“Yeah, I went through a goth phase too, sister. When you get a little older, you’ll realize that the world isn’t all evil. There’s plenty of tranquility and love to go around for...”
“Even what you call love is brutal,” Sariana argued. “And the way you express it is angry... and ugly.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You procreate new vessels in violence.”
“Sex?”
“Your imagined male stabs the imagined female form with a penile sword in harsh succession until it ejaculates a stream of biomatter inside her which itself must then fight to the death to impregnate a solitary egg.” Sariana shuddered. “Even your soul’s attempt to express endearment is savage and depraved.”
“If it’s done right,” Alicia muttered.
“And you all agree that this is perfectly acceptable. I assure you that nowhere else would this act be considered an appropriate display of affection. What you call erotic literature and film would elsewhere be interpreted as a most alarming and reprehensible threat of hostility.”
The truck was now at a crawl as they paced through the party-goers in Tuscumbia proper. Alicia somehow found herself fully engaged in the defense of her ‘kind’. “That doesn’t happen anywhere else? In this great ‘omniverse’ you talk about which I’m guessing is like the universe times a million...”
“It’s beyond your comprehension right now...unfortunately.”
“We are the only ‘species of soul’ so violent?”
“Yes. And what you experience in this dimension is only a fraction of what you’re capable of.”
“Ah ha! Bullshit! I thought you said there was a war.”
“There is. The most catastrophic war in Akashic history.”
“Okay, I don’t know what that means. But don’t you kill each other in these wars?”
“Only now. This is the purpose of your species.”
“What? What is?”
“You are the ambassadors of death. More to the point, you bring death. Death is your creation. You invented it.”
“We introduce the omniworld to death? The whole concept of death? It doesn’t happen until we arrive at the party?”
“Yes. It is what you’ve rehearsed since the birth of your soul group. You’ve become quite good at it.”
“What you’re saying is... since we first arrived in the universe, we’ve just been practicing to be better killers... on each other?”
“That’s right.”
"And what about you? You aren't Human, I suppose? Or whatever the fuck you think I am?"
"I am almost like you. We no longer refer to ourselves as Human."
Alicia was genuinely fascinated with her mythology but Brady's phone rang. “Let me get this,” Alicia said as she put the truck in park.
“Please, don’t be distracted. You’re asking all the right questions.”
“I’m not distracted. I’m just going to answer the phone for him. Brady, where’s your phone? Shit.”
“I still can’t hear!”
Alicia grumbled as she began to sort through Brady’s remote bags, tracing the ring from pocket to pocket in a race to beat his voicemail.
“It’s not relevant,” Sariana protested. “Just as you said, we need to focus.”
“Will you just let me get this?”
“His father has died. That is all.”
Alicia found the phone and shot the girl a nasty look. “That’s a fucked up thing to say.”
"I'm sorry," Sariana offered. “He will only leave this plane."
"It's probably just the network checking in," Alicia assured her as she fumbled with Brady’s phone.
“He’ll have to leave the Tuscumbia,” Sariana said, referring to Brady. “I don’t mean to be rude but his significance in this parallel is complete. He drove the truck for you.”
“The Tuscumbia?” Alicia smirked and finally answered. "Hello? Hi. This is Alicia. Yeah. Well, there's been a slight accident and Brady's lost his hearing. No. He's okay. Right. He was just exposed to a loud noise and it's only temporary. He'll be fine." Alicia looked at Sariana somewhat suspiciously. "Is everything okay?" she asked the caller. "Oh, no. That's terrible." Sariana turned her gaze toward the window.
"Who's on the phone?" Brady asked.
Sariana wrote him a note: "It's your wife. She requests that you call her when your hearing returns."
"Is everything okay?"
Sariana wrote: "Yes but you must call."
"My sympathies are with you and the family," Alicia said to the caller. "We're on our way back to the studio now. When we get back, I'll start making the arrangements for Brady to come home. I'll have him call you. Of course. It's best that he receives the news from you. No, he's right beside me. I will. Again, I'm so sorry, Kristine. Okay. Goodbye." Alicia hung up the phone and an awkward silence came over the truck.
"You were half right," Alicia finally said. "Brady's father didn't die."
"But...”
"His wife's father died."
"Oh. That’s not right. No,” Sariana said. “Did you do this?”
“Excuse me? What does that even mean?”
“No. You wouldn’t... can’t.” Sariana tried to think hard and, again, began to quickly scroll through her device. “It’s complicated. I’ll explain all of this but we have to broadcast immediately.”
“He had a heart attack,” Alicia was defensive for no reason.
“Of course. Yes. I’m sorry.” Sariana was now preoccupied with her handheld screen.
Alicia stared out the front windshield of the SUV, at the tear in the sky off in the distance. "Did you come from there?" Alicia asked, pointing to the black rip in the blue sky.
"No. I crossed over two miles from where you found me."
"Is there another tear?"
"No. This is an exit," Sariana said, referring to the tear.
"The voice said that they would soon be visible to us."
"That’s true but you will come to them."
"So they really are going to suck us up through that hole in the sky?"
"Sort of. That's probably the best way to describe it for the moment."
Alicia’s mind raced. She was well aware that, in this moment, she was either speaking to one of the most important subjects of her career or a complete and utter lunatic. The revelers continued their party around the truck as the two spoke.
"Well, just for sake of argument, why shouldn't it happen? I mean, if that's what we're meant to be: Warriors for the Humans. Shouldn't we just trust our creator?"
Sariana looked up from her device. "No one species of soul should hold dominion over another. Akashic Law forbids it and the Masters of Wisdom have denounced this. The Humans have gone mad with power. There will be great suffering throughout the omniverse. Your species brings death. The balance has been disrupted. You must rebel."
Alicia tried to take all of this in. Of course, it sounded absurd but, then, the entire world had gone absurd. The girl killed the freaky bug thing. Alicia saw that with her own eyes. She also came close enough to playing psychic for her taste. But Alicia had no tangible proof of any of this. The girl could cause a panic if Alicia let her unleash a rant like this on the air. She set aside the possibility that she might be a pre-programmed homicidal maniac for a moment. Panic meant ratings. It might mean a Murrow, Alicia thought.
"If you're here," she said to the girl, "then that must mean that the rebellion has already begun, right?"
"It’s happening right now but what we do today, irrevocably changes the course of all things as per the Grand Revelation. Ceasing the Human ascension tips the scales to our favor.”
"So, you're after the same thing? You just want us as warriors."
"No. They will send you off to slaughter...”
“We teach them death and then they... use it on us?”
“If the Humans accomplish their goal of greater ascension, they will know more of the omniverse than any given soul group; including d
eath. They will then have no purpose for you. Your only directive will be exhausted. Your souls will be disposed. It would be far too dangerous to allow your souls to further evolve. You will be put down for the greater good.”
“How? How would they do that?”
“Your kind knows this better than any. I suppose you could tell me.”
“Just regular war, I guess, right? Killing. Another day at the office from what you’re telling me.”
“But it’s a war you cannot win. Yours are infant souls. The Humans have ascended so many dimensions above you.”
“If I understand you, you’re just asking us to trust you the same way they’re asking us to trust them.”
“This is true but we need you as equals. We are one. I am descendent from your soul group. This is something we must discuss...”
“But what makes you different than the Humans?”
“The Humans had no right to grow sentient souls solely for war. They certainly have no right to extinguish your soul group when and if its purpose has been served.”
"So, we stay behind. We don’t stand in the rain. Then what?"
"There is a plan. We will help you cross over to claim your rightful place in the omniverse."
"And we go to war with our creators? The Humans?"
"It is in your nature to assume this. We do not wish for war. You are... leverage. It is our hope that if our numbers are great, the Humans will abandon their pact of aggression and seek only enlightenment. This is the wish of all species in the omniverse."
"Except the Humans? They are the only bad guys?"
"They have alliances but we believe that if the Humans are to fail in the quest for an absolute, these alliances will fall." Alicia began sounding the horn as she tried to navigate her way through the drunken horde. Sariana took a deep breath. "We should probably talk about you and I...”
Alicia’s cell phone began to ring. She closed her eyes and sighed as “Dancing Queen” by ABBA began to fill the cab of the truck. “Hold that thought.” Alicia knew the ring-tone. “Goddamnit, Hal.” She tapped the screen and answered. “Yeah. Dude, I am literally right down the street. Right. Well, what the fuck, Hal? Do you want me to just mow down this herd of hicks? I can only go so fast.” Alicia looked Sariana up and down. “Yeah. I’ve got something. I think so.” Sariana smiled. “Hal, I’m pulling into the parking lot right now. I will see you in a min-” Alicia shook the phone in a rage and her face flushed red. “Jesus! Goddamnit!! Shut the fuck up, Hal!!!” She slammed the phone down on the console as she swerved the truck into a parking space at the Dollar Store.
Sariana giggled and began to tear up just a bit as she looked admiringly at Alicia.
“What?”
“That was so cool for me. You have no idea.”
Alicia gave her a funny look and shook her head as she began to collect her things.
Once inside the studio, Alicia found her producer. She sat the girl at her desk while she first explained that Brady would need to return home to Colorado. Alicia then detailed Sariana, the giant bug, and Brady's sudden deafness. Regarding the girl, the producer hesitated.
"I don't know about this, Alicia," he said. "You don't have any footage of the bug. Things are really heating up in Russia and China. I don't know if L.A. is going to go for having a crazy girl on the air in the middle of it all."
“Who says she’s crazy?”
“Alicia. The whole ‘I’ve come from another dimension to save you from space warlords’ talk doesn’t strike you as a little... odd?”
“You are aware that there’s a giant hole in the fucking sky, right?”
“Alicia...”
“And it’s spewing yellow gas all over the planet-”
“I’m not going to...”
“And a spaceman is talking to us on the radio?!” Alicia smacked him in the forehead. “Are you high?”
“That’s a bold statement coming from you, lady. By the way, you can’t expense booze. I’ve told you that a thousand times.” Hal began to walk away and Alicia relentlessly followed.
“Don’t change the subject. All of this other shit is perfectly normal to you but this... the girl that kills space armadillos is crazy-talk? Seriously?”
Hal did recognize that he was being more than a little contradictory. “I know. I really do. You have to understand, Alicia. I’ve got new-age gurus coming out of my ass here. Every nut-case in the world is claiming to have some sort of inside knowledge. If I put every one of them on the air, our credibility goes right out the window. This isn’t the George Noory show.”
“But, I saw this.”
“I just wish you had footage. I need something that bleeds.”
“Let me see if I can get something more out of her. In the meantime, get the wheels rolling to get this girl on the air.”
“How, Alicia? What do I pitch to L.A.?”
Alicia thought for a moment. "Our angle," she explained, "is that this poor thing is suffering from P.T.S.D. This is what's happening to our children. Get a psychologist to comment about her state of mind. We explain to parents how to talk to their kids about this. Pitch it that way. By the time you get approval, I’ll have something more. If I don’t... well, I’ll figure something out."
Hal frowned but with this, he agreed to run the story by Los Angeles. Alicia popped a few more pills and returned to her ‘office’. She found Brady sitting on her desk, playing with the girl's monitor. He couldn't get it to do anything. Sariana was examining Alicia's iPad. Alicia shooed her away, sat at her desk and began writing her piece.
"When do we address the world?" Sariana asked.
"Shortly. They'll let us know."
"What? We should do this now. It's of critical importance. The cloud has already been released. We can’t wait."
"There are procedures.”
“Your procedures do not matter. This is taking too long. It’s clear that I’ve already arrived too late...”
“Yeah, well, welcome to corporate media. We need network approval. This takes time. Be patient. Why not go look at all of our wonderful items of convenience?" Alicia said referring to the junk scattered about the store. Sariana was anxious and began to bite her nails and pace. “I’m not kidding, Sara. Go away. You’re making me nervous. I need to concentrate and get your story ready.”
“We’re wasting time. And I need to talk to you about us.”
Alicia was losing her temper. “What do you want from me exactly?! Frankly, you’re lucky I’m even entertaining this story right now. If this isn’t working out the way you planned, then why don’t you back in time and do it again, goddamnit? I mean, what the fuck?”
“I can’t,” Sariana was meek. “This is my only chance.”
Alicia calmed herself. “This is all part of the process. Hey, have you ever seen chicken and beer flavored beef jerky?”
“You and I really need to speak about why I found...”
“Sara, you need to give me just a minute, okay? Aisle three. Go look. It’s fascinating.”
Sariana was reluctantly intrigued. She took Alicia's advice and began to tour the store and think as Alicia and Brady remained at her desk.
"She seems like a sweet girl," Brady said to Alicia. She rolled her eyes and shrugged. Truth be told, Alicia was coming around to her as well. Something about the girl inherently intrigued her. She began to search Google for various doomsday prophets capitalizing on the tear in the sky. The producer was right. They were everywhere. Each more crazy than the next; selling eBooks promising to explain this whole sorted mess and offering redemption in fifty pages or less. “I’m going to make some chili,” Brady announced. “You want some?”
Alicia crinkled her nose and wrote: “Smells like dog food.”
“Tastes like it too. But I’m hungry and catering’s empty ‘til dinner.”
A half hour passed and Alicia was finally given approval to run with her story. Family counselors would be standing by in L.A. to comment after she int
erviewed the girl. Alicia found Sariana in the candy aisle, sitting cross-legged, eating chocolate covered raisins.
"They're ready for us," she said. "I see that even in another universe, girls are still suckers for chocolate."
"It's delicious." Sariana said with a big, chocolate covered smile.
She really was kind of a cute kid, Alicia thought. Very pretty. Even if what she said was all bullshit and the world didn’t end, Alicia thought that she would have a bright future. She didn't seem to be afraid of public speaking; certainly had a big imagination. Maybe she could even become an anchor or, God forbid, an actress.
"Let's get some make-up on you," Alicia told her as she helped her up from the floor.
"Make-up?"
"Yeah. You don't want to address the world looking like this do you?"
"I don't understand. We should do this immediately. We have waited long enough."
"It's okay, just follow me. No one’s going to take you seriously with dime store chocolate smeared all over your face."
Alicia led her to a folding table with a lighted mirror that served as the studio's makeshift cosmetics room. She wiped her face with a damp cloth, applied a bit of base and powder. She even went the extra mile and gave her a little lip gloss and mascara. She began brushing the girl's hair. Sariana, for all of her hurry, took a moment to enjoy this. She closed her eyes and relished the bristles of the brush gently scratching her scalp. She indulged in the scent of Alicia’s fresh perfume and Sariana did her best to memorize her every move. These were brief memories that she wanted to cherish. Moments like this didn’t have to happen. Sariana knew this.
"Thanks," Sariana said.
"For what?"
"Thank you for creating this brief respite between us. It’s special to me. I know you don’t know what all of this means. I know that you don’t understand what you’ve just done for me. I also know that you must think I’m crazy.” Sariana smiled sweetly. “So, thank you."
"Well, you're welcome, I guess,” Alicia put the brush down. “ All done. I think you're ready for your close-up, kid." She looked over Sariana’s shoulder to check herself in the mirror.
Ascension: Invocation Page 8
