The Foundation Zone: Extensions by Amber Millard (phonics readers txt) 📖

she saw a line drawn down the middle of her coat. She disrobed then observed a collarless linen drape. The fabric shimmered, it felt soft yet it had good tension.

“It’s lovely.” Marie adored the fabric and was about to question the material until Saatswei’ell interrupted and went straight to business,

“Excuse me but there are still a few things you must bear in mind.”

“What?”

“Well first the band on your shirt; the band color will usually stay purple unless you start to become emotional or start fighting it. It is there to keep your life force from going out of control. The band will glow brighter if it recognizes stress or a force buildup of any kind. Second the light emanating through the ring in the center of the band shows us that you’re alive and it normally glows yellow. If it goes grey then you’re in danger as in sick or near death, black then you’re dead.”

“So purple control, grey danger and black death.”

“Exactly.”

Aaksaun approached Marie; he took her coat and assisted helping her put it back on. He added “Those with great control are allowed at appointed times to take off the band. However in order to be allowed such privilege one must take a test.”

“Everyone takes it and so must you.” Saatswei’ell added.

“That’s what I was getting to.”

“Alright, what’s the test?” Saatswei’ell filled her in

“You will be taken to a chamber, given random tests, there are 2 in all: physical and mental. The former tests your strength, endurance and flexibility; while the latter tests your intelligence, patience, love and wisdom. It is best that you take this time to rest, this room will double as your personal chamber.”

Aaksaun started to object but Saatswei’ell looked in his direction then raised an eyebrow. His friend hushed immediately but pursed his lips together indicating that the matter will resume at a later time.

“So do I get a bed or even a lounge chair?” Saatswei’ell turned and looked at Marie thoughtfully, he forgot that there structures were similar, but he wondered how similar?

“Ok, come with us but whatever you do don’t touch a thing, don’t attract anyone’s attention neither will you speak to a soul. Do you understand?”

“Yeah I got it.” She answer with a slight hostile tone, Saatswei’ell became aware of how his attitude was making an impression.

“You must understand it’s not every day that we pull outsiders into our society. When I first pulled your chord, I assumed you were already dead.” Aaksaun’s jaw dropped when he heard his apologetic attempt. He became horrified when his friend went further with his explanation.

“You see I perform tests on dead subjects, normally when a being is deceased their life force remains dormant for a while so I take it right then and there, temporarily of course and usually in a situation when no one will be concerned about their disappearance for a while.”

“How long do you keep them?” Marie asked her stomach churning like she had a bad case of motion sickness.

“Well usually no more than twenty four of your earth hours. I just see if a spiritual body is able to live in this dimension as well as the last one, but seeing you here I think changes that now. I have tried every way possible but now I see it.” Both Aaksaun and Marie gave Saatswei’ell a very grave look. Saatswei’ell will need to learn how to reword his explanations if he intends to get his point across and with no hostility from the listener.

“We have to shed away our old selves. We cannot exist on this plane with that husk of flesh holding us back that was the old way the lowest level of being; I guess it is the end of this experiment. I will make the final notes to the grand head and shut it down.”

“Well it’s about time! Anyone could have told you that certain changes are always expected when making a transformation!”

“Well I had to see it for myself you Usuin!” Marie jumped when she heard Aaksaun raise his voice but she decided to take cover when the two started to fight. Aaksaun came back with

“I’m not as sodd munnas as you are, always making an experiment with everything!”

“Hdim siz, you know it takes time for me to settle in.”

“About how long hdinc, a thousand years?!”

“You take that back dunnda pen!”

Fists started flying, the sound of the impact was hard to ignore. Even their bands started to glow! Aaksaun is only an inch shorter than Saatswei’ell but is in better shape because he usually enjoyed playing more than his friend. Because Saatswei’ell forced himself to become a hermit, in another experiment, he became accustomed to activities which involved two or less people. Still he did put up a decent fight; he realized however that he needed to get out more, not only to socialize but to find a place where he could train to be prepared for the next encounter and maybe win against his friend. At one point Saatswei’ell grabbed the back of Aaksaun’s knee, squeezing it hoping he would go on one knee but his friend had other plans. Aaksaun kicked his leg away, brought his friend to stand then knee him in the gut twice! All Saatswei’ell could manage in retaliation was a good slap in the face. Mcen hovered between the two as they tried attempting another brawl session.

“Maybe this can be continued another time, if you two wish for Marie to partake in the test.”

“When is the next major series?” Saatswei’ell snapped back to reality quickly, he forgot about their new arrival.

“Next series will start in 4 ciov.”

“Oh no, we won’t be able to do it this time!”

“Why not?” Marie emerged from her hiding place concerned.

“Everyone registers with their badge.” Aaksaun explained further by pointing to his registered badge. It was a diamond shape gold piece attached to the collar of his shirt.

“We’ll have to forge one for her.”

“This will be when you take her to see the Grand Head of course.” Aaksaun added but Saatswei’ell panicked.

“No he must not know of this!”

“Saat this will go a lot smoother if you just report it. Accidents are one thing but not reporting them can make matters worse. You must take responsibility for this. Don’t this be another catastrophe, you’ve done so well so far.”

“But reporting this will…”

“Will what? Damage an already marred reputation?”

Saatswei’ell stood head hung in great shame. He remembered many times before when he got in trouble. It took time to fix the mess he started; at least he offered to fix them. But now this, this was another mistake or he thought so. He looked up and thought hard for a moment.

“Alright, you take her to the Grand Head and I’ll clean up here.”

“Oh no you don’t, first step in fixing a problem is to admit you’re the one who did it.”

“But I might have…” Aaksaun cut him off quickly.

“You take her to the Grand Head and I’ll retrieve her orb and shut everything else down.”

“Ok.”

Chapter 5: A Detour/ Aaksaun’s Mistake!

Saatswei’ell took Marie’s hand and rushed down the hallway. Due to their height differences, he being 6’8” and she being 5’7,” Saatswei’ell nearly jerked Marie off her feet! Thankfully they stopped at an intersection. Each of the three ramps was angled differently; one lead to a few stories above in the adjacent dome, one lead to ground level and one parallel to the same dome.

“If I remember correctly the high ramp leads to the council.”

The levels in the adjacent dome, known to the inhabitants as the Place of Gathering, were simply planned; It was simply town hall and the coliseum all in one, the first level is the main entrance and has many other portals to nearby domes, there are many balconies with stools, the second ramp leads to mid-dome from there you could move up and down as you like, the third ramp lead to the Chamber of Elders, there the elders serve as judges in games and important meetings. Their seats are in a circle; there are twenty-one in all and they encompass the entire top balcony. Saatswei’ell decides to take the ramp leading to ground level; he manages to avoid a lot of people in the process and makes it to a chamber not often used. They wait for a time and when everyone leaves Saatswei’ell takes Marie to the room. The interior was that of a sound booth and it was the size of a small warehouse! From the floor to the ceiling measured 100ft but this room too is a dome in itself. Saatswei’ell decides to hook his badge onto Marie’s collar. She starts to become worried

“Won’t someone notice what we’re doing or that the room is being occupied while everyone is gone?”

“I have set my name in the slot near the entrance, everyone knows that I usually like to work alone, it’ll be alright.”

Saat assured her but Marie still had butterflies in her stomach. When he finished with the pin Saat walked into a dark room and stood a few feet from the window, took off his top primary shirt, which has the control band and without it his energy will be under his complete control, and then closed his eyes. He brought his forearms up 90 degrees, opened his hands as though he held a ball and opened his eyes. They glowed! Marie’s eyes went from ogling those nice arms straight to the eyes, which held her in a trance. It’s not often that she finds herself staring into beautiful luminous green and purple eyes. The glow was soft but grew brighter every moment. Saat was rusty; it had been years since he last entered the control room. It took a moment for him to remember how to call the control ball. He found Marie directly in front of the window gazing into his eyes and Saat couldn’t help but do the same. Marie’s dark brown eyes were lovely in any degree of lighting, as he observed in the short time she has entered his world. Eyes like a dove and lovely mahogany skin to match. Suddenly a ball of light developed between his hands then the room lit up. Marie maintained eye contact and Saat continued to stare then it hit him.

“Marie you will need to take off your gown and approach the center. Then the test will begin.”

A moment passed before he realized his eyes was the only thing holding her attention, so his eyes dimmed by half and once again called her to attention.

            Aaksaun hurries to the Chamber of Observation to shut down the newly installed retrieval section made, at Saatswei’ell’s request, for taking temporarily dormant life forces. It was a simple design; there was a sphere in the center of the main experimentation room, if an orb was needed for retrival a short cord would be disconnected from an assigned galactic model. The galactic model looks very much like the galaxy it is assigned to but only in scale. The models typically range about ten feet in diameter. The cord bundle however hovers in the epicenter of the model. Whenever an event occurs, a cord will light up, rise out of the bundle then drift to the life form in the model