Sophie could not believe her own eyes. God, she loved her father. The man was exceptional in all aspects. He was kind, a great mentor for the adopted boy, and had just managed to make her care for the stupid game. Then she felt a mild tug in her heart when she saw what was next on the screen, the bed and breakfast white colonial house in the Bayou. She reached for the black Orbison glasses to possibly join in and visit and savor every moment left but then she paused.
In her mind, somewhere lost in the dozens of dimensions of the Multiverse, she felt this was important to the greater power. She needed to let this play out. She stiffened. Marilyn seemed puzzled by the interest of the young girl. She had given no attention to her help to save earth and now Mercury interested her.
There it was in its perfect imperfection, on the screen was her father's house in the Louisiana bayou. Sophie knew this escape place very well. The old wooden swing rocked on the pouch, blown into gentle motion by a warm and humid wind. The dog had long lost his battle with gravity, and his ears rested against the wooden planks. The canine looked happy to protect Laurent from nothing. On the table were three large glasses and a pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade.
The front door cringed open as both Laurent and the boy came out holding hands. Mall-Ik was wearing dirty jean overalls, and Laurent wore partially ripped jeans below a plain white t-shirt. On it was the logo of Electoral 2072. They both took their places on the swing.
Liam chuckled in Sophie's mind.
"What?" she asked her old companion watching the show.
"The shirt, I think the same way Laurent forced Mall-ik's name onscreen earlier. Marilyn is now pushing her name on it. That's humorous, no?"
"I don't get it," replied the Attractor.
"Never mind."
The girl turned her attention back to the screen as the game resumed once the music faded. "I love this house," began the boy. "It's my favorite in the whole world. At least of the part of your world I have seen." Sophie agreed, it was where Laurent shined.
"Do you want to know why you and Sophie like this house as much?" said Laurent visibly happy to be here. Sophie smiled ear to ear knowing she mattered.
"I miss her,” said the boy. “Why can’t she be here?”
"She is saving the Universe. We have a saying: 'There is no place like home.'" Sophie didn't know why Laurent loved this house or if it had any special significance. "This house is called the French House. It was part of Susan, Sophie's mother's dream. We stayed here during our honeymoon, that's when humans commit themselves to each other."
"Was Sophie created here by you two?" Half the viewers cringed at the question.
Laurent chuckled, "Actually she probably was. Timing would be perfect. This seat is where I was the happiest in my life. Sophie's mother wanted to buy this house and for both of us to retire here. We spoke to the owners, a lovely couple. They were looking for someone to take over once they passed. I can still see her, in my mind, walking out of those doors." His memory was so perfect and filled with the absolute crushing force of truth that it drew a quick ghostly image. A shaded image of Susan walked out only to vanish as Laurent unable to face the chimeric image looked down.
"Daddy, you control this world, why don't you make her walk out? I want to see her."
"You don't fix a broken heart by lying to it. You fix yourself with the truth. I am soon going to join her, and I accept that. You and Sophie are the angels visiting me once in a while in this strange purgatory."
"Why are you crying?" asked Mall-ik.
"I am not."
"You are!"
"I am," he agreed with a smile and wiped a tear.
"Do you miss Sophie's mom?" asked the boy. Sophie was standing still in front of the walls of the Center. She would never have asked, but she wanted to know the answer.
"I did not understand how happy I was with my family until it was taken from me. I will not make that mistake twice. You and Sophie are my family now. We also have uncle Liam and even aunt Marilyn." He pinched the boy's cheek, "We don’t choose a family, we cherish it. So let's enjoy whatever this is. Thanks to you, my family keeps getting larger.
Laurent knew how the computer interface worked. As if on cue, the porch screen door opened by itself. A person sitting in a wheelchair rolled out. Sitting on it was a black bearded man. His face was partly covered with tribal tattoos. Over his body was a dirty Lab coat with pens in his pocket. The creature was shocked by everything around him. He looked at his human hands, his feet and the chair is disbelief. The sky, the colors and even the trees were new to him. He looked at Laurent and Mall-ik. Both smiled back. The location was peaceful; it helped the creature.
"What is this?" asked the visitor in the wheelchair.
"Like me," snapped Mall-ik, "he is all confused."
"This will require some time. Let me help you." Laurent got up, walked to the back of the man's chair, grabbed both handles and rolled the chair to the new guest on the porch within reach of the lemonade. He pushed the other chair away then went back to seat himself and hold the boy's hand. "Let's start with something simple, what is your name?"
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"My name is Yeeman Grix. Most call me Grix."
"Are you the sand?” asked the boy.
“Sand? Yes, I guess.”
Laurent helped, “Are you a creature from the first planet, the one we call mercury? We think you once lived on mars, the third planet which now is fourth in its orbit.”
"Yes, yes." The creature was very happy. "By the look of things we are someplace else already. I predicted the arrival of someone from earth. Are you there to rescue us? Where are we?"
"I am Laurent, from earth." After reflection, Laurent added, "Others who can physically help are coming. I am unsure how long we now have to talk about this reality. I cannot even know if you are real or Marilyn's creation. At a minimum, I can say we are preparing the way. Let us introduce ourselves properly. I am Laurent, and this is my son Mall-ik. Like you, he comes from a different place and found his way here. I have been teaching him about my world. He is a wonderful learner and the best brother to my daughter," Laurent paused and on purpose added, “the Attractor.”
“Attraction?” Grix smiled. He didn't know what to say and how to begin the conversation. "I am Grix. I am part of a timeless race. I do not know how to describe my world to you; it is so different. We do not..." He was unable to finish his thought.
"Maybe this will help." Laurent waived a finger, and an old television set appeared. The last American television: the Zenith. "Look at this and tell me if this is you." On it began to play the last ten minutes of the game. It was the introduction of Round 28. Grix floated in his cavern frustrated by the others who were taking drugs. He saw the network of caverns. The alien next saw the boy and Laurent standing on the crater, while the other Martians squeeze out of the glacier and float around, and finally he saw his own sand body touch a ball.
"This technology is incredible. How can this be possible? We speak the same language. Somehow my mind is aligned with yours. I understand concepts like naming of this orb as Mercury. I am in this form. Why, how? I even know this is a wheelchair, how is that remotely possible? This is Attraction."
Laurent reassumed control. "I am not sure how much time we have, so let me be as brief as I can. You have my daughter Sophie to thank. She is not in this world but probably watching us at this very moment. She somehow is allowing all this to happen."
"She alters reality?"
"In a strange way she does but always makes things possible. She brings people together, she attracts them. I tried not to bring it up to confuse matters, but we are not in what I consider my prime reality." Laurent knew there was simply no simple way to explain the strangeness of what was happening. "This is a digital recreation, as part of a game. A possible outcome, likely to occur. Somehow the walls between realities, the worlds, the dream world, and this digital world are fading. The way I see things, trying to make any sense of things will only lead you to a paradox."
"A paradox I understand," said Grix as he looked at the lemonade. The boy grabbed his glass, put his lips to it and suggested the alien drink. The martian did. "Wow, this is great."
"I know. What's a paradox?" asked the boy.
"Why did I know you were going to ask that question?" joked Laurent. "Grix, be my guest. Can you answer the boy?" Laurent felt getting the creature to speak would help him adapt to his new environment.
"With pleasure? There are two types of paradoxes. The first is a truth which should not be. The second is a state that cannot be truth." Laurent smiled at Grix; the definition was brilliant. The creature looked at the glass of lemonade now half empty and continued, "I am here now, communicating with you, that is the first paradox. But if some technology explains this situation, the paradox is lifted. If I drink this and it remains full, that is a paradox. The second type is how you tell me you are here now relating to a future event. That is time shifting, and that is a paradox. If you tell me this glass refills because of a time loop, that is impossible. The notion I use words like glass, and understand filling of it is a paradox." Grix has just succeeded in baffling himself.
"Sorry to cut to the chase, but do you know of something called the Attraction or the Attractor?" asked Laurent.
"Yes. I think so.”
"If you do not mind, once we have what we need to help my fellow travelers, we can resume philosophical discussions. I sill have to resolve a situation here. As you saw in that video clip, we have about 100 balls, orbs, shells. Call them whatever you choose. They were given to us by people from your race. We don't understand how they work. We think they are designed for you to slip into one and launch you from here back to your world. Does your race, or better-worded, group here you even want to leave mercury? How many of you are there?"
"We are 93 in total. Yes, we are stranded and most if not all will leave if presented with the chance."
"As you can see, we were unable to get the others to enter the balls or even communicate with them."
"Not surprising."
"Why?"
"They are stoned out of their minds. They are idiots. I told them you were coming. No one listened to me."
"Is there a way to get them, as they are, into those balls?"
"Impossible. Our race can slide matter into the structure between the main grains. We need to merge with the creatures in the balls. The drug, these silver particles prevent the merger."
Laurent was perplexed. "Let's assume once this discussion ends, you will awake in your laboratory, on Mercury and given a time paradox. I would think a short time before our ship arrives with these balls to rescue you."
"The past?"
"Yes. It is too long to explain. You will have about one earth day I think."
"You are making little sense, but none of this,” he took another sip, “makes any sense."
"I know. How can we help you convince your friends to prepare for the voyage back to mars and not take these drugs." Both Grix and Laurent’s gaze wondered as the tried to find a way. Nothing came instantly to mind.
"Plan an event," said the boy as he finished his lemonade, "Grix can simply wake up, forecast an event to observe outside and tell the others. Once they see for themselves, they will believe him. That's simple right?" Both men were stunned by the boy's logic. It made perfect sense. Mall-ik grabbed the pitcher of lemonade and poured himself more. He looked up; unaware anyone had cared about his words.
"Like what?" both asked.
"You miss home; you must know every piece of it. You must watch it carefully."
"We do."
"Then a blinking signal on mars. The Martians can shine a light several times, that might work, no?” Both adults were stunned.
"Getting martians to send a signal might be difficult, but if humans or Electoral sends one from mars, they won't know the difference, right?"
"Who is Electoral?"
Laurent looked around. He smiled. God he loved this place. “May I ask?” He pointed at the chair.
“Your reality is highly perceptive. I am injured, in my world. An experiment went awry. So what should we watch for?”
“Photons, I guess,” As he spoke, the Louisiana world faded to black. Round 28 was over and on the screen scrolled the scores of the sixteen players who qualified for the next game. Emilio and Laurent remained well in the lead.
Sophie kissed her dad proud of him. He steered away from the nonsense and proved useful.