7. The Fifth Level

1. Short Description

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2. Notes

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3. Status

--- Writing statuses:

• [ ] 1. On Writing (make use of 'AI Improvements - Better words' as you write)
• [ ] 2. On Short Description and Title (check 'AI Requests - Synopsis and Title')
• [ ] 3. Drafted (snapshot is mandatory; after this point, file is locked - check SLIDER)

--- Editing statuses:

• [ ] 4. On RepetitionDetector2 (until reasonable)
• [ ] 5. On AI Improvement ('Improvements - General' doc)
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• [ ] 7. Final review and minor corrections (check modifications with Grammarly)
• [ ] 8. Test anti-plagiarism in ProWritingAid (if problem, must rewrite)
• [ ] 9. Scene finished (snapshot is mandatory)

4. Image

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5. Content

Stepping outside, I accessed the fifth level, called the Burrow. It was a vast chamber, twenty meters in width and fifty in depth. The walls were coated in a luminescent alloy, shimmering in hues of cobalt blue and silver. Embedded within these walls, numerous nanotech nodes emitted a soft glow, providing subtle illumination to the entire area. A myriad of cables, thick and thin, branched out from terminal computers, creating a dense web of electronic veins. These cables converged and snaked their way towards the center of the chamber, but lay dormant on the ground, hinting at the once evident presence of something there.

“What is this Burrow?” I asked, looking around.

“The Burrow is the lowest level of the omniship. Its purpose is to dock the smaller omniship ZF-78.”

“I see no ship.”

“Originally, the omniship ZF-78 was exactly in this place.”

Kallom-4000 got me a holographic projection, in real colors, of the vessel that was once there. The compact spacecraft, nestled within the hangar, resembled a finely chiseled shard of obsidian. With sharp contours, its design was minimalist yet intricate, evoking the imagery of a bird's talon or an archaic dagger. Its polished surface, marked by veins reminiscent of cracked stone, contrasted sharply with the luminescent cyan inlays that seemed to pulse with a life of their own, even thought, accordingly to Kallom-4000, it was not active. Lengthening about ten meters, Kallom-4000 elucidated me that it was engineered for a crew of two.

“What happened? Why is this ship not here anymore?”

“It is a little difficult to explain now, Mr. Mike. It is quite a lengthy story. Would you prefer it now?”

“Okay, let’s focus now on the tour. I will see it later. Please, just tell me now what is the purpose of this ship.”

“As little data as I managed to gather about the purpose of this mission, the ZF-78 seems intended to navigate in scenarios too dangerous for its mother omniship RT-874. Since it is smaller and carrying less information entropy, the complexity of the cohesive matrix reduces in a factorial manner, making it far simpler to hold against any possible decohesion, as long as the maximum of two crewmembers attached to the algorithm are respected.”

I looked back at Kallom-4000, whose circles detached from a holographic projector attached to the corner of the wall.

“I did not understand much of what you said.”

[encrypted]

Little by little, it seemed the fog of my memories started to diminish. I began to remember my previous life, as a syraki, my boundless consciousness cocooned inside the Hyperlink, unhindered by time and space, living wonderful lives inside virtual realities and teased with pleasures to the extremes of bliss. Nonetheless, it seemed so long ago that I questioned myself whether or not they were real, and that to be stuck inside that human body was all that always existed to me.

Back to the ZF-78, it had so many flaws that I questioned if that could even fly. I questioned Kallom-4000.

“From a cursory inspection,” he replied, “it is evident that the vessel lacks a proper aerodynamic design. It is incapable of atmospheric flying, not without some gravitational grid. Technically, it cannot even be called a spacecraft, for it also lacks all the required systems of one.”

“So why would they put it here?” I did not expect any answer. Kallom-4000 remained silent. “When I was in the desert, I saw this ship RT-874 from outside. It was nothing but an obsidian orb. Don’t tell me that this vessel also lacks a gravitational grid.”

“Unfortunately, Mr. Mike, it does. Both ZF-78 and RT-874 lack the necessary modules required for a basic spacecraft.” There was a pause. “If they are spacecrafts, they could be using technology so advanced whose descriptions are unavailable even in my own training set.”

“If they are spacecrafts?” I repeated, confused.

“Given our circumstances, Mr. Mike, all possibilities are to be considered.”

“But what other possibility would this be, Kallom-4000? Certainly we are not at the bottom of some ocean; certainly this is not a submarine.”

“This would be indeed very improbable.”

“Then what else could it be? Of course this was some kind of space mission but that went horribly wrong, right?”

“I’m hoping you are right, Mr. Mike.”