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Veracity: Void
Posted By: Shurmanator<dyshurman@gmail.com>
Date: 19 October 2009, 10:04 pm
Read/Post Comments
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>>>>>>///ONI Orbital Research Platform
>>>>>>///Neptune, Sol System
>>>///June 27, 2568
>>>///1137 Hours
>///Delphi Station Recording Log
"Took you long enough," Thomas Belansky whispered out loud. It was his shift to watch the mess door, and even his soft mutter carried out in the silent chamber. Still, everyone was too fast asleep to awaken at any small noise.
The presence drove in deeper, but Belansky ignored it for now.
"I mean really, haven't you seen the vids? The comedic relief always goes first. And yet its been like ten hours. What the hell?"
The Thing mimicked Belansky's indifference to anything his opponent said, and continued to force its way into the man's psyche, creating a palpable heaviness in Belansky's breathing.
The Texan continued to remain unfazed.
"I suppose better late than never. All right, lets get this over with."
The Thing, frustrated at the enormous barricade standing in front of its goal, was shocked to find that Belansky lifted the barrier willingly, and opened the door into this own mind.
Wary of trickery, the Thing proceeded inward. It was always more difficult entering a conscious mind, but it had observed the Texan for a long time. That is why he was chosen first; he was a wild card, and needed to be removed from the equation as soon as possible.
Belansky leaned his head back against the wall, rocking his stool backwards as well. He took another swig of whiskey, gurgling out, "Let's talk somewhere more private."
The Inner Recesses of the Mind.
So, what can ol' Tom do for you today?
Serve.
Yeah, that's great. Seriously, stop being so cryptic. What do you want?
Veracity.
This conversation is not going anywhere. I want you to tell me what you want. Is that so hard?
First you will serve...
Yeah, okay, I see how this is going to go. Alright, lets get moving, stuff to do, right?
>>>>>>///ONI Orbital Research Platform
>>>>>>///Neptune, Sol System
>>>///June 27, 2568
>>>///1139 Hours
>///Delphi Station Recording Log
Professor Thomas Belansky rose from his seat, still clutching is bottle of whiskey. He crept over to the doorway, careful not to wake the others. After quickly punching in the code, he stepped into the hallway. It was dark.
Very dark.
Instinctively, Belansky knew where to find Interrogation Room Omega. After walking several paces, he stopped and turned left, facing the doorway to the room. There was no need to enter any code; the Colonel had neglected to shut the door behind him before entering the mess for the last time.
The Thing was still floating there. It displayed no signs of thought or motion, simply pulsating to an unheard rhythm, shifting and flowing in the air, glowing pink, almost peaceful.
Almost.
Obediently, Belansky disengaged all the locks on the door that lead to the subject chamber. He re-routed all of the security safeties to sub-routines located in the coffee machine's automatic shut-off. He also disabled all of the electronics monitors in the room, effectively turning it into a black zone. His fingers whizzed across switches and buttons, displaying an intricate knowledge of systems he had never operated before in his life. Clearly, however, someone else on this station had.
Finally, the process was complete. A dull stifling presence filled the chamber as the door to the subject room opened. The pink blob drifted out of sight of the optic glass.
Something unholy swept out of the door. If one looked closely, one would have been able to see a shadowy figure masked against the steel surface of the chamber's wall. It was a mirage in the cold, a hallucination in reality.
"Hello, sunshine," Thomas Belansky said brightly.
The pair left Interrogation Room Omega. One trotted down the hall, at a brisk, cheerful pace. The other gasped and jerked along, almost reaping the atmosphere as it marauded its way down the narrow corridor, seemingly sucking what little life was left out of the cold walls.
Belansky spoke up. "So, its a long walk down the hall. What should we talk about?"
Nothing.
"Nah, that's boring," the Texan responded, "seriously, what should we talk about?"
Be silent.
"Come on, fella'. You and I both know that you're not strong enough to rip my speech from me. Not yet anyway. These little nerves, these insignificant paltry muscles, these physical movements, that's all you can control. Nothing more."
You are right.
"Bout' what?"
Not yet.
Belansky snorted. "Hah! So you think. But really, this is all boring scientific shit, lets talk about something interesting."
You will do your duty, nothing more.
"So when was the first time you got laid?"
Silence.
"Mine was junior year of high school. Rebecca Nash, I think. I really can't remember clearly, but I think that was her name. God, that was fun. She knew some stuff, that girl."
Silence.
"Now I knew her reputation, and most other guys would have stayed away, but good ol' Tom isn't afraid of STD's. I eat 'em for breakfast. Actually, it was about 5 in the morning when we went again, and I didn't eat anything afterward, so I guess technically you could say I ate STD's for breakfast. Am I right?"
Silence.
"So, you had yourself a girl friend? Nice lady blob you could show the folks?"
Silence.
"Nah, I bet you didn't. Unless she was really drunk..."
Why didn't you use one?
"A condom?"
No, a memory.
"You thought I would pull the 'ol, 'here's a happy memory to form a barrier of love and happiness to guard the walls of my subconscious!' maneuver? Psh. You underestimate me, blob."
So why didn't you use it?
"I didn't need it. As I recall, you had a hard time gettin' in before I let you in."
You are not afraid of death. The other one, the Colonel, was. The others will be as well. But you are not. That makes you a threat. You have nothing to lose here, and you are stronger. The strongest of them all. You could easily keep me out. Why not do it? Why not reject me, save yourself?
"Because there's no point. No point to anything. I'm going to die anyway, and better by your hands then slow by way of AIDS... which I do have, incidentally."
You are not answering. You are hiding something.
"What the hell are you talkin' 'bout? I did just answer you!"
That is not the real reason. You knew this would be a slow death to choose. Why choose it?
"Cause I wanted to..."
The Thing pressed harder, forgetting the odd circumstances of his entry into Belansky's mind, overlooking the truth... overlooking his own Veracity...
Tell me.
"That's it, buddy. You're pissin' me off."
"TORMENT!"
The Thing cried out in agony, pulsating too fast to see, becoming a vague shadowy blur. It sank to the ground, morphing to the steel, writhing in pain.
Veracity...veracity...veracity.... AGGGHHHH!
"Veracity, veracity!" Belansky mocked, pressing down, ripping into the Thing, tearing its hold over him into pieces.
Der unrighteous wird verdammt werden. Die Lügner werden bestraft werden. Sie werden alle in ewiger Zerstörung verbrennen! Beanspruchen Sie! Machen Sie frei!
"Cut that exorcist shit, you ain't impressing no one," Belansky yawned, exerting almost no effort as he rejected the slowly fading probes of the Thing.
I will walk through the valley of the shadow of death...
"Yeah, and then Jesus is going to kick your blob ass back to Hell, now shut the fuck up and die already."
Belansky stopped, letting his mind wander back into itself. He bent over the Thing, chuckling softly.
"You want to know why I wasn't afraid?" snarled the Professor, changing, morphing into something far deadlier than the Thing could ever imagine, "Because there's nothing you could do, nothing you could have ever done, to control me. You can't control a man with nothing to lose, you can't threaten a man who has nothing, who never did. You have no hold over me. And that absence of leverage, that gaping hole of calm, it can be turned against you. It can be pressed into you, voiding your control, voiding your power. And when all you have is the mind, it can be so easily destroyed. You underestimated me, blob. It was the last mistake you ever made."
No...the blob gasped, I can not beat you... but Veracity... must... be... fulfilled...
At the far end of the hall, the door to the mess opened. A dark shape was silhouetted against the dim light emanating from a malfunctioning coffee machine. It was almost impossible to make out, save for the rigid, straight-backed, military posture.
Belansky looked up. He noticed the feature clearly, even from his distance from the figure.
"Milavech?"
A loud crack echoed in the narrow chamber, bouncing off the shadowy walls, eventually collapsing in on itself in the darkness. A small, cylindrical object flew at high speeds down the hall. It smashed into Professor Thomas Belansky's chest, knocking him onto the floor. The bottle of whiskey tumbled from his hand and smashed to into pieces. It was empty.
The Thing beckoned to the figure with its mind, weakly, slowly recovering from the massive trauma the Professor had inflicted.
Drag the body back to the door.
Victor Milavech obliged, holstering his pistol. When he finished, he turned back to the Thing.
Now... you have two tasks to accomplish for Veracity...
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