The Return of the Watchers (Armageddon Rising Book 1) (28 page)

              “Well, that was pretty cool, I have to admit. We I’m done, exit. Let me out of here,” he said, flailing his hands about the holographic screen before him. The small enclosure disappeared and he was back where he stood earlier. Picking up his bags he began shuffling about looking for the bedroom.                                                                                                                              “House, where’s the bedroom?” he asked aloud. A screen appeared on a wall with a layout of the house and a map showing ‘you are here’. Once again there were multiple options, from joining rooms into one, to configuring the layout, or dining, or other option too numerous for him to go into at this late hour.                                                                                                  “There’s a room on the left in the back. Let’s see if I can sleep there,” he said, shuffling towards the general vicinity of the room the map had shown him. Colored lines appeared on the ground leading the way to the nearest room, as if the house had read his mind and knew what he was looking for. The door opened before him, or more accurately the door allowed him to pass through it, and he stood inside a completely empty room.                                                                                                                                             “Great, no bed, no closet, no chair…fantastic. House?”  A holographic screen appeared before him with the question, “What would you like to do?”                                                                                                                “I need a bed, a dressing chest, and a chair or two. Know where I can get them?” A virtual catalogue appeared with an enormous selection of sleeping chambers; some were of the traditional type with mattress and box spring; some were of the Asian variety, futons, hammocks, water chambers, sleeping bags. He chose one of the zero gravity chambers.               “Can I have a chair to sit on?” The catalogue switched to chairs. He picked a couple of rustic-looking leather chairs and finished things off with an antique chest for his clothes. When he finalized his selections, much the way someone would check out from an internet purchase, he began to hear a faint humming sound which became more of a vibration, increasing in intensity until he noticed chairs literally coming up out of the floor, along with the wooden chest and the anti-gravity chamber.                             “I don’t believe it,” he said, feeling around the chairs and chest to see if they were in fact really there. “Okay, I'm stumped. How did they... pull that off?” he asked, still touching and smelling the very real and quite sold chest. Changing into his bed clothes he turned his attention to the large black cylindrical-shaped object that had come up. The surface was satin smooth and had what appeared to be black-green flames beneath its outer shell. A faint humming sound was emanating from it. It appeared to be made of some kind of stone; perhaps obsidian, or some alien material, it was not clear which.                                                                                                  “How does this thing work?” Another screen appeared before him. An animation demonstrated how to open the chamber and get inside. Waving his hand in front of the flashing light as instructed caused the large chamber to slowly open, revealing a pillowy padded interior. Once he stepped inside, the device closed and a soft light illuminated his surroundings. The cabin became pressurized and a screen appeared before him with options for climate, lighting, sounds, scents, scenery, and more. Once he finished his selections the device began to lift him into weightlessness and he fell fast asleep.                                                                       The following day he awoke when the lights slowly increased and the gravity gently brought him back to the ground, with a morning sunrise over a lake displayed as if he were there. As he was acclimating to the gravity change, a screen appeared before him with a live view of Yelnisha outside his house and the option to engage in conversation. Rubbing his face and yawning he selected to speak to her.                                           “How’re the onions?” she asked in a chirpy tone. She was wearing makeup and a dress, which caught him by surprise.                                  
         “What’s that?”                                                                                     “How’s the form? How’s she cutting?” A sly smile crept up onto her face.                                                                                                                              “I'm sorry, what exactly are you asking me?” he said with a chuckle.                                                                                                                              “How are you? There, that better?” she sighed. “We’ll make a proper Irishman out of you yet. Are you going to stand there staring at me or are you going to let me in?” she asked with a wink and a smile.                             He sighed and rubbed his temple. “Yeah, sure, come on in, I guess.”                                                                                                                                            “Wrong answer!” she shouted. “Your first lesson is to get your home security under control. Don’t let anyone in here unless you absolutely know who’s there.”                                                                                     “I already know it’s you. I don’t think anyone else would annoy me this much.”                                                                                                                 She gave him the two fingered salute.

“Are you or are you not Yelnisha?” he sighed.                            “Maybe I am and maybe I’m not. How’re you going to be sure?”               “I don’t know. I could have a code word, right? Like copper top, or in your case Irish Ham?”                                                                                                   “Keep it up, ya numpty. We’re going to have sooo much fun together in the training I have planned for you,” she said, massaging her fist.                                                                                                                                            “Okay, okay, sheesh. I suppose I could have the house scan you? Make sure you’re not some sharp tongued android or something,” he replied while making his way out of the gravity chamber.                                           “You’re getting warmer. What else?”                                                                      “I suppose I could share a picture between our minds; so if we decide to make it a rabbit then that’s what you would use. What do you think?”                                                                                                                                “Yeah you want to use a mental picture. It could be anything really, but I would have to plant it in your mind and you would have to know. So, are you ready? I’m going to put an image in your mind that you will soon never forget. I know I didn’t,” she said with a laugh.                            “Hey, wait a minute, awww, oh God, that’s disgusting. No way, get that out of my head, you!”                                                                                     “Te hehe hehe. Well, I happened to walk in on my granny and grandad flapping parts together so I figured why shouldn’t I share this precious moment? Certainly traumatized me as a six year old, let me tell you.”

              “Find something else, Yelnisha. I mean it. I don’t want that image in my head again!” he yelled, pointing a finger at her.             

              “Oh, all right, then, how about this?”                                                         “Better. I like....” he said as she interrupted him.                                          “Shush. Don’t say it out loud. Now, are you going to let me in?”               “Hmmm…. I don’t know. I just don’t know. How can I be sure you are who you say you are? You might not have been Yelnisha all along and just used this as a ruse to have me let you in,” he said with narrowed eyes.                                                                                                                                            “Oh, just shut up and let me in dammit!”              

              “House, what do you say, should we let her in?”                                           The house responded with a question mark and a statement saying it was not responsible for making decisions.                                                                       “Well, I suppose we could let her in for the time being. Be ready to eject her on my command,” he jokingly stated, causing the house to frantically try and interpret his command.                                                                       She walked through the door and up to Dorian, who was wearing a grin on his face. Catching him unaware she darted quickly behind him to deliver a blow to a nerve center at the back of his left leg and another at his right arm, leaving him temporarily paralyzed in those limbs long enough for her to form a light energy weapon, a type of blade, under his chin.                                                                                                                                             “Oww! What the hell, Yelnisha?”                                                                       Alarms went off in the house and tubes of energy instantly formed a cage around her.                                                                                                                “Crap, I forgot about that,” she said in a defeated tone.                            “House, find the nearest body of water and throw her in it,” he said, rubbing his arm and leg.                                                                                     “Hey, I was just trying to prove a point. You always have to be on your guaaaaaaaaaaaard!” she screamed while being catapulted outside. He followed her trajectory on the video screen as she flew across the meadow, splashing down into a nearby pond. He fell on the floor laughing.

              “House, can you save a copy of this and send one to Urieth and Yelnisha?”  The house responded with an affirmative.                                           “Hope she doesn’t hold a grudge. I think I’m beginning to like you.” The house showed a picture of him with hearts showering down all around.                                                                                                                               “We have to come up with a new name for you. Can’t keep calling you house all the time. Hmmm, well, I think Uchi will work.”                             The home screen changed to the phrase ‘My name is Uchi. I am happy to serve you.’ Hearts continued to shower around his image on the screen.                                                                                                                                            “Glad you like it Uchi. Can you talk?” he asked while looking through some of the menus. Instantly a catalogue of voices popped up offering an array of choices- cartoonish, male, female, robotic and the like. There was a customizable option that he could choose from his own memory. He immediately selected it and thought of someone while placing his hand on the screen and within a few seconds he heard Yuki’s voice asking him if she sounded acceptable.                                                                      “You sound just like her- amazing... and creepy at the same time. Okay, Yuk, ah, I mean Uchi, where’s the kitchen?”                                           “Follow the trail on the floor. What would you like to eat?”               “Is there any food? What am I saying? I bet you can make amazing food, am I right?”                                                                                                   “Searching for food called amazing. Found two thousand fifty eight dishes with the title amazing. Please narrow down your query.”              He laughed. “It was an expression, Uchi, I’m not looking for a dish called amazing. How about some simple buttered toast with eggs and coffee?”                                                                                                                              As Dorian made his way over to the unusual looking kitchen, Uchi prepared what he had asked for, as well as some tables and chairs to his liking. After finishing breakfast he cleaned up with an instant shower over where he stood, comparable to the experience of washing his hands in the bathroom.

              He checked his appearance in the mirror, staring at his face for some time. “Well, I suppose it's not necessary for me to wear these here,” he said, removing his contact lenses. The light shone from his eyes with a glowing emerald green hue that seemed as if they were illuminated by a  source from within his head. It was a strange sensation going without them for the first time. “I can be myself here.”                                                                       A feeling of happiness began to slowly creep in at the thought of being accepted for what he was without fear of being viewed as a freak. Just as he was about to start making a few calls to get his tour of the city, Matthias popped up on his screen. He engaged the communicator.

              “Matthias? Is that you?                                                                                      “Greetings, Dorian. Yes. How are things so far?”

              “Fine. Still getting used to things here. Are you here, in Anidon?”              “Yes. I live in the southern district of Shem; however, most of the time I am out and about. Coming from Earth, I can tell you that life here will take a considerable amount of time before you are accustomed to it. Take your time becoming familiar with everything, there is no rush.

              “Now, to the reason I called. I have been made aware that Yelnisha is to provide you with Shi training along with Tiddi and Osokas. To further enhance her tutelage, I can provide you with instruction on the basics of warfare, as well as espionage, tactics, and subterfuge. Some of what we cover will be conceptual and some will be practical. We- that is, your father and I- believe these to be necessary skills in order to survive encounters with the fallen or other spirits working alongside them. Having been educated as a scientist, your disposition towards such precepts may undoubtedly be considered hostile or dismissive. I can only ask that you consider such education as being necessary for your own survival and possibly that of others as well. In fact, one could argue that your scientific education will be an asset, allowing you to consider possibilities that defy conventional wisdom. So, with that said, I would implore you to take a small journey with me to the first series lecture hall at The Obelisk of Enlightenment, where we will explore these and other concepts. What say you?”                                                                                                                                             “Well, I suppose since I've come this far it would be impolite for me to decline such an offer. How will I get to this lecture hall and what time will we begin?”