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Elder Ket Zicci, was relieved to see the transport leave. The last stop and it had dropped the final group of Kets, off at the far entrance to the mine, Becci was nominated by them as the team ‘co-ordinator’ Her job, was to assimilate information, from the other Kets recording it and relaying it to Zicci.
Ameryst and Aniette were in charge of placing the tracers into place, small nail size devices that were literally punched into the surface by using the hand held ‘thumpers’. They made a thu, thu, thump noise, when they ejected the dart or tracer.
Combined, the tracers, created a virtual map of the mines, and allowed the Kets to retrace their steps safely back, to the where they had started from. Ameryst had ended up with Claria, Cxan and Coleja helping her, as they headed off down one passage, whilst Aniette, Becci, Torvan, Eula, Ethan and Soniette, with Cistera, had headed off down the other!
They had to keep stopping, as Aniette placed the tracers into position, at regular intervals, likewise with Ameryst and her lot!
An adaptation of the normal Opticon devices, were used ahead of them, to illuminate and scan. Ensuring no sudden shocks or dangers re holes they could stumble into. Or as with some passages that came to an abrupt end, at what we would know as the EDGE of a precipice.
Without doubt your final destination! Should you take another step! With some hundreds of metres to fall! Remember this, was by no means a trip in daylight!
Some of these, were several hundred metres up, on what could only be described as mounds, INSIDE the main mountain!
It occurred when the material mined had been dumped as waste and left a cavern one side and a passage used by Nimbots to dump waste at the top? These passages couldn’t be distinguished from any other, which of course proved dangerous. Luckily no Kets had fallen to their death.
Ameryst had been watching the Opticon. It suddenly started flashing. A warning? The others too had noticed it as it flooded the area ahead with light? She moved forward, slowly to the edge and peered down. A massive drop to? Well she couldn't see the bottom! Picking up a rock she threw it over the side and listened.
There was a soft clicking sound, as it hit something on the way down and bounced off it? A few seconds silence and then a distinct thud, where she thought, it had hit the bottom of the cavern.
The Opticon moved to drop into the cavern, illuminating it. It was huge. Stumbling into that would have meant instant death!
Some of the other Kets were stood looking. "I can understand why we need to map these mines, but who in their right mind would be here anyway?!" Ameryst started to laugh.
"Well you are here, are you trying to tell us something?" Becci giggled. Ameryst had not been listening to the ongoing conversation, her attention was elsewhere.
Almost directly in front of her to the right, was a pathway. If you stepped carefully, you could walk it, but where did it lead?
Curious to find out, Ameryst shifted onto the path telling them to wait where they were. "Don't follow until I've checked it out."
She pulled to release her torch, twisted the bottom of it, as the fusion inverter kicked into life, powering a beam of light.
The path was short. When she reached the end of it she gasped.
Astonished to see, the complexity of the interior construction! Hatches and machinery, some items unknown to her, lay strewn around! Old tech.
Becci and Aniette with the Opticon had now entered the chamber. Ameryst flashed her torch at them and then turned it off.
Fully illuminated they could see, this was far more sophisticated, than the section they had been marooned in.
Not that they wish to dwell on that! "I'll go and fetch the rest of the team." Minutes passed before they filtered in.
Anniette had found what looked to be the main control area. Opening the hatchway she shouted to the others. "This has a little dust but is immaculate. Like the day they left!" Once inside, they had to agree. It was astonishingly clean and tidy. "Really weird this.
You would have thought there would have been dust and all sorts of grime. Nothing!
True, the air was a little stale, but the Opticon had not detected anything abnormal. Power activation modules could be accessed to allow Delise to bring the power online. Soon normal lighting was restored with the air filtration unit activated. Clean air from outside, filtered into the chamber. The stale air replaced as the Kets settled to have some refreshments.
Torvan with Eula had been fooling around. Torvan had dropped some food. The biscuit as we would know it, broke into pieces, scattered across the floor?
Suddenly there was this object, that came out of? Its shape changed as it now resembles a nozzle? Uhh? The Kets were speechless! It hoovered up the crumbs and ping! Vanished! "So that is why the place is spotless!" Ameryst started laughing!
"What is that thing!"
Becci shook her head. "Honestly Eula!! Haven't you ever seen an zootbot! You can program them to do scheduled cleaning et.
Spec that one does. Plus of course emergency response if food gets dropped! Encourages Raits! So its best if its cleaned up straight away!"
A noise. A tap tap tap? On the metal bulkhead. "Talking of Raits!" Cxan and Coleja were spooked! some of the Kets leaving the mines, had told them stories.
About ghostly apparitions and and? They had spent time, discussing the merits of this, amongst themselves, to pass time mapping out the area they were in. As with all stories told, over active imagination, thrown into the mix and it becomes a terrifying ghost story.
Ethan and Soniette, were not going to hang around to find out what was making the noises! The tap tap tap. They wanted to pack up and leave! Becci was having none of the nonsense! She hissed at them “Stop being so silly the lot of you!“ She tapped the bulkhead, to receive a tap back and so on. "Since when do Raits know how to communicate?" Some of them started to laugh.
On the other side others were now somewhat stunned to get a tap tap back. The look on their faces! Now that, some Kets might have said, would have been worth seeing. Were they as spooked?
Claria, had moved to the left of them, to use the Opticon, to illuminate the area. Discovering a hatch. They watched as Cxan enabled the power to the control unit which now activated and slid the hatch open. Becci and the others were still tap tap on the metalwork. Nothing in reply!
“Must have been Raits!“ “Well, you would expect to find lots of them down here.“ However it was strange, that they had not encountered any?
"Absolutely ludicrous!" Anniette had been shaking her head. The thought of Raits stopping whatever they were up to, to tap back! She couldn't stop laughing. "I really don't know who is dumber, you lot or the Raits.
"Whats the joke." This time Aniette went over to the bulkhead and tapped on it. Nothing! "You expecting a reply then."
"Well we got one just now." Ameryst nodded. "All true." "Well I doubt you would get any now." Becci turned, stared at Claria. Torvan?
"With us being this side of it, I don't see any point do you?" He started grinning, glanced at Claria. "I think they were spooked by us, tapping back!" Another peel of laughter from them. "Well at least the air filters are working.
"We found some recline units. Thought we could hold up here for the night. Delise has checked them to make sure they're fully refreshed and all the controls are functioning."
"The only other option is a trek back to the surface and I don't fancy that. Quite tired actually." Ameryst yawned.
Some of the others started seconds after.
“These are obviously much later mine workings! The technologies indicate at least 50 years later. This has Tetronexl heating.
Not so different from the systems we use now. I see, the Tetra Plas thermal blocks are still reactive and primed."
Activating the system Ameryst smiled. Sure enough, the air warmed up. “We’ll make this our main sleeping area.“ Becci grabbed the nearest recline sitting on it. “There’s probably other domicile units with extra reclines.“ Torvan nodded as Cxan walked with him to take a closer look at some other hatchways.
Opening one of them, they found a chamber containing? Torvan looked at Cxan. “There’s Globesat, Unisat entertainment systems / Ultra realt 3 game simulators in this one.“ He paused, caught his breath started to grin. “Did they get any work done. Never seen such a place packed with toys.“ Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Taon. Cxan closed the hatchway blocking off the view from her. "This is our domicile. Gamers only."
Ethan and Soniette had joined Anniette, to step through another hatch. It led into a chamber that was illuminated.
To one side of it was a huge walkway, cordoned off, in front of them?
"Wonder what that leads to?" Anniette was curious. She could see some flashing lights, tall almost tube shaped containers and attached to them what looked like control modules.
Ethan had concluded, they were, “Probably cleanser units.“ (Body cleanser units, were similar to our shower units, cept they use a mild ultrasonic vibration across the body with a particle beam to remove old skin, dirt etc. At the same time, refreshingly massaging the skin. A dry shower!)
Aniette had split from them and taken a walk along the gantry. Stood next to the units. No definitely not cleanser units. She stopped and stared and I mean STARED! What the heck was it?
Moving closer, to what looked like the control module that had peculiar markings on it. Some slots for? Ethan and Soniette had left her to it, returning to join the others, not the least bit worried about leaving her on her own in an area where there was no threat to her. She was hardly likely to be attacked by a cleansing unit!
Now most systems, have a kind of self tuition or help holographic unit, to instruct new users, lets face it, simply pressing buttons is foolhardy. Anything in that scenario could happen.
Aniette found what looked like a small touch control screen. As her fingers touched it, there was a flicker of light and a small flap slid open. Out slid a flat surface, with what looked like a round circular disc, to us the size of a mini disc Cd.
As she went to see if she could remove the disc, she caught her finger on the edge of the flap and yelped! A tearing of skin, liken to a paper cut, might have been to us. But enough to make her finger bleed? Pulling her finger away, cursing, to place it to her lips, suck on it.
There was a hiss, as the disc slid back into the unit and the flap closed. Ignoring it as she tried again to see if she could locate the main info and help display screen. Sure enough it activated! What she saw, mesmerised her.
Delise would have loved this. The technology was astounding. Surely it couldn’t be. Yet the reason for its presence was logical.
OK, so she had heard of these things, but never believed. she would ever, actually stand next to one.
An Embrionic unit. Anniette caught her breath. Till now she had thought of them as a myth.
A story about the miners, having the technology and using it to produce these things so that they didn’t have to work?
In all its glory here before her, a cloning machine.
The clones did the dangerous work, the more demanding work. Thus the other miners could concentrate on the disposal sale and remunerative rewards from their increased productivity Plus of course, have more leisure time. So that disc that she had seen, was the DNA spot disc.
It took a spot of your blood and the Embrionic device did the rest. Not that it needed blood. You could use any sample that contained DNA and probably the miners had tapers containing DNA that they used. You simply wiped it across the disc and inserted the disc for it to work. Looking closer she could see the receptacles where the tapers would have been placed.
She was not of the persuasion to try the thing out. She would tell the others about it, let them decide if they wanted to see if it worked. Probably not, given the age of the tech and the fact that the results after all this time might be a bit unpredictable.
No this was, for the moment; best left alone. She wasn’t one for tempting fate in any form. Now if she had accidentally turned the Embrion ON then she was completely at a loss to understand how to turn it OFF.
It must have a time out option, that will have it power down on its own. There was no piece of equipment like this, that she knew of, that did not have that function fitted, as standard to conserve energy.
Some minutes later, she had rejoined the other. Becci and Torvan had found the correct cleanser units and all were in working order. Good news? They had found a second adjacent domiciliary unit, with several separate reclines.
They stuck to each team having its own separate domiciliary. Not male, not totally female but teams. For good reason. If one team was up and out before the other it meant they didn't disturb them. Everyone was at that moment in time; happy. Ready for some much needed rest.
Delise had programmed the two Monicon units to stay active but powered down. All of the systems and the power levels for the chamber at a more than acceptable level. She retired for the night. It would appear that all of the modules were now in powered down mode? Well not quite. The Embrionic unit, had not gone into standby mode..
The unit had scanned the disc detecting new DNA. The activities earlier had told the system that this was now requesting it to produce? It powered up the internal of its huge chamber illuminated with an astonishing array of colours.
Over 3 million of them sparkled to flood the chamber in a display that was nothing less than a spectacular light show. In the middle of it all a shape was taking form, soft skin over a skeletal frame, intricately woven together as the copy of Aniette, perfect in every detail came to life?
If you had seen Aniette naked as the day she had been born, with this cloned copy, put them together? I kid you not. You would have found it impossible, to tell them apart.
To the last skin cell, the last drop of life giving fluid, in form; totally perfect.
It would be early hours of morning when the machine stopped and the figure stepped from it. Totally naked, walking towards the domiciles where it would enter the domicile Aniette and the others were fast asleep in? Taking some of her clothing, quietly dress and then leave?
Don’t ask me why. Maybe it was a quirk of the Embrion or whatever but she didn’t stay with Aniette. She headed over to the other Kets Domicile. Laid down on one of the spare recline units appearing to be asleep?.
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