Spatium Upended--A Trilogy, page 25
The incidence, again, prompted a visit from R0ûàn and his top-level half and full Êlkâr brigade of øāńx agents.
Xênê didn't like this. Whatever they have been trying to do by building away from the prying eyes of the Tœmńâk might have all been jeopardized by Øicârô refusing to level with her. She was livid but hopeful they could still make it work.
R0ÛÀN WAS DUBIOUS on the idea of kicking out Xênê and her agents off the lunar post. Vÿxhî's hoped she had communicated her message forcefully enough. The thought of having a female Êlkê lead an unauthorized interstellar mission, especially one that evaded their supposedly airtight space monitoring systems, irked her.
Besides being ordered to kick them out, R0ûàn was also tasked with seizing control of their lunar ship and flight instruments. This blatant disregard for the essential agency of the female Êlkê caused an unusual reaction from him. To compound his doubts, he received a competing order from Ôhrâç to detain Xênê and her entire crew until he arrived at a yet to be determined date.
For the first time, R0ûàn took a competing stand from the preprogrammed algorithm that would have been inputted onto his æńê by his Êlkên handler. Being half Êlkên, his handler would typically have had to be chosen by himself, in which case he had instead opted out of being handled by a third party.
It was a dangerous power play underway between their Êlkên handlers. R0ûàn addressed the over three thousand highly skilled specialists under his command. He informed them of his decision to assume control over their deployed algorithms. The agents met it with a resounding approval; they trusted him.
ÊLKÊQÎ. LAKE-BED HOLLOW. LATE-VÛŽ.
ØICRÔ WAS LIVID with rage. It was not his default response to aggravation nor stress. It was something entirely different. Qâhnâ had just recounted her ordeal of escaping captivity. They were both anxious.
Their young fungus, which was due shortly, might be exposed to great peril should they not make a move and fast, they had both surmised. Their window of opportunity was fast receding.
Great chemistry aside, Øicârô was not yet comfortable enough, revealing his plans that were mainly underway with Qâhnâ. His calculus was always to err on the side of the mysterious and of caution.
Amid these considerations, Xênê called into his ńœhæ to update on the exposure and subsequent discovery of their secret location by R0ûàn and scouts loyal to him, including details of the eventual truce they had reached. Øicârô was not happy about this. He knew the Tœmńâk was already making arrangements to sack the secret çêhń, notwithstanding any treaties agreed upon by R0ûàn and Xênê.
He was more worried about the ship. They could try to reengineer it. His only sense of contentment stemmed from the fact that this would take them an equally long œlêvâ as it had taken him or perhaps, even more, to get there. He mulled on this and several other such related issues.
Xênê probed Øicârô for more information as it related to the origins of the mysterious rock. She insisted on getting answers as the erratic weather patterns on Pêbøâ-Œ did seem to be taking a turn for the worse. Øicârô still would not confirm any of her suspicions nor directly answer any of her questions. The secrets he kept were causing her more anxiety than the effects—real or perceived— of the strange rock itself.
14 = ᗑᗔ: ŒÊLK
ÊLKÊNQÎ. NØDHÊ. LATE-VÛŽ.
A HIGH-LEVEL TRUCE was called at the urging of Vÿxhî. She invited both warring Qÿêø factions and the Bûreö to participate in the deliberations on the best way forward for the Êlkê subspecies.
She had lately been feeling unusually intense pressure from within the Tœmńâk, where Ôhrâç was actively building formidable alliances and turning old allies into awkward relationships.
The sudden and unexpected decision by her longtime half-machine ally, R0ûàn came as a shock to the system for this stoic, unflinching and hardened Êlkên warrior. She figured, if R0ûàn could waver in his loyalty, then nothing was sacred anymore.
It was under this cloud that she hastily arranged for the supposed truce to feasibly get the Bûreö or Qÿêø back to the table on the highest chamber in the land, where all the weighty decisions that affected their lives and livelihoods were deliberated.
“We have arrived at this seminal moment in the life of our civilization. I don't think any of you are surprised we are here. As it would turn out, a great majority of you helped get us here.” Vÿxhî began to address the gathered Êlkê leaders in a secret çêhń she reserved for engagements that she wanted to keep from prying eyes and others, chiefly, spies, loyal to Ôhrâç. She was increasingly becoming paranoid, and this showed.
Zÿœhń tried scanning the edges of the silo. She was convinced she could pick up remnant scents and electromagnetic cloud paths left behind by anyone associated with Qâhnâ's detention, one that might lead her to the secret location where she was being kept.
This time, the protein enzyme in her æńê faltered; she had then centered her iris and then tried several times more, but with the same results.
She didn’t see the point of remaining and listening to the self-involved Êlkên whom she detested so much as opposed to being out there, trying to find Qâhnâ. By her calculus, she figured Qâhnâ was at the point of birth anytime now, which unsettled her the most.
“No disrespect, hûøžâ Vÿxhî, but all of the issues you raised trace their roots back to the deliberations reached at the behest of the Êlkê; and one that was reached, if it needs pointing out, without a single Êlkê present at the Tœmńâk. So unless there is sufficient reason to believe otherwise, this meeting will not produce any of the results you're hoping it will.” Zÿœhń rebutted.
“I disagree.” Hûÿlø interjected. “Hûøžâ Zÿœhń might singularly be responsible for the Qÿêø, the Bûreö, and the Êlkê subspecies, as a collective, being sidelined at the highest table in the land and this isn't being hyperbolic. She even tried to eliminate me. Her convulsive obsession with Qâhnâ has driven all of her decision-making ever since she was abducted.” She added.
Zÿœhń did not take kindly to what she regarded as treacherous behavior coming from Hûÿlø, not that she was surprised. As had always occurred in these instances, Ôxbâ felt the need to step in and bring back some sanity as he saw it to the deliberations in question.
“This hasn't been an easy period for any of us. I would imagine the unease caused amongst the greater fungi chain is worse. I don't need to remind you all that the alliance of single-celled algae that make up the essence of each of us depends on the harmony that we bring to bear.” Ôxbâ started to address the meeting. “It all begins to unravel, the more uncertain and fragmented our social contract with one another becomes.” He paused and then glided around the silo. “The Qÿêø won the rights to represent us at the Hÿxî, and no one should take that right from them. Not even the Tœmńâk.” He added emphatically.
“Which is why I called this truce,” Vÿxhî interjected. “I will make recommendations immediately upon agreement with all the parties gathered here. I need firm commitments that you are willing to work towards resolving your differences, at which point I can then take that information to the Tœmńâk.” She added.
Hûÿlø could sniff the desperation in Vÿxhî's ńœhæ. There had to be a reason this usually assertive and domineering fungus was now seemingly amenable, very unlike her. She thought to herself.
Acting on this instinct, she buzzed Ôhrâç's ńœhæ.
Amid a private meeting with several of his top øāńx aides, Ôhrâç excused himself and disengaged from the secure conversation to join Hûÿlø's incoming ńœhæ link.
“I don't know what it is, at least not yet, but I can be of use to you and your greater ambitions.” She said to him.
“Hûøžâ Hûÿlø, I buzzed into this session in the hopes of hearing something new, something different. Not the same innuendos and presumptions that has led this relationship thus far.” Ôhrâç did not necessarily appear to be in the mood for any niceties.
“I was hoping you would want to know why I was in a meeting with Vÿxhî and every Êlkê fungi that matters.” She replied.
“I'm pretty sure every Êlkê fungi would disagree with that characterization. Reducing tens of billions of uniquely evolved fungi to just a few elite birds is not how you lead them.” He added instead sarcastically.
“So, do you want to know about it or not?” She quizzed him.
“I already know about it, hûøžâ Hûÿlø. I already know about it.” He offered.
“In that case, I'll let you be.” She offered resignedly.
“Thank you.” He said and buzzed out of the session and then fluttered back to his meeting.
Hûÿlø returned and securely signed in to the meeting but was abruptly kicked out by an upset Zÿœhń.
“This constant desire to usurp the peace and stability around you isn't what I'm willing to condone.” Zÿœhń hummed as a stunned Hûÿlø, who could only stare at all the parties gathered.
Vÿxhî tried to intercede by allowing her back onto the secure session but was rebuffed by Zÿœhń, who again not only kicked her out but also did something that astonished everyone present in the meeting. She secreted a rare protein enzyme in her æńê that triggered a set of electromagnetic and chemical reactions, which then led her into a yet to be discovered çwûž frequency spectrum.
To their amazement, she addressed each party without the others being privy to the conversations being had. She stayed on a single secure session and hopped from one person to another, with the others going cold as she went through them.
Vÿxhî was now convinced Zÿœhń still possessed the unique protein enzyme in her æńê that allowed her to breach secure çwûž frequency spectrums, eavesdrop on adversaries and now, create whole new çwûž frequencies. She then scanned Zÿœhń’s ńœhæ to locate the exact coordinates of the frequency but discovered she had entirely wiped it off clean from her recent memory. This triggered alarms in Vÿxhî’s æńê.
ÊLKÊQÎ. HOLLOW. LATE-VÛŽ.
A SEDATED QHN knew the œlêvâ was nigh. Spark of genius or lack thereof, Øicârô had the foresight and grace to allow the female Êlkâr that have thus far played a significant role in her life, become part of this momentous event. She had encouraged it. He had informed both Vÿxhî and Zÿœhń of his intentions to grant them æńê-visual access to the birthing process.
He hovered above the altar made from a xæpœ alloy. It was shaped like a traditional Êlkâr nestling, but that was where all of the similarities ended. True to form, Øicârô had invented a device that would not only safely bring down the fungus from its gestation agent—Qâhnâ, but one that went further by cocooning the newly delivered fungus from the atmosphere in the birthing silo.
The device, a øāńx šœzâ, was capable of speech, flight, and a variety of actions and reactions like a majority of other AI in service on the planet. It was deployed in this instance, at the pleasure and under the command of Øicârô.
“Hûøžâ Øicârô, three tølêvâ down from optimum. It is responding to my probe. It is awake.” The øāńx šœzâ reassured him.
“You wanted me to know about its fungal density. Tell me again, what sets it apart from the Êlkâr that we know?” He asked, arching his æńê in the direction of Qâhnâ as if urging her to benefit from the response.
There was a slight pause. It was a learned mannerism of the øāńx. Every new machine, upon completion, received a set of training tools and command algorithms that became active and operable on the same ÿlêvâ of its commissioning.
“It is different.” The lowered pitch of the øāńx's hum did not instill any confidence in the cold silo. “It has no identifiable genetic nomenclature, nor does it have any developed internal nor external procreation organs.” The øāńx added.
This revelation caught Qâhnâ's attention. She arched her æńê and planted a firm gaze onto Øicârô.
“It is no Êlkâr fungus like we know it. All of its vital statistics, such as blood cells, proteins, æńê, and neural functions, appear to follow a definitive path—it's alive and healthy. I would say, but it's not your typical fungus.” The øāńx concluded.
“Now, tell me, what else is normal about this fungus?” Qâhnâ's sarcasm was glaring not only in the content of the hum but also in its peculiar tone.
“I know you weren't expecting a response, hûøžâ, but it isn't one of you. It isn't one of us either.” It added cryptically.
“Then what is it that I'm doing here in your cold, machine cocoon?” A frustrated Qâhnâ appeared to vent. “What was the purpose of carrying a fungus for all these œlêvâ; one that was forcefully implanted in me by forces outside of my control? What was the plan along?” Her eye remained fixed on Øicârô.
“We're both in this together, Qâhnâ, don't you forget that. The fungus didn't ask to be brought down. This is wholly up to us. Whatever we decide to do with it after it's here is also our prerogative.” He appeared to have piqued her interest. The red pigment that had clouded her æńê slowly peeled off. “The original intention might have been borne out of a need to keep our wings clipped, but I think you will agree with me that it might have backfired on them.” He added.
“I have waited long to have his conversation with you, Øicârô.” There was a weirdness in her hum that threw him off. The Êlkâr, irrespective of subspecies, never allowed their sentiments to becloud their rational minds.
“That would have been impossible with you being in hibernation all along. It did, however, cross my æńê more than once, although I knew this ÿlêvâ would be upon us, and that we will have no options but to discuss it.” He responded.
“I feel weird.” She said as her æńê misted up again.
“It's ready to be detached,” The øāńx interjected.
“I suggest you stay awake to see it through. Your Êlkâr flock might have questions for you.” Øicârô said, this time, directing his statement to Qâhnâ, while sarcastically referring to the duo of Vÿxhî and Zÿœhń. “I will connect them now.” He notified her of his intention to connect them to the secure ńœhæ session.
“I'm afraid, but hûøžâ Qâhnâ will have to shut off her æńê for the duration of the transition. The fungus is pulling more protein nutrients than what could be considered normal at this stage. She will need to rest through it.” The øāńx announced.
Shutting off her æńê, which essentially meant her eye and brain organs, would send her back to an induced hibernation, more profound than normal sleep. Øicârô saw this as potentially risky, seeing she had gone through an episode of being abruptly recalled from her main pregnancy-induced one, during the attempted murder of her unborn fungus by Ôhrâç and her subsequent escape from captivity.
He leaned over and locked beams with her. She opened a new secure session but this time through the æńê and being a telepathic frequency, shut the øāńx sœzâ out of the conversation.
“We have come thus far. This fungus is unlike anyone we have seen before now and for reasons beyond my immediate disposition. I have to let it down now.” Qâhnâ said to him.
“I'm not the least perturbed by the sœzâ's recommendation. What is about to happen here is unprecedented in modern Êlkâr memory.” He began. “What I'm asking is if you permit that I deploy a new technique that allows me to pull a single protein strand from your æńê's øûhçæ receptors and live feed the secure session through it.” He continued with her rapt attention, centered on him. “I have never deployed it before now, but this will store the entire secure session in your øûhçæ, making it easier to recall by merely invoking the session code like you would when you were an active participant in a secure ńœhæ session.” He concluded.
Qâhnâ appeared impressed by his presentation. She had always held Øicârô in high regard. However, since she moved back with him after escaping captivity, she had found herself being immersed in how technologically superior and confident he had grown and become. Nothing about him betrays the fact that he was born Êlkê. Without a shred of doubt in her mind, he could see him holding his own against any Êlkên god that was heralded, present, or transitioned.
They both telepathically agreed to go ahead with the deployment of the new procedure. Øicârô arched his æńê toward the sœzâ and then addressed him after signing back into a secure ńœhæ session with him.
“In that case, proceed and detach the fungus.” Øicârô address the sœzâ as he let the duo of Vÿxhî and Zÿœhń into his ńœhæ.
VŸXHÎ WAS ELATED at the opportunity of seeing Qâhnâ again; the reaction from Zÿœhń, however, was mixed. She longed to wrestle control back from Øicârô, and that was all it meant to her.
The way she saw it, they had all conspired to interfere with her well-ordained plans of extricating her Êlkê people from under the firm grip of their Êlkên overlords. It was an unforgivable set of actions, one for which they would be made to pay in all likelihood.
It was the first time that both strong females had communicated since the weird incident at the meeting called by Vÿxhî, who was increasingly feeling a sense of paranoia about her perceived loss of power and influence. She was also greatly alarmed at the possibility of disparate and competing power centers forming across the galaxy she was once convinced was under her direct control and authority, albeit by proxy. Ôhrâç and Zÿœhń, it appeared, were two sides of the same problem. She had thought to herself.
The intense pressure she had lately been feeling from Ôhrâç and now knowing that the supposedly nullified freak protein enzymes in Zÿœhń's æńê, seemed to be fully restored, conspired to help make this once robust strategist and warrior, a mere mortal of sorts.
The øāńx sœzâ morphed into an oval shape, wrapping Qâhnâ's entire frame in its warm embrace while leaving room enough for her æńê to recede into a state of unconsciousness slowly.
