Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (10 page)

Starring for a few moments longer, he made a
decision;
standing here doing nothing won’t do any good
,
will it Trent?
Taking a long, deep breath, he stepped
towards the table.

The walls fell away with a cacophonous boom,
a violent gust of wind swirling from beyond, almost knocking him
from his feet. He steadied himself, staring in disbelief at what
the falling walls had revealed; a grey nothingness that extended
into infinity in all directions.

Confused, but curious all the same, he inched
carefully towards the edge, finding that there was indeed something
besides the grey nothingness. Far below the apparently floating
floor, which appeared to be slowly descending, was an immense
landscape of pure white. It appeared barren, smooth, with nothing
growing on its surface. But as the floor continued its decent, he
began to notice deep gullies, with smooth cliffs below long, narrow
plateaus extending well beyond his sight.

Trent, engrossed by the fascinating view,
began slowly circling the edge of the wall-less room, trying to
find the best angle to view the landscape while being careful not
to fall into the grey nothingness, when his gaze caught a sight
beyond all comprehension.

Standing hundreds of meters tall, appeared a
giant human that could only be born of fairytale, facing away from
Trent. It wore a blue and white jumpsuit similar to his own, with
short brown hair and a face he couldn't easily discern, staring at
something in the distant grayness. He took a few steps back and
froze as the giant did the same.

Fearful, he stood in silent contemplation,
thinking the giant may react to his movement. But when he realized
the giant, like he, was standing completely still, he couldn’t
repress his curiosity any longer. Trent, for reasons beyond even
his own comprehension, gathered his courage and cupped his hands
over his mouth.

“Hello!” he shouted, stumbling back into the
table while covering his ears as the giant, at the same moment,
also cupped his hands, shouting unintelligibly in a booming
voice.

The room shook violently, like a massive
earthquake had been created by the giants awful bellow, throwing
him to the floor. He tried to grip the smooth surface, desperate to
not be thrown from the platform, as the tremor gradually lessoned.
When it fully ceased, he noticed the giant had, thankfully,
vanished with the earthquake. Breathing a sigh of relief, Trent
rose to his feet, only to find the giant, once again, rising before
him.

“This is...” he started to whisper, finding
his gaze pulled away from the giant when he realized the room had
finished its descent to the white landscape’s surface, settling
atop one of the ten distinct plateaus that zigzagged into the
distant horizon.

While trying to keep one eye on the giant, he
studied the smooth, deep walled canyons that cut through the
landscape; their pure white walls vanishing into darkness that
Trent thought, with a shiver, may descend into the very pits of
hell. The features were peculiar, artificial, and he found the
layout very similar to the way the table’s surface was carved. His
thoughts led him to glance over his shoulder; back at the table for
the first time since he noticed the giant. His mind froze in
astonishment.

“What on Earth...” On one end of the
rectangular table hovered a platform just above the center pathway.
Standing atop this platform was a tiny human, only a few
millimeters tall, looking over its shoulder at a tiny white table
on the platform’s center.

Trent spun in disbelief. The tiny human did
the same. He shuffled slowly forward, towards the table. Again, the
tiny human did the same. The sight was beyond fascinating and he
couldn't resist the urge to reach for the tiny person.

As his hand inched closer he felt a slight
breeze tickle his neck. He froze, realizing in his amazement that
he’d forgotten about the giant. He spun, pulling his hand back and
caught the giant doing the same.

A sudden comprehension burst forth that his
mind screamed impossible.

The giant human towering above him and the
tiny human on the table before him were mimicking his movements
exactly. He tested his theory multiple times and found that no
matter how he moved, both the giant and tiny humans would follow,
like they were mirror images.

This is beyond incredible
, he thought.
But there was something else that bothered him, something his mind
couldn’t quite grasp. He couldn’t be certain, given that he could
never clearly view their faces, but he was rather confident that
the giant and tiny humans were actually exact replicas of a certain
person...namely, him.

“How...” Trent whispered as his mind
continued to refuse to grasp the impossible concept.

Without warning, a flash of lightening struck
the distant landscape, temporarily blinding him. When his eyes
cleared he found he, the giant, and tiny versions of himself were
no longer alone.

Off in the distance, in both directions,
platforms similar to his appeared, each topped with groups of dazed
people, wandering in confusion. He stared down upon the table only
to find the same, nine additional platforms had also materialized,
each on a separate pathway, all covered with groups of cowering
people, the same as what lay around him. They all seemed oblivious
to their surroundings, screaming and banging on walls that were not
present.

“Hey!” He cupped his hands, shouting to the
nearest platform, hoping to reassure the trapped people, but gave
up when they didn’t react, even with the giant’s booming voice
stinging his ears. When he started to turn his attention back to
the table, he gasped with recognition. Upon each platform were only
terrified women and crying children, no sign of men present.

What sort of sick game is this?
He
fumed, anger washing over him.

“You bastards! What is-,” as he, the giant,
and tiny versions of himself began to scream, another blinding
flash of lightening knocked him to the floor. Towering flames
erupted from the canyons on both sides of the platform, licking at
its edges.

The game had begun.

The first movement was slight, barely
noticeable, but after recovering his feet and taking a few deep
breaths to try to clear his mind, he was positive;
the platforms
are moving.

Trent quickly took an inventory of what was
occurring around him. There were a total of 10 platforms on 10
separate pathways, nine holding the women and children, and one
holding only himself. Each pathway stretched across the table,
zigzagging with 90 degree turns at apparent random locations.
Occasionally, each pathway would approach another, but quickly veer
away, continuing its indirect course to the far end of the
table.

The gaps in the pathways were what concerned
him most. If the platforms kept moving unhindered, they would
eventually reach a gap and fall into a gully of flame. The horror
of witnessing the women and children fall to such a gruesome death,
made bile rise within his throat. He swallowed it down, and started
thinking of a way out of this nightmarish situation.

He stared intently at the table, continuing
to take-in and analyze everything around him, when another sight
caught his eye that he couldn’t believe he’d missed. A small sign
hovered at the far end of the table, over the pathway in which his
platform traveled, displaying a single word:
Destination
.

Well, at least I know that it is indeed, a
game. A sick game, but a game nonetheless,
Trent let a smirk
cross his lips with the realization, not one of joy, but of
determination. If there was one thing he knew about games, was that
they were meant to be won, and he planned to win, no matter the
cost.

His first solution was the simplest. He would
grab each platform and place them near the end of the table,
directly before the pathway with the destination label.
It
should work,
he thought, since the giant Trent would copy his
movements. He would be able to save all the women and children and
quickly be done with this revolting game.

Gathering his courage, he reached for the
closest platform, finding the women and children cringing in
horror.

“Guess they see the giant me...” Trent
muttered as he closed his hand around the platform. A debilitating
shock erupted from the platform, and he collapsed to the floor like
a board.

“Program violation one, you shall now be
assessed penalty level one,” the monotone voice he had not heard
since it commanded him to approach the table, exclaimed. Trent
pulled himself to his feet, trying to work the tingling pain out of
his limbs.

“What penalty? How the hell am I supposed to
play a game if you won't explain the rules?” In any other
situation, the sight of three different sized versions of the same
person pumping their fists in the air and screaming at an empty
grey sky may have been comical, but with flames lashing from
between the pathways, and the women and children crying in horror
all around...it was anything but.

As if in response to his question, the
temperature started to drop. At first, it was only slight, barely
noticeable. But as the seconds ticked by, Trent felt the chill
start to creep beneath his jumpsuit to attack his skin. He rubbed
his arms, trying to keep them warm, and quickly figured out the
penalty he was being assessed. He would have to work in the cold.
But there was no time to dwell. He went back to work, desperately
chasing a solution as one of the platforms slowly approached a gap
in a pathway. It was his.

Time ticked by and Trent started shivering
noticeably. With every ounce of concentration he could muster, he
stared at the slowly approaching gap, knowing that there had to be
a way
across.

The sudden realization was like a slap to the
cheek;
the plastic pieces he'd found in his pocket!
He
pulled them free with all haste, counting out 40 or so of the thin
rectangular pieces that just happened to be the exact size of the
gaps.
We’re saved!

Carefully, he leaned over the table, trying
to ignore the tiny people cringing on the other platforms, and his
own trembling hand, placing a single piece in the gap he was slowly
approaching. The giant hand that appeared before him created a gust
of wind that almost caused him to the drop the piece into the
searing flames, but he was able to place it without fail. An
audible click echoed through the air as it locked into place.

“Successful integration with path unit five.
Please continue operation,” the monotone voice sounded again, not
even phased by the tongue lashing that Trent, with his tiny and
giant friend, had given it moments before.

Confident in the knowledge that he had solved
the puzzle, he prepared to place the next piece to save an
approaching platform, when he stopped midway. He must have been
subconsciously counting the number of gaps present, since he
realized that the number of rectangular pieces he had pulled from
his pocket were well short of what was required to allow every
platform to reach the end safely. He pulled the pocket inside out
as a horrible thought struck him.

Will I have to sacrifice some to save the
rest?
He shivered, pushing away the abhorrent idea while
rubbing his hands together, trying to keep his blood flowing in the
now freezing air. Looking back to the table, he decided to talk
himself to a solution.

“There are 10 pathways that each contain a
platform. Each platform moves, at the same speed, towards the far
end of the table, following the random, zigzagging pathways
exactly,” explained Trent, his teeth chattering as he pointed to
the tracks, hoping something new would present itself, “...Each
track has......has what looks like......10 gaps between start and
finish, which would add up to 100 gaps in total to fill. I only
have,” he quickly counted the remaining rectangular pieces, “39
pieces left. This is enough to save four of the platforms.”

That was unacceptable,
he knew, but so
far it was his only option.

Time continued to tick away and Trent's
stress level started to rise as the gnawing cold made thinking
difficult. He turned back to the
grey
sky,
shivering noticeably.

“Could you please give me some sort of hint?
Something that would help me save these people!” Trent cried,
trying not to let his frustration, and the gnawing cold, get the
better of him.

As expected, there was no response.

The platform, on what he counted as pathway
seven, slowly approached the next gap. It would be only a matter of
minutes before it arrived. Trent, seeing no other options, made a
decision, a horrible decision that no one should ever have to make.
He placed a piece in the gap before the approaching platform on
pathway seven.

“Successful integration with path unit seven.
Please continue operation,” the monotone voice sounded. Trent, now
with a small smile born of melancholy, absently wondered if anyone
would ever know of his sacrifice. He was sure the people on the
other platforms wouldn't realize he saved their lives. But he was
ok with that; he wasn't doing this to be considered a hero. He was
doing it to save the most lives.

He moved around the table to give himself
easier access to the four tracks he planned on saving, trying to
ignore the platforms he had left for dead...including his own. He
would start with track seven and lay the pieces all the way to the
end.

Trying to contain his shiver, from both the
cold and possibly fear, he placed the next piece.

“Integration failure, path piece on path unit
seven placed at unacceptable distance from transportation unit.
Remove immediately, penalty situation five shall be assessed until
proper removal is completed,” the monotone voice sounded,
accompanied by a very annoying siren. Trent attempted to remove the
piece, but was stopped short by an invisible wall of pressure
pressing down upon him. It took all his strength to keep from
collapsing across the table, barely being able to push himself
clear to fall to the floor.