The Purging

Reciprocity

CHAPTER 20

The channel research lab is more reminiscent of a warehouse than a laboratory. Thousands of square feet of open space lie spread out in front of them. A thick red line is painted onto the floor in the centre of the room. Besides a series of terminals along the west wall and the technicians running them, it looks completely deserted.

Something about the technicians catches Natsuko’s eye. There are metallic protrusions on the sides of their heads that connect to sets of wrap around visors obscuring their faces. Much like the guards in the lab up above, they take no notice of the new arrivals and continue with their work. Natsuko asks Stein, “More neural hubs I take it?”

“Not quite. I'll show you.” Stein calls over one of the technicians. He walks up casually and takes a knee at her feet. She taps him gently on the temple and the back of his skull slides apart. The contents are almost exclusively technological. A mesh of wires and circuits is woven into what remains of the brain tissue, “While there is a hub in there, our technicians have a great deal more installed. Not the least of which is a high end processing unit I personally designed. One of these guys is worth a hundred ordinary data analysts. You didn't come here to be told about my technicians. You came here to learn what we know about channels, right?” Closing the man's head back up, Stein cordially helps him back to his feet. He goes back to his workstation and quietly returns to his duties. Stein approaches a terminal of her own and begins clicking away. She turns to her guests, “Please keep back from the red line please.”

The floors split apart and a huge translucent box rises. Twenty foot tall Tesla coils flank the box on all sides. Within the box sits a single man, surrounded by a sparkling halo of white light. Every few seconds an arc of electricity jumps from the coils and collides with him. The jolts don't seem to phase the stranger. He sits perfectly still, with a sour scowl that seems burnt onto his face, “Colonel Otibe, Mrs. Masamura I’d like you to meet Sergeant Mohammed Rasheed of the United States marines.”

Mo stands up and steps up to the glass between them. The visitors jump several feet back from the enclosure and instinctively take defensive positions. He lets out a sigh, “For God's sake, what are they doing, Jackie? I thought you said these people were here to talk.”

Stein waves them to come forward. She places a hand on the outside of the cage, “It’s perfectly safe you two. Mo is no threat to you. As a matter of fact, you’ll most likely be working together in the coming days.”

They do their best to relax their frazzled nerves. Jean approaches the glass, “How was it that these humans managed to capture one like you? I just assumed since your kind can blow yourselves up at will that capture would be impossible.”

Mo nods knowingly, “I wasn't captured by them. I came here voluntarily because those were my orders. I've only been a channel since Third Dawn. I came here straight from Detroit after the explosion. Most of what Jackie has learned while I've been here has been news to me too.”

While his time in the core had gleaned some important information, Mo did not expect to be locked in a makeshift prison miles underground as soon as he arrived. The battery of tests he's undergone in the interim have run from the relatively benign to painful and excruciating. Life in the Core felt like being left to rot in a POW camp. Were it not for the gentle bedside manner of Dr. Stein, he may have gone over the edge. Jackie was a good, God fearing person. They'd spent hours discussing scripture and praying together. He had come to consider her a friend.

Jean asks Mo, “You don't have any information on Ra, then?” The prospect of coming all this way to go home empty handed does not sit well with Jean.

Mo answers with resignation, “No, I’ve never met the man personally. I do, however, know where to find him. He’s holed up in an ancient temple in Central America.”