Strange Beginnings by Treesong
Beginnings
Tales of Order and Change
By Treesong
Copyright 2015 by Treesong
Published by Cranncheol Publishing
The cover art for Strange Beginnings uses a modified form of the photo Sunrise On All Saints Day by Ken M. This photo is licensed under a Creative Commons Public License (Attribution 2.0).
About This Collection
The tales presented in this book were originally written as independent short stories. They don't happen in the same place or time, although they do all happen on Earth in the fairly near future. The plots and characters aren't connected in any obvious way, although subtler connections have emerged and are continuing to emerge. On the surface, they seem like six unrelated adventures in speculative fiction.
As I collected these tales, however, I realized that they all have two things in common.
The first is a shared setting. These stories all take place in the same broadly-defined world: the world of my novel, Change, the first of three novels in the Eutopia Trilogy. On the surface, this world may seem familiar, ordinary, safe. But the closer you look, the more you see. Behind closed doors, and deep in the woods, and under the cover of night, you will find something MORE. You will encounter something beyond the life that you once knew. You may not live to tell the tale. If you do, few will believe you. Either way, you will never be the same.
The second common thread is what inspired the title of this collection. Each of these tales is, in its own way, the tale of a strange beginning. A scientist starts a new experiment; an office worker receives a mysterious invitation; a man on the run seeks help from a stranger; a discouraged activist searches for new direction; a man with a special ability weighs his options.
I hope you enjoy these collected tales of strange beginnings. If you'd like to read full-length fiction that takes place in the same setting, I invite you to read my novel, Change, and the upcoming sequel, Order. I also encourage you to share your comments, reflections, responses, and ideas with me through my website and social networking profiles. I enjoy hearing from readers and look forward to incorporating your feedback into my future storytelling.
Table of Contents
About This Collection
Alpha
Come Away
Anomalous
Imbalance
The Test
About The Author
Books By The Author
Author Newsletter And Social Media
Sample Chapter: Change
Sample Chapter: Goodbye Miami
Alpha
“Day One. The time is 19:54. Alpha has rolled onto its right side to face the monitor. This occurred approximately two minutes after I turned on the monitor, leading me to conclude that Alpha has begun responding to external stimulus. However, changing the random shapes and colors displayed on the monitor hasn't elicited any further response.”
Dr. Sophie Alma set down her digital recorder and continued looking into the room on the other side of the two-way mirror.
The room was twenty feet wide by forty feet long, with the viewing window on one of the shorter sides. The walls and ceiling were painted sky blue, while the floor was covered in a grass-green shag carpet. Red, yellow, and blue blocks of various shapes and sizes were scattered and stacked throughout the room. The far wall contained a white wooden door, and one of the long walls contained a large flat-screen monitor. A prone figure was lying on its right side next to an overturned folding chair in the center of the room. The body was motionless, but judging by its position, it appeared to be looking up at the monitor.
“No change?”
Sophie turned to see Dr. Sam Matthis stepping into the viewing room.
Sam was a tall, thin, middle-aged man with short gray and black hair. He wore blue jeans, a blue button-up shirt, and a white lab coat. As soon as Sam closed the door behind him, Sophie returned her attention to the room beyond the glass.
“No, nothing. It's been staring blankly at that damned monitor for over a half hour. I think we've just invented the world's first forty-seven million dollar couch potato.”
Sam chuckled, patting Sophie on the back lightly as he stepped up to the viewing window.
“I wouldn't worry. We've still got brain activity, right?”
Sophie glanced over at the computer screen on the desk next to the viewing window. Most of the screen was filled with a line graph with irregular peaks and valleys that steadily scrolled across the screen from right to left.
“Yes, it's still processing something. But I doubt it's going to learn anything by just lying there.”
At first glance, the prone figuring lying in the center of the room appeared to be a young woman. She had short black hair, lightly tanned skin, and was dressed in a simple white cotton shirt and black slacks. Closer examination revealed that something was slightly off about her facial expression and the awkward position of her limbs as she lay in a heap on the floor. Her skin was made of a lifelike synthetic material, and her unblinking eyes had a shine that almost made them look moist like real human eyes, but not quite.
Sam looked out at Alpha. “Have you tried varying the audio-visual stimulus?”
Sophie nodded. “I've tried adjusting the lighting, changing the display, switching back and forth between music and random noise. No response.”
“Hmm. Well, we could always—”
Sophie raised a hand to interrupt him. She tilted her head to the side slightly, listening intently to the murmur of white noise coming from the speaker next to the viewing window. After a few moments, she pressed a few keys on the computer, and the white noise grew quieter.
Sophie grinned.
There we go.”
Sam looked into the room.
“Am I missing something?”
Alpha was still lying motionless on the floor, staring blankly up at the monitor.
“Sam, I just turned off the monitor's audio. What you're hearing through the speakers is Alpha imitating the monitor.”
Sophie picked up her digital recorder.
“Day One. The time is 19:59. Alpha is emitting a quiet sound similar to the ocean waves audio track that we were playing on the monitor. We will now proceed with a series of tests to determine Alpha's response to various audio and video input.”
Sophie switched off the digital recorder and turned to Sam. “This is a good sign. Maybe it's analyzing the visual input too but doesn't know how to respond yet.”
“Or maybe I'm just good luck? If I leave and come back again, maybe she'll start dancing.”
Sophie smiled and shook her head. “You know I don't believe in luck, Sam. Only good engineering.”
“Yes. Well, you've been up since yesterday, so why don't you call in one of the grad students to babysit your 'good engineering' for a while?”
Sophie grinned. “Just a few more tests. I promise.”
“Alright. I'm too old for another all-nighter though, so I'm going home.”
“Okay. Goodnight, Sam.”
“Goodnight. See you in the morning.”
“Day Eleven. The time is 12:17. Alpha is sitting in front of the monitor again. She's starting to show a preference for any video that contains voices, animal calls, or music. When I play any of these, she stays in front of the monitor until I change the video or turn the monitor off. Her audio responses are no longer an exact replication. Instead, they appear to be imitations, with slight and irregular variations in tone and pitch.”
Sophie put down the digital recorder and stared through the viewing window. Alpha was swaying rhythmically from side to side in her chair as she sang along with the music coming from the monitor.
“Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away!”
Her mout
Sophie shuddered for a moment, turning back to her computer to type a few notes. She hardly noticed when Sam stepped into the room and stood in front of the viewing window, quietly studying Alpha.
“She's a bit disturbing, isn't she?”
Sophie turned around in her chair and faced Sam with an uneasy smile. “Just what I was thinking. Maybe we should have started with a less human appearance?”
“Maybe.” Sam stood in silence, watching Alpha come to rest as the audio switched from music to conversation. “Then again—no offense, Sophie, but I didn't think we'd get this far on the first try. She really does seem to be learning.”
“She's still just imitating.” Sophie stood and looked into the room. “I intend to find out if she's ready to communicate.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Can you keep an eye on us from here? I know she doesn't seem very mobile yet, but I'd like someone by the kill switch just in case.”
“Sure.”
Sophie stepped out into the hall. The viewing room was dimly lit to accommodate the two-way mirror, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright fluorescent lights of the hallway. However, it was a quick walk from the viewing room to the door on the other side of Alpha's room.
Sophie stood outside of the door, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath. Then, she put her key in the lock and opened the door.
Alpha's room was filled with bright light, but the spectrum was warmer than