Short Story Number 1 Part 9

Welcome to the Agglomeration

The Transcriber Part 9

The cell was damp and smelt of moldy algae. It was a dark room, save for a dim beam of light that penetrated the otherwise unyielding concrete wall through a barred window. Drops of water erratically hit the ground from the ceiling, resulting in a soft and uneven rippling echo that reverberated throughout the tight space. There was no furniture inside the cell except a bed. Lux was sitting on the bed, his right hand handcuffed to the frame. He had no idea where he was, or how it was since the meeting with those manipulative capitalist bastards had gone so horribly wrong. One thing he did know – he was gone. There was no chance for him to return to his normal life, to his life of prosperity, innovation and ambition. It was all over for him, because he had been too greedy with a cutthroat corporation that simply saw him as a means to an end. What they were going to do to him, he also didn’t know. Why hadn’t they simply killed him? Why was he still alive?

The door to his cell opened.

Guess he was about to find out.

Three men entered, two well-built guards flanking their superior, who was dressed in an immaculate black tuxedo.

“Mr. Harding, I am here to personally thank you for your invention. You have changed everything, bringing our vision one step closer to reality. Thanks to your box, my experiment can finally begin, and we owe it all to you. My experts have slightly modified your initial design to suit our purposes. With such a volatile design, the powers that I intend to harness are dangerous yet immense if controlled properly. I feel it is my duty to show you exactly what it is I intend to use your design for, so you can know exactly what it is you have actually created.”
He showed him.

And finally, it all fell into place. Lux realised what he had done, and he didn’t he think the words “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds’ could capture the calamitous proportions of what his creation would be used for. They had to be stopped. Lux pushed himself off his bed, trying to tackle the tuxedoed man but his hand was chained and he stopped just short of his target. Lux realised that he was powerless to do anything. And that was the worst part about it all. The futility, the weakness, and the realisation that it was the end for him.

“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”

The man in the tuxedo laughed, but then turned solemn in expression. He placed the vibrating box in front of Lux, just out of his reach. Then to Lux’s horror, he opened it. The three men left the room, leaving Lux alone with the box in his cell. Within moments, the box was still.

And so it was done. Josef closed the book with a thud, and assembled the numerous pages of his transcription in order in a neat bundle. Now he hoped that he would find the answers that he was looking for. After all, the book was completed; he had copied out every single letter without knowing what anything that was written meant. He had done what was expected of him. And now more than ever, he just wanted to be free.

To be continued...

Only one more part of 'The Transcriber before the 'mid-season hiatus'. Don't miss Part 10 to be published tomorrow.

Till next time, may you agglomerate all your unpremeditated contemplations.