“They altered the string!” Sariana shouted back. “That’s the whole problem. This parallel is all fucked up and I can’t change that! You’re not who you’re supposed to be. I’m trying to make the best out of a bad situation.”
“Hold on,” Milan interjected. “First of all, everyone just calm down for a second.”
Alicia wasn’t finished. “Yeah, you keep saying that, little miss I’m-here-to-change-the-timeline. Why don’t you just change it again and make it work?”
“I can’t believe how stupid you are here.”
“Ladies,” Milan was trying to get a word in edgewise.
“Oh, excuse me for not knowing shit about your trigger words and magic dimensions. How was I supposed to know any of that?”
Milan raised his hand. “I know a little about...”
“When did I blame you? Not once! It’s not your fault that the Humans made you retarded.”
“Oh! So, now I’m a retarded killing machine. You know something? You’re a fantastic ambassador from the sixth dimension. Just fantastic.”
“Okay!” Milan shouted.
“You were such a bitch when you were young, Grandma,” Sariana muttered under her breath. If looks could kill, Sariana would have been a smoldering pile of ash.
“Let’s just have a seat,” Milan suggested. “You’ve mentioned a few things that I’d like to explore further.” With that, the girls begrudgingly returned to their chairs at the table. “You’re talking about quantum mechanics.”
“That is your name for this concept, yes,” Sariana said.
“And what do you call it?”
“There is no name for what is.”
“But you’re referring to multiple universes. Different dimensions. Many worlds.”
“There are infinite universes but only eleven dimensions as we have defined them.”
“There may be more?”
“We cannot know this. The Humans wish to ascend beyond the tenth dimension.” Sariana explained the coming war to Milan, Charles and the General. As she did so, Alicia began to sense the mood of the room coming around to the girl’s philosophy, albeit with some trepidation. Milan was especially engaging.
“I must admit,” he said. “I would share the same curiosity as the ‘Humans’. What is the danger of exploring further?”
“The eleventh dimension is the realm of God. It is unknowable.”
“Do you know that God exists?” Charles asked. “Or is this merely an assumption?”
“This is not something you can understand in your present state. You’ve not yet ascended.”
“And your people... you don’t want us to grow?” the General queried.
“We are of the same ‘people’ and of course we do. After all, should you not, we cannot be. My very existence is dependent on your ascension. But not at the Humans’ behest. Should your soul not have the same opportunity to ascend? Surely, you’re not content to be only pawns in a dimensional game of chess?”
“But, in a way, what you’re saying is that the Humans are our creators. I’m not a very religious man,” the General continued. “But wouldn’t that make them our God?”
“This is what they want you to believe, yes. They have gone to great lengths, it would appear, to ensure that this would be your assumption. The Humans have limited your understanding of God, your history. More than you can imagine.”
“How many times has this very scenario played out?” Milan asked. “If there are multiple, parallel universes as you’re describing, hasn’t this happened before? Won’t it happen again?”
“You are correct. In that instance, for the Humans, the ascension failed.”
“This is what the voice said,” the General noted.
“The Humans are referring to the prior timeline, which we are currently erasing with our actions this very moment.”
Sariana was losing the General. “This is far too confusing.”
“And what happened during this initial timeline?” Milan asked.
“Your ascension was made imminent and did occur. Today we are rewriting the timeline and, if we can cease that mass exodus, you will be lead to your proper ascension by the Queen, your savior and the Exalted One. We must stop his ascension as well. I’m afraid that we don’t have the luxury of protracted explanations. There is no time to waste. Please, you must change your instructions.”
Everyone looked to the General. “You can’t be serious,” he said. “Look, I’m just as intrigued by this as the next guy but we have nothing to go on but her word.”
“We’ve based entire religions on less,” Charles mumbled.
Alicia’s cell phone rang; “Dancing Queen.” Sariana appeared safe and comfortable in present company. She excused herself to the next room as the debate at the table continued.
“So, any luck with the DJ?” Hal asked.
“No. I couldn’t get to him. I’ve been a bit sidetracked.”
“Hey, look, Alicia, I know we all gave you hell for the bit with the girl yesterday...”
“Yeah?”
“But do you know where we can find her?”
“Why?”
“Well, she’s blowing up. That footage from yesterday has really gone viral. Think you can track her down?”
A solider briskly walked past Alicia and nearly slammed her into the wall as he barreled toward the conference room. “Hey! Jesus. Asshole!” Alicia grumbled as she readjusted the phone to her ear. The soldier paused for a moment and a look of recognition appeared to come over him. Alicia guessed that he felt stupid once he recognized her from the network. The solider smiled and began to walk toward her.
“Alicia, it looks like you’ve got something here. L.A. really wants you to run with it.”
“I’ll see what I can do when I’m done with this.”
“Well,” the solider said. “This is certainly a pleasure.”
“I’m on the phone,” Alicia angrily whispered to the man.
“Thanks!” Hal continued. “Hey, speaking of which... where are you?”
“I’m inside Ground Zero.”
“What?! How’d you manage that?! You’ve got to get...”
The soldier took Alicia’s phone. “Hey! What the fuck?!”
“It would appear that your son is not only a coward but a failure as well. I find it amusing that at the first sign of danger, his instinct is to send for Mommy.”
Alicia’s heart stopped. The solider hung up her phone as Hal rattled off a string of directives. Alicia began to back away from the man. She didn’t know what to do. Instinct told her to run. More armed guards were making their way toward the conference room. Were they Human as well?
“Help!!” Alicia shouted.
“It won’t matter. None of this matters,” the soldier said as he drew his weapon. “We go round and round, don’t we? Revolt. Ascend. Repeat. You must be exhausted, Alicia.”
The two approaching soldiers now drew their weapons as well. “Stand down, solider!” one shouted. The gunman fixed on Alicia shot them both with clean shots to the forehead without taking his icy gaze from her. Alicia screamed as they convulsed in the hallway.
“Oh, my!” the soldier laughed. “Did that frighten you? Now, that’s hilarious. The most heinous and destructive souls in all of creation and yet you still fear the very thing that you were born to impose.” He pointed his pistol at the men who lie dying on the floor. “It’s just death,” he shrugged. “What are you afraid of? You love this.” He shot the soldiers again and they now became still. Alicia jumped and covered her face with each shot. The man was genuinely amused. “You savage,” he laughed. “This would be adorable if it weren’t such an incredible waste of time.” The man inched closer to her. “You’re only delaying the inevitable, and we’re so tired of chasing you.”
As he pointed his gun at Alicia, she froze in terror. Was this it? She was going to die. Or, no. This man said things would repeat. Was she going to start all over again? “Oh, God,” she thought. “7th grade. I ca
n’t do that again.” She suddenly found herself hoping that she’d just die for real.
Just then, Sariana burst through the conference room doors and pounced on the man’s back. “Is this the failsafe?!” she shouted. The soldier didn’t answer. In her right hand, she held her blade from the day before and thrust it behind the man’s ear. His external jugular snapped and a geyser of blood painted the girl’s new dress. The soldier fired wildly and Alicia hit the deck as bullets ricocheted across the room. By now, more soldiers had arrived and pointed their weapons at the crazed man. Their tactics were unnecessary, however, as Sariana quickly cut the man’s throat. He collapsed to the floor and Sariana left him to bleed out. She rushed to Alicia’s side.
“We must go. We’re not safe here.” Alicia was shaking and speechless. “Please. Follow me.”
A gang of personnel began to gather near the conference room as medical teams attempted to revive the fallen soldiers. Alicia managed to stand and began to follow Sariana to the back of the building, past the radio studios and toward the back door. They were stopped by two soldiers entering the building. Sariana held her blade at the ready.
“Don’t let them leave.” It was General Ramsey approaching from behind.
“We have to go,” Sariana shouted above the chaos.
“You just killed a man. You’re not going anywhere!”
“That man was going to kill me,” Alicia protested.
“Until we get this sorted out, you can’t just walk out of here.”
“You said we weren’t under arrest.” Alicia knew that was a stupid thing to say.
“Yeah, well, you are now. Take them into custody. Upstairs.”
The girls were placed in an office stacked with boxes of promotional items for the radio stations. Bumper stickers, coffee mugs and trinkets of all sorts littered the floor. The room smelled of old fast food wrappers and a lone, dying air freshener in the corner, still battling the odor with its final gasps of life. Alicia sat in one of the wing-back chairs while Sariana paced the room in her blood soaked sun dress. Two guards stood outside the door. It was too high to safely jump out of the window. Sariana had already checked.
“Look, why don’t you just sit down? You were protecting me. This wasn’t premeditated.” Alicia could tell that Sariana was barely listening. “Maybe they’ll assist. You made your case.”
“We’re wasting time.”
“They have procedures. There are laws.”
“More procedures!!” Sariana was trembling and near tears.
Alicia felt bad about yelling at her before. At least now, though, they had a plan B. Should the military choose to ignore Sariana’s message, they’d simply return to the studio. Alicia would put the girl on the air and the pair would lay it all on the line. They’d do it right this time. The people could draw their own conclusions.
In an effort to calm Sariana down, Alicia thought she might make some light of their situation. “So, is that your signature move or something?”
“What?”
“The throat cutting thing. You’ve done that twice. Once with the monster and then with the Human guy.”
“No. It just seemed... efficient.”
“It’s pretty bad-ass,” Alicia grinned. “You’re kind of a tough broad, y’know?”
Sariana rolled her eyes and smiled only slightly. It was high praise coming from Alicia and, in any other moment, Sariana would have been quite moved. Her grandmother, after all, was the very definition of a ‘tough broad’ in her world. But Sariana’s nerves were getting the better of her. The Humans could be anywhere. She didn’t understand how Alicia could be so calm. The fact was, the Grand Queen didn’t fully understand how dire her situation really was; Alicia was, nevertheless, equally on-edge. She was just better trained at disguising her anxiety.
“You should change your clothes. You’re covered in blood... again.” Alicia stood up and sorted through a box of t-shirts. She found a 2X black shirt that read “I’M A PRIZE PIG” in large pink letters alongside a gaudy station logo. It would have to do for the moment, she thought. Alicia tossed the shirt to Sariana. “Here. Why don’t you put this on?” Without hesitation, Sariana began to undress. Alicia quickly turned her back to the girl.
“So... modesty isn’t a ‘thing’ in the sixth dimension, I take it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Never mind.” Something had been troubling Alicia since the incident downstairs. It was the first time in her life that she had come face to face with her mortality. She was well accustomed to death. The newsroom had long ago made her numb. Sure, certain footage made her cringe more than others. But, overall, Alicia didn’t turn away from even the goriest demise. Watching someone die only a few feet away from her, however, was another thing entirely. “Sariana... those men who were killed downstairs. What happened to them?”
“They were shot.”
Alicia turned around and Sariana looked ridiculous. In her oversize shirt, she appeared better prepared for a sleepover than the end of the world. Her crumpled, blood-stained dress had been tossed in the waste bin. “I mean, what happened to... their souls?”
Since her arrival, Sariana had been ill-prepared to act as tutor. After all, if everything had gone according to plan, Alicia’s awakening should have caused a chain reaction of sorts. Sariana’s primary directive was to arrive and switch the Queen “on.” She had very much looked forward to watching her grandmother, a woman of such great renown, enlighten the masses and ignite the Luciferian rebellion. Sariana had dreamt of this since she was a child. Instead, she was Alicia’s mentor and guardian, it seemed. As she looked into her grandmother’s eyes, sincere and naïve of her place in creation, Sariana felt such great compassion and love for the woman. She took Alicia’s hands and spoke softly.
“You’re not going to do the thing again, are you?” Alicia asked.
“No.”
“Because... I’d like a heads up if that’s ever going to...”
“It’s all right.”
Alicia began to wonder if she was going to like the girl’s answer to her question. Or it could be worse. “You’re going to say that I’m not prepared to understand the answer, aren’t you?”
“No. I think you can. Inside you is an energy. It has a sound. Each soul emits a unique frequency; one that is distinctly its own.” Sariana touched her forehead. “When this vessel expires and that energy is expelled, your soul, your frequency is drawn to its ipseity; your singular soul group. You like music, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“There is a reason. Imagine a chord. All of the notes at once vibrating, producing tones in harmony. This is your soul group. Many soul groups converge and you might imagine that they create a symphony.”
“Okay.”
“Perhaps you’ve heard a piece of music that speaks to you. That composer channeled your song. These souls fit together.”
“What about songs I hate?”
“This composer is, perhaps, not of your... chord. Just as certain chords do not sound well together but are still part of the cacophony of music. Each soul plays a role to create this symphony, when they are sounded in their predestined order.”
“What does our soul group sound like?”
Sariana hesitated. “You will be able to hear this when you ascend.”
“What? Is it bad?” Alicia knew the answer. “It’s bad, isn’t it? Of course it is. We’re fucking evil. It’s a speed metal song, I bet.”
“No...”
“Oh God. It’s not a boy band or some terrible dubstep thing, is it? Wait. You said that we’re idiots. Does every other soul group have a beautiful, complex symphony and our song is Old MacDonald Had a Farm or something?”
“I never said that you were idiots.”
“You kind of did...”
“We’re getting off track.”
“I’m sorry but you want me to march into battle and I don’t think that I can do that to the Sanford & Son theme song
.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is not a song that you have ever heard before. This really shouldn’t worry you.”
“Okay,” she said. But it did worry Alicia.
“Because the third dimension is one of learning, you do not remain with your soul group. You, instead, enter a new vessel and continue the learning process.”
“Reincarnation.”
“It is the way of all new souls.”
“I don’t get to take a break?”
“I’m sorry?”
“What if I don’t want to go back to studying right away? Can my soul just take a vacation for a while? See the universe?”
“It will occur to you that time is irrelevant as it is infinite. There is no need for a vacation. You won’t wish it so.”
“I think I might...”
Sariana sighed. “You just won’t, my Queen.”
“Why can’t I remember these past lives?”
“It is all one life and you will recall all of your experiences and lessons upon ascension. However, in this world, the Humans have predestined you to be born again with amnesia; forgetting your past lessons so that you may practice your sole destiny in infinite redundancy, until they have been satisfied with your learning.”
“So, those men. They just begin again?”
“They do. Yes.”
“Why didn’t they just die? I thought we invented death? Isn’t that the whole problem?”
“Why would you wish death upon your own? You cannot know this yet. This is an ability your souls will manifest upon ascension.”
“But we’ve been practicing the whole time?”
“Yes. In the third dimension, most soul groups have spent their time enlightening their collective spirits. They have worked diligently toward a goal of self and group actualization.”
“But our time in the third dimension has just been spent blowing stuff up?”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Wow. We really are idiots.”
“And this is what we must tell people.”
“Yeah. That’s going to go over great.”
“We must tell them that it is not too late. Your souls may still be enlightened. This does not have to be your primary destiny.”
Ascension: Invocation Page 17