Adrian sighed, he sometimes forgot that he was the only one with the advantage of mind space. He knew that Riss was busy with his ship. Riss was also one of the commanders of the ten ships that were now almost finished.
“Yeah, I know. The Titan needs to be your priority, but afterwards I want you to focus on your craft a bit more.”
“Yes Clan Leader.” Riss said, and only the fact that Adrian knew him very well allowed him to know that the tone was mocking.
“Yes, you will follow orders. Unless you want me to keep reminding you about your weakness for all eternity.” Adrian said grinning. Riss too had gone through the immortality gene therapy and would not age. With the Empire’s genetic knowledge it was only a matter of identifying the right markers and altering them slightly to remove cellular degradation. And it was also much easier to achieve in Guxcacul, as they were already long lived, with an average life span being three thousand years. Riss was also the only Guxcacul that went through the therapy. The other Guxcacul survivors had refused, just like the Mtural did. Adrian’s wolion companions, Sora and Akash also went through the therapy, and will live as long as Adrian did.
As soon as the two walked out of the sparring room, Riss turned his triangular head to Adrian. “I must leave you now Adrian, I need to check the progress on Titan’s propulsion systems.”
“Of course Riss, I’ll see you later.” Adrian said. He too had responsibilities. Adrian headed towards his quarters for a quick shower, and then went to the Forge.
Adrian entered the research center, immediately seeing Isani, head researcher Grace and Alexander – his old friend from the academy back on Earth, now Alexander was one of the most prominent doctors in Warpath. The three were engaged in a serious talk, but as soon as they saw Adrian they stopped and turned to him. Isani approached him first.
“I think that perhaps we should delay this test, at least until we manage to reduce the information load.”
“The projections say that my mind should be able to handle it. Right Grace?” Adrian retorted.
“Technically, yes. But this load would be enough to render any other person unconscious. The only reason you can, is because of the abilities that we can’t even begin to understand.” Grace answered.
“Not understanding them doesn’t mean that I can’t use them.” Adrian said.
“Adrian, we can’t predict what this will do to you.” Alexander started speaking, “It could very well be that everything goes over fine, but we just can’t be sure. The input is too much right now, we need to either lower it or find a way to make it easier for the brain to interpret.”
“If we lower the information input the Watchtower interface becomes useless, we might as well keep using the command boards. No, we need this, you know why we need it, and for now I am the only one who can use it.” Adrian said.
Isani shook his head and his tail swung from one side to the other in agitation. “You will kill yourself one day if you keep pushing yourself blindly.”
“They could be right Adrian.” Iris chimed in his head. “We don’t know what this can do to you.”
“I will not let fear keep me from moving forward Iris. This is dangerous, yes. But no great leap is without risk.” Adrian said to Iris, then looked at his friend. “Ah, that is where you are wrong my friend. It is the only way I know of growing beyond my limits, I push so that others have a way to follow behind me. This is no different.” Adrian said.
“They might not be able to stop you from doing this Adrian, but I can.” Alexander said slowly, Adrian turned to him to respond but Alex raised his hand to forestall him. “I will not, I just want to know you that I can. I am your doctor, and you need to respect the boundaries I set for you. You can try the Watchtower, but I will be monitoring your stats, if at any point I think that your life is in danger I will pull you out. Understood?”
Adrian watched his friend coolly, and then after a tense few moment raised his hand and flipped his palm from side to side agreeing.
“Good.” Alexander said. They moved towards the room where the interface itself was. They entered the room over-looking the interface first. The room was filled with people, measuring equipment and computers. Through a glass window Adrian could see the interface down in the adjacent room. Only a simple chair, the rest of the interface was in the walls and below the floor.
“What have you prepared?” Adrian asked, while his hand strayed to the back of his neck and the relatively fresh access point implanted there.
“A Fictional scenario. You will be commanding a fleet of ten ships against fifty in an inhabited system.” Grace answered.
“Alright. Let’s start.” Adrian said and moved through the doorway to the room below. He reached the chair and sat down. The chair restraints moved over Adrian and secured him to it, first his body, then his head. He then felt a prick at the back of his neck, at the access point for the Watchtower. The access point was a direct connection to Adrian’s brain and his implant, on its own it did nothing, but coupled with something like Watchtower it had great potential.
Adrian felt it when the chair’s connector secured the connection with his access point. It felt like a bite from a small insect.
“Are you ready Adrian?” Grace asked over the speakers.
“Yes.” Adrian answered.
“I hope that we come out of this whole…” Iris said worryingly.
“Aren’t you the one that always wants to try new things?” Adrian asked.
“Establishing the link!” A voice said over the speakers.
“I like trying new things but not when—” Whatever Iris was about to say was lost, as Adrian felt something switch in his brain, he felt the link between the Watchtower and his brain initiate. And in the next moment he screamed.
Sometime later Adrian became aware of himself again, he had no concept of how much time had passed, he could only remember the pain unlike any he had ever felt. He opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer in the Watchtower room, instead there was nothing around him. He floated in nothingness. He could see his body, but nothing else. Then he became aware of two distinct voices calling out to him.
“I’m here!” He yelled out, and something changed, he felt more like himself. And the voices became more solid.
“Adrian? Are you alright? We detected a surge in your vitals.” Alexander’s voice asked.
“I’m fine. How long was I out?” Adrian asked. He didn’t really talk, he thought about what he wanted to say and Watchtower and his mind did the rest.
“Out? What do you mean, we just initiated the link.” Alexander said.
“Oh. Good then.” Adrian said. Then another voice sounded out.
“Adrian?” It said softly, timidly. Unlike Alexander’s voice, this one seemed to come from somewhere close to him. Adrian turned around and saw a shape standing behind him. It was female in appearance, its skin a living flame.
“Iris?” Adrian asked, stunned.
“Um… Yes, it’s me.” She turned her head – that was on fire, and looked down on her nude body. “Well, this is what you imagine me like?” She asked coyly.
Stunned Adrian’s mind went into overdrive. He knew that the Watchtower was designed to give the brain the ability to shape the information and present it in a way that he could understand. But Iris wasn’t a part of the interface, she shouldn’t be able to manifest through his imagination as a person, only a voice. Then he took a better look at her. He was immediately certain that the body was created by his mind, her features were those of two women that influenced his life the most, Bethany and Laura. Iris was a mesh of the two of them.