DORULL STORIES - PRISONER OF THE AMULET
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PTD, or personal transport disc,
wasn’t larger than a common palm in an inactive state. But once powered, he
could enlarge up to five meters in diameter. Which was more than enough to
transport even the largest among them, the battle vards.
Sanomis used them in every
visitation to the surface. Which was to be expected, considering the vastness
of the territory he was covering in his research. Without the help of these
useful, little things, he knew he couldn’t even manage to do the tenth of it.
No wonder they were provided with them. The accelerated exploratory process was
finally making sense, as Sanomis discovered the real reason for their arrival
on this planet.
The gathering of the information
in conventional methods, would certainly give more accurate facts and data. But
it would ‘ve lasted for far too long. Those who planned this vile mission,
undoubtedly knew that. They most likely knew they had a limited time period of
staying on Dorull. This device lowered the risk of being discovered. So they could
faster and easier enslave the unfortunate ones, who called this place a home.
It was almost poetic that Sanomis
had decided to use precisely this device, as a mean to help in stopping
them. Although, that turn out to be much harder, then it firstly seemed.
There was still one major obstacle he had to solve, before he could even
proceed. PTDs could only work, once they’ve detected the life form. And as the
geologist planned to use them in an attempt to deceive his likely pursuers, he
had to find a way of tricking the discs into believing his particular life form
is on all of them. One other problem was that the PTDs had to transport him to
the designated locations, at the same exact time.
Sanomis had spent almost an entire
night, thinking about the predicament he had found himself in. But whatever new
idea presented itself, he would always stumble upon the same exact problem. He
was all alone. And he somehow had to find a way of being many. More precisely,
he had to figure out a way to be in several places, at the same exact time. For
the time was the main thing he was wanting to spare. Otherwise he knew, the time would not be the only thing he'd lose, on his long journey towards the
village of Vur-Paan.
Sanomis was now almost willing to
accept that this long and tedious walk was the only thing left for him to do.
He was already loading the map of the Chaygor region on his display, in order
to check for the apparently fastest routes leading towards his destination. It
wouldn’t take long before he dismissed the first couple of them. They were
passing by far too many orcish settlements along the way. Sanomis was already
marking the third route for the closer look, when he got interrupted
by a small, and rather curious visitor. A visitor, which will turn out to be
quite a helpful one.
It was a plain field mouse.
Somewhat outside of its usual area of living, since the nearest field wasn’t
exactly, well, near. Mouse hopped right into this cave, most likely drawn by
the remains of the food. It Stopped itself straight in front of Sanomis. And on
top of the broken and discarded piece of nutritive bar, the geologist
accidentally dropped, while eating. The bar was rich in taste. Full
of proteins, vitamins and minerals. Everything vards needed. No wonder it was a
food of choice for many of them. So no wonder, the mouse devoured it in mere
seconds. And the little animal wanted more.
The mouse moved towards the
geologist. Closer and closer. Until it was only a pace or two away from
Sanomis. Animal enjoyed the food so much, it forgot about its own safety. It
stopped being afraid. It only thought about the next bite. The mouse stood up
on its back legs, stretching the front ones towards the geologist. Tiny,
pinkish nose wiggled from left to right, as it was catching the pleasant scent
of the food, still coming from Sanomis’ general direction. it looked as if the
mouse was asking for more. As if it was begging him.
“Are you still hungry?” Sanomis
asked, breaking off a piece of the bar.
The mouse squeaked, as if it was
confirming that. As if it understood.
“Are you alone, like me?” Sanomis
asked again “Do you find it harder to find some food, because of that?”
The mouse sat, looking the
geologist straight into his eyes.
“Or do you have some friends?”
Sanomis asked the mouse, offering said piece of the nutritive bar “Perhaps you
could help me.”
The mouse accepted the food, with
both of his arms. Only this time, eating it much, much slower.
“I could give you more food, if you
bring them over.” Sanomis laughed wholeheartedly, after this last comment,
realizing the absurdity of the situation.
The mouse finished the meal,
squeaked once again, as if it was thanking him, before running off from whence
it came. Sanomis allowed himself a loud sigh, as he immediately resumed
checking the routes. And it wasn’t long before he picked three of the most
sensible ones. Only thing left now was to reaffirm his choices with the more
precise mapping device. The gadget he very rarely even used. But then again, he
never before had to traverse across so much land, as fast as possible.
Sanomis pulled the device from his
backpack, before setting it on the flattest, most suitable piece of ground in
this cave. He then proceeded to input the chosen routes, with all the details
of the region he could copy from his files. This took him but thirty seconds,
as he knew it would take at least twice as much, before the holographic
representation of the region appears. But he never had a chance to test that. Because
when he turned around to power the mapper on, he was greeted with a group of
ten mice, led by the one that was here before.
“So you do have some friends?”
Sanomis was surprised.
The mouse merrily squeaked, as it
took a step forward.
“Can you help me?” Would you help
me?” Sanomis said, immediately wondering what he was actually doing right now
“I promise I could give you as much food as you want.”
The rest of the mice joined the
first. It looked as if they understood him, however unbelievable or even insane
that might be. Perhaps this was the act of magic. That could’ve easily
explained a thing or two. Sanomis’ mind promptly wandered towards his meeting
with Ch’ybal. Specifically her claims in regards to magic. And with good
reason. Because, ever since then, he couldn’t shake a feeling that this bond
they established through the crystal, actually changed him in some way.
But at the same time, Sanomis knew
he'd have to search for the answer to that question on a much later date. Now,
he had to find out whether these mice could be of some help. Or they would
decide to scatter away, before he’d ever get the chance to do so. He had to
gather them at the same spot. And fast. And one of the universal sample
containers looked as an ideal solution.
In the turned off, transport mode,
these boxes weren’t larger than one cubic centimeters. But once activated, they
could be used to store objects over three meters in diameter. For these furry,
little creatures, Sanomis assessed that the case of about half a meter, would
be more than enough. If he even manages to lure them in.
And that turned out to be much
easier than he thought in the first place. Where he expected the hectic jumble
of confused disarray, of mice trying to escape, they simply walked into the box.
Sanomis break off a couple of nutritive bars, before placing them in the box,
alongside the few sample dishes filled with water. After which he moved away,
towards his backpack. He went through every pocket and compartment, until he
found what he was searching for. The case of PTDs, and one with the set of TEAs.
He had exactly six transport
discs, which wasn’t at all that bad, considering he left the Shteint in a
hurry. But still, he knew he could’ve, and should’ve, brought at at least twice
as many. He had to make the task of his pursuers as hard as possible. If he had
more of these discs at his disposal, this task of theirs would become
significantly harder. Perhaps even impossible.
But at least the transformative
emulation adapters were all accounted for. And that was much more important to
him right now. If he could make them work. Sanomis had no idea if they even
would. He first had to confirm if they would be compatible with mice. Sure, TEAs
could easily change the structure and properties of every type of material.
Which was the reason the vards mostly used them on themselves. To change their
appearance, as they were doing the exploratory duties on the surface of the
planet. To better blend in the environment. Only trouble was, they never used
it on objects a thousand times smaller.
Sanomis set aside five of each
PTDs and TEAs, before pairing them. He then took the universal sample collector
from his belt, powered it on and set it aside. This tool was essential to every
explorer and scientist. They wouldn’t leave for the surface without it. Sanomis
used his USC for collecting the samples of stones, rocks, earth and sand. As
the other scientists did in their own research, to obtain various herbal and
animal samples, water, or even air, among many other things.
Sanomis now only needed to draw
his blood. Exactly fifty milliliters of it. At the same time, he loaded the TEA
management program. He hastily scrolled over the menu, activating the option
for the new adjustment. After which he enabled all the subroutines for manual
input and fine tuning. Sanomis picked the first of the adapters, placing it on
the palm of his left hand. With his right he raised the collector, extracting
exactly ten milliliters of blood, on the smooth surface of the plate. He was
careful not to spill even a drop.
At first, it looked as if nothing
was happening. Tiny puddle of blood rested peacefully on the adapter for quite
some time. But Sanomis knew he had to remain patient. The necessary check and
the adjustment of the device to the newly assigned parameters, could last for
up to two minutes. The difference in sizes between him and these mice was a
cause for concern. Therefore, he had to enable every safety protocol.
Sanomis’ estimate was accurate to
a second. Because as soon as hundred and twenty first passed, the adapter
activated itself. The sample of blood he shortly deposited on the surface of
the plate, now found its way inside of it. The adapter simply soaked it in. At
the same time, he finished the processing of the geologist’s data.
“Process completed.” his
module informed him “Attach the subject.”
Sanomis carefully picked up one of
the mice, placing the plate on the back of the little rodent. Two things
happened at the same time. His module informed him of the detection of the life
form, as the adapter merged with the body of the mouse. The process itself was
painless, as much as it was instant. Sanomis returned the mouse back into the
box, before repeating the identical action with four remaining plates. Only
thing left was to insert the coordinates into the PTDs.
He had chosen seemingly random
locations. Ones which were as far from one another as were from this, but also
from the cave in Chaygor, he was intending to port to. Sanomis placed first of
the discs onto the ground, and powered it on. It took but a fraction of a
second for it to enlarge to the desired diameter of one and a half meters.
After that, he arranged the five remaining ones around the first, in a way they
surely wouldn’t touch each other.
Sanomis hastily packed his things
back into his bag, making sure not to leave anything behind. There was no room
for error. He had to erase every trace of him in this cave, no matter how
insignificant it seemed. He picked every piece of food, every crumb he dropped.
And every drop of water he spilled. He then wiped the ground, removing his
footprints. And the walls of the cave, which he might’ve touched. Soon enough,
he returned the cave to its previous state.
Sanomis picked up the box with
mice and stepped on the central disc. He then placed the first one onto the
neighboring PTD. The protective field of the disc immediately powered on. It
was made to protect the vards from the potentially fatal mistakes. But on this
occasion, it was used to prevent the mice from simply walking away from the
discs.
“Activate the TEA.” Sanomis issued
the voice command.
“TEA activated.” his module
responded a second later.
“Transform the subject.” Sanomis
said.
Adapter let out a short, barely
audible whir, which for a moment confused the mouse. The rodent probably felt
some slight discomfort, because of the vibrations of the plate that was
attached to its backside. But it didn’t show any signs of irritation or even
pain. The mouse didn’t show fear. It remained calm. Even after it began
changing shape and size.
And the change happened almost
instantly. Instead of all fours, the mouse stood up on its back legs. Its back
straightened and stretched. As were its arms and legs. Mouse was now almost one
meter tall. Its shoulders and chest widened next. As was its abdomen. Mouse was
now reaching a meter and a half. Rodent completely lost the fur. Its skin was
now as white as vard’s. Mouse’s face started to change. The nose and whiskers
went away. So did its ears. Mouse was now as tall as Sanomis. Not only that, he
even looked like him. Exactly like him.
Good enough to trick the sensors.
Perhaps even through the first few seconds of the face to face meeting. Sanomis
knew it wouldn’t last for much longer, if for nothing else, but for the fact
that this copy of his could not talk. Which wasn’t that important to him
anyway. What mattered now was the transformation itself. More precisely, its
stability. Sanomis was more than satisfied to find out it was holding. Because
that meant, he could do the same with the rest of the mice. And he did. Without
a hitch. Just a couple of minutes later, he was surrounded with five identical
copies.
They stood still. Staring at him
in some weird blend of confusion and curiosity. As if they were waiting to see
what will happen next. As if they even understood what was going on. Sanomis
could not know if the transformation did anything with their tiny minds. But if
nothing else, he knew it wasn’t hurting them. They seemed fine.
Sanomis loaded the program
manager, scrolling down the list of all active devices. Until he found the
controller of the PTDs. His module recognized all six of them. They were all
fully operational. And stable. Once again, he checked the coordinates, and
picked the option of joined connection. He selected them all, one by one, and
pressed the confirm button.
“PTDs connected.” his
module informed him.
Sanomis initiated his TEA. In a
scramble to reach Chaygor as fast as possible, he almost forgot to change his
appearance. Something every explorer used to do, on their visits to the
surface. To make sure if they made contact with the local population, they’d
avoid a conflict situation. Sanomis was now doing exactly that, as he was
loading the orcish mask.
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