Interlude XII

Dr. Thurston Charleston sat in his office, listening to yet another patient talk to him about their problems. All the problems being spoken about seemed so small, so minor. Yet, to the individual suffering from them in that moment, they were everything. It was an odd way to experience life. In a way, this was Dr. Charleston’s only reference to human interactions. For the life of him, he could not recall his own past.

He didn’t remember any parents, or siblings, or even friends growing up. For the life of him, his life logistically only began seven years ago. That was the same year he got his doctorate from a university he didn’t recall ever going to.

There was his name, he had a list of known graduates in the program that year. He ended up graduating in the middle of the pack, and the school’s website had him as an officially recognized Doctoral Candidate for that year. The only problem was, it was all wrong.

Well not the degree, nor program. Dr. Charleston clearly had a gift when it came to dealing with people and seeing to the very issue that was at the core of any problem. Despite not being awoken, he managed to do quite well. His clientele grew by word of mouth alone.

Yet, he still felt empty. Like his greatest accomplishment was behind him.

Worse, somehow, he felt that boy had something to do with his unknown past. Of that he was certain. The boy who sat and waited for hours for a friend to show up, only to find that no one ever came.

Then the boy himself just disappeared. Poof. He vanished into thin air.

After a bit of investigating, Dr. Charleston found the boy’s name, Kyle Goldman.

That wasn’t the only oddity surrounding the boy. Dr. Charleston was close enough to see the boy’s actual reading from the temple.

The message from the temple had been clear:

User has already completed Temple 0589.

What that message meant; Dr. Charleston could only speculate. For all appearances the boy had just turned eighteen, so how could he have completed the temple? Also, he stayed and watched other nulls, they got a different message.

User does not meet requirements to enter Temple 0589.

That was a code that was entirely different from the error given to Kyle Goldman. Still, what could he do? He had no way of looking into the boy. The parents were recent crypto-billionaire winners. The Brother was a Captain for the military but had recently come under investigation for sexual misconduct. Even the girl he was looking for was a bust, this Jessica Childers. As far as records could indicate the two had no way of knowing each other. They grew up on different sides of the planet and would have only met if both went through the temple and fully awakened.

The odd part was, it was clear from records that the female, this Jessica Childers, did just that. She had entered the temple. Also, it was clear from the message that Kyle had at one time not only gone through the temple but completed it as well.

Then there was the music concert. The one where a Kyle Goldman with an electric silver wig played Endar Rising.

At first everyone had been enraged that a human would dare mock their forgotten song. But then once he started playing, it was clear that he knew how to play the song. The song itself was pretty good, far too good for an eighteen-year-old.

Which all left Dr. Charleston with one major question. Who was Kyle Goldman? What are his secrets? And most importantly, why does Dr. Charleston’s first and only memories begin with him?

***

MEANWHILE, in the same universe, in the Endarian sector of space, General Fellina sat, questioning her recent choices. She had been wrong, about that human. She had been made to look like a fool on so many accounts. Yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling of a deep annoyance at the boy.

In a way, General Fellina felt like she had seen and dealt with that boy’s antics many times. She even had the vision to go out and speak to him, something most humans would be pleased by. He even recognized her, that much was for sure. Their banter seemed to denote a semi-professional relationship, at least from his point of view. The only problem was, she had never met him before. Or had she?

When she focused, she could see traces of the past, of monsters of unfathomable power destroying the universe. Then she could see that boy somehow being the key to solving the future. What made matters even worse, that was not the future, but the past. At least if the flows of time she was perceiving were to be believed, meaning what? That this already happened? That the boy somehow saved the universe? Then what brought back a long dead song to what, mock her?

It made no sense.

“General.” An attendant said, trying to grab Fellina’s attention.

Fellina for her part only focused her eyes on the speaker. A gesture that was apparently enough to get the attendant to speak.

“We have found the vehicle that you requested. The Space RV for the human band.”

At this General Fellina perked up. “Where is it?”

“It is at the edge of our space, heading into Beastkin territory.”

“Beastkin territory?” Fellina said, trying to understand what they are doing. “What is their registered purpose for travel.”

“Apparently they are trying to go on a band tour.”

At that, Fellina clenched her fists. The boy was mocking her, of that she was certain. “Seize the ship, and all the occupants.”

“Yes ma’am.” The attendant said.

With that Fellina went back to her own thoughts. There was something here, something that if she just pushed a little harder, she could easily understand. She just needed to focus.

***

MEANWHILE, Dia Monde of the fourteenth universe, had been busy. She found Kyle Goldman, the real Kyle Goldman, only to find that this was in fact not the same person who had rescued her. No, this person was a far slimmer, less muscular, and less capable version of that man.

Also, it was clear that this boy, was not a psychic. That this boy was nothing more than a Wizard, one with a lot of future potential, but a wizard none-the-less.

What did it all mean? Was her encounter just a mere coincidence? The boy had said a week. A week to find all the different women that Chet Goldman had mentally abused and assaulted.

Surprisingly there were a lot, more than Dia would have originally expected. They were dealing with a serial predator, that much was for certain. The only problem was, getting them, all was going to be a lot tougher than she first realized.

Only now, did she realize the true extent of the damage this one man had caused. She got a list of names, of fellow officers who had been taken advantage of by the creep of an older brother.

Dia also made it so she could be there with Kyle when he came back. Finding the victims would be the easy part. Getting Kyle to them to heal them would be easy, just doing so with any form of speed that would be difficult. But this worked out for Dia’s benefit. She planned to use this time to dig deeper into this mysterious stranger who claimed to be from another universe. A stranger who had quite a few odd encounters around the universe, if rumors were to be believed.

She had tracked him down, before this, he was shot. Apparently, that happened shortly after one Jessica Childers appeared with him outside the awakening Temple. The only problem was, Jessica had been pronounced KIA on her trial run nearly a week prior.

But he had somehow gone into to the temple, then rescued her.

At least that was the best Dia could come up with from her brief mental probe of the girl. The girl who seemed to be hitting it off with the younger, less muscular version of Kyle Goldman.

There was so much going on, with so many moving parts that Dia almost wondered if the event in question had been real. The only thing that made it seem that the moment was real was the way, Captain Chet Goldman now trembled in fear, when in her vicinity. Before when they had been in the same hallway or workspace he would leer at her like a wolf sizing up their next meal. Now it appeared as though he had truly been cowed by his recent encounter.

This was good, as it at least gave credence to the memory.

She still had no idea of how she ended up in her silk lingerie. She only remembered buying the garment on an impulse, an impulse she now knew was planted by Chet.

Still, the garment had come in handy, as it seemed that Kyle was also attracted to her in that garment. At least if the way his fingers gripped her were to be believed.

Dia, could also understand how she came across as too controlling, too demanding the last time they met. Despite his apparent distaste for his brother, she had effectively tortured the man before his eyes. Not exactly the best course of action, when trying to set a good expectation. This was something she made sure she would fix.

This was why she now sat, with her calendar clear in an elegant, but stately dress. One that should help show her regal bearing and lineage. She was after all, a direct heir of the Monde estate, or at least she would be here shortly. That should be enough to appeal to this universe traveling savior. If not, then she would have to come up with an alternate plan B.

***

MEANWHILE, archaeologist Dr. Charles Pilner had just made the discovery of a lifetime. Across both the thirteenth and fourteenth universes, he made the discovery of the ancient temple and civilization. This was the discovery of a lifetime. An ancient and powerful race was found, with technology that seemed to mirror or maybe even predate the original architects of the temples.

Dr. Pilner had found the sealed away temple that roughly translated as Realm of The Dead. At least that was the best he and his team could come up with.

There in the ancient proto-temple were golds, gemstones, and conductors that had never been seen before. At least not seen by modern society.

This was the find of the century. Unfortunately, many of his fellow researchers had to be excused from this briefing to universal backers. These were industrial titans of all space faring races that demanded to see dividends on their initial investments. Investments that were going to pay out big time, once Dr. Pilner presented the contents of the briefcase he carried.

Fortunately for the doctor, he managed to get a commercial liner from Dwenvarian space, from there he hopped another liner to Endarian Prime, which was where he was heading to currently.

The entire time he was worried about his briefcase setting off scanners, but to his surprise no one detected anything with the alien technology. Another sign of just how amazing of a find the whole thing was.

Now all he had to do, was travel through the most populated city in Endarian space, go to the manager’s meeting and brief his findings.

Cough.

Unfortunately, his throat seemed to burn slightly as he seemed to be coming down with whatever ailment the rest of his team had caught. It was not a virus, bacteria, mold, spore, or fungal infection, at least not according to all scans he passed. This was why he was allowed to fly on so many different commercial liners.

Yet somehow, he seemed to find his energy rising and dropping rapidly throughout his travels. He would be nearly lethargic during the day. Only to rest and find himself brimming with energy at nighttime. It was truly an odd sensation, and one he would pay more attention to. There was of course just one problem, rather than looking after his own wellbeing, he instead focused on his briefing for the executives. A briefing that would surely grant him not only recognition for the discovery of the millennium, but also allow him to get reinstated as a tenured professor.

Cough, cough.

Of course, he made a mental note to investigate whatever was causing his persistent cough, after he was done reestablishing his career.