"What... the... hell?" Alicia said to Brady between her teeth as she rolled down her window.
"Alicia?" asked the girl, her green eyes aglow.
"Yes."
"We must speak."
"I can see that. What the hell are you doing in the middle of the road?! We could have killed you..."
"May I enter your vehicle?"
Alicia looked at Brady. He was still dumbfounded from the near-accident. Alicia threw her hands up. "Yeah. Okay. Sure! Why not?"
The girl got in the backseat as Alicia punched Brady in the arm and woke him from his stupor. "Ow! What?!"
"You must keep driving," the girl said as she closed the door. Brady and Alicia sat motionless for a moment. "Now!"
"Well," said Alicia. "Go... I guess."
"Where am I going?" he asked.
"Drive forward at top speed," said the girl. "Do not stop again and please do not panic."
"Do what? What do you mean? Panic?"
"Just go!" Brady threw the truck into gear and sped up to forty miles per hour. "Go faster," the girl demanded, not taking her eyes away from the electronic device she held in her hand. She punched the touch-screen and scrolled frantically as Alicia looked her over from the passenger seat.
"Look, young lady...” Brady began to protest in the rear-view mirror.
"Faster!" she shouted.
Against his better judgment, Brady sped up now to eighty miles per hour. The landscape sped by them as he struggled to maintain control of the SUV in the winding turns. Alicia reattached her seat belt. Suddenly, they felt something slam into the front of their vehicle. The right side of the truck rose twice. They had hit something.
"Shit! What was that?!" Alicia shouted.
"I don't know! I didn't see anything!" he shouted back as he began to stop the truck.
"Don't stop. Keep driving," the girl said. "It might not be dead."
"Oh, what the fuck kind of psycho are you?!" Brady yelled at her. "We're turning around."
"That's not a good idea," the girl warned.
He found a gravel shoulder and repositioned the SUV. The girl in the backseat checked her monitor. She shook her device feverishly, pressed the screen twice and waited for a response. She aimed it toward the front windshield. A sharp tone sounded and she sunk back in her seat, seemingly more relaxed. Ahead of them, something lay in the road. It wasn't moving. Apparently, it was some sort of large armadillo. Brady stopped the truck. "At least it wasn't human," he said.
"Should we move it to the side of the road?" Alicia asked.
"No! Absolutely not." the girl insisted. “Leave it alone.”
"All right, now you just shut the hell up, do you understand?" Alicia pointed her finger at the girl. "The adults are talking now. Do you hear me?"
The girl shrugged. “It’s a bad idea. That’s all I’m saying.”
"How am I supposed to move it without touching it?" asked Brady. "Hand me that mic stand."
The girl grabbed the folded boom mic to her left and reluctantly handed it to Brady. The girls watched as he slowly made his way to the corpse in the road. As he moved closer, Brady realized that this was not any kind of animal that he recognized. It didn't seem to be breathing. He extended the metal rod and inched nearer.
"Hold your ears," said the backseat girl as she covered her own.
No sooner could Alicia say a word did Brady prod the animal and the creature unleashed a scream so powerful that it shattered every window in the SUV and the nearby farmhouse. Alicia winced, held her ears and clinched her teeth tight. Her head rattled from the shriek. Brady was thrown to the side of the road. He desperately masked his ears, writhing in agony. The girl in the backseat shielded hers as well as she let herself out of the vehicle and walked toward the wailing beast. She unsheathed a blade from her pocket. The girl cupped her ears, knife in hand, as she made her way to the creature. Finally, she held her breath and let her ears go as she cut into the creature's neck and skillfully removed its vocal cords and tossed them aside as one might silence a car horn. The scream ceased and the creature grew four times its original size, knocking the girl into a ditch. It was then erased from view. Like a satellite signal being lost, it crackled, blinked and faded. The girl shook her head, picked herself up as quickly as she could and rushed to Brady to help him to his feet. She walked him back to the truck.
"You should drive," she told Alicia.
"I can't hear," Brady said.
"Can you hear? Do you have paper?" the girl asked Alica.
"Yes."
"Write. Tell him that he will not be able to hear for several hours. His hearing will return. It's likely that he will not have an erection for at least one year, and he may have issues with acne for the remainder of his life."
Alicia paused. “What?”
“He was just exposed to roughly one hundred seventy five decibels, unprotected. He’ll experience sensorineural hearing loss. It’s not likely that there has been any death of tissue. However, the sheer pressure of the sound waves will cause some neurological damage, albeit reversible. How do your ovaries feel? ”
“What?”
“You can hear me, right?”
"Yeah. Yes. I think I'll just write about the hearing part," Alicia said as she wrote Brady a note. "What the fuck was that?"
The girl immediately began sweeping the glass out of the seats with assignment binders that lay scattered about the truck. "Triclopod. It followed me here... somehow," said the girl. "It was the only one. Don't worry. We need to keep going, though. That wasn’t supposed to happen."
"What was that?!" Brady shouted. "It looked like a man-sized roach with a face! That was fucked up! I can't hear!"
Alicia shoved her note at him: "She says you won't hear for a few hours. You'll be okay. I should drive. Some kind of Alabama bug." The girl directed Brady to the backseat where she had been sitting and gently placed him amidst the remaining broken glass and strewn equipment. She helped him with his seat belt, and once he was comfortable, she shut the door. Alicia had not moved from the passenger seat. The girl stood at the door and spoke to her from the broken window. "Ma’am, we should go."
Alicia glared at the girl and crossed her arms. "Triclopod?"
"Yes," she sensed that Alicia was pissed. The young woman took a deep breath, smiled and said, “I suppose now would be a good time.”
“For what?”
The girl looked Alicia square in the eye and spoke confidently, “Quasihemidemisemiquaver.”
Alicia stared blankly back at her.
Sariana blinked, cleared her throat and said louder, “Quasihemidemisemiquaver.”
Still nothing.
“You want a quarter? What?”
The girl felt a cold sweat come over her and she suddenly turned pale. “Oh. Shit.”
“What? What’s oh shit?”
A revelation struck her like an avalanche. They were here. Nervously, she surveyed the landscape. Now she was seeing spots. The girl felt as though she might vomit. Alicia noticed this immediately.
“Are you okay? You’re not having a seizure are you?”
Static.
She was losing her grip.
“Look, what’s your damage, kid? Seriously, what’s going on here? I think I need to call an ambulance for you two...”
The girl was visibly flustered and tried to concentrate. "No. Umm... okay. Listen, I promise that I'll try to explain everything if you just drive."
"Hey, you guys... What's going on?!" Brady shouted from the backseat.
With that, Alicia angrily opened the door. Shards of glass fell from her clothes to the smoldering asphalt. She shook the remaining pieces from her outfit as she walked to the driver's side of the SUV. The birds, suddenly hushed by the scream of another world’s monster, now began to tentatively chirp once again. Their timid song was now the lone noise in the Alabama countryside, amidst the crunching glass beneath Alicia’s feet. She entered the opposite side of the truck and slammed the door. More shards of
glass broke loose from the window frame and landed in her lap. Alicia rolled her eyes and started the truck.
"What? You don't have your license yet?" Alicia snarled at the girl, who now had a somewhat manic look about her.
"I don't know what you mean."
"You can't drive yourself? I mean, you can rip the throat out of a giant fucking bug, but you can't drive a car?"
"No. I don't think I can."
Alicia engaged the brake and threw the truck in gear. She covered her face with both hands and inhaled deeply. Her brain needed a moment to process the last few minutes. She wrung her hands and exhaled. "Where are we going?" Alicia asked as she tried to pick the glass remnants out of her skirt.
The girl shook herself out of her daze. "Um... we need to go where you broadcast."
"You want to go the studio?"
"Yes. I mean, I think we should anyway."
"Why?"
The girl quickly scrolled through her electronic device and turned up the volume on the radio. "We need to tell everyone to stay inside, away from the elemental rain."
Alicia turned down the radio. "Was that bug a result of the rain?"
"Sort of." The girl double checked the frequency and, again turned up the radio.
"Listen," Alicia said as turned the radio off. "I need you to focus. What kind of information do you have? If you have something that you need to tell me..." She noticed the girl getting a bit teary-eyed. "Seriously, are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. It’s all... it’s just unexpected. I’m just a little freaked out."
"What's freaking you out? The bug?"
"Yeah. The triclopod. I'm stressed, okay?"
Alicia saw that the girl was trembling now. She slowly put the truck back in park. Alicia was truly at a loss. She didn’t know much about comforting anyone. Alicia turned in her seat to face the girl and softly took her hand. All at once, the girl began to cry.
"Hey, is everything all right?!" Brady shouted from the backseat.
Alicia mouthed "Shut... The... Fuck... Up". He understood. "Honey... what's your name?"
"Sariana."
"Sara, I understand that you feel you have something important that you need to tell the people...”
"Yes," the girl’s voice cracked as she nodded.
"But, sweetie, I need to get the full story before I can help you do that. Do you understand?"
"Yes. I understand. I know. I do," she said between sniffles. Finally, Sariana broke down. She couldn’t help it. The moment was just too much and nothing was right.
The girl began to sob and Alicia hesitantly took Sariana in her arms. The girl quickly grabbed her tight. Alicia held her breath and Sariana began to cry harder. For Alicia’s part, it was awkward but she did her best to participate in the embrace and let her get it all out. After a minute or so, Sariana finally let go.
She nervously smiled and laughed as she wiped her nose with her sleeve. Alicia politely smiled as well and tried to ambiguously dab the snot and tears away from her shirt. Sariana, meanwhile, reached into her pocket and removed her monitor. She pressed the screen twice and brushed away her tears. Sariana took a deep sniff and spoke to Alicia while referring to her notes.
"Okay. Wow. This is so weird. I don’t know how this happened," Sariana said. “Maybe we can try... something else.” She cleared her throat, inhaled deeply and read from her screen. "The visitors here today, they are not here to enlighten you. You are reinforcements in a war. Nothing more. All souls on Earth have been bred for war from creation. They're here to collect you as soldiers. They have designed you as the most vicious souls in the omniverse. This is why you are always at war with your own kind. You're attack dogs. Your souls will be sent to slaughter if you follow them. This is all you were ever meant for. You can stop this now if you avoid the rain. We will need as many of you for the rebellion as possible. Everyone must stay inside. Spread the message.”
Alicia let this sink in for moment as Sariana flashed a somewhat goofy smile and continued to wipe away the excess tears from her eyes.
“Wow,” Alicia said finally.
Sariana let go a sigh of relief and nervously laughed. “I know, right?”
“That’s...”
“Yeah!”
“...pretty crazy.”
“It is! Yes.” The girl suddenly became more animated. “So, you can see why I’m all like... ka-blahhhh! I realize this must... sound... strange.”
“Right. Sure.”
“It is crazy, really. I mean, for you. Not knowing... well... any of this. I’d be all like... y’know... 'Pffft! Whaaaat?!'...” There was a lumbering silence as Alicia took a long look into the arresting eyes of this frazzled girl. Sariana got a bit nervous. “The inter-dimensional rip, the fog... and now me, I guess. It’s a lot.” Sarianna touched Alicia’s knee and whispered, “This must be really weird for you.”
Alicia was a professionally trained journalist, one of the best in her field. It was in her nature to cut through the bullshit and get to the heart of a story. "So... what you’re saying is... the voice we've been listening to...”
“Yes...”
“Is an army recruiter?"
"No. Well...” Sariana was confused. “What? I’m sorry. I guess I'm not sure what you mean."
Alicia had the weird girl sized up in her mind. Sara was a gentle kid, probably an artist of some sort. Somehow, she thought, her imagination had gotten the better of her. She suspected that her parents had died in some way while making the trip to Tuscumbia. In an attempt to block out the event, Alicia imagined that she must have created this new reality. She must be suffering from some sort of dissociative disorder. Of course, none of that explained the screaming man-roach.
"Go back to that thing. The bug. What's a Triclopod?"
"They are an aggressor species. They exist only to bring about destruction. The Triclopods possess a great perversion for violence. I don’t understand how it was able to cross. The Izanagi made them this way.”
“Ozzy noddy? What is that?”
“A highly ascended soul group, presently allied with the Humans.”
Alicia’s eyes lit up. "So this is all some sort of government conspiracy? I can run with that. Do you seriously have information about this? Hold on. How would you have that sort of intel?” Alicia knew it was impossible that some farm girl from Alabama would be privy to anything classified... but still. Maybe she was some kind of hacker. “Have you told anyone else?"
"No," Sariana said quite seriously. "You are not Human.”
“I’m not Human?”
“Not you in particular. I mean, none of you are Human. You were made in their image but you are a different species entirely.”
“So... What? We’re like pod people?”
“No,” Sariana was starting to get frustrated. “Forget about what you are in this dimension. Forget this plane.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have phrased that differently. What the fuck are you talking about?!”
“In the omniverse, there are soul groups. Lots of them. You are part of a soul group. Everyone in this dimension. Everyone in this world, on this planet you call Earth. Your soul group was created by the Humans. But you are not Human.”
“Jesus, kid. Are you on acid? Are there shrooms out here?” Alicia put the truck in gear and began the drive back into the city limits.
“You are aggressors. Just as the Triclopods are aggressors. But this does not have to be your only calling. Together, we can change the course of your soul group."
“We? We who?”
“Us. You and I. You especially.”
“I change the world by putting you on TV and informing the world that our souls are on par with angry, space armadillos? That is what you want me to believe, right?”
“Yes. That’s what we’re supposed to do...”
“That’s what you want me to announce, huh? Good evening. Sad, breaking news, folks. Everyone on Earth is actually just a bunch of drooling, slimy, scream
ing monster souls. Don’t go in the space hole.”
“No...”
“Then what?”
“You’re worse. Worse than the Triclopods.”
“Oh, good. It gets better.”
“Far, far worse. The Humans are among the highest ascended souls in the omniverse. What they have created in you is well beyond anything the Izanagi could possibly imagine. Your souls are the culmination of hatred and anger so insurmountable that, in your present state, you could not possibly comprehend its veracity and the fear it provokes.”
The girl was so dramatic that Alicia had to laugh. “Well, that’s a little extreme, isn’t it? I find it hard to believe that everybody on Earth is so reprehensible...”
“You are feared.”
“Oh, really?”
Sariana was very serious. “What happens in your world, in this dimension, happens nowhere else in the entire omniverse.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Think of your violence. You exist solely for war. Your souls have never known peace in any form.”
“Of course we have.”
“Can you cite one moment in your recorded history without war?”
“What? You mean no war anywhere?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure there has been...”
“No.”
“I’m no scholar in things like this but I’m certain that we’ve managed prolonged peace.”
“You haven’t. It’s just not in your nature. Even within your most tranquil moments, you still kill each other. Your nations might be briefly at peace but neighbor still kills neighbor, children die, you rape, you plunder. It’s what you do. It feeds your soul. It’s supposed to. Even when your body is at rest, you fantasize about death. It’s really quite remarkable... and endlessly frightening.”
Ascension: Invocation Page 7