Jay's body lay there in the Artifact Room as he slept away. Dana was monitoring his condition from the console, and Linda looked on patiently, waiting for her husband to arouse.
Dr. Kelly and Dr. Blake were discussing things, and the elite guards took a break as Jay had been asleep for hours during this excursion. It had been quiet, but Linda remembered what Jay said. It was too quiet.
Looking at her husband, she saw Jay's face twitch. She had been chewing on her fingernails but stopped when she saw this movement. There was no change on any of the monitors connected to Jay, and the movement could have been normal for a sleep pattern.
But Linda kept watching intently as this movement gave her pause. She had a feeling this was something different. After that thought, Jay's whole body twitched quickly, almost shaking for a second or two. This time, the monitors detected the movement, and everyone began paying attention to Jay's status.
"His whole body just twitched. His pulse and blood pressure went up momentarily but then came back down," Dana said, continuing to monitor.
The elite guards got back into their positions, having their rifles ready. Dr. Kelly and Dr. Blake were watching again. Jay's body began to move with more twitches, lasting longer each time.
"I wonder what is going on over there?" Dr. Blake asked.
"There's no telling," was all Dr. Kelly replied.
***********************************************************************************
Pat was still sitting in the interrogation room, with Mike in the room with him. Seth had gone to the restroom briefly and would return soon. Pat had his eyes closed, something Mike noted and wondered if Pat might actually be sleeping.
Pat was doing nothing but sleeping. He was patiently waiting, too, for whatever was about to happen next.
Pat could sense the activity taking place in the Artifact Room. It didn't distress him. It excited him. He was closing his eyes to focus better on what was happening in the room. He could sense a presence and power he hadn't seen in a long time.
Rob and Larry were playing a game in their quarters down the hall from Pat's room with Linda and Jay's kids. But when the others were preoccupied, Rob could feel something, too, as if it was behind him. He momentarily looked over his shoulder while the other's attention was diverted.
Rob and Pat had a connection, and the connection was being exploited at this moment. Rob could feel the presence and the power just as Pat had. He, too, had not felt it in a long time.
***********************************************************************************
Back in the Artifact Room, Jay's movements became consistent and continuous. The twitches were happening in intervals, all across his body. Dr. Blake was trying to monitor Jay more closely to see if something about the medication to induce sleep had caused the reaction or if something else was at work. Finally, the twitching of Jay's body stopped.
Jay lay there silently, with no activity other than the steady rates of his vital signs. He was in no distress. The guards stood around Jay's position, ready to act if needed. Linda was concerned. She wanted to know what was happening to her husband. No one had answers. But finally, a response from Jay occurred.
Without warning, Jay slowly rose out of the recliner, sitting straight up with closed eyes. His body moved to the edge of the seat, putting him in a full, upright seated position. No change occurred in his vital signs. He was simply sitting up.
The guards raised their weapons, ready to act again if needed.
Everyone looked on at Jay, holding their collective breath.
***********************************************************************************
Rapha took Jay into another dream to explain to him about Pat. He took Jay to a distant past beyond the time Jay had seen in the Atlantean civilization. This time was hundreds if not thousands of years earlier than the latest time Jay had been to before.
"Pat is not a human."
Jay was astonished, "Then what is he?"
"The sentinels were designed to protect planets. They carried a device that allowed them unlimited power to wield against adversaries that might seek to harm the species present in individual worlds. The people of your planet referred to them as handbags in ancient texts."
"Handbags! Yes, I've heard of this. What do the handbags do?"
"They are not handbags. They are a device that contains the power of gods."
"What gods? Like the God?"
"No, but something believing itself to be close."
"Wait, you said, designed? What do you mean by design? How was Pat designed?"
"Pat is a creation like no other. This being, entity, machine is artificial in nature. It has no beating heart, no lungs, no mind. It is quite literally something from nothing. The being you call Pat is made up of the matter of the universe, and its essence can enter anything at any time and become anything it wants. It is the perfect weapon against all marauders and has wielded its power many times on your planet."
"So, he..."
"It is no he."
"The being Pat is like a spirit?"
"Even more than that."
"What's more than a spirit?"
"In your world, there have been those who referred to them as angels."
"Angels?"
"But this creature, this thing, fell from grace long ago. It has been here in your world for as long as humans have existed and keeps your world separated."
"Separated? From what?"
"From your ultimate glory."
"What is my ultimate glory?"
"To go beyond this world."
***********************************************************************************
Jay's body continued holding in the seated position, with all eyes on him. Jay's eyes had never opened. No more twitching. But suddenly, Jay stood to his feet, eyes still closed.
Everyone in the room jumped, and Dana let out a yelp. Others looked at her as she apologized. As everyone watched, Jay's eyes clearly showed deep REM sleep, moving side to side as you would expect. So how Jay was standing was inconceivable. But finally, Jay moved toward one of the guards. The guard wasn't sure what to do or if he should use his weapon. Finally, he lowered that weapon and pulled out a tazer device to stun Jay and possibly wake him up. The lead guard insisted on his subordinate doing so. They didn't want to harm Jay.
But before the guard could get the tazer out, Jay grabbed the guard around the throat. Jay hoisted the guard up in the air, over his head as the strong grip of the guard's neck began to choke him. The other guards encircled Jay and ordered him to lower the guard, or they would be forced to shoot. Another guard was getting a stronger tazer to use on Jay.
Jay was not releasing his grip as the guard slowly lost consciousness. Finally, the other guard with the tazer aimed and fired at Jay. The electrodes began shocking him, forcing Jay's body to release its grasp. Both men fell to the ground. But the damage had already been done. One guard assessed both men and confirmed Jay was still alive and unconscious, but the other guard he had been choking was deceased. Linda held her hands over her mouth, gasping at the thought her husband had just killed another person. The guards picked up Jay's body and took him back over to the recliner, reconnecting the electrodes and devices that had ripped off when Jay stood up and moved from the seat. But as they reconnected, Jay, the deceased guard, sat up. Dana screamed when she saw the man sit up, prompting everyone to look in that direction. Then the deceased guard rose completely to his feet and opened his eyes. His eyes were no longer eyes but light filling the orifice that had been his eyes. Before anyone could react, a shockwave shot out in all directions, knocking everyone to the ground.
Linda, stunned by the shockwave, started rising back up. She leaned up from the floor and saw the deceased guard walking off into the Artifact Room. Linda looked around her and realized everyone else was still trying to get their bearings from the shockwave. So, she jumped to her feet and followed behind the deceased guard.
***********************************************************************************
Rapha showed Jay this other reality, the earliest reality. There, the creature Jay knew as Pat was all-powerful, all-knowing, and nearly invincible. But vanity was its flaw, and when humans came along on the planet, they began to find ways to subdue the creature.
"I don't understand, Rapha. If humans then could defeat Pat, why is he here now?
"Because it had help."
"What sort of help?"
"You have met one of them, the one like a boy."
Jay looked shocked at Rapha, "Rob! Rob is his son."
"That creature is a mere extension of the other. They are one and the same."
Jay was confused but began to connect the dots. That's when he had a realization, "But you led us to Rob? You allowed the connection with the Anderson Loop because you did away with it afterward. Does that mean you are helping, Pat?"
"No."
"Then why did you do that? Why did you allow it?"
"It was a means to an end."
"You like saying that, don't you?"
"You cannot completely understand everything I am doing, but you will later."
"What it sounds like is you are letting him do this! Have you been letting him do this all ten times? Destroying civilization, after civilization, over and over again?"
"Those civilizations made their choices. All must live with their choices."
"And some of those civilizations asked for help. They begged and pleaded for help. Is this how you help them? To be on the brink of extinction?"
There was a long pause.
"Yes," was all Rapha replied.
Jay was angry beyond belief. He wanted to attack Rapha but couldn't because Rapha wasn't there in front of him. Only people in a dream world. One particular one standing before him as he watched was a woman. A woman who embraced Pat. Ironically enough, the woman looked like Britton.
"Is that? No, it can't be! Was Britton with him, too?"
"That is no human either. That creature is the embodiment of the other. They are all one and the same. Three in one."
Jay couldn't believe what he was seeing. This whole situation had been some sort of power play and game. It had wreaked havoc on Jay's life. Destroying his career. Taking him from his family. Sending him through abuse after abuse. Ripping his very soul from his own body. Nothing Jay had experienced through this whole ordeal had ever been as it seemed. He didn't know what to believe. He didn't know where to turn. Rapha was letting him down. His friends hadn't helped him. His colleagues abandoned him. Even his family....my family!
Jay was in full panic mode now. Whatever was going on, Jay knew his family was in jeopardy.
"Let me out of here! I WANT OUT OF HERE NOW, RAPHA!" Jay screamed at the top of his lungs.
"That creature is already there. It is too late."
"That's why I have to go back, NOW!"
"The ones you call Pat, Rob, and Britton are all there and will conquer all with their vessel."
"Vessel? What do you mean vessel, like a ship?"
"Yes."
Jay thought for a minute as it all started coming together. "The Fleece. The Fleece is their ship. That's how it moves."
"It is time to move on from that."
"It's time to move on from this. Send me back now, Rapha!"
"If you go there, you will surely die."
"I'm not going to let my family die!"
"What good will your family be if you die?"
"I can't leave them there with them! Send me back now!"
Jay kept screaming for Rapha to send him back to his world as darkness consumed all around him. Jay was alone, as alone can be. Rapha watched, waiting for the opportune time to send Jay back to his world, but it would come at a great price.
***********************************************************************************
Linda was running up to the deceased guard as they came to a stop in front of her. Linda stopped and ducked behind a structure nearby. The nearby structure was a carousel from an amusement park. As she kneeled there watching, the deceased guard began to shake and convulse. His illuminated eyes were shown brighter and brighter until the light from them began to take over his entire body. His body was changing, too, growing older by the second as it began to decay. Finally, the light became intense, and the body it was in disappeared. The light rushed towards the ground, forming a structure on the floor. Linda looked down to observe a small bucket-like object. It had a handle and squared off base. The object Linda was seeing was none other than one of the handbags mentioned by Rapha.
Back when Rapha first appeared, he had disembodied Britton, seemingly killing her. But death was not the end result. Britton wasn't human but a variation of Pat, the Sentinel. Britton knew what Rapha would do to her and allowed it to happen. Rapha also knew it was a means to an end. Once Britton was disembodied, she waited patiently for the right pieces to be put in place to launch her true attack. While Rapha tried to show Jay the truth, Britton entered his body and released herself into our world. The handbag is a weapon that will allow Pat to complete what he needs, for the time of the Beast to reign has finally come.
***********************************************************************************
Pat sat there, still with his eyes closed. Then, a smile came across his face. He opened his eyes.
In the room away from Pat's, Rob also smiled. Then they both said in unison.
"That's three."
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