Divided Read online

  “Can’t you guess?” Truth walked forward, reaching the nearest tank, which was dark. In fact, most of them were dark. Looking across the rows, Becca could see a few that seemed to be lit from within by a weak, flickering light but only about one in a hundred seemed functional.

  “Are they some kind of storage containers?” she asked, joining Truth at the side of the nearest tank. It seemed to be filled with cloudy liquid-or maybe it was gel. Whatever it was, Becca wasn’t about to put her hand in and find out.

  Truth laughed harshly. “You could say that. You still can’t guess what they’re for? Come on—let’s go look at a lit one and you’ll figure it out.”

  They went down a long row of dark tanks, all filled with the cloudy gel, until they finally came to one that had a soft glow coming from within.

  “Oh,” Becca murmured. “It’s pink—the gel stuff, whatever it is, I mean.”

  “Don’t worry about the gel—look at what’s inside it,” Truth instructed.

  Becca had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach but she did as he said. Standing on tiptoe, she leaned over the edge of the tank to look into the cloudy reddish-pink gel inside.

  At first all she saw were shadows, then the shadows started to coalesce into a form. It floated up, closer to the surface and Becca’s eyes finally made sense of what she was seeing.

  “Mother of God!” She stumbled backwards. “There’s someone in there!”

  And indeed there was—a long, thin alien shape was floating silently in the reddish-pink gel. It appeared to be completely naked with orange tinged skin and a third eye in the middle of its forehead, just like the one Vashtar had had.

  “Storage tanks for living organisms,” Far said quietly. “Maybe this is how they survived when the planet went rogue.”

  “Indeed we did.”

  The new voice caught them by surprise and all three whipped around to see Vashtar standing in front of them. Or rather—a ghost that looked like Vashtar because the little man was positively see-through.

  “I see you’ve found your way here. Very good.” He nodded and smiled, clearly delighted. “I knew you would have the necessary ingenuity to find us.”

  “Yes, we’re here,” Truth growled. “And we’d like to get the solution to our problem so we can get the Seven Hells out of here and go home.”

  Vashtar’s face fell. “Do you not wish to hear—briefly—of how we all survived?”

  “This room seems to tell the story well enough,” Far said. “Did you suspect that your planet would go rogue and prepare this place ahead of time?”

  The little man nodded his bald head and his third eye blinked.

  “Indeed, we did. Our secondary sun was becoming more and more erratic and we feared the worst. Accordingly, our scientists developed the tanks—a place of safety where our citizens might escape doom and destruction.” He sighed. “Most of them, anyway. Regrettably there were not enough tanks for all—I trust you saw the bones?”

  “We saw,” Truth said grimly. “It appears that a hell of a lot of people didn’t make it.”

  Vashtar shrugged. “We did the best we could. Most of our citizens made it to safety—there are facilities like this all over the planet, you know. Statistically only about one percent of those living at the time of the great disaster didn’t reach the safety of the tanks.”

  Far frowned. “But why are you still here? Your planet hasn’t been a true rogue for the past two thousand solar years. You’re in orbit around a new sun now—you could come out and find a new home world.”

  “Oh, no, no, no!” Vashtar shook his head. “I think you misunderstand me, my dear boy. These tanks were not simply a temporary measure—a holding facility until we could look for a new world. They are meant to sustain life indefinitely. Well, for a very long time, anyway…” He looked around at all the dark tanks, sadly. “Over the ages many of us have given up and dissolved into the nutrient slime that cradles and nourishes us but a few—a very few—of us still endure.”

  Becca looked at him blankly. “Um…I can understand wanting to live, but why would you put yourselves into some kind of…of coma forever? What kind of life is that?”

  To her surprise, Vashtar burst out laughing.

  “Why, the fullest life imaginable, my dear! Forgive me, but I don’t think you understand. You see, the nutrient slime doesn’t simply sustain life—it also connects our minds. It is the gateway to the Mindscape.”

  “The what?” Far asked, frowning.

  “What the hell is that?” Truth demanded.

  “It is a whole other world—an existence bounded only by our imaginations.” Vashtar frowned. “Let me think, how can I explain?” He looked at Becca. “On your planet, you have an interconnected system of machines, a way that people all over your world can see each other and communicate and exchange ideas, do you not?”

  “You mean the Internet?” She frowned. “Yes, we do and the Kindred have a much further reaching system like it, too.”

  “Imagine a system even vaster and more all encompassing.” Vashtar threw out both arms in a sweeping circle. “Imagine creating your own world to live in, to play in, to people with whatever creatures you choose. Imagine life eternal in the environment of your choice.”

  Becca raised an eyebrow at him. “So…you’re saying that when the planet went rogue, all your people went underground, climbed into tanks filled with slime, and basically moved into the Internet to live? As in, forever?”

  The little man looked suddenly sorrowful. “Well, for quite a long time, anyway. As you can see, not many of us remain.”

  “That’s very sad,” Becca said softly.

  “Not to mention fucking strange,” Truth growled, under his breath.

  “Hush!” Becca elbowed him. “Thank you for telling us your story,” she said to Vashtar. “And for offering to help us with our problem.”

  “Of course, of course—always glad to help another society of threes.” The little man bobbed excitedly, his ruby red third eye blinking.

  “That’s wonderful.” Becca smiled warmly. “So…what can we do? How do we get the, uh, demons out of the men who have been possessed?”

  “Oh, I can’t tell you that!” Vashtar exclaimed. “Not here, anyway.”

  “What? Then why in the Seven Hells did you drag us all the way down here?” Truth demanded.

  “Why, to help you! But as I said, I can’t do it here. The solution to your problem is a deeply buried secret and I do not know it.”

  Becca tried to hold on to her temper though she was feeling almost as pissed off as Truth.

  “All right,” she said evenly. “Then who does?”

  “Why, Vashtar, of course,” the little man said, as though it should be obvious.

  “But you are Vashtar,” Far said blankly. “Aren’t you?”

  “No, indeed!” He laughed as though the idea was ridiculous. “I’m only his avatar. A loose programming of his personality sent to guide you to him.”

  “All right, so guide us,” Truth said, frowning. He began scanning the long, shadowy rows. “Which tank is he in?”

  “Oh, none of these! Vashtar’s body is in a tank halfway around the world in the Blurbzz holding facility.”

  “What?” Far exclaimed. “Then why did you send us coordinates for this facility?”

  “Why, because it’s the only one with three working, empty tanks, of course!”

  Becca began to get a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  “Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say. You don’t actually want us to…to…”

  “To climb into the nutrient slime and enter the Mindscape,” the avatar finished for her. “Of course—it is the only way you can have access to the real Vashtar. But you must hurry—he spent much of his mental reserves in contacting you in the first place. Soon he too may dissolve into the slime and be no more.” The thought seemed to make him so sad that a tear escaped his third eye and rolled down the side of his nose.