Date: 333, OA19,655
Location: Lleno de Vida, Arena, Canol System
CARLOS.
The interrogation chamber dwindled and amplified in his vision. Perception of the environment blurred as if the prison had been plunged underwater. But the objects in the room- the titanium cage, the control desk and the people - remained absolutely still. A snapshot of time. It was only Carlos who could move - a tentative foot prodding the unclear ground beneath him.
CARLOS.
A foul voice lingered in the air; a culmination of sagacity and perennial dread. To hear his name spoken so eloquently and by something so incorporeal was like the invitation of death. A coldness washed over him. Bodily functions ceased to exist. His pulse had been wringing in his ears before, but now there was no heartbeat. The lungs did not expand and contract as they normally would. Perhaps I am dead.
And yet, his body did not feel starved. In fact, he felt nothing. A mind wholly detached from the Human body; existing as a neural processor and nothing else.
CARLOS. The word resembled an incantation. Drawing him into a state of minute existence. A claustrophobic world. Only aware of one time and one space. HEAR ME.
I hear you. Carlos thought. There was no indication that his own voice prevailed, but the words themselves materialised within him like an oral ghost.
BEWARE THE CALAN. The warning held such clarity, it wrapped around Carlos in a grievous embrace. He didn't know whether to believe the voice or not, but he apparently had no choice in the matter. His mind would not close to the noise. THE CALAN ARE YOUR ENEMIES.
No. Carlos replied succinctly.
BEWARE, CARLOS. The voice gradually faded away, and the vision tunnelled into blackness.
YOU ARE READING
Calan - The Immortality Paradox
Science FictionThree-hundred years after the Calan race leave Humanity to fend for itself, the Universe is in turmoil. Corruption breaks economies, assassins dethrone monarchs and wars threaten the unprotected. Meanwhile a mysterious, celestial object materialises...
