I, the Storm: I, the Storm, #3

Recapitulations from Through Time and Space

Isaac opens ‘Through Time and Space’ and reads from it during the recaps.

The vicissitudes of life have been waving at me more lately. The tumultuous turmoil has been mulled over, over and over.

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Andrew and Isaac walk the grounds around Andrew’s mansion.

What am I? Who am I, Isaac asks.

That is still complicated regardless of whatever advantages we might have, Andrew says. What you are? Let’s start there.

Okay.

You have a human form, as do I, but we also have access to our spirit form. To put it simply: we are embodied concepts in human form. The concept that we are incorporated with is ‘storm.’ Where we are from, we call us ‘ecstorms.’

Ecstorms?

Yes, the embodied concept of storm.

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Vectors no longer vex me.

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Yes, concepts are non-physical, so they only live through physical objects and beings throughout the multiverse, Andrew says. Our spirit’s duty is to cooperate with other ECs in directing storms. We both work at a level of directing hurricanes and typhoons but my duties are prescribed or optioned while you have been taking them on yourself.

How long have you known about me, Isaac asks.

We are at February 11, 2013 presently and I started looking into you in April of 2009. I had yet to realize that the person that ejected me from Ike in 2008 was the same person. I did not know that we were brothers until recently.

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For I have waved back along the strings.

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You can time travel as well, Adam asks.

Yes, and so can you, Mr. Jones responds.

Me? No.

Yes, you can.

How?

We have, what we call, a Beacon molecule. It contains our entire makeup, genetic and otherwise. It rearranges us back to our correct form after we travel.

You must have me mistaken. I only traveled with Isaac. He is the one that must have this Beacon molecule.

He does have it, but so do you.

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The vibrations gyrate through timelines and side lives.

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We can resurrect, Isaac asks.

No, why do people mix that up, Andrew asks. We reincarnate.

How does that work?

There is a company called Conception that assigns ECs to different parts of this universe and informs EC families of their baby’s incarnations. A concept projects an image that it imagines itself to look like and any incarnation of its embodied form will form to that projection. Usually, the incarnations happen in the same family but it is possible to happen outside of it.

I don’t feel like I have lived before, Isaac says.

You are a first incarnation, Andrew says as the conversation between Adam and Mr. Jones intertwines.

Isaac and you also have something else that makes you unique. You are what we call, Mr. Jones says.

Alters, Andrew says while picking up the last words from Mr. Jones.

I assume that is like a bastard or something, Isaac says.

It stands for ‘Alternate beings’ which is to distinguish them from ECs. It means.

That one of your parents – in your case, your mother – is not an EC. Your mother was human and resides here on Earth, Mr. Jones picks up from Andrew. Your father is an EC and resides on Ceptine.

That’s the planet that we went to, Adam says.

Yes, and you saw Conception Tower.

That looked like a city crunched into a tube.

Ha, that is pretty much what that is.

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Call out to come together somewhere new, somewhere you.

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Have there been many other Alters, Isaac asks.

Yes, but we can’t be sure how many, Andrew answers.

Conception doesn’t keep track of them?

We can only track the Beacon molecule and, for some reason, Alters do not usually show up as having one. It seems to be inactive somehow or maybe they do not have one.

Did mine show up? Is that how you found me?

No, it doesn’t show up, but it is obviously working.

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Hear the calls of ghosts ringing wild through the cosmos.

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Hey babe, David says as he leans down and kisses one of the girls. He looks over to the other, Hey Mary, how are you?

Good, Mary says.

That’s Gaye, David says in an almost ‘tv show tagline’ way. He claps and mutters the hollers of a fake crowd.

Cute, Mary says.

How did it go, Janet asks.

Really well, Desiree has an enchanting voice, David says.

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Does the interlocution bring separation?

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Isaac walks Zoe home.

Thank you for walking me home, Zoe says.

It is my pleasure, Isaac says.

I had a great time this evening

I did too, can I see you again?

I am only here for a short rest before I have to make a long journey for work.

Where are you headed to, Isaac asks.

Virginia, Zoe responds.

When do you leave, Isaac asks.

I’ll be leaving on September 6th, Zoe says.

Well, that is not for about a week, Isaac says.

Yes.

So, may I see you again before you go?

I think that would be fine, Zoe says as she stops in front of a house. This is me.

Well then, I will see you soon, Isaac asks and Zoe kisses him.

Definitely, Zoe says with a smile and goes into her house.

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Can we bestow the gift of ourselves?

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Isaac lies next to Zoe.

You have it all, I mean the complete package, Isaac says.

What, Zoe asks.

You’re smart, beautiful, kind.

Do go on.

You’re a lady out in public but a freak in the sheets.

That is foul.

No, I’m serious, you’ve got it.

What do I have?

My heart, Isaac says looking to Zoe with a smile.

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Paths will continually cross, for we dance around the same axis.

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Isaac flips through the pictures in between Zoe getting up. Zoe walks toward the vortex. Isaac passes pictures of Denis Pirelli, Mary Gaye, Janet Rhodes, and David Lynn. Zoe goes through the vortex as Isaac lands on a picture of Zoe Bergan.

No way, Isaac says.

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Wandering for the joy and somewhat dodging for the fear.

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You want me to dehydrate a squirrel, Isaac asks.

Go for it, Andrew says.

Ahh, okay, Isaac says and stares at the squirrel. The squirrel tightens up; its tail goes stiff. Isaac watches from behind as it bends backwards in agony. The squirrel drops to the ground and its muscles shrivel. Its cheeks sink in and the jawbone is revealed. Isaac shakes his head and the squirrel’s muscles fill again. The rehydration speeds up rapidly as Andrew looks over Isaac’s stare. The squirrel gets up on its hind legs, crouches down and shoots up to the top of the highest tree. It runs off among the branches.

Your sister would be proud, Andrew says looking up with a smile.

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Appearing in different forms, yet we still shine through here.

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Watch the fox, Isaac says. The fox runs straight toward Andrew. A yard away, it somersaults and jumps up. The fox lands about a foot in front of Andrew, does a quick dance step and ends in a pose.

What is happening, Andrew asks.

Isaac is moving me, the fox says.

What, Andrew asks.

I wondered how I might be able to bend blood and what I could do if I could, Isaac says. I found that those bumps that I felt in the squirrel were like nodes within the vein system. Now, I can control the flow of blood through a being and move them with these nodes.

He realized that he can affect the neural pathways as well, the fox says.

But that just came to light about an hour ago, Isaac says. I don’t know the extent to which I can control either of these abilities yet.

That is amazing, Andrew says.

Yeah, but first I have to let this fox go without giving it a heart attack.

Do you think that would happen, Andrew asks.

I know it would; I didn’t get this good at it without failing a little, Isaac says. Sorry, again, you three woodland creatures, you will not be forgotten.

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Beings in different worlds but still being here.

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A vortex opens on a road and the SUV that Isaac, Andrew and Hanna are traveling in reconfigures and continues driving down the road.

Take a left in two miles and we will be home, Andrew says.

Rye Manor, Hanna says.

It’s a manor here rather than a mansion, Isaac asks.

Is that a complaint, Andrew asks.

Of course not, Isaac answers.

Good, Andrew says.

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Bringing different songs but singing harmonically dear.

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Hands rise in the crowd and people start yelling questions over one another.

Please, Andrew says, "I will answer questions in a moment but I want to first inform you of an idea that the councils, Conception, and myself, amongst others, have drawn. We set forth, what we call, the Grand Invitation. We both, ECs

and Alters alike, have many things to learn about each other; thus, we wish to invite them to Ceptine to learn about where they come from and a little more on who they – in our society and the multiverse at large."

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To the atmosphere, where we can spew homage.

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The buildings crawling upward are littered with advertisements in holograms and even neon signs. The night atmosphere makes the scene seem like a cyber punk reality. Zoe walks through a crowd of people down a street.

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To shapes that spread their shadows over my ego, you should have warned me.

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I am Otto Malkin and I am with IGM, he says.

What is IGM, Adam asks.

Inter Galactic Music, it is a record company. I am a representative for a subsidiary called ‘The Library,’ we focus on recording and storing music from around the multiverse, Mr. Malkin says.

That’s awesome, Isaac says.

What does this mean for Isaac, Adam asks.

I would like to talk more, but I want to present you with an opportunity to make a band with some of the Alters that you find from Earth 324.

A band of Alters, Adam asks.

Precisely, Mr. Malkin says.

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Then again, I should have seen it coming.

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Isaac sits at a table, in an office, with Zoe, Thomas, Desiree, Mary, David, Adam, Mr. Malkin and another man. 

Rock stars, we will be, Zoe says to Isaac as she looks over the contract.

Alright, are we ready to go through this and get you guys to work, Mr. Malkin asks.

Yes, the group says.

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Coming somewhere close to something.

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What is this, like a council of Alter affairs, Isaac asks.

That is a pretty good name, actually, Andrew says. And, yes essentially.

What does this have to do with IGM, Zoe asks.

One of the perks that come with the promotion is more vacation days, so, from this moment, you are to focus on your work with IGM and Conception will contact you in a few months to start outlining.

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Just beyond the bend of time and space, my friend.

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Isaac, Zoe, Desiree, David, Mary, Thomas and Adam are on a space station.

What are we doing here, David asks.

This is what we call a ‘folding station,’ it is where we can fold space so that we can go to places we wouldn’t otherwise be able to travel, Adam says.

Where are we going that we need to be here, Mary asks.

Normally, when I time travel, I have to be able to picture the place somehow before I can open a vortex to take me there, Isaac says. We are here because we are going to an alternate reality. I don’t know how to picture this alternate reality so the machine on this station will safely bring us there.

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We shake it down into the end.

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Rumble Me Tumble, that is an awesome name and that performance was out of this world, the guy says.

Thank you, Isaac says, I’m Garrett Doss.

"I’m Sean O’Leary. It is a pleasure to meet you.

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Sean and Will wave as the van backs out and takes off. Sean sees the book and picks it up.

Journal of a Traveler, Sean says as he looks it over. Huh.

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I run laps through time loops.

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Aura comes out of a vortex into a room that Hanna is in.

You’ve been a difficult woman to track down, Aura says.

I decided to take a little me time, Hanna says.

And me time involves all these bruises?

It seems I’m done beating myself up.

Good because you might need to beat some other people for a change.

What people?

Judging by the time loop that Isaac is in, I would say the Impawag.

Isaac is caught in a time loop, why? Don’t the Impawag only mess with people that disobey understandings of timeline sensitivities, Hanna asks.

Maybe Isaac did somehow disobey something, Aura says.

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I spread lore through the cracks in the doors.

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A leprechaun comes out of the tent as Hanna gets out of the carriage.

Ahh, we have an alien in our midst, the leprechaun says.

Says a leprechaun, Hanna says.

What brings you to our fair world?

I believe that someone here has trapped my brother, Isaac, in a time loop.

If it was one of us, then he probably deserved it, but I’m guessing that you already knew that.

I did, just like I know that you are the one that carried out the sentence that put him there.

Isaac who?

Isaac Rye.

Oh yes, that’s right, I did do that.

Why?

Isaac dropped his journal on Earth that talked about his space and time travel, ECs, Ceptine, the whole bit. Some guy picked it up and is writing a book about it as we speak.

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And this isn’t even when the fear grabbed hold, no.

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Hanna rushes through the crowd while she cuts through wrists, necks, chests and slices wings, snouts and breasts. Hanna flips her swords and bursts through two demons. With a butterfly style swimming motion, she stabs both of the demons in the back. Hanna takes out the swords and spins forward while spinning her swords like a helicopter. She jump kicks a demon to the side of her. She uppercuts a demon and pushes a large gust of wind through the crowd of demons. She watches as more demons crawl over the walls of the castle like an infestation of roaches.

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I have come through that and this, this and that.

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Hanna and the beast battle. Blows from Hanna’s swords seem of little consequence to the beast. The beast slaps her through columns and pounds craters into the floor around her as she dodges. Hanna jumps over the beast and attempts to slash down him but her blades break. She falls to the ground and the beast stomps his foot on her. The beast presses further onto Hanna.

Hanna stabs the broken swords into the sides of the beast’s foot and air swirls around Hanna. Hanna pushes the beast’s foot off her and the beast falls down. Hanna backflips forward, lands on the beast, slashing through its stomach and ripping out the box. Hanna holds the box up for the leprechaun to see as she stands inside the beast’s belly, covered in blood. The leprechaun runs and Hanna pursues him.

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I have found a