YOUNG MAN
- Once again… ehhh…
He was walking through empty crop fields. Shoes dirty with mud. One hand in a blue jeans pocket searching for a lighter. In the distance trees were shaken by strong wind.
- Shit it's getting cold.
Finally he found it. Second hand went to the pocket of a grey jacket. It came back with a slim shape catched between two fingers. A joint. He put it in his mouth and then took out a phone. Quick work with few taps and the music starts to play. He finally reached his place. A small forested area along the river. A lone topled dawn tree, secured in place by hammered down in earth wooden pillars. The trees shielded him from the wind as he sat on the not so natural bench.
- Now time to relax and forget about today's problems.
With the click of a lighter and one breath the joint was lit. He smoked in peace as he watched a green scenery. Soon he calmed down.
- Ahhh… this state is the best. If only it could go like this all day. Now... maybe something more… rising to lift the mood.
Soon a new song started playing. As he started thinking about all that happened today he felt that maybe it wasn't that bad? Sure his current situation was far from what he wanted it to be but he still had time to slowly get what he wanted out of life. He's still young. Very young some would say. Twenty two years is not a big number after all.
- Well, I should go back home. Some games need to be played.
As he started walking, suddenly, his phone started to ring. When he looked at the screen he saw that instead of a number the screen displayed strange symbols that were changing every second.
- What the fuck? Am I that high?
Thinking for a few seconds he chose to answer the call. In the instant he did that some strange blue light shone in front of him.
- What the hell...
The light violently bursted and blinded him. Before he could react all senses left him. If someone had watched this he would have seen a lone human standing in front of some point of blue light bursting blindingly. After that, looking again on that scene the observer would find no trace of the young man. As if he had vanished from existence.
INVENTOR
"Don't worry John, it will be all alright. No explosions."
She was tinkering with some big bulky machine. Wrench in hand she secured the plating in place.
"Madame, while it may be true I need to remind you that last time we had to reconstruct a whole room despite you saying the very same thing."
He placed the tray with a cup of fresh beverage and a small plate of sweets on the round table.
"Don't worry. The basement is much more sturdy now and seriously this time this is just some stone monolith with strange energy readings. Even I would be surprised if it somehow exploded."
She placed the wrench in the tool box and took off her gloves. Looking around she checked if everything was as it should be. The large room was illuminated by the light bulbs that hang from the ceiling. Shelves filled with books, trinkets and chemical bottles stood by the walls. Some cabinets were placed in the corner. In them they were documents regarding the dig site where the stone was found. The rest of the space was occupied by her machines and a small round table with a chair, leaving enough to safely move around and if need arose to run and to do so in a hurry. And finally. That stone. A strange monolith was now standing in the center of a room, all kinds of large tubes connected it with her machines in hope that she would be able to learn something.
Sure last time when she wanted to improve her car engine it reacted violently. But this time she didn't tinker with anything that should be able to explode. She was just trying to discover what that stone was and why it emitted this strange energy. That's why she transported it from the dig site to her manor. She moved to the cabinets and took out a file describing the place where the stone was found. She sat in the chair and placed an opened file on the table. Maybe thinking it over some tea and sweets will help her. Sipping a fresh, hot drink she started reading again.
The description was simple because there really wasn't much to describe. The stone was found in a small cave. It was barely fitting in. What was strange is that the stone is too smooth to be naturally made. And the entrance to the cave was way too small to carry it inside. Not to mention that the cave had signs of high voltage electricity ramage all over it. Just what happened there.
Her friend who was a part of the expedition gave her a call and informed her about the discovery. Since no one was truly interested in the stone she had no problem with buying the strange thing. Why no one was curious about it she would never understand. Maybe someone would want it if they saw what happened during transport. When the truck was unloading it in her backyard the crate it was placed in slipped and crushed on the ground. After opening it she found out that part of the stone broke off. But it wasn't in a normal way. The shape was too regular and too thin. Then she saw what those fragments were hiding beneath. A strange dark crystal with a complicated shape was embodied close to the top of the stone.
She looked up from the notes and aimed her eyes at the crystal. After two weeks of research she was sure that it was much more than just a crystal. It was a device. Device made entirely out of crystal matter. How was it made? Who made it? She didn't know. She likely would never know. But why did she know it was a device? It happened when she accidently touched the stone with a battery while she was replacing the old one in her detector. When the tip of the battery touched the device a few sparks flew out and it started to emit a weak glow. It didn't glow in a normal way, no. Shine lines formed inside and created a regular pattern that stayed there for a short while before fading. To her surprise the new battery couldn't power up a detector. It was completely drained. Whatever this device was it required immense amounts of energy to work and could drain it easily on touch. But what did it do?
"Ekhm. Madame you are lost in your thoughts. Again."
"Ah. Sorry John. It's just… I have to know what this thing does."
"Madame, I understand your curiosity but please, you didn't have a proper meal in a few days. I don't know much about the technological nuances of all that you are doing but I know that you can't be at your one hundred percent without a proper meal and rest."
She looked at him. Grey striped trousers, white wing collar dress shirt, grey vest and black tie. All spotlessly clean and ironed out. Add to that carefully combed hair and freshly shaved face with a well-kept moustache. He really contrasted with the overall mess. Good old John. Aside from her he was the only other resident of the manor. Her entrusted butler was here since she was a little kid. Always there to help, always there to give advice.
"Alright John. I will go eat something. How long have I been here anyway?"
He didn't need to look at the watch.
"More than a full day has passed since you last have been out of this room Madame."
"Damn. That is long." She stood up and stretched her muscles. "Alright! What's for dinner?"
"More of an early breakfast Madame." He smiled "And I have prepared potato scones, black pudding and oatcakes, along with fresh tea."
She could feel the saliva gathering in her mouth.
"That sounds delicious! Lead the way John!" She said with a smile.
They left the room and went through basement corridors to the staircase, then up to the main floor to the dining room where John had served breakfast. While eating she was thinking about what to do with the device and how to uncover its purpose. She could just feed it with power but she didn't know how much would be enough and if it was safe to do so. But there really was no other way. No. She should first exhaust all other options.
She ponders more on the issue while chewing on the meal. Maybe that new machine she bought from the Old Jenkins would give here some data to use. But that thing needs a whole generator for itself. Maybe she could just temporarily reroute power from the mansion to use it for a little while. Thinking about it she decided that she had no other options left. If that will not work then she would have to just allow it to collect dust for some time until she can think of a solution. In less than two weeks her friends should come back to the town. Benedict will be back from his archeological escapade and Penny will come back from her tour. Maybe with their help she will come up with something. Decision made, she finished the meal and went to take a quick nap. As she laid down in bed she said to herself.
"After that, back to work."
After waking up and two hours of hauling equipment and tinkering with electricity everything was ready. She pulled out a slim wooden box with a metal frame and buttons. Then she unfolded the antenna and pushed on the button.
"John can you hear me?" She called.
"Loud and clear Madame." The voice of John came out of a designated area on the device. "Please if you could tell me again what I must do to make sure things will go down smoothly."
She smiled. "John, I need you to go step by step along with instructions I gave you. That will reroute power to the cable and allow me to power that supposedly 'Great Detector' Old Jenkins made and then maybe we will know something new about the Device."
"Of course, I will begin now, if that is alright?"
"Sure. I need to drag the cable down from the electrical shaft in the ceiling and then you will turn the last switch. Why is it constructed like this again?"
"There wasn't any high energy consuming device planned to be in the basement Madame, so the main electricity shaft didn't go all the way down. We may build one later. It will require some serious remodeling but it wouldn't be the largest renovation you had made." He said it with a stoic but playful tone.
"Ha. That may come in handy but still, it will have to wait." She started to work and soon the thick black cable was hanging from the hole in the ceiling. " All right, now to install the plug on this."
Short moment later it is ready.
"Very well, now John could you turn the power on and check if everything is alright?"
"In the moment Madame."
She looked at the room. The machine from Old Jenkins was there, unplugged, without power. Maybe now she will have some better readings. She took a smaller, but still quite big, handheld version and turned it on. Only a faint pinging, barely visible. She fested it to her belt next to her tools and patted the casing.
"We will see if your big brother will be able to give us something"
Taking her walkie-talkie she pushed the button and contacted James.
"James I need to know that everything is alright. Could you please turn the main switch now. I want to be sure before we plug the big guy in. I don't want to fry him by accident."
Not a moment later she got an answer.
"Of course Madame, rerouting power in three, two, one."
All lights went off leaving the room in complete darkness.
She smiled. "No sound of explosion. So far so good. I think we are ready to do a real-"
Suddenly a blue sparks started flying out of the cable in a splendiferous cascade illuminating the whole room. Before she could act cascade become more dense before changing into a massive bolt of energy striking right into the device.
"No!" She yelled in panic.
The Device reacted and started to glow as the air around it began to move as if some sort of force was affecting it. Soon books, vials, trinkets, rags and even chairs started to rise from the ground. She tried to contact James, to tell him to turn the power off but as she was about to click the button something suddenly lifted her from the ground. Before she could react the device emitted a blinding glow and all senses left her.
JAMES
"Madame? Madame!" James ran through the mansion. He couldn't contact her. He knew that she would answer him if she could. Something bad must have happened. If that was the case and she had been hurt he would not forgive himself. He increased the pace running through hallways sometimes barely taking the turn without tripping.
Finally he reached the door to the experiment room in the basement. He opened it and to his surprise he found the room illuminated in blue. He looked up at the source of light. In front of the stone, locked in the air was a strange glowing ring. Inside it he could see Madame, lying on the ground, unconscious, crop fields and small forest behind her. What is happening?
