Read Online Socket 1-3 - The Socket Greeny Saga by Tony Bertauski - Free Book Online
Authors: Tony Bertauski
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taught me a game called Reign . The animated pieces
moved around seven levels of chess boards and chopped each other to
pieces. Blood would squirt and the pieces would die moaning. Very
cool.
I was restricted to the transforming rooms,
leapers and corridors. No matter what shape or form they became or
what illusory views I could see through the windows, it was stuffy.
It beat school, yeah. And it beat sleeping in front of the TV on
empty pizza boxes. But no matter how big the room, I was still
inside a mountain. I hadn’t seen the sun in a long time. Pictures
of it, sure, but not the real thing.
“You have been cleared to enter the
Preserve,” Spindle announced in the third month, I think. For all I
knew, we weren’t even on a twenty-four hour schedule anymore. He
waited for me outside a testing room where a man had asked if I
could move a set of round objects with my mind (he gave me ten
minutes but all I did was stare at them and wonder what he did for
fun). Stupid.
I stepped quickly to keep up with Spindle,
his gait so smooth and effortless. “Recreation is important,” he
said. “I think you will enjoy this very much.”
We stepped inside a leaper.
I didn’t know what a Preserve was, but it
had to be better than staring at balls that wouldn’t move. “No more
tests?”
“You have no more tests today.” The colors
formed a rough smile on Spindle’s face.
The leaper opened. I expected another white
room, maybe a view (real or not) of the hills. At the very least,
I’d hoped we might go out to the field Mom drove (or flew) across
when she brought me to the Garrison. At least it was wide open. I
just wanted to feel the wind on my face. We didn’t go there; we
went someplace so much better. We stepped outside where the sun was
bright, the air humid and earthy. We were in the outside world, but
one where I’d never been. One I never thought possible.
No illusion this time.
We emerged from the side of a cliff. From
our vantage point, the tropical forest had been carved out of the
mountain like a stone bowl. Trees, birds, palms… the whole
deal.
“The Preserve is a man-made, enclosed
environment supporting the growth of over ten thousand botanical
species.” Spindle spoke louder to clear the screeching call of a
toucan or howler monkey or something else wild. “In addition, there
are numerous exotic species of birds, mammals and aquatic
creatures.”
“Enclosed environment?” Blue sky was peaking
between the clouds. “You mean that’s not real?” My heart sank.
“Do you see those?” Spindle pointed to a
barren limb on top of a large tree. “Those are magnashield
generators disguised as part of the tree. There is one every five
hundred square feet. They power an overhead force field that
encloses the Preserve. Nothing can get in. Nothing can get
out.”
“How big is this place?”
“5.2 square miles. It is primarily used for
research. Many medical breakthroughs that have been discovered here
will soon be made available to the public. Right now, I would like
to take you to the entertainment sector.”
Spindle stepped onto a dirt path that went
around an enormous banyan tree. The trail beyond the tree was 10
feet wide with a thick layer of leaves. Trees enclosed the humid
path. Secondary paths split off now and again, darker and narrower.
Things scurried along the undergrowth while small monkeys watched
from above. One hung from a thick vine and screeched. Colorful
birds teased him.
I’d been in places like that on a much
smaller scale. We went on a field trip to a greenhouse conservatory
with butterflies and lizards. Plants bloomed all sorts of colors,
shapes and sizes, attracted bugs of equal strangeness. None of us
said anything but whoooaaaaa for the first five minutes;
then, we threw pebbles at turtles chilling on a log. But this was
way beyond that.
Spindle stopped along the way, described
plants, pointed at animals, and gave me the brief history of things
he found
moved around seven levels of chess boards and chopped each other to
pieces. Blood would squirt and the pieces would die moaning. Very
cool.
I was restricted to the transforming rooms,
leapers and corridors. No matter what shape or form they became or
what illusory views I could see through the windows, it was stuffy.
It beat school, yeah. And it beat sleeping in front of the TV on
empty pizza boxes. But no matter how big the room, I was still
inside a mountain. I hadn’t seen the sun in a long time. Pictures
of it, sure, but not the real thing.
“You have been cleared to enter the
Preserve,” Spindle announced in the third month, I think. For all I
knew, we weren’t even on a twenty-four hour schedule anymore. He
waited for me outside a testing room where a man had asked if I
could move a set of round objects with my mind (he gave me ten
minutes but all I did was stare at them and wonder what he did for
fun). Stupid.
I stepped quickly to keep up with Spindle,
his gait so smooth and effortless. “Recreation is important,” he
said. “I think you will enjoy this very much.”
We stepped inside a leaper.
I didn’t know what a Preserve was, but it
had to be better than staring at balls that wouldn’t move. “No more
tests?”
“You have no more tests today.” The colors
formed a rough smile on Spindle’s face.
The leaper opened. I expected another white
room, maybe a view (real or not) of the hills. At the very least,
I’d hoped we might go out to the field Mom drove (or flew) across
when she brought me to the Garrison. At least it was wide open. I
just wanted to feel the wind on my face. We didn’t go there; we
went someplace so much better. We stepped outside where the sun was
bright, the air humid and earthy. We were in the outside world, but
one where I’d never been. One I never thought possible.
No illusion this time.
We emerged from the side of a cliff. From
our vantage point, the tropical forest had been carved out of the
mountain like a stone bowl. Trees, birds, palms… the whole
deal.
“The Preserve is a man-made, enclosed
environment supporting the growth of over ten thousand botanical
species.” Spindle spoke louder to clear the screeching call of a
toucan or howler monkey or something else wild. “In addition, there
are numerous exotic species of birds, mammals and aquatic
creatures.”
“Enclosed environment?” Blue sky was peaking
between the clouds. “You mean that’s not real?” My heart sank.
“Do you see those?” Spindle pointed to a
barren limb on top of a large tree. “Those are magnashield
generators disguised as part of the tree. There is one every five
hundred square feet. They power an overhead force field that
encloses the Preserve. Nothing can get in. Nothing can get
out.”
“How big is this place?”
“5.2 square miles. It is primarily used for
research. Many medical breakthroughs that have been discovered here
will soon be made available to the public. Right now, I would like
to take you to the entertainment sector.”
Spindle stepped onto a dirt path that went
around an enormous banyan tree. The trail beyond the tree was 10
feet wide with a thick layer of leaves. Trees enclosed the humid
path. Secondary paths split off now and again, darker and narrower.
Things scurried along the undergrowth while small monkeys watched
from above. One hung from a thick vine and screeched. Colorful
birds teased him.
I’d been in places like that on a much
smaller scale. We went on a field trip to a greenhouse conservatory
with butterflies and lizards. Plants bloomed all sorts of colors,
shapes and sizes, attracted bugs of equal strangeness. None of us
said anything but whoooaaaaa for the first five minutes;
then, we threw pebbles at turtles chilling on a log. But this was
way beyond that.
Spindle stopped along the way, described
plants, pointed at animals, and gave me the brief history of things
he found
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