Roy Rocket - Beyond infinity

Moses' laboratory

At any other time, Roy would have found it highly amusing.

As soon as the hidden trapdoor opened beneath him, he was propelled at great speed down a slide which had been skillfully installed inside the narrow tunnel and apparently led down into the deepest bowels of the earth.

The route was twisting, interspersed with numerous bends placed intentionally to partially slow Roy's speed as he hurtled down. Racing at full speed towards the bottom, Roy asked himself how much longer this insane journey was going to take, and that's when he spotted the end of the slide coming at him fast between his extended feet. A shiver ran down his spine: just a few meters in front of him, the tunnel widened, opening into a small room, he could make out the floor and the strong reinforced concrete walls as he plummeted towards them. Roy couldn't catch sight of anything that would either slow down or soften his descent, and at that speed there was no hope of landing without smashing to pieces. He desperately tried to brake by digging his feet and widening his arms against the walls to create friction and slow down, but it was utterly useless. He burst out of the tunnel like a bullet; tucking his body in and shutting his eyes, as he prepared for impact.

Nothing happened: no impact, no explosion, no pain.

He opened his eyes, one at a time, still curled in a fetal position. He was floating in mid-air, cradled by an invisible force.

After a few seconds, the unseen force that was holding him up began to lessen easing him unharmed onto the floor, in the middle of the small room.

«Oh, there you are Roy, at last!» Moses' voice echoed in the space around him.

The youth, turned in the direction of the only aperture that he could see which lead to a much larger room.

His grandad's voice was clearer now: «Did you like my personal toboggan ride? The gravitational absorbers are quite something, aren't they?»

«Gramps!» Roy threw himself in the voice's direction, crossing the threshold into the larger room.

«Come here, son... Here, you made it: welcome to my laboratory or.... what is it you called it? My batcave!»

Roy remained motionless at the entrance, taking in his amazing surroundings. Here and there walls of bare rock were visible, supported by imposing reinforced concrete girders. The place was studded with countless electronic devices and weird machinery which wouldn't have looked out of place in a big budget sci-fi movie.

Huge bright spheres were positioned on top of elaborate structures which held cables of various sizes that arose from the floor like technological tree trunks. Inside the spheres colored shapes moved about rapidly, the overall effect was just like those fashionable 70's lava lamps, which Moses loved collecting.

Several mechanical arms loomed over the work space filled with objects of every size and shape.

At the back of the room, sitting on a comfortable armchair equipped with various control panels, Moses hadn't, not even for a second, taken his eyes off the dozens of monitors that covered the wall in front of him, continuing to tap in commands with complete concentration, like a dedicated gamer captivated by his favorite video game.

«If you can find a chair, make yourself comfortable, Roy» he said, «sorry for turning my back on you but, I'm sure you understand, I'm rather busy at the moment.»

Despite the dramatic moment, his tone of voice didn't convey a great concern for what was happening, in fact, as he was busily occupied in putting things back to normal, Moses seemed more annoyed as if it was just a tiresome inconvenience. Either he was really good at hiding his feelings or, as it appeared to be, he had the situation completely under control.