Mobius (45 page)

LULLIBIES

TO

OBLIVION

Orsteen watched as the shimmering silver-white matrix of consciousness
slowly filled the breadth of the sky. He prayed Theron could stop Nara-Narayana before she completely transcended. If not, the end of humankind neared. Orsteen looked at the Fume’s manifestation, which stood less than five meters away. It stared at the growing divinity so intensely that Orsteen imagined its gaze might split the very fabric of the universe asunder.

As Orsteen understood it, even if Nara-Narayana’s divine energies made it to the Fume’s outpocketing, the Fume still couldn’t carry on with his plan. Theron was supposed to act as the conduit for the Fume to move freely into the universe and absorb the divine energies. But Theron was gone.

Orsteen stepped to Allienora’s remains and paid his respects. She was a beautiful woman, undeserving of such cruelty. He tore off a piece of his shirt and placed it over her face.

“It’ll be over soon, dear girl.”

Orsteen pondered his own mortality. And though he stood at the end of his existence, he felt at peace. He had lived a full life, a great life. He had known love, seen beauty, and felt joy. Regrets... there were none. He looked skyward and smiled, realizing the magnificence before him. His last sight would be the birth of a god.

“It will be an epic death.”

Orsteen felt it was time to get comfortable. He eased himself to the ground, arms and legs sprawled, belly to the heavens. He breathed slow, deep breaths and cleared his thoughts.

“True serenity is to welcome death.”

An hour passed... then two... then three. And Orsteen realized serenity was boring in long doses. He addressed the Fume’s manifestation. “Where’s my death, Mr. Fume, my permanent peace?”

The Fume gave no reply and remained frozen, looking to the sky. Orsteen shrugged and began singing lullabies his wife had sung to their children. These would be his last memories—reminiscing on those sweet moments of love and innocence.

As he sang his second song, he thought to hear voices singing along—voices from somewhere above. He became silent and lifted himself to his feet.

“Something has changed, Mr. Fume. Why are we still here? It hasn’t grown or intensified in hours.” Orsteen smiled widely. “Don’t you see, Mr. Fume? The evolution of the universe has stopped.”

At that moment, the divine energies above showed a perceivable lessening. An impossible reversal ensued, as the radiant cloud receded at a slow but steady pace. By some miracle of reincarnation, the galaxies of the Brahman Sprawl began to reconstitute. The divine energies of this newborn god began reverting back into planets and stars.

Orsteen swung a triumphant fist upward. He looked at the Fume fearlessly. “The human spirit is stronger than you. You stand here defeated, your grandiose plan in ruin.”

“I don’t take lightly to the hiss and spit of insects.” The Fume roared and the sky became overcast with a black haze that accentuated his dark emotion. His manifestation grew to an impossible stature, greater than any exaggerated beast of fable that Orsteen had been told of during his youth—its eyes were two swirling fireballs; its mouth an abyss into nothingness.

The Fume lurched in Orsteen’s direction, but when his great fingers swooped down on Orsteen, his grip was empty. Orsteen had vanished.

I took human form. I stood next to the stone altar where Allienora had been tortured. I had transported her far from the Fume.

I’ve done it. I’ve saved her. This is all that matters.

I smiled coolly at the Fume. “Despite all your power, you’re incompetent at producing an appearance pleasing to the eye. Even now your ugliness excels into new frontiers.”

The Fume showed an expression of renewed confidence. “Your return was a blunder you’ll regret.” The Fume moved to overtake me, but I produced an energy field around me.

“You’re powerless against me, as I not only killed Nara-Narayana, but I took her place at the center of her transcendence.” I gestured to the divine energies filling the heavens. “It’s now my own consciousness that controls the evolution of this universe. You can no longer manipulate my thoughts and actions. I am my own entity, with powers as great as yours. You overlooked a simple truth when you helped bring the human soul into existence—a soul deep enough to evolve the universe is a soul deep enough to rule the universe. And with this rule, I deny myself the power to be a god. Soon the entire Brahman Sprawl will be reconstituted.”

The Fume’s manifestation, in all its hideous glory, began growing larger and larger until a moment of transformation caused its substance to separate into a trillion particles of exotic energy. The sky became filled with an ocean of light as the Fume’s outpocketing became energized with his divine consciousness. It swirled and shimmered, becoming more intense as the Fume summoned forth a wave of consciousness from his universe.

I was surrounded by the Fume’s divinity. It constricted my movement with a hundred wisps of consciousness. I felt as though I were back in the sanitarium, once again experiencing the inner realm of the sphincter beast.

I was lifted from the ground and floated in a vortex of consciousness. I felt the Fume attempting to access my inner being. “This is no longer my body! It’s no different from one of your manifestations! I’m no longer your conduit! You cannot travel beyond this outpocketing! You must accept your defeat!”

“Never!” replied the Fume with a disembodied roar.

“You forget,” I said. “You were a part of me, and I was a part of you. I knew your thoughts, and I know of your blight. I now remember your words as you manipulated my soul into existence: ‘A thread of thought, I forge in flesh, I cast it out into the light and await its return to cure the blight.’ Your consciousness is withering—your universe is dying. This is why you’re so desperate to absorb the energies of this universe. You wish to replenish your own.”

The ground shook and winds blew. The world contained within the Fume’s consciousness went into upheaval. The coliseum collapsed around me. I could feel the volatility within the Fume’s outpocketing, as the Fume frantically moved a tremendous amount of his conscious energies within it. As it reached critical saturation, a plume of the Fume’s consciousness exploded out into the universe, successfully escaping the confines of the outpocketing. It stretched with desperate purpose toward the evolution that
was
me, that
was
the collective souls of the human race, that
was
the universe itself. The Fume’s divine consciousness reached the boundaries of my divinity. And just as the Fume thought victory was at hand, and prepared to assimilate the energies before him, I proclaimed: “Face your fear! Not even gods are forever!”

With that said, I implemented all the power of the universe against the Fume, whose plume of consciousness was sent reeling back into the confinement of his outpocketing. In one final heave, I expelled the Fume and his outpocketing from the universe.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Allienora woke up to convulsions
—not of death but of life. Her mind worked to find a mutual stasis with her new and pristine body. The spasms at last subsided, and although her thoughts were barely coherent, she became overwhelmed by a rich sensation of déjà vu.

She hung naked upon a great machine, secured by a cold metal restraint across her chest. Her view was of a windowless wall that swirled with yellow electric-light. As her jumbled thoughts at last became clear, she became aware of a group of familiar beings. They stood before her upon legs with backward-bending knees, exchanging whispers.

One of the beings approached on odd strides. “Do you know where you are?”

“I think I’ve been here before,” replied Allienora. “Although these memories may be of a past life.”

“You’re in the floating city of Azimoir. You were recently here in need of medical attention due to a case of impalement. At the time, I also implanted you and your companions with biolinguistic lobes.”

“And how have I come to be here again?”

“Of that I’m uncertain,” he said as he released the restraint across her chest, sending her to the floor clumsily. “When you arrived, your condition was beyond wretched. Your brain, however, was intact, and we were able to give you a new body.”

Allienora lifted herself off the floor. “My friends... do you know where they are?”

One of the individuals manipulated a control podium and the walls of the room drained of their color and vanished, revealing Orsteen on the other side. He rushed to her and gave her a caring hug. “They’ve returned you from death! How do you feel?”

Allienora felt the weight of many unbearable memories. “I’ve dreamed of hell, and I fear that dream has changed me.”

Orsteen hugged her again. “Even the most terrible memories become dulled with time. Forget the horrors you suffered. You’ll heal.”

Orsteen led Allienora to a terrace overlooking an ocean painted in the rich colors of twilight. In the distance, a jagged shoreline crept past as the floating city migrated south to warmer weather.

Allienora looked skyward. “The evolution of the universe still swells! How much time’s left?”

“Don’t worry, Allienora. It’s no longer a threat. In fact, even now it dwindles in size.”

Allienora reflected on her abduction. “The Fume told me of his unbelievable plans, and said many awful things about Theron. Was he telling the truth, Orsteen?”

“In the end, the Fume’s own creation turned against him. Theron saved us all. I don’t know how, but Theron’s the reason the evolution now reverses. And not only is the process reversing, but the planets and people once absorbed by the divine evolution are being reconstituted. The Brahman Sprawl is being given a second chance. Even
this
planet had been absorbed, but by some miracle it has returned.”

“And what of Theron?”

“I don’t know. I believe he’s become something incredible, something more. I saw it. The things he could do. Death couldn’t contain him.”

“How did I get free?”

“Theron freed you. Somehow, he transported us here. He knew these people could save you, Allienora.” Orsteen looked at her sincerely. “It was his love for you that drove him to do everything he did.”

Orsteen told Allienora what had transpired after her separation from the company on the Guardian Sphere. She listened passionately until the end, at which point they were approached by an Azimoir native.

“Excuse me,” he said, “but we’ve received a communication from someone calling himself ‘Impresario Stimple.’ He claimed to be one of a few survivors on the Guardian Sphere near Earth and simply stated: ‘The Fume’s outpocketings around Earth and elsewhere in the seven galaxies have collapsed out of our universe. And all his beastly minions have vanished from existence.’”

Orsteen nodded with satisfaction. “It appears it’s safe to go home.”

Allienora thought of returning home. She opened and closed her hands in an uncomfortable manner, as if her new body wasn’t properly worn in. “I don’t think I can bring myself to return just yet. I fear the scent of the Fume still lingers in the air of Earth.”

The native bowed his head. “You may remain in Azimoir as long as you like. I’ll arrange for your accommodations.”

Orsteen held her hand. “We have all the time in the universe. We’ll return home when you’re comfortable.”

Allienora kissed his cheek. “Thank you, my friend.”

Many weeks passed. Allienora stood in the night, on the white beaches of a tropical island, where the city of Azimoir had settled. She looked out on the starlight-drenched ocean and then up to the heavens.

The universe’s divine evolution had diminished to a single glimmering node, and at that moment it extinguished, leaving Allienora only a small sense of relief. She still found her thoughts infected with overwhelming anguish—the Fume had broken her. A tear rolled down her face, as she realized something significant was missing inside her. She scanned the heavens.

“What’s become of you, my dear Theron?” She waited, but there was no reply.

With a caring finger, she touched the infinity spiral pendant that hung from her neck and wondered where it had come from. She didn’t know, yet it was the one thing left in her world that brought her a small amount of comfort.

Allienora remained on the beach all through the night. She watched as a predawn light seeped up from the horizon and stained the atmosphere in a mingling of crimson and lavender. As she stood there, mourning the loss of her past happiness, something changed within her. A smile spread across her face and her blood warmed. She felt a presence nearby and was compelled to turn around.

“Theron!” she said with great joy.

I stood behind her. My physical appearance, although normal, emitted a soft radiance—my skin had taken on a phosphorescent quality. She ran toward me, and I caught her. I held her in a long embrace.

We kissed. An amazing energy ran through us—connecting us.

She stepped back and drew a deep breath. “What was that?”

“Just a little help,” I said.

Her eyes gleamed. “I remember.”

“Everything?”

“I remember the sanitarium. We were there together. I adored you with all my heart, Theron. We were so young.”

I placed my hand on her cheek. “What else?”

She laughed. “We’re married.” She touched the infinity spiral pendant at her neck. “I remember our wedding day.” She kicked the sand at our feet. “It was a beach, much like this one. The birds were singing, the waves crashing. We stood at the water’s edge as we said our vows.”

“Not even death could part us, my wife.”

Her eyes filled with sorrow. “I was pregnant.”

I nodded.

She placed her hands on her stomach. “We died?”

“I lost you both that day.”

Her lips trembled. “I remember. It was a girl. I had just found out. I never got to tell you.”

I looked up to the stars. “You’ll meet her someday, my dear. She’s out there right now, living another life.”

Allienora smiled and began to cry.

I held her close. “I love you so much.”

“And I love you, Theron.” She caressed my skin in wonder of its radiant nature. “What’s happened to you?”

I looked out on the rising sun. “Enlightenment.”

“And with this enlightenment you were able to save the universe from evolving into a single conscious entity?”

“I was able to save the universe, because it was I who came to command that amazing continuum of thought.”

“And you chose to refuse this transcendence?”

“My time as a god was short. However, I’ll remain more than just human.”

Allienora shook her head. “I know the evolution of humankind and the universe was the orchestration of the Fume. But, I wonder, will this evolution someday occur naturally? Was that the ultimate condition that humankind is destined for?”

“No. Humankind can be so much better. Within each human is the means to attain enlightenment. It’s merely fear and ignorance that stops the soul from reaching its potential.”

“And what of this potential?”

I moved my arm with a sweeping flourish toward the ocean and focused. In a marvelous display, an enormous island of rock rose up from the ocean depths, and from its surface raised mountains. The barren landscape soon sprouted trees, which grew at impossible speed.

Allienora looked with wide eyes at the island’s birth. “How have you done this?”

“We’re all a part of this universe. It’s our body, and we’re its consciousness. We can all be gods in our own right. You need only to look within yourself and open your mind.” I leaned close to Allienora, kissed her with passion, and then whispered in her ear: “Wake up, my darling. It’s time to wake up.”