THE FUTURE

"Why are we here?"

No answer was immediately forthcoming, but Doctor Brianna Diggers, standing at the podium in Perry Hall, merely peered at her notes on her old-fashioned Palm Pilot, and continued, "At the most general level, the Philosophy Department next door can give us several answers, all different, all equally valid, but none particularly useful. At the most specific level, we are here to listen to my lecture...also not particularly useful, since I already have tenure."

A ripple of laughter passed through the assembled guests. Brianna went on, "But in another sense, we are here because of an event which occurred over 15 years ago, in an unusual location. An intrepid band of adventurers found themselves embroiled in a war between two great cities, a war that had lasted millenia.."

Britanny Diggers’Gia, seated in the front row, carefully stifled a yawn as her genetic half-sister droned on about the discoveries of El Dorado, Atlantis, and Shangri-La, and the developments which it spawned. She'd not only heard it before, a hundred times or more...she'd *lived* it.

At her side, Prince Stryp’Gia, heir to the throne of El Dorado, and her hunky hubby sat attentively watching the figure on the stage. Beyond him, on his left, her other sister was watching the screen and scribbling notes and commentary on a legal pad. Since she hadn't been directly involved in the development of this new technological advance, she wanted to be ready to ask questions later.

"However, despite advances in miniaturization, allowing Light Gates to be contained in wrist-mounted units, little or no progress has been made on developing stable interplanetary Light Portals."

"Several years ago, my sisters were present at the re-discovery a dimension called the Beta Phase. After an unfortunate conflict involving the natives of this dimension, and a robot left behind by ancient enemies of the race, the team was able to communicate with the species, and learned much about what is now called beta technology. One of their members, formerly the psychic being Montara, later returned to our plane, and with his, um her, ah their assistance, we have achieved a breakthrough."

The curtain at the back of the stage pulled back, revealing a circle of polished stone, marked with a ring of fine gradations. "Before we proceed with the demonstration, are there any questions?"

A slender woman with chocolate skin and hair raised her hand, asking a question, "Since the original light gates used pre-set destinations, how have you modified the light gate unit to allow for new coordinates?"

"Hi Penny.. The creators of the Light Gates, while highly advanced, lacked the precision engineering necessary to fine-tune the interaction of the intersecting field. With the assistance of the living computer Subtracto, however, as you can see", Brianna gestured toward the markings on the outer rim, "we have achieved a greater precision, allowing for more possibilities. Unfortunately, unlike the portable units, these require a Gate at both ends, but we have more than enough slots available for expansion. Anyone else? No? Then let us proceed."

"For the purpose of today's test, the Light Portal will be tuned to align itself with a unit on Aebra, where my colleagues are waiting. An FTL relay has been created to handle the video signal...hey Raph, are you there?"

The monitor over her head flickered to life, revealing the fuzzy amber features of Doctor Raphiel Rey, Assistant Project Leader, and head of the werecheetah clans. "Hiya Bri...the capture field is already in place...we're ready when you are."

"Excellent." Brianna beamed, hand pumping out of sheer joy. "My friends, I would like to introduce next the daring individual who volunteered to be the first sapient being to pass through the LightGate Mark II. Ladies and Gentlemen, that paragon of courage, and daredevil par excellence..PeeBot."

In the audience, Gina facepalmed, while at her side, Ryan rolled his eyes goodnaturedly. "It figures...", he whispered.

Stage right, a man-sized blue robot clanked into view. From his broad shoulders rose a pink dome, marked by a pair of disturbingly cute eyes. "Hiya folks...I'm really excited to be part of today's stunt..I'm hoping to break a new record."

"Longest distance traveled via catapult?" Bri sighed, as the gaudily-painted contraption was wheeled onstage.

"Biggest BOOM!" PeeBot cried, strapping his utterly useless goggles on.

"Indeed..." Having decided (quite rightly) that the conversation was veering into bizarre territory, Bri’ turned instead to the technicians manning the Gate controls. "Are we prepared?"

One tech raised a thumb in readiness.

"Excellent...Are you prepared, PB?"

"WHOO_HOO!!!"

"Quite. Let us begin...enter first coordinate set."

The Gate split like an onion, various sections rotating to a new alignment. As each section clicked into place, they emitted a pure tone. Each new tone harmonized with the ones before. "Galactic coordinates set, ma’am."

"Enter second coordinate set."

More sections, closer to the innermost ring, joined the chorus. "Stellar coordinates locked in."

"Prepare yourself, PeeBot...enter final coordinate set."

The innermost ring rotated smoothly, sliding into position. A sound like a choir of angels rose, as a shimmering field filled the core of the gate. The song turned to a roar, as the liquid energies erupted out over the heads of the crowd, before collapsing back through the ring.

Before their eyes, a tunnel opened into infinity.

While PeeBot, accompanied by a chorus of his smaller bomb-bots, began the countdown from 10, Britanny, in the audience, felt a hand clutching her arm. She turned in surprise, to see Stripe staring at her in horror, the marks of his implants visible on his furry brow.

"Something is wrong..." he growled, "Something is very wrong...."

Indeed, as PeeBot & Co. called out "THREE!!!", the tunnel shivered. A swirl of energy warped the pure geometry of the design, growing larger as it rushed toward the Gate. With a sharp crack, the Light Gate shattered, bathing the room in actinic light.

Later reports from witnesses who viewed the scene under spectrums not available to unenhanced humans claimed to see a multitude of figures erupt from the Gate, but when vision returned to the humanoid portions of the audience, all that was visible was a charred figure, buried in the rubble of the Gate.

Two seconds later, the catapult tripped, hurling PeeBot into the rear wall of the stage. Wobbling slightly, he poked out his head from the resulting crater.

"One MORE *TIME*!!!", he shouted with glee.

Mario Di Giacomo Presents "Castaway", a Gold Digger Story

Chapter 1: The Day After.
 

Several hours later, Brianna Diggers still had several questions echoing in her mind. That was why, while most of the city was slowly coming to life, she sat in a conference room at Atlanta General, waiting for some answers.

Genn Seer, chief of Alternative Medicine, wondered which gods she'd offended lately. After a wonderful night's sleep, she'd been awakened to deal with a unwelcome guest. In her mind, concern battled with an overwhelming desire to go back to sleep.  She'd hoped to have put 'doctor's hours" behind him when she'd moved to pure research.

Across from her sat her husband, Archmage Séance Seer. He hadn't had much sleep either, and was a little cranky.

"How's PeeBot?" Genn asked.

"Happy as a clam...major structural damage, and he almost self-detonated. "

"And our new arrival?", Gina murmured, greedily slurping a cup of coffee.

"I have a report from the trauma team." Picking up the PADD from the table before her, she read it's display.

"Well, based on his genome he's pretty much human, male, about 30 years old. Ranks 3 on the MacTaggart scale....probably a latent. As for his identity, they ran a full geneprint. He isn't in any of our databases. Whoever he is, he's never been treated in a US medical facility"

"What's his condition?" Penny asked.

"Other than a few minor burns, which are responding well to treatment, he's perfectly healthy. Which is surprising, considering what's been done to him."

"What do you mean?", Ryan asked, from a chair in the corner. Technically, this was a private family matter, but they were used to having him around.

"This only word I have for it is torture," Brianna continued, "Our scans have picked up traces of hypnotic personality implantation, nanobotic infestation, cybernetic enhancements (forcibly removed), a cracked nose, a broken leg, flayed ribs, a severed and re-attached arm, and according to Seance here, daemonic possesion, at least twice."

Around the table, murmurs and whistles of surprise filled the air.

"These are all pre-existing conditions? Not from the Gate collapse?" Penny asked.

"Yup. Only the vaguest traces remain..we aren't certain, but it's possible his presence in the Beta Phase healed them for him. The energies there are unpredictable."

Gina drummed her fingers on the table. "Has he regained consciousness..said anything about his identity?"

"There is a note in the nightly log...he awoke for a short time around 3 AM...the nurse heard fragments of Klingon, English, Latin, Italian, and something the computers identify as Shi'ar...a language from a comic book. Nothing coherent..just delirious babbling."

Gina steepled her fingers in front of her face. "I know it's technically illegal,but did you consider a mindprobe?"

"Genn could not perform a meld, since the subject remained in a coma most of the evening.. Another approach was tried, however..."

"Hmmm?" Gina queried.

Séance nodded his bearded head, "I had arrived earlier in the evening, to visit Brianna before the demonstration. I was meditating in the Botanical Gardens, since she thought a mage might disrupt the first experiment. When I heard from Genn about the accident, I immediatly traveled to the hospital and offered my services. While he could not communicate, it was possible that he might dream."

"Were you able to discover his identity, toothpick?" Ryan asked.

Grinning slightly at the old taunt, Séance shook his head, "No. Nothing could be determined."

"His shields were that strong?" Penny asked.

"Not precisely.. it's difficult to explain. Despite his comatose condition, I was able to reach within his mind. The house of his psyche has been completely shattered. His mind is a seething cauldron of chaotic fragments of memory, without pattern or control."

"More torture?" Gina asked.

"Perhaps...there are spells which can destroy a person's spirit...they leave traces, and I was unable to detect these. To use the clinical term, he is in a state of dissosciated amnesia."

"In other words, when he regains consciousness, he will have nearly complete procedural and semantic memory, but will have no recollection of the past," Genn added.

"Precisely. He will be able to function as a normal adult for his society. His personality may undergo radical alteration, however, as none of the events which shaped his development remain."

"A total newborn." Bri mused. "Any chance of recovery?"

"Unlikely." Genn replied. "His memories have been completely repressed. If we knew his identity, we might be able to rebuild his history, but without it, he may never be who he was before."

"What's your recommendation?" Bri queried.

Genn spoke first. "He is as a child....a dangerous child, with the skills of an adult. He must be carefully guided if we wish to avoid the possibilty of madness."

"I agree," Seance chimed in. "I spoke with the Mages Council earlier this morning. With careful telepathic and virtual therapy, we should be able to integrate his pysche enough to make him a functional member of society."

"I'd like to keep an eye on him, just in case there's more to him than meets the eye." Gina mused.

"If you must," Genn sighed, "but if you gets in the way, I'll kick you out myself."

Gina hrrumphed, but made no further comment.

"So basically, we are going to rebuild his mind from scratch." Bri commented.

"We have the technology.." Gina chimed in.

Bri threw a donut at her.

"Any idea what happened at the demo?" Ryan queried.

Bri looked up. "Raph thinks the Tunnel effect passed through a region of interstitial space that was already inhabited. The field formed _around_ this fellow, and the backwash dragged him through the Gate. It then overloaded, destroying the gate..he isn't quite sure where the energy originated."

"In other words, he doesn't have a clue." Gina added.

Ryan laughed. "Of course."

Bri stood, looking out over the assembled team. "OK folks, looks like we have a plan. Genn, go ahead with the therapy...maybe he'll recover his memories without priming. And Gina..."

"Yes?"

"We all set for dinner Thursday?"

"Certainly. It would be a pleasure."

Chapter 2. The Sleeper Shall Awaken.