Dark Fall II
Part IV: DEOS
Chapter 35: The Abaddon Collective
(1)
"What do I want?" Archimedes said to Corbin. "For the world to be restored to the way it should have been all along!"
"You want to rule and control people in order to satiate your own anger." Corbin pressed him.
"I want to become the Antichrist and restore the original world as it should have been apart from any interference! I want to resurrect and recreate the world back the way it was during the days of Atlantis and beyond!"
Archimedes said it so casually Corbin couldn't help but be stunned. He knew the man sitting in front of him was dead serious. And it wasn't just because of the unusual getup he was dressed in.
"Please tell me about this world you want to create." Corbin asked cautiously.
Archimedes seemed quite pleased to do so. "It's quite simple. In ages past there existed a world full of free choice that was savagely ripped away from us. Then that world was recreated into another world that was very similar but with less magic, and the beings in it were stripped of most of their power. Then when the beings of this world made similar "wrong" decisions, the power of freedom was ripped away once again. Not quite a world of 'true freedom,' don't you think?"
"So, it's a truly free world that you seek?"
"Yes! And to usurp the throne from the one who does not deserve it!" Archimedes beamed, gleaming as if with the youth of a schoolboy.
"Whose throne?"
"The two-faced, inconsistent One that people all over this world have the gall to ascribe divinity to even though He doesn't deserve it!" Archimedes said this so venomously spittle shot out of his mouth.
"So you're doing all of this because you're mad at God? You manipulate people and go through all this nonsense simply because it makes you feel better…?"
"You don't understand!" Archimedes said, his arms going in wild gestures. "As a child, I grew up believing everything my parents told me without a question! But as I grew older, I had questions! But having the freedom to question was something looked down upon, not encouraged! Want me to tell you a secret? And I don't care if you believe me or not!"
"Try me." Corbin said.
"My parents were Adam and Eve!" Archimedes was saying this as if divulging a most magnificent revelation he'd been dying to get out. "The ones from the book you call the Bible!"
"Yes, I do believe I've read of them." Corbin said, trying to maintain his calm demeanor.
"They were fools! They let themselves be slaves!"
"You really think that committing evil, that harming others, like you've done, is actually a good thing?" Corbin shot at him.
"IT SHOULD BE OUR CHOICE!" Archimedes said, slamming his hand down on the table, then laughing as if he'd just told the greatest joke he'd ever heard.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to see things by your logic." Corbin said.
"I'll tell you another secret, the truth of what's right below us." Archimedes said. "It's the center of the empire that used to be known as Atlantis. And immediately following that, it was the Garden of Eden."
"I thought the Garden of Eden was believed to have been in the Middle East."
"That is true, yes." Archimedes said. "The world was very different back then. There was only one continent, what you would call 'Pangaea.' After the Tower of Babel incident, people migrated all over Pangaea in different directions. El split the world up into pieces and moved them all across the world as an effort to destroy human unity. He was afraid of them recreating an empire not unlike what Atlantis had been. But the actual location was always spiritual and not physical. Thus, while the part of Pangaea that had been the physical location of the Garden of Eden moved to its present location as the Middle East, the actual spiritual portal remained."
"Tell me more about Atlantis. What exactly was it like?" Corbin asked him.
Archimedes' eyes brightened. "In Atlantis, everything was, in the beginning, perfect and spotless and pure. But, their civilization inevitably advanced as far as it possibly could. It was then that they struck upon a realization: they could all live much better lives and expand their power even further, even mastering all the universes in the multiverse someday, if they were willing to take drastic steps and do things never done before. One of those steps was subjugating the weaker amongst themselves as slaves. They used magic to do this, created by a mage named Ar'khan. Ar'khan was the first true free-thinker in the world. It was he who first dared to dabble in what had been forbidden, to explore the secrets of the universe far beyond anything anyone had ever experienced.
He discovered the magic that could be used make the weaker of their own kind into willing servants. They called these slaves a word that could roughly be translated as 'Automatons.' He also cracked the secrets of the Forbidden Magic that would allow them to pierce their empire through other dimensions, and eventually conquer all the worlds of the multiverse! The beings of this world started to become aware there was much more out there than they'd ever dreamed of. They developed the desire to push their power and become true gods.
They utilized time magic… the same type of magic in this realm that creates the illusion that there is such a thing as 'time' and time is always passing. But that is a much more in-depth discussion for another time. Getting back to the story at hand, there was one fatal flaw in aims of the beings in the Old World. They were unprepared for what dealing with the darkness would truly entail. They were weak! They were not aware of the ramifications of tapping into the true power of the universe. They were not prepared to deal with it. And so the Automatons they created became possessed, their empty selves becoming perfect vessels for what would become known as the Abaddon Collective. The true king of the universe had landed. Satan had entered their world, they were not prepared for the power of what handling the darkness would entail, and thus they were destroyed!
But the god of Light, El, suddenly intervened and fought back. When Satan entered the world, El invaded and fought him. He wrestled some power from Satan… enough to recreate the world partially in his own image, but not completely."
Corbin held up his hand. "Wait, wait, wait just a moment. Let me make sure I understand you correctly. You seem to be making the statement that Satan and God are two different gods?"
"In a sense." Archimedes said. "There are two opposing forces in the universe. Light and dark. You could, to use theological terminology, classify them as two different aspects of 'ground of being.'"
"I don't think I'm quite following you." Corbin said.
Archimedes continued: "It's simple. Everything has light and darkness within it. All sentient living creatures must deal with the perpetual struggle of light and darkness. All worlds, all dimensions in existence, must also struggle with these two essences! Everything exists within a 'ground of being' in which there are two different forces constantly trying to overtake each other. Most everything exists within the struggle of these two forces. Some give themselves fully over to one or the other. Some choose to exist only within light or darkness, but the struggle ever continues. When the people of Atlantis fell because of their weakness in trying to summon the darkness, El took advantage of this and forced his light upon this realm. But the Satan-force was too strong to be overtaken completely. This world exists locked in a perpetual battle between these two forces. I'm trying to turn the tide and turn this world fully over that which is the strongest! That which the people of Atlantis were too weak to handle, I will handle! I have seen the darkness up close, in a personal way that few can understand. I have been one with the darkness, communed with it, in between lives following each death in the olden days, and beyond that! I understand it far more than any other human being that has ever lived! I alone can handle the darkness and use it to reshape reality; not even just in this world, but the entire multiverse as well! I am Satan's chosen one to put this incorrect world right. He is the incarnation of the darkness; I am his willing servant, and also a co-God in the recreation of the universe."
It was hard for Corbin to not let it show how stunned he was by the words Archimedes spoke and the surefire confident way in which he spoke them. He didn't know how to even begin to respond. "Well, you sure do have a high view of yourself. I can't figure out which is more distorted: your view of yourself, or your view of the way the universe works." he finally said.
Archimedes gave a grin that came off as a sneer. "I have been THE master Necromancer in the world for thousands of years! I founded the cult of Belial and was behind the various Orders that rose up over the millennia. I penned, compiled, and edited various editions of the Necronomicon throughout the centuries. Before I set up a system by which I could pass from body to body, I would exist within the darkness of eternity in between lives, till another Necromancer at some point would heed the call of my spirit and summon me to be reborn anew."
"All this by Satan's power, I'm assuming?"
"You assume correctly. After I retreated into the wilderness many thousands of years ago, sniveling and beaten down by El, the Incarnation of darkness appeared to me personally. He gave me a new mark, and great power, and gave me exemption from the type of damnation that comes to the weak. He taught me everything. About our world. About its past. About the many myriads of universes. He told me things no one had ever been able to explain to me before. He told me about the Special Ones in all the universes and about the Incarnations in each one. I was the Special One he personally chose for this universe. All I needed to do was spend some time in training, learning about the laws and ways by which this universe operated. Then, when the time finally came, I would know what to do, and history would be my plaything to reshape and remold. And all that was expected of me was that I would carry out my primary mission as part of the deal. Eventually the time would come to create a new order. The entire universe would be plunged into darkness, reshaped, with the creation of a new pantheon across the entire multiverse consisting of all the Special Ones as true gods, reigning under the supreme Lord of Darkness. The essence of Light will be extinguished from all Being. All will be put as it should be."
"Why exactly do you consider light to be superior to darkness? Why is the light such a bad thing?"
"Because the so-called good things of the light are only an illusion until you realize you've become enslaved by it. The only essence worth worshipping and fighting for is the one that wields the most power. Side with the one that has the most power, and you extinguish all suffering by making things beneficial for yourself. Those who suffer underneath those with power deserve their lot in life for being too weak. Godhood is a gift that deserves to be held by only the strongest. Struggle against the darkness, and you're only perpetuating your suffering. Eventually, darkness must completely overpower the light and overtake all, because it is the strongest. The one who dwells inside the darkness is truly and completely alive and cognizant and has extinguished all suffering."
Corbin could only look at Archimedes. "How truly fascinating. What a very interesting philosophy you've concocted for yourself."
"My 'philosophy,' as you say, can very easily be seen in action every day in our world. What else could possibly be the victor, except that which conquers through power and might?"
"I disagree with you. Love, kindness, goodness, and mercy will eventually conquer all. Hatred and evil can poison and corrupt for generations, but one act of kindness, one strong stand of love, can put a route to evil and hatred and impact the entire world."
"A common response." Archimedes said. "One I've heard so often I've grown sick of it. If what you say is true, then explain to me why the world isn't completely free of 'hatred' and 'evil' after thousands of years? Why hasn't the force of darkness been completely eradicated, if it is as easy as you say?"
"You're speaking of a present condition as if things will always be this way. You fail to see the contradiction in your own words and actions. You say that the fact that darkness persists with an iron grip is proof that it is the strongest. But the light has held on just as strong, if not stronger. You say I'm idealistic because I believe that good will eventually win out and extinguish the darkness permanently? I think you're the one who is more idealistic that you can plunge everything into darkness and extinguish the light. In one sense, you're simply championing an inverted view of my own and calling me idealistic. Can you see your own hypocrisy?"
Archimedes simply looked at Corbin, his face tensing into a sneer once more.
"Let me give you an example, Commander, to further make my point. If a nation seeking power goes to war with a pacifist nation that refuses to fight, then the pacifist nation will be annihilated without a trace. And if I use my black magic to control others into doing my will or to bring harm to others, without a doubt it will always work. If I decide to create a town with a fake religion that people believe readily and I sacrifice them all to my god as a punishment for nothing other than their stupidity as well as to give me power, well, nobody in several hundred years has been able to raise their hand against me and stop me. El surely has never been able to stop me; he certainly seems to have never even tried!
Take an even greater, more poignant example: During the Holocaust, the Jews, supposedly God's very own people, could not prevent the evil that happened to them. It is true that Hitler was eventually overcome by his own weakness, and he eventually killed himself. He did not deserve the power he wielded, and he knew it.
We both speak of eras in which one 'essence' or 'element' will eliminate the other. I see no fundamental inconsistency in my view. Both essences fight and conflict with each other within the ground of being. I simply believe that the weaker is destined to be wiped out eventually, and can be wiped out. I've already made it quite clear which one I view to be the weaker."
Corbin gritted his teeth and countered: "The Allied nations were eventually going to win against Hitler. Hitler's evil would not have lasted forever, even if he had not killed himself. The world would have never stood for his continued existence and livelihood forever. Love and righteous anger would have eventually conquered the forces of evil. So shall it always be. So it is. And look at the impact that Martin Luther King and Gandhi had with their crusades of non-violence, and many others like them! These men lifted neither sword nor gun, choosing to exist only within selfless love, and changed the world in a way no method of force has been able to match. The Holy Scriptures say that the Son of God entered the world and conquered it in selfless love and divided history in a way your god will never be able to do.
Why is darkness allowed to prevail for a time in the world? I don't know. I would be a fool if I were to say there was an exact answer that could be known, just as you are a fool for thinking you have figured out the precise truth. But surely we all must go through this learning process of realizing the consequences of the evil we do, even though some of us are so bent on evil there is no other place for us to end up but consumed by the very darkness we try to inflict upon others! The darkness has its own positive, though, but not in the way that you decree. If we do not face both the good and the evil in this world, the light and the dark, then we would not truly grow as beings understanding what it truly means to be in the light. Keeping that in mind, I think things are a lot more under control of the light than you think. I think you're wrong when you say light and dark are opposing forces in the ground of being. I think that light is the ONLY element in the ground of being."
Archimedes seemed to have retreated back to his near-scowl again. "I disagree, and I think you're wrong. Since we're using Martin Luther King and Gandhi as the most overused, common trump card examples, let me ask you a question, and think carefully upon my words: has the impact of selfless love really made as much of a dent on the darkness of the world as you think? Oppression and injustice continue to reign supreme despite all best attempts to eradicate it. Martin Luther King's sacrifice didn't eliminate racism, it simply made it less socially acceptable and thus greatly restrained its expression. Apartheid in South Africa was defeated, but apartheid and racism remain evident in people's hearts even today. This darkness will continue to find expression wherever it can be gotten away with. It is as I've said before: all things have these two opposing forces in them, light and darkness. And darkness always proves to be the stronger of the two. Even the kindest person has darkness in them. And darkness always gets results sooner than light does. Darkness is the strongest essence that surely must eventually overpower the light!"
Corbin said: "Your point is noted, but let me make a metaphor of my own now: do you understand why this room is not dark right now? It's because that light switch behind me floods the room with light via the light fixtures above us. Darkness cannot enter a room and force the light to leave. But when the light enters a room, darkness always has to leave. You say the two coexist as opposing forces within the same ground. But this is not true. The amount of darkness that exists within everything is directly proportional to the amount of light shining within it. If I increase the power of light flooding the room, the darkness will be further decreased. Light and darkness are not part of the same ground of being. Darkness is the opposite of the ground of being. To give over to the darkness is to step away from the ground of being. To reject light is to accept death. To hate is to destroy not just others but one's own self. To reject existence is to truly exist no more."
Archimedes narrowed his eyes and folded his hands on Corbin's desk. "Once again, you forget that I have been inside the darkness, and as far as I've experienced, darkness is existence itself. I have felt existence in the darkness as I've never felt existence before. You're making an argument that you're right based off the fact that this room is currently being flooded by light right now and pushing out the darkness, and for this reason, you think you know something that I don't. But clearly, you've never seen the effects of truly dark magic as I have. Have you ever been in a well lit room on a bright sunny day, with all windows open, while utilizing the forces of darkness? I've spent days in well-lit buildings, summoning the forces of darkness, testing dark magic, casting black hexes. Have you ever witnessed what these activities do to the places they happen in? You can make well lit buildings completely dark, even if all the lights are on! Even if the room is well lit up, with the windows open on a sunny day, you can try to look through the window, and you'll see only blackness. I've done it! Despite what you think, light can overtake the darkness. It is possible. I've made it happen!"
"Point taken. But question: Why were your magic tricks only sufficient enough to darken the inside of these buildings? Why not the entire outside? Did you ever try doing these things outside? Did they work? Why or why not? How about for miles around? Were your parlor tricks truly so weak you could only affect such small areas rather than the world outside?"
"I understand the argument you're trying to make, and it's pathetically weak. You are only grasping futily at straws. I've already covered this: In this world, this dimension, this universe, the power of balance has shifted to El, the god of Light. I'm about to change the balance of power and plunge the entire world into darkness. I'm about to do it to the entire world, and the whole multiverse. That's what all this is about!"
"I still say you're wrong in your assessment. You're trying to suck the light out, which can't be done because there's nothing to suck the light into. And if I'm correct and the light is the ground of being, you're up against nothing you can defeat, because to defeat the ground of being would be to eradicate existence itself, the existence that you yourself reject while simultaneously existing in, and that just does not work and will not happen."
"You are wrong and foolish. My 'magic tricks' do not come from nothingness. Light and darkness are part of the same ground of being, and, like an element, and I'm going to set darkness as the master element into its rightful place. I've met the one true Lord who alone is deserving of being called God. He is the one from the realm of darkness whose aim is solid and true. Very soon the entire multiverse will come to know that He is the one true God and I am his willing servant!"
"Just because you can utilize certain extra laws of the universe than normal and pervert them doesn't eradicate my point about the opposite of light being nothingness. And this rhetoric you keep using about not wanting to be a slave, but yet choosing to enslave yourself to this other being who claims to be a god! For all you know, you've met a weaker being that is lying to you and wants nothing more than suffering and misery and destruction to come to all things that exist, including yourself! And I'd say that's exactly the case!"
"No. He is a God, and the reason I serve him is because I ally myself with the darkness, and he is higher than me at this present moment. I have achieved the highest station of existence I can possibly procure for myself. When all of what I aim to accomplish is achieved, I will ascend even higher! I may be his servant, but he has given me a freedom I never knew before in my earlier life! He has showed me the truth. He has been falsely maligned and misunderstood throughout history. I am here to spread his gospel to all places and worlds and set things right!"
"Let's say he were to turn out to be the true God, as you say! I'd never willingly ally with someone or something like him! You call me vain and deluded and idealistic because I hold onto values such as love and compassion and selflessness! I'd never want to spread suffering and misery to others! I would never want to give up the value of all the good that still exists in the world: neither the love of family, nor charity towards others, nor striving to fight for the betterment of others and the world we live in! What kind of good God desires the opposite of that? I can never understand someone like you who has fallen into such darkness that you view evil and power and hatred as good things! It is a true shame that you've allowed yourself to become so darkened that the good things of light cannot penetrate your soul anymore!"
"You think you're so smart and logical and better than me, don't you! I served the light in my fledgling days! The light only made me weaker and weaker, and in the end, despite my best efforts, El only rejected me! He was scared of me, surely! He knew I would never bow down to him in the end! He knew that I stood to become the one who would dare to challenge him and become his undoing someday!"
Corbin shot back: "No, it was because you'd already started letting bitterness and hatred well up in your heart in the beginning, and the being that appeared to you only fed your negative emotions even further to ensnare you. And how do you square rejection with being given special protection even after you killed your brother? The whole 'anyone who brings harm to you will experience vengeance sevenfold?'"
"El only did that to keep me weak and subservient! Don't you see? He used my brother's death to entrap me! I was only saved by the mercy of the dark god, who saw my plight, my ambition, and deemed me worthy of learning the truth!"
Corbin responded: "More than likely, you allowed yourself to be told what you wanted to hear, using it as a crutch to help yourself cope. As I've stated before, and the Biblical account implies, your heart was corrupted by bitterness and anger. Perhaps an inferiority complex from a young age; perhaps you felt your brother was truly more loved than you, by your parents, by God, and you allowed it to fester in your heart. It escalated till you went as far as to raise your fist against your brother. But you didn't expect to kill him! When you did, and you realized what you had done, you felt conflicting emotions. Hurt. Anger. Confusion. This turned into bitterness toward El when you realized He could have stopped you but didn't. You felt bitterness toward your weakness and toward the weaknesses of others. You felt anger toward your brother and his piousness and the way El seemed to favor him so much better than you. You failed to realize He was merciful in punishing you not with death, but that He also offered you protection and opportunity for redemption along with punishment, as a true father does with his very own children. It wasn't enough for you. You allowed the hatred and anger to penetrate your heart so deep that when the King of Lies appeared before you, he told you a mixture of truth and fiction of what you wanted to believe, moreover, what you felt you needed to believe to cope. You took that and ran with it, like a type of blind religious fundamentalist, clouded by anger and the torment of your own inner demons, shutting your worldview off to any other possibilities, shutting yourself off completely to light and love, letting your rage fester till you could never again allow love to penetrate your heart! Like a frog in a slowly boiling pot, you failed to realize that what you took for existence in the darkness was really a slow death. You took your anger out on others, anywhere you could. You were also using your worldview as a cover for something else, too. Still embittered by your rage at El, everything you've done, every act of evil you've committed, every act of trying to control and hurt others, you've likely been pushing El to appear and directly respond to you in the way he didn't when you made the choice to attack your own brother. You're using your worldview as a mask, and quite frankly, deep down, I don't really think you're that damn stupid you actually believe it's true. But you need it, as a crutch, while at the same time you're also pushing God, like a frustrated, angry child who's upset and angry and trying to piss on the boundaries to get a violent reaction out of his parent that he feels never truly loved him."
Archimedes no longer exhibited anything of the jovial, animated tone he'd had when Corbin had first walked into the office. His face had contorted into what could only be described as barely repressed sheer rage. He rose up from his seat at Corbin's desk.
"You're a moron! None of what you've just said is true!"
"And yet you act as if I've touched a serious nerve." Corbin said, doing his best to remain composed.
"You will see! The whole world will see!' Archimedes said animatedly. "Darkness shall overtake this world, and I shall become your god and the god of all universes!"
"If time and space is to ultimately be ruled by a god as immature as you and your superior, I think I'd rather be dead or not have ever existed as all."
Archimedes glared down upon him. "It is the only destiny for all things! You've spoken bold and blasphemous words to me today, but they will avail you not! You will get your wish! The darkness will destroy you, and in only a day or so, darkness shall rule all things!"
"Light will defeat you! But clearly I am not going to be able to get that through your head. You have a particular fate in mind for me, yes? You've had it in mind from the very moment I walked into this room. You do not terrify me, though I'd imagine you sure wish you did. You might as well just do what you came here to do and get it over with!"
Archimedes grinned. "Such bold words! Such courage!" Archimedes started moving around the desk towards Corbin, who remained sitting, not moving an inch. "You're such a strong-willed fellow! Shame you won't be able to see the rise of the new world! Shame you won't be cognizant enough to be able to see how wrong you turn out to be!"
Archimedes' hand came down on top of Corbin's head.
(2)
Zack woke up to the sound of the door buzzing incessantly.
Someone was at the door. Maya was stirring softly in the bed beside him.
"Just a moment!" Zack got up. He immediately began putting his clothes on. Maya sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, simply watching.
When Zack was decent enough, he answered the door to see Andrew, looking rather harried and short on breath. His face had a white shade to it.
"M, Mr. Martin? I don't know who else to turn to. We have a big problem. It's Corbin. Something's wrong with him! You'd better come see."
Zack could feel butterflies forming in his stomach. "Give us a few minutes to get ready and we'll go with you."
Andrew nodded, shakily, and closed the door.
Zack's eyes shot over to the clock on the night table. 5:31 A.M.
Maya wasted no time; without a word she got up and started getting ready. Once again, the tomboy in her suited her well for this kind of situation.
When they were at least halfway decent, they followed Andrew down the hall. Andrew tried not to make eye contact with anyone. Zack's mind was racing too much to bother to care whether he was making eye contact with anyone or not. He had no clue what Andrew was about to show them. Certainly it was nothing good.
When they were right outside Corbin's office door, Andrew said: "I found him like this this morning. Likely I'm the only one who knows right now. When it gets out, we're going to have a real problem."
Andrew opened it and they stepped inside.
As they stepped in, Corbin was sitting at his desk, but Zack could immediately see that something was quite wrong with him.
Corbin was sitting partially hunched over, sitting at an odd angle. He writing on his desk – no paper underneath, pen unclicked. He was simply slowly moving it around the table in an incoherent pattern.
He was mumbling to himself.
Zack slowly walked over to him.
"Corbin? Corbin! It's me, Zack!"
Corbin didn't acknowledge him.
"He was like this when I arrived. I don't know what's wrong with him."
"What is that he's mumbling?" Zack asked.
"I don't know. I can't make sense of it. It sounds like another language."
Zack reached over and started lightly slapping him on the cheek.
"Corbin? Corbin! Can you hear me? It's Zack! Let me know if you can understand me!"
Corbin briefly stopped mumbling, slowly lifted his head up, looked Zack in the eyes, and smiled. "Hi, Zack!" he said affably, but strangely devoid of emotion at the same time. He then lowered his head and proceeded to return to what he had been doing.
But that had been enough. What Zack had seen when Corbin had looked him in the eyes horrified him to the core. It was the same blankness Zack had seen in the 'eyes' of the beings in that strange world during his vision, the ones who'd had their free will forcefully taken away from them. He was certain of it.
Zack slowly stood up.
"Andrew, I need you to listen to me carefully. I don't want you to be frightened, nor do I want you to let your fear get the best of you, but I'm going to be blunt with you. We're in a lot of danger here. If you, or anyone on this vessel, sees a man walking around, a very old man, with a long, wispy type of beard, I want you or anyone else who sees him to shoot him dead. As a matter of fact, if you see anyone on this vessel who does not belong here and has never been seen before, at the very least, stun them down without hesitation. Especially Magnus. But if you see that old man, you shoot to kill. Get everyone on this facility armed. And I mean everyone. Take down anyone that should not be on board."
"W-what's going on exactly, sir? What are those things in the medical bay?"
Zack turned to face him.
"The truth is that there is a hole here. It's a type of inter-dimensional portal. It's right underneath this facility. It's what causes everything in the Bermuda Triangle to be so jacked up. It's the cause of all the strange legends and myths in this area over the centuries. There is a man on board somewhere. He's very evil. He's planning on using it to do something horrifying. The hallucinations everyone has been having on board this facility are real. We are in between several dimensions that are crossing and overlapping more and more by the minute. The reason this place is dead in the water is because we are not even in the dimension we know as the 'real' world anymore. There is a time portal somewhere on this vessel. It goes back to the 21st century, where I come from. I need to find this portal and take it back if I want to put an end to all this. If I can, this future will cease to exist and all will go back to normal."
Andrew could only stare at him, agape. Andrew was looking straight into Zack's eyes. "My God! You're telling the truth, aren't you?"
Zack put his hand on Andrew's shoulder. "Can you rally everyone together and relay something like this message to everyone without causing a panic or a riot?"
"I-I-I th-think… I dunno!"
"Listen to me very carefully," Zack said, tightening his grip. "I need you to get a grip and do this for me. We have to take the offensive at this point. We're out of time!"
Andrew slowly and shakily nodded. "I'll do the best I can!" Then he looked behind Zack, and his eyes went wide.
Zack turned around, shocked to see that Corbin had stood, and was grinning at them.
"Archimedes Demarion wants you to know that he's won, Zack." Corbin drawled out slowly. He had unclicked the pen. He put it up to his throat and used it to cut his own throat wide open. Andrew gasped behind Zack, who, like Maya, could only look on in shock as blood ran down Corbin's body onto his uniform, until his body slowly slumped down, dead, a puddle of his own blood forming underneath him.
They could only stand there, agape.
"T-there's no hiding this. Not for more than an hour!" Andrew said, shaking more than ever before.
Zack turned to him. "Andrew! Get everyone in the conference room, now! Schedule an emergency meeting!"
"But we're using it as the medical facility…"
"Move all the patients over to the side! And get all the remaining staff in this place in there! We'll convene in an hour! This is an emergency!"
"What can I do?" Maya asked, putting her hand on Zack's shoulder. Zack looked at her.
"Get back to our room and lock yourself in. Keep a weapon trained on the door. If anyone tries to enter for any unknown reason, take them down."
Maya looked like she was extremely offended. "You want me to just sit in our room and do nothing? I am not going to just sit and wait while you're off elsewhere risking your life by yourself with God-knows-what!"
"Archimedes is not going to try to kill me! I'm certain of that. I'm integral to his plans. But for all I know, Archimedes might try to bring harm to you just to get to me! Right now, I'm more concerned with your safety than my own."
"I'm not weak! I can hold my own, Zack." Maya said sharply.
"I never meant to imply that." Zack told her, before kissing her on the forehead. "I'm just scared of losing you again. You have to understand that! I wouldn't put it past him to just appear out of the blue and shoot you dead! I'm scared, Maya!"
She could see the sincerity in his eyes. She softened somewhat.
"We're not safe anywhere in this place! Not in our room! Not anywhere on the rest of this vessel! Perhaps not even if we make it back to our own time!" she said to him.
Zack paused for a moment.
"No. No, we're not." he conceded. "But I still feel less safe with you tagging alongside me for the moment while I search again for the portal. Not unless I stumble across Archimedes and take him down once and for all!"
She looked at him for a moment, before finally conceding: "I don't like it. But I understand what you're saying. If that's the way you think is best, we'll go with your plan for now. But if anything happens, I'm not going to just sit around in that room and wait for you! We're in this fight together!"
Zack nodded and kissed her again. "Agreed."
He turned to Andrew. "Can we lock this room on the way out?"
"Yes, but all security personnel have an override. Only the Commander has the code that can lock it so it can't be overwritten. And since he's dead…"
"At the very least, we won't have to worry about the researchers getting in and finding him. It will buy us a little time."
"Understood."
They exited the room, and Andrew used the computer device to lock it.
"W-we're going to be okay, right, sir?"
"I hope so." was all Zack could answer honestly.
Andrew opened his mouth as if to say something, and then apparently changed his mind. Still obviously profoundly shaken, he turned to carry out the mission Zack had given to him, running off like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
(3)
"You're good with knowing how to use this thing?" Zack asked Maya, indicating the weapon he'd been running her through the basics of using.
Not that he knew much about its use himself, having not actually had a chance to use it yet. He could only repeat the basics Corbin had given to him.
"It doesn't look that much different from the days when we played laser tag on the S.S. Tipton."
Zack smiled a weak smile despite himself.
"I sure wish this were all a dream and we were there right now."
"We can go on a cruise when we're done here." she suggested.
Zack leaned in and kissed her. "I'm up for a second honeymoon myself."
Maya took her seat, placed at the left corner of the wall, facing the door. Zack's precaution. That way she'd have a vantage point to see everything in the room. If something tried to come through the door, or materialized, or came out of the bathroom, then she would be able to see it.
"I'll be back in a few hours to check on you. Call me on my device is anything happens."
"You do the same. Good luck, Zack." she said.
"Stay safe." he said.
With the HADDEN goggles on his head, he turned and started walking to the door, but stopped suddenly and turned around.
It was a feeling that came upon him all at once. He suddenly had the strange feeling he wasn't going to ever see her again. The thought brought a sudden torrent of emotions, and now, as he turned to look upon her one more time, he fought hard to choke back paralyzing fear and several tears.
I'm making a mistake!
The thought was suddenly running through his mind. But was he? What else was he supposed to do? He didn't know. Every possible choice could be a mistake! He might be damned no matter which choice he made!
He knew he was only feeling this way and thinking these thoughts because he was stuck in between a rock and a hard place.
But still.
Maybe he should be taking her along with him. But he had a horrifying image of Archimedes coming up behind him, killing his wife in front of his eyes, laughing maniacally. The man would do something like that. It was in him to do something like that. Zack knew it.
He was sticking with this choice. He'd suffer the consequences if he was wrong. He might lose either way.
"God, I love you so much." was all he could bring himself to say to her.
"I love you too." she softly whispered back.
He turned, hesitating for only a brief moment more, and then took his leave.
(4)
He watched Zack leave the room.
He thought of the amusement of the futile precautions they were taking.
He watched Zack hesitate slightly, look back, then reluctantly take off.
He'd been following them this whole time, unseen.
He was not seen by Zack as he left.
He was perfectly concealed by the shadows.
He was the shadows.
He was the true Dark Fall.
He laughed to himself.
He was not some mindless member of the Collective.
He bowed to no Necromancer's will.
He was The Necromancer.
He was about to unleash the last part of his plan.
He had been extremely careful.
He had seen all futures, all possibilities.
He felt excitement.
He knew this was the one!
He savored the giddiness inside him as he heard the sound of Zack's footsteps decreasing down the hall.
He'd have his will with Zack later.
He was more interested in the other for now.
He had the final two pieces to his plan.
He had made the plan, everything had finally come together.
He felt hate.
He felt rage.
He felt these age old feelings, stronger than he'd ever felt them before.
He also knew he was about to be vindicated.
He waited in the shadows.
He was not going to be so hasty.
He knew when the proper time to strike was.
He was in no hurry.
He had no reason to hurry.
He had all the "time" in the universe, after all.
He would move soon, though.
He knew there was no need to rush, though.
He knew that he had already won.
(5)
Andrew's gathering everyone in the conference room also had a strategic effect, in Zack's mind. It would temporarily clear the halls and give Zack free reign to run through them, looking for the portal, or Archimedes, or both.
It might be futile, searching yet again for the portal that had eluded him thus far. But what other choice did he have? But he also really, really wanted to come across Archimedes and gun him down. Just a few shots, and it would all be over.
He had the Hadden Goggles switched on, over his face, as he was walking/running briskly through the hallways of the DEOS facility with his weapon drawn. He was moving quickly, trying to cover as much ground as quickly as possible.
It was his intention to pop in just as the meeting began. He knew it would probably be a bad idea to let Andrew handle it all on his own. And the situation would probably totally go to hell afterward.
There was no way of deflating it at this point; hell, all eyes would soon be turned on him. He was, after all, the outsider who had wandered in when this whole mess had started.
But for now, Andrew had already made the announcement several times about an immediate emergency meeting in the auditorium. So while the hallways were presently clear, for a brief period of time, he was on a hunt. He was hoping he could get a clear lead before he even had to attend the meeting.
All he could think of was Archimedes. All he could think about was his intense anger at the man.
He used his modified computer device to open every door, and he would cautiously step inside each room, point his gun around, ready to shoot on site. Of course Archimedes was probably aware Zack was hunting him at this very moment. But it made no difference in Zack's mind.
He was once again back to the strange version of himself, back to being the 'soldier' once again that he had been in the forest of Fetch Rock.
He thought about how much he'd surely changed at this point.
He thought back to the time when several rival gangs had shown up at his club, mistaking him for someone he wasn't, preparing to have a shoot-out. How passively he'd tried to handle the situation. He wondered how he might have reacted now.
He hit the red button on his computer-phone. A door opened. He stepped inside and moved his gun around in a precise arc.
Nothing but silence, desks, and computer terminals.
Zack stepped out and headed to the t-intersection. He peered quickly right and left down both hallways and headed to the right. He kept his ears peeled for any sounds whatsoever that might not be his own shoes.
It was then that he realized something. Something seemed wrong about the view through his goggles. He couldn't quite place it. But everything seemed so static, so unmoving. Not a sign of paranormal activity anywhere.
So certain and strange was this feeling that something was off that he took the goggles off of him.
The red beings were standing right in front of him, around him, inches away from his face. He saw their human faces, which suddenly distorted horribly, with their horrendous laughter physically echoing through the hallway.
Zack gave out a cry in shock and fell to the ground as they suddenly vanished, their eerie, inhuman laughter taking a few seconds to dissipate.
Zack was lying on his back on the floor, trying to get a grip on himself.
"You can't use those types of devices here now. We're too far in." The voice right behind Zack said.
He turned around, quickly trying to get to his feet.
It was Ivan Krovst, sitting on the ground, propped up against the wall heading down the left hallway.
Had he been here just now? Where had he come from?
"You can adjust those little dials on the goggles. Set the horizontal one to roughly 3.5, the diagonal one to 4.5, and the one on the right to 10.9."
Zack did as Ivan said, and put them on.
Now he could clearly see the writing on the walls, just as he'd been able to previously. One major difference, though: They were no longer shifting and changing as they had been before. Now they were simply stationary, black, lifeless.
Zack took the goggles off.
"You know about what these are? What are these goggles, exactly?"
"The specific ones you have are part of a special series that are designed to see things that most of the others can't. Crack it open, you'll find there's one thing inside that isn't in the other ones. Doesn't even come from this world, really. They use them as a means of connecting to and seeing through other realities, as well as identifying those with certain "gifts." It's how Archimedes identified you and your wife, for example."
"I don't know exactly what you mean. What do you mean by "gifts?"
"The tiny, special stone that's in those goggles is very rare. It can only be found at the bottom of the ocean in certain spots. Hardened leftovers of the bodies of the beings that used to inhabit this world. The stones are manipulated by the computer technology inside surrounding them; it allows you to see through them things you normally couldn't, and to interact with other realities and planes of existence you likewise."
"So that's the reason I can use these to see and talk to ghosts, see flashbacks of the past, even time travel with them?"
"Yes."
"But what about the portals where I didn't need to use the goggles?"
"The island of Fetch Rock is not completely normal. It's covered with a layer of substance made out of the same stone. Archimedes used magic from the Old World to activate it and create the portal. But the goggles work too. Some of the portals Archimedes made naturally. Some by magic. Some weren't made by him. But you can probably surmise that."
"I want to know more about these "gifts," though."
"Back on Atlantis, Mu, and all the other empires that made up the Old World, every being had one specific, natural, inborn ability. If you want an analogy from your own time, it's not much different a concept from "classes" in role-playing games, although the gifts beings were born with in the Old World weren't a choice like they are in a table-top or video game. The types of beings known as 'Seers,' for example, could see into the future, and all possibilities of the future. 'Magicians' had great psychic powers and could harness large amounts of what we might call today 'magic' energy. 'Connectors' could be linked to every being in the world at once, even to beings in other dimensions, galaxies, or planets. 'Enterers' could harness great magic energy through themselves, and could harness magic from other dimensions not normally available in their own. Beings from other dimensions could even pass safely through them and take on form in our own!"
"I'm confused, though. You were implying I have one of these gifts…?"
"We all do. When the Old World fell, as legend has it, the world was recreated. El did it as an act of mercy. When the Bible says 'man was created from dust,' it means that humans were created partially from the 'dust' that was in the physical aspects of the beings of that world. We carry, to some extent, their DNA, but because our psychic connection to other realities was largely severed, it lies dormant within our brains. But the powers still exist. Everyone still has innately at least one of these powers."
"So, wait, which power do I have, exactly?" Zack asked him.
"You are a Connector. Extremely rare. Archimedes is planning on using a very complex incantation to unleash the darkness out of the hole. He's using the psychic energy, however, of different types of beings that have different dormant gifts, which he's going to activate, while also using the dark magic created by Ar'khan the Deceiver to force them to channel that energy in the way he wants. He's arranging a very complex human incantation that uses the various dormant powers of Atlantis, and he needs you to connect all the energies together to make them work."
"And what is Archimedes, exactly? What is his 'gift?'"
"Archimedes is an 'Enterer.' He's going to allow himself to be a portal for Abaddon, the King of Darkness, to come in and possess him. Because this was the original site of Atlantis, and the Jewel, this hole is connected to all dimensions and all places, it's the only place with enough power to do it. It will also allow him a connection to all universes and worlds, and it will allow him to spread his dark power through them all."
"What are those red beings?"
"They were originally people just like you and I. Their dormant gift is that they are Magicians. Archimedes needs a lot of magic energy. He's going to syphon it from them in order to open the portal."
"And what about Oliver Drake? And that thing underneath the lighthouse?"
"Oliver Drake is a Seer. The thing underneath the lighthouse, attached to Malakai, is a being from another dimension. Archimedes needed an extra gift from another universe in order to make his incantation to work, one by which he could use magic needed to open and create portals. These beings can alter dimensional properties of any physical world they are in. Malakai is the Proxy. Archimedes deliberately altered it so that it would go into a black hole and acquire a specific type of being. There are enchanted stones within Malakai not unlike the one in those goggles that make this possible. The creature attached to the Proxy pours its power into the candidate for the Seer and re-awakens the gift, then controls it according to Archimedes' wishes. Its power is also needed so the Seer can open the dimensional portal with the energy of the Magicians linked by the Connector. Its very presence in this realm also affects the time/space/dimensional properties of this world, allowing Archimedes to make the portals. Its being here makes time travel possible, in a way the dimensional properties contained within the Bermuda Triangle couldn't alone! It is also how Archimedes gets his limited power to see multiple futures, possibilities, and alternate timelines, very important. This being cannot stay attached to this realm and to Malakai indefinitely. Archimedes uses the energies of the people of Fetch Rock and other towns he set up across the nation to be used as a steady stream of sacrifices. This must continue until his plan is brought to fruition in order to maintain his manipulation of the time streams to get what he wants."
"What is this creature, exactly? The one attached to Malakai?"
"It comes from a fallen world. A world that fell into darkness and could not be saved. The inhabitants willfully let their world go into this direction. They became dark entities. Beforehand, they had been powerful beings who had mastery over time and space in a way that was above even the beings of this world! Now they are shells of what they once were."
"And it obeys Archimedes, why?"
"These beings are trapped within a pocket dimension of darkness, sealed off, so they won't be a danger to the multiverse. There are many such beings like it, trapped inside. These beings will not seek the Light. Archimedes sought the power of one of these beings to attain his ends. The whole purpose of his founding DEOS was to make that happen. As for the reason it serves him, Archimedes intends to ultimately rip the multiverse wide open and plunge it into darkness. Thus these beings will be free to create chaos and anarchy across the multiverse."
"How do you know all of these things?"
"I'm not unlike you. Just a bit of a different gift, much rarer. I can't remember any of this until this place starts to get fully pulled into the Other dimension. Then it's like the memories all start rushing back, it's like I become 'connected' once more. I remember everything that's happened in every parallel universe based off this one where Archimedes has tried to plunge the world into darkness. I'm meeting and having this conversation with you right now in many alternate timelines, ones that may or may not come into existence. I see so many things, things I should not normally see or know."
"So, is this simply another possible timeline? Does this mean none of this right now is really happening?"
"All timelines are real. Even though only one can be actualized in the end."
"I'm confused. None of that makes any sense. Am I the real me right now? Or am I actually a parallel 'me' that might cease to existence if another timeline actualizes, as you say?"
"You are as real as I am talking to you face to face."
"That doesn't answer my question!"
"You are you. You are the 'you' that is experiencing this right now. You are real. The other parallel realities are real, too. But your body, soul, and spirit, the 'you' that's experiencing all this right now, the 'you' that's experienced everything up to this point, is most definitely real. That's the best I can explain it."
"But the others are real, too?"
"Yes."
Zack rubbed his head. "It just boggles my mind. I feel like I'm not real at all."
"You are the 'you' that God has a plan for. Nothing that is happening without purpose. Do not worry about whether you are the 'real' you or another you is the 'real' you. Just do the things that you need to do with the knowledge that you are definitely real. Would you like to know where you got those special goggles from? You didn't get them from Maddie! I gave them to you in a parallel universe. When you went through the portal from ten years in the future back to the present, you passed through the parallel universe where I gave you these goggles. In one of the universes where I got my memories as we started getting pulled into the hole, I used my abilities to make sure it ended up with you."
Zack didn't know what to think of that. "All of this blows my mind. I have a hard time buying any of this. But I have other pressing questions right now: why did the Old World fall? Did El bring about its destruction?"
"To some extent. El only personally got involved when the entire multiverse was threatened. There is a danger when free will and the ability to choose evil is tied directly with access to the multiverse. Everything would have been plunged into darkness. El honors free will. But El will not allow darkness to consume the multiverse. Entire worlds and dimensions may be consumed, if that is their choice. But the ones in which the inhabitants desire salvation, they can be saved. In this world, the Old Race, and our slightly less powerful human race, the descendants of Old Ones, has not reached a point yet where we can be fully trusted."
"Who is Archimedes?"
"You've read about him by this point. The one whom the DNA of Ar'khan the Deceiver became most active. Cain, son of the progenitors of the human race."
"I don't believe that."
"It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not. All that matters is he needs to be stopped."
"Do I win in this timeline?"
"The outcome I can see says no. I see Archimedes possessing you and turning you into an Automaton and using you to carry out the incantation. I see Archimedes summoning Abaddon, Satan, Lucifer, whatever you want to call him, from the hole, and it indwelling in himself. I see great darkness coming from the portal and beginning to consume all things. But it's funny, because whenever I slip into these memories again, Archimedes cannot perceive me. He doesn't even know I'm talking to you right now. Apparently I and my interactions with you exist outside of it all. So it means there is apparently at least one thing that is not set. So for all of his planning, he doesn't have complete power. Even though I see a set future, it doesn't mean it cannot be changed. Even I do not fully know how it works. Archimedes will never even know I'm about to give you this!"
Ivan reached into his front uniform pocket and pulled out a chip.
"Insert this into your computer phone. If you ever get back at Fetch Rock, get close to Malakai, and press the new icon that will appear on your screen due to the chip. This will deactivate Malakai's defenses and allow you to get close enough to enter the deactivation code, which will be onscreen. Enter it, and Malakai will automatically return where it came from. It's a program I've been cooking up the last few days. I didn't even know why I was doing it until now!"
Zack took the chip from Ivan and put it in. A new icon appeared on the device's screen.
"There isn't much time. I will disappear soon, too." Even as he was saying that, Zack could have sworn he saw Ivan flicker.
"One last thing: Tell me where the portal back to my own time is."
"Why, that's easy. The one place you'd never look. The closet that's in your quarters."
A chill went all over Zack's body. It was at this point he realized that Archimedes had tricked him yet again. "Oh, God." he said.
The one place he'd never think to look! The very quarters in which he and his wife had been sleeping soundly!
He jumped up and started to take off into a run, but stopped and paused long enough to say: "Thanks, Ivan!"
"No problem, for the several hundredth time."
As Zack's running footsteps got dimmer, Ivan pulled out a cigarette and lighted it.
(6)
In the room with the three security personnel who had been tasked with keeping an eye on the strange beings, the situation could not be tenser.
"Shit! Why we got to do this?" the security officer named Jackson was saying. "None of this makes any sense! Why we got to be the ones in here with these freaky-ass beings!"
"Someone's got to do it." Tom said, lighting a cigarette.
"I can't take this anymore! Where's Corbin? Why we got to do this? What are we even going to do if these things start waking up? How we even gonna fight these things with what we've already seen them do when touched!"
"We'll just have to figure out how to cross that bridge when we come to it." Tom said.
"Shouldn't we head to that meeting? It was clearly said that 'all personnel' are to report to the auditorium." Jim said.
"Commander Hart told us to stay here until he personally relieves us. He hasn't come by to personally relieve us." Tom said.
"That wasn't Commander Hart's voice! Something's gone dead wrong for a mass meeting to be called like this! I'm going to go see what this is all about!" Jim said.
"Just relax. When we need to know something, they'll come tell us." Tom said, calm as ever as he took a puff on his cigarette.
"How can you be so nonchalant about this?" Jackson said. "Our lives are probably in serious danger, and you act like it's no big deal!"
Tom blew smoke out of his mouth. "I'm not going to lie to you. I'm scared shitless like the rest of you. But I also know there's not a thing we can do. The only thing to do is tough it out till the bitter end and figure out what to do as each problem arises."
"We're all gonna die! You're crazy if you think otherwise! If we weren't miles underwater in the middle of the ocean, I'd be jumping ship! Instead, I'm trapped here with all of you! Trapped like rats!" Jackson said.
"Maybe we should just run and hide somewhere! Or maybe… maybe we should just off ourselves while we have the chance." Jim said slowly, clearly trembling like he had been for the last 48 hours or longer.
"We shouldn't do anything so reckless unless we know help is truly not coming." Tom said.
"It's probably not!" Jim said. "I'm sure it isn't!"
"I second that! Damn it, I'm getting out of here! I'm done with this!" Jackson was saying, but he caught Jim's face, whose mouth had opened in a silent, wordless scream. Jackson turned to look and his mouth went agape, too.
One of the beings was sitting up in the bed.
"What the…?" Jim said, reaching down for his weapon, trembling.
Tom looked in the same direction and didn't change his expression. He simply took another puff of his cigarette.
"'Bout damn time. Did I say scared shitless? I meant scared shitless of having to be stuck in here with you two whiners for another hour or more."
"Dude… how are you being so calm? Are you seeing this?" Jackson was yelling at Tom.
"I'm quite fine." Tom said. "I have the mark. I'm under Lord Demarion's protection. It's fine if you have the mark. If not, then tough on you, I'm afraid."
Jackson shifted his weapon over to Tom.
"What on Earth are you talking about? You know what's going on here? How do you know what's going on? Just who the hell are you?"
"I wouldn't point that thing at one of God's chosen servants. It will only make them angrier." Tom said, glaring at Jackson.
"God? I'm asking you again: just what is all this and who the hell are you?"
"Jackson…!" Jim was saying, frightened, disturbed, and utterly confused, his eyes darting from Jackson to Tom.
"I'm just a religious man on a simple pilgrimage of faith. Like the wise men setting forth from Bethlehem, I'm here like several others who've recently arrived later than I to witness firsthand the birth of our god. But woe to the faithless and unbelieving, and those that might stand in His way!"
A soft voice not unlike that of a child was coming from the being that was sitting up.
"Abaddon…" it was saying.
The two men other than Tom could only stand there frozen, numb.
"That's right… Lord Abaddon." Tom said calmly.
Then all the beings suddenly started sitting up.
Tom smiled.
(7)
The auditorium was a place of nervous tension.
Andrew was determined to do everything Zack said. He had no other choice but to trust Zack.
No one else trusted Zack. He knew that. But Commander Hart had trusted Zack. That was enough for Andrew to trust him, too.
There was no other choice. As far as he was concerned, Zack was the only one who truly knew what was going on. And if he was lying…?
Psh. Look at everything that had already happened! There was nothing that Zack could say at this point that was beyond the scope of reasoning!
He wouldn't be surprised if space aliens were to suddenly appear out of nowhere and whisk them all away.
People were slowly filing in and nervously shifting in their seats. People were already demanding from him to know what this was all about. People were demanding to know where Commander Hart was.
They knew he had made the announcement. But no one knew where Commander Hart was, and Andrew could not tell them.
That was not good.
Andrew was waiting for Zack to arrive to begin.
But he didn't know if he would be able to keep everyone calm till then. It was clear that a mass panic was already in the earliest stages of getting out of control.
Andrew repeated over the microphone his plea that everyone stay seated, that everything would be explained real soon, the full, exact truth of their plight and nothing else.
Andrew rubbed the sweat off his head and tried to stave off the butterflies in his stomach.
It was then that he looked up and saw a few of the staff members standing.
He reached for the microphone. "Uh… guys? I ask that you please remain in your seats. I promise you we will begin shortly."
One of the men raised his hands. "The time has come."
Everyone who was sitting down were looking around, confused.
The other men who were standing raised their hands. "Come, Lord Abaddon!"
Andrew could only look at them confused, not understanding. Then, with a gasp of horror, he suddenly realized what was going on. Now that he looked close, he realized something. He had never seen these staffers before!
He reached down for where his weapon was, but when the strange light beings passed through the walls into the room and the horror began commencing, Andrew knew it was far too late.
(8)
Maya was sitting in the same position as when Zack left her, gun pointed at the door.
She was worried, quite on edge honestly, but she was trying not to let it show. Neither to herself, nor to anyone else.
She had to remain strong. She was strong. She had always been strong. Being raised on the mean streets of New York would do that to you.
She had been through much lately. It had been trying, but it hadn't broken her. The nights spent in that deprivation cell had been horrific, but with whatever he'd been trying to accomplish, Archimedes had failed to break her. Archimedes couldn't break her. That prick son-of-a-bitch was going to get it the next time she laid eyes on him.
Silently, in her head, she was whispering a silent prayer for Zack's well-being to anyone who might hear it.
Zack…
In her earlier life, she'd built up herself on self-reliance. She'd never allowed herself to be weak. If things had gone differently, she had no doubt that she would have been just fine on her own for the rest of her life.
But when she had met Zack, she'd met the one person she couldn't live without, the one person she not only did not mind relying on, but needed to rely on.
He was the one thing that without him, life would have been incomplete, and she would never be able to be truly and fully herself. She would have never known had she not met him nor would she have cared, and that would have been a tragedy, as far as she was concerned.
She thought back to their days on the S.S. Tipton, how she had felt drawn to him from the moment she'd first laid eyes on him. How disappointed she'd felt when she'd inquired around about him and found out he was the biggest player on the whole ship! How her feelings had been utterly conflicted when he'd begged her to give him a chance!
How her feelings had been even more conflicted when she'd gone off to the Peace Corps for several years. She'd done the one thing she'd not wanted to do immediately upon graduating high school: broken up with him. She knew where her life was going at that point, and knew she wouldn't be able to take him with her or see him for a long period of time. And she'd known she couldn't trust him.
But how he had tried to pursue her even with her being gone! And how great her shock had been when she had come back and found out that it was her his heart was truly set on, to the point of having never even touched another woman the entire time!
That he had given his entire heart to her was something that had caused her to love him immensely from that point on.
Yes, she had been tough; yes, she could have survived on her own for the rest of her life. But that kind of love that was freely offered her was something she could not have gone on without, not while knowing that it even existed. It made her complete, in a way that was beyond indescribable. She was whole with Zack at her side.
The red being was materializing in her room directly across from her. It snapped her out of her thoughts. She could only look on in shock as it fully appeared, the strange symbol on its head, the civilian clothes that looked like they came directly from her own time.
It had a normal human face at first, then it was suddenly horribly distorting in all sorts of grotesque ways.
Her hand tightened its grip on the weapon. She was not sure what to do. She had been waiting for Archimedes, not these things. If they attacked her, could they be defeated with her simple weapon…?
She could see out of the corner of her eye another was materializing to her left.
Without hesitation, gun pointed at the first, she switched the weapon mode to 'kill' and fired. A powerful laser blast came out of it and scorched the wall behind the being. She struggled to adjust and get her bearing from the recoil. The laser had passed right through the being, despite the being having the appearance of being fairly solid.
Another red being was materializing on the far side of the room. Now there were three in here!
Maya knew that she had no chance in this room, trapped like a sitting duck. She had to get out of this place.
Without a moment's hesitation, she jumped up and hopped over the bed. True military style fashion. None of the beings were in her direct pathway. As long as she could get to the door before one of these things materialized in front of it, she had an escape route.
But everything felt strange. Everything was starting to feel wavy. She suddenly felt like she was drugged.
She stumbled on her feet for a moment.
She got her bearing and kept her pace up, though. She knew for certain she had to get out of this room or she was done for.
She could hear strange laughter coming from the beings, she could see them out of the corner of her eye slowly advancing on her, those strange, distorting faces shifting every which direction.
But she made it to the door. She pressed the button to open it.
Standing in front of her at the door was Archimedes Demarion. He smiled.
Maya had every intent to lift her weapon up and kill him right there, but in the shock of the moment, he'd gotten a one-up on her. He seized her wrist before she even had a chance to fire.
"I now baptize you with the Unholy Spirit, and with strange fire!" he yelled triumphantly as his free hand came down to rest on the top of her head.
She felt something flowing into her. She was helpless. She was falling. And then she knew horror like she'd never known before.
(9)
Zack ran, ran through the hallways.
That Archimedes was probably in their room he'd left Maya in with his wife right now, Zack had very little reason to doubt the possibility.
There was only one thing that continually ran through his head without letting up: killing Archimedes. Just one shot and it would all be over!
And then Andrew ran in front of him, looking panicked.
"Mr. Martin! It's pandemonium! They came to life! I…"
He was speaking very quickly, hyperventilating.
Another chill snaked up Zack's spine.
"What came to life? Are you talking about those things in the medical lab?"
"Yes…! I didn't have a chance to hardly gather anyone before they started appearing, and they…"
But he didn't have a chance to finish.
One of the strange light-beings came right through the wall and grabbed Andrew.
Andrew could only scream. Zack watched in shock as it seemed a series of dark tongue-like tendrils were coming out of the being's mouth and attaching it to Andrew's body.
It was then like Andrew's body was shriveling up, decaying, all life force being sucked right into the being. And finally Andrew's body was being disintegrated to dust, which was also being absorbed into the being. Throaty, demonic grunting, and heavy breathing seemed to be coming from the thing. He could hear a child-like voice coming out of it at the same time, repeating… "Abaddon… Abaddon!" over and over again.
Zack wasted no time in raising his weapon, setting it to kill, and firing it at the being. But it passed through and did no damage whatsoever.
The being seemed barely cognizant of Zack.
Then it started to slowly turn towards him. It was looking dead straight at him. Zack could do nothing. All he could do was stand there and stare at it back.
Zack wasn't certain of what it was going to do. But it simply said, "Harbinger!"
Then it turned around and started shuffling away, turning left down the hall.
Zack could only stand there, in shock. But the tiniest shred of knowledge that these things weren't out to kill him activated his other senses, and he took off in a run, taking the right side of the hall, heading back in the direction of where his and Maya's quarters were.
The door came into his sight, and he quickly pressed the button to open it and entered, weapon ready.
Maya was not in her chair. He could see that immediately. He could feel a sinking feeling in his stomach.
He slowly stepped into the room.
An occultic symbol was on the wall of the room, painted in red, which Zack could see as he stepped further inside. Underneath it the phrase had been written: 'I still win, Zack.' – Archimedes
It was all Zack could do but feel sudden and great anger. His grip on his weapon tightened.
What had Archimedes done with his wife? Where was Maya?
Zack was feeling the urge to murder Archimedes even stronger now. He quickly went into the bathroom and searched the closet.
Supposedly the time portal was in here. There were some DEOS uniforms hanging that he moved to the side. As he looked closely, he could see a faint shimmer on the wall.
Archimedes had probably used this while they had slept! He had probably been in this very room as they had slept silently, shortly after having made love to his wife.
Zack's anger was past the boiling point now. He was not going to take the portal now. Maya was not with him. Archimedes had planned this to a T.
He stepped out of the closet and kicked the small wastebasket sitting by the desk in the room.
He then took off in a run.
His breathing was heavy. He was running entirely on adrenaline. The same thing running through his mind, over and over, more vehemently than ever before, till it was the only thought running through his head, and the rest of him was just numb.
Find Archimedes… shoot him dead! Maya… I hope you're okay!
There were laser blasts and screams coming from the hallway. He barely made it around the corner to see a scientist and a security officer being devoured by the beings. The scientist was backed up against the wall. The security officer was on the floor, screaming bloody murder as black tendrils came out of the mouth area of the being. They never stood a chance. A third being was shuffling in his direction, looking bored, and barely caring that he was there. But it did acknowledge him.
"Abaddon… Harbinger."
Zack turned and kept running. He could hear more laser blasts. He ran in that direction.
The beings shuffled around the facility slowly. He could hear various screams of those that remained, and the echoing of those eerie child-like voices: "Abaddon… Abaddon!"
He noticed as he ran that he saw more of these beings materializing into existence. He had been running in the direction of the blasts, but he could see no people. But he did see the lone blasters on the floor.
Zack turned a corner and ran across a man who was backing up against the wall, shielding himself from another being. But yet another one came through the wall from behind him and got him.
The beings continued to ignore Zack. They barely paid attention to him. Zack thought about running up and trying to grab one of them. But that would be utterly foolish. He still had to find Maya. As long as they were leaving him alone, he needed to focus on his mission.
He ran through the hallway he was in and through the doors on the other side.
After a few minutes he realized he was running through the twisting and turning hallways of the DEOS facility in no particular direction, with no particular aim at this point. He didn't even know where he was going.
All he knew was that Archimedes was somewhere on the vessel! And he was probably completely alone with Archimedes at this point. And hopefully, Maya.
He passed several beings in the halls on occasion. They simply shuffled passed him, and would say: "Harbinger" as he ran past.
He turned the corner of a hall and saw Oliver Drake.
He stopped for a moment, stunned. Then: "Hey!" he called out to Oliver. Oliver was floating on the ground, his appearance as if being on fire, looking toward him. Then Oliver started floating away.
"Hey!" Zack yelled again and started chasing after Oliver.
Oliver floated through the hallways, and Zack chased him. Zack could eventually see a large electronic door that looked like the ones leading to the auditorium.
And as he entered, he could see that was exactly where he was.
Zack was shocked to see that there were still several staff members in the room. And the beings were shuffling around, not even paying any mind to them!
Oliver was floating above the ground in the center of the room, wordless.
The remaining staff members looked up at him as he busted in. And Zack knew something about this seemed all dead wrong.
Then Zack noticed the walls were shimmering. The walls of the auditorium were shimmering all at once.
And then people were materializing. There were people in black robes and red sashes coming through the wall by droves. And they were armed.
Zack could only stand there in shock as they surrounded him without a word, guns and even a few crossbows trained on him.
The light-beings were ignoring these people, too.
Zack knew, it was because these were all members of the cult. The ones directly under Archimedes, practitioners of the real religion of the cult as opposed to the fake version in Fetch Rock.
The parishioners had arrived. The dark mass was about to begin.