Beyond The Sprawl

Flash Fiction February (Day 26)

***WELCOME TO THE NEXUS COLLECTIVE***

ESTABLISHING CONNECTION……….

PASSWORD?

ENTER: ********

PASSWORD INCORRECT…

ENTER: *********

…PASSWORD ACCEPTED.

WELCOME, AGENT DURWOOD…

---

Agent Durwood took a long drag from his cigarette, the glow of the lit end illuminating the small screen in front of him.

The Warden symbol flashed on the screen. The phrase beneath read, “OUR WATCH IS ETERNAL.” Agent Durwood let out a long string of smoke into the air.

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Don’t remind me.”

The thick metal doors opened beside the screen. Agent Durwood stepped into the nearly infinite space within. Rows and rows of shelving stretched into the horizon. Even the room's ceiling, if there was one, was obscured by darkness.

Looking up felt like staring into a starless sky. Agent Durwood tried not to if he could help it. He made his way down various aisles labeled with etched metal plates that featured unique strings of five numbers.

He stopped at an aisle of shelving labeled “21762.” he turned and walked a few steps down the thin corridor. Gray boxes sat on shelves that stretched from the floor to an unseen space above him.

Agent Durwood picked one of the boxes up, brushing a thick layer of dust off the top. He set it on the ground and pulled off the top. Reels and reels of audio and video cassettes were stacked within.

He pulled one of the audio cassettes out and returned the box before heading to an observation room along the edge of the vast archive. The room was simple, with soundproofing on the walls, a desk, a small television, basic video and audio equipment, and two chairs.

Agent Durwood slid the audio cassette into the early-era shoebox recorder and turned on the screen. Once more, he saw that Warden symbol and text appear on the screen:

OUR WATCH IS ETERNAL.

He was getting so tired of hearing and seeing that phrase. As the recording began playing, Agent Durwood sat back, put his feet on the desk, and slipped a pair of wired headphones over his ears.

---

SIDE A:

BEGIN RECORDING…

Okay, is this thing on? Yes, okay, I see the light.

Hello! This is Doctor Paul Eisner, lead director of the Astral Sprawl Exploration Project, or A-SEP. I am recording the results of our latest experiment, which, if successful, will yield priceless knowledge regarding the true nature of our universe and perhaps even ones beyond it.

For posterity, I will begin with a brief explanation of the project. Since 2117, we have known we are not alone in the universe. We have also learned that our universe is part of a much larger mesh of parallel worlds in a multiverse called The Synaptic Sprawl.

Now, the origins of that term are unknown, but current theories point to some sort of higher dimensional beings known as Wardens as the creators of the term. I’ll admit, it’s humbling, as a scientist, to admit how little we know about these recent revelations, but the prospect is exciting.

Of course, there’s always a catch. Alongside the discovery of the Synaptic Sprawl, we also learned of cosmic entities referred to in artifacts as “The Exiled Ones.” Their descriptions defy any and all scientific terms or laws of physics.

Simply put, we have no way to put them into words except for the fact that they are dangerous. These Wardens seem dedicated to keeping them locked away in what they call the Abyssal Prison.

It’s all very science fiction mixed with cosmic horror, I’ll admit. As a scientist, I was the first to write off both the Sprawl and the Exiled Ones as the imaginations of some deeply disturbed writer…

But then we captured one of them—a Warden, in the flesh. She looked like any other human, but she was unconscious. Initial tests revealed that she was dying, but her physiology is different than other humans. I would equate it to putting the human body into a funhouse mirror.

Internally, everything is a different size, in a different place. Suffice it to say we had no way of treating her wounds. So, we did the next best thing. We froze her.

Cryogenically, of course. We slowed her metabolic processes to nearly zero so we could try to study a Warden up close.

Now, I’ll need to thaw her out gently to learn anything, but it seems her body worked to repair itself, somehow, while in stasis. The brain waves we’re picking up from her EEG tests are even more exciting.

When we first obtained the body, her brain signals were faint, almost non-existent, but now we’re seeing not one but two different wavelengths!

I’m purely hypothesizing here, but this means her mind is receiving a second signal! Perhaps it could be a connection to the other Wardens or something else entirely; I’m not sure. We’ll know once I wake her up, I suppose!

PLEASE SWITCH TAPE TO SIDE B…

---

SIDE B:

RESUME RECORDING…

Alright! I’ve just finished the first stage of the transition back to consciousness. I have the subject in front of me. Her official title is “M-I2A-N-A17,” or simply “Mina” for short. The designation is a combination of the relative cosmic coordinates where she was initially discovered, as well as our universe’s approximate location with the sprawl.

In any case, the name Mina stuck, so that’s what we’ve decided to call her. She’s becoming sort of a guiding light for us in recent months, I must say. I often find people coming to visit her.

Some of them even sit in a chair outside her cryotube and read her stories. She can’t hear them, of course, but it’s quite endearing.

There’s something comforting about knowing that these Wardens are out there. Keeping watch. Guarding us from things that not even science can explain. We owe our existence to people like Mina, and I think it’s important to remember that…

Ah, here I am, waxing poetic. I cannot believe I’m about to meet a real Warden! This is terribly exciting! Ahem, my apologies, I must retain some level of professional decorum.

Alright, and Mina should be waking up any moment now…

That’s it! She’s awake! Hello, can you hear me?

What’s going on? Where am I?

It’s okay! You’re on a human research station in interstellar space. My name is Doctor Paul Eisner. Do you have a name?

AHHH! MY HEAD!

What’s wrong? Are you in pain?

UNKNOWN AUDIO DETECTED

Calm down, please! I know you’re scared!

Wait! Stop! Let go of me!

UKNOWN AUDIO DETECTED

Stop, please! I can’t breathe!

UNKNOWN AUDIO DETECTED

Get out of me! Now!

UNKNOWN AUDIO DETECTED

Warden, omega, four-one-two, requesting emergency discharge!

It’s working! Thank the Creator, it’s working!

I WAS SO CLOSE!

You’ve lost. That’s all that matters. Wait, I see a light? They didn’t tell me there would be one. That’s good…

END OF RECORDING…

---

Agent Durwood removed his headphones and set them on the desk. Then, he pulled out a small notebook and flipped it open.

He clicked a pen in his left hand and started taking notes.

It’s very similar to the case in 11722.

They’re trying to infiltrate the Sprawl by hijacking Wardens?

Need to go to the source of the incursion…

Agent Durwood wrote down the name of the location on his notepad:

VIRGINIA?

He circled that name twice with his pen before returning the cassette to the box in the archive. Exiting the archive, he pulled out a small flip phone and dialed a string of numbers into it before placing the device to his ear.

“It’s me. Yeah, I think I’ve narrowed it down. Earth-one-one-seven-two-two.”

Agent Durwood pulled out his notepad and reviewed the last several pages.

“Some place called the United States. Yeah, I’ve narrowed it down to about 42,775 square miles. I know, not ideal.”

He paused, listening to the voice on the other end of the call.

“Yeah, some place called Virginia. I’m ready to go when you are.”

Agent Durwood hung up the call and put the phone back in his pocket. This should have been just another case, but something felt off.

He was right.

---

Thanks for Reading! Here’s Your Musical Pairing

Listen to this after reading, like pairing a glass of wine with dinner.