Victernus

By Luke D. Gonzalez

Victernus is a sci-fi novel about a scientist who tries to escape humanity in an effort to find something that was lost to him when he was very young. His efforts are met with extreme resistance, and he and his companions are forced to fight against a corrupt society and government to make any sort of progress. But, when the hate between both si

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baumarius
• Release date: Nov 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781944246235

Luke D. Gonzalez

Luke Gonzalez, also known as 'Baumarius,' is a writer and soundtrack composer who lives in Connecticut. His skills span a diverse array of areas, from 3D animation to various forms of traditional and digital art, which he uses to express himself more freely.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The Escape

Namara drew the hot cell phone away from his face slowly. Shifting his attention to the television across his bright, clean living room, he watched as a fresh feed streamed in on a live news channel. Soldiers under the new administration broke down the doors to his lab and were streaming into the lobby. He grumbled, Lynn… as the reporter said that the research done there was going to be repurposed for the public. A familiar voice emerged from below, and he remembered that he was still talking to his friend. He lifted the phone back up, Mahalia? I have to go. Lynn finally did it. No…meet me at the sanctuary. If all goes well, I'll be there in a few days.

He hung up and then pulled open a drawer that was below the couch he sat on. Grabbing his gear, he donned a black jacket, a stun gun, and a silver wristband. Heading over to his kitchen lazily, he left the living room and turned his phone over to see an inscription: preheat to 650. He chuckled, cranked up the oven and threw it inside. The reporter on the TV was still talking about how he was probably an 'evil man' who only had his own interests in mind. Shaking his head while walking out, he picked up the remote and chucked it into the screen where her face was. I do have my own interests in mind. Nobody can take my goals from me, especially when they don't even know what they are.

Namara left his small brown house and walked along the stony path to the driveway. He concealed the gun in his jacket while taking in the afternoon air; a fresh wind blew across his face and through the trees of his forest. He smiled. Pulling out a remote from his pocket, he pressed a button and a hoverbike materialized over the driveway. It was finished by one of his few companions a year before, in 2037.

He grasped the handles of the bike and thought, I'm gonna miss this. Putting his leg over, he started the bike and felt the light hum of the engine travel up his frame. It floated backwards over the road behind him. The breeze picked up, caressing the short black hair of his distinctly Puerto Rican features. Pressing some keys on the handles, the bike became invisible and he charged off towards his lab. As he made his way through the forest, he tried not to look down at his body, or the bike. Although the technology was convenient, he wasn't used to the odd 'ghosting' effect the invisibility had on him; a sort of echo of his image was trailing slightly behind his real self. It made him a bit nauseous looking at it. He kept his eyes level with the road and tuned it out.

The facility was only two miles down the road from his house, and it surprised Namara that Lynn wouldn't go after him first. He suspected that Lynn just wanted to throw him away and take his research when it was done. But, Namara would not have it. He circled around the facility once to get a good look at where the guards were posted. The glass atrium in the front was full of soldiers, but it seemed like they hadn't gotten access to the actual lab yet. Perfect. Namara drove the hoverbike along the grass around the building and then set it down behind some rocks near the rear entrance. He then activated his wristband, taking the invisibility field with him.

Two soldiers were posted alone near the door, and Namara skirted around them, trying to keep his footfalls inaudible. He pulled out a keychain and searched for the right key while he crept closer. When he found the right one, he held the others to muffle their sound and then reached the door. He put the key in, turning it slowly while the soldiers paced back and forth. When the door was unlocked, a voice suddenly emerged from one of their radios. We have a bit of a situation in the main lobby. We can't get the main doors to the lab open for some reason; send Reynolds down here immediately!

One of the soldiers answered, He's coming, and then waved his gun at the other man, who promptly jogged around to the front. Seeing his chance, Namara left the keys in the door, tiptoed behind the lone soldier and uncloaked himself. He raised his stun gun and fired it, shocking the man and rendering him unconscious. He activated his cloak again and quickly dragged the man behind the rocks. Taking his gun, he ran back to the door and removed the keys before going in and leaving the door cracked.

Namara entered a dark staircase that led down to the lab. He crept down them silently, in the case that Lynn was still in the lab, and made his way to an electronic sliding door. Through it, he saw that the only life in the room came from the computer near the right wall. Good. The power hasn't been cut. A familiar contraption stood in the center, luring him in. He swiped his keycard on the scanner to the right and then stepped inside. When the door closed behind him, he turned his cloak off and sighed. That was easier than I thought.

He walked triumphantly toward the desk with the computer. It was hooked up to the security system, and it showed that the soldiers were still in the main lobby. Smiling to himself, he turned to the machine and switched it on. It made a slight hum as it brought its components to life, which consisted of two chairs, a main console, and two oddly-shaped helmets that housed a sort of brain scanning device.

While it warmed up, he pulled over a heavy metallic box from one corner of the room and placed it at the foot of one of the chairs, then bent over and undid the locks. Grabbing the handle on the top, he opened the case. Mist floated out and fell, almost resembling liquid nitrogen when poured out on the ground. Namara moved to the open side and then peered in. An intense feeling rushed over him. He knelt down and reached in, running his hands through the fur of a young wolf. Its underbody and ears were stained crimson and the rest of its fur was a mix of dark grey and white. You are my key to the Koanthanatus. We will find it together. He put one of the helmets on its head. You were made just for me…

A sharp banging echoed from the main entrance. Namara looked up and saw the frame of the doors begin to buckle. Immediately filled with worry, he jumped up and started typing on the computer frantically. After accessing a virus that he had created, he wrote a small program that would make it wipe the databases and backups in a couple of minutes. He stepped back in a state of awe and then heard another bang, which jolted him back to reality. Lynn's old voice came from behind the doors, We know you're in there, Namara!

Turning around, he typed some commands into the console of the device and then sat in the chair, moving the console in front of him. While he put his own helmet on, a warning flashed on the screen: OPERATION NOT RECOMMENDED; NINETY-FIVE PERCENT CHANCE OF FAILURE. Namara narrowed his eyes and shook his head, dismissing the warning and initiating the transfer. Screw you, Lynn. As the transfer began, he recalled the words of a close friend he once had. I know that you can find it. Don't let what they think get in the way. You need to do it for yourself. I know how beautiful this is, and I want to go with you, but my time is up. Solve the Koanthanatus for both of us.

Tension began building up within his head while a numbing feeling crept up his legs.

I will...

Another bang caused the doors to blast open. The soldiers poised to shoot and their leader shouted, Fire!

CHAPTER 2

Hector

When Namara could no longer feel his body, an immense rush of light and sound filled his mind, and then his heart stopped. But, to his success, he was still conscious. He opened his eyes and heard guns firing and bullets whizzing past him. Some hit the chairs that towered over him, and the others flew by. He stood up in a somewhat clumsy manner and flicked an ear. This is going to take a little while getting used to… Shaking his head, the helmet slid off.

The soldiers stopped firing, and he knew that they would be inside the lab at any moment. Looking down at his…paws…he saw the same silver wristband that he was wearing earlier and then tapped it with the side of his paw a few times. Finally the odd ghosting effect appeared around his body again. Relieved, he stepped out of the stasis chamber and stood on the cold metallic floor. The smoke was still clearing from the gunfire and the soldiers remained unmoved. He turned to the back door and trotted to it a bit oddly. It opened when it sensed his presence and he slipped out unnoticed.

Glancing back when the smoke cleared, he saw Lynn enter the room and discover Namara's shredded body; a pool of blood had formed on the floor. Lynn smiled and told the soldiers to dispose of it. Namara turned away, disgusted, and ran up the stairs to leave the facility. He pushed the door open by pressing up against it with his head, but part of the way it collided with an unknown object on the other side. He froze as the door bounced back a few inches and then opened wide again. A guard stared down into the stairwell. He pointed his gun first, but then lowered it in bewilderment. Namara remained breathless.

Thankfully the guard dismissed it and grabbed the doorknob to close it. Namara walked stiffly and silently out, hoping that the guard would not notice the appearance of paw prints in the dirt below. He barely made it out without his tail getting stuck in the door, but he continued walking away from the building slowly. When he was out of earshot of the guard, he ran around the building to get to the main road. It was going to be a long trip from his lab in Connecticut to the sanctuary in Colorado, but the trip would be worth it.

When Namara reached the road, he sat down and watched it silently. The breeze still blew softly, now ruffling his fur and the grass around him. Large trees that blocked out the afternoon sun sat on both sides of the road. Fortunately, it was still early summer, but, he was met with an overwhelming feeling as he gazed down the road. The mysterious paradox he was given years ago, the Koanthanatus was calling again. The weight on him was a great one, and if he could not escape it then it would be true of him; he would die before he solved it, and it would die with him, fulfilling its meaning.

A dark blue truck appeared at the end of the road, driving slowly towards him from the left of the facility. When it passed him, he ran towards it and then jumped up into the bed. He sat facing backwards, waiting and watching. As they went around a bend in the road where it was darker, he uncloaked himself. The truck stopped shortly after and he heard the door open. A middle-aged man who was relatively plump stood in front of him. He was wearing a brown fedora and some farmer's clothing; probably indicative of what he was. The farmer grasped the top of his hat and looked back at the road as if he was unsure how Namara had gotten there.

Namara smiled with his tongue out and tail wagging. He watched the man to see what he would do. The farmer looked back and seemed to decide something, then walked back around and got in the truck, starting it again and driving away. Namara suddenly thought about how he might talk to anyone. He heard that one of his companions was working on something, but he wouldn't be getting it any time soon. He looked to the front of the truck. Perhaps I can write…in dirt or something…Darn, I didn't think this through completely!

After a while the truck pulled into a long, grassy driveway. They made their way along the path and stopped in the front yard of the farmer's house. Behind it, a field rested with rows and rows of corn almost ready to be harvested. Namara heard the truck shut off again and then saw the farmer leaving the vehicle. He came around and opened the door to the bed, patting his thighs, Come on, boy!

Namara came forward and jumped out. The farmer sighed and turned to go inside, beckoning him. A woman in blue jeans and a white shirt opened the door for them and asked, What've you got there, Hector?

He shrugged, looking back at the wolf following him, He just popped up in my truck on the way home from Granby. Dunno where 'e came from.

Namara sat down before the front steps and watched the couple standing next to each other. They seemed to be in their forties, probably about twice his age, with a few wrinkles on their faces already. Hector waved for him to come in and he obeyed, walking between their legs and then sitting down in the living room. The room had a couple of sofas and was connected openly to the dining room and kitchen. A wooden dining table was right behind one of the sofas and had a set of lights hanging over it.

Hector sat down on the couch and turned the television on while his wife Judy went to finish preparing their dinner. The smell of freshly seasoned beans wafted into the living room, beckoning Namara to the kitchen. He almost went, but when the same reporter who he had seen earlier appeared on the television screen, he pointed his ears forward and listened with growing disgust.

And another update on the raid of the TransIn facility: It seems that the fugitive, former-neuroscientist Namara Galvarros, was shot and killed while attempting to sabotage his lab. Some sources say that he escaped and has taken on a different form, but we have yet to confirm this story. In his place, Doctor Alan Lynn says that he will make Galvarros' research available to the public and claims that it will allow immortality for all.

Judy brought the pots of food to the table and set them down on hot plates. Turn that off Hector. I don't want to hear about how they've disturbed that poor man any longer. Both Namara and Hector shifted their attention to Judy. Hector turned the TV off and went to sit at the table, "Truthfully, I don't know what to believe. All the news stations say that he hates the public or is some sort of terrorist, but I don't