Dorian's Grayl SFSD #4 Round II

25th Century Digital Boy

Dorian followed behind Sophie and Tim as they wound their way through the stasis chambers before stopping atop a square metal plate where, if Dorian remembered correctly, there had once been a lift.

“Three passengers” spoke a generic female voice which echoed slightly around the chamber, “Calculating Kinetic Energy required to relocate Mass over levels One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Surface. Which level please.”

“Surface,” answered Sophie,

“Please stand clear of the edges,” said the voice, “Initiating energy shield in three, two, one...” 

Dorian watched in amazement as four shimmering walls rose around the plate to surround them and the lift hurtled upwards.  A few seconds later it stopped and released the shield allowing them to exit.  The lift had literally taken them straight to the surface, there were no doors, no corridors, no exit signs, just the surface of Zone Nine itself.  

It was certainly not as Dorian remembered it.  The luscious green grass of memory was gone, replaced by stark concrete which, although green in colour, just didn’t have the same effect.  And that massive futuristic spaceship was definitely not there before.

“What happened to the train station?

Tim gave Dorian a pitying look as Sophie fished about in her pockets for her keys.  

“The Intergalactic Eurostar?” Dorian nodded, Tim laughed and Dorian felt somewhat peeved.  “That prehistoric piece of machinery was decommissioned four hundred years ago.  It was slow, impractical... Like everything from its time really,” he continued as he gave Dorian a pitying look.

“Found ‘em,” Sophie called out as a door opened out from the side of the spaceship, making a ‘clattaclatta’ sound as a dozen metal steps descended to the ground in front of them.  Dorian took full advantage of the fact that both Sophie and Tim had their backs turned to him as they boarded by making lots of rude hand gestures at the rear of Tim’s head.

The ship was pristine and clinical.  Tim headed straight for what Dorian assumed to be the centre console before picking up a lead which extended from the vast array of neon lights and dials, plugging himself in at a location which caused Dorian to cross both his legs and his eyes.

“Umm...” he ventured as the ships engines roared to life, “So... Err... We’re a Binary System now?”

“Indeed,” Sophie nodded, “Look.”  Dorian joined her at the giant window in front of the console, looking out in awe as they rose up above Zone Nine and rotated towards the continental planetary alignment.

“There’s no ‘Manco Capac I’, it’s gone.  How?”

“It went rogue.  It escaped the gravitational pull of its home galaxy and is now moving independently in the Intergalactic Void. No one’s really sure of its precise location now.  We’ve still got Inti and Punchau though.  Anyways, I hate to say it Dorian, but you need to go clean up. For one, you stink of stasis and your clothes are far too outdated to blend in.  Go down the hall and through the double doors.  The shower is first on your left.  Your quarters are right next door.  There are clothes prepared for you.”

Dorian left as instructed.  After he had been gone for a good fifteen minutes Sophie walked over to Tim.  “How long until we land?”

“Thirty five minutes and twenty seven seconds.  Give or take,” Tim replied,

“You don't like him, do you?”

“No, I do. I just think he's a bit pretentious,” Tim replied.

At that moment, Dorian re-entered the room wearing a very loud waistcoat, amongst other things.

“How do you think I look?” he asked,

“Bit pretentious?” Tim mumbled.  “Eccentric,” he corrected as Sophie shot him a filthy look.

“We’ll soon be landing on Paris.  I doubt it’s anything like you remember.  The entire planet is dedicated to the Louvre - it’s a Museum planet.”

“Okaaay... But why exactly do you need me?”

“It’s quite embarrassing really.  You see, I’m the galaxy’s leading Cryptographer, but I just can’t figure out the hidden message within the pentagram.  You were the best decipherer the TA had ever seen, hell, there’s no one in the BA who compares to you.”  Dorian felt himself blush.  “That and there was a note in the pocket of the victim which said ‘find Dorian Gray’. It was too big of a hint to ignore really.”

“I see.  And when exactly did this happen?”

Sophie looked at her watch.  “Three hours ago? As soon as I got the note we performed a hyper leap straight to Zone Nine to find you.”

Dorian knew what a hyper leap was, in theory at least so he decided not to question it, lest he appeared more stupid.  “You want me to solve your riddle?” he asked, “I need to see your corpse.”

Tim landed the ship precariously atop the Pyramid of the Louvre and the trio descended from the craft.  They were met by a man who introduced himself as ‘Fache’ who declared that he had found a second note upon the unfortunate curator.

“It’s just numbers,” he declared, his ruddy face clearly portraying his befuddlement.

“May I?” Asked Dorian, gently retrieving the scrap of paper without waiting for an answer.  He peered at it for less than a second.  “This is a Fibonacci Sequence.  Would you care to tell me that which you have not yet revealed?”

“Examine the body,” Sophie commanded roughly.  Once again, Dorian did as he was commanded.  Until Sophie pulled him into the bathroom and began to touch him in places that no lady of decent breeding should touch.  Dorian didn’t complain, he wasn’t a fan of sophisticated ladies.

“Shhhhhhh...” she whispered as she grasped his buttocks before holding her thumb and forefinger in front of him.  Dorian motioned with his hands to question if the teeny tiny piece of metal she held was a tracking device.  

Sophie nodded before dropping the device in the nearest urinal and giving Gray a pointed look to indicate that he should piss on the thing.  He couldn’t help noticing that she stared at his member for longer than necessary.

After the device was well and truly washed away, Dorian breathed a sigh of relief before tucking himself out of sight.