Priya Echo's Adventure - Part 1

PRIYA ECHO’S ADVENTURE: BOOK 1 - AWAKENING BY DAVID GOLD


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary
Chapter 1 - Awakening
Chapter 2 - Priya Meets Three Girls
Chapter 3 - Professor Hook
Chapter 4 - Simple Apartment
Chapter 5 - The Lab Tour
Chapter 6 - Priya Is Happy!
Chapter 7 - Sanctum Delacroix Cemetery
Chapter 8 - Rise Of Echo
Chapter 9 - Old Folks Home
Chapter 10 - The Pharmacy And Dramatic!
Chapter 11 - The Girls Wonder About Priya
Chapter 12 - Eric Talks To A Friend
Chapter 13 - Hancock Richards
Chapter 14 - Professor Hook’s Birthday Party
Chapter 15 - The Echo Game
Chapter 16 - Priya And Nadine At The Bank
Chapter 17 - Telenon’s Arrival
Chapter 18 - The Pancake Emporium
Chapter 19 - The Fall
Chapter 20 - Telenon’s Minions Attack
Chapter 21 - Hook Takes Priya and Crew To Rikiral Computer
Chapter 22 - Priya Drives Away
Chapter 23 - Panorama Precinct
Chapter 24 - Drake Tempo And The Lightbulb of Quintessence
Chapter 25 - Reclusive Watercolors
Chapter 26 - Echo’s Vacation
Chapter 27 - Ice Cubes
Chapter 28 - Haircut Coupon
Chapter 29 - Rooftop Romance
Chapter 30 - Veles Arrives At The Clone Party
Chapter 31 - Motif Porcelain Pillow And The Pumpkin Pie Realm
Chapter 32 - Uffhill and Umlave - Umlave Returns To The Old Queendom
Chapter 33 - Phantomess And The Parents
Chapter 34 - Crilli And Delk In The Attic
Chapter 35 - DGU Brain Mountain
Chapter 36 - Melina’s Ocean
Chapter 37 - Eleven Twelfths Month
Chapter 38 - Cactus Lemur Garden Asteroid
Chapter 39 - Leffel And Priya At The Park
Chapter 40 - Timecurrent Saves The Colonists
Chapter 41 - Clive Nut-Paste
Chapter 42 - The Honeysuckle
Chapter 43 - Sortjim And Caramel
Chapter 44 - The Lucidity
Chapter 45 - Snow’s Cafe
Chapter 46 - Tadpoles
Chapter 47 - Telenon’s Plan
Chapter 48 - Companions - Priya And Snow - Honeysuckle House
Chapter 49 - Ticket Tornado
Chapter 50 - Timecurrent And Telenon
Chapter 51 - Boxing Match
Chapter 52 - Alexa’s Sword
Chapter 53 - Reclusive Watercolors Fights A Cyborg Kangaroo
Chapter 54 - Eric In The Echo Realm
Chapter 55 - Phantomess Skips On Clouds
Chapter 56 - Snow Stands Up For Herself
Chapter 57 - The Armada
Chapter 58 - Hope
Chapter 59 - Companions - Priya and Valco - Neo-Inktopia
Chapter 60 - Brain Punch
Coming Soon - Book 2 And Bonus Chapter - Crystallized Apricot
About The Author

SUMMARY

After Priya Echo’s father comes back from the war with the FIRE virus and dies, she is left alone as an orphan. Priya feels abandoned and confused, but decides to dedicate her life to helping people by searching for a cure to the disease. Fast forward, and Priya is a lecturer at university with her own research lab. For the interval she has studied tirelessly, rejecting connections and idle distraction. The researcher invents an anechoic chamber to test as a therapy for FIRE virus. Daring to employ herself as the first test subject, she ventures inside. There, she is reborn as the champion Echo. Eons of dream pass before Priya opens her eyes and escapes the chamber, sliding to the floor as her mind slowly restores. A shy lab girl comes out of her shell and becomes a hero. Now, all she needs is fresh courage.


CHAPTER 1 - AWAKENING

The walls all around were blurry and formless until coming into focus. Depth perception returned. From gray smudges came forms … convex and concave … the repeated geometric shapes of an anechoic chamber. Priya pushed herself off the floor and stumbled to the lock, letting in a tide of quiet light. She fought against it, shut it tight and pressed against the outside wall, sliding down until crouched on the tile. A few minutes passed, and her eyes adjusted. Like rifling through an old family album, the setting of the university lab felt so personal. Its tables and chairs were neatly arranged, and there were flasks half filled with solutions from last week’s lecture. “That must have been … a dream. Did I imagine I was a hero?” Priya thought as she looked to her side, and bit her tongue, sucking it until the bitterness thrust more consciousness and uprooted the last of her lethargy. The wide landscape of her memory was mostly undecipherable. Priya giggled for a second and felt like a child that had just spilled a glass of milk, as her memory began to seep back, steadily filling the vessel. Looking down at her hands she could see brown, coffee colored skin, “I’m wearing a white lab coat … I think I’m probably … a scientist”. Scenes of the past reasserted themselves at normal intervals, chronological appetizers. Farther and farther they went, pulled by an invisible force like gravity back into time, until arriving at childhood. Two wet, salty beads dropped down her face as she recalled. Her father raised her by himself and was everything. Such a good man, maybe too good for the world. But when he returned from the war, she was fourteen, and he was different. His eyes were never the same. A year later it happened, when he took his own life. Watching the rain fall down onto the smooth, black marble of the gravestone, dwarfed by the canopies of umbrellas, she had wished that she could have found a way to save him. But that was just a silly wish. After that day, she dedicated her life to academia, and then to science. Studying day by day, acknowledging and reading the various opinions on the virus that had brought about her father’s end, she had worked tirelessly. Priya got to her feet and waddled over to the nearest lab table. On it was a blue folder, and she flipped it open. “Anechoic Isolation and Sensory Deprivation, A Treatment for FIRE virus … by Priya Echo, PhD. Neuroscience, DGU” she read silently, mouthing the words to herself as the talent of reading found its expression once more. Placing a hand over a throbbing temple, an epiphany cracked open. No mistake that much of the landscape was undecipherable. “Since then I’ve never really had much of a life. No friends. No boyfriend. My life has been … closed … and every urge I’ve dropped like an anchor. Never really known anyone, have I? Didn’t even grasp the meaning. Oh … I get it now. Then the dream was just a fantasy to fill that emptiness. Lonely Priya. That’s what they call me … I hear. No … I’m the Empress Echo, daughter of the Divine Couple, the perfect pair who will be together forever, who’s love is beyond the farthest reaches of philosophy. That’s my mind’s true actress. To find a cure I’ve sacrificed everything. All the great progress I’ve made. I feel pride. But my life is … I’m so … pathetic” she reflected.

CHAPTER 2 - PRIYA MEETS THREE GIRLS

Although it was late in the afternoon, the cafeteria was especially noisy that day. Three ladies gossiped at a corner table. Nadine Fenway, a tall, thin Nordic looking blonde was filing her nails. She leaned in close to the other two, Dominique Mellow-Garcia and Felicia Chen, and pointed to the other side of the room. Felicia stuck a leaf of romaine into her mouth and chewed it loudly, then turned to see what it was. “Uh-huh … look at this bitch” Nadine observed as Priya strode into the cafeteria, seemingly out of place in a ruffled, disheveled lab coat that was paradoxically more attractive than when she wore it correctly. “She is too prim and proper for me” Felicia noted. They stared in fascination as she hesitantly approached different tables with her tray in hand, and then backed away, too cautious to approach. “I heard she’s never had any friends … ever” Dominique interjected. “I guess there are only a few real academics around here” Nadine quipped, feigning a sigh of regret. “Come on, Nadine. You know how all us hardcore academics don’t have any friends” Dominique argued, whilst stealing a French fry off of her plate and dipping it in blueberry flavored maple syrup. “Oh, and who the fuck are you supposed to be?” Felicia asked sharply, making the other girls snicker. “Looks like she’s lost or something” Nadine whispered, with a sense of the uncanny as she noticed the unfamiliar, somewhat blankness in her features. Meekly Priya inched towards the table. “Do you mind? I could really use some company right now” she asked, politeness in every lyric of her voice. Felicia looked at Nadine as if to say, “Can we keep it?” with big eyes, and she relented. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Nadine from math's, and this is Dominique from marine biology and Felicia from chemistry” she presented. “I lecture in the north wing but my lab is on the fourth floor, neuroscience. Thanks for letting me sit here. I’m Priya” she explained. “Are you having a stressful day?” Felicia prodded. “You look like burnt toast, hon” Nadine observed. “It’s alright. I’m just having a bad day. My recent project is ending. It’s just a room that removes sound waves, sort of like an isolation tank. I thought it could be put to work for useful therapy, but it’s not fit for human use” Priya related, not quite ready to share the gory details of her journey. “Sorry to hear that. What kind of lab do you have?” Felicia asked excitedly. “A normal one, I guess” Priya shrugged. “Ooh … do you have brains in there?” Dominique wondered aloud. “Yes. I think you girls would like my lab, it’s very science-y” the researcher assured them. “We will definitely crash that later” Felicia joked. “By that, she means we will take the tour” Dominique corrected. “Yeah, we were born to be nerds” Nadine added in a squeaky voice. Encouraged, Priya set about with a follow-up question, “So ... just out of curiosity, what have you girls done in the last couple … let’s say three hours. Time can fly on a weekday like this”. A question of profound importance. “I fed a shark” Dominque bragged, taking a big bite of a piece of cornbread. “I just got in from Bayer-Dale, where I do community service for seniors, basically wheeling them around and everything. They like that sort of thing” Felicia related. “Graded papers and took a piss” Nadine said lastly, waving her hands as if it was completely uneventful. “Um … that sounds really nice” Priya nodded, then looking towards Felicia, “old folks are so sweet”. She considered the blonde for a brief moment. It was obvious she was trying the hardest, and was calm and collected in every jest … a common element sensed quickly, and something else … undetectable beneath the surface. “Not like it’s a competition, but what did you do?” Felicia inquired; her voice soft, ready to draw the secret from her like a medieval doctor letting blood. Priya coughed at how subtle the question appeared, and took a swig of water, “To be honest, I was passed out the whole time”.

CHAPTER 3 - PROFESSOR HOOK

Later the following week Priya sat in a waiting area along an empty hallway of south wing when a door creaked open, “The committee is ready for you”. Clarence Hook sat in the middle, white tufts of hair gracing the tops of his ears, like strained, pallid vegetation eking out a meager existence in some cracked, throat-drying, impassable desert. Priya set up a defense and carefully relayed how the chamber did not meet the parameters necessary for human use, and would have to be dismantled, but as she watched them whisper amongst themselves, she realized it was all for naught. “Seeing how your recent activity has not met the markers set in place for the progress of this department, we will be cutting your funding for eighteen months” Hook intoned, meting out the punishment. A brokenhearted neuroscientist waddled out of the room, downcast, counting the square tiles that passed on the way to the far door, as if their census was a profound vocation.

CHAPTER 4 - SIMPLE APARTMENT

That night she was followed back to her apartment. Fiddling with the keys to stall, Priya tried to offer them an alternative, “Maybe we can go see a late viewing of …”. “Don’t even think about it, newbie, just turn that key” Nadine interrupted, holding her arms against her hips threateningly. “Say … this dame doesn’t want us to see what’s going on here … maybe she’s got something to hide” Dominique bellowed, pretending to be a real sherlock. “We got a warrant, mam” Felicia seconded. Biting her lip, Priya turned the key and threw open the door, letting the three of them into perhaps one of the most unadorned, minimalist spaces in the city. They stood there in petrified silence for a moment. Dominique went first, skipping to the center of the room, then threw herself on the ground, and began rolling about, laughing uncontrollably. “Ladies, it looks like we’ve got ourselves a long-term project ahead of us” Nadine said, shutting the door behind them.

CHAPTER 5 - THE LAB TOUR

The following week she provided a tour of the lab to the three of them, but their attention on the minutia of the experiments waned until they locked sights on what intrigued them most of all. “Which one is your favorite, newbie?” Nadine implored, pointing to the workmen crew of summer interns, cobbled together from different departments as they carried away the last of the building blocks of her assembly. “What do you mean? These guys are just here to …” Priya began, trying to change the subject without avail. “They're here for us to watch them … obviously” Dominique interrupted. “Interesting … so it’s that one” Nadine observed, watching the movement of Priya’s eyeline. She immediately turned away. The next thing she knew, the room where the chamber had been was just another empty space. Trying to think of what use to put it to, she was instead dragged outside and exhorted into unconventional behavior, “If you’re going to be part of this crew, you’ve got to prove yourself” Nadine said, pushing her back as the others giggled. Following him across the grounds from afar during the crew’s break, she came into a convenience store. In the candy aisle he stood alone. Priya noticed this was her chance, and inched closer to him as he inspected the rows. “Oh Eric, it’s nice to see you” she began, like reading a script. The red shirt was still stained with spots of sweat, “Thanks Priya, I imagine we did a quality job on the lab”. “Yes, it’s all back to basics, thank you” she reassured him. “Not a problem. It must have been more work building it though” he speculated. He was puzzled as to why she was acting slightly frantic, but then understood as her body language made things clear. “What sort of candy do you like?” she asked predictably. Eric could see she was becoming more of a nervous wreck and smiled mischievously, “When it comes to candy, I like to be spoiled, only the most expensive stuff is good for me”. Priya blinked and bit her lip, “What about when it comes to girls?”. Looking down at her feet for a moment to think, he ran his hands through his light brown hair, “Hmm … well I suppose she can be really normal and lame, as long as she has a good heart”. Priya felt a most delightful brew of worldly cunning and blissful naivety at the same time, “Are you sure?”. He stepped towards her, closing the distance. The red of his shirt overpowered the electricity pulsing through her mind, “Definitely … and she can be a total slob”. Blushing shyly, she turned to the side away from him, “Oh … um … that’s good”. Eric sighed, wondering whether it had actually backfired, “Priya, I’m trying really hard here but you’re going to have to work with me”. After the cunning defeated the rest, she turned back towards him and lifted her head to take in his fresh eyes, “how about a slice of pizza?”. After all, she knew what the universe was really all about; the subtlety of human emotions … and nothing more.

CHAPTER 6 - PRIYA IS HAPPY!

“Slow down … how would you describe it?” Hook pleaded, trying to reassure her. “A complete lack of existential crisis!” she hyperventilated as a creepy, awkward grin stretched across her face. “I think that’s called happiness Priya” he deduced. The next thing he knew, she was racing down the hall, and turned a corner to the fourth-floor stairwell, “Thank you, sir!” echoing down the corridor. The lab seemed brighter in the bubbly dissociation of her disposition, reinforced by the giddy fizzles of the beakers. Standing in the empty space once more, she closed her eyes, reaching out to feel the consistency of an incorporeal memory. Natural pain and grief washed over her, caught in the rain as reminiscence unfettered itself from the black heaven, the turmoil of a firmament rife with an ancient loss. Time elapsed as she called upon the frenzy to dissipate, and slowly it did, until regaining control. “I’m ready,” Priya said aloud. Down on the floor, she noticed a letter sitting betwixt her feet. “This doesn’t say anything” she thought, looking at its front. Priya opened it and pulled out a greeting card, ready to read its contents. “Just a card, blank” she recognized, scratching her head at the curious placement. Wasting no time, she stocked it in a drawer and left the lab behind, rushing down the stairs into the parking lot. Thrusting forward the stick shift of her car, the scientist propelled down the road towards Sanctum Delacroix Cemetery.

CHAPTER 7 - SANCTUM DELACROIX CEMETERY

Petals detached from their stems swiveled through the whipping wind until they came at a rest on the wet grass, leaving an unmistakable trail. The branches of willows drooped nearby, sloppy from the rain. Bending over, she placed the bouquet at the base of the marble slab. “Dad” Priya mouthed as she looked over the memorial, the words, “Mahandran Echo” etched into the quiet stone. As a teenager, she could remember her father’s hands on her shoulders, his beautiful but weathered face, “Sometimes things are different when you go to sleep and wake up in the morning, but I will always be the one who cares for you. I will care for you forever”. Her chest heaved with deep, uninterrupted breaths, and she closed her eyes and remembered that last day as tears leaped from an interior existence into another, boundless space. Priya Echo smiled in ecstasy as a burst of mirror light swept across Sanctum Delacroix. “Dad, I will try” she thought as the image of his face faded. “Darling, are you going to let this place stay in one piece?” her right eye asked assertively, with a familiar parental tone. “Can you stop crying, it’s really tickling me a lot” her left eye remarked. Priya gasped as soon as she realized Linden and Melina were now her eyes. Exhaustion and a throbbing headache overtook her, and for a fraction she saw a swirling chaos that was unexplainable. “Take it easy, homegirl” Visioness said reassuringly, her voice welling up from within. “My, my, this new place is fabulous!” Pelfe exclaimed lastly. Walking away from the memorial, Priya waved her hand over another gravestone and it lifted off the ground, forming along its smooth surface a mirror so she could see her prior celestial appearance. In moments it was assimilated into her normal, everyday look. Satisfied, she returned the stone back to its place. Strolling back to the car, she looked around, and gradually the willows didn’t seem so doleful … anymore … but lively as rays of effervescent light sliced through them, carving slices of verdant nature.

Chapter end