Hyos, The Memory Planet: HYOS, #2

By Jane Last

Ari is a disabled neuroscientist who is secretly frustrated as he is paraplegic. He lives in an underground city in a remote and quarantined planet called Hyos where descendants of humans cannot sleep and never dream and are compelled to wear brain implants. Ari is driven by voices in his head to explore the surface of the planet and to climb the mystical mountain Mt. Mali where his mother had committed suicide many years ago. What will Ari find at the end of his quest?
Hyos, the memory planet is a short scifi story which explores disability, identity, memory, human and alien consciousness, artificial minds, faith and prophecy and the existence of Gods in the multiverse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jane Last
• Release date: Sep 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393774488

Jane Last

Jane Last has had a life rich in travel and adventure and has finally settled in a place for long enough to indulge in her love of writing. She also enjoys producing short audiobooks and podcasts. An audionarrated version of this book can be found at: https://awesound.com/audiobook/river

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Jane Last

Hyos, The Memory Planet

Copyright © 2020 by Jane Last

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Jane Last asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

First edition

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Dedicated to my dear friends AN, RG and MN for their tremendous support and love

Fear

It is said that before entering the sea

A river trembles with fear

But there is no other way

The river cannot go back

Nobody can go back

To go back is impossible in existence

The river needs to take the risk

Of entering the ocean

Because only then will fear disappear

Because that’s where the river will

know

it’s not about disappearing into the

ocean

but of becoming the ocean.

Extract from Fear

Khalil Gibran

Contents

1. Ari

2. Drex

3. Mt. Mali

4. Freyan

5. The fall

6. Leda

7. The expedition

8. Yuri

9. The past

10. The rescue

11. The cavern

12. The recovery

13. The elder

14. Cygnus

15. The meeting

16. Death

17. The Earafuil

18. The chosen

19. The sleep master

20. The memory planet

1

Ari

Year: 10 001 Hyos Time Scale  (HTS)

Location: Mt. Mali on the surface of planet Hyos

Sometimes, there is no choice but to climb the mountain.

Extract of a popular song in the Hyos habitat, sang by New Wave 001

No choice. I must carry on to the end. This is what I must do.

Ari was trudging up the punishing slope of Mt. Mali again. It was the third day of his expedition. He had an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu. It was another lonely climb, harsh and desolate. Did successive attempts get any easier? Ari did not think so. Each step up the unyielding mountain seemed to him as grueling as it had been before. And yet, here he was again. Back on the mountain.

My seventh attempt! After six failed expeditions, I am back to square one. Another desperate climb. Why am I so stubborn? I should learn to give up. There is nothing to find.

But he did not give up. He endured the steep ascent. He advanced painfully. Large cracks appeared in the ground when he was least expecting it. He had to rein his usual impatience to make a painstaking detour. He held his breath as he moved cautiously over large unstable boulders. He made slow progress over a portion of crumbling rock. One false step, one hasty move, and the expedition would end in disaster.

As it had done before!

He kept having flashbacks of his previous fall in which he had narrowly escaped with his life. It was difficult to control these intrusive thoughts without medications. Fear was his constant companion. What was he afraid of? He did not really know, but he had lived a long time with fear. Fears that he carried since childhood and had concealed from his mother. Some fears he had acknowledged and overcome, and others that he had hidden deep in subconscious spaces, hoping that they would remain forgotten. After forty-six years spent exclusively in the sheltered underground Hyos habitat, Ari disliked heights intensely. This was now compounded by the anxiety of falling. His scientific mind pondered on the problem.

A hundred years ago, people of Hyos were still living comfortably on the surface of the planet. Some even had dwellings up on the mountains and were good climbers. But then, everything changed. The whole population had to take shelter underground. Nowadays, few of us want to venture beyond the habitat. Height intolerance is very common. For most people, the outside world has ceased to exist. One hundred years is such a short time. Is that all it takes for a civilization to completely change its nature and its way of life? And who knows, maybe we will change again one day. Look at me! I never thought that I would be climbing mountains. It’s true to say that one can never predict the future.

Ari kept climbing. He inched upward step by step with a dogged determination. It was a struggle for him to maintain his weary concentration on his task. He tried hard to focus on his moves and balance, but his rebellious mind kept wandering to other places and other times. Yet he persevered. With the help of his powered climbing exoskeleton, he scaled up several vertical slopes. He estimated his climbing speed at one thousand meters per hour.

I guess that I have made good progress in the last four hours.

He was happy with that thought and halted briefly to confirm his location with his altitude positioning device. But his self-congratulatory mood evaporated as soon as he saw the reading, and he uttered a cry of dismay.

What is going on? This can’t be right. I am only at a height of two thousand meters and nowhere near my target.

A wave of despair washed over him. Now it would be impossible for him to achieve his goal of reaching a height of seven thousand meters before darkness descended on the planet. He would never reach the cavern.

It’s no use to carry on. I may as well turn back now. What should I do?

He could not make up his mind. He was experiencing brain fog. The dull ache in his back had long become a throbbing pain, and he winced in agony with each step. Still he tried to drag his body forward even when it refused to obey him. He was bone-tired and the temptation to give in to his exhaustion became overwhelming.

Maybe it’s time to take a break? If I stop, I will waste precious time. But I am tired...so very tired. What should I do? No choice. I must stop.

He sat down heavily on a rocky outcrop. His body slumped within his space suit. He cradled his helmet in his hands. He was lost in his own thoughts.

Why me? Why now? What is really going on?

He asked himself these questions again and again. Would he find any answers? Maybe there were no answers. Maybe it was best to abandon the quest at this point. What difference would it make to anyone? Ari did not think that anybody cared about what he did anyway. Most people thought that he was losing his mind.

There is no point in thinking too much. Either I go up or I go down. In any case, I have to keep moving.

But he could not find within himself the motivation to get going. It was not only the physical exhaustion that had assailed him, he was also tired mentally. To make himself feel better, he started thinking of all the reasons that would justify him giving up at this point.

Dare I quit? I can go back to my work and carry on as normal. I don’t have to do this. It was always a crazy idea. I have been having hallucinations. That’s the only explanation. I should contact Drex to ask him to send a military helidrone to pick me up. That would be the best option.

But he hesitated. He remained paralyzed with indecision. Within the secret places of his mind, Ari knew that he had no choice.

No choice? Why do I keep thinking that I have no choice? I can choose. I can stop if I want to. I can turn round and go back now. Or I can keep climbing. It’s my choice.

Up or down? Which was the best choice?

Impossible to choose…I might as well take a break and look at the view.

The surroundings were tranquil and the soothing silence seeped into his mind. He sat down for a long while and surveyed the harsh terrain around him, legacy of billions of years of lava flow. It was a barren and peaceful landscape. There was no fiery lava lake to brighten up this dark region. No volcanic eruptions disturbed the stillness of the place. No geological activity enlivened the brooding dullness of the surroundings. He had heard reports of lava rains at the poles of the planet, but it was dry here. He wondered curiously about the natural landscape. He had been so absorbed in his climbing attempts that he had not had time to think about it.

This must be a cool region of the planet where ancient volcanoes have long gone to sleep and have never woken up. Will they remember their purpose and erupt to life some day? Or is the place permanently dead?

While Ari remained immersed in his surroundings, the turmoil in his head quietened down. It had been a long time since he had experienced a peaceful mind, free of fear and anxiety, and he savored the moment.

I guess that we humans do take ourselves too seriously at times. What are our petty worries in the bigger scheme of things? What is our place in the vastness of the universe? Of what importance is our fleeting role in the infinity of time?

But the quiet solitude did not last long. In a deep recess of his mind, he started to sense that he was not alone. Strange, he had not experienced this during his previous ascents.

Am I becoming paranoid on top of everything? Are these hypoxia-induced thoughts?

He tried to dismiss this notion, but the conviction that someone was watching him became stronger. A curious feeling was growing inside of him, as if something had entered his body and was trying to control his thoughts. Suddenly, he heard a voice speak to him. Was it a real voice? Was it coming from outside? He adjusted his sensors and looked around. All was quiet outside. Was the voice coming from within his mind? Ari did not know. All he knew was that the voice which was communicating with him was a familiar one. He was frozen with shock.

Ari, listen to me. Go beyond the place of defeat, and there you will find the answer. Walk through the pain, and search for the truth. You may need to taste death before you can embrace life. But you must go. Your path is unclear, but you must take it. It is too late now, and you cannot go back. Let go of the past. Time flows forward. Only memories remain behind. Go Ari and who knows, you may find me in the end. And even if you do not find me, you will find yourself.

Ari shook his head wearily within his helmet. He was a rational man and his common sense prevailed.

No! This is impossible. I cannot believe that I am hearing voices now. This is getting too absurd. Let me think calmly. There is an explanation for everything. I just need to find it. It must be the height, or the lack of oxygen, or just plain tiredness. Maybe it’s the side effects of the drug that I have been prescribed. Yes. That’s more likely. The Kalivaine-V class of drugs are powerful anxiolytics, but they are also known to have a hallucinogenic effect. Maybe I should get my dose adjusted.

Ari was happy with that line of thought. A drug-related complication was easy to understand. He checked his instruments before making a move and was taken aback.

There is a strong magnetic field here. This is strange. I understand now. That may explain why I am hearing a familiar voice. This unusual magnetic field may be interfering with my brain implant and triggering suppressed memories from the past.

Then another thought struck him.

I have estimated that I must be at six thousand meters of height. So either I am completely wrong or the instruments are giving me a false reading. Perhaps the instruments are malfunctioning due to some interference from the magnetic field. My readings indicate that the source of the field is the mountain. There may be permanently magnetized rocks and minerals in its core. How unusual!

He looked up the mountain. What a strange day I am having! It’s impossible to process all the happenings. What was the voice trying to tell me? He could still hear the voice echoing in his mind. You will find me in the end. I wonder who it is that I will find. I have the feeling that I will not like it, but what to do? I am doomed to keep trying.

2

Drex

Year: 10,001 Hyos Time Scale (HTS)

Location: Hyos Habitat, Security Control Center, Section 76

What is life, if not a constant adaptation to change? What is change, if not an endless shuffling of parts? On and on and on in a ceaseless dance. Is there existence without life? Is there existence without change? Step out of motion and you enter no-life. Neither living nor dying. The domain of the Wrek.

Musings on Life by Philosopher Nono written from the medico-psychiatric facility of SN76

I wonder what is troubling him today.

Yuri was intrigued. Being of a curious disposition, he observed Drex discreetly.

I can see that his hand tremor has increased. His attempt to keep his hands busy by rolling a hyium marble does not conceal it.

Drex had his usual impassive expression but Yuri, his deputy, noticed his unusually tense demeanor and pursed lips.

That’s odd. I have known Drex for a year now and have never seen him to be agitated before. He has impeccable self-control and discipline.

The tall muscular Drex and the short chubby Yuri made an unusual pair as director and deputy director of internal security for SN76. Yet, the safety of the most populated section of the Hyos habitat rested on their shoulders. Home to all the scientists and engineers of the planet, SN76 was a critical unit, and with Drex in charge, a peaceful one. But, as Drex was finding out, the job had suddenly become a lot more challenging. Yuri continued to watch Drex.

I guess it’s not easy for Drex at the moment with the dissidents. The situation is getting out of control. There are daily acts of disruption, if not sabotage, in SN76. Thankfully there has not been any serious acts of violence. Yet, who knows? The situation could degenerate. I wonder if the authorities are thinking of replacing Drex.

A commanding presence in an all black uniform, Drex had retained much of his military bearing from his background in the armed forces. It was never clear as to why he had left the military, for he had been a brilliant officer. And Drex, an enigmatic man of few words and fewer friends, never revealed anything.

His move to the internal security unit of SN76 twenty years ago had been a success. He had been the sole director of internal security for all these years until the previous year when he had voiced out his need for a deputy. He had never explained his choice of the young and inexperienced Yuri as his deputy. People had assumed that he was getting older and needed assistance. Nevertheless, the androgynous looking Yuri, with shoulder-length hair tied in a pony-tail and tattooed forearms and who