Two
Schrödinger’s Heart, Art and Love, True, Not True, Open All The Boxes
Welcome to fiction “From The Future” for this entry.
Congratulations, you have stumbled on a work-in-progress, it will not be emailed. It will change. What you see right now, will not remain the same. It will change.
This is also a new drafted chapter for a novel, “RETRIEVE”, being written this year.
Future + Fiction is the formula for everything, whether it’s an essay, story or chapter.
These long pieces are best read online, via the Substack App, when you have fifteen minutes.
"Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
But who is that on the other side of you?’
—T S Eliot, The Waste Land (1922)
Part 1, The Second Grace
The Island, Hour 42 of 48
ST12 and The Ghostship teams, were inching through the dense growth . The “thing” had tried a few times, and a few more team members were injured. The two teams didn’t take long to work with each other, even if they didn’t trust each other. The Nodes, embedded within each team to fight with Carbon special operatives, were fast enough to survive with manageable injuries. The survivors were a slow crawling triage, following official and invisible orders.
“Let me recheck those bandages,” said Bella.
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. And it’s okay, look around you, we’re a little worse for wear,” said Bella, as she looked at Pallas, “even with this back-up, from a bunch of amateurs.” Pallas looked up a moment, shaking his head a little, holding back with a small smile. Typical, same old Pallas, thought Bella, looking back to focus on Cale’s bandage. The young man proved to be helpful at the right moment. Using the redbox that ST12 had with them.
“Can I ask you something?,” Cale H. Land had questions.
Bella paused before nodding, “Yes. Now that we have breathing room.”
“You’re not really Yvette Necker, are you? I mean are you with another service?”
Bella took in a small breath, looked over at Pallas who was in earshot and watching with a “Be careful, glance.”
Bella looked at the young man, and mulled it over, The kid was here on a job, it turned out he was the job. Getting him on this mission, to be on this island. Keeping him alive, until we got to the signal, was the real mission. He was still dormant inside. He doesn’t know.
“To the outside world, I am Yvette Necker. Here, on this island, I am something more. The ones who really know me, call me by another name.”
“What is your name? I mean, your real name?”
“Bella. My name for long while, has been Bella. I’ve had other names.”
“I’ll bet, that’s not unheard, aliases. But to have the name of Yvette Necker, and to pull it off, how did you do it under the family’s noses, their family office, and their whole …”
“As far as Yvette Necker’s parent’s are concerned, I am their daughter, Yvette, a black sheep in the family. Long story.”
“Well, if we make it….”
“Don’t talk like that.”
“Like what?”
“We don’t talk like that.”
“About living and dying?”
“No I mean, about the future. We get there when we get there. We take care of right now,” said Bella as she got some gear from a kit, “starting with changing these bandages.”
“Oww.”
“Sorry, there, all done. Your stitches held, the dermpaste will keep it safe and clean.”
Pallas walked closer to Bella, “Could I talk to you for a second? Excuse us.” He was about to nudge Bella by grabbing one of her arms by the elbow, but she swung fast to avoid Pallas, and walked with him, “Sit tight, Cale. We’re moving in a few.”
When they were out of Cale’s earshot, Pallas whispered, “take it easy with truth telling, Bella. It’s too soon, his mind hasn’t been formatted for who he really is. It could kill him if you go and throw the kitchen sink at him, and tell him the real truth.”
“We don’t exactly have time, Pallas.” She kept her arms folded, with her hands grabbing the opposite upper arms, rubbing the sore spots, and to keep from punching Pallas, “you know what the orders of that boat out there is? The one we took a ride on? Even you didn’t know did you?”
“What? I did as asked and got you, Eris, and the Kid on that boat. Turns out, since we’re truth telling here, you were supposed to be on that boat.”
“Oh, so the ass kicking I gave you back at Heavyville SLN, to convince you wasn’t necessary, it was just a bonus, huh?,” smiled Bella.
“Don’t change the subject, what about that boat out there?”
“It’s got a package, from one of the Elders. It will be deployed in a few hours,” said Bella as she looked at her chrono, “we got six hours left, give or take.”
“Why didn’t you say something when we showed up?”
“We’ve been busy fighting this Island thing. That either came with the Island, or is after us, ready to kill us all, or it’s the Reactor Core coming back online, with an attitude. So maybe we should not worry about telling the Kid the truth, and…,”
Cale interrupted Bella, “what truth, tell me what?” He had managed to stand up and walk over.
In the background, Eris was watching. She was watching Bella for cues on what to do or not do.
Before Bella or Pallas could say another word, the Thing on the Island came roaring back, flying through the air, a kaleidoscope of grey and shadow.
“Positions!”
The teams scrambled to fire back. Some managed to fire off a few rounds, others were not so lucky.
Cale spun around looking for the last of the redboxes marked SLN Defense, and saw one on the other side of the Thing behind it. Bella and Pallas began firing with their harnesses which held the Thing back a moment but it didn’t matter. The Thing finally pushed past and dove right at Cale.
“Cale!!” yelled Bella.
Cale was knocked back, and tumbled over and back hard.
The Thing began to hover over him, and grabbed at him, as if to pull him away.
Then a blast shocked the Thing.
Behind it, Eris was firing with the redbox.
The Thing was gone again.
Cale was on the ground, with burns,”Damn it, he’s got no pulse!”, Pallas and Bellas began CPR, and pasted a resuscitator on Cale’s chest. Nothing. “Again.” Nothing. “Again!” Nothing. “Damn it, Again!”
“Stop! Stop it,” said Pallas. He grabbed Bella to hug her. “What are we going to do? What the F…?!”
Cale began to breathe, with a hoary struggling breath. His eyes were wide open. He tried to get up.
“Easy, easy, here,” said Bella, she tried to give Cale a little water. He pushed it away, and said, “Bella, I’m okay. Pallas, I’m okay.”
Bella and Pallas froze. He called us by our names.
Cale got up very slow with their help.
“It’s okay, I know who I am, or what I am. I mean, I’m still Cale, but I’m also more. Just like you two.
You’re Ramsey Weiss to the Carbons, but you’re also Pallas, just like you’re Yvette Necker, but you’re also Bella.”
Pallas asked, “Do you know…?”
“Yes, Pallas of the War Faction of the Clan of The Visitor, and Bella of the War Faction of the The Clan of The Curate. I am … one of The Graces… but only because the intended heir is dead. My sister is dead, and that is why I’m here. If she had lived… you would be fighting to protect her… as we look for more than the Reactor Core….”
Pallas and Bella looked at each other. They had seen many things, but it was another to be in the presence of one of the Three Graces.
Pallas recovered his thoughts, and asked, “you said for more than the Reactor Core…”
“There are three Graces, this you all know or heard of. It’s not some rumor or legend. The Core is useless without us. All three of us are needed. It has been thousands of years since the last attempt.”
“If you’re here, and you know who you are, what about the other two?”
“My … siblings are near…”
“They’re coming?”
“One of my siblings is on her way, in the company of one you know, Pallas,…”
Pallas looked guarded, “who do you mean?”
“The Elder who went his own way, said to be Mad but was one of the greatest of us, formerly called “Mentor” by Men and would-be Kings, Usurpers, and the metallic gods of our kind, the so-called Mad One is on his way, and bringing one sister here….”
“And the other?” asked Bella.
“That other one has been reawakened, long asleep, since the last time we tried to tap into the power of the Core. Locked with and within it, to keep it out of Man’s reach but also from this war between Clans.”
“You, you’re saying the last Grace is the Core?”
“My sibling, Thalia, long asleep and alone, has been reawakened, she has been imprisoned by and guarding the Core. She is not herself. And several times she has reached out to us, violent and blind,…”
“You mean that Thing? That thing is your sister?”
“Yes, and no. It’s her reawakening, and it’s rebirth. Painful, traumatic, and crying out to return and not be alone.”
Cale stood up, and smiled, “I need to find my sister, and then we wait for our sister, who comes under the protection of The Mad One.”
“You’ve been asleep this whole time inside your Cale self, how did you know about all of this? About the Mad One and your sister? How did you know Thalia was locked away with the Core?”
“Because it was us that did it. We did it a long time ago. The Fates agreed to seal with a great time lock, to let the Core reformat itself and recharge from the Earth itself. Long ago, we made this pact, so that we could try once more to start over.”
“I have to tell you we only have a few hours left,” said Bella, “maybe less than six hours.”
“Then we shall have to hurry and hope for the best, or we shall have to hasten to reset the plan and try again shortly, … in a few thousand years. That’s assuming the Carbons won’t have destroyed themselves in the process. This time, I know, from my Cale self that Humanity has achieved great fearsome, new powers, not enough to hurt the cosmos but sadly, just enough to hurt themselves.”
Cale walked forward, and led the way. The “kid” was gone.
Bella said, “Eris, cover the rear, Cale is taking point, following the signal.” Eris looked, her eyebrows raised a fraction, impressed by the young man’s transformation.
As they marched closer to the signal, Bella walked next to Cale.
Cale smiled, “this time you have questions, it’s your turn to ask.”
“You mentioned sister.”
“My sister Euphrosyne, and I, have the same code. Most nodes live on as nodes, and there are the archival manifolds. A plan was made to hide us, or store us more rather, inside the Carbons in new ways, encrypted extradimensional tanglements within humans, stealth Node DNA genes you might say. Euphrosyne was to someday meet with Thalia and Aglaea, and complete the plan to end the war.”
“Whose plan? That’s new to me,” said Pallas.
“Why it was Mentor’s plan.”
Pallas said, “I should have known, that explains a lot.”
“Explains what?,” asked Bella.
“That old one spoke with me. He made some wild promises but they were tantalizing.”
“What?”
Pallas looked over at Bella, and held back, and just said, “a fresh start. Like Cale mentioned.”
Bella looked down, and said nothing.
“But you have orders, Bella, right?,” asked Pallas
“You know I serve the Curate. And the Curate holds power over many of my faction. Like Eris.”
“Bella, Mentor, or as you call him in private, “The Mad One”, has accounted for his sibling Elders. And Pallas, that includes both Elders, known as The Curate and the master you serve, known as The Visitor.”
Pallas said nothing.
Cale continued, “Both The Curate and The Visitor know about Cale H. Land’s affections and life with Raina Tagore. And now that I’m awake, I know about them as well. Fully awakened, The Graces know many things and can do many things as well.”
Cale looked over at Pallas and Bella, “The Three Graces hold the keys to the World-Maker inside The Core. The Fates made and hid the lock for a long time but when the time came, The Visitor and The Curate conspired to find the Fates, and used them, thinking, that they would then take care of each other, that is, after they got the Three Graces to open the lock. Real power. Space-time programming.”
“You said the Mad One was behind this too. What does old Mentor want?”
“Why he wants a fresh start for everyone, including the Carbons, even if The Visitor and The Curate didn’t ask for it, it includes them too.”
“We could stop you,” said Bella, “who is to say you’re right, and those we serve are wrong?”
“You could try. But you won’t risk harm to The Three Graces, and I don’t believe you want to either.”
Bella nodded, silent, No, you’re right, I don’t want to harm you or your siblings either, that’s true.
“We’re close,” said Cale. He slowed down and raised a hand for the group to halt.
The air changed.
The Thing had returned, it was coming. It was slow, instead of fast, it was coming.
Cale walked forward.
Bella and Pallas thought of holding him back but stopped.
Cale, looked back at them, and nodded, and then smiled.
He walked toward the grey terror.
The Gray Terror slowed to a halt and began to become a column of a grey kaleidoscope of shadows.
“Sister,” said Cale, “I’ve come back for you. Our other sister will be here soon. We’ve come back for you. Do you remember?”
The column changed colors, and grew lighter and brighter. The group covered their eyes but not Cale.
The brightness faded, and disappeared. A young woman remained, she was a young woman but she changed, in flickers of light, between different shapes, sizes, and faces.
“You came back for me.”
“Thalia,” said Cale, and he hugged the ever-shifting kaleidoscopic girl,”Your family has come back for you. And we need you. Do you remember?”
“You look different,” said Thalia.
Cale laughed, “Yes, and so do you. But we know each other.,” he laughed and Thalia laughed and they hugged.
One of Pallas’ hands grazed Bella’s hand. He held it. She let him, for a moment.
Cale turned to the Group, which was still, stunned, and said, “our other sister draws near. But we have company too. A lot of company. The last three elders will be here together, the first in many years, and they will come to blows but it won’t matter. For the rest of us there are still a few dangers. Let us prepare.”
That’s when the rustling came, and it was not Thalia as grey terror, but other teams.
The Visitor and The Curate had arrived.
Part 2 The World After The Island
Hour 44 of 48
They came through the foilage from opposite sides of the island.
The Curate found a ride to transfer to The Ghostship of Bohai.
The Visitor commandeered the last launchship of the SLN.
And coming through by humble boat and powered raft, the difference maker, The Mad One, known as Mentor, and far earlier, as the apostate to his kind, who dared care about humanity, Prometheus, was whistling to himself, with his young charge, Aglaea, in tow.
“A nice reunion,” said Aglaea.
“You will turn over these mighty ones to us. We’re the keepers of the Mission. The claim is ours by right.,” said the Curate, “with The Graces, we can restore ourselves and uphold the Mission.”
“The Mission, the Mission, the Mission. Do you even remember what that was about? Who is to say we don’t define, redefine that mission?,” asked the Visitor, his fingers at the ready for his sword, his team at the ready with weapons. The Curate’s guard was likewise poised, taut and ready to spring on them.
“Settle down,” said Mentor.
The Curate looked at Cale, “you have had this burden thrown on your shoulders in an instant. Did you not have a better life with the young one, Raina, all that loneliness gone the moment you were with her? You could have that back. Give us access, and I, we, the keepers of the true purpose can give you back your life,” and then turned to look at Aglaea, who held the Mentor’s hand for reassurance, “and you, we could give you back your family with this power. Wouldn’t you want that? And Thalia, no one would ever lock you up again, to be lonely, you could have a countless family of brothers and sisters, and those who would be fathers and mothers to you, among our kind. You three could have it all. Just hand me the powers of your access, and in moments, it would be yours.”
The Visitor looked mildly disgusted, “such promises insult them, insult their honor. I’ll be blunt, this world is your home, there is no more mission. And as for the Curate, I’ll have you know, he sent a precious beloved, a second mother to the Graces, Mnemosyne, to watch over Cale’s one and only, Raina, but it wasn’t for Raina’s protection. And Thalia, just so you know, The Curate would have each of you in his service forever. You might be the keys to the lock, so he would never let you be free. I say we take this world and remake it, like home, like the better worlds we’ve seen out there.”
The Mentor laughed, “You’re one to talk. You bring up The Curate’s ‘insurance’, you offer a penalty, didn’t you,” looking straight at the Visitor, “have a special device ready and waiting for us, for this island? It’s going to go off if you don’t leave with what you want, right?”
The Visitor said nothing, his eyes burned at The Mad One.
The Mad One, Mentor, looked over at Aglaea. “What they forgot to bring up, is they dont have the power. They need you to open the key but you still have to choose who goes through it.”
Aglaea looked up at the Mad One, and asked,”and so you’re using us too, right? Or what is it you have in mind?”
The Mad One shook his head gently, “No. No more. No grand plans. I choose you, all of you, I choose everyone, for them to begin again. Or you could part ways, and fade into the background, and this endless war between Nodes remains endless. Until we are each reborn to victory or lost to time, burned away or buried in the manifolds,until yet again next time, new battle. You three have to choose. Go to your sister, Thalia. And your brother, Cale.”
Aglaea looked over, and walked over. Everyone’s team raised weapons but The Mad One shook his head, “no point, people, you’ll just postpone things.”
The Visitor made to unsheath this sword and The Curate began to advance. The Mad One stood his ground and shook his head at them. “You still won’t learn.”
“It’s up to you, children. You must choose what happens next.”
A bright light engulfed everyone.
Part 3 The First Home
Earth, Maima, formerly known as MiamiMarseilles
Day 1
Pallas and Bella read the note, “Schrödinger’s Heart, Art and love in boxes, true, not true, Open all the boxes.” That was The Mad One’s message to them, he left it in a suite in a luxury tower overlooking the strange waters of an irrealis realis.
“What do we do?”
“Like the crazy old one said. Open all the boxes.”
Pallas and Bella held hands, and embraced.
The surf sounded real, the light of sunset looked real. The love was real.
AFTERWORD
Author’s Notes on what’s going on:
This “Book #3” project, “RETRIEVE”, is meant to be a prequel to two other books, “Box Of Stars” and “Harvest” but this piece could be read as a standalone story.
The prologue for “RETRIEVE”, “An Impossible Island”, was submitted as a short story.
Prologue: “An Impossible Island”, Part One and Part Two, and Part Three, was inspired by writing prompts from the Soaring Twenties Social Club (STSC) creative community, beginning with an STSC Symposium monthly theme of “Beach”.
Chapter 1, “Older Than Bones”, was inspired by the theme, “Dinosaurs”.
Chapter 2, A Love Trinity Denied, was inspired by “Romance”.
Chapter 3, “A Forgotten Circle Of Hades” was inspired by “Superstition”.
Chapter 4, “Reading The Room” was inspired by an image of a wall-sized bookshelf.
Chapter 5, “The Bittersweetness Of Deep Times”, was inspired by “Isolation”.
Chapter 6, “The Weaving Of Split Infinities”, was inspired by “Dreams”.
Chapter 7, “Dead Languages”, was inspired by “Propaganda”.
Chapter 8, “Path Not Forsaken”, was inspired by “Risk”.
Chapter 9, “The Last Word of The World”, considers words as worlds unto themselves.
Chapter 10, An Intimate Path Of Desires
Chapter 11, Absent Without Longing
Chapter 12, Lonely In The Same Room
Chapter 13, Children Of Daedalus
Chapter 14, People Of A Faraway Land
Chapter 15, Distant Shores, Distant Worlds
Chapter 16, The Rules of New Places
Chapter 17, Space To Breathe
Chapter 18, The Extra Air
Chapter 19, The Clash Of Selves
Chapter 20, The Last Meme
Chapter 21, Mistakes And Memories
Chapter 22, The Confusions Of Things
Chapter 23, The Senses Of Wonders
Chapter 24, The Gambits Of Curiosities
“RETRIEVE” chapter and notes will be posted in this Substack, while I edit books #1 (“Box Of Stars”) and #2 (“Harvest”). All will be in the archive, not all will be emailed.)