The Mirage on the Brink of Oblivion (The Epic of Aravinda Book 3)

by Andrew M. Crusoe

  “Where did this explorer go?” Asha asked.

  “Her mission details were classified, but most of us believe she was trying to find a portal into another reality, or perhaps another universe entirely. Some believed she got trapped in a black hole, but other explorers reported that, curiously enough, stellar gravity didn’t effect them while out of the body. So we wonder if she perhaps went too far, finding a portal whose geometry curved back in on itself, severing her silver cord unintentionally. But these are only theories. Ever since then, travel beyond this world is expressly forbidden.”

  “What is the silver cord?” Asha said.

  “The natural tie between the physical body and the etheric,” Jyana said. “It’s at the base of the neck, but the cord is often unnoticed, phasing out to near invisibility unless touched.”

  Zahn frowned. “So what happened to this explorer?”

  “We don’t know her fate. It’s possible she found her way back to the Golden Realm…” Jyana trailed off for a moment. “Anyway, if you’ll follow me, we can get started.”

  Jyana waved them over to a spiraling ramp that led them down to the chamber floor. Farther down, they reached a narrow corridor leading between a row of huge white cubes as large as houses, and she led them through the maze of corridors, turning left and right until they reached a cube with an open door.

  “Inside, we will calm your mind and determine if you are prepared for the etheric state. Also, please do not touch anything unless I ask. The equipment inside is… finely tuned. And if you are prepared, then you shall see the wonders of the Mirage.”

  CHAPTER 7

  INTO THE MIRAGE

  As they stepped into the expansive cubic room, Zahn felt stunned at the thousands of details flooding into his eyes.

  Towering all around them were layers upon layers of metal latticework, forming hundreds of slots about two meters wide that reached all the way up to the ceiling, and another narrow hall led straight ahead, deeper into a kind of filing matrix.

  A loud hiss from the end of the hall almost made Zahn jump, and he watched in wonderment as a long robotic arm zipped across an overhead track built into the side of the latticework. Its movements were efficient and fluid, and it paused only for a moment before extending a section of its arm deep into one of the slots. When it reemerged, it held a padded rectangular platform with a thin pillow at one end, brought it down beside them, and held it steady just a meter over the floor.

  “You’ll go first, Asha,” Jyana said. “Please lie down on the bunk, and I’ll begin the test when you’re ready.”

  “Should I remove my shoes?” Asha said, still processing her surroundings.

  “That’s not necessary. If you’re concerned about cleanliness, we have automated systems for that.” Jyana’s voice softened. “Are you okay? You seem hesitant.”

  Asha looked over to her. “Well, uh, no, I’m okay. It’s just huge. Is this whole room for people who are sleeping?”

  Behind her, Torin laughed mischievously. “It’s like a huge slumber party, Asha, and you’re invited. Except we haven’t even gotten to the fun part yet; we’d better get there soon.”

  “Let me get this straight,” Zahn said, craning his neck to see the uppermost slots near the ceiling. “For everyone who leaves their body, their real bodies are here?”

  “Their physical bodies are stored in a stasis cube like this one, yes,” Jyana said. “However, I wouldn’t say real, as that is a matter of perspective.”

  Asha walked up to the bunk and studied the clear border that ran along its perimeter like a thin, low wall. “What’s this? So I don’t fall out?”

  Torin followed her. “These are some of the bio-monitors. They record your life signs while playing binaural frequencies, which helps you relax and leave your body more easily, especially if you haven’t done it before.”

  “Actually, I have,” she said.

  Torin squinted in disbelief. “Really?”

  But before he could say more, she was already lying down on the bunk. The robotic arm held the combined weight of the bunk and Asha easily, scarcely moving. The grey padding had somehow formed itself around Asha’s body, and she looked supremely comfortable.

  Zahn walked up to the side of the bunk and took her hand. “Are you sure about this, Asha? I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Asha squeezed his hand, her brown eyes gazing up to him reassuringly. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry so much, okay?”

  “Okay,” he nodded.

  “Well!” Torin interjected. “This has been super touching, but we should move along and do your test. We’re losing time—lots of it. You did tell them about the time dilation. Right, Jyana?”

  Zahn looked over to Torin who seemed increasingly agitated.

  “That’s right. I almost forgot.” Jyana sighed, as if she remembered a forgotten burden. “Before we proceed, there is something you both ought to know. Time flows much more rapidly when out-of-body. For one day of planetary time, roughly sixty-four days pass in the etheric state, what we call the Mirage. So this means that if you wake up out of the Mirage for even a few hours, as you most surely will, multiple days will pass within the Mirage. Is this clear to both of you?”

  “Sure,” Zahn said, “but what if we go back to the wrong body? Could we lose our bodies doing this?”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that,” Jyana said, almost amused. “The etheric body is inexorably linked to the physical until its death. We’ve created exotic conditions to try and find the limits to this, but we’ve never been able to permanently sever the connection while still on this planet, the silver cord I mentioned earlier, between an etheric body and someone’s physical body. Beyond the planet, it has happened, but we have taken precautions to prevent this from happening to our citizens. I assure you that it’s quite safe. However, you will need to awaken to eat. While the body’s requirements for food are reduced, they are still present.” Jyana turned back to Asha. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Then we shall begin.” Jyana pulled out her scanner and tapped a few buttons, causing a wavering tone to resound out of the right and left borders at the edge of the bunk. “These are binaural beats, merely two different sound frequencies. One frequency is sent to your left ear while a slightly different frequency is sent to your right. Both frequencies combine inside of your brain to create a difference pattern, a thumping sound that only you can hear. Please, close your eyes.”

  Zahn watched as Asha closed her eyes and relaxed. He moved around a bit to study the sound, but didn’t hear any thumping.

  “We are now going to test her etheric body for any fragmentation or discarnate attachments.”

  “Discarnate what?” Zahn said.

  “Shh!” Torin shot him an annoyed glance. “Don’t distract her. She’s nearing stage one. You wouldn’t want to throw her off, trust me.”

  The sound radiating from the bunk rose in tone and volume.

  “Terrific,” Jyana’s voice hushed to a whisper. “She resonates well. And her hemispheres have excellent crosstalk.” She walked up to Asha and ran her scanner along Asha’s body. “Yes, she’s transitioning into the Mirage now.”

  Torin shot Zahn a smirk. “She did well. I will be surprised if you do the same.”

  “I’m not concerned,” Zahn said. “We’re a team; we support each other; and if your Mirage has a problem with me, I’ll still find a way to help her do what we came here to do.”

  “Which is what, Zahn?” Torin, who stood a bit taller than him, whispered into Zahn’s ear so that only he could hear. “To entice us to join the Confederation? Perhaps something more? Jyana might have bought your story, but I am not so trusting. If there’s something you’re up to, anything that would upset the balance of our world, then you’ll have to contend with me.” Torin’s whispers felt like little swords cutting into Zahn’s cheeks. “Do we have an understanding?”

  Zahn turned to him, observing his high cheekbones and
wide nose up close for the first time. Perhaps this attitude was the xenophobia he’d been warned about.

  “Yes,” Zahn said evenly, suddenly feeling intimidated by the man’s presence. Still, he wasn’t going to tell Torin anything. “Look, we’re just following orders from the Confederation.”

  Torin studied his face in silence, scanning Zahn’s every micro-expression.

  “Okay,” Jyana said, “she’s away.”

  Zahn glanced over just in time to see the robotic arm lift Asha’s bunk up into the air and slide into one of the hundreds of bunk slots above.

  “Slick.”

  “You’ll soon be joining her,” Jyana said, waving him over. “At least, if the system approves you. No promises.”

  From around a far corner, another robotic arm swung into view, this one holding a freshly prepared bunk.

  When it arrived in front of Jyana, Zahn walked over to the bunk and pressed his fingers into its padded surface. The feeling was bizarrely satisfying.

  “What are you waiting for, kid?” Torin said, standing beside Jyana. “Only one way to find out, right?”

  Zahn pursed his lips and unceremoniously flopped onto the bunk, stretching out onto it. “Okay, let’s do this.”

  “The binaural frequencies are about to begin,” Jyana said. “You may drift off into sleep, and that is perfectly normal.”

  The wavering tone began just as it had before, a low murmuration that reminded him of the long bird calls that so often filled the valley he grew up in.

  Jyana smiled. “Close your eyes and relax, okay?”

  Zahn closed his eyes. By now, he could tell that there was something more to what he was hearing. Inside of the wavering tone, he heard a soft, whumping sound inside of his head. He found it calming, and felt himself relax more and more, as if he were sinking deeper and deeper into the bunk’s grey padding. His breathing slowed and he pushed himself to stay awake, to hear what Jyana might say about his test results.

  “Hmm. Yes.” He thought he heard her say.

  His focus shifted, and Zahn thought he heard the voice of an old woman buried within the frequencies. Her voice felt warm and wise, and he strained to make out her words.

  “…counting up from one to ten. When you reach ten, you shall enter a state of mind awake, body asleep. And when you wish to return, simply think of moving one of your fingers or toes. It is that simple. Now we begin. Counting up from one, two, three…”

  Zahn felt too sleepy to move his lips, but he counted within his mind, and as he grew nearer to ten, a loud rushing sound filled his ears. It began in his head and moved down to his chest, his stomach, his legs, and his feet. When it reached his feet, it headed back up again. Faster and faster, the rushing sound filled his body and he felt a new energy, a tingling all over. Part of him wanted to panic, but he fought to keep himself calm, knowing full well that panic would wake him up again.

  The rushing grew louder and louder, and he saw flickers of light above, even though he knew his eyes were closed. He saw a final flicker of light and the rushing stopped, finding himself staring at the metal latticework above.

  He thought he felt someone grab his arm, and in a moment of confusion, Zahn turned around, just in time to see his sleeping body shrink into the distance as he drifted up, up, up, through the mesh. As he passed through the ceiling he felt a familiar ticklish feeling before finding himself standing on a white, perfectly flat surface. He blinked, feeling a familiar presence that he recognized instantly.

  CHAPTER 8

  IMPOSSIBLE ARCHITECTURE

  When he turned around, Asha’s appearance startled him.

  Now, her face was lit from below as well as from above. She was still wearing a silvery Confederation uniform, but her entire form wavered in the middle distance, as if her shape might change at any moment.

  She squinted at him. “I’ve been waiting for you for a while. They weren’t kidding about the time dilation.”

  “Oh.” Zahn hesitated. “I’m sorry. I got on the bunk right after you did. I guess we’ll have to be careful about that.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something impossible and turned around in surprise.

  Rising up to the ceiling of the expansive chamber were magnificent, curving structures that sprung out of the sides of the chamber itself. Upon closer examination, Zahn realized that some of the structures weren’t attached to anything at all.

  “It’s remarkable, Zahn. I know that we’ve done this once before, but waking up here, to this.” She looked past him, up to the impossible architecture that surrounded them. “It’s like waking up for the first time.”

  Zahn could think of nothing to say and grew absorbed in the fantastical constructions that surrounded him. Several figures clothed in bright, billowing colors flew through the air between the structures with an elegance and grace that mesmerized him.

  “Are these… buildings?” He held his gaze on where one structure in the far distance curved down from the ceiling, coming to a sharp point. A small balcony hung off of the bottom of the point, and Zahn thought he could make out a few people above it.

  “Yes,” Asha said. “I’ve already been over there, actually. They’re really sweet people. They’re having, ah, I guess you could call it a dinner party. They invited me to stay, but I thought I’d wait over here for you. I felt rather overwhelmed when I first came up, so I thought you’d want me to be here.”

  Zahn tore his gaze away from the eccentric forms around him and looked over to her. “Thanks.” He reached out to take her hand, and when he touched it, a rush of ecstatic energy flowed through him. “Whoa!”

  “Hey!” Asha inhaled sharply. “I think touch is different here, Zahn. It must be a lot harder to hide how you feel about someone when you’re in this state, you know?”

  He grinned. “Well, you already know how I feel about you…”

  Her eyes smiled back at him. “And you already know how I feel.” She leaned in and embraced him tightly, filling him with a profound warmth that felt even more pure than when they’d embraced with their physical bodies many times before.

  Zahn brushed back her hair and admired her olive skin. Even in this out-of-body state, her etheric body must have automatically assumed the form of her physical body. He could even see the flecks of green in her eyes. In short, she was as stunning as ever.

  “Zahn, look!”

  He whipped around, just in time to see a large group of people in bright clothes emerge out of a smooth patch in the ceiling with great speed. Each of them were zooming down, but in different directions. In a blink, they had all dissolved into one of the huge, white cubes, no different from the one he was currently standing on.

  “Yikes,” he said. “I wonder what sent them back so quickly.”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe that’s what happens when you wake up.”

  “Yeah, Jyana did say that we would need to wake up to eat. Maybe they’re all eating together.” Zahn turned to her. “What do you think they eat, anyway? Did you see anything when we came in?”

  “No,” Asha said. “I didn’t even think about it, actually.”

  “Well, obviously there’s something above that part of the ceiling those people came through. I think we should check it out.” Zahn visualized his path ahead and flew upward in a straight line.

  “Hey! Come back here! We should wait for Jyana.”

  “She said the time dilation was a factor of about sixty-four, right?” He called back. “And you said you were waiting for me for a while.”

  “Yes, but wait.” She zoomed up into the air, easily catching up to him.

  “Well, then we have plenty of time to explore.” He pointed up to the ceiling. “Don’t you want to see what’s up there?”

  Asha rolled her eyes. “Of course I do, but we should wait for Jyana. We don’t want to offend our hosts.” She zipped ahead and blocked his path, but he didn’t slow down. She locked eyes with him. “Zahn, as commander of this mission I
really think—”

  But he only grinned and zoomed directly toward her.

  Instead of bumping into her, as he would have in the physical world, he passed right through her, and for a moment, he was overwhelmed with a feeling that utterly obliterated his senses. For an instant, he felt nothing but pure bliss, and it took his breath away. At least, it would have taken his breath away if he’d been breathing air at all, which he wasn’t.

  He froze, and collected himself. After a few moments, he turned around, finding Asha in a similar shocked state.

  “What was that?” she whispered.

  He quietly glided over to her and went to touch her shoulder to reassure her, but she held up her hand to stop him.

  “Please,” she said, “I just need a moment.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Are you okay?”

  “Yes. It—I didn’t expect it, that’s all.”

  “Did we—”

  “I think we accidentally blended our energies for a moment.”

  “But did you, I mean, did you feel… good?”

  “It felt incredible.” She reassured him, her eyes meeting his. “Just a little intense. I wasn’t expecting it, okay? Don’t worry.”

  “Okay. As long as you’re all right.” He took a deep breath and waited for a few moments.

  “So,” Asha continued, “how about we go down and wait for Jyana? I feel like we don’t fully understand this place, and I would feel more comfortable exploring if we learned more.”

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “Lead the way.”

  Zahn wanted to take her hand, but thought against it. And as he glided back down to the roof of the cube, he considered how this chamber was nearly unrecognizable from what it had been before. As he studied it further, the structures reaching down from the ceiling were almost like tendrils, hinting at more structures above the surface.