Shadow Core - The Legacy (16 page)

“Nanites you smart-ass! Did you just put Class-A illegal technology inside our bodies?” She asked, incensed. “Do you have any idea what you've done?”

“Hmm, I suppose that the technology does share some similarities with Nano machines, but there's no need to worry, it's perfectly safe. It's also the only way to help your sister, so there isn't much choice.”

“It better be safe! If you harm me, or Kade, I swear I'll kick your nuts into the middle of next week!”

“That sounds unpleasant.” Zen giggled.

“Indeed,” Drake said. “At any rate, Zen link us up to Kade's consciousness.”

“Establishing interlinks, full merge in 10 seconds.”

“Wait... what?” Jude asked just before passing out.

Virtual reality, as a technology type, had been around long before interstellar travel had become a reality. And as such, it had matured considerably since its original development. But even to this day, a true immersion experience which could completely fool a user into thinking they were not in a virtual world did not exist... or so Jude thought.  

By this point in her life Jude had played around with all the Virtual Reality technologies available on the market and a few which were still in development, but nothing she had used before could have prepared her for what she was experiencing right now.

She was floating in the middle of an impenetrable dark void that literally contained nothing but her. And yet she could still see herself, even though there were no light sources around her.

The sensation of weightlessness felt completely real. She knew her body was lying in the pod, but all of her senses were perfectly tuned to this environment she was floating in.

Just as she thought things couldn't get any weirder, she heard Zen's voice as it seemingly echoed off of invisible walls within the void.

“3... 2... 1...”

The count reached zero, and an almost infinite number of bright points started to appear. It was as if an entire universe was being brought into existence, and she looked on in awe as the scenery sparkled all around her.

“Jude to Drake Interlink successful. Ready for Kade consciousness dive,” Jude heard Zen's voice say.

Something about the scene seemed so relaxing that all the tension Jude felt, just moments before, had all but melted away. But just as Zen finished speaking Jude felt as if her body was being shifted forward. It felt as if some unknown force was dragging her onwards at high speed, forcibly removing her from that bright and relaxing universe; forcing her towards an area ahead which was still devoid of all light and warmth... a cold and uninviting place.

Before she knew it, she had quickly found herself in the middle of another empty void. But this one felt different, there was a sense of despair in the air.

“Dive sequence complete,” Jude heard Zen say.

“OK... now what? I can't see anything,” Jude said.

“Jude? Is that you?” A panic-stricken voice said, reverberating throughout the void.

“Kade?” Jude said.

Kade replied joyfully, “I hear you!” And then burst into tears from hearing her sister call out her name.

“Where are you?” Jude called out desperately, but there was no reply, all she could hear was her sister's sobs filling up the void.  

“Dammit all!” Jude screamed in frustration, “What the hell is going on?”

“What you're seeing is a visual representation of Kade's consciousness,” Jude heard Drake's voice say, though he was nowhere to be found. “The shock to her system caused her mind to shut down, severing all ties in her conscious mind. What you're hearing is what's left. An echo of her soul, a remnant of her hopes and fears desperately trying to find a way out of the darkness,” Drake explained.

“So, she's aware? Locked in this void... inside her own head? What kind of sadistic security countermeasure is this? I wouldn't wish this place on my worst enemy,” Jude said, clearly upset.

  “Kade's awareness is limited. Like I said, right now she is just a remnant of the Kade you know. Though in a way you could also say that this is the purest expression of the Kade you know. And this isn't a security countermeasure. The Core your sister touched was unstable. It must have been inert for a long time but began absorbing charge once you came on board the Zenith. But without an active consciousness to govern it, it attempted to merge with Kade when she touched it.”

“Merge with her? What are you talking about?” Jude asked, more confused than ever.

“Jude... please help me!!” Kade's voice pleaded.

“I'll explain later, for now you need to talk to her. Kade's mental state is unstable right now. We need her to calm down, to focus. I can help her, but only you can reach her. See if you can get her to come to you Jude. All Kade has to do is want it to happen, and it will.”

Jude's mind was full of questions, but she knew this was not the time or the place to satisfy her curiosity. The task before her was simple enough, and her sister's pleading voice demanded action.

“Kade, I'm here for you, focus on my voice!”

“Where? I can't see anything. I can't feel anything! What's happening to me?” Kade panicked.

Jude said reassuringly, “Everything will be alright, trust me. We'll have you fixed up in no time, but I need you to do something for me sis. I know this will sound strange, but I need you to want to see me again. Wish for it with all your heart!”

A few seconds passed, each feeling like an eternity as the void became deathly quiet. And just as Jude was about to call out to her sister again, she saw it: A form started to take shape in front of Jude. The form's eyes were shut tight, tears streaming down its face as it mumbled incoherent words.

Jude reached forward and hugged her sister, causing her to snap open her eyes in surprise.   

Kade didn't know what to think. It felt like it had been an eternity since she had seen another soul. To her, so much time had seemed to pass that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to recognise her sister if she ever saw her again, her memories having seemingly atrophied over the years she had been trapped in this void.

She was still in the void, this cursed place which had kept her prisoner for as far back as she could remember, but this person who was holding her tight... it was definitely her sister, she thought.

Kade couldn't stop crying, but this time it was out of joy. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy.

“Good,” they heard Drake's voice say. “We weren't too late. Step two is up to me, so kick back and enjoy the show,” he said happily.

Kade had finally managed to calm down when she and her sister noticed a single solitary star appearing in the distance. As the seconds passed more and more stars emerged, the number growing exponentially as they filled up the space around them.

Jude recognised the display, it was similar to the one she had seen before, but there seemed to be considerably less stars in this scene.

“What is it?” Kade asked as she felt a warm feeling in her heart. The fear that had been her steadfast companion now having vanished without a trace.

“No idea.” Jude looked at the sparkling display, which somehow seemed warmer and more inviting than the one she had seen before.

“Memories,” Drake said. “Each point an experience which has somehow shaped your life and determined the person you would eventually become. Each one an insignificant part of the whole, and yet, each one an irreplaceable element of what makes you who you are,” he said in a tone which almost verged on romantic.

“Memories? There are so many of them!” Jude stared at the mesmerising scene.

“Is that what they are? Are they my memories?” Kade asked, equally in awe at the display.

“We're almost done, hold on a bit longer, now comes the tricky part,” Drake said.

The lights started changing colours before the sisters’ eyes, as though a chain reaction was rippling through all the points in the same order in which they had originally appeared. Each point becoming either a bright blue or, occasionally, a deep red.

The scene had changed dramatically by the time the reaction had finished, with a multitude of deep red points interspersed throughout a veritable sea of blue lights.

“Interesting,” Drake said.

“What is?” Jude asked.  

“Kade's synchronisation ratio is at 2%. That shouldn't be possible with such a brief exposure. I was expecting around one hundred cross contaminated memories at most, but this result shows something more...severe.”

“What does that mean?” Kade asked worriedly.

“Each red point represents a memory which does not belong to you,” Drake explained. “In your case, these memories would have been acquired when you touched the malfunctioning Core... but why are there so many of them? Hmm.”  

“What's he talking about? What Core?” Kade asked Jude, hoping she would know.

“Grandfather's sphere... apparently it was more than just a lump of black metal,” Jude replied.

“It did seem to glow occasionally when I touched it, but I never thought much of it,” Kade confessed.

“I see. So it wasn't completely inert, that makes more sense... but it also complicates matters. Can you remember when you saw it glow for the first time?” Drake asked, seemingly worried.

“It was when I got it from my grandfather's hand, just after he died. I was feeling miserable, my soul felt utterly shattered. But after I touched it, a sense of calm washed over me. I had no idea why, but the sense of loss didn't seem so severe after that.”

The sound of laughter could be heard echoing throughout the area, though the sisters had no idea what it was that Drake had found so amusing.

“Toby you crafty devil!” Drake said as he finally managed to regain control of himself.

“What?” The sister's asked in unison.

“Give me a second, I need to run the last sequence again in order to test my theory,” Drake said.

And again the reaction started rippling through the lights in the horizon, but this time there were three colours in the mix: most were blue, a handful were red and the remaining were green.

“Thought so,” Drake said. “It would seem that your grandfather left you more than a ship when he passed away.”

“What do you mean?” Kade asked.

“I'll explain later, for now we need to finish your treatment. I'm not gonna lie to you, this next bit is probably going to be seriously unpleasant.”

“Why? What are you doing next?” Jude asked, concerned for her sister.

“Like I said, each red point on your sister's memory field represents a memory which does not belong to her, and these memories can cause conflicts in her psyche, so they must be purged from her mind.”

“Memory manipulation? Are you serious? You can actually do that?” Jude asked in disbelief.

“Sure, the technology was developed a very long time ago. It was one of many innovations to come out of the Shadow R&D efforts, but for obvious reasons it is also one of many technologies that we never allowed to hit the general market. The potential for misuse of such a thing is staggering,” Drake explained.

“Right... but you can be trusted with it?” Jude asked, hinting at the obvious flaw in the explanation.

“You can trust that I won't use it on you, or anyone, without a very compelling reason to do so. But I won't hide the fact that I have no moral issues in using it if the situation calls for it. Does that help?”

“Not really... no. No-one should have that kind of power. If you can't trust your memories then what can you trust?” Jude asked, resolute in her opinion.

“Exactly... which is why the technology was never made public. But if I don't use it on your sister she risks mental health problems after she wakes up. The human mind does not cope very well with conflicting memories. However, I will not force the procedure, the choice is hers to make.”

“There is no choice... just get on with it,” Kade said without a second thought. She had never been one to procrastinate over obvious decisions. Her health was at risk and the option had been offered, nothing else mattered at this point in time.  

Kade didn't know what to expect. Drake had said it was going to be 'unpleasant', but in the end that could mean just about anything.

The sisters looked on as the first red point started pulsing, causing Kade's body to lose all its strength and go completely limp. Her mouth was wide open, as if wanting to scream, and a look of dread was stamped all over her face as tears poured from her eyes.

Jude looked on in horror as she saw her sister enduring what seemed to be pure agony, knowing that there was nothing she could do to help her.

As the first point of red light vanished from the horizon a second began pulsing, and then a third and a fourth. The memory purge was under-way.

Kade felt like her brain was on fire as someone else's memories flashed before her eyes and then faded completely, leaving behind traces of emotions she couldn't understand for they had lost all context. Happiness, loss, anger, love and an overwhelming sense of despair and fear. Kade felt all of them repeatedly as the memories were purged from her mind, she felt as though she was going to go insane.

Jude could see that nearly all of the foreign memories had been removed, there was only one left to go. One more and it would all be over.

As the last memory started being purged Kade felt the most painful experience so far...

In the memory she was lying down on a bed and looking up, seeing a younger version of herself crying as she held her hand and begged her not to die.

She knew she was dying but felt no fear, she was proud of what she had achieved in her life. Her only regret was not being able to carry on and see her grandchildren grow up. She would not be able to see what they would achieve or support them along the way. She knew her time had come. She had lived longer than most people could even dream of and had endured more than anyone should. But in the end she was content, it had been a good life.