Terminal Fuse

{EIGHT}

The Journal of Archibald McTaggart, Entry 12:

It's amusing how the One World government believes they've isolated this island. They've installed the greatest safeguards, yet it's foolhardy to believe that the ripples we make here won't affect our world or even the universe. Not to mention, we couldn't possibly create technology advanced enough to isolate an intelligence such as this. It's already more advanced than we might ever be. We're all but idiots and pawns in comparison.

***

My thumb skirts the port's perimeter again, memorizing the grooves. I lick my lips in horror and try to stave off my ragged puffs of air. The port doesn't feel like any other ones I know. I tick through the staple ports in my head: USB, Ethernet, HDMI, VGA... Each doesn't fit the circular indentation of this port. And within the main port, there are parallel rows of circles that feel grooved and rough. Trusting my instincts, I can tell that this is something I've never come across before.

"Mia, could you...?"

How do I even finish that sense? Maybe: tell me what the hell is in my head?

"Oh my god, you've got a power socket in your head."

"I don't think that's it," I argue. "It's gotta be a data port, not power."

"We should test it," Mia spin around, looking for the right cable.

"No, we shouldn't. Let's leave it for now and crack this computer."

She sighs, "Fine, it's your head, I guess. But I hope you have an idea on how to crack that computer. None of us could."

</I could help/>

I ignore Archie and pivot towards the bookcase, "What sort of books are these?"

"Uh, lots of theoretical physics and other science-y stuff. No military stuff."

"Kay, Scientist, not soldier."

Mia slides open the glass panel, rummages around, flips open some books, "Some journals. Neat handwriting — can't be a guy's."

"My brother had nice penmanship."

"This nice?" She asks, tossing the book at me.

The handwriting isn't just tidy: it's cursive. Every letter appeared sculpted, as written by a professional calligrapher. Flicking through the pages, I find mostly observation notes: dates of experiments, effects witnessed, additional hypotheses... My excitement dims, cuz none of this is useful, or at least not for my hack. I keep going, seeing titles for things like...

Theories and Speculation on the Femi Paradox

Electrical Discrepancies Caused by the McTaggart Blackhole Generator, 

Analysis of Alius Island

That last one automatically sucks me in. I flick through pages and pages of classified records, risk assessments, and blueprints, again learning practically nothing, until:

"As the site of the cosmological anomaly, the United Coalition of Scientific Research commandeered Alius Island on November 3rd, 2023, in order to protect the world from any potentially xenobiotic influences. The entire island shall be cut off from society and the testing facility built with the hope to better humankind."

Curious but annoyed, I dog-ear that page for later reading then flip to the back and finally find something useful, a name: Property of Vera McTaggart.