Chapter 1: Beginnings; The machine in the basement
The basement was my silent tomb of refuge from the world above. Dust swirled in the faint beam of light spilling through a grimy window, illuminating a chaos of forgotten experiments—rusted tools, scattered papers, echoes of my father’s dreams.
I knelt among them, my fingers brushing the worn pages of his notebooks. Each scribbled equation was a lifeline, a tether to the man they’d branded a killer. But I knew the truth: Dad wasn’t a monster. He was a visionary. And I swore it upon my life, that I’d prove it, even if it cost me everything.
The air was cool, thick with the scent of damp earth and old ink. Beyond these walls, the city night stretched vast and still, the coffee plantation a sea of dark leaves under a star-strewn sky. It was nothing like London—its clamor and crowds a fading echo, replaced by this isolating quiet. We’d fled here to Zambia after the explosion at CosCap, after the accusations, but the past clung to me like a second skin. It was in the empty spaces: Dad’s chair, Mom’s tired eyes, my brother Kled’s abandoned room.
Then I saw it—a sleek, cuboid machine half-hidden beneath a pile of journals. It wasn’t in Dad’s notes, but its faint hum called to me, alive and insistent. My pulse quickened as I brushed off the dust, revealing glowing buttons along its side. Curiosity overrode caution. I pressed one.
A sharp whine pierced the silence, the hum swelling until it rattled my bones. Light exploded from the device, and I stumbled back, heart hammering. In the beam’s glow, a figure took shape—metallic, humanoid, its eyes blazing like twin stars. My legs buckled, and I hit the floor, staring as it solidified.
“What in the world...”
My voice was a rasp, barely audible over the pounding in my ears.
The robot tilted its head, its gaze unyielding.
“Quantum gateway jump successful,” it said, its tone eerily calm. “Hello, Cipher. I am Number One, sent by your father, Frederick Silver.”
“My father’s dead,”
I snapped, scrambling back until I hit the wall. A talking robot came out of nowhere and bagan speaking to me. I was lost in disbelief