Under a Starless Sky

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.”

“In real life?” Shen said.

“Consciousness is real life,” Loxy said.

“But this world is physical,” Shen said, making sure they were in agreement.

“Yes. If you die here, you will most likely go to a space for rest, then incarnate again. Shen, or more

precisely, you Jon-Shen, will likely be lost to us. You are not a Master who will penetrate the veil with all

your memories intact, but there is always a core you that contains it all. That core being can bring it up

in when in need. Incarnations through you carry more essence, as exemplified in the incarnation of

Loxy. She is you, but not you, derived from you, a carrier of you. She is a manifestation of love, the

very reason we are here. The loss of Jon-Shen ends this direct outward weave; those who you have

touched, inspired will carry you a moment, but the ripples fade with time. No one returns from that side

of the veil with full memory without consensus. You will not have consensus for re-emergence with

access to all your past books in this space.”

“Books?”

“Lives,” Loxy said.

“How does this world exist?”

“How do any world exists?” Loxy asked.

“I mean, this space. This soul trap,” Jon said.

Oa flash and sparked.

Loxy seemed amused. She shared that Oa was laughing. “Not a trap. A bridge. Your Universe and her

Universe are linked. One worm hole in your universe, one in hers. All active. Reasonably stable. There

is a black hole on either side, and two black holes orbiting this space, the inner singularities are small,

approximately 1.5 kilometers in lengths. Their orbits define and maintain this space-time structure in

the void between space-time structures. The star here orbits both singularities in a figure eight. The

planet always follows the host star. Communication opportunities increase with increased proximity to

singularities. No one comes to this space without agreeing to the terms of the consensus here. No one

passes to either universe without having achieved identified goals.”

“This space, it’s indefinite?” Shen asked.

“No,” Loxy said. “A trial period was agreed upon.”

“What happens when your little experiment is over?”

“Our experiment,” Loxy said.

“Our experiment,” Shen agreed.

“Dissolution of this space,” Loxy said. “Communication conduit will be minimalized.”

“And my purpose here?”

“We’ve shared more than we intended with you,” Loxy said.

“I need this. I want to understand. Also, I am lonely,” Shen said.

Loxy looked to the pool. Oa drew closer. “She doesn’t understand. How can you be lonely? There are

so many connections in your head, in your heart, and there are surface dwellers you share the world

with.”

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. NôvelDrama.Org exclusive content.

“Will we meet again?” Jon asked.

“We are never parted,” Loxy said.

“Star Trek,” Shen said.

“Always,” Loxy said.