Elysium: Book Six of The Liminality

Chapter 31: The New Void

Seen one void, seen them all. My new locale is pretty much like the old one. Empty. Lonely. Absent of anything that could nourish, harm, entertain or threaten a person. Supposedly, the only difference with this null space is its remoteness. It's kind of tucked away. It has only one interface leading in and out and it only leads to another void. We are parked far, far away from it so there's not even any shimmering patterns to look at.

Those rebel Argents had hyped how totally isolated this place was. Well, it turns out that's not entirely true. I'm partly pleased, partly disturbed to detect some faint murmurs whispering and tugging at my soul. Apparently a few back eddies of the Sea of Souls wash through this place.

I dip my toes in but for now I resist the urge to take a plunge. Nice to know that it is there if I need it. But I wonder if I have discovered a vulnerability they didn't account for.

I miss having Uber around. It feels like I lost my fridge, my dog and my favorite sofa all in one go. Yes, I still have Zeke, but it's harder to relate to him as a companion considering that I'm riding in his stomach, so to speak. I know he's there and I count on him, but it's not the same. Having Uber around was kind of like having a black lab curled in a corner before a crackling fire. That's how he made me feel. All that's left of him is the scar on Zeke's wall where he blasted through with Horst.

I'm resorting to arts and crafts now to keep my sanity. Nothing useful. Just repurposing some of my furniture and decorations into sculptures and musical instruments. I made an electric bass from an extra chair I didn't need. Without an amplifier or electricity, so it was kind of a pointless exercise. But I like the feel of it and it does twang nicely when I pluck a strung. I would have liked to have had a chance to play in a rock band. Some of my 'friends' from the park in Fort Pierce were in a band and I envied them for it.

Rock. Not metal. Not metalcore or post-rock. But that's not going to happen anytime soon. I don't even know how to tune this thing.

Now that I know that the void can't hurt me, I'm not shy about stepping outside. I have Zeke roll down a leaf and I go out and sit on the edge, dangle my legs over the side. I even dare to jump out into the emptiness only to drift right back to Zeke. So there is a little bit of gravity out there, though Zeke and I seem to be its only sources. It's strongest when I'm in or on Zeke. His pull on me mimics earth-like forces when we're in contact. How this happens is yet another mystery of the Afterlands. If I understood it maybe I'd be with Gaia and her more Illumined comrades right now instead of beinf relegated to the bench.

I don't dare go swimming off too far into the emptiness on my own. I'm not entirely convinced that Zeke would come fetch me if I drifted off into the nothingness and couldn't make my way back. He's still a mama's boy, that one.

I gaze out into the darkness even though there's nothing to see out here. Sometimes I fool myself into thinking I see hints of shimmering in the distance. But that can't be a real interface. The rebel Argents assured me I would be nowhere near it. It's probably just an illusion, my mind conjuring something out of the nothing, just because total absence is simply too stark a vision to grasp.

This place really makes me question the whole of reality. Does perception suffice to make something real? I mean, I perceive myself to be breathing but it's hard to imagine how there could be any oxygen out here. I can hold my breath forever and when I whip my hand around, it doesn't generate any breeze.

Same thing goes for food and shit, too. I get hungry and eat mainly for entertainment purposes only. Somehow my body doesn't seem to generate any waste. I don't have to step outside and pee into the void every few hours. What am I now? What kind of structure does my soul occupy? The normal rules of physics and physiology don't seem to apply. Is this all just kind of fancy simulation?

All that bluster in Elysium about me having real flesh because I wasn't translucent and didn't glow in the dark. Was that true? Did I really? Was the shell a soul occupied a function of its environment? Were those Elysials running a simulation with different code? It seemed that only in the living world and in the case the Old Ones of the Lim could flesh persist in the absence of a soul.

But most souls switching from any realm other than that of the living, lost their bodies. Poof! They just vanished. Were they never actually there to begin with? These bodies sure feel real enough. Where did they go? Were they teleported to the new realm in some cases? Or was a new batch of flesh generated upon switching realms? Is flesh intrinsic to a soul or did the realm create a space for the soul to occupy?

I have so many fucking questions. So many things just don't make sense. Love. Luck. Politics. Quantum physics is ridiculous too, but that doesn't stop people from grilling burgers on their back deck or taking their dog for a walk. Sometimes you just have to roll with the flow. Maybe figuring this stuff out is part of becoming Illumined.

I keep trying to convince myself that my current existence is way better than prison. It's not easy. But at least it's peaceful out here. No glaring lights. No foul odors. No rip-off commissary.

So I'm sitting there on Zeke's petal, feet dangling out into the void contemplating what it would take to get this electric bass to make a little more noise. Weaving didn't usually involve any real electricity. I was good at making things glow, but noises, not so much.

And then something nips at me like those little baby fish that nibble on your toes when you dangle them off a dock at a freshwater lake. The only thing different is that this nibbling was happening in my brain, or rather, my consciousness.

I rise up, all unsettled, thinking this might be signs of another unwanted intrusion. Another bounty hunter? Maybe something worse.

Zeke stays all floppy and relaxed so I know the threat isn't physical. I go inside anyway and have Zeke raise his petal. Ever since Gaia's visit he's been listening to me more, responding more intuitively to my taps and grunts. He's still a mama's boy but it's like Gaia installed a better connection between us.

I go over to my little mattress and lay down. No more cushy bunk with beverage dispenser now that Uber's gone. I'm hoping the noise in my brain will calm, but it picks up. And then, like a brief clearing of the fog shrouding a mountain peak, I sense a presence reaching for my soul.

"Karla? What the fuck?"