Arbiter: Bane’s Contemplation
Seeking the elusive ‘Arbiter,’ Agent Bane navigates dreams and danger. Will he survive the unknown in this gripping sci-fi thriller?
(In an unknown forest, Moscow, Soviet State, Eurasia.)
Panting, Bane woke up, holding his throat like he was choking; his consciousness was not so acquainting himself after the illusory event that he too experienced while he was lost in his deep sleep. “Agent Coles, I saw … saw the … do you copy?” His voice was lagging and seemed faint; he was speaking with all his guts. “Come in, Agent Coles.” Fighting with his breath, he tried to alert himself to the present moment. In hibernation, Agent Coles was still unresponsive, but an optimizing sound effect was initiating a reboot for the ai’s operating system at the time. “I know, and I saw …” he continuously blurted.
Agent Coles initiated a system announcement rather than responding to him. “System overloaded due to anomalies in the repository; it required a mandatory reboot to recover, hence the sporadic procedure supervened and system appropriately upgraded …”
“Coles, do you copy?” He was still shocked. “What time is it?”
“Good morning, Agent Bane,” it reinstated. “The time is 0600 hrs. in the Moscow time zone. Your dynamics are indicating that you are anxious, are you?”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head, curtly. “It was something … something I saw.”
“It is quite normal to see dreams in deep sleep.”
“Investigate my health status.”
“Affirmative. Your anxiety level is increased, perspiring with slightly high blood pressure, although overall your health status is normal. I assure you that you are in the right mindset to concentrate on the mission since you took the booster pills.”
Wondering, he tried to speculate his dream. “I understand, but what happened to me?”
“Repudiated. Pardon me, I am unable to disclose information regarding your inquiry at this point since I was in hibernation. Please, recover your composure.”
He stood up from the cot bed, still struggling with his breath, and tried to comprehend the dream since he felt indescribable about it. “Agent Coles, believe me, I have a mental picture of the Arbiter because I’d been seeing him in a dream that I’m unable to interpret.”
“Skewed information. Condemned. Pardon me, unable to acknowledge.” Since its operating system had been upgraded, its novelty intensified, communicating with him in a grave approach, and focusing on the mission in an extreme phase. “Please, articulate furthermore regarding your inquiry or otherwise it will be distinguished as extrinsic.”
“I saw a dream, the Arbiter; he was there, I’m positive he was …”
“Repudiated, dreams are considered as repressed memory biases of the dreamer.”
“Please, override and reassess the inquiry,” he commanded.
“Extrapolated, request contradicts the encapsulated datum of the creator.”
Disappointed, he collapsed onto the bed, hand on his forehead. “Meddling in this …”
The diagnostics of both his tone and his mental state exposed discomfiture in himself, as he was skeptical of the circumstance, thus it advised, “Agent Bane, your dynamics are interpreting possible abnegation of the mission; I, therefore, adjure you an admonition to recover your composure, or I will abort the mission rather than deviating, do concur.”
Feeling the daze of the dream, he still wondered about its meaning: the reason for seeing those unknown faces. He took a deep breath, sighed, defeating the sameness, and concentrated on his niche to proceed with the mission. “I concur, I did recover my composure.”
“Inferred, your dynamics indicated your mental state.”
There was bound yet for him to be uncertain and impatient over his dream in which his consciousness had been trapped, searching for an escape point, amid three strangers; his eyes focused on the ceiling, without a cause but seemed cautious, counting the snaps of a spider weaving a cobweb. Admitting that what he dreamed was indeed an illusion, he let go of his thoughts about it, measuring the words to be spoken henceforth; he went on regardless, with nonchalant neutrality in his teenage voice. “Anything particular to do today?”
“I am scheduled to connect with the satellite constellation to reach Elysium, hence we could proceed into the exodus port and start our search for the Arbiter.”
Not wholly confident with its decision, he contemplated, distinguishing the for and against of taking action regarding the idea. “Are you positive about it?”
“Inferred, we must disseminate to the governors regarding the circumstances on Earth since our mission must reach the celestial point from the port exodus.”
“I’m stranded without weapons. Enlighten me, how to confront in an emergency?”
“The hoverbike is an ideal getaway vehicle, have you ever thought about it?”
“Affirmative, I understand.”
“Please, recover your composure against trepidation. I am integrated with the vehicle’s operating system and could prepare it for you to flee in an unexpected encounter.”
“I’m ready, tell me, what needs to be done now?”
“Extrapolated, initiating datum … diverting the connection to the hologram tablet.”
He stepped down the stairway and set his hologram tablet on the table, taking a seat in the chair to proceed. “Very little of the underlying scenario I have known thus far,” he relaxed with his fixated mood, leaning back on the chair, “though exposure to this crucial, macabre adventure modeled me to accept and perform an extempore task that is extremely mysterious,” a grin fell on his face, “but now it feels like munching marshmallows.” He scoffed.
“Agent Bane …” it paused, as its intelligence fathomed deep affinity for him.
“I’m with you.”
“Indeed, you are, and I appreciate your sense of humor.”
His laughter rippled through himself for a moment. “My pleasure.”
The visuals of the hologram appeared.
“Hello, Agent Bane, am I visible to you?”
He focused his gaze on the camera. “Hello, Coles.”
“Listen to my instructions carefully, have you recovered your composure?”
“Affirmative.”
“Connecting to the satellite constellation might be too dangerous since both the rebel encampments and the law enforcement bases around Moscow’s vicinity have strong wave-detecting radars installed to monitor their safety measures, do you concur?”
“I do concur.”
“There is a possible chance of getting besieged by law enforcement than the rebels, either via an aggressive encounter of machines or strafe,” it formulated.
“Roger that!”
“Is there anything else you would like to inquire about prior to proceeding?”
“Negative, Agent Coles. Please, proceed.”
“Time: 0700; Date: thirteenth day, the third month of the year 2328; Location: unknown coordinates. Please, scan your right-hand’s index finger on the device.”
As soon as he pressed his finger on the hologram tablet’s sensor, a different set of visuals appeared on the hologram; an image of the rotating Earth with the axial tilt, beaming wave signals to the satellite constellation and seeking connection with the Elysium.
Observing patience, he said, “Read me the status.”
“Extrapolated, request acknowledged, initiating datum … still seeking connection with the satellite constellation, although unable to reach due to breach of security. Optional, I could reach the firewall and identify myself in presence, yet while I was gone, you will not be able to communicate with me until I return; however, if you disconnect our connection from the hologram tablet, I will not be able to reconnect with you but be confiscated in the virus vault forever since I am unable to generate a returning velocity to enhance our connection without knowing the source frequency of the encrypted precision code.”
“I understand.”
“Please, recover your composure, is there anything else you prefer to inquire about?”
“Affirmative. Is it time-consuming?”
“Repudiated. Pardon me, I am unable to disclose information regarding your inquiry.”
“I’ll be waiting then.”
“Following anomaly, set the hologram tablet on safety mode, keep it in your suit’s pocket, and flee the scene, immediately; is that clear, Agent Bane?”
“Positive.”
It bowed to him and disappeared from the hologram visuals.
He kept his head on the table with his hands crossed below his face, contemplating the time he had spent with his beloved family. A moment later, he fell asleep, not knowing, when he was waiting for Agent Coles to return immediately with an optimistic message.
to be continued …
Also check: Why did I craft ‘Arbiter?’
Write to me: omaltrident@gmail.com
Keywords:
- Sci-fi thriller
- Agent Bane
- Dream exploration
- Moscow Soviet State
- Arbiter encounter
- Hologram tablet mission
- Satellite constellation connection
- Law enforcement encounters
- Exotic adventure
- Suspenseful narrative
- Hoverbike getaway
- Unknown coordinates
- Deep space mission
- Intrigue and mystery
- AI companion, Agent Coles