Chapter 1
Various colored grid lines and numbers flickered and fluttered on and off or from one place to another in the black space and indistinct voices spoke in the distance but began to grow louder and louder till a female voice spoke, “Just a little phase compensation.”A male voice then spoke, “I can see something.It’s parts of the grid, but it’s rotating, it’s still not locking up.”Another, younger, female voice added, “Maybe we all need a little break Lillian.”Lillian then replied, “Karen, you take a break.I can take care of Michael from here.Michael, we’re almost there.”The flickering and fluttering began to slow down and then four, large, green circle lines appeared and a Lillian asked, “How’s that?”And Michael replied, “Yes, it’s getting better but it’s still split up.”The circles then began to move left or right to align on top of each other and Lillian asked, “Better?” Michael replied, “It’s better.Up the sync.”There was a temporary static and then it cleared and various colored squares appeared and the numbers began to line up along the edges and Lillian spoke, “20.Better?”Michael replied, “I can see the color selections and border alignments, but it’s, ugh…. I don’t know.”Karenwondered aloud, “Maybe something is wrong with the visual set alignment.”Lillian replied, “Okay, Hal kill the grid.Gordy, take a look around the lab.”There is static and then blackness and Michael said, “Oh, this is weird.Everything seems offline.”Karen gave a stifled chuckle before she spoke, “That’s because we took it offline Michael, till we find out what’s going on.Should be back soon.”After a few moments suddenly the darkness began to fade away to be replaced to reveal a lab with various instruments and equipment and a large computer control console to the right with Lillian sitting behind it (smoking a cigarette) but everything is slowly rotation clockwise and Lillian asked, “It’s that it?” And Michael replied, “Well I see the lab, but it’s rotating.It’s all out of phase.”The visual then turned to the right (still slowly spinning in a clockwise rotation) till Michael saw himself sitting in a chair with a headset built and hooked up into various wires and instruments with Karen’s backside facing the visual and up against Michael’s left side as she appeared to be holding a pen like instrument and working on one of the wires to the headset when Karen spoke, “I think I got it.Gordy, go back to the settings screen for a second.”In the lab, Gordy bent over and looked closely at a computer monitor with the same headset Michael is wearing (but more mobile) and Lillian spoke up, “That’s it.A little more phase compensator.Up the signal.What do you see Michael?”Michael continued to look straight ahead as he replied, “Still clockwise rotation.It’s still all scrambled.”Karen screwed her face with a look of annoyance and spoke as she moved her pen like device to another wire connection to the headset and said, “Alright, lets try this one.”Lillian looked frustrated behind her monitor as well but then she let out a puff of smoke and her face began to look hopeful and said, “Hold it a second.I think you got it.”Suddenly there was static in Michael’s visual and when it cleared up the circles came together to form two suddenly everything turned to static, for a moment, and then two circles appeared with the left one red and the right one blue and numbers appeared in order of 1 to 9 and repeated along the edges and the male voice yelped, “Hey, there it is!You got it!”Karen smiled at her accomplishment and turned to show Lillian her enthusiasm and Lillian smirked back at her before turning back to the computer and said, “Okay Hal, let’s slate it.Gordy, follow Hal around with the slate.”Michael’s visual then appeared to come up from the grid to see the lab and a grey haired man moving away from him before kneeling down to grab something and Michael spoke with a little sense of urgency, “Hal, get the slate in there.”Karen and Hal spoke at the same time with Karen saying, “He’s getting it Michael.”And Hal spoke, “I….I got it.”From behind the computer, and what appears to be a multi-colored roll of film being pulled by a reel, Lillian stood up and spoke aloud, “Hold a minute!Karen, check his nerves.” Karen moved away from Michael, looked around the messy table and computer console behind Gordy standing by with Hal in front of him, holding the slate, till she pulled out what appears to be a small blunt instrument and went over to Gordy’s left side.She pulled up his left leg onto her right and Gordy gave a chuckle and Karen spoke with a smirk, “Enjoy while it lasts.” And before he knew it, Karen took a swing (not too hard) at his left knee and Gordy gave a short yelp as is lower leg jumped up and at the same time Michael’s left lower leg jumped up as well and everyone looked and Lillian smirked and said, “Okay.Slate it.”Karen let go of Gordy’s leg, put down the hammer instrument and went back to Michael’s headset as Lillian typed on a keyboard with a lighted panel and more buttons in front of her and between the keyboard and reel of film as a device, in a shape of a horseshoe, came up from the right side and between the rolling loose film towards the reel and a red line appeared and Lillian spoke, “We got speed.”Hal then held up the state in front of Gordy and said, “Test, August the 10th, 9:40 pm.Mark.”He then attached the slate to a rolling computer cart, facing Gordy as he looked up and Hal smirked at him and waved Gordy forward and said, “To the kitchen!”And Gordy smiled and said, “Good idea.Let’s eat.”Hal then opened the door and pulled the cart out, with Gordy following, pulling a cable filled with various small wires behind him, as Lillian put out a cigarette and lit a new one while Karen glances over at her, and nods her head with a look of disappointment, before looking back at Michael’s headset and continues to monitor the wires, connections and circuits as the test continued.
Hal pushed open the door with his backside and enters a small kitchen, pulling the computer cart along and Gordy following him inside as another man stood behind a small table with various types of food samples before him.The man looked at Gordy and smiled as he silently laughed and Gordy smiled back and said, “Watch it Lou.I got a big brain.What do you got for me?”Lou replied, “Everything you said.”Hal stops the cart and pulls out the slate and shows it to the left of Lou and says, “Slating!”And Gordy approached Lou as Lou spoke, “It’s all bad.Hot and cold, sweet and sour, chewy and melt in your mouth and…”Gordy cut in as he smiled, “Let’s try something exotic.”Lou replied, “You name it, Gordy.”Gordy sarcastically contemplated before smiling as he spoke, “A little steak.” Lou put a piece of steak on a paper plate as he repeated, “Little steak…”Gordy then said, “Peanut butter.”Lou spooned some peanut butter and repeated and Gordy spoke with a smirk on his face, “Hot fudge.”Lou looked puzzled while Hal tried to hold back his laughter as Lou repeated, skeptically, “Hot fudge?”And Gordy spoke next, “A few nuts.”Lou questioned as he put on the nuts, “Few nuts?”And Gordy held back from laughing as he said, “And some marshmallow sauce.”Hal then laughed as Lou spoke blankly with a sound of disgust, “Marshmallow sauce.”And Gordy finished with a big grin on his face, “And put a cherry on top.”Lou sounded disgusted, “Man, marshmallow and cherry on steak?”Lou then forked the mix to Gordy, as Gordy opened his mouth, and finished, “What in the world have you been drinking?”Hal laughed as he spoke, “That’s what I like to know!”Gordy ate it with a smile on his face as he said, “Mmm, mmm.”Back in the lab, Michael moved his mouth as if he is eating the same food Gordy ate as well, while Karen and Lillian monitored him and when Gordy finished, he and Hal made their way to the soundproof audio room, where a young woman sat behind an instrument panel looking grand piano as Gordy spoke, “Hey.”The young woman turned to him with a warm smile on her face and said, “Hey, spaceman, welcome back to planet Earth.”Gordy opened his arms and presented himself to her as he spoke, “What you see before you is the latest fashion in full-sensory gratification.”The young woman smiled and asked, “Yeah?”Gordy then tried to lean over as he answered, “Come on, give us a kiss.”But the woman quickly turned away as she giggled, “No!”Gordy moved closer to her as he repeated, “Come on.”And she turned back to him, but still tried to keep her distance and tried to push him off (weakly) as she said, “No.Come on, let’s get back to work.”In the lab, Lillian watched on the computer monitor and shook her head with a look of disgust while Karen is busy watching the various circuits and connections to Michael but she heard Gordy laughed, “Come on Andrea!”But Andrea replied with laughter, “Gordy, go on.”But Gordy persisted, “For science!”Karen then rolled her eyes while Lillian pressed a button and interrupted, “Gordy, get a hold of yourself!This is a test.”Gordy looked up with a sad look on his face while Andrea smiled up at him and spoke with some seriousness, “Come on.”Gordy sighed and then walked away towards the speakers on the far wall as Lillian spoke through the comms, “Andrea, give us a 90 dBf in sine wave, please.”When he stood in front of the speakers, “Gordy looked at Andrea as she turned to him and put on her headset (as Hal did the same all the while holding up the slate) and replied, “Okay, I’m ready.”Gordy then turned to Hal, as he held up the slate and Hal spoke to Gordy and the camera, “Slate.”And there was a confirmation beeping sound and Gordy turns directly towards the speakers, stood there and suddenly Andrea presses down on ten keys on the keyboard and plays a jarring note that forced Gordy to open his eyes wide and cringe as Michael repeated the same as the vision of the speakers shook.Karen looked concerned as she saw Michael’s expression and she asked, “Michael, are you alright?”Lillian replied for him, all the while lighting another cigarette, “He’s fine.Just reacting to the sudden increase in audio reception.”Karen looked at her with a blank, almost angry like, stare while Lillian looked back and blew smoke in her direction as she starred right back at her without a look of concern before turned back to the control panel.
Lillian watched, with a look of curiosity, as she noticed Hal pulling the computer cart into another room with various electrical and computer equipment with a young scientist working in front of one of the standing computer consoles and a large cage in one end and wondered to herself what in the heck are they doing.Hal then spoke her concern with a serious look, “Gordy, this is not in our itinerary.”Then Gordy whispered back, “Just a few seconds.”All of a sudden there was a sound of a chimpanzee and Gordy turned to look to reveal there is a chimp behind the large cage but with sensory stubs attached to her head and Gordy whispered, “I got an idea!”Then the young scientist noticed them and announced and then looked curious, “Well hi Hal!How are you?!What are you guys up to anyway?”Gordy made his way to a small computer panel attached to the cage and answered before Hal, “Just wanna see my old buddy Lena.”The young scientist walked up to him and he, Hal and Gordy looked on at the cage as Lena gibbered and Gordy leaned closer to the cage and asked friendly, “How are you Lena honey?”Lena pointed to the sensor stubs on her head with a sad look on her face as Gordy spoke sadly, “Aw, Lena, I know what it’s like to be a guinea pig.”Gordy looked down and noticed a safety belt attached to her waist with a small, handheld device attached to it and Gordy smiled and laughed amusingly as he took off the helmet and handed it to the young scientist who laughed as well, but not knowing what for as Hal smirked as he looked on and Gordy asked, “Is her output on standard interface?”The young scientist looked at the helmet and then at the plug on the computer panel on the cage and answered, “Regular plug.”Gordy then smiles, deviously, and disconnects a wire from the helmet and holds it up to his face, still smiling and the young scientist spoke worriedly, “I don’t know.”Gordy then looks at Hal and says, “Perfect mate for Dr. Brace.”Both the young scientist and Hal laughed and Hal spoke, “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”Gordy then proceeds to connect the wire to the computer to the cage as the young scientist spoke with concern, “That’s not so funny Gordy.”And Lena screams as Gordy connects the wire as he spoke, “Come in Lena.”There is a sound of static and Lena gibbering and all of the sudden various beeping sounds began to go off in the lab and Michael began to twitch and lips quivering as he went from looking through Gordy’s eyes to suddenly Lena and sees Gordy laughing.
Karen immediately notices Michael twitching and shaking in his seat and headset and she looked terrified and began franticly looking over the circuits and sees all the connections appear to be running on overdrive.She tried to find what is causing the problem but to no avail and she yelped, “Lillian what’s going on?!”All she heard was Lillian pressing and typing fast on the console and control system as she puffed a couple a large clouds of smoke and Karen turned to her with an angry expression and was about to call out again till Lillian finally there is a sound of the reel being stopped and Lillian called out, “Fuck it!”And before she could stand, Karen set her instruments down as she turned back to Michael and asked with worry, “Michael?”Lillian removed her cigarette from her mouth as she approached with a look of worry and asked the same question as Karen shook Michael’s shoulders, all the while looking straight ahead with a blank stare.Lillian then turned to a control panel in front of the seat and pressed a couple of buttons and then the helmet began to peel away and Karen shook Michael again and spoke demandingly, “Michael!”She then pushed both his brows up to look into his eyes as Lillian shook him and Karen yelped with growing anxiety, “Michael!”And did not notice Gordy walking into the lab massaging his neck and sighing with happy relief while Hal pushed the computer cart away with the helmet on top and when Karen noticed him she quickly turned to him with a venomous look and Gordy looked worried as he stood there and her clinching her left fist to her side while resting her right hand on Michael’s left shoulder as she asked firmly and loud, “What did you do?!”Gordy held his hands open and out to his sides and replied innocently, “Nothing.Just a little experiment in animal behavior.”As he spoke Lillian moved away while putting her cigarette back into her mouth and went back to the controls when all of a sudden Michael made a snarling noise that attracted all of their attention, even Gordy looked worried as he leaned closer till Michael sat forward in his seat and appeared normal and Karen stood back and closed her lips as she looked on with frustration as Michael pointed to Gordy and said, “There’s something wrong with you.You know that?”Gordy then leaned back and looked surprised at first and then sad as he rested his hands to his sides and slouched and said, “Aw.You didn’t like Lena.”As Gordy sat down in front of him, Karen rested her hands on Michael’s shoulders and turned to him and asked, “What happened?”Michael waved her off and said, “Nothing.”Karen glanced back at Gordy with a scowl and then back at Michael and asked, “So?”Michael looked back at her with wide eyes and grabbed her hands as he spoke with some enthusiasm, “I’m telling you it works!”Lillian asked as she came back from behind the computer consoles, “The tests?Sound?Taste?Smell?”Hal then approached the circle as Michael waved his right hand out and answered, “Everything, everything!One hundred percent.In fact, better.”Gordy leaned forward and asked, “What did you taste?”Michael then looked at him and replied, “Steak.Overdone, right?”Karen then looked at Gordy and the others with a smile on her face and then laughed silently as Michael continued, “Peanut butter, hot fudge sauce, slight orange flavor.Disgusting.”Hal then asked as Michael turned to him, “Nuts?”Michael replied, “Walnuts.I hate them.”Hal, Karen and Lillian laughed as Gordy looked excited as he asked, “Heh, that’s it?”Michael then looked down and replied with a smile, “Marshmallow….”And then he pointed at Gordy and finished, “….cherry on top.”Gordy then clapped his hands and yelped, “That’s it, man!”Karen asked, “How do you feel now?”Michael then began to get out of his seat as he answered, “I feel like a glass of champagne.Get some glasses.”Gordy then clapped his hands as he stood up and said, “All right!” As he walked away and both Hal looked thrilled as Lillian smiled and gave a little pump with her right fist as Karen lightly clapped her hands and smiled and as Michael walked away, Hall approached Karen and she turned her attention to him as he said, “Congratulations.”Michael kneeled down and opened a small fridge, rummaged around and pulled out a can when Karen noticed and gave a laugh as she spoke, “No replicator?”Michael turned back, after looking at the label, and walked back as he replied, “No, none of that synthetic crap.Especially when it takes the fun ingredient out of it.”They all came together, with Gordy carrying clean beakers, and Michael stated as Karen sat down and rested her left hand on her chin as she smiled up at him, “I would like to make a toast.”He then pops open the beer as Gordy handed out the small, clean beakers as Michael continued, “To the one who never gives up.”He pours his glass and then the others as they all smiled as he continued, “Karen Jennings.E.E., M.D., Ph.D.,…”Karen and Gordy laughed as Michael smiled, “B.M.T., B.V.D., R.S.V.P., COD.”He then set down the empty can and smiled as he turned back to Karen and and then to Lillian and finishes, “My friend.”Karen smirked as Lillian blushes and she said, “Cheers.”And Michael replied with a smirk, “Cheers.” And they all drank as Michael and Lillian locked eyes onto each other while Karen looks on as she silently drinks her glass and Hal and Gordy looked at each other and silently giggled and silently drank theirs.There was a low humming sound that seemed to flew overhead that caught Karen’s attention as she looked up before standing and moved towards the windows and when she looked out she noticed it was a Type-5 shuttlecraft that flew over and in a distance she sees an empty dry dock all lit up.She cocked her head to her right side and looked as if to ponder as Michael looked over and watched her from behind, as he took a drink, till Lillian stood up and said, “Alright Michael, lets get this cleaned up.” And Michael glances back at her before looking back at Karen, finishes his glass and walks away (while also taking the empty can) while Karen continues to look out the window and watches as a Constitution class refit starship just appears in the distance, not knowing that the crew in this particular ship will play a vital role in the future of Karen and Michael’s project.
