1"So what am I supposed to actually do, anyway?" Rob asked irritably, readjusting the straps of his backpack and making his sword more comfortable at his hip.
"Please specify," Monitor 15 answered, characteristically stoic. Rob sighed.
"I mean, how am I supposed to 'rebuild' the surface? It isn't as if I can just go and do it all one jar at a time, or anything." Monitor 15 gave him a look that was almost reproachful.
"My, don't we think highly of ourselves?"
"How do you mean?"
"No one member of the Genesis project was intended to complete the project on his or her own. Quite naïve of you to think so."
"All right, then, so why haven't we seen anybody? Why am I the only one who's awake?" That was one of the things that had been bothering Rob; since he'd woken up, the only people he had seen were cryogenically frozen members of the Genesis project (Popsicle People, as he'd come to call them in his head; he couldn't help it). And Monitor 15, of course…but he didn't really count as a person anyway.
Actually, since entering the seemingly endless strings of halls and passageways, Rob hadn't even seen a single Popsicle Person, which was almost a relief, in a way. But not a large one.
"You are awake due to an error in the Hanaford chamber-nothing more than a minor amount of data corruption concerning the computer network's timing algorithms. Unlike many other members of the project (The words 'Popsicle People' popped into Rob's head at once), you were awakened early. You were actually supposed to sleep for another ten years, at the least." The statement did nothing to improve Rob's mood. All it did was prove that even the super-advanced technology at his disposal could screw up (and already had, for that matter). Which meant it could fail again…and could, potentially, fail at such a time when it would be most needed. No, thought Rob, I don't think I'll be trusting this stuff with my life just yet, thanks.
"So, am I the only one awake or something?" Rob asked, fully expecting Monitor 15 to agree that he was, indeed, alone.
"Negative."
For a moment, Rob didn't even comprehend what the hologram had said, couldn't speak through his initial shock. When it finally sunk in, that there were actual people walking around somewhere, not Popsicle People, but people, Rob could hardly sit still.
"There are? Where? How many?"
Monitor 15 looked at him through blank eyes- unlike the copy in the room that Rob had woken up in, this Monitor 15 had no pupils (another error in the system? Rob thought fleetingly)- and answered in the calm, even voice he always used.
"There are two members of Project Genesis that have awakened, both due to an error similar to the one in your chamber; and each has made contact with programs thirty-five and seventeen." Monitor 15 paused, searching the database, and Rob could have sworn he saw lines of digital code running across the tiny holograms eerily blank eyes.
"They are in section 'B' of the weapons division…energy scanners show a large influx of heat and light in the area, minor radiation levels…" the hologram paused again, much longer than the previous time. "Members are identified as Subject numbers 165931 and 6754, code names 'Emerin Mornlight of Rivendell' and 'Andrew Joshua Talon.' They are currently bearing mark six point six-eight-five, northbound towards mechanics and section 'C' of the weapons division…"
"How far is that?" Rob interrupted, not knowing or really even caring what the computer was saying. People!
"Approximately six point three kilometers."
"Which is…?"
"About three point nine miles."
Rob whistled, impressed.
"This is a big damn place, isn't it?"
"Affirmative. If you wish, I can project schematics of the facility's architectural, electrical, and plumbing systems, with exact measurements and-"
"No thanks," Rob said quickly, already moving down the hall. "Let's just find those other two, and then we can think of a plan. Maybe."
It was a few hours later that they came upon the bubble. Rob had been walking steadily, thinking to himself about nothing in particular. Monitor 15 had "shut down" about an hour before, and Rob was tempted to switch him on again, if for no other reason that to have someone talking. It was quiet in the halls of wherever he was, and Rob didn't like it.
He didn't activate Monitor 15, though, and began talking to himself instead, debating what to do once he found the other two people in the installation.
"Well, what do you think?" said Rob One.
"About what?" replied Rob Two.
"About the Others, I mean. What should I say?" Rob One asked.
"I see you've given the Other's capital "O" status," Rob Two said in turn.
"You're not answering the question, and besides, so have you." Rob one said, a bit agitated.
"Bah." replied Rob Two.
"Answer the question!"
And so it went for nearly an hour, Rob arguing with himself in such a way that, if there had been anyone to see him, he seemed crazy.
He rounded a corner, and was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't see the bubble until he was almost on top of it. Rob stumbled backwards, staring at it in slack-jawed wonder.
It was what looked like a wall, transparent, but of a shimmering silvery blue. The entire thing seemed to curve outwards, and the surface didn't seem to be quite solid-it pulsed and shifted, swirling like smoke.
"Monitor 15…" he said slowly, never taking his eyes off the bubble. The hologram appeared above the watch face; Rob didn't look at it.
"Please state the nature of your inquiry."
"What is that?" Rob asked, pointing at the bubble with one finger, agape at the spectacle before him. It was beautiful in a way, with an ethereal quality that seemed to stir something deep inside Rob's mind, something so hidden that he had never known of it until that moment. He grasped at it vainly, but whatever it was slipped from his mental grasp whenever he tried to take hold of it.
"Substance unknown."
Rob snapped his vision down to the hologram, and the feeling (slight as it was) abruptly snuffed out.
"What?"
"Substance unknown." The hologram repeated.
"You mean you don't know what it is?"
"That is the commonly accepted definition of 'unknown,' yes."
"And since when did you get a sense of humor?"
Monitor 15 chose to ignore the question.
"While visual scanners do indicate some form of matter, infrared, heat, and other sensory devices detect nothing in the vicinity save you and myself. However, readings beyond the matter are anomalous."
"Which means…?"
"That the matter we are facing has some negative affect on the complex's sensors. The logical course of action would be to try and circumnavigate."
"Can the sensors still detect the others? The people?"
"Yes."
"How close are they?"
"At our current speed and direction, we will reach the other members in approximately two hours."
"And if we go around?"
"Incalculable. Since the matter affects my sensors, I cannot tell how far it extends without further, more accurate information."
Rob thought for a moment, eyes glancing back and forth between the bubble and the hologram.
"No good," he said finally. "Too big a chance that we won't be able to meet up later, and I'm not gonna pass up the opportunity to talk to someone besides you."
"If that was meant as an insult, please note that I, having no emotions, am not offended."
"Duly noted," said Rob, not really caring whether or not he had insulted a computer program, and stepped towards the bubble.
"There is a chance that my primary operating systems will not function." Monitor 15 warned.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were scared, Monitor 15." And before the hologram could reply, Rob had stepped through.
It was a strange experience, walking through the bubble. In the first instant, it felt cold, pressed against Rob's skin and clothes, clinging to him. After that he could barely feel it at all, but he seemed to move slowly, as if he was trudging his way through thick molasses. Everything around him was brought into extreme detail, every particle of air and light completely visible and rushing past him in a stream of movement and oppressing, explosive silence.
Then, all at once, he caught up with the world. Suddenly he was moving faster, tripping over himself in his newfound speed. The return of noise left him on the floor, clutching his ears in deafened agony before he realized that there was no noise; no more than the soft, distant humming of the machines miles below him.
Rob lay on the floor curled up in a ball, panting, eyes wide, clutching his ears. Eventually he unrolled himself, stood up on two shaky feet.
"Monitor 15?" he asked nervously, wondering if the hologram had, indeed, malfunctioned.
"I am here," he said, appearing above Rob's watch face. And then the hologram did something Rob never expected: he smiled. "Though I would not advise a repeat trip."
Rob smiled back, in spite of himself.
"Yeah," he said, "I heard that, alright."
It was near the "B" section of the weapon's division that Rob and Monitor 15 came across the spider.
First of all, Rob did not like spiders. It wasn't the short, bristled hair covering their bodies that bothered him, nor was it the many, gleaming eyes, and the nasty little fangs that protruded from their mouths...well, maybe they did, but it was the way that they moved that really creeped him out. The way their long, spindly spider-legs stretched out, oh so slowly, gripped the floor, and then pulled the spider along: stretch, grip, pull.
Second of all, the spider was huge.
Rob stood, stuck in place by an overwhelming sense of awe and surprise, a healthy dose of fear and disgust mixed in as well. The spider- or rather, what was left of it, anyway- was dragging itself along the corridor, its few remaining legs pulling its mangled body, a long, sticky trail of blood stretching out behind it.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Rob whispered, his hand gripped tightly around the hilt of his sword.
The spider heard him. It swung its bloated, hairy head in his direction, eight eyes all focused on the boy, drool slathered and dripping off its clicking fangs. Then it charged, its legs no longer stretching slowly and carefully, but scrabbling, propelling the mangled spider down the hall at an alarming speed. Rob stood rooted to the spot, unable to move in the face of this horror, this childhood nightmare, that was descending on him.
Suddenly the spider was upon him, its legs splayed up in the air, fangs dripping, eyes blazing in the undeniable urge to kill.
Without realizing what he was doing, Rob stepped back and to the side, and whipped the sword out of its sheath, the steel ringing clear and loud as it announced itself into the still air. There was a brief flash, a glittering three-foot arc of silver, and the spider fell dead on the floor, bisected neatly across the middle, its legs still twitching. The sword turned in Rob's grip, and the boy slammed it down hard, point first, into the beast's face, impaling it.
All in less time than it took for Rob to blink.
He stared at the gruesome spectacle, black blood pooling at his feet, his hands still gripped tightly around the hilt. He placed a foot against the head and pulled the blade free with a horrible squelching sound. He held it up, blood-streaked and dripping with gore, and for a moment could only look at it in wonder. Then, he calmly knelt down, and wiped the blade clean on the spider's short, stiff hair.
"Monitor 15."
"Yes?"
"Explain. Now."
"The spider, or the swordplay?"
"Both, if you please."
"Very well; the spider is a result of early experimentation of the Genesis Project, as are several other creatures in the compound. It was created due to unconscious abiogenesis on the part of the members of the Project, their dreams and imaginations working subconsciously. The same could be said of the swordplay you just performed; in your subconscious mind, you have collected a great deal of information on the subject, through movies, television, and personal experience."
"So…"
"You know, instinctively, everything you've ever seen, read, or done that has to do with the sword, and, according to our database, a great deal of the martial arts as well…"
Rob pondered this as he cleaned his sword. So. He could fight.
Standing up, Rob slid the sword home in its sheath, and for the first time since awakening, took a good look at himself.
He was unchanged for the most part, the only noticeable difference being his weight and musculature. Every inch of him had been tightened and hardened, his waist and stomach no longer soft, but replaced with (to his surprise and delight) 'pecs and a six pack. He was still big- he'd always be broad, he knew that, and even enjoyed being so- but now tough as well. His idealized body, he realized, and after all, why not? Through Project Genesis, he had obviously gained some limited control over the shaping of matter, so why not use it to his benefit? He looked down at his sword, the pommel gleaming in the soft fluorescent light. What else could he do? He wondered. What sort of limits did he have? Did he have limits?
Rob frowned. A troubling thought, that one. What if he didn't have limits? What if no one did anymore? Rob didn't mind have a few powers, but playing God? Not good, in Rob's opinion. But more troubling was this: how many people would enjoy that sort of power? How many in this project would take it upon themselves to become the ruling body of the universe?
Not good at all.
Another thought struck Rob.
"Monitor 15," he said, looking up from his thoughts, "you said something about creatures created by Genesis members, right?"
"Affirmative."
"What about people? Have any of them…made…people?"
"Well…" A twisted, somewhat frustrated expression showed itself on Monitor 15's face, one that Rob often wore and recognized: disgust.
"…yes and no," he said at last. "As you were assigned a monitoring unit-myself- so too were all other members of the Genesis Project. Our purpose was to provide information and guidance to the project members on an individual basis, but in some members' minds, the units became…more. They became a sort of companion, a confidante. Personalities were created by the Project members, and those personalities became imbued in forms that the facility constructed."
"Sentient robots, then."
"In a sense, yes. But a bit more than that, too: the monitor units know everything the member has created for them- memories, histories, thoughts, feelings, opinions…everything required to make them complete people."
"I made up people all the time. How come you're…well, me?"
"You did not specify a personality, either archetypal or customized."
"So, you're like a default setting, is that it?"
"Approximately."
"Would you mind if I asked why I got a hologram instead of a robot?"
"Certainly not. You did not receive a corporeal monitor because you did not desire to have one. You stated that you would rather interact with a "real" person than with a computer. 'No matter how advanced,' I believe, was the phrase you used."
"I did?" Rob asked, a bit surprised. "That sounds damn arrogant of me. I'm sorry I said that, Monitor 15."
"It is of no concern," Monitor 15 said, shrugging his tiny shoulders . "I am incapable of being offended."
"Yeah, well, I'm still sorry."
The two set off again, Rob falling into a disgruntled silence. He couldn't figure out what would have made him say such a thing- especially since he was conversing with a computer anyway, and didn't really mind it at all. But then, he had always had a habit of saying stupid things, so Rob, promising he'd do better in the future, shook his head and kept on walking, leaving the spider corpse to rot.