F
U T U R E B A R R I E R
( The
3rd Novel )
Secret Technology,
Unrequited Love, Absolute Vengeance
©
March 2018 Written by David Wicker
Please do
not reprint without permission
 CHAPTER 45 -
"Who Mourns For Stefani"
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This chapter is Rated: TEEN
Back with Tyr and Lilly, they were sobbing they were so upset by my sudden disappearance with that strange woman.
But then Tyr held up a hand and a soft glow emitted from it.
"What are you doing ?" Lilly asked.
She responded, "Dev gave me the gift of the plugin. I don't know for how long. But, I can sense that he - that he is okay. He's not hurt, in fact he seems to be in high spirits. Wow. Wherever he is, he's not in any danger."
Lilly shook her head, "That's all good and well, but for how long ? I suspect that woman demon thing took him straight to hell ! There are many interpretations. In my readings on the subject, it can appear really nice or really bad. Depends upon your viewpoint. We have to get him back now !"
"Lilly, you going to be long down there ?" her Mother asked from the foot of the steps, but Lilly ignored the question and instead took Tyr's hand in hers and they both concentrated again for a summoning.
There were 2 quick flashes of light followed by random electricity shooting in all directions.
"What ?" Lilly asked to no-one in particular. Then To Tyr, "Let's try again !"
Again, two more flashes of light and some dispersed electricity, like static playing along the edge of the salt ring.
"What's wrong ?" Tyr asked.
Lilly reached for a book behind her and paged it open. "Yeah, I was afraid of that. We can't do anything for 666 hours. It says here that if you are successful in summoning a demon, you will not be able to do any more conjuring until 666 minutes have elapsed."
"I'm - not very good with math. What would that be, Tyr ?"
Tyr quickly took some writing paper and a pen and worked it out. "That will be a little over 11-hours. If what you are saying is true, we can't do anything until that time."
Lilly pinched the bridge of her nose willing the tears to stop. She looked to Tyr, "Is he still okay ?"
Tyr just looked in the distance but apparently she was sensing me. "Yes, he's fine. I think - he's at some kind of circus or carnival. He's in really good spirits. Let's not worry for now. We can't do anything for several hours in any case.
Lilly's Mother called, "Is that you, Tyr ? You want to stay for Dinner ?"
Tyr set down the paper and pen and went to the foot of the stairs. "Yes ma'am. That would be fine, thanks."
While Lilly and Tyr left the basement to help Lilly's Mom with the groceries, they were in good spirits and looked forward to a great meal a few hours from now.
. . .
On the other end of the spectrum, Stefani, just like Daniel was neatly flushed down the septic tubes into the storage tank beneath the city. And like Daniel multiple pipes and tubes came out in all directions to add fresh sewage to the already massive amount there.
Stefani unlike Daniel, however, kept her wits about her and receded to the one part of the tank where the sewage and stink were the least and she was at the highest point above ground.
Her eyes rapidly adjusted to the new darkness. She thought she could see a giant iron lever from where she was. She checked the terrain, safe, and went to pull it. It groaned with a deep rusty moan and when she did, she could feel the sludge beneath her feet draining out and a large platform appeared about a dozen feet to her left.
Stefani immediately tried to slosh over to the platform but once she let go of the level, it groaned back to a closed position. The platform receded and sewage spewed over the top impeding her progress.
"There's got to be a way to do this." she said slightly out loud, retreating to her safe corner.
"Hello down there !" a new voice yelled from above.
"What ?" Stefani was beside herself with surprise. Then she cupped a hand to her mouth and yelled, "Yes ! I'm down here. Can you help me, please ?"
"Just a moment." the extra voice yelled.
A large metal ladder retracted slightly and on the end was no-one else but Daniel, the very boy she flushed down here a few days ago !
Upon seeing her he grimaced angrily. "You ! You can go to hell, b***h !" and then pulled the ladder back up so she couldn't reach it.
Stefani looked now. There was apparently a type of observation deck about 30-feet above the edge of the sludge below and she suspected Daniel was living there somehow.
"Can we talk ?" Stefani pleaded.
No voice responded.
"I suppose you are aware of the lever down here. I think it's a way to escape."
Still silence.
"If we work together, we both might be able to be free of this place ! What do you say, Daniel ?"
There was the sound of footsteps on metal and then Daniel's face peeked over the edge of the raised observatory. "Why should I trust you !?" he demanded.
* * *
Stefani was quick to reply, "Because we BOTH don't want to be trapped down here, right ? If we work together, maybe we can help each other. What do you say ?"
Daniel's face receded into the shadows. Several long minutes passed, but Stefani held her tongue. Clearly he was thinking about her offer.
"Come on up and we'll talk." he said. With that the ladder retracted down again, this time to touch the tip of the mire. It was not far from where Stefani was so she sloshed over to it. She grabbed the bottom rung and started to climb when the ladder, powered by a motor, raised her up out of the bog and into the landing of the observatory deck.
"I really don't have much of a choice, do I ?" Daniel said miserably. He was by a console that raised and lowered the ladder.
Stefani looked around. No, this wasn't an observatory, it was like a giant Petri dish, made out of stone and water flowed all around the edges. She went over to touch one stream and suddenly retracted her fingers in pain.
"Ouch ! What is that ?" she asked.
"Hot water there. Really hot, careful. Cold water starts here. Warm is in the middle. You can clean yourself up if you like."
Stefani looked more closely. It was like those stone fountains you see at parks where the water constantly ran down the side. In this case the water was pumped around the perimeter of the "dish" they stood in.
She tapped her finger in the water, working her way around the outer edge until she found a temperature she liked. She put her hand in and was delighted to see the water pressure blow off the filth that had accumulated on her wrist since she was dumped here.
"This isn't so bad." she said and put her whole back against one stream. In seconds the water flowed over and covered her completely. She rubbed every part of her body to try and get the filth off. Most of it flowed out from the water pressure.
She got up, dripping wet and looked to Daniel. "You couldn't have stayed alive this long without some food. What are you eating up here ?"
Daniel pointed to the large cylinder in the center of the "dish." At the absolute top was a digital lit clock that showed the military time. Following the cylinder down it was cut neatly and had 4-chambers and large buttons that came down at hand's reach.
"Food." he said simply. "There are 4-colors. Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue." He hit the blue button and a disc the size of a hockey puck emitted from it in a little serving tray.
He handed it to her. "Blue is basic grain I think. It's pretty good when you're hungry. Yellow is sweet fruit I have found, sort of like banana cake. Green is definitely vegetable matter, spinach and broccoli I think. And red is your basic meat. Tastes sort of like Chicken and beef combined."
Stefani grimaced at the blue food disc but took a bite. She chewed it. "Wow, that just has like no taste at all."
"Stay here long enough and your tastebuds will eventually glean a flavor out of it. Sort of like Corn Flakes and flour. And - it's not bad."
He pointed to the device, "Oh, and you can't just get it anytime you want. There is a 2-minute delay before any of the food buttons can become active again. I guess they did this so monkeys won't jam the system."
"Monkeys ?" Stefani asked.
"Well, or whatever it is they wanted to have observed down here. Surely these accommodations aren't for people. I mean, where's a TV, a real washroom and bedroom, or hell, just a way to leave ?"
Stefani nodded and started to survey the place. She noticed a gray push button on one side of the "dish" and on the opposite side as well.
"It doesn't do anything, I tried." Daniel offered.
Stefani was not to be put off so easily. "By itself, no. But let's push both together. On the count of 3. Ready ? 1 ... 2 ... 3 !"
She hit her button and Daniel hit his on the opposite side of the "dish." There was a spark from the cylinder in the middle when suddenly a screen popped out of it. It flickered momentarily then showed normal video. Apparently a news program was being broadcast.
"... still haven't found the cause of the murder. For those of you just tuning in. Arkos, our beloved leader lies dead, right at the entrance to Septic Processing Plant one. We suspect foul play. Anyone with any information as to this please contact our main office of security."
"Despite this tragic event we are going forward and continuing our underground society. Nominations for a new leader are now taking place. Please see miss Shirbee in Personnel Station three for details."
"Murderers !" Stefani spat angrily.
"What, who ?" Daniel asked.
"Those little monsters, two kids ! They sent me here !"
Daniel shook his head. "I don't think they would murder. Look." and he pointed to the screen. A recap was showing Arkos head where his brain was spilling out. "I can't imagine any kids doing that. Something else killed him. Something bigger and stronger than a mere couple of kids."
Stefani glanced at the screen. Perhaps Daniel was right. Now Tyr was livid and that's why she dumped her in this sewage treatment vat, but she suspected both her and Dev had no reason to be angry with Arkos, let alone cut his head open like that.
Arkos as a leader was pretty well milk-toast with all the employees and kids, at least publicly. Nobody bared any ill-will towards him, he was very fair in his decisions, and hardly ever raised his voice.
"Something else killed Arkos, you say ?" Stefani asked Daniel.
Daniel nodded. "Could've been someone that knew Arkos before we did. Everyone always has dirt in their lives. The brighter the picture, the darker the negative, you know ?"
Stefani sat on the edge of the seat that also encircled the "dish." "So where do we go from here ?"
"I don't know about you, but I'm beat. Before you got here I was mapping out the chambers below."
He pointed to one part of the floor where he had found a leftover rock and was scrawling out walls and tubing, leaving white etching on the ground.
He continued, "It's hard to navigate through that sludge. So for now, we rest." He tapped his button and the TV receded back into the cylinder and was quiet.
"Look at the clock." and pointed to the screen that showed what time it was. "22:02."
"It's already after 10pm here. Let's get some sleep. In the morning, have a few of those sweet banana cakes with maybe a grains one, and then we can address the problem of getting free from here."
Stefani wasn't happy with this at all, but she knew it would take their combined effort to escape this hell hole. "Sure." she said. She followed the perimeter of the "dish" around to the back where some long concrete benches were. At the front where a pillow would be, the concrete raised up slightly. A stone bed if you will.
She curled up on one of these and thought about what would happen in the morning.
Daniel stretched out on a similar stone bed and in seconds was fast asleep.
END OF
CHAPTER 45
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