“I remember everything,” answered Stinger.
Zet narrowed his eyes. “Of course, you do! Because you took part in all that! I am endowed with divine power, and it is His providence! I am the Only One among you. And how dare you question my mission?”
“I dare!” squeezed Stinger. He banged the hood with his open hand, and his eyes became bloodshot with anger.
“Listen to me,” Zet forced out the words. “I’ve been to every nook and cranny of this planet, and I know things that your wisest men have never heard of and that your ancient Vedas don’t say! I’ve been reincarnating for eons, waging justice on this damn planet, which is swarming with sinners! And you must thank me for that alone, be grateful that I let you be near me and help me! Just to be near me…”
“Enough!” Stinger interrupted him. “I’m sick of you clamoring about your Oneness. I know you’re just a murderer that created a brotherhood to cover up your pathetic practices, and I don’t want to be part of that anymore!”
Zet’s face contorted. He believed in his brother, his right hand, and didn’t want to lose him. And it badly hurt him that he would probably have to do it.
“Had you not been my brother, I would’ve put a bullet in your head right now,” said Zet. “But a while ago, I already did a terrible wrong by my brother and was punished for that. So I will never make that mistake again. You’re my brother-in-arms. And you must walk this path with me to the very end. This is the Creator trying us! You just need to keep doing your work. You’ve done a lot, we are bound…”
Hatred overwhelmed Stinger and burned him to his very heart. So Zet was coercing him. Had he run out of reasons?
“I do not want this.”
“Look, it’s all immaterial,” Zet interrupted him. “We’re killing real sinners, those who do not belong among the righteous! We are authorized by the Spider himself, we help him. And it doesn’t matter what means we choose… I will reveal the secret of reincarnation to you, I will teach you this! I will give you the technologies of the ancient civilizations that were here long before!”
Zet drilled his brother with his intense gaze. Stinger had never seen Zet so angry and at the same time full of hope.
“I failed my trial,” said Stinger. “She’s a regular girl, and I’m in love with her. I thought I was making this world clean through punishing the worst sinners, but now I doubt that. I might have taken much more sin on me than all of them collectively… I truly believed that you were a messiah, but in actual fact you’re just a murderer.”
Stinger made a step toward the Diablo. When he passed Zet, his hand touched his cloak. It seemed to him that the fabric was ice cold. Or was the ice in Zet’s eyes following him?
Stinger did not look back. He got into the car and activated the door-closing mechanism.
Zet started to finger his beads again. His dispassionate eyes were still looking at his brother, who had literally disavowed their church a moment ago. Zet halted and clenched the beads. The thread gave in and broke, setting the beads free. They fell to the concrete slab of the parking lot and scattered in all directions.
“No, I am not just a murderer,” he squeezed the words out as the Diablo made a low growl and took off. “I am an immortal one…”
CHAPTER 13
The Main Weapon
“Max! Is that you? Where are you? Are you okay?” Athena was shouting into her phone, her breath skipping with excitement and joy.
Osiris watched her in silence.
“In the subway? How did you get there?” she stumbled as her wonderment grew. “That’s impossible,” she said, and paused to listen to Max. “Okay, darling, we’re waiting for you!” She hung up and put the phone back in the pocket. “He is coming… he’s not far from here. In the subway…” Her voice broke and she flushed.
“Don’t bother, sweetheart,” said Osiris. “I heard it all. Now our friend knows that ground is not hard.” He winked and smiled.
“He fell through to the subway. And called me from there,” Athena said with excitement.
“It happens to beginners. A bit more practice, and he will be in full control. And it will take him seconds to get from the subway to the roof.”
It didn’t take Max long. Five minutes later, he was standing before them. Athena rushed toward him and hung on to his neck. Max staggered but remained standing.
“Max… Max, darling, I was so scared. I worried about you. What happened?”
“Honey, I also was scared.” He stroked her hair, trying to calm her.
“But this is not the problem now. I almost don’t feel my right leg. It happened there, on the edge. It seems to be partially paralyzed.”
“Oh my God! So, what do we do now? Can you walk?” Athena fussed. “What do we do now?”
Max hugged her tight, without a word.
“My friends! I know how to save you. That’s why I’m here. Remember?” said Osiris.
They’d almost forgotten about him, and now Athena looked at Osiris with hope.
“We’re about to engage in some more serious drills, and then we’ll head to Egypt.”
“But why?” asked Max.
“Your cure is there, my friend. But I need your help too…”
“How? How can I help you?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there. That’s where your cure is.” Osiris stared into space. He seemed to be contemplating some memories.
In a few minutes, the three of them were standing on the edge of the roof again. Another height, another wind, another boundless space that they found hard to treat without awe. Osiris demanded they break natural laws. Max had experienced that it was possible; however, he still was afraid to look down.
“Now, you must learn to think outside the physical universe’s boundaries,” said Osiris. “Think, dream, unleash your imagination, let it guide you. You are not bound by any rules or laws of this physical universe.”
“No rules or laws…” Athena whispered, and asked Osiris, “And what should I imagine? Anything at all?”
“Exactly!”
He pointed at the Switch on her wrist and put on his glasses. So did Max. Athena touched her bracelet, froze, and vanished.
“Remember, there’s no body,” Osiris’s voice followed her.
He watched her through his glasses. Her bluish intangible shape looked really weird here, on the roof, as if it came from another parallel universe.
“Now dream!” Osiris added.
She moved closer to the edge, looked down, and halted.
“What did you dream of when you were a child? What did you see in your sleep? What could you not do before? Imagine that now! Release your imagination! Forget about the body, you don’t have one now. You’re free from the physical universe’s laws!”
Athena looked up, spread her arms as if she wanted to take off, made a cautious step forward, then another one… and suspended near the edge of the roof.
Max froze.
The other steps, now across the void, were easier for her. She looked down and then around. Her bluish face was shining with triumphant smile. Athena turned around and ran across air, then stopped and started to soar slowly. Then she stopped again and started to move faster, now and then suspending herself in the air, as if she were accumulating more certainty and strength.
Then she soared until she was just a tiny speck in the sky, practically invisible.
Max and Osiris were watching her.
Suddenly she began to fall, darting past them like a whirlwind, and kept falling below the roof level.
Max rushed to the edge, but saw her soaring again and backed up.
Now her arms and legs remained still while she was moving around in all directions, a featherlike wisp.
“She’s a goddess,” said Osiris, watching her.
Athena soared again, this time even faster, like a rocket. As she zoomed higher, she switched direction, swooshing down just above the skyscrapers, farther and farther from the roof where Max and Osiris stood. Then her tra
jectory changed. Athena descended almost to the ground, rushing just above the street with its cars and traffic lights.
Then she meshed with the swarming crowd for a little while. Then the bluish wisp appeared again and started spiraling up along the skyscraper wall till she ascended to the roof level.
She floated in the air in front of Max and Osiris, in the lying position.
“I can’t believe my own eyes!” said Max.
The bluish shape began to move away, this time toward the nearby skyscraper, and shortly Athena was standing on its roof in the tangible state, waving at them.
“Go join her!” said Osiris.
Max looked askance at him and said nothing. He activated his bracelet but didn’t move.
“Come on! Go!” Osiris nudged him.
Max did not move. His bluish shape was fluctuating.
“Okay, listen to me,” Osiris went on. “You hear me, don’t you?”
Max nodded.
“And do you see me?”
Max nodded again.
“And do you have ears?”
Max shook his head.
“What about eyes?”
Max shook his head again.
“So how do you hear, see, and understand me?” Osiris kept going. “I’ll tell you how. It’s your mind that controls it. Not your ears, not your eyes, not your body! You!”
Max got to the very edge. Down there, he saw the busy street swarming with living parts.
“Join her,” Osiris repeated.
Athena was watching them through her glasses. “Come on, do it…” Her lips were chanting these words like a mantra.
Another uncertain move, a step into the abyss…
Max spread his arms, floating a few inches from the edge.
“Well done!” Osiris clapped. “Don’t forget, now you decide which laws work and which don’t!”
A few more steps in the air and Max was floating again, balancing with his arms. Then he soared, stopped, turned around and, now not moving his legs, floated toward Athena.
Osiris watched Max materialize and Athena rushed to cuddle up to him.
A few moments later, they were standing next to their mentor, happy and proud.
“People underestimate their imaginative capabilities,” said Osiris to Max. “Now, my friend, imagine you’re in your bedroom.”
Max blinked, looked at Athena hesitantly and shut his eyes tightly. “I’m imagining.”
“Good. Now dive into your imagination, deep into those pictures. But first turn this on,” he pointed at the bracelet on Max’s wrist.
Max paused shortly and activated the Switch. He shut his eyes again and saw his bedroom with the unmade bed…
Suddenly he felt some sort of a wave swoosh through him, then the air changed and the wind died down abruptly. He opened his eyes to realize that he was in his own bedroom.
This was mind-boggling! An instant ago, he had vanished there, on that roof, and now he was here. He thought about this… simply incredible!
He didn’t move, scared this illusion would disappear. But of course, he wasn’t sleeping. A new reality that he just discovered was unfolding in front of him right now.
Osiris was right. Nothing was impossible. And there were no physical limitations.
* * *
Max appeared on the roof where Osiris and Athena were waiting for him. His eyes were glowing.
“This is incredible! Honey, this is so much cooler than anything we ever did!” He grabbed Athena by the shoulders. “It’s a miracle! I had no clue…”
“You did it?”
“Yes!”
“And how? Just by thinking of it?”
“Yes!” Max was radiating. “Look, I don’t get how it happened! I just imagined it… It’s a miracle!”
Osiris smiled. “When your mind and imagination are in order, you can do anything! Remember that! You must be certain for it to work. You can do anything you want with the physical universe. You just decide that you’re somewhere, and you are.”
“But…” Max tried to object, but Osiris stopped him.
“Thought is your main weapon. This universe is as complex as you made it. Decide that something is impossible and it will be impossible. The secret is within you, it’s within your mind.”
“But we’re here… now… we think differently.” Athena threw her hands up.
Osiris nodded.
“Yes, I know. Okay, my friends. Let’s get to business.”
“Now me?” asked Athena.
“Yes… You say she’s got a fancy car?” Osiris looked at Max.
Athena reached to the Switch and closed her eyes…
In a few minutes, the door of Max’s garage opened and a car came out with Athena behind the wheel. She was happy. Just an hour ago, she’d thought she could only dream about this.
CHAPTER 14
Twelve Thousand Years Ago
“We’re short on time, but I promised to let you in on something…” Osiris gazed into space thoughtfully, where the sun was slowly setting.
“Twelve thousand years ago, everything here was different,” he began. “Another Earth civilization, just one of many, ascended into the next stage of its development, with supercities and spaceships orbiting the planet. This was the golden age. We had just arrived on Earth with the task of exploration…”
“Where did you come from?” asked Athena.
“My home planet is at the opposite side of this galaxy. Veles, our ship, went under the ground and stopped about a mile deep. We took reasonable precautions, as Terrans were no friendlier than they are now. At that time, we used dematerialization technology for various purposes. One of them was concealing our ships under the surface of the planets which we had come to explore. But these technologies were available only to task forces like ours. We’re entrusted with a great mission, and we are the civilizers.” Osiris paused for a bit. “So, our task force consisted of six persons. We had been doing our job and were preparing to return home when I ‘spilled milk,’ as you say it. And it was my, and only my, mistake. Surely, there was no room for it.” A deep line creased Osiris’s forehead. “And I still pay for that negligence. My younger brother was with us. He had many unique abilities; he was my right hand. And he was about to complete his civilizer internship.”
“Civilizer internship?” asked Max.
“Right. He had to complete a few things. But that’s a different story. Now, one of his abilities was to remember his past incarnations. I am able to remember mine too. My brother and I are not prone to the amnesia that mental bodies, or souls, as you call it, have after the physical body’s death. We shared this ability, and as far as I know, it is quite rare on the inhabited planets I am aware of.”
“To remember past incarnations? How is that possible?” said Athena in astonishment.
“Yes, it is possible,” Osiris continued. “My brother was always interested in secret civilizers’ projects. I trusted him, but I should have known better than to tell him about them, intern that he was. Prior to our departure from Earth, he insisted that I tell him about dematerialization and wanted me to teach him to use that technology. I refused. And I took a note of his odd persistence. But I thought we would handle it when we got home. That was my fatal mistake…” Osiris again stared into the distance, where the buildings’ outlines were distinct against the sunset. “We were in my cabin. The other crew members were on the other end of the ship. He put a sleeper into my drink. I got groggy and realized I was not in control of my body. When I fell asleep, my brother put me into the dematerializer pod.”
“What is a dematerializer pod?” asked Max.
“That’s the device we use for long-distance travel. Looks like a glass sarcophagus.”
“Goodness me!” Max chuckled.
“It is useful. In that state, we can travel any distance and reach the most distant galaxies. So, I was in that pod and my brother was near the dematerializer control panel. It was connected to the other pods and the ship itself. Jus
t try to imagine the power of the system capable of dematerializing the spaceship, putting it under the ground, then taking it back to orbit and teleporting to any part of the galaxy. So, he was one-on-one with that control panel… This was the beginning of the end and the harbinger of the global catastrophe never before seen on this planet…” He thought for a moment, as if he were shuffling the pages of that lifetime. “My brother synchronized the system with my mental body. This way, it was easy to decipher any thoughts generated by the mind and put them into the computer. In short, he scanned my thoughts and found out what he needed: the basic ideas of dematerialization, the principles of the control panel’s operation and the dematerialization processor built into Veles. But since he lacked training and competence, he made a gross mistake… He set up a field that responded only to the mental bodies of the crew members. That field rejected our mental bodies by shoving them away from the ship and not letting them in. My brother set the field and put it up…”
Osiris lowered his head. He seemed to have forgotten about his listeners.
“And what happened next?” asked Athena impatiently.
Osiris started, as if the question had woken him up. “They all died inside the ship; that is, their physical bodies died. And their mental bodies were thrown onto the planet’s surface… They are still here, among us. Living their normal Terran lives…”
“Are they?” said Athena in surprise.
“That’s right.”
“And what happened to your brother?”
“I can only guess. He made sure that I stayed on the ship alive. Because I am the keeper of information of great importance. And with my unique abilities, I was the only one who could have stopped him from making his vile plans come true. If I had been reborn on Earth in another body, as the rest of our crew had, I would have found that scumbag. And he knew that, so he locked me up, intangible in that pod, for millennia.”
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