Ascension: Invocation (21 page)

"I have another witness. We can get him on the phone."

"There’s still no proof. The body just disappeared?"

"Yes, it just fucking disappeared."

"You know, little lady, getting hostile only makes me want to listen to you less."

"Little lady? Seriously?"

"I think what the General means," Charles interrupted.

"I know what the fuck he means. I don't need a god-damned translator, Doctor." Alicia stood up. "You said she was dead. Isn't that what you said? Does she look dead to you?!"

"Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens all the time," Ms. Hendrix said calmly.

"What? How can you mistake someone for being dead? It doesn't happen all the time."

"The hospitals are incredibly busy right now. Record keeping isn't exactly at the top of their priority list. At least, that's what I'd chalk this up to. Obviously, she's alive." Ms. Hendrix held up a photo of the girl. It was a high school portrait. She looked exactly the same, except that she had braces in the photo.

"Okay, how come no one has recognized her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Her video is all over the web. She's been on national television over and over again. You're telling me that not one person has seen that video and said 'Holy shit, that's my dead niece'?"

"I'm sure someone will come forward, Ms. Parker," the General said. "Then, you'll no longer have the burden of caring for her. I'm sure that will be a relief."

Alicia took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. Nothing felt right about this but she was beginning to feel out of options. Milan had been sitting quietly for quite some time. He was considering the implications of what the reporter described. Alicia turned her attention on him. "You've met me," she said to him. "Do I seem crazy to you?"

Milan quickly thought back to the only time he had previously met Alicia. He did think that she was a little nuts. "No," he nearly whispered.

"Good. One vote for I'm not bat-shit crazy."

"I do think that you need to consider...”

"I need to consider something? Listen, you people are perfectly content to accept the fact that there is a giant fucking hole in the sky and an alien talking to you on the radio but this doesn't even land on your radar?" There was no response from the group. "All right. So, what now?"

"You can go if you like," said the General. "You're not under arrest."

Ms. Hendrix went into her office and retrieved the girl. She entered, looking innocent as ever, aware that an argument had taken place but unaware that it had centered on her credibility. Alicia had a final thought.

"Sariana, do the thing," she said.

"The thing?'

"Rip their souls out. Do it."

"But... I... can't," the girl stammered.

"You can't do it now or you can't do it at all?"

"I don't understand."

"That thing you did to me last night was it real or did I dream that?"

"You gave me permission to do that...”

“What? No I didn’t. You just did it.”

“The Grand Revelation, left to my Father, allowed for me to do this under dire circumstances.”

"So you say. You can't do it without permission?"

"That's right."

"Okay, who wants their soul ripped out?" Alicia asked the room. Perhaps understandably, no one immediately volunteered. "It'll just take a second." Still no answer. "Fine. Sariana, I give you permission to mind fuck them. Go ahead."

"Ms. Parker!" the General said, losing his temper.

"It doesn't work that way," the girl said.

Alicia grabbed the file folder that sat in front of the General and read from it. "You are Grace Barlow. You're sixteen years old. You were born and raised in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. You attend Muscle Shoals High School. Oh! You're on the Dean's List. Congratulations...”

"No...” the girl protested.

Alicia held up the picture. "Is this not you?"

"Ms. Parker shouldn't this be a conversation you have in private?" the General asked.

"This is my vessel," the girl said, now clearly nervous, referring to her body.

"Your vessel?" Alicia asked suspiciously.

"Yes. I know that I mentioned this.” Sariana thought for a moment. “Didn’t I?”

“Yeah, no, this didn’t come up. Like, at all.”

“It was the only way I could cross."

"You thought that the best way to cross dimensions was to inhabit the body of a dead girl?"

It was becoming clear to the girl that Alicia doubted her again. "That’s how it works...”

"So, when I supposedly planned this meeting between you and I, it never occurred to anybody that you being recognized as a dead chick might be a bit of a fly in the fucking ointment?! Better yet, this little detail didn't strike you as relevant to tell me before we arrived here?"

"You were supposed to wake up.” Sariana was starting to get angry herself.

"You know something, Grace Barlow or Sariana or whoever the hell you are? This mission you're on from another dimension? You suck at it!"

“They altered the string!” Sariana shouted back. “That’s the whole problem. This parallel is all fucked up and I can’t change that! You’re not who you’re supposed to be. I’m trying to make the best out of a bad situation.”

“Hold on,” Milan interjected. “First of all, everyone just calm down for a second.”

Alicia wasn’t finished. “Yeah, you keep saying that, little miss I’m-here-to-change-the-timeline. Why don’t you just change it again and make it work?”

“I can’t believe how stupid you are here.”

“Ladies,” Milan was trying to get a word in edgewise.

“Oh, excuse me for not knowing shit about your trigger words and magic dimensions. How was I supposed to know any of that?”

Milan raised his hand. “I know a little about...”

“When did I blame you? Not once! It’s not your fault that the Humans made you retarded.”

“Oh! So, now I’m a retarded killing machine. You know something? You’re a fantastic ambassador from the sixth dimension. Just fantastic.”

“Okay!” Milan shouted.

“You were such a bitch when you were young, Grandma,” Sariana muttered under her breath. If looks could kill, Sariana would have been a smoldering pile of ash.

“Let’s just have a seat,” Milan suggested. “You’ve mentioned a few things that I’d like to explore further.” With that, the girls begrudgingly returned to their chairs at the table. “You’re talking about quantum mechanics.”

“That is your name for this concept, yes,” Sariana said.

“And what do you call it?”

“There is no name for what is.”

“But you’re referring to multiple universes. Different dimensions. Many worlds.”

“There are infinite universes but only eleven dimensions as we have defined them.”

“There may be more?”

“We cannot know this. The Humans wish to ascend beyond the tenth dimension.” Sariana explained the coming war to Milan, Charles and the General. As she did so, Alicia began to sense the mood of the room coming around to the girl’s philosophy, albeit with some trepidation. Milan was especially engaging.

“I must admit,” he said. “I would share the same curiosity as the ‘Humans’. What is the danger of exploring further?”

“The eleventh dimension is the realm of God. It is unknowable.”

“Do you know that God exists?” Charles asked. “Or is this merely an assumption?”

“This is not something you can understand in your present state. You’ve not yet ascended.”

“And your people... you don’t want us to grow?” the General queried.

“We are of the same ‘people’ and of course we do. After all, should you not, we cannot be. My very existence is dependent on your ascension. But not at the Humans’ behest. Should your soul not have the same opportunity to ascend? Surely, you’re not content to be only pawns in a dimensional game of chess?”

“But, in a way, what you’re saying is that the Humans are our creators. I’m not a very religious man,” the General continued. “But wouldn’t that make them our God?”

“This is what they want you to believe, yes. They have gone to great lengths, it would appear, to ensure that this would be your assumption. The Humans have limited your understanding of God, your history. More than you can imagine.”

“How many times has this very scenario played out?” Milan asked. “If there are multiple, parallel universes as you’re describing, hasn’t this happened before? Won’t it happen again?”

“You are correct. In that instance, for the Humans, the ascension failed.”

“This is what the voice said,” the General noted.

“The Humans are referring to the prior timeline, which we are currently erasing with our actions this very moment.”

Sariana was losing the General. “This is far too confusing.”

“And what happened during this initial timeline?” Milan asked.

“Your ascension was made imminent and did occur. Today we are rewriting the timeline and, if we can cease that mass exodus, you will be lead to your proper ascension by the Queen, your savior and the Exalted One. We must stop his ascension as well. I’m afraid that we don’t have the luxury of protracted explanations. There is no time to waste. Please, you must change your instructions.”

Everyone looked to the General. “You can’t be serious,” he said. “Look, I’m just as intrigued by this as the next guy but we have nothing to go on but her word.”

“We’ve based entire religions on less,” Charles mumbled.

Alicia’s cell phone rang; “Dancing Queen.” Sariana appeared safe and comfortable in present company. She excused herself to the next room as the debate at the table continued.

“So, any luck with the DJ?” Hal asked.

“No. I couldn’t get to him. I’ve been a bit sidetracked.”

“Hey, look, Alicia, I know we all gave you hell for the bit with the girl yesterday...”

“Yeah?”

“But do you know where we can find her?”

“Why?”

“Well, she’s blowing up. That footage from yesterday has really gone viral. Think you can track her down?”

A solider briskly walked past Alicia and nearly slammed her into the wall as he barreled toward the conference room. “Hey! Jesus. Asshole!” Alicia grumbled as she readjusted the phone to her ear. The soldier paused for a moment and a look of recognition appeared to come over him. Alicia guessed that he felt stupid once he recognized her from the network. The solider smiled and began to walk toward her.

“Alicia, it looks like you’ve got something here. L.A. really wants you to run with it.”

“I’ll see what I can do when I’m done with this.”

“Well,” the solider said. “This is certainly a pleasure.”

“I’m on the phone,” Alicia angrily whispered to the man.

“Thanks!” Hal continued. “Hey, speaking of which... where are you?”

“I’m inside Ground Zero.”

“What?! How’d you manage that?! You’ve got to get...”

The soldier took Alicia’s phone. “Hey! What the fuck?!”

“It would appear that your son is not only a coward but a failure as well. I find it amusing that at the first sign of danger, his instinct is to send for Mommy.”

Alicia’s heart stopped. The solider hung up her phone as Hal rattled off a string of directives. Alicia began to back away from the man. She didn’t know what to do. Instinct told her to run. More armed guards were making their way toward the conference room. Were they Human as well?

“Help!!” Alicia shouted.

“It won’t matter. None of this matters,” the soldier said as he drew his weapon. “We go round and round, don’t we? Revolt. Ascend. Repeat. You must be exhausted, Alicia.”

The two approaching soldiers now drew their weapons as well. “Stand down, solider!” one shouted. The gunman fixed on Alicia shot them both with clean shots to the forehead without taking his icy gaze from her. Alicia screamed as they convulsed in the hallway.

“Oh, my!” the soldier laughed. “Did that frighten you? Now, that’s hilarious. The most heinous and destructive souls in all of creation and yet you still fear the very thing that you were born to impose.” He pointed his pistol at the men who lie dying on the floor. “It’s just death,” he shrugged. “What are you afraid of? You love this.” He shot the soldiers again and they now became still. Alicia jumped and covered her face with each shot. The man was genuinely amused. “You savage,” he laughed. “This would be adorable if it weren’t such an incredible waste of time.” The man inched closer to her. “You’re only delaying the inevitable, and we’re so tired of chasing you.”

As he pointed his gun at Alicia, she froze in terror. Was this it? She was going to die. Or, no. This man said things would repeat. Was she going to start all over again? “Oh, God,” she thought. “7th grade. I can’t do that again.” She suddenly found herself hoping that she’d just die for real.

Just then, Sariana burst through the conference room doors and pounced on the man’s back. “Is this the failsafe?!” she shouted. The soldier didn’t answer. In her right hand, she held her blade from the day before and thrust it behind the man’s ear. His external jugular snapped and a geyser of blood painted the girl’s new dress. The soldier fired wildly and Alicia hit the deck as bullets ricocheted across the room. By now, more soldiers had arrived and pointed their weapons at the crazed man. Their tactics were unnecessary, however, as Sariana quickly cut the man’s throat. He collapsed to the floor and Sariana left him to bleed out. She rushed to Alicia’s side.