Free An Obsidian Sky by Ewan Sinclair

station, well,
they all had the same modified genes as you.’
    ‘So there were inhabitants?’ I asserted with conviction.
    ‘Yes George, I
am sorry for deceiving you. Unfortunately the Eternis Systems
programmed me not to tell you unless it became necessary. Ascension
was built to be a paradise. But it was thought that you could not
have paradise, without first becoming a god.’ Sean spun away from
me and moved along the doorway to the console. ‘I do not know what
the Artefacts are, or what they do. What I do know is that the
inhabitants first gained from their modifications some small amount
of extra power, longer life, faster healing. The Artefacts came
second. Ascension is programmed to respond to the genetic code you
possess but ultimately Blue Dawn has the final decision.’
    ‘So how do I
open the door?’ I inquired shakily.
    ‘Most of your
genes are dormant, therefore Ascension will not be able to
recognise them. You must, in essence, activate them. We should try
one of the machines in the hospital. You will see above it a double
helix surrounded by a yellow ring. This is the department that we
need to enter.’
    I scanned my
eyes about me. The glass cube should have offered a great view of
the biomedical facility but the lights were too dim. By squinting
my eyes I could just about make out the symbol I needed. It was
very close, perhaps one hundred metres away. Moving towards it Sean
floated behind me and resumed his humming.
    Shortly we
arrived at the arched doorway, away from the glass cube and into
another sector. I pressed my palm against the door screen. A
metrical chime flowed from light emanating from the screen. The
screen itself turned from red to green as a symbol rotated. The
door opened upon a room filled with darkness. Turning to Sean I
looked for encouragement and found none. Bracing myself I walked
into the darkness.
    As I entered
the doorway the doors slid silently shut behind me and lights began
to activate one by one, revealing more and more of the room. I
walked in procession with the incoming lighting, as if being
escorted by it. Another door was ahead. Again I went through it,
and wished I hadn’t.
    The room ahead
was indeed well lit. But what it lit upon was scarcely what I had
wanted to see. The room was circular. It was full of glass screens
that appeared to have been blackened by some awful event. Pipes and
cables hung frayed and loose from the ceiling. There was equipment,
as incomprehensible as anything else, strewn across the floor.
Tables and work stations had been upset. There was smashed crystal
everywhere. I carefully treaded across the room.
    Turning right
I noticed that one of the consoles was still active. I began to
approach it cautiously. The lights flickered, appearing to lose
power. After a moment of darkness they surged back into life with a
crack. In the chair by the console was a shape. It was blackened,
charred almost, and it did not move. Walking around the chair I
jumped back and gasped with horror. In that chair was a body. It
was dead. It appeared as though it had been burnt by something of
awesome power. His hands were outstretched in front of him, as if
in an attempt to ward off the coming threat. What I noticed most of
all was that he was missing his eyes. Without thinking about it I
began to search for them.
    They were in
front on me the whole time, nailed to the console I was looking at.
They were not blackened, they were fresh. The vacuum that was in
the station before activation must have kept them preserved. I
realised now with growing horror that the eyes had been removed
before he had been burnt.
    Sean’s humming
had stopped. I spun in the alarm caused by the silence to try and
find him. Sure enough ahead of me was his blue light. He appeared
to be scrutinising something ahead of him. I cautiously moved to
where he was floating. About two and a half meters from him was
another body only this had not been blackened. I walked a little
closer. I felt my