Thread: Pilgrimage (Books and Echoplex)

The clinic had a sterile appearance and smell to it. The floor and walls were spotless ivory and the light seemed to be just bright enough to make one uncomfortable. Five scanning tables were lined against the walls, humming gently with power and ready to be put to work at a moments notice. Cupboards lined the opposite walls, each filled with various chemicals, drugs, and syringes that were stacked in an almost obsessive neatness. It screamed artificial and was only one of dozens to be found through the Valiant. The artificial nature in this case was a lovely reflection of the attending physician. Malik Al-Shraded was his name. Brown skin and sculpted features indicated Arabic decent from Earth. He was average height and slim of build, wrapped in a white lab coat, dark shirt, and a set of crisp khakis. A passing glance was all it took for most to guess he was a Fabricator, given that his left eye was replaced with intrusive cybernetics and his left arm was similarly substituted. The blue lens of his left eye swiveled slightly, examining a specimen in a Petri dish more closely. Dark hair was cut short and his face possessed a slight stubble to darken his chin. His lens swiveled in the opposite direction as he brought the magnification out of focus to normal parameters. The man blinked several times as he readjusted back to twenty-twenty vision. With a slight sigh he scribbled on a label and moved the dish aside, turning his attention back to the clock on his desk. His next appointment would be in soon if she was punctual. The young man leaned forward in his seat and stared down at his cybernetic hand. The light caught the spotless metal and gleamed nicely, scattering reflected light through the room. The senses of the appendage were still useable he could still feel the cool table below his artificial fingers and the light tickle of the air vent close by. His neural link was advanced enough for that thanks to the woman who had programmed it. His control over it was as natural as his other arm though occasionally decay in the program would occur. Hence why his next appointment was waited on with equal parts anticipation and dread. A decay in the program would mean a couple of hours lost as the error was corrected. He was just hoping for a simple update to his systems and nothing more. As a Fabricator he craved more of the cold technology upon his form, greedily advancing through the ranks of the order for more. His arm had been the first and then his eye. Malik planned on trying his other arm next for symmetry though that would likely take a couple of years. Such was the slow progression within the order so at the moment he was stuck with his two implants. He envied the Ascendants and their metal forms, all but immortal in their machine bodies. Perhaps one day he would join their ranks but today was not this day. The commotion outside of his clinic was thankfully muted by the insulated walls. Finding a new habitable planet after a century drifting in the stars was a cause for excitement. 'Pilgrimage' was what it had been dubbed. The young man snorted as he remembered that little detail. Malik himself was intrigued as well but was not part of the talks among either the military or Fabricators. So instead of figuring out what this new world was all about he was stuck in his little slice of the Valiant. Just as well he supposed. Hed been born on a ship. Being on an actual world the Fabricator did not feel ashamed to admit the prospect frightened him. All of that open space sounded overwhelming. By the Ascendants where was that blasted woman?