Through the Singularity

by L. Frank Wadsworth

  “It would be more useful,” he gently rebukes, “if you would tell us what he communicated.”

  She looks like she may become physically ill, before swallowing hard and regaining her composure. “I'm sorry. It's just…I have no idea. He apparently encoded it exceptionally well. Fandtha?”

  “I'll get on it,” he pauses. “Wow, er, this might take some time,” he shares with a growing measure of respect for what Achi was able to achieve.

  Meanwhile, Zaleria catches up with her mother, who holds out her hand. Zaleria takes it as her mother pulls her in and embraces her, whispering, “It is bad. You must be strong.”

  “What's bad? What's happened?”

  “It's Achi. He apparently used Beltare to send me a message. He's identified our adversary. Such a clever, clever man…”

  “Who is it? Why is it bothering you so much, is it someone you know?”

  She nods her head, then walks off again, hugging herself, thinking.

  “Well, who is it?! You can't keep something like that inside you. Tell me! Let us face this together.”

  Traemuña ignores her for a moment, completely withdrawn, thinking about what she has learned. Suddenly, she straightens her shoulders and turns to face her daughter. “Yes, we must all face this, together.” Her face is grim, set in an iron mask. “I now know what must have happened. Achi is such a dear, giving me a chance to come to grips with this first, and by doing so, ensuring it stayed secret. It must stay secret.” She is already moving back to Zaleria's house, with her exasperated daughter in tow.

  “You can't keep this secret mother!” Zaleria calls after her.

  She enters the room and regards the others, instantly recognizing their awareness of what has happened. “As I'm sure you're by now aware, Achi sent me a message. He has identified the rogue galan.” Traemuña invokes the private channel and shares the entirety of Achi's message.

  “Elder Traemuña, I send you greetings. I told you before I consider you like a mother to me, because I share your daughter's memories. I know you have no reason to share such feelings about me, but I must be true to what I know. I regret you must learn what you were afraid to know from me. I have done what I can to ensure that those who love you are with you. Please examine the two human DNA samples included with this message. It will reveal the identity of the rogue galan with certainty. I am sorry that you must bear this news, but I believe, somehow, you suspected something like this. Zaleria is a truly good person. I hope she has been able to find peace without my memories tainting her soul. I didn't want to reach out to her or to you, to avoid the complications such contact might produce, but felt I must. This is beyond my abilities. Humanity's enemy is now revealed; what will the galanen do?”

  Achi sent her the results of his DNA research into Cheryn Douglass and Clive Robinson. Both have DNA markers from their father that are unique, which is why Achi is certain Clive and Cheryn are half brother and sister. Zaleria shares many of those exact same sequences. She is also their half-sibling. They all have the same father—Gravis. It is irrefutable that Traemuña's soul mate, and Zaleria's father, is the rogue.

  Zaleria feels like she has just been slapped. There is no way, no way! He crossed over. He said his goodbyes. He'd never do something like this! Yet the proof is unassailable. It's not possible that Gravis didn't cross over, that he stayed just to cause problems on Earth. It's also not possible that he could have hidden all of this from her, from her mother. It is as if there had to have been two of them.

  Zaleria walks over to her mother and hugs her. “Gravis would never have done such things. You must know this to be true!” Zaleria shares with her. Traemuña nods her head, biting her lip. There is only one possible explanation.

  “I have no doubt this being is not my husband, not the Gravis with whom I shared everything. So we must consider how a being made of his DNA could exist on Earth, despite Gravis having crossed over more than 10,000 years ago. I must admit, for years I felt something was wrong. That I had unfinished business and that it felt like it involved Earth. Now I know what that is. As many of you know, Gravis and I were on Earth 75,000 years ago. We were both destroyed in an extraordinarily violent volcanic explosion and had to be regenerated. We used to joke about it in later years. 'Don't stand there admiring the volcano,' we'd tell each other. But what if his symbiots had managed to somehow restore his unitary well after his body had been regenerated in our home? It isn't supposed to happen. There are fail safes, built in timers, but could those have failed? There is a reason we don't generate multiple unitaries. How many of you know why?”

  Zaleria inadvertently shares the first thought that comes into her head. “Where there can be no Light, only deepest darkness grows.”

  Traemuña marvels at her statement. “Where did you hear that?!”

  Embarrassed, Zaleria looks around. Everyone is staring at her. “It was in one of my nightmares. Rolle, I mean Achi…whoever; we were in a place outside of time, in a place of darkness, fighting an even darker mass, and the Being of Light said that. It didn't mean anything to me at the time.”

  Traemuña nods her head. “Perhaps you should heed such things, because it's not a bad description of what happens if there are two unitaries. As you know, unlike a clone or genetic twin, your unitary is regenerated just as it was when last synced up, down to specific brain structures. Because of that, only your essence can inhabit your unitary, and because it can't be divided, it can only inhabit one. If two unitaries exist, the other becomes a shell, with all your memories from its symbiots but unstable. It is nothing more than a machine intelligence, really.”

  Toshi nods his head. “It would explain much. I do not believe Gravis could have done all that we suspect in just the last 10,000 years; it had to start much earlier. Going back 75,000 years, when humanity was much smaller than it is today, that would be consistent with the genetic record. It must have started manipulating humanity, which was already related to the galanen, into complete alignment. It doesn't answer the larger mystery of why we're related to begin with, but the rest fits with the known data.”

  Fandtha is shaking his head. “No, not everything. Once Gravis crossed over, er, there is no way this thing could have accessed the collective or any of our technology. Although Achi's feats seem to suggest there is, uh, much it could have done prior to his crossing over—similar to how he, er, used Beltare to deliver his message. How many nasty surprises has this, ah, shell been able to secret away throughout our collective? And how has it kept one step ahead of us all this time? I'm afraid, uh, the easiest explanation is that it has been receiving help.”

  Beltare has been very quiet. “Fandtha, if there is someone helping the shell, they would have to be on Luna base. I know all those galanen. I can't imagine any of them betraying us in that way. But there must be at least one. We've suspected this for years; yet we have never found the galan. If there is a…traitor there, it is my failure.”

  “You are not the only one who has reviewed them,” Jevelle shares. “We all have. It isn't one of them, but it has to be.”

  “What if they are not aware?” Beltare asks. “I swear Achi was able to read my mind. Look at what he just did, what he used me to do. He was able to hide his symbiots from me; no that isn't right. He was able to hide Zaleria's symbiots from me. And if he is all that he seems to be, he's learned how to do all that with almost no contact with the collective.” She looks at Fandtha, hoping he has something additional to offer.

  “I have some ideas on that, but, uh, I would like to chat with Achi, eh, see if he is willing to share what he has learned. It might be dicey, given our last contact.”

  “Then we send someone he will not refuse, if she asks.” Beltare turns to look coolly at Zaleria. “Do you think he'll tell you no? And if he does, would not your symbiots still respond to your commands, tell you what he knows?”

  Zaleria looks back at her, doubting this is merely a logical request—although it does make sense. “I honestly don't know. He kno
ws me all too well, but I do not know him at all. My intuition tells me we can only push him so far, shared memories or not. His actions with you demonstrated that.”

  “Perhaps he'd respond to a softer approach, one that doesn't threaten his interests on Earth,” Traemuña offers, with a hard glance at Beltare. “We may have to compromise.”

  “Indeed,” Beltare agrees, “What I did proved to be the wrong approach.” She sighs. “Based on the information I had at the time, I made the wrong decision. Armed with the same information everyone else has, I'm more apt to make the right decision.” She looks away. “I'm not without compassion. I admit, I honestly did not expect his message to be so…poignant. He did all of this…because of his respect for you…,” she shares, looking at Traemuña, then Zaleria.

  They all think on this for a moment, before Beltare continues, “But if you keep me in the dark, I can't be expected to make good choices. I didn't know what I might be running into!”

  Traemuña nods. “I had no proof he still survived. And when I suspected he did, I figured he was only important insofar as Zaleria's conundrum. I should have known better; he has proven to be very resourceful. You and your team were injured in part because of my secrecy, and for that, I am sorry.”

  Beltare looks at Zaleria. “Do you really think I have a 'stick up my ass?'”

  Zaleria frowns at the accusation. “I was not even familiar with that phrase until you'd shared it. That is not how I think of you! Even now, despite our having grown…distant, I don't blame you! I've been the one who hasn't been sharing—I recognize this. Achi has all of my memories, but he reflects on them through the lens of his own experiences.”

  Zaleria's face softens. “I'm sorry I didn't trust you with my personal problems; I should have. I think I magnified them in my own mind far beyond their true import, but after seeing all that has transpired, they were trivial. Unforeseen consequences. A complication, nothing more.”

  Beltare nods. “Perhaps you developed that sentiment on Earth at some point, because that is exactly how Achi described himself. 'I'm a complication, nothing more…'” She walks over to Zaleria, grasps her gently by both shoulders, and looks up at her. “Please do not hide things from me anymore,” she implores, gently shaking her for added emphasis.

  Zaleria wraps her long arms around her and embraces her mentor, sharing her deeply felt remorse. Despite their actual size difference, she feels very small compared to Beltare right now.

  ∞∞∞

  Two weeks have gone by, and Achi has not heard anything from the galanen. They are probably pissed at what he's done. He regretted his actions almost immediately, but Beltare's arrogance had gotten to him. It shouldn't have. She was probably in the dark about a great many things, so his treatment of her was certainly over the top. He is fairly certain he'll not have an opportunity to make it up to her. They don't make a sympathy card that says, “I'm sorry I shot you in the head and put a little piece of me inside; hope you get well soon.” So he is a little surprised when Clive lets him know he has a message.

  Clive has been abnormally quiet since the incident; he is still trying to get over Achi's transformation into him. He said he'd put up with a lot over the years, but that was nearly the last straw. Achi didn't think he was serious, but he'd clearly been disturbed. He now looks at him like he is a complete alien. Something Achi is beginning to wrestle with himself. At what point would he become so different that he'd cease to be human? Has he already reached that point? Well, he certainly isn't galanen, but sometimes, he isn't sure what he is anymore. He has almost nothing in common with his fellow humans.

  He travels over to Clive's house, having by now resumed his Nils appearance. Clive is waiting, excited. “It was her. Zaleria.”

  Achi is surprised. He didn't expect that. He'd hoped but knew it was a long shot. “Uh, you sure it was her?”

  “As much as I can be. I don't have your abilities, but it sounded like her. But not her. She doesn't remember anything that happened, although she's figured most of it out. She said the galanen want to meet with us,” placing extra emphasis on that last word.

  “I don't know; it seems too good to be true. It could be Beltare. It has been two weeks, she'd have had enough time to transform, you know. Put on a Zaleria suit and get a little payback.” He really doesn't trust them anymore, he realizes.

  “What happened between you two? You never really said.”

  Achi sighs heavily. “Beltare called in a goon squad to remove me from Earth against my will. It kinda went south from there.”

  “Achi, what did you do? Did you lose your temper?” Clive chides him.

  “Not entirely. I only stunned them. But then I kinda shot Beltare in the head, just a bit, to destroy her comms unit. And, of course, after that I found out she had a backup tracking device in her abdomen,” he says quietly.

  “And how did you remove that?”

  “With a knife, but she was asleep the whole time, so it’s not like she remembers or felt any of it. I'm sure she's already completely healed. But I, uh, don't think she'll be coming to Thanksgiving dinner this year.”

  Clive just shakes his head. “Achi, we need allies. We're full up on enemies.”

  Achi looks down. “I know. I guess I just let things get to me that I shouldn't have. We'll have to be careful.”

  “Understatement.”

  “How's Cheryn doing?” Achi asks, changing the subject.

  “She is still pissed at our holding out on her, but she's doing her own thing. She's okay, but I think she just wants to be left alone for a while. She hasn't cut off contact though, she just wants some space.”

  Achi nods his head. “Perhaps that is for the best. It'll be victory enough if she can just live a normal life, after everything.”

  Clive purses his lips, but doesn't say anything. Achi can tell he has feelings for her—brotherly. It is new for both of them.

  “What do you think I should do?” Achi asks him.

  “You've got to take a chance. We need allies. And if it is Zaleria, you should see her. I don't think you realize how much you changed when you two were together. It was good to see,” Clive reminisces. “She was a very nice lady. The sun seemed to shine brighter when she was with us. But promise me you won't shoot any more of them. Please.”

  “I'm not sure…,” he trails off, thinking. “But I am afraid we are going to need their help. Listen, this is the part where I have to tell you something I've been keeping secret, but for a good reason. You need to know about a few other details related to our adversary, and don't get mad at me. I'm just the messenger, trying to figure out…how to get myself out of being in the middle all the time.”

  “So now what are you going to tell me; is Zaleria my sister too?” Clive asks, with narrowed eyes.

  “Well, actually, yes. I've suspected for several years that this 'Celestial Being' Sklávoi Ashtoreth refers to is some kind of rogue galan. When I discovered you and Cheryn had the same father, it was because his DNA sequences matched half of the sequences encoded in my symbiots, in Zaleria's symbiots. Our enemy has, or at least had, a name, Gravis. Zaleria's father, and apparently father to a significant fraction of the human race.”

  Clive looks at him. “You're serious, aren't you? So why'd you hide that from me?”

  “I didn’t really know what to do with the information. I was hoping we could make progress against them on our own, before we would have to bring in the galanen. But now that we have, I felt Traemuña, Zaleria's mother, should be the first to know. I know this seems unfair to you, but I've 'known' her for thousands of years, because of what happened between me and Zaleria. I’ve never told anyone about this, but because Zaleria and I share the same symbiots, they shared all their information amongst themselves when we were together. Because of this, I know how close she and Gravis were, and I watched him make his preparations to cross over to the next dimension—kind of the galanen version of dying. He’d been bonded to Traemuña, Zaleria’s mother, for over 150,0
00 years, also connected at the symbiot level—sharing everything. Just like what happened between me and Zaleria—I can’t impress upon you just how intimate a bond that is. It almost destroyed Zaleria’s mind. Anyway, I couldn't just turn that over what I’d learned to the galanen without letting her know first. In part, I didn't know, and still don't know, who we can trust. And yeah, that stubbornness is ultimately what led to me putting a hole in Beltare's head.”

  Clive storms off, silent for a very long moment, staring out the back window of his house. “I thought we were going to stop holding secrets back from each other.” His voice is nearly inaudible. He is incredibly pissed.

  “That's why I'm telling you now. I had conflicting feelings on this. Traemuña had the most at stake. I didn't even tell Zaleria first, and we're practically bonded. Well were… And now that I know my message was received, I'm telling you. She's over 250,000 years old. The only reason she is even in our universe is because she suspected she still had a connection to Earth.” Achi wipes the sweat suddenly dampening his forehead, “Look, I'm trying to do the best I can. You may not like my decision making, but there it is. I respected my elder.”

  “She's not even human!”

  “Well, technically, nether are you,” Achi reminds him. “Though personally, I feel we're each as human or galan as the other. I think Traemuña would agree.”

  “So what does that make me? Some kind of intergalactic love child?”

  “It makes you Clive. You are who you are. Same as Cheryn. Are you going to tell her?”

  “Why are you leaving that up to me?”

  “Because you are family. Isn't so easy, is it, to make decisions about other people’s lives? Knowing that the truth often can hurt more than ignorance.” Achi says.