The Misty Syndrome – Part 1
A month had passed since the adventure in the planetary TP… Desmond had not returned, and the VIP Stel were nervous: they interrogated and bothered me at first, but given my “ignorance” of Desmond’s destination and the coordinates of the TP, they stopped looking for me and ask; no doubt the matter of the Planetary TP was something very secret even from the rest of the Stel faction, so they had let it go so that no one else found out. Even so, for a while I decided not to let me see much in the camps of the faction… Regarding Simon, i have not seen him for a long time, without a doubt he would have returned with the Resas.
Katalina had returned from Ancient Greece with great honors from Queen Pentesílea: her actions in the Mirynian rebellion had been decisive for everything to return to normal … In addition to her famous Gorgon armor, the queen had given her a good reward .
For my part, the Generic Fuses had sold very well, with a very high MU … in this way, Katalina and I were rich at least until the money lasted … but for now we were enjoying a calm period and many drinks in the Next Island bars and Ancient Grecia taverns.
One day we were hearing a new singer in the famous bar “Caroline’s” in Crystal Bay when we saw a picturesque guy enter: His slippers, his turban and his baggy clothes denoted that the guy was a Toulano … what would he do on this planet ?
She approached the bar and ordered a drink that, without a doubt, was not alcoholic … The Toulanos had ancestors of the ancient Arabs of the Earth, so they had certain customs regarding certain types of food and drink that were forbidden to them …
I stared at him … he remembered our stay in Toulan, the hunts of Dahar and Tabtab, and the palace of Queen Nara … Suddenly, the guy turned and stared at us … our gazes met for a second and, after taking his drink, the guy came up to us.
-Good afternoon… can we talk for a moment? –He told us politely.
-takun almalikat naranaan maeak ‘ayuha almusafir (may Queen Nara be with you, traveler).
The stranger widened his eyes, surprised that he spoke his language … he made a gesture with his hands that was the typical Toulanian greeting, inherited from the Arab greetings of the Earth.
-barakatih tamla’ak (his blessings fill you) … – You speak our language very well … have you been to Toulán?
-Yes, traveler, we lived there for a year …
-My name is Mustafa ibn Hakim, and I have been sent to Next Island on behalf of the Toulan Fauna & Flora Center…. Maybe you could help me …
-Hi Mustafa, I’m Dante and she is Katalina and, if we can help, we will be delighted …
Moustafá sat with us at our table, was silent for a moment and began to tell us the reason for his trip …
-You must know that Toulan has received the rumor of a mythical creature that exists in these lands, and that it would be welcome in the Zoological Museum of the Society …
Katalina and I looked at each other strangely… a mythical creature ?? All Ancient Greece was full of mythical creatures: Cyclopes, Asterions, and more …
-I mean the Chimera Albina …
We couldn’t help it, Katalina and I started laughing … Chimera Albina was a myth that was told to novice hunters, in order to tease them … and there we had a guy who came from another planet because he had heard of that story …
Moustafá looked at us surprised, and without a doubt he was offended by our laughter … with a fierce gesture he drew a Samm Twin and addressed us in a threatening way:
-No one laughs at a son of Hakim !!!
It took us a while to calm him down and put the weapon away … When he calmed down, we explained to him how the myth of the Chimera Albina was used to deceive novice hunters …
Mustafa looked at us both, smiled, and said:
-It’s no myth… here I have proof of its existence.
And from the terminal of his wrist a holographic laser came out that projected a video in high definition in the air … A scene undoubtedly taken by a hidden camera, in a landscape that we did not identify and, a short distance from the camera, a totally albino Chimera , with snow-white scales and fur and reddish eyes, that hunted some animals …
Amazing!!! The Chimera Albina existed …
-Where did that come from? – I asked without giving credit to what I was seeing.
-Well, apparently a scientist from the Center sent an autonomous drone to investigate the fauna of Next Island … The drone had some kind of malfunction and, when it was recovered, among other recordings there was this … The problem is that the SatNav system had spoiled, so we don’t really know where the images were taken.
-Er … this … and how can we help you, Moustafa? – I stammered while still digesting my amazement at the video.
-Well, I was wondering if you know someone who could help me capture that beast… Toulan Fauna & Flora Center will pay well.
Of course we knew someone: Katalina and I already had a new adventure…
The Misty Syndrome – Part 2
The next day I watched the video that Moustafa had given me several times: there was the Chimera, hunting some small animals … a unique specimen that had been used for a long time to tease people …
The question was: where could the animal hide? There were only two or three Chimeras settlements on Next Island and a couple of settlements by their cousins the Desert Crawlers… I played the video again, and suddenly…
The ambient light changed slightly and illuminated some trees that …
Yes!!! He had recognized that species of strange trees … the recording had been taken near Misty Outpost without a doubt …
I called out to Moustafa and Katalina, who were talking about the latest gossip from the Palace of Queen Nara … I shared my discovery with them and, with the destination of the trip already clear, we went out to look for the necessary equipment and provisions for the expedition.
The question was, we should hunt her alive, but how? Would she allow herself to be tamed with entropy whips? Or should we sedate her, put in a cage, load into a vehicle and then remotely send to a planetary storage until she is loaded onto a warp ship? I hope Moustafá knows what to do …
A couple of days later, with a big flash, we appeared in the Misty Outpost Teleporter … we blinked, looked around and we began to hear the screams of the Chimeras …
In ancient Greek mythology, it was a mythical being, a mixture of other beings, with an imposing appearance and that threw a kind of spikes with its tail …
On the contrary, the Chimera of Next Island was a not so large being, and it looked like a lizard with a mammalian face … its scaly skin seemed smooth in texture, and its color was dark brown, unlike its desert relatives, the Desert Crawler, whose color was yellowish to blend in with the sand; his gait was reminiscent of the unfortunately now extinct Komodo Dragon …
Moustafa approached us … looked around her and said:
-Katalina, Dante, listen to me well … Chimeras are aggressive beings and usually go in groups, so be careful. We must explore this entire area to see if we are lucky and see signs of the Albina: White hairs on her hind legs, white scales resulting from her shedding periods …
-But a chimera of a different color from the others may not be welcome among their own – I said … I remembered some ancient albino animals on Earth, who were expelled from the same herd.
-Mmmm … it could be true … in this case, the animal would not be in the area of the herds, but in some remote place – said Moustafa …
-And why don’t we look for the video area first? – Katalina said …
It was the most feasible solution, since the animal had passed through there at some point; So we got down to work.
A couple of days later we were about to give up: the area shown in the scene was nowhere to be seen … too many trees, too many rocks … We watched the video again.
The lighting and the trees were the key. Due to the color of the light, the time the video was taken was close to the current time … the elongated shadows of the trees on the ground, one crooked and smaller than the others …
With a start, Moustafa turned and began to look around … A few seconds later he looked carefully into the distance and pointed triumphantly to an area of tall trees, whose shadow on the ground was similar to that shown in the video … We do not expect more , we ran there … bingo !!! It was the area, the crooked tree between two others and even the shadows at the right time of day … The Chimera Albina had been there.
-Hey, come here, guys !! – Katalina showed something among some bushes … The entrance to an almost hidden cave and, among the remains of small dead animals, some white hairs …
That cave that no one had ever seen before, was the refuge of the Chimera Albina that we were looking for …
Time to hunt …
The Misty Syndrome – Part 3
That cave was the animal’s refuge, and it was logical: albino animals had a poor tolerance to light due to their reddish eyes, so most likely it was hidden during the day and came out only at dusk, when the light was lower … it was such a unique animal that it had developed a nocturnal behavior. That was also the explanation for why no one had seen her before.
We deployed the nets, prepared the tranquilizer darts and hid, prepared for when he came out of hiding … A Boiga and some Pet Tags also hung on my waist, just in case.
The hours passed slowly … night fell, and no sign of the animal … without a doubt he would have heard us … the island mosquitoes bothered us greatly, so …. Hiiiissss !!! Suddenly we heard a noise.
Half-hidden in the undergrowth, we raised our heads, and we saw it…
A Chimera appeared at the mouth of the cave, but as we had never seen before … its fur, its scales, its claws, everything about it was white except for its eyes that shone with a reddish glow … it was a unique sight …
The three of us looked at each other nervously … the being moved away from the mouth of the cave following the path through which it had undoubtedly passed thousands of times before … and which was the path to the network …
A few more meters … come on … let’s go …
Moustafá pressed the button on the remote control, and with a thud, the net closed around the Chimera, which began to twist… it was ours !!!
We left our hiding place and approached the animal, with the dart weapon at the ready … The Chimera twisted, snapped its teeth and, suddenly, using its hind claws, tore the net … The animal was free !!!
Katalina readied the tranquilizer gun and fired a shot… her dart dug into her hindquarters, causing him to spin around… he looked at Katalina with his red eyes and gave a threatening hiss…
Damn animal, it was going to launch itself on Katalina … Moustafa began to wave his arms and shout, to distract his attention … Indeed, the chimera faced the new threat that the Toulano represented … Katalina took advantage of that interval to shoot several more darts …
Amazing!!! Undoubtedly the genetic mutation that caused Albinism also made immune to the serum used as a sedative … Moustafá looked at me with regret: We would have to kill it, or it would kill one of us three …
Without thinking, I unfolded the Boiga, and the Respect / Spirit indicator lit up. With a gesture worthy of a hero from those old movies that my grandfather liked, I lashed out at the animal.
Yes!!! Respect’s gauge increased… the animal was tame, probably the only tame Chimera on Next Island.
Katalina and Moustafa looked at me expectantly while the animal twisted and tried to bite me … Their red eyes looked at me with hatred but still, lash after lash, the animal began to lose momentum, its attacks were less fierce …
A couple more blows and the animal stopped … the Boiga indicator marked “Tame OK” … it was time: I took a Pet Tag and threw it at its neck … it wrapped around it and lit up green … Chimera stood still for a moment while the Tag / Brain neural connection was taking place, and then he sat on his hindquarters, stuck out his tongue and gave a kind of friendly yelp …
The Chimera Albina was ours, and also domesticated …
The Misty Syndrome – Part 4
We decided to stay until the other day, so we set up camp. Meanwhile, Katalina was with the chimera that, once domesticated, proved to be a playful and obedient animal like any pet … definitely, if he stayed one more day with us, he was going to end up getting fat, because Katalina was gorging him on Nutrio Bar …
And the tricks… there was Katalina playing and teaching new skills… I hope she doesn’t get too fond of “Snow” (she had already named him) because Moustafa had to take him to Toulan in a couple of days, when he got a Warp.
The night passed between island mosquitoes, stories of Toulan and a huge Albino Chimera that behaved in a way as annoying as any spoiled puppy … it really was adorable …
In the morning we picked up the camp, packed our things and arranged an air transport to send “Snow” remotely. We pressed the controls and, at that moment, the screen began to fail …
We looked at each other … The SatNav also began to fail us all at the same time … what happened? Some kind of interference in communications?
A low sound seemed to come out of the sky … we looked and saw a glowing wake like that of a comet … The object was heading south, incandescent … certainly a meteorite, and had caused some kind of EMP that had killed our communications …
With a great roar, the meteorite finally crashed to the earth … “Snow” ran to hide in his cave, and the three of us staggered and fell to the ground as a furious wind hit us … When we got up a few minutes later we could see the glow greenish that had caused the shock … greenish? How weird…
Moustafá had brought a Carrier to which we climbed, including “Snow”, who did not look very calm, and we headed to the place of the explosion …
That looked like the famous Tunguska explosion in the distant 20th century … uprooted trees, a trail of destruction, dozens of dead boar, and in the middle of it all, a huge stone scorched but with a greenish glow …
Katalina and I looked at each other … without a doubt that stone was something out of the ordinary, and it would be worth good money … In Arkadia there was a naturalistic society that might be interested.
A group of surviving boars approached the boulder … That species of wild pigs caused a grimace of disgust in Moustafa, possibly something related to his culture or his religion … The boars sniffed the remains around the stone …
Suddenly, a wisp of thick greenish smoke rose from inside the boulder. He twisted into a kind of figure as if it had a life of his own and launched itself at the boars …
The smoke penetrated their ears, their snouts, their eyes… They stood still for a second and their eyes began to change… They were now an emerald green color.
We were surprised … what was that? We slowly came out of our hiding place and made our way to the stone and the group of boars … They were like petrified … and suddenly they all turned their heads in unison in our direction … a lot of green eyes looking at us …
And with a grunt, simultaneously as if it were a perfectly coordinated squad of warriors, they charged at us …
What the hell of a behavior was that? Well, we would find out later, for now we had to defend ourselves from those animals …
The Misty Syndrome – Part 5
The boars were not a problem for three warriors like us … until “Snow” jumped on one of them and finished him with her strong claws … the corpses of the boar were piled up at our feet …
Suddenly, a new wisp of green smoke came out of the boulder again and went straight to “Snow” … the smoke enveloped it, circled over it, but did not enter … the green smoke, as if it were a living being, recoiled, gave a turn on himself and he fled to some boars that were in the distance …
-What was that? – Mustafa asked …
-I don’t know… it seems as if that green smoke, somehow, “possessed” the animals, but it couldn’t with “Snow”. – I said as I looked at the distant boars, whose eyes were already emerald green. – Perhaps his genetic mutation makes immune.
-I think we shouldn’t be here … this could get worse -Katalina was holding her weapon as she looked around her with a scared expression …
I noticed one of the dead animals … around hers its eyes, the tears were greenish … I took a handful of dried grass and rubbed it into the animal’s eyes. The grass was stained emerald green: I had a sample !!!
We took our gear and, using a Pet-Izer, put “Snow” in stasis in one of the containers. We went to Misty’s TP and materialized at Crystal Peak … we had to go see a scientist friend of ours who had a very complete analysis laboratory …
Our friend Dr. Boward took the samples, looked at them, put them in his testing machines and, an hour later, ushered us into his office.
-Moustafa, Katalina, Dante… we have a problem. –he said while he turned on a high resolution monitor and showed us the images obtained in the analyzer.
-The samples you have brought are incredible … That green “smoke” is actually a cloud of highly sophisticated nanobots whose function seems unknown, but which move and act in unison.
We look at each other… nanobots? What’s your objective? And above all … where did they come from? Boward went on.
-This technology is very advanced … Undoubtedly these nanobots are capable of infecting almost any living being where they enter … Do you decide that the infected beings moved as one? – He asked us.
-Yes – Katalina said – they were moving at the same time, and their only objective seemed to be to attack us.
Boward was thoughtful for a moment. Then he sighed and kept questioning us.
-And it came from a meteorite?
-Yes – I answered – and then it came out in the form of smoke and infected the boars …
Boward shook his head and made a gesture we knew after so long: he was going to state a theory.
-Ahem, gentlemen, I think… I think these nanobots are not manufactured in Next Island; the fact of coming in a meteorite confirms its external origin … In addition, they have the facility to infect living beings through their mucous membranes or natural orifices, control them and make them act as a single being, since the nanobots seem to synchronize with each other … Interesting … Also, look at those organs that present … It is similar to a 3D printing mechanism. I think…. I think … they could replicate themselves …
Mustafa, Katalina, and I looked expectantly at Boward, waiting for him to put an end to his guesswork as he perused the screen.
-Because of the type of manufacture and the materials used, I believe that these nanobots are not of human origin, but could come from …
We were still listening to Boward and his theory when our comlink crackled.
-Dante, Katalina, do you hear me? – It was the voice of the communications operator from headquarters Stel.
-Copy that, Stel Operator … what’s wrong?
-Come immediately to the barracks… something is happening with the animals all over Next Island !!!!