"And what does it do?" I finally asked.
"We call it the ‘Spindle'," she said. "It spins and manifests your quantum universe into reality— like turning raw cotton into clothes."
"What are you even talking about?" I said with a clueless frown. Allecra gave me a smile before she walked up to me.
"Imagine your thoughts are like fine threads of silk and this machine can weave them into the fabric of reality. Whatever designs your imagination concocts, it will become real."
"What?—How could you materialize something out of nothing?"
"The same way a writer creates a story from nothing. It is the consciousness that creates the material universe, not the other way around," she said. "Come on, Nina, why is it so strange to you? Your people also do stuff like that, only you call it 'magic'."
"You're not an alien version of Doraemon, are you?"
Allecra frowned. "Who is Doraemon?"
"You never heard of him?" I said. "Doraemon is a future cat robot. He has a 4-D pouch on his tummy that he can pull out all sorts of inventions. Come on, you spent a year in Japan!"
"Really? He has a fourth-dimension pouch?" she said, looking perplexed and rather impressed with the notion of a gadget cat. "Well, I didn't know that."
"Maybe you were too busy working in the baby factory," I murmured.
"I'm sorry?"
"Nothing," I said and changed the subject. "So tell me about your machine!"
"Oh, well, we can use the Spindle to teleport us from one dimension to another or just within our own realm."
"There are other dimensions?" I asked with wide eyes.
"Didn't you learn anything in science class at all?" she said.
"Excuse me, Allecra. I've never been taught anything unrealistic like parallel worlds, portals, time machines, or any bizarre alien concepts at all," I pointed out.
"It's because humans are still learning about the universe, but the Arzurians already passed this stage."
"Well then, I just hope that no one knows about your existence," I said. "or they will take you to the NASA lab and put you in a jar."
"They can try," she said with a confident shrug. "I don't know about other aliens, but we, Arzurians, are impossible to track. You know why?"
"Why?"
"Because we're super cool," she said with a smirk. Then she pointed her thumb to the Spindle. "Besides, we've got this magic carpet we used as our private transportation. With the machine, we could jump from one space to another. It was convenient during my days searching for the potential one. That's why nobody was aware of our trespassing. But now that I won't need it anymore, we just keep it here."
"Oh," I breathed, realizing that I was the reason Allecra no longer trotted around the globe, trying to breed with an Earthling. I didn't know whether I should feel flattered or self-conscious about it.
"Do you want to see how it works?" Allecra asked, sounding excited all of a sudden.
"Well...mhmm...I guess," I said with a little hesitance.
"Don't be afraid, it's perfectly safe," she said. "It's like a Hieronymous Machine your people created. All it takes is your faith. If you don't put your mind into it, then it won't work. You must believe with all your heart that it will."
"I have to pretend that it works?"
"Not pretend — believe," she said. "When you believe, your brain sends out a magnetic wave to the universe. In turns, it will start to change things around because your energy is powerful enough to alter the cosmic energy since you're a part of it."
I had to admit I was blown away by Allecra's logic. Finally, I nodded for I trusted her, and I was also eager enough to find out what her alien technology could do.
She took me to the middle of the ring where there was a metal platform to stand on. I couldn't believe all this was actually possible. Maybe it was like turning on a television. We all know how to switch it on and change channels and stuff, but we don't know how it works.
I didn't see Allecra going all over anything like she was supposed to. Instead, she just stood staring at me as if expecting something to happen by itself.
"Aren't you going to turn the lever or push the button or anything, Allecra?" I asked in a whisper.
She just laughed.
"The power source is here," she said and tapped a finger on her temple. "The Spindle operates through mental energy. Something has to connect between your mind and the machine. Now Nina, use your imagination and think of where you want to be."
"I don't know...I can't decide..."
"Just concentrate—visualize it until it feels as real as can be like you are already living it inside your head," she instructed in a calm tone. "You're a writer, right? I believe your mind can picture everything vividly."
"But..."
"Just breathe and close your eyes."
"Okay," I said and then did as I was told.
I couldn't think of anything at first, but I didn't what to disappoint Allecra, so I tried to envision the place I wanted to see. Not Alaska though, since I'd never seen what it was like there. My vision kept slipping away, straying from my grasp. Then I felt Allecra's forehead touched mine. Just like that, it seemed to still my disarrayed thoughts. I pictured the only place I could think of, drawing every fiber in my brain for this make-believe.
I heard whooshing sounds and I realized the giant ring was spinning around us. The temperature in the room seemed to drop even lower. Freezing winds began to whirl in the room. I felt a strange weightlessness in my body. I got panicked at the sensation for a second, but I knew Allecra was there to make sure I was safe. The grip of my arms around her tightened.
A moment later, I opened my eyes to find hers ablaze with bright turquoise light. Even her tattoos glowed. All around us, the blur of the spinning ring began to slow down again. As it stopped, I finally got a glimpse of our surrounding and gasped in utter shock.
We weren't in the lab anymore. I stared wide-eyed. It didn't take me long to recognize where I was because this was exactly how I pictured it in my mind. It was like waking up to a dream rather than reality.
Above me, the azure skies were steep and low with thin white clouds painted on the vault of the blue canvas. Faint twinkling stars lit through the veil that covered the frozen land. Slowly, as if being lured by the view, I broke away from Allecra's hold and walked off to what laid before me. At the far end of the earth's corner stood the taiga forest of birch, fir, and larch. Their leafy branches parted gently, like theater curtains.
Stretching far in front of us was snow-capped mountains so perfect they looked like stage scenery. It was the world unlike the monochrome one we'd just left. Everything all danced in aqua-blue light, shimmering blindingly like heaven. Here stood the mystical, revered, sacred Lake Baikal — one of the most spectacular places on earth.
I could hardly believe my own eyes. Even the chilling fresh air that brushed passed my thin clothes and the freezing cold biting through my slippers felt so real. Under my feet was ice and snow dotted with raised glaciers like jagged crystals. They glowed in bright green hue.
"Oh my god,” I whispered. "It's not an illusion, is it?"
"No," Allecra's voice said softly beside me. I still looked about us in disbelief and awe.
"How could you do that?"
"No, you did it. You brought us here. All I did was just to get a hold of your brain signals and let the machine print out your imagination. It's the same as a film role and a projector."
Allecra then came to place her arms around me protectively. It was like she wanted to ward off the cold, but it also seemed she was trying to lock me from drifting away.
"By the way, what is this place?" she asked, "I have never seen it before."
"This is Lake Baikal of Siberia,” I told her. “It's where the ice queen cast her spell and where the angels come down to dance. The very name fills Russian hearts with joy. I have always wanted to see it since I was a child. I can't believe we are here now."
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Allecra whispered
into my ear.
"Yes, and phenomenal, too."
"Just like you, Nina," she said and kissed my neck. "You're the first girl who could make it happen, you know that?" Her breath was warm on my skin. I turned around to face her.
"No other potentials have ever done it with you before?" I asked.
"No," she said. "I never felt like showing the world to anyone until you."
I could feel the moisture brimming in my eyes. I smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"So all of it is truly real?" I said. "Nothing has gone amok in my head? Tell me I'm not hallucinating or going crazy."
"Nina, to all your questions—no,” she answered with an amused smile. “You create your own reality. Humans do it all the times. We just do it Arzurian style. Everything's manifested instantly. That's why it's called quantum traveling or jumping. After all, your mind is already a portal to another universe in itself."
"You know, Allecra, you're like my very own Aladdin on the magic carpet," I said, and she chuckled back.
"I thought I was your Doraemon, the robot cat," she said and we both burst out laughing. The cold wind blew again, and she felt my body shivered. "Alright, let's get back before you freeze to death in my arms."
We turned to the Spindle, but I didn't see it anywhere.
"Where's the machine?" I asked, bewildered.
"Don't panic. It's there but back in the lab where we left it," Allecra told me casually. "I know where it is. Just come with me."
"Why wasn't it brought along with us?" I asked.
"It only acts as a gateway transporting you to another place. Just like a good book does to a reader. The physical book is no longer relevant except the world it projects from the pages. And in this sense, so is my machine."
"I see," I said slowly, trying to get my mind around it.
Allecra walked me a few more steps and stopped. I looked around and saw a faint circle mark on the icy ground beneath our feet.
"This reminds me of the crop circles," I said. Allecra just rolled her eyes, which now began to glow again. Before long, I heard the familiar whooshing sound and then the ring slowly reappeared out of thin air. By then, we were transported back to our old world.
CHAPTER 35
I came home again with a pounding heart. Though Allecra reassured me that no one would remember I went missing, I was still expecting the worst.
To my relief, the house looked empty. Nobody was standing by the door, waiting to grill me. For that I was grateful, but then I became curious about where everyone had gone to. They probably were still asleep since it was still noon. The party must have taken a toll on them.
I went up to my room. After Allecra showed me her secret toy (no, not that one!), it was like the world wasn’t consistent and logical anymore. It was like you put the macaroni cheese in a bowl and shoved it into the microwave then expected to get it back after it was done. You think it's reasonable and normal to find whatever you put into the microwave, but in my case, the macaroni cheese turned into rice pudding.
I guessed from now on, I would have to get used to this new illogical reality while being with Allecra Knight. The blonde alien literally turned my world upside down.
After I closed the door, Piper almost gave me a heart attack by sitting primly on my bed, smiling.
"Piper!" I gasped. "You scared the hell out of me!"
My cousin just stared back with a silly grin on her face and said. "Tell me!"
I blinked hard. "Tell you what?"
"That you just had sex," she said.
My face reddened. I tried to hide my embarrassment by quickly turning to walk towards my closet. I put away Allecra's silk robe she gave me this morning. But my silence seemed to confirm whatever Piper thought I did.
"I can't believe it!" Piper cried and jumped from the bed towards me. "You did?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You know—bumper to bumper? Horizontal tango? Do you understand—sex?"
I opened my mouth and closed it again, not wanting to lie or telling the truth at the same time, which made it worse.
"So where are your parents?" I asked to sidetrack her instead.
"They've gone on an urgent business trip for a few days. Dad got promoted as the head of the board so mom has to work closely with him, too," Piper said. "Don't worry. No one is here to chew you out for sneaking off with your hot girlfriend last night."
"I didn't sneak out. It was just a sleepover. We did ask for your parents' permission," I protested lamely.
"Really?" Piper asked in surprise. "That's unfair! How come they never let me do that often?"
My tactic only worked for a moment before Piper's nosiness about my newborn sex life boomeranged at me again.
"So Nina, how was it being with a girl, not to mention Allecra Knight?" she said with an annoying leer. I felt the need to cover my face at that.
"Piper..."
"Oh for god's sake, stop acting like a virgin anymore!" she said. "Tell me, was she good? Did she make you come?"
"Gosh! Piper, you need Jesus!"
"What? I'm just curious! I might come down with a rash if I don't know."
"Well, good doesn't even begin to cover it, okay?" I admitted. Piper pressed her hands to her cheeks like a screaming man on the bridge in the Munch picture. I had a feeling that she was about to scream, too.
"Please, don't do that," I said pointedly.
"Aw, Nina!" Piper squealed. "I'm so amazed and proud of you! What was it like sleeping with a girl?"
I should have seen this coming, and I knew I couldn't escape this anymore.
"Sex is sex. Doesn't matter what gender you do it with," I said. She seemed to mold the idea in her head for a moment.
"So did she use a strap-on?"
"Not all lesbians prefer toys, Piper," I said. "I don't."
Besides, Allecra has a real one, I just wanted to say for the heck of it, but didn't. For the next two hours, Piper fired off a hundred more questions at once accompanied by gasps and squeals over my first time.
I hadn't anticipated this kind of enthusiasm. Why do we all have that one person? I deserved a reward for not digging a hole and crawl into it because of that. Piper only surrendered when I stopped answering her and told her I had homework to finish.
The next day, the heart in me leaped when I saw the black Lamborghini hovered outside. I quickly got out of the house. Allecra was sitting inside her car, staring at me through her dark sunglasses. She took some time to look at me from head to toes, like at any moment she would whip out a measuring tape and start measuring me everywhere. It made me blush.
"Don't look at me with that face, Allecra," I said after I got into the car.
"Well, good morning to you, too," she mocked.
"Stop it," I said crossly.
"Why does my girlfriend become a grumpy old lady all of a sudden?" she asked.
"Nothing," I said. She narrowed her eyes at me. "Well, it's just Piper really got on my nerves last night."
"What was it about?"
"Oh, you know."
"Okay," Allecra said and grinned back as she started the car. "I wouldn't mind if you told her I'm a sex goddess."
I shot her daggers, which made her chuckle as she started to drive away.
In the class, I found myself on the brink of sexual tension all over again. It was felt like an egg balanced on the edge of a table, set to topple over at any moment. I had never felt a strong sexual urge with another person beyond all reasons like that.
Allecra and I weren't a touchy-feely couple, but what we had between us was transcendent. The upshot was that I was burning with a fierce desire for her like a thirst that couldn't be quenched.
We studied ancient Greek plays. Euripides, one of the Greek tragedy marked his work by the way things get so mixed up that the characters become trapped. They've all got their own situations and reasons and excuses. Each one was pursuing his or her own brand of happiness and as a result chaos and conflicts take plac
e.
Mrs. Smith was explaining, "In Euripides, there's almost always a point where a god appears in the end and starts directing traffic like this: 'You go over there, you come over here, you get together with her, and you just sit still for a while.' This is called 'deus ex machina'."
"De sex machine?" Michael said.
Mary Jones shot him a disgusted look.
"It's 'deus ex machina' you immature idiot," she said before flipping her hair and turned back to the teacher.
"But you can no longer write like that, everyone," Mrs. Smith went on, unaware of the dirty joke.
"Why is that?" someone asked.
"Because it's not realistic," she said. "It's a weak plot and doesn't reflect real life at all. Think about it — everything would be so easy in real life if some force would swing down and solve all your problems. You have to make your own choices and mistakes and receive the consequences at the end, whatever it is."
Afterward, we had science class. Our report about Arzuria came back with an A-. There was a teacher's compliment written on it saying it was creative, although it was strange to have floating islands in the air.
Allecra was defensive about it when I said we shouldn't have added that part.
"There were actually islands that floated on my planet," she said. "They contained magnesium and other minerals that created the magnetic force."
"I believe you," I said. "I had seen that in my dream when Xenon tried to manipulate me."
Allecra looked at me with concern. "Has she entered your dream again lately?"
"No," I said.
"Good then," she said with a nod.
After class, I spotted Jordan walking with Rachel, the girl whose head I bonked with a ball. The way Rachel looked at her was obvious that she was in love. I smiled, feeling happy for my Jordan. She deserved someone who loved her back.
I didn't see Jack anywhere though and wouldn't want to either. I was hoping that the deus ex machina would just order him to stay out of my life forever. Perhaps, Allecra had already assumed the role and put him in his deserved place.
At lunch, Allecra said she had a surprise for me. Instead of sitting under the Pepper tree, as usual, she brought me to the parking lot and into her car. Then she drove us to a quiet wooded area near the school. She brought out a neatly wrapped bento lunch box and opened the lid.
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