NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23: Preparation
“Final floor. If you’re hearing this… get the fuck off this floor,” an AI voice similar to Pemo’s said, after the elevator dinged and it’s doors opened.
I stepped out of the elevator, and into a decently sized lab I had built in secret over the years. To the left wall, there was a board with papers, pins, and red lines connecting the papers together to show it as an investigation board.
To the right, a table with beakers containing various liquids, along with unfinished pieces of technology. In front of me, the final wall had a desk with a giant super computer, which could run over a billion times as much data as the average normal computer.
On the right side of the desk, there was a pair of framed photos. The first photo had 15 year old me, near the bottom of the frame, being held by Dylan, on the left, and Issac, on the right.
The second photo… had Rowan and I, both at the age of 13, fishing. I could still smell the earthy sense of the lake.
I walked over to the right wall, unsheathed the sword of creation contained in my lower scabbard, and gently placed it on the table, causing dozens of little box-like machines on spider-like legs to pop out from underneath the table, crawl to the top, and to the sword.
The machines positioned themselves to various parts of the sword, before various color lights shot out from the boxes, one color per box.
“Seriously? You’ve scanned those damn swords hundreds of times. You aren’t gonna find anything,” the AI voice said, while I walked to the super computer.
“Not anything I want. I know that if I want some solid answers, I’ll have to speak to whoever or whatever made these swords.”
Once I made it to the computer, I turned it on, and once I waited for the nearly blinding light to turn on, I went over to a folder labeled Mini Scanners. I then quickly changed their code so they’d scan for chemicals.
“Seriously? Why the fuck is everybody coming down here? I just wanna be alone…” the AI commented before I heard the elevator ding again.
…
“Hello Dad…”
“Hey… Steve. You alright?” Dylan asked, as I could hear his footsteps.
“Why wouldn’t I be,” I replied distantly, staring at the progress bar.
“I know you tend to get pretty pissed off whenever Cooper calls you to his office…”
“All he did was tell us our next mission… by the way, that reminds me. Did you tell them to go to the planning room like I asked?”
“Not yet. Luke isn’t here. I’m waiting until he gets back.”
…
“Look… son… I know the rage you feel… I know you want more than anything to kill Robert… but believe me when I say I’ve walked this path before, and it didn’t help at all. Don’t commit everything you have to vengeance like I did.”
“Scanning completed. Uploading results,” said a different AI voice, similar to my father’s voice, which came from the computer.
Hearing this, I stepped up from the chair, so I could meet Dylan face to face.
“You don’t know everything. You especially don’t know why I’m doing this.”
…
“You’re searching for Rowan…”
Dammit
“Makes sense. He’s the only person you ever fell in love with.”
“No! You’re wrong! It’s because he’s the only friend I’ve ever had! I don’t… I don’t love him.”
Dylan wrapped me into a fierce, tight hug. A little shocked, hesitantly, I returned it lightly.
“Results uploaded. Would you like me to read them, sir?”
“Yes.”
“Alright… the scanners have detected many faint traces of elements found mainly in the creation of planets, stars, and other celestial beings. There’s also a strange, unknown chemical acid with similar properties to Glutamates; neurotransmitters which activate the fear and anxiety responses in the brain.”
“I know what Glutamates are. I really need to put something in their software so they recognize that I know all this shit,” I complained, releasing the hug before Dylan chuckled.
I scoffed, before thinking about what the AI voice said. That’s when all the pieces started to connect.
“Rowan was deathly afraid of these swords,” I informed, going over to pick up the sword and sheath it back into its scabbard.
“He tried to hide it, but… his eyes told me everything. I believe he knows more about whoever created these swords than I first believed…”
“That’s correct,” Dylan added.
“Ah, don’t help me. I don’t know exactly all what knowledge that wormhole gave you, so asking you for anything is like a real-life cheat code.”
“I was just letting you know you were on the right track,” Dylan said innocently.
…
“I need to go back over my plan. Bring everybody to me when Luke gets here.”
“Okay,” Dylan replied, as I stepped into the elevator.
Dylan waited for the elevator to start moving, and a couple seconds later, he sighed, and turned to the left wall, looking at a photo in the middle of the planning board… one of my family, before they met Rob. Elizabeth, my father, and my pregnant mother…
“I’m trying. He’s just really stubborn… don’t worry. He’ll see Rowan before long.”
Insert massive spoiler here.