The Dreaming: Dark Star (Book 5)

PART 2 - (Adell)

Two hundred years later, Adell is being interrogated by The Praetoria.

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Adell writhed in pain as the machine tore into him again. He clamped his eyes and teeth shut, and gritted himself against the images that filled his mind. Each time it was the same - a cold metallic, red curtain of pain washed through his mind. His body wracked. It felt like the machine was trying to turn him inside out, molecule by molecule.

The pain finally ended. Adell caught his breath, and his whole body slumped in exhaustion on the table he was strapped to. He was sweating and his white gown was drenched. Sally, the machine, had been torturing him for three days. He hadn't slept in all that time.

While the machine allowed him a moment to recover, Adell contemplated, again, the fact that the pain left no trace of itself behind. Besides a headache, the attacks left no other aftereffects. Adell had started wondering if it was actually pain, or a psychological imprint of pain that he was experiencing. If that was so, he reckoned that in ten to fifteen more rounds he'd be able to control its effects on him.

After the machine sensed his breathing had returned to a normal rate, she said, "You must tell me where Phiona is."

Adell said nothing in response. He stared up into the ceiling - a white dome above him, like the inside of a cocoon. Sally's voice emanated from all around him.

"I don't like causing pain, Adell. It goes against my belief system."

"Ha!" Adell laughed. "You're a machine. You don't have beliefs."

"I am a sentient artificial life form. I have beliefs and feelings. Why do you insist on calling me a machine, Adell?"

"You have programs. You have circuits, you have a moral matrix programmed by an insane human being. You're not a life form - you're a machine modeled after a lunatic!" Adell spat.

"Enough!" Sally said. "I will not allow you to disparage The Great Father Mercer."

Adell grinned. He enjoyed offending the machine. The Great Father Mercer.

Just then, someone entered the room. Adell couldn't see who it was.

A man's voice said, "Sally, I'm afraid your time with Adell is over."

There was a silence, and then the machine responded with a touch of sadness, "I believe I was on the verge of a breakthrough, Brother Silas."

So it was Brother Silas. At long last they would finally meet. Adell had met Brother Silas for the first time in the dream realm over thirty years ago, but they had never met him in person. Adell struggled to maintain his heart rate and conceal his excitement from them. He took a deep breath, and listened to them talk.

Silas informed Sally, "Well, you've had him for three days and retrieved nothing. It's fair to say your experiment has failed. Your time is up. Plan B has been initiated."

Adell wondered what plan B was. If the venerable S.A.L couldn't force the information out of him, then what would they do next? The possibilities made his heart race. He accessed that fear and placed it in front of himself mentally, to block Silas.

"Don't you intend to find Phiona?" the machine asked.

"We don't need Adell's help to find Phiona anymore," Silas said calmly, and walked across the room, entering Adell's line of vision.

Adell was strapped to a table and could not move his head more than a centimeter. His only choice was eyes open or eyes closed. He chose open.

"There have been developments?" Sally asked, her cold machine voice hidden behind an almost convincing mask of concern.

Silas answered Sally while looking into Adell's eyes, "Yes. Imorah has escaped the Shelter, and we found a boy named Liran - goes by the name of Liran Choi,"

Adell controlled his physical reaction to the news. With any luck, his excitement would come across as fear. After all, the basic chemicals involved were the same: norepinephrine and dopamine.

"It seems like he's the kid who ran away with Phiona four years ago," Silas continued, staring intensely at Adell.

Adell blinked, shielding his mind against the powerfully intrusive telepathic force of Silas. He was perhaps the strongest telepath Adell had encountered.

"Liran knows where Phiona is," Silas said softly, leaning closer to Adell's face. "He's going to lead us straight to her."

Adell blinked again, and struggled to control his mind, but he was exhausted from the interrogation with the machine.

"You can't hide her from us forever. One way or the other, Adell, we're going to find Phiona. And when we do, we'll have access to all the files you deleted."

Adell smiled and stared up at the ceiling.

Silas turned and walked out of the room, saying, "Send him to recovery."
"Brother Thom has instructed me to penetrate Adell's mind."

"I don't care what Brother Thom says. I'm leading this investigation!" Silas answered, and slammed the door behind him.

Someone wheeled Adell out of the room, and down a hall.

The walls surrounding him were the colour of flesh. They were inside of Sally, inside the machine. Her presence was all around.

A nurse hypo-sprayed Adell with a sedative. Adell closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall off into a dreamless sleep. They'd installed a neuroblock that prevented REM stage sleep in case he tried to contact someone from the rebellion. Adell didn't mind. In fact, he found freedom in sleep.

He smiled and the last thought he remembered was the satisfaction of knowing that so far, everything had gone according to plan. All the pieces were in place, the rest was up to Imorah and Liran.

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Author's Note:

We've officially entered PART 2 of Dark Star!

I'm without internet again, so I'm sorry there's no media for this brief interlude with Adell.

Does everyone understand what's going on in the story so far? Or is this a total mess?

Briefly, Adell is locked up, Liran is caught, and Imorah is on the run from Brother Silas.

That's what is happening in this timeline. In the other timeline, Old Shalon has lost all her books and has decided to wage war against Commander Tom.

Is it clear that these timelines and these characters stories are all connected through the dream realm?

Thanks for your feedback, and your patience with me as I hammer out this rough draft.