A New Divide

She took my hand and we began running through the field. I still shaded my eyes due to the brightness and wild color of this world. But through my fingers I saw it. A small mountain to the west, sculpted into an even pyramid.

“So what’s at this temple?”

“You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?” She asked this jokingly but I felt so lost, I knew of nothing. I hated that, hated it. I had never felt like I was uninformed, until the day the purge began. After that everything I knew was gone. I began to pity myself for this lack of knowledge concerning everything that surrounded me.

“Sorry.”

“Oh don’t be. I know this place is . . . hard to grasp, the whole concept of it.”

“Just give me a little more time here. So this Father Cyrus? He’s meeting us there?”

“He is expecting us at any time. He will answer all of the questions you may have, as long as you ask the right questions. He takes the form of a man with a white robe and a golden mask.”

“He’s not human?”

“No, he is, or, he was; a thousand years ago he combined himself with the first computer containing a direct brainwave interface. Think of him as a kind of machine god.”

“He claims to be a god? So is he just extremely arrogant, or he is out of his damned mind?”

“That’s what we call him. Collin, if you become capable of anything conceivable like he is, people would call you a god as well. There is just really no other way to describe him. But don’t call him a god, he dislikes it. Treat him as you would anyone else.”

“You say that like it’s a challenge.”

We ran through the light layer of trees and shortly beyond were the stairs that led to the plateau at the base of the temple. Upon our arrival to the plateau’s cliff side, we were greeted by three bald and heavily tattooed men in white robes.

They wore these smiles. These weren’t the kind of teeth-exposing wideness that made you feel more uncomfortable than their forced grins (like the clerks in a genome clinic). Nor were they the ridiculous, goofy, obtuse smiles that made you laugh. Their smiles made us smile, even though we had never met them. It was so strange but tranquil, I admit. It was welcoming.

“Cal-halte, Miss Roland.”

“Cal-halte, brother. Umm, Father Cyrus? He sent for us.”

I learned this term was part of a language developed by the Remorans. During our ancestors’ pilgrimage to Eden, all of humankind’s many languages had blended together to form a single language that was understood by all. We called it Edenspeak but as the years passed here in Eden, it was rumored that separate societies had wanted to create their own languages in order to diversify themselves.

I was very confused by this at first. It was the first time I had heard a foreign language in my entire life. I stared at the robed man as he passed by Helena and confronted me.

Then something impossible happened; I didn’t know what to think of it at first. The robed man ahead of me nodded, and as I stared into his blank expression I felt something manifest around me. I slowly looked to my right and saw a figure in a white robe and a golden mask. He was merging himself into our dimension from what I understood, a conduit, with no physical capabilities. They were similar to holographic projections, though far superior in terms of clarity. “Collin King, I’m glad you took the time to see me during your visit here,” Father Cyrus said.

“Well, it seemed kind of rude not to, considering it’s your planet.”

“Heh, very well. I will see you on the plateau above, brother. Hand your coat to these men, you will not need it in the temple.”

As quickly as he appeared, he was gone. A man of few words.

“That’s it?”

“He always tries to be as simple as he possibly can. Try not to notice his complexity.” One of the robed men signaled me to follow them up the large stone steps, easily forty flights up the mountain.

I took off my jacket and threw it to the man to my left. I was wearing a tank top and my body markings were now exposed. Remora was comforting, they were indifferent to seeing strange things such as this. I felt less ashamed of my skin deformity, desperate to know just how much it would affect my life.

I quickly walked up the steps to catch up to Helena, who was waiting for me. “Look.” She pointed above us, as we continued to make our climb up the moss-covered stone stairs.

“Wow.”

I was shocked by how large the temple really was. We could see the peak through the clouds. The temple and the steps and the railings that followed were all made of the same material it seemed. It was a brown and red stone that was lightly engraved with strange markings. I looked closer and I noticed that they had matched the imprints on my skin, but their movements were much more subtle—they were slower, and their color was less radiant.

The further we walked up the solid steps the brighter the light in the engravings became. I thought that they must have led to some kind of sanctuary within the temple itself, maybe a cathedral, or something of that caliber.

We came across that last step and entered the plateau before the temple. This world was hard to fathom—I had been so far removed from the life I once knew. I turned to Helena and said the only thought that kept revolving in my mind: “I’ve never felt so ignorant in my entire life.”

The flat was swarming with hundreds of robed men and women who were all engaging in different practices. There were different collectives—living beside the temple—and they were quite possibly the most content gathering of people I have ever come across.

I turned to Helena, who expected my question with anticipation.

“These people are the pioneers.”

“Pioneers?”

“Yes. All of them. They all stay here for one reason. To gain the level of enlightenment deemed necessary to enter the temple.”

“Why isn’t everyone else bald, and covered with tattoos like the freaks at the front?”

Helena looked over to me and slightly frowned at my rude comment.

“First of all those men are not called freaks, Collin. They are the followers of Father Cyrus and they are like his disciples, they carry the words of Cyrus and their words have changed them forever. Enough so that they have devoted their entire lives to protecting this holy ground, and the secrets that lie beyond the doors of the temple.”

I finally aimed my eyes at the ground and noticed the engravings that had lined the stone railings along the steps indeed led to the entrance of the temple. The engravings shot up along the sides of the giant stone double-doors, and were etched into the surfaces of the temple. The surface, with its constantly moving glyphs, was exploding with color and radiant light. The rocks along the temple constantly moved and complied with the never-ending morphing of the glyphs. I thought, “My god, why in hell would a temple need to be this big? It seems a little ridiculous.”

I was so compelled by the magnificence of the temple that I had failed to notice Father Cyrus was attempting to grab my attention. Helena punched my shoulder and I quickly turned towards her.

“Collin!”

“Ow! Oh! My apologies, bro, I mean dude, I mean Father.”

Helena could see that I had never really met somebody that had attained such a level of spirituality. Cyrus certainly had attained a status that I had never heard of. This was, probably, the first time in my life that I deliberately tried not to offend someone. I guess now that I look at it, maybe I’m just kind of an asshole.

“It’s quite all right, my brother. Now, if you and the lady would be so kind as to follow me.”

As we walked across the plateau, the pioneers began to take notice of us. The further we got to the temple doors, the more they understood. They ran up to me, and began studying my tattoos, fascinated by them.

“What are they doing?”

Cyrus looked over his shoulder and responded.

“They know of what you are—that glow you have to your skin—the same as the temple.”

“What are these? Could someone please tell me what the hell is going on with my body! The runaround, every time! It’s getting to be pretty damned annoying!”

Father Cyrus then stopped. I could feel his presence behind me as we stared directly at the red stone doors that rose easily one hundred feet over our heads.

“Your tattoos—as you call them. They are keys, I know them—it is a very unstable but constant form of immortality. It will take a lot of time to learn how to unlock the rest of it.”

“So I’m immortal then? What, because of a freak accident with a damned injection? That is impossible, everyone knows—”

“They know nothing of what they refuse to understand—they fail to see the simplicity of this universe, how anything can happen at any given moment. I cannot tell you of your origins because that would rob you of purpose in your life. You will never speak the word ‘impossible’ again once we walk through those doors. Now. Are you ready?”

I continued to look ahead at the temple. He had already answered a question nobody seemed to know, and he carried an energy that was far beyond anything anyone has ever made me feel. I knew I had to. I didn’t have to vocalize my thoughts to him, but Helena did. I think she began to feel nervous and out of place.

“Father? Are you sure you have need of me?”

“He will need a companion to accompany him through this journey.”

“Journey? I didn’t agree to this.”

“My brother, you are about to enter a world that no human has ever laid eyes upon. I will not force you, but I want you to ask yourself: Would you be willing to walk away from the physical truth when it presents itself so willingly?”

This man, this being—whatever he was—could not have been more right. I felt nervous and afraid, but at the same time I was starting to believe that all of this, in such a short amount of time, could not be a coincidence. I somehow knew that I belonged here and I turned to Helena.

“Will you follow?”

“Anywhere you go. I haven’t forgotten our promise.”

She grabbed my hand as Cyrus turned back around and opened the doors to the temple. The doors slowly began to swing inward just slightly. The doors created tremors as they moved apart just enough to allow us passage into the inner chamber. Just as we passed through the small gap, I heard a very loud noise. I jolted up, and looked behind me. The doors had shut, just as quickly as they were opened. The light of Remora had faded. We were completely surrounded in the darkness.

“Hey, what is this!”

“Relax, brother. I will guide your way.”

I saw Father Cyrus kneel upon the ground faintly in the dark, and far away. Small traces of light began to emanate from where he crouched. They stretched, and spiderwebbed, spreading like wildfire all across the unbelievably massive chamber.

Helena and I looked all around us, as the multicolored light spread to edges of the colossal room up into the domed ceiling.

As the light began to cease along the ceiling, I saw that it was a star map of the universe, an enormous planetarium.

“Over here.”

We walked for what seemed like almost twenty minutes. It felt like the walk was never going to end, until we reached the very center of the giant room. There was an altar by Cyrus and they were being showered by the light of the stars that were overhead.

Father Cyrus stood at the center of the room, where a small pedestal had been erected from the altar, and rose up to his waist.

“Unlike the cathedrals of our pasts, depicting symbolic figures of worship, this temple is not a place of worship, but a gateway to the Realm. The title, Temple of the Void, refers to the one place of true sanctuary within the chaos of this empty universe.”

We walked up to the pedestal and noticed a circular incision in the center that spiraled out to the lights, sprawling throughout the rest of the room.

“Place your hand in the center, brother, and if the lady would take his hand.”

Helena took my hand. I had never gotten the shakes so much in one day. My body was so anxious I could not control my body movements in this place. I was not alone. Helena had those shakes, same as I. With her safely by my side, I knew I would be okay—it was the strangest thing. After I took a few moments to collect my composure, I slowly extended my hand towards the center of the pedestal.

“Do you know what you are doing, what will happen?” Helena shot a look of concern over to me as I wore this grand smile upon my face, in my greatest moment of anticipation of arriving on this world.

“Not at all. But we cannot fear the fall when it is the leap that will set us free.”

I pressed my hand in the center of the pedestal. For a moment nothing happened, but when I tried to remove my hand I was unable to free myself. My body began glowing extremely brightly and the room started to vibrate violently. Greater than the force of an earthquake, or the moments I spent in Rayden One before it fell to the earth.

“WHAT IS THIS! I can’t move!”

“Collin! I’m scared!”

I then heard Father Cyrus’s voice. It remained very clear in the madness that was surrounding us. Telepathy it was, a direct link to our minds.

“I will see you on the other side, my friends.”

Helena wrapped her arms around me. The sound was deafening, like the turbine engines of a half-light reactor. I had never been more frightened in my life. What an awful mistake I had made, or at least that’s what I thought, until I looked up to the ceiling. That light soothed my soul.

A bright blue light was emanating from the center of the dome. It was glowing brighter, and brighter, the sound boomed, louder, and louder. Then the dome began to shatter like glass. I covered Helena with my body, as the glass began to fall.

However, I shouldn’t have been afraid.

This glass-like substance fell upon us, and it felt like soft leaves when they ever so slightly touched our skin. The shimmering crystals fell around us, and we were lifted up very slowly towards the light. Helena grabbed both of my hands; we were holding on for dear life. I saw her say, “Don’t let go!” when the light had completely covered the room and the sound had made our world inaudible.

Then, suddenly, it stopped.

I opened my eyes and the light and sound quickly faded away. Helena continued to grasp my hands very tightly but she stopped as we stood up. Our jaws dropped to the floor when we saw the world that was before us.

“It’s . . .”

“A different dimension.”

Helena pressed her hands against her face and almost began to cry. We were completely at the whims of a world whose beauty was almost too much to fathom.

We stood atop a mountain looking out at a vast world completely filled with abundant life. Kilometers of fields full of vibrant-colored flowers stretched to a golden horizon where three suns rose in the distance. Rivers intervened between the fields as gorgeous creatures galloped across its plains. Then it struck me, like the soft wind brushing against my face. This was Remora.

“Men have dreamed of this place, and they have caused insurmountable counts of suffering in the attempt to reach it. I think they fail to realize that it is not a world you can find, for it is everywhere. It is a door that one must open.” I knew that to be the voice of Cyrus. And just as quickly as we had arrived, we were brought somewhere else.

We then awoke on the cold marble floor of a kitchen; it all looked so familiar to me. That familiar feeling again, the one where I blacked out on Rayden. That was exactly how I felt, except I was able to stand. I was not in pain either. Neither was Helena, but her focus was attracted to a man sitting across from us, cross-legged in a chair, sipping on a cup of tea.

“Good day, chaps. Cup of tea for the lady and the gent?”

“I . . . uh . . . I don’t get it. Why are you talking like that?”

“Yeah, what is that? It sounds atrocious.”

The man laughed and he modified his voice, is was that of Cyrus. It was strange seeing him without his mask, and in the form of a true man.

“So you are human?”

“Of course I am, Collin. I was born in Great Britain in the year 2025, and that was our accent, and our mannerisms.”

“Cyrus? Is that you?”

“Yes, Helena, it is me. I took a form of an inviting, and nonthreatening individual—like I was before I left Mother Earth.”

I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that I had been in this place before. So I rudely interrupted the conversation between Helena and the scrawny Cyrus in the chair.

“Cyrus?”

“What is it, my brother?”

“What is this place?”

“Ha, you tell me you don’t recognize your own home?”

Just then a four-year-old version of myself ran in front of me followed by my father. We were just being ridiculous, having fun as father and son. He snatched me up and fought playfully back. I wanted to say that they looked like ghosts, but it was us.

We were the ghosts, peering into a past memory I had, my earliest memory. A tear rolled down my face. It was so beautiful, and it angered me that Cyrus was showing me this. So I clutched my fist during the conversation where I would learn of my true nature, what my mutation meant.

“Why have you done this, Cyrus? How are you doing this?”

“You should be asking what and when.”

“We are looking into the past?”

“Exactly.”

“I will ask you again, where are we, Cyrus?”

“Your house, but not really, just a window into it—our memories. We can never see our future if we are blind to our past, we can never forget where we came from. Like that item hanging around your neck. It reminds you of a time that you never wanted to let go of. Maybe that little notion will give you the courage to do what is necessary in the trails that lie ahead.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I replied as I clutched my pendant.

“This place is, well I wouldn’t exactly call it a place. I found it when I transcended my human body and entered the digital world. It was like we were just scratching the surface, surfing the web, long ago. Once I transferred my consciousness onto a digital imprint and inserted myself into a different world, all of the questions I sought answers for were found.

“When I found myself in cyberspace I was able to traverse that channel and at the end of it I found a sort of door. It took hundreds of years, but I figured out a way to open it, and this place was on the other side. The definition of place is: a particular position or point in space. Whereas here, there is no point, there is no position, there are no limits. This plain of existence exists as a gateway to infinity, everything is accessible. It’s the space in between all of the spaces. The higher dimension. I call it the Realm.”

There was a pause. I think he knew we needed to let that information soak in before we could continue onward with the next question.

“It’s like a wormhole?”

“Very good, Helena, but like an infinite amount of wormholes, looking through everything that ever has existed, and that exists this day.”

“Bullshit, man, there’s no way. This is a trick, no way this is possible. ”

“You want proof?”

“Yes.”

“Fair enough, Collin. Let me show you.”

Cyrus pressed his hand against my forehead. It wasn’t until then that I realized Helena and I were out of our own bodies. Our consciousness had transferred projections of ourselves onto this infinite plain of existence. Cyrus showed me that in less than a second.

A world, a plain and eternal realm. And when I opened my eyes it was full of light and love. Light was constructed in geometric patterns and they were rotating within themselves. I can’t give a physical description to what he showed me, because there is simply no reference that could be made to anything in our relative existence.

It is such a strange way to describe entering a space and feeling nothing but love. This “place” I entered was impossible to describe with our limited vocabulary. I wasn’t even watching this, I was experiencing it. It was beyond all comprehension.

One thing I learned though: the patterns of light and color showed a connection to everything. I could see it all, everything at once—everything happening right now before me; Arcoh’s vicious intentions preparing for the next strike, The Raydenites still fighting to put out the flames on Minerva, the current ramblings of the Remoran fleet, and billions of others whose lives were about to be in grave peril.

“Collin? Can you see?”

“Yes.”

“That is all the proof you need. My people think of me as a god, but they are wrong. We are not gods, Collin, we are evolved. Technology is the light that illuminates our path to evolution. I jumpstarted my evolution long ago; it meant my survival. But you, you were the inevitable collision between technology and human genetics. You were born with this form you hold, you merged with technology at your conception. That is the only reason how you can see, and how you can be here with me, Helena is not with us. You wanted proof? Here it is, my brother.”

My past and present started to make a lot more sense to me at that moment. “How do you know all this?”

“I see everything.”

“What if the people in Eden knew—what you knew—about me?”

“Your life would be in great danger. Or I should say, your freedom.”

“I thought you said I was immortal.”

“It is unstable at the moment, but you will learn how to use it. With the discipline of time it shall come to you. So, now that you can see what your friends and enemies are up to, what do you think?”

Sensory overload, overwhelming amounts of information, and constant emotional triggers. I should have freaked out, I should have wept, I should have felt something, but I was not afraid at any point, I was inspired.“Yeah, I don’t know how to interpret my emotions right now. I have one focus. So what should I do?”

The entire time I spent in the Realm I couldn’t see Cyrus. But I heard his voice, he was all around me. I knew I was out of my body, because I could only see the perpetual light, the encompassing love, and the passage of time. The Triangle concept in which all things apply.

“Arcoh is going to cause an event that will be forever remembered as one of the darkest chapters in human history. He plans to divide free will from humanity. He has accomplished this in his own nation, and now he will try and spread his influence to all of Eden.”

“Just like Mark, and his great expedition.”

“Now you see how ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are just words. Mark is a good man, with a great heart, and because of this, he will lose to Arcoh. Mark doesn’t know it yet, but he has so much more to lose. Arcoh is smarter than our Good Commander, so I will offer you a choice.”

“I want to do whatever I can to save him. And to kill the man who murdered my people.”

“Do not let your hatred dictate who you are, Collin. No matter what you choose, there will be devastating consequences. You will have to make sacrifices you’d never imagine.”

“It’s better than living my life half fulfilled, Cyrus.”

“Should you choose to seek this path, I truly believe that you will learn what it will mean to become a man with purpose. Here in the Realm, I can teleport you anywhere in Eden you would like to go, should you choose to live a nice quiet life—though it may not bring you solace—you may end up living a life carried along with nothing but regret. That being said, Helena is to be teleported to the Alexandria, where Mark wants you to meet him, to join him on his great expedition”

“Why is Mark so interested in me?”

“Because he believes in you, more than he believes in himself. You were brought here so I could help you understand, so I could show you this place. But what we discussed does not leave here. Now what do you choose?”

After the purge I want to seek vengeance for my people. I quickly came to that—the idea of facing Arcoh by myself was a death wish. That’s what kept me begging for a quiet life away from all of this. I now knew what was to unfold. We were about to witness an unprecedented event that would be felt by the entire human race, and I was given an opportunity to change the fate of that. It was obvious what my decision was.

“Bring me to Mark.”

“Are you sure?”

“More than I have ever been in my life.”

Instantly we were back peering through that window of time. I now knew what my mission was: I had to see how this act of retribution would play out. There was no stopping it. Mark’s and Arcoh’s vehicles of ambition were already too far gone to catch.

I held Helena’s hand and she clutched mine tightly. I felt her stare up at me in my moment of enlightenment. Oh enlightenment, a moment of epiphany where the way you think or perceive any certain aspect of reality is changed forever.

“Collin. Good luck, my brother.”

“Thank you, Cyrus.”

“Should you ever need a favor in your quest, I shall do all I can to offer assistance. Never forget who you are and what you came from, because that will give you what you need to change the fate of that madman’s desire.”

I felt that whirring in my head again, but I was not afraid, because I knew where we were going to end up. We were out of the temple and aboard the Alexandria. We were teleported to a stray hallway, and Helena and I collapsed as we tried to catch our breath.

“Whew!”

“Wow, so . . . are you still thinking about running, feeling a little better about . . . ,” she grazed her fingers across my imprinted skin, showing through my tank top, “all of this?”

“Sweetheart. You have no idea. Let’s go.”

We stood up and walked through the clean and shining halls of the Alexandria and we eventually made our way to the bridge where we met the others.

We entered the bridge and looked out towards the bow, where a sky full of stars was before us. The giant spherical projector still resided about five meters below, in front of a command center deck where Mark and Silas anxiously awaited our arrival.

Mark saw us enter the bridge, and walked away from the spherical holoscreen projection of the ship’s new computer in the center of the room. Victoria entered from behind us and bumped into my shoulder, as she made her way to her chair.

“Well look who decided to show. Behave yourself on my bridge, punk, or I’ll shoot you out of the airlock.”

We then looked at Silas, dressed in uniform, who nodded to me and waved his hands in joy. “What about your dork of a brother? Can I harass him?”

She nodded as I made my way over to Mark. I felt guilty after the way I had been avoiding him, but he did not seem upset. In fact he seemed overjoyed at my presence.

“Mark, I want to apologize.”

“No need, Collin, I understand. I am glad you decided to join us on our quest.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Commander.”

Mark looked down at his wristwatch, and started again towards the bridge. “Now for the moment of truth. Everybody in their places!”

All of the soldiers confirmed, and Mark smiled as he turned towards the windshield of the ship and looked out towards the shining planet of Gannon.

“ALI?”

“Yes, Commander?”

“Make the light jump to Arcadia, our great expedition has begun.”

The Alexandria shot through the stars and a strange sense of peace washed over me. I was happy for the first time in almost a year; I was finally beginning my journey. What it meant for me I still did not know. The outcome of this expedition would completely change me. I would see things I wish I could unsee, and I would obtain knowledge that I would, at first, want to forget. However, in time I embraced it, and maybe I even began to believe in Mark’s resolve, and the good I could bring to humanity, if any.

I had to remember what I had told myself, what I had learned inside the Temple of the Void, and I repeated it to myself as Helena grasped my hand. I couldn’t afford to forget it. Then we felt the ship jump to light speed.

“To be great all you have to do, is do something different.”