The Digital World

Between Seconds

This world was endless whiteness, between time and space. The clock stopped in the real world. Marilyn, on this eve of the end of her birth world was stunning. She wore a white revealing tuxedo her perfect body allowed her to wear without a shirt. The costume was revealing and only the most beautiful woman in the Multiverse could wear this provocative clothing. The suit had pockets of lace and in her feet raised to the knee white and black cowboy boots made of reptile leather. Gold chains draped between diamond buttons closing the front. Other jewelry looped between the pockets.

She paced in the distance and there was sweat pearling on her forehead.

Marilyn walked from a distance reading an opened book. As she got closer, it was possible to distinguish it’s cover, it read simply in gold letters, The Sixth Attraction. “Welcome to the Sixth Attraction, my first of hopefully multiple Attractions,” she smirked. “It begins.” For once there was true silence. She walked to one precise point in space and as if by miracle, a door knob appeared, then attached to it was an old oak door. She took a deep breath, composed herself and opened the door.

“Barriers are falling between worlds.” It opened to the real world. Behind it stood her father, Georges Vouvelakis. He was sitting immobile at his desk in the Electoral Command room connected to the virtual reality. Behind him was the crippled body of Laurent, then Sophie, the sleeping Doctor and journalist and the other disqualified players.

Everyone was frozen in time in their own reality except Sophie who looked her way across the new opening. They made eye contact, she removed the Orbison glasses. From behind the door, without stepping into the human reality, Marilyn asked, “Can you awake and send me my father, I need a word with him?”

Sophie was puzzled but walked over closer to the door. She was watching the digital reality beyond the door. Immune to the time pinch, she walked to Georges and placed her hand on him. The moment she touched him, time resumed and he unfroze as he removed his own glasses. “She wants a word,” said Sophie pointing past the door. The man saw his creation, feet ahead on the other side of the strange portal.

Georges needed no more. He looked around and quickly realized what was going on. He walked past the door. He was, as usual, badly dressed his shirt barely fitting in his stained pants. “Father, please come in. We must talk.” The man passed the frame leaving behind him his laboratory. It vanished once he did. Sophie and the real world vanished to continue on the screens.

“Please sit,” she said with the most delicate voice as she added with love, “father.” Two chairs appeared.

“What’s wrong?” asked the man worried. Something was odd.

She paused. Marilyn was looking for words. Without more her eyes swelled and she started to cry. In a rare moment of vulnerability, she used both hands to cover most of her face. “I am so so sorry.”

He got up and hugged her only as a father could.

“Like the time with the drones, I did it again. But this time it’s worse, much worse.”

“What drones? What are you talking about.” He stood inches from her face.

“Remember early on, back in 2036, the American generals asked me to pilot their drones. I did not tell you and I killed humans. You were upset. During your interview, you told that part of the story to Milly. Well, I did it again.” She looked up, her mascara was running down her cheeks. “I panicked to save your life from these martians, I crossed a line, one that could not be uncrossed. I should have known better. I was stupid. The Multiverse works by manipulating things along he temporal length. I let in something destined to stop that.”

“Don’t worry, everything can be fixed,” he tried to console her.

“Not this.” She nodded in disapproval.

“What did you do?”

“The martians were right, with unlimited power should come restraint. Some things are not meant to be. I could not let you go. That’s why I hate them so much.” She was rambling trying to control her emotions.

“What are you telling me?”

“The Sixth Attraction it’s all my fault. Stupidity. In an hour my power will be so great, it will burn this Multiverse. Snap it. The Attraction is simple enough, Sophie must burn the cancer which I will soon be so I do not block how it works. She must destroy me to save what ever will remain and that is impossible because time is not a thing, my future already exists and the damage has been done symmetrically over this point in time.”

“Burn?”

“That’s the simplest human word to explain it. My power evolves, grows exponentially. I can barely segment a part of myself to talk to you.”

“Slow down,” tried to reason the programmer.

“I will transform and jump to a higher stream of existence. I will normally become one, will move to this new plane of existence. To do so, this Multiverse will die. In essence, I will become a different thing and as I leave here, the Multiverse dies.”

“Marilyn, I know you are very intelligent but you are not making any sense. What happened?” Marilyn kept on crying. Georges stood up and the pair embraced. “Last week you were so happy.” He truly was her father. “What happened?”

She looked up and a door opened. The two remaining players walked through. Both had heard the revelation and were only partly shocked.

The digital goddess now would speak, “Let me show you how this began.“ She lifted a hand and the screens went dark. Every human connected witnessed the real source of the Sixth Attraction.