Chaacetime_The Origins_A Hard SF Metaphysical and visionary fiction_The Space Cycle_A Metaphysical & Hard Science Fiction Saga

by A. I. Zlato

  “The Hexagon, first and foremost.”

  “Protect the Hexagon … hide what you did …”

  “I have no regrets.”

  “That's the problem. What tells us that you will not do it again?”

  “Nothing. And I do not even promise anything to you. These are exceptional circumstances ...”

  “You are required to start over. We can exclude you.”

  “Yes, you can. Will you do it?”

  “We see your choices ...”

  “It is not yet too late.”

  “What will be left?”

  -“The Hexagon …”

  “Perhaps.”

  “You stay with us. For the time being.”

  The Hexagon disappeared from its mind; only Faress remained.

  “I told you so, brother”, said Faress.

  “Thanks for your help”, replied Edgard.

  “What if you were wrong?”

  “The Circle’s solution is a non-evolution ... we will always be threatened by nothingness ... it is a matter of time, not space.”

  “Perhaps. I hope you are right.”

  “Me too.”

  “You do not understand. The Hexagon follows you on grounds of solidarity, not conviction. If you fall, we fall with you. And no one will ever forgive you.”

  “If I fall, nothingness will be our past and our future. Your forgiveness will not matter.”

  “That's the risk we all took.”

  Faress disappeared from Edgard’s mind, which remained alone with its doubts and conscience.

  It only had to wait.

  The mind creates mental barriers so it does not fall into madness. It can also be the architect of its own freedom. Foolishness is then a secondary consequence.

  Lessons from Chaacetime

  Chapter 36

  : Inter-Space (Level 2)

  Aenea had decided to go in a temporary node. It was the logical conclusion of recent events, upheavals and other impossibilities that had occurred. She wanted to go into this thing that should not exist in this Inter-Space of two levels and three Spaces. This third place ...

  The latest events ... the causes-consequences combos ... the Gateway was dizzy. All this ... had been and would be again ... if she did nothing. She did not want to disappear; she refused the idea of watching Cae dilute and then vanish, and ... Spaces no longer being differed ... no, she refused to see any of this.

  As a Gateway, as an essential component of this multi-Space she had helped create, she had to act, even if the risks were terrible. Going into a temporary node meant tearing apart her own world, which was closely tied to her body and mind. She would need a lot of courage to leave everything, and more important, to live there ... and come back ... Would she succeed? Without her, the node would be in jeopardy ...

  What would happen to Cae, Beor and Deo? Would they merge into another Inter-Space with another Gateway?

  Cae could certainly do it... but what about the other two? She had to go there as much as she had to come back ... identical to herself to merge again with them ... She thought she could. An echo in her head ... that had happened before ... This situation had already occurred ... and Aenea had failed ...

  As to dissuade the Gateway, Cae gave, or rather inflicted upon, Aenea her last human memories. Aenea was forced to recall whole sections of her memory that she had forgotten. It was not the first time that the Calorn projected ajar her old life ... Aenea merged into that previous existence.

  At that time, she thought she was stronger than everything else, and had decided to go in an Inter-Space, convinced she would be able to return. Things had not happened as planned. The node had assimilated her and converted her into a Gateway ... Could such a scenario repeat itself in the temporary node? Was the Gateway embarking on a one-way trip? She pushed away the idea along with her memories. She notified Cae that she had heard the latter’s warning.

  Unlike her human mindset, she was now aware of the risks. Because of that, she was much stronger. She had to go; she had no choice.

  The Calorn felt Aenea’s determination with infinite sadness. It made itself visible, illuminating blurred waves of space-time with a topaz colour. Yet it transmitted its understanding to the Gateway, given that its agreement was not possible.

  Cae, the node’s abstraction, understood the evidence that animated the Gateway. To stop these ephemeral things, to try to survive ... there was no other solution. The Calorn released its grip on Aenea and closed the memory capsule. The latter remained as she was and should be, a Gateway only, without any memory of a past life. Strengthened in her convictions, she let herself drift into tumultuous waves of space-time, pending the appearance of the next temporary node ...

  After the last occurrence of that phenomenon, Aenea had gone to explore her Spaces. She had wanted to see the consequences, in an attempt to better understand the problem. The shock of the temporary node had necessarily spread there ... such a thing ... horrible ... So she had slipped into the sap of trees in the Unique Forest and in the currents of the Ocean ... Deo and Beor had opened their minds to her for further exploration. She had seen the dead children in Space H ... the hybrids more machine-like than humans in Space O ... the consequences were there ... and yet neither Beor nor Deo had seen them.

  The Forest and the Ocean had missed important events ... something or someone had hidden these from them... She did not know. There were also two humans who had seen Deo, who became visible in a moment of distraction ... Causes triggering consequences, which, themselves, are sources of implications ... Aenea had been well aware of the impact in Spaces, without knowing what to do. Whom to turn to?

  Knowing the consequences was not enough for any action ... to hope to change the course of things ... The 5th element of the Hexagon had told the Gateway to differ the Space, which was the source of the problem, and suggested she contact the Machine. The answers of the latter, which were not really answers, had compelled Cae to open, once again, the memory capsule. The Gateway had remembered ... the Equilibrium, the Master database ... the higher instructions ... and she was convinced that she had to go into a temporary node.

  No, she had no other options if she wanted to save his world. These impossibilities appeared increasingly often, the experienced disruptions were like waves breaking against Aenea and her Calorn, and no longer stopped. Between each appearance, the Inter-Space had no more time to regenerate. The malaise was permanent, and increased to unbearable levels with each appearance. Aenea saw her universe blurred a little more each time. In this Level 2 Inter-Space, between Space H. and Space O., she differed time; that was her role, her reason for being.

  She maintained Spaces, ensuring that they do not collide, with help from Cae, Beor and Deo. Temporary nodes rendered their world frailer by extending time limits between Spaces ... and threatened them all. The space-time, which previously had circulated gently, was now constantly twitching. Aenea’s body suffered its assaults, trembling under the repeated shocks. Looking through the eyes the oft-changing Inter-Space, she kept her fingers on the barriers of time, to maintain them. She devoted all her energy, transmitting her own impulses and those of Cae. They had to maintain their living at any cost; the two Spaces should remain separate. Her fingers gripped the blurred limits of time. These barriers should have been soft and firm. Instead, they resembled some kind of jelly, the thickness of which blurred the node.

  In this created interval, between the node and Spaces, there was nothing but time shifted in a different place ... nonsense. Aenea wept like the human it once had been. Her body remembered, and tears ran down her cheeks, before slipping into the current. She cried about her world, which was disappearing. Cae could do nothing to comfort Aenea because it, too, was sad and afraid. The space and time ... everything that had meaning until now ... doomed to extinction ... all owing to these monstrosities.

  When one of them, for the first time, had maintained itself for a few seconds, Aenea could scrutinise Cae’s memory, and felt its fe
ar, seeing this third Space, which should not have been there. Temporary nodes ... they were there, each time stronger ... Tears streamed over again. Small drops of water glittered before joining the vortex of space-time, in this environment in agony. This was so terrible ... The Kandrons had seen it ... Aenea did not want this future.

  The Machine ... It had something to do with all this ... The Equilibrium… Machine ... more machine-like hybrids in Space O. ... unexplained deaths in Space H ... Thanks to her temporarily found human memory, Aenea had been interested… in It, in the beginning ... the Elders of whom she had been part … of their design ... of how they had locked the future ... the Equilibrium ... the centre of their thought process ... Aenea now foresaw what was put in place, how, perhaps why ... but no solution. She did not want to ... there had to be a way.

  It was really time to go there. Aenea wanted to see herself, not through Cae, this thing that threatened them. She needed answers, to understand what was happening in order to find a solution. Already, she felt in her fingers the sensation that had been a time barrier fade again ... A temporary node was being formed.

  She had to go alone. Cae would remain here, maintaining by its very presence their Inter-Space, or rather what was left of it. Deo and Beor were each simultaneously linked to a Space and the node, so they could not move away. The translucent ball, studded with silver threads that Beor was, continued to evolve in its marine bubble, along with Cae and Deo. It would remain rooted in the land of Space H ... while Aenea would go to this no-name place.

  Aenea had never parted ways with all three; they were an extension of her, and the idea of leaving them behind broke her heart beforehand. However, the situation required that she take unusual actions. The Gateway explained to them the necessity of her trip, and especially announced that such a voyage was imminent. Although everyone understood the imperatives underlying the situation, the cumulative anguish pervaded. Deo relayed its fear into the Unique Forest of Space H. A cold wave shook the trees, freezing everything in its path, and the Forest became hostile. Animals became nervous and fled for no apparent reason at the slightest noise.

  Beor spread its emotion into the Ocean of Space O., and monstrous waves rose to the surface and came smashing the shore — and boats. The humans of this Space called this phenomenon rogue waves. Cae was unable to maintain a constant space in the node, and Aenea had to cower. This situation could not last. The Gateway wondered for a moment how the space-time would react to her absence, and none of her conjectures seemed satisfactory to her. The time was no longer for questions ...

  Once the temporary node formed, the Gateway threw herself into the node. She threw herself into the unknown. Her mind felt the pain of leaving Cae, Beor and Deo. As if she tore out one of her limbs, the pain was excruciating. Her body and mind were in pure pain, acute, unbearable suffering.

  Behind the red veil of pain that obscured her vision, she saw drifting away these parts of herself, taken away into a time distinct from her own. The space-time current seemed to try to retain her, surrounding her, but she was already gone. Her world was suddenly outside herself. Alone, with her faculties diminished owing to Cae’s absence, Aenea was now elsewhere. She trembled in pain and fear. Could she come back? Could the links she had voluntarily torn be reformed? Lost, far from what she had always known ... she arrived in the temporary node.

  She did not understand what she saw, that made no sense ... She tried at first to become aware of herself, not to get lost. This time, she would not be like this human she once had been, who was lost in the node and could not return. Now her name was Aenea, a Level 2 Gateway. Her Calorn’s name was Cae, her Phalomera’s was Deo, and Beor was her Mempheragog. Even if they were absent physically, Aenea forced herself to remember them, not to let the temporary node absorb her. She refocused her energy, to stay what she was. I am a Gateway ... where the beginning and the end are the same place ... when the Space is a different time ... I am ... her thoughts became confused. Who was her? What was this place, this strange place, that ...? Cae ... Beor … Deo ... what were those names that echoed in her head? Helen ... was she her? Was it Helen? ... A vision ... a memory ... elsewhere ... The Gateway did not know. She felt bad ... why? Where did the pains in her body come from? ... Helen ... underground foundations ... other people ... elsewhere ... The thoughts sparkled like so many sequins, dazzling in their appearance, disappearing immediately, an explosion of bright points amid darkness.

  Then, slowly, the Gateway no longer distinguished her own thoughts. The words were unknown to her, like foreign concepts. Someone else was speaking in her head ... that was the case ...

  “This is my message, they will understand. I can’t do anything more.” “You worry too much, darling, everything will be all right” “We block the future too much with our fears”.”On the contrary, we are creating a better world” ... “Do not go away, please” “we will meet again, I promise” ... underground formations ... what does the sun look like ... I...

  A thin thread of consciousness prevented the Gateway from continuing.

  Aenea gathered her limbs around herself, as well as her long hair, to lock everything in a protective cocoon. She felt her arms and legs wrapped around her, while her hair floated in a scattered pattern. Eyes closed, she let herself remained overwhelmed by the sensations of her body, rejecting any other emotion. She accepted the suffering, and followed the pain waves along her nerves. Nerve impulses were there to help her remember herself. She continued her inner journey. This body had a story to tell.

  There was a time when it was human. It used to move on the firm ground of a Space that was not even one, using structured-bones legs. It breathed via its lungs, inhaling and exhaling ... Helen ... that was her past. This body had changed. Its limbs had lost bones and stretched like tentacles, its face.... A Gateway: that was what her body was trying to tell her ... she was a Gateway. In her mind, Cae, Beor and Deo took their places. They were far from her, after she removed herself from their universe, but their memories were again present. Aenea ... so was her name, and she would not forget. She opened her eyes.

  Again herself, she watched this place, which she had joined by making an incredible sacrifice. Everything was so strange and familiar at once. She saw the Space H. and Space O., as in her usual universe, without accessing it nonetheless. Above all, there was something else. A tunnel, which was unknown to her, seeming to lead into another Space ... one that had frightened Cae so much ... Aenea was there.

  How could a Level 2 Inter-Space open itself into a third Space? A Level 3 Inter-Space would have presented ... but then Aenea would not have had access ... Just like in Cae’s memory, the incredible was in front of her. That should not have been, could not have been ... and yet it was. Through the Calorn, that was already scary, but here this was much… Aenea lived in her flesh and mind what she had shared with Cae.

  The presence of two Spaces, her Spaces, was so reassuring ... and yet, this third ... The strangeness of the node deepened when Aenea saw that there was no Calorn. Neither real nor imaginary, these Calorns were the very existence of nodes, because they generated the necessary space ... This place was empty, a hostile environment.

  Aenea felt that her presence was not welcome, as if the place wanted to remain nothingness. It gave off negative energy, and the tunnel to the other Space repulsed the Gateway. Everything was unreal. No Gateway, no Mempheragog, no Phalomera, no Calorn ... no light, no space-time streams ... just nothing. A nothing that disrupted everything that existed otherwise, a nothing that threatened her very existence ...

  The Gateway had to know. She forced her mind to penetrate this abyss, which rejected her. This dark and cold place was moving to another Space, and yet it seemed to Aenea that it was going straight towards nothingness. There was nothing there. All the same, she received information about the full name of the Space ... her previous discussion with the Machine took a whole new meaning ... Space E. ... She remained as much as possible in this tunnel, to observe abso
lute blackness. A node that could not exist, a tunnel to nothingness, and an empty Space ... Space E. ... the logical conclusion...

  The temporary node vibrated, and shrunk again. It was disappearing ... Aenea needed to go back. How could she find the way back to her world? She had imagined it would be enough to invoke Cae in her mind in order to head back into the framework of time, but nothing happened. The Gateway panicked, especially as the temporary node was fading. The sight of Space H. and Space O. vanished; only remained the tunnel, this abyss into nothingness. She concentrated all her strength. She wanted to go back; she wanted to convey to the node information they had collected ... Space E. ... it was vital.

  Finally, a thin neural net emerged between Cae and Aenea ... or rather between the space-time stream and Aenea. She felt the waves find the path of her mind, and pull her slowly towards them ... she was saved. At least that was what she thought.

  When the Gateway returned to her world, she had trouble connecting with Cae. The Calorn didn’t want to see what she saw, and rejected wholeheartedly this third Space, this nothingness. The node trembled under this mental conflict ... but Aenea insisted.

  Slowly, she opened up her mind to Cae. She needed the Calorn, its presence, the node it created, but Cae declined the connection. This war of minds, between two parts of the same body, convulsed the node, and a huge wave of space-time formed.

  After just returning from the temporary node, Aenea had not yet anchored into the node, and the strength of the blade reversed her, projecting her beyond a barrier of time ...

  For the first time since she became a Gateway, Aenea encountered a Space. With one arm, she could remain in the node, while the rest of her body was drifting in Space O. ... in the Ocean. Water flowed over her skin, surrounding her.

  Fear came pervaded her. She had to go home, otherwise she would disappear, be diluted in the salt water that stung her. Accustomed to the flows of time-space, her body could not endure this physical contact of the Ocean, brutal. Her skin burned in contact with the salt, vibrating under the current. The cold seized her and invaded her from all parts. She tried to breathe, but her lungs had shrunken for a long time, and would have had no use in the water, anyway. Her human instinct, which she thought was extinct, pushed her to rise to the surface, to come up for air, but her Gateway nature instead forced her to return to the node.