Belfrat 9 worked diligently and in secret to complete the device that many other Druintes thought was unnecessary. Eris idea for the dark matter manipulator was considered to be redundant in a society with such advanced technology that Druintes can easily have anything they desire through atomic reconstruction.
E perfected it in eris room that was a perfect cube and about 150 square feet. E hardly moved from eris seat as e tinkered with parts and equations to finally finish the thing. Some neighbors complained about the noise and smoke that issued into the hallway as e welded and shaped the device. But Belfrat was undeterred. Eris life was a bleak march to eris job at the Pyramid for Advanced Physical Study and the monotonous work of triple checking the equations of other scientists working on massive projects like new and faster spaceships. E longed for intimacy that e had only ever heard about in history books and on other planets. It’s true that intimacy has been stamped out on the planet, but when e was still an orphan in the Hall of Orphans, e met Falstraq 6. They slept next to one another and the two had grown extremely close. It was their last interaction together that fueled Belfrat’s desire to create a device that allowed the user to create anything their heart desired in the privacy of their dorm rooms. E wanted to create eris own Falstraq, one that would not give in to societal pressures. They could be close, they could touch.
It was the last day of both Belfrat and Falstraq’s life at the Hall of Orphans and Belfrat had tried to convince Falstraq that they should choose the same profession in the physical sciences. But Falstraq was afraid of the connection the two were forming and e would not invite more scrutiny from their peers by spending so much time with Belfrat.
“I respect your intelligence,” Falstraq said, “but the decision to go into physical sciences would baffle every recruiter on the planet. I am working in biological sciences.”
The two stood out on the mall where orphans had spilled out to celebrate their last day before the start of their adult lives.
“You are extremely skilled in biological sciences, that is true,” Belfrat said. “I just thought that together…the two of us working together on a scientific problem…we are smarter together.” Belfrat was fidgeting uncontrollably. The conversation was an awkward one to have. How do you ask someone for connection when you have no real definition of the word?
“Please,” Falstraq said, “don’t misunderstand our time in the hall. We worked well together, but Halgod 7 and I have already been assigned work in biological services because the two of us together are truly smarter than anyone working in biology.”
Falstraq nodded at Belfrat, signaling the end of their conversation and e moved to leave, but Belfrat grabbed erim in what most closely resembled a hug. Falstraq felt threatened and e pushed Belfrat away. Belfrat fell to the ground and e just sat there. E turned to watch Falstraq and e saw Halgod. Halgod was a standout talent during the exercise period and Falstraq was also a member of eris Black team. It hurt to watch them stand close but not too close and Belfrat imagined all of the amazing things they would do together.
The dark matter manipulator would give erim the Falstraq that e wanted. And e knew that e could recreate a very true to life copy of Falstraq because Belfrat had studied erim closely and e really enjoyed watching erim.
When the device was done, Belfrat stood in the middle of eris room and held it up to inspect it closely. It was perfect, e had been in such a mad dash to complete it that e hadn’t taken the opportunity to truly appreciate the thing. It was small, but e knew that it would work, e just had to put it inside of eris body where it would seek out the complex neural structure that formed along the back of Druinte heads and down to just below their shoulders. The device would become one with the user’s brains to allow for the conversion of imagination into reality.
Belfrat inserted the device into eris mouth and it came alive almost instantly, snaking all of the orifices in the mouth in long, fluid tendrils. They crowded Belfrat’s esophagus and ripped through the fleshy wall to access the neural material just behind it. They crowded up into and burst out of eris nostrils. Belfrat fell to the floor, clawing at the thick mass of thin black, tendrils that snaked out of eris face. E struggled to breathe and e finally died from asphyxiation.
The device seemed to claw it’s way out of eris face and tumbled to the floor as the tendrils receded. It looked like a very small flashlight next to Belfrat’s body.
The explosion in eris dorm room was triggered because Belfrat had neglected to shut off a very powerful tool for collecting dark matter. The tool overheated and the explosion was devastating to employees of the Pyramid for Advanced Physical Study, and it caused a chain reaction with materials in the pyramid. A third of the Druinte population died that day. Belfrat’s dark matter manipulator survived the explosion unscathed, but it was flung from the surface of Druont, into the atmosphere where it made its improbable journey to the planet Earth.
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