyphae withdrew, and Niajin’s eye became alert again. She looked exhausted, yet utterly determined.

  “We must go in,” she said.

  The water that had flowed toward the wall after the mechanism triggered by the feather now ran calmly through the chamber; here and there, islands of foam still drifted, slowly carried away by the current. It climbed along the wall, forming an arched frame around the opening. A column of transparent, crystalline water spiraled upward, closing the arch as the streams met at the keystone, where two opposite currents intertwined and fell downward. A waterfall formed, veiling the entire passage. No one had yet explored what lay beyond. Everyone was waiting for orders from the WO. Everyone, except Niajin.

  “We must go in,” she repeated. Her pupils were wide, and the feather showed signs of unusual activity, with streams of iridescent light running through it.

  Only a few days had passed since I’d met Niajin, and I knew her name — and a little more. She had spoken of her village, her mother, the lack of water. But none of that mattered to me: I only wanted to be near her, on any pretext. I had already realized I was falling in love — no, I already was. Her amber skin in my arms, the scent of spices that enveloped me, her imploring gaze, those beautiful eyes that looked at me. That moment was carved into my mind, into my thoughts, and it would remain there forever.

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  But she seemed to have other things on her mind. Her connection with the crystal was overwhelming. She remained absorbed, silent; the feather glowed, her eyes flickered — she was receiving instructions.

  She was looking at me. I was looking at her. She walked toward me as though flying — imposing, elegant; the fringes of her tunic floated in the air, lifting slightly, as if she were flying. She renewed her request.

  “I must go in. We need to enter. Come with me.” She said it like an invitation that could not be refused.

  But I was afraid. “Enter? We can’t. We don’t know what’s beyond — it could be dangerous. There might be a void; we could fall. We must wait for government orders.”

  Sometimes I couldn’t tell whether she decided for herself or received orders through the feather. Her tone changed.

  “Government? I’m the one who governs here. I don’t need to ask anyone for permission. I just have to go — No one can, but not me. I can. In fact, I must.”

  “You must? There’s no authorization for you.”

  “Authorization! That’s how the voice of the World Government speaks: everyone here is authorized to do things they can’t do — except me. And I’m the only one capable of doing them.”

  Niajin looked at me, thoughtful. Perhaps I was the first human male who had attracted her, even slightly. She thought: He doesn’t stink like the others. He’s artificially scented, but his natural smell isn’t repellent. She dismissed the thought. No, he’s shorter than I am — barely, but shorter. What a pity! I like him a little, the first man I’ve ever liked — but he’s not my equal. No, it can’t be him. She smiled.

  I drove away those thoughts — they distracted me.

  I caught myself sighing as I looked at her. No use; her charm overtook me more with every moment. She was smiling at me, but that smile wounded my soul.

  It seemed as though she was listening from somewhere far away. “Hey, can you hear me? Are you listening?”

  For an instant, she stood still, her gaze vacant. The feather vibrated faintly, crossed by residual impulses: the new programs were settling within her nervous system. Only after a few seconds did her pupils contract, and she returned to herself.

  “Yes,” she finally replied, as if waking from a daydream.

  “They’ll stop you.”

  Those words awoke in her all the revulsion she felt toward the GWO soldiers — and not just them. It was as though the entire human race carried something repulsive for her. Remembering what had happened in the hall, Niajin felt a wave of nausea that grew stronger as she sensed the smell of the soldiers’ combat suits nearby. She wanted to be alone — to have space to herself — away from the fear their presence caused her, from the sight of their uniforms and helmets.

  “Let them try to stop me; I’ll kill them in an instant!” Her voice was cold, distant. I could feel she even wanted it — yes, she wanted them all dead. They had dared to profane her beautiful body with bullets; she hated them for it, each and every one of them, every man carrying a PX-7. She couldn’t bear the sight of the soldiers at the base who sometimes brushed past her — too close, too loud, those men. Accustomed as she was to the solitude and silence of the desert, she could hardly tolerate the bustle, the constant noise that made her startle — she who loved the silence of the starry nights. Every sudden sound alarmed her, then came the nausea, the stench of their skin and sweat.

  “Yeah,” I replied, remembering all too well what had become of her attackers.

  Niajin spoke again: “Follow me.” It sounded like an order — no, it was an order. “I’d rather have someone near me I can trust.” She turned toward the orichalc wall.

  The soldiers on guard moved to stop her. The diamond crystal turned iridescent, the black crystal expanded slightly, and mycelium began to form at its base. The guards instantly backed off, frightened. There was no further interference. Now it was just the two of us. She stepped into the stream and advanced.

  “Follow me,” she said.

  The water flowed beneath our feet; I followed her. I had my suit on and wore my helmet.

  “Take it off,” she said. “I don’t ever want to see you like that.” And I took it off.

  Niajin carried nothing with her except her clothes and the feather. The grip of the bow hung from a strip of cloth serving as a belt, ready to activate if needed. We crossed the threshold, following the water at the center of the stream.

  It was all black.