Psychlops's Pentaverse

psychlops

Ensign
Here, in this thread, I will be posting weekly sci-fi short story fragments in blank verse, as I work towards the goal of being able to write competently in blank verse, eventually to write entire novels in the form... here is what it looks like. No one else is doing it, and I would love to see something like this truly exist. So, I'm going to be the one to have to do it, lol.


Crash Landing

He crawled out from the wreckage of the ship,
nearly in shock from what had happened, but
with little more than minor scrapes and bruises.
Looking back, he imagined he was lucky,
and thanked the gods that he was still alive,
but the spacecraft itself was severely damaged
and most likely would never fly again.
At some point in the middle of descent,
when he was entering the atmosphere
and passing through a stormy patch of cloud,
the ship was struck by lightning; in an instant
the on-board electronics shorted out
and the instrumentation went haywire;
the engines stalled and the ship began to plummet,
which sent it spiraling out of control,
and, scorching a bright trail across the sky,
it fell from on high like a burning meteor;
to crash down on the planet's rocky terrain,
where it finally skidded to a halt.
And, though lucky to have survived the crash,
he now had to brave the environment
until the rescue team could locate him.
 
Somewhere Out There

She sat there, looking out the porthole window
at the glowing, blue-green orb of the planet,
wondering if, or when, he would return.
Just yesterday, he'd departed for Earth
to join the conflict and had left her behind.
She knew very well that when he'd enlisted
he could be called upon at a moment's notice
and whisked away to help the cause on Earth.
And, she knew he would be fighting for something
that he believed in, something he would die for,
she mused as she wept there waiting. And, she thought
that she had been prepared for this, but now,
the realities of what he was facing
were setting in, and, though the tears were falling,
he wasn't there to comfort or console,
but a world away with his fellow soldiers,
engaged in a bitter conflict, where they
were fighting, living, and dying together,
together and alone, at the same time,
and wouldn't be coming home until the war
was resolved. And, sadly, many of them
wouldn't be coming home at all, and those
that did would most likely be changed forever.
 
Here's one, still in blank verse, with individual paragraphs. This is closer to what my future novels will look like...


Deep Transmissions v. 2

. . . They heard a beeping come across the speakers
and rushed to check the console.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Look!" said Jess,
as she turned to her mate, "Someone's lit a beacon!
There, from within the asteroid field...
It could be a distress signal... I'm making
a thorough scan for any communications,
for anything, but being in the midst
of all those asteroids cannot be good!"

. . . "It's okay, Jess." replied Allen, "We can help,
if help need be. I'll contact Central Base
and warn them of the call. Meanwhile, we listen.
If they are sending out any transmissions
I'm sure that we'll be able to catch them."

. . . They waited, looking for any kind of sign,
but nothing came. Not so much as a whisper.
Then, a faint sound was heard. Jess singled out
the signal, and the sound grew in amplitude
until a person's voice could be distinguished.

. . . "Is there anyone there?" the person called.
"We've found something peculiar. If you
can hear us, please respond. Our light array
for base communications has malfunctioned,
and we need help contacting Central Base.
Otherwise it would take days to reach them.
At present we cannot further divulge,
But we really need help in reaching Central."

. . . The man continued sending out the call,
but distance meant a response would be slow.

. . . "Copy that, we can hear you loud and clear,"
Jess replied. "This is Raven Six. We have
received your most recent communications.
We can relay whatever information you have
back to your base of operations. Please,
when you receive this, tell us of your findings,
and we will send them through. Over and out."

. . . They waited as the message played a loop.
And soon came the corresponding reply.

. . . "Copy that. This is the Blue Jay Eleven,
and thank you for helping us in this matter,
but you will not believe what we have found."
 
The Specialist

The specialist looked over the statistics,
And with each glance the more red flags appeared;
Enough that he could give a confirmation.
"There's been an interest in our work, as well
There should be. Why, we're just as interested
In the Goth's systems. But, here, we are seeing
A flagrant probe into our operations.
According to the data flow, there's been
A breach which can be traced directly to
The Goth's Inquisitors. It seems their tech
Is more than capable enough to hack
Even our most sensitive data banks.
This makes us all uneasy, for what can
We do? Even though there's a clear infringement,
No one, not in our department, at least,
Wants to escalate tensions, especially
When peace is our endgame... We blow it off."
 
The New Collective

No one foresaw what was in store for us,
and what technology would come to be,
thanks to those early ventures into space.
As capital investors set their gaze
upon this new frontier, entire fields
of study opened up and suddenly
became plausible. Everything had changed.
Inventors saw new opportunities,
and, before long, a new collective formed,
with everyone anxious to embark upon
this bold adventure. And with this push
to gain the stars, everyone benefited;
technology boomed and brought untold wealth,
and a new, better quality of life
to everyone regardless of their class
or station. A new era had arrived.
 
The Workforce: Mars

Chloe awoke with a start. She looked around
the room somewhat confused, and wondered how
she had fallen asleep. She last remembered
the nausea of motion sickness from
the flight, and leaning back in the firm chair
and gathering her senses. Yesterday,
she had arrived at the facility
with the rest of the group of new recruits,
and was told she had leave to settle in.

A member of the staff had met them at
the gates, and lead them down the corridor
and to their home pod with their living quarters,
and gave them the instructions to become
acquainted with their rooms and make themselves
at home. But, when it came the time to eat,
Chloe passed it up, her stomach too uneasy
for her to even think of food, and went
to her private quarters to rest and relax
until the motion sickness could subside
a bit, and must've fallen asleep somehow...

There came a chime across the intercoms,
soon followed by a man's gruff-sounding voice,
'Hello? Ms. Hask? Doctor John Madsen here.
Just calling to check in. How are you feeling?'

'Oh, I'm... I'm feeling better now,' said Chloe,
as she shook off the last vestiges of sleep.
'I just needed a rest is all... Thank you.'

'I'm glad to hear that,' replied Dr. Madsen,
'When you feel up to it, please join the others
in the day room and watch the training vids.'

'Oh, yeah...' said Chloe, 'I'll be right there.'

'Great,' said the doctor in a soothing voice.
'I really hope that you enjoy your stay.
Many recruits have had a rocky start,
but I'm sure that you'll find yourself at home.
If you need anything, feel free to ask,
and we'll be more than happy to assist you.'

'Of course,' said Chloe. 'And thanks for your concern.'

Another chime announced the call had ended...

Wait? What!? she thought. They must be watching me.
How else would they have known I was awake?
At that exact moment!? ...Something's not right.
 
Aye Captain!

When they came out of hyperspace, it was
to absolute darkness, and there was nothing
but open space; vast, cold, and unforgiving.
Their ship was semi-functional at best,
having survived a collision during jump,
but they had lost their navigational
instruments shortly after impact, and now
were drifting deep within an unknown region,
without a clue as to their whereabouts.
The crew, numbering twenty-three in total,
mostly agreed that they could all endure
for quite some time on current life support
and what they had of rations... But there were
a select few who differed in opinion.
And they would be the ones to test the others.
 
Lockdown

When the signal came in, it was to announce
that they were to prepare for commandeering;
that there would be a shutdown of their ship's
flight control systems, followed by a boarding,
in which police were going to come aboard
for an inspection of both crew and ship.
The crew was caught off guard, and thought that it
would be best to comply with the orders given,
and quickly stood down and strapped themselves in.
Within mere seconds of them locking down
they heard a great rumbling, then a blast,
and the ship shook and shuddered, before falling
into silence, that of a complete shutdown
of all the ships independent flight systems,
which included its engines and computers.
The crew sat in the darkness of the helpless
vessel while the police cruiser latched on
With a loud 'thunk' and then a 'whooshing' sound
as they opened the hatch, and loud footfalls
soon filled the interior of the ship.
The ship's crew sat in darkness, while police,
with their night-vision goggles, had surveyed
the crew, checking each individual
with scanners, which made it apparent they
were looking for someone in specific...
"All clear,' said one, "He's not on board with them."
"Agreed," came a reply. A light clicked on
and swept across the seated crew, "Which one
of you is the ship's captain? Please, speak up!"
"It is I," said Captain Amad, perplexed.
"Easy! What is the purpose of all this?
We are en-route to deliver supplies
to a colony on the moon Europa.
That is to say we're on a peaceful mission.
There is no need for such hostilities!"
"Calm down," replied the standing officer,
"We mean no harm, either. We were alerted
to a transponder somewhere on the ship,
one which was used to track a criminal
who had escaped from custody aboard
your ship, or so we thought. As soon as you
check out, you will be free to be on your way."
The officer turned to his mate, and said,
"Find that transponder, he must've removed it
from his body somehow." "I think I found it,"
came another one of the boarding crew,
who opened his gloved hand for it to be
inspected. In the beam of the flashlight
was seen a gore-encrusted computer chip.
"That's the transponder chip! Let's run a sweep
To see if he's in hiding." Then, he turned
to the ship's captain, and said, gruffly,
"It looks as if we've all been duped, including
you and your crew, if what you say is true.
Answer a few of our questions, truthfully,
and you are free to go. We'll write a report,
and get out of your hair." He turned and left.

[note: I was contacted recently, and it was the wrong number. Apparently, someone gave out my number as their own contact. And it inspired this piece. If anything, it was interesting... and inspiring, evidently, lol ]
 
The Bounty Hunter

I watched her as she went around the bar
brusquely nudging, and talking to, bar-goers.
She openly carried a gun at her hip,
and no one seemed outright alarmed by it,
but I saw that some patrons, sipping drinks,
were watching out the corner of their eyes.
I thought it best that I follow their lead,
and try to look unconcerned myself.
But then she halted and pulled out her gun,
stuck it in a man's ribs, then whispered something
in his ear, and he proceeded to get up
and make his way with her towards the back door.
They hit the exit. And there was a silence.
Not much time passed, when she returned, alone,
and made her way to the front door, and left.
All of a sudden a gunshot rang out
from outside in the alley. Some folks winced,
others laughed, but all went back to their drinks.
It wasn't till I went to leave that someone
told me that she had been a bounty hunter;
in fact, a living legend. So much so,
it's said that she could hand over her pistol
and you would take your own life if she asked.
 
The Watchers

Over the span of a couple intense weeks
an alien signal had been observed
coming from deep in space, that then went silent.
The team who's job it was to track the signal
watched and waited, as for another sign,
in hopes that they could solve the mystery;
if they could only get more information.
As soon as these strange transmissions were found,
they had been flagged as something of interest,
showing certain peculiarities,
and were tagged as having the rhythmic pulses
thought to be indicators of advanced language,
and by no means a normal aberration.
But what the team of scientists recorded,
once they were able to scrutinize the data,
was cause for great alarm. It seemed that these
were not just any signals, but belonged
to some form of advanced interstellar mapping,
for, after being thought to be robotic
in nature, and then further analyzed,
it had held up to scientific models
that led them to believe that they were dealing
with some kind of cosmic SONAR, so to speak,
and that something out there was looking for
other civilizations. What gave reason
to believe that these 'Watchers' would be hostile,
was the fact they were scanning the galaxy
for radio transmissions, but, unlike
the teams here on earth, they did so as if
they weren't at all afraid of being found out.
Which likely meant that we were dealing with
not only something that was highly advanced,
but was intelligent enough to have
the means with which it could defend itself,
and, as the team had feared, it also meant
they had the means to go on the offensive.
And what the experts feared the most for Earth,
was that these 'Watchers' were looking for exploits,
and we had no idea what they might do,
or how they would go about achieving it.
 
The Race Against Hyper-Extinction

They thought that it would end this way or that,
but they were wrong. Instead, we found ourselves,
with time, facing ever-increasing odds
that seemed to be stacked against us, with dangers
looming around just about every corner.
This period of history would be
known as our Testing, in which we'd either
succeed or fail as a race, as a species.
And, sadly, many millions died before
The governments stepped in with regulations
that forced the world at large into agreement,
that anything deemed an extinction level threat
must be dealt with with full cooperation.
And since the risks imposed by fellow humans
greatly outweighed natural phenomenon,
they went so far as world-wide surveillance,
both national and international,
including government watchdogs that were
backed by special laws, and guaranteed safety
for doing what was right and honorable,
as well as watchdogs set on corporations.
And, there would always be unexpected threats.
Which had led to the greatest safety net
humanity would ever know; the expedited
proliferation of independent systems,
which ran counter to the ideals of those
who pushed for greater connectivity;
so died much of The Internet of Things.
 
The Infirmary

The medical technician seemed uneasy,
his face contorted with what looked like fear.
"We have a problem," he announced. "And not
A minor one. In fact, the entire station
should be alerted to the risks at large.
For we believe that this influx of patients
is due to a rather vicious strain of flu,
one in which faculties of reason flag,
as it is seen, in those who are affected,
to cause a state of brash distemperment
with disregard to the well-being of others.
We are still documenting cases, but
it seems the virus affects the brain directly
by altering its chemical make-up.
We need to warn the populace so that
the appropriate measures can be taken
to prevent further spread of the disease."
"Jesus," said one in attendance, "I hate
surprises, and I've only just woke up,
and haven't had my cup of coffee yet!...
Rather, those were my worries before now...
But I suspect that this will ruin many
a person's morning, if not cause a panic."
"It is what it is,' the technician replied,
"And all that we can do is hope and pray
that these measures will be enough to curb
the spread, as a cure could be months away!"
 
The Great Manipulation

There came a time when people were afraid
of their own governments, a time in which
one's own mind wasn't safe from being searched,
and one's personal psychic activity
could be derived from the brain waves that they
emitted, and which couldn't be kept hidden
from those in power with the means of being
able to scan the inner working of the mind.
But those fears were quickly eradicated
with the advent of thought manipulation,
and subjugation soon became the norm,
as governments now had the means to program
the masses by the altering of brainwaves
and thus implanting thoughts in people's minds.
 
Close Encounters

(Inspired by a true story.)

I woke to shouts and screams coming from outside,
and jumped up out of bed to check it out.
I hurried to the door and threw it open,
and found that the neighbors were all outside
staring skyward and pointing.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I looked up
to see a number of strange, flying objects
off in the distance, darting here and there,
meanwhile, sending out pulsing beams of light,
as if scanning the ground looking for things,
and had mirror-like shiny, silver bodies,
with great, extended metal tentacles
reaching out, snatching people up,
and hauling them away back to the ships.

Before I could assess the situation
any further, a neighbor pointed up,
and shouted, 'Look, there's one right there!'

When I looked up, it was already there,
hovering ominously over us!
An eye-like circle on its underbelly
opened up and a beam of light shined down,
and blinded me, bathing me in white light;
the world fogged over, and I lost my sense
of place and time, and, yet, it felt like I
was being hauled away up to the ship...

It was all so abrupt, but I came to;
only, I was in my own bed again!

To this very day I still have my doubts
about what really happened on that date,
and if it was all just some kind of dream,
or, rather, only made to seem that way.
 
The Saboteur

. . . Once he was alone in the access room,
Carver reached in his pocket and pulled out
the thumb drive he had hid away.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . His job
was to upload a virus on the computers,
hoping it would corrupt the newest systems
before they were delivered to the base.

. . . Although it was an outright act of treason,
he couldn't let the mission reach its end.

. . . He was aboard a ship en-route to Mars
hauling supplies, but, also, an improved
computer which would be the central hub
for resource management and life support
controls there on the base, and would replace
the much outdated, inefficient systems
currently in place.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . But, the colony
on Mars housed para-military groups,
supported by the nations back on Earth,
and were installed to back the government
set up on Mars. He knew if this continued
Mars would become no more than extra force
to keep the solar system under grips.

. . . With the thumb drive in hand, he thought it over,
assured himself that he was doing justice,
and jabbed the thumb drive in the port. Then, nothing.
He sighed, what a relief. As he was told,
the virus would upload as undetected.

. . . After he was sure it was done uploading,
he disposed of the thumb drive, and returned
to his duty as if nothing had happened.
 
Red Alert

Everything was as it should be, that is,
until the warning klaxons came on line
and filled the ship with their incessant cries,
piercingly loud, as to not be ignored,
and everyone hurried to hunker down.
The captain, having been rudely awoken,
burst in the room, and started shouting orders
for everyone to get up and man their stations,
and asked his officers for an assessment.
No one knew just yet what set off the beacons,
First Mate Jayce reported, as he followed
Captain Zell, who was rushing to the bridge
to seek Captain Ryk, the second in command.
When, suddenly, the ship abruptly shifted,
throwing them harshly against the wall.
The runner lights flickered sporadically,
but stabilized as they regained their footing.
"Hell!" said Captain Zell, "That was a collision!
The ship just took a blow to starboard hull!"
 
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Crime In Progress

His eyes were fixed and staring at a point
on the wall somewhere just behind my head.
It was somewhat unsettling, but I knew
he was an android, and such things were normal
for his kind, something they did routinely
when incubating, or so they called it;
a process that allowed their kind to reason,
and although it looked like a moment's lapse
in any kind of functioning, his mind
was active, highly so, and deep in thought.
I couldn’t help but cast a glance behind,
when, suddenly, he snapped back to attention,
which startled me, much like it always did.
“Sir?” he said, “Are you ready for the answer?”
“Go on,” I said, “We haven’t got much time.”
He then replied, “It looks like we’re in luck!
But, I’m quite certain they went into hiding
somewhere nearby and haven’t left the building.
I ran a scan and checked surveillance footage,
but I saw no one flee the scene around
the time in which the crime was committed.
I suggest you call in, request support,
and have them put up a perimeter,
before we just go busting in on people
and give ourselves away, and giving them
the opportunity to escape unnoticed.”
I looked at him and shook my head, then said,
“Just do it! Send the damn order already!
I know you lack the sentience necessary,
but from now on you take initiative
and forget all those stupid freaking rules,
especially when you’re a better sleuth than I.
Got it!?” “Yes, sir. But I still can’t do that.”
“Fine! But next time just look me in the eye
when you do that creepy incubation stuff!”
“Sure, but that’s what I always try to do.
It’s just that you move before I am finished.”
“Whatever! Just tell me when they’ll be here!”
 
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