Raindrop Memories (Part 2 of 2)

Whispering showers tap along the windowpane in harmony with a low electrical hum; the only sounds save uncomfortable breaths in the silence between the Wanderer and their aged daughter. Worn and tired, Lydia looks to her suspiciously youthful parent and grunts.

“The Veil of Eternity, huh? Ominous. Never knew you to be one for such hyperbole.”

"It’s not hyperbole,” said the Wanderer, “It’s so much more than words can even contend with…”

Lydia shifts uncomfortably, “fine. Please go on.”

“...Many years ago, I was a scientist studying various phenomena, classified incidents, and experimental technologies. One such technology was a method of faster than light travel based on-”

"Excuse me? YOU were a scientist-”

"Am a scientist, dearie. Now let me finish,” said the Wanderer in a familiar parental tone, “what we were working with.. it was all theoretical. The techniques, equipment... Until one day, we acquired a power source; From… Someone.

“Wait… Aliens? You mean aliens, right? Little grey people that come and probe your ass in the night but don’t leave a tip kind of aliens?

The Wanderer contemplated, “well, they weren’t grey. And to be fair we probed these ones first. Can I go on now?”

Lydia squints wryly, “You’re telling me aliens exist and you want to go and breeze past it… fine.

“Excellent. One thing to note about them was their mode of travel seemed to be interdimensional. Instead of reverse engineering the power source and the craft that housed it, we--in our infinite wisdom and hubris--decided to utilize our own theories and tests based on data from these acquisitions. One day… during such a test… I vanished.

Her eyes widened, “vanished?” to which the Wanderer nodded.

"This wasn’t supposed to happen, mind you. To keep it brief, we were utilizing a large ring station a mile in radius to conduct most of our FTL experiments. We were positioned outside, with numerous sensors to pick up results as tests commenced inside the ring.

"That’s great. The part where you vanished please?”

"Always snide. Yes. One day, while conducting a new procedure, we began testing. Instead of the test unit traveling near light speed as we had hoped, the entire facility, myself included, vanished.

"When I next opened my eyes, we were in Limbo. A place between time and thought, wherein each movement was as if weaving through molasses. Crimson and violet hues permeated the visage before us, though no source of light could be seen.”

The showers outside grew, drumming in discordant cadence with the Wanderer’s words. For the first time in a long time, Lydia found herself speechless.

"I saw several of my companions dead. Either from the shock of the journey or from the transplanting of sudden matter from the new destination and location mixing with their own.

"The living screamed, though such things were drowned by the choral ringing of a nearby mountain pass. We had no power and no way home. But curiously, one of my devices' power cells seemed to resonate with the chorus itself. I felt determined to go seek it out. As I did however, dread consumed my whole being.

“My crew urged me not to leave, saying we had already done too much; whatever would lay beyond the mountain wasn’t to be seen. I ignored their pleas.

"One followed… Liam. He warned me throughout the whole trip. Can’t say he was wrong in hindsight. And as we grew closer to the mountain’s edge, there was an audible whisper, ‘turn back,’ it said, ‘you are not to approach.’

"'See!’ He yelled. ‘Damn it, this is all wrong! We need to leave, Al! Now!’

"‘There must be answers up there. We can’t turn back. We need to find a way home!’ Liam saw it differently and attempted to stop me.

"’Please!’ he begged. I wouldn’t listen, consumed knowing the only answer was with the mountain's chorus... Despite the warnings. We struggled. I broke free of his grip, and… I knocked him down…

The Wanderer paused, tears welling, “I didn’t mean to kill him. He tripped off a ledge as I knocked him away. Damn it, we locked eyes as he fell. His soul stared into mine. I saw the realization, the fear and the pleading all in that split second... And I… He was my friend, Lydia.”

Unsure of any words, Lydia simply nodded and lay a hand on the Wanderer’s own.

“I couldn’t look at him. At what I had done. So I left, and continued up the pass, until I reached the peak… and that’s when I saw it…

The rain stopped.

"It? You mean... ” She asks, and they nod.

"What no person is ever to see. Beyond life and Eternity’s Veil. That which lies next, I saw those that had died in the vanishing, I saw Liam. I stared into and saw Eternity itself, trembling before it’s infinite eyes. And Eternity saw me.

The rain returned with thunder and force.

"Suddenly came a voice beyond voices in the chorus. ‘Thief,’ I heard roar, ‘insolence,’ ‘punishment,’ ‘eternal.’ ‘Killer.’ I ran through the thick booming air, as I knew that I was branded a thief of knowledge and an insubordinate creature. I should have listened. I know I’ll be punished when I die for what I’ve seen… and for what I’ve done.

When I returned to the test site, my companions rushed to inform me that a power was resonating throughout the area. Enough to potentially return us home. And we did indeed return.

"All of our research was destroyed in the return. I refused to say a word about what I had seen. I devoted the rest of my life… all of my time, to extend my lifespan. My own experiments, others too. Prosthetics, drugs, you name it. I can’t let myself die yet Lydia… I know what waits for me. I need to keep running until the end of time if I can. Till the world collapses and the cosmos eats itself.

“Running will only get you so far, you know,” she said, weary.

“You’re absolutely right. But it does give me time to think.”

“What’d you do after coming back?”

"I’ve lived whole lives. Been different people. The one I’ve had with you, Thomas and Addison was my fourth life. I was so determined that my only goal was only to live. It changed me, Lyd… if people stood in my way… I got rid of them.

“You don’t mean…”

“Fear makes you an animal, sweetie. A clever one, maybe. But an animal all the same. And my plan was simple: live longer, live smarter. No loved ones, no kids. It’ll make things worse.

"And why’s that?”

"First; I couldn’t live with it if you somehow got the same judgement by finding out. How could I bring that on another being? But I don’t believe that way anymore. I think you’d have to see it. Make the choice yourself.

Lydia shifted in her bed, straining a breath and sighing, “and the second reason?”

“Because,” the Wanderer looked to her sullen, “I didn’t want you to live knowing that I will certainly spend an eternity being punished. Especially if you go to the other side.

Lydia laughed, then coughed, the entire action taking the Being by surprise.

“Yet here you are. Telling me everything. Damn. If I didn’t know any better I’d say this is one of Tom’s elaborate pranks… Al, huh?” she said, closing her eyes, the Wanderer petting her.

“Oh. My first name.

“It’s sweet.”

“I didn’t even realize I mentioned it.”

“Mmhmm,” she said, dreamily, growing quieter, “you did. You get so wrapped up in telling stories.

“Did you believe it?”

She shook her head softly, “not really. But I’m glad you came to see me anyway.”

“I’m glad too, sweetheart,” said the Being, “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help you. When I found out, I looked to see what I could do… and when we were a family I… I tried, but I couldn’t get you all in for my contacts… bastards.

She smiled, “wouldn’t have wanted it anyway. I liked me and my life the way it was.”

The Wanderer smiled, “does my heart good to hear.”

“I miss Tommy,” she whispered.

“You’ll see him soon, honey,” and with a kiss on her forehead, Lydia breathed her last coarse breath in tune with the falling rain.

The Wanderer recalled numerous lives on Earth after that moment, all consumed with the original goal; self preservation and life extension. But with each life, the memory of that one family loomed. Centuries later, preparations were made to finally leave their home planet behind to seek out new opportunities and resources.

As the Wanderer watched the Earth drift away, they turned to a pear sitting atop a console; a memento taken from an old generational pear tree in an auspiciously maintained family gravesite, grown beside a forlorn frosted pond. Atop two graves sat twin pears, rain showering overhead from the cloud mottled sky.

A new journey eons in the making began for the Wanderer. Meeting new races, seeing sights unknown, living life after life. Even once the prospect of eternal prosperity was a near certainty, fear loomed. Eventually it would all still end.

The Wanderer broke back to the present with a moan. The universe throbbed. Not to the naked eye, but to the Being of a Billion Lives, such things were obvious.

"It’ll be a few more moments, Addison,” said the Being, “It’s all going to end. This place, this universe. Me. Here anyway.”

They looked at their Lover’s visage and sighed.

"You’re the one thing that really stuck, you know? You and the kids. I’m not a human anymore. Haven’t been for a long time. Probably wasn’t when we met. I’ve been different people each life depending on the need and depending on who I’m dealing with, but you caught me off guard.

“God, Addison. I’ve watched stars die. Spent entire lifetimes on single causes before resting the whole next. Before we met, I killed in fear that my secret would get out, or that my life would be compromised. But you… Tom… Lydia. You all changed me. Gave me purpose.

"Two Minutes remaining,” came the linked voice of the Wanderer’s carriage, instantly into their mind.

"Almost time… I’ve pondered and dreamed that my actions since that day have somehow swayed to my favor. Karmic mistakes though I’ve gained, I’ve still done my share to aid the universe. Because life is precious.... As is death. You all taught me that. God did it hurt when you left.

“I wish I could have spent more time with you. I’m so sorry, Addison. Kids. I hope you’re happy where you are. I never wanted you, yet I wouldn’t trade my life with you for eternity. I hope against hope to see you. If I don’t, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting so long for nothing. I love you all, my forever.

With the Wanderer’s final words spoken and staring at the final image of their family, the Universe burst with an intensity beyond reason; an inverse of the big bang, and death throes to all existence.

There would be no more running. There could be no more life. No more second chances. The Being who had done all to escape fate and to live to the end of time was enveloped and engulfed by time’s own killer.

For the Wanderer, it was now time to face a new Eternity head on. After everything they’d seen, everything experienced, and after all of those lives, what would Eternity have to say now?

Fin.