The Institute: The Institute, #1

By Andrew Zellgert

Time ticks slowly, the plan in motion.

Evil causes all commotion.

Thundering rails and blistering sound,

Beats of a heart that's booming and loud.

 

Eight days to find them no matter the cost.

Before all fall to darkness and the secret lost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andrew Zellgert
• Release date: Jun 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223362296

Andrew Zellgert

Andrew Zellgert is an award-winning science fiction author who primarily writes for children and teens. The topics covered in his work translate the calamities of life into relatable, entertaining allegories. He currently has nine releases spanning from epic intergalactic espionage to chilling dystopian prison life. His latest work, The Adventures of Randy, is a sci-fi trilogy involving time travel, cunning villains, heroic sidekicks, and an intergalactic adventure you will never forget! Join Randy, the restaurant employee as he goes on an allegorical journey through self-discovery. Zellgert is a medalist in the Outstanding Creator Awards of Summer 2022 and was given a five-star review by Reader's Favorite. In his spare time, he loves to read children's books and go for walks in his hometown of St. Cloud Minnesota. You can contact or connect with Andrew Zellgert at: Twitter: @AndrewZellgert Facebook: @zellgertbooks Pinterest: /andrewzellgert Goodreads: Andrew Zellgert All Author: /author/andrewzellgert BookBub: @andrewzellgert

Book preview

The Institute

Andrew Zellgert

Contents

Copyrights

Dedication

1.The Doorway

2.Desolation

3.The Signatures

4.The Trap

5.Statistica

6.Possibilities

7.Nightmare

8.Graveyards

9.Tea

10.Act

11.Insecurity

12.Fears

Reconciliation

Future Fog

Copyright © 2023 by Andrew Zellgert

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Book Cover by RebecaCovers

Editing by Sam Wright

Print ISBN: 978-1-0881-2694-3

2nd edition 2023

This story is dedicated to a samurai who showed me the beauty of life

1

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The Doorway

It was dark in the eerie streets of Alpha Cortex. The abandoned streets gave off an aurora that suggested something mysterious would happen. A faint breeze that nipped at the face drifted through the mess of interconnected buildings and statues. Relics of a past civilization. A monument to time itself. Shafts of red light filtered throughout the city from above. Obscuring the view of space and the world beyond this menacing domain.

Shelly took a deep breath and took in the sights of this mysterious historical site. Many had tried to uncover the secrets of the Cortex, but no one had ever returned. Why was this here? Where did it come from? She wasn’t sure, but she would find out. She glanced at a note she had received. Telling her to make haste for the Cortex signed by a mysterious cursive ‘A’. She wasn’t certain who had such a signature nor who had written to her, but she knew the answer was here. The explorer trudged on toward the city in her explorer’s attire and matching jacket. Shelly was a loner and enjoyed exploring history on her own.

To her, it heightened the experience and made the discovery process more enjoyable. She brushed past vines and wafted the mist out of the way as she stepped toward the looming structures, snapping pictures as she went. The chilling air and black rock didn’t bother her in the slightest. Nor did the fractured bones dotted across the landscape phase her. Shelly knew Alpha Cortex was dangerous, but she knew her people were counting on her to bring back evidence of an advanced civilization. She couldn’t pass up an opportunity such as this. To prove to her family she was a real explorer and not just some nerd.

She was getting close to the misty city. She was so close; her body was shivering with excitement as the tingles of adventure filled her being. The dopamine-fueled desire to discover the unknown. She pulled out her camera and set up a tripod to document the entrance to the historic site. When everything was set up, and she was ready to broadcast, she got in front of the camera and said, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great honor I present to you: The Alpha Cortex.

She gestured to it for a moment and paused for dramatic effect. She wanted to be sure the guilds were listening carefully about what she was about to do. How proud they would be of her discovery. Before she could speak again, her phone rang. She quickly opened her battered flip phone, and a harsh female could be heard on the other side: SHELLY. I told you not to leave the country.

I know Lisa, replied Shelly as her eyes darted from the still broadcasting camera to her phone.

That’s Sergeant Lisa to you, roared Lisa. Pack up and return home. Now. That’s an order.

But I just got here— began Shelly, but Lisa interrupted.

And I don’t care, snarled Lisa on the other end of the line. If you don’t return home, your father and I will take the last of your possessions. You owe us enough as it is, and going into more debt on some stupid expedition will not make it go away.

But this one will be different, Mother. I promise, complained Shelly.

Don’t you ‘mother’ me! laughed Lisa. You’re sinking in debt as it is, and you owe us. Pack up your equipment and turn back. You will never be anything more than a hobbyist unworthy of any real academic credit. Now GET.

Shelly tried to slow her breathing as she slowly lowered her flip phone, but how could she? She looked up at her beaten old camera and battered tripod. Then stared at the explorer’s outfit she had cobbled together using scraps in her town’s garbage. Would she truly be anything more than she was? Some nerd who could never break past her restrictions as a person? Lisa was right. She sighed and ended the call, and ended the broadcast, continuing to stare at the apparatus she was going to document her adventure with. She couldn’t believe how confident she had been. How certain she had been this would bring honor to her family. The expedition where she found something worth sharing to pull her out of the hole she had dug herself into.

She packed up the camera and forced her tripod back into its faded sleeve. Another attempt at adventure for nothing. For a few brief glorious seconds, she had felt like a professional, someone who had done this before and knew what she was doing. She knew the guild rules by heart and had studied for many months in her run-down apartment, learning about the Alpha Cortex and the secrets it had. She put her camera in her backpack, tossed the tripod bag over her shoulder, and stood there. Facing the glowing city, hoping to find something worth documenting, but she knew there was no point in trying. She couldn’t risk the little she had left for a few pictures of a misty old city.

She turned away from Alpha Cortex with a heavy sigh as the cold reality sunk in. She would never be an explorer. She longed to ignore her mother’s commands and explore the Alpha Cortex, but fear held her firmly in place. Disabling her ability to do anything her heart longed to do. She would never be more than who she was already. She would not make the next breakthrough; the sooner she accepted that, the better. Tears formed in her eyes as sadness enveloped her.

How could she make a difference in her life? No sooner had these thoughts swirled through her mind did she fall face-first onto the cold, jagged stone. She could feel her body scream at her as droplets of blood spattered everywhere. She climbed onto one of the cold, black rocks and bowed her face low with her head in her hands. Tears flowed faster than the cuts bled, resulting in a rollercoaster of emotion that only intensified by the overwhelming sensation of hatred turned inward.

She cried for a long time on that rock. The realization that her life amounted to nothing, and that she would never live the dream she had