The Infinite Evolution - Conversion (34 page)

“
You’re right. I did take this
into consideration briefly, but who could it have been?”

“
I don’t know my friend, but
let’s first find Jade.”

“
Ok, I’ll be waiting for your
call.”

“
Remember, keep a level head.
It’s too early in the game to get personal. Scott out.”

“
It’s too late for that. Reece
out.”

Incompetence

The solid wooden door to
Corinth’s modest dwelling blew open and Melchior stood on the other
side with a furious look in his eyes.

“
Melchior, I was just on my way out to see
you.”

“
Corinth, were all your field programs
mentally disabled when your consciousness was created? Was there a
glitch in Prime 2 when your merger took place? What were you
thinking? What possessed you to kill Shiphra? Do you realize the
scrutiny this council is receiving because of this? This is the
last thing we need!” yelled Melchior.

“
I am sorry, but she did not leave me much of
a choice. She would have become suspicious and possibly discover
what we were planning if I let her be. She was indeed a threat to
our society,” plead Corinth.

“
You do not realize the scope of this problem.
You will no longer intervene with anyone regarding this mission,
unless you receive specific instructions from me. Do you
understand?”

“
Yes, I understand,” replied
Corinth.

“
What did you do with her remains?”

“
They were destroyed. I inserted
a decomposed feeder in her mouth. Her body was completely consumed
before the suns rose the next morning.”

“
Make sure you place a mental
block on those memories. I do not need anyone picking up a stray
thought from you.” Melchior pushed Corinth aside and headed towards
her sitting area.

“
I already have. Do not worry
Melchior, there is no way any of this can be tied back to
us.”

“
Us! Trust me there is no way
this murder would come back to us, maybe you, but not us. I now
consider you a liability to this operation. Take this,” as Melchior
handed Corinth a silver metal sphere, about the size of a
plum.

“
What do I do with this?”

“
I need you to find Willow and
give that to her, I believe she is in the Mana-dorn mountain
range.”

“
You want me to go there now?

“
Yes.” Melchior did a quick scan
of Corinth’s quarters. “My word Corinth you think you were some
type of botanist. Why do you have so many plants?” Corinth was
about to answer, but was interrupted, “Never mind I do not need to
know, now go!”

“
May I ask what this silver sphere is
for?”

“
Just find Willow and give it to
her.”

“
What if she asks me?”

“
She will not, now leave!” demanded
Melchior.

“
Sir, there is one more item I would like to
address with you,” said Corinth.

“
What is it now,” bellowed
Melchior.

Corinth lowered her head with
dishonor, “Before Shiphra passed, she thanked me for getting her to
Earth. Do you know what she meant by that?”

Melchior looked at Corinth with disgust, “How would
I know? She was probably just rambling. Now go!”

Corinth headed directly to her assigned destination
without saying anything further.

“
That foolish woman. Why I
entrusted her with such a task was certainly a misjudgment on my
part.” Melchior removed an octagon metal device from the inside of
his robe and placed it on a small rectangular table. As soon as
this device made contact with the surface, a small amber indicator
came on and started blinking. Melchior left through the door he
entered, and soon afterwards, a bright flash occurred, causing
Corinth’s residence to disintegrate completely.

The location was vast with a
diversity of plant life. The two suns, which lit the sky, gave this
area of
Tureis more sunlight than
anywhere else on the planet. The largest deciduous growth was over
fifty stories high and produced some of the most amazing leaves due
to their structure and colors. Many of these leaves displayed a
shape similar to a spade, with a slight bend in the middle,
allowing rainwater to drain towards their roots. The average size
of one of these leaves could easily cover a full-grown Earthling.
The coniferous growth carried the same majestic presence as the
deciduous growth, with an appearance similar to the Coastal
Redwoods of Earth.

The process of photosynthesis on
Tureis was a little different than the process on Earth. The leaves
still absorbed the light and created energy, but the byproduct was
nitrogen and not oxygen. The leaves were not greenish in color, but
ranged from a variety of purples and reds. The bark on the
deciduous trees contained very little variety from one another;
instead, it was a smooth solid black and as dense as a piece of
steel. The backdrop to this enormous area of growth was the
Mana-dorn Mountain range, with its peak rising
to over 75,000 thousand feet, over twice the height of the largest
peak on Earth, Mount Everest. Because the elevation was so high, it
was indeed a rare sight to see the apex. There was very little
mammalian life, but the insect population was abundant.

The most predominant carried the identification of
Lintemp. It was no bigger than a hummingbird and contained six
membrane wings. It was a deep orange with a green stripe down its
back and had a protruding multiple eye structure. The closest
resemblance this particular insect had with anything on Earth would
be that of a dragonfly. Like the dragonfly, its diet consisted of
other insects.

Near the base of the tree line was a three-foot wide
trail, covered with bluish crushed stones. This trail led directly
into the forest and ended at a large pavilion surrounded by a
variety of reflective plates.

“
Please stand clear, stream now arriving,”
stated an electronic voice coming from the pavilion. A blue sphere
formed and Corinth emerged. Still annoyed with the conversation she
had with Melchior she walked out of the pavilion and onto the path.
She took a mental inventory of the area and detected Willow off to
her right near a patch of Sasipher flowers.

“
Hello Willow, how are you?”
asked Corinth.

After hesitating Willow replied,
“I am fine.”

Willow was naturally slow when it
came to responding. Not because of her intellect or age, but
because of her need to make sure her statements and replies came
out correctly.

“
Why do you insist on being
around these types of flowers? I can hardly stand their smell.”
asked Corinth.

“
It is really not that bad once
you get use to it. Plus, how can you not enjoy them? Their colors
are so vibrant.”

Corinth wondered why someone
would immerse themselves in color, but dress so blandly. She never
saw Willow wear anything extravagant, mostly dark slacks, and a
bland pullover shirt. “You sound like Shiphra. Please do not get me
wrong. I, too, enjoy plant life, just not ones that flower,”
explained Corinth.

“
Why thank you. I admire
Shiphra’s ability to create such beauty from ordinary dirt, and as
for your dislike of blossoms, we all have our
preferences.”

“
That we do,” replied Corinth with a slight
grin.

“
Did you have a problem with Shiphra lately?
Right after you mentioned her name you buried your thoughts about
her,” asked Willow.

“
No, absolutely not, I just have a lot on my
mind.”

“
I see, so what can I help you
with?”

“
Nothing really, I am here to
deliver an orb of some sort. Melchior asked me to bring it.”
Corinth reached into her front pocket and removed the sphere. As
soon as Willow saw it she gave a pleasant look and asked, “Melchior
gave this to you, to give to me?”

“
Yes, why? Is that a problem?”

“
No, not at all. But I am going
to need you to hold onto it while you follow me.”

“
Why?” asked Corinth with a curious look on
her face.

“
I will explain when we get
there.”

“
I understand I am a younger
council member, but I do not feel I should always be left
wondering.”

Willow responded in a tranquil
manner, “Corinth, I have no concern in regards to how you feel.
This sphere requires a certain protocol. All I am asking is to
please hold onto the sphere until we get to our
location.”

“
And what is at this location you
speak of?” Corinth asked with mistrust.

“
We are now going to Prime 2’s
mainframe.”

You mean where Prime 2 processes and stores all of
the field programs?”

“
That is correct. Have you never been?” asked
Willow.

“
No. Have you?”

“
Of course, it is not uncommon for council
members to visit the mainframe, you should have knowledge of
this.”

“
No, this would be the first time. Why am I
learning of this now?” asked Corinth with a slight annoyance to her
voice.

“
Maybe it has to do with your age
on the council. You are a much younger member. Regardless, I cannot
answer your question as I prefer not to keep up with the policies
that dictate who has access to what. Are you coming or
not?”

Taken over by utter curiosity of
what she was about to experience, Corinth stopped her questioning
and said, “Most certainly, I am right behind you.”

“
Wonderful we just need to follow this path
for a bit.”

“
Why not stream in?” inquired
Corinth.

“
There can be no data transfer or
streaming within a certain radius of Prime 2 and the Mana-dorn
Mountain range. Now enough chatting let us go,” replied
Willow.

After traveling a bit, Willow and
Corinth came to the entrance located at the base of the mountain.
Corinth had a very disappointed look on her face; she expected
something much grander. The twelve foot high door was made of a
high strength metal alloy, flush with its rocky surroundings, and
imprinted on the door was a purple engraved infinity symbol. Willow
did not have to say a word. She stood in front of the door while
her cranium was scanned and a few seconds later the door opened,
allowing both to enter.

“
A short brain scan, is that it?
I would have thought security would be tighter, and the entrance
seems to be so mundane. The entry into my reflection room is ten
times grander. This is quite a disappointment if you ask
me.”

“
Well I did not ask you. You fail
to remember, sometimes when you have something of great importance,
the last thing one wants to do is to draw attention to it,” said
Willow.

Upon entering, they walked into a small chamber and
boarded a six-passenger humanoid enclosed transport that delivered
them deep into the mountain. The tunnel that led this transport was
just big enough to allow passage.

“
This is certainly crude transportation, do
you agree?” asked Corinth.

“
Just because it is not the latest and
greatest does not mean it is not efficient. Plus, I told you
certain technology cannot be used within this facility.”

“
Cannot be or will not be used?” asked
Corinth.

“
Try to communicate with me
telepathically.”

After an attempt Corinth said
aloud, “That is incredible. I cannot even establish a mental link
with you, how is that possible?”

“
This mountain is the only area
on our planet or any other for that matter, that contains a high
density mineral called inductinite. Even a small portion of this
mineral blocks any form of electrical energy, or any energy, which
is used for communications.”

“
I have heard of this
mineral and its powers. It was explained to me that all of it had
been harvested and shot into space
.”

“
There is some truth to
that.”

As soon as Willow completed her
last words, the transport stopped and they both entered into a
purplish spherical room. In the center stood an oval shaped tower
that led up to the ceiling. Circulating up from the floor and
around the circumference of the tower were thousands upon thousands
of small colorful orbs, similar to the one Melchior gave
Corinth.

“
Now this is impressive. Where
are we?” asked Corinth.

“
This is as close as we can get to Prime 2,”
said Willow as she, too, marveled over the great diversity of
floating orbs.

As Corinth looked around she could not find any
other entry points and asked, “How could anyone proceed further if
they wanted to?”

“
They cannot.” Willow then
pointed toward the center of the floor and said, “See that oval
shaped indentation?”

“
Yes,” replied Corinth.

“
That is where
The Stone of
Tureis
would
go.”

Corinth laughed,
“
The Stone of
Tureis
, that is a myth! And even if it is
not, do you really believe it still exists?”