Sick Note

"And so I awoke, on that fateful day, not to the welcome dawn of earth, but to an alien sun in an alien sky. A green orb hung, huge and ponderous in a purple sky, the scintillating stands of what surely must be clouds glowed with their own luminescence, and low on the horizon the first of three alien moons was slowly descending below the horizon, framed by bluish peaks of a scale never contemplated by the men of earth.

Arising from the bed of unknown grass upon which I found myself, I spied in the distance a strange forest, shining in the light of the alien dawn. Lacking any clear plan or direction, it was towards this forest that I travelled first. Perhaps it might afford me shelter and sustenance, a brief respite to attempt to puzzle out my situation. Though, if anything grew in these strange soils that might provide me with anything more than a tortuous death by poisoning I could not say.

The trees, if trees they were seemed to made of crystal, transparent and delicately hued in all colours. As the sun rose they would catch the light, giving off scintillating rainbows in a sight of unmatched beauty.

It was here, wandering the crystalline bowers and shining pathways of this strangest of places that I finally encountered life. The creature dropped from the branches before me, a strange amalgamation of ant and primate. Though it spoke only in voice of irregular clacking mandibles and shrill scream like noises it seemed to me that there was whisper in my mind, and I understood!

This strange individual proffered me a piece of yellow fruit, presumably plucked from on high and bade me eat. Though unlike any flavour I had before tasted the fruit was good, and I felt much restored.

Long we sat there, in the shade of crystal trees, and talked. Though my companions’ appearance seemed alarming, I was not afraid in any measure, for the whisper in mind calmed all fears. Indeed, he expressed that he found my appearance to be equally bizarre. I cannot recount his name here; for no human language has yet evolved that can adequately express the sounds or concepts involved. He told me of the history of his race, how they had renounced their once mighty sciences and retreated to the forests for life of contemplative simplicity. Yet in these, the later days of this once great race, they were assailed by a terrible enemy.

Deep in the cyclopean mountains that frame the horizon in such terrible splendour lay the dark Temple of Yuuuul-Thabroosh. And from there its terrible inhuman denizens make forth to pray upon the gentle dwellers of the forests.

Having long since lost the philosophies of war the forest peoples had no way to defend themselves from so terrible an enemy, and thus had gathered the last fragments of their sciences together in order to summon a saviour for their people. One who could take up arms against the darkness and free them from its stalking oppression.

That saviour, I was told, was me.

I protested that I was no hero, and had no expertise or even the barest experience of the arts of war. Yet my companion insisted that it was I alone who, having been selected by their strange and arcane sciences, would be able to prevail against the unspeakable evils that were now prowling the lands. Indeed, he apologised most profuselly for requiring my involvement. However they were, he insisted, quite desperate. Truly no man could turn away from such a plea for help when he outlined the vile depredations his people were suffering. A list of crimes and torments to terrible to ever be recounted again.

Thus it was that I was led to the very centre of the forest, to the last bastion of this noble race. There they received me with much jubilation, and I was presented with the 3 great relics from out of their lost past. Though even the elders knew not their ancient function, I perceived them immediatly to be a mighty bow, and powerful spear and a great curved sword. All were forged of a metal such as I have never seen before, azure and iridescent, light and yet stronger than steel, with edges sharper than blade found on earth. Thus armed with the ancient weapons of the lost times I was presented with a map to the dread temple and given a mighty steed to bear me on my way; part lizard, part spider yet with jaws like a shark. Swiftly it bore me out of the forest and across the majestic plains and hills of this strange new world.

Many days I rode, drawing ever closer to those dread mountains. I was sustained by a supply of that strange fruit which the tribe had seen fit to provision me with. From dawn till dusk I was high in the saddle of my mighty steed, the beast seeming to need no sustenance than the very wind itself. Until, at last I finally came to the base of the largest mountain. I cannot tell how tall this peak stood, for its immensity defied analysis. Its shadow cast the lands around into a freezing night, eclipsing the very sky itself. And here, in a hidden valley lay that dread temple wherein dwelt the very stuff of nightmares. And unto them my destiny compelled me.

The path I trod was bleak and fearsome, for no living thing grew here. There were only the rocks, strange angular formations of fearsome aspect. Their odd shapes seemed to speak of torments beyond the grave, and it puzzled me how any force of nature could have formed them into such twisted shapes. It was as though the foul corruption of that dark temple had bled into the very land itself.

And yet on I pressed. On, into the very heart of corruption itself. My mount again proved its worth, its strange agility taking me over treacherous climbs and hidden falls that no ordinary man could have prevailed against, and I gave thanks to my benefactors for their foresight and wisdom in providing me with this unique beast.

Clambering steadily through the bleak terrain at last I came to the hidden valley wherein lay my final goal. Cloaked in it eternal blackness it lay, hidden forever from the warming light of the sun by the titanic crags and peaks. Here at last I first spied my enemy from afar. A shapeless mass, blacker still against the black rocks. Wasting not a moment I drew the mighty bow with which I had been entrusted and let loose my first arrow. It flew, straight and drew, piercing the shadow at its very heart. As the indeterminate form thrashed and died it loosed a mournful scream, resonant with all the tortures the beast had no doubt inflicted on so many innocents in it's pursuit of its base and vile appetites.

And with that, the battle was joined in earnest. Alerted by the death scream of their fellow, the THINGS came upon me in a rush. My arrows were quickly depleted, though each scored a true kill. Still they came on toward me, their numbers seemingly undiminished. Taking up the ancient spear I urged my mount forward to meet the charge head on!

The horrors I saw that day do not bear repeating. As the horde closed upon me the particulars of their terrible anatomy became apparent, and were I not fighting for my very life I would have looked away in terror. Where men would have limbs or organs there were only masses of tentacles, writhing in madness. Where men had bodies there was only darkness and terror. And where men might have faces I saw only the blackest nightmares of creation.

Onwards I drove into the carnage. From all around they lunged at me, over and over. Their foul, malformed appendages harried me at every turn, and eventually even the fearsome beast upon which I rode was pulled down by the swirling throng of horrors. From its back I leapt further into the charnel horror, and pressed on, on, until my spear was chocked on the bodies of the slain and fell from my grasp. Yet now I was at the very foot of the temple. Despite it all I had reached my goal.

Hewn from the rock by titanic forces this blasphemous cathedral to all that was unholy towered before me. Its pillars twisted skyward as the fangs of some leviathan. The stones were slick with corruption, sweating a ghastly ichor whose stench filled the air in a miasma of decay. The doors towered over me, impossibly large and inscribed with countless scenes of pure horror. Yet they stood open still. The horde in their ambition to reach me had not thought to secure their fortress behind them, and I made way with much trepidation into that dreadful interior.

The only light in that place came from the sword clutched tightly in my hand, a faint shimmering glow that illuminated but the barest area about my person. No walls or ceiling could I detect by its meagre light. Indeed, the sheer size of the chamber gave no impression that I had entered at all. It was like nothing so much as striding across a flat stone plain under a starless, godless sky of impenetrable night.

And yet, in that emptiness something yet stirred. A bloated, cancerous THING, huge and terrible. Blacker still than any of the diseased creatures I had yet slain. It was as if the sum total of that terrible horde had been melded together in body, spirit and horror, and multiplied a thousandfold to create the mountainous enormity that now towered over me.

I raised my sword and readied myself for the final, terrible combat. How I could prevail against this, the very pinnacle of terror I knew not. Yet I resolved to at the least sell my life as dearly as possible. In the infinite darkness of the great hall it shifted, lifting up some blasphemous portion of it's anatomy towards me...

And it spoke.

Its voice was huge, the sheer volume of its words threatened to split my skull, the pressure of the sounds driving me down to my knees. The sounds it made we're terrible to hear. The burbling sickness of cadaverous offal given voice, a sound to shame the plagues of ages. And despite the horror and the terrible fury of its speech, I understood.

And it told me how I had been deceived.

The beasts I had been fighting were not the destroyers of those forest dwelling aliens I had first encountered, but their slaves. The formless horrors were designed, through the forgotten sciences of an ancient age, to service the hidden machines which maintained that strange forest of crystal trees. Stripped of their forms and substance so that they may flow throughout the pipes and mechanisms. It was they who provided the fruits upon which I had feasted, for nothing natural grew in that place. Yet through the many years their masters had grown indolent, cruel and wicked. And had thus decided to make for themselves sport of their tortured servants. And thus I had been cruelly wrenched from my own dimension and set upon them fuelled by lies and dreams of grandeur.

But then why? I asked why did your people set upon me with such demonic ferocity?

And the beast replied: Did you not look upon them? Every second of life to us a thousand torments unimaginable to one of your kind. They clamoured only for the release of death which you brought.

And seeing at last the depth of my folly I collapsed there upon the stinking ground, and for a time did not move.

At last the beast spoke to me once more. It asked me what I would do now. Did I wish to return to whence I had come, back to my own world? Did I wish to avenge myself against my tormentors, who had sent me thus into the very mouth of hell all for their own tawdry amusements?

How would such a thing be possible I enquired? Even if they had the art to send me home I doubted they would have the inclination. Indeed, after learning such terrible secrets I had no doubt they would kill me outright.

And yet, I was told, there was a way. As I was not a being of this dimension I was held here only by the forces of the great engines that even now rumbled beneath the earth. Part of the same incomprehensible network of machines that maintained the environment of the forest and provided a life of tawdry leisure for its cruel and foolish inhabitants. There was one place in this complex that the slave creatures could not enter, for it was armoured in a metal which to them the slightest touch was fatal. I did not need to look down at my discarded weapon to know what form that might take. I however would be able to open the locks and gain access. From there I could destroy the control system for the great machine, breaking the power of my betrayers and denying the forever its comforts. Once the machine ceased its function I myself would no longer be bound to this world and would revert to my natural place.

Where then must I go? I asked the darkness. It told me that I need merely wait. Soon the birthing cycle would begin and the path would be revealed. Before I had a chance to ask what exactly it meant by this a light blossomed in the darkness.
From out of the floor, all around the base of the sickening mountain of flesh unfurled gigantic mechanical arms of that strange shining metal. Some were tipped with blades the size of sails, others with the claws of mice and every variation in between. And as they set about their grisly task I saw how it was the slaves were created.

Great slices of sickly meat were shorn from the bulk of the creature which now stood revealed by the glow of the devices. Would that it were not! The horror of the beast seemed unparalleled, until those arms set about their grisly task. The beasts’ cries threatened to shatter the very rock as those cruel blades cut and tore, dissecting, stretching, stitching and cauterising until finally twisting the foul meat into shapes that were not shapes, yet were terribly familiar to me. These then they cast aside, and against all reason they began to move, slowly twitching, lifting up crude approximations to the heavens and crying in a hollow plaintive agony.

As the machines worked the mass of the beast was slowly reduced, traversing from first the horrors of cancerous corpulent flesh to the horrors of a thousand terrible wounds as a new race of slaves was born from the vivisection of its suppurating flesh. It was clear then why those cruel masters had no qualms about arming me against their servants, for they had an almost infinte supply. As one generation was slain another could be carved out, and only time was needed for the great mother to regenerate its unnatural tissues.

And then I saw it. The machines had moved forward on their tracks, revealing a stairwell leading down, under the beast. Shaking off the horror of all I had thus far witnessed I took up my sword and ran forward. The new born creatures stretched out towards me, their cries tailing off into a mournful keening. I forced myself to ignore these bleak supplications and hurled myself down the stairs. At the bottom lay a door, cast of that shining metal it illuminated the pit in which I found myself. From above came the din of the machines and the cries of tortured flesh, and down the stairs poured the foul, stinking ichor which the beast bled now so profusely, it's excremental stench clogging the air and making me gag. I pulled my feet from the sickly mire that was quickly forming about my ankles and examined the door, seeking some way of gaining entry. In the centre of the door was set a large sphere with numerous indentations all about its surface, all in shapes akin to alien hands. By manipulating this orb I was finally able to open the door and walked at last into heart of the great machine.

The room was bright, as all the walls and devices therein were wrought from the same luminescent metal that the slave creatures found so deadly. About were ensconced many huge crystals, taller than a man. Gold and copper wires ran from these into banks of machinery whose function I could not even guess at. And in the centre of it all was upon a pedestal a glass like dome, linked by countless wires to seemingly every other piece of equipment in the room.

And under that dome sat a human head.

This final indignity was too much, after all I'd seen and done, and I raised the sword with a strangled cry and set about the machines with a devilish fury. The blade shattered the crystals and cleaved into the banks of controls and unknowable devices, sending forth clouds of sparks and great gouts of smoke and flame. Yet I did not stop, I no longer had any thought to my own safety, I merely sought to destroy all within reach. Finally I once more found myself before that dome, and the crime it held. I raised my sword on high and brought it down with all my might.

And just in the instant before the blade cleaved it in two, I swear that severed head OPENED its EYES.

After that I remember nothing more until I awoke in my own bed. Though it seemed impossible, had it all been but a dream? I doubted myself then, but the seeing the clock I started with alarm. For the date could surely not be right. How could I have remained asleep for a full week since last I gazed upon it?"

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My manager looked up incredulously. "You're still fired."