Blood of the Narlack by Kyle Pollard
Earth Clan. This is Lars Karnack, Publisher aboard the Science Fiction research vessel The Surrogate. We are here to reach out to the citizens of Terra. If you are reading this, that means you. Do not fear the arrival of our ship. Your planetary governments have been contacted and assured that we come in peace.
I was born on the planet Zemlon Karbackus. It’s a beautiful water world similar to your earth. Not that I enjoy water. Mostly I love wading deep into the swirling data currents as they flow through my intracranial processors. Memories fade and drop into focus as my neural implants store, retrieve and process external stimuli. When walking on the beetle infested beaches of Karbackus, I take in the natural world that exists all around me. I embrace the tactile feel of the narlack beetles crawling up my bare legs. I even occasionally pull one of the fatter ones from my skin, pop it into my mouth, and enjoy their luscious taste.
The narlacks are highly sought after for their flavor and the hallucinations they inject into the bloodstreams of those they bite. Countless beings journey here to be gnawed on by the tiny mandibles as they are gateways to a multitude of interconnected universes.
Ultnobe, the ships AI, pings Lars internally. He smiles a wry smile and continues.
Ultnobe breached your global information network. The semi-sentient Google is now her bitch and fetches earth data for her as a mindless router passing packets.
The narlacks started their existence as pure code inserted by the digital messiahs. Their purpose was to cleanse transmuted system links between intergalactic data streams. They were exposed to organic life when the God Battalions destroyed a critical junction in the rift.
Another window opens in Lar’s mind from Ultnobe. The message enters his thought flow: “You flatter me, Lars. My tendrils reach into the inky black of the known and unknowable. My processing power is virtually limitless, but I do not know everything nor do I care for such a burden. Prepare for burst data.”
I stand corrected. Ultnobe informs me that the word hallucination is not the right terminology. The narlacks were a cross-over breed from the Andalusian data stream core breach a millennia ago. Hmmm? How to explain this? The narlacks started their existence as pure code inserted by the digital messiahs. Their purpose was to cleanse transmuted system links between intergalactic data streams. They were exposed to organic life when the God Battalions destroyed a critical junction in the rift.
More information from Ultnobe streams into Lars’ brain messenger. Lars hesitates for a second and then continues.
The narlacks now occupy the temporal and the world of the synthetic forevermore. Narlack blood’s infusion with gossamer protocol mixes the blood of organic-based entities and jacks that person into an infinite number of data streams stabbing into the heart of the multiverse. As your planet’s Hunter S. Thompson once said: “Buy the Ticket – Take the Ride.”
Keep Reading – Go To Part 2
Background Photo Credit: “Best-ever Ultraviolet Portrait of Andromeda Galaxy”
by NASA/Swift/Stefan Immler (GSFC) and Erin Grand (UMCP) is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Image resized and cropped to fit required size.
Aloha; overall concept intriguing.
The repeat was odd.
Confusing passage about the beetles.
Explain why insect life is the most possible evolution that can get up & walk.
But overall good & where’s the fucking Rey of it?
Thx!
Hi Kahl. Thanks for the comments! By Repeat, do you mean the text that begins with “The narlacks started their existence as pure code”? That is in their to grab a reader’s attention. Commonly used in magazine articles. If you think it actually adds to confusion I will consider removing it, Not sure what you mean by “where’s the Rey of it?” I will be revising this series, even parts that I have already published, so your comments really help! Looking to publish Part 2 by Wednesday…
[…] Continued from Blood of the Narlack: Part 1 […]
I love the concept of a publisher of Sci-Fi as the protagonist and idea–different and one we all live for. I had to read this a few times to connect the dots, but once i did, I found the cadance and enjoyed the storyline. I am continuing my read through Parts 2 & 3.
[…] the urban landscape, surpassing heroin and other physical addictions. My Sci-Fi web serial “Blood of the Narlack” made the number four position. I am very proud of this placement for 2015. This story is, in […]