System

7. Origins of the Species

The man called Swan opened his eyes and was strangely unsurprised that the stark metal corridors of the Grim Defender had disappeared. He blinked and looked around. They were standing in a hexagonal white room with no obvious source of light. The walls and floors themselves seemed to glow giving the space a strange other-worldly feel.

By his side Watcher smiled.

'This is more like it!' the shorter man exclaimed happily.

In the centre of the room was a circular white table on which a number of objects were scattered. There were boxes and books, a tiny model ship, some kind of insect, a rubber octopus and numerous items, ranging from geometric shapes to household tools.

Watcher approached the table and examined the objects carefully.

'Yes,' he said to himself with satisfaction. 'This is just what I was hoping for.'

Swan came over and stood beside him. He looked down at the table.

'Was it?'

'Oh yes,' Watcher nodded. 'Somewhere here is the answer - or something that will help us make sense of things anyway...'

He picked up a small box. It had images on each side so he turned it around in his hands, looking carefully at each face.

'This is just a pile of junk,' Swan said in disgust.

'Oh no,' his companion contradicted him as he shook his head. 'These are keys, links and files. They're our way out of here.'

Swan picked up the tiny boat and held it in the palm of his hand.

'Okay then,' he said after a moment. 'You're going to have to start me off slowly. You obviously know something, so take me back to the beginning here.'

Watcher nodded.

'I think that's the general idea,' he replied. 'I have no idea why, but this... this collection is a... history lesson of some sort. I think I'm supposed to show you how the world got to be the way it is...'

He picked up a snow globe which showed a city-scape in which tiny explosions went off at irregular intervals.

'This, for example, is the war - I think - and this,' he reached out for a tiny jellyfish. 'This will be something about intelligent sea life.'

He looked back at Swan thoughtfully.

'But where do we start?'

Swan looked back at him.

'At the beginning?'

Watcher nodded as he looked down at the table.

'But where is the beginning, I wonder? Where do we start?'

He picked up a few objects and dismissed them rapidly. His eyes and fingers darted over the table as he tried to find the right item. Swan watched in a slightly bemused way. He wanted to help but had no idea what his companion might be looking for.

'Aha!' Watcher called out eventually as he lifted a strange green board into the air.

Swan had no idea what it was. It seemed to have metal lines printed on it and small black rectangles welded to one side.

'What is it?' he asked.

'It's a circuit board,' Watcher said happily, examining the object carefully. 'Twentieth or twenty-first century, I would think. Just the right time period if we're going back in time.'

Swan gathered himself together, pulling back his shoulders in resignation.

'Back in time?' he said. 'Okay.... At this point, I guess I should expect anything...'