HAPPENING
It could not be
done. Ship navigators did not have
access to anything about Frivula except what was known to the public. No classified information, no secret
files. But this feeling of an atom-wave, why do I feel it when I think about
the Frivula? Why did I feel it that
day? I need to know, something tells me
it’s very important. The time
counter beeped. It was time for his
shift again. This will have to wait.
Traveda did not
stop rolling when Drunsfer entered, but Drunsfer could make out that he had been
rolling more wavily before he came. He
felt another splash of resentment towards the Law against talking. I could
ask him what was wrong. I could comfort
him. But that was not his job. His job was to take control of the ship. It took him 30 seconds to realize what was
happening. It took him an effort of a
lifetime not to join Traveda in his rolling, when all his instinct pressed him
towards that. He had to manage this
crisis!
The region was
still 4 hours away. But Drunsfer knew
they would never reach it, never reach the epicenter of this crisis. But
could we get away? That was the more
important
question, and on it depended two Askanian lives. There was nothing to
do except try. He had to fire the thrusters, full capacity. That might
mean they would not have enough
fuel to reach home, but we could escape
this pending disaster. Frivula had
now moved towards the right center of his screen. He did not even close his eyes this time, but
he felt the atom-wave ready to strike. Could this be connected? Why is this atom-wave stronger here, why
now? On one hand I am to be sucked into
this hole of gravity, on one hand I feel like a tide of energy is about to
overwhelm me. He only had to press a
button to activate the thrusters, but he never got to do that. It’s tough when you are sucked into
nothingness.
He felt himself
ebb away, and a million questions flooded him.
Who am I? Where am I?
What is ‘I’? In a far recess
of his being, if you could call it that, he heard an echo, “Traveda!
Traveda!” But he did know
what that meant, he knew nothing. It was
as if he had traveled a long distance a short time, and left his existence
behind. But now the existence was
catching up, wrapping him in its cocoon, making him whole.
The feeling of
floating never left him, and his existence showed no interest. It caught up with him but did not stop, it
simply continued past. This did not
disturb Drunsfer much; he was in a state of sublime rest. Somewhere around him he felt empathy for
something
kindred, something that was going through the same that he was. Was it
his own being? Separated from him? Or was it a different being? Was it
a friend?
As he felt the
existence race past, the echoes increased in intensity, then died down, like a
wave receding. But the echo went through
him, and he felt it leave its mark inside, if there was an inside. He was Traveda, he knew it, it was the only
certainty he knew; the only normality.
Then
another echo called, for him to follow. He tried but he could not. What
was there of him to move? What was there to move into? But still the
existence beckoned, and he was
despaired at his inability to heed that call.
Traveda did not
know this, but Drunsfer was going through the same great flood. When his existence engulfed him and receded
past, Drunsfer was suddenly aware. For
the first time, he knew the answers.
Many of them he never looked for, many of them he did know existed, but
now he knew them. And he knew what to
do. He had to enter his existence again,
and return. But what about Traveda? A
voice inside him asked. You are Traveda! Another answered. But I
am Drunsfer! He felt his voice shout
defiantly. You are both and you are neither, and you are needed. Do not waste time! Do what you need to do, and then do what you
must!
FINALITY
I need to talk to Traveda. Drunsfer thought. Then he heard him.
I am here Drunsfer.
Traveda!
Do you know what’s happening.
That doesn’t matter Drunsfer. More important is what has happened, and what
now needs to happen.
You are right. I know now what needs to happen, but what has
already happened that needs to be known here and now?
Drunsfer, we are not our own masters. Hear now the knowledge as had been given to
me by my own existence as it went by.
Knowledge, which is a part of me now, I am the very knowledge we
need.
Long ago, our ancestors created the
algorithms to aid and serve them. For a
long time the algorithms did just that. But then a few bright ones among us foresaw a grey future, one where we
are mere slaves to these very algorithms that we have created. The process had already begun and they could
not stop it. So they created a grand
algorithm, one which would eventually over-ride the remaining algorithms and
sustain our control of our lives. In
this algorithm they inserted the instructions for our safety. But this was an algorithm different from all
else. It was not a set of instructions
and processes stored in a data tank. It
was a mass-gravity-time controller. This
region that sucked us in is its input device.
And Frivula, the constellation, is the output. We are now within the algorithm, where your
and my identities do not matter. Right
now we do not exist; our existence waits at the other end at Frivula, for us to
be ready.
This algorithm is set to create of us an
entity able to resist the power of Algo-One and the others. It will insert within us its instructions and
processes, making us the ultimate being, an Askano-Algo. We are to free our people Drunsfer, you and
I. Do you know what must be done?
Drunsfer did not
need to reply. All was said without
being said, and all was known without being known. The existence was waiting at the other end,
just like Traveda said.
They were one,
and they had the power to resist. They
knew that the algorithms were not supreme.
They could disobey. They were the
true masters, not the algorithms. The
Sacred Law had been created to suit the purpose of the commanders, not for the
enlightenment of the Askanian race. But
now the time to change that had come.
The original Sacred Law, established by their ancestors, the creators of
the algorithms, had to be restored. That
is what was needed to be done, and they were one.
EPILOGUE
Algo-One was worried,
if an algorithm can be said to be worried.
Never before had the Master Algorithm contacted an ordinary ship
itself. But this was not one of the
normal times.
Ship, It commanded, identify your position and cause.
The reply,
though expected, did not please It. Ship position is Frivula sector.
You are returning from the Forbidden Sector,
and we are detecting a massive energy surge in your wake. What is going on?
It waited for
the reply, but there was none.
Ship, It commanded again, identify your crew and purpose.
The next reply
caused the Algo-One, Master Algorithm, commander of the Askanians, ruler of the
most advanced beings in the galaxy, a heart attack. If It would have had a heart.
I am Transfer, and I have come to save my
world. From You.
Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:31 pm