by Agster, Joe
“Mason, huh. So who exactly am I?” Friend wonders.
Mason responds, “Well so far all I can tell is you are different from the previous timeloopers. Your Other is also different. He is far more advanced in his abilities, and that puts you in considerable danger.”
Friend gets up to walk out of the room, curious about his location and surroundings. From the room he walks into a vast living space, with larger stone walls and longer beams, decorated with rustic orange and accented with a tamed violet hue, like the colors of the sky during a sunset. The door to the outside gives way to a quiet, expansive land. Friend eyes take in the green rolling hills, sparsely endowed with trees and mostly consisting of grass and a few deep green bushes. A couple wild horses roam in the distance. It’s all beautiful and serene, but he wonders just what this place is, and how far it is from Las Vegas.
“Where am I?” Friend inquires.
“This is my hideaway. We're in an old, abandoned ranch house in southern Mexico, tucked away from most of civilization,” Mason explains, followed by a suggestion, “Let’s eat.”
The kitchen area is large, with windows overlooking the scenery from the other side. A small lake resides in the distance. Mason prepares a salad of sorts, rolled up in a tortilla, to Friend’s delight. As much as he enjoys indulging in the complex and deep cuisine of this civilization, he still prefers the simplicity of vegetable and grain dishes. In the quietness of the meal, Mason feels obligated to explain more. “Friend, you must know that you cannot return to Las Vegas for a while. If your Other catches you he could end your existence.”
Friend is slightly troubled by the statement as he interprets the suddenly heavier toned voice. “I’m not sure what you mean, I’ve died several times now. In addition to being killed by the asteroid on a regular basis, I’ve been shot… and left to die of dehydration and hypothermia.”
“That’s not what I mean. He has one purpose, to stop you. If he succeeds you stop looping completely. You are gone from this world forever, expelled into the vast world of nothingness, never to return again. Understand?” Mason tells him.
The horror of that situation sinks in slowly. For the first time Friend no longer feels invincible. He understands there is a danger out there, and as he has been roaming around in an ill-fated attempt to save Cassie, his one true enemy that he didn’t know existed has been conspiring against him. If the plot to make it to the bunker seemed trivial and futile before, it feels like complete foolishness now.
Friend struggles to finish his meal, being full from angst that is robbing him of any sort of appetite. Mason looks on at him, feeling his unease, knowing that he had to find out sooner or later.
“Look, Friend, don’t be alarmed.” Mason tries to soothe him from the shock from his previous revelation, “Your Other cannot obtain powers beyond what which you are capable.”
Mason stands up, realizing that Friend has lost his will to complete his meal, and promptly cleans the table. Friend stands up as well, helping him out, but eager to let out one burning question.
“Can the asteroid be stopped?” Friend asks.
“Yes… well in theory. It’s obviously never been done,” Mason replies.
“So then how can it be stopped?” Friend questions further.
“Well, Friend, that’s why you are here, to answer that question,” Mason confidently responds, “This is why we need to begin soon… now, actually.”
Friend breathes in, then gasps in curiosity, “Begin what?”
“Begin your training.”
12:00
Mason and Friend stand in the vastness of the grassy field, with thick, ominous rain clouds rolling along in the distance. Mason looks around in wonderment as his long coal gray sweater is pushed around by the breeze. It is an odd style of clothing not normally seen in Las Vegas, adored with interweaving white stripes of varying width near its bottom. It seems more than adequate for providing comfort from the cool temperate climate. As he observes the scenery, a surprised Friend asks himself how Mason could have procured such a place.
“Before we begin our training, I wanted to bring you out here to experience nature. Humans construct large cities to shelter themselves from it, rejecting a symbiotic relationship that could benefit them both. Although we are human, we come from a different world, an unknown world I’ve spent lifetimes trying to figure out. But in this world, we have special powers. Powers that enable us to do incredible, supernatural things. In order to develop and control those powers, we need to first develop a symbiotic relationship with our mind.”
Mason pauses to look around, turning to face the pristine lake, the mountains on the other side, and the smooth hills in between, raising his arms in appreciation, taking deep breaths through his nose to absorb the wonder.
“It’s a beautiful world, tranquil; everything working in its natural order, such as it is with your mind. If you had tried to practice your power of healing, you would have succeeded had you returned to your natural state of mind.”
Friend thinks about that, how he failed to heal himself during the standoff with the ruthless FBI agent, Stewart. He was full of fear, possibly the exact opposite of tranquil as you can get. In contrast, when he blew that door open, he honed his mind, brutally focused on the task at hand.
Mason raises his arm to lead Friend to a section of the manor exterior, a bricked patio with several palm wicker chairs and a large circular mat in the middle. It sits adjacent to the rear on the western side of the ranch house, overlooking the lake that sits in the distance.
“For the rest of these six days I am going to teach you about meditation. We will do little more than thinking, then we will empty our minds and do nothing but breathe. Eventually you will be a skilled expert at returning to the natural wonder of your mind no matter what the circumstances. This is how you will sustain and grow your powers. Join me on the mat.”
The scenery sparks a memory of Cassie. He can’t help but miss her, but understands what he is doing now is a necessary sacrifice. His instincts tell him he’s spent countless hours in meditation in his former life, but with the fate of the world looming in the back of his mind he’d rather be executing a plan of action. But since Mason believes this is crucial step toward honing his abilities, he relents and acquiesces to his teachings.
They sit on the mat, spaced apart, as Mason issues commands to breathe, to empty his mind and resist any form of thinking, just focus on the breath. They continue this for minutes, then almost an hour. Friend begins to feel fatigued by the endless exercise, desperately desiring to take a break, before finally relenting, and standing up.
“Are you done?” Mason wonders.
Friend explains, “Not entirely done, but my mind is weary from—”
Mason interrupts, “Your mind is firmly in your control. Ask yourself how you feel right now at this moment. Trust me when I tell you how much more powerful you can become when you have complete control over your mind. Not even your Other will be able to match it.”
This speech encourages Friend. That’s another source of anxiety, knowing this double, this Other, has this power to end his existence. Just the mere thought of the Other persuades Friend to want to continue the practice, putting his trust in Mason that the strengthening of his mind will lead to amazing abilities.
They continue to meditate for the next several hours, take few breaks in between, as the sun sets over the beautiful lake, its glow perfectly reflecting off the still waters in the distance. Friend is so relaxed at this point he feels he is in perfect resonance with the nature around him.
“Let’s break for dinner,” Mason declares.
Mason sets up wood in a large open pit with an old grill, getting a large fire going. He prepares a large frying pan with an assortment of vegetables nicely chopped up. All the while the food slowly roasts over the fire, the aroma is ever so appealing to Friend. When the food is finely roasted Mason wraps it in tortillas for them to eat.
Silence befalls them as the sun s
lithers behind the Earth.
“How many other timeloopers are there?” Friend wonders.
“Just us, as far as I know,” Mason responds. “Through meditation I’ve learned how to detect the presence of other timeloopers. When you arrived your presence was strong… peculiar and distinct.”
The fire crackles in the tranquility, as Friend just stares, nodding with a desire to know more. “Why didn’t you introduce yourself after we met at that park?”
“I needed to first observe you from a distance. Being able to pull these people together and accomplish what you did in eight short iterations is commendable. I also see you prepared yourself with a wallet with some money. I wish I had done that.”
Friend remains perplexed about this. It wasn’t him, or possibly it was that prepared himself with a watch and the currency. But one thing is for sure, he had help in this preparation.
Mason continues, “You needed to find out on your own what your true purpose here is. And I needed to see what you’re made of. I wanted to see how capable you are of stopping the asteroid. If you succeed in this, we’ll both be free to return to our world.”
It makes sense why Mason is so intent on training him, but Friend cannot stop from wondering why he doesn’t just try to stop the asteroid himself. He appears to have all these powers, possibly much more powerful than Friend’s Other. There is something beneath the surface, some underlying reason why this is the case. If he thought Mason was mysterious before, he is truly an enigma now.
They break for the night. For the remaining days of the iteration they continue the same meditation practice. They occasionally break to discuss what events are transpiring, like the world retreating into bunkers, or the large exodus of people trying to find refuge here in Mexico. Mason stresses how futile it is to try to evacuate. He talks about his days in Las Vegas, how he eventually branched out beyond the Strip, finding abandoned houses to live in as the others around him panicked as they would learn the news on that fateful night on day two. He talks about how he is the first timelooper, how he discovered his own powers, then taught others. In some cases, he even learned strange powers he never knew existed from the others he taught.
Day 6 – December 31
It feels like a lifetime to Friend, all the hours in meditation. But he feels so refreshed, so in tune with himself that he has come to realize it was worth it. Whenever a fearful thought enters his mind, he squashes it with ease. His ability to focus has strengthened, and although they haven’t practice any supernatural abilities he feels confident he is ready to take that next step.
“With our desolate location, we will survive the asteroid impact for an additional two days. After that, the dust that permeates throughout the atmosphere will blanket the Earth, bringing a rain of fire with it. But our location also allows us to view the asteroid’s fire trail as it makes its fall, and we are safe enough away to avoid being scorched by it.”
Friend processes that news and thinks about one thing, the frightful hallucinations he was experiencing. He feels compelled to inform Mason. “I began experiencing hallucinations after the impact.”
“We are not supposed to exist outside the six-day window, so our minds tend to naturally reject being in that state. Luckily we’ve been learning to control our mind so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Friend gets it. Mason was setting him up for this, to test his ability to withstand the hallucinations. Perfect, he thinks. He welcomes the challenge.
They stand on a hill, looking below at the lake and mountains in the distance, the asteroid now brighter than the moon’s glow. Eventually it enters the atmosphere, its burning trail shining brighter and brighter, eventually more amplified than the desert sun. It may only be a kilometer and a half wide but it looks like the size of the moon as it nears the horizon, then behind it and out of view, before eventually crashing.
They don’t feel it at first, but witness the giant fireball slowly emerging above the horizon. It’s an awe inspiring view from this distance. Fifteen or so minutes in and the ground starts to shake, the ripple effects from the asteroid echoing through the entire planet surface like a rock dropped in a pond.
About an hour later, they sit in the giant living space area, when the first hallucination hits Friend. It begins to take him over, forcing him to his knees, and his initial reaction is to fight it with will power. Mason interjects, reminding him he is in control. Friend returns to his breathing, slowing it down to calm his mind, achieving tranquility. He breathes controllably as he empties his mind, taking deep breaths and exhaling at common, spaced out intervals. Through the next few minutes he does nothing but breathe, standing and staring in the distance. Afterwards the episode finally ceases.
“Congratulations, Friend. You have taken your first step toward total control over your being,” Mason exclaims, patting him.
Friend stands at the doorway proud of his accomplishment, watching as the sun rises and shines like on the increasingly dusty sky. He thinks back to how different he was just six days ago, becoming quickly overwhelmed by those hallucinations. Had he known then what he knows now about how to control them, he could have lasted much longer.
“Those hallucinations can feel worse than dying. Believe me I’ve been there,” Mason explains, standing behind Friend, also watching the sky continue to turn white with dust. “I think you are ready to start the next phase of your training now.”
Friend concurs with a nod as he studies the view. He observes in amazement as the sun is slowly being blotted out by the ejecta from the asteroid impact. Just then, he is pierced with a sharp object through the back. The cold steel feels like a shard of ice as it exits through the front of his chest. He looks down, realizing that it’s a large sword that Mason just punctured through his heart. Friend collapses to the ground and he slowly feels his own heartbeat come to a stop, whatever life left in him carried by his blood, circulating through his veins for the last time.
“We’ll begin tomorrow.”
These are the final words he hears Mason speak.
17
Iteration 10
Friend emerges from the cold sand, grabbing hold of Mason’s outstretched hand. Mason lifts him up, and together they stand and briefly admire the desert landscape, the view of the city, and the welcoming dirt trail. Friend collects himself, still flustered from being stabbed. It seems that every time he experiences a new type of death, there’s a moment required to reflect on it before shaking it off.
“Shall we begin?” Mason rhetorically asks, leaning down to grab Friend’s arm as they vanish out of the air.
The episode takes about a quarter second before they are suddenly transported back to the ranch in Mexico. Friend understands that it’s not the first time he’s been transported, but it is the first time doing it while being conscious. For that tiny moment in between he saw strange colors, like a kaleidoscope, and he felt weightless, out of body. It’s like he momentarily became a ghost until his body caught up to his soul, as it was unable to travel as fast as light.
“Wow… that was intense!” Friend declares.
“It takes some getting used to being in nonspace,” Mason responds.
“Nonspace?”
“Yes, well, it’s a place where matter ceases to exist. Where we momentarily exist only as pure energy,” Mason explains as it sinks in with Friend. He then adds, “You’ll get used to it. For now, let’s take a moment to breathe and calm our mind.”
After a few minutes of silence, Mason begins to direct the training. “All of our powers stem from our ability to manipulate spacetime. You just experienced the ability to teleport through space. Eventually you will be able to control the flow of time, and bend and warp the spacetime around you to your will.”
They head toward the meditation patio with the large mat.
“Visualization is a powerful technique in meditation. The ancient Mayans would practice this sort of meditation by visualizing the sun’s rays passing through their bodies, cleansing and
renewing them. They were obsessed with astronomy, attuning themselves to the cycles of the sun down to the intricate detail of the placement of its sunspots. It was this degree of focus of that made them experts at this style of meditation.”
Mason explains further as he enters a meditative pose, “Through controlled breathing, as you introduce visualization into your mind you can use it to focus on specific places or ideas. Through this practice you will open up your powers. You will also be able to develop your sensory perception of others, such as your Other and possibly other timeloopers, even those with whom you have become close.”
Over the next several hours they practice with various visualizations. With the first lesson they start with a single point in space and time. Friend chooses the Metropolitan hotel rooftop he sat with Cassie on the night of day five in his first iteration. He places himself there and practices focusing on the grounds, the green shrubs, the bar, the view of the city, his focus becoming so acute that he can recall the arrangement of the seats, the color of the heating towers, and other tiny details.
As nightfall hits, they retire their training for the night. Mason explains how meditation and visualization will be used to focus on developing a single power at a time.
During the rest of the days, Friend continues to master his visualizations. Mason stresses the need for tranquility of mind. A turbulent mind is like a chaotic ocean, and little can be accomplished when the waves are crashing down. To tap into his powers, the mind must become a lifeless pond, where a mere pebble can be dropped into it and observed with ease. The mind and body must be in perfect balance for his abilities to have the maximum effect.
Iteration 11
Mason and Friend return to the open fields. Mason has it perfectly in mind what part of the training he intends to conduct next.
“Today, we will begin some basic hand to hand combat training. In this world, order is maintained by the threat of violence. As you know there are armies upon armies, with guns and killing machines—all to maintain order, to prevent change, to maintain a status quo. The irony is in all this effort to maintain order with all these armies and weaponry, it actually has enabled their own demise. You will find as you get close to the center of the world’s power structure, people aren’t going to want you there. We are going to learn how manipulating spacetime gives up a tremendous advantage in going into battle against these armies that will try to keep you away.”