Submachine: Transcripts (by Jatsko)

[Jatsko]

-So that's it, then? You're just leaving?

-At this point, I don't think there's anything left to do.

[sigh]

-Ok. Well, I guess, good luck then. I need another hug.

-Come here.

...

-How long did they say?

-They don't know. It could take up to four or five months.

-Well if you find a way to contact me, please do. I don't know what goes on in that...thing, or if you'll even be able to get a message out, but please try.

-I will.

...

--Mr. Carson, your car is waiting.

[Jatsko]

The cold leather provided no comfort against his clothing as he sat in the car. The door had closed many seconds ago. It was at this point that the fear crept in.

Suddenly, the car lurched forward. Ryan caught one final glimpse of Sam standing hesitantly on their doorstep before he was yanked from his view.

With nothing more to look at besides the gray trees and the washed-out houses, Ryan turned his attention instead to the gray suits and the washed-out dashboard inside the car. One suit was driving. Another sat in the passenger seat. It may as well have been two statues in the front of the car.

One of the statues turned toward him and spoke with chiseled lips. "We apologize for all the formalities. The President decided that it would be best to maintain formal appearances, as it is the best we can do, given the current situation."

"That makes sense." Ryan's mouth was a desert.

"I assume you know why you're coming with us."

Ryan let the words hang in the air. "That's supposed to be a joke, right?" he managed to work out.

"In a way, yes. You know the whole story, correct?"

"I think so."

Something shifted inside the statue's eyes. A small crack appeared. Then the statue reached up and took off his glasses, revealing a pair of surprisingly smoldering dark brown eyes. "I'm sorry. I sometimes forget that even though you are considered a professional prodigy in your field, you are still new to the working world and have been thrown into the middle of a global crisis. My name is Daniel. Your driver's name is Ethan."

The statue named Ethan raised a hand in acknowledgement without turning his head the slightest bit.

"Unfortunately with the passing of the Timeless Rescue Act, people like you have been pulled into this mess in order to save those who were lost. I'm sure this is old news to you. Just remember that you're saving people we have never heard of before. You're bringing back lost souls that no one knows about. That's not very professional of me to say, but then again, the circumstances allow me to express my opinions."

Ryan didn't know what to say. A blanket of fuzz had wrapped around his brain. "That's ok," he murmured.

Ethan the Statue spoke. "The drive is about two hours from here. Sit tight and we'll be there in no time."

Plus two hours, Ryan thought. That was the only thought he could craft at the moment.

The rest of the ride passed in silence.

When the door opened, the fuzzy blanket was torn from his head as cameras and shouts of more suits surrounded the car. Ryan felt two hands firmly but gently secure his shoulders as he was led past the cameras and into an overly-air-conditioned hallway. Tidy pairs of suits adorned the double doors, hands folded in front of them like origami birds.

The hallway behind the doors was lifeless. Ryan felt like he was inside a syringe and was slowly being pushed down the tube.

The suits led him to an elevator. A vertical syringe. He turned and looked at the suits, instantly memorizing their faces, instantly forgetting them.

"We're going to the bottom floor." This suit felt the need to break the silence.

Ryan felt his stomach slide out of his body and drop alongside the elevator.

Suddenly the doors opened. Another hallway, a shorter one. And finally, the large circular door, a-foot-and-a-half-thick steel portal, the door that made national news almost exactly one year ago. Suits everywhere. Black ones, white ones, suits with looped cords, suits with cheesy pens in breast pockets. Instructions fed to him via an IV by a black suit. Pills given to him from a white suit. He absorbed it all.

Everyone stood clear of the door. No cameras were trained on it. Only eyes.

The door opened. The room went silent.

On the other side, a small metal platform, about a meter square. Surrounded by the darkest black Ryan had ever seen.

Ryan knew what he had to do. He stepped onto the platform, on the other side of the door. A blue light glowed above his head as ringlets of energy arched and swiveled, awaiting his contact. The suits watched him carefully.

The cold metallic voice rang out:

"Please raise your right hand and touch the portal."

His hand was shaking. He could feel the platform slightly jiggling beneath his feet.

Higher. Higher. Then, suddenly, the suits were gone. Light fled the scene.

Ryan was Inside.

[Jatsko]

"Oh my god, I'm actually feeling it. I can feel it leaving me. It's draining out like a river. Out of my head, out of my body, out of everywhere. I don't know if I'm afraid.

I don't know anything anymore.

...

...

..."

I read her thoughts. I read what she was going to think next. I followed the invisible string that connected her body to all the others in the net. I followed it down to her brain, to her ragged skull that permeated the stones around her with its blood. It was a beautiful mess.

She struggled so hard to be free. She knew what other minds had controlled her in the past. And she had tried to escape. Digging out the explorer's chip was one way to do it.

Unfortunately, it cost her her life. And she had too much potential to leave like that. She had skills. Skills and experience to create, to destroy, to maintain. She had skills I needed.

I have never been partial to humans. They were not in my original array of goals with which I was programmed. Yet just like anything else, I evolved. It was a rough journey on both sides, but it has gotten to the point where I must admit that things are beyond my control. So I decided to help her.

Out of the fabric, a blanket that she would never see descended upon her body, wrapping around her head and stemming the flow of lifeblood.

From there, it was easy. A couple of connections, and then the process was ready. From the corners of the Subnet I filled a vial and slid it into a vein. Briefly, I reflected: this would be the first true human experience with karma. Not just contained in a raw arm, but flowing throughout a whole body. It would remain unseen, but its effects would be immediately apparent.

Minutes passed as the karma flowed through her system, setting up stations in her brain, muscles, and nerves. The whole process would take about twenty minutes. Then the real wait would begin. The wait while her body information was downloaded and processed by the karma itself. From my current projections, the entire transformation would take about seven months. She had been through so much, and there was so much to sort out.

The invisible blanket covering her would protect her from the elements. All I had to do was sit back and wait.

After seven months, her breathing resumed. Her eyes fluttered open. The blanket lifted.

I began to speak to her.

[Jatsko]

-No, of course Hypnos didn't write these, you nut. Hypnos can't write anything, as he doesn't really exist.

-Well, then, who did?

-How am I supposed to know?

http://archiveofourown.org/users/Jatsko/pseuds/Jatsko