Ruben Geraltes Tarblatt
“Headmaster. Dellamorte.”
The Headmaster stopped his pace and perked his vision upward at the sound of a synthesized, robotic voice calling out to him. He turned, a small show of concern etched on his face, which didn’t dissipate when he saw the spindly, gauze-covered, metal-headed figure approaching him from the administration doors. “Are you…” He asked, raising a finger from his side, pointing at the… thing standing before him. “Tarblatt.” It replied, “Ruben. Geraltes. Tarblatt.”
“Ah…” The Headmaster exclaimed, lowering his finger and returning his hand to his backside. “Our visitor. I’m sorry, I… didn’t recall your appearance from the photos.” He cleared his throat and continued, “I trust your voyage and arrival were pleasant?”
“Yes.” Ruben replied, “Commendations to your staff. For their efficiency. And. Their bravery.”
“Braver- oh.” The Headmaster exclaimed, his look of expression shifting from feigned politeness to a blatant scowl. He continued, “Yes, Professor Olin’s… address to the students, just now. Heard it on my way out. Sir, I assure you, our staff is much more professional than such an event would indicate. I-“
“Not. Professionalism.” Ruben replied. He was met with an inquisitive look from the Headmaster, after which he continued, “Attention. Dedication. To more. Than just. The Academy. To each other. To resolve and solution. Their concern for Vera Dubnin is. Very. Admirable. While I do not share their memories. Or their. Companionship. I will gladly offer. Any assistance. To the investigation effort.” The Headmaster’s look of concern grew more evident. “Investi- sir, Professor Tarblatt…” The Headmaster responded, “I… appreciate your offer, I very much do. But this is a matter of our concern, not yours. Trust me, if something comes up that you may be able to assist with, I will inform you. Otherwise, please… just stick to your own agenda. That is, after all, what you were invited here for.”
Ruben paused for a moment. He was still. He just… stared, at the Headmaster, his monocular eye narrowing some. The Headmaster didn’t do away with his scowl as he stood there, waiting for any sort of inclination of understanding from him. After a moment, Ruben stated, “Very. Well.” He continued with, “Disregarding. Vera Dubnin. I have. A request. For permission to conduct. An experiment.”
“What is it?” The Headmaster replied, tilting his head. Ruben had left the document explaining the nature of the Limbo machine with Professor Blackmore. And he didn’t want to waste either of their time explaining the entire concept to him. So he decided on the next best option.
“Please direct me. To the Laboratory. And I. Will. Show you.” Ruben stated.
…
They entered through the door, into what seemed like a frozen meat locker. The Headmaster followed Ruben inside, surveying all of the materials and equipment the staff had transferred for him. The obvious setup of terminals and machines he wasn’t aware of the nature of. The crates filled with spare parts, wiring, lab essentials, etc. Vats and canisters filled with some kind of bright blue fluid. Bovine carcasses sealed airtight in plastic containers. His attention shifted slowly to the large, metallic box situated at the far end of the room. He watched as Ruben stepped towards it, extending one of his limbs into a thin, narrow appendage that pressed the keypad in sequence, unlocking the box. The seals on the door flew open as it slowly opened up, cold wisps of air pouring out. Ruben stepped into the box, and back out, clinging to something with a series of appendages he suddenly possessed. The Headmaster rubbed his hands together, fighting off the cold in the room as Ruben turned, rolling something across the tiled flooring. It was the machine from the diagram printed on the document Ruben gave to Adam; the Limbo machine.
The Headmaster watched as Ruben interacted with a small console on the side of the machine. ”Limbo startup sequence initiated.” Announced a grained, synthesized, female-sounding voice from the console, “Please remain clear of the machine.” The hexagonal dodecahedron surrounding it suddenly lit up with white, segmented LED lights. The bars between each segment began to extend, enlarging the contraption. The two stepped away as the object inside folded outward into an odd-looking chair. The lights turned blue, and it remained still. ”Startup sequence complete. Awaiting operator.”
The Headmaster examined the machine, strafing around it. “What is this thing?” He asked. Ruben gave him the same explanation he gave Adam. “Neural. Integration. Device. Creates modifiable. Simulations. Built. For the training. And advancement. Of the abilities. Of Cerebral-class meta-humans. Future developments. Could extend its utilization. To other classes. As well.”
“And I suppose…” The Headmaster replied, turning to Ruben, “You want a few students to test it?”
“Volunteers.” Ruben exclaimed, “No. Mandatory sessions. Only. Volunteers. Tests would consist. Of building simulated environments. Individual calibrations. And collecting data. Formal training is reserved. For later occasions. The machine. Has been tested. By myself. No frequent errors. Malfunctions. Or inconveniences are. Present. Staff. Supervision. Will be. Commonplace.” The Headmaster paused for a moment, looking back at the Limbo machine. “I… normally wouldn’t consider something like this… but…” He nodded his head and continued, “You have a reputation about you from the outside world. And you certainly know what you’re doing, I can see that. So I will… allow, supervised tests. For anyone who volunteers, that is. I assume you’ll handle recruiting and attention?”
“Yes.” Ruben replied, “Will utilize. Bulletins. Around. Academy. Grounds.”
“Very well.” The Headmaster said, walking past Ruben, heading towards the door. “Go make your introductions with the other staff and let them know about the project, but mind Olin, he’s still…” He turned towards Ruben and made a short swirling gesture with his hand. “Agitated, regarding the issue with Vera.”
“Agitated.” Ruben repeated the word with some faint sense of… annoyance. A sense the Headmaster didn’t pick up on, hopefully. “Yes. Understood.” The Headmaster nodded, and continued towards the exit. He announced during his walk, “Oh, and, set up a seminar or two with administration, get a grasp on the concept of teaching. Have to have you focus on something other than that machine.” He exited the room, leaving Ruben to his devices.
Ruben, almost without any hesitation, walked back to the Limbo machine’s console and began typing into it. He didn’t bother plugging in the ANI.
>run fpd
“Initiating foreign program detection.”
>atat >run fpe
”Action “foreign program expulsion” added to automatic tasks.”
>atat >run olr
”Action “operator login request” added to automatic tasks.”
>run slm
”Silent mode activated.”
Ruben stepped away from the machine. It was running a scan to detect any programs or bugs that didn’t belong there, and if there were any, they’d be purged afterwards. As well, it was running on silent mode. From any normal perspective, the machine would appear to be inoperable. Would deter from anyone tampering with it in case they stumbled inside. The “operator login request” action would enable the system asking for Ruben’s personal password as soon as the first two commands were complete. No one would be able to use it period.
He knew it was… a little uncouth. But he refused to take any risks. Even in the presence of reputable, respected individuals. He proceeded towards the door, leaving the Limbo machine in relative safety. He exited the room and locked it from the outside.
Time to say hello to the staff.
