EREBOS

Art by Ilia Kate

‘It will feel like you’re losing control of your body,’ said Adam, the Chrysonics technician assigned to Doctor Rachael Blackwell’s compatibility test. ‘Don’t be alarmed, that’s normal.’

Despite his assurance that the technology had been universally safe since its invention in the 2030s, Rachael was nervous for the results. Approximately one third of the population was incompatible with cryosleep. If the sleepmind paired successfully, she would have to leave her family and friends in the present, never to see them again. However, if the connection failed, she would have a generous estimate of five months left to live.

‘It’ll boot up soon,’ said Adam. ‘You’ll only be asleep for a few minutes while I gauge your connection. Just try to relax and it’ll be over before you know it.’

Despite the cryosleep pod’s comfortable foam padding and calming blue lights, it proved impossible to relax. The ache in her shoulder and arm persisted, a pain that would only intensify.

Erebosian Decay had spread to 25% of her body. It was a mysterious and terrifying disease, and so named after Erebos, the god of darkness from Greek mythology. Having diagnosed several of her patients with the affliction, Rachael possessed intimate knowledge of the easily-overlooked early symptoms, which enabled her to spot her own signs early on. However, the disease was incurable and untreatable regardless of the stage of development. The only possibility for a cure lay in the distant future, which she sought to escape to through cryosleep.

‘I’m going to start counting backwards from ten,’ said Adam. ‘By the time I reach zero, you’ll be under. Ten, nine, eight, sev…’

Her limbs had become leaden beams. Accepting the inescapable theft of agency, she closed her eyes.

‘Welcome to the Chrysonics sleepmind compatibility test.’ A fabricated woman of corporate design stood ahead, the only distinct feature in a sea of pure white. ‘As explained by your personal technician, a sample of your DNA has been incorporated into our sleepmind system, creating a dream assistant individually tailored for your long sleep. If you are able to see and hear me, the test is off to a promising start. 99% of candidates who are able to perceive the introductory program are compatible with the sleepmind system.’

The relieving words elicited a sigh and smile. Being incompatible would have been the worst possible outcome, with no hope for a cure. Leaving friends and family behind would be painful, but that pain could not hold a candle to the writhing agony Erebosian Decay promised.

‘In this space we will test the functionality of the sleepmind’s core programs, starting with environment.’

In the blink of an eye, Rachael’s bedroom materialised around her.

‘The sleepmind system pulls references from the memories of the user, and is able to recreate familiar locations with over 90% accuracy. What you are seeing should be your bedroom. If you see a different location, please make a note of it for our technician to…to…to…to…’

The assistant repeated the one-word cycle, until she froze completely.

‘Are you okay?’ Rachael shook her head, remembering the assistant was only a recording. ‘Adam, can you hear me? Something’s wrong with—’

A deep, scraping groan shivered through the room, followed by laboured moans of pain and confusion. The hair on her arms stood on end.

‘Adam, something’s wrong with the simulation. Can you take me out?’

‘Where…Where,’ the voice scraped.

It was coming from the other side of the bedroom door. She swallowed and approached. Her hand trembled as she placed it on the doorknob and twisted. The door creaked open, revealing a hallway that was a fractured jigsaw of mismatched shapes and colours, dimensions stretched and contorted by the glitching system.

On the floor was a figure draped in quaking shadow, writhing on all fours like a tortured beast. She gasped, and the creature’s head snapped towards her. Where a face should have been was a spiralling void, an endless, swirling darkness that threatened to pull her in.

‘You,’ the beast snarled as it rose, its voice grating like metal on stone. ‘You!’

Heart racing, Rachael slammed the door and twisted the lock, then stumbled backwards to the other side of the room. Wall and door alike crumbled to ash as she shouted, ‘Adam, Get me out! Adam, please!’

The creature stumbled through the ashes and reached for her with a shadowed claw. She screamed and pressed her eyelids shut.

‘Doctor Blackwell. Doctor Blackwell. Rachael!’ Adam stood over her with a worried look. She sat up like a sprung trap, panting desperately. ‘It’s okay, Rachael. Whatever you saw, it was only a part of the simulation. You’re out now. You’re out.’

#

After Rachael had collected herself, the pair reconvened to Adam’s office, where he poured over data from the test.

‘I’m sorry, but the sleepmind connection failed,’ said Adam.

‘But…the woman in the dream said I was compatible. The simulation was working.’

‘You were able to connect at first, but then every pathway was severed, which was likely the cause of the corrupted dream you experienced. It is rare, but it happens. I’m sorry, you won’t be able to go into cryosleep.’

Rachael shook her head. ‘No, you don’t understand. I need to go to sleep. Let’s do the test again. I can—’

‘—We can’t repeat the test. Compatibility ratings are 100% accurate.’

‘Well then, I’ll just go to sleep without the simulation.’

‘That is something we absolutely cannot do. The human body can be sent to cryosleep, but we cannot do the same for the mind. Consciousness remains through the process. Without a sleepmind to create dreams, you would be without any stimulation for the entire duration. The human mind cannot survive six months of universal sensory deprivation, let alone decades. You would never wake.’

‘There has to be something—’

‘—I’m sorry, Doctor Blackwell.’ Adam’s brow furrowed. ‘I truly am, but cryosleep isn’t an option for you. You will need to find different means of assistance.’

Different means. Rachael stewed on those final words during her drive home. There are no different means. He knew that.

On the day she was first diagnosed with Erebosian Decay, she did not cry, for she knew her reasonable wealth would allow the option of cryosleep. But that golden ticket had been snatched away, and mournful tears finally erupted when she lay down to sleep. There was no hope anymore, her end was certain. The only saving grace was that she could still dictate her time of death before the decay did, but such consideration was not yet necessary. After hours of misery, she eventually fell asleep.

Her dream was vivid and beautiful—a homely cottage in a radiant field of wheat, where she could live forever and be free of the world’s complications. However, there was an intruder. Rachael had glanced out of a window and spotted the shadowed figure waiting in the field.

‘Rachael,’ the creature with the swirling face called. ‘I’m still here, Rachael. You gave me life. It cannot be taken back.’

The golden field withered and turned black, corrupted by the creature’s shadow. It held out its claws, as if presenting its work.

‘I want more, Rachael. I want all of you.’

Rachael cried, ‘What are you?’

‘Your kind has named me once, inspired by another. He is fiction, but I am alive. I will carve out the mantle and take it for myself. I am Erebos, and I’ve chosen you. You are the one I will swallow whole.’

Rachael shot awake in a sweat, gasping for breath, and refused to return to sleep.

#

‘Doctor Blackwell, I’m surprised to see you,’ said Doctor Malhotra. He had entered the hospital’s research facility and found her pouring over files across four separate tablets. ‘Are you on the day shift?’

‘I’m not back for work,’ said Rachael. ‘I wanted to see you, actually. I’m looking for information.’

‘Oh, alright then. How can I help?’

Rachael spun one of the tablets towards him. ‘Tell me what you see.’

The tablet showed a 3D model of a patient’s skeleton, plagued with black growths that devoured bone and flesh. ‘An osseus imaging scan of a patient afflicted with Erebosian Decay, late in development by the looks of it.’ His eyes pivoted to Rachael. ‘Is this a scan of yourself?’

‘No, one of my patients. Now, look at this one and tell me what you see.’ She spun another tablet.

Doctor Malhotra smiled. ‘Ah, now here’s something well within my expertise. Neurosporifungus, a type of fungus discovered in a cave system in the Philippines in 2039, used for the production of Cognoxin and Neurosilin. However, I’m afraid it has no applicable medical properties to combat Erebosian Decay.’

‘I know, that’s not why I’m interested,’ said Rachael. ‘There’s a shared structure between the two, can you see it?’

‘I don’t have to look to tell you that,’ said Doctor Malhotra. ‘They both have the ability to create their own nervous system. You’re aware I wrote my thesis on ectopic nervous systems? The two are unrelated, but you are correct in noting their similar structure. Neurosporifungus creates a nervous system to best understand its environment. Erebosian Decay communicates with itself about the health of the bones across its spread. If the decay focused on one spot, the afflicted would perish quickly, so it makes sure to spread its effort across a wide area to maximise its host’s lifespan, to give it time to spread across most of the body.’

Rachael was gripping the table, beads of sweat gathering across her forehead. ‘How complex can that nervous system be?’

‘Well, it depends on what you compare it to. Its structure is complex, but it can only form simple tasks—stop decaying there, move over here, etcetera. It’s like a modern computer that only knows solitaire.’

‘But it has the complexity for more, right? It has the processing power to house consciousness.’

Doctor Malhotra frowned and scratched his head. ‘We could get into a whole conversation about that. We’re still not sure what facilitates a conscious mind, let alone what can—’

‘—How many neurons does the human brain have?’

‘About 100 billion, give or take.’

Earlier that morning, she recalled the cryosleep test—the sleepmind was created from her DNA, forming a separate subconsciousness tailored to create dreams for her long sleep. The technology was far from being completely understood, but what Rachael did know raised haunting questions. What if her DNA was not the only sample? If genetic information from Erebosian Decay was mistakenly included in the sleepmind’s formation, what kind of consciousness would be created? Could that consciousness survive if it had a sufficiently complex nervous system to escape to?

Rachael swallowed and stared at the scan—black matter devouring bone and flesh, relentless and greedy. ‘Okay, 100 billion neurons in the brain. And, in someone 25% consumed by Erebosian Decay, how many neurons would exist in the spread?’

Doctor Malhotra paused. ‘I’d estimate somewhere near 200 billion.’

#

Words melted together on the tablet’s screen. Every time Rachael rubbed her eyes and took a swig of coffee her vision only blurred quicker, until keeping her eyes open was all she could do. Doctor Malhotra scrolled through his own tablet, having agreed to help research the most promising medical facilities seeking a cure for Erebosian Decay. Rachael tried to scroll to the next page of research, but her arms were heavy and ignored her orders. She closed her eyes.

When she was a child, Rachael’s father would often take her skiing in the Alps. The horizon of jagged mountains and snowy slopes had become an unfailing source of peace. Whenever she felt stressed to breaking, she would picture her place in the snow and feel tension drift away. In her dream, she had returned, knee deep in snow at a forest’s edge, admiring the cosy villages nestled in valleys at the mountain’s base.

‘You seek to purge me,’ scraped Erebos. ‘I watch from behind your eyes. You will fail, Rachael. You are already mine.’

Between the trees, the shadowed figure watched. The forest around Erebos was turning black, decaying into ash, and swirling into the spiralling void that was its face.

‘It is too late. You are my meal. I will swallow you, and you will live in my bowels. I will take everything.’

Trees, snow, and wildlife were all sucked in, feeding Erebos. Before long, he swelled to be taller than any tree, and the decay reached out to the snow beneath Rachael’s feet. She turned and tried to run but moving felt like wading through syrup. The void was pulling on her like everything else, making escape impossible. All she could do was resist being wrenched into the void.

‘It’s hopeless,’ bellowed Erebos, towering into the sky. His laughter was crazed, that of a killer revelling in the ecstasy of a hunt. ‘I will show you, Rachael. You’re already sliding down my throat. I will show you!’

The snowy landscape was swallowed by blackness, leaving nothing but Erebos and Rachael.

‘Doctor Blackwell, wake up.’ She shot up so fiercely she nearly tumbled backwards in her chair. Doctor Malhotra was holding her arm. ‘It’s okay, it’s just me. You were dreaming. Seemed like a bad one.’

Rachael shook out the panic and composed herself. ‘Yeah, a nightmare. Thanks for waking me.’

‘No problem, but look here, there’s something you need to see.’ He placed a tablet in her hands. ‘These are trials from the Reverie Coast Research Institute. They’re promising, and these are two years old. They might have made some unreleased progress.’

She scanned through the research. Over a 1,000-person trial, the research institute’s unnamed drug saw average reduced symptom severity of 25%, and almost doubled the expected lifespan. The slim possibility was all she needed, so she stood and donned her coat.

Doctor Malhotra rose to meet her. ‘Where are you going?’

‘To the Reverie Coast Research Institute.’

‘What? That’s one hell of a journey. It’s on a pretty beaten-up stretch of the Alaskan coast, nearest airport that’s open this time of year is 700 miles inland, and ships only go there once a month. We could call them first, ask what progress they’ve made.’

‘No, they’re not about to go blabbing their secrets to any hospital who asks. I need to go there. They need to see that I’ve come for myself, not to steal their research. Thanks for the help, Doctor. I’ll be back.’

Doctor Malhotra did not look convinced, but he smiled and nodded. Rachael left the hospital and went straight to the airport.

#

Her journey had been plagued with interruptions. Every other bus from the airport to Reverie Coast was either delayed or cancelled by severe weather. In total, the voyage lasted two weeks, and Rachael had spent almost all of that time awake. Each time she passed out, her nightmares expanded the scope of their horror, until they were so unbearable that every waking moment was spent dreading the next sleep.

She was exhausted, and the flaring pain of decay had spread to her entire torso, but she had finally reached her destination. The Reverie Coast Research Institute was a sprawling maze of concrete on the Alaskan shore. Despite the monotone grey architecture, Rachael found the sight as beautiful as a sunrise, for within that soulless facility was her last hope.

It had taken convincing to gain entry to the building, and much more to gain the trust of the staff, but eventually, they allowed her to witness their progress.

‘You’ve come here at a rather astounding time,’ said Doctor Oneiro, the head researcher. ‘We cracked the cure for Erebosian Decay last month, but it still needs to go through trials.’

Navigating the maze of corridors for thirty minutes, the pair eventually arrived at a red door.

‘Just through here,’ said Doctor Oneiro as he stepped inside, followed by Rachael. The room was pure white, with a metal table in its centre. On the table was a plain cardboard box.

‘Where are we?’

Doctor Oneiro closed the door and nodded towards the box. ‘Go on, the cure is in there. You’re free to use it.’

Anxiety bloomed as she approached the box and placed her hands on its lid. Everything suddenly seemed strange. Why the cure would be within a cardboard box in a pure white room was a mystery. She lifted the lid and peered inside.

‘It’s empty,’ she said, turning back to Doctor Oneiro.

He was smiling. ‘Of course it is. There is no cure.’

‘But…why…’

‘Oh, Rachael. He told you, didn’t he?’

‘Who…’

‘He told you. It’s hopeless.’

Doctor Oneiro cackled as he melted into black ooze, and the room flaked to ash.

‘No,’ whimpered Rachael. ‘No, no no!’

‘It’s too late,’ creaked Erebos, oozing out of thin air before her. ‘It has been too late since the moment I touched you. You are mine to devour.’

She screamed and covered her eyes, but Erebos bled into the darkness behind her eyelids.

‘You have nowhere to hide, nowhere to turn to. I have taken it all. Every hope is in my stomach, every part of you has been sunk by my teeth. I can toy with you however I like, but I gain nothing more from keeping you in the dark. Go, and understand dread. Fathom the pit that awaits you.’

#

It took an entire minute of thrashing and wailing to accept that she was awake again. Doctor Malhotra and two nurses pinned her to the bed as they attempted to calm her. Once the panic had subsided, she was given strong painkillers to lessen the throbbing ache that had spread across her body. After, all but Doctor Malhotra left, which was when Rachael recognised the room as one from the hospital where she worked.

‘This is…Why am I back here?’

Doctor Malhotra squinted. ‘What do you mean?’

Rachael looked him in the eye. ‘What happened at the Reverie Coast? Your lead was right. There was a cure.’

He frowned and shifted in his seat. ‘There is no cure for Erebosian Decay, Doctor Blackwell, you know that.’

‘But…you found a lead.’

He shook his head. ‘We were searching for potential options, but nowhere has made any progress. Then you passed out and would not wake. You’ve been unconscious for two weeks.’

She rested her head to her pillow and let herself cry. It was all just a dream. Erebos was tricking me all along, just buying time to spread without me searching for a solution. The door to her room was ajar, and on the other side was a huddle of men in black suits, talking to each other between glances at her.

Rachael whispered, ‘Who are they? They don’t work here.’

Doctor Malhotra cleared his throat and averted his gaze. ‘They work for the government.’

‘Why are they here?’

He did not respond.

‘Are…they here for me?’

‘There’s been…a change in your condition. I don’t know how the government found out, but they’re pretty shaken by it.’

‘What change?’ Her skin went cold when he did not reply. ‘Doctor Malhotra, tell me what’s happening to me.’

‘The decay has…mutated.’

‘Mutated?’

‘It has spread much faster than normal, now covering 85% of your body.’

‘That…That can’t be right. If I was 85% afflicted, I would be long dead.’

He cleared his throat again. ‘Well, that’s where the mutation comes to light. It seems the disease has stopped decaying your body. Instead, it’s…strengthening it.’

‘Strengthening?’

He nodded. ‘It’s attaching to muscle fibres and bones, forming its own bonds. On top of this, it seems the decay has spread to your brain. Rather than consuming it, it appears to be attempting to link its nervous system to yours.’

‘But…why?’

He summoned the courage to look her in the eye. ‘Our leading theory is…that the disease is trying to hijack your body.’

‘It’s too late.’ The voice of Erebos scraped the inside of her skull. ‘I told you, I will devour you. Every part of you will be mine.’

‘Doctor Malhotra, listen.’ She grabbed his arm and whispered, ‘I need you to kill me.’

‘I can’t—’

‘—It’s already in my head. It’s been controlling my dreams. Please, you have to do it. You know they won’t kill me. They’ll keep me quarantined and study me. I’ll be trapped in my own body, a test subject. Please, Doctor Malhotra. Please, kill me.’

He furrowed his brow and swallowed. ‘Okay.’

#

In order to give Rachael a humane end, Doctor Malhotra had to step out to procure the appropriate amount of Cognoxin to cause an overdose. Upon his return, Rachael was writhing and panting uncontrollably, seized by agony that had flared across her body. She did not ask for painkillers, only moaning, ‘Do it.’

With trembling hands, he extracted the deadly formula from a vial with a syringe. Steadying himself with deep breaths, he grasped her wrist, searching for a suitable vein.

Before he could administer the euthanasia, she screamed as her other arm convulsed and contorted against her will, seizing Doctor Malhotra’s hand in a death grip. Pain shot through him as her grip tightened and jerked, wrenching his elbow from its socket, causing him to cry out and drop the syringe. As it fell, Rachael’s other hand snatched it, and plunged the needle into his neck, injecting the poison into his bloodstream.

Every inch of her writhed as she was forced to swing her legs over the bed and rise to her feet. From her peripherals, she could see foam escaping from Doctor Malhotra’s mouth as he spasmed on the floor. Every step towards the door was agony, her movement jerky and uncoordinated, a puppet with no strings. By the time her hand twisted the doorknob, all she could control was the gritting of her teeth and her agonised moans.

The group of government agents had noticed her stumbling towards them, reaching for their concealed guns. ‘Doctor Blackwell, return to your bed. You’re not well,’ one of them said, unholstering. When she continued to approach, he aimed his weapon at her. ‘Stop right there!’

Lightning fast, her hand swiped the gun from him, and turned it on its owner. Before they could react, each of them had a bullet through their skull. Most of the hospital staff screamed and ran, but the few who attempted to tackle her received bullets of their own. If not for the sound of panic and the blaring emergency alarm, they might have heard Rachael begging them to kill her.

By the time the police arrived, Rachael had vanished. Witnesses reported seeing her stumbling into an alley and out of sight, howling as black veins crept across her skin like twisted vines. Despite an exhaustive city-wide search by both local police and government agents, she was never found.

#

Deep within the labyrinthian tunnels of the city’s sewer system, Rachael’s pained whimpers echoed off damp, grimy walls, before her voice was finally stolen. Erebos had stripped her of all senses, leaving only her thoughts and the searing agony coursing across her body. Bones and flesh beneath her face were being moulded, changing her appearance to that of a stranger, capable of returning to society without being recognised.

‘I told you, Rachael,’ said Erebos, contorting Rachael’s tongue and lips to form the words. ‘Everything you are belongs to me.’

Her hearing had been stolen, so the haunting voice of Erebos was all that remained.

‘But do not fear, I have taken what is mine, you may keep the rest. You can remain in my body, alone in the dark, until this flesh fails me, and I migrate to another. What was it Adam said? The human mind cannot survive six months of universal sensory deprivation. Well, you need not worry of fading away. You can keep the pain of this fragile body, and that will keep your mind whole. But you have no need for anything else, not even my voice, so I shall take that from you as well. Goodbye, Rachael.’

Erebos created a box inside his new mind to lock Rachael’s consciousness within, with only limitless agony to keep her company for the remainder of her existence. Excited to continue his work, he emerged from the sewer, grinning ear to ear, and became a stranger in the endless sea of waiting hosts.

THE END