A Matter of Focus...
By Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO
-Nothing really exists- the young fair-haired technician said-Probably also all those instruments do not exist. This is the truth...-
-Yes, I see...- the psychiatrist nodded, taking a seat and placing his medical data-search tool on the table.A man of sixty precociously turned white, two perceptive blue eyes, Brent had been involved in a lot of very strange cases before, but that young worker in front of him seemed one of the weirdest, indeed- Then just try to explain to me your feelings about this…-
They were inside the interrogation room of the sickbay, deep inside the Scientific Labs within Base 14, one of the many colonized asteroids along the Mars-Jupiter Belt.The Humans had placed here one of the main off- world research centres more than twenty years ago, as an important facility and control station for the thirteen mining sites excavated on several rocky bodies across the Belt.The mineral deposits were very rich in ore, especially in some points, and the outcome of the (huge) investments had been fast at arriving for the Earth corporations which had been daring to spend their money in such an expensive project.
Unfortunately, as it sometimes happens, some accidents had occurred during the construction process and still everyday some bad episode could come true.The corporations had been very attentive at building a complete and well- equipped research/medical sickbay for all the mining personnel and the technicians, but at times it could prove pointless…as this case was just showing.
Yesterday there had been an unpredictable explosion inside a decompression chamber on A222 at 9:00 AM -local time- and many workers had been wounded cause of that…as a matter of fact, the emergency teams had been very good at reaching the place on time in their space suits, but that had not been enough for six people, already dead when they had arrived.And then there was this strange man, Bill…a technician working in Sector 1- the lowest part of the asteroid- who very likely would have been one of the first killed in the process, but nevertheless he was still alive- although a little scraped…- when the team found him.
-I don't know...I am different...-the young man answered.
-Let’s start again…how did you survive the poisonous gas in the tunnel?-
-I just explained to you!Simply, I started coughing and coughing and then I understood that was because of the gas…so I simply wanted that gas was no more around and it disappeared at once…-
The man looked at him amazed.It was the tenth time he had been asking the technician for a real answer and every time he had replied the same way-I see…but the air vent system wasn’t functioning at that time, so maybe you simply do not remember exactly…there was no way for the gas to be expelled from inside out of the tunnel…maybe something else occurred…just think of it!-
-Things went as I said!- Bill firmly insisted, his brown eyes wide open.
“No way, the answer is always the same…” Brent thought, dejected.At the time of the decompression disfunction which generated the explosion, there were many boxes containing Astreanium, a very valuable mineral spread deep within the Belt, which were on the way to be put in the cargo bay of the first starship ready to depart to Earth.Maybe that mineral had interacted -somehow - with the gas coming from the damaged structures all around and maybe that interaction had had some responsibility in saving the technician’s life in the end.Who knows?But that was the point, indeed…In reality, the corporations were very interested in any discoveries they could have done from that, as any substance capable of interacting with that gas( completely removing it from the tunnel) could prove very useful on the market…and that man was the key, he had to be more precise, so to let them know what had really happened…but anyway Brent, too, was very curious about that event…how did Bill survive the explosion and that gas in the tunnel?
-Ok, but something occurred, for sure…on the other hand, how could you have survived in a Sector full of poisonous substances? “You simply wanted that gas was no more around and it disappeared at once…”How do you think I can believe this?-
-Believe what you want!Things disappear when I desire that way…It happens just when you think of it. I’ve been experiencing it since I went out of Sector 1 with the emergency team…-
The psychiatrist gawked at the face of the technician.There was no way out of that cycle of questions and answers…maybe he only had to play along with him…-Are you really sure…?And how does it function…?Just let me see…-
-Yeah,I’ll show you!- the man said, his look pestered-You want that this window is there no more and it simply disappears…-
And, as soon as the technician turned to the dividing long window of that chamber, it dissolved at once.
Speechless, the psychiatrist looked at the open space where there had been the safety glass just a moment before, and then turned back to the man again.
-How did you make it…?It’s impossible…how did you…?-
-It’s easy…-Bill added-You have just to think of it…Just try!-
Brent was sure he was looking at something exceptional, some weird circumstance he would have never reputed possible…He didn’t want to give in to the technician, but anyway he knew he was to have a try, just to show the technician how pointless it was…so he stared at the glass and he did nothing else.And, of course, nothing happened…
-Do you see?Nothing at all!- the psychiatrist threw it in Bill’s face- It’s impossible, I can’t do it…You’re saying nonsense…-
-No, absolutely!You saw it! You didn’t concentrate enough…it’s only a matter of focus…- and, that said, he looked down on the table in the Chamber for a brief moment and that was no more there…
This time Brent was really terrified, forcing himself to consider only the present facts before his own eyes-Again!How did you…?-
-You don’t even concentrate…- the technician replied.
The psychiatrist tried to get a grip of himself, thinking of what he had just seen.He knew that Bill had been bruised, he remembered that the medical data about his genes had shown some little change,actually the whole team had thought of some damage caused by the gas and the lawyers of the corporations were already eager to set a pre- emptive defence to protect their interests from any legal action sued against them…but probably that poisonous substance had made something more, maybe it had penetrated inside the body, the blood or the organs of that man and so it had changed him, in an unpredictable way…but was it really possible…?They had to know more about that!
-What you had shown me is really amusing…unbelievable, in a way!So, you must consider our position…You’ll be taken into custody for further studies…-
-No!You don’t get the picture…I don’t want…I need to be released…I do not like to stay here anymore…-
-Please, calm down…- Brent said, gesturing to a brawny boy who served as an attendant on the other side of the Chamber to come in as soon as possible.
-I did it before when inside the tunnel…I did it before…-Bill cried out.
-Please…- the man repeated,hurrying up the attendant.
-I don’t want these seats exist…-and, that said, the seats disappeared- I do not want your tools exist anymore…and even that guy doesn’t exist!- and so the whole equipment around and the coming boy, as well, disappeared.Then Bill turned to Brent, looking attentively at him-Nothing here really exists...You do not exist!-
And the psychiatrist- simply- was no more.Soon after the entire chamber disappeared.And the Scientific Labs within Base 14,too.
The technician found himself just thrown into open space.He knew that soon oxygen deprivation, the extremely cold temperature outside and decompression would have killed him.He began fluctuating without direction, his breath taken away all in a sudden, the dark vacuum around seemed been enwrapping him in a deadly grip…
He looked for the last time at the obscure endless emptiness which was going to swallow him, putting an end to his own life…
If only he had been capable of focusing enough on the whole thing surrounding him, maybe he would have made it even this time… maybe…
- - -
I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual, WarBlades , of more than 400 pages.Some of my works and short- stories have been published on American Aphelion, WeirdYear Webzine, YesterYearFiction and Another Realm Webzine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas has been shown also on the American site StarShipModeler, MechaModelComp and SFM: UK.
Just Glue it Contest on StarShipmodeler
"All this technology and no sign of my banknote ..."
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/contest/dio_01.htm
By Sergio "ente per ente" PALUMBO
-Nothing really exists- the young fair-haired technician said-Probably also all those instruments do not exist. This is the truth...-
-Yes, I see...- the psychiatrist nodded, taking a seat and placing his medical data-search tool on the table.A man of sixty precociously turned white, two perceptive blue eyes, Brent had been involved in a lot of very strange cases before, but that young worker in front of him seemed one of the weirdest, indeed- Then just try to explain to me your feelings about this…-
They were inside the interrogation room of the sickbay, deep inside the Scientific Labs within Base 14, one of the many colonized asteroids along the Mars-Jupiter Belt.The Humans had placed here one of the main off- world research centres more than twenty years ago, as an important facility and control station for the thirteen mining sites excavated on several rocky bodies across the Belt.The mineral deposits were very rich in ore, especially in some points, and the outcome of the (huge) investments had been fast at arriving for the Earth corporations which had been daring to spend their money in such an expensive project.
Unfortunately, as it sometimes happens, some accidents had occurred during the construction process and still everyday some bad episode could come true.The corporations had been very attentive at building a complete and well- equipped research/medical sickbay for all the mining personnel and the technicians, but at times it could prove pointless…as this case was just showing.
Yesterday there had been an unpredictable explosion inside a decompression chamber on A222 at 9:00 AM -local time- and many workers had been wounded cause of that…as a matter of fact, the emergency teams had been very good at reaching the place on time in their space suits, but that had not been enough for six people, already dead when they had arrived.And then there was this strange man, Bill…a technician working in Sector 1- the lowest part of the asteroid- who very likely would have been one of the first killed in the process, but nevertheless he was still alive- although a little scraped…- when the team found him.
-I don't know...I am different...-the young man answered.
-Let’s start again…how did you survive the poisonous gas in the tunnel?-
-I just explained to you!Simply, I started coughing and coughing and then I understood that was because of the gas…so I simply wanted that gas was no more around and it disappeared at once…-
The man looked at him amazed.It was the tenth time he had been asking the technician for a real answer and every time he had replied the same way-I see…but the air vent system wasn’t functioning at that time, so maybe you simply do not remember exactly…there was no way for the gas to be expelled from inside out of the tunnel…maybe something else occurred…just think of it!-
-Things went as I said!- Bill firmly insisted, his brown eyes wide open.
“No way, the answer is always the same…” Brent thought, dejected.At the time of the decompression disfunction which generated the explosion, there were many boxes containing Astreanium, a very valuable mineral spread deep within the Belt, which were on the way to be put in the cargo bay of the first starship ready to depart to Earth.Maybe that mineral had interacted -somehow - with the gas coming from the damaged structures all around and maybe that interaction had had some responsibility in saving the technician’s life in the end.Who knows?But that was the point, indeed…In reality, the corporations were very interested in any discoveries they could have done from that, as any substance capable of interacting with that gas( completely removing it from the tunnel) could prove very useful on the market…and that man was the key, he had to be more precise, so to let them know what had really happened…but anyway Brent, too, was very curious about that event…how did Bill survive the explosion and that gas in the tunnel?
-Ok, but something occurred, for sure…on the other hand, how could you have survived in a Sector full of poisonous substances? “You simply wanted that gas was no more around and it disappeared at once…”How do you think I can believe this?-
-Believe what you want!Things disappear when I desire that way…It happens just when you think of it. I’ve been experiencing it since I went out of Sector 1 with the emergency team…-
The psychiatrist gawked at the face of the technician.There was no way out of that cycle of questions and answers…maybe he only had to play along with him…-Are you really sure…?And how does it function…?Just let me see…-
-Yeah,I’ll show you!- the man said, his look pestered-You want that this window is there no more and it simply disappears…-
And, as soon as the technician turned to the dividing long window of that chamber, it dissolved at once.
Speechless, the psychiatrist looked at the open space where there had been the safety glass just a moment before, and then turned back to the man again.
-How did you make it…?It’s impossible…how did you…?-
-It’s easy…-Bill added-You have just to think of it…Just try!-
Brent was sure he was looking at something exceptional, some weird circumstance he would have never reputed possible…He didn’t want to give in to the technician, but anyway he knew he was to have a try, just to show the technician how pointless it was…so he stared at the glass and he did nothing else.And, of course, nothing happened…
-Do you see?Nothing at all!- the psychiatrist threw it in Bill’s face- It’s impossible, I can’t do it…You’re saying nonsense…-
-No, absolutely!You saw it! You didn’t concentrate enough…it’s only a matter of focus…- and, that said, he looked down on the table in the Chamber for a brief moment and that was no more there…
This time Brent was really terrified, forcing himself to consider only the present facts before his own eyes-Again!How did you…?-
-You don’t even concentrate…- the technician replied.
The psychiatrist tried to get a grip of himself, thinking of what he had just seen.He knew that Bill had been bruised, he remembered that the medical data about his genes had shown some little change,actually the whole team had thought of some damage caused by the gas and the lawyers of the corporations were already eager to set a pre- emptive defence to protect their interests from any legal action sued against them…but probably that poisonous substance had made something more, maybe it had penetrated inside the body, the blood or the organs of that man and so it had changed him, in an unpredictable way…but was it really possible…?They had to know more about that!
-What you had shown me is really amusing…unbelievable, in a way!So, you must consider our position…You’ll be taken into custody for further studies…-
-No!You don’t get the picture…I don’t want…I need to be released…I do not like to stay here anymore…-
-Please, calm down…- Brent said, gesturing to a brawny boy who served as an attendant on the other side of the Chamber to come in as soon as possible.
-I did it before when inside the tunnel…I did it before…-Bill cried out.
-Please…- the man repeated,hurrying up the attendant.
-I don’t want these seats exist…-and, that said, the seats disappeared- I do not want your tools exist anymore…and even that guy doesn’t exist!- and so the whole equipment around and the coming boy, as well, disappeared.Then Bill turned to Brent, looking attentively at him-Nothing here really exists...You do not exist!-
And the psychiatrist- simply- was no more.Soon after the entire chamber disappeared.And the Scientific Labs within Base 14,too.
The technician found himself just thrown into open space.He knew that soon oxygen deprivation, the extremely cold temperature outside and decompression would have killed him.He began fluctuating without direction, his breath taken away all in a sudden, the dark vacuum around seemed been enwrapping him in a deadly grip…
He looked for the last time at the obscure endless emptiness which was going to swallow him, putting an end to his own life…
If only he had been capable of focusing enough on the whole thing surrounding him, maybe he would have made it even this time… maybe…
- - -
I'm an Italian public servant who graduated from Law School working in the public real estates branch. I've published a Fantasy RolePlaying illustrated Manual, WarBlades , of more than 400 pages.Some of my works and short- stories have been published on American Aphelion, WeirdYear Webzine, YesterYearFiction and Another Realm Webzine. I am also a scale modeler who likes mostly Science Fiction and Real Space models, some of my little Dioramas has been shown also on the American site StarShipModeler, MechaModelComp and SFM: UK.
Just Glue it Contest on StarShipmodeler
"All this technology and no sign of my banknote ..."
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/contest/dio_01.htm
0 Responses
Post a Comment
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
