The Edge Of Space

Chapter 33 - An all new Malketa.

"Alright Malketa, you ready to get started?" He asked.

"Yes. I think so. Will this take long?".

"Well yeah of course. The plans and blueprints are all done but we have to fabricate it, but it should only take a couple of hours," he said, typing away on a holographic keyboard.

"Ok. Well, I'm ready to begin," she said, prepping a giant fabrication station.

"Good. Now, I've designed the brain to accommodate a giant amount of data so you should feel pretty comfortable but when you're in there, tell me if anything goes wrong and we'll pull the kill switch to get you out," he said.

"I feel scared," she said.

"What? You don't have to be, this will be like any other time you jump, you'll just be able to feel it," he said reassuringly.

"But. Will it hurt? I've never... felt, something before," she said hesitantly.

"It shouldn't hurt at all. In fact, it actually might tickle. Think of it like a click, you're not feeling anything, then a bit of a fuzz and then, voila" he assured with a smile.

Suddenly, the fabrication station hummed to life, slowly building something new.

"Ok. I'll trust you. But if it hurts, I'm gonna be mad," she huffed.

He laughed slightly, watching the fabrication station slowly print away.

"That's OK, being mad is part of the experience," he smiled.

He soon left and made a coffee. Slowly sipping it as he read over some old data from the coordinate chip Kree gave him. He went into the lap and checked on the signal. It had finally arrived.

"Ohh, nice!" He said, setting down his coffee and finishing the upload back into the chip. After one whole year, they could finally get back on track and go to Alpha Polshigi B.

Vontaine headed back into the warehouse and stayed there for several hours.

"Hey it's almost finished, you excited?" He asked looking over the print.

"I will admit I am but also nervous," she answered.

"That's OK, this is a new experience for you and it will unlock the door for thousands of others. It's a big jump," he said as the print finished.

He went inside the room and looked it over. It was perfect, exactly as he and Malketa had designed.

"What do you think?" He asked with a smile.

"It looks beautiful," she replied with a happy buzz.

"Well, it's ready for installation. Are you?".

"I think so. Will it be OK? Will it work?" She asked cautiously.

He rubbed his hand against his chin before pointing to where his holo-computer was and pulled it over to him. The glowing blue screen darted over in front of him.

"Yeah, everything is stable and working as it should be. You can simulate if you want but I don't think it's needed. Vitals are, surprisingly stable, and because I used Yidani for its entire nervous system, the brains running real smooth," he explained.

"Alright. Then I'm ready. But could you do it? And don't tell me when just do it randomly," she said, almost giddy.

"Yeah of course, would it help if-" he said, and mid-way through the sentence he pushed the ignition sequence, shooting Malketa's consciousness into something new.

Vontaine watched on as a stream of energy shot into the new body.

He took a step back as vitals went crazy for several moments before stabilising. He breathed a sigh of relief as they came back down.