Read Online H.A.L.F.: The Makers by Natalie Wright - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Natalie Wright
Tags: Science-Fiction, Children's Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Children's eBooks, Teen & Young Adult, alien invasion, Aliens, first contact, Science Fiction; Fantasy & Scary Stories
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know me as all Conexus know me. I am their leader.”
Her scent was everywhere, her touch maddening.
“I am their mother,” she said. Her lips hovered next to his ear.
Tex wanted to enfold her in his arms.
“Their god.”
He moved his lips to find hers, but before he could kiss her, she pulled away from him, taking her warmth and heady aroma with her. Tex’s mind reeled as if waking from a trance.
“Walk with me, 9. I will show you the world of the Conexus. I will show you my world.”
Tex found himself on his feet and trailing behind her before he had formed the intention to do so. His legs were like noodles beneath him, unused to walking and made weak by the desire the Regina had created within him.
The door slid open and Tex followed her into a dark hallway. The floor was lit on either side by a row of dim bluish-white lights.
She walked so quickly that Tex had to nearly run to keep up. They moved down the corridor, turned left then right before the Regina opened a door with her mind. Tex had not noticed there was a door. It was dark and there was no handle or hinges.
The door slid open and he followed her into another smaller and short hallway that opened to a large, cavernous room. Inside were row after row of planter boxes raised up from the floor on stone tables much like the one he had woken up on. Above each box was a bank of lights that hung from the ceiling, illuminating spindly dark green plants that looked like a cross between a tomato and a thistle. Also over each box was a metal ligature with multiple mechanical arms radiating from it. Some of the arms held thin, flexible hoses that sprayed the plants with a liquid while others picked off leaves or the purplish-red oblong fruits.
There were dozens of Conexus milling about in the room the size of a football field. As the Regina passed through, she reached out her hands and the Conexus gently touched her fingertips as she walked by.
As if there had been a dam around his mind that was now taken down, Conexus chatter filled his mind. It was a fluttering buzz like hearing thousands of people talking at once. But as the Regina glided about the food-production room, the chatter calmed itself to a pleasant group hum in perfect unison.
The Regina did not speak to either Tex or the Conexus as she strode slowly around the room. She exited the way she had come in. The door slid closed behind them and they were once again in the dark corridor.
Tex had so many questions that he wanted to ask. But when he tried to form an idea, it evaporated before he could create anything coherent.
He followed behind her like an obedient dog. They turned to the right and she opened another door.
This room was less cavernous though still quite large. The air was filled with the soft whirr of machines. There were large boxes formed of plastic with clear windows through which Tex could see a long, black plastic arm moving back and forth above a smooth metal plate. A thin filament of plastic shot out of the arm and onto the plate. He passed a box in which it appeared that a rounded, hollow structure the size of a small car was being created. In another smaller box, multiple arms worked away spinning out layer after layer to build up cups like the one that Tex had drunk from earlier that day.
The entire room was filled with these 3D printing machines. He followed the Regina as she moved through the room, passing by box after box filled with machine-created objects. She moved silently through another doorway to the left and into a room which held a half dozen or so reclining chairs molded from a smooth almond-colored stone. A diminutive Conexus reclined in each chair, their eyes fixed forward as though entranced, staring into space.
“What are they doing?” Tex asked.
The Regina’s voice was soft and low. “Working.”
Without warning, Tex’s mind was flooded with the busy chatter of the Conexus in the room. The sudden onslaught of activity in his brain made his
Her scent was everywhere, her touch maddening.
“I am their mother,” she said. Her lips hovered next to his ear.
Tex wanted to enfold her in his arms.
“Their god.”
He moved his lips to find hers, but before he could kiss her, she pulled away from him, taking her warmth and heady aroma with her. Tex’s mind reeled as if waking from a trance.
“Walk with me, 9. I will show you the world of the Conexus. I will show you my world.”
Tex found himself on his feet and trailing behind her before he had formed the intention to do so. His legs were like noodles beneath him, unused to walking and made weak by the desire the Regina had created within him.
The door slid open and Tex followed her into a dark hallway. The floor was lit on either side by a row of dim bluish-white lights.
She walked so quickly that Tex had to nearly run to keep up. They moved down the corridor, turned left then right before the Regina opened a door with her mind. Tex had not noticed there was a door. It was dark and there was no handle or hinges.
The door slid open and he followed her into another smaller and short hallway that opened to a large, cavernous room. Inside were row after row of planter boxes raised up from the floor on stone tables much like the one he had woken up on. Above each box was a bank of lights that hung from the ceiling, illuminating spindly dark green plants that looked like a cross between a tomato and a thistle. Also over each box was a metal ligature with multiple mechanical arms radiating from it. Some of the arms held thin, flexible hoses that sprayed the plants with a liquid while others picked off leaves or the purplish-red oblong fruits.
There were dozens of Conexus milling about in the room the size of a football field. As the Regina passed through, she reached out her hands and the Conexus gently touched her fingertips as she walked by.
As if there had been a dam around his mind that was now taken down, Conexus chatter filled his mind. It was a fluttering buzz like hearing thousands of people talking at once. But as the Regina glided about the food-production room, the chatter calmed itself to a pleasant group hum in perfect unison.
The Regina did not speak to either Tex or the Conexus as she strode slowly around the room. She exited the way she had come in. The door slid closed behind them and they were once again in the dark corridor.
Tex had so many questions that he wanted to ask. But when he tried to form an idea, it evaporated before he could create anything coherent.
He followed behind her like an obedient dog. They turned to the right and she opened another door.
This room was less cavernous though still quite large. The air was filled with the soft whirr of machines. There were large boxes formed of plastic with clear windows through which Tex could see a long, black plastic arm moving back and forth above a smooth metal plate. A thin filament of plastic shot out of the arm and onto the plate. He passed a box in which it appeared that a rounded, hollow structure the size of a small car was being created. In another smaller box, multiple arms worked away spinning out layer after layer to build up cups like the one that Tex had drunk from earlier that day.
The entire room was filled with these 3D printing machines. He followed the Regina as she moved through the room, passing by box after box filled with machine-created objects. She moved silently through another doorway to the left and into a room which held a half dozen or so reclining chairs molded from a smooth almond-colored stone. A diminutive Conexus reclined in each chair, their eyes fixed forward as though entranced, staring into space.
“What are they doing?” Tex asked.
The Regina’s voice was soft and low. “Working.”
Without warning, Tex’s mind was flooded with the busy chatter of the Conexus in the room. The sudden onslaught of activity in his brain made his
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