The air was damp, miserable, and thick as the wide gondola cut through the green waters. It gently swayed side to side occasionally brushing against the brick walls on either side. Anan soft hums filled the sewers as Termi, at the back, used the oar to push them forward towards the Citadel. Mwene could only see the ceiling or the darkness that cloaked it. The search for answers had left him staring into the abyss. An abyss that stared back and broke his body. The boy's snoring reminded him that his spirit was pretty much still intact ready for the next fight.
Mwene turned his head towards the boy and watched his small chest expand and contract. In that moment all he wanted to hear was his breathing.
"We'll find something for him. He'll walk again. Thanks to the both of you." Termi's slightly high-pitched voice rang through their heads. Mwene quickly shifted his head towards her. Termi's now black eyes were focused forwards into the darkness ahead of them. The gondola, with two lamps on either end of it, was a moving island of light in the sea of seemingly eternal twilight.
"What is at the citadel?" Anan stopped humming.
"A way off this place. The home of whatever it is. My father worked there. He didn't say much but implied that someone was working on a rocket."
"Classified work?" Anan inquired.
"Something like that. I'm only a child. I wouldn't be able to understand much."
"Wait, how old are you?" Mwene got up, his head was slightly titled.
"Physically I am thirty but mentally I'm just thirteen. My brother is about fifteen but mentally six."
"How is that possible…."
"Genetic mutation?" Anan suggested.
"I believe so. We're more alike than one would suspect at first glance. The Citadel is where all our technology was made. We'll find answers. "Calmly replied Termi.
"I think I should show you this. Please hold hands."
Anan held Mwene's hand as she places her hand on his forehead. Termi's halo glowed white, and her eyes changed from black to grey in an instant as she pressed her index finger in between his brows. Mwene found himself in space with no time nor dimensions. Just himself and Anan in the void. In the distance they noticed a white dot that grew larger until they it engulfed their entire view. It was a floor that they landed on, but Mwene noticed something off.
"I don't sense..." Anan focused on her hands. She repeatedly touched them but felt nothing. She pinched Mwene but he did not flinch. "I didn't feel that either" he confirmed. Smoky vapours rose from the floor and high above them and began to form familiar shapes.
"It normal to feel this disconnect from your senses when it's your first-time experiencing Mneme.". Her head appeared from behind her before the fumes from the ground built the rest of her body from the neck downwards.
"What's that…."
"Sharing memories?" Anan asked
"You catch on quick. Follow me." She smiled at her.
They walked forward as a laboratory took shape. Their world was washed in a subtle sepia tone. Figures began to take shape. They were all tall and slim like her but faceless. They all stood in a semi-circle pattern; their attention all focused on a singular point. In front of them was a stage where an opaque tank stood upright. Mwene walked up and to it. He could hear the whispers of all the people he knew. The words were inaudible, but the feeling was one he would never forget. The tank belonged to it. As he got closer, he raised his hand to touch it. The whispers became more intense. The static started again but Mwene ignored it. The moment his palm touched the glass the tank became transparent. It was floating in a clear fluid completely covered in a black cloth that covered hid any distinguishable features. The crowd behind them started to clap.
"All that I'm certain of is that it was manufactured. Our council began to push for militarization. The first of its kind in our history. It was the dawn of a new age. The dusk of ours."
"What's it supposed to be?" Anan asked.
"A new God." She replied sternly.
The figures disappeared as if a strong wind came through and new shapes began to form.
"Did your people believe?" Mwene asked.
"We believed in the individual. We believed in the ideals, the abstract. There was no need to personify them."
A table formed and two faceless figures formed. On the table between them was its body. Above it a U.D.S was scanning. Mwene walked to the table, the static and voices persisted. Their faces were featureless as well.
"Where are their faces?" Anan questioned.
"Degradation. These memories aren't mine."
The one figure at the table began to speak. It's voice was heavily distorted but still audible.
"You need to tell the others. Hiding the data won't work."
The other figure turned around and began to walk away from the table. The speaking one walked around the table and began to follow him.
"You can ignore reality, but you can't deny the consequences of denying it. Using project Shiva without authorisation was foolish. "
The other figure turned around faced the speaking one and spoke their only words.
"Or genius."
The wind came again and wiped away the memory. The sacramento green smoke danced above the head and with itself. It twisted and rolled around itself. It was as free as birds on Terra was. Obviously limited by Termi but capable of movements beyond that any human it had a life of its own. A natural beauty that humanity could only create artificial and even then, have their sense of wonder dulled by statistics and data. A sense of wonder that t compelled Mwene to come to the Alderson disk in the first place. Now it was his duty to ensure his curiosity doesn't kill them all.
The smoke began to form shapes again. A figure was hung from the ceiling from two chains attached to its wrists. In front of it was another figure in front of trolley with two metallic cannisters. One was extremely dark whilst the other slightly glowed. There was something alluring about the dark cannister almost as if it were his favourite meal and he was starving. It yearned for him as well. Without thinking he approached it and reached out to it. The scientist's hand reached out and grabbed the other cannister. Mwene snapped out of the hypnotic state he was in.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just got distracted."
Termi narrowed her eyes at Mwene.
The scientist walked to the chained figure. With its gloved hands it placed down the cannister brought the light source. It shone as bright as the sun. Termi, Mwene and Anan shielded their eyes. The scientist placed the light on the chest of the figure, after the moment it got absorbed into it. Another scientist bursts into the lab with a tablet.
"You need to...what are you doing?"
The scientists run quickly turned into a cautious walk. She noticed the cannisters and dropped the tablet.
"Ranulph warned us it was unstable, and you still did it didn't you?"
Mwene quickly tilted his head.
"That's my da…..."
"Any idea who that is Termi?" interrupted Anan. She gave Mwene an eye and he quickly caught on.
"I don't."
The scientist kept quiet. He just stood in place as the other scientist approached. He clenched his fist.
"It's highly volatile. My data suggests that Shiva is not an ideal source of energy."
"I know but I have faither." Blurted the other.
"Well, if that's the case I have something that could break it. Remember that comet that was being monitored."
"Yes."
"Well. Its humanoid. Headless and is radiating the same energy as project Shiva."
The tablet on the floor started to ring. The scientist went back to and started to swipe. She turns around only to be struck on the head by the other scientist with the empty cannister. He struck the head several times over. Behind the scientist the figure began to move, it broke it's chains collapsed on the floor. It began to smoke. It slowly got up and screamed and burst into flames consuming everything.