Subject Zero: CONFIDENTIAL (Short Stories)

Adventure Book (9)

Nightmares & Daymares

Last night, I awoke covered in sweat. Beyond Lawless has decided to pay my mind a visit once more. Although the metal plate I got installed in my head prevents Beyond from being able to access my thoughts directly, He can still haunt my dreams.

Last night, He appeared to me in a wheat field, cackling about the end of times and saying that my allies and I will be powerless to prevent His reign!

Our world is in danger, and I have to do something about it. I have been hesitant, however, to talk to F, E, and V about Beyond (even L, who I've grown to trust as we communicate with him through his dreams). I'd like to believe that this is out of a desire to protect them, but if I'm honest with myself, it's because I'm ashamed...

What would they think of me if they knew that it was my folly, my hubris, that conjured Beyond in the first place? That He tricked me into creating the portal?

What would A think...?

Would L, Yin, and Yang still look up to me — or would they just consider me a fool?

No, I need not tell them everything. Just enough for now. In the meantime, I have sent E on an errand to see if he can retrieve A and any of her allies for help (if she is still alive). Or at least if I know where they are, I can protect them from Beyond's influence. It's a long shot, but it's worth a try.

I'm very worried Beyond might try to play tricks on A's, Yin's, Yang's, or L's minds. In order to prevent this, I have decided to employ one of my old devices...

The Mind Reader

I hope to encrypt their thoughts or "Beyond-proof" their minds.

Before E left, here are the stray thoughts I noticed in his head:
-"I'm itchy. I'm just bones. How am I itchy?"
-"I wish they would just let me devour L's sadness. I am aware they do not want what happened to R to happen to him, but there is no guarantee that would even happen again!"
-"Have we gotten any response from the Jester yet? I don't know... How can I be so insightful, yet the last to know everything?"
-"Try to think of nothing- wait, that was something!"

But when E did leave, L (now H) finally agreed to wake up. He allowed me to read his thoughts, as well.

Thoughts I noticed in H's head:
-"I wonder how they are... But F told me not to let them know. It could risk everything."
-"I hope he isn't looking too closely at my thoughts."
-"Would the world still look at me like I am a monster?"
-"Undertaker needs to hide his magazine collection better. Or at least get some that are worth looking at, instead of just news about dead bodies and the deaths of human celebrities..."
-"Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero."

The procedure takes hours to complete, and when I fell asleep
waiting, my clever ally, H, used the Mind Reader to see into my mind. My jumbled memories made him believe that I was still in cahoots with Beyond, and he defended himself by threatening me with his new memory wiping ability.

What a disaster! And the whole thing could've been avoided if I had just come clean about Beyond. It's time that I tell H everything, regardless of what he thinks of me afterward.

I've told H my history with Beyond and to my great relief he was very understanding. Luck seems to be on our side today.

     E had returned with news about A. She is alive! E and H assisted me in creating a...

Mystical Barrier

Although we weren't able to "Beyond-proof" E or H's minds, this should make A and anyone near her impervious to Beyond's powers, although she isn't aware.

After our latest misadventure, F, E, V, and I realized it was time to tell H everything we knew about the World of Wonders. We sat him down and told him to ask us any question he could think of about this world. No more secrets. His first question made F beam with pride:

Why is the World if Wonders so odd?

The True Theory of Oddness

I told H that I'd spent months obsessed with this question. Beyond Lawless told me that the weirdness in part of the world leaked in from another part of the Mirror World, but this was a lie. Beyond was simply trying to trick me into opening a door so He could claim the entire world for Himself.

The truth, V explained, was a bit stranger. To help H understand, F teleported us to the edge of the world. E brought out a random bean to show him and F began to explain.

"Everything in the universe is like a jelly bean — made of the same basic materials, varied in color and flavor, but all more or less conforming to an expected pattern. But every now and then, by chance, a bean comes out deformed... Odd... Strange." F took the bean and the bag of beans, and then dropped it and the rest of the bag onto the ground.

The beans began to tumble downhill, but one bean, the deformed one, almost magically rolled backwards, UP the hill, right UP TO THE EDGE.

H's eyes widened, I could see him beginning to understand. Why had this one bean rolled uphill?

The reason? The World of Wonders is a weirdness magnet.

     Oddness is strangely, mysteriously drawn to this place, from misshapen jelly beans, to ladders that take you to planets and mirrors that are actually portals, to carnivals that mysteriously move from place to place, floating eyes, even a girl with unique birthmarks like no other Araneidan. I explained that I felt my arrival at this town was not an accident. That we were part of some greater fate the town had in store for us.

"All five of us have some of the strangest beans this world has ever seen, Smiley," F told.

{ End of Part IX }

{ "the walls may be closing in, but there's still a way out." }