Infinite Testament (30 page)

Their suffering is eternal. The forsaken fall.

But the sun still shines. So they wait.

For the one who will save them from their prison.

Stephen Pandora stood in his new mansion amidst the mess
sprawled around him. There was an endless barrage of boxes and
bubble-wrapped furniture piled into his living room. It had been just
over a year since the world was introduced to the ILD. In that span of
time, Stephen had published books, given countless speeches, and amassed a
significant excess of money. He recently bought his own personal plane to
help with his travels. And now, he purchased a monstrous home to call his
own. The only person still a part of his life was Campbell, who stuck
around to help him teach the world about the ILD. Stephen was rich,
famous, and one of the most respected scientific minds on the planet.

And he was miserable. Alone.

Abandoned.

“Don’t give up on me.” Lisa’s words rang eternally in
his mind. Stephen made a promise. And broke it.

With Lisa’s letter in hand, Stephen strolled around the
room. He wasn’t walking anywhere in particular. He was just pacing
as memories flowed into his mind. The words lifted off the page and right
back into his consciousness, like he was reading it for the first time:

“I know things happened between us that we didn’t plan but
I still don’t like thinking about losing you. Sometimes I think you may
be better off with someone who won’t hurt you like I did, and someone who is
better suited for you, which makes me feel like this move to L.A. is a good
thing. Other times I question that. I think in the end though, it’s
best for us to move on. I guess we will see when the time comes. I
love you. I’m sorry.”

Stephen placed Lisa’s letter on the counter and stared at
it. Suddenly, he was stricken with déjà vu. He had the strongest
inclination he had been here before. These thoughts weren’t new.
These sights-the box on the floor, his wrapped couch-he’d seen them in this
exact configuration before.

Looking at the floor, he noticed a glaring omission: the
ELPIS box was gone. Vanished. Where did it go? He swore he
put it on the floor in front of him before reading Lisa’s letter. But
looking toward the couch, all he could see was the packing box. He got on
his knees and looked under the couch. Looked in the packing box. He
kicked it aside. Nothing.

Stephen walked back toward Lisa’s letter on the
counter. The words, “I love you,” glared at him. Stephen surveyed
the area around the letter. Still nothing. Where could the ELPIS
box have gone?

Stephen would turn around and the ELPIS box would be right
where he left it. He was sure of it. He didn’t know how he
knew. He just knew. He looked back toward the couch. Sure
enough, there it was, right where he thought it would be. Weird. It
was like the ELPIS box got up, left, and came back. He must’ve just
overlooked it. He had a tendency to lose things. But he looked
there. He looked in that
exact
spot.

Stephen snatched up the ELPIS box and unlatched it.

“Don’t give up on me.” Lisa’s words echoed in his
mind. He thought he might be losing it. He gripped the lid of the
box and started to creak it open.

Wait.

There was no point in opening it. He knew what was
inside. Opening the box wouldn’t change anything. It would just
bring more bad memories. More memories he wanted to forget.

He slammed the lid shut and re-latched the box.

But then, he paused. The déjà vu was so strong,
Stephen thought he might pass out. “Screw it,” he said to himself.

Stephen opened the ELPIS box. There they were,
resting in the box as they always had. But as the box remained opened,
staring at Stephen, he made a bizarre realization. In past cycles of the
Universe, he had mailed the ELPIS box to Bruce in the morning. It was
what he had done every time.

But not this time.

Stephen’s eyes unconsciously slammed shut as visions flew
around in his mind. Bruce’s wake. Kristen giving him the box.
A man with a scar over his eye heinously smiling on television. A riot
breaking out in Los Angeles. His hand desperately trying to reach Lisa
Binsby… As the world ended.

The ELPIS box fell from his hand and crashed to the
ground. Its contents rolled away. He saw Lisa in the distance, on
her knees, glaring towards the city. A bright light stretched his
sight. And everything was gone.

Stephen gasped as his eyes whipped opened. Confusion
surrounded him. Where was he? Packing boxes were spread
everywhere. Furniture was covered in bubble wrap. He was back in
his mansion, just as he was moving in. The end of his life had just
played in front of him, and now, his consciousness felt like he had traveled
back in time. Stephen looked around in shock. His two realities
merged and he came to the stunning realization that when he opened the ELPIS
box, he changed the course of the Universe.

At that moment in time, so much hadn’t happened yet.
He hadn’t given a speech to Congress. Bruce hadn’t died. Even his
dog, Miles, hadn’t been born yet.

Stephen dropped his head. And laughed. His
laughter was filled with overjoyed insanity. He was given a second
chance. And with complete knowledge of the future! Stephen looked
up toward the ceiling. “Thank you,” he whispered.

The sunlight seeping through his windows disappered.
In its place was total darkness. Stephen could no longer see a thing in
his apartment. He glanced at the glowing digital clock in the
kitchen. It was 3:33-the middle of the afternoon. Stephen looked
out the window toward the sky. Pitch black. Without warning, the
ground shook violently, knocking Stephen backwards. On the floor, he saw
the contents of the box bouncing and rolling away around with the violent
rumbling of the ground. Stephen reached out his hand, gripped them, and
slammed them back inside the box. He latched it shut and waited for the
apparent earthquake to subside.

Mikey, wearing a backwards hat, was on his bike, pedaling
home from school in the street. He passed the familiar sights of his
suburban neighborhood. When the sky went inexplicably dark, he looked
with curiosity but continued to travel home. When the ground rumbled, he
was tossed haphazardly to the concrete. Catching his fall with his hands,
Mikey gazed toward the sky. The sun was there. But it wasn’t
emitting any light. It was as if the planet flipped into the midst of the
night.

Involuntarily, Mikey’s eyes slammed shut. Flashes of
what had happened in another time flew around in his memory. Destroying
the Xlympians. Killing Chad. X killing his Father, Bruce. His
father’s wake. Being shredded to death by X. Mikey’s body
contorted, jolting from the shaking ground and receiving imaginary strikes from
a blade. His eyes opened and he gasped for air. Mikey shot around,
desperately trying to figure out where he was. His consciousness just
experienced another life. All he had seen hadn’t happened yet. His
dad hadn’t died. Mr. Ixley hadn’t sacrificed himself. Their master
plan to take down X hadn’t failed.

His fists clenched. Mikey was not going to let X
win. He wasn’t going to let his father die. Not this time.
Mikey smirked at his newfound wisdom of a tragic life past.

The ground ceased its shaking. Stephen rose to his
feet and flipped on a light to combat the darkness. His house remained a
mess, without effect from the earthquake. Lisa’s letter had fallen to the
ground. Stephen picked it up and looked at it. Without hesitation,
he crumpled it up and tossed it in the garbage. He didn’t need it
anymore. The words that rang in his mind, “Don’t give up on me,” were not
as haunting as they had once been. He hadn’t given up on her. He
chased her down to the end of the world and barely missed reuniting with
her. Did she still love him? There was no way to know. For
all his life, he had longed for a chance to change the past, but now he had a
chance to change the future.

His phone rang. “Hello?” he answered.

“Did you see what happened?” Campbell asked on the other
line.

Stephen smiled, “I saw a lot of things. What did you
see?”

“The sky, Stephen! The earthquake! What is
going on?”

“I don’t know, Campbell… But I think I saw a little more
than you did.”

How did this happen? Stephen was dumbfounded.

But he
remembers
.

And now is his chance to make things right.

Mikey picked up his bike from the street. An elderly
man who had fallen on the sidewalk grumbled for help. Mikey hopped over
the curb, ran on a patch of grass, and extended his hand. “Did you see
that?”

The old man graciously accepted Mikey’s hand. “Thank
you young man. Yes, I saw it. It’s dark as hell out here.”

The old man settled onto his feet. Mikey asked, “Did
you see anything in your head? …Visions?” The old man tapped him on
the shoulder in gratitude. “I didn’t see anything. But I’m an old
man. So what do I know?” The man’s wrinkly face smiled. He
nodded as he continued his trek on the sidewalk. With the line of houses
bordering the street, many people were coming outside to get a look at the dark
daytime sky. Mikey stared ahead, looking only in his thoughts. What
just happened? Did anyone else see the future? He had no
answers.

But he
remembers
.

And now is his chance to make things right.

Moros dug his hands into the sand. Slowly, he pushed
his body up and stood upright on the beach. In the middle of the day, the
sun had gone out. Moros, wearing his backpack, looked out across the
ocean. There was no sun, no moon, reflecting off the water. There
was simply an endless ocean of darkness. As the waves crashed onto the beach,
Moros could only wonder.

It was not the first time he had experienced an earthquake
with a complete loss of light. On the day of his son’s execution the same
had happened. When Elpis later explained to him that Jesus had changed
the course of the Universe, he understood the correlation of events.

But could anyone have actually changed the Universe again?

Moros, with great worry, stares out at the ocean. Is
his plan in danger? It appears he will have to be more proactive.

Things are going to be different.

Mikey, donning a backwards hat, sits at the dining room
table, staring at his befuddled father at the other end. The darkness
from outside floods the inside of the house, though with the time nearing 8
o’clock, it is more fitting than 3 o’clock darkness. All that remains to
be seen is whether or not the sun will come up tomorrow. A lone light
above the table is all that illuminates them.

Bruce stares at his son in total confusion. “So… I
die?”

Mikey nods. “Yes. You had him. It was
over. Then he spun his stupid stick and the blade came out the other end
and stabbed you instead.”

“How long from now?”

“It was about a year, I think.”

Bruce leans forward, crossing his hands. “This
couldn’t have been a dream? Why are you so sure it’s the future?”

Mikey sits back in his chair and rolls his eyes. He
could understand his father’s uncertainty but is frustrated by his persistent
doubts. “I just know, Dad! I was there! It was like I lived
the whole thing… and when it was over, I woke up here. The future… We can
change it…”

Knock Knock! Mikey and Bruce turn their heads toward
the front door. They gaze at each other, both shrugging their shoulders,
unsure of who could be knocking. Bruce rises from his chair and walks
toward the door. His hand grips the door handle and creaks it open.

Stephen stands outside, smiling at his best friend.
“Hi, Bruce.”

Bruce is astounded. Seeing his estranged friend is
something he is unprepared for. “Stephen?” Feelings of joy resonate
in his soul. “Stephen!” Bruce almost unknowingly wraps his arms
around him. “It has been so long!”

Stephen hugs him back. “I missed you, Bruce.”

Bruce pulls himself away from Stephen. And draws a
blank. The moment is too great, too unexpected. Overcoming his joy,
Bruce says, “Come in.” As Stephen walks through the door, Bruce notices
another figure behind him. In his excitement, Stephen nearly
forgets. “This is my colleague and good friend, Jay Campbell.”

Campbell steps forward and offers Bruce his hand.
Bruce shakes it. Nonchalantly, like he always does things. Campbell
says, “It’s nice to meet you, Bruce.”

“Same,” Bruce replies with a teethy smile. Suddenly,
he remembers; Bruce had been distracted by his own excitement. He says to
Stephen, “You haven’t met my son.”

Stephen nearly falls over at the suggestion. Bruce
has a… son?

Bruce leans forward and whispers, “I adopted him a few
years ago.” Stephen chuckles to himself. That makes more
sense. Bruce probably isn’t suited for reproduction of his own.

Bruce yells, “Come here, Mikey!”

Mikey reluctantly gets out of his chair at the dinner table
and walks toward the front door. Bruce demands, “Turn your hat
around!” Mikey flips his hat forward and continues toward his
father. Bruce says, “Mikey, I want you to meet your unofficial
uncle. Uncle Stephen.”

Stephen looks at Mikey and smiles. As Mikey glances
into Stephen’s blue eyes, it dawns on both of them: they’ve already met.
Emotions start to overcome Mikey as the memories associated with Stephen come
back. Stephen was there, desperately trying to save his biological father
from death at the fair. He was there, at the wake of the only father he
had ever truly known, Bruce, as they accidentally bumped into each other.
Stephen looks at Mikey with the same realization and is filled with the same
overwhelming memory. Mikey lunges forward and hugs Stephen, fighting
tears. Stephen hugs back, fully aware of his pain.

Mikey mutters, “You were there. At the fair.
And at the wake.”

Stephen is surprised to hear him say that. It appears
he wasn’t the only one to receive visions of the future. Stephen
whispers, “We’ll change it.”

Bruce steps back. They know each other?
How? The only thing Bruce knows for certain is today is a weird
day. There’s something
different
about it. With the
worldwide earthquake and darkness, there isn’t a weirder day on record.

Elsewhere, Natalie sits in the front pew of a church.
Her faith has always been strong. It’s late and she is alone. She
prays. She prays for her husband, Vince. She prays for her
friends. She prays for the future. She looks at Jesus, who hangs,
lifeless on the cross.

Unexpectedly, a man sits next to her. Natalie glances
at him. He has a trimmed beard and brown hair. Natalie looks ahead,
back at Jesus.

The man asks, “Why are you here?”

Natalie, still looking forward, responds, “The world has
gone dark. You can call me crazy, but I am a spiritual person. And
I fear the end times are near.”

“It is not the end times.” The man shakes his head,
confident of his statement. “It is a new beginning. Granted, an
unexpected one. Even I could not have anticipated this.”

Natalie furrows her brow and looks at the man. He
seems to be in his mid-40’s and holds himself with the confidence of a
sage. Natalie looks into the man’s entrancing blue eyes. In them,
she finds a brightness, a light that shines powerfully. Natalie asks,
“Why are
you
here?”

“The man replies, “My name is Zeno. I am an
archangel. I am here to tell you it is not the end. Something has
changed. Now is a critical moment in time. Earth will have a
choice: light or dark. In that sense, I suppose these are the ‘end
times’. For after these days, nothing will be the same.”

Natalie nods and stares ahead, analyzing her
thoughts. She isn’t gullible enough to blindly believe the words of a
stranger.

Zeno asks, “You believe what I say?”

“I don’t know,” Natalie says.

Zeno continues, “Your prayers are heard by the Most
High. But they won’t get you through these days.” Zeno leans
forward with urgency and says, “Go to Stephen Pandora. He needs you.”

Natalie turns her head surprisingly at Zeno. “How do
you know…”

“I am an archangel. I don’t claim to know the
future. I just have faith. Like you.” Zeno confidently smiles
and peers into Natalie’s eyes. Natalie again notices the light in his
eyes. Angel or not, there was something different about this man.
Natalie asks, “Why does Stephen need me?”

“To make sure the people choose light.”

Back at Bruce’s house, Stephen, Campbell, Bruce, and Mikey
sit at the dinner table. For the past hour, they have exchanged stories
and revelations of the future. It is a confusing conversation, and one
Bruce has trouble fully understanding, even with the bizarre events that have
transpired in his life. He declares, “Let’s not wait. Let’s kill X
and get it over with. End of the world avoided.”

“I agree,” Mikey announces.

“Without you,” Bruce retorts.

Mikey shrugs his shoulders in disgust. “Why?
You need me. I’m a
member
.”

“I’ll go,” Stephen interrupts.

“No,” Bruce replies. “You need to go to Lisa.
You’ve waited long enough for that. Forget all this. I’ll take care
of it.”

Stephen shakes his head in disagreement. “I was at
your wake. I looked at your body in a coffin. Do you know how
painful that was? I won’t let it happen again.”

Bruce leans forward, seething, “Stephen, go with Campbell
on your fancy jet to L.A. and see Lisa.”

Campbell says, “We won’t be able leave on the plane until
tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, so we’ll wait for you.”

“How big is the jet?”

“Big enough.” Stephen says. “So you’re going to
kill Ronnie… then join us on a flight… in the same night?”

“You don’t think I can do it?” Bruce asks.
“We’ll finish up quickly and join you. But you can’t get to Lisa’s too
late in the night. Are you going to wait until the next morning?”

“Yeah,” Stephen replies. “But you’re not invited.”

Stephen and Bruce laugh.

The thought of reuniting with Lisa gives Stephen the
chills. It would be a reunion of impossible proportions. His heart
simply hasn’t felt the same since she left. He has reservations about
leaving Bruce to take care of Ronnie but if anyone could take down a dangerous
cult, it’s Bruce. And now, with knowledge of the future, the odds were
definitively tipped in his favor. “Fine, get it done. But don’t get
hurt,” Stephen says. “There’s one thing we need to figure out. How
did Ronnie know your plan to kill him last time?”

Everyone simultaneously looks to Mikey, who interjects,
“Don’t ask
me
. Who would you have told, Dad?”

Bruce cowers in thought. “The only person I could see
myself telling is Kristen. But she wouldn’t tell anyone.”

Campbell asks, “You haven’t told her anything yet have
you?”

“No…”

“Keep it that way,” Stephen demands.

“You don’t really think Kristen would…”

“I don’t know. But let’s not risk it,” Stephen
interrupts.

Bruce chuckles at Stephen’s intensity. “It’s good to
have you back, Stephen.”

Stephen smiles behind a veil of sadness. There is a
nagging issue Stephen feels compelled to address. “I have to tell you
something, Bruce. I didn’t reveal the ILD. It was one of my
coworkers. I wasn’t going to reveal it. I made a promise. You
were right. And I’m sorry it happened.”

Bruce smiles nonchalantly. “I don’t care, Stephen,”
he says lightly. “What happened in the past is over. We’re all here
now. Let’s worry about the future.”

Stephen smiles. It’s a great feeling to be back in
action with Bruce.

Campbell asks, “What about Elpis?”

“She’ll find me,” Bruce responds confidently. “She
always does.”

Stephen asks, “Did you ever tell her about the box?”

Bruce raises his eyebrows. “…No,” he says almost
embarrassed to admit it.

“Don’t you think she should know we have a box with her
name on it?”

Bruce smiles devilishly. “We don’t know that it’s
hers… Elpis is a fairly common name… right?”

Stephen and Bruce laugh. Mikey looks at Campbell and
rolls his eyes. Campbell nods, silently agreeing with his discontent.

Bruce laments, “We’ll tell her eventually.”

“So what’s the game plan?” Campbell asks, eager to get to
the point.

Bruce answers, “There’s a meeting tomorrow night.
I’ll figure out the details. In the meantime, you and Stephen get the jet
ready. Then, Kristen, Mikey, and myself will join you. We’ll have a
pool party at the hotel. A big ‘we stopped the end of the world’
party.” Bruce half-jokes, “I don’t know if there’s a better reason to
party than that. That’s got to be the best party ever.”

“And I get to stay home and do nothing?” Mikey asks, hot
with frustration.

“Yes,” Bruce replies.

Campbell asks, “What about the doomsday weapon?”

Bruce replies, “The Keres? There’s still another year
before it’s finished. But I don’t know. Elpis will know what to
do.”

“So technically,” Stephen says, “we have plenty of
time.” Stephen pauses and leans in. “Let’s go get some burgers!”

Bruce stands out of his chair, thrilled with the
suggestion. Stephen joins him in standing and the two low-five each other
over the table. “Great idea, Stephen!”

Stephen and Bruce giddily hop toward the front door.
Mikey and Campbell stare at each other, flabbergasted by their behavior.

Stephen and Bruce, despite their lost time, despite their
prior indignations, are right back to being best friends. They simply
picked up where they left off.

As Bruce stands waiting for Mikey and Campbell to get their
acts together, he notices something odd resting on a bookshelf at the other end
of the room. Squinting his eyes, Bruce struggles to make it out. No
one seems to notice as he traverses around the couch to get close to the
mystery object. He finally realizes what it is that catches his eye: the
ELPIS box. Bruce stands in front of the bookshelf, looking perplexedly at
the box sitting in front of a collection of philosophy books. The box has
no place being there; it was in Stephen’s possession. He picks up the box
and runs his fingers over the letters. “Hey Stephen, did you bring the
ELPIS box with you?” Shockingly, the box that sits in his hands
disappears; vanishes. The box is gone.

Stephen, misunderstanding his question, asks, “Do you think
I should?”

Bruce stares at his empty hands. Was it an
illusion? No, it couldn’t have been. But the box had never
disappeared before. Where could it have come from? He had run his
fingers over the wood-the same wood he had touched countless times
before. It was real. There’s no use trying to explain what just
happened. Instead, Bruce says, “Yes. Bring the ELPIS box with you
to L.A.”

Stephen smiles. He’s as excited as he’s ever
been. “Let’s go everyone!” Bruce happily joins in, with Mikey and
Campbell reluctant participants.

The night is ideal for fun.

Because everything hinges on tomorrow.