The Infinite Evolution - Conversion (44 page)

Jade walked over to Reece and gave him a hug and
said, “I guess I’ll see you on the other side.”

“
Yes you will,” as he kissed Jade on her
forehead and followed up with, “Do what you’re told and don’t do
anything daring.”

“
I will, don’t worry,” replied Jade
sarcastically.

Reece, Jade, and Izri entered
their individual pods where they all stood upright facing the exit.
A voice stated, “Prepare for life support connection.” All three
felt a small pinch in the
cephalic vein of their right forearms
as a needle-sized tube inserted itself. This was going to
supply the necessary nutrition to their bodies while they were
away. The same voice came back on again and stated, “Prepare for
hibernation.” Immediately after those words were spoken all three
fell into an induced coma.

Jade found herself in the most
serene environment ever imaginable. There was no noise, no
distraction, no thought except for pure unadulterated comfort. It
was as if her mind swam in pure joy. The environment around her was
an assortment of beautiful and tranquil flashes of colors. She
could feel she was traveling at a speed which no one could ever
imagine, and at the same time, it felt as if she was just floating
inside some type of cosmic phenomenon. It was the most eventful
experience ever devised and there was a point where Jade did not
want it to end, but knew it had to. Within moments, she heard a
steady tone similar to if she was on a heart monitor and then she
felt life within a new body. Jade could immediately tell she was no
longer in her old self but she had not yet awakened. A few moments
later a voice came through her new mind identical to the one she
heard prior to leaving, “Prepare for awakening.” Jade felt coldness
change to warmth within a few minutes. When Jade opened her eyes,
she noticed a green fog surrounding her, which quickly evaporated
when the door to this new pod opened up. Jade swiftly realized she
was in a new environment.

Two lab technicians approached
Jade and assisted her out of the pod. After Jade acquired her
equilibrium, she felt energized and considerably more aware of her
surroundings. Jade was escorted to a changing room where she
removed her white undergarments and replaced them with a simple
blue jumpsuit. While she was getting dressed, she caught a glimpse
of herself in a small mirror, and was shocked. Jade paused and
started to touch her face, as she processed her new look. She was
considerably taller than her old self and had a dark complexion
with short black hair. The positioning of facial features she was
normally used to seeing were the same, the only difference was they
were proportionately larger. Once she finished changing and
studying her new body, she was escorted down a large tube, and into
a secondary room that looked more like a laboratory. Here she found
two other individuals. One introduced himself as Izri and the
second one was a stocky man with blond hair sitting in a metal
chair getting his cranium probed by a floating orb.

“
Jade, I see you are getting
suited to your temporary shell, please have a seat. We need to do a
brain scan to make sure all those new neurons are firing ok,”
instructed Izri.

“
The man sitting in the chair looked over and
said, “Jade?”

Jade responded back, “Reece?”

“
Yes!”

“
Wow, don’t you look different,” laughed
Jade.

“
Well, I can certainly say the same about
you.”

Izri interrupted, “Jade please sit, you two can
still have this enlightened conversation while being screened.”

As Jade sat next to Reece they continued to exchange
their observations with each other until Jade started explaining
what it felt like when she was being transported.

After listening to Jade’s
experience Izri interrupted once again and said, “You should have
felt nothing. During intergalactic streaming the mind should not
see or experience any sensations whatsoever. Are you sure about
this?”

“
Of course I am why wouldn’t I be, I thought
it was normal,” said Jade.

“
There is nothing normal with
what you just described. This may explain why your upload was
delayed. Although we should not be alarmed, you are the first pure
consciousness to ever stream across the galaxy. The streaming
process may work a little bit differently for you.”

Reece jumped in, “What do you mean delayed.”

“
Jade was supposed to have
arrived thirty Earth minutes ago. The uploads hardly take any time
at all. For some reason she was delayed.” Izri tried to reassure
Reece and repeated, “Again, she may stream a little bit differently
from everyone else.”

“
So, has this ever happened before?” asked
Reece.

“
No, it has not. I cannot explain what she is
reporting.”

Reece looked over at Jade and said, “Didn’t I tell
you to do what you were told.”

Jade looked back in disbelief and replied, “Are you
for real? You think I purposely stalled my arrival? I didn’t do
anything!”

Izri interjected, “Well, both
your cranium scans came back normal. We will have some of our best
scientists study this event. Jade, we need to start looking for the
stone immediately.” After they were cleared, both Reece and Jade
removed themselves from their chairs and all three left the
transport facility, destination
The Ark
.

Oliver walked up to Serafina and
removed both the physical and mental restraints.

“
What are you doing?” asked
Serafina.

“
We’re giving you the benefit of
the doubt. Now, are you sure you can stop that god forsaken
necklace from transmitting any information?”

Serafina looked up at Oliver and said, “Absolutely,”
and followed up with, “I promise you, I will not be a
disappointment. I am telling you the truth.”

Oliver looked directly into Serafina’s eyes and
said, “I hope so, I really do.”

Oliver proceeded to call for Karl, and told him to
cancel the ground crew that was going to take Serafina into
custody. Oliver then instructed everyone else of the updates and no
one questioned them.

Melissa advised the team that
they would be landing in LAX in approximately fifteen minutes, so
everyone needed to get ready for touch down.

“
This will be a quick refuel and
pick up. Serafina and Spencer, once we land I want both of you to
depart the plane, go to hanger number five, and pick up a ten by
ten wooden crate marked with this serial number.” Oliver handed
Serafina a piece of paper with the following digits written on it
7919. “Once you locate this crate get it to the plane as fast as
possible. Izri decided to give us some further protection if
needed. Don’t ask me what it is, I have no idea.”

“
Yes, Oliver,” replied Serafina.

After Serafina and Spencer received their orders
Spencer walked over to Serafina and asked her, “Can I talk to you
in private please?”

“
Certainly.”

Both walked to the back of the
plane where Spencer explained, “I just want you to know I only
reported you because I was unsure where you stood. I didn’t mean to
imply anything, I just didn’t know what to do.”

Serafina looked at Spencer grabbed both of his hands
and said, “I would have done the same. I certainly do not blame you
for what you did. I should have been forthcoming with my past much
earlier, but I was not, so that makes me the one to blame.”
Serafina smiled and gave Spencer a small kiss and followed up with,
“I do not think I could ever be mad at you.”

Caught off guard by the kiss, Spencer took a moment
to get his composure back and asked, “You mind if I ask you another
question?”

“
Depends, but go ahead.”

“
If it was not the Guardians who ordered you
to kill me, than who did?”

“
I am sorry, Spencer, I cannot
answer that. But I can tell you it was someone who truly cares for
your well being. Someone who has already spoken to you in your
dreams.”

“
Spoken to me in my dreams,” Spencer repeated
with a confused look.

“
Yes, you know, remember your destiny…”
replied Serafina.

Before Spencer could say another
word Karl walked up and said, “Hey, you two need to take your
seats, we’re making our decent.”

“
Will do,” replied Serafina as
she walked back up the aisle and sat in the front row next to
Oliver. Spencer, who was highly disappointed with Serafina’s
explanation, took the nearest seat where he started to think about
the kiss Serafina had just given him. This gave him the reassurance
he was looking for and made for some nice daydreams while they made
their decent.

After the plane landed, Serafina
and Spencer followed through with their task without issue and
without talking about what had happened on the plane. Once the
wooden crate was safely on board and the aircraft was refueled,
Karl engaged the autopilot and plugged in destination,
Australia.

Merger

Zaccai studied the latest cranium
scans from Jade, which were obtained covertly from the Floaters off
site facility on Tureis. Zaccai proceeded to cross-reference this
material with the material obtained covertly from Earth, when
Dr.
Kazlouskas
scanned Jade for any mental deficiencies. Zaccai ended up
noticing a considerable growth spurt in the left and right
hemisphere of Jade’s brain. As Zaccai continued to study these
readings, it was discovered that Jade’s brain had tied directly
into her PIC and started to assimilate the technology. Her brain
had actually improved itself by reproducing the hardware into a
biological form. Zaccai also realized the only time these
improvements actually occurred was when Jade became unconscious and
more so when her PIC was deactivated. After Zaccai finished
studying this latest material, a call was placed to Elymas who
wasted no time in responding. Upon Elymas’s arrival, Zaccai shared
this information with him and asked for his
interpretation.

“
I cannot explain this, Zaccai. I
would recommend we feed this data into Prime 2 for
processing.”

“
I agree, we just need to make
sure both factions are not mentioned. The last thing I need is to
fuel one cause at the expense of another. I must stay neutral on
these matters.”

“
If I may ask respectfully why are you not
pledging your allegiance to a specific cause? And should we not
inform Prime 2 and the public that there is an internal battle
brewing within our society?”

“
It is not the right time.
The majority of
Tureissians are neutral;
very few know the true purpose of Guardians or Floaters. If we take
these factions public without the counsel announcing their
positions, our society will learn of the false data their belief
structure has been based upon. This will certainly inflame both
sides and invoke a civil war for sure.”

“
How can a species like ours be so technically
and biologically advanced, but yet be so divided?” asked
Elymas.

“
Because everything we believe in
is based on false presumptions and the ones who established this
false belief will go to any measure to keep it covered up. This in
turn will prevent a truly pure societal evolution. In order to
build a strong structure, we first must have a strong foundation,
and unfortunately we have not yet achieved this, regardless of how
advanced we may think we are.”

“
What about our council being split?” asked
Elymas.

“
There is nothing we can do about that. We
need to focus on the truth.”

“
How do we know the stone is not a false
prophecy?”

“
Faith,” replied Zaccai.

Elymas looked at Zaccai surprisingly and said,
“Faith! That is very non-scientific of you Zaccai.”

“
I know, but until the carrier of the stone is
uncovered and the chosen one makes contact with it, we may never
know.”

“
And you think Izri knows who this prophet
is?”

“
Not directly no, but if Jade is
in fact what Izri believes her to be, then I have faith she will
find her way to the stone. As for now let us focus on Jade’s mental
development. It is my understanding Jade has already arrived. Is
this correct?”

“
Yes, Jade’s caretaker, Dr. Reece
Fields, has also traveled here with her and it seems when Jade was
in transit she experienced something which cannot be
explained.”

“
What was it?” asked Zaccai
curiously.

As Elymas explained to Zaccai
what Jade had reported, Zaccai looked over and noticed a recorded
event that had gone unnoticed earlier regarding Jade’s data
intake.

Zaccai interrupted Elymas as he
was about to finish and said, “This is unusual, look at this,” as
Zaccai pointed out his observations on a digital read out and
asked, “Do you see that?”

Elymas studied the material
closer and said, “Someone uploaded a fairly substantial amount of
data to her PIC the day the android underwent surgery, and now it
is part of her subconscious. How is that possible?”

“
Look at the digital signature of
those files,” said Zaccai.