All That Sparkles is Not...

  Chapter 7 – Expected?

  The city, if city it can be called, whilst having cylinders, domes and pyramid shapes, is quite uniform in design, the pattern being repeated time and time again, just the sort of thing you would expect a machine to make. The walls are all the same dull grey.

  Our transport heads for one of the domes and as we get closer, we can see that there is a cylinder in front of the dome, as we get very close, I notice that there is an opening at the front of the cylinder and we are heading straight for it. The ground suddenly becomes quite smooth, no more rocking backwards and forwards. A great relief for my, now aching muscles, aching from hanging onto this machine.

  Once fully inside the cylinder, the machine stops. The outer doors slide noiselessly shut. The cylinder is lit, but I cannot see where the light is coming from, apart from the walls themselves. As soon as the two doors touch, I note that the ground is shaking, when I look down I can see it is a grid rather than being solid. The shaking ceases and out the corner of my eye, I spot that another set of doors opposite the first set, are opening.

  As the doors slide ever wider, we can see inside the dome. There are more of these machines inside. I wonder if there are any biological life forms, directing all this activity.

  Our machine starts to move again and once inside the dome, it says “Bitte runter, runter.”

  “What is it saying?” I ask.

  Rachel replies, “Apart from the word Bitte meaning please, I don’t know.”

  “Probably asking us to get off.” Anile suggests.

  We climb down. Keen to explore this place, I start to walk towards a group of three of the machines, they seem to be engaged in building or fixing some piece of equipment. I am curious to find out what it is.

  “Halten!” our machine exclaims, the first time it has demonstrated anything approaching an emotive voice.

  Immediately I freeze, not wanting to find out the consequences of disobeying the machine; its meaning was clear.

  I turn around to face our machine, one of its arms is now extended, with a claw like device at the end, the arm was heading towards me, but is now absolutely frozen just like the rest of the machine.

  I detect some activity out of the corner of my eye, another machine is heading towards us. This machine quite different from the ones we have seen so far. The latest machine has the same three tracks, the round cylinder extends right up to the head spheres; this time there are six. There appear to be three arms on this machine, two with claws that have more fingers than our machine and the third arm has some other form of attachment, but I cannot make out is purpose. This new machine seems to be slower, more graceful in movement than the others. It kind of, glides towards us, stopping short of us by about a metre and an half. There is an exchange between the machines, but it is so fast that I am unable to make out what is being said, not even the odd word. I look at Rachel and her shrugging shoulders, confirm that she is having the same trouble.

  The new machine asks, “Var dest origin”

  “Origin the earth.” Replies Rachel.

  The machine responds, “Sind Sie auf der Suche nach uns?”

  Rachel looks puzzled, “Suche, I think that means search, that’s it suche nach, search for.”

  The machine says, “Ya search for, uns?”

  “Ah I have it now, you are asking if we came in search for you.”

  “Ya, you come in search for you?”

  “Yes, but that should be ‘you come in search for us’. We were searching for you, We saw your city and came here, to see if anyone was here.”

  “Yes I have it now. Wir haben die Heimat für Sie bereit.”

  “You have the something, ready, what is Heimat?”

  “Heimat, oder hause sauchlich.”

  “Oh you have the house in order.”

  I suggest to Rachel, “I think actually, it means this home land is ready, presumably ready for us.”

  “Yes, we have the home land ready for you. You Seltsamerweise sprechen. ”

  “Sprechen, something about speech. Are you saying we speak, Seltsamer, ah! Strangely, we speak strangely?”

  “Yes you speak strangely. Veil geändert Sprache. ”

  “You find it difficult to understand us?”

  “Yes, Veil geändert. Komm mit mir, zeige ich Ihnen, um.”

  “I got the come with me, but to do what?”

  “Aussehen, your home land.”

  “Come with you to look at the home land.”

  “Ya, yes. You have it now.”

  ~~o~~o~~

  Phil strolls over to the bench and asks “How is it going?”

  Gavin looks up and replies, “Well almost there now, apart from the fact that I have to get hold of three large condensers from Ryan. That was part of the trouble, one of the original ones had broken down and was about as useful as a bucket with a hole in it.”

  “You have done well, just over an hour and a half.”

  “I still have to check the circuit over to make sure there are no shorts or dry joints, I can do that when I have contacted Ryan.”

  Phil looking at his watch asks, “Crickey, will he be up and about at this time it’s gone midnight?”

  “What our Ryan, he might be a bit plastered, but he never goes to bed before two. I’ll give him a tinkle in a mo, when I ‘ave finished this segment off.”

  “That is a nice job you ‘ave done there mate.”

  “Thanks, that’s a compliment from the master.”

  “I think I’ll make a cuppa, do you fancy one?” Phil asks and picks up both mugs assuming the answer will be yes.

  “Yeah OK, put a spare by, you know what our Ryan is like, if he sees ours he’s bound to want one.”

  “I thought his style at this time of night, would be to go for a can.”

  “Na Ryan knows when enough is enough.”

  “Doesn’t match with what you said earlier Gavin, he’ll be alright to drive, will he?”

  “Ryan drive? He bikes it everywhere, he’ll be fine Phil.”

  With that Phil whistles as he goes to the kitchen. Kitchen, more like a sink and small cabinet tucked to one side of this large warehouse building.

  ~~o~~o~~

  “This is incredible!” I find myself repeating the phrase over and over again. The outside of this city might be boring and dull, but the inside is anything but. The interior decorations and artwork are the most stunning I have ever seen. We have passed by some truly incredible statues and art installations. Take the dome we are in now, there is a beautiful rising cascade of cut metal shapes that look like a mountain of flowers rising up in an arc, the whole suspended somehow from the domed ceiling. Dotted around the room are dividers in the form of art installations, also with a flowered theme, each divider is wrapped around a pool of water which either has some form of waterfall, or a fountain. One such fountain, we have just passed, emits programmed spurts of water that make a fascinating animated display, that quite frankly I could watch for hours. I watch for quite a while and see no repeated sequences.

  The whole, gives this room an air of vibrancy, of interest and the air has a definite freshness about it.

  Rachel leans across towards me and mutters, “I keep expecting a human to appear and introduce him or herself, as being the master architect.”

  “Me too” I reply, “But until now I have seen no signs of human or come to that any other form of biological habitation. The place seems like it is solely inhabited by the machines.”

  “Do you think they built all this from some master program?” Rachel asks.

  “Possible I suppose, but they would have needed to bring all the materials with them otherwise they would not know what raw materials they would have to work with.”

  “Unless,” Rachel pauses, then resumes, “unless they had surveyed the planet beforehand.”

  “I thought our guide was going to give some form of commentary or explanation as to how things were made, or what their pur
pose is.”

  “I did too, but nothing, our guide is merely acting like a sign post showing us the way through.”

  As we pass under the rising curtain we see high up the walls of the dome are balcony’s that presumably link to another building.

  One of the machines seems to be ascending vertically without any apparent means of support, as if it is flying. The machine turns and disappears onto a balcony, then slides from view.

  Rachel comments “I wonder what powers this city?”

  “Probably not wise, to ask our guide.”

  “Why not?” Rachel’s face asked the question ahead of the words.

  “I just get the feeling that it expects us to already know a lot about this place. I think they have built this place for some other race of biological beings and they think we are those beings. As our guide seemed to be saying that all this was ready for us.”

  “Yes I got the impression that they were expecting us. I will be careful what I say then.”

  Chapter 8 – Take me to your master

  Gavin, examining the three shiny cylinders, asks, “How the hell did you manage to carry these beauties on the bike?”

  Ryan replies, “That’s what rucksacks are for mate.”

  Phil asks, “Want a cuppa?”

  “Sure do, I’m spitting feathers after the ride out here, why couldn’t you guys get somewhere nearer campus?”

  “We couldn’t afford the rent. This place has been vacant so long, that they were dead chuffed that we were interested, the rent they were asking was good, but I managed to talk it down even further.”

  “Hey that sounds good.”

  Phil turning one of the condensers over in his hands and examining it approvingly asks, “How much do us owe you fer the condensers?”

  “Not sure, they ‘ave been in the store for some time, so I’ll ‘ave to look up the records, but don’t worry I can discount ‘em, as to be quite honest, I am glad to get rid of ‘em. I think they were originally brought in for something old Hendrickson was going to do, but never got round to it.”

  “What Professor Victor Hendrikson?

  “Yeah, the dude himself.”

  “But he’s been retired for five years.”

  “As I said, they ‘ave been in the store for some time. I think I ordered them about two or three years before he retired.”

  “Thanks very much for bringing ‘em over at this time of night.”

  “My pleasure Phil; I was at a loss anyway.”

  Gavin pipes up, “What you? At a loss for something to do?”

  “Well the lads went up to Newcastle this morning and I ‘ad to work.”

  “Oh yeah there were going up for someone’s stag do, weren’t they?”

  “That’s right, shame I couldn’t go, should be a good shindig. So what are you guys working on these days, still that comms laser thingy?”

  Gavin looks at Phil and Phil replies, “Yes us needed to scale it up and see how it performed in ‘t real network.”

  “Cool, mind if I take a look around?”

  “Well we’re rather busy right now, but be glad to show you in a few days. I’ll just go and get you that cuppa.”

  “Thanks.” Ryan waits until Phil has gone then says, “Hey Gav, why is Phil being so cagey?”

  “Nothing personal, been a long day mate and we’d ‘ave finished earlier, if the power didn’t have so many peaks and troughs.”

  “Ah that’s the trouble with being on an industrial estate. We had problems up the Uni until we got our own supply. So what are these beauties going into?”

  “This.” Gavin points to the circuit diagram.

  “Crikey mate, that’s one hell of a power smoothing circuit.”

  Gavin nods, “I just hope it works ok.”

  “Wanna hand?”

  “Yeah great thanks, if you mount the capacitors on this frame, I can connect them up.”

  ~~o~~o~~

  This latest dome is massive and bustling with activity. The closer we got to this dome, there seemed to be greater varieties, as well as numbers, of machines.

  Rachel says, “This must be the hub of control, looks like we could meet the head honcho.”

  Anile enthusiastically remarks, “It would seem so.”

  I suggest, “Looks like we will see who is behind all this.”

  Rachel looking up at the ceiling and taking in the view, she mutters, “Just what I said.” Then a bit louder, asks, “The art is truly stunning isn’t it?”

  I agree “It sure is amazing. Seems like a celebration of what has been achieved. What I find myself doing is trying to figure out how some of these things are supported. There often appears to be no physical connection. The weight must be amazing. There is certainly some engineering at play here, something way beyond a simple robot.”

  “Yes and it seems to be co-ordinated, as if there is some master architect.”

  “Or artist.” Anile suggests.

  “Exactly.” I agree, “It just has the feeling that there is a human or some other biological species’, mind behind all this.”

  As we are escorted towards the centre by our guide, the machines around us, move aside. We have no idea if they are really acknowledging our presence or just responding to some machine instructions.

  Rachel whispers, “If we are right about these machines expecting us and having built all this for us ….or at least some other biological species, there seems little excitement at our arrival.”

  I reply, equally in a whisper, “Come, come, these are mere machines, we should not expect emotions, whilst they have reached their goal, they no doubt are still responding as if they have to continue providing habitats and presumably they have also taken care of, or are about to provide food sources. Maybe that is their new focus, now that their ‘iols’ have arrived.”

  “But surely you would expect that machines with the capability of such creativity to have some curiosity now that their ‘iols’ have arrived.” Rachel asks.

  “You have a point, unless their activity is merely directed by someone at the centre of this dome. Or it could even have been pre-programmed, ahead of their departure, from wherever they came.”

  Ahead of us now is a slightly raised platform, with an amazing decorative divider, set back from the edge by about 20 centimetres. The separation from the edge of the platform to the divider itself is evident from the fact that there is a gently rising chamfered lip, seamlessly connecting the two. The divider, like most of the artefacts hanging from the ceilings, consists of shapes cut out of and shaped from what appears to have originally been a single sheet of material. It mainly has the look of dull metal, but here and there are blended colours, various dark colours, leading to black, but in their transition replaying their life of formation, showing in the vividness of their colours the heat that must have been applied or generated in forming these shapes. It is as if the craftsman had not got around to the finishing process of polishing out or painting over, this imperfection, but had instead decided to let the metal continue to tell its own story. As we walk, I continue to take in each gentle fold and change of angle as the metal weaves in and out of itself. I marvel at the fact that if these shapes were formed from a single sheet, that in places they have magically, been stretched to form their shapes, yet seamlessly re-join the original sheet. Such artistry, such magic, takes hold of the soul and draws it in, enthralling it so, that it cannot bear to be taken away. Like an enchanted tale that holds the partaker, as if it were their life, that is being lived, before their very own eyes.

  Yet drawn in and engaged as I am, to this magic; I am suddenly ripped out again. As there before us, at the end of the slope leading up to the platform itself, is the most amazing machine we have beheld thus far. Its size and presence far out measures all the others, it is like encountering a king or queen of ages past, adorned by all the finery of their empire, reflecting their majesty and power. The sight that befalls us is more than a mere machine. Whilst al
l the artistry that we have seen thus far should have prepared us for this moment, what we see now far outstrips all our expectations. Our eyes seem to behold a sentient being, its decoration most regal and elegant, yet it has the underlying look of a machine.

  The three of us are speechless.

  Our escort stops at a respectful distance from its leader and makes its unintelligible report. The majesty, in all its splendour, merely listens. It’s single head the same dull black as all the other machines, shows no sign of activity.

  We step aside as our escort retreats and glides back down the slope, with no acknowledgement even of our continued presence, no announcement as to whom or what we have been delivered to, or come to that what is expect of us.

  We regroup, so we are standing in a single row before the majestic being, not daring to move or speak.

  The silence and inactivity is painful.

  We were surprised on our journey about the lack of acknowledgement of our presence here, but now, this, is just too painful.

  The silence, a deathly hush, like that before the pronouncement by a judge, of the sentence that is to befall us.

  The inactivity continues, as if someone had just switched off the power and you wait, expecting that it will be resumed any moment.

  ~~0~~0~~

  Gavin steps back and admires their handiwork, having checked the circuitry for the third time, announces, “Well that should do it. Thanks again for ‘elping me Ryan.”

  “No worries mate, glad to ‘ave something to do.”

  Gavin smiles and replies “Well you could’ve been sleeping.”

  “Na, I rarely sleep ‘til about 4 or 5.”

  “Don’t you? I’d be tired all day.”

  “Don’t know why, but I only need about 2 or 3 hours sleep. Anyway sleep is such a waste of time, I can get so much done when I’m awake.”

  “Yeah I know what you mean, but…” Gavin doesn’t finish what he is saying, as Phil re-enters the workshop.

  Phil asks, “Finished lads?”

  “Yes she’s ready and willing, as far as I can see, checked the circuitry out thoroughly, should ‘ave no trouble with this one.”

  “OK let’s get it hooked up then. I don’t want to be down any longer than we need to. I will feel happier when we are reconnected.”

  ~~0~~0~~

  As the Majesty speaks its face lights up, with similar colours to those of the folds of the divider, dark colours fading back to the dull black of the head itself. Whilst it has no recognisable eyes, nose and mouth, the patterns formed as it speaks, do form regular patterns as if the face is revealed.