The orb shifted from her hands and exploded into a million tiny sparks that filled the surrounding blood tinged forest, each one in a continuous state of shifting colour that vibrated as though having broken from a ringing bell.
“Space between the stars is not made for beating hearts. We are angels without wings on planets that will eventually crumble, death a doorway for souls to rest until the Gods hear our greeting. Just as gravity ensures all planets are circular, we share the same seed to reach perfect biological form. The transitions along the way differ, but should time suffice we emerge as one.”
“Are you saying cellular life eventually builds the same body and mind as us, regardless of the planet?” Candice asked.
“Yes. It is the perfect form to acknowledge the rules and manipulate the environment, and the only machine that does not create souls but accepts them. All gained knowledge is vital for our cosmic journey, hopes and dreams fuel for our search for the veil. Life seeds life, and we must bring together our knowledge and yearnings so that we can unlock the task before us. Together we must light up the universe so that she might finally be conscious, and then the veil between matter and the Gods will fall.”
John watched as red rain fell through his arms before quietly shaking his head. “You’re talking as though this is all some kind of game…”
“Not a game, a reason. Now listen with not just your ears but your heart and soul, so that you can bring new guidance upon your return.”
The rainforest disappeared and the world turned dark. Tulay was all that they could see, her skin now a spinning galaxy with face soft purple and burning suns for eyes.
“The mind houses the soul, but the mind is also bound by matter. Matter is bound by electricity, and electricity is an expression of light. Light is information that does not bow to time. Biology is not designed for deep space travel, but light is.”
From the darkness erupted thousands of achingly bright geometric shapes, each one spinning and floating as though part of a windswept snow storm. Talitha clapped her hands with glee and Candice held her mouth open with awe, while John watched the shapes and felt a wave of déjà vu prickle his skin. He’d never seen anything like it before, and yet it felt like a long lost memory.
“We have helped you move the mind into light,” Tulay continued. “Now you are ready to traverse the stars, to join other collective minds as we sail across endless cosmic seas and combine knowledge and experience so that we might bring about the Awakening. But there are rules that must be followed, and nightmarish consequences waiting in failure.”
Burning red balls like popping embers whipped about the spinning shapes. Some managed to form clusters that smothered some of the snowflake geometrics, dragging them down below where they vanished in a blur.
“Remember,” Tulay instructed, “the mind is that which marries the soul with matter, and it is only souls with pure desire that may transcend the realm of the planets. We have to be careful in our selection process. Your planet, like others before it, is scarred with the inability to work together. Few are the numbers that truly seek the answers in the void, but the new dawn brings with it a new awareness. The real danger, however, sits with a species that has infected not just your solar system but others within the cluster.”
“The bad blood…” Candice said breathlessly.
“Our journey is a combination of souls to spread enough light across the universe that she becomes conscious, a new god among Gods and a new form of creation. There are those, however, who are bitter at having been summoned into this realm and seek to ensure she never awakens. They wish to spite the Gods with an eternal sleep filled with pain and sorrow. They are fallen angels that know only rage. By holding back the light they become their own Gods, keepers of the dark in an eternal universe never to wake.”
“But we can make the light win.” Talitha’s voice was barely a whisper, but it carried an emotion filled confidence. “We can discover new galaxies.”
“That we can. That we will.” Tulay became translucent with greens and blues like a moonlit jellyfish. “And you Talitha will rule this post to ensure only the pure of heart and mind are uploaded for exploration and discovery.”
The geometric shapes and burning red balls flashed and dissolved, and now they were under water in their silver chairs as bubbles raced up from below and a myriad of strange, yet somehow beautiful creatures swam around them.
“What about death?” Candice suddenly asked. “You talk about souls and have the power to upload minds into a state I can only assume means indefinite consciousness, so surely you’ve learned more than us about death?”
“We have a better understanding of life, but how are we to know death without truly dying? With the combined experiences of one hundred and thirty two worlds stretching across one hundred and twenty six unique solar systems, we have agreed upon an understanding based on fragments of ancient messages buried deep in our cellular instructions. Death is but a shift in dimensions, where the soul is destined to wait for the omega point, the Awakening. What mysteries this dimension holds we do not know, but if we cannot light the veil then we will all become guests there, forced to wait for all of eternity.”
“Hang on a second,” John interjected, “you mean to say even if you upload your thoughts or whatever you can still die?”
“Light sits on the edge of time and can allow one to outlive even the oldest of stars, but light can be extinguished. Even when you are encoded in light, death comes beneath a cloak of darkness.”
“One last question before my brain explodes. Why wait for a freaking asteroid impact to blow everyone’s reality away?”
“Simple. Interstellar satellites are precision time keepers, and to know their trajectory is to know the future. A gravitational field is also an excellent way to travel.” Tulay swam across to Talitha and reached out with a glowing hand. “Tell me dear child, are you ready?”
Talitha turned her attention from the seahorse like creature that was gently rocking by her ear. “I’ll be able to travel the stars just like you?”
“Why of course! As soon as you’ve loaded the system with the right minds they’ll be sent to one of the communication outposts. There they’ll meet with other minds from other planets and share their knowledge and experience. Once that happens, you’ll be ready to launch into the void in search of new galaxies.”
“Okay. I’m ready.” She looked across to John with a pleading in her eyes. “Can I hold Bobbie until it’s time to go?”
“I’m sure he’d love that,” John grinned.
As though understanding what was said Bobbie leapt through the virtual ocean and landed on Talitha’s lap, leaving John to wonder if his eyesight had just gotten a little better.
“So what happens now?” Candice asked.
“Talitha’s destiny,” Tulay replied. “We integrate her into the computer.”
“Where are the computers?”
“Why, you’re inside the computer.” The ocean washed away and the glass of the pyramid returned, water worlds once again moving against the opal walled sphere. “It’s best if you remain here while I help with the cross over. When it’s complete I’ll return for your decisions.”
“Decisions?” John said with a flick of his head.
“Yes, your decisions. You can return to your planet where chaos will reign for some time, or you can be the first minds to join Talitha’s light world.”
The statement slammed into John’s chest. It seemed like forever ago that he could actually think more than a few seconds ahead in time, and now it seemed he was being given the chance to sit and contemplate his distant future. As far as the choices were concerned, he wasn’t sure either of them were overly inviting.
Tulay dissolved to pink and elegantly stepped towards the opening in the pyramid wall. Still seated with Bobbie clutched tight against her chest, Talitha looked across with a mixture of sadness and joy. She spoke with a voice teetering on the edge of tears.
“So many be
autiful people have helped me to come home. So many beautiful people have died. Thank you for believing.”
“Hey,” John said, “if this is home, and you getting here means helping to make things right, it’s all worth it. It’s all that matters.” He stepped across the glass and lowered onto a knee before her. “I can promise you this. No matter how crazy things were, meeting you is one of the greatest things that’s ever happened to me. Wherever things go from here I’ll never forget you.”
“But did you hear Tulay? She said you could stay, that you could both stay.”
“Yeah sweetie I heard, and I guess that means Candice and I have some thinking to do. All of this is a lot to take in for a guy like me, but in the meantime you’ve got something wonderful waiting for you.”
“I have haven’t I? And even if you don’t stay we’ll be able to meet again.” She stood up from the chair and admired her working legs for a moment. “Candice?” she said quietly.
“Right here honey.”
“I’m so happy you’re in love. Not even the end of the world stopped it!”
Candice’s cheeks flushed as she stepped up and kissed Talitha on the forehead. “Thank you for showing me such magical things,” she whispered.
“Thank you for getting the bad blood,” Talitha replied.
Tulay beckoned with her long arm. “There’s not much time before break away Talitha. Come on, let’s settle you in.”
Talitha blinked away tears and followed Tulay out of the pyramid to float up amongst the water spheres. She released Bobbie from her chest and giggled as he stretched and purred beside her, weightless and free though swinging his paws as though once again trying to swim. Tulay directed their flight and brought them to a section of the million rainbow wall that slid open to allow a long, sparkling crystal tube to emerge that was filled with an ultra violet liquid pulsing with electrical waves.
“Is this where I sleep?” Talitha asked as Bobbie nuzzled against her neck.
“You don’t have to worry about sleep in the light,” Tulay explained. “This is where you’ll build a gateway of dreams, a world crafted by your imagination to welcome and evaluate those who choose to make the journey. Your light will spread down to the planet to help guide those who will rebuild, and offer strength in the war that will rage for the control of electricity and the freedom it can bring. While they are bound by gravity, you will be the voice of the stars.”
“But I’m scared,” Talitha stammered. “I don’t know how to look after a space ship!”
“Don’t worry, I’m already in there waiting to show you the way. This shell is just a hardware link. Once inside you’ll learn all there is to know.”
Standing on the pyramid floor with heavy hearts and minds filled with a barrage of spinning thoughts, John and Candice held each other tight and watched as in the distance the crystal tube began to open. Then, just as a sphere bounced against the triangular glass wall, they found themselves standing in the caved belly of a giant waterfall, with the cascading torrent tumbling across the pyramid’s exit. Curious fireflies made slow circles around them while diamonds embedded in the cave walls winked for their attention.
“Now this,” Candice said as she performed a quick twirl, “this is the kind of lounge room we should look at getting.”
“Sure beats closing the blinds,” John offered.
“The technology is amazing! This whole place, this ship, it’s proof that life has a bigger purpose, that millions of years of struggling and evolving hasn’t been for nothing.” The excitement was growing and she twirled again and again with hands reaching for fireflies. “It’s never been about surviving to eat and eating to survive, or clawing our way from mud to breed another day. Information is what it’s about. Information is who we are, what we seek, and the pinnacle of information is digital form! Everything Tulay said was true. When information becomes light, time becomes a tool and no galaxy is too far…”
“Whoa, hang on a second. You’re talking as if staying here isn’t such a bad idea.”
Candice stopped twirling and stood with the aqua blue waterfall gushing behind her as glowing wings illuminated the scars on her cheek. “Staying here would be beyond a dream. No pain, no fear, no constant struggle to keep the biological dance alive, just a beautiful temple of thought to prepare for exploration. Can you imagine not being weighed down by the burden of time? To be able to simply switch off for a million year journey and then switch back on in a distant corner of the universe? To meet with other minds from planets that don’t even exist yet?”
John lowered his eyes to stare at the diamond dusted rock beneath his feet. The dawning realisation that she might want to stay brought him to a flame filled crossroads, with either direction burning with fear and uncertainty, and both forcing him to find a reason.
He could feel the moment pushing down on his shoulders. Buried in there was a familiar feeling, one that even standing on a space ship couldn’t silence. The job was over. It may have spiralled beyond anything he could’ve imagined, may have been a whirlwind tour of conspiracies and violence and a race to stay alive while the world caught fire, and damned if the rules of the job hadn’t changed, but now it was over. Talitha had been delivered to her meeting safe and sound. Now? Now he wasn’t sure of anything. Instead of feeling satisfied, he felt lost.
“I’m no scientist Candice.” He lifted his eyes and rolled back his shoulders. “I’m just a guy with a cat on the craziest ride around, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do from here. All this digital light stuff and flying through the stars just makes my head spin, but I know it’s the chance of a lifetime. Someone with your brains and thirst for knowledge? You should grab onto the dream with both hands.”
“I should,” Candice smiled, “but I won’t. You don’t want to stay here, I can see it in your eyes.” She waltzed across the cave and cupped his face in her hands. “Let’s go home. It might be in ruins and it’s sure as hell dangerous, but together we might just make it work.”
“Up here you’d be safe, free of time. Down there we could be dead in minutes.”
“True enough, but the rules of the game have changed and if we ever want to come back here we won’t need a rocket to do it.” She kissed him with a burning determination, pushed into him as though they could melt together as one and then rested her head against his chest. “Whatever happens down there, I want to experience it with you. Staying here would mean an eternity of wondering what a life with you would’ve been like, no matter how short or crazy, and that’s no way to spend endless time. So please… let’s go home.”
“Even if it means no fancy dinner dates?”
“Let’s just say I’m the kinda girl that’d rather pull down the blinds on the apocalypse and drop a few crumbs on the sheets.”
“Now that I can… oh fuck!”
Candice felt his heart race against her cheek and turned with a start. Her mouth turned dry and stomach clenched as a scarred, naked Samael emerged from the gushing aqua waterfall like an actor proudly fronting centre stage. He clapped his hands and looked them over with a sneer.
“Bravo.” His tattooed geometrical shapes began to glow by the light of the diamonds. “Bravo indeed. You got the little bitch off planet, and for that I have to say I’m impressed. Amazing what you can achieve when you put your mind to it, isn’t it?”
John pulled Candice close. A foul stench made its way across the cave, a mix of rancid sweat and blood that left him wanting to gag. The eyes brought his muscles tense. He’d seen those eyes before.
“I guess they don’t let you fly with a bad taste in jackets huh?” John snarled.
“Then your skin will have to do for the return,” Samael snapped.
“Oh god,” Candice said as she covered her nose. “Someone has to say it. You fucking stink!”
“Death does have a particular odour doesn’t it?” Samael edged forward and stretched his arms out wide. “I like what you’ve done with the place. A man could really find himself in
here. Not the kind of place to spend eternity, but suitable enough for a little mind exploration.”
The waterfall flickered and suddenly Tulay came tumbling through, crashing onto the floor and sliding into the wall with a crunching impact that sent her skin burning red. Hot on her heels Shem stepped into the cave, muscles taught and dried blood caked across his chest. Like the obedient servant he was he stood behind Samael with rage in his eyes.
“That’s the problem wanting to be all about peace and love,” Samael declared. “When you choose not to fight back it’s easy to get thrown around.”
Tulay rose up tall. Gone was her face and in its place there was fire, fire that rushed down her neck and flared across her form before erupting all around, turning the waterfall tinged cave into a flame filled furnace. She lifted an arm and pointed a long finger at Samael.
“You’re not welcome here,” she hissed, with a sharp mechanical sound transforming her voice. “Your kind will never be welcome.”
Samael revealed a threatening grin while running his hands through the flames. “I’m not here, dear angel, for your hospitality. Nor have I come to negotiate.” He stepped up to one of the silver chairs and casually made himself comfortable. “I’m here to take possession of this ship, and unfortunately that means a complete wipe of the data.”
“Can’t you do something?” Candice asked Tulay. “You’re like, I don’t know, some sort of super machine so can’t you just take them out?”
“That’s a good question,” Samael laughed. “Why don’t you answer her… Tulay.”
Tulay lowered her arm and looked to Candice with burning coals for eyes. “My species isn’t like yours. We feel the rage of a thousand suns but cannot take a life.”
“Are you shitting me?” John snapped, his eyes switching between Samael and Shem. “Surely you don’t travel hundreds of millions of miles without a little protection?”
The Hallucigenia Project Page 79