The Uplift Protocol: Tarvelian Surprise Issue 9

 

Issue 9: Jacob’s Ferry

 

I should have known I’d get caught up in the Time angle business. Since Sam and I saw “Future” Eliza. On the surface that unfamiliar world. Strangely I remember that cottage. But the reality was even more mind-boggling than I first suspected.—Jacob Murphy

I wondered what my role would be. I got why Jacob was there. Amazing mechanic. But what could I offer? I’m a decent pilot. What use would the Arcane Order have for a HeroNet Logistics Monkey? –Samantha Murphy

            I know Sam wondered at her place in the great time matrix but I was thankful she was there. She had an advantage we didn’t know of at the time. She was able to send her mother messages through the Dreaming, no matter what point in time we were located. It was no wonder Anna was on the ball with certain things. Even from the start. Makes me glad Jacob and Sam came into existence. Almost like the Highest build contengencies.—Sleep in Starlight: Memoirs of the Golden City

Under the Library of Alexandria

Golden City (Egypt, Eden Earth)

600 BC

 

            The Cobalt Sphinx of The Sands, Ravaka, paced around the landing pad. Her golden helm jangled. Her blue fur bristled. She knew she worried far too much.

Bastet said, “The Arbiter will return! Safe and sound with Ta’mathon.” She pointed.

Golden light shimmered and a triangular ship appeared. Jacob clapped his hands together, “Excellent!” Lorain waited for the ramp to descend then pulled Eliza from the prototype. Murphy dragged Lorain into a waltz. “Just as planned! I found the markers for Noah’s Travels. Just where he said he left them. It even accounted for Weave Space drift!”

Samantha gave the Sphinx a curious glance. From what Eliza told her their first meeting hadn’t gone smoothly. Then again: White wasn’t with them this time around. Or bound by Shrouded Memory. Samantha sent a message through her copper ring. It had a lovely gray stone with golden highlights, <<Sis, why didn’t the Sphinx try to eat you this time?>> Eliza patted the blue cat woman on the shoulder, <<It’s cause I didn’t smell off this time. Carrying around Nyx’s serum was what initially set her off. Besides the dormant power levels of White.>>

Ravaka leaned into the scratch. Droplets of water manifested. She cocked her head to the side, “It is odd but I will obey. Protect the city.” Bastet held out the scroll for inspection, “And you say this is what we must allow this Thoth to take?”

*****

            I re-examined the scroll. It had the location of Noah’s forward operating center. I nodded, “Yep, I want Thoth to take that. He will think it clever to move it to the Eternal Empire. Set, who is the re-skin soul cycle of Lucifer, will think he has a bargaining chip.”

            Samantha hugged me, “Do you know what Unity is made of now?”

            I replied, “Unfortunately. As was needed. To outmaneuver everything it will attempt? Some will be trapped within the Void of Souls. The Living Stone is animated by farmed universes that Unity has turned towards its dark purpose.”

            Jacob brought up the holo display. “So we must find the truth of Noah’s exodus?”

            He glowered at the pale reflections surrounding Uplifted Territories. “To think, all this time, we were saving J’ino and the others. Not the other way around.” He shot me an apologetic glance. I thumped my spear. Its final form is quite simple. Three spearheads. Each with a dormant golden ring. The haft was reforged by my climb. My cape mirrored my old Glory set up for a split second then revered to a plain white flag. We didn’t want the enemy guessing the Golden City’s arbiter origin. It would have other forms. It would depend on the era.

            I clutched my head. Then let out a sigh as Doc’s powers flowed over me.

            Jacob asked, “What happened to the Titans?”

            “They fused. Making the prison. Not in this era though.”

            An iris opened and the Jupiter Rising descended. Its form cloaked to look like a bigger black triangle. Jupiter hummed a cheery song, <<ALL ABOARD! Time to kickstart the Terran Union!>>

            The Duck duo met us at the main receiving airlock.

Trouble shouted, “Momma! We found the Sheild Worlds of Noah!” I picked them up.

“Excellent! Just keep some of those other cards in reserve. Alright?!”

Contented quacking was the response.

Ravaka shouted, “Just bring Ta’mathon back in one piece!” She had taken a motherly stance towards the former Eternal Empire resident. His biological parents wouldn’t arrive until later. The shift was being controlled by the Highest itself. In another 200 years, they would arrive to find a city of wonders. Not just the hidden outlines. I still found it interesting that my first meeting with him would be his rescue. In the future. His past. Mom was right. A map wouldn’t cover it all. Or even a list. The Meeting of all of me within the Tower of the Lidless was only the tip of the iceberg.

At the time I had only perceived myself along three very specific moments in time.

Me before the true awakening. Then as I rose from the Silver Coffin, from that first visit of the CTT, with the final note being a version of me far enough along in the future that I didn’t want to ponder my overall long life. Not because I feared the future but because of the logistics. The Silver Coffin event would be the precursor to my true climb from the realm of Unity. As the sages would put it? A whole lot of prep for what felt like a blink of an eye against eternity.

Arcane Order Sphere Room

Jupiter Rising

           

I poured over the data. My mind locking onto that lazy beach day. That particular platform wouldn’t exist yet but those worlds? Filled to the brim with Humans ready to take back Elysium. Reforge it into a platform that the Highest had originally intended. One made to test the spirit. Noah had broken the Ark into three parts. The lure. That which floated outward into the vast dark. Brought to the Eternal Empire via Thoth. Boy, would that be an eye-opener for the Arbiter of Unity. The second spark had seeded the Eden Universe with life unbound by the Shattering. While the third? That was the codex.

Laying the foundation for all the Arcways within the Terran Union territories. Future and past.

My uncle Thoth had chosen poorly.

Such were the combined fates of Urraden and Ayeer. Through my blood and a certain Odessen, Typha would avoid the fate of many White Owl Demons. I still didn’t have the heart to tell mom that most higher demon stocks came from warped Typherians. Mostly House Born.

The white owls that had attacked Gwen were lower-level functionaries. The ones who had nearly doomed the Litari had been the hand-picked birds of Unity itself. Arch-demons. Fire and ash boiled behind my eyes. The wails of the damned tugged at my heart. I leaned against the table as two arms wrapped around my waist. “That’s enough study for now.” Lorain pulled me to the recreation deck.

My first death had been easier than my true passage.

Doc had set up a nice hot tub pitstop. I didn’t hide my hiss of pain as the water hit my chest. That knife had been but a hairsbreadth away from success. Doc hooked her legs around my waist. Her face pinched up as she concentrated. Another black sliver exited my skin. I rested my chin on the top of her head. “That’s another weight gone.”

The evil slip of metal dissipated. She bit her lip, “There’s still 8 more shards.” She rested her head on my chest, “No wonder my other self said to let that knife bury itself. God, I wish I hadn’t been right.”

From the Tower. I nodded, “It was the only way to get to Unity proper. The summoning I did with Throne Sight brought its physical shell to our plain. The knife carried me to its broken soul state.”

The Light Shamans, Sages, and Weave Speakers would see the truth of my Body when I greeted them upon the plains of endless worlds. Convergence of the past, present, and future would be marked upon my soul for all to see. She removed my silver mask.  I made it cover everything but my mouth and chin. It even hid my hair behind a white veil.

It would hide my mortal identity from my enemies. Those who could see the truth? They would blaze the corridors of tomorrow. Plus with the ICATH RULER TIME EXPRESS? I could dip into the time stream when needed and help push others along. I was thankful that the Ur-Stone had my soul state running various algorithms. This would have been taxing to coordinate alone. It was like having 1000s of conversations with myself.

America would rise. Joining the Golden City of Egypt to forge a new path across the stars. Jacob’s voice came over the coms, “Holy shit! I made the Voyager probes find the Typherians?! Wild.”

Samantha shouted, “I CAN TALK TO MOM IN HER DREAMS! What do I say?! Oh god. I’m gonna mess this up. Eliza? Help! Oh god, I’m the reason they get divorced and hate you.”

I linked in. Audio only, “Jupiter, send her scroll 8-12.”

Jacob chuckled, “It's odd saying that huh. Keeping you in the dark for so long and now you lead the three-ringed circus of Cosmic Divine thunder!”

I groaned. A potent cough made Doc shout, “If you make my captain laugh Jacob, I will make sure you lose your sense of taste for a week!” We knew she didn’t mean it. She was just venting. The way she was messaging my shoulders made my eyelids droop.

 Jacob said, “Understood!” He continued wryly, “If you want to make me suffer? Make everything taste like Shrimp for a whole month.”

My back twitched in a way I both welcomed and dreaded.

Where had she learned that move?

I muted the audio, “My spirit is willing but my body is sore.”

Doc tapped my nose with her index finger, “It’s a down payment.”

Her hands moved to my neck. She didn’t give me time to react. A solid crack rippled down my back. I muttered into the crook of her neck, “Have I told you how much I love you?” She smiled, “Not today. But I am taking interest payments.”

Another black shard left my body.

I cracked open one eye, “I think I just got my appetite back.”

She kissed my cheek, “That’s sweet. But I know your body. As your physician, you are not even ready for flying!”

I found myself half-dozing as she sent a few more healing waves into my wound.

*****

            Samantha stared at the scrolls. She was the one who would help her mother find Teddy. Her parents were doomed from the start. But Jacob and Samantha needed to exist. So Samantha sat down on the mat and let her mind drift. Finding that spark that connected her to her mother.

            In the end? It would save them all.

            Samantha was beginning to understand Mrs. Murphy’s stances on Time Travel.

            “Hey! Guess what!? It wasn’t mere chance!”

            She smacked her forehead comically, “It was my sister. Eliza Murphy.”

She opened a com, “Jupiter? Time Delay this for my sister please?”

            The Ship’s VI replied, “Of course.”

*****

            Doc was a warm weight on my left shoulder when the Arcane INet buzzed with a delayed message.

I read it a few times just to be sure. I didn’t dare move.

One? I didn’t want to wake Doc up. Two? My lungs were already aching from earlier. Doc ran me through some breathing exercises to help move the shards within my heart to more manageable areas for removal.

I let out a wheezing laugh that shook the bed. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. Doc’s eyes popped open and she readied her tirade against Jacob. She glanced at the message. Her mouth opened wide.

I managed to gasp out, “Sam has more of Anna in her than I realized…..”

///Eliza Murphy you are the worst Golden Turkey imaginable. Not even stuffing can save you! ///

Doc asked, “Why turkey?”

I wiped the tears from my eyes, “Bec-because they put people to sleep.”

Lorain said, “I still don’t….” The light bulb came on.

Lorain sent back a message, ///You better ask the Highest about the temperature then. He didn’t leave Eliza in the oven long enough.///

I mock growled, “You’ll pay for that!” She let out a giggle as I tickled her ribs.

A light chime echoed throughout the ship, “Approaching Gilgamesh Sector. Temporal Sync in effect with Arcane Network. Please stand by.”

I was glad they were here with me.

These moments? I would treasure it. 

Issue 8: Here

Issue 10: Here