The Dream Shattered
Hundreds of voices, thousands of thoughts, they all became one. It was like the opening of a floodgate, everything as so peaceful and so very, very clear to the children.
The KIDSystem had been a momumental undertaking for Dr Hodgson and his staff, but the years of research and theory, along with the engineering work to go alongside it, had finally given birth to the final construct.
Dr Hodgson walked down one of the central aisles which were spread out between the many rows of Outer Receptors. The Outer Receptors were small cylindrical chambers, standing about five and a half feet tall, the front of these chambers were cut out with two hand rails spreading out towards the front of the open area. At the top of the chamber was a device that look much like a satelite recorder, a large dish which hung over the head of the chamber's occupant.
Inside each Outer Receptor was a child, they ranges from as young as seven to as old as eleven, the room itself held about two hundred Outer Receptors, all laid out in a circular pattern around a large central control station, itself linked to all the Outer Receptors via a large cabling system.
Dr Hodgson returned to the console where one of his technicians was reading the telemetry that was coming out of the computer system. In the background there was a constant vibrating hum of the power conduits running to the Outer Receptors.
"How are we doing?" asked Dr Hodgson to his much younger colleague.
"They've been in a state of joined conciousness for ten minutes, it's holding steady and no rejections have taken place. You've done it sir, they're sharing each other's thoughts."
Dr Hodgson looked around the room and smiled. "I wonder how it is, are they all just floating about like ghosts, or is it all in the mind I wonder?" Dr Hodgson chuckled and patted the young technician on the shoulder. "Why don't we ask them, reverse the field, bring them back to the physical."
"Yes sir."
Dr Hodgson watched as the Outer Receptors powered down gradually, after a few moments the vibrating hum had dulled. As the power reached zero, Dr Hodgson watched, with a look of terror and astonishment, as every child in the room collapsoed onto the floor.
Dr Hodgson sat on the metallic step at the base of the KIDSystem mainframe computer. All around him the empty Outer Receptor chambers stared back, there was a chilling silence in the air. "I didn't know I couldn't send you back..." he said out aloud. "I didn't even think you couldn't go back." the man placed his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me." the man looked up. "I don't even know if you are still here, but I promise, something like this will never happen again. I swear it."
The man stood up and picked up the large sledgehammer he had brought with him, the eerie silience of the KIDSystem room was shattered as Dr Hodgson raised the instrument and brought it crashing down onto the control console, again and again he hit it, screaming with rage and grief as he did.
Meanwhile, in The Wired, the children watched.
---
The Dream Shattered written by Jody Armstrong
Copyright Jody Armstrong 20001
jody.armstrong@ntlworld.com
Hundreds of voices, thousands of thoughts, they all became one. It was like the opening of a floodgate, everything as so peaceful and so very, very clear to the children.
The KIDSystem had been a momumental undertaking for Dr Hodgson and his staff, but the years of research and theory, along with the engineering work to go alongside it, had finally given birth to the final construct.
Dr Hodgson walked down one of the central aisles which were spread out between the many rows of Outer Receptors. The Outer Receptors were small cylindrical chambers, standing about five and a half feet tall, the front of these chambers were cut out with two hand rails spreading out towards the front of the open area. At the top of the chamber was a device that look much like a satelite recorder, a large dish which hung over the head of the chamber's occupant.
Inside each Outer Receptor was a child, they ranges from as young as seven to as old as eleven, the room itself held about two hundred Outer Receptors, all laid out in a circular pattern around a large central control station, itself linked to all the Outer Receptors via a large cabling system.
Dr Hodgson returned to the console where one of his technicians was reading the telemetry that was coming out of the computer system. In the background there was a constant vibrating hum of the power conduits running to the Outer Receptors.
"How are we doing?" asked Dr Hodgson to his much younger colleague.
"They've been in a state of joined conciousness for ten minutes, it's holding steady and no rejections have taken place. You've done it sir, they're sharing each other's thoughts."
Dr Hodgson looked around the room and smiled. "I wonder how it is, are they all just floating about like ghosts, or is it all in the mind I wonder?" Dr Hodgson chuckled and patted the young technician on the shoulder. "Why don't we ask them, reverse the field, bring them back to the physical."
"Yes sir."
Dr Hodgson watched as the Outer Receptors powered down gradually, after a few moments the vibrating hum had dulled. As the power reached zero, Dr Hodgson watched, with a look of terror and astonishment, as every child in the room collapsoed onto the floor.
Dr Hodgson sat on the metallic step at the base of the KIDSystem mainframe computer. All around him the empty Outer Receptor chambers stared back, there was a chilling silence in the air. "I didn't know I couldn't send you back..." he said out aloud. "I didn't even think you couldn't go back." the man placed his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me." the man looked up. "I don't even know if you are still here, but I promise, something like this will never happen again. I swear it."
The man stood up and picked up the large sledgehammer he had brought with him, the eerie silience of the KIDSystem room was shattered as Dr Hodgson raised the instrument and brought it crashing down onto the control console, again and again he hit it, screaming with rage and grief as he did.
Meanwhile, in The Wired, the children watched.
---
The Dream Shattered written by Jody Armstrong
Copyright Jody Armstrong 20001
jody.armstrong@ntlworld.com