The Pathless on Paths---------Chapter X|当前速讯

Prometheus

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The floor beneath him rumbled, as the craft landed. He could not see through the blindfold that covered his eyes. There were loud mechanical noises, the humming of high-powered electric motors, the groaning of steel, the noise of wind. A scarcely noticeable moment of weightlessness told him that they were...descending. The noise persisted for some time, and then there was a loud bang, and all was silent, save for the steady and powerful sound he recognized as that produced by a lift...a great one, for aircrafts. No one spoke in the dark cabin.

Yes, he, Emmerich Noah, was being held captive. Tremendous. He knew vividly their odds before embarking, and his captivity was within expectation, though not within their plan. A jeopardized plan now, and with it shall be brought down all who were working for that cause. What doom shall befall him now, he had no exact knowledge. He shall wait, and shall see, and shall embrace it. He had mentally prepared himself long before.

The noise of the lift ceased. There came the sound of the cargo bay’s hatch opening. Someone seized him by the arm and pulled him up roughly, then shoved him forward. Emmerich did not resist, and complied as he was pushed forward. As he walked off the sloped cargo bay hatch and onto firm ground, he could feel that there were bright lights, even through the blindfold.

They were brought, without a word, through this brightly lit space, through many-a passages and turns. At last Emmerich discovered that they were brought before some type of vehicle, and he was forced into a seat. The structures he had passed through, must have been some sort of terminal then. He sat wordlessly through the entire journey. It was a smooth ride, too smooth for a vehicle. It must be some sort of tram, or railway. After an immeasurable time of what felt like half an hour, but could very well be longer, Emmerich was pulled up roughly once more. They were led through more passages and turns, and the environment grew quiet, free of mechanical noise, until they halted. The soldiers escorting them traded muffled words inaudible. He also heard the haughty voice of the gray-clad man. He spoke of separation of their group, and what seemed to be the code number for rooms. Then he was shoved forward once more, this time he was nearly alone, and soon after the footsteps of the others faded away, save for two other sets that he knew belonged to his escorts: two stiff clamps of steel strength on his arms. They walked in a silent corridor, and the echos of their footsteps were the only other sounds save for their initial counterparts. Then they halted, and their came an electronic beep, and the sound of unlocking and the smooth opening of a door. His blind fold was removed, and he squinted in the suddenly brilliant light. The soldiers pushed him into a cell, a cubic space of white walls, white ceilings and the same upon the floor. An approximate of ten square meters the room took up, with a toilet at one corner, and a bed on the other side. He also noticed a obscurely hidden surveillance camera at a corner of the ceiling. No sooner had he whipped around to face it that the door slid shut with a clean click, its white surface nearly blending into the wall flawlessly.

“Await interrogation.” Said a low voice from behind the door. He heard one set of booted feet stomping heavily away.

At least he was not deposed of immediately, Emmerich appeased himself.

*      *      *

Samuel Giavoni leaned back into his reclining armchair, closing his eyes. He held a sweating cup of iced whiskey in his left hand. The smooth surface of the cup was wet and cool. He felt rather drowsy, as he sat facing the window wall of his office behind his desk. The night has fallen outside, and the technicolour neon lights of the city below him lit up the black air. Tall and densely packed were all the buildings in Caterpool West, yet his office towered above all. A lone pinnacle he sat upon, that rose high into the air. The view was simple astonishing, even the executives living at the top levels of the buildings would marvel at, and simply cannot imagine, the views, let alone the lesser men in lower levels who have never even the sky before, and who feared it. All the orderly packed buildings, monolithic cubes identical were arranged beneath him, forming quite simply another ground, one much higher that the actual, a black matrix. If one did not look deep, it would seem rather well, so ordered and organized...yet take a look of more detail, and one would see that, there are countless levels, level upon levels, hidden in the shadows of the great structures, housing pale men who has never seen the Sun, daft men whose hearts of stone were filled merely with the intention and instinct of to live.

He saw the Sun for the first time only several decades ago, thought Sam. He was not much better. Yet, all here are fortunate, for they have at least a place to accommodate their mortal bodies, even if their souls have withered in the dark.

Samuel tried to blink the drowsiness away. Old age was prevailing, and he felt weary. At sixty-five his body was still as healthy as one could possible wish for at this state, yet that still did not stop his mental aging, even if it is delayed.

He took a sip of whiskey. The time drew near now. The time he had for which he had lived in the shadows of fear for so long was drawing near...nearer than ever. The captivity of Ivan Kater and his fellows, a sign that cannot be clearer. His foresight was drawing to its close. Long has he lived in the reassurance of future knowledge, his most essential tool in his success, and yet, it is soon to be taken away: soon, he, the world actually, would pass into a time he did not know. Soon, the future would become to him merely a thing that could be but speculated, and not a regimented routine of fixed events. The future would soon become, to him, what it is to any, normal man. Was he ready? Yes, for he has known when this moment would come, and has made preparations. Yet, uncertainty still beset him. The feeling is unavoidable, he knew, for it could be said that for that past several decades he lived in a pampered stated, untroubled and graceful, for he knew what was to come, and all he needed to do was carry out prompted courses of action at the appropriate time, and success would come to him, like a child returning to a mother’s embrace. Soon though, that child shall turn against him, and would run. The child will elude his capture at first perhaps, but chances are in abundance, and he was ready. The last gift of his foresight, would be the knowledge of the end of itself: to wake himself up from the secure dream.

Still, that time has not yet come to pass.

There was a knock on the office door. Two tall doors they were, stretching to the top of the already tall ceiling. Samuel’s office was unusually spacious, considering that while another man may very well have chosen to build another story above, Samuel kept it empty. The high ceiling gave him respite from the suffocating spaces of the rest of the city. Despite that his company oversaw the entire construction process, in he himself took a substantial part, he still could not get used to the city: the thought of living in enclosed monolithic complexes for a lifetime without ever the sight of the sun or sky seemed appalling to him, as it would to any man who has seen the open sky and breathed fresh air before. For those men, there were but two choices: to be at the top, or to be at the bottom. Atop all buildings one could behold the sky, as could one should he live in the narrow streets on the ground floor, though that sky be but a few thin slits of light so far above.

There came three quick beeps from the computer, nothing more than a long semi-cylinder, on his desk. Samuel spun his chair around and with gentle wave of his hand answered the incoming call. A holographic timer appeared, recording the length of the call. It was from Serene, his right hand man.

“I have only just entered the Buffer Field,” said he. “I have the subjects and have dealt with the rest. We are currently en-route to the Vault. It would be about time for you to set out, to leave an lenient amount of time for the road. Maybe bring your walking stick?”

“Good to hear, I will be meeting there soon enough,” answered Samuel, and he hung up. He stood up and made for the door, grabbing his coat from its hanger next to it. He did not even spare his waling stick a single glance.

Well, Serene, you may be my proudest brainchild, the incarnation of perfection in manly shape, Samuel thought as he walked, there are times still when you are faulty. One is to believe that Samuel Giavoni is old, the other is in saying you have “dealt with the rest” when, in truth, the job is yet thorough. For the latter, though, Samuel was grateful. It was a mistake ordained by fate itself, it would seem, without which he would not be here.

*      *      *

Samuel sat forward, and surveyed each of the three men before him in turn wearing a queer smile. He simply could not find the words to describe what he felt. In the cramped interrogation room there was but the agitating buzz of a wretched electric lamp.

Samuel broke the ice.

“I respect men who strive for a cause, for I find them alike to myself.

“You see...I am come but to speak to you as equals, and I wish not to extract any information from your minds forcefully. Instead I see this more as a little talk, a conversation between acquainted fellows. If I desperately required intelligence, I would have just had Serene who right outside this door do the dirty work for me, and knowledge of your deeds would be as accessible as a simple report to be read at my desk, I would not have needed to go to the trouble of being here in person.”

“Of course, you had better know this before hand. I, in fact, know a great deal thamn you belive I do. You see, Ivan, I knew from the moment that I saw your name that you would betray me, and yet I still hired you when you were unemployed and thought ‘unrealistic’ by all the others. See, I KNEW that you possessed that ability that I seek, that you could help me advance, even if it meant that eventually you would betray me. The same applies the the rest of you, too. I KNEW that without you I cannot reach were I sought.”

“How? It would seem there is something more to your choice and simply the recognition of potential and abilities.”

“Indeed! You cannot be more correct! See, your plan...I knew it ALL ALONG! I do not need to wrench it from your minds. The discovery, the concealment, and the utilization of the Greenway effect...the construction, and even the location of ‘The Drain’...all of it, I knew. You thought your plan was secret enough? NO! Not when one amongst you gifted me with all the intelligence I could ever need to destroy your endeavour, and so willingly was he when he spoke to me...this is exactly why...why I fell so queer now, for such a sophisticated...THING, is unraveling right before my eyes, it is very what you do not understand!” Samuel was half out of his seat, leaning forward and breathless.

“So there is a traitor amongst us?”

“NAY! NAY INDEED! See, he is not amongst you three! Nor is he your brother, Emmerich. And think not that he who spoke to me was a traitor, fro remained loyal to your cause!”

“Why would he have told you if he...”

“He did not know who I was, did he? And you guys were none too eager to fill him in on it. In fact, even you would not have known, should you be in his place.”

“Then who...”

“None other than that flawed combat model replicant you guys somehow contrived to get your hands on, of course. Serial number 2188116, a flawed replicant that failed to pass the quality check, not to mention is an old model. You think he is dead, don’t you, but no, he lives. Whilst he lives still you may think that there exists still hope for your plan, but no...I am living proof that your plan failed. It is normal that you do not understand a word I utter, but you eventually will, aye, you will in time...perhaps. But here is what I truly desire to know: why? Why oppose me? Why go to such lengths, merely to hinder what is inevitable?”

“Well...simple. We oppose your cause. The Distortion, all of it, we find simply unnatural. It is not right, it is alien, invasive, and we cannot tolerate its spread and growth.”

“But look around you! The technology! All of which could not have been contrived without the discovery of the Distortion Phenomenon!”

“Yet you unleashed it, and let it spread and infest all that lives and does not live, and watched as it perverted the world. The deaths you caused are simply innumerable, and you stand here pitiless. You brought down the old world, and you confined those who saw its fall in the cities that remain still, and tell them that the world outside means to them naught more than death.”

“It is evolution! Do you not see? Natural selection! Survival of the fittest! Our old world lost its vitality, and all development slowed and came to a halt, and I breathed life into it once more! But you must comprehend, that without great ruin no gory shall be born. Si vis pacem, para bellum, you see. Ah...but I cannot indoctrinate everyone...and less likely am I to convince you people. I suppose...the crevasses between us, men whose mindsets differ in crucial points, may not be bridged. I can understand why now...you are all just a band of conservative men, timid, frightened of change. Before now we all lived in darkness, but I found light, and oi wish to pass, to spread it to all, yet all of you, timid creatures whose eyes stung before light, flee before me. You will never understand that, without facing the pain, without accepting the trial, none can advance. It is not difficult to withstand the stinging light, yet after its trail...one is gifted sight, so clear, so keen. I CAN SEE, AND WHAT SPLENDOR I HAVE BEHELD! Yet you...wish not to see. You just draw back and hide. If so...stay, if you will, in the dark, then.. I shall treasure the light myself.

“Have you...ever wondered...why I went to the lengths as to do all this? This..huge experiment, I mean.”

“Yes we have, actually. It was a rather unconvincing case when you said it was a ‘simulation experiment’. We all knew there are numerous other methods, the cost of which is so much more bearable. It was not difficult to see that i was but an excuse. Still, it occurred to us as an opportunity we couldn’t miss. After all, a well placed and well timed war may save a shaken regime...”

“And an ill one may very well bring it to cinders...clever. All you had to do was some infiltration, disguise and covert ops. All went well did it not? You think I did not know? I KNEW. EVERYTHING. If my deduction is correct, that replicant...is a fail-safe, if ever your plan foundered, as it has already done, the replicant would be spared, and would continue your cause. So long as the replicant, and Emmerason Noah lived, one within and one out, things may still work out even if ill doom befell the rest of you. A good plan, I should say, a valiant but fruitless endeavour. You see, as you have said yourself, a perfectly devised war can stabilize a regime, that is veritably the aim of the experiment. All my enemies would reveal themselves, and there has never been a better excuse to rid Giavoni of these factors of instability. All I had to was dispatch them here, to the Vault, to ‘overlook experiment procedures’, and then silently...send them in. None can survive.”

“And, let me guess, you are going to tell us that you shall seek out Emmerason and that replicant, destroy them, and along with it bury our folly dreams? Or will you also be sending us ‘in’?”

“Ah...in fact, this is exactly why I came here...

“Doctors, as educated men, do you believe...in Fate?”

“No.”

“I do, and that is exactly why I am choosing to leave you, and the replicant, and Emmerason, be. You see, while I am living proof that your plan failed, I am also deeply indebted to you and your plan, without which I would not be standing here. It is also for that reason that I hired you despite the knowledge of your eventual betrayal, why I watched whilst you built your schemes against me. You do not believe in Fate, such is the reason you chose to use the Greenway Effect and built ‘The Drain’: you believe, that by going back to the past, one could change things, prevent fact from existing. Yet, I am living proof that Fate is true, for, you see, twice I have lived these days, and two ‘me’s exist simultaneously here, one following a path that was laid for him by the other though he may not yet be aware of it. So intricate a object is Fate, so exquisite, so unreal, I find it maddening to contemplate. Your Fate and mine, strangled together like the vines of grapes, entangled, coexistent, with reliance upon one another...I am not me without you, and I must fulfill Fate by letting you be, so you can complete the me that shall come after. A ring, a knot, marches Fate be like, see? You cannot change what has been, for it has already been. I AM the proof that you cannot change the present simply by tampering and meddling with the past.”

“...”

“What I say you may not yet understand, I do not expect you to, but think on it, really. Think. Something will come. I know why now, why you are working against me. On one hand our ideals contradict, on the other...Fate ordained it be so. Without you, there is no me, and without me, Ivan, you, would have perished in poverty, unrecognized, underrated. Yet in fate there be no ‘if’s...such is the present.”

“....”

“...A question from us, Mr. Giavoni. What do you desire? You spread light, what for? You stand now atop the highest summit of the highest peak. There is no more up.”

“For creation. I am Prometheus...I bring the fire...to burn the old world to cinders, and to build one anew, shining so bright, in majesty and splendor...”

“Without control, your greed will fuel taht fire, and you shall lose what you yet possess.”

“Farewell, gentlemen.”

With that, Samuel Giavoni stood, bowled to the three men opposite of him slightly, and departed.

Another piece of shit...

Anyhow...

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