The Infinite Evolution - Conversion (42 page)

“
I’m fine. They have been
treating me really well. These guys aren’t the enemy, they’re here
to help us.”

Izri walked into the room, asked Reece to have a
seat, and explained to him who they were, as Reece sat there in
disbelief.

“
Secure her,” commanded Oliver.

Karl secured Serafina’s arms and
placed a small circular device around her head in an attempt to
counteract any psychic abilities she may want to use. Serafina
showed no resistance and asked, “Is the psychic block necessary?
Please do not place that on; I promise I am not going to do
anything.”

“
You know the procedures just as
well as I do. Now, let me see that necklace,” replied Oliver,
ignoring her plea.

Serafina removed her outer
garment and revealed her purple bra.

Oliver saw the tattoo and became
angry, “You have no right to exhibit that symbol,” as Oliver
reached over and grabbed Serafina’s upper chest, the Necklace of
the Guardians made itself known. Oliver tried to remove it, but
quickly realized it was too heavy.

Oliver simply shook his head in
disbelief, “So it’s true, you’re a double agent. How could you?”
Melissa and Karl stood there in astonishment, both lost for
words.

Spencer quickly came out and
demanded to know, “Were you responsible for my death?”

Serafina looked up at Spencer
with tear filled eyes and said, “Yes, I created the malfunction in
the vehicle that struck you, only because I was instructed to, but
not by the...”

Oliver interrupted, “Enough,
Serafina! Now, who placed that god forsaken necklace on
you?”

“
Melchior,” Serafina said with a low
murmur.

“
I’m not surprised? When?” asked
Oliver.

“
It has been five years since I
was inducted into their faction. Nevertheless, you need to believe
me, my loyalty is truly to the Floaters. I did not know what I
signed up for and when I realized what the Guardian’s truly wanted,
I chose to separate myself from them as soon as I
could.”

“
That’s impossible. Once someone
places that necklace on, they can never pull themselves away,”
advised Oliver.

“
That is not true, I was able to create a
psychic barrier which blocked my thoughts and experiences from
them. Now that barrier is broken because of this psychic block you
placed on my head. By doing this you have now given them the
ability to control my mind at their own whim. Once they realize I
am back online they will prevent me from blocking them again, I am
sure of it.”

“
Are you kidding me? You think I’m going to
fall for that? Please, treat me as if I had some intelligence. If I
remove that psychic block who knows what you would be capable of
doing.”

“
Oliver I am telling you the
truth. I went offline with them over three years ago. I assure you,
the psychic block you placed on me will not prevent the necklace
from transmitting. You do realize that, do you not?”

“
Please, I’m old, but I’m certainly not an old
fool. You’re just trying to get us to remove your mental restraints
so you can use your manipulation on us.”

“
I swear to you that is not the
case. Please, I beg you, remove this. I do not want to be under
their control. You have no idea what they are capable of doing,”
pleaded Serafina as her eyes continued to well up with
tears.

“
Just stay quiet. You are a great
disappointment to me and the movement. Karl, get on the transmitter
and see if you can raise command again,” ordered Oliver.

“
Yes sir, I’m on it.”

“
Spencer, I need you to notify LAX and ask
them for a security detachment, reference field action Echo. They
will know what you mean. We will be landing there for refueling and
removal of some unwanted cargo,” explained Oliver as he looked back
at Serafina and said, “We will be pushing forward on this
matter.”

“
Yes sir,” replied Spencer who was not showing
much enthusiasm about this situation.

“
What do you need me to do?” asked
Melissa.

“
Just stay here and babysit Serafina and don’t
let her talk you into anything! I need to go to the cockpit,” said
Oliver as he walked away in utter aggravation.

Serafina turned to Melissa and before she could even
say a word, Melissa said, “Just keep your mouth shut. I don’t want
to hear it.”

After Spencer notified LAX he had
gone to the back of the plane in order to sit down. He felt an
overwhelming amount of guilt for what he had done. Spencer
continued to read more about the history between the Guardians and
Floaters and kept thinking how similar their beliefs were to
certain political and social groups on Earth. “The Guardians feel
they’re entitled, and believe change is no longer needed. On the
other hand, Floaters appear to thrive on constant instability. The
word stagnant doesn’t appear to be in their vocabulary. Either way,
both seem to need each other in order to define their true
existence,” thought Spencer.

Destination

Quartus retrieved the stone from
a wooden cabinet and brought it over to a small round table where
he wiped it down with a cloth. He placed the stone in a small
metallic case, sealed it, and allowed only Mileva’s DNA to be the
biometric key. As Quartus finished implementing his protocols for
transporting the stone, he contemplated calling for extra security,
but decided he did not want to bring any extra attention to
himself.

While Quartus gathered his
belongings, he recalled a comment made by Kyria the day Shiphra was
murdered, “If we allow our society to merge with other
pre-technical planets we harvest from, we will certainly be
polluting our genetic coding.” Quartus could not get over this
outlandish comment Kyria had made, so he started to wonder what her
motives were and if she could go as far as aligning herself with
the opposing side.

As the morning progressed so did Quartus’ theories,
until he heard Abner telepathically say, “Quartus we need to get
going.”

“
Where are you?” asked Quartus.

“
I am outside your door, you were not able to
detect me?”

“
Obviously not, I have been
having some issues. Let us just leave it at that.” Quartus placed
his hand to his forehead as he tried to suppress the sharp pain he
was feeling in his frontal lobe. After the pain subsided, he walked
out of his home and instructed Abner to follow.

“
Will we be streaming
to
The Ark
?” asked Abner.

“
No, I need to get to Mileva.”

“
Ok, what is in the metallic case?”

“
Nothing of importance. Let us
go.”

After Quartus and Abner boarded an orange sphere
shaped vessel, they launched themselves instantly into the
atmosphere.

“
Why are we not streaming?” asked
Abner.

“
Too dangerous.”

“
What are you talking about? How is streaming
dangerous?”

“
I am not interested in speaking on this
matter,” replied Quartus in a tone, which suggested to Abner that
he best stop asking questions.

As Quartus and Abner traveled
through the skies of Tureis, Quartus continuously watched the
detection scanners for anything that looked even remotely out of
the ordinary. On top of Quartus being vigilant, he was suffering
from unbearable amounts of pain. He kept holding the side of his
head with his left hand as if he was trying to prevent a sharp
object from penetrating his skull.

“
You do not look well,” said Abner.

“
Just keep an eye out for Mileva’s
dwelling.”

As the exterior of the orange
sphere spun at great speeds, it slowly started to descend over a
large complex that was constructed into the side of a cliff that
overlooked an ocean. The exterior of this structure practically
blended in perfectly with the dark browns and grays of the cliff’s
facing. The sphere finally came to a stop, while it hovered
approximately fifty feet from the ocean surface, and sat parallel
with the entrance to this structure. A massive door faded away as
if it was a projection of some sort while the sphere continued to
hover. Soon the sphere proceeded forward until it became completely
engulfed by the cliff side.

“
I do believe we have arrived,” said
Abner.

“
Good get me to Mileva as quickly as
possible.”

Abner looked at Quartus and
grinned, “Already accomplished, she is standing right
outside.”

The sphere lowered itself gently
as three landing gears expelled from its lower half. An exit to the
sphere opened and allowed a ramp to extend to the surface. Quartus
had just enough strength left in him to stumble out. He refused any
help from Abner.

“
Quartus, are you alright?” asked
Mileva.

Abner spoke, “He has been like
this since I saw him at his home. Whatever it is, it only appears
to be getting worse. But he insisted on coming to see
you.”

Quartus looked directly at Mileva
and handed her the metallic case, to which she responded, “Is this
what I think it is?”

“
Yes, it is the stone.”

“
Stone? What stone?” asked Abner
curiously.

“
Mileva will explain. I need to
lie down,” said Quartus as he grasped his head with both of his
hands.

“
What is wrong with you? Do you need to be
treated?” asked Mileva.

“
No, I just need to lie down.”

Without further argument Mileva
took Quartus from the landing bay and brought him into the front
entrance to her home, as Abner stayed with the sphere per Mileva’s
orders. Even though Mileva’s home was built into a cliff, it was
still a humble residence. The interior was filled with a variety of
blues and greens. Most of the furniture was made out of some type
of stone or mineral; this made it sturdy, but not comfortable.
There was very little tech in the home and the walls were
relatively dull. Mileva placed Quartus on a stone slab with ten
inches of soft bedding to comfort him. She gathered up a variety of
hand-woven blankets, covered him up, and wiped the sweat from his
brow.

Quartus looked over to Mileva and said, “Listen, I
did something to myself and you must promise me you will not try to
reverse it.”

“
Certainly, I promise. What is
it?”

“
Over six months ago I gave
myself the ability to dream.”

Mileva stepped back and said, “Are you kidding me.
You did what?”

“
I gave myself the ability to dream by
modifying my program.”

Mileva quickly pointed out, “But
dreaming has been proven to corrupt our
consciousnesses
and it has been
outlawed.”

“
I am well aware of the
consequences. What I was unaware of was how fast it was going to
cause my demise. But it was certainly worth every moment. This is
why I had to introduce you to the stone so quickly.”

“
Let me take you to a Debugger.
We can still salvage your matrix.”

“
No, absolutely not. I have
experienced the ability to dream. If I go see a Debugger, I will be
chastised for what I have done and even worse. I will lose those
memories and visions I gained in my sleep.”

“
If you do not go you are still going to lose
them because you will be dead.”

“
My dear Mileva, I am ready. My
intent was not to destroy myself, but I cannot go back. I am
finally going to learn what happens when one passes on. How can I
pass up that opportunity?”

“
Easy, just continue living,”
replied Mileva, not understanding Quartus’ point.

“
I cannot do that. Before I go you need to
know one very important fact.”

Mileva’s eyes started to fill with tears as she held
Quartus’ hand, “What is it my foolish friend.”

“
If, for whatever reason,
something terrible on a mass scale starts happening to any of the
planets we harvest from, you must notify those respective humanoids
who reside there.”