Meditations: Validation

“We’re going to do a simple meditation to get you familiar with the process of placing yourself in a hypnogogic state.”

Gertrude painstakingly explains to Jason the value of being able to place himself into a hypnogogic state so that he can access the data that’s encrypted in his DNA.

“While in a hypnogogic state, you’ll see, hear, feel, and know things you’re unable to in a conscious state. There is nothing to be afraid of. This isn’t even like a hypnosis, and I won’t ask you to cluck like a chicken. Gertrude jokes with Jason.

“I’m going to place this ball in your hand, Jason. You will drop it the moment you slip into a hypnogogic state, and it will bring you back here with me.”

Jason takes some rhythmic breaths and closes his eyes. Gertrude walks Jason through some simple breathing and relaxing exercises that eventually lead to Jason slipping into a deep state of relaxation.

“I want you to imagine you’re in a room, Jason. This room can be any room you want to create to be. It can have walls or no walls. Ceiling or no ceiling. It is whatever you create it to be in your mind.”

Jason sees a bright tunnel in front of him as he begins to tune out Gertrude’s instructions.

“One,” he hears a voice say through the tunnel.

Jason can feel the ball Gertrude placed in his hand begin to slip out of his hand.

He runs frantically into the tunnel and is consumed by the light. He feels his body merge into the light and then hears the voice again.

“When you awaken in the next second, once the ball hits the ground and awakens you back to consciousness, she’s going to ask you questions about what you experienced while you were here. It’s important that you don’t mention this experience.” The voice says to Jason in a way that makes him feel at peace.

“What am I to tell her instead?” Jason asks.

“Tell her about the room you created.”

“But I don’t even remember the room I created.” Jason searches for any memories about the room he created and becomes frustrated.

“It’s okay to be frustrated, Jason. When you awaken, you will regain your memory of the room you created. It’s a magnificent room. Your imagination is exceptional.”

“So, what is the purpose of this? Are you part of what she is looking for?” Jason suddenly has a feeling in his awareness that Gertrude might not be as good intentioned as she seems. “You’re her husband?”

“No.” The voice remarks with a flat response. “I am a gatekeeper.”

“A gatekeeper to what? The information sequenced in my DNA?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“The next gatekeeper.”

Jason remains silent as he ponders the gatekeeper to a gatekeeper concept.

“And after that gatekeeper?” Jason asks.

“I do not know, Jason. I only know my function.”

There’s silence for what seems like eternity.

“Two.” The gatekeeper says.

“What are you counting?” Jason says in a confused manner. He’s starting to feel a pressure building around him.

“The ball will slip from your hand in one more second, and you will be awakened. It is very important that you listen to me carefully and remember as much detail as possible.”

“I’m all ears!”

“Tomorrow, you will be in a car. There will be a car that you pull up next to at a stop light. There will be a woman who looks like this driving the car.” A 3D image of a blonde woman with a large nose and bob hairstyle displays in front of Jason.

“Now, I know this is some weird dream. Nobody drives a car anymore.” Jason thinks to himself. “She’s not really my type,” Jason says to the gatekeeper.

“She will be singing a song, Jason. I need you to remember as many words of that song that she sings.”

“I’m not much of a music guy, gatekeeper.”

“You will remember what you remember, Jason. Later that day, you will be back here in a meditation. Tell me all that you remember, and I will send you to the next gatekeeper.”

“What if I don’t remember anything?” Jason says.

“That would be rather unfortunate, Jason. But I don’t think you have much to worry about. I have faith in you.”

There’s a moment of silence as Jason ponders how a voice inside is head just told him that he has faith in him.

“Three…”

#

Jason sits up abruptly in his chair, startled by the sound of the ball hitting the floor! He’s breathing heavily. Gertrude places her hand on his hand.

“Are you okay?” She asks softly.

“That was weird, Mrs. Hammenstel.” Jason says in a broken chain of words, trying to catch his breath.

She hands him a small glass of water. He takes a big gulp and quickly downs the entire glass before he notices it has an odd taste to it. He looks at Gertrude who smiles softly at him as his vision blurs for a brief moment. He begins to feel a bit dizzy and tries to speak. But his mouth won’t move, and he can’t make a sound. He falls back into his chair and collapses.

Jason hears someone whispering his name softly, but he can’t see anything or feel anything. He tries to open his eyes, but everything remains dark. He can sense there is someone surrounding him from all sides but above where there appears to be a tiny pin prick of light so far away that it just appears like a speck of dust above his head.

He pushes himself up towards the speck and launches himself at what seems like a speed faster than the speed of light. Suddenly, he bursts into the spec and is surrounded by light. He awakens on the same chair he was on just moments earlier where he drank the poison Gertrude had handed him.

“Are you okay?” She asks startled. She reaches for a glass of water, and Jason quickly pushes himself out of the chair and kicks it out of her hand.

Startled, she recoils from him. “Jason, it’s me, Gertrude.”

Jason glares back at her. “I’m your friend, Jason!”

Jason heads towards the door of Gertrude’s office and reaches for the door handle.

“What happened, Jason?”

He pauses with his hand on the door as he hears a voice inside his head tell him to go back and sit in the chair and listen now that he knows the truth about Gertrude. He sighs and lets go of the door knob. Gertrude watches closely as he sits back in the chair.

“It’s been a difficult couple of weeks, Mrs. Hammenstel.”

“I can only imagine, Jason. I know this must be a lot for you to digest.”

“Are you sure your guys can’t get the encryption key to work?”

Gertrude explains to Jason how they continue to work on decrypting the information in his DNA and that these exercises are for helping him with the voices in his head and not about the messages in his DNA.

“I think of you like a son. This work is for you. I want to help you with the impact this is having on your mental health. I know you are struggling with all of this…”

“I’m struggling with hearing voices inside my head, Mrs. Hammenstel. How is this going to work? How is any of this going to help me? Shouldn’t I be in a padded cell? Shouldn’t I be on medication? I don’t even know what’s real and what’s not real anymore! I don’t even know if this is real!”

“I understand there’s a lot we don’t know. I understand there’s a lot you’re trying to work through and so much you can’t wrap your head around. This is where I can help you.” Gertrude leans towards Jason and touches the top of his hand. “And you should absolutely NOT be on medication, Jason. And it’s very important you don’t seek traditional mental health and medication.”

Jason looks at her with disappointment.

“The forces you are up against are powerful beyond belief. Your friend Jessica is lucky to be alive.”

“I’d like to go see her tomorrow.”

“She’s not awake yet, Jason.”

“I know. I just want to see her.”

“Okay, we can arrange that.”

“I want to go by myself. I know you think those goons are going to come after me, but I called Detective Gomez. She’s going to take me.”

Gertrude pauses for a few seconds while she sorts through what Jason has just told her, having ignored her directions to not contact anyone; including Detective Gomez. “Jason, I’m a little concerned that you aren’t taking me very serious. Your life is at stake here.”

“If these guys are as powerful as you say they are, then they could just come barging through that door and kill me right now. Or they could have killed me when I was younger.”

Gertrude shakes her head as Jason points out the various holes he finds in her conspiracy theories she’s been sharing with him over the last couple of days.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Mrs. Hammenstel, but I’m thinking either these guys aren’t as powerful as you think…” He pauses as he gets out of the chair again and walks towards the office door. “Or I’m a lot more valuable alive than I am dead. Which means, it’s not just about the DNA.”

As Jason walks out the door and down the hall towards the front door, he hears a voice inside his head, “Good job!” He smiles.

#

Jason is sitting in his car as it drives him to the hospital where Jessica lies in a coma. As the car pulls up to a stoplight, he hears someone singing at the top of her lungs in the car next to him. He looks to his left and sees a young woman, exactly as was displayed to him during his hypnosis the prior day. She has her hands on a steering wheel and looks over at Jason and continues to sing the song as Jason’s car starts to drive forward with the green light.

Jason tries to get his car to stop, but there is nothing he can do to control his car. He hopes that the next stoplight will turn red for him so that he can hear more of the song. He tries to look back towards the car to see if he can see where the young woman is. Soon, he realizes that he’s not going to see or hear the young woman again, but he can’t remember anything the woman was singing.

Frustrated, his car arrives at the stoplight to turn into the hospital. Within a few seconds, the young woman driving the old car pulls up next to him again. She looks over at him while singing as loud as she can. He watches her and listens to her with 100% of his awareness, being sure to tuck away as much of the lyrics and melody as possible. The light turns green for the woman’s car, and she waves at him as she drives away and Jason looks on longingly.

As his car pulls up to the drop off zone, Jason continues to hum and mumble the song out loud, hoping to retain as much as he can for his next visit with the gatekeeper. Jessica’s parents (Mark and Martha) are waiting for him at the hospital and are glad to see him. He hugs both of them, and they check-in with the front desk.

The three of them walk into Jessica’s room where the robot nurse scans their badges and confirms their facial recognition with the International Legal Compliance Records. Jessica’s mom explains to Jason that she hasn’t seen her respond to anything. She’s tried every sound and smell she can think of, but Jessica doesn’t respond to anything.

Jessica’s father fights back tears as he puts his right arm around Jason and brings him in tight. “I know you and Jessica were just friends, but I also know you were her best friend.”

Jason looks at Mark and can see the pain on his face. Jason hears a voice inside his head, “She will listen to you.”

“She will hear me, Mr. Chance.” Jason says with confidence as he looks Mark in the eyes and sees his pain disappear.

Jason walks over to Jessica’s right side and holds her hand. He leans in and whispers in her ear, “Jessica, I know you can hear me.” He pulls back as he feels her hand move in his.

“Look!” Jason turns to Mark and Martha in amazement, but they look confused. “I felt her hand twitch in mine!”

“Do it again, Jason. Please!” Martha pleads with him.

This time, Jason doesn’t hold her hand so that Jessica’s parents can see. He whispers in her ear again, “Jessica, I know you can hear me.” Jessica’s hand does not move.

“It might have just been a reflex or a timely twitch,” Mark explains.

Jason’s face drops from excitement to disappointment immediately, and Martha joins him in disappointment as they both look at Jessica lying in a coma. Jason makes a few more attempts, each with the same non-result.

The mood in the room slowly shifts down as it becomes clear that Jason’s presence isn’t making a difference for Jessica. Jason slowly walks towards the door with his head down. He hasn’t heard a voice inside his head since entering the hospital. Suddenly, he’s inspired, thinking the hypnosis gatekeeper was trying to send him a message about how to help Jessica! He turns around and begins to sing the song he heard the young woman singing in her car:

All I can say is

After today this

Love goes away with

One more goodbye kiss

Jessica’s parents look stunned as they listen to Jason’s terrible singing. They look at each other in astonishment. Then, in hope, they look at Jessica with an enormous mutual smile… Nothing.

They look back at Jason who flaps his hands at his side in disappointment.

“It was worth a shot, Jason. It’s a beautiful song.” Martha says.

“I’m sorry I let you down, Mr. & Mrs. Chance.” Jason says before leaving the room.

Mark catches up to Jason in the hallway and stops him. “Jason, we really don’t want you to think this is your fault. There’s nothing you could have done if you were there anyway. The police said these were very bad men who did this. Please don’t feel like you’ve let us down then or now. You’re a wonderful young man, and we know our daughter had nothing but the utmost respect for you.”

Jason starts to cry and hugs Mark who hugs him back.

#

“I want you to imagine you’re in a room, Jason. This room can be any room you want to create to be. It can have walls or no walls. Ceiling or no ceiling. It is whatever you create it to be in your mind.” Gertrude leads Jason into another hypnosis.

“One,” Jason hears the gatekeeper.

“I remembered the lyrics, but they didn’t do me any good,” Jason explains to the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper asks Jason to recite the lyrics, and he sings them as he did in Jessica’s hospital room. “They didn’t do me any good though. Jessica is still in a coma.”

The gatekeeper has a new voice. “You have much to learn, Jason. Why would you think these lyrics have anything to do with your friend?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what any of this has to do with anything. I honestly feel like I’m going insane. You know, when I’m in the real world, I hear voices. Not voices like you though. They seem to just be me but with difference voices.”

“I’ll let you know something very important now so you can make a choice for yourself, Jason. But I can only let you know if you choose to know.”

“I’m starting to question whether I know anything at all, gatekeeper. So, if you want to bestow some great wisdom upon me, I’m all ears.”

“This isn’t wisdom, Jason, but it is something you need to choose for yourself.”

“Okay, choice-bot, hit me with it!”

The gatekeeper is silent.

“Hello?” Jason keeps looking around for something visual, but there is nothing but darkness all around him.

“This has nothing to do with you, Jason. You are not a chosen one. You are not going to save the world. You won’t have any superpowers. You won’t win any great battle or become some great hero. You won’t even be able to save your best friend from dying.” The gatekeeper delivers in a dry tone. “Which is happening at this very moment, Jason. Your best friend is dying, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Jason is filled with rage at the gatekeeper and this hypnosis. He can feel his heart racing as he tries to escape the hypnosis. He remembers he’s holding the ball in his hand, so he thinks of dropping the ball and imagines the ball hitting the ground.

There’s a sudden thud on the ground! Jason springs out of his chair and runs out of Gertrude’s office yelling, “I’ll be back! I need to check on Jessica!”

Jason arrives at the hospital where Jessica’s mom is waiting for him. “What’s going on, Jason? What’s wrong? You sounded to worried over the phone.”

“Is Jessica okay? Is she still alive?”

Martha looks concerned as she can see the panic on Jason’s face.

“She’s fine, Jason.” Martha pauses. “Well, she’s as fine as she can be in a coma.” She stops to catch her own emotions. “And she’s still alive. Thank God.”

“Can I see her?”

“Jason, I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now. I don’t feel like you’re in the right state of mind to see her. You’ve got me a little worried for you right now.”

Jason’s breathing has switched into full panic mode. “I really need to see her. I just need to know she’s okay, right now, at this very moment!”

“She’s okay, Jason. I was just in her room 10 minutes ago. I’ve been with her all morning. She’s fine, son.” Martha hugs Jason in an attempt to calm him down.

Jason breaks down crying, “I just want her to be okay. I’m so sorry, Mrs. Chance! I’m so sorry for making your worried. I’m not doing well.”

“I understand, Jason. I can only imagine how hard this must be for you as well. I know you love my daughter, and I know she loved you too. She would always compare any boy she’d go on a date with to you. Even though you were just friends, she would always compare them to you. No one ever made it to the second date. You’re such a great young man, Jason.”

“Okay. Okay.” Jason panic begins to subside. He pulls away from Martha and starts to walk away. “Okay. Jessica is okay. You said Jessica is okay, right? She’s Okay?”

“Yes, my dear. Jessica is okay.”

#

“I want you to imagine you’re in a room, Jason. This room can be any room you want to create to be. It can have walls or no walls. Ceiling or no ceiling. It is whatever you create it to be in your mind.”

“One.”

“You’re full of shit, gatekeeper!” Jason yells. “I don’t even think you are real. You’re just inside my head!”

The gatekeeper responds, “You are so certain, are you?”

“I went to the hospital, and I saw that Jessica was just fine!”

“You didn’t see her, Jason.”

“You don’t know what’s real because you can’t be honest with yourself, Jason. If you can’t be honest with yourself, of course, you won’t know what’s real.”

“Jessica is okay! You’re just some voice of paranoia inside my head!”

“You don’t know Jessica is okay. Someone told you Jessica is okay, and you believed it. That’s how you’ve spent your entire life, Jason. You’re entire life has been spent believing what someone else has told you. Even when you think you are thinking for yourself, you’re just searching for validation from someone else for a thought you didn’t even truly have yourself. Your very own thoughts are just what’s been programmed into your brain for you to output at a given time under given circumstances.”

“So, I’m programmed to think you’re a jerk?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you waste your time on me then? I’m not a hero! I’m not going to save the world! Why waste your time on such a meaningless robot?”

The gatekeeper is silent.

“You’re just a voice…”

The gatekeeper interrupts, “Because that is my purpose.”

Jason pauses for a moment to digest what the gatekeeper has told him… He starts to cry, “I’m a nobody. I’m nothing. And you’re just wasting your time on me because that’s your purpose?”

“No, Jason. You are not a nobody. You are not nothing. And I am not wasting my time on you. You are my everything. You mean everything to me. You are everything to me. My entire existence is dependent on you.”

“But you said all of this had nothing to do with me. You said I couldn’t save Jessica. Who happens to be alive, by the way.”

“Yes, Jason. The greater purpose has nothing to do with you. You won’t be the hero in this story. You won’t save the girl in this story. None of that means what you made it mean. You don’t mean nothing.”

Jason begins to dry his tears from his eyes.

“You are my purpose, Jason. You are everything to me.”

“And that’s supposed to comfort me? I’m supposed to feel great because some voice inside my head tells me that I’m its everything?” Jason screams in an almost state of madness.

“You sound ready.”

“Ready for what, gatekeeper?”

“Ready for validation.”

In complete confusion, Jason answers question after question about his past and his upbringing. His parents had impressed upon him to learn his genealogy as far back as he could. He had his entire family tree engrained in his memory going back to the 1600s. The gatekeeper asks about the books he read in school, the animals he owned growing up, and so much more.

Finally, the gatekeeper is quiet.

“Hello?” Jason again looks around for any visual signs of the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper has a new voice, “I’ll see you next time, Jason.”

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Deep Euphoria

Mitchel double checks the air mixture filling his SCUBA tanks. His diving partner worriedly looks on as Mitchel’s behavior grows increasingly erratic. For years, he’s been watching Mitchel become increasingly addicted to diving deeper for longer; becoming increasingly addicted to nitrogen narcosis.

He thinks back to the dive a week ago where Mitchel dove 20 feet deeper than him and wouldn’t come back up no matter how much he pleaded with him. Mitchel eventually stopped responding, so he dove down, retrieved him and slowly brought him to the surface. He thought for sure that scare would convince Mitchel of his increasingly dangerous challenge of the grim reaper.

“You okay, Nick?” Mitchel says to his diving partner who is lost in thought.

“Not really Mitch. You know the only reason I’m on this boat with you is because I think you’re going to kill yourself out here without me.”

“You take life to serious, Nick! If there’s one thing these waters have taught me…” Mitchel pauses as he looks off into the distance.

Nick seizes the moment, “That you should hang up your fins and tanks for a bit. Maybe get the help you need to deal with whatever you’re dealing with?”

Mitchel laughs, “Nick, I think today is the day. I’ve seen this exact day. This exact horizon. I’ve felt this exact moment before.”

“What do you mean, Mitch? The day for what?” Nick asks out of concern.

“I didn’t think it would ever happen, Nick. But I’m telling you that today is the day they’ve been telling me about. I have to tell you something important, Nick.”

“What’s that, my friend?”

Mitchel walks up to Nick and stares deep into his eyes. “Don’t trust Lucy. It’s all in the letters. Just remember that it’s all in the letters.”

Nick is confused, “That girl from college? What letters, Mitch? You know, it’s shit like this that makes it clear you need help, man. Let’s sit this one out.”

Mitchel turns away and gets back to prepping for the dive.

Nick thinks back to all the conversations with Mitchell over the years about the visitors he receives when he’s on a deep dive. Over the last several months, they’ve been visiting him in his sleep and just a few weeks ago, Mitchel confided that they were visiting him while he was awake and watching television.

Nick had been pressing Mitchel to seek psychiatric help, but Mitchel kept telling him that the visitors were warning him not to see a psychiatrist. “No drugs. No alcohol. Nothing that will make you suggestible by them,” Mitchel would always tell him. “Them” was some hidden group of super evolved humans with tremendous knowledge and advanced abilities to manipulate the minds of certain humans. Mitchel told Nick he had a theory that he was part of their lost tribe and that they make attempts to communicate with people to determine if they are worthy of joining their hidden group.

Mitchel would tell Nick that the group provided him with insights and hints on important work he needed to perform, but they couldn’t provide him with the answers. Mitchel needed to figure that out on his own. Presumably to determine if he was worthy of being part of the group.

In one heated conversation, Nick pressed Mitchel for what those actual insights were; what advanced knowledge these visitors were providing him. “I can’t let you know that kind of stuff, Nick. It’s against the rules.” Mitchel told him.

Nick could only think of one response: “Bullshit, Mitch”

As the boat drifts on the open water, the sun makes its way passed the shadow of the cockpit and warms Nick’s face as he’s lost in thoughts about his past diving adventures with Mitchel. He closes his eyes and smiles as a small tear clings to the corner of his left eye.

Mitchel tosses his fins at Nick’s feet. “C’mon, man! You’re dragging like an anchor in sand. Let’s get diving!”

As Mitchel impatiently waits for Nick to finish suiting up, the boat captain comes over to Nick and leans in to speak quietly as for Mitchel not to hear, “I love you guys, but I think Mitch has lost it, man. Don’t do this.”

Nick stares the captain in the eyes, “You know I’ve got my buddy. We’ve been doing this for years. The two diveteers.” He smiles uneasily.

The two jump off the edge of the boat into the deep.

#

“We’re coming up! Captain, Mitch is out! He’s not responding. Do you copy? Pull the line! I’m coming up as fast as possible” Nick frantically calls to the boat captain over their radio connection.

The captain scrambles into action. He triggers the line pulley that helps aide their ascent and calls to the Coast Guard. Mitch is air lifted to a decompression treatment center and remains unresponsive. Nick places calls to Mitchel’s family members. There’s little surprise and mostly disappointment from the family members as Mitchel had become estranged from them over the years of his increased addiction to nitrogen narcosis.

Eventually, Mitchel is moved into a hospital room where he lies in a coma. Nick is sitting alongside his bed, waiting for the doctor to visit. She enters the room and closes the door.

“You must be Nick?”

Nick stands up and shakes her hand. “Nice to meet you,” he pauses as he looks at her name tag, “Doctor Bennet.”

“I understand you’re the closest thing Mitchel has to family?”

“Yes, Doctor Bennet.”

“Please, call me Lucy.”

The Disclosure: Universal Healthcare

Returning from the video intermission showing life inside Earth 2.0…

Jan: It’s truly amazing what you have made possible with Earth 2.0, but let’s talk about X Labs’ biggest breakthrough. Last year, your company’s medical robots were estimated at having saved nearly $10 trillion dollars in healthcare costs and increased economic productivity around the globe by more than 15% from the prior year!

What many said wasn’t possible just decades ago has become reality thanks to your relatively new healthcare division. Earlier this year, the World Health Organization confirmed that your vaccines have completely eradicated every known virus within the industrialized world in less than a decade, and that your responsible outreach programs in marginalized communities has lead to better vaccination rates in regions of the globe normally forgotten. Some skeptics have voiced concerns that new super viruses are going to be the eventual result from your efficient vaccinations. Are you concerned about a super virus?

Lysander smiles at Fredrick as Richard berates him about his presentation for a new healthcare division for X Labs that will start with a vaccination program.

“Look, Richard, we have the studies lined up. Dr. Fields has friends at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, LSU, University of Nebraska, NYU, and Yale! This thing is a slam dunk! We’ll get approval for the super vaccine in no time. We have all the right connections.” Fredrick appeals to Richard.

“But you don’t have an actual product! This thing isn’t ready for human trials, and you know that.”

“Richard, we cannot leave this kind of money on the table! We’re talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue each year for something that costs us virtually nothing. Plus, we’re indemnified by every government we work with. The governments cover the cost of any injuries incurred by our vaccine. There is no downside for us.”

As the two go back and forth, Lysander ponders the long-term opportunities to universal acceptance of their entirely new vaccine delivery system. He interjects, “Fredrick, I’ll admit that I’m kinda with Richard on this one. So, here’s an idea…” Lysander gestures with his hands, “You and Tom keep saying that it’s as safe as drinking water. If Tom is so sure about the safety of our super vaccine, then let’s setup a bet that involves just him.”

Fredrick looks at Lysander with skepticism while Richard smiles ear to ear, as he does not like Dr. Tom Fields.

Lysander continues, “Tom inhales the super vaccine once a day, every day for 100 days. Richard here, will drink a glass of water.”

Richard interjects, “Can we make it a beer?”

Lysander raises his eyebrows and looks at Fredrick for confirmation. Fredrick nods.

“Richard, here… will drink a beer…”

“A 40 would be my preference, given that we’re dealing with a SUPER vaccine,” Richard adds.

“Richard will down a 40 each day.” Lysander places his hand on Richard’s shoulder. “If Tom is perfectly healthy after 100 days, then let’s move forward with the trials.”

Richard claps his hands together, “I love this plan! I’m going to get started on it right away!” He starts to leave the office and pops his head back in the door. “I mean, I’m going to tell Tom our plan on my way to get a 40 from my fridge.”

Fredrick gives him a thumbs up and Lysander smiles.

After Richard has left the room, Lysander leans in to Fredrick, “Move forward with the trials you’re talking about. It’s going to take at least 30 days to get them started anyway, right?”

“Twenty to Thirty, yes, but we can get the approval from everyone within 60 days. I’ve worked with these guys before.”

“Perfect! I’ll work with Tom on making sure that everything goes right with the real trials and with his personal trial. I certainly don’t want him getting sick in the next 100 days. This thing doesn’t work any better than existing vaccines does it?”

“You want me to be completely truthful?” Fredrick can tell Lysander is asking a serious question. “I don’t think it does, but we have enough medical connections to stack the approval in our favor and political connections to make it the new standard in global mandatory vaccinations. Plus, it hardly costs a thing to manufacture, and every government around the world indemnifies us for any complications. This is a cash cow, Ned!”

Lysander pats Fredrick on the back, smiles, and then goes to his office.

Lysander spends the next 30 days going into Earth 2.0 and placing himself in an overclocking algorithm that moves everything forward in a shard at an accelerated rate. Working with the medical robots he has built in Earth 2.0 over the course of 100 accelerated years, they design a nano bot that Lysander will add to the super vaccine inhalant.

The nanobots slowly take resources from the human body to build more nanobots; nanobots that leverages the chemicals used to place people into Earth 2.0 but without the side effect of death. Those nanobots will be able to enter the brain and attach themselves to specific centers within the brain. Lysander estimates that he’ll have enough of a connection to be able to not just read a person’s thoughts but also communicate data directly into the brain.

Lysander knows that Dr. Fields has been entering Earth 2.0 and harassing the women there and resetting their experience after he’s finished violating them, and Lysander views this new nanobot technology as the ultimate means to control Dr. Fields. So, Dr. Tom Fields will be the first test subject  as part of the 100 day super vaccine trial. Within 12 days of Tom taking the daily super vaccine, Lysander is ready to start testing the outcome!

Tom and Lysander enter the clinic together, and Lysander has a human nurse take all of Tom’s vitals. As Tom is sitting on the table, Lysander goes over to his computer and connects to Tom’s brain. Lysander opens an application named Lucid4. Tons of data is scrolling along the console windows on Lysander’s computer as it reads Tom’s mind. It displays simple sentences on the screen that are showing Lysander the exact thoughts that Tom is having! Lysander isn’t surprised by Tom’s lustful thoughts about the attractive nurse who is taking his vitals. Lysander brought her in for that exact reason.

As the nurse is making her way around Tom, he keeps turning his head to attempt to look down her top. Lysander projects the nurse’s voice into Tom’s head, “Not interested, creep.”

Lysander watches closely as Tom is baffled by hearing the nurse’s voice in his head but not seeing her mouth move.

Lysander: The trick is to be one step ahead. Our pathogen and vaccine AI systems allow us to receive billions of health data points we received from our universal healthcare doctor bots and ensure we’re staying ahead of the evolution of the pathogens.

Jan: I promise you viewers that we’ll discuss AI in depth shortly. But, first, this year your sixth company announced a new cancer research program that appears to already be making tremendous progress in early cancer diagnosis. This one is close to your heart. The entire project was dedicated to your late, dear friend, Richard Aryu.

“We’re taking a big risk with this project, Lysander,” Fredrick says with a concerned look on his face.

Lysander’s face is unshaven, and his eyes are red from overwork. Even stubble shows on his bald head, ruining the normal shine he is often complimented on. “This is the most important project we will ever undertake, Freddy. We should treat it as though our lives depend on it.”

“But the algorithms still aren’t giving us the results we need. We’ve dumped a ton of money into this, and it’s consuming ALL of your time,” Fredrick places his hand on Lysander’s shoulder and pulls him to look back at him, “And frankly, Lysander, you look like shit. I’m really worried about you. Maybe you need to see a therapist. You haven’t been the same since Richard passed.”

Lysander glares at Fredrick.

“I apologize, Lysander. I truly do. But this cancer program is sinking our ship.”

“I have a solution for that!”

Lysander lifts the cover off a cage sitting in his office. There’s a pigeon inside that’s facing a computer screen. Lysander presses a button, and an image is displayed on the screen. The pigeon nearly instantly presses a red button with it’s beak. The pigeon receives a treat.

“You’ve lost your mind!”

“You’re probably right about that! But I have also figured out a much cheaper way to get instantly 99.99% accurate cancer diagnosis systems in place.”

He presses a button and another image is displayed to the pigeon. This time, the pigeon presses the green button. It receives another treat.

“I can do this all day long! And to be completely honest with you, I have.” Lysander is ranting like a madman, practically foaming at the mouth. “I sat here with bird after bird after bird. Hour after hour after hour. We don’t need a damn bit of AI for this, Fredrick! HA!”

Fredrick looks uneasily at Lysander and sighs, “Then let’s get this into production. We’ve sunk more money into this project than almost every other project combined. Can you get some rest now?”

“I’ll rest soon enough, Freddy,” Lysander says patting Fredrick on the shoulder as he walks him to his office door.

Fredrick leaves and Lysander locks his door and returns to his desk. He plugs himself into Earth 2.0.

Lysander: It was a bird-brain idea at first, but it has lead to some major breakthroughs in cancer treatments and should increase survival rates over the coming decades.

Jan: Let’s talk about what the future holds. Many refer to you and Fredrick as the greatest visionaries of our times. You’ve testified to Congress that global universal healthcare is possible within the next seven years.

Lysander: That’s already well underway. What would be the point of attaining all this technological wealth without benefiting all of humanity?

Jan: Your technology is advancing at a rapid rate, and medical professionals displaced by the bots have proven to be highly useful employees for you to continually improve the technology. X Labs has done a masterful job with introducing new technology and being responsible to the workers it displaces with that technology. You’ve even provided great income opportunities for the displayed medical professionals and placed many of these doctors in third world countries. In turn, lifting millions out of medical poverty all around the globe!

Your companies have helped virtually eliminate terrorism, increased crop yields, eradicated disease, mine minerals and metals on asteroids, successfully colonize Mars, and you’ve also given the entire world completely free satellite Internet access with your Constellation Miragel project.

Lysander: Don’t forget about the first successfully entangled micro-computer on board a satellite that’s just months away from reaching Alpha Centauri!

Jan: It’s truly an amazing time to be alive! A year ago, some rumors surfaced that you were having some mental health issues.

Lysander (laughs): Don’t believe everything you read on the free Internet.

Jan (laughs): Some of our most reputable sources were saying that you were missing important board meetings or showing up looking like you hadn’t slept for days.

Lysander: I’ve been known to sleep in my office from time to time. Or even in the lab. But I’m as healthy as ever. And I want everyone else on this planet to experience the same.

Jan: Great! That’s a relief to hear. Let’s talk about the future! Let’s talk about your AI!

The Carbon Footprint Challenge

Laura sits down in front of her computer and activates her webcam. She checks her makeup in the image on her computer and makes a slight adjustment to blush and primps her eyelashes. There’s a little too much back light coming from the window of her second story bedroom, so she gets up and draws the curtains in slightly while checking to see the adjustment to the lighting on her webcam. Perfect!

She sits back down in front of her computer, looks down, and let’s out a big sigh. She opens her social streaming application, Morning Star, to get ready to broadcast her message through all of her social media accounts at the same time. She smiles. 80K followers!

“This is going to be the most important live stream I have ever delivered,” she thinks as she pauses for a moment to reflect on the profundity of her upcoming address. She opens her notes she’s been writing in preparation for her important address and reviews them, sometimes mumbling a word here and there allowed. She reads a few lines several times, practicing her intonation. She looks at her social media follower count… She smiles. 320K followers!

She looks at the time on her computer: 9:50 AM. There’s a knock on her bedroom door, and she hears her mother and father ask if they can come in. She gets up and opens the door and gives them both a big hug.

“I’m so proud of you,” her father says cheerfully, while simultaneously holding back tears.

“I love you, Laura.” Her mother steps back from Laura to look her in her tear filled eyes. “You are so courageous!” she says, holding Laura’s shoulders and smiling the biggest smile Laura has ever seen before.

The three of them talk a bit more about her speech, and her mother shares some tips with her on what words to emphasize more than Laura had planned. “Thank you for the advice, mom. I love you so much!”

Laura looks passed her parents and at her much younger brother standing at the other end of the hallway. “I love you Phillip.”

Her brother stands with his arms folded and a scowl on his face and says nothing at first. Their parents both turn to him, and he quickly unfolds his arms, adjusts his posture and smiles. “I love you too, butthead.”

#

Laura sits down in front of her computer, checks her makeup again, and primps her eyelashes. The back light has changed a little, so she gets up and opens the curtains slightly while checking to see the adjustment to the lighting on her webcam. Perfect!

She sits backs down and opens the top drawer in her desk and pulls out a box with a label of X Labs Environmental Technology and places it on the desk directly in front of her. Her heart is racing. She holds her hands around the box and closes her eyes for a couple of minutes to meditate and relax.

She sits back in her chair, takes a deep breath, holds it for a count of seven and then let’s her body completely relax as she exhales. She looks at her social media follower count… She smiles. 480K followers!

Her phone rings. It’s a video chat from Rebecca! “Right on time, Becks!” Laura says as she accepts the call and holds her phone up so that her friend can see her.

“Oh my God, Laura! I’m so excited for you! Have you seen your follower count?”

“Yes! This is going to be so amazing! So, tell me everything!”

“Laura! I’m really at a loss for words for how amazing this place is! Remember that time we went to Belize and got lost in the rain forest and saw that family of sloths? I went back there as soon as I arrived! It was just as magical as it was when we went. So green! No pollution! No logging destroying the rain forest anymore!”

“That sounds so amazing! I can’t wait to be there with you!”

“Oh, and all the other people here are just awesome! Completely helpful, beautiful souls! There’s beauty all around, and it’s going to be even more beautiful once you’re here!”

They both let out glee as they smile at each other. “I love you so much, Becks!”

“I love you too, rawr-bear! Now get your butt here! We’re going to Europe as soon as you arrive.”

#

Laura’s eyes begin to water as she looks at her social media follower count… 800K followers! She holds back her tears and looks at the time on her computer: 10:30AM.

“Time to go viral!” She starts her live stream.

“I’m here to save the world, and I’m not going to apologize for it!” Heart and thumbs up emojis go flying across her screen, and Laura smiles.

“When my friend Becky called me out on the Carbon Footprint Challenge a month ago, I initially didn’t know what to think or do. I have to admit…” She pauses as tears fill her bright blue eyes. “I was a little angry! But I realized that I shouldn’t be angry with Becky. I should be angry with the excessive deforestation that she’s calling attention to. I should be angry with the excessive pollution that she’s calling attention to. I should be angry that I haven’t used my position of economic and social privilege to do more about the exploits and destruction of our environment and the environment of the underprivileged.”

A tear rolls down her right cheek. She looks at her social media follower count… She smiles. 1.5M followers! Heart and sad emojis go flying across her screen.

“I’m taking a stand for our planet! I’m staking a stand for the oppressed! I’m taking a stand for those who don’t have the privilege I do, for those whose lives and families are effected by my excessive carbon foot print!”

Heart emojis go flying across her screen. Laura smiles and lifts up the box in front of her. “I’m going to read you these beautiful words from this great company that’s going to help save our planet.”

Congratulations on making an important contribution to help save our planet. Enclosed is your pathway to a reduced carbon footprint and a better world. This will reduce your carbon footprint to 1/100th of the expected carbon footprint based upon your DNA testing and social privilege scoring. The nanotechnology enclosed can ONLY be administered by Laura Elizabeth Harris. To activate the nanotechnology, first place your finger on the fingerprint scanner. This will allow you to then enter the 5 digit PIN you selected when you ordered your Global Climate Administration approved Carbon Output Reduction & Utopian Technology system. Upon entry of your PIN, you will then be prompted to state your full name. Only YOUR voice under no duress can activate your uniquely created nanotechnology and unlock the box. Remove the pill inside and swallow with 4-6 oz. of water. Lay down in a safe space with the box on your chest. Relax. Thank you for being a world saver! You will be greeted by an on-boarding specialist upon arrival. See you soon.

Laura follows the instructions. The box opens and reveals a fingernail-sized light blue pill. She swallows it with a cup of water lies down on her bed, which is in-frame of her webcam. She gets comfortable. Then she jumps up and walks over to her computer.

She looks at her social media follower count… She smiles. 5.1M followers! Heart and sad emojis go flying across her screen. She looks into her webcam “I love you all, and I challenge each and every one of you to the Carbon Footprint Challenge. I hope to see all you fellow planet savers soon!” She turns to go back to her bed, pauses, and turns to face her computer. “I’ll see you soon, Becky!”

#

Laura lies down on her bed, places the box on her chest, places her hands by her side, and closes her eyes. A green light on the box begins to flash faster and faster until it turns to a solid green. Laura opens her blue eyes and her pupils widen. She smiles. The green light turns to blue and Laura’s eyes close as her body goes limp.

The Observers

Fredrick opens the door to a room that looks like a spherical medical observation deck. Four observers are floating in all directions around a central point in the middle of the room. Jennifer enters the room with Fredrick, and three of the observers fly passed them and out the open door into the hallway. The door closes and Jennifer enters a vortex that has her floating around the center point just like the observers.

Fredrick smiles and laughs as Jennifer is tumbling in all sorts of directions. “You need to stabilize your thoughts and focus on the observation point.” Fredrick tell Jennifer as she continues to swirl and spin in all directions.

Fredrick floats over to the remaining observer as Jennifer begins to slow down as she concentrates on the observation point in the center of the room. At first, it was just a white light, but as she focuses she’s able to see slight changes in color and eventually figures moving around within the observation point.

She hears her grandmother’s voice and loses concentration and begins to fly out of control again. Fredrick reaches out and grabs her by her leg and brings her spiraling down next to him. He holds her steady next to him and continues speaking to the observer.

As Jennifer steadies herself next to Fredrick, she has this eerie sense that she’s being watched. “Fred, something doesn’t seem right. I feel like I’m being watched.”

“Great, Jennifer! Now, look into the observation point and focus on that feeling of being watched.”

Jennifer looks into the observation point and can see herself laying in the spaceship her and Fredrick have been traveling on. “Fred, I see myself on our spaceship, but I don’t see you.”

“Focus more on being observed, Jennifer. Focus on that feeling of being watched.”

Jennifer focuses and sees herself now lying in the spaceship but being observed by one of the observers in another observation deck. “It’s one of the observers on this ship, Fred!”

“Look for the deck number near the door.”

Jennifer sees herself open her eyes on the spaceship and then sees herself observing herself through the observation deck. “Deck 37!”

Fredrick and the observer fly out the door as Jennifer is suddenly whisked back into her body on the spaceship. She takes one last look at the observation deck and noticed the deck number is 23.

#

Waking from what seemed like a vivid dream, Jennifer blinks her eyes a few times and then sits up from her reclined chair. Fredrick is not in his chair that was just across the room from her. She frantically logs back into the computer sitting in front of her to check the status of the ship and the logs of all the activity on the ship.

The familiar smell of coffee begins to fill the room, and the computer logs confirm that Fredrick had entered the mess room and made two cups of coffee just a few minutes earlier. Jennifer is startled as Fredrick placed the coffee in front of her.

“I had the craziest dream, Fred.”

“Tell me about it.”

She takes a sip of coffee and savours the flavor and aroma.

“We were on some kind of ship that had a bunch of rooms where these angels would be flying around and observing people.”

“Interesting. Anyone you know?”

“Well, my grandmother but when she was younger. And then at one point I was observing me observing them observing me. If that even makes any sense.”

“Sure, dreams can be weird. But those weren’t angels. They are the observers.”

Jennifer was curious. “Who are the observers?”

“The observers are more of a what than a who. They are entities that exist in the dimension above yours, and they are mostly benign…” Fred pauses. “With the exception of a few. Were there any numbers you remember from your dream?”

“I remember the numbers 23 and 37.”

“Which one was associated with your grandmother?”

“Both. Well, I was in a room 23 where I saw and heard my grandma, and I was being observed from room 37.”

Fredrick’s face shifts to one of worry. “Jennifer, your grandmother is in grave danger!”

#

The doors open to a massive long, dark metal hallway. Jennifer and Fredrick are like ants floating along the hallway with observers passing overhead and entering observation decks along the way. They are standing on a platform that is surrounded by a transparent shield that Fredrick has explained to Jennifer allows them to be invisible to the observers.

Jennifer is wearing a bright yellow armored suit with two small black goggles that allow her to see. She’s holding a large glowing white ball. Fredrick is wearing his usual tattered clothing. Their platform comes to a stop in front of the door for observation deck 23.

“Jennifer, make sure you remember to do exactly what I told you. This door will open. This shield will drop, and you will immediately fly into the room and push the white ball into the chest plate in your suit. You will then be able to see everything inside the room as if you are observing the room from above. The observers will appear as blue objects on your screen. You want to capture all but one of them before the power boost runs out, but you may not be able to distinguish between them. If you capture all of them it’s going to be a lot of work to separate out the one we want to save.”

“I’ve got this, Fred. Remember, my grandma is at stake here!”

“I know Jennifer, but there’s not a second chance for you in this scenario. If you don’t capture each of the observers, it’s game over for you.” Fredrick looks Jennifer in her eyes as if he can see through her armored goggles and straight into her soul. “And it’s game over for your grandmother.”

Jennifer lets out a deep, relaxing breath and gives Fredrick the thumbs up. Nothing happens. Jennifer looks back at Fredrick.

“I believe in you, Jennifer.” He says as he opens the door, drops the shield, and presses the launch button that jolts her into the observation deck!

The four observers instantly head towards Jennifer as she pushes the white orb into her suit’s chest plate. The suit begins to emanate a light yellow glow, and Jennifer is suddenly able to observer the spherical observation deck as if she were at the highest point in the room. The observers heading towards her try changing course, but it’s too late for one of them as it is absorbed into the suit.

“I sure hope that wasn’t the one!” Jennifer screams as she goes flying after the other observers and catches one of them immediately. The other two observers are making quick moves and able to avoid capture.

Jennifer tries to anticipate the observers’ moves but is off the mark and one observer is able to get farther way from her. She’s hot on the trail of the other!

Knowing that she has limited time, she goes to the top of the spherical room and the observer she was chasing begins to slow as it no longer has a bearing on her location. Jennifer descends from atop the sphere directly onto the path of the slowing observer.  Captured!

She then notices that the one remaining observer is on the other side of the sphere. Her suit begins to flash, and the observer begins speeding directly towards her!

“I guess I already got the good one!” She yells as she goes full speed towards the observer!

Right as Jennifer reaches the observer, her suit’s power runs out and she passes directly through the observer.

Jennifer feels like she’s floating slowly through outer space. Her suit is completely unable to move as she struggles to get it to do anything. She wishes she could bang on a wall to let out her frustration for having failed her mission, failed her grandma, failed her husband, failed Fredrick, failed herself. She let’s out a long, loud yell of rage and frustration that doesn’t even escape her suit into the vast observation sphere.

“My name is Gabriel. I mean you no harm, nor your grandmother.”

Her utter frustration turns to peace as she hears Gabriel’s peaceful voice. She feels a surreal sense of love and peace as she floats aimlessly within the vast observation deck with tears welling up in her eyes.

Computer Entanglement

“I feel like this is exactly where you wanted me to be.” Jennifer looks at the old man standing in front of her.

“But of course you would.” The mad scientist looking old man paces in front of her, slightly hunching as he walks and then upright as he turns to pace back three paces the opposite direction. “You have to help me with a particular opportunity.”

“Sounds to me like you have a problem that you’re trying to spin to me as an opportunity.” Jennifer smiles at the old man. “What should I call you?”

“My name is Fredrick, but you will call me Fred.”

“I’m glad you’re making decisions for me, Fred. Since I was in the neighborhood, I figured I’d stop by and see if you needed any help.” Jennifer sarcastically smirks at Fredrick.

“You find my computer chip, and then I help you. That’s what happens.” Fredrick is speaking in a tone of certainty that Jennifer is familiar with and feeling confident about already about finding his computer chip.

“I’ll assume you already checked your computer, so I’ll need a little more information about the chip to play detective, Fred.”

“Before we begin, I just have one question for you. How did you get into this room?”

Jennifer pauses. A sudden and long sequence of events flashes in her memory. It seems as if she has more than a century of memories running through her mind. Entire events that she feels like she’s living for the first time in that very moment thinking about Fredrick’s question. She shakes her head.

“You don’t know, do you?” Fredrick drops his head with slight disappointment.

“Give me a second. There’s something playing with my mind.” Jennifer becomes engulfed in her memories.

#

Jennifer is watching herself standing in a room with Fredrick on a monitor inside a large, dimly lit spaceship hanger. Her heart is racing as she types ferociously on the screen in front of her. She receives a message via her optical messaging system from the computer in front of her. She has the location, but she knows she’s taken too much time. She hears voices coming down the hallway getting closer.

Jennifer closes her eyes for a blink and suddenly can observe the building she’s located in from a higher dimension. She can see that there is a possible escape route through the ventilation system under the computer terminal on the other side of the hanger. Jennifer opens her eyes and begins running towards the opposite side of the hanger.

She can hear the door open as she pulls the filter and vent cover inward to make it appear as if the vent cover was in proper condition. She slowly eases her way through the ventilation system until she finds the spot she remembers from her higher dimensional blink experience.

She makes her way through a series of hallways as quickly as possible wearing her advanced body suit that makes her invisible to the cameras and scanners along the way. She opens a door and walks into the room with Fredrick.

As she walks into the room, she suddenly opens her eyes and explains to Fredrick how she got to the room.

Fredrick smiles. “Then this is good news! Now we just need to find my optical lenses.”

Jennifer blinks for a split second that suddenly transports her back into the higher dimension where she can see exactly where Fredrick’s optical lenses are and knows how to get to them and four possible escape routes. This time she runs through all four escape routes to find the best option. Only one route will work. Her eyes open and she grabs Fredrick’s arm and walks out the door.

#

They make their way strategically through the service access system that runs along the hallways but isn’t monitored by scanners and cameras. Jennifer is receiving signals through her optical lenses with instructions on the direction to take the service access system and entry codes to enter into the doorways along the way.

The only surveillance they have to worry about is when they leave the room that has Fredrick’s optical lenses, and Jennifer already has that planned out.

They enter the room with Fredrick’s optical lenses. The lenses are sitting in their case on a beautiful mahogany wood desk in the middle of the room with several lights pointing directly onto the center of the desk. Jennifer notices that the lens case appears to have been positioned in just off-center, to the left of middle on the desk and pointing towards the door.

She grabs Fredrick before he can get too far away from her and there is a sudden cling of metal against the floor as a silent bullet whizzes just passed Fredrick’s head. Jennifer fires a single shot with her own pistol in the direction from where the silent bullet came from. A drone bounces off the wall and crashes down to the floor. Jennifer’s aim was perfect!

She reaches down to pickup Fredrick off the floor. “Grab ’em, and let’s get out of here.”

Fredrick grabs his case and puts his lenses on. As Jennifer and Fredrick walk through the threshold of the door, they are suddenly surrounded by a contingent of soldiers pointing their guns at them. Jennifer hears foot steps and then sees the familiar face of General Z as she walks towards her.

“Looks like this isn’t your dimension after all.” General Z says as she stops one step away from Jennifer. Jennifer clenches her jaw as she stands tall in front of General Z. “I should kill you right now, but we need you alive so that the good Fredrick can examine your suit with you ALIVE in it.”

General Z motions to the guards and they escort Jennifer and Fredrick through the hallway.

#

The guards open the door to a solitary confinement prison cell with no opening except very smell vents heavily bolted to the walls. They shove Jennifer into the room and close the door. The room is well-lit but would barely fit more than two people standing up. She turns around and anticipates the door opening. She pauses.

The door opens and Fredrick is standing in front of her,

“What took you so long, Fredrick?”

“Just one unexpected glitch. Let’s go.”

Fredrick leads Jennifer through a couple of hallways and then signals her to come into one of the rooms with her. “This will give us a shortcut to the active hanger.”

Jennifer enters a room with a scanner in the middle of an observation deck and immediately tackles Fredrick and places him into an arm bar and dislocated his elbow and shoulder in one powerful move! Fredrick screams in agony as Jennifer stands up and stands over Fredrick. The door opens again and the Fredrick Jennifer had saved from the prison enters.

“Remind me not to ever choose to be that Fred.” Fredrick says to Jennifer as he runs to the computer console in the observation deck. “Go ahead and stand in the scanner.”

Jennifer stands in the scanner, and there’s a slight hum as the scanner begins slowly making its way from head to toe over Jennifer’s body suit. A series of different colored lights flash so quickly against Jennifer’s body that it almost appears to be solid white light scanning down her body.

As the scanner is going, Fredrick is connecting a computer device to the observation deck computer. His device begins downloading the scanner information and the scan of Jennifer and her body suit. The scan seems to be taking forever as the other Fredrick is no longer screaming in pain.

He looks up at Jennifer and scowls, “We make such a great team, don’t we?”

Jennifer ignores him.

“The universe is unfolding exactly as it should, Jennifer. In order for you to get the information about my scanner, you have to give me all the information about your suit. You picked the wrong side in this dimension.” He pauses for a second and then yells, “You picked that freak!”

The scanner finishes scanning Jennifer, and Fredrick unplugs his device from the scanner and walks over to the Fredrick on the ground and kicks him hard enough in the face to knock him out.

“That doesn’t hurt you?” Jennifer stares at the two Fredricks.

“He’s quite the asshole, so I really don’t feel any connection with him.”

Fredrick grabs Jennifer’s arm and pulls her towards the door. “Let’s get to the hanger and get out of this ship. If the data is accurate, then there should be a freighter we can piggyback on to get you to where you need to be.”

Jennifer pulls her arm away from Fredrick and looks at the Fredrick passed out on the ground. She looks over at the scanner terminal and then back at the Fredrick on the ground and then at the device Fredrick is holding in his other hand.

“Wait…” Jennifer runs over to the scanner terminal and begins prying the keyboard panel off the terminal to review a bright glowing light with a large bell-shaped object sitting on an optics channel motherboard. Fredrick watches closely as Jennifer pulls the bell-shaped object from the scanner terminal.

#

The bell-shaped object has a light green glow to it as Jennifer lifts the bell-shaped object out of the scanner terminal. As Jennifer lifts the bell-shaped object towards Fredrick’s face she is suddenly watching herself from a higher dimension. There is a cable that is connecting a series of wires leading from the monitor to her head.

Fredrick taps her on the shoulder and startles her.

“Quite the experience, no?” Fredrick lifts the brain connector from Jennifer’s head.

“It all seems so real.”

“That’s because it is, my dear.”

Fredrick explains to Jennifer that he made a very unique pair of quantum computer chips. The quantum chips are quantum entangled. “This means that everything taking place on one chip is also always taking place at the exact same time on the other chip. No matter how far apart in this universe they are from each other.”

He continues to explain how the quantum entanglement allowed him to build a computer that enabled him to jump to a higher dimension and eventually build another computer chip that was entangled at that dimension. The current dimension that they are in.

“In doing so, I can jump from observer of a lower dimension to experiencing the lower dimension whenever I want. My quantum entangled computers are even entangled within each other. I already know that at some point in this dimension I will create another entangled computer to take me to the next dimension.”

“How do you know that?” Jennifer is looking at Fredrick’s invention in awe.

“I am becoming entangled with every version of myself I choose to already. Thoughts, ideas, even memories and premonitions just come to me from nowhere.”

“The possibilities are endless, Fred!”

“Ya, well, you’d think that might be the case, right? Yet her you are in this very moment, experiencing what you are rather than being with your husband on Earth.”

Jennifer reflects on Fredrick’s statement and her eyes begin to well up with tears. “Why am I here instead of there? Why can’t you take me there?”

“What’s the fun in that?”

“Well, I love my husband, and I love everything we had together on Earth.”

“And still, you are here. Hanging out with a crazy old man.” Fredrick pokes Jennifer in the arm to remind her where she is.

“You can’t make it out of this dimension without me, can you, Fred?”

“Can’t…” Fredrick pauses. “Or I choose not to.” Fredrick walks away from Jennifer towards the cockpit of their spacecraft and looks out at the solar system they have just entered. There’s a massive star in the middle with a smaller, much dimmer star orbiting around it with several planets orbiting the smaller star.

“This is one of your favorite adventures, Jennifer! Buckle up, we’re heading to Cheebs!”