Life, Love, and Prions

Three Years have passed since I last slept in my bed or have even seen the planet I call home. I finally manage to remember the way back to my suite. It’s nice having a floor all to myself, especially after having to share quarters with a hundred others in order to train them. As I step off on floor 183839—there are 183900 floors in total, with only cargo holds and docking above me—I pull up the EMS. The EMS is a screen made of energy that floats wherever I need it to and constantly updates itself. Pretty nifty if you ask me… OK, nifty is not the right word. I’m probably the only one in the universe, apart from the few friends I have infected it with and the historians who study the 2nd millennium and the 21st century, who still uses it.

The reason I do is because I have been studying up on my namesake, Marcus Nicolai Shade. My real name is Marcus Shade Neish. When I graduated high school, I officially changed it to Marcus Nicolai Shade. He lived at the beginning of the 21st century and did many things, most of which is still not known to the worlds. But of all my studies, I have yet to figure out why it took everyone until eighteen to get a high school degree. Nowadays, with the EMS and CR, Cranial Rumination, we can complete even the highest level of school by fifteen, which I did.

You see, the reason I have been gone is because I’m part of a group called the Higud, a society of scientists designed to ensure peace and the survival of all good and intelligent races. They contacted me shortly after the Fifteen Year War and asked if I wished to join their group. They explained that I would have security clearance that others could only dream of having and funds that would be immensely more than anyone else could offer. All I had to do is protect the races of our universe and help out in any way I could. I was twenty-three then; sixteen years later and I’m still glad I accepted.

I have become the head of about thirty towers with my main station at Station 548. My planet is mainly a water planet with islands encompassing it. Around the beginning of the 32nd century, when humans established a good relationship with all three of the RhiKuhm, all the people came together to form a tower for every island. It started with the surface dwelling Dimqen forming a base on each island. Then the Ciouln, an aquatic species, moved the islands to a predetermined point, all distanced from each other, and continued the tower down to the bottom of the planet’s surface. The Trfemin built up the tower to the limits of their domain, and the humans helped out wherever they saw fit.

I wake up at six o’clock next morning, right about dawn, and decide to just lie around for an hour. I then go to make breakfast, a tasty mix of oatmeal, bananas, and cgiryt (that’s a fruit from Sigma Trii, very tasty). I think about working out in my personal gym but decide against it; I want to see what the main gym looks like.

Nothing has changed. Every weight is right in place and every mirror is as polished as the day I left. I’d bet money they spent the last week putting right all the wrong they did to this place. And something else that hasn’t changed: No one is around. It is a common phenomenon for everyone to avoid this place till mid-afternoon.

Having nothing better to do for a few hours, I work out for a bit. I start out on the bench press then head to the leg extensions and finish up with some neck exercises, plus a few other exercises sprinkled in here and there. I designed this place to look just like a 21st century gym, with a few added machines for my non-human colleagues.

Around two hours later, the pool starts calling my name. Having done no cardio for the day, a few laps around it starts to sound pretty good. And what would be the chance of my bringing my trunks with me? Only about 100%. I head into the locker room and change and dive straight into the icy liquid serenity. One of the calmest places on the planet is in water. That’s why the Ciouln are the most peaceful of the races. I spend an ungodly amount of time just swimming back and forth till I can’t feel my muscles any more. As I pull my self up over the edge and grab my towel to wipe off the excess water that doesn’t dry itself off my abnormally warm skin, I hear a voice right out of my worst and best memories.

“Looks like you put on another tattoo,” said the blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned woman from across the pool.

“Well, if it isn’t Maria, my one true love.” I say back. My words have a double meaning. You see, Maria and I have been dating on and off for ten years now, ever since she came here from Earth. There are very few of us here, Earthies that is. We decided that it would be best if we broke up when I went away, but we stayed in touch and faithful to each other the whole time. I had planned on finding her and restating my love for her but it seems she found me.

“How was the camp, babe? Miss me much?”

“Only with every fiber of my being. Any news I should know of? Like maybe if you plan on being mine again?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

In a word, yes. You see, Maria and I usually fight over something trivial and break up every other month. This last time, we managed to go two years till I had to leave. It’s overly amazing that she still is able to be with me. I say this with as much tact as I can muster: She is a drop dead gorgeous female, goddess-like even. In fact, before she came here she was one of the top models on Earth. Why she came here is a mystery; why she puts up with me is even more so. Oh no, I think she is saying something.

“Hello, thanks for coming back to me. Let me guess, you just thought ‘Oh no, she is saying something.’ Am I right?” She knows me too well.

“Why would I say that? I always listen.”

“Liar. Now, answer me. Did you get another tattoo or not?”

“Ummmm, well you see there was this one guy that offered a really good price, and it goes really well with my scars…” I stutter out. I should mention that I have a few “tats”. You see, Marcus of yore had a pair of wings on his back: one angæl, one dæmon. When I started college and changed my name over, I also branded myself with the wings. They also make up part of our crest, so it worked. When I was in the Army, I was hit with a lot of shrapnel and skimmed by bullets. I also took part in sword training. Let’s just say that a scar on my face is a one of the few reminders. Ever since I put one on each hand (suns), I’ve added them to my upper arm (bands), foot (lightning bolts), lower leg (daggers), stomach (a sword originating at the scar going down), and now the one on my torso, the one that is being questioned.

“What is that? Is that a… seriously? A rose, you put a rose on your torso? And is that MY NAME?” She seems a bit mad, or is that love, or concern, or excitement?

“Of course that’s a rose. See the stem is actually a scar. And, that is your name right in the middle made of dew. Pretty, huh?”

“I love it!” Love, then. “But, you’re still in trouble over it.” And there is anger. Though, what is love without a little anger.

“Oh, you know you would have approved of it anyway if I had asked you. Consider it a present. Besides, you missed me too much.”

“I swear I did not miss that arrogance and cockiness. But, I guess I did miss you a little bit.”

“Well if that’s all you missed me, then I think I’ll sign up for another session tomorrow.”

As I turn away from her, I start to smile. While we were talking, she had started to walk closer towards me. At the time of my last statement she was only around a hundred feet away. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone get into a bathing suit and tackle someone at a hundred yards so quickly. Part of me is sure it was planned anyway. We get ourselves untangled and cannot for the life of us stop laughing.

Later that night, we have a nice candle light dinner on one of the various balconies that adorn the tower. It is a lovely occasion: the Trfemin orchestra is playing, the local seafood platter is at its best, and the loveliest girl on the planet is sitting across from me as we eat in the light of the sunset. It is moments like these that I wonder why I don’t marry her.

I am awakened by the smell of fresh cgiryt pancakes and know instantly what I will find when I walk into the kitchen. Maria is making enough food to feed the whole 7th Division (that is the name of the largest of the squadrons that protect the tower). She says we have a big day today. I question her as to what that means, and she informs me that today is the weekly department report.

Groaning, I go back and put on my usual outfit of faded jeans and black t-shirt and return to the kitchen and eat. We finish breakfast and head to the elevator. The staff briefing takes place at my actual office floor 91950 in the exact middle of the Station. Well not the exact middle, since the underwater floors are immensely higher, but in number it is the middle.

There are about ninety committees from all thirty stations that divide into clusters of thirty and then into five. I have to look at five people at a time and hear what they have to say and pass or decline their request for funding. It’s not bad, but it’s not the best. I prefer when I can actually do lab work, which I make sure I get to do, then when I have to do the managerial stuff. It has its high points though. I really can’t complain about my job. It’s exactly right for me.

I put the ones I know I can understand without the translator last, so for the first good portion of it, I rely on the machine to tell me what they are saying. It is a good thing that technology has advanced so much. I am told that these things came out only a hundred years prior to my birth.

I pass most of the requests and give less then requested too many. I never directly say no to a project. As I am getting closer to the end, I turn the translator lower and lower. Eventually I just turn it off. I love the sound of the natives. I wrap up the meetings and depart for my study. As I sit down, I start leafing through some of the graphs and essays. Most of the scholars here are doing quite well to say the least.

I manage to stay awake enough to read every one of the ninety reports. I must be a masochist because as I finish up, I send for the rest of the logs: maintenance, visitor, complaint, shipment, and any other various logs people think I need to review. These are infinitely less exciting than the meetings. But just as I get done reading the last shipment log, I get a feeling that I missed something in one of the previous reports. I decide to check it out later, after I’ve finished the last sixty papers.

I begin the monotonous task by dividing up the reports into which tower they hail from, then on to which of the three sectors they are located in: Water, Land, and Sky. After that I review each report that identifies itself with an individual committee and then go over the collective reports, followed by the whole tower reports. It takes awhile, but eventually I am able to determine that something is up in MY TOWER, of all places. And now that I know which sector it is, I can farther narrow it down.

You see, there are a few discrepancies in the logs for the aquatic sector of my tower: maintenance logs half-filled, power reports not matching outlines, unknown visitors reporting directly to the level, and material that has nothing to do with current experiments being brought directly to them with private money. Individually, things like that normally have no malevolent force behind them; but when they’re put together, they usually add up to trouble. And this would not be the first trouble with the occupants of towers. About every two hundred years someone gets it in his/her head that he/she could do a better job than whoever is charge. It never works out but still it shakes a person.

I honestly don’t see this happening here, but something is definitely up. To make matters worse, it is happening in my home. So, I think I will take trip down to visit Dr. June. Dr. James June is a Wkihm who maintains all his Human qualities and heads a team of fifteen: three Trfemin, three Dimqen, three Ciouln, three Wkihm (one of each differentiation), and three humans. It is an interesting group, but every group is made up of such ratios. In fact, it is a standard in my towers to try to plan teams with such a ratio, though if circumstances require change then so be it.

This particular group is supposed to be trying to engineer a way to carry water effectively to more desert planets, and then to make the water last until it is needed by the carriers. That would explain the materials if they wanted to get creative, and maybe the secrecy of the maintenance logs, but not the unknown visitors. So I take the elevator down to Level 5823 to interrogate the good doctor.

I get down there and navigate the hallways to the designated lab. I go to open the door just as Dr. June does, leaving and talking over his shoulder. We nearly collide but I step back before that happens. He turns to see me and profusely apologizes and asks if I need something. I reply with a yes, there are certain things on the records that need to be addressed. He agrees to meet with me on the morrow, precisely at eight in the morning.

Thinking that the meeting went too well, I ask if he can show me around the lab right now. His response is for me to show myself in and his assistants will answer any of my questions because he must get to a seminar soon. I recall scheduling him for tonight, so I let him slip past. I head into room and look around noting that everything is in order and that I can sense nothing out of order.

You may say to yourself that sensing can be deceptive, but I must add one thing. Granddad to the umpteenth Great learned a way to channel what was at one time controversial but is now considered common to talk about. That thing is what we call our aura and chi. He left documented records on certain procedures that can be used, and these have stayed in the family ever since. The outside world has no idea of my and my relatives’ potential for we never publicly display it. That is another reason for the tattoos. They offer an easy way to exploit this 5th dimensional energy. Most vehicles made after mine and starting with my current vessel all have some tie to the aura energy.

Seeing nothing in the room, and feeling that all my questions are being answered truthfully, I leave the eight assistants alone and retire to my room.

I meet early next morning with Dr. James and find him to be as pleasant as the day I first met him. He became one of my mentors when I became a resident here. In all truthfulness, he should have been selected for my post. But, thanks to my post in the Higud and, honestly, with no begging on my part; I was chosen. As far as I can tell, there is no ill will between us. I even have been known to go to him for advice.

This meeting is one of the blackest days of my career. I must sit here and question my mentor on some minor discrepancies. Alas, there must come a time when the student shall surpass the teacher and look down with unbiased judgment. That was another quote from my ancestor—a blast from the past so to speak if using lingo from that century of yesteryears.

“I am glad to have you in my office, but must confess that the circumstances are not as I wish they were. After my long absence, I took time out to study the reports by the different divisions of the towers and find that there are misalignments when it comes to your department. I am asking you as a friend, is something going on?” I feel horrible when I say this, but from his face I can tell that he is as shocked as I am.

“Marc, dear Marc, I am sorry it came to this. I do not doubt your faith in me and understand why you choose to speak privately. I now see why there was fear in your eyes yesterday. But fear not, for I know not what the problems are or that anything has occurred. I have even set up an EMS camera in the room and hidden it so that if any unauthorized goings on occurred, I would know of it. I have it so that it uploads directly to my brain, so if you wish to do a Translation of Knowledge, I would gladly do so to clean my name. I have no secrets, lest of all from you.”

I stare out the window at the pink hued sunset, contemplating my next move. I know I must do the Translation and that he bears no malice to me from this, but it still feels foolish. I continue to stare, but extend my palm toward him in acceptance of what is to come next.

I feel his cool hand connect to mine before the heat of the cranial connection blocks out all else. I feel myself floating in his mind as he floats in mine, observing each other’s memories; no secret left unshared, no experience left unfelt. This is something I have only done with Maria, Ty, and James. They know me for me as I know them for them. It feels weird at first but after a few tries, it gets relaxing.

I flow to where it concerns the lab work and feel him come up beside me. We grab popcorn (yes, we materialized popcorn) and watch the instant replay. For the most part I get engrossed in his work, but then I start noticing that five of the assistants are acting shady. I start to say something when it hits me: Dr. James has thirteen assistants but there were only eight today. James senses this as I do. We scour his memories for any hint of the five in question and what we find startles us. All we can do is stare at each other with complete understanding. At least a group of five is doing something they shouldn’t.

We immediately pull up my EMS and check for their records. All five are going to places that no five people should at the same time. Not only that, but ten others are also in with them. At first I am not sure what to do, but Dr. June proposes he watches them for another week and then report back to Maria and me on his findings. I agree with him that his course of action would be best.

It turns out that the group is working on some water project in the guise of being part of James’s group. They have brought in people from other towers and planets in hopes to raise funds for their little project. They believe that by isolating a prion (virus) that can bond similar to water thanks to a mutation, a prion that attacks the nervous system, causing the brain to shut all down all functions save for the basic ones and one function that is saved into its RNA, the scientists hope to distribute a new form of “water”—a compound that contains one hydrogen, one oxygen, and one prion—to take over this tower, this world, and one day the galaxies.

I immediately call for the 7th Division. As we all gather together we plot our surprise attack on the group. I plan on going in with Maria and James and questioning the group about its behaviors. If I need back up, the squad is right outside.
We take the thirteen elevators spread out across the tower to where the lab is. We disembark and move into position. I knock and one of the less fortunate of the group opens the door to let me in but is yelled at by the supposed leader to ask for I.D. Instead I just push the door open. They all jump up and shout profanities but eventually calm down. I open my mouth to ask why they are all jumpy, but one of the humans walks up to me and asks what business I have with him.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a peaceful guy that can get along with anyone. But when a person directly disrespects me, and shows such ignorance in my tower about the director of said tower, I tend to take offense. Especially when a person does so in a cocky voice that displays cowardice and arrogance. Needless to say, I punch him in the face. I send him to the ground and stare down his buddies to see if anyone has objections to my actions.

They stare calmly ahead after I flash my I.D. and walk in front of their impromptu line. I ask questions of each as I wait for the leader to recover. My queries elicit that they have worked on the project for two years, ever since the one of the floor arrived here. His name if Charles Hilt and he has no remarkable traits. He convinced the fourteen to join him in an experiment; but they do not know the outcome of the whole, just the individual results. I send the group, including the unconscious to Guimn, a local dwarf planet, to be brought before an Assembly of Upstanding when possible.

I would like to say that everything turned out just fine. And for the first time in the galaxy in a long time, it did. I turned Charles over to the Higud police and proposed to Maria. From now on, life will be easy. I have no insane scientists to watch for (except my kids—Maria and I have been married for a few years and now have two kids) and life is relatively calm. I only hope that wherever he is, the original Marcus Shade is happy with how I handle the situations that I come upon.