Equestrian Alliance: Project Oblivion

The heat attacked them as they walked from the air-conditioned building into the parking lot.

"Good thing these glasses block the sun," Chris said. "It's super bright out here."

"A perfect day for this. You'll see why," Jeff agreed.

"I can't wait."

They approached a parked van. Jeff opened the driver's door and got in, Chris joining him on the passenger side. The other three piled into the back.

The vehicle was pleasant inside, contrasting sharply with the heat of the day.

"It's already cool. It's not running, though?" Sanchez wondered. "I had expected a heat wave."

"This is an electric vehicle, charged by our power grid. Our deep-core geothermic generators provide power to both the entire ProteC facility and the nearby town, at no charge to them. We provide many useful things that the locals would never have access to without us. It never hurts to have allies in the local community."

Chris was amazed. "How much energy do you have available?"

Jeff glanced at him for moment.

"We have enough to power half of America without noticing the drain."

Chris made several choked gasping noises.

"Dimensional physics experiments tend to pull enormous amounts of current." Jeff touched the controls, and the car accelerated silently forward. "And tomorrow, we will use almost all of it when we power up the full size Gate for the first time."

They looked out the windows while the car cruised through the ProteC complex, passing factories, industrial facilities, and other buildings. The streets and sidewalks were clean and tree-lined, an artistic blend of beauty and functionality. Robots were cutting grass and picking up trash.

"This place is amazing."

Jeff smiled and chuckled. “You haven't seen anything yet."

The car took a turn, and drove down a side street towards a gate in a large metal fence. As they approached the gate, an armed guard robot rolled smoothly out of the gate shack to meet them.

Jeff rolled down the window and stared into the robot's imaging sensors. "Escorting four."

"Identity confirmed, Mr. Peterson. It scanned the car interior momentarily, and Chris had the distinct feeling it was seeing more than a human eye could. It returned its expressionless gaze to Jeff. "Confirm four guests. All secure?"

"All secure."

The robot nodded curtly and backed away from the car, standing guard as the gate rumbled open.

"That reminds me, I have to get your security credentials transferred down here," Jeff said. "Security control can update your access privileges. We'll head over there after we take a look around out here." He drove the car through the gate and uphill into a thickly jungled area. The road continued for some time, heavy foliage on both blocking most of the view.

After a brief period, the road crested and they could see there was some kind of valley beyond. Jeff drove off into the trees on a narrower access road and soon stopped the car by a small open air building.

"Let's get out, and you guys take a minute to look at the view."
They exited the van and followed Jeff into the building and up a flight of concrete stairs. At the top was a gazebo, and Jeff made a sweeping gesture with his arm as he led them towards the viewing area. "Welcome to Gateway Valley."

Chris stepped forward and looked down.

He gasped.

There were numerous waterfalls and streams running down from the edges of the valley, too many to count at a glance. The rushing waters produced mists in some areas, and sparkled in the sunlight in others. There were numerous tall hill-like formations, each with large springs sending more water splashing down their steeply stepped rocky slopes. In the center of the valley was a lake with several large metal bridges and pathways running along the surface to an immense device in the center. Numerous trees and lush vegetation grew throughout the landscape.

The machine was huge, from this distance it was difficult to tell how big it actually was, but the geodesic dome at the center dwarfed the trees around it. Through the transparent dome could be seen what appeared to be a set of immense rings slowly rotating inside each other. It appeared that half of the dome was below the surface of the water, like a gigantic golf ball set in a pond.

Hamilton stared, his mouth hanging slightly open at the impressive sight.

"Daaaaannnnng," McAllister said.

Sanchez let loose a long whistle.

Jeff chuckled. "It's a lot to take in, eh? Wait till you see it up close!"

Chris tore his eyes away from the spectacular view. "Oh yeah."

Jeff headed them back to the van. "I'm gonna give you guys the quick tour. Got a lot to do to get you inprocessed before tomorrow!"

He turned the van back onto the main road and drove down into the valley along a winding route. The trees grew sparser after the crest of the hill, and the road wove between rock outcroppings and over small bridges, tracking around the waterfalls that covered the area. Birds called to each other from the vegetation, and the sun was brighter thanks to the sparser tree canopy. After several minutes, the road gave way to a metal bridge over water, and the dome housing the Oblivion Gate towered before them.

Jeff drove the van across the bridge to the geodesic dome, and parked on a platform at the base of it.

"Okay, it's designed so we could drive all the way inside, but there's no point since the control room is right here."

Chris stepped out the passenger door and looked around. "This place is gorgeous," he said across the hood to Jeff, who grinned and gave a thumbs-up.

They walked past several other ProteC vans towards the large open door in the dome. The robots guarding it scanned them as they approached, but did not interfere. "Good afternoon Mr. Peterson," one said. Jeff waved.

"It's just a machine, right?" Sanchez asked. "Does it care if you respond?"

"You're right, of course," Jeff replied. "But one day, I believe they may be more than that. It never hurts to show respect. Notice how, even though they are all the same model, only one of them greeted me?"

"Hmmm. Now that you mention it, that is interesting."

"Most likely a product of some randomization subroutine running, or a deliberate system to keep ten robots from saying the exact same thing at the exact same time. But one day, it will be more than that, and we will be forced, as a species, to change our view of what it means to be alive." Jeff swung his arms to the side. "And here we are. Welcome to the Oblivion Gate, gentlemen!"

Chris and the others gaped at the scene spread out before them. The interior of the dome was several stories tall, reaching far above their heads. Filling up most of the area was a pad surrounded by enormous rotating rings that spun on varying axis below and around the pad, creating a confusing, weaving pattern that changed constantly. To their right was a smaller raised building inside the dome, covered in windows.

"That's the control room," Jeff pointed at the raised building. Men in ProteC coveralls were carrying equipment and cabling up the stairs in a bustle of activity. "They're making last minute adjustments for tomorrow." He pointed out the numerous security personnel holding rifles and keeping a watchful eye over the proceedings. "This is a sensitive operation, but tomorrow will be the biggest day of all, and you guys are gonna be in here on the job too."

"It looks to be fairly well secured already," McAllister said, noncommittally.

"And yet here we are," Hamilton added, the slightest tinge of suspicion in his voice.

Chris sighed and turned to Jeff. "I really appreciate your bringing us here. But something has been nagging me this entire time. Why did you need us?"

Jeff stared. "What do you mean?"

"This place. It's locked down like a fortress. Yet you still brought us here. And no offense boss, I know we are pretty good at what we do, but we are NOT your best."

Jeff smiled. "THIS is why I brought you here."

"What?"

Jeff smiled wider. "This right here. See how you're confronting me right now?"

Chris wrinkled his forehead. "I still don't see what you're getting at."

"I wanted people who weren't afraid to talk to me like a man. I deal with a lot of people, very good people. Brave people. But most of them would never, ever ask me the question you just asked, no matter what I told them to do. I don't want a yes-man, Chris. And you guys, if a wee bit unorthodox, are anything but yes-men." Jeff waved his arm. "There is a lot going on here, and I want someone I can trust. I don't want someone who is afraid to point out problems, who will agree with anything I do no matter how badly thought out it is. I know you guys better than you think I do."

"Fair enough," Chris said. "That makes sense to me, I guess."

"And one more thing," Jeff added. "As with any science project, there is a slim chance something, ah, unexpected, could happen."

"What does THAT mean?" Sanchez asked, eyes narrowed.

Jeff grinned. "I have no idea. We won't know until it happens. Or nothing could happen, which is what I expect." He looked at the other four men, then frowned as his stomach growled loudly. "Soooooo, uh, who wants some lunch?"