Planet B-17: The Beginnings

Chapter 4 - Zadek: A New Sequence of Spacetime

See all as it is if you want to see it at all.

Emotional pathways scan in progress. Recent observations synced and merged into neural net. Bio-molecular structural integrity at 98%, with further strain on retina. Allowing electron birth-flow and enabling subsequent self-healing processes. Attaining desired integrity in 01 hour. Emotional scan over. Dominant markers, closeness and withdrawal.

Zadek opened his eyes. "I'm in a state of mixed emotions."

Like all Omirions, he held within him an exceptional legacy of correlating timelines and Timelessness, out of which he could access whatever was most clear to his perception. His clock-brain prevalence was an exceptionally-refined inner mechanism that helped him adjust his focus and maintain his level of dependability, yet his humanly side brought a wide range of challenges to deal with, among which he currently detected increasing levels of homesickness, anxiety, and loneliness.

The golden clock-wheels he held as irises were idly gazing at the wall ahead. Swiftly, he turned his head: a continuous, low-pitched sound had become audible from the floor below.

The Engine Room, he thought, and went out into the empty corridor.

It was late at night. He took the stairway, following the sound, and he met no one along the way.

Abruptly, he came to a halt.

A mirror sound-source had been birthed. It replicated the pitch accurately, yet from a different set of coordinates, and both zoomed past him in continuous transmission streams. It was extraordinary to hear – melodic yet deep and cruising through his mind and skin. Then the mirror-sound stopped.

Attentively, Zadek kept going towards the Engine Room.

A light within it awaited – for a moment, he'd thought it was produced by the lightning system on Umbar, but this was different. It greeted him and welcomed him, although it did not move nor made a sound, and then it dissipated across the room.

Zadek was left alone.

***

Five days had passed, and the memory of the sound had remained just as vivid in his mind. At times, he could even feel it on his skin – what was Planet B-17 trying to communicate to him? He'd asked Omiran – Clock of the World, his Maker, – and felt that he would soon learn about its significance.

Retina stem cells were deteriorating at fast rate. Frequent re-calibration and self-healing activities had become necessary. And now this tiredness that he felt... He stopped work, rubbed his eyes, and inhaled deeply, feeling the increasing need for air.

A pulsation of light issued – that light in the Engine Room had returned, – and the walls shivered and decompressed into holograms that fell to the side.

Around him came Seremna and a tribe of humanoids.

When is this? he asked Omiran, certain they couldn't see him.

Behold, came the response of the Cosmic Intelligence known as Time, and see your legacy unwind.

The place felt ancient – old enough to match the frequencies of the depths of Planet B-17. And the tongue these humanoids were speaking! – like bird wings through the wind, yet deep and grounded nonetheless.

An elder was presiding, a long, white mane of hair descending across his back and shoulders. He seemed as ancient as the rocks around them, and perhaps a tad younger than the formation of the sky. But he was strong, no weakness brimming in his eyes.