Beyond the Horizon: New Dawn

14) "Seventy-Six"

BlackDiamond scientists and operatives flooded the hallways as Seventy-Six made his way to Elias' quarters. His hand had stopped bleeding but it was still engulfed in blood. People he encountered in the corridors continued to eye him with suspicion. He took a quick detour to the bathroom and rushed to the sink. The prying eyes had begun to get on his nerves, so he washed the blood off of his skin. He looked at his hand and was amazed to see that the wound had closed. However, Seventy-Six now had fresh deep scars above his knuckles. He exited out the restroom and continued on to Elias' quarters.

There were many things on his mind he wished to speak with Elias about. He felt it was important to thank him for granting him this procedure. If not for it, he would have gone insane. But more importantly, Seventy-Six wanted to be put on assignment. He had spent too much time cooped up in the BlackDiamond facility on Ceres and desired to get away. There had to have been some job that he and Task Force 100 could undertake. With the UN and PCU being in the middle of a conflict, Earth seemed the most likely place that he would be sent.

Seventy-Six stood in front of Elias' quarters. The door remained shut which meant he was not home. Seventy-Six shifted his attention to the keypad. A four digit passcode was required to enter which meant there were 10,000 possible combinations in total. But Seventy-Six would only have three tries before the alarm sounded. He studied the keypad closely and noticed that the 3, 9, 4, and 1 spots on the screen were more smudged than the others.

He had the numbers, now he needed to figure out the order to them. He examined the numbers carefully and thought about if they had any meaning to Elias. But as far as Seventy-Six knew, the numbers meant nothing to him. He recalled the first time he accompanied Elias to his office. The movements of Elias' arm indicated that the passcode was 1-9-4-3. Seventy-Six did not pay much attention to Elias the first time he input his code, but he was able to recall that memory as if he was. The increased brain power he now had was yet another gain from the procedure. He wondered why Elias would not have it done for everyone in BlackDiamond. With it, they would be an unstoppable force.

Seventy-Six entered the passcode. The keypad flashed green and the door opened. He stepped into the room and the door shut behind him. The television was left on a UN news channel. A ceasefire was being discussed between the UN and the PCU after a large-scale space battle ensued between the two sides outside of Luna, resulting in nearly 1,000 dead. It was the endless cycle of war that had become ingrained in Tellurian culture. There was never a question of whether the UN and PCU could have peace, it was whether it would last.

Seventy-Six shifted his attention to Elias' desk. It was covered with papers, something that was not the case in Seventy-Six's previous visits. The swath of papers piqued his interest, so he went over to the desk to take a look at them. Each paper was filled with physics equations. The equations themselves were focused on black holes and exotic matter. They were both essential parts of not only creating a wormhole, but keeping it open.

Seventy-Six picked up another paper with a list of black hole names in pairs. He flipped it over and stared at the notes in awe. Elias had been conducting experiments in quantum entanglement in conjunction with black holes. There were a total of ten pairs of black holes on the sheet of paper, meaning that Elias had managed to link twenty black holes to each other. Seventy-Six wondered how long Elias had been conducting this research and if it was something his ancestors worked on as well. It was not believable that Elias was able to do this within his short lifetime.

Seventy-Six dropped the papers on the desk as the door opened. He looked into the door where Elias stood. Elias froze when he saw Seventy-Six at his desk. He smiled at him as he stepped into the room. "I take it the procedure went well?" Elias asked.

Seventy-Six nodded. "I can't thank you enough, Sir. I feel...reborn."

Elias went over to the bar and poured himself a drink. "In a way, you are. Congratulations, Seventy-Six. You have evolved."