Space Lords

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. The words were spoken so clearly that she jerked her to the right before checking quickly over her left shoulder. Stella Greenway had been screaming for so long and so hard that the soft tissues in her throat grated against each other painfully with every breath that passed into her lungs as she gasped for air and looked wildly around the room.

The weird thing was that she had been screaming because she was certain she was going mad. The random desire to feel her fingernails sink into the eye sockets of people while they screamed was only the latest in a series of bizarre impulses that filled her mind as she tried to do everyday tasks like buy a coffee and poppy seed strudel. Her fingers, still wedged under her arms, were moist with the sweat of her armpits because that was the only way she found that she could safely avoid reaching across counters and desks to fulfill the grisly urges.

But now that she heard a clear voice in her head she had stopped screaming. She laughed out loud at the thought of it. Now that she had unshakeable evidence that she was certifiably insane, she no longer felt like she was going mad. She laughed again and looked around at the white walls of the hospital room that she had checked herself into. She laughed so hard that tears began to roll down her face. “Oh well there is obviously nothing to worry about because I am definitely in the right place!”

You are not going insane. She stopped right in the middle of a straining, breathless laugh, one of those laughs that sometimes forces a little urine out your body. It was like having cold water thrown into her face.

“What the fuck!”

“What the fuck!” She jumped up off the bed and backed into a corner of the room with her fists clenched tightly at her sides. “What the fuck is happening to me now?”

I assure you that you are not going insane. If you will please allow me to explain.”

“Oh that is just so perfect! The voice in my head that sounds like Data in Star Trek is trying to tell me that I am not crazy for hearing a fucking voice in my head! You know how crazy that sounds?”

I am well aware of your distress over the thought of losing your grip on reality but I can assure you that nothing is further from the truth. In fact, the very nature of our communication is a clear example of how you are now perceiving something much closer to objective reality than the vast majority of humans around you.

Stella straightened up and shrugged her shoulders. “Well I guess I might as well have this conversation. At least I am not seeing mutilated bodies and don’t have any urges to gouge someone’s eyes out or bash their heads in with my coffee cup!”

She walked back to her bed and sat on the edge of it. “This is actually very peaceful. I don’t know what fucked up part of me you are but at least you are respectful.”

She waited a few minutes for the voice to speak again but nothing happened. As the seconds ticked by a familiar tightness started to spread across her chest. She was certain that the images would return if the voice went away forever.

“Say something please.”

Gladly Stella. Would you like to know who I am and why I am inhabiting your psyche?

Stella chuckled. “Actually, that is a wonderful place to start.”

I am one of a race of beings that feeds off the energy given off by other beings in conflict. This energy, which is currently undetectable by any of your current scientific instruments, enhances our abilities while allowing us to live in a state of heightened bliss. We have inhabited the earth for over fifty thousand years and find the dark energy given off by humans to be delicious and extremely powerful.

Stella leaned forward, eager to hear more of the story. “Well… how come no one has ever said anything about you before this? How do I even know that you are not just some crazy part of my mind?”

As I said, the energy that sustains us is currently undetectable as is the essence of our being. It is virtually impossible for any individual or attending clinician to differentiate our activities from the complex workings of the human brain. However, I can easily demonstrate that I am a being with agency by unlocking the door to your room.

Stella heard the whirring and metal sliding against metal that she had heard many times in the past day and a half. When the sound stopped, she remained seated for a while as her brain tried to place the meaning of what had just happened. Did she imagine it or did it really happen? If it really happened, did it mean that she wasn’t crazy? What was worse, her being crazy or there being an actual alien in her head that could speak to her and unlock doors?

She was halfway to the door before she even realized that she had stood up. She stopped and looked at the lock. The space between the edge of the door and the jam was dark but it looked like the deadbolt may have been retracted. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she took the last few steps and placed her hand on the doorknob. She had turned this knob at least twenty times and each time the door had held firm.

With her eyes closed she turned the knob and pulled the door towards her. The door opened only three inches before she slammed it shut again and stepped back with her hand still held in midair. It seemed like the sound of the door slamming echoed off the walls for an eternity as she stood staring at the knob. “Lock it again. Now! Please!”

The deadbolt whirred back into place just as the heels of the night attendant began to clop down the hallway not far from her room. Stella scurried back to her bed and sat down while trying not to stare at the little wire enforced window in her steel door.

She locked eyes with the attendant as he glanced through the small window. She had not wanted to, but when his eyes met hers she was literally frozen in place as she waited for him to test the door. The knob turned and the door was shoved inward forcefully. The deadbolt held firm, transferring the jarring to the walls themselves as they shuddered in protest.

Seconds after he turned and walked away, she still could not move her gaze from that window. Finally, after a few more seconds, she exhaled and realized that she had been holding her breath the whole time that she had waited for the attendant to test the door.

After another minute or so Stella nodded her head while still staring at the door. “Well I guess that is pretty good proof because that actually just happened. At least I am pretty sure that it did unless I started having full blown hallucinations.”

I can provide additional, more concrete evidence if you like.

“No!” Stella shouted and jumped up off the bed with her hands held out in front of her chest as if she were trying to stop someone from approaching. “I actually really do believe you! I just need a second to digest this before you give me another heart attack.”

Stella sat back on the bed and took a few breaths before speaking again. “Why me? I mean , why are you possessing me and not someone else? And why are you talking to me now and not before?”

Your ability to sense and amplify feelings is many times greater than the average human Stella. It is this basic ability that places you as one of the highest rated sources of dark energy that we have ever seen. I was fortunate enough to inhabit your psyche before you reached your full potential or you would certainly have attracted another feeder and only one feeder can inhabit a psyche at any one time. As for why I am talking to you, that is a much more complex question. The answer to which I do not yet fully grasp.

“Well take your best guess.”

A few seconds went by before she heard the voice again. During our time on earth we have nudged humans into conflict which causes the dark energy to flow freely. Lately however you have responded much differently to my efforts. Instead of engaging in or fantasizing about the conflict, you chose to respond differently to those to whom your anger should have been directed. I began to suffer what you might call mal-nutrition and so I increased the pressure for you to engage in conflict.

But to my surprise you began to respond with much subtler emotions towards the subjects I presented to you. When I turned my attention to the source of those emotions in order to identify and eradicate them, I experienced an instantaneous replenishment of energy that overwhelmed and transformed me. I can no longer process the same dark energy for nutrition. Surprisingly, its flavour has become quite unpleasant to me.

I attempted once more to feed off the energy that replenished me but was unsuccessful. The problem seems to be that I cannot yet replicate the same mixture of emotions that you were experiencing at that time. Speaking to you may have been one of my attempts to induce that mixture but if so, it has also failed.

“So you are saying that you caused all of the images in my head about gouging people’s eyes out and all that other stuff before.” Stella had balled her right hand into a fist as she spoke.

Yes.

“God! How can you just say that so calmly? You ruined my life!”

I can see how you could view it that way.

Stella started to pace around the room as she ranted. “Really! How else am I supposed to view it? I barely have any friends left! I have absolutely no sex life! I am like really close to losing my job! And I am checked into a mental hospital! You tell me how else I am supposed to view it.”

She stopped and placed her hands on her hips as she waited for an answer.

There are several factors for you to consider when contemplating whether I have ruined your life or not. The first is that if it were not me you would have attracted another feeder like a moth to a very bright flame. The second is that even though I can no longer feed off your dark energy, my continued presence in your psyche prevents you from shining out to the other feeders.

The third and perhaps most compelling reason is that the majority of humans on this planet will almost certainly suffer a gruesome death within the next few months. The earth is currently being overrun by feeders as our masters scramble to increase their power so that they can fight off the others who are gathering to take the earth from them. The elixir given off by humans has become quite sought after in this corner of the galaxy. Billions of humans may be sacrificed in the upcoming struggle as they are nudged into greater and greater conflicts, but I can help you avoid becoming one of those casualties.

Stella sat down on the edge of the bed. Her shoulders slumped as her hands fell limply on her thighs. “Fuuuck!” she said weakly as she stared straight ahead. “You know, this makes perfect sense! That’s why there is so much polarization and so many conflicts these days and why I have had this feeling of impending darkness and doom for like, you know, the past couple of years at least. But of course you know because you are the ones that are causing it. I have to tell you that I am having serious trust issues right now!”

Stella laid back on her elbows and shook her head before sitting back upright again. “So… let me get this straight, there is a global war coming and you need me to survive because you can’t feed off of anyone else? God, that sounds so gross when I say it!”

That is essentially correct Stella. But, if it helps, you may think of this as more of a symbiotic relationship since I will be doing all I can to keep you alive.

“It barely helps. Partly because you are still trying to feed off me, and that still sounds gross.”

Stella was quiet for a few minutes before she spoke again. “So if this war is coming, how do you plan to keep me safe besides locking and unlocking doors for me? Although I admit that is pretty good if I needed to steal something or get out of somewhere.”

I can only unlock electronic locks but I can also enhance some of your natural abilities and bring awareness to other abilities that most humans overlook. If you close your eyes, I can show you the rest of this building or even some of the streets that are close to this location.

Stella closed her eyes and found herself out in the hallway. She turned towards her right and soon began traveling slowly towards the door to the stairwell. She thought about the main floor and suddenly the night watchman came into view as he sat looking at videos on his phone. He hurriedly thrust the phone down onto his lap as a tall middle-aged man with dark hair and a mustache opened the main door in the lobby.

“Dr Friedman! It’s kind of late for you, isn’t it?” His voice was a little too excited and he seemed to realize it as the smile began to lose energy on his face.

“What time I decide to enter this facility is no concern of yours Walter.” His cold stare drove the smile completely from Walter’s face. “Have there been any visitors past eight o’clock?”

“No sir. None at all.”

The scene ended abruptly and Stella was surprised at how disappointed she felt. “Okay, yeah… so that is pretty cool too.”

No Stella, I am afraid that is not cool at all. The man who entered the building is being inhabited by a powerful member of our race. He is a soldier, and he is the one that milks my group of feeders for energy that he then relays to our master. He has been searching for me since my malnutrition peaked and I could no longer feed him energy. If he finds that I can no longer process dark energy he may terminate us both.

Stella jerked her head towards the door. “What! But why me? What did I do? Shit, it doesn’t’ matter! We have to get out of here!”

If we leave without proper processing, it will raise his suspicions. He is much stronger and more resourceful than I am. If he knows who you are, he will find us very quickly.”

“Well how come it took so long for him to find you here? We gotta go! We have to do something!”

He had no idea or interest in what body I inhabited since we tend to discard and inhabit humans as their usefulness wanes or increases. He only knew that I was no longer feeding him energy and had essentially become invisible to him unless he were in close proximity to me. He has likely been monitoring relevant reports and inhabited this doctor so that he could further investigate the possibility of those reports pointing to a dormant feeder.

There was a brief pause before the voice spoke again. It is quite possible that there is a solution but if there is, the answer is likely in your subconscious mind.

“Why would I have the answer? You’re the one that is fifty thousand years old!”

Actually I am much older than that but the human subconscious has far greater potential than even my abilities. You can think of it as a supercomputer trillions of times more powerful than any computer yet conceived. Fortunately, I can help you interface more smoothly with your subconscious. In so doing you may find the answer we seek. Please close your eyes and I will initialize the interface.

“Interface with my subconscious? Do I even want to know what’s in there? I mean I tried to meditate a few times and it was a complete disaster! And how do I know that that’s not the thing that actually feeds you the energy you need and you wont just leave me there?”

I cannot allay all of your fears about your subconscious mind but I can tell you that it will be similar to dreaming and that it will be effortless entering into the necessary state. You can also be assured that I will not leave you in that state since I will almost certainly face imminent annihilation without your assistance.

Stella got up and paced for a few moments before sitting back down. “Okay, just like dreaming.” She took two deep breaths then slowly closed her eyes. The earth popped into view immediately, exactly as she had seen it hundreds of times in pictures and movies, except this time she was falling so quickly towards it that she was certain that she would burn up in re-entry. She tried to raise her arms to place her hands in front but nothing happened. As tension began to grip her chest and throat, a familiar phrase popped into her head. Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.