The Infinite Evolution - Conversion (43 page)

Mileva gave Quartus a confused look and asked, “How
do I do that?”

“
Through the very ability which
has ended my life - dreams. When we first created the field
programs we needed to have a way to access them in case we had to
correct a technical issue or if we needed to spread a command in a
short period. We also needed a way for the subconscious to try to
make sense of information that the conscious was unable to
interpret. We learned by allowing the field programs to analyze
this undecipherable information, while they were asleep, it gave
them the chance to interpret it on their own level. By allowing
them to do this, we were able to stabilize their programs, which
created a better product for us. For these reasons our ancestors
allowed dreaming to take place with field programs because they
developed only one consciousness, unlike us.”

Mileva had a number of questions, but knew she did
not have much time due to Quartus’ poor health so she asked the
most reasonable one, “How do I access these dreams?”

“
By getting a unanimous vote from
the council, or by going through Prime 2’s virtual back
door.”

“
Prime 2 has a virtual back
door?”

“
Of course it does, it is a
machine.”

“
So how do I do this?” asked
Mileva impatiently.

“
You need to find the Prime Code and that may
be a little difficult.”

“
Why?”

“
Because it changes whenever there is a
compelling event with a field program in which the council gets
directly involved.”

“
Who changes it?”

“
A sub routine that is part of Prime 2’s
programming.”

“
Is Prime 2 aware of this?”

“
No,” said Quartus as he
continued to fight the increasing pain.

“
Then who is?”

“
All I can tell you is the code consists of
four blocks of four prime numbers and they are significant to that
particular field program who caused the problem
initially.”

“
So we need to find this field
program.”

“
That should not be too hard,” said Quartus
hoping Mileva would figure it out.

“
Are you implying what I am thinking?” asked
Mileva.

“
I hope so for our planet’s sake.”

“
The anomaly! But EC6L163O7074 was purged and
sent back to Earth.”

“
Not necessarily,” as Quartus
went on to explain how EC6L163O7074’s field program was duplicated
and now back on Earth intact within an adult male humanoid
body.

“
Well, we need to find him now!” said
Mileva.

Quartus rolled over onto his side and advised, “My
dear friend there is no ‘we,’ there is only you. You need to find
EC6L163O7074 as quickly as possible and retrieve the Prime Code,
only EC6L163O7074 will know of it. The only problem is EC6L163O7074
does not know he knows, at least we do not think he does.”

“
How can I find EC6L163O7074?”

“
First, you need to find Izri. He
will be able to show you the way. The only other favor I ask is
that you allow me to lay here now and pass in peace. Please go with
Abner, he is a good man and someone you can trust.”

“
I understand Quartus, and of course you can
stay here until the end.”

Quartus gave Mileva a small grin
and said “Good luck my friend, I will miss you most of all,” as he
closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep knowing this would be
his last. Mileva covered Quartus with a blanket and said, “Safe
journeys.” Mileva soon notified a caretaker and instructed her to
remove Quartus after he passed on. Mileva promptly prepared to
leave her home, with Abner, by way of the sphere.

As Mileva walked over to the sphere Abner asked,
“Where is Quartus?”

“
He is no longer with us.”

“
What do you mean? Are you saying he has
passed on? How?”

“
Yes, and how is none of your concern. I can
only say it was honorable.”

With a shocked looked Abner asked, “What are we
going to do with his corpse?”

“
We will stick with tradition. As
you know when a Tureissian takes their own life, directly or
indirectly, the corpse is removed and dissolved in Lake Mortalitas,
the lake of sulfuric acid.”

“
Will we be doing that?” inquired
Abner.

“
No, we have very little time to
spare. Arrangements have been made for others to take care of it.
We need to leave now.”

“
Where are we headed?” asked Abner.

“
The
Ark
, we need to find
Izri.”

Mileva boarded the sphere with
the metallic case, as Abner followed from the rear. The sphere
enclosed itself, rose up and flew out the face of the cliff as if
it was shot from a high-powered carbine rifle.

As Reece sat in Izri’s office
dumfounded he looked over at Jade and asked, “And you believe
this?”

“
What is not to believe?” asked
Izri.

“
Everything! You expect me to
believe you are from another planet and you harvest human beings
after they die. Just because you have some seriously advanced
technology doesn’t mean you can play the alien card.”

“
Regardless of what you believe, we need
Jade’s help.”

“
The only way I would consent to
this is if you take me along,” said Reece who truly did not realize
what he was getting himself into.

Jade looked at Izri and asked,
“Can you do that?”

Izri turned to his holoscreen,
plugged in a couple of commands and notified the transport agent to
prep a third pod for upload.

“
Done. Anything else?” asked Izri.

Jade smiled and said, “I’m happy.
Let’s do this.”

“
How do we know this isn’t some virtual
program you’re plugging us into?”

“
When you start experiencing your
new humanoid body, you will know. Now we must get going,” as Izri
finished his last sentence one of the field agents walked in and
said, “Sir, we have an emergency transmission.”

“
Understood, will you please take
Reece and Jade to the transportation chamber for prep, I will take
the call here,” informed Izri.

Once Reece and Jade were escorted out of Izri’s
office, a virtual image of Oliver appeared on a silver tablet.

“
What is the emergency?” asked
Izri.

“
It’s Serafina, she is
wearing
The Jewel of a
Guardian
and confessed she once worked
for them,” summarized Oliver.

Izri fell back into his chair as
if he was just hit with a ton of bricks. This was not the first
time Izri had to deal with people inside his organization who were
found to be working for the other side, but this was different.
Serafina was not only considered an employee, she was a good
friend. After Izri reviewed the recording of the disclosure by
Serafina, he asked, “I am assuming you are landing at LAX and have
a team already prepared to take her into custody?”

“
Yes sir,” replied Oliver.

“
Do you believe her about no longer being part
of the Guardians?” asked Izri.

“
I don’t know,” replied Oliver.

“
What do we have to lose if she is not telling
you the truth?”

“
Not much. She already knows the basics of
what we’re planning to do in Australia.”

“
And what if she is telling us the truth?”
asked Izri.

“
Then we have a problem, especially if she is
sincere about being able to block the abilities of the necklace,”
explained Oliver.

“
What are you willing to do?” asked
Izri.

“
Whatever you want sir,” replied
Oliver.

“
Loyal to the end. Let us take a chance and
hope she is telling the truth. We need the numbers for this mission
and her experience. If she is truly no longer with the Guardians,
she is even more valuable to our cause. Release the mental and
physical restraints and put her back into play. Hopefully the
Guardians have not realized she was back online for that brief
moment.”

“
Yes sir, but we will still be landing at LAX
for fuel. I will have the transport team canceled.”

“
Oliver, I will be off this
planet for an unknown amount of time. If you feel at any point
Serafina is putting the mission in danger, you have the authority
to do whatever you feel is necessary. One last item to address, I
have arranged for you to take on some additional cargo when you
land at LAX. I will send further information electronically prior
to you landing.”

“
Thank you sir, good luck on your
end.”

“
You too, take care of yourself,
goodbye.”

“
Goodbye sir.”

Izri sat back and processed the
news about Serafina, but realized his focus was to help Jade find
the stone. Izri wasted no time and headed to the transportation
chamber.

On his way, he stopped and gave
instructions to one of his senior members. Commander Calchera was a
highly decorated officer from the Armywho had decided to retire
from this position after he was given the opportunity to work with
an alien intelligence.

“
Commander,” said Izri.

“
Yes, sir.”

“
I will be embarking soon to my
home planet. Command of this facility is in your capable hands.
Under no circumstances shall you relinquish control, until you hear
from me directly.”

“
Yes, sir, may I ask how long you
will be gone?”

“
This should not take any more
than three Earth days. In the meantime, all operations will run as
planned.”

“
Yes, sir, I wish you safe
travels.”

“
Thank you, you are dismissed.”

As Commander Calchera walked
away, Izri pondered the idea of telling him about the information
he received from Oliver, but decided against it. The last thing
Izri wanted to do was spread information about a fellow companion
gone rogue without solid evidence. He decided this personal matter
was going to be settled by him, upon his return.

Izri entered a large cylindrical
chamber and found Reece and Jade sitting down, both wearing
skintight bluish jumpsuits. The chamber had thirteen pods, which
ran the perimeter of the area and in the center was a fifty-foot
titanium column. At the tip of this structure were thirteen semi
transparent cables branching off to each of the thirteen pods. The
floors were translucent, making the room look twice as large.
Underneath the floor was a bluish whitish slow moving haze, which
made Reece a little queasy.

As Izri walked up to Reece and Jade he asked, “So I
take it you have been briefed on what is about to happen?”

Jade enthusiastically responded, “Yes,” and added,
“I wouldn’t have imagined any of this in my wildest dreams.”

Reece responded, “I’m glad someone is enjoying
themselves.”

“
I assure you there is nothing
dangerous in regards to what we are about to do,” said
Izri.

“
Excuse me? Placing someone in a
stasis chamber, removing their consciousness, transporting them
over tens of thousands of light years and then downloading them
into a alien humanoid body isn’t dangerous? I’d hate to see what
you think is dangerous,” replied Reece.

“
I would imagine people who did
not understand flight, prior to it being invented, said the same
thing about airplanes. Now flying is as common as walking down a
street and in many ways much safer. It amazes me when humanoids do
not understand something they automatically assume it is either
dangerous or threatening to them or their society. New experiences
and new challenges are the driving force for our existence. The
fear of the unknown should not be frowned upon, it should be
accepted with open arms,” explained Izri.

“
Well, sometimes the fear of the unknown is
what keeps us alive,” said Reece.

Izri grinned and said, “I would
love to continue this discussion at a later time, but right now we
need to prepare for our intergalactic streaming.”

“
Fine,” replied Reece in a snippy
tone, trying to cover up his fear.

“
So, will we be leaving the Milky Way galaxy?”
asked Jade.

“
No, we will not. Our planet
shares the same galaxy as all the planets we harvest
from.”

“
Have people from your planet ever left this
galaxy?” asked Jade.

“
Yes, we have sent probes and
small exploratory missions, but we tend to focus more on what you
call the Milky Way.”

Forgetting about his philosophical argument, Reece
inquired, “What does your planet call this galaxy?”

“
We address the Milky Way as Our Inland, at
least that would be the translation in Earth language.”

“
That’s right, how are we going
to understand other Tureissians? I can’t speak your alien
language,” submitted Jade.

“
No worries, your Tureis shell’s
matrix will translate for you. Now please enter your pods, we must
be going.”