FLUX 2039 (parts 1-5) rough draft

part one: STALEMATE




Hammers were banging, stone on stone, and the Gods arrived. Enugnuk, filled with fear and anticipation, ran through the ferns along the brook’s embankment and reached the clearing to witness the event. The battle’s blood streamed from his head.
The fighting had ended, a stalemate, upon seeing the lights.
Lukluh snuck up behind Enugnuk and slipped her fingers through his, the blood warm to the touch.

One day before the battle, Lukluh kissed Enugnuk. “Please, be careful” she told him, in the tongue of the tribe.
“Dear Lukluh, our love, granted by the Gods, will bring me back to you. Have no fear, sun-of-my-heart.” He set off to join the men of the tribe. Her eyes followed him as he marched down the path with the others. When he was no longer in sight, she looked up to the sky.

The blood, sticky between their entwined fingers, mostly belonged to the men from the other tribe.
She looked at him.
“Do not be afraid,” he told her, “they are here to protect us.”
She looked to the clearing, the lights still blinding, the humming dying down.

The first blow had been received by Enugnuk’s leader. The other tribe cheered as they lunged forwards.
Enugnuk blocked the first attack with the large stone hammer in his right hand. He then thrust his shortspear into the abdomen of his opponent. Pulling the spear back, revealing the intestinal spaghetti they referred to as lifeworms, Enugnuk hung his hammer on his belt and pushed his fingers into the other’s wound. He withdrew them and ran them along his chest in the shape of an arrow, pointing up. Painted with the crimson warpaint he shrieked as he attacked his next opponent.

The humming was now a low rumble.
“The others do not share our Gods. They will soon be judged” he told her as he pointed to the ground.
“But what if they are their gods?” she asked.
He looked at her. “Their gods do not exist, sun-of-my-heart. Such talk is nonsense. Why do you think that we fight?”
Her vision returned to the clearing. “You are right, Enugnuk. I am a fool. I am sorry.”
Other members of the tribe were coming through the ferns, painted with blood. The lights, dimming, revealed the smoke.

Enugnuk’s best mate lay dead on the ground, impaled with a midspear, the blood flowing out of a second hole in his chest. The battle escalated around him. The enemy did not paint themselves with the blood of their opponents. They thought this to be a silly gesture. Instead, they dug out the hearts of the defeated with their stone-claws and took a large bite out of them, believing that this released the power of the sun and that it would then enter them and lead them to victory.
Enugnuk brought his hammer to his chest as a stone-claw came crashing down on it.

The smoke, clearing, revealed three men, cleaner versions of the men from the tribes.
Lukluh gasped.
Enugnuk stood tall.
Both tribes were now in attendance and Lukluh tightened her grip.
The arrivals looked at the tribes. They looked at each other.
And then, they were gone.







part two: DRAWN ONWARD



Where did we go wrong?
Foolish to think that we could escape our flaws, our instincts, our dark past. There is no salvation.
The ship’s light-drive kicked and we were gone.
A long, thin and narrow robot with a fanned hover skirt, a sort of Dior droid, named Robo-80R, floated in and brought me a pill to settle my stomach. Light Travel makes me sick. I swallowed it and thanked him. The Captain began yelling.
“We are doomed! All we do is kill! Kill and destroy!”
Doubtless he’s been hitting the bottle again.
“To think it might be different someplace else”, he hammered on, “all we do is...”
He brought his hands to his face and began sobbing, “Are we not drawn onward, we few… drawn onward to new era?”
The words were full of hope, yet void of probability.
The solitude has not helped. Space Dementia has clearly rattled the crew. One officer attempted sunbathing on the ship’s wing. Fully equipped with what he thought was tanning oil (it was actually Engine Coolant) and a make-shift bathing suit, he opened the cargo hatch. Needless to say, the Vacuum quickly and efficiently brought an end to that plan.
The Worm was right. We just don’t get it.
The whole idea of this voyage was to find a new world. To begin again. Wipe out the past, the evils. Be gone of it all. A clean slate. We were to be the salvation and redemption of mankind. This ship was our confessional and the stars were to offer us forgiveness.
So, I ask again, where did we go wrong?
The ship’s light-drive kicked again.
And we were gone.






part three: A TRIP



“This mess of runny eggs, hash and home-fries is delicious” she said.
The man looked at the woman, “It’s good slop” he concurred.
“What time are we leaving?” asked the woman.
“Finish breakfast. Get dressed. Then, we’re gone.”
She smiled, “I can’t wait to get out of here, these people have been driving me… mad.”
“I know, dear” sad the man, “I know.” He forked up the last of his slop and swallowed it without chewing. “I’m gonna go pack the car.”
“Wait” she said, standing and moving behind him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and began working out the tension. “Thank you for this, thank you so much.”
“It’s good slop” he concurred.
She stopped working her hands and looked down at him, quizzically. “Honey, you already said that.”
“Huh?” he asked.
“About the food being good.’
“I did, did I?,” the man closed his eyes, “I… I don’t know what I’m saying. S’been a long week, what with the, well… you know” said the man, looking down.
“I know, dear, I know” she said.
He forked up nothing and swallowed it without chewing. “I’m gonna go pack the car.”
The woman backed away. “Okay, Hon, I won’t stall this any longer. Let us be gone with everything. Finally. Gone.”
He forked up nothing and swallowed it without chewing. “I’m gonna go pack the car.”
“Hon?” asked the woman to the man.
“It’s good slop” he concurred. He forked up more nothing and swallowed it without chewing. “Was it a bat I saw?”
“A Bat? Where… Honey, are you feeling okay?” asked the woman, nervously.
The man looked at her. He forked up another scoop of nothing and swallowed it without chewing.
“Okay, okay, stop messing around. Go pack the car” she insisted.
He twitched.
He looked at her.
“Rac eht kcap og annog m’I” he said.
He swallowed nothing without chewing and forked up nothing.
“Hon?” she asked.
He looked at her.
“Pols doog s’ti” he said.
The woman started yelling, “Stop it! It’s not funny anymore!”
The man looked at her, her eyes welling up.
And he was gone.





part four: BLUE INK FOR PENS



Eva was merely along for the ride. She told him that she loved him and that she would die for him.
It was time.
Or so it would seem.
The Worm readied himself, but to no avail. Everything was done and, in a glimpse, everyone was gone.
The Worm frantically looked around.
“No. No. No!”
Somehow, Mobius took them but the Worm should have seen it happen. They shared the same ability. They could both create and manipulate singularities to travel through the space-time continuum. They could both see all of time as one repetitious circle of fate, the same in the beginning as in the end. So, what was different?
The Worm sat down on the bloodless patterned sofa and stared off into space, presumably, literally. He decided to try again:

-PLAY.

Adolf handed the prussic acid to Eva. She told him that she loved him and that she would die for him.

-PAUSE.

Everything was still. The Worm moved in front of the two figures on the couch. They were still seated, but frozen in time. There were no singularities for them to jump through, and they certainly did not look as though they were planning on going anywhere in this life.

-SLOW.

Eva received the posion capsule and the Worm watched intently. Adolf let escape a small grin. It seemed as though it was directed towards the Worm. A flash of light came as a surprise. The two figures were gone.

-STOP.

Something was not right. Mobius had found a way to keep the Worm from interfering. He had done the impossible. The Worm looked up.
“I must find out what Hitler knew, how he was able to elude me. How he befriended Mobius. How they are keeping me at bay.”
He extended his right arm and a vortex appeared before him, sucking him in.
And, yes, with that, he was gone.






part five: CAIN, A MANIAC



Cain wrote absurd stories for a weekly tabloid newspaper. His articles were often preceded by headlines such as:

GIRL BORN WITH THREE ARMS AND SEVEN LEGS EATS TWO OF THE LEGS AND LIVES!

And:

JESUS OF NAZARETH SAVES EARTH BY DEFEATING A LUNAR SWAMP CREATURE IN SCRABBLE TOURNAMENT!

Yet, after reporting on these fascinating news stories, he remained to be surprised when the Worm appeared in his small apartment kitchen. “You’re a what?!” Cain asked, shaking nervously, a steak-knife in his hand.
“I am a Starunner. Perhaps the last, I‘m not sure” the Worm replied.
“Oh. Okay. And what is a starunner?” Cain began edging his way to the refrigerator, “and what is with that suit?”
“I am not from your planet, or even your dimesnsion for that matter. I can see and understand what you perceive as time as one whole, being able to move from point to point as I choose by creating singularities, or wormholes, and jumping through them”, explained the Worm, covered in a body-suit that appeared to emulate space and stars and nebulae, “human eyes cannot understand my natural appearance so I wear this suit constructed from the fabric of space, itself.”
The stars in the suit shined as stars shine. The nebulae and gases floated as nebulae and gases float. It seemed as though one could reach out to touch the Worm and never actually touch anything, like their hand would just keep reaching, like trying to grab the bird flying at you in a 3-D movie.
Cain opened the top door of the refrigerator and introduced a half-drunken liter of vodka to the conversation. “And why are you here?” he asked before swigging from the fogged bottle.
“Adolf Hitler is on his way to give a speech in 2039 to reveal his plans for a better world. Then, he will carry out those plans. I need you to help me stop him.”
“Hitler’s dead. And if he wasn’t, I’m sure he wouldn’t be around in 2039. Besides, 2039 is forty years from now. Pretty sure I will also be dead by then.”
“I just saw him disappear from his bunker with Eva Braun. He gives a speech in 2039 and then, somehow alters the outcome of the United States Civil War, leading the South to victory.”
Disbelief and pressure ejected the distilled alchohol from Cain’s mouth, “Ha! Good one! Who sent you? I know they say that I’m a maniac but this is above even me! I gotta write this shit down.”
“This is not a sham, Cain.”
“Yeah. Right. So, if the South won, how come I’ve learned otherwise in history class? How come confederate flags aren’t adorning our town halls?”
“It hasn’t happened yet.”
“The Civil War was over a hundred years ago!” stated Cain.
“In your time, yes, but now, things are different. My nemesis, Mobius, who shares the same powers as me, has intervened and partnered with Hitler. They are up to no good and we must stop them.”
“You’re buddy chooses Adolf friggin’ Hitler and you choose me?” asked Cain.
“I understand that you are well educated in alien life and it’s influence on humanity.”
Cain pulled out a chair and sat down, “I write stories for a tabloid! Fiction! Aliens designing the pyramids and shit. All fiction. Sure, I know the myths and what not, but it’s all fairy tales.”
“No. It’s not.” The Worm extended his right hand, grabbed Cain’s shoulder with his left, and they were both gone.
Then, they returned.
Cain was pale. He stared out the window above his sink. “Okay. This is heavy.”
“You will help me” insisted the Worm.
Cain’s view remained of the outside. A minute passed, but not for the Worm. He looked at the Worm. “What can I do?”
“Dig up stuff on Hitler’s involvement with the occult. You have written some stories based on that, figured you might know a thing or two about a thing or two. You have traveled with me and I will keep you under my protection, even when I am not here, and that will be often. Could be that you wake up in an alternate present, a present that the South had won the Civil War, but you will still know what is real. You will still remember what is now and what is right. That reality may unveil more clues to Hitler’s dealings with Mobius. We must find out where and how they met and what Mobius is up to if we want to put a stop to this whole thing and set things right again. I am leaving now.” The Worm extended his right arm.
“Wait! What do you mean you’re leaving?” shouted Cain, now standing.
“Good luck, Cain. I’ll see you soon.”
“Where do I-” a wormhole sucked the Worm away and Cain sat down again, “go?”