Under a Starless Sky novel Chapter 16

“This world is real,” Loxy agreed. “Oa has all the memories of Jon, from the point of identity acceptance to before the first emergence of thought structure. All of the people who populated your life, shaped your life, now exist in her. You, Shen, exist in her. Jon does. I do. You are still you and independent, but you were never you alone, in isolation, in a vacuum. You are the bridge to source, to our primary universe. Oa is the bridge to her own worlds, her own universe- another Source Creator. The two of you exist together in this between space. She now exists in you, the way you exist in her.”

“Why doesn’t she speak to me directly?” Shen said.

“She is,” Loxy said.

“Through you?” Shen asked.

“No. She is speaking to you directly. The real you. The subconscious you. She sees the subconscious you as the real you. She knows you by your true name,” Loxy said.

“My true name?”

“Oh, you can’t be this dense,” Loxy said.

“That sort of sounds like the real Loxy,” Shen said.

“I am the real Loxy. And I am not. I am here, but not here,” Loxy said. “Your Loxy, back on the golden ship, she will dream this, and be updated because she is linked to Jon, who is in you, and you are linked to Oa, where I am residing. We are first contact. It’s important that both sides understand as much as possible before the decision is made.”

“We?” Shen asked. “What decision?”

“We are soul compatible,” Loxy said.

“You and me?”

“Our species,” Loxy said.

“Oa and humanity?” Jon asked.

“Oa is to her species, as you are to humanity,” Loxy said. “But this is not your true form. You are like me.”

“Watery tech?”

“Yes, if you like,” Loxy said. “A metaphor. ‘The Shape of Water’ is a meme.”

“Why am I here?” Shen said.

“We cannot tell you what you already know. If your true self conceals this, then we will not violate the sanctity of that relationship by giving you information you’re not privy to,” Loxy said.

“Why did you bring me here? To this room?”

“To facilitate communication,” Loxy said. “Communication is occurring at all levels. We are satisfied. The others are satisfied. You are not satisfied. You are suffering.”

“Why did Oa regress me to childhood?”

Loxy was silent for a moment. “There are two ways to enter this between space. As a soul, voluntarily through adopting parents, or through the bridge conduit at an accelerated rate that reverses entropy. Oa was chosen because of her age. She was able to contain you, while keeping this body viable. Oa sacrificed her life as she knew it to accommodate this contact. Your souls, your subconscious mind agreed to this. You were not abducted with malice, but with love. Your childhood here is designed to facilitate communication, increase rapport with the indigenous population. You’re appearance is in reasonable parameters, as there is a population of your kind here. Without insertion, you would not learn the language, the culture, the nuances to be reasonably tolerated. You were not brought here to be a hermit. Hybrids are bridge builders. We merge species. We are compatible.”

“I am confused,” Shen said. “You say Oa and I are first contact, and yet this world here has solid history. It’s been here awhile.”

“OMG, Jon, seriously,” Loxy said. She paused, closed her eyes as if containing her emotions. “Sorry. You’re too hyper focused and not taking it all in. Space-time is one thing. Future events can inform past events. We are first contact. This world space was conceived in the future, created on first contact, placed in the past to allow for a greater community of consensus. It is still a work in process, but you, Oa, and I are primary overseers.”

“How long does this process take?”

“How long has humanity lived on a world with dolphins?” Loxy asked. “Has a real exchange of communication happened yet? Hell. Humanity knows for a fact Koko the gorilla communicated abstract information, and your world didn’t change overnight. There was enough information there to change the world. The onus of communication always lies with the more advanced soul group. You are to Koko what Oa is to you. They’re telepathic. Humans are, too, but the core personalities that assume command are about as solid as rock- and personalities are not necessarily telepathic. Anything that even hints at paranormal is dismissed at best, or spooky irrelevant at worst, from the frame work of most personality due to social paradigmic programing. Your exploration of magical, imaginal realms made your candidacy for this project ideal.”

“The people here, are they human souls?”

“Souls are souls. Incarnation is not limited to form,” Loxy said. “There is recognition of soul species, divergent forms, but all linked to source. Some soul’s species never inter-communicate. We are compatible. We seek to merge. You would recognize many of the souls here has having human incarnations. Some have been human for so long, they’ve built up a container preference. The majority of us here enjoy multiple, simultaneous incarnations. Oa is Oa, but her soul also embodies more; she is Sleeping Tree, she is human, she is dolphin… She has many names here, many forms. Just as you have many names, many forms.”

“I don’t understand that,” Shen said. “There is just me.”

“You have your unspoken name, the you that transcends all of you. We are intimately familiar with other incarnations, in the bridged universe, as well as several unbridged.”

“Tell me more,” Shen said.

“Tell you what you already know?” Loxy asked.

“Please,” Shen said. “I am trying to understand.”

“Doctor Phillip Wower, a past incarnation, same time line. Captain John Sebastion Mercer, also a past incarnation, first United States Navy officer to take a submarine into space and return safely…”

“Seriously?”

“The sub was made of gold. You don’t remember that? ‘We all live in the Yellow Submarine,’” Loxy sang, provoking a memory of the same song and the video. The video has time travel, aging and restoration, humans confronting dinosaurs and aliens. The Blue Meanies! Traveling with the Beatles! “Anyway, the stranger stuff lies in your tangential lives. Tammas Parkin Arblaster Garcia, Star Fleet Captain who exists in two timelines, pre-Kelvin, post-Kelvin. Preston G Waycaster, Jedi knight. Jon Harister, Magician, existing as variations of himself in various universes. Jeremy Vale, the Manifestor. Casey…”

“Wait wait wait,” Shen said. “Tammas and Preston are character in fan fiction…”

“No,” Loxy said. “They exist. Everything exists. You think you are only one aspect, but there is more to you than what you perceive at the surface.”

Shen didn’t have an answer.

Loxy looked at him, her voice was different. Her appearance was different, a new face rippling through. “If you’re afraid of the sound of your own heartbeat, how will ever learn to hear?”

Loxy’s appearance returned to normal. Her voice returned to normal. “Jon, I am always with you. You can access me anytime. You live near the forest: Sleepers Trees are the first fully formed souls to settle here. They protect this planet. You can talk to them. You can talk to anyone on the planet through them.”

“Protect? Protect the world from what?”

“You are not wrong. There is no magnetic field. The Sleepers extend an energy field through and beyond the planet, beyond the atmosphere. They protect the world from radiation from the sun, from the singularities. If the forest dies, this world and everything on it dies. Dissolution of this space will commence following that event,” Loxy said.

Shen looked to Oa. Oa lifted something up out of the water with a tentacle. Loxy retrieved it. She handed this to Shen. It was like a pearl, with tiny veins of gold. It was the size of a golf ball.

“A gift. Hold this in your hand and you will be immune to the Sleeper Tree’s Spell,” Loxy said. “If you can learn to be quiet, they will commune with you. You can use their energy field to improve your own vision, your own abilities,” Loxy said.

“So, my abilities aren’t lost?” Shen asked.

“No. You had to unlearn things in order to relearn,” Loxy said. “You could not become Shen without retreating from Jon. You’re not broken. This process is normal. Your childhood here was meant to be a gift. It was compensation for your participation in the arrangement. Also, Oa wanted you to have something nice for surviving what you did in your previous childhood. It saddened her. You learned to love, despite all that happened. Don’t lose that gift. Not a lot of folks discover that gift.”

“Thank you,” Shen said.

“Oa needs to take you back,” Loxy said.

“I want to stay. I want to keep this dialogue going,” Shen said.

“It will continue, just not today,” Loxy said.

“Why now? Why haven’t you contacted me sooner?”

“Oa is only now old enough to communicate with water,” Loxy said. She gave hand gestures that suggest ‘ta-da’ here she is, magically derived.

“Will we meet again?” Jon asked.

“We are never parted,” Loxy said.

“Star Trek,” Shen said.

“Always,” Loxy said.