Symphonia Machina
by Selvane Vladiva
<Area: Interior of VRDET teleportation chamber.>
There was always a slight hum in the room, but just then it
jumped up about 30 decibels. "Wha?" muttered Selvane as he whipped
around. The other 2 dozen or so people present had the same reaction.
Everyone was glancing around uneasily, and sneaking looks at the empty
gate. He looked at Nexxus. They had met only moments before, but she
knew more than he did. "Is this normal?"
Nexxus shrugged, "We haven't exactly used this gate on too many
personnel before...I haven't used it. I'm not really sure," she said
sheepishly.
"Reassuring," Selvane muttered as he glanced around.
"What was that?" Nexxus shouted over the hum.
"The noise is disturbing!" he shouted back. "Don't want to get
my CO angry at me after the first 5 minutes," he thought.
In the corner, at a bank of consoles, was Malaclypse. Selvane
recognized him from his initial contact with VRDET. The lean dark
figure looked stressed and worried. One moment he was bent over a
monitor, the next he was pounding furiously at some controls and yelling
at a tech. This was not a reassuring sight.
Suddenly, the main lights went out. The air crackled with
electricity, and pink and blue glow was cast about the room. The hum
changed to a whine, and then the hum returned, louder than before, in a
great racket of electric noise that took on a life of its own. Selvane
whipped around to see the gate. Pink and blue light flooded and
pulsated from the door to nowhere. Electricity crackled through the
air, and small flicks of it shot out from the corners of the gate. The
smell of ozone permeated the chamber. Everybody stood riveted, staring
into the glowing abyss, their features etched in the pulsating light,
their shadows dancing to the pulse and rhythm of the gate. The eerie
glow was the only light in the room, the tremendous whine and hum of the
machinery and crackling of electricity the only sounds. "Symphonia
Machina," he whispered.
From behind the small crowd of dazed people Malaclypse could
barely be heard over the roar, "Go! You're good to go! Move!" The
people started to move. One after another they surged up the stairs and
threw themselves into the abyss, trusting God and machine to deliver
them. Sparks flew and the ozone smell increased.
Selvane was third to last, behind Maru. Behind him was a
strangely clad woman. Spandex and sword, she looked like something out
of a AD&D adventure. There was also a guy who wasn't very descript.
It was nearing Selvane's turn. Maru flew through the portal,
but as Selvane tried to surge up the stairs, something held him back. A
surge of energy shot from the portal, knocking him back a few feet. The
pink grew brighter and blue changed hues to green. The crackle of
electricity rose to a deafening roar. "Not good," he muttered. Selvane
looked over to Mal, with a look on his face that looked like, "what the
hell do I do?"
Malcalypse saw the look. "Get in the fucking portal or you're
all staying home! It's about to collapse!" he roared. It was enough
for Selvane.
"Psalm 91,* Lord," he muttered, and threw himself into the
light.
* Psalm 91, the travelers' prayer.