Chapter 21 – Contained
78 0 1
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

Chapter 21 - Contained

The Council was alerted to the troubled mission to control a piconet mesh contamination outbreak that occurred in Bekka City.  Normally a failure of this kind would not reach the eyes of the Council; however, after the surviving data was analyzed by investigators its importance rose significantly and it quickly traveled its way to the highest levels.  And once it reached the top, it was reviewed by the Council.

The Council ran the Modus.  It was created to maintain order and to keep the hundreds of thousands of Races and Species it governed in check.  It was a tremendous responsibility.  The universe was a dangerous place where chaos ruled and order fought to survive.  The Modus was vast and spanned several galaxy clusters.  It was at such an unfathomable size and scale that most beings deemed control of it by a single group was illogical if not simply impossible.  However, it was done and one group held the highest authority since its inception.  In order to make everything work an unprecedented set of rules, systems and enforcers were required and the Council was created to manage it all.  And beneath the Council was the Senate which handled the more mundane aspects of the Modus.

One of the biggest concerns for the Council was the appointment of a new race.  Races were authorized to send a representative to the Senate where policy that would change the direction of the Modus could be made.  Any Species that proved that it should be reclassified as a race always created a commotion.  Sometimes, the new race would be welcomed with open arms.  Other times, the Species would be destroyed prior to official reclassification.  Destruction was not frowned upon since intergalactic wars between Species and Races were not against the law.  If anything, the death of a proposed race proved that reclassification was unnecessary.  And if an existing race were to become extinct during the process, the same could be said as well.

However the current issue did not deal with reclassification.  It dealt with something much more important.  It dealt with an issue that may cause irreparable harm to the Modus.  It dealt with change to the undeniable keystone that helped the Council maintain order.  It dealt with piconite meshes.  The tool that was the fundamental fabric for stability within the Modus.  Piconite meshes were used in just about every corner of the known civilized universe.  They were an essential tool for a society that needed stability to function.  And most of that stability was built on the tireless backs of piconite meshes.  The Council believed that predictable piconite meshes created control while unpredictable piconite meshes would lead to chaos.  Therefore throughout the entire history of the Modus, all piconite contamination incidents were strictly and efficiently purged in silence.  Piconite meshes were essential tools for the Modus and the Council believed that it needed to stay that way.

A tall blue woman gracefully walked towards the large transparent crystalline wall that dominated the space in the star lit atrium.  The amorphous orange haze from the nebula beyond the crystalline wall filled the room with a serene radiance.  As the woman looked out towards the orange clouds she signaled for her assistant.

“Have you reviewed the footage?”

“Yes Director.  I have investigated the incident.  According to the report from the investigation team, the contaminated have all been eliminated and the contamination has been contained.”  

The assistant kneeled on one knee as he spoke.

“Very good Paul.  But can you tell me, did the report state the type of infection caused by the contamination?”

“No Director.  The report stated that it was a new type of fast spreading cluster pathogen that corrupted clusters quickly as it spread throughout the mesh.  Unfortunately, all samples were vaporized with the contaminated in order to eradicate all likelihood of spreading the pathogen.  And to ensure the utmost in safety, both the contaminated and eradicators that dealt with them were all disintegrated.”

“Good.  Do we know about the source of this contamination?  Can we trace it back to the origin or its creator?”

“Yes.  We have tracked all transport records of the entities involved and have apprehended its creator.  She pleaded guilty to the act of creation, but claimed that she acted within her rights as a researcher faithful to The Pledge.  However, considering the fact that the outcome of her work resulted in an issue that could lead to large scale destabilization across the Modus, she needs to be punished severely.  She released a contaminated specimen into the public so even the Pledge should not be able to protect her.”

The director paused, then she looked towards the clouds and the stars once more.  Paul knew not to interrupt the director at this moment and stayed quiet.  The director was in deep thought as she mulled over the information.

“So this incident was resolved quite eloquently.  Maybe I was worried for nothing.”

Paul let out a gentle cough and then spoke,  “My apologies Director.  It seems that I failed to state it clearly.  I was unable to eliminate the creator of the incident, she is a member of the Guulan family.  Doing so would have destabilized several quadrants and launched an investigation into our actions by Councilman Tanner.”

The director let out a sigh.  The incident could not be closed cleanly as they failed to eliminate all parties involved.  The contaminated were disintegrated, but the creator lived.  The creator might be able to recreate her work.

“Have you reviewed her research records?  Can the contamination be reproduced?”

“I have reviewed the records.  The professor can not reproduce the source of the contamination since it was produced by chance using unverifiable parts. And the creator likes to use irreversible random processes in the construction of her specimens.  Additionally, we have destroyed her lab, staff and plane to ensure that replication would be impossible.”

“Good.  Where is the creator now?”

“She was relocated to a new research plane where we can monitor her work.  Her funding is still in place so she can continue to contribute to The Pledge.  Our actions in this matter are seen as justified so there should be no follow up from the Guulan family or Director Tanner.”

“Very well Paul.  I do not like the fact that we could not eliminate the creator, but you did a good job overall.  This incident will disappear like the others and the Modus will remain protected.  However, transfer all records of the contamination to me and afterwards destroy all evidence of this incident.  The data is too dangerous.  I need to understand how to slow this new pathogen’s progress and create piconite antibodies and firewalls that can be used to fight the spread of a similar contagion.  This incident is now closed.  That is all.”

“Yes Director.”

The director still looked out towards the nebula as Paul silently rose up from behind her and left the room.  As the sounds of Paul’s footsteps fell silent the Director began to clench her fist.  She still looked cold and calm on the outside, but the blood that dripped onto the floor would indicate otherwise.  

“Oliva.”

A dark shadow appeared at the edge of the light and knelt.

“Yes director.”

“Investigate this incident and eliminate all remnants of contamination including the creator.  But do not rush her death, if the creator’s accident occurs too soon suspicion will rise.  And remember no records.  This order does not exist.  And as for Paul, if he does any more investigation in regards to this incident, you know what to do.”

“Yes, director.”

The shadow moved backwards and disappeared into the darkness.  The room became silent once again.  After a few moments, the director opened her bloody hand, turned around and left the room.  A cleaning robot appeared and began to remove the bloodstains near the window.

In the hallway Paul grasped for air.  He hated talking to the director, but since it was his job he had to do it.  The director may look calm, but he knew she was angry.  He began to recollect the footage at the transport terminal.  The encounter to eradicate the contamination led to an explosion that left a portion of the transport terminal vaporized.  Luckily there were no inquiries regarding the incident.  The media control team reacted immediately and convinced the news services that the cause was a corridor related accident that occurred during scheduled maintenance with no citizen deaths.  

Though the director had closed the incident, he knew there was a slight possibility of an error and it made him nervous.  The director seemed overly concerned about this incident.  His conclusions might be wrong.  But he decided to act anyway and beg for forgiveness later.  After he transferred all of the data to the director, he began to walk down the hallway and anxiously replayed the footage he secretly saved within his optical display.

Paul reviewed the material again.  It all ended after the Disposer stepped into the room.  It eliminated the two while they were operating the control console.  The following explosion disabled all sensors in the room.  Shortly afterwards, the Disposer self-destructed and destroyed a portion of the transport terminal to ensure that all evidence was deleted.

He felt relieved.  His conclusions were correct after all.  Then he merrily walked down the hallway as an undiscovered shadow followed closely from behind.

1