A New Divide (Science Fiction) (12 page)

              Although I didn't block it by touching it with any part of my body, it was a motion. Like a fluid response—my body somehow sensed that it was in danger and it protected itself. It felt like there was an energetic casing around my body, my vessel in this life.

              "Hey! What the hell did you do that for!"

              "For proof, and it's just as I thought! Instantaneous energetic transference."

              "Instant blah-blah-blah?"

              "Yes, smartass. We have instantaneous information, instant food and drink with the capsulette. Now we have you. A man with the ability to manipulate energy by absorbing his surroundings."

              Helena began to walk back up the mountain and I followed closely behind her. I had never liked the feeling of relying on people—when I first arrived on Remora I couldn't bear that feeling: asking someone for help, asking someone what to do. That wasn't me, I liked to figure things out on my own.

Helena ran far ahead of me. I shouted to her and our conversation began to echo through the valley we had almost reached. "Hey! What is energetic transference!"

              "You are a terrible listener, Collin!"

              I won't say too much about our trek across the forest in the valley for several reasons. To be honest, those are moments that are just for me. I don't want to share these moments with anyone else but her. I never wanted our time to end, even before we got to the temple. It was a time in my life where I had actually gained something that mattered to me. In insight and humanity, and love.

              During our trek to the temple we encountered all sorts of strange wildlife and beautiful scenery through the forest. We also had our share of unfortunate mishaps. It took us fifty hours to traverse those woods, but with her it was only a fleeting moment. It was when we passed that last tree and ran out into the open that I decided I wanted to stay with her, no matter what happened in my life.

              I guess we all have these moments in our life, but we have to learn to let go of time. Time will always be relative, we need to learn that we can chase it, but never capture it. I came to this when we walked out into that grassy plain where we first dropped. I laid my eyes on it; they were fixated. The temple was so close. I don't ever think I have been so nervous in my entire life. I did not get nervous, but that moment we reached those footsteps before that great temple, I got the shakes again, like I did every time before a match but infinitely worse.

              I had a thought—what if we entered the temple and I did learn what I was? What the answer could mean for humanity (if they found out). Most importantly—what it could mean for me. I was afraid that I would not be ready for the truth soon to be unveiled to me.

CHAPTER 8 - TEMPLE OF THE VOID

              She took my hand
and we began running through the field. I still shaded my eyes due to the brightness and wild color of this world. But through my fingers I saw it. A small mountain to the west, sculpted into an even pyramid.

              "So what's at this temple?"

              "You ask a lot of questions, don't you?" She asked this jokingly but I felt so lost, I knew of nothing. I hated that,
hated
it. I had never felt like I was uninformed, until the day the purge began. After that everything I knew was gone. I began to pity myself for this lack of knowledge concerning everything that surrounded me.

              "Sorry."

              "Oh don't be. I know this place is . . . hard to grasp, the whole concept of it."

              "Just give me a little more time here. So this Father Cyrus? He's meeting us there?"

              "He is expecting us at any time. He will answer all of the questions you may have, as long as you ask the right questions. He takes the form of a man with a white robe and a golden mask."

              "He's not human?"

              "No, he is, or, he was; a thousand years ago he combined himself with the first computer containing a direct brainwave interface. Think of him as a kind of machine god."

              "He claims to be a god? So is he just extremely arrogant, or he is out of his damned mind?"

              "That's what we call him. Collin, if you become capable of anything conceivable like he is, people would call you a god as well. There is just really no other way to describe him. But don't call him a god, he dislikes it. Treat him as you would anyone else."

              "You say that like it's a challenge."

              We ran through the light layer of trees and shortly beyond were the stairs that led to the plateau at the base of the temple. Upon our arrival to the plateau's cliff side, we were greeted by three bald and heavily tattooed men in white robes.

              They wore these smiles. These weren't the kind of teeth-exposing wideness that made you feel
more
uncomfortable than their forced grins (like the clerks in a genome clinic). Nor were they the ridiculous, goofy, obtuse smiles that made you laugh. Their smiles made us smile, even though we had never met them. It was so strange but tranquil, I admit. It was welcoming.

              "Cal-halte, Miss Roland."

              "Cal-halte, brother. Umm, Father Cyrus? He sent for us."

              I learned this term was part of a language developed by the Remorans. During our ancestors' pilgrimage to Eden, all of humankind's many languages had blended together to form a single language that was understood by all. We called it Edenspeak but as the years passed here in Eden, it was rumored that separate societies had wanted to create their own languages in order to diversify themselves.

              I was very confused by this at first. It was the first time I had heard a foreign language in my entire life. I stared at the robed man as he passed by Helena and confronted me.

              Then something impossible happened; I didn't know what to think of it at first. The robed man ahead of me nodded, and as I stared into his blank expression I felt something manifest around me. I slowly looked to my right and saw a figure in a white robe and a golden mask. He was merging himself into our dimension from what I understood, a conduit, with no physical capabilities. They were similar to holographic projections, though far superior in terms of clarity. "Collin King, I'm glad you took the time to see me during your visit here," Father Cyrus said.

              "Well, it seemed kind of rude not to, considering it's your planet."

              "Heh, very well. I will see you on the plateau above, brother. Hand your coat to these men, you will not need it in the temple."

              As quickly as he appeared, he was gone. A man of few words.

              "That's it?"

              "He always tries to be as simple as he possibly can. Try not to notice his complexity." One of the robed men signaled me to follow him up the large stone steps, easily forty flights up the mountain.
              I took off my jacket and threw it to the man to my left. I was wearing a tank top and my body markings were now exposed. Remora was comforting, they were indifferent to seeing strange things such as this. I felt less ashamed of my skin deformity, desperate to know just how much it would affect my life.

              I quickly walked up the steps to catch up to Helena, who was waiting for me. "Look." She pointed above us, as we continued to make our climb up the moss-covered stone stairs.
              "Wow."
              I was shocked by how large the temple really was. We could see the peak through the clouds. The temple and the steps and the railings that followed were all made of the same material it seemed. It was a brown and red stone that was lightly engraved with strange markings. I looked closer and I noticed that they had matched the imprints on my skin, but their movements were much more subtle—they were slower, and their color was less radiant.

              The further we walked up the solid steps the brighter the light in the engravings became. I thought that they must have led to some kind of sanctuary within the temple itself, maybe a cathedral, or something of that caliber.

              We came across that last step and entered the plateau before the temple. This world was hard to fathom—I had been so far removed from the life I once knew. I turned to Helena and said the only thought that kept revolving in my mind: "I've never felt so ignorant in my entire life."

The flat was swarming with hundreds of robed men and women who were all engaging in different practices. There were different collectives—living beside the temple—and they were quite possibly the most content gathering of people I have ever come across.

              I turned to Helena, who expected my question with anticipation.

              "These people are the pioneers."

              "Pioneers?"

              "Yes. All of them. They all stay here for one reason. To gain the level of enlightenment deemed necessary to enter the temple."

              "Why isn't everyone else bald, and covered with tattoos like the freaks at the front?"

              Helena looked over to me and slightly frowned at my rude comment.

              "First of all those men are not called freaks, Collin. They are the followers of Father Cyrus and they are like his disciples, they carry the words of Cyrus and their words have changed them forever. Enough so that they have devoted their entire lives to protecting this holy ground, and the secrets that lie beyond the doors of the temple."
              I finally aimed my eyes at the ground and noticed the engravings that had lined the stone railings along the steps indeed led to the entrance of the temple. The engravings shot up along the sides of the giant stone double-doors, and were etched into the surfaces of the temple. The surface, with its constantly moving glyphs, was exploding with color and radiant light. The rocks along the temple constantly moved and complied with the never-ending morphing of the glyphs. I thought, "My god, why in hell would a temple need to be this big? It seems a little ridiculous."

              I was so compelled by the magnificence of the temple that I had failed to notice Father Cyrus was attempting to grab my attention. Helena punched my shoulder and I quickly turned towards her.
              "Collin!"
              "Ow! Oh! My apologies, bro, I mean dude, I mean Father."

              Helena could see that I had never really met somebody that had attained such a level of spirituality. Cyrus certainly had attained a status that I had never heard of. This was, probably, the first time in my life that I deliberately tried not to offend someone. I guess now that I look at it, maybe I'm just kind of an asshole.
              "It's quite all right, my brother. Now, if you and the lady would be so kind as to follow me."
              As we walked across the plateau, the pioneers began to take notice of us. The closer we got to the temple doors, the more they understood. They ran up to me, and began studying my tattoos, fascinated by them.
              "What are they doing?"
              Cyrus looked over his shoulder and responded.
              "They know of what you are—that
glow
you have to your skin—the same as the temple."
              "What are these? Could someone please tell me what the hell is going on with my body! The runaround, every time! It's getting to be pretty damned annoying!"
              Father Cyrus then stopped. I could feel his presence behind me as we stared directly at the red stone doors that rose easily one hundred feet over our heads.

              "Your tattoos—as you call them. They are keys, I know them—it is a very unstable but constant form of immortality. It will take a lot of time to learn how to unlock the rest of it."

              "So I'm immortal then? What, because of a freak accident with a damned injection? That is impossible, everyone knows—"

              "They know nothing of what they refuse to understand—they fail to see the simplicity of this universe, how
anything
can happen at any given moment. I cannot tell you of your origins because that would rob you of purpose in your life. You will never speak the word 'impossible' again once we walk through those doors. Now. Are you ready?"

              I continued to look ahead at the temple. He had already answered a question nobody seemed to know, and he carried an energy that was far beyond anything anyone has ever made me feel. I knew I had to. I didn't have to vocalize my thoughts to him, but Helena did. I think she began to feel nervous and out of place.
              "Father? Are you sure you have need of me?"
              "He will need a companion to accompany him through this journey."
              "Journey? I didn't agree to this."
              "My brother, you are about to enter a world that no human has ever laid eyes upon. I will not force you, but I want you to ask yourself: would you be willing to walk away from the physical truth when it presents itself so willingly?"
              This man, this being—whatever he was—could not have been more right. I felt nervous and afraid, but at the same time I was starting to believe that all of this, in such a short amount of time, could not be a coincidence. I somehow knew that I belonged here and I turned to Helena.
              "Will you follow?"
              "Anywhere you go. I haven't forgotten our promise."
              She grabbed my hand as Cyrus turned back around and opened the doors to the temple. The doors slowly began to swing inward just slightly. The doors created tremors as they moved apart just enough to allow us passage into the inner chamber. Just as we passed through the small gap, I heard a very loud noise. I jolted up, and looked behind me. The doors had shut, just as quickly as they were opened. The light of Remora had faded. We were completely surrounded in the darkness.
              "Hey, what is this!"
              "Relax, brother. I will guide your way."
              I saw Father Cyrus kneel upon the ground faintly in the dark, and far away. Small traces of light began to emanate from where he crouched. They stretched, and erupted, spreading like wildfire all across the unbelievably massive chamber.

              Helena and I looked all around us, as the multicolored light spread to edges of the colossal room up into the domed ceiling.

              As the light began to cease along the ceiling, I saw that it was a star map of the universe, an enormous planetarium.
              "Over here."

              We walked for what seemed like almost twenty minutes. It felt like the walk was never going to end, until we reached the very center of the giant room. There was an altar by Cyrus and they were being showered by the light of the stars that were overhead.

              Father Cyrus stood at the center of the room, where a small pedestal had been erected from the altar, and rose up to his waist.
              "Unlike the cathedrals of our pasts, depicting symbolic figures of worship, this temple is not a place of worship, but a gateway to
the Realm
. The title, Temple of the Void, refers to the one place of true sanctuary within the chaos of this empty universe."
              We walked up to the pedestal and noticed a circular incision in the center that spiraled out to the lights, sprawling throughout the rest of the room.
              "Place your hand in the center, brother, and if the lady would take his hand."
Helena took my hand. I had never gotten the shakes so much in one day. My body was so anxious I could not control my body movements in this place. I was not alone. Helena had those shakes, same as I. With her safely by my side, I knew I would be okay—it was the strangest thing. After I took a few moments to collect my composure, I slowly extended my hand towards the center of the pedestal.
              "Do you know what you are doing, what will happen?" Helena shot a look of concern over to me as I wore this grand smile upon my face, in my greatest moment of anticipation of arriving on this world.
              "Not at all. But we cannot fear the fall when it is the leap that will set us free."
I pressed my hand in the center of the pedestal. For a moment nothing happened, but when I tried to remove my hand I was unable to free myself. My body began glowing extremely brightly and the room started to vibrate violently. Greater than the force of an earthquake, or the moments I spent in Rayden One before it fell to the earth.
              "WHAT IS THIS! I can't move!"
              "Collin! I'm scared!"
              I then heard Father Cyrus's voice. It remained very clear in the madness that was surrounding us. Telepathy it was, a direct link to our minds.
              "I will see you on the other side, my friends."