Maniacs in The Fourth Dimension (6 page)

Only the
strong survive.

Good thing I
brought my camera, I must take a couple of pictures of this
wonderful tulip. What?! Free memory space twenty-three percent?! I
forgot to transfer pictures to the computer. Shit. I have so many
dimensions to cross and see. Oooh. My weekend with Axelle in
Glendale has to go. I'm sorry. We'll just have to keep it in our
fondest memories without looking at the pictures, my
dear.

'DELETE?'
Yes.

'ARE YOU SURE
YOU WANT TO DELETE THIS FILE? CANNOT BE UNDONE' Yes, yes, just
delete, don't put salt on my wound.

Isn't Axelle
beautiful? My French queen. My Mary Antoinette. Je t'aime, mon
caniche.

Delete.
Delete. Delete…

Free memory
space fifty-six percent. What's this? Pictures from Axelle's and
her dad's hunting trip? Axelle's dad is a passionate huntsman. They
go hunting together. Shooting helpless animals. Awful.
Horrible.

'DELETE?'
Yes, with great pleasure.

Free memory
space one hundred percent. Okay, I'm ready. But, what will I do if
it comes to killing something to take its energy for crossing into
the next level? I can't just do something like that. It's simply
wrong. I can ask Axelle to do it. No, I don't think this dimension
crossing stuff works that way.

I gave up
even before I started. No! No surrender! Only the strong cross the
finish line.

This is a
once in a lifetime op
portunity and I
can't blow it. I have the opportunity to see things that even the
most adventurous travellers didn't even dream of. People that have
seen stuff like North Pole, Mount Everest, Mariana Trench, will all
envy me for my voyages. According to the comic there are dinosaurs
in the next dimension! Imagine! Dinosaurs!

Usmanov
speaks. Listen.

''This is the
energy source I promised you. This tulip. You simply need to put
your hand on the flower stalk, and its energy will transfer onto
you. I repeat, only one of you must do this. Tulip's energy is
sufficient only for one person. And once one of you does
this…''

He started
walking backwards, away from the Pine Cone Center, while staring in
the sky above. He signaled us with his hands to follow him. So we
did, and…

''Oh, my
god…'', there's a giant jellyfish levitating over Pine Cone Center,
just like the one we saw through the window. From up close, that
thing is enormous.

''Once one of
you does this, he must shoot the energy charge from his hand toward
the medusa, destroy it, and ascend. That is all I can do for you.
Good luck to you all.''

''How do we
shoot the energy charge?'', asked the elf guy.

''It will
come to you as a natural reflex, once you start possessing some
energy in your hands. I leave you now to resolve the situation
amongst yourselves'', said Usmanov and went inside.

''Okay'',
said the elf: ''We have to choose one among ourselves, one that has
the best chances of success.''

''That is
bullshit, man. Abraxas is playin' you all for fools'' , said the
ungrateful greasy haired, bearded guy.

''You don't
have to be a part of this if you don't want to.''

''I'm staying
to see what will you do.''

The elf
continued: ''You all read the comic, you saw what kind of dangers
are awaiting. Let's face it, most of you are not up for this game.
You know that's true, be honest with yourselves.

I nominate myself. I have years
of experience in competitive archery, I have my weapon with me, and
I have best odds at surviving. Does anyone disagree?''

No one said
anything. I guess he's right. But, still I wish it was me. He
whispered something to his girl, and started walking confidently
toward the tulip. But then, the guy that was standing there with
the box of comics in his hands, dropped the box on the floor, and
jumped in front of the elf. The guy with blood on his shirt and
cuts on his neck.

''I
disagree'', he said: ''You thought you can stick your fingers deep
in this just because they're all bunch of pussies.''

What?!

''Well, what
nominates you?'', said the elf angrily: ''What skill increases your
chances of success?''

''Nothing.
And none'', replied the guy: ''I simply won't allow you to touch
the tulip. If you disagree, we can solve it with
fists.''

Despicable
person. You can see spite all over his face.

''This is
ridiculous!'', cried the elf.

''Go solve
your anger issues somewhere else you jerk'', shouted the girl in
the plaid shirt, and suddenly most of us started rooting for the
elf. Only the greasy guy and his friend stood aside, and another
guy, sat alone on a cinder block. He held a tennis cap in his
hands, his face kinda resembles that of Mark Hamill. Mark Hamill's
face, like, after the car crash, not Mark Hamill's face from the
first 'Star Wars'. He just stared at us with some lost look in his
eyes.

One of the
three wackos that spat me yelled: ''Let the elf go in his natural
habitat!'', to which they laughed.

''You see'',
said the elf: ''Everybody's against you. Move.''

''C'mon
elfie, throw the first punch'', said the nutcase.

''You're
embarrassing yourself'', said the elf: ''Just go away. Nobody wants
you here.''

''You think
that the fact that your girlfriend paid twenty grands to a plastic
surgeon to turn you into a sick fetish gives you some powers,
boy?''

The elf kneed
him in the stomach, and he lurched down, on his knees.

''The face,
motherfucker, the face, not the stomach…'', he moaned in
pain.

But then, all
of a sudden, he got up, and punched the elf in the stomach, and the
elf fall down, and kept lying on the grass. Elf girl screamed and
ran to him. That moment, one guy ran behind the wacko's back, and
almost reached the tulip. But, the nutcase caught him, twisted his
arm and made him walk in front of us, while he howled in pain for
his twisted arm.

''Stop it, you're hurting him,
just stop, you maniac!'', shouted the girl in the plaid shirt.

The maniac
then released him of the grip, walked to the girl and stopped in
front of her so close that she could feel his breath on her face
when he raged out on her.

''DON'T CROSS
THE ROAD IN FRONT OF ME, GIRL!''

She stood her
ground, but none of us did anything, said anything. We just stood
silent. There's a world of rage in that man. He went to the tulip
and laid his hand on its stalk. And suddenly, some electricity
crossed onto his hand, and onto him. The flower closed its petals.
And the angry man went to his knees once more, and trembled and
moaned, for the pain of kick in the stomach, or the energy
transference, I don't know. His face reflected agony in that
moment, I even felt sorry for him.

Between the
fingers of his hand a visible current of electricity appeared, grew
stronger, and than vanished. He got up on his feet. Unexpectedly,
he started having some private conversation with the man on the
cinder block.

''Your name
is Holodnik, right?''

''Yes'', said
the man barely audible.

''Would that
be Ezequiel Holodnik?''

I think he
said 'yes' again.

''From 'Free
Ezequiel Holodnik' protests?''

''That's my
dad'', said he: ''I'm Zeke Holodnik junior.''

That name
doesn't mean anything to me. I don't know who Ezequiel Holodnik is.
And I don't know why Mr. Madman showed interest in him. Anyway, he
took a dozen steps away from the building, so he could take a good
swing at the jellyfish. Like a baseball pitcher he threw an energy
burst out of his hand at the jellyfish. Jellyfish kept levitating
there, like nothing happened, for a couple of moments, and then it
started descending slowly, gravity got a stronger hold of it, and
it smacked loudly in the ground of the park. But, people that were
passing around the park, didn't seem to hear or see
anything.

''Sayonara,
bitches'', said he, and disappeared in the thin air. He ascended,
the next dimension sucked him in.

Someone said:
''I guess that's it for us.''

Yes, it is,
if you give up. But, I'm not giving up. I had to think fast. I went
inside and ran to hall nineteen, hoping that Usmanov went back
there. I gently opened the door, and saw him sitting inside, and
listing a Convention-con brochure. I slightly knocked and asked him
can I come inside. He removed his glasses and stared at
me.

''I am one
of…'', I didn't know how to finish the sentence, one of
who?

He nodded, I
came in and closed the door. I told him what happened. His response
surprised me.

''The man
that ascended was probably the best option. He showed great
resolution. On the other hand, bows and arrows are not of much use
against dinosaurs and various other predatorial beasts. If you're
going in armed, take nothing lesser than tanks and missile
launchers.''

''But, is
there any hope left for us others?! Is it possible that there is
more of those tulips in the vicinity?'', I was desperate for his
advice.

''Frankly, I
doubt it, energy tulip's pollen rarely travels this far from its
realm. But then again, I haven't examined the area closely, so I
cannot claim surely that there aren't any. ''

After that
fiery speech he held in front of us, and lit us all up, filled our
hearts with the sense of urgency, he seems so uninterested now,
he's not even looking at me as he talks to me, he's just listing
that brochure. He leaves an impression of a theater actor that
played out his role.

''Well what
do I do then?! How do I find the energy sufficient do bring down
the medusa?!''

He just
shrugged shoulders and said: ''Keep fighting with all
four.''

What kind of
answer is that?! He made me furious.

He went on to
say this: ''One of the purposes of '365 heavens' was to serve as a
guide. Detailed description of first twelve levels of the universe.
Unfortunately, I was unable to leave any information about the
fourth dimension.''

''Why not,
for Christ's sake?! You yourself said it's the hardest level to
cross?!''

From all the
possible reasons as why he left us stranded, he said this: ''The
fourth dimension is copyrighted.''

What?!

''Some prick
Hollywood Jew has copyrights to the fourth dimension. Anyone who
would use it in his works would face severe financial penalties, or
even prison time. You can expect a shitty summer movie about it any
time soon.''

He said he
has to go, took his stuff and left. He didn't help me a single bit.
I can't miss this opportunity, there must be a way, I just need to
find it somehow. I must succed.

Chapter sixteen

Act fast
Emily, or you're going to get left behind again. They're all
teaming up and leaving, and you're standing alone. Quickly, Emily,
approach someone, before it's too late. That man, Holodnik is his
name if I heard well, he's alone. He's sitting on a cinder block.
He's staring in the ground in front of him. He looks confused,
afraid, lost. Maybe he's introverted, reclusive, maybe he's just
like you, Emily. I'll go to him, I just need to get ready, plan
what will I say.

I tried
making friends with that pair with bows and arrows. I approached
them, and I asked him is he okay, but, as I was opening my mouth to
say that, that man with strange face and his friends laughed loudly
again, and those two didn't hear me. Or saw me, I think, because
they just walked away. Damn my feeble voice, people never hear me.
When I speak with my normal voice tone, I speak really quiet, and
people don't hear me, and they ask me what did I say, or they just
ignore me. I force myself to speak louder, but then my voice sounds
squeaky and awful, and I can't stand it. But, there's no time for
thinking about that Emily, plan what will you say to
Holodnik.

If I just
didn't started crying I could probably go through all this with
Marky. But, he scared me when he started yelling at me, and I got
embarrassed when he started asking me about the comic. I never read
the comic. I read in the brochure that there is 'meet the author'
in the hall nineteen and I went inside. I didn't have what else to
do, I got tired of just walking around. Marky probably loathes me
now.