Chaacetime: The Origins - Book 2: The Space Cycle - A Metaphysical & Hard Science Fiction Trilogy

By A.I. Zlato

How can you save your city when you can’t even trust reality?

Paul’s investigation with First Circle Agent Baley has hit a dead end. The string of child suicides continues, and only improbable theories remain. But the worst may be yet to come, as Paul and Baley share a dark vision: a cyclone designed to massacre the City.

Baley watches the panic unfold among the grieving families. Amidst the chaos, an android messiah collects disciples… including Baley’s estranged daughter. With her daughter spouting theories too strange to be believed, Baley wonders if she should continue to trust her sanity or open herself up to the madness…

Paul and Baley have one chance to track down the deadly cyclone’s creator, but how can they survive when the all-powerful Machine that brought them together may have terrifying ulterior motives?

Chaacetime: The Origins - Book 2 is the gripping continuation of a series of metaphysical sci-fi novels. If you like richly-imagined worlds, bizarre twists, and stories that push the boundaries of reality, then you’ll love Irene Zlato’s riveting tale.

Buy Chaacetime: The Origins, Book 2 to take a plunge into the impossible today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: I Really Love Sci-Fi
• Release date: Dec 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781386434368

Book preview

My personal FREE gift to you

Are you intrigued by the story?

../../../../chaacetime%20US%20nouvelles%20couv/livre13D.png

If yes, then I’m sure you’ll fancy the opportunity to read a digital version of the book #1 of this trilogy for FREE....

This is where everything begins.

You will then discover how and why this story starts...

Go to this URL to enjoy this personal gift:

http://ireallylovescifi.com/book1

Table of contents

My personal gift to you

Table of contents

Chapter 1 Space H. (1st Circle)

Chapter 2 . Space H. (Periphery)

Chapter 3 Space H. (1st Encirclement)

Chapter 4 Space H. (1st Circle)

Chapter 5 Inter-Space (Level 2)

Chapter 6 Pre-E.S. Era

Chapter 7 H. Space (1st Circle)

Chapter 8 Space H. (Outside Circle)

Chapter 9 Space H. (Periphery)

Chapter 10 Space H. (1st Circle)

Chapter 11 Cycle 1100 1010 0110 0000

Chapter 12 Space H. (Periphery)

Remember : My personal gift to you

smartmockups-print_psdg_6

A fractal ... invariant structure, regardless of scale change ... to get so close to one’s purpose that one gets farther from it, step after step.

Recollections from Chaacetime

Chapter 1 Space H. (1st Circle)

Baley could not be fully aware of the situation. Just a few hours earlier, she was with the 'excluded' children, trying to talk with them about their religion. She wanted absolutely to find a flaw in order to show them the aberrations of their beliefs and, above all, to prevent them from having future suicidal thoughts.

Suddenly, her approach crumbled. The Problem erupted again. Looking at young bodies arranged in circles, she was totally distraught. Not knowing what to do, what to think, how to act ... She had decided to contact Paul. For some reason that escaped her, her unconscious demanded it, probably in desperation.

There was always this shadow area in her mind, since the intervention of the Machine. She learned to live with that black hole to which she had no access, but which broadcast at times compelling ideas. She could not ignore the injunctions of this region clouding her consciousness, this elsewhere, which was neither entirely her nor alien to her. Facing the Problem’s re-emergence, her distress, her inability to define a new action plan, the dark sphere of her brain had ordered her to contact Paul, which she had done.

Her message was relayed through the Machine and a terminal before reaching him. Luckily, he had access to a terminal at that time and had replied quickly, uttering some terse words to confirm the appointment.

Baley then sat down for the first time in hours, and breathed deeply in an attempt to loosen her muscles and identify pain points. She was so on edge that her whole body seemed a burning indistinct mass to her, and she could not know which parts of her anatomy really ached.

Realising how she was breathing, she shifted her attention, focusing her inner eye on each area of her body. She stared at her feet, her legs, stomach, chest, lumbar spine to the neck, neck and finally head, reconnecting her mental and physical realms. She was unable to relax, but she spotted what hurt her, locating the nerve and muscle tensions. Breathing on pain, she channelled it to an acceptable level. She opened her eyes when her chip notified her of Paul's presence at the building entrance.

She opened the door, and let him in quickly, without going into the corridor. She did not have the strength to face City residents, and thus did not venture outside. She stepped aside to let him into the living room.

An awkward silence pervaded the room. Baley knew that Paul had been hostile from the beginning, the removal of children belonging to the Chrijulam sect, and she feared his reaction. He finally spoke.

I heard the news ... The Problem. Again. I guess that is why I am here, I have to help you approach things differently, he said.

Baley appreciated that he pretended to ignore her failure, and that he did not utter unbearable sentences like 'I told you so'.

I am trying to see things clearly, it's true. I need to state the facts, and you are the only one I can tell everything, as my teammate. I know you already know this, but before moving forward, I need to express aloud the summary of events.

I understand. How would you like me to help you?

By listening to me without interrupting me ... please.

Paul nodded in assent.

I'll take all the facts from the beginning, and the progress of the investigation, she said. "Problems have occurred continuously since the beginning of the year. Every time, there are more children than the previous occurrence, always aged from 11 to 13. And the rate of cases is accelerating ... Yesterday, twenty-three children died ... Children lie into three concentric circles, divided according to their size, reproducing the symbol of the Machine.

The interrogations I conducted led me to think that there was a common point between the parents. The Machine has confirmed that, by naming the Chrijulam sect. We learned that its followers reject the founding values of our City, and glorifies, to the extreme, life after death. In a child, this opposition between life in the City and an existence with his or her parents can lead to despair ... and the promise of life after death leads to suicide. It was a plausible explanation.

Having researched and conducted additional interviews to validate my hypothesis, I decided to remove all children from the sect. The operation was a success. Of course, the news channel has come to find the common point between these children, but overall, the calm was maintained in the City. I went to see these young people, and I was hopeful. And then,... there was ... It started again.

I must inevitably have made a mistake somewhere ... but where? What did I miss? And what to do, now? "

I'm not sure we need to question the reasoning.

What do you mean?

All your intuitions were confirmed or rejected by the Machine ... perhaps deliberately.

But ... but what are you suggesting exactly???

Simply that the Machine could have other goals ...

Other than preserving the Equilibrium? You’re kidding!

You cannot reduce the Equilibrium only to the Problem. The Machine calculates things more generally, and ...

Paul did not finish the sentence, not daring to end his thought in front of Baley. Even she did not linger there. She had many thoughts regularly springing out of the shadows. He said.

"You handle things as you would do in, say, a normal investigation. However, nothing is normal in the case before us. The Chrijulam sect has existed for a long time; its origins mesh with the creation of our Space. There is no reason for its beliefs to become suddenly so subversive. The common factor does not really matter; you have to find the trigger element. If you have the cause, you can control the consequences. The reverse is not true.

Before worrying about a trigger element, I want to identify potential targets to destroy their yearning for death. I want to protect children effectively ... I have not managed to do that! Then, and only then, I would worry about knowing the cause ...

The trigger of suicides ... why now ... changes in the Machine’s structures ... correlation between internal changes / external changes ... her shadow thoughts threatened to resurface. She could not afford it to let me out.

Please, Paul, let’s resume. This story about a trigger element ... I have to forget it for now, Baley said weakly.

Why?

Some ideas may be counterproductive, she said, on the verge of nausea.

Tell me more. I might find them meaningful ... and make them productive.

No, you would think I am crazy.

That is how you feel about me, if I am not mistaken. The feeling would then be mutual.

Baley appreciated the joke for what it was, a safety valve, allowing them to temporarily relieve pressure. She got up and felt her heart soreness disappear. While smiling, she slipped into the kitchen to prepare coffee. Lars had restocked the pantry, and she could even make a small oblong cinnamon cake. She put the cups on the table, inhaling the smell of coffee that emanated. Paul resumed.

If you do not want to share your ideas about the  concept of trigger ... Well, I'm only here to help. Let’s continue, then, according to your logic. Regarding the latest Problem, did you ask the Machine if the twenty-three children were likely to belong to this sect, even with a low probability?

This is the first thing I checked ... the probability is less than five percent. In other words, they do not belong. There must be something else in common, something that brings all these children, or their parents, together ... If we establish a raw list of all children involved, we see that besides their age, they have nothing else in common ... they are from different Circles; go to different school; intend to work in many and varied occupations; and have also various school activities ... Their only common point was this cult, but we saw that this assumption was wrong.

Let's say that, except in the latter case, the children belonging to the sect proved correct. These events still could not be a coincidence.

Perhaps. I do not know. I do not know anymore.

Baley buried her head in her hands. Stress and fatigue had accumulated in recent days, and now she was paying the toll. She rubbed her eyes vigorously, and got up. She paced throughout the room, to gather energy and to think.

Meanwhile, Paul remained silent, staring at the map, which Baley’s chip projected on the wall. Red dots indicated sites of occurrence, and the dot size varied depending on the number of children involved. Seeing her teammate focused on the map, she also observed. All these dots ... the trigger factor ... the Machine ... why? The vortex of swirling ideas, escaping from the area of her mind that should have been condemned, with a force that nearly destabilised her.

A tear of frustration ran down her cheek; she hastened to wipe it. She forced herself to look again at the City projected on the wall of her living room. In the centre, a black sphere indicated the Tower, around which were spread Circles all the way to the Periphery. From the centre, large gray metal spans symbolised the rails that spread into the City. By touching a random area of the map, she could zoom in and see buildings individually, along with the adjacent streets. Only red spots, which she added herself, did not change when zoomed in. They remained identical, blood-coloured spots on the perfect structure of Circles, growing shadows ... dead children. Paul interrupted her thoughts.

Can you ask your chip to interconnect dots? He asked.

Uh, yes, why?

Without answering, Paul indicated the dots to connect. The lines materialised in the direction of his finger. He started over several times, asked to delete certain tracks, before redrawing them.

Where are you going with this, Paul?

I don’t know yet.

She traced, then suppressed, lines between red spots, following Paul’s indications. After a few minutes on this analytical journey, she reached into a drawer in search of an old pen. She found one that worked, and explained to Paul how to use it. He was able to draw directly on the map without having to explain things to Baley, who would then translate them on the map. Now equipped with a pen, he got busy, grumbling in his corner, sometimes cursing. Baley thought hearing him even appealing to Edgard. Finally, he deleted, with an angry look, what he had traced, and walked away from the wall, probably to take a step back.

Yet I thought ... I was not dreaming, they were there ... maybe ... If Edgard was here, it would go so much faster ...

Is it not available?

What? I do not know, it does not answer.

And what would it see that you could not see?

It was just an idea ... how ... ah yes!

Paul stopped, held in personal thoughts. He was probably talking with his Kandron, and Baley felt excluded from this conversation. She resumed her walk in the apartment, fixing the map to try to see what Paul thought he saw.

Suddenly, he came out of his reverie. He put his coffee cup and took the pen he had thrown on the table. He drew with a steady hand. He linked