The Helico

The Helico
Flying machine
The Helico ascending toward the ouranios tholos
National Origin		Ikonia
Production History
Designer		Volantino Peftontas
Number Built		1
Service History
Used By		Volantino Peftontas
Aircraft Characteristics
Propulsion		2 x helical airscrews
Maximum Velocity		20 m/s
Operational Range		Unknown km

The Helico was a primitive flying machine constructed within the Lumia Rotunda. It was designed and built by the erstwhile inventor Volantino Peftontas, who piloted it to destruction in the most widely viewed dome event in Ikonic history. The tragic story of Peftontas has become one of the most well known in Ikonia, and references to his flight are common in popular culture.

Development

The Helico was not the first attempt to create a flying machine within the Omnichronicratic domes. Several other devices have been constructed in the Fabrikglobus though these resulted in PSALM-assisted failures. Nevertheless, flying machines are generally feared by omnichronicratic theorists as potentially dangerous to order within the cantons. Flying machines may collide with the interior walls of the domes, or reveal the diminutive scale of each artificial world. As such, flying machines are categorized as article four meta-disruptive devices.

OCHLi first observed evidence of the construction of a flying machine in late 2193 when it was noted that abnormal quantities of linen were being directed towards the mountain workshop of the reclusive aristocrat Volantino Peftontas. Papyrus models of airscrews were also observed landing across the towns of the Lumia Rotunda, which were traced back to Peftontas' residence. Recognizing that this could be evidence of the manufacture of a flying machine, Bearer Yanis Kakos convened an advisory council to discuss the threat to omnichronicratic stability. Kakos ordered OCHLi to enact a level two dilatory thought-print promulgation with boosted fabian emissions on all seventeen thalamic strata. Taking root just beyond their conscious perception, repellent and illusory thoughts associated with Peftontas were trickled into the minds of the Lumia Rotunda's inhabitants. This 'hands-off' approach was deemed by Kakos to be sufficiently non-invasive, and the matter was believed to be dealt with.

Writings of Peftontas were observed and scanned remotely. In his personal journal, the humble inventor's mind flew across the pages.

“	To live is to suffer, and to suffer is to live. Suffering allows a kerbal to know distance, not in space, but in spirit. Distance from the soaring heavens of happiness above, and distance from the despair of ground below. To be aware of these distances along the fifth dimension of thymos is to understand the nature of flight. A bird lives, yet it does not suffer. A bird walks upon the fine airs of fortune and need never use its feet, but does so all the same. Not until a kerbal has flown as a bird will he understand the truth of life. To fly is to be free.	”
—Volantino Peftontas

Other writings made reference to the 'ouranios tholos' or 'celestial dome' which Peftontas deduced encased the world. Various diagrams and annotations suggested that he intended to break this firmament and in doing so ascend to a divine state.

Peftontas and his work sank beneath a malaise of artificially induced suspicion and apathy as the PSALMs did their work. Eventually, Peftontas' aides abandoned his workshop and traders refused to do business with the eccentric recluse high in the mountains. Peftontas would not have the resources required to complete his machine. Slowly he became reviled and outcast by those that had once known him as a friend. His wife left him for fear of the mobs that would pelt them with mud, and the whispered rumours from streets swept clear by his arrival. OCHLi assumed that Peftontas' spirit was broken. However in March 2194 Peftontas was observed extending a large balcony on his abode. It was quickly deduced that this was to be used as a primitive launching platform, and that somehow Peftontas had continued to work on the machine. Days later, Peftontas opened the doors of his workshop that had been sealed shut for so long and produced from inside a remarkable device swiftly dubbed 'The Helico'.

The Helico appeared to be a simple platform with room for four kerbals, borne aloft by a pair of linen airscrews that were rotated by hand. By this stage public interest in the unfolding story had soared, and pictures of the strange machine were widely circulated in the media. Bearer Kakos immediately ordered a level eight hyper-localised limbic susurration emission intended to crush Peftontas' ambition to use the machine. It was at this point that it became clear that Peftontas' willpower and spiritual fortitude, his thymos, were far beyond an ordinary kerbal's. As the susurration emission hit his cranium, the intensity of the PSALM was so great that the rock upon which his stood split from the sonic frequencies.

Cast down to the shattered stone but mentally undaunted, Peftontas shook his fist to the heavens and cried 'What hath God to fear of my dreams!'

Expedition and crash

On 15 March 2194, Peftontas flew his machine. Aboard the craft with him were his last three remaining servants, whose loyalty and love for their master could not be defeated by insanity nor PSALMs. Peftontas assumed the most central position aboard whilst the others rotated the airscrews. At 11:42 Peftontas left the ground for the first and last time in his life. The Helico flew without apparent difficulty as it lifted off from the balcony launch pad. Two kerbals turned the central shaft at all times to provide power to the airscrews, whilst Peftontas directed the craft. A trailing rope ladder hung below which was used to make observations and gauge bearing. By 11:45, the Helico was flying at 2,000m altitude, a few hundreds meters above the mountainous surface. OCHLi personnel frantically attempted to subtly redirect potential observers away from the spectacle so as to prevent other inhabitants from attempting to replicate the feat. In the largest mass-movement of kerbals under PSALM influence to date, wide-band cerebral compression caused over 3,000 kerbals to turn as one and avert their eyes from the mountainside. Across the Lumia Rotunda, kerbals were rotated as if by invisible strings and all turned their back to the soaring mountains and to Peftontas. His flight and his dream finally realized would go unnoticed and unremembered by all that had known him. Under immense pressure from the watching public and from OCHLi authority, bearer Kakos maintained the PSALM emissions for an unprecedented period. The risk of long-term brain damage was weighed favourably against the potential upset to omnichronicracy that such a sight may cause. However, Kakos refused to target Peftontas' again, stating 'He's of Lumia, and he carries us all aloft.'

By 11:50 all media channels save for the weather forecast were broadcasting live images of the incredible events unfolding. Impelled by strong anabatic winds from the mountains, the Helico had risen to 3,500m, a mere 275m from the ceiling of the dome. At this point Apex d'Ambray personally intervened. Fearing that the incident could damage his reputation, d'Ambray instructed direct intervention to put and end to the situation. The Helico was sufficiently close to the the dome ceiling that weather-regulation vanes could be used to discharge stored static electricity and destroy the craft. Bearer Kakos again refused any more action against Peftontas and contradicted d'Ambray's orders. OCHLi personnel received conflicting instructions as the Helico rapidly approached the roof of the world. Weather vane clusters 17A through to 19E were spooled up and saturated with ambient static from the surrounding atmosphere. Pin pricks of blue-white light began to stud the blue skies of the Lumia Rotunda, like distant stars in twilight. Across Ikonia, the public were shocked and outraged that such flagrant action would be taken against a canton inhabitant. The nation came to a standstill as all watched Peftontas' final moments with horror and awe. Eventually, through the confusion and the conflicting orders shouted across the OCHLi control room, the command was given discharge the vanes.

Peftontas' final words are a matter of some debate. The ensuing electrical discharge drowned out the voices of the astonished inventor, though analysis of the grainy video footage and attempted lip-reading has lead to a widely accepted conclusion.

“	In heaven I find my capital!	”
—Volantino Peftontas

In unison, 57 luminous blades of lightning struck the Helico as it made contact with the dome ceiling. The Helico was detonated with such force that shards of wooden debris were detected impacting the interior of the dome in all directions, 3.7km from the explosion. An opening approximately 5.6m wide was made in the dome wall, allowing real sunlight to lance down into the world. At this source of monstrous noise and light, not even PSALMs could keep the inhabitant's impulses at bay, and 3,000 kerbals turned back to the mountains to see a faint new sun in the sky. With no knowledge of the preceding events, the Church provided the satisfying explanation that 'An angel has been returned to heaven.'

Aftermath

Yanis Kakos attempted to resign as Bearer of Lumia, but he was liquidated before he could formally extend his resignation. Apex d'Ambray received significant criticism for his rash and destructive handling of the fiasco, though he rescued his reputation by appealing to the mythic nature of Peftontas' struggle. In a press conference later he proudly pronounced Peftontas as a Ikonic hero.

“	He knew not what path he was destined to walk, or the calling to which he was summoned, but with Old-Spearkan courage he gave his life and his dream so that we may all benefit from the system to which he contributed without complaint, nor even knowledge. He will be remembered as an Ikonic hero for all time, and perhaps the only one among us who for a fleeting moment was truly free.	”
—Apex Flammion d'Ambray

The hole that had been created in the ceiling of the Lumia Rotunda was swiftly covered by automated systems. Whilst repairing the breach, workers on the exterior discovered evidence of kerbal remains, meaning it is possible that Peftontas truly did manage to escape the dome in some form.