EON FICTION COMPETITION

Trinity: The Nature of Nature
By Knave

“Oh drek”

Alex Webb’s feet were definitely drifting him across the corridor – he was onto them. This SO wasn’t a good time! Life was often like that for Alex though. He had been ignoring it all day… but now the gradual build-up had suddenly gone critical – drawing him in like some poor, grocery-laden moth to a Pyrokinetic training exercise.

“Yeh” thought Alex, somewhat wistfully, “this place sure brings back memories”. “Pretty shoddy ones… ”. He was almost at the door now. The cruddy quality holo-sign left little to the imagination as to what “The Asteroid Miner’s Daughter” club was all about.

The nock-off Kostbaar suited ogre at the door with the Chelsea Smile stuck his hand in Alex’s face without making eye contact.

“Fuck you, ‘On-ree’” Alex said good-naturedly. “No sense in letting a little thing like fate get you down… Gosh Darnit” he thought to himself manically. The ogre’s brow crinkled as he gave Alex another once over.

“Uh… Sorry Officer. Ahh din recognize ya”

Alex glanced up at the seven foot Frenchman.

“Uh… Ahh din see ya round no mor. ‘erd yoo wuz busted or sumpin?”

“Smalltalk… well it’s good to see that the poor French bastard’s been working on his social skills.”
Alex raised an eyebrow as menacingly as he could manage.

“I wasn’t busted… “ The pull was getting stronger… he could feel the invisible shiver beginning… soon it would be a full vibrational state.

“Yah not suppozed ta’h take ya own shit in”, Henry managed - nodding at Alex’s grocery bags.

“Oh well – if that’s the only problem!” Alex shoved the two large plastic bags into Henry with enough force that the big bouncer was forced grab hold of them.

“And if anything happens, yeh – just make sure that those get to OUTREACH on sublevel 44. I know a whole squad of 4th Legion Volunteers who’ll find anyone who had contact with that shit if it doesn’t get there.”

Taking advantage of the Frenchman’s positively mechanical reasoning process, Alex ducked through the pressure door. Once through the sonic-dampening field the memories flooded back. Days in the United Lunar Police Force – talking to Freddie the Snitch who liked to hang out here back then. Even busting some of the President’s men on one occasion. Good days… bad days… yeh… Maybe they were just simpler than now?

The place was much the same… dimly lit, sweet smelling smoke in the air from the smoke machine, people scattered about at the tables around the stage runway and at the faux-wood bar running the length of the wall. Even the same, or at least very similar, rubbish music playing.

“That’s New... And not entirely legal.” The dancer on the stage was a reality-grade hologram. Knowing that, Alex felt a lot better about what she was doing to that pole. And a lot worse for the bunch of overeager knobheads (7th Legionnaire’s from their midnight blue uniforms) hooting and hollering from the side of the stage. His attention was subtly drawn to the bar – past the broad, black Legionnaire obviously buying drinks for his buddies – and to the petite brunette in the new style (almost no shoulder pads) flex-coat. The side of her mouth quirked upward ever so slightly as she paused – not quite taking a sip from her fluted glass.

“Great… Another Gyre surfing Ductran…ex girlfriend.”
“Hello Nina”. That’s what he intended to say when he walked over. Simple. To the point. Absolutely nothing about ‘Hello Nina’ that even another Clear could take the wrong way. Making his way over things went wrong. The tingling became more… His skull opened up…

He was hovering above… watching himself move across the room. Somehow he found himself thinking, “Darn – that lined coat really could use a clean… maybe I should actually get another this time…” Just as his body was passing the bar Alex caught site of a flicker at the back of the room…

For just a second, a haunted looking girl - an Elgee from her posture - had peeked her mascara stained face through the holo-curtain. The back-room business was obviously still on the go.

And then his attention flashed back to his own body. He had grabbed the clear whiskey flask from the bar and was spinning around!
Nina had a stun baton out and was drawing it back for a throw!
Iolus, the porridge-faced bartender’s eyes were expanding in shock while his eyebrows were making an attempt to restore his hairline.

The Legionnaire at the bar was good… he was already turning... He never had a chance. - The clear tot-pouring spike on the bottle drove straight into his temple… He fell heavily against the bar – his face compressed and jaw clenched… Alex knew that he was dead.

With a suddenness bordering on pain Alex was back in his body… For a tiny moment he was flailing – senses uncontrolled - The bar - The smoke trails - The whirling stun baton - The thug at the table across from him was throwing himself backward out of his chair - Shocked faces - One of the Legionnaires, a flyboy by the gold wings on his patches, pulling an Aris flechette pistol with speed indicative of ridiculous amounts of training. - On the floor, thick blood was clouding into the flask…mixing with the whiskey…

Alex caught the gestalt…ran with it. He knew how it would play out. The flechette gun had its slider set to maximum. Eight slivers of weighted plastic would leave the barrel and… his point of view shifted to the Legionnaire’s… hit him in the neck. Nina’s sparking stun baton would hit his shoulder a millisecond later… unless…Alex’s body blurred and curled to the side and down – the baton would pass by…but the flechette darts sliced straight into Iolus’s startled face… three of them vanishing into his left eye. Options! No time! Something!

Alex jumped, turning… the flechette darts stung – a minor pain, not even piercing his bioweave. The hilt of the baton clattered off his extended elbow – sending funny-bone shocks up his arm. “Oh shit! Oh shit! – CONCENTRATE!”

Tiny Flickers in the air and not… Someone - the tired looking woman at the table near the door – was screaming. Nina was throwing her glass – knowing she’d make it that much harder.

“You just killed a man! A MAN! A stranger! You KILLED A MAN!”

The sandy haired flyer was growling – firing again… His comrades flickering – Telekinetics!

“The gyre is gone… it was you… This is because of what you did on Eden!”

The flechette darts were an easy dodge this time… The glass knocked aside. Even the TK punches were compensated for. “Almost at the door… Almost at the door! Then what!?!?!” The bouncer… his fist was looming… he was armoured. “No way out!”

Time fast-forwarded.
Alex was in a cell… being watched by Al Alif psion chasers AND the ULPF. He had some sort of biotech I.V. pack attached to his arm. “The universe made me do it is not a plea… “ Mad thoughts! The man at the mylex door was saying, “… Death has been passed. Your claim of temporary insanity has been denied.”

Back at the bar Alex grabbed the only escape he could find… his back arched as he threw himself into the vision, as he had been able to do since Brazil… Sight blurred; shapes swam – somehow he knew that flechette darts had passed through him – and stuck into Henry’s fibre-weave. Red sky. Blue hills… Water nearby… A hill… This hill… Here! Alex collapsed on the wet ground… A very different place… but near the Still Point.

“To understand the Holographic Reality is to understand Nature, Alex.” Otha’s tired voice was close. He was a few meters away at most. “Nature is not cruel. It does what it must. As do we all.”

“I killed a man!” It was a croak. “It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t… unavoidable. I KILLED A MAN!”

“I have killed thousands, Alex. “

Otha walked away.