Project Gleam

Maddox closed his eyes and listened intently as he sat alone in a room. The only sound he could hear was his thoughts and breathing. A blank holographic screen hovered in front of him.

His assignment was to help test Insight’s newest creation as part of Project Gleam.

It was approaching a full month since Maddox had joined Insight. A place of wondrous creations and opportunities that beckoned him to join.

His mind shifted to a particular device Insight was developing and felt an ever growing sense of fascination. It was silver, it’s design was sleek, and every now and then when he worked in the lab, he caught sight of it as it sat on a table glinting in the light.

A majority of the time, many of Insight’s technologies never made it past speculation and this device was starting to look like a wondrous exception.

On the other side of the wall another scientist sat alone in a just as quiet room wearing the device.

How Maddox wished the roles were reversed.

The first of a series of images appeared on the screen in front of him and Maddox’s mind shifted to his assignment.

A tree. It’s branches young yet sturdy and its leaves a lush green.

Maddox only had to visualize it in his mind.

He found his mind shifting to the device again. It would have the power to access knowledge no human could possibly access. The power to gaze into the depth of another mind and see the world through their eyes. It would be a new way of understanding the world in a way no one ever could before.

The screen moved to the next image and Maddox immediately shifted his attention back to it.

A silver paper clip.

Maddox smiled. What if Insight’s newest creation became as mundane as a simple paper clip?

The screen moved to the last image.

A wooden chair.

Tree. Paper clip. Chair.

He was to visualize those three images in his mind’s eye one right after another.

Tree. Paper clip. Chair.

Silence lingered in the room as nothing seemed to be happening.

Maddox turned his attention to the wall that separated him and the other scientist.

It has to work. Somehow, it has to work.

Maddox slowed down his thoughts and held each image in his mind for a more prolonged time.

Tree … paper clip … chair …

He heard the clatter of the device as it dropped to the floor and then the voice of the other scientist through the wall.

“A connection! A connection! I’ve got a connection!”

Maddox froze then jumped out of his chair and placed his ear against the wall and listened even more intently.

“Tree, paper clip … I couldn’t make out the last word but I swear to you! I heard something!”

A chill fell over Maddox. There was no way the other scientist could have known the images that flashed in front of him.

Unless …

Could it be?

How he wanted to place the device against the nape of his own neck and experience its abilities for himself.

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This was an excerpt out of my sci-fi WIP (work in progress) that I am currently in the editing stage of.

It is a flashback scene of Maddox who is the antagonist of the main story "Insight".

Project Gleam, a project to create a telepathic device starts out with a sense of wonder before taking a dark turn later on in the story.

I've been working on this story for a while, a few years actually, and it is slowly but surely coming together piece by piece. Much like how the mentioned Project Gleam has come together in my excerpt.

Within the next few months, my goal is to keep making substantial progress on this story and finish it to be published.