Piece Simul ✔

Chapter 60- Russ- Journey to the Center of Weird

Maybe Samuel was onto something.

Russ thought about this as she meditated inside the chamber, finally stepping outside of herself once more.

Before the session that day, Samuel had spoken to her and Genly. He had the final synthetic pattern. But it was too complex for Russ to remember.

"There's a way she'll remember without even knowing," Genly said.

"How's that work?" Samuel asked.

"When the time comes, she will be able to recall it."

On top of their meditation studies, Genly added hypnotic suggestion.

"I don't think it worked," Russ told the bot as it helped her harness up.

She could swear Genly smirked.

Samuel stood on, watching their exchange. At the last moment, he stepped in to lightly kiss Russ on the cheek.

"Keep going this time," he whispered by her ear.

His confidence helped sustain her calm. Russ found the line from her physical body, tugging her further and further outward.

I did it.

Like the time before, astral-Russ turned to witness the ship: silent, beautiful, and cold.

Except this time, she didn't let go. She concentrated and propelled away from the ship. Surrounded by quiet stars, navigation was near impossible. Genly had warned her of feeling unanchored.

"But you are the anchor," is what the bot had told her.

She pictured the anomaly, and suddenly, she floated directly in front of it. Distant stars surrounded Russ. All light ceased at the event horizon of the anomaly. It's oval mouth swallowed anything that touched it.

The abyss seemed to respond to Russ merely staring. The oval stretched and rippled. If she went in further, that would be it. Russ closed her eyes and looked again, and the stretching stopped.

I'm ready.

Her head tingled, shooting thrills along her spine. But it was in her imagination, because her head and spine were safely encased in dura-fluid.

With her thoughts, she had willed herself into the anomaly. An endless void undulated around her. Discandent chords trilled as Russ tumbled into nothingness.

~*~

A long time later, light crackled ahead. It was myriad of colors so stunning, Russ was convinced she was seeing her own death.

The barrage of noise and light reached a fever pitch. Russ squeezed her eyes shut. Her insides titled, and she recounted the loss of control from her first journey.

I'm in control.

It was a thought that held her steadfast. Instead of a terrible void, she saw fog curling over dark waves. Moonlight peppered the water, being obscured by peek-a-boo clouds.

Russ knew she was back.

She was on Earth.

~*~

It only took two days for the awe of Earth to wear off.

Nothing looked quite the same anyway. Bright blue skies were muted to a pale echo, and the sun dialed down to resemble the moon. It was as though a gray curtain had been thrown on the world.

"Things might look different on the astral plane, but don't let this deter you," Genly had told her.

All this took away some of the luster. Even the people carried a gray parlor. They were more like ghosts than people.

Maybe I'm the ghost.

Russ reminded herself of the mission. She carried weighty and precious cargo in her head. She had to make sure it got to where it was needed.

However, with one glance at an interface screen, she understood that the world didn't just look different.

No. Can't be.

Russ knew it damn well could be. The whole 'it's impossible' angle was hypocrisy in the face of all the spectacular things she'd already been through.

Think, McFly, think.

She had somehow arrived around a dozen years in the past.