Virtual Prophet (20 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Danielle - 71

I open my eyes and look at Azrael.

He’s scrutinizing me like you would look at a litter of pups to decide which one to take home. Finally he smiles. “I think you’re ready.”

I nod my head. “Yes, I think so too. It’s very easy to get into the right part of the meditation now.”

“That’s all well and good,” he says, “but do you think you can take the leap?”

“I was thinking of making it more of a step.” He frowns and I laugh. “Yes, I think I can take the leap, Az. I just hope...” I catch myself.

“You hope what?” he asks.

I shake my head.

“Danni, there must be no doubt in your mind when you do this, or you won’t end up where you need to be.” He looks at me seriously. “Others have done this before, you know,” he says.

“Yeah, Melissa,” I nod.

“Not just Melissa. Over the centuries there have been wise men and women who have devoted their entire lives to searching for inner peace and tranquility through self-reflection and meditation. Dozens, if not hundreds of people, have stood on the very same ledge and looked down. Many of them have stepped off.”

“Have they succeeded? Have they opened their eyes on their table and ejected themselves from the Game?”

Azrael pauses and then shakes his head. “I would like to tell you that they have,” he says, “but I have no idea where they went, which isn’t our goal.”

“So their bodies died here and they woke up outside of the Game in their real bodies?”

“No,” he says, “their essences never made it back to their real bodies. Their avatars died in here, and soon after their bodies died in the other reality as well.”

“Oh.” That isn’t what I was expecting to hear. “How do you know that isn’t what happened to Melissa, too?”

He taps his head and grins, “I saw where she went. I was with her until she went through the final door, and I saw what was on the other side.” He nods, “It’s exactly where she was supposed to be going. There is no doubt in my mind that she is safely home.”

“The same place I am going to end up,” I say confidently.

“Yes, you will end up in the same place,” he says. “Your home.”

I think about his warning, and then I nod and stand up. “Okay. I am prepared to make the leap. I’m ready to go home.”

Azrael stares at me intently, it feels like he’s trying to look deep into my essence; perhaps he is. “I believe you,” he says. “Rest tonight and say your goodbyes. You go home tomorrow.”

===

Trew

“What was that all about?” Trew looked over at Cooper, who was still watching Danni and Brandon on the monitor.

“I don’t know,” Cooper said. “Not very smart to tell her that part of the story, if you ask me.”

“How come no one has told me that part of the story?” Trew asked.

“It’s not relevant.”

“Of course it is,” Trew said. “If there’s a chance she might not succeed, then I need to know about it.”

“Haven’t you been paying attention, Trew?” Cooper asked. “There’s always a chance we might not succeed.”

“You seem comfortable with that fact.”

Cooper laughed. “Of course I am. Let me put this into perspective for you. From the time this all occurred until only a short time ago, the chances of total failure and utter annihilation of our race from the face of the planet appeared to be 99 percent certain. For the past few weeks it’s flipped to an entirely different situation, Trew. Thanks to you, and Danni, and Melissa, and especially Brandon, since he set this all up, we are looking at a 95 percent possibility that everything will be fine and we will all be saved. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take big chance of success over big chance of failure any day.”

Trew considered Cooper’s words and nodded in agreement. “When you put it that way, I guess things do seem better.”

Cooper chuckled and looked back at the monitor.

“I’m worried about Danni coming out and the Game being destroyed in the process,” Trew admitted.

Cooper nodded and looked at Trew again. “That’s a valid concern,” he admitted, “but we’ve done everything we can to minimize the chances of that happening. Now we just have to sit here, content that we have increased our odds for success as best as we could, and leave the rest to luck. There’s nothing we can do to affect the outcome at this point; that ship has sailed. I face oblivion better than most, Trew, but that’s only because I’ve had lots of practice doing it. In a few hours we will either be closer to success, or all dead and gone. Maybe even that outcome will unlock a new adventure for us. Perhaps we’ll all wake up in totally different bodies on other tables and find out that this has all been one more simulation inside a simulation.”

Trew smiled; he’d considered that fact many times as well.

“The only thing we can do at this point is be positive. In difficult times the most challenging thing is to remember our own advice and words of wisdom. Intelligence and reason are the first casualties during any crisis. Remember your words to the masses, boy. Thoughts are things, and we must have only good thoughts in these troubled and challenging times.”

Trew looked back at the monitor and nodded. “You’re absolutely right, Cooper. Thank you.”

“Any time, kid.”

“So when Danni wakes up, she will return to her body here, is that correct?” Trew asked. “Or is there a chance she will wake up in the Dream in her real body there?”

“She will wake up on Tygon. She isn’t from the Dream,” Cooper smiled. “It is a bit confusing, isn’t it?”

“Layers upon layers,” Trew admitted. “Just when I think I have something figured out, it seems to suddenly change again.”

“I understand,” Cooper said. “Think of the Game as a place for two worlds to play in. Tygon children lie on a table and enter the Game. They control avatars called humans and when they die, their essence returns to Tygon.”

“Okay,” Trew nodded.

“People from my world — the world that we’ve always called ‘the Dream’ — are also inside the Game. They control avatars also called humans. Up until recently, Tygon citizens believed that these were empty, computer controlled avatars, and called them NPCs in the Game.”

“Indeed we have.”

“If we can show the Dream players, or Game NPCs, or non-Tygon players — whatever you want to call them — if we can show them how to wake up, then they will be able to return to their reality.”

“The Dream,” Trew nodded.

“Yes.”

“What happens to them now?” Trew asked. “When they die, I mean?”

Cooper shrugged. “Since Thorn and Brandon spun them into your Game — during year twenty of the Game is when they did that — they’ve been recycled back into the Game as new humans. Reincarnated.”

“They die and are born again into a new body?”

“Yes,” Cooper said.

“The Game is ending, though,” Trew said. “What will happen to them if they die and the Game ends?”

“Same as will happen to Tygon players,” Cooper nodded. “They will all be lost forever.”

Trew considered the information, as well as the positive words from earlier, then nodded.

Trew picked up the phone and dialed. “Michelle, I want to be in Danni’s room when she begins her journey home. Let’s have cameras there as well. Call Lisa Rohansen and tell her that we’re giving her another big career boost.”

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Shane

I’ve always loved sitting out under the open sky in front of a nice fire.

Thousands of years have gone by, and if I don’t have marshmallows or a hot dog to roast, I still get perturbed.

A rabbit will have to do tonight; the pickings are slim since the Day occurred. Every time I start to curse those responsible for that one, I catch myself and chuckle. Oh, right... it was m
e
.

I sense that my company has arrived.

“You didn’t happen to bring marshmallows, did you?” I ask out loud.

I hear a chuckle from the darkness and I turn to look at him as he enters the light of the fire. “You picked a young avatar this time,” I say.

“I think it’s twenty-one years old,” he says. “A good age, if you ask me.”

I smile. “It’s a good age if you ask anyone. Grab a chair; I’ve had one sitting out for you every night for
a
ver
y
long time.”

He nods and sits down beside me. I hear the crack and hiss of a can being opened and he hands me a beer. I grab it and smile. “It’s so nice to have it already chilled,” I say.

“Yeah, I thought you’d like that touch,” he says.

We sit and drink our beers, watching the rabbit cook slowly on the fire for a few moments.

“So we’re almost done, then,” I say.

“Yes.”

“It’s been a long life.”

“Imagine if you’d done it all three rotations. The first five thousand years we hadn’t considered that option yet, and Gabriel was the first volunteer for it during Tygon years ten to twenty.”

I nod. “Still, it’s a long time, Brandon. I went crazy a few times, I’m sure of it.”

“I know, Easton, and I’m sorry for it.” I can hear the pain in his voice.

I shrugged my shoulders. “We all knew this would be a struggle. The toughest part is having the rest think I’d gone rogue and trying to hunt me down and kill me.”

“Every story needs a bad guy,” Brandon says.

I poke the fire with a stick, watching the flames flare up as oxygen feeds the combustion process. I look at Brandon with a grin on my face. “How did I do?”

Brandon laughs and slaps me gently on the back. “You were one of the worst, and by that I mean best, bad guys I’ve ever seen!”

“Thanks,” I say. “I did have a long time to perfect it.”

“In all seriousness, though, I really appreciate your work, Easton. You’ve always been one of my best teammates, and I’m grateful that you joined us for the ride.”

I stand up and so does he. We hug and I pat him on the back. “Thanks, Brother. I’ve always been thankful to be on this journey with you, too. If we pull this off, it will be legendary.”

“No one will have accomplished so much in all of history,” he agrees.

The rabbit is ready, so I remove it from the spit and split it in half, putting the parts on two plates and handing him one, which he accepts with a word of thanks. We eat silently for a few moments. Brandon produces two more cold beers and we drink them with our meal.

After the meal, I take the plates and put them over to the side and out of the way. When I get back to the fire, my eyes light up at what I see in Brandon’s hands.

“Marshmallows!” I say, and he laughs at my excitement. I duck into my tent and grab two straight sticks with sharp ends, bring them back to the fire and sit down.

Brandon holds his marshmallow over the fire, careful to keep it at a proper distance. It slowly turns golden brown and he turns it. “Danni will attempt to wake up tomorrow,” he says.

I watch my marshmallow become crispy and golden brown. I remove it from the fire and blow on it a couple of times to cool it down. Then I pluck it from the stick and bite into it, closing my eyes as the warm crunch is replaced by gooey sweetness. I close my eyes and sigh in absolute delight, slowly chewing until it’s gone. “You are an absolute angel for bringing me these!” I say. Brandon laughs and hands me another, which I take and place on the stick. “How certain are we that the Game will still be around after she succeeds?” I ask him.

“Maybe 50 percent.”

I laugh lightly and look over at him for a second. “That seems a bit low,” I say.

He shakes his head doubtfully. “It’s better odds than I expected to get, but Sylvia really threw a curve ball when she tied the ending of the Game to Danielle exiting it.”

“I still think it’s higher.” I look back to my stick in the fire and turn the marshmallow. “Sylvia doesn’t want this to end; it’s her entire existence.”

“Maybe she’s tired,” he says. “After five thousand years, you aren’t sad about it ending. She’s been in existence for three times that long.”

“Maybe,” I say. “Now that it’s almost complete, I am glad I did it,” I admit. “There was a tremendous amount of fun and good times, too.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Brandon says. “So you think the odds are higher?”

“Absolutely,” I nod.

“What number are you thinking?”

I pop another toasted marshmallow into my mouth and chew to let the drama build. Finally I finish it and smile. “Maybe as high as 56 percent.”

Brandon looks at me for a moment. Then we both begin to laugh.

CHAPTER FIFTY

Danielle - 71

I sit alone in the silence.

The hard stone of the bluff feels more comfortable than I would have guessed, and the view from up here is wonderful. Everything is bathed in the white glow of the light coming from the large full moon that sits high in the sky. A cool breeze blows gently from the air in front of me, chasing away the humidity and preventing the warm night air from becoming uncomfortable against my skin. I listen to the sounds of nature in the trees and grass; a full symphony of countless creatures whose voices join each other to create a magical effect.

I hear a soft thud on the stones behind me and Azrael asks me what I’ve been waiting to hear.

“Are you ready to go home, Danni?” he asks.

I continue to look at the fields and patches of forest below me as I nod. “Soon,” I say.

He comes to stand beside me, surveying the ground below and nodding.

“I think I remember a past lifetime,” I say.

“Really?” he sits down. “What do you remember?”

“Not very much,” I admit, “but what I do recall is very vivid. It came to me earlier this morning as I practiced standing at the edge of the lake of gold energy in my meditation.”

“Tell me about it,” he says.

“In my memory it’s very dark. I recall feeling safe and warm, with heavy thudding sounds all around me. I don’t know why the sound didn’t bother me, but I found it to be calming and reassuring.”

Azrael nods and I continue to speak. “I’m not certain how long I spend in this darkness, but eventually something changes. The calm peaceful feeling is replaced by panic, and the thudding noise becomes erratic, causing me to feel upset and frightened. Then I realize that I’m having trouble breathing. One second everything is fine, and the next I’m fighting to get a single breath so I can keep living.”

I pause, remembering how terrified I felt when I experienced this memory. “It becomes obvious that after a few moments I won’t be able to get a breath,” I say. “No matter what I do, there’s no way I can keep going without air.”

“It sounds terrible,” Azrael says gently.

“It was,” I agree. I look at him and he’s watching me intently. “Finally, when I realize that struggling and fighting won’t help me, that nothing will help me, I remember experiencing something incredible.”

“What?” Azrael asks.

“Surrender,” I whisper. “There is a final moment when I understand that there’s nothing I can do. No matter how hard I fight and struggle and thrash around, there is only one thing that I can do, and that is to surrender to my situation; which I do.”

“What happens next?” he asks.

“I can’t remember anything after that,” I say. “What I do remember is how I felt in that moment, in the exact instant when I surrendered my will to the inevitable realization that I would not breathe again.” I don’t know if my eyes look different than they normally do, but I feel such wonder and awe at this moment that I’m sure it must be visible on my face.

“How did you feel?”

“Like anything was possible,” I say. “Like everything was within my grasp. I can still feel the sensation that came when I surrendered to my fate, and it was miraculous.”

Azrael watches me for a moment, and then he smiles. “I think you are remembering a past life, Danni, and I have an idea which one it was.”

“Can you tell me?” I ask.

He slowly nods his head. “You’ve lived many lives inside this Game called Earth. Many of them were long, prosperous lives, where you learned much and carried those experiences with you into subsequent incarnations. There was one lifetime, however, that was very short. I think you’re remembering that one.”

“How short was it?” I ask.

“You died in childbirth.”

“Oh.” I don’t know what to say. For a moment I think about my own child, the baby Trew and I wanted to have. It died prematurely; did it feel the same things I’m remembering now?

“You had planned a remarkable play, complete with a long life and many significant events. Many fans were shocked and disappointed when you died so young.”

He looks like he wants to say more, as if he wants to share what happened to me after that brief life. Instead he shakes his head and looks at me. His eyes become excited and he smiles. “Perhaps that life was more important than any of us could have guessed,” he says. “What you are describing to me is exactly what you need to do in order to complete this waking process. You need to fully accept what you are about to do... to surrender to the only course of action that can move you forward to your goal.”

“I wasn’t sure I could do it,” I admit, “but now that I have this memory, I believe I can.”

Azrael laughs softly and shakes his head. “She thought of everything, didn’t she?” he asks.

“Who?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he says. The point is that what we thought of as your worst play may end up being the most important.” He chuckled again. “It’s incredible how all of this falls perfectly into place; simply mind-staggering at times.”

“I don’t understand,” I say.

“That’s okay, Danni,” he said. “When you wake up, I think you’ll see the magic in it all. When you enter your trance, and stand on the very edge, remember the feeling that you experienced in that past life.”

“Okay...” I say.

“The only way to wake up,” Azrael says, “is to completely surrender to your fate like you did then. Now that we know you are capable of it, let’s finish preparations and begin.”