widening it.
Princeling Galbrath reached into his coat and pulled out his key. With a spark of energy it leapt from his hand. It hung in the static, tendrils of grey crackling wispiness enshrouding it, coalescing and forming the vague outline of a door.
‘Quick!’ he yelled. ‘Your keys!’
Tark and Zyra swam through the static to reach the princeling.
Zyra fished out their keys, relieved that she had pocketed them when she'd had the chance. They sprang from her hand and joined the other key. The static hissed and crackled and sparkled into an open doorway, light streaming through it, making it impossible to see what lay beyond. Princeling Galbrath thrashed his arms and kicked his legs, launching himself through the opening. With a quick backward glance at the spider, Tark and Zyra followed through to a bizarre landscape, the likes of which they had never seen before. They were standing on a vast expanse of gently undulating greenery, which in the distance formed hills. At first it looked like grass, but on closer inspection revealed itself to be non-organic. The green plastic substance was dotted with points of silver, connected by an intricate array of wire-work that sparked with electric life.
Sprouting like trees, bunches of fibre-optic cable dotted the landscape. Crackles of electricity flew back and forth through the darkness above, appearing to originate from a tower atop a distant hill. The sizzling energy lit up the silver clouds which reflected the vast circuit-board landscape below.
They looked around in confusion. Behind them was a door-shaped oblong of static. Within, they saw another Roman centurion hitting the doorway with his shield. Again and again, the soldier threw his weight against the door, but to no avail. Then suddenly he was encased in a spray of glistening, metallic webbing. Although he fought against it, the centurion was dragged backwards towards the gaping jaws of the metallic spider, its head and forelegs now through the tear it had created.
‘Let's gets movin’,’ cried Zyra.
‘Where?!’ screamed the princeling.
‘Anywhere that ain'ts near that thing,’ said Tark, pointing back to the static.
Zyra took the lead, heading towards the hill in the distance. There seemed to be no predators in this weird world, or any form of life for that matter. They were soon standing beneath the towering construction of criss- crossing steel that worked its way to a high point with a complex antennae array.
‘So, what do we do now?’ asked the princeling. ‘Climb it?’
Zyra ignored him and walked under the tower to the other side of the hill. ‘Over here,’ she called back.
Tark and the princeling joined her. The circuitboard landscape continued beyond the hill into a valley with more hills swelling to the horizon. Nestled in the valley was … something. But what? It was difficult to make out. A building? A domed building with a reflective surface? The circuit board pattern and crackling streaks of energy reflected on the structure's surface, blending into its surroundings. ‘There,’ said Zyra. She started walking down the hill.
Tark and the princeling hurried to keep up with her.
They approached the building and were soon facing distorted images of themselves.
‘There ain'ts no door,’ said Tark walking a short way along the dome's perimeter.
‘Mmm,’ said Zyra, running a hand over the smooth surface.
In the distance a horrible screeching sound echoed across the landscape. The three of them looked back to where they had come.
‘Must ’ave broken through,’ stated Zyra, matter-of-factly.
Princeling Galbrath turned back to the dome and pounded on its surface with his fists.
‘Let us in,’ he demanded.
To his surprise, a person-sized hole opened like an iris. He looked back at Tark and Zyra, who urged him forward.
‘It could be a trap,’ Princeling Galbrath said, peering into the darkness.
Still in the distance, but now a little louder, perhaps a little closer, another screech pierced the silence. The princeling stepped through the opening without further hesitation, Tark and Zyra followed. The iris closed behind them.
‘It
Light suddenly filled the mirrored tunnel, although no energy source was visible.
‘Yeah, rights,’ said Tark. ‘’Cause when ya makes a trap, yas always gotta make sure to lights it properly.’
Zyra pushed past them and strode down the tunnel. It twisted and turned for some time before ending in another mirror. She held out a hand to touch it, and it slid back revealing a control room. The most massive, complex control room imaginable.
They stood before a curving bank of screens and panels and buttons and switches and flashing lights that appeared to be made up of different technologies. Cogs and gears rested in amongst circuit boards and fibre-optic cables; electrical energy crackled along wires beside steam vents; holographic displays appeared along side television monitor screens and dot-matrix printers. It was like being inside a vast, improbable machine.
And in the middle of it all was a high-backed, white chair.
And seated in the chair was a young man dressed in white.
He swivelled around to face them. He was bald and had no eyebrows or eyelashes. And his eyes were the most piercing, icy shade of blue they had ever seen. His white clothes sagged on him, accentuating his gaunt figure.
Zyra took a step forward. ‘Um, who are ya?’
‘MAINTAINER 102 STOP’
Zyra stopped, taken aback by the young man's manner of speaking.
‘Things is happenin’,’ she said. ‘Bad things. And we is ’ere ta talk ta the Designers. Ta asks for their ’elp.’
‘INTERACTION WITH DESIGNERS NOT POSSIBLE STOP’
‘Just tell ’em we is ’ere,’ said Tark.
‘NO STOP’
‘Wot does ya mean?’ asked Tark.
‘DESIGNERS NONEXISTENT STOP’
‘Wot? But they created all this, didn't they?’
‘YES STOP DESIGNERS PARADISE CREATED BY DESIGNERS STOP PURPOSE FULFILLED STOP CEASED TO EXIST STOP’
‘But how can Designers Paradise exist without the Designers?’
‘MAINTAINERS STOP’
‘Wot?’
‘MAINTAINERS STOP’
‘I don't gets it,’ said Tark.
‘I think I do,’ said the princeling. Then he took a step forward and spoke to the young man. ‘Clarify situation.’
‘DESIGNERS DESIGN SYSTEM STOP MAINTAINERS MAINTAIN SYSTEM STOP’
‘And you're one of these Maintainers?’
‘AFFIRMATIVE STOP MAINTAINER 102 STOP’
‘Well then, Maintainer 102,’ said the princeling. ‘You've got a problem. The system is breaking down.’
The chair swivelled around, and the Maintainer's hands flew at an incredible speed over a set of controls that hovered in the air just in front of his chair. Numbers flashed across the screens. Then the chair swivelled around again to face them.
‘AFFIRMATIVE STOP ENTROPY VIRUS STOP’
‘Well, wot's ya gonna do abouts it?’ asked Zyra.
‘MAINTAIN STOP’
‘Maintain what?’ asked the princeling. ‘If the virus continues, there will be nothing to maintain.’
‘MAINTAIN VIRUS STOP’
Bang!
