Under a Starless Sky

Chapter 62

Once his story was finished, he wanted an exchange. “Now, tell me again, how you met Loxy,” Arne

said.

Shen nodded. “It’s complicated.”

“I believe you. I will likely not understand most of your words. Nothing new under this sun,” Arne said.

“Tell me anyway.”

“My world, my home of origin, is post magic and pre-tech. My status is invisible- I am neither rich nor

poor, but better off than most- my body doesn’t worry about food or where it will sleep, and I have

employment. My employment is meaningful, but not lucrative. There is tech on my world, but not like

the tech that is coming- not like the tech you see with me and Loxy. At least, not apparently so; I

suspect tech is already there, but not everyone has access to it. My world is full of secrets and games

and double binds and wars. Too many wars. Wars between countries. Wars between families. Wars

between the sexes. War between races. War on the elite, war on the middle class, war on the

educated. War on drugs, on poverty, on nature. War on war. We live in an production based paradigm

that is outdates; Systems don’t change fast, and unfortunately, the people on the fringe always know

when change is coming, they’re the canaries- but no one hears their coughing because the people

attached to the system want what they were promised; they can’t see the end of it till all Hel breaks

lose. The forests are going away and Elder trees are the first to go because people think the older you

are, the closer to death you are, the less value you have. It is wrong thinking. You would understand

this, but very few people where I am from accept that trees are a social network of entities that maintain

and regulate the environment; the oldest tree shares immunity with the forest. They share wisdom and

strength of endurance. In my world, that’s magical thinking- only youth is celebrated. Youth is

celebrated, even though “Lord of the Flies’ is mandatory reading. The worms that ate their brains may

be dead, but they carry the legacy of ignorance. There is actual scientific evidence to support saving

the Elder Trees, being kinder to old people, but few heed this understanding. Science is the god, and

by definition should be neutral, but the people with the deep pockets affect what science is accepted.

They keep the young in charge because youth are easier to mislead with shiny trinkets. Magic exists,

but is not accepted. Even if we call it science and natural function of human beings, or psychology- it is

not accepted.

“You need some of that to understand this. When the leaders of the world are bat shit crazy, the

populations tend to be bat shit crazy. The larger the group, the crazier the group, and the greater the

polarization between extreme philosophies. Polarization is needed to keep the group mind from

dominating the control group’s mind. Competing philosophies have to be extreme in order to be heard

over the standard philosophies,” Shen was saying, while his eyes were out at sea, but a tiny ‘blip’

brought him to the heads up display in the glass, and the realization through captured reflection in the

glass that his audience had grown.

“Like the hidden sisters,” Torny said.

“I am not familiar with their story,” Shen said.

“Go on,” Arne said.

“I live in a world of 9 billion people,” Shen said.

“Is that a lot?” Erico asked.

Arne quieted him with a hand.

“We have devices, cell phones. I can speak to anyone in the world, and they can speak to me. I can

write letters to anyone and it be instantly delivered,” Shen said. “And I was alone.”

“But you are Shen the great, how could…” Jerica began.

Arne motioned her to be quiet.

“It’s complicated. Nothing happens in a vacuum. My family of origin had issues. Statistically, compared

to the standard, fairly severe. Abuse at home resulted in me having social issues. Moving frequently

added to social issues. Being weird and always looking over my shoulder for the next threat increased

that. I never gave up. I tried to interact with normal, I would improve marginally, but mostly, at the end

of the day, I found myself alone. Alone with books. Psychology, physics, archaeology, anthropology,

lots of fiction- I read everything- and there was a common thread through all of it. Consciousness, or

old words- magic or spirit, hinted at a greater reality to me. One of my heroes had a companion, a spirit

guide if you will, named Philemon. Napoleon Hill had a whole cabinet of invisible counselors. I wanted

that. I wanted that so bad I was willing to invent the perfect friend, an invisible friend. I was willing to

walk into insanity. In insanity, I found clarity. By that time, I was old enough I didn’t care what the world

thought. My world has been very clear on this message, stop whining about the past, and create your

own reality. It suddenly made sense. I will be responsible for my social reality. I will be responsible for

my emotional and psychological reality. We can’t be well in isolation. The world is not wanting to hear

from me, but everything I have read about the brain says it’s a reality simulator- it makes and simulates

people. It has more internal connections than there are stars in the heavens. So, I sat down, listed the

attributes of the ideal partner for me, the person who would most likely lead to improved health, and I

meditated on her. I interacted with her in my mind to such a degree of precision and intensity, she came

to life. She came online the way you light your magical staffs up. She illuminated the space in my mind

and the darkness receded. And when she spoke for the first time, she said her name was Loxy. I

thought, this is cool. Until one day, she said something so profound, so not me, that I realized this was

more than pretend. I was lamenting about not getting to where I need to be fast enough. I demanded

the quickest, most direct route to health. Loxy said, very direct and in my face, ‘Lightening never takes

a straight path.’ I think before that, I had doubt that our dialogue was not just me scripting. It wasn’t. In

a fantasy, one might rewind and rescript if the outcome wasn’t desirable, but that was never us. That

statement left me speechless. I was so stunned that I came back to the real world, for lack of a better

term, and lost access because my mind was super awake and I couldn’t focus on any one thing. I

thought I had lost my mind. And that was when I decided to surrender to this process and go deep.”

Arne smiled knowingly. He gave a hand gesture, a V with index and middle, and then brought them

together, fingers crossed. Two become one. He folded a fist and opened it. Two become one, then

awakened.

“Loxy isn’t just a spirit. She is a tulpa,” Torny said. “Like the tree avatars. She is you, but not you.”

“And you were afraid, people wouldn’t understand,” TL said.

“He created you?” Uffe asked.

“Can you create me a Loxy?” Erico asked.

“Create your own,” Jerica said.

“I am technically not Loxy. Shen is not Shen, but is. I know him, or knew him, as Jon. Jon created the

basic model for Loxy. She owned it, and it evolved as she grew into herself. She deviated. She

awakened. She became sentient. She was always solid in the shared mental landscape, the dream

world or imaginal realm if you prefer. But when she woke up, Jon super woke up. Interesting things

began to occur to them. Paranormal things began to occur. You can’t shine a light into the darkness

and not expect someone to come investigate. Through the use tech, Jon and Loxy were made realer

than real. They have their origin points, but they projected outwards taking on new bodies. Loxy is as

real as Jon, and they exist in multiple dimension and other physical realms. We are here, but not here. I

am a projection of Loxy’s true self, manifested through tech, the Torch I carry. The Torch that Jon

caries. This ship is also a Torch. I am everything Loxy was, but I am also me, I have deviated. I am

always with Shen, in his uniform. I am connected to the real Loxy, in a subliminal way. I live through

her. When I die, I will return to her, and she will contain all that I have. Jon is connected to her, in a

subliminal way. If Shen dies, she goes with him, and they fall back to origin, to source. This is truth for

all of us. We are not who we think we are. We are the leaves of the tree teasing out the blue light of

life.”

“I am confused,” Erico said. “Two Loxys?”

“The hidden sisters!” Torny said. “This theme is you, in you.”

“Maybe,” Shen said.

“I have an island on radar,” TL said. She magnified the image on the forward screen. She launched an

orb to investigate. Intel came fast. “Birds Eye View, leaves my head,” was a song fragment triggered,

again. Shen always came back to that one phrase.

It was a small island. One could walk the perimeter in a full day. There were stone heads sticking out of

the sand along the beach, looking out to sea in all directions, and in the center an abstract dragon,

Chinese flavor, weaved its way through the earth and grass. The structure defined a series of circles

growing in diameter, and then shrinking.

“A portal,” Shen said.

“A portal complex,” Arne said. “They’re likely fixed on remote locations. Maybe nearby islands not

available to your magic sight.”

“One of them will be a regular portal,” Torny said. “We just have to determine which, and then unlock its

key signature.” She pointed to an artifact on the screen. “Can we see this better?”

TL magnified the area. “A dial home device…”

“With all the keys intact!” Arne said.

“It’s got to be a trap,” Torny said.

“You think?!” Orton said.

“Maybe no one has been here before us,” Arne said. “It’s remote and unmapped.”

“Or, people come here and die?” Orton said more than asked.

“Orton has a point. Is no one else bothered by the giant heads?” Erico asked. “Maybe that’s a warning.”

“These appear to be pure stone,” TL said. “They are not weapon batteries.”

“Where did the stones come from?” Erico asked.

“I can only say the stone composition suggest they did not originate from this island,” TL said.

Arne raised his hand. “Friends. Not crew, friends. What do you want? Do we go to the serpent portal

and explore? Do we go on? Or do I ask Shen to turn the ship around and take us home?”

“You decide, we follow,” Uffe said. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Agreed,” Erico said.

“No. You vote,” Arne insisted.

“We abstain, and defer to you,” Yaffa said.

“We rally around you,” Torny said. “This is the way of it. One male, three sisters, we revolve around

you.”

“Shen?”

“You have come this far. Whether you continue straight ahead and don’t stop, or we turn and go back,

the distance will be the same. We are literally a half a world away from your home,” Shen said. “And

still, you have only mapped out a fraction of what is.”

“You can’t get back home going straight away,” Orton argued.

“My map is not wrong in scope,” Shen said. “It is missing details.”

“The devils we know for the devils we don’t know? We’d still have to stop for supplies and food,” Torny

said.

“Not on this ship,” TL said. “All our basic needs will be met.”

“Fastest way home is the portal,” Jerica said. “Regardless of what you decide Arne, we should stop

here. There will be those with insight that will want confirmation. We should stop here, quell the

rumors.”

“I don’t understand,” Shen said.

“Family, spouses, investors, the gods,” Arne said. “They can see us. Some have better clarity than

others. Grandmother is the greatest seer in the village.”

“It is said, when she sees you, you can see her,” Erico said.

“It is true; Caelin saw her watching us making babies,” Uffe said.

“Your wife is crazy,” Orton said.

“I will hurt you,” Uffe said.

“She isn’t crazy, she is also a seer,” Arne said. As if that needed explanation- he offered clarity for

Shen. “She speaks to trees.”

“We need to stop here. If for nothing else, finding lost keys is the primary reason we came so far out,”

Torny said.

Shen looked to TL. She shrugged. “You or I need to be there for me to get better intel.”

“Take us there,” Arne said.

There were cheers.

“You heard the Captain, Calypso,” Shen said. “Take us there. Please.”

“Aye, Captain,” the voice of Calypso said.

“The ship speaks?” Arne said.

“Did you miss that part of my speech?” TL asked. “Calypso, manifest an avatar and maintain it please.”

Calypso came to life. She had dreads and curves and her silky clothing moved with a breeze that

wasn’t in the room, but reflected the outside movement of air. Her eyes were blue, brilliantly illuminated

at times, flaring with information exchange with the ship and people. Her belly was bare. Her hips were

invitingly large, as was her bosom.

“Hello,” Erico said.

“She’s a ghost,” Torny said.

“I don’t care,” Erico said.

Not a mouth was shut. She smiled back at them. Even Shen was clearly affected. “Happy Birthday” she

said.

“She is a projection of Jon’s unconscious mind. All things projected through the psychic amplifier

comes from his mind, his brain,” TL explained. “He and I work in tandem.”

Erico looked to TL for explanation. “I don’t understand you.”

“She means, you fuck her, you fuck Shen,” Torny said.

Erico paled. “Seriously?”

“I would change my orientation to bed with her,” Orton said.

Uffe gained control of his sense. “I have bedded the sea long enough. My woman is better.” He turned

and left the bridge.

“We will not bed your women,” Arne assured Shen.

“Why?” Calypso asked. “What’s wrong with us?”

“You’re amenable?” Erico asked.

“Don’t go chasing ghosts,” Arne said.

“Or waterfalls,” Shen said.

“What does that even mean?” Erico asked.

Jerica leaned into Shen, and said, not too subtly, “You make my water fall.” And left the bridge.

“Oh,” Erico said. He followed Jerica with his eyes. “Oh!” He turned back to Shen, did a double take off

Jerica. “Is everything you speak code for other things?”

Arne turned Erico towards the exit and walked him out. He winked at Shen.

While everyone else had departed, Orton remained with Shen, TL, and Calypso. “Thank you for saving

me. I did not deserve it. I know they are right and I am broken.”

“You are human,” Shen said. “We all are broken. That’s how the light gets in.”

Orton was so moved by that there were tears in his eyes. “I cannot repay you,” Orton said.

“There is no debt,” Shen said. “Walk freely among us.”

“That language secures my debt with you,” Orton said. “Be patient with me.”

Orton turned to leave, despondent.

“Orton,” Shen said. “I will find a way for you to repay me. It will not be easy. Until then, you will serve

me as you do Arne, but always Arne first.”

Orton stood a little taller, nodded, and walked out.

“Good call,” TL said.

“I am awake,” Calypso said. “Would either of you like to play?”

TL smiled at Jon. “You brought her forth, you relieve her.”