Chapter 20
The Dragon was large and described a full circle, eating its own tail. The largest gate was easily 50 feet in diameter. The dial home device was in the center of the Dragon, unreachable without going through one of the gates. They stood, wearily considering the structure. The dial home device, if that’s what it was, held all 64 stones. They were arranged in a particular way that suggested family groups. One quadrant, a four by four grid of sixty four stones contained writing that reminded Shen of an arrangement of Fermions, but only because three had large V-letter couple with the smaller symbol for electron, muon, and tau. Inside the dragon perimeter, the floor was comprised hexagon tiles; outside dragon body penetrated earth. Hexagons appeared to be gold and silver.
“It’s a trap,” Shen said. Of course, no one got his reference or that he was going for humans.
“Maybe,” Torny said. “Or a puzzle.”
“It’s a trap. But a very specific kind of trap. Why would anyone make such a large gate?” Erico asked.
“Aesthetics,” Arne said.
“Giant heads,” Erico complained. “Giant gates.”
“Don’t say it,” Orton said.
“Lights on!” Erico said. “Why else would there be stories of vores if they didn’t exist?”
“Because men fantasy of being eaten,” Yaffa said.
“Eat me,” Orton said.
“Thank you for validating me,” Yaffa said. “But no.”
“There are more small gates than tall gates,” Torny said.
“Big enough for goats,” Arne said.
“Or hounds of war,” Uffe said.
“The big gate would pass a Kraken,” Orton said.
His peers scowled him into silence.
“Release the Kraken,” Shen said, dramatically.
They turned their anger to Shen.
“Do you want us all to die?” Yaffa asked.
“Be careful what you speak, brother,” Arne said. He turned back to the gate.
“Words have power.”
“They do,” Shen agreed pointing. TL blocked his hand from touching the gate.
“Not reaching, just pointing. Up, charm, top, down, strange, bottom, photon, gluon, weak force Z, weak force w, tau…”
“Yeah, I get it,” TL said. “It’s that, but not that. More like the flavors are mixed…”
“Your alchemy words make no sense,” Torny said.
“Mixing flavors, like peanut butter and chocolate,” Shen said. “Damn it, I want candy now.”
TL sang “I know a girl who's tough but sweet-She's so fine, she can't be beatShe's got everything that I desire-Sets the summer sun on fire.” And then she and Shen both sang the chorus, “I want candy.” Their friends looked at them strangely.
“Our humor is lost on our friends,” TL said.
“If I had done that, you would said I wasn’t funny,” Shen said.
“That’s because you’re the straight man, I am the comedian,” TL said.
“You’re Hawkeye and I am Burns?” Shen asked.
“Oh! You’re not burns. You’re more like Trapper,” TL said.
“Is there a point to this dialogue?” Arne asked.
“Probably not,” TL said. “Shen, try some magic.”
Shen frowned at her. TL encouraged him with a kiss. He reached into his bag and pulled out a box of cracker-jack. He frowned and threw the box over his shoulder.
“Don’t litter,” TL corrected.
Orton recovered the box, curious. While he opened the box and smelled the contents, TL opened her hand and manifested a scout orb. They all stood back to let her do her magic. She piloted the orb through a gate. It went through an arch and came out the other side. Shen laughed. “That’s why you’re not getting a good scan.”
“Maybe,” TL said. She tried leaning left or right. “But the light diffraction from the inner chamber is perfect.”
“Is it an illusion?” Torny asked.
TL shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe it won’t allow tech to go through, but people,” Shen said.
“I’ll go,” Orton said.
“No, you won’t,” Torny said.
“I am the most expendable, it should be me,” Orton said. He tried popcorn. “This is surprisingly good.”
“Jon, if you give them that crap, we’re going to have to provide toothbrushes,” TL said.
“I didn’t give it to him,” Shen said. He waved for the box back.
“No,” Orton said. “You discarded it. I claimed it.”
“I’ll go,” Jerica said. Torny frowned at her, but knew the truth of it. “If that’s a real place, I can go there while remaining here. No harm can come to me.”
“That last part is not true,” Torny said. “If this is a soul trap, a part of you would remain. Your origin body dies, you may find yourself here, or wherever the trap takes you. In the interim, your dreams could be wild and unconnected to your friends or this reality.”
“I would be okay. The mind may not multitask, but the soul can,” Jerica said.
“We don’t need this,” Arne said. “Let’s return to Calypso.”
“It’s the whole reason for our journey,” Jerica said. “This find makes up for all our losses. Our friends died. This makes that meaningful.”
“No,” Arne said. “Living makes their lives meaningful.”
“I’ll go,” Shen said.
Everyone looked at him. They appeared as annoyed with him as when he said release the Kraken.
“Stop trying to hog all the glory,” Arne said.
“It’s not glory. I want those stones,” Shen said.
“It’s not worth it,” TL said.
“The hell it isn’t. This land of the lost pylon kiosk might hold the keys to dial us home. I want to go home!” Shen said.
“What so damn urgent?” TL asked.
“I am young!” Shen said. “I am the same age as Loxy, as you. I want to grow old with you. I want more time with you.”
“You’re an idiot,” TL said. “You and Loxy work because of who you both are. The differences in your ages is why you work so well together. Had she found you at any earlier age, the couple you are would not be the same- if coupling took at all. Young men are crazy stupid, all hormones no brains. You at fifty is the perfect balance of multiple domains. Maybe the reason you’re angry all the time isn’t your past, but because you know you’re out of balance, and that knowledge of who you were and who you want to be and who you are at this moment is in conflict. You and Loxy are perfect because of the love you hold for each other, and that love is a reflection of who you were when you met. That’s why you entangled and that’s why you’re forever connected. You will get back to her, Jon. When the timing is right. You and she are eternal. Nothing can break that bond. So chill the fuck down and allow things to be. We are alright.”
Shen was speechless. No one wanted to volunteer insight into their dispute. Orton dumped the remainder of the box into his mouth, made a face at the paper wrapped prize that hit him in the face, threw that behind him, and then looked into the empty box and discarded that behind him.
“Stop littering!” TL snapped. “Carry that back to the ship.”
Uffe had already collected the paper wrapped surprise. Orton reached for it to take it back and Uffe pulled it away. “You discarded it. It’s mine.” He pointed to the box. “The goddess Loxy has spoken; no littering.”
“I’m in,” Jerica said.
They turned to find Jerica with them, and also on the inside of the circle of dragon. She had bifurcated, manifesting a spirit body that was as solid as her own. Bilocation, an attributes of saints and monks- an ability of Preston G Waycaster, Jedi Knight, and suddenly, out of nowhere- Luke Skywalker. She knelt down and touched the hexagon she was standing on. Her palm hovered.
“Teach me that,” Shen said.
“This can’t be taught,” Torny said. “It is a gift of maturity of spirit. Sometimes people do it without knowing, because who they are is so valuable, the world needs that person elsewhere. When they are called, their spirit goes but also remains. We are here to serve. That is it.”
TL patted Shen on the back. “You already do this,” TL said.
“You and Loxy do this.”
“It’s real gold,” Jerica said, then hovered her hand over the silver. “Real silver.”
“Just one of those bricks would go a long way at home,” Erico said. “Hell, we could all have signature rings. We are the Pathfinders.”
“No, they may be a part of mechanism,” TL said.
“I am not here for gold,” Jerica assured her. She tapped the surrounding hexagon with her staff. “There is enough gold and diamonds in the world I don’t need to tear this artifact up to have some. I think it’s safe to shift to the next step.”
“Stay on the gold,” Shen said. They looked at him. “What? Follow the yellow brick road.”
Jerica’s eyes lingered on Shen for a moment before she commented. “You are a strange, short man with even queerer speech. Still, I love you. I will heed your advice.”
“Calling me queer was not the way to my heart,” Shen said.
“She meant strange,” TL said.
“Then she should have lead with Doctor,” Shen said.
“If I call you Doctor, you would bed me?” Jerica asked.
“Sure; as long as you don’t call me darlin’, darlin’,” Shen said. TL tried to hide her amusement. “What?”
Jerica took the gold path in, making her steps deliberate.
“I am confused,” Erico said. “You love him, but will help him go home to the other Loxy, who is like this Loxy, who also would help him leave… My head hurts.”
“This Loxy is like I am,” Jerica said. “I am there with you and here inside. And when you love, it is right to help someone go home. That it is it.”
Jerica arrived at the pedestal containing a full set of keys. She brought her hand over it, feeling the energy and flavor. It sparked tiny hairs of lightening that tickled her palm and caused her to withdraw her hand. Lightning struck, and she was gone from the inside. Thunder pounded the island. Her body outside collapsed. TL caught her, easer her to the floor.
Jerica opened her eyes and saw TL, Torny, and Yaffa staring down at her. TL and Torny were kneeling.
“You okay?” TL asked. TL realized both eyes were still blue. “Where are you?”
“You were right,” Jerica said. “It’s a trap.”
“Um, Sisters?” Yaffa said, calling their attention to an important detail.
They looked up to see the men were gone.
Arne, Shen, Uffe, Erico, Orton, and Jerica were each contained in private cylinders. The floor and ceiling of their individual canisters were illuminated. They could make out some of the ‘floor.’ They could see each other. They could hear each other, as there was a speaker system that allowed that much information to pass between them. Their cells allowed them room to stand, maybe sit in the lotus position, but not escape.
“Where are we?!” Erico said.
“Not Kansas,” Shen said.
“One of these days, you will teach me your language,” Arne insisted.
“And me,” Jerica agreed. “I have informed the others we are unharmed.”
“How is this unharmed?” Orton asked.
“We’re alive,” Jerica said.
“Till they drown us?” Erico asked.
“How do you communicate with the others?” Shen asked.
“I can talk to myself,” Jerica said. “Loxy wants to know if your suit is operational.”
Shen executed an audit. It responded: ‘I am Auto-TL, as her awareness was in the other container at the time of separation. I can remain auto, or go full bright- though doing so could result in divergence and sentience.”
“Stay auto,” Shen said. “This is confusing enough for me. Can you scan the room?”
“Most of the system is offline. Universal translator is still on. Psychic amplifier is offline. My sight is limited to visual spectrum only,” Auto-TL stated.
“Tell Loxy, it is operating below minimum standards. The systems that are working suggest tech was used to shut systems down, leaving me with the bare minimum,” Shen said.
“She asks you to speculate,” Jerica said.
“We were either teleported, like transporters, or we were killed and clone, which might explain why we’re in tubes,” Shen said.
“She wants you to describe the tubes,” Jerica said.
“You know how you get money from a teller with a vacuum tube, old school letter exchange thing? It’s like that, only smaller, no apparent door. If I didn’t know better, I would say we are in specimen collection tubes. We are now action figures in a display case.”
“You want me to say all of that?” Jerica asked.
“Yes,” Shen said.
Lights came on. It was immediately apparent that the ‘floor’ was a table. The person entering was a giantess. She was at least 36 feet in height. She was wearing a nighty with white frills and lining, but otherwise bright red as if she were a Christmas cheerleader. She was yawning and stretching as she entered. Stretching revealed her arms were not shaved. Her legs were not shaved. Her hair was straight, shoulder length, blond- not matching her body hair. Her left eye was green, with apparent circuitry and illumination, while her right was blue. Her breast were massive, free to move with the momentum her body gave them, and clearly defined by the silk they pressed into. She was barefoot, knees and thighs revealed. She sat down in modern chair and rolled up to the table to examine her capture. Two of the wall had shelves, with habitats, like hamster cages. There were clearly humans in some of them, maybe all of them.
“I told you there were giants,” Shen and Erico both said simultaneously.
The giantess touched the table and a screen illuminated. Information began scrolling. She pursed her lips, and summoned water. It arrived on the table in a blaze of lights and drank.
“I am interested in your tech,” she said. “Who gave it to you?”
“Well, there’s a story here…” Shen began.
She pointed at him. “Not you, little man.” She pointed to the others. “Sleeper immunity. Who gave it to you?”
“Benefactors,” Arne said. “It is in your best interest to release us, before you anger them.”
She seemed amused. She tapped instructions on her screen and their bracelets went away.
“The underground has no authority here. They can no longer track you,” she said.
“I will chip you later. You belong to me now. You will fight in the games, or die. If you are successful, I will allow you to breed.”
She focused on Shen. “Little man, you are not from here.”
“What gave that away?” Shen said.
“Why are you dressed like a chef?” she asked.
“I love to cook,” Shen said. “I haven’t eaten giant in a while.”
She laughed. “You amuse me,” she said, and picked up the container and shifted it over to a pedestal. His canister plugged in. The lighting in his canister changed as she performed a more precise scan.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “You’re not just wild stock. You’re alien.”
Another giantess entered. She was identical to the first, except her arms and legs were shaven. She came closer to admire the specimens.
“Oh, how precious!” she said. “Is he an adolescent?”
“No,” the first said.
“But he is short. And so cute…”
“This little one is mine. Do not touch him,” she said.
“I thought you were more into the big hairy kind,” the shaved model said. “Like this Cro-Magnon man.”
“He’s not that,” the hairy one said.
“Looks like that,” the hairless one said.
“Top shelf, container Charlie 6 through 12, that’s Cro-Magnon. This one is not that,” the hairy one said. “And don’t eat these.”
“I wouldn’t dream of eating them,” she said. She licked her lips and tapped the glass next to Arne. “Exactly.”
“Seriously, don’t touch, don’t eat, don’t fuck with them,” the hairy one said. “It’s been a long time since we had fresh stock.”
“Yeah, well, ever since the fall, commerce has been practically nonexistent,” the hairless twin remarked. “I so miss the markets. All those lovely shoes.”
“You don’t need a market. You can print anything you need,” hairy sister said.
“It’s just not the same,” the hairless twin lamented. “The true makers put their essence into things. That essence can’t be duplicated. Hanshar snow boots, for instance. The love and detail that went into those handcrafted products felt like an extension to the body. It was like being barefoot and yet hugged! That level of love was unparalleled and can’t be captured in mass produced products. Only her soul through direct contact could put the Hanshar warmth and breath into it. And when the makers shared their essence, the products were improved. But now, she is gone. Most of the makers are gone or in hiding. Maybe all gone. But she is gone and there will be no more Hanshar magic weaved into world. Mortals would kill to have access to my closet.”
“Stop dwelling on the past,” the hairy one said. “When we take the surface back, there will be new markets and new makers. There are products undreamt to come.”
“True enough. Why is this one dressed like a chef?”
“I don’t know,” the hairy one said.
She got up, retrieved an empty habitat from a shelf and brought it to the table. The habitat was divided into sections- two separated compartments, with upstairs and downstairs. It was simply furnished, like a doll’s house. One by one, the hairy one picked up the canister holding a person, connected it to the top of the habitat, and pushing on top of the canister, she caused the bottom to ‘iris’ open and drop the person into the habitat. All but Shen was dropped into the left, upper compartment. The compartment allowed for them to drop in on a bed. Down stairs was exercise equipment and a lavatory. It had a living area, and a television monitor on the habitat wall which could only be seen from the inside, so if they sat and watched, someone outside the habitat could sit and watch them watching something. All of it was open so they could be watched from outside from any angle. There was no privacy.
The room Shen was dropped into was clean- sterile clean as if it were a procedure room. There was a glass wall dividing this section, and a door to the next room with staircase down. On the other side of the door was shower and lavatory.
The one without body hair yawned. “You coming back to bed?” she asked.
“No,” the hairy one said. “My brain is too awake now. Go sleep.”
“Are you sure? You want help?” the hairless one asked.
“No,” the hairy one said. “I got this. Go. We’ll have breakfast together at right time.”
The hairless one kissed her companion’s forehead and departed. The door opened for her and shut, double French hidden doors that slid open and shut. They opened just enough to allow her egress, but when fully opened, the opening was a circle. Shen saw it for what it was- a portal, hidden in the wall. The hairy one tapped the wall with a glass.
“Attentive little fellow, aren’t you,” the hairy one said. With tweezers she opened an exchange lock, picked up a specimen cup, placed this inside the lock, closed the lock. A push of a button caused the inner door of the exchange lock to spring open. “Take your clothes off. Put it in the bin here.”
Shen looked at her, as directly as one could a giant without getting hung up on her lips that had more than a hint of a mustache. Hair or not, they were solid, puffy, stretched hearts shape, deep red, hyper feminine lips- the cliché pouty, sex doll lips.
“No,” Shen said.
From the other side of the container Arne and Jerica were telling her to let Shen alone. She tapped the glass and their voices were muted. She rested her head and arms on the table, maintaining eye contact.
“There are lots of ways for me to get what I want,” she said. “Negative and positive punishment. I could just sleep you, then man handle you. You wouldn’t learn respect that way, so I prefer not to sleep you. I could torture or kill your friends. Might still do that, but first I must have a better understanding of your relationship with them. I would hate to kill your masters only to find out I did you a favor. I am bigger, stronger, smarter. In the end, I will win. Accept that. Give me what I want.”
“You have everything; you don’t need me,” Shen said.
She seemed to consider that. “Speculation. Assumption. Fairly reasonable assessment. Minimum effective population size to maximize human diversity is approximately 10,000 people, with caveats. My present sample size is five hundred thousand. That is sufficient to wipe out all life on the surface and start over from scratch, and still arrive at a future population of about twenty billion, including 7 basic human racial types, 20 tangential races, and unlimited hybridization potential. You are sufficiently compatible with the human niches on the surface that you can breed and introduce a new line, but sufficiently divergence that I can identify you as not from here. It could take me a life time to sort out your particular adaptive advantage. Ideally, I would like to have a female one of you to keep the line relatively pure. I have potential mates that should be neutral enough to carry the predominance of your genes forwards without too much loss of information. Now. Take off your clothes.”
“No,” Shen said.
“Interesting,” she said. “I am being very straight forward with you. That doesn’t alleviate your concerns?”
“Part of the problem is the theoretical delusion that science is curative- that enough knowledge, enough information, the right kind of facts will bring about the resolutions of life’s doubts, the resolution of all distress,” Shen quoted. “You have given me nothing.”
She smiled. “Intelligence. Nice.”
“Pseudo intelligence. I read a book. I quoted Carl Whitaker,” Shen said.
“Academic,” she said.
“Impressive. Take your clothes off.”
“No,” Shen said.
“Very well,” she said. “We’ll do it the hard way.”
The giantess stood up. She went to the door. It opened for her, but she shut it with a wave of her hand. She touched a pad beside the door, and the circular arch illuminated, and when the door opened for her, the space was illuminated with a moon-glow on water sheen. She walked in and disappeared. Arne and crew, who were now in the lower level saw her arrive by portal in the room below Shen, which was locked to them. Shen did not see her arrive in the room below him, but he inferred as much when she came up the stairs. She was still a giantess, only, instead of 36 feet tall, she was 12 feet tall. She was also naked, blue from head to toe, her hair fiery red, her eyes aglow with a fierce orange light, as if stoked by burning coals on the other side; she had four arms. One of her hands hovering over the pad unlocked the door and she entered the compartment with Shen.
“Take off your clothes,” she said. Her voice was different, same- but filtered, modulated, like many voices starting separate but ending as one.
“No,” Shen said.
There was no fighting her. Her skill was superior, her strength was superior. Fuck, even Gung Way skills were no match for someone who had twice as many hands and could employ double joint locks, and still have hands free to box you or manipulate you. At one point she held him with double wrist joint lock, and used upper hands to caress his face, his hair, and even prodded open his mouth to examine his teeth. He kicked at her. One punch took him to the far wall. He was slightly dazed, but had enough wits about him to withdraw to the corner. He was semi aware of his friends in the room next to him, wanting to help but unable. Their movement in his peripheral vision was surreal, maybe because he was hurting, maybe because of the light’s refraction through the glass wall. He blocked a kick with knees, but in doing so gave her a leg to grab. Her foot grabbed him, and picked him up as easy as if her feet were hands. He was dragged out of corner, man handled to the medical bed. She held him by the neck with one hand, pushed his back into the bed with another, and her foot pinned one leg. She stood on one foot, her left knee up revealing hairy leg and inner thigh and a giant hairy mound that might have led to a vagina, but seemed to be as slick as a tight, wet-suit. Her other two hands were free to shackle and lock his wrists to the bed. Her tits in his face, he bit onto one. She held his face with four hands and opened his mouth, saying ‘release.’ Biting her did no damage. She patted his face and then shackled his ankles.
Mission accomplished, she sighed. “Fuck that’s arousing. I haven’t had a fighter in a long time,” she said. “Do you have a name, little man?” Her hand touched him inappropriately. “Little big man.” Shen didn’t answer.
“You may call me Kali,” she said, opening up a drawer and removing a scalpel. She began cutting at his clothes and found it resistant. “Fuck, this is good material. Where did you get it?”
“Fuck you,” Shen said.
Kali patted his face, licked him with a fiery red tongue, and then kissed him, shoving it in to his mouth, filling it broadly and deeply. He couldn’t gag or breathe, and an eye was watching him. He struggled as much as he could under the restraints and weight of her. There was no resisting her pressure and grip. She held him thus, her tongue plunging and pulsing until he surrendered- not necessarily to her, but impending death from asphyxiation. It was surrender or pass out; he teetered on being unconscious, his ability to resist even that waning. His mind grew quiet; he heard the distant voice of Loxy saying she’s got him, be at peace. Satisfied with his surrender, Kali came off of him, but her tongue lingered, and then came out in slow measure.
“I love a good tongue fucking,” Kali said. “Ask me again. Next time I tickle your stomach.”
Shen focused on regaining his breath. He wanted to die and chase the inner voice of Loxy back to home. Kali focused on the clothes and the scan that gave her obscure data that baffled her. She studied the image, scratching her head. “Molecular weaving hints at a 3d printer. Do you have access to tech, or have the Gods favored you? Yeah, yeah, I know, fuck you. You really like sex, don’t you? CI, turn his clothes directly into energy.”
“Warning. Material refraction index will require a greater energy sweep which would likely result in injury or death to the subject,” CI said. “Recommendation, laser dissection and vacuum extraction.”
“We caught him up with a beam, we can’t remove his clothing?” Kali complained.
“The level of precision you’re asking for at this time puts the subject at risk,” CI said. “Fine, do it your way,” Kali said.
An arm descended from the ceiling.
Mechanical arms dropped from the ceiling. He was reminded of the scene from Logan’s Run, where the Doctor and Farah Faucet was to give Logan a new face. They pinched up Shen’s uniform, and using a laser cut the first hole, and slowly began to take his Uniform from him. The auto TL was calming him. She would be alright and she would find a way back to him.
“Well, this could take a moment,” Kali said, getting a drink. “I was going to let you keep your clothes, but, I can’t cut it cleanly without potentially damaging you,” Kali said. She looked at him. “Not that you would seem to mind. You like pain, little big man?” She helped the arms by rolling him so that the vacuum could pull the clothes completely away. She seemed satisfied. “Thank you, CI,” Kali said. She grabbed the vacuum arm and pulled the it down his chest, over his belly towards his penis, teasing him.
“Little big man wants to play with CI,” Kali said. “Behave, and next time I will let you knock one out into the cup.” She withdrew a syringe. His eyes became fierce, which amused her. “You chose the hard way.” She lifted testicles, playfully massaging, feeling for internal structures, all the while maintaining eye contact. “I would remain very still, if I were you.” She inserted the needle and withdrew a sample. She didn’t care that her subject screamed. In addition to the sperm sample, she took a separate syringe with a sturdier looking needle and jammed it hard into his leg, straight into bone, and sucked out marrow.
She took the samples and ejected them into a vacutainer. She put the used syringes on a plate that took it away in a blaze of light. She put the vacutainers into a holder and it illuminated. She took the bone marrow one and handed it to the mechanical arm. “Crystal storage please. On my desk.” The arm took the sample away, while she sorted the gametes. Virtual display provided her an overload of information which Shen wouldn’t have been able to read from where he was, even if he was looking. He was sorting pain. Breathing.
“Great sample. Lots of healthy swimmers,” Kali said. “This will do for now.”
Kali snapped her fingers and his restraints released. He rolled onto his side and curled into a ball. She provided him a gown.
“