Facing the edge of the balcony I struggle to my feet. Getting out of Vera's deep chair is only happening because of panic. I can't feel my body except for a numb tingle. I'm seeing stars. I stumble to the railing too low for safety. I hear gentle wind rustle through tall trees below me. I fumble to grasp a support I don't know how I find. But I seem to be safe for now.
This isn't Brussels I'm seeing. I recognize the view across a deep gorge from past dreaming. Pale luminous fog crawls across the city coming to the lower edge of the chasm gapping beneath me. Multi colored lights surface through the rolling mists before disappearing over the opposite brim of the moon lit chasm. Flowing water sounds I recognize cut at the deep river gorge below. I lean to see that bank of fog climb the canyon wall beneath me. Normally heights give me horrible suspense. I'm intrigued by these emerging vapors. My interest rises with the bubbling sounds of the soft winds caressing up the trees underneath me, they engage, absorb and distract. My sense of reality is even more rarified than ever.
"Mr. Johnson, sir,...., If you can...., can you please step back?" Said a soothing familiar voice. There's mumbling behind me. Two quarrel in whispered tones.
I hear Vera complain, "I didn't want to talk to this pill."
I don't recognize hearing my name, but I know something is wrong as I still have a little toxic panic. I try to straighten up but I've leaned so far over the low railing. I get into this scene which is so entrancing, at least it seems that way to me now. That feeling of free fall kicks in and I'm caught by my elbows before loosing balance completely. As touch has always been my private medium I feel the total body awareness of Terry. I stand up, turn to my left saying, "Terry, how good to feel you again." "How are you young man?" Terry is in fact in his early fifties, but the educated stopped aging back in the early twenties when advanced diagnostics and physiological medicine became the standard of treatment modality for informed consumers.
"Let me get you out of this death trap." Terry seems justifiably concerned. "We had to make sure you are on the level about this whole extraction process." "Actually we all want to get out of Oraca. But there really is no other place for us to go any more" "There have been some unanticipated consequences with all of us using the same reprogramming." Terry put his left arm around my shoulders while holding on to my right arm. I wonder if I'm going to be finding bruises tomorrow from all the firm handling. But his touch remains sincere. As he pulls open the door to walk me back into the building, he says, "Gunter and Gretchen have been making secret plans to dismiss the boards of both InterSpace and Oraca." "A merger seems the best recourse for protecting everyone, and saving precious intellectual property." But now days all upper level Management everywhere are learning "Confidence Gaming," and it makes everyone kinda stupid, especially in groups. It's great for detaching but I knew that this was going to be a problem when they first re-released this mislabeled spiritual technology. Before I know it we turn right into an office decked out like an artifacts archive. "Welcome to my lair. By the way, Where did you end up?" "We always ran into each other at the rollouts for new conversions." He drops me into another low comfy chair. Looking around I realize most of the artifacts are not familiar.
As a lover of art history, "I'm curious, This isn't earth art, is it?
"God it's good to see you again old man," laughing and smiling. "Technically you are correct, we are not on earth any more, at least not your earth." "The earth you knew was doomed to fail." "But remember all those visions you had during your dreadful recovery?" "It turns out you were releasing alternative realities that had separate "New Histories" that had far more ancient civilizations that have survived into our today." "The ancients were master tera formers and they gave us this amazingly nuanced new world." " That's why the city looks so unfamiliar to you." "Vera really meant no harm but she has always been bitter about her ugly reversal." "She didn't need the rapid conversion, actually none of us did, but we couldn't justify releasing an untried technology on an unsuspecting populace." Waves of guilt pour over my shredded sense of proportion. WHAT HAVE I DONE?
