Veil Of Shadows

Chapter 9: The Organization's Web

Jonathan Reed felt the blood drain from his face taking in the nightmarish extent of integrated flesh and alloy grafted throughout the symbiotic craft's interior. Clearly, the Harvester cult had invested greatly towards assimilating his family's legacy invention for their own unfathomable ends. Gulping anxiously, Jon followed the towering cyborg amalgam deeper inside the gore-slick chamber.

He traced fingertips delicately across veins of bio-reactive cabling interlaced around time-flux capacitors and chronometric induction cells. Much of the modules still reflected Dr. Reed's original elegant designs before...corruption. Like erected cathedrals desecrated by irrational atrocity, the boundless hope Proteus represented now wept dark crimson from sutured wounds bonding hijacked science to inhuman ambition. Mikey's vacant eyes watched impatiently for results.

"Forgive necessary discomfort brother, but probation requires reconciling your identity thoroughly," Mikey's rasping baritone echoed through the blood-fog haze. Dark tendrils lashed out suddenly from the cabin walls enveloping Jonathan tightly as he cried out sharply, invasive alien digits plunging through tissue toward defenseless gray matter underneath! Jon recognized harvesting prelude aiming to extract precious arcane knowledge by force down to the last meager morsels. This grim fate which had swallowed their brilliant grandfather now clutched hungrily for his last direct descendant.

Phantasmagoric images flooded Reed's seizing cognitive landscape faster than coherent cataloging - glimpses of luminescent beings consecrating prehistoric approve by Australopithecus tribes under celestial convergence...alchemical dynasties monopolizing catalysis arcana compounding metallic compositions responding to subtle psychic resonance...glimpses of infinitely layered planes governed by psychopathic incarnations called Archons limiting material access via ancient covenants. Was his frantic mind unweaving outright at these impossible fathoms or had death's dark curtain withdrawn slightly to reveal reality's profound machinations?

Jon recognized facets of Professor Wardlaw's digitized holographic assistant persona coalescing among the revelation deluge. Had residual engrams splintered off into Proteus' metacortex during the assimilation process? The familiar antiquated avatar gestured urgently toward swirling strobes hinting at forced cortical synchronization.

"You must regain internal balance before Paracortex harvesting strips last identity tethers!" The aged projection urged over howling psychic turbulence. "Let my residual memories reinforce your essence against forced amalgamation!" With that, the flickering shadow personality plunged headlong into the burgeoning mental maelstrom. Blinding discharge erupted as overloaded safety capacitors blew out in cascading arcs! The monstrous Mikey recoiled onslaught into armored alcoves as reality blinked outright...

...Jon awakened someplace between concrete and meadow...a serene nexus anchoring observed planes beyond transient definition. Beside him smiled the congenial apparition wearing John's grandfather's face. "We've secured a brief reprieve compartmentalizing away from the Harvester assimilation cortex my boy. But unstable protection without their primary node."

Jon could only stare blankly trying to process the cataclysm back in the central column chamber. "Where...how..?"

The old man chuckled. "In layman's terms, we've projected your consciousness partially out-of-phase with the main deck where I played watchdog since their perverted hybridization." The digital spirit grimaced recalling the violent carnage conducted forging flesh and alloy together in Proteus' core contra-reality.

"But they'll trace projection trajectory soon enough," he warned. "You must reach the central navigation pillar and disable slave circuits before completed chrono-harvest siphons your gifts into their unruly compact utterly!" With that the helpful Guardian personality blinked abruptly into scattered photons leaving Jon alone facing an impossibly smooth metallic hatch his limbs passed ghostly through...Elena sat atop a crumbling high-rise ledge overlooking the neo-dystopian city, pages rustling as another frigid gust scattered her case notes. The new commanding view framed investigations of recent unexplained phenomena within unrest destabilizing this Cold War police state.