Note: I know I have been away for a while, but I should be updating more regularly going forward.
Dark Shadow, Mokona &MixedUpAgain, I hope that the wait will have been worth it. Thanks for the "kick in the pants" to get me going again. :)
Also I do not have a physics degree so if I am really off on anything I would greatly appreciate feedback. Heck, feedback of any kind would be greatly appreciated!
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Unable to find her voice Dee turned to Ironworks and silently nodded to him to start setting up the remote sentry. This was not a situation she had ever found herself in before. Nothing in all of her experience had prepared her for a moment like this. She knew whatever was going on here was completely unauthorized by UAC and her innate animal instincts told her to run away as far as she could, but she also knew there was absolutely no-where to run to. There was no way out. So she suppressed the fear and focused on the job.
Quickly and efficiently she and her men set up the remote sentry. She could see the doubt and worry in their eyes so she masked hers. They were looking to her to see how they should be handling this situation and she knew that any weakness in her would be multiplied in them. So she pretended that this was just another job for the white coats; nothing to get excited about. Within minutes both Ironworks and Helldiver were behaving just as she was. Methodically setting everything up, testing the monitors, receivers, data recorders and the power system.
"Is it ready yet?" Dr. Rosenblatt stalked over and demanded impatiently.
"Yes sir," Dee answered, staring at the monitors that Helldiver had hooked the remote sentry into. She did not want to see the deranged look in his eyes. She needed to stay focused.
"Then move it into position." Dr. Rosenblatt ordered as he walked towards the reinforced plexiglass shield. "I want all scanners on full."
"All scanners on full," She repeated as she glanced over at Ironworks. She remembered the first day she had met him. He was one of the biggest men she had ever met. His skin almost black as midnight, but his eyes golden like a wild cat's. And his reputation was even darker than his skin. Yet she had trusted him from the first. Understanding that he was a man whose loyalty could never be bought with money, but only with equal loyalty. She had given that to him. Now she wished she had a moment to tell him how much his unique friendship had meant to her over the past few years. Before it was too late.
"Proceed." The doctor's voice broke into her thoughts, bringing her back to the present. "But I only want an initial reading. Tell me what it is made of on the surface. Do not probe beyond 24 millimeters."
Dee looked over at Helldiver who stood before the remote controls of the sentry. "Whenever you are ready."
Though he was tattooed from his bald head to scarred and missing toes Helldiver was one of the most brilliant mechanical engineers that Dee had ever worked with. He was able to see problems even before anyone else knew they existed and she knew he could maneuver the remote sentry to probe no more than 24 millimeters without even using the diagnostic readers.
Dee turned her attention back to her monitors. It was just as she expected. Nothing made sense. The readings were wild, fluctuating and off any known chart. Even the laws of physics did not seem to apply to it. In particular she seemed to be witnessing the destruction of Newton's Second Law of Physics. The one that stated that bodies (or particles) at rest (or in a balanced state of energy) stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force, yet, she was showing readings of particles that appeared to be at rest on moment, yet in motion the next, without any change in energy output or loss of matter. She tried to reassure herself that this could not possibly be happening, it was simply a matter of her own ignorance. There was an explanation, she just wasn't educated enough to know what it was.
But her animal side, that instinctual part of human nature, that even evolution itself could not wipe out, knew the truth. Whatever this thing was, it was beyond human knowledge and control. It was only a matter of time before things went really, really wrong.
"That's enough!" Dr. Rosenblatt suddenly shouted over his shoulder.
Immediately, Helldiver backed the sentry away from the ---- phenomenon.
"That will be all Senior Operations Manager Dawn." The doctor stated unexpectedly, but then continued, "My lab personnel will take over from here."
Startled, Dee looked over at the doctor. His back was to her, his hands clasped behind his back while he looked like some kind of triumphant general looking over a battlefield.
"You and your men may go now." He spoke in an almost pleasant tone of voice, but he did not look at her.
Dee motioned for Helldiver to let one of the lab techs take the remote controls, and then she looked at Ironworks and tilted her head towards the door. Silently they left.
Dee glanced over her shoulder for one last look at the object, its large, bright golden core surrounded by a warm orange layer both of which reminded her of tropical days and captivating sunsets. The next layer was much thinner, it oozed more than radiated color, a color as deep and as thick as blood.
