Nexus (Chapter 3)

THREE - JANE SOUTAINE


Orbfly, or orbflies in plural, was not a new toy. Its spherical body embedded with numerous sensors and tactile arrays can reveal more information than anything else. Nothing could hide from it. Powered by microbursts of nuclear matter and antimatter, the orbflies could fly to the moon and back. But one of the most favourite features is, it has (or once had) the intelligence of an inquisitive ant, or bee.


This time, after so many years, almost be forgotten, they were in use again by him to scour the region where the source came from. And for seven days they had been sniffing and prodding. Visuals and other data had been squeezing into his mind through tiny neurotransmitter. He slowly analysed the data while waiting for the source to reply again.


And of course, after a week, the data was consumed and displayed logically and the source also had replied. First, all the intelligent-testing puzzles had been solved with great accuracy but there was still some margin of errors, indicating that it wasn't a machine or a super computer which completed it. Second, visuals and sensors from the orbflies revealed that there was a huge black vehicle hidden in a dense forest at the southern hemisphere just being activated. The heat signature suggeated that this vehicle was under hibernation for at least five hundred years. But nothing was revealed. X-ray and gravimetric sensors drew blank.

And now, it sent messages again:

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"Sir, do you think...?" the servitor twitched.

"I am weighing the issue, in case you are wondering," he interrupted.

"The ship is prepared, sir," the servitor announced after it ran through pre-test from the control board.

"Alright. Suit me up, I am going to hit atmosphere," he said with a silent sigh.

"Are you sure about this, sir? The threat of dying might be inevitable," the servitor warned. "Do not forget how you become the last human standing."

"I am not the Pilgrim," he replied sharply. "She left a very long time ago." He then recalled the bitter story of how humanity ended. Ever so quiet and ever so brutal. "She should be executed, just so you know."

"She didn't know that it is coming to her all the time, sir," the servitor replied.

"I will not forget her name. Jane Soutaine," he gritted his teeth.

"She tried to protect humanity, sir," the servitor replied.

"She didn't. She allowed meteor to hit Earth and she brought so many disasters!" he got very angry now. "If only I know where she has gone to, I would have hunted her down and slaughter her."

"You know she has gone to the Traveller's side. You couldn't have any possibility to get her right now, sir," the servitor replied.

"Well, it is believed that she has gone to the Traveller's but not much data is obtained from that since the deletion of all human culture and information was part of the disaster."

"I still have some data. Should I patch it through, sir?"

"Patch it through while I am on my way down to Earth," he replied.

"You might get yourself killed by any remaning elements of the disaster, sir," the servitor warned.

"I take the chances," he replied firmly.

Another beep frightened them. He stared at the screen and he shivered at the message received:

"JANE SOUTAINE"

"She is there and she can hear us..." he said in horror.