Encoded

Blast from the Past

Jay was first through the open portal, and he was confused; it seemed they were in his glade they just left, he had no access to Chameleon his AI. One by one, the others popped through, and Jay helped and steadied them up. Foley was in lousy shape still so he sat her up as best he could. Charlie seemed self-sufficient, looking around as did Max. First things first, they were not dead. Abby reached up and arm and tried to poke it through the gateway iris as it close silently and left no impression it was ever there.

"Ok, that wasn't as bad as I thought. But why are we back here? It makes no sense? Also, is everyone ok apart from Foley?"

"I am fine; the repairs are well underway; perhaps this place only looks like the last rig kid. Look around, will ya, can you contact anyone?" He closed his eyes and took stock as Abby came and pressed her warm, firm body against him. He was shocked that even in all this madness, his body responded to her.

"No, no contact. Has anyone been able to contact personal AI's yet?" They all shook their heads in response.

Charlie appeared holding one of his famous clocks. "I found this."

"oh, no!?" Jay reacted, as it read-only 90 mins.

"This Jay is not my clock but one we should take seriously. It's from the Dream Guardian and Genuine." Charlie looked dead serious as always.

"Are we in a dream?" Jay asked, half hoping.

"No, but some of the properties I am feeling seem like we should be. These clocks, however, have a long history and are not exclusively used in dreams. However, they are used to keep time in places where time doesn't obey your rules. If that helps?" Charlie added.

"Maybe." He didn't have time to think about it. Ok, Abby, Charlie with me. Let's find out where we really are. Max, can you try to Russel something up to help Folly speed up recovery." He said, mouthing DNA enhancements to him.

They went to the Plateau, and the first stunning revelation was that next to his stone plateau was a very modern-looking medical type bed he didn't like the look of. He and his clock were about to head for it when Charlie Translocated all three of them to a plateau wall. Abby swayed a little as if in a breeze, and he put his hand out to steady her. There was no breeze. Charlie stood still and listened and listened. Jay was about to interrupt when Charlie held up a hand. Then jumped down from the edge, leaving them no option but to follow.

"Well??" He said, shaking the descending clock handles.

"We are in the faculty, but far far from your home. I can find no OSG address for these locations. In fact, I can find no OSG addresses at all." Jay sensed this wasn't good news.

"When was the last time you came across that?" he asked tentatively.

"Never." Charlie was never one to mince words.

"So what?" He asked.

"I don't know Jay Charlie replied, irritated. "Check the tower, check the exit.". Charlie walked off, brooding. He checked it all. Front Gate, Forrest, Mountains Desire, Destiny they were all there but closed. No exits.

On a whim, he went to Abby's dream room, where he reconstructed the events of her past. Captured dream evidence was all there; the betrayal, the lies, the eventual involvement of Marcus.

"Where is this?" Abby asked, stunning him into a spiral turn, a heart palpitation, and a stumble. He had told her about being in her dream but never to the extent of his investigations.

"It's erm. Well. Remember I told you." He stammered; she came over and held his hand.

"It's ok, Jay. This is where you're trying to find out answers to your and my unanswered questions, right?" She pulled him close.

How did she do it every time? Take the sting, not get angry, understand, imagine?

"Yes, it's not complete; I still don't have one piece of the puzzle." He moped. She pushed her mind into space. Found the night they had become taboo lovers, brother and sister by family if not by birth. She shared the scene with him with surprising mastery of the FOM and kissed him.

"This was when my life started. I know you want to find answers to my past Jay for me. But it really doesn't matter as much as this day and all the days past.

His body was screaming sex emotions and hormones, but first, he didn't figure how that was working, and secondly, he knew there wasn't time for the kind of advantage they wanted to take of each other. He translocated them back to the plateau.

"Anything?" Charlie asked half-heartedly as the clock ticked on. 22 mins left.

"I will get the others. I believe this is a very temporary shelter that will stop with the clock. Our exit is you and Abby plugging into these beds. Now I know why you didn't have an NJI; it was too risky."

"Risky for what?" he asked Charlie as he moves away.

"The past and the future," Charlie replied and disappeared.

It was apparent that the new plateau would fit into Abby's NJI, and somehow, they might connect. The beds were bridged by a connector that suggested maybe they held hands. Abby lay down first, and the NJI coil reacted by swirling and jamming roughly into her port at the back of her neck.

"You ok? Anything there?" She shook her head at him and smiled.

He lay down and calmed his breathing as he would on a night if he was going out surfing the dream void.

Charlie and Max Supporting Foley arrived and stood nearby as the odd clock clicked 3 mins.

Jay looked at Charlie.

"Don't ask me, young man, this is way way beyond me. Close your eyes and use your talent. It's got to be in there; I feel the walls of this place closing." Charlie closed his eyes, and he looked to Foley and Max. They both nodded their heads.

He reached out to Abby, and clasping her hand, he reluctantly closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. He started to lift off the plateau, and to begin with; everything seemed familiar as he rose into the flux of the dream void, where he would normally read the dreams and surf the Faculty of Matter, but this time it was dead. Black, Empty, and soulless. He calmed himself more and tightened his grip on Abby's hand. Still, nothing, and the clock clicked its last click. He started to panic. Had this whole journey been a farce? Where they just gonna die here. He, too, felt the window of safety surrounding them closing as Charlie had earlier.

Then Sally.

"I have just opened a file in my memories; I didn't know I had. Now it is clear I must connect you and Abby more directly." She said the last word slowly.

"Is that bad?" he asked innocently.

"No, but I will be acting as your NJI, and I have a nearly infinite capacity where the human brain comes into play, so I'm worried about your health." She sounded genuinely concerned. He could feel Charlie's anxiety. "The window closes," Charlie whispered.

"Ok, Sally, do whatever the fuck we need to get out of here." He tensed.

All of a sudden, Sally was with him. She connected to Abby's hand with a lace, and he witnessed it infiltrate Abby's arm up to her NJI, then brightness, then blackness, then a feeling of dizzying acceleration. He opened his eyes one time before he blacked out. They were all there, Abby, Max, Charlie, Him and Foley and of course Sally.

A purple and orange haze settled into the room, and he heard a voice saying, "Well, Well, this is a turn up for the books. Welcome for now to the RealTimeWaster." Then his world went dark.

Comments and Votes always welcome. The comments are more helpful, but ill take the serotonin hit of a vote.