As she was staring into the ocean of the Multiverse she saw someone walking along the beach towards her. It was Patrick. For a moment she was able to forget the ugliness of all that could be. Patrick had that effect on her.
He saw her and he smiled. With each day they became closer. He stood next to her and they looked into the sea together.
“It’s so sad,” Sarah said after a few moments. Her mind had turned back to her discussion with Isiah. “There is so much evil out there.”
“Yes,” Patrick replied. “There is. It is always there. I see it. I see it often.”
“It’s hard to not let it consume you,” Sarah mused. “To change you so that you are a reflection of it.”
Patrick nodded.
“I’ve thought about that a lot,” Patrick said. “About how we live in this place where we can travel throughout existence. We are here…because we can affect things. If we can affect things…perhaps…I don’t know…perhaps we can change things. More than just the one cure. More than defeating the Phage. We could…enter Verses and make them better.”
He smiled. “Imagine that. We are gifted. We can dance in and out of infinity and make those lives out there what they should be. Out there is an infinity of worlds. An infinity of Verses…that we can make better.”
Patrick turned to Sarah. “Fall into them with me. Fall into them…and let us find each other. Let us find each other in as many as we can. Let’s start to make the change.”
It sounded amazing but Sarah had never conceived of anything like this.
“How?” she said. “How can we be sure we will be in the same Verse at the same time?”
Patrick smiled. “Trust me,” he said. “You go. And I will follow. And together we will find each other.”
Was Patrick that skilled? Sarah wondered. Was he already starting to be able to locate specific times and places in the Multiverse?
Patrick saw the doubt on Sarah’s face.
“Trust me, Sarah. I will find you.”
It was a beautiful thought. It was a beautiful idea. Sarah nodded. She then looked into the Ocean of infinity.
She leapt into it.
***
Sarah Guzman was a checker at a local grocery store. She worked hard. She was trying to save up enough money for a car and then she dreamed of one day attending college. She already had catalogues for courses at a local community college.
Today was a day like any other. She had been on her shift for six hours now. She knew at home chores awaited her.
She was currently ringing up a woman’s groceries. The woman’s cart was filled with wine and cat food. Would this become her in the future, Sarah wondered.
She heard the doors to the grocery store open. A man walked in. He was very handsome. He had piercing blue eyes. He was much older than she was. Sarah recognized him instantly. It was Patrick.
Sarah from the Sea of Glass had stepped into this Verse no more than three days ago. Patrick had found her. She smiled when she saw him. He smiled back.
Sarah went to her manager and told him she was going to take her break. He nodded. Sarah approached Patrick who was standing by a book rack.
Sarah felt warmth wash over her. This was such a beautiful game. This was a game of meeting for the first time.
“It is good to see you,” she said.
“You look as beautiful as always,” he replied.
He waited for her shift to end. Afterwards he took her out to dinner.
While at the restaurant Patrick told her all about himself. He was the vice president of a major bank a few states over. He had gotten a deferment from Vietnam due to a leg injury he suffered as a child. They were different ages in this place. He was in his forties and she was twenty-two. They were in many ways lucky. Their lives overlapped. They were separated in the world by a generation but still fate had allowed them to come together. It had allowed them to find each other.
There was much happiness as they enjoyed their dinner together. They spent the whole night laughing and talking. Sarah had a moment to wonder if she had changed the life of this person. When she left would Patrick and Sarah stay together in this Verse? She could actively control this life or she could be a passenger at times if she chose. She was the same person after all. She simply knew different circumstances.
As the night came to a close Sarah sat on a bench with Patrick. They kissed. She looked at the boy she loved who was now an old man. She smiled.
She fell back into another Verse.
***
Sarah Guzman was a pharmacist. She made very good money. She worked for a large retail store chain. Her parents had pushed her into this line of work.
She was currently going through some recent prescriptions that had been received and verifying if the indicated medications were available or if they needed to be ordered.
She heard a man at the counter ask if he could speak to the pharmacist.
Sarah looked up and smiled.
She approached the man.
“How can I help you?” she asked.
Patrick smiled. “What would you recommend for allergies to pollen,” he said. “Something that won’t make me drowsy.”
“I think I have just the thing for you,” Sarah replied. “Come follow me.”
It was fun knowing in this Verse a secret history that others could not imagine. However, what made her most happy was that Patrick was good to his word. He had found her.
She led Patrick down an aisle where the allergy medications were located. She looked them over. “Try this one,” she said. “It is the best over the counter medicine we have.”
When she handed it to Patrick their fingers brushed up against each other. The moment was electric. It was private yet it had depth few could ever understand.
“Thank you,” Patrick said. He looked deep into Sarah’s eyes. “Are you doing anything tonight? I would love to take you to a movie.”
Sarah beamed brightly.
“You know…I think I’m free,” she said.
***
Sarah Guzman was a college student. Her Economics class had just ended and she was walking along the campus grounds.
She stopped by college’s commons area. There was a coffee shop in one of the buildings. She entered the shop and placed her order. As she waited for her coffee to be prepared her eyes scanned the shop.
Patrick was sitting at a table in the corner. When her coffee was finished Sarah went to his table and joined him.
In this universe as with the rest they did not know each other. However, it did not matter. They knew how to find one another wherever they were. In this place they started a romance. They started a love. They lived together happily until a very sad day came. Patrick was diagnosed with cancer.
Sitting in a hospital room Sarah held Patrick’s hand as the cancer was about to claim him. She stood up and kissed her love’s forehead.
At this point Sarah and Patrick stepped out of this life. They jumped into another.
This time they were both living in California. Patrick first encountered Sarah at a museum. They discussed the artwork that surrounded them. The day ended with Sarah giving her phone number to Patrick.
Then she fell back into another life.
They danced through these Verses and through these lives like lovers chasing the moon. It was an eternal moon. They chased each other through different worlds and through different circumstances. Whenever they found themselves in new places they sought each other out.
They always found each other in all these alternate lives. They met in all these alternate universes and they shared one point of commonality. That commonality was their love. It was their love that joined them. Their loved bound them together. They knew that their love would linger in each Verse even after they stepped out of one life to live in another. They felt in many ways that they were making things right in the Verses they stepped out of. Their love was truth.
They danced through possibilities. They danced through different re
alities. They came together as a hundred different people. They came together as acquaintances. They came together as strangers. They found each other across crowded rooms.
For one instant in all these many universes they loved each other. They took control of the universe and of fate. They danced together in an infinity of what ifs.
Finally, an old Sarah sat with an old Patrick. They sat on a porch watching their grandchildren play. On the horizon the sun was setting. The sun was also setting on this life they had found. It was almost as perfect a life as two lovers could ever hope to have. Sarah looked down at her wrinkled hand which Patrick was holding. His hand was as frail and wrinkled as hers was.
Holding hands in this moment was much like they had once held hands as they walked together as teenagers through the fields of Verse Zero. That was several lifetimes ago. Now in this far away life...in this far away world…this old Sarah breathed her last breath. She breathed her last moment with the man she loved. He was the man who had grown old with her.
Sarah moved out of this life at the last possible moment. She stepped away just as the life expired so that it would not take her with it. However, for an instant she was tempted not to go. She was tempted to stay in the moment. She was tempted to hold on to this life till the life faded.
What more could one hope for? She wondered. How much more perfect could a life get? When a person died what could be more perfect then dying beside the one you loved looking at your future as your grandchildren were playing in the distance.
In the end it was image of these grandchildren that pushed Sarah back to her Sea of Glass. She knew her desire to stay in this perfect moment was a selfish one. Because if she did let that moment pass...if she stayed in it and let it take her down with it…then there was no future. The grandchildren in this perfect universe would have no tomorrow.
She knew she must abandon this happiness. She must move forward so that perfect lives could occur. No matter how little the odds of reaching true happiness were, somewhere in the endlessness of infinity true happiness was always possible.
***
The Philosophical Principles of Death. The Scripture of Farinata Uaegli Abertio.
Gospel 000055
In visions in the darkness I communed with the Lord of life and death.
In darkness I was granted sight.
In darkness I was granted enlightenment.
God defines to me the parameters of our existence so that we may move forward.
All else is a distraction. The things which fall outside of the parameters defined by God are unclean things that distract us from the will of the Lord.
I was granted the understanding of the importance of discipline.
In the darkness I saw myself. In the darkness I found light and goodness.
I found…
Verse Thirteen: The Weaver’s Apprentice
Today’s class was on Specialized Topics in Mechanical Engineering. The lesson covered the designs of the first manned crafts to land on Mars.
When the class was over Belili approached Sarah as she was about to leave.
“May I speak with you, Sarah” Belili asked.
“Sure,” Sarah said.
Belili waited till the class was empty before speaking again.
“You are doing well Sarah,” she said. “Very well.”
“Thank you,” Sarah replied. “I try my best.”
“We would like to start looking at putting you in the next level of study. An advanced training course. You would be apprenticing.”
Sarah was surprised to hear Belili say this. She knew that at some point everyone from her generation was to be placed in a position according to their aptitude and passion. However, none of the children had been singled out for this yet and all indications were that this was still some years off.
“What is the field of study?” Sarah asked.
“Medicine,” Belili replied.
This too surprised Sarah. Sarah was most interested in working with advanced mathematics. She hoped to become a Theoretical Mathematician working with the Scholars at the Citadel.
“I never thought that Medicine would be my field,” Sarah responded.
Belili shrugged and smiled.
“You do extremely well in all your biology and physiology classes. You are exceptionally suited for this area. And we have great need of doctors in Verse Zero.
Belili seemed to sense Sarah’s uncertainty.
“I’ll tell you what,” Belili said. “Just meet with one of our top surgeons. Spend some time with him. If you decide it is not for you I will completely understand and support that decision. However, you should at least give this a chance before turning it down. Let me introduce you to one of our top medical specialists first.”
Sarah was becoming intrigued despite her initial disinterest. It was amazing that she was being singled out so early for an apprenticeship.
Sarah nodded.
“Ok,” she said.
“Wonderful,” Belili replied. “Come with me. I will introduce you to one of the greatest artists to ever live on the Sea of Glass.”
***
Belili led Sarah through the city but much to Sarah’s surprise they did not go to the Hall of Medicine. They instead left the city all together. The place they were going to was on the side of the island opposite to the dorms where Sarah still lived.
Eventually Sarah saw a small structure in the distance. As she neared it she saw that the structure was a cabin.
They approached the building and Belili gave a light knock to the door.
“Come in Belili!” a voice said. The voice was high and coarse at the same time.
They entered the small cabin. They stepped into a living room and Sarah followed Belili into an adjoining room. The room appeared to be an office. There was a desk at one end of the room. At it sat a man who was looking down as he was writing some information. He had patches of white hair on the sides of his head like two streaks of cotton.
The man looked up and when he did terror washed over Sarah.
He had not aged significantly since the last time that Sarah saw him. She used to see him often. He was the tall, skinny man who would come into her room at night after Belili had given her the tranquilizing drink.
The man smiled when he saw Belili and Sarah. He had that same shiny excited glint that was in his eyes all those years ago.
“Welcome…welcome…welcome,” he said. “Welcome.”
He stood up and Sarah took a step back as he did so. She could not help herself. The terror she had for this man was instinctive. She still at times had nightmares of him coming to visit her room.
Belili noted Sarah’s fear. She reached over and put her hand on Sarah’s shoulder to keep her from retreating further.
“Hello, Jean-Henri,” Belili said. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.”
Belili prompted Sarah to step forward. “Jean-Henri, this is Sarah. She is one of our finest students.”
The skinny man smiled broadly.
“Sarah, I have heard so many good things about you. I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. I have not had an apprentice in quite some time.”
After a few moments Sarah found her voice.
“What do you do?” she asked.
The smile on the man’s face broadened. “I am a Weaver,” he said. He said the words with great pride.
This puzzled Sarah. This was the last thing she had expected to hear. Belili had said the man was a surgeon not a Weaver. Why did she need to apprentice to be a simple weaver?
“A Weaver?” she asked.
The skinny man did not seem to notice her confusion. He went on speaking with energy and enthusiasm.
“Yes…I am currently the Master Brain Weaver of Verse Zero.”
The words washed over Sarah and brought with them horror. They also brought with them fascination. As they did so Sarah became more aware of her surroundings. The walls of this office were filled with charts and maps of the brain.
“Jean-Henri is our greatest Weaver,” Belili said. “Brain Weavers are very important to our cause. It is only through them that we can restructure the mind the way that it needs to be in order to complete our great endeavor. The Brain Weavers more than anyone else are the engines that have been driving us in our hope for success.”
Belili looked to the frail man.
“Jean-Henri, I will leave you with Sarah so that you can introduce her to the science of Brain Weaving,” Belili said. “Teach her well.”
“Of course! Absolutely,” Jean-Henri replied.
Belili turned to Sarah and gave her a reassuring smile. She then left Sarah alone with the Brain Weaver.
***
There was an awkward silence that hung in the air after Belili left. The Brain Weaver continued staring at Sarah and smiling. It was at this point that she noted that the Weaver had an eye twitch. She found it to be unsettling.
Sarah’s terror was slightly subsiding. She learned over the years to meet the unexpected with calm and face terror with wonder. This was one such instance where Sarah knew this would be a good place to apply this logic. The Weaver was as much a part of this strange world as anything else. However, for better or worse in the decade that had passed since she had first been brought to this place this world had become her home.
Sarah also felt curiosity at hearing of this man’s work.
“How do you Weave a brain,” Sarah asked.
The Weavers eyes lit up with this question.
“It is all very simple,” he said. “Or all very complex. I can never really tell the difference to be honest.” He giggled to himself. As he started to speak he almost seemed to forget Sarah was there. He was becoming lost in the reality of his world of science.
He went to a shelf. On it was a model of a brain. He showed it to Sarah, but he kept his eyes on the model at all times.
“The brain…the brain…the brain. So very fascinating. So much…how does it work…how does it fit together? I know…but I don’t really understand.”
Prisons of Stolen Dreams Page 19