Robert had called up all the notes HAL had on this reality breaking theory that Keung has while sitting on the couch in his room. The smart TV that hung on the wall allowed HAL to project a surface for study.
There was more than a little merit to Keung’s theory. Robert read note after note of differences between their original reality and the mixed realities that can be tracked in this universe. There were more than a few differences.
Actors that had died and then suddenly were back, or had died in different ways than Robert could remember. Keung had the notes color coded for short reference and separated those numerically for more detailed organization. There have been thousands of differences that HAL has been able to track through Keung’s references.
Thankfully a constant throughout the variants has always been the travelers from F’inlitary nan Geritari.
“All twenty of the travelers had made it hopefully.” Robert thought to himself as he dug through the materials that HAL had put before him.
Keung had found different incarnations of Jyi’ntol over the decades that he has been on Earth. Robert flipped through pictures of different incarnations that Keung has identified. The list of the other travelers was much shorter. The boy has found incarnations of Ye’randid and Phe’harus. There were only about eight incarnations logged between the two of them, and they were all rather recent.
“HAL. Ye’randid and Phe’harus incarnations. How were they discovered?” Robert asked aloud.
“During the 1980s Keung, then known as Anastasia Ricci, had found an anomaly in the G’lomin-sitiri journey participants. Within each incarnation there are predictable adaptation flaws that affect the human body. This mirrors the symptoms of Spinal Meningitis just after birth. In the case of a G’lomin-sitiri residence in the human body, the symptoms subside within one month without long term negative effects.” HAL recited.
“Is this in all cases?” Robert asked.
“Yes. All substantiated cases have this in common.”
Robert thought back and didn’t remember his mother telling him about being sick as a baby.
“Have you been keeping track of births with these symptoms?” Robert asked.
“Yes,” HAL replied.
“Does this mean you have locations of other G’lomin-sitiri incarnations currently?”
“That information is restricted.”
“Alright. Return to point of query, Multiverse instability issues,” Robert backpedaled.
“What would you like to know?” HAL replied.
“Theoretically, what is happening to our universe currently?” Robert asked.
“In theory: The universe we currently inhabit is adrift across what Keung refers to as the Tapestry of Reality. Each event that changes from recorded memory of organic subjects allows us to note a multiverse collision and subject transference.”
“What are the long term consequences of this?” Robert asked.
“In theory: As the Universe moves further from its original location the events that pass through from one universe to another will become more obvious. The hodgepodge of crossed over subjects will become easier to point out and the nature of humans will bring about a war.”
“Casualty percentage?”
“Predictions say, after the first few years the casualties will become extreme on a regular basis. However, the greater issue will be the vastly different realities that will pour into this one as it continues its movements across the tapestry.”
“How is this an issue?” Robert asked.
“In several theoretical realities, life on Earth does not exist. There have been a number of dead zone transferences into this reality already,” HAL explained and then cited several areas throughout the world with unexplained radioactive dead zones, the citation words moving across the screen with GPS coordinates and related links.
“As this reality moves further away, the odds of life existing and thriving on the planet decreases. We already see deadzone crossover in selected areas. Imagine, unplugging a balloon and taking a single quick gulp of air out. Though the balloon is still structurally intact, that moment of time where the plug was released will draw out a significant amount of the air within. If this universe collides with a dead Earth universe for too long, a significant amount of the qualities that allow for life to thrive can be removed. This would cause a cascading failure that would eventually limit or destroy organic life from this plane,” HAL finished.
Robert nodded. It made sense.
“As these odds increase. At what point is life on Earth likely to be ended?”
“Unable to say. The randomness of this reality’s movement does not allow for such a probability to be calculated without an unacceptable margin of error or random assumption. Simply put, it could be at any moment from now, until the end of time.”
“What is Keung doing to prevent this possibility?”
“Keung has me constantly tracking reality changes with an algorithm that reads differences within the intrinsic field across the planet. When a change is registered I log it and inform Keung of said.”
“Yes. But, HAL what is Keung’s plan to fix this?” Robert asked.
“I plan to go home,” Keung said from the doorway.
Robert turned around and looked at the younger man.
“Home?” Robert asked for clarification.
“To our homeworld.” Keung repeated.
“F’inlitary nan Geritari? Exactly how are you supposed to get there? It’s about eight light years from here. The travel there is, what? A little over a hundred and forty years? That, and weren’t we here as an exploration mission? I don’t think we have exactly exhausted enough of the experiences this world has to offer. Not to mention these people.”
Keung walked into Robert’s room and sat down on the couch.
“What about these people?” Keung asked.
“As the focal point of the tether break, wouldn’t this world be the one most impacted first?” Robert asked.
“Yes. In theory.” Keung replied.
“Then wouldn’t this world come apart before we made it back to F’inlitary nan Geritari?” Robert asked.
“Likely. But, they were the ones that started the issue. If it weren’t for their moving faster than their intellect can safely carry them, we wouldn’t be in this position at all, so if the universe has to rid itself of humanity while it repairs itself, then perhaps it’s a sacrifice worth making,” Keung said in a cold manner.
Robert felt shocked.
“Keung. These are people. There are people all across this globe that will perish if we don’t help.” He said in disbelief of the younger man’s callous sentiment.
“Robert. You know as well as I that the intrinsic field will recycle their energy. They might lose this incarnation, but they are not lost forever, nothing is.” Keung replied walking into the room and looking at the screen filled with notes.
“What are you trying to do here Robert?” Keung asked, seeing the well typed notes, diagrams, and early G’lomin script.
Robert stood from the couch and looked down at Keung.
“Keung. I am following through with the protocols of realization. My thoughts are being centered and organized. I am looking for the priorities necessary to draw forward those memories that have crawled to the back of conscious thought. I am doing that, and I am attempting to figure out how best to help in the issue you described. However, it seems that you already have the best solution to the problem as you see it. Are you serious?” Robert asked in a temper that built until the final sentence, which came out in a bark.
Keung looked genuinely shook at the sudden burst from Robert.
“What do you mean, am I serious?” The younger man asked more meekly. “Robert, look around you! This planet is doomed. The sentient species here are either without power to help solve this issue, with little agency among those that matter to make that change, or completely bent on the destruction of their world. What is worth saving?” Keung replied to the statement.
Robert took a moment to measure the boy’s character, his resolve. Boy. Robert is forgetting that Keung is no mere boy. This boy was a piece of himself. This boy was a greater piece of his past self than he was. Keung obviously has far more of Jyi’ntol than Robert does, at least in the measurement of her scientific and scholastic knowledge. Robert saw the boy for who he was, the real authority here.
Robert nodded and rubbed the bridge of his nose tightly.
“I am sure I am not seeing the entire scope of your view. Can you help me understand?” Robert asked in a monotone with his teeth clenched.
Keung understood. Robert is doing exactly what he said, he is following the protocols of realization. Keung knew them as well, the member of the journey with the greatest time fully recalled, is to take point.
“Robert. I do not take this position lightly. I, no we, have been here for nearly two hundred years. My first life here was that of a slave woman named Constance back in the early 19th century. When I finally had full realization my lot in that life had become set. I had been bred like an animal. My parents were beaten like animals and had been sold away over the years. My children had been sold as if they were livestock.” Keung said in a cold and matter of fact tone.
“My lives here have not been the greatest of experiences,” Keung continued.
“Each life I watch as the wealthy few demand more from the many. Attempting to rule over people like colonies of ants. They beat, enslave, dominate, and torture one another in the hopes to be one of those in charge or to remain in charge for lifetimes, completely focused on self.” He began.
“A person of status and means.” Keung spits.
“Humans don’t see life itself as something meaningful. They only seem to acknowledge the tangible fruits of life. They think only of what one can own by trading, taking, or depriving from another. This is what these people value. Their contributions to the sciences are almost all in efforts to kill or control one another!” Keung barked.
“That might be so, but what about all those people that are caught in the middle?” Robert asked. “What about those that are just trying to live life and enjoy each day? What of those innocents that are just trying to get by?” He finished.
Keung looked at Robert with a face filled with sympathy.
“Robert. Their plight is a shame, it is tragic and regretful. But, I ask you. In the time that we have been here, in the forms you have taken, did you not constantly feel the oppression of their world upon you? Even if now you are pulling forward all the positive thoughts you feel and all the miraculous events, does the life on this world outweigh the lives throughout the galaxy?” Keung asked.
“This world was responsible for an accident that put all of this reality in jeopardy. Back home, we could likely create a solution that may mend the damage this world has done through wreckless acceleration on sciences without thought of consequence.” Keung continued.
“I do not wish to needlessly sacrifice this world, but I have weighed out the options, Robert. There isn’t a way here that would yield results near certainty. There is a way back home that would have a much higher probability and over a dozen other advanced civilizations within the Alliance that would also aid us in the mending. Here, we simply do not have the resources,” Keung finished.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Robert nodded, feeling defeated.
Keung was right. Earth and the human population here, the dominant sentient lifeform on the planet, was just too primitive to help mend their own mess. It might be an inevitable fact that they would just have to leave this planet and attempt to use the resources back home to fix the anomaly.
Robert’s phone rang suddenly breaking the silence.
He looked down at the screen and saw it was Michael, again. He moved his finger to take the call when Keung stopped him by grabbing his hand. When Robert looked up, Keung simply shook his head.
Robert swiped to ignore the call.
“Why?” Robert asked.
Keung took a deep breath.
“HAL. Please open the video file: Michael’s encounter with Morgaine.”
The video opened on Robert’s television.
Robert watched how Morgaine puppeted the man around. The demise of the family pet and how Morgaine had left Michael broken and crying, blubbering like a child. He was shattered, but how could he not be? Humans still believe telepathy is a myth. Fantasy that only occurs within movies and works of science fiction. How could a human handle that kind of abuse?
“Do you know who she is?” Robert asked.
“Ye'randid, I believe. It would take a little more time for me to be sure, but I am pretty confident it’s Ye'randid.” Keung said.
“Ye'randid,” Robert repeated to the air.
He tried to draw up any memories of the journey partner. A young woman came to mind. She was tall and lean. She was only in her adolescence when the journey took place. Her choosing was based on the merits of her past lives rather than the merits of her current.
He had a few fond memories of her, but little or no memories at all about her contributions to the team or her notable works, outside minor snippets.
“Why would Ye'randid behave in such a manner? She was directed the same as all of us, this is not the behavior of the travelers,” Robert asked Keung with true concern plainly written all over his face.
Keung shrugged. “I am not sure. I have had encounters with her Terran incarnations in the past. Several times with the same fracture even. But, for the most part they seemed rather normal,” he said, stumped himself at her behavior.
“I assume I knew her from a previous life. I also make the assumption that she knows about HAL and his network, she is likely tormenting Michael to get to me, if not directly, then to get me to make a move that exposes me,” The younger man concluded.
Robert walked over to the fridge and pulled one of the former occupants beers from within, a Lucky Lager. Didn’t they stop making these over a decade ago?
“Keung. You have told me that human bodies have a rating of roughly two-thousand four-hundred, giving our travelers a fracture rating of roughly fourteen per traveler with each traveler having a rating of roughly thirty-four thousand.” Robert began.
“Yes,” Keung said, trying to understand the reasoning for the statement.
“There were twenty of us that came. Giving us a number of around two hundred and eighty,” Robert said and walked over to the television/smart board to pull up one of his notes.
“Sounds about right,” Keung said, caution in his inflection as he continued to puzzle out Robert’s point.
“Well, you were found and had been found by Deagol in the past. Where is everyone else?” Robert finally asked.
Keung smiled and nodded with a laugh.
“I know a few. We are scattered around the world. I have made connections with many in the past. I kept track of some from my last incarnation. It’s good to have friends in high places that owe you favors,” Keung responded and looked to the television.
“HAL. How many of our fellow G’lomin-sitiri travelers do you know the whereabouts of?” Keung asked.
“Currently. I know where ten of your fellow travelers are. Would you like me to state locations?” HAL asked.
“No HAL. Not necessary. Thank you though.” Keung responded.
“Ten?” Robert asked.
“Well nine, not counting you.”
“Are you on speaking terms?”
“Not really speaking. But, we do keep in touch through HAL’s network. Why?”
“Well, if you plan to leave. Shouldn’t we first gather the team?” Robert finished with a smile.
Robert knew that Keung had others with user access to HAL’s data. He figured that Keung also knew that the number that HAL revealed was classified. Robert could be wrong in thinking that Keung was not being completely honest with him. Through this exercise, he got Keung to pin down the minimum number of possible users to nine other users. That also means that eleven of two hundred and eighty or so travelers are known. We were spread thin or being extremely cautious in reaching out to other travelers. That, or Keung was holding a lot back. Either way. Robert would need to gain Keung’s trust to figure out the truth.
He doesn’t plan on leaving his new home without trying to save it first.
Robert got up from the couch and walked to Keung.
“I’m going out for a shake,” Robert said.
“Take the Mustang. Your Jeep is likely…”
“Yeah, I figured. Thanks. Where are the keys?”
“On the pegboard in the shop.”
“You need anything?”
“No. But thank you for the offer.” Keung said as he walked into his own apartment without looking back.
Robert got behind the wheel of the caspian blue muscle car and took a long deep breath before turning it over. The engine rumbled to life and let out a roar as he applied the gas to get it moving. He drove around looking for a diner. A place to get a strawberry shake. He was craving it. He needed to think. Michael is compromised. Ye'randid. Robert only had faint memories of her, but they might help.
He found a small diner a few minutes away from the warehouse and pulled into the driveway. He turned on his smartphone to boot it back up. He figured Keung likely has HAL monitoring him. There was also the possibility of tracking his cell, something that a distressed Michael might be able to pull off.
The splash screen played through and he unlocked the phone. He didn’t see anything suspect right away. But as a digital sentient, HAL likely wouldn’t be detected easily, or at least the basics that he would use to tap into or monitor this device would likely be too hard for him to notice without speciality programs at his own disposal.
He opened his contacts and brought up Mike. The phone dialed and a moment later he could hear the ring. The call was almost immediately accepted.
“Robert?” Michael asked.
“Yeah Mike. It’s me.” Robert said, and attempted to reach out to Michael’s mind with his telepathic abilities reawakening after the recall, his abilities were going to be rough and rather limited.
He couldn’t read. He confirmed his limited range and how out of practice he was.
“Robert. Where are you? Do you have that kid with you still?” Michael demanded.
“Yeah. Yeah. Look, Mike. I’m in some trouble here,” Robert continued and attempted again to touch Michael’s mind.
“Where are you Rob? I can help.”
Robert could read a couple images. The woman. Robert could feel the fear Michael was in. The woman terrified him. He felt how helpless Michael felt as he was forced to kill the animal. It made his blood go cold.
“Michael. I’m going to help you. I’ll call you again later.” Robert said and hung up.
Robert turned off his cellphone after disconnecting. That was the only way he knew to be sure that no one would be accessing the device without his knowledge.
He needed to practice.
He took a booth table off to the side. The place didn’t have shakes, but he settled on a burger and fries with a coke. They had a nice onion roll as a bun. The whole thing smelled amazing.
Robert reached out to the mind of his waitress. She had the typical thoughts, just busying herself with her day. Thoughts about her boyfriend, she suspects him of cheating on her. She also thinks about getting into his phone. “If he doesn’t have anything to hide” rings out clearly in her mind.
Robert connected to the customers around him. A small family at the next table wasn’t half as interesting as he thought. The father was locked in on the waitress, the mother was locked in on the manager, and the children were all thinking about their food or a toy. The baby was focused on the bottle in the diaper bag under its seat.
Robert chuckled at the predictability of people. The sitcoms were at least half right.
He centered and reached out with his thoughts without direction. A wash in the minds within the restaurant, Robert listened to the white noise of the crowd, the murmuring of the collective thoughts of the room.
A man in the crowd was thinking about how much a man in traffic bothered him. He played out how it would have been had the man said anything back.
Robert smiled an impish grin and turned the bullying back in on the man. The other driver in his fantasy, an old woman pulled a gun and shot at him. Then she flipped a U-turn and followed him to the diner. She pulled up and waited while he ate and as the day dreamer started walking out she gunned the engine and ran him down.
The man screamed in quick shock and fell over in his chair. He looked all around the room as if he didn’t know where he was.
Robert cleared his thoughts and focused on the burger. He broke connection with the man and pulled his mind inward. The man regained his composure and sat back at his table. The waitress was toweling off the spilled water, picking up his fork from the ground, and replacing it with a clean one.
Robert snickered a little.
He continued his gauging of the room. He could connect with anyone within the restaurant, and even a few of those outside. He could reach out further and listen, but without a beacon to direct him, something like a voice or some detail beyond seeing them from afar, he really couldn’t lock in on anyone’s mind.
He began giving people instructions telepathically.
The waitress walked over to his table and filled his coke without asking. The manager brought him some pie singing happy birthday. The mother at the table recited Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to the baby and the baby said, “Again!” which were apparently it’s first words, and spoken in crystal clarity.
After sitting in the diner for two hours, watching people come and go, having another piece of pie and a cup of coffee, Robert picked up the phone and dialed Michael again. He was now confident in his abilities to reach into Michael’s mind.
The phone connected after a couple rings and a female voice spoke clearly.
“Hello?”
“Ye'randid?” Robert asked into the phone.
“Jyi’ntol,” The woman's voice replied.
The two sat for a moment, breathing into the receiver as they pondered what to say next.
Suddenly Robert could feel Morgaine scanning the surface of his mind. He felt the tendrils of her probe reaching across his surface thoughts and attempting to dig in further.
Robert kept her out with some effort. She was strong, but their distance and his power of will were enough to bring her to a stalemate. She could likely dominate Michael or any other human through a call, but another G’lomin-sitiri consciousness was beyond her efforts from here.
He concentrated his force on what amounted to a hard slap of psychic energy at the invading mind, and Morgaine stopped probing. He heard her chuckle on the other side of the line.
“Jyi’ntol. Not hardly... Robert,” Morgaine’s voice cooed through the receiver, the chuckle still dancing in her words.
“What is it you want exactly? I have come to full realization and I know of no reason you would be attacking me or my friends,” Robert said in hushed tones, but with a firm set voice he hoped would convey confidence.
“You?” Morgaine laughed.
“You are but a means to an end, Bobby boy. Just a means. I’m after that boy.,” she said.
Morgaine was pacing Michael’s living room with the phone to her ear and Michael staring at her from the couch.
Michael had called her just after Robert had rang him earlier. She hadn’t been far. A cheap motel down the main street about two miles away served as her home for the moment. Michael’s family wasn’t home.
“What could you possibly want with Keung?” Robert’s voice resounded over the cellphone speaker.
“Bobby. That really isn’t your problem. I have an issue with Keung, you barely know the little creep. Give the boy to me and I will leave Mikey here, and his family alone. You keep messing with me and I’ll have him cut off his fingers before I make him beat his children’s heads in with the bloody stumps!” She said, tempo and volume building until she was screaming into the phone.
Michael watched, powerless. Unable to move, to scream, or even breath harder as his heart beat faster in his chest. He felt dizzy.
“Morgaine. I am not able to just hand Keung over to you, even if I could, I wouldn’t. He’s just a kid.” Robert said through the receiver.
Michael felt the cool wave of energy flood into his mind. Each line of his synapsis shot like a cold fire through his brain. He stood up mechanically and walked toward Morgaine, passing her as he walked into the kitchen. She smoked like a chimney, the trails of tobacco followed him into the kitchen and filled his nostrils with the acrid scent.
“Bobby. I am going to count to five. When I hit five, Mikey over here, he’s going to cut off his pinkie. It’s okay if you think I am bluffing, it’s just a pinkie after all. But, I am going to move on from that if you try and talk to me like you have a choice again. Now. Before I hit five, you just tell me what the address is where I can find little Keung, and if you do, Mikey will get to keep that pinkie. Are you ready?” She asked.
Michael was sweating bullets. He went to the knife block as he heard her voice say, “One.”
He began to the center island of his kitchen, where the cutting board was. Where… Howard… the cat. Oh God. He heard her counting again. “Two.”
He needs to wake up. This is a nightmare. This can’t be real! “Three.” Her voice cut through the air in such a nonchalant way, like she was ordering a pizza. Was she chewing gum?! He set his hand on the cutting board, the pinkie sticking out clear of everything else, his other hand gripping the meat cleaver and raising it over his head.
“Jesus. God. No!” Michael screamed in his own head. “This can’t be happening!” His mind raced. “Robert! Please. Robert, help me! Don’t let her take my finger!” he shouted in his thoughts.
“Okay!” Robert shouted through the phone.
“The address?” Morgaine asked, flicking her cigarette ash on the floor.
“Olympia, Washington,” Michael heard Robert’s voice say. It continued for a time and there was an exchange of numbers. By this point Michael wasn’t paying attention. He can only think about whether or not this woman will release him, or if she was going to make good on all her threats.
“Down boy,” Morgaine said to Michael, and suddenly his body was his own again. The knife fell to the ground and clammered against the hard tile. The urine rushing down his leg in a steady stream was hot on his skin. Michael could hear her car start outside with a monstrous rumble. It sat idling for long moments and then suddenly her tires made a high shrill screech as she peeled away, the car roaring like a tiger even in the distance.
Michael lay on the floor for nearly an hour before his wife came home. She found him, in the fetal position, tears streaming across his face in a puddle of his own filth.
When she woke him up, he convulsed a bit and immediately began sobbing again. She cradled him in her lap as she emptied her purse beside her and frantically called the police.