16.
Landscape –
Down at the Bottom of the Well
The Janus Group's River City Facility looked like a small office block from the road, surrounded by a chain-link fence on the north bank of the Crow River. Factories and warehouses were visible behind it, but it's surrounded by a grassy lawn five hundred feet in diameter.
There was a sign that declares this to be private property, and trespassers will be prosecuted. Every week, one of the groundskeepers must clean graffiti from the sign – yet no one has caught the tagger.
The building itself is a front, with only a skeleton crew of accountants, janitors, and mail clerks above ground. There was a parking garage by the office building, which leads down into the uppermost reaches of the subterranean facility, which was massive, reaching almost a thousand feet down.
The top levels were dedicated to medical facilities and offices. Below that were firing ranges, and temporary lodgings for employees transferring in.
The bulk of the facility was a warren of laboratories and offices, centering around a lecture hall. This was where the bulk of the Janus' Group's research was turned from raw data into theories, where the secrets of the Tellurian were revealed.
Beneath that was a storage area, and a hundred-foot-deep chamber penetrated by elevator shafts, but holding nothing but instruments that normally operate in near-complete darkness, measuring the flow of condensed Telluric Energy – Ruach – as it flows up from below. Beneath it is a layer of Earth and the Sanctum Sanctorum, the meditation chamber set aside for the Users.
At the absolute root of the Well, though, was a ring of machines around the outer edge of the Ruach node. The Telluric Engines that power the facility, O-Funnels that focus the flow of Ruach through the Sanctum, seismographs, magnetometers, and other vital machines.
This ring was connected to a shaft that slants out of the facility and upward, a chimney that vents the immense waste heat of the Telluric Engines out into the atmosphere.
If the heat were allowed to build up, as was allowed in the Facility outside Santiago, the heat would become unbearable, and wouldn't stop building up until the Telluric Engines melted from exposure to it.
17.
Microsope –
Deliberation
Monday, February 8 –-
Should I take this job? Not sure. Seems like a bit of a risk.
Pro:
Have a job. Not being unemployed is really attractive, and I'm not sure I'll find another one anytime soon.
A well-paying job. This would be an upgrade to my finances I hadn't anticipated. Maybe get out of debt sooner?
No set schedule. I don't necessarily have to work every day. So pay +, free time +.
Benefits of the job are good. Excellent Health and Dental plans, legal counsel on retainer, life insurance.
Maybe meet that blond girl that cut open my forehead? Not exactly my type, but...
Con:
Would definitely need the health and life insurance. Most likely also need the dental.
Always on-call, so while I'm not necessarily at work, I'm also never NOT at work.
Got to carry a gun at all times and learn how to maintain it.
Informed that I may suffer psychotic episodes, memory loss, possibly cancer.
Must sign an NDA.
Difficult to make a decision. Going to need to think this over a bit.
Thursday, February 11 –-
Blond girl died horribly.
Friday, February 12 –-
Been unable to arrange for a job interview at any of the places that I've applied. All of them just seem to shut down as soon as they receive my resume.
Starting to feel a bit paranoid.
Monday, February 15 –-
Dear Diary, did you know that the Janus Group is able to apply such pressure on local businesses that they will not hire someone? I just learned that this morning at an abortive job interview.
They called me in, then my interviewer took a phone call and I was escorted out by security.
I called the woman I spoke to at the Janus group, Melody, who is someone important (Research Head, right?), conversation went something like:
Me: Why are you all preventing me from getting a job?
Her: Hello, Gregory! How are you this fine morning?
Me: It's three in the afternoon.
Her: Oh, I suppose I should get out more often. Did you know that an individual like you is only born once out of every sixty-two million, five-hundred-thousand births? You're quite a remarkable individual.
Me: So you're going to try to make me work for you?
Her: Me? Oh, my no! I would never do such a thing. But Director Franklin...he would. He insists that our field team must consist of at least four people at all times, and you're the only other known User in the area.
Me: I'm allowed to not work for you.
Her: Why, yes, that's exactly correct. However, you are also in possession of a potentially dangerous capability that you must be trained to use, lest you accidentally succumb to Depletion Sickness, Odic Taint, or possibly kill several innocent people without intending to.
(A long pause.)
Her: Gregory? Mr. Albemuth? Are you there?
Me: Yes, I'm here.
Her: Well, even if you don't accept the job, will you come in to receive some basic training from our Users so that you know the basic part of Teke use? So that you don't hurt yourself or others?
Me: Fine, Fine.
Wednesday, February 17 --
I went into the Janus Group Facility and met with a woman named Voss. Woman with short red hair who wore men's clothes and spoke with an authoritative voice.
She and I sat in the firing range for a moment, drinking coffee from a thermos provided for us, and she told me about Praxes.
All Users have the Praxis of Telluric Conversion – the ability to make Orgone from Telluric energy. Sort of like how your cells can make ATP from glucose and oxygen.
They also have a Praxis of Orgone Transmission – feeding Orgone into another user.
Finally, all have the Praxis of Temporal Stability – due to extending a bit outside of Einsteinian space-time, Teke users can (with greater reliability than others) see and feel “acausal events.” We can notice when causality is being violated, while others might simply have a slight feeling of Déjà Vu.
Then there are the unique praxes. She described some to me:
There is a man from Russia with the Praxis of Scalar Compression. He can slide beneath a door and reach through the cracks in the walls, walk between the raindrops and step from sidewalk to roof with no difficulty.
A woman from the Philippines has the Praxis of Mass Modulation, able to make a pinhead weigh a dozen tons or a semi truck drift away in a breeze.
A Brazilian man she met had possessed the Praxis of Limbic Invisibility, while perfectly visible, he could project a field around himself that would make others ignore him, manipulating their adrenal system to depress upon seeing him, and wiping his presence from their memory.
“What is yours?” I asked, “if you don't mind me asking?”
“Mine is a Praxis that must only be used as a last resort. And you should pray you never have to see it. It is the Praxis of Vital Disruption and Manipulation.”
She quickly changed the subject and ran me through exercises to make me aware of the Reservoir of energy that I have available and to recognize how quickly it is filling and emptying. She showed me how to channel the energy, and how to withold it.
The lesson was quick – only about two hours. She said that I was a natural, but didn't sound terribly happy about it.
Friday, February 19 –-
I tried to talk things over with Carlos, but he didn't seem to understand what was going on. He talked about how it was necessary for me to get a job soon, because the house wasn't free.
He told me that he'd been questioned the night of the incident, and had already signed an NDA. He didn't seem extremely bothered by it and, honestly, that was kind of comforting.
Saturday, February 20 –-
I called up the people at the Janus Group, and told them I would work for them.
While I have misgivings, a man's got to eat.
18.
Panorama -
Doggerel By the Underpass
“Boeing, Toyota, and General Eletric and Siemens have already leased the use of T-Engines from the Janus Group, though apparently the implementation of these new engines is being delayed by several unforeseen issues, not the least of which is...”
Valentine's Day Card abandoned in the gutter: I CUT OFF MY [smudge] FOR YOU.
“Magnetic Events similar to the one in Rome two weeks ago have been witnessed all across the world, at a rate of one every thirty-six hours. A joint statement by NASA, the ESA, the AEM, the CNSA and Roscosmos has been released, stating that we are entering a period of increased solar activity, which is creating phenomena similar to the Aurora Borealis near sea level. While these 'Magnetic Events' are not to be approached, they pose no long term danger, unless...”
A mural painted on a previously unadorned brick wall, by an unknown artist, declaring over and over in letters a foot high, squared off and formed with exacting precision declare: NO FUTURE. NO FUTURE. NO FUTURE. NO FUTURE. NO FUTURE.
“Tensions mount between Russia and the Ukraine over the extradition of the Sevastopol Seventeen. The EU is offering to mediate, though Russia seems reluctant to involve the Union, especially after what they call the 'Blatant Imperialism' of the Balkan Normalization Initiative.”
Photograph of a campus protester. She wears a winter coat and a ski-mask, but holds up a sign that says “TIMOCRATS STAY OUT.”
“US and Canadian Seabee Battalions report that their first Arctic Submarine Resource Collection Facility is slightly behind schedule, and will not come online for another two years. Their Russian counterparts apparently are not having any such difficulties, reporting...”
Suicide note in the pocket of a man who jumped off an overpass, found fluttering through the air and swept onto the windshield of a passing Chevrolet: I DIDN'T THINK THE FUTURE WOULD BE CLEAN / BET ON OIL TO FUEL THE MACHINE / BUT DON'T I LOOK LIKE AN ASS / THERE WILL BE NO MORE GAS / AND NOW MY STOCKS BREATHE THEIR LAST.
“Candidate Cortez was shot today by a fringe element of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, a Sons of Dan-affiliated group called the 'Eliminating Angels.' The Candidate is in stable condition, but the Eliminating Angels say that this was simply the first of many such attacks. The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement...”
A flier depicts a woman with black lines coming from the edge of her mouth, extending back toward her hairline. The caption said ONE NIGHT ONLY, APONIA REUNION AND THE MILES MORGAN ORCHESTRA. ST. DAFYDD'S DAY, LOWE PARK.
“The People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, Bolivia, Colombia and Viet Nam have all placed an embargo on products containing T-Engines, apparently out of a fear that this new technology will result in...”
Graffiti on an emergency exit, sketched just above the handle with metallic silver sharpie: I'M NOT HERE.