The Fate of a Mind: TimeSaga C3 (All 6 Chapters)

The Fate of a Mind
TimeSaga:  The Society Story Threee
Chapter One

I had known Dr. Beyonce for a long time.  I almost began exchanging communications with her as soon as Jimmy began working for her.  He had proposed from the first that I be the one to program the robot they were designing.  In response to his urging, I had indeed set myself to learn computer code and how to simulate human reactions to situations.  With the support of Dr. Beyonce, I had been able to gain instruction from some rather notable people in the area of computer logic.  I thus had developed a lengthy relationship with her that extended for longer than she and I had direct experience in working with each other.

She had never hidden her past of once being a man.  I have to say that I even received communications from one of her daughters that claimed her as a father.  Dr. Beyonce had a rather interesting past, but I found nothing in her relationship with me that troubled me.

Jimmy spoke of having to work with Dr. Rudy Ryans in the early days of conceptualizing FER-RON, and I eventually came to have to work with the man as well.  By the time that I actually joined the team working on the robot, there were others with serious experience that actually commanded my respect.  I thus really did not meet Dr. Ryans until after the tragic event that killed Jimmy and had the other people with respect leave working on FER-RON.  I however found my time of working with Dr. Ryans to be fun and not simply in the presence of a very intelligent individual.

My experience in dealing with both had me clearly recognize that they had come to Mission to be with Mary.  Others were working with me to assure that the biological parts of the android were healthy, or that the mechanical parts of the girl were functioning properly.  Both Dr. Beyonce and Dr. Ryans however saw Mary as a complete individual, and I recognized that perspective as being the proper way to treat her.

I said, "Dr. Beyonce, Mary is aware of every communication you and I have."

She replied, "I have tried to make her aware of my feelings for her.  In a way I saw her as Joseph's child.  Sally was my child.  I developed the technology to enable both girls to exist.  While I made certain that Joseph knew what I was doing, even married him to assure his commitment to producing Sally, he was not as open about his developments to produce Mary.  I thus haven't really felt the attachment to her, even though I recognize that she is just as much my daughter."

"I know how much effort you went through to track Mary down after she had been stolen."

"Yes, but I also made certain that reparations for what those that are now in charge of the Straw Sapien Corporation did to Mary credited her.  I might have been Joseph's wife, and part of my DNA is responsible for Mary, but I had to have the courts see her as a person.  I thus instructed my lawyers to keep her out of my limelight, but assure that she stayed her own individual.  I believe doing that was for the best, even though it kept us apart."

I felt a need to stress, "She does not hate you.  She wants to love you."

"Honestly, I want to love her as well.  Come on, Debra, take me to her."

I almost felt bad in bringing Dr. Beyonce to the floor where we worked on FER-RON.  After that conversation I felt it wrong to associate the equipment with the robot to that of Mary.  However, the internal skeletal system was all mechanical and a good portion of the neural network was electronic.  With Dr. Joseph Worsheim being the spouse of Dr. Leanna Beyonce, he knew her technology.  Thus, a lot of Mary was actually similar to FER-RON, so the instruments we used on the robot were useful in treating the girl.

Mary did look like a young child.  Physically, she was and would ever be about the size and appearance of a ten-year old girl.  The non-organic parts made her a little heavier than a normal child.  The pink hair gave her an exotic appearance.  Lying on the bed however one saw a young lass and not a marvel of human and machine fused together.

Dr. Beyonce stood just holding one of Mary's hands for a time before asking, "Is she active?"

I replied, "We fully believe that she is."

"Well, I don't know what to do."

She let go of the hand to move the hair.  Mary did not wear her hair that long, but I watched as Dr. Beyonce played with the strands.  She then touched the face while possibly explaining her actions.

"I expected Mary to look more like Sally.  I mean, I have seen pictures of Mary and even had video while speaking with her a couple of times.  Still, I expected Mary to be Joseph's attempt to repeat the process that we used to bring Sally into this reality.  That is why the Annapolis series is all the same, as they managed to repeat an egg fertilization robbing from various moments of a reality.  Nicholas did almost the same thing as he sought the rare moment of mutation that might bring him one step closer to the child he desired.  Mary however is not Sally with pink hair, but a unique girl to herself.  I'm glad that I came, as it helps me accept Mary as a true second daughter."

Suddenly, panels lit up on the monitors connected to the devices being used to assure the conditions with Mary.  Li spun from where she was studying some code segments for proposing changes to one of the production robots to look at what was being reported.  I had Dr. Beyonce stay with Mary actually hoping that it was her presence that was causing the alarms.  However, I saw the face of a white-haired lad appear on the monitors and knew that what was occurring was due to others problems affecting Mary.

"Oh why oh why did Father not send Carnation?  Sweet Mary is a girl, so surely the mind of another girl should be what was expected.  Instead they bring in my other brother and some old lady.  That is not right at all."

Dr. Beyonce said, "Al, I know you.  Don't you act as if you don't know me."

"Old lady, you're not important.  Sweet Mary is important.  They care."  While the last statement was delivered in a calm fashion, it was followed by some rather bizarre and emotional laughter before Al said more.  "Don't you all understand?  They care, which means that I must care.  The problem is that I don't know why I should care.  It would help if you people would act properly, but you don't .  Mary is a little girl, so you should have brought a little girl.  NICK CAN'T TELL YOU CRAP!"

Roy raced into the outer room, then yelled to a monitor, "Nick was brought to replace me on the Roland!  I am going to work with Mary!  She likes me!"

"Is that why you brought Dr. Beyonce?  You want her to turn you into a girl?"

Dr. Beyonce calmly replied, "The way you boys were made, my process would not be effective."

"So why did not father send Carnation?"

Roy declared, "Dr. Beyonce is Mary's mother, Al!  Who could relate to Mary better?"

"A mother?  A MOTHER?"  There was a moment of laughter, then Al simply stopped before stating, "We don't have a mother, Roy.  There is someone named on our birth certificates, but she was never truly a mother to us.  We were born in a laboratory."

I declared, "But you have brothers, Al.  According to your reasoning for Dr. Pathulma to have sent Carnation, the presence of Roy or Nick should be able to help you."

Al cackled in an insane manner for a time.  Simply laughing would have delivered the fact that he thought what I said funny.  His insane sounds however made me form the impression that whatever said would not have worked, and when he spoke his words basically verified that assumption.

"Oh, yes, I am beyond help from Roy and Nick, especially papa's boy Nick.  You however still feel my heart beating, don't you Roy?"

Roy quickly replied, "Yes, Al, I do."

"Oh, that is so sweet.  I however don't think that I really have a heart any longer.  No!  Wait, I do.  I do still have a heart, but I am so far from it."  Again I heard Al cackle for a time before saying, "So, I guess a mother is the right thing for Mary.  Good, good.  They want you to translate the message.  They are so giddy here that you got the message.  Of course, the fact that it was Mary and that she is so troubled by it bothers them, so they called me to help.  I don't know what to do.  Isn't that a shame."

What he said disturbed me concerning what I knew about korlocks, so I had to ask, "Al, can you speak to the korlocks?"

"Can I speak to them?  Well," his voice trailed off for a moment as if needing time to come up with his answer, "not like you and I are speaking.  From the start however I had a certain affinity with them.  From the first I could hear things from them.  Not conversations so much, as guidance, and I needed guidance.  I needed it so bad.  I was not like Roy and Nick.  I did not feel like I had a purpose.  I was an aberration after all.  I was the duplicate child, but in our separation we did not match up like two peas from the same pod.  Roy kept the destiny all to himself, and I was having to find my place with father and with life."

Roy declared, "That's not true!"

"Ah, my twin brother.  Always a brother.  If you did not have my heart beating in your chest, you might have forgotten about me."

"That's not true!"

Forcibly, and sharply, Al responded, "Don't lie to me!  I share that heartbeat too!  Nick is the favorite of father.  Sally liked you.  She could speak with you.  I couldn't speak to her.  I wanted someone of my own to speak with!"  He finally seemed to calm down as he added, "And I found my own voice with the korlocks.  Queen Debra, yes, I speak with them."

I replied, "Al, tell them that we will work with them.  We are in contact with the Verikiy and the Okagaki.  In fact there is an okagaki ship in space about Mission –"

"Oh, yes, the okagaki.  You cannot trust them.  That message you received was from around an okagaki planet.  Wonder why that is?  I don't know, but the korlocks want you to know."

"Well, hopefully we can help Mary translate it."

Dr. Beyonce said, "Yes, Al, it would help Mary, humanity, and I assume the korlocks if you could help us translate it."

Al then said, "Well, yes, as that was my reason in coming."

Suddenly, monitors flashed out warnings.  Claxons then sounded announcing the detection of korlocks.  I felt the space around us fill with what I assumed were the monsters.  Instead of being attacked however, I suddenly felt as if I was transported by them to another world.

TimeSaga:  The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.
TimeSaga:  The Advance, the following 8 stories, is presently being edited.

The Fate of a Mind
TimeSaga: The Society Story Threee
Chapter Two

Having visited the forest around the city, I recognized some of the trees surrounding a house. In the distance the ground however had been leveled, and I saw the construction of buildings. The house was of a mix of wood, metal, and stone. It had a strange design, but I did not feel that it was alien as much as just an accumulation of building techniques as if the construction people wanted to test how certain components would work together then decided at the end to finish off the pieces as a single building. What made me call the structure a house was seeing a porch with what appeared to be a regular type of bench swinging from chains.

Before I could register the pink color, Dr. Beyonce exclaimed, "Mary!" and rushed to the building.

I took some steps, but mostly due to seeing Roy and Perry also rush forward. Wondering about their presence, I had to turn to see if there were others also with me. I found myself accepting that Dr. Beyonce and Roy would be with me, but finally turned to take steps to the building wondering about the presence of the cyborg.

Dr. Beyonce had stopped in front of the swing. As those of us attempting to live in places designed by korlocks, she looked at the moving seat probably wondering how to join Mary. It looked close enough like one on Earth to recognize it, but the girl appeared small and slightly uncomfortable as it was made a little larger with the back and front edge of the bench sculpted for an inhuman form. Dr. Beyonce finally took the chance of simply sitting in the swing next to Mary, and I believe we all were relieved to see the action not disturb anything.

She held a hand of the girl while saying, "Mary, we are here to help. Your father wanted your mind to be your own, but that does not mean that you cannot allow us to help you with your thoughts. Talk to us. Do things to communicate. We are here for you."

"Mommy," Mary's voice spoke strong although her body and face displayed no reaction to our presence, "the korlocks were people. They considered themselves part of the Nerisus Federation."

"Yes, Mary, I believe it was the okagaki that told us that."

"The message is that you cannot trust the okagaki, but they are not responsible for what happened to the Nerisus."

"Well, I hate to say it, Mary, but we humans are rather devious and independent. The okagaki could well learn not to trust us. Maybe due to our own twisting of objectives and desires we and okagaki might learn to be wary with our agreements that actually has us working together."

Now Mary's head turned with her saying, "I think that is the message, Mommy."

"I told you to speak to us, Mary. Sally was such a silent child, but eventually she learned to talk to me. I am sure that most of what I told her was far above her ability to comprehend, but just the fact that I spoke to her I believe helped her. I am more than willing to talk with you as well, Mary. We have spoken before. Well, I am here, so let us talk."

"It's not that type of message, Mommy."

Suddenly we heard the voices of others. The beings were about my size, but rushed from behind me as if youths. They darted around the yard as if playing tag, then stopped with one of their number actually speaking to the others in a language I could understand.

"All right, guys, we need to be on our best behavior. May the better man win."

Now that they were stopped, I could focus on the three. They appeared as the smaller type of korlock, but more compact and animated than the monsters I had fought. The rounded faces lacked a nose over wide mouths. What I thought were the openings for nostrils were over the eyes with hair starting at the openings and going around the eye socket like our eyebrows. The top of their heads seemed bare of hair, but it came down the back of their necks and grew on the shoulders. I guess the presence of the hair caused their clothes to not go up to their necks, but straps at the top of their chests secured the start of their garments. The arms looked a little long with stubby fingers having tentacles coming from them that they used like our fingers. The clothes helped the three appear something like humans, as did their actions as they stopped to check over their appearance.

They moved up to the door to the house, then I assumed rang a doorbell while announcing their presence. I had noticed that they made no mention of any of us around them. I had taken some steps back to prevent the antics of the aliens, who I now assumed were young men, from involving me. Roy and Perry had also taken positions to prevent any interaction. As if coming to the conclusion that he would not be a part of whatever was occurring around us, Roy however now moved up with me deciding to follow him.

When the door just opened, I could make out confusion on the faces of the three as they called out what I assumed was a name. The voices I heard were not exactly human with me considering them electronic translations, but the one that replied had a very female tone. Something about it had me look to Mary. Assuming what we were experiencing was her interpretation of the alien message, I accepted the voices were what she could do to have them match the original. Feeling just as confused as the three alien lads, I followed them into the house.

I noticed the lights inside the house to be the radiation from specially treated sections of strips of metal just like in our buildings. The furniture was colorful and bulky without any signs of fashion that I could recognize. The three made no mention of the items in the house, some of which I truly could not identify, but headed to a staircase. I followed while wishing they would have used an elevator to give me a sense of how the aliens designed them to operate.

The three went down the hallway to stop in a doorway with one of them saying, "Sakura, surely they could have healed you by now."

One of the others pushed the speaker out of the way so he could look at the one through the doorway and say, "Don't you back out on us, Sakura. We will help you all we can. Right now, we want you to join us – well, me."

That last part suddenly had the three jostle each other, which I guess was the reason for the tones of the very feminine voice, "Boys! The process isn't going to work on me. Go on."

The first one to speak again took a position of dominance before saying, "No, Sakura. Come with us. You only need to build up your strength. We were told to take you down to the beach."

"The beach? I can hardly get up out of bed."

"There are three of us –"

Again the young men jostled with each other with one that had not yet spoken now getting in some words. "We will carry you if we must, Sakura. The process taxed your body, but you are not sick or injured. The bed is not a good place to recuperate."

The voice of the lady replied, "Let me rest. Tomorrow."

The second one to speak said, "We'll tell, Sakura, so you better expect to keep that promise."

"All three of you are sweet. When are you to go through the process?"

"Three days. We want you to go again with us. We will see you through it, Sakura."

The other two spoke agreements. The young men jostled with each other at the doorway to gain moments when they could look at the girl and assure her that she would get better. With her speaking an agreement of meeting them on the beach the next day, the young men left.

Considering how real the house felt to me, it did concern me when the three male korlocks turned to move back. Roy had advanced more than me, so simply darted on down the corridor. I did not see the three react to him, but still did what I could to merge into a corner. While they did have their hands push on each other, as they moved back they did not make an action to the corner to challenge my presence.

Over the sound of the three descending the stairs, I heard Roy say, "She is kinda cute."

The door to the room had not closed. I saw the lad in the doorway obviously looking at the one inside. Curious, I moved up to look into the room as well.

I thought it obvious that the lack of beds would be because the korlocks had not bothered with such furniture. A thick futon was on the floor covered by sheets and blankets. What appeared as a female had used pillows to make herself comfortable while sitting against the wall. The walls were covered in strips of cloth with some written on, some having items attached, and a few I believe had clothes connected to them. The one in the bed had longer hair and something colorful on her head. While she had not bothered with makeup and lacked some features common to human females, I had to agree with Roy that the korlock in the room was still cute.

We came down the stairs to see Perry waiting for us. "Mary said that we needed to move on. This scene is finished."

I asked, "Is there a way we could study this later? This could help us learn a lot about the korlocks."

"Maybe you can ask her."

I rushed passed him to go out on the porch and ask, "Mary, can we study this message later? There is a lot about korlocks that this can tell us."

"I cannot output this as a movie, but," her head finally turned to look in my direction, "we can talk about it. It is in my head."

"Okay. I just don't want this lost. We really need something to base things off of. The only reason we learned some things is because Chu needed to cut into the walls to set up things for FER-RON. It really would help to have some actual information about how the korlocks lived."

I saw stress come to Mary's face as she admitted, "It's fake. I mean, a lot is right, but I understand so little. I am doing what I can with the information."

I softened my voice hoping not to trouble Mary. "But it looks right. The people look close to one form of the korlocks that we fight. I didn't really notice the hair, but it could be there. Still, these are not human, so it has to be close to actual korlock life."

Dr. Beyonce used her other hand to pat the hand of Mary that she held while saying, "I am sure that Mary is doing her best to be true to the information. We can experience this, then speak of it later. As we learn things, surely things in this message can become better understood."

Mary was not really looking at anyone as she said, "It's important. It's important. Everything about this message declares that it is important. I am so worried that what you see will not be the truth, because what is here is important."

I moved up to put a hand on her shoulder the opposite side of her mother before saying, "Mary, I doubt the korlocks thought they would be sending this message to someone who knows so little. They surely expected us to have some understanding of their culture. We need as much as you can manage, and will probably need you to sit down and relate all this again when we make sense of what little we can comprehend."

Dr. Beyonce supported me by saying, "Mary, what Debra said was just do your best right now. Don't you worry about the quality, but just let us experience what we can. You have to trust that the truth will win out."

The voice of Perry came from behind me, "Yes, Mary, you should be able to trust that the truth will win out."

Mary's eyes did not turn, but I saw a smile come to her face as she said, "Perry?"

"Yes, Mary. When trouble started I came to protect you. FER-RON was with me, but she is not here."

"Because you are human, Perry. You are not a machine, but human."

Dr. Beyonce did look at the cyborg as she said, "I believe that I keep trying to get him to see that."

Perry replied, "And I believe both of you will continue, but at the moment I believe it is time for us to move on."

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.
TimeSaga: The Advance, the following 8 stories, is presently being edited.

The Fate of a Mind
TimeSaga: The Society Story Threee
Chapter Three

I will admit to turning around to look for the way to go. I had not seen the lads move off, but due to their level of activity I felt it proper that they had. There was a road, or at least I considered the crystalline gray line to be a road, so I allowed that a vehicle had been used. Exactly how we were supposed to go I did not know, but for some reason turned expecting a direction to be indicated.

Everything around us turned bright, then the brilliance dimmed to show us in a clean facility surrounded by large containers or coffins. What had me not think of them as containers was that the back or bottom half, depending on whether they were standing or laying on the floor, appeared to house electronics and some mechanics. The tops were a clear glass-like material. What had me think of them as possible coffins was that Mary laid down in one with Dr. Beyonce continuing to hold her hand.

I spun hearing the heavy panels of a thick vault-like door open. Wondering about where I was, I again noticed the electronics of the containers along with other instruments about the walls. Two korlocks dressed in a manner that I felt indicated some authority moved from one instruments as the three young men from earlier came around the vault-like door into the room.

The three stood in a dignified manner without the jostling of each other I noticed earlier with the one that tended to speak taking the lead again. "Dr. Yuriev, we spoke to Sakura and got her to promise to go to the beach with us tomorrow."

The elder asked, "Not today?"

One of the other lads replied, "She looked well, but was still in bed and acted weak."

"Thank you, lads. Now go and spend some time relaxing. Will probably have another assignment later."

The young men made quick polite replies, then moved in a much faster fashion back through the door. The elder turned back to the instrument he had been before and I believe mumbled something to his companion about getting back to work. Both however turned to move to a more central location as a voice suddenly came over the speaker.

"We do not need her."

The one identified as Dr. Yuriev replied, "Yes, we need her. What you are planning will affect everyone. She is not the only one with those genetics, so her information is important."

"I don't believe you understand the power we are dealing with."

"I don't believe you accept the limitations of your power. One type of medicine does not cure all people. One process thus cannot be expected to work as expected on all people."

"This is much more powerful than some pill."

Dr. Yuriev seemed to sigh before saying, "What you have at your command is immensely powerful. You are desiring a change for the good, but the evidence from Sakura says what will happen will not be universally good."

"I know what I am doing."

"Sometimes I agree with you, and that is what bothers me."

As Dr. Yuriev seemed to dismiss the speaker by returning the instrument, I heard Mary say, "There is something more to this message, but I cannot find it. Maybe if you moved around."

Perry asked, "Mary, do we need to carry you?"

"No. I will be fine here."

"Come on," Perry said while motioning to indicate Roy and me. "I hope this facility is not that large."

We left through the thick opening in the wall to see a very spacious hallway. I had to stop seeing a rather large form. The basic structure of this korlock I knew from combats with the monsters, but seeing a living specimen had me believing it to be a gentle creature. It seemed to be stressing a design change in a schematic to a couple of korlocks as I had been seeing, but the paper showed only a blur to me when I checked to see what type of technology they were developing. I had to assume that my companions had found other things of interest in the hallway when Perry called out.

"I see the young men! This way."

Roy asked, "Are you certain?"

"They were important in the previous vision, so I am assuming that they are important to the message as a whole."

I had to admit, "Sounds reasonable."

Roy did not argue, and I found him to move along with me as I followed Perry. He exited through some large glass-like doors into what appeared as a private park. The wide paths of shiny bricks were bordered by a small wall of what appeared regular red bricks although topped by a white flat piece of possible ceramic. I noticed an area of thick trees in one direction, and buildings limiting the area of the park in others. There did not seem to be that many directions for the lads to go, so had no problems with moving with Perry.

We crossed a walkway over a highway. I saw again the same crystalline material as was outside the house. The vehicles did not move on tires, but somehow floated over the pavement. I found myself wondering how travel was managed in undeveloped areas, then thought of rushing into a building to see one of their elevators. I however did not want to stress Mary who was the medium for this experience, so I moved with Perry and Roy across the walkway.

The path led to a nice garden with what I assumed were benches, although a number of korlocks youths looking like the lads. Considering what I saw with Sakura, I recognized a couple to be females. It was one of the ladies that spoke as we approached.

"Gredo, what did you learn about Sakura?"

The lad that had acted as the leader of the trip replied, "She appeared fine, Seramo. She promised to go to the beach tomorrow."

"Okay, so what happened to the others?"

"The others?"

One of the other lads replied, "They were successfully teleported."

"Teleported? To where?"

"To wherever they were supposed to be teleported to."

"You work with Dr. Yuriev, Korebo, so why don't you know where they were teleported to?"

Gredo took back control of the conversation by asking, "What's your point, Seramo?"

"Something happened to them, but they were not teleported. We have the Umin Tubes. Why do we need teleporting? Further we know the science for teleporting does not work on macroscopic bodies. What is being done is something else."

The lad that had not spoken now broke his silence. "We are not informed of the science."

"Then what are you three doing with Dr. Yuriev? I know a whole college of science majors who would kill to get to work with Dr. Yuriev."

The second lad to talk replied, "We were told that they were too close to completion to spend time explaining theory to some science major. They just wanted people who could work well with others."

One of the other ladies said, "Korebo, there is no report of those people showing up anywhere. We think Sakura is one of the lucky ones, because none of the others are able to go to the beach."

"Everything about this experiment has been approved, Bunern."

The lady identified as Seramo said, "Dr. Yuriev is working for Dr. Fabrous, and he is a weapons manufacturer. Whatever this is, is a weapon to use against the okagaki."

The third lad asked, "And what is wrong with that?"

"They are experimenting on our people."

Gredo replied, "They wouldn't do that."

"Find out what happened to the others, Gredo, Korebo, and Mordrin. Before Dr. Yuriev involves you in another experiment, find out what happened to the others besides Sakura."

Korebo said, "Well, maybe after tomorrow. Tomorrow I am going to the beach."

Suddenly, everything froze. Around the house it had not been evident that the message had come to an end. The presence of the plants only reinforced the sudden lack of moment in the korlocks.

Perry turned back to the walkway while saying, "We never asked the okagaki about the ship graveyard in the next system."

I replied, "We really have not spoke period. The okagaki however were concerned that we opened a portal to that system. I am tending to think that there is more to their concern than just our presence around one of their worlds."

Roy said, "Yeah. Was the weapon used on them? Are there okagaki korlocks?"

Perry replied, "I believe that we are going to have to allow this message to play out. Hopefully at the end we can speak to the okagaki and get some answers."

"Yes. I mean they attacked Dr. Beyonce. I really hope that we don't have to go to war with them."

I said "The okagaki however changed their demeanor when they realized who Dr. Beyonce was and how she was willing to help them deal with problems. They also spoke of knowing about Mary. Hopefully, what they have learned about us will help us keep a positive exchange going between us."

Perry replied, "The only problem is that we know so little about the okagaki, the verikiy, and even the korlocks. At least this is giving us some information on the korlocks. Maybe it will cause the others to provide some information as well."

When we entered the laboratory, Mary said, "I could have allowed the next part of the message to play, but I wanted us back together."

Roy said, "Yeah. I mean we probably would have been all right, but I would have worried about you."

Dr. Beyonce replied, "I would have worried about you as well."

I said, "This messages seems to be an explanation of what happened to the korlocks."

"At least a partial explanation. There are surely other facets to the story, but at least this seems to provide one version. Okay, Mary, you may move us on."

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.
TimeSaga: The Advance, the following 8 stories, is presently being edited.

The Fate of a Mind
TimeSaga: The Society Story Threee
Chapter Four

There was a familiarity to the scene. I did notice the direction that the three young korlocks went, but I had to look around. The pavement of the road I had now seen, so accepted that was something normal about their construction. I thought about the streets of the city we had found, and accepted that they had not been finished. The plants grew in a spread out manner as if to give each room to spread their roots in order to catch any water before it dropped down into the sandy soil. While the grass could have been like that of Earth, and the trees appeared similar, I found myself believing that these plants had evolved similar to those on Earth as both faced the same problems to survive in this environment. The nearby shed, nothing more than a roof supported by four metal beams set in concrete and a very small enclosed structure could have been as useful to aliens as to humans. The ruined vehicle nearby did not appear as any car I knew, and feeling that its technology could help me I went to the one unfamiliar thing in view.

The windows being black was one problem, but not finding a way to open a door or the hood caused me to turn to Mary to complain. "We are stuck just watching? Why did they make the experience so immersive if all we could do was watch and listen?"

It was Roy that asked, "What do you expect to learn from a car?"

"Does it use combustion? Does it have a radio? Does it have a CD player? Does it have cup holders?"

I probably could have gone on, but Dr. Beyonce interrupted me to say, "Mary is doing her best."

I do not think that I smiled, but hearing Mary giggle did bring me some relief. "I agree with Debra. Those are good questions. I am sorry Debra, but what information I have is just a construct. What appears to be a type of car is no more different than that building next to you."

Perry said, "I am sorry to say that I did not think of this as a chance to learn of the korlocks. I was focused on assuring that all went well, so Mary would come out all right."

"Thank –"

The scream from Mary had us all go on alert. The world around seemed to shatter as strange entities moved upon us as if appearing from somewhere outside our reality. These were not the type of korlocks with which I had become accustomed. I activated the weapon Linda had built for me while yelling to Mary hoping for some information.

"Are these part of the message?"

"No! Yes!"

She screamed with Dr. Beyonce saying, "Do what you can. Believe it or not, I came prepared to fight korlocks."

Perry replied, "Well, I rushed to Mary to help protect her. Hopefully, you will not need to use your weapon, Dr. Beyonce."

I saw the device that appeared, and had to ask, "Did Linda make that for you?"

Dr. Beyonce replied, "Your device was made with my technology and while working for me. It is thus mine, and I felt free to have it duplicated."

Wanting to support one of my team, I said, "Well, she did a good job with it."

"And it has proven itself a lot more useful than I would have suspected. The only problem I have had was the lack of requests for similar devices from others. Charcoal has actually had orders for devices like that Mary uses, but what Linda created is a lot more powerful."

Perry said, "Well, I hear people do not fear the wand. The energy blasts are really not deadly to people or animals, so they feel safer carrying them."

I saw one of our enemies disperse, then said, "Well, I like having a weapon that has my opponents not feeling safe."

"I would agree."

Seeing the last of our opponents disperse, we all turned to look over Mary. Her face showed strain, but she appeared in good condition. I found it odd to see Perry turn from Mary and look around.

I believe he spoke due to noticing me looking at him. "I considered the korlocks came from outside. Considering that we are experiencing the message from Mary, it should be assumed that we are still physically present in the room as well."

Roy said, "That really does not explain things, old man."

Dr. Beyonce replied, "For you I would agree. I assume that I am present with Mary holding her hand back in the lab just as I am here. I however see the three of you go off beyond the limits of the walls of the lab, so wonder about where you are going. Mary cannot say either, as she has no ability to transmit signals, much less something of the nature we are experiencing."

"Could it be psychic?"

Perry spoke to answer that question by asking questions. "Can you sense the others, Roy? Dr. Beyonce is correct that we are moving in this simulation beyond the limits of the room. Also, I do not hear the others. Surely they are doing things to contact us. You are the one among us with the psychic abilities, so I am wondering if you can sense them."

I had to speak my support for those words. "Especially if they were attacked by korlocks as well, as that should have produced some strong emotions. My only question is what type of korlocks were these? Are there really korlocks like this, or were our experiences with korlocks in our reality warped by whatever is causing this experience?"

Mary spoke as if it was taking her a lot of energy to form the soft words, "They're warped. The message has something to do with korlocks, so there is some outlet for their existence here. They however cannot come through like the rest of us."

Perry said, "So that means there was an attack of korlocks upon our reality."

"Yes, but I ask that you keep your focus on this."

"Of course, but I believe that we are again to follow the boys. Can we leave you here?"

Dr. Beyonce said, "Yes, Mary, as I would really prefer us staying together if we are going to need to fight."

Perry moved to the girl why saying, "I could carry you, but would need to set you down should we again encounter trouble."

Mary took some steps in the direction we were to go, then stopped to say, "Actually, it is easy for me to move with the message. I can walk with you."

Just as with our walk through the private park earlier, I found myself limited in where I could go. While the path appeared to go through open countryside, any attempt to move off the trail found me losing traction and slipping back, or otherwise not being able to walk where I desired.

Roy laughed at my actions, although his youthful mentality had him try to leave the path at times as well. The attempts did have Perry or Dr. Beyonce ask about where we wanted to go, which brought out some discussion of what we were seeing. Mary spoke of the terrain as being true to the message. Where she had to make adjustments was mostly in their language and how certain things actually important to the message were presented. Those that had designed the message wanted certain details to be understood, so had some complicated code she assumed was to help in making specific points clear to whoever received the message, although actually troubled her understanding making her presenting of the situations to require a lot of thought with questionable decisions. At the end of hearing her speak, both Roy and I apologized for trying to leave the path.

As we were discussing a stream across our route and how to get across, or even if we were supposed to, we were again attacked by korlocks. Speaking with Mary, I found her to mention being troubled by how the aliens were dealt with by the structure of the message. She had no idea of the reason for the message, but felt that it had to do with korlocks. Regular observers of the message were accepted just as we were not altered. The presence of the monsters however was recognized and affected. While we could still deal with them, Mary mentioned feeling some influence by the program upon the korlocks due to the reason for the message being created.

I stopped to ask, "Mary, since you are being the mediator for this message, you should know where the lads went."

"No," she answered. "The program has me focus on you That was one of my problems. I could not translate the message without a receiver for the message. I needed you do have done what you did to cause this situation to play out."

Perry tried to cross the stream, but found him to have the same problems Roy and I had when we attempted to go off the trail. I believe he struck the dead tree trunk simply out of frustration. We all watched in horror when it fell across the stream, although I thought the same thing that Perry spoke.

"That is our path across."

He cautiously tested his statement by putting one of his metallic feet on the log. The round surface I felt would be a problem for him. My experience with alien trees had me suspect that the scaly bark would also create difficulties by presenting a slippery surface. He however crossed with the log showing no stress with his weight or him having difficulty keeping his feet secure.

As Dr. Beyonce helped her daughter to the log, she said, "Surely the boys needed this to cross as well."

I had to add, "Or there surely was a reason for making us deal with this problem in this way."

Mary replied, "I believe this was a check that the message was being delivered to someone who had some intelligence."

Perry said, "I feel that using brute force should not have been the preferred method. If they were testing for intelligence, surely something more creative would have been developed."

"It seems not, as I feel the program continuing. Let's keep moving."

Roy asked, "How far is it to the beach?"

Dr. Beyonce replied, "Let's just keep moving, guys. What we are doing is helping Mary, so let us not worry about things and just see this message through."

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.
TimeSaga: The Advance, the following 8 stories, is presently being edited.

The Fate of a Mind
TimeSaga: The Society Story Threee
Chapter Five

As we went around a lovely area where the water from the stream came from a natural underground source that had been protected with some brickwork and a grate, Dr. Beyonce asked, "Could this be a real setting? Could our lads be actual actors? This traveling – this forest and the water – really serves no purpose to sending a message. This is more like a video game."

Roy replied, "Well, this is better than some lecture."

"Yes, but it begs the question of how did this message get made. Does it mean that not all of the korlocks were turned into monsters? Were there a few that remained to make this warning, or what I believe to be a warning?"

It was Perry that said, "This message speaks of one girl that was not affected."

Roy replied, "And aren't we going to the beach to meet with her?"

Dr. Beyonce responded with, "Which will make her the real focus of this message and not the lads."

I had to ask, "But what has all this to do with a ship graveyard? I would expect the setting to be a military exercise gone wrong."

Perry had his own question. "And why are they around a system that the okagaki claim? Were they preparing to attack the okagaki?"

"Yes, but if they were, why is this message about this and not about the cruelties of the okagaki?"

"Mary, stay strong. There seems to be a lot that we don't know that this message could answer. Please suffer through whatever you are experiencing and help us see all this message."

The girl replied, "Of course, Perry. I have the best people here with me, so I feel able to continue."

We had continued to walk as we discussed our situation. Mary could not go quickly, but Dr. Beyonce kept a steady pace that her daughter seemed able to manage. Coming over a rise, we saw the boys looking like they were changing into swim trunks in a depression where they probably did not think anyone would see them. I really did not plan on learning things of the private anatomy of the korlocks, but could not help but see things about hairy areas between the legs as the young man began to spasm. We stopped our walk and looked with concern upon the situation.

I exclaimed with alarm along with the others as the young men suddenly rushed toward us. Their movement however was disrupted as their bodies seemed to continue to spasm. We fired as they however managed to keep closing the distance with us, but we only saw our blasts pass through the transforming lads. Their forms dispersed upon reaching us, with me exclaiming upon looking up to see three korlocks as I knew them rising into space.

Roy started to say something, but we all reacted upon hearing the scream of a young lady. I looked to Mary, and saw her signaling for us to move on ahead. Feeling it was more of the message, I started off to see the reason for the scream.

We rushed up over a dune to see a beach scene with umbrellas, towels, and other things that I would expect to see brought by people planning to spend time near the water. Very few natives were present however. Sakura was easily spotted, but I also made out a few others holding their heads and screaming. I saw the others stop with me with us asking each other what we should do. As we decided to rush on down, Mary screamed behind us. I turned with the others, although did not expect the scene to change.

I found the laboratory to come into existence replacing the beach with the voice of Dr. Yuriev saying, "Our monitor on the beach shows that Sakura still did not change. We have to assume that others did not as well."

The other official asked, "Yes, but what about those that did? Did you not see their glorious ascension? Any reports?"

"No. I have to admit that the effect looks proper, but there is no follow-up action. No contact. No reaction from the okagaki."

"No attack on the okagaki? They are light-years from here. We however have a fleet around Percusha. I have the ability to send the signal to them."

The man, I mean the korlock, identified as Dr. Yuriev looked to me. I found myself with the impression that he was looking at the camera. I then understood that there was makeup on his face. He was an actor. What we were witnessing – experiencing – was a reenactment of events. I found myself wondering if all the media presentations of the korlocks was in such a manner even as the one playing Dr. Yuriev said what I felt was a manufactured line intended for the audience.

"Why not. You are wanting to send this signal to all in the Nerisus Federation."

"Indeed! This is our destiny. Look at those being transformed. They are definitely becoming something more than their physical bodies. The okagaki cannot claim this advantage. We will rise above them!"

The statements from the other man, who I could only assume was supposed to be on a monitor although probably only off camera, sounded like the rantings of a madman. While up to now I had been interested in the events, I found myself only watching due to an understanding of the weight of the information being provided. While the statements were becoming to sound very dramatic, I personally felt them to be unrealistic.

Dr. Yuriev turned to where I believe we were assumed the speaker to be while saying, "I don't see why we cannot achieve peace with them."

"They are too different. We cannot achieve any relations with them as long as we are both so physically different. This process makes us into creatures that can transcend the physical. Not only can we then deal with the okagaki, but do so in a manner that does not put us at risk. We will be the advanced species. Let them determine how to come to us instead of us attempting to go to them."

"I believe that we need further study. I would definitely vote not to advance our process until we get some communication from those that have transcended."

"No. This is advancing wonderfully. I am looking to implement this process soon."

The drama continued, but I gained the sense that the conversation between Dr. Yuriev and the other person was merely a work of fiction. I found myself wondering about the reason for the presentation. Hoping to get a grounding for the context of the drama, I asked Mary a question.

"Is there a way for us to gain information on those doing this?" Seeing questionable expressions on those that looked at me, I sought a better way to phrase my question. "Mary, can you access the credits?"

Her question in return was also spoken by others. "The credits?"

"These are actors. This is a presentation for our benefit. Can we access who these people are and maybe a reason for the presentation?"

Dr. Beyonce said, "I had not thought of that, but I also do not want to disturb Mary."

The girl voiced her own answer, "Maybe once I have processed this through I can access things like that, Debra. Right now I am just a conduit for the message."

Roy said, "Yeah, Debra. I mean we are here for Mary, and not really to see this. I however never thought of these people as actors."

I had to admit, "This section just seemed so fake to me. I could not help but think of them as actors."

Perry said, "I guess I was thinking of them as actors as well, but I considered the presentation trying to do its best to present both sides of view. Not really bad acting, but just a little strong on exposition to assure that both arguments were equally heard."

Dr. Beyonce replied, "Well, if that is the case then both sides would have survived. We should have korlocks alive. But if this message was to be sent to other korlocks, why did it have to be sent in this manner."

A laugh that I knew well sounded, then the form of Al stepped into the room with us. "Don't you fools get it? This message was supposed to be sent to the korlocks – the transformed korlocks. They were hoping for them to understand what happened to them. They were also hoping for a reply. The Nerisus Federation had an armada near an okagaki world, and were planning to attack. The korlocks wanted to avoid the fight. They thought they would win in a manner other than bloodshed."

Perry asked, "And how do you know this?"

"Because that is what they are telling me. Mary's little translation here is being detected by korlocks, and I am getting the commentary from what fragments of mentality remain. Voices that had been bothersome and erratic are now talking sense."

Roy declared, "Al, you need to talk to us about what you heard!"

"Oh, no, brother, as I have to see this through just as you do."

Dr. Beyonce said, "Well, I want to thank you for at least providing that information, although I cannot help but wonder why."

"Oh," the maniacal laughter again started as Al explained, "because I have been listening. I thus know how this ends."

"And how does it end?"

"WITH IT WORKING! You idiots! How do you think this ends? It ends with the situation happening that produces the things that we know. And now that you are here, I guess you get to experience becoming korlocks as well." He laughed for a moment, then declared, "Not that I expect you to survive until then."

Mary screamed as a number of korlocks suddenly entered the simulation with us. We all had weapons, but the large force of the monsters had us fearing the worse. All of us however knew the results of facing the monsters, so fought understanding that our only other option was death. We took positions around Mary and began firing our weapons to hopefully reduce the threat of the korlocks.

Dr. Beyonce asked, "Do any of you have weapons using batteries?"

I knew Perry stayed active with time-loop power cells. Since I worked with Dr. Beyonce's technology, I did not fear a lack of charge for my weapon either. Roy's guns used bullets, but those were ineffective against korlocks. He spoke of the weapon he used against the monsters having a time-loop power cell, which had Dr. Beyonce state a basic command.

"Well, then just keep firing."

Roy spoke a reply stating his problem with what was said. "My weapon is just basic. It does not handle a charge like that of Perry or Debra."

"Just do what you can. I will see about getting you a weapon like Debra and I have later."

"Still, it seems that those coming upon us are stronger. This message must be making them stronger."

The monsters were altered from the usual appearance, but I did not find them necessarily stronger. I however recognized the words from Roy as him stating his concern for the effectiveness of his weapons. I turned to indeed see a number of korlocks closing upon him. While the rest of us were holding our own, I found myself fearing that the monsters would break through our weak link and kill us one by one.

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.
TimeSaga: The Advance, the following 8 stories, is presently being edited.

The Fate of a Mind
TimeSaga: The Society Story Threee
Chapter Six

Some of the fights against korlocks had been rather tense. Usually I had the company of my robot who had been built to fight them, so did not have to worry about my own life. Stories however did get presented in our media of those who did face korlocks and died. Most people just did not have the weapons to fight the semi-corporeal monsters. Not having FER-RON with me, and being surrounded by more korlocks than I had seen previously at one time, had me tense with worry about my own life.

My concern with my own life, not to mention the lives of those around me, had me exclaim with worry when a bright spot appeared within our circle. Just as I worried about Roy, who had the least effective weapon, having an enemy appear within our circle would disrupt our concentration at the best. At the worst, it would be something giving the korlocks an advantage that would enable them to take the lives of all of us.

Hearing a voice softly say, "Here, let me help," did not ease my worry.

Seeing a spray of what appeared to be a mass of small white feathers really concerned me, but seeing a couple of korlocks suddenly disperse had my worry change to curiosity. I wondered if it was another character from our situation inside the message. The person I saw however appeared human. He had white hair, but a small youthful body that had me thinking him to be a young adult. Having to satisfy something of my curiosity, I asked what I considered to be a basic question.

"Who are you?"

"History. That is what this message is about. As the youth told you, the message you are experiencing was to be sent to the korlocks. The playing of the message calls to them. The main mass has now arrived, although it seems that you are capable of surviving with what little aid I can provide."

It was Dr. Beyonce that replied, "Glad to meet you."

"Same here. I have heard of you from Shame, so I knew something when Instigator began to speak of sensing the message."

Perry asked, "Do you mean that you heard of Dr. Beyonce, or just humans in general?"

"Just humans in general, although Shame speaks of a Debra."

I had to respond, "That's me."

"Then I'm glad to specifically meet you, Debra."

Roy asked, "Why are you human?"

"Well, because you are. I actually based myself off of Al, but I did not want to duplicate him either."

I did not want to disturb Roy, but could not help but say, "That was wise."

"Well, let us finish this, then allow the message to finish out. We can then talk."

The presence of History enabled Roy to prevent any korlocks from gaining an advantage upon him. History would speak words of appreciation to Mary while assuring no monsters overcame her or Dr. Beyonce. I believe he sent a blast in front of me or Perry simply to assure us that he would aid any of us that needed it. The presence of History definitely reduced the stress level in me, and I assumed the others, as we finished the fight with all of us in good spirits.

After the battle we watched as Dr. Yuriev found his cautious attitude overruled by the voice. Perry did ask the name of the one wanting to transform everyone, but I really did not catch the answer. The collage of scenes showing the multitude of various korlocks become the monsters I knew did make an impression on me, but after it was finished I had to ask about a point often mentioned in the presentation.

"History, did any agreement with the okagaki ever get made?"

A strange slightly electronic voice answered, "No."

I suddenly saw that we were back in my own building, although the room for this experiment seemed small due to the number of people present. My team was operating machines along with some people wearing the uniforms of those in the Solomon Foundation. Clyde and his team of mercenaries was present. Two beings in what I considered spacesuits were nearby, and I took it that it was one of those that spoke. Before I could reply, I saw FER-RON suddenly move into the room.

"Debra, are you all right?"

Knowing that I needed to handle a situation, I answered, "Yes, FER-RON. How widespread was the korlock attack?"

"It was a major attack, but almost everyone on Mission is aware of the potential threat. The mercenaries were busy, as was the military of the various nationalities represented here. The korlocks attack was put down."

"Thank you, FER-RON." I then turned to another to assure myself that other problems did not occur. "Clyde, did our engagement with korlocks harm anyone out here?"

It was Lenny that replied, "You had an energy sphere about you, Queen. We could not get in. While korlocks did manage to pass, your blasts did not come out."

My brother added, "Honestly, you mostly simply stood about causing us concern. You did move however when the korlocks passed through the sphere, and I was glad to see that you dealt with the threat on your own. Now, if you don't mind, who is that with you?"

The one that had joined us introduced himself. "I am History. I once had a place of minor authority in the upper echelon of the Nerisus Federation, but became frustrated at how little concern was shown to the common people. I cannot say exactly how I became who I now am, but I am one of the few still self-aware entities remaining of the Nerisus." He then moved to bow to those in the spacesuit as he said, "As was stated earlier, no treaty was ever made with the okagaki. There was some trade, but limited in that what we had and what they had really was not desired by the other."

I believe the electronic modification of the voice was partially translator and partially amplifying the voice to be heard through the suit. "Both of our people could manage our own desires. Only in local situations of immediate needs did we turn to the other for options."

I believe we all turned as a little girl groaned. I was glad to see Mary stand. She then leaned against Dr. Beyonce who provided support, although spoke of needing help.

"If you need to be carried, Mary, I don't think I can. While you look like Sally, I can tell that you are a lot heavier."

Perry quickly offered, "I could carry you, Mary."

The girl replied, "Just give me support to my room. Mommy, could you get something to record our conversation. While I am again in control of my body, I still feel a need to talk things out to fully clear my mind of the message."

Dr. Beyonce said, "I would be glad to do that with you, Mary. Perry, if you don't mind."

As the cyborg said that he would be glad to, Roy blurted out, "I could set up things to record the conversation."

I watched with others as Mary left with her mother and Perry while Roy got Li to help him get what he would need to allow the girl to make an official record of what she felt needed to be added to the record. A number mentioned that they could hear what we said, but nothing of what we were referring to. They thus spoke of needing each of us to also make an official statement of what we experienced. As I watched the others leave, I looked to someone who I felt could help supply some information.

"History, would you be able to provide us with a file of what we experienced?"

He answered, "I believe I could direct you to where such a file could be found, although you would have to learn the operations of our computer systems."

The voice of an okagaki said, "I believe we could help you there. The problem with the Nerisus occurred a very long time ago, but the situation was important enough to us that files were maintained."

"Why would you be willing to help them?" History asked with a very puzzled tone to his voice. "You never offered any help to us."

"Honestly, because the humans allowed us to help them. In the midst of the attack by those that were your people, they took upon themselves our protection as well. They however were also concerned for those in the shell, and one came to us asking for our aid. The task was simple, but it was something vital. The fact that they concerned themselves with us and trusted us to perform a necessary function gained them some honor."

Clyde said, "Friend okagaki, we humans can be honorable, but let me warn you that I do not speak for all."

"Human, those of the Nerisus Federation had those that we could trust, but we never assumed such a trait could be applied to others."

I said, "I am glad that we are managing such a fine first impression. Thank you for coming."

"We came for Mary. What we saw had us believe that we had come for the right reason. We do not have one such as her in our number, and I do not believe those of the Nerisus Federation did either."

History replied, "I believe that you will admit that no one in all this time has been able to view this message. It was designed to be received by our people that had become translated into a higher existence, but just as with our science our process was much more complex and not as concise as it should have been. A grave mistake was made."

I then remembered something, and said, "I met another that was called History. She told me to go free some girls."

"That was also me. I was with Shame at the time. You might not understand, but if I am in a situation as a guiding figure then I will be female. If I am to be interactive then I will be male. As for that rescue, you are still far from where that is possible. However, I am pleased that you remember."

The okagaki that had been speaking then asked, "So, humans, you will be proceeding?"

I answered, "From what I have learned, there is nothing to be found over your world but some ruined ships of the Nerisus Foundation. We will probably want to learn what we can from their technology, but we would do ourselves a very evil thing if we spoil our relationship with you, the okagaki."

"That is our belief as well. Humans, we might come, we might go."

A number of us told the aliens that they would be welcomed or missed, depending on their actions. They also heard us state a desire for the same treatment from them. Hearing everyone go quiet let me know that we all were interested in the response to that request.

"I will inform our people. Let me warn you that our desires for comfort are much different than your own, but it is assumed that you have ways of dealing with unlivable surroundings as well. This was a good second meeting. May our future meetings stay as friendly."

I have to say that I basically forgot about the okagaki. I had reports to consider concerning the actions of my robot during the korlock attack. I had statements to give concerning my experience in the message. Considering that Dr. Beyonce and her daughter had been my boss, I had a relationship with both that had developed into a friendship. I thus also took time to spend with them. As I went about doing my various tasks I did see a spacesuit of the okagaki, but basically just felt a momentary feeling of pleasure that things were still going well between our two races.

As I worked with Lenny and Li to manage some code that would provide an interface between our equipment and that of the Nerisus Federation, I quipped, "I like this type of universe. We are not assimilating with these alien races, but learning to comingle with them. I think this is a good direction for humanity. We no longer are forcing others to accept our ways, but peacefully accepting the ways of others as right for them."

Li replied, "Well, it helps that they are doing the same."

"Yes, but they should. I mean, they are the ones that have been out here for centuries with evidence of aliens. They, as a whole, should have faced situations that had them mature numerous times."

Lenny said, "Well, Queen, we, I mean us – and the other races, I guess, but I can only speak for us – still have our evil people."

Li replied, "Yes, but hopefully the presence of the okagaki and others will help us contain them. Where they could gain control among us, they probably cannot convince the okagaki to go along with their evil policies."

"We... we will see."

I said, "Well, I believe we are making some good initial steps. Let's do all we can to continue to have history speak well of our advance."

Hearing their agreement, I put them back to work. I however did not feel the stress in this assignment as I had others. I sensed something had changed for the best. I no longer felt the stress of needing to succeed over tremendous odds. I had proven my ability with code. I had found a position of success. I was the one in charge of directing others toward their own potential successes. That made me feel good. I thus set to work with a pleasant attitude, and found the time passing without any of the internal concerns that had previously driven me to feel the weight of my occupation.

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.
TimeSaga: The Advance, the following 8 stories, is presently being edited.