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  ARTIFEX

  Gentry Race

  Copyright © 2018 by Gentry Race.

  Gentrifiction Publishing.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  For Cherise, Caillou, and my family:

  Here follows the Twelve Keys of Basilius Valentinus, the Benedictine, with which we may open the doors of the knowledge of the Most Ancient Stone and unseal the Most Secret Fountain of Health.

  Glossary

  White Matter - A set of quarks that can derive all forms of matter.

  Nanites - Small nano sized robots that 3D print/voxelize white matter.

  Voxels - Volumetric pixels or 3D printed matter.

  Annulus - A space station composed entirely of voxelizing nanites.

  Contents

  1. The Living Ship

  2. Peak rings

  3. Earth

  4. The Codex

  5. Fire

  6. The Superstition

  7. Wind

  8. The Arrival

  9. The Audit

  10. Water

  11. The Aftermath

  12. The Dead Ship

  Footnotes

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Gentry Race

  1

  The Living Ship

  The COAAS ARTIFEX carved through the barreling waves of the Gulf of Mexico like the hand of God. The living ship, christening its first expedition, was the pinnacle of Enconn’s technology and the most advanced vessel ever known to man. With its entirety made of millions of nano-sized bots nano-printing—‘voxelizing’—white matter furiously on demand, some would consider setting sail on such a craft a lifetime achievement. Yet, there stood a contrasting, rustically dressed gentleman, unamused with the fancy tech carrying out tasks at his whim.

  Arthur Blaise was clad in attire that any fine Neologian might wear. A tailored neck scarf, numerous right-angled pouches were fixed to his fawn colored jumpsuit. Each pouch were fastened with asymmetrical button snaps. Nestled in his breast pocket, a sleek, black-framed monocle, next to his favorite pocket watch, which was strung on silver chain that receded from view. A cherished gift from his now deceased father.

  Arthur had always loved and respected his father as he was a watchmaker by trade. It was because of this Arthur had developed his fascination for cogwheels and the stored energy of winding springs from a little boy. His father held workshops Arthur would attend as a boy. He had been right that energy truly was mass—and vice versa, in fact, this was why springs became heavier from being wound up. This was where Arthur got his fascination for being a craftsman, an artifex of science and engineering.

  Where a neat part bisected his hair, an ill-assorted mechanical contraption rested on his head, sheathing his eyes and jutting out small, black filament wires. He fiddled with a clockwork vambrace device on his forearm.

  “Damn nanites!” Arthur balked.

  The myriad of extending wires was an uncanny sight, as they attached to the spinal column of a beautiful, inanimate android lying recumbent in a chair. Arthur unclasped the vambrace device on his forearm, rolling it out into handheld form. His quash expression contrasted wryly with the lifeless body before him, as he analyzed the data and then slapped the gadget back onto his arm in a gallant motion.

  “Processing white matter reserves,” a monotone voice sounded from the background.

  The insentient body jolted in a fit and deadened in a slump. Arthur watched, carefully scrutinizing the result as he looked at his armband once more. He grazed his fingers across the doll’s belly. She’s so soft, he thought. One day she’ll make the perfect container for a human soul.

  “Playing with yourself again, professor?” a refined lady interrupted from an open door.

  The voice startled Arthur, and as he stumbled back, the headset shifted just enough for him to glimpse his young assistant walking into his laboratory. She was gorgeous in her elegant, flowing dress, cut high on her thighs, her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She pushed her thin, golden bi-frames up on her nose to get a better look at what Arthur was doing, and then motioned with her hand.

  The doorway behind her formed back into a solid wall.

  “Liz, you can’t sneak up on me like that!” he said, smiling as he removed the apparatus from his head.

  Her smile was graceful as she watched him. He cherished moments like these—feeling her admiring him in his element, doing what he loved. She walked toward him with a respectable expression.

  “I’m sorry, sir. I just can’t help myself. Your obsession with clockwork gadgetry is quite contrasting. Especially when you play endlessly with these cybernetic dolls?” she asked with a perky smile.

  Arthur cringed inside to hear her talk like that. She usually supported him and his work; he could even have a relationship with her, if he so desired, but he chose not to. He knew that keeping it professional would be best for their research.

  “What would you have me do, my young padawan? Build broken spaceships and practice alchemical magic like your old professor?”

  “No; though it was nice that you downloaded his amateur designs to consider. He was a great admirer of yours, until I left his program for yours,” she said.

  “And what of our journey?” asked Arthur. Removing the headset had pumped some much-needed oxygen into his brain and revived his interest in the real world around him—which didn’t involve hitting on his assistant.

  “Captain says we are ahead of schedule. Actually, ahead of all the fleet,” she said.

  “By how much?”

  “Three days.” She smiled excitedly.

  Arthur smiled in accord. He had been the head designing engineer of the COAAS Schismata, her inner hull ever-changing with the high seas and adapting to the crew’s needs. Featuring a self-powered pendulum engine and newly printed titanium cogwheels, the ship’s design allowed for maximum use of the limited white matter and rewarded its engineers with speed.

  “The molecular assembling tech will change the world, but the Enconn board wasn’t happy about the sudden course change to the Yucatan,” Liz said.

  Arthur had a look of slight dismay on his face now. “I knew they wouldn’t be pleased when they saw the fleet stray from Bimini.”

  “Yes, I have quite the presentation for them planned,” he said.

  Liz stepped closer, and Arthur could tell she was investigating his mood. While frustrated with the tech, deep down, he knew what was bothering him the most: an uneasiness stemming from childhood.

  “And why such the long face?” she said, noticing his ill mood.

  Arthur paused, recollecting a memory. He walked over to the lifeless body of the android. “When I was young boy, my father took me on vacation to a small island called Isla Mujeres.”

  “Women Island?” she asked.

  “That is right, Liz,” Arthur said. “The island was so beautiful. White sands, topaz waters, and statues of Mayan goddesses—hence the name. We had to take a ten-minute ferry from the mainland to get there.”

  Liz’s eyes had started to glaze over from the details, but they brightened when his tone changed.

  “It was nighttime when we approached by ferry. I saw the most brilliant thing as we made headway: a glowing where the hull touched the water. I did a bit of research on the phenomenon, and came to find out that microorganisms were being agitated by the movement of the water created by the boat and producing bioluminescence. I was so enthralled that I leaned out further, and fell overboard.”

  Liz’s eyes widened.

  “
When I hit the water, I kicked my legs and flailed my hands to keep my head afloat. The waves lit up even more. Finally, my energy depleted, and I went under.

  “I remember feeling the faintest kiss upon my mouth, and being able to breathe again. A beautiful woman, with a fish-like bottom half, brought me safety. Next thing I knew, the ferry was there and pulling me out.”

  “Did you just describe a mermaid?” Liz said.

  Arthur laughed. “That would be something.”

  “Sounds like you were dreaming,” she said, and laughed, but stopped herself to quickly comfort him. “It must be hard, getting on this ship.”

  “It was, and with the help of Neology I spent most of my life thinking it was a near death delusion, but deep down something told me to investigate more,” Arthur said. “Thanks to Enconn and their glacial research, I was able to fund this expedition.”

  “Do you think there will be enough iridium at the drilling site?” Liz asked. “If the underwater crust is composed of some other metal, say, one that is softer and capable of less heat retention, then the construction of nanites for the printing process will be a failure.”

  “You are right, Liz. The nanites require a rigid shell to withstand heat that produced during voxelization. I believe, here, at one of the largest meteoric impact site on the planet covered by ocean,” Arthur assured her. “we will find the non-earth metal. The gravitational anomaly is undeniable; it shows a high concentration of iridium. Hell, dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago could have possibly died from its creation. There will be iridium… Enough to drive Enconn’s next big venture and get off this icicle of a planet.”

  “How ironic; a species became extinct to make way for the next step in human evolution,” Liz said, looking at the blueprints displayed on the wall: a space station that encircled the Earth like a halo. “The Annulus Space Station will be the jewel of mankind’s innovation once it’s finished.”

  Arthur nodded his head and smiled, “And will be able to construct the nanites to build Annulus with this find.”

  The central bridge housed the main deck of operating officers. Captain Ellis, in his decorated, nautical themed suit, helmed from his command chair. The instruments surrounding the rest of the crew molded and fluctuated to their touch. The voxelized interface, 3D printing white matter on the fly, ever-changing and assembling, signaled an unusual band of island formations just ahead on their course

  “Sir, take a look at this,” the navigating officer said.

  The captain walked over to see the sloped interface expand and change in height. Concentric, broken bands of lowland islands protruded from the surface of the choppy sea.

  “Interesting. Send for Blaise,” The Captain called out. “He’s the goddamn head scientist on this voyage”

  Moments later, Arthur entered the bridge in a rush, his intern, Elizabeth, just behind.

  “Captain Ellis?”

  “Arthur, take a look ahead.”

  He approached the interactive printing display, studying the odd formation.

  “Islands?” he asked curiously.

  “I thought we did a damn scan down here,” Captain Ellis snapped.

  “I thought so, too,” Arthur said, not believing his eyes.

  “Well, at least your ship is the—”

  A screeching alarm sounded on deck. The crew scattered to their stations attending to their stations.

  “Sir, we are hitting coral!” the navigation crewmen yelled out.

  “Veer west, full throttle!” the captain ordered.

  The ship jerked as it scraped the sharp, serrated coral below. The gouges were deep but fixed themselves on impact. Arthur looked back at Elizabeth and smiled at the indestructibility of the vessel.

  Then the ship tilted starboard. Coffee cups and belongings slid to the floor in a clamorous crash.

  “We are taking on water, sir!” yelled a crewman.

  Arthur looked at his gauges and couldn’t fathom what he was looking at. One look at the captain, eyes full of fiery determination, and he knew the game was over.

  “Full speed ahead!” yelled Captain Ellis. “We can break through it.”

  “Captain! No! We need to dock! She’s made of iridium. She will sink!”

  Arthur’s mind raced. He watched the captain reacting to the threat as if it were pure poppycock. The man was filled with delusions of grandeur while he commanded the technological wonder of a ship.

  The thought of crashing and being at the mercy of the ocean once more flooded him with fright. He became that scared little boy again. Would someone save him from drowning this time? His fear of the water strangled him, making his lungs feel as if he had already fallen overboard.

  A hollow sound echoed through the hull of the ship, while vibrations grumbled below their feet. They were suddenly thrown to the other side of the bridge, Arthur hitting his head and grabbing onto Elizabeth on his way down.

  His vision was muddled from the toss, but he looked out the window to see they had found more than just coral. They had found solid, dry land.

  2

  Peak rings

  The COAAS ARTIFEX, careened at a standstill, was propped up on a natural wharf, slowly taking on water. The so-called indestructible hull had been breached in the sudden impact with the lowland rock that had come out of nowhere. Men carried the irreplaceable cargo from within to an encampment they had set up on higher ground.

  Among the crashing waves, various crewmembers were spread, combing the coastline. They trekked past karst in otherworldly shapes like the fossilized teeth of a long-dead god, abraded over eons by pummeling waves and the howling winds coming down from the north. On higher ground, the jungle was dense with foliage, punched out in places by murky, circular ponds.

  The men congregated around an encampment of supplies they had brought from the punctured ship. The hull was still agape, despite being composed of endlessly 3D printing nanites. Arthur stood at the bow of the opening, examining the inconceivable damage that had occurred. He’d thought his tech was foolproof.

  He looked closer with a technical instrument attached to his monocle, his engineering background flooding his mind. He saw the minute nanobots collating incessantly, and then come to a standstill, seemingly choked by nothing. He looked closer at the soil, which he suspected was the culprit stopping the nanites from printing white matter.

  “What the hell happened, Arthur? You said she was unsinkable!” the captain yelled, making his way toward the man.

  Arthur tried to ignore him, until he could stand it no longer. “Captain Ellis, I told you to stop the ship! Something is not right with this place. I think the soil is, for lack of a better word, sour.”

  “You’re damn right it’s sour. This whole situation is fucking sour. What the hell am I standing on, Arthur? You said you scanned this area. For what? God damn water?!” the captain rebutted.

  Arthur gently raised his hand, gesturing for a moment of silence as he studied the breach further. His attention was redirected when he heard some crewmen heckle Elizabeth as she persevered the rough island conditions in her sultry dress. She pulled the dress up over her pert thighs, revealing her a set of corset garter straps that clung tight to her soft legs.

  “Dammit, Arthur!” the captain yelled, interrupting the engineer’s deep thoughts as he wanted to interject the heckles but he knew Liz could hold her own. “Tell me what the hell is going on! We were supposed to build a drilling rig from the boat over the water, not run into dry land.”

  “Captain, it’s going to get dark soon. I suggest we cart out the white matter immediately, or we won’t have material to print a shelter from,” Arthur fired back. “And please have your crew mind their manners around Elizabeth.”

  They both looked back to see Elizabeth punch one of the crewmen in the mouth. Arthur smiled at her tenacity.

  The captain smiled and shook his head. “Looks like she’s doing fine.”

  A buzzing sound came from his vambrace along with the text that read �
�Enconn Board Meeting.’

  Arthur gave one last look at Captain and took a deep breath, “Time to explain to the board why we are here.”

  The long corridor with the crashed ship lead past Arthur’s mainstay doglegged to the left into an open atrium showcasing the grand ballroom dome that bisected the ship. Here, a series of doors repeated, indicating their use by the sign above. Arthur walked to the sign reading ‘Board Room’ and stepped up to the closed door. Without hesitation, the door disintegrated before his eyes, demonstrating that the nanites were voxelizing properly to specifications.

  In the center of the Board Room sat a long, gunmetal gray table that connected seamlessly to the floor. From there, color coordinated floor and walls met the ceiling in rounded off corners.

  Arthur brushed off his coat like a master craftsman about to execute his signature move and sat down. From the ground, a chair began to voxelize, meeting his behind just as its weight came upon the stool.

  He tapped his finger on the table, and a series of monitors voxelized, their contours being drawn out first before coming to full fruition. One by one, each monitor lit up, projecting the smug face of a board member. Arthur took notice of one in particular; he had a bowl for a jaw that his peppered hair climbed down to. He seemed to be grimacing more than usual. Arthur knew this to be the head CEO, Arrand Fox. He wore a black and red tunic over his business suit that was sharper than his darting, beady eyes.

  “Mr. Fox,” Arthur said, his smile more of a facade than a farce. “What brings me the delight of your presence today?”