The Eternal Journey of 'Mr Benn'

[Adrift in Obscurity]

He growled, groaned and swayed, maintaining his deception. He was aware there was a possibility (however remote) of being discovered, and was unsure of the situation; the data was insufficient to integrate this persona effectively.

The ship was spacious and luxurious throughout; obviously a vessel for only the very wealthy he thought. Once again he noted the mix of an advanced and archaic technology with gothic styling throughout the design and decor. The mazes of corridors were decorated with strange wallpaper that shifted slowly between many images of flora, fauna and landscapes like a slide show that disorientated the man due to its realism. The decks also changed images to different styles of walkways, from cobble stones to mountain paths to name a few. The corridors were lit in a soft white neon light that was cunningly fitted inside the ornately patterned ceilings, giving the illusion of glowing quartz crystal. He also noticed what seemed to look like subtle tram lines that were also fitted to the ceiling which ran through all of the passageways.

He did not have time to ruminate on these ‘oddities’ that to Lake’s batman must be normality. Hollander, with his burden stopped by a state room numbered 182, and unlocked and opened the door with a gesture of his hand. He opened his hand and dropped a black disc in the Benn’s suit pocket.

‘Here’s your door key Ernest, I knew you would forget it again. Let us get you in then.’ He grunted good naturedly as he manhandled him into the room.

[Adrift in Obscurity]

With a double click of Hollander’s fingers, the room was immediately lit with soft faux gaslights that revealed an opulent en-suite living space. He helped the Benn onto the large four poster bed and dragged a cover over him. ‘Ernest’ had closed his eyes and had assumed a ragged breathing.

‘Happy New Year boss, you’ll feel like heck in the morning!’ He patted the man on the shoulder and pressed a button on the bedside table and walked out of the room.

‘Willie, monitor Mr Emerson’s sleep if you please, and alert room 165 if there are any problems’ he said before closing the door behind him.

A quiet whirring and clicking of motors began from the floor and moved in the space around the room.

[Yes Sir] a metallic voice answered.

[Adrift in Obscurity]

He allowed a number of minutes to elapse before opening his eyes, his fake drunkenness slipping away immediately.

The metallic voice commented at a low volume [Are you alright sir?]

He nodded which strangely the disembodied voice seemed to acknowledge, his senses extended taking into the fabric of the dreamscape, looking out into the void of space he perceived a nebulous ocean of matter and colour wash across the moon and earth.

His quarry hid amongst this detailed painting of Morpheus, this was no random wanderer or latent dreamer no this was one of the craft, still there would be telltale signs no matter how skilled, all he had to do was dig under the surface.

[Adrift in Obscurity]

He shook his head and returned to the room, and was greeted by the construct that had spoken. It was a mechanical version of a humanoid in shape and relative size save that it lacked legs.

It ran and was built by clockwork it seemed, and shone with a deep red bronze. Its four arms were over ten feet long, which were whip like limbs with fully articulated humanoid claw like hands with very long fingers. Instead of a normal head two projector beacons situated on the constructs shoulders beamed a three dimensional colour image of a face and hair that hovered strangely over where its neck could have been.

William’s face was that of a middle aged black moustachioed man, with greying gelled back hair which was tied back in a pony tail. William was attached to a large arm similar to a human spine that ran across the tram lines on the ceiling. To complete the look, William wore a white shirt, black bow tie and tailed suit jacket.
Emerson jumped and exclaimed loudly at this surprising and unsettling vision, to him at first sight it had looked like some strange spider.

‘Shit!’

[Not again Sir?!] William exclaimed with an apparent air of disgust as with a flourish of its right arms it produced two cloths and started to advance fluidly towards the bed. [It took an age to clean the sheets last night, and how you got it on the ceiling is any ones guess].

‘No no, er you misunderstand; you surprised me that’s all.’ He answered thickly holding his hand up to stay its advance.

[Not as surprised as I was Sir. It took an hour with industrial strength bleach to shift the.....]

‘I’m sure it did’ he interrupted. ‘Can you get me a drink of water please?’

[Certainly Sir]

[Adrift in Obscurity]

As the automaton ghosted along the rails into what seemingly was the bathroom.

The Benn got off the bed and walked over to a large study desk which was flanked on either side by large wardrobes; all were made of walnut and smelled almost new. He opened the drawers and pulled out letters, an SS Broomwell brochure, passport and official documentation with the letterhead of ‘Emerson, Lake & Palmer Investigations’.

He also noted a revolver with a box of bullets in the drawer but left them where they were. Sitting in a leather swivel chair he rapidly leafed through them. Like the assembly of a jigsaw puzzle, the memories of his current persona fell into place.

A long arm with his glass of requested water drifted into his vision and was placed on the table.

[Will there be anything else Sir?] William asked.

‘Yes there is’ he glanced up at the construct. ‘Give me all of the information on the history of this vessel if you please. You will forgive me if I don’t look up from my other work, but I assure you I am listening’

[All Sir? You do realise that I have extens...]

‘Yes yes, and can you give the information at three times the speed’ he interrupted ‘You are capable of doing so?’

[Yes Sir. If I may be so bold to say that you certainly are a strange and fascinating person when it comes to alcohol.]

‘Why thank you William. And whilst we are on the subject, can you get me a large Brandy?’

The acquisition of this personas knowledge put the Benn in a better mood. Almost like satisfying a craving for an addictive substance. From the outside looking in it would probably prove to be a ridiculous sight he thought amongst the influx of data he was receiving. Here he was reading whilst sipping on a brandy; whilst a construct briefed him in a fast squeaky voice.

‘Speed it up please’ he instructed as he winded his finger forward to highlight the point.

Williams voice accelerated to such a speed that to the normal human ear it would sound like a shriek, similar to that of a bat’s.

Emerson dropped the documents back into the drawers, and at that point William’s ‘voice’ ceased.

[All other information on this vessel is restricted to Alpha Star Line corporate employees Sir.]

‘Very good William. May I call you Willie?’

[You have that liberty Sir]

‘Very Well Willie. I will be turning in for the night. Can you please ensure that I am not disturbed before 10am tomorrow? I am sure we’re in agreement that I am going to have a terrible hangover in the morning, and that my business is my own?’ he looked pointedly at the holographic image of his butler.

[My lips are sealed Sir.]

‘Good Man. Please call me Ernest.’

[Very Good, Ernest]

‘Well, goodnight and a Happy New Year.’

[Good night Ernest]

The construct moved silently along the railings and through the cabin front door which opened, and closed behind it with a whirring click.

[Adrift in Obscurity]

He scratched the fabric of the arm rest of the chair thoughtfully. Suddenly a realisation took hold of him, which he acted on at once. Standing, he walked into the en suite bathroom.

What did he look like? He had yet to see the flesh that he inhabited, or in fact any of the personas he had so far assumed. He turned his head to the bathroom sink mirror, and he looked into his own sea grey eyes. But that was all his sight could take in, he could not perceive a face at all!

His inhibited vision somehow reacted with the mirror, resulting in the terrible knowledge that his consciousness was being drawn inexorably into the glass. This was another latent memory of his that had come to the fore, but before he could ruminate on it; his physical vision exploded into a brilliant white light which swiftly fractured into the colours of the spectrum, and with it came the feeling of his body also being assimilated into the colour and absorbed into the ‘reflection’ of his grey eyes.

The only way he could describe it would probably be like the feeling of being turned inside out. He was pretty certain that he had experienced that sometime in his past too..

[Adrift in Obscurity]

The sky was a grey sheet, with long rods of rain that hung frozen across the heavens.

From his vantage point upon a nimbus cloud he looked at the small dots of landscape below, taking a deep breath he felt the dreamscape, his senses skirting the eggshell like outer membrane feeling the chaos beyond.

He allowed his formidable awareness to sweep downward, following the path of a river far below.
it wasn't difficult to locate the crafting, its maker had potent levels of power, however there was a fragility to this realm, he allowed the rain to fall once again before stepping out and walking down through the rain swept sky.

[Adrift in Obscurity]

His descent was almost timeless, perfect spheres of water falling around him, upon reaching the bottom he did not crash but merely stepped from the plummet and out onto a blade of grass.
The blade bent slightly under his weight, he closed his eyes allowing the world to slow and cast out the line of his senses.

They crept across the surrounding landscape like a rolling fog, nudging against the makeup of the land, through the debris of an orchard and the outskirts of a cottage, satisfied that his quarry wasn’t within the domicile he turned to the path of the river.
His mind travelled the path of the river, merging with the bubbling surface he flowed along with it, startling fish and feeling the cold wash of the vibrant water.
He located her after some hours, fatigue gnawing at his senses, the air shaped around him and he sailed into the air, as he took flight his senses flared, plummeting downwards he watched as a young woman left the cottage.

Her form flowed quickly unravelling and rewove into a great bear like wolf creature loping across the landscape at breakneck speed hurtling toward the reed bed to which he now headed.

[Adrift in Obscurity]

Sensing a presence from the reeds the Benn with burst of concentration visualised the ‘dreamscape’ squeezing together, joining two distant points.
Stepping between the two points he appeared in the reeds, there he spied a familiar orb of water within which floated the form of the doctor.
The shape of his dream shifted daughter charged across the clearing, Benn turned confronted with the utterly silent form of an older Japanese man in a flowing robe.

His senses screamed of an imminent trap descending upon him. His anger burned at the thought of this illusion of someone who he had possibly ‘cared’ for was being used in this way, as emotional bait for his capture. But reasoning fell like a reassuring blanket over his shoulders as he inhaled a deep breath, literally seeing and feeling the oxygen, nitrogen and argon gas molecules pour into his lungs, charging his blood with the living manna; and with it a deeper sense of his environment. The carbon dioxide he exhaled voided the fear and anger from his system, but augmented his perceptions. The molecules physically manifested as a cone of red fireflies that circled in ever increasing spirals from his mouth which started to circle almost hypnotically in front of him.
His third eye opened. He smiled benignly at the man.
‘Take the doctor. And leave. I am no one’s slave. I pity your enslavement to the system and do not want to hurt you.’
He inhaled sharply, and the fireflies were dragged back into his lungs. He felt his blood surge throughout his body as he held his breath and he stared down the man, awaiting his move.

What's your bottom line
When you're at the doors

What's your guiding light
When you don't have force

Junip : At the Doors : 2010

[Adrift in Obscurity]

The Robed man stood still, he shifted his mass onto one leg akin in position to crane with his other leg folded, the sole of his foot against the calve.
He responded to the request with the barest of nods, for his part Shukiro sensed the motion of the scape solidify, his gesture creating a cascade of energy which rippled in a circle, washing over the wolf child.

Benn watched as his senses reset, a blink and the serenity of their standoff had energised into ferocious motion, his dream shaped daughter tore forward; a monstrous lycanthrope claws and spittle ready to tear its prey apart.
Shukiro allowed himself to unfurl, his robes carried upon winds of his own craft, his form following his robes until he appeared like a thousand ribbons caught in a hurricane, the monster tore into his centre and he re gathered, wound and cocooned.

He reformed in a swirling tai chi motion, his rotation finished by a forward push from both hands, a gesture that propelled the wolf woman across the landscape to land heavily on a hill side.
He turned regarding the older man who watched with a degree of impatience, he bowed deeply and then leapt high into the sky, his arc carrying him further up the river and towards a small sphere floating in the stream.