Eyes of the Oracle (part nine, finale)

Lisa felt a searing pain tear through her body as she hit the floor of the lab. She let out a groan as she struggled to get up. Nearby, Kin and the two Ikes were still fighting, though Kin was getting seriously owned by them. Somehow, Silos Max didn't manage to injure Ike, must have been something to do with the no-charging time.

Lisa's presence alerted the brawl members and they all stopped, turning to look in her direction. She realised that she was still dressed entirely in white. The three of them were studying her intently, they could tell something was different about her.

"What did you do?" asked Ike's clone. "Join the PAP?"

Lisa was puzzled by their reaction to her, other than the fact that she was indeed wearing something different. They could see that something wasn't right, but what it was she couldn't tell.

"Your brain patterns," commented Kin. "It's occupying a very rare site of E8, the site of happiness and joy. Where did you go? What did you see?"

"I...I've seen true reality," she said, as bravely as she could. "It is not what you think it is."

Ikes and Kin didn't know what to say.

"Listen," Lisa continued. "It was Silos Max, Silos Max doesn't kill people, it sends them to true reality, can't be explained in words."

Then she continued to tell them about Azareth, the white room, the tea of forgetting, and the empty space.

After all was done, the three of them had no mood to fight. Kin and Ikes sat on the floor, discouraged and depressed.

"All these years, I've always thought we were given a special gift. Eyes of the oracle, the sight of true reality. I never realised it was such a farce," said Kin.

"The constant fight between us, we saw that it has lead to more misery and hardship, yet in the delusion of it all, we believe what we see is the absolute truth, that it was necessary. The concept of nothingness...that has never occured to us..."

Ike was just as sad, Ike's clone didn't say anything.

Lisa decided that she was the one to do the talking this time.

"Guys...you've finally realised it, that true reality is the embracement of nothingness. Over the last few years, both of you have done nothing but try to gain power over the other. You were moving further and further away from true reality."

Kin and Ikes were surprised by Lisa's sudden authorative tone.

"Understanding true reality, it's not something of maths or science, there's no E8 symmetry, no EPR, no quantum, no relativity or black holes, or whatever. True reality is nothing but our origin. The universe was written on it, we came from it."

Kin then stood up.

"Then tell me, what have we been seeing all this while? Why do we need to feel such unnecessary pain on the pretext of being able to see true reality?"

Ike looked up at Lisa, he too wanted an answer.

"Azareth told me what you saw were details. Specific details on how the world was created. You have been given a most unpleasant fate, Damien Lee has already been condemned to hell for your creation. As a result of your eyes, you have been living in unnecessary sadness."

The three of them hung their heads.

"But Ike, you chose the path of God! You found peace with yourself among the sadness! Even though you did fight with Kin. But don't you see? Don't you realise something? Ike and Kin?"

They all looked up at her again.

"Some of what you see, the sufferings and the pains, we can see it too! Not literary like you do, but we can all feel it. I went through a lot of stress as a stock broker, and that resulted in my family breaking up and my friends leaving me. When I think about it now, I realised I was experiencing the sadness and pain you see. True, I don't see extra dimensions and all, but that's not important in this pretext, isn't it?"

The guys shook their heads.

"I have forgotten God, I may go to church, but I have forgotten him. Ike, you were right, I'm a failed Christian. The path you took was more right than mine. I could have chosen to love instead of hate, to do right instead of wrong, to worship God and follow his way, even if I knew about all the sufferings and pain. But i didn't. Kin, you could have helped the world step by step, do you not realise how your actions are causing yourself pain? The eyes of darkness, which you showed, it's the reflection of your soul, wasn't it? You charged Silos Max almost instantly, it was a result of the hatred in your heart."

Kin wanted to say something, but he stopped. He knew Lisa was right, he wasn't just able to see her state of mind, but he could also feel it in his heart.

"What do you now intend to do? You have killed so many already."

Ikes and Lisa all looked at Kin, anticipating his reply, but all Kin did was wallow in despair and pity.

"SOC! Hands UP!"

The voice of Lo caught their attention. Large groups of armoured men rushed into the lab. A few MRF troopers were also among the crowd, ready for the release of sleeping gas.

"Lo!" Ike and his clone jumped.

"Hey Sirs..." said Lo jokingly. "We thought of the sacrifice Lisa made and all, and how you tried so hard to build up your army, we couldn't simply let your effort go all to waste."

"But...weren't you afraid of Silos Max?" Ike's clone asked.

"Hoho, we took care of that. Before we began the mission, I told all our men to call up their families and sever all ties with them, and during the mission, to try not to think about anyone they knew."

Ike laughed.

"That's not how Silos Max works, but I don't know how it works either. No worries though, I've already taken care of everything."

Then he looked at Lisa.

"Lisa took care of everything."

Lo looked at Lisa, then looked at Kin, who was still looking dismayed.

"What did you do?"

Lisa laughed.

"I merely taught the boys a good lesson."

By now, the SOC men were gathered around Kin, pointing their guns at him, though looking a little scared.

"Wait!" Lisa tried to intercede for him. "He was being misled, give him a chance!"

"No, Lisa," said Kin. "It was the path I chose, I shall take full responsibility."

He gave a nod to Ike, who returned the acknowledgement.

"He's going to jail, my jail," he said. He then took out a pair of specially designed handcuffs, which can't be described in words, and placed it neatly on Kin's wrist.

Lisa tried to say something, but Ike raised his hand, telling her that there was no point.

"You've already taught both of us a great lesson," he said. "Now let us do the right thing."

With that, he left the lab, taking Kin with him.

It has been 2 years since that day.

Lisa was now working as a guidance counsellor, dealing with all sorts of different cases. After her harrowing experience that day, she indeed saw new light in her life and decided to take the right path. Now, she's helping others do the same thing. A general philosophy she adopted, to achieve happiness, we must embrace nothing. It was quite a radical strategy for a counsellor, and it wasn't very well received at first, but people eventually saw the light. She felt glad, for it was a pleasant feeling when someone has benefitted from your actions, much better than hounding over money when she was a stock broker. She made new friends, since she had forgotten all her old relationships anyway, and helped them in anyway she could.

The only thing is, she hadn't seen Ike or Kin since that day.

"Hey Miss!"

The voice was oddly familiar, Lisa looked up to see a familiar figure dressed in t-shirt and jeans, walking in a duck manner and looked a little sloppy. The only thing was, his eyes, they were normal.

"You are..."

"Don't remember me already? It's me! Ike!"

"Ike! But your eyes..."

"Kin and I decided to remove them, it was pretty easy, since Damien Lee's paper was sitting around the internet. All we needed to do was reverse the process. Ah yes, Kin's out of jail, he's now working as a freelance artist. I'm now a social worker, working in Dover Park hospice. I tell you, the people there simply love to have me, for I could always tell them exactly what happens after they die."

Lisa smiled, the visit was surprising, but she was nevertheless happy to see Ike again.

"So what happened after that day?"

"I took Kin back to the sealed dimension, you know the one with the mansion? I locked him up in a specially designed cellar, and everyday, I would read to him the bible, the Koran, as well as buddhist scriptures. Eventually, he screamed, 'PLEASE! Just STOP IT! YOu're making me go NUTS!' Ok, so I did. Then I read to him Tang poems and Confucius' teachings."

Lisa laughed.

"You really know how to mentally torture someone."

"Haha! Well, he really couldn't take it anymore, so I stopped. He then promised to lead a good life and never to try to destroy the world again. As proof, he opted to remove the eyes. So we did it together, we were twin brothers after all."

Lisa's smile grew. She was very glad to hear that the story had a happy ending.

"But you're something else aren't you?" said Ike. "You're the only one who have seen true reality! I mean, you're a very special person. I wish I could see true reality too."

"True reality is all around you," said Lisa. "Find it by practicing what you believe."

Ike nodded.

"I will, well, Kin's just about finishing his job, he should be arriving anytime soon."

At that moment, the door flew open again. It was Kin, smart looking and all smiles. He was holding a small painting that he had made specially for that day.

"Hi Lisa!" he said cheerfully. "Look at this painting of mine, it depicts what Ike and I've been seeing with the eyes of the oracle."

Lisa took a good hard look at the painting, but all she could see was a mess of colours.

"You saw a mess of colours?"

Kin smiled and shook his head.

"It was funny, after Ike and I removed the eyes, we completely forgot what we had seen. This is all I remembered of it. But it does reflect a point doesn't it, you can't describe it in words."

They all had a good laugh, and Lisa invited them to dinner that night.

But was there someone missing?

There is, isn't there?

In another place...

"Tell me, Ike," said Azareth. "What additional ingredients do you think we should add in this tea?"

"I told you, I'm only his clone, and if you add anymore ingredients in this tea, no spirit is going to drink it."

Azareth laughed.

"Don't you think we should give this place a makeover?" said Ike's clone. "White is pure and all, but some colour wouldn't be bad."

There was silence for a while, of course Ike's clone didn't mean that, he was just bored.

"So what do you want to do? We can't drink tea forever, there'll be no more left in hell!"

Azareth took out a chess board.

"No, tell you what, let's play scrabble."

Ike clapped his hands and out came a scrabble board. Azareth didn't say anything, but instead started to form the first word.

"We need to return to Earth some day, huh?" said Ike.

"I don't," said Azareth. I've already attained enlightenment 500 years ago. You just came here because you didn't want to live with another Ike."

Ike's clone took a look at the calendar, 80 years till the death of Ike.

'I sincerely hope I like scrabble,' he muttered to himself.

THE END

Eyes of the Oracle (part eight)

Lisa did not have to go open the door, the person on the other side opened it himself. He was an old man with a nicely trimmed beard and little hair. He looked rather buff, probably an athlete in his younger days, and he wore a white tuxedo with a black tie. His stomach showed signs of success. On seeing Lisa, he acknowledged her with a bow.

"Where am I now?" Lisa asked, getting a little tired from all her adventures. "Another sealed dimension?"

The old man clapped his hands. In an instant, a white table and 2 white chairs appeared in the centre, with 2 white cups with piping hot tea inside. Lisa wasn't surprised by this, she was getting used to all these weird happenings already.

"A very special dimension," replied the old man. "Take a seat would you, have some tea, I'll explain."

She did, and the old man sat down after her. He took a good sip of tea and looked back at her.

"Drink some would you, it's a waste if you don't."

Lisa did, and found the tea surprisingly refreshing.

"It's a special brew," said the old man. "Before souls are reincarnated, this tea is served to them, making them forget everything in their lives before, their identity, their family, friends, everything that may attach them to that life. As such, it would be easier to move on."

Lisa stopped drinking. She studied the tea carefully, not sure whether to believe the old man. She was a Christian, and Christianity has no mention of reincairnation. Furthermore, the tea looked very much like an ordinary tea, nothing mystical or anything like that. She also didn't forget anything. Then again, she had already forgotten quite a fair bit after the severance from Ike.

"It's a Taoist belief," responded the old man, again another person who seemed to be able to read her thoughts. "I know Christianity has no mention of it, but what are we to disbelieve things that we haven't seen?"

Lisa knew the old man was driving a point, but what?

"It only affects souls, you're not yet dead, so you'll be ok. Then again, the severance would have already done almost the same thing."

The old man knew everything that had happened. What was he rather than who was he, should be the question.

"My name is Azarath. 500 years ago, I was created with the same eyes as Kin and Ike, man it was a pain."

"500 years ago! They had such technology back then? But your eyes seem normal! And how can you live that long?"

"They're normal now, but not back then. I was created with a form of magic. Back then they knew nothing about E8, all they knew were how to combine elements and cast spells. It was in 15th century England yes, witches did exist, so did wizards. The world's science today is no different from their magic. But those sorcerers only knew how to do magic, they didn't know why it worked."

"Anyway, I was created by a rather power hungry sorcerer, eager to use me to attain world domination. When I was born, I had the eyes, I could see true reality much like how Kin and Ike does now. Like Damien Lee, the sorcerer knew nothing about true reality, assuming it was just some additions to our known world. But when I was born, I cried for 40 days and nights, for all I saw around me was despair, hatred, anger, all the vices in the world. I didn't even need to experience it for myself, to me, all these evils had form, and they were very scary. The world's really a lot more pleasant now, I don't know what crazy idea Kin has that makes him do this."

"I grew up locked in a magic cellar, for the sorcerer had deemed me a failed summon. But I didn't have to leave the cellar to see the world for what it truly is. A hateful place, full of woe. I felt pity for the many denizens living in it, so one night, I broke out of the cellar. It wasn't easy, but I did it. I decided to become a saviour, to help as many people as I could, try to make the evils go away. But alas, it was my eyes. Everyone fled when I came, they had no sunglasses back then, so I couldn't hide anything. Despaired, I wanted to run away from it all and live in recluse, that was when I met him."

"Him?" Lisa asked.

"I don't know who he really is, but somehow, he knew what I was going through. He wasn't afraid of my eyes, but rather, he told me, 'you can see it as a gift, or a curse, the choice is yours, but there is one thing you must know, what you see is not true reality'."

Azareth paused here, letting Lisa absorb all that he said.

"So...let me get this straight, what Ike and Kin sees isn't true reality?"

Azareth nodded.

"Then what is true reality?"

"What Kin and Ike sees is nothing but the reality of their universe. The visible universe is large but is only large because it is being seen through the eyes of humans, which are small and limited to 5 senses. In actual fact, there's a much larger universe beyond yours, and in yours, at the same time, the real true reality. No science or maths can describe it. I'll explain this shortly. Anyway, the man whom i met never told me his name, just to call him To. To was a traveller, but where he was from or what he does is unknown. He took me to the mountains and taught me everything I needed to know about the real reality. It was very enlightening. Finally, I realised the entire truth, and it was also the day he disappeared, I never saw him again."

Azareth put down his cup and fanned it with his hand.

"I've been living here for 500 years, observing the world and all. The birth of Kin and Ike caught my interest. The E8 theory, that was interesting...So that's what they call it. Anyway, it only describes everything in the visible universe, and Kin and Ike only believe they can see true reality, but they can't. Ike doesn't even know what the Silos Max is supposed to do."

Lisa decided to remain silent. She had been in the presence of many know-it-alls that day, but this one really took the cake.

"Lisa, tell me, what do you understand about time?"

Lisa didn't know what to say, was this a rhetorical question? Apparently it was.

"Time isn't simply what we see with clocks or any other method which is periodic or what. Think of a storybook, at any instant, the story contains the entire plot, from the beginning to the end. However, the reader only reads from the beginning, then gradually he gets to the end. At no point would he know exactly what would happen a few pages later, unless he cheats and flips to the back. The visible universe is like the story written on the book. The past and the future has already been written, but the characters are living it one step at a time, unable to flip to the back pages to take a look. But the person reading it or writing it knows what is really happening, he knows he is reading a book, and that the story isn't real, it is just fiction. This person, knows true reality."

Lisa was surprised, quite unusual for her now.

"You mean to say that all the world, all the universe, is nothing but a big illusion? A mere story written on paper?"

"Yes, if you want it in scientific terms. Some scientists believe in something called the quantum vacuum. Before the Big Bang, that was all there is, a vacuum, nothingness, empty space. But something happened to empty space, the big bang, and the universe was written all over it. It is like the words on the paper. Now imagine you're a character in the book, you are oblivious to how things are going to turn out, so you pray to your God, the creator of the story, to give you some hint. Now the true God wouldn't do that, but if it was you, and you decided to, what do you think the person would become? What would he see?"

Lisa shook her head.

"An avid reader can predict what would happen in the story, seeing how things are building up and with references to the author's mindset. The character that requests for such power can do the same. He can see more details, like what another character may be doing while he's doing something else far away, or see how something would turn out. To make it short and simple, he can see the detailed structures of what the author, you, his God, created for the story."

Lisa didn't understand it one bit.

"I can see you don't understand it one bit. Ok, Ike and Kin are like such characters, just like me 500 years ago. They are given the gift to see deeper details on how God has created the universe, but that is all. They cannot see into the future, only predict it based on enhanced observations and logic, just like the characters in the book. Even that is subjected to uncertainty and all, you never know when the author may decided to add some kind of funny twist. Kin and Ike both don't know what really happens when ten dimensions are squeezed into one point, for it is way too complicated. You may know the math, but think about calculating the full value of pi on a piece of paper, by hand, using mental calculations. So, they only think they know what happens, but what a laugh, Silos Max is actually a good skill, for it brings anyone affected into true reality."

Lisa didn't know what to feel.

"I'm in true reality?" she asked.

"Yes, you are in true reality, but what you see isn't its true form, but rather the form your mind and my mind want to take. My eyes became normal after I entered this realm because there was nothing more that was hidden. I have seen true reality, want to see it?"

Azareth clapped his hands, and immediately, the room and everything in it disappeared. Lisa and Azareth were floating in pure white space.

"This is true reality?" Lisa asked.

"True reality is nothingness. We are born with nothing and go with nothing, because we come from nothingness, and return to nothingness. The tea that you drank were given to spirits because they never accepted this fact, even though it was so obvious. It made them forget, purify their mind and make them accept nothingness. Then, after a brief stay here, they return to the world of form."

Azareth clapped his hands again, the room returned and they were sitting comfortably on the chairs.

"Do you know why this whole room is white? It is the colour symbol of purity. Nothingness is pure, that's why a person who fully accepts nothingness is purest, and thus the happiest. White light is pure light, containing all the colours in the visible spectrum, yet it is pure. This represents the fact that absolute knowledge is no knowledge, and no knowledge is absolute knowledge. Knowledge of true reality, means knowledge of nothingness."

Lisa suddenly began to feel that all this was making sense.

"So we're in the quantum vacuum?" she asked.

"Yes, but it is just a name. It is like the pages of the book the story was written on."

"But that means we can find out how the fight between Kin and Ike would turn out!"

Azareth shook his head.

"We are merely on the pages, still a part of the book. Only God, the author of the book, would know how the fight turns out. But let me tell you a little more before I send you back. Living in this quantum vacuum has multiple benefits. I am not affected by the flow of time and can create whatever things I want. Since there is nothing, nothing can affect me and I am hindered by nothing. As a matter of fact, you should be able to do it too. Go ahead, try something."

Lisa didn't know what to do. She decided to make a rabbit appear, remembering the magic shows she had watched since young. To her amazement, a rabbit really appeared on the table.

"Coincidental that you decided to think of a white creature," laughed Azareth. Lisa laughed too, that was surprising for her, because there was still her world to worry about, but here she was, feeling happy.

"You felt it didn't you?" asked Azareth.

"What?"

"This is the sensation that you have when you enter true reality, it is pure and pleasant, there is nothing to hinder your heart. Kin has done you a great favour."

Lisa felt, deep down in her heart, that she really wanted to stay here forever. It was way better than the terrible world she lived in.

"What happens when a normal person in my world dies?" she asked Azareth.

"They go to either heaven or hell? I thought you knew that? Well, essentially, heaven is for people who are pure at heart, understand the truth and can accept nothingness, having no desire for any worldly illusions. Hell is for people who have sinned, seduced by materialism and thus hurting others to gain their means. They are judged in hell and thus sent for reincarnation, as a means of atonement for their sins, but that isn't in your belief isn't it?"

"So this is heaven?"

"Metaphorically it is, I can say, 'congratulations, you have entered heaven,' , but heaven is just a name, nirvana is just a name, reality is just a name. Hell is just another insert chapter in the story where all sinners go. They are punished, then return to the main story in another form. Those who have made it to heaven are free from the cycle of birth and death."

Lisa thought over what he said. If this was true, then the world was really in serious danger.

"If everyone in the world died now, how many would enter heaven?"

Azareth sighed.

"Only a quarter... around there, in fact, it's already quite a large number. Even though the world has improved culturally, people are becoming more attached to the illusion that is Earth. These people show little compassion, only think of themselves, and have forgotten God."

"Then I must go back," said Lisa. "I must ensure that Ike wins. If Kin destroys the world, those people would be left without a chance! I am but one person, but I must do what I can to help them all! I have been through the sufferings of Earth, I can imagine Hell must be ten times worse. Having experienced the joy of heaven, of true reality, I can't just stay here and laugh while so many are being sent to suffer!"

Azareth got up from the table and walked up to her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"You are the kindest person I have met, other than To. Very well, I can send you back to your world, the rest is up to you."

Azareth then beckoned Lisa to stand up as well, then he placed both hands on her shoulders.

"Silos Max brought you here, the move to send you back is the reverse of it. It's related to the Unity Chakra somehow, Ike was right on that, I can't explain it in words actually, I'm sure you understand. "

Lisa sure did.

Azareth closed his eyes and focused energy towards his arms. Lisa felt a calm, soothing feeling seep into her body. Her vision of the white room was beginning to fade.

"Azareth," she said. "Do you think To may be God in disguise as a human?"

Azareth smiled and shook his head.

"God doesn't do magic tricks, he only creates opportunities for us to create miracles."

The white room, the table and Azareth faded into whiteness, Lisa felt herself hurtle through smooth, velvety air. The air soon turned unpleasant, and she felt the influence of gravity again. It was clear that she was returning to Earth. She hoped everything would turn out alright.

To be continued...

Eyes of the Oracle (part seven)

(no...this is not yet the finale)

Ike drove the car with the shades up all the way. Somehow, he could see what was going on outside and had no trouble navigating the streets. As he drove, he told Lisa about what had happened.

"After I left you in that cave, I first went to your house to leave the number then to confront Kin. I got your address through some file searching by the way. Kin had already brought the boy to the lab in the sealed dimension. Yes, I didn't stay to destroy the lab back then because if Kin came back, it would jeopardize the safety of my men. The objective was to save you, and only to save you. That's why I left the machine and all completely intact."

"Anyway, when Kin saw me, he trapped the boy in a sealed temporal dimension, in other words, trapped him in time. Ok fine, you would see the boy could no longer move. Then, we started fighting. I must remind you that we fight by manipulating true reality, so you could expect some flying fireballs now and then. Well, the fight was very spectacular, I was actually enjoying it at first. Then, there was a lull, and I saw Kin doing some kind of pose. I was amused, so I didn't bother doing anything about it, big mistake. I had no idea that Kin had already mastered the legendary Silos Max."

"What's Silos Max?" Lisa asked.

"That's the name we agreed on. Back when we were still kids and still on relatively good terms with each other, we saw that it was possible to squeeze all ten dimensions together into a singularity. This singularity is so unstable, it will practically let out a huge burst of quantum energy. If you've read any books on quantum physics at all, you may have heard of FTL communication. You entangle two quantum particles, send one to the other side of the universe and keep one with you. You then do something with the particle that you have and instantly, i mean instantly, the other particle will feel something and change as well. The signal is sent Faster-Than-Light. This theory has been proven by the EPR paradox but I don't know the details, I only bother about what I can see. Anyway, my point is that Silos Max works on this kind of interaction. Whenever you interact with anyone in society, you are essentially 'entangling' yourself with them, like two quantum particles. This process actually occurs via the unity chakra. You heard of chakras? In yoga, exercises often focus on the energy of the 7 chakras located at various points along your spine. Anyway, the unity chakra is located on the crown of your head, the place where I touched just now. It links your energy with the divine and everyone in the world. Yes, everyone in the world, that's why it is possible to become friends with everyone in the world. When entangling occurs, the connection between you and that person is strengthened."

"When you are caught within the field of Silos Max, your unity chakra would be the first to be affected. The quantum energy rides on your strong connections and sends this destructive signal to all your friend's, family's, colleagues' unity chakra. They unity chakra then sends the signal to the other 6 chakras located along your spine. It is a complicated process, but basically, the end result is total nullification, you would cease to exist. Nothing, not even your soul, would survive. It is the most devastating and vicious move anyone could possibly master. Why Kin chose to master it I do not know, but it shows he is beyond redemption. From what we understand, there actually is a good way to harness the energy of Silos Max too, but he chose to do it the bad way..."

There was a long pause.

"That's why I had to sever all your connections, so if you're hit by Silos Max, the only person who would die is you. I cannot be killed by it, only maimed. Why i can't be killed can't be explained in words, I guess you'll just have to accept this fact. Whatever the case, now that there are two of us, Kin would be left wide open once he does it. During that time, you must shoot him, he won't have time to deflect the bullet."

The rest of the drive continued in silence. Eventually, Ike stopped the car.

"We're here," he told Lisa. "On the left, there is a large cupboard. Hide behind there and I will block it with a fake dimension so Kin can't see through it. Also, take this."

He handed her a pistol.

"I'm sorry I can't give you a sniper rifle. The killing intent for that rifle is too large, it is easily detectable by Kin. I hope your aim is good. I only put in two bullets, so, good luck."

Lisa was flustered.

"Wait! I've never fired a gun before!"

"Trust me, it's easy, click the safety switch over here and pull the trigger."

"But I can't aim!"

Ike pondered over that for a while.

"Trust your instincts, I'm sorry I've no time to train you."

He then created a small illusionary window on the dashboard. There was Kin, walking into the lab.

"He's coming! Quick!"

Lisa decided to ask Ike one last question before she got out.

"If your remote viewing is so great, why didn't you use it to see what Kin was doing way earlier? You could have stopped him from killing so many."

"Whenever I used it on him, Kin would know. I only used it after I saved you because he already knew my true intention, that I was not happily meditating in the sealed dimension. Using it earlier would just make him suspicious and give me unnecessary trouble. Ok, go! He doesn't know about you yet."

Lisa hastily got out of the car and hid behind the cupboard. Indeed they were back in Kin's lair, Ike was an amazing driver.

"Ike!" It was Kin's voice. "You created a clone of yourself, built an army all without my knowing. You think that's very hot?"

"Nope, stopping you would be very hot!" Ike said cooly.

Lisa held the pistol in her hand, trembling with fear. She could barely see what was happening, but it seemed the two had already engaged each other in battle. She peeked slowly from behind the cupboard, true, Kin showed no sign of realising she was there. They were both concentrating really hard on the battle. It was more spectacular than Ike had described. Not only were there fireballs, but energy balls of all sorts of exotic shapes. There was teleportation now and then, but all the action remained within the lab itself. Lisa then realised that Ike was trying to settle it all in the lab, so she could actually shoot Kin without too much of a hassle, but Ike never realised how messy things could get.

True enough, an accidental fireball hit the cupboard, making it explode and sending her flying across the room, the fake dimension couldn't stop anything. Her shriek was more than enough to alert Kin. Both fighters paused, then Ike tried to strike while Kin was distracted. But his attack was blocked by Kin's great reflexes.

"You moron! Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. You bloody scum! Trying all ways and means to stop me! Do you not love this world at all?!"

"More than you do!" Ike yelled back.

There was a gunshot.

Lisa had thought Kin was distracted enough, so she tried to shoot him. Kin was distracted enough alright, but Lisa's aim wasn't that fantastic. She had shot Ike instead.

"No!" she cried.

Kin was furious. He slammed Ike to the ground with as much force as a meteorite hitting Earth. Then he went over to Lisa. Lisa desperately fired the second shot, however, Kin managed to deflect it with telekinesis.

"You're just in time. It turns out the boy's brain was damaged in the last battle with Ike, I still need yours."

Kin's voice was not the kindly voice Lisa had remembered from the first encounter. This time, it was a voice of anger and frustration.

"Ike!" she screamed,but Ike lay motionless on the floor. Kin grabbed her and dragged her away, while she kicked and struggled.

"So Ike severed your connections," said Kin. "Good, so when you die, no one will mourn for you. You can go in peace.

Kin dragged her into another area in the lab. In it was a control panel lined up in front of a strong glass window. Behind the window was an even larger area, a very techy sort of area, with metallic walls filled with circuits and switches. Kin threw her into a chair, which instantly sprouted hand locks and leg locks, thereby imprisoning her on it. He then went over to the control and pushed a few buttons. Almost instantly, a large hissing sound was heard, and in the larger area behind the window, a strange geometrical structure was being formed from several pieces appearing on different sides of the area. Lisa saw to her horror that in the junctions of that structure, there were human brains, frozen and looking very fresh. She nearly threw up.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Kin said. "The structure is simply made out of ordinary iron rods, arranged to form the geometrical structure within E8 which represents the site of disasters and despair. I enhanced the energy of this structure by implanting human brains with neurons and patterns displaying the structure. No moving parts, no fancy electronics or what not. I don't even know why everyone decided to call it a machine. All I need now, is your brain, to fill in the last missing junction, then using my psychic energy, I'll transmit this energy to the world. Then, the new age would begin, and I would rebuild this world into a better one. No more would people see pain and suffering, everyone would be living happily ever after."

"They'll all be dead!" Lisa retorted, after noticing the empty junction Kin was talking about.

Kin laughed.

"Only the evil and the wicked will die. Those who are true at heart and can learn the right things from disasters will survive. I will be there to guide them."

"You are not God!"

Kin walked up to her, carriying a thin knife.

"I am God's messenger, I can act in his stead."

With that, he raised the knife to her forehead. Lisa screamed as she felt the blade penetrate her skin.

BOOM! A loud explosion shook the room. Kin was startled and dropped the knife. There was a very bloody looking Ike, with blood oozing from his hands and feet. It was the original Ike! The one Kin had crucified!

"You! How did you escape?! You were supposed to be dead!" Kin was enraged.

"I had help," said Ike. To everyone's surprise, Ike's clone walked in.

"Have you forgotten, Kin?" said Ike's clone. "My matrix is complete while yours isn't. Once I removed the nails from my original body, I can heal telekinetically! Same goes for the bullet."

Kin let out a terrible cry. He had clearly not taken this into account.

"Don't think you are the perfect one, Ike! I'm the one who can do Silos Max!"

The original Ike had already healed.

"Enough talking clone, let's get him!"

Lisa noticed something wasn't right about Kin. His eyes had turned from transparent to dark and ominous. As the two Ikes rushed towards him, he raised his arm in the air.

"SILOS MAX!!!!!"

Lisa was shocked, as well as the other two Ikes. There was absolutely no charging time at all. Lisa felt massive amounts of pain rush into her head as a white light filled the room. She screamed, was she going to die?

Lisa regained consciousness and found herself in a completely white room. There was no furniture in the room, just white. After standing up, she found that she too, was wearing a white shirt and white trousers. Was she dead and in heaven? No, Silos Max was supposed to have destroyed her soul as well. Something else happened instead, but what?

There was a knock on the door, what more surprises could be in store for her this time?

To be continued...

Eyes of the Oracle (part six)

The underwater bunker was simply beautiful. It seemed like the ideal place to work. All sorts of exotic fishes were swimming over the glass ceiling while people rushed around, looking busy amongst the respectable machines. As a matter of fact, the rush of activity was greater than an average workday. Something was going on.

Lo got out the car and slammed the door, without even waiting for Lisa. She hastily got out herself and ran after him. 'How rude!' she thought. The large group of people noticed them and immediately stopped what they were doing. A grand salute was made.

"At ease!" commanded Lo. "Report!"

A thin, frail-looking man with thick spectacles and unkempt hair ran over from the crowd towards them.

"Sir, Ike isn't dead, at least not yet. He is still emitting his energy every 30 minutes, the last signal was 2 minutes ago."

Lo nodded.

"Lisa, this is Wong, our chief scientist and head of research here. He is in charge of monitoring Ike's psychic balance and also, the other guy..."

"Other guy?" Lisa asked.

The crowd of people stopped running around all of a sudden and congregated in the centre of the room. There was a large buzzing sound, then flashing lights. All of a sudden, a large metallic cylinder rose up from the ground, in a column of smoke. Silence was maintained among the group, only the whirring noises continued.

"What's going on?" Lisa asked.

The two people beside her pretended not to hear her. She had been offended quite a bit that day already.

The cylinder's sliding door soon opened, and yet more typical sci-fi scenes occured. Dry ice fizzed out of the compartment, revealing a naked male body. On closer examination, Lisa was shocked to see that it was an exact replica of Ike! The fact that it was naked didn't seem to matter, it was the first time she had seen a clone!

"Yes, it's a clone," said Wong, once again another case of pseudo mind-reading. "Play the song please."

A rather smooth and deep sounding song soon filled the bunker. There was a hint of grandeur in it as well. Lisa had not remembered hearing the song anywhere before, but it didn't seem like a pop song anyway.

"This song is called Eternal Bond," said Lo. "Ike is actually the name of a character from the Nintendo game series called Fire Emblem. This is the theme song of that character. Damien Lee had actually chosen his name based on that, why? No one knows. But when Ike collaborated with Mindef, he proposed the creation of a clone, which has a copy of all his memories up to the point of activation. That's why as Wong said, he has been sending psychic energy to us every 30 minutes, it is for us to implant into the clone. So at any time, the clone can be activated and act in his stead. This is basically to prepare for a situation in which he is killed by Kin. If psychic energy isn't sent every 30 minutes, the clone would automatically activate. The other way to activate him would be to play this song, because it is 'his' theme song. Anyway, here he comes."

A small cluster from the group moved closer towards the clone, towel and hot water bottle on standby. After the song played for a minute or so, the clone stumbled out of the compartment and nearly fell on his face. The cluster immediately wrapped the towel around him and gave him the hot water bottle. Lisa, Wong and Lo also rushed over to the clone's side.

"Give me clothes!" demanded the clone. "We haven't a moment to lose. Kin has already imprisoned the schoolboy and is getting ready to kill him. My original body might already be dead. The idiot crucified me! He wants me to atone for my sins so I can return to heaven, he's crazier than ever!"

Lisa was disgusted. At what she wasn't sure, the fact that Ike had been crucified by a madman with the mindset of a terrorist, or the fact that Ike could create copies of himself and is practically immortal.

"Calm down, Sir," said Lo. Wong had just returned with some clothes. "This place isn't findable by Kin, and it would be quite a while before he takes out all the brains and thaw them for use."

Ike was hastily slipping into his clothes as he talked.

"No, I know how Kin is going to do it," he said. "Believe me, there's no thawing involved. He can practically activate the machine at deep freeze. And, it's essential he activates it at deep freeze in fact, that way, the neural connectors would still be fixed at the point which indicates suicide. He's going to kill the boy,then take his brain and activate the machine any time now!"

"But Sir! Your body hasn't even been checked for defects! And didn't Kin already trash you? You can't just run in there again and expect to win."

"I'll go prepared this time. Kin has mastered Silos Max, a devastating move, but it takes quite a while to charge up, you can all go whack him then."

Lo and Wong looked at each other, then both shook their heads.

"You briefed us on this before, Sir," said Lo. "Silos Max is the ultimate move and only those with the eyes of the oracle can do it. It warps all ten dimensions together and creates a disturbance so great that virtually all existance within its zone is nullified. If anything goes wrong, you'll be sending everyone of us to our deaths! This is not some RPG you know, and you barely even survived it."

Lisa was completely left out of the discussion, Silos Max? Machine? What machine is Kin using? And what kind of super kung fu move is Silos Max? It was pretty clear no one was going to explain it to her, all she could do was watch the argument unfold.

"You can't be so selfish! We're talking about the deaths of billions of people! Once Kin activates that machine, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and whatever disaster you can think of will occur all at once! We can say goodbye to small countries like Singapore, as a matter of fact all island nations and low-lying grounds."

"But if one of us is hit by Silos Max, not only would we die, everyone that knows us or is related to us somehow will also die. You know how many people that is? And the zone of Silos Max isn't exactly small. You send all the men of SOC inside and everyone in Singapore will die."

"I know that! I can SEE what will happen remember? But what about the rest of the world?"

"You're willing to sacrifice Singapore to save the world? I'm sorry, but this does not sound like the compassionate Ike I know. You're behaving just like Kin!"

Silence ensued after that. Lisa finally understood. Basically, the bad guy knew a very devastating move and the good guy needed help to counter that move. However, the good guy's allies are afraid of that move and are thus unwilling to help him. Now Ike was in a fix, what Lo and Wong said were true. He then began to suggest a very radical suggestion.

"There's a way..." said Ike. "All of us are connected to each other in one way or another. Silos Max works on the connections which have been etched into our minds to a significant extent. The limit would be acquaintances or maybe even distant unknown relatives. If one of you is willing to sacrifice yourself, I can cut off the connections on your Unity Chakra, such that you would remember no one that you once knew, and none of them would remember you exist. That way, even if you're hit by Silos Max, only you would die. If you survive, however, you'll be only connected to me and the divine via the chakra, you must start building your relationships all over again."

Silence was the king once again. Naturally, this wasn't a very happy choice either. No one volunteered.

"I'll do it..." said Lisa, as bravely as she could. Everyone turned to look at her in shock.

"But...you'll forget all your friends...your family..." stammered Lo.

"My family left me, my friends don't care for me, why do you think I wanted to kill myself in the first place? My life has already ended before Kin came to find me, I don't mind putting myself at risk if it is meant to save the world."

Ike walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"You're a brave woman, Lisa," he said. "I'm sorry I called you a failed Christian. Rest assured, even when the whole world has forgotten you, God will never abandon you."

The rest of the people in the bunker were still in stunned silence. Lisa wasn't sure whether they were admiring her bravery or just shocked at the sudden turn of events. Ike turned to Lo and gave him some orders.

"If neither of us returns within the hour, send the evacuation order and have all Singaporeans move to underground shelters ASAP. Likewise, send the signal around the world and see what the countries can do about it."

He then turned to Lisa.

"This time, I cannot fail. I am counting on you Lisa. When you see Kin doing something like striking a pose, shoot him. He would not be able to do anything about it when he is charging up Silos Max. I will brief you more on the details later, after I have performed your severance."

Ike once again took Lisa by the arm and dragged her towards the car which Lo had driven in.

"Sir!" Lo's voice sounded from behind them. The two turned around to see the whole group of people in the bunker giving them a salute.

"Save the world, sir!" they all chimed at once.

Ike returned the salute, but otherwise hurried on into the car, dragging Lisa along.

"Raise shades!" he commanded once the two of them have settled down.

"Ok Lisa," he said. "I'm going to perform the severance now. Are you ready?"

Lisa nodded.

"Ok, close your eyes and imagine the colour purple."

Lisa did that, and she felt Ike place his hand on the crown of her head. Immediately, the purple colour in her mind shook and shattered violently. She heard unholy sounds, screams and wails, then she saw melancholic colours appear. There was a sharp pain in her head, and she let out a cry.

"Ok," said Ike. "Open your eyes now. Can you remember your family and friends? Or anyone you knew, other than me?"

Lisa tried to remember, and realised she couldn't! All her memories of relationships have been erased. All she could remember was her job, her home, and the encounter with Ike and Kin. She couldn't even remember who were the people she met just now.

"I...I don't remember!" a strong feeling of loneliness suddenly crept inside her.

Ike nodded, but didn't make any further comment.

"I blocked your view so you can't see anyone in the outside world. It is essential that you don't see anyone, for there is a risk that they may know you and may reconnect their unity chakra with yours. I'll be driving this car with the shades up, don't worry, I can do it. We'll head directly to Kin's lair."

With a vroom and a whoosh, Ike stepped hard on the accelerator and drove off, towards the final battle.

To be continued...

Eyes of the Oracle (part five)

Lisa's worst fear had come true. It had been one hour, and there was no sign of Ike. She waited for another 5 minutes, then realised she was only putting herself in more danger. If Kin had forced her location out of Ike, he could be arriving in the cave at any minute.

She decided to do as she was told, stepping into the mystical circle Ike had drawn for her, and sure enough, she was back in her house! There was no time to lose, she heard banging at her front door. The loan sharks were already coming after her! They were quick indeed. Going to her desk, she saw a hastily scribbled note. There was a very long number on it, clearly not a local number. She picked up the phone and dialled.

87036561093247...

When the ringing stop, there was no reply. Nevertheless, she said 'Hira221'.

The silence continued for a little longer, then a gruff voice replied.

"I'll be at your location shortly, stay calm and do not leave your house."

Then the phone went dead. That was less than assuring. The loan sharks were still outside, cursing and swearing and making threats. She wondered how the person was going to enter with all the loan sharks waiting to bite. She didn't need to worry too much about that, for within minutes, gunshots were heard, as well as the screaming of the loan sharks, then silence.

Lisa was paralyzed in fear, and the ringing of the doorbell made her jump. Could it be her saviour? She had no gun and couldn't protect herself, the best she could do was bring the kitchen knife she had prepared for the loan sharks.

She cautiously opened the door, and there stood a middle-aged man, gun raised. Lisa too raised her knife, though her hand was shaking.

"You're Lisa Tan right?" asked the man.

"Y...Yes..." replied Lisa in a trembling voice.

"I am Lo, right hand man of Ike,I have come to help you."

"Then, could you please lower the gun..."

Lo lowered the gun and extended his hand.

"Come with me, I'll bring you to a safe location."

Lisa realised she had no choice but to trust him, so she put her knife down and followed. He walked really fast, rushing past corridors as if afraid of the ghosts that haunt it.

"We're not taking the lift," he told her. "Small enclosed areas resonate our energy, and makes it easier for Kin to detect us."

'Wow...more scientific shit...' If Lisa had known this day would come, she would have majored in physics.

The pair rushed down the stairs, Lisa trying very hard not to trip and fall. At the bottom, a lone volvo was waiting for them.

"Get in," said Lo.

Lisa obeyed without question. Lo then got in the driver's seat and drove off.

The drive was silent for a while, then Lisa couldn't help but ask.

"Won't the car resonate our energy as well?"

"It is different from the lift. In the car, we can still see the outside world, so our energy is spread out over our field of vision."

'ok...' there wasn't much she could take in.

"I'm sure you're interested to know more about the Oracle project? And more about Ike and Kin?"

Lisa wanted to disagree. Yes, she was curious, but she had a feeling there was no way she was going to understand it. Nevertheless, Lo continued as if she didn't have a choice but listen.

"Sometime in the 19th century, a mathematician named Sophus Lie proposed the existance of Lie groups. They are basically sets of symmetries in mathematics, a hypothetical theory but with useful applications. The simplest Lie group would be that comprising of the symmetries of a sphere. Rotate a sphere and flip it inside out, it'll still look the same. E8 was predicted in 1887 to be the most complex of the Lie groups, comprising the symmetries of a 57 dimension object. E8 itself is 248-dimensional. In 2007, it was finally completely mapped out. With 200 billion entires, the paper which it was written on could cover all of Manhattan, no need to mention Singapore. It is like a map of possibilities, something like the periodic table for chemistry. Superstring theorists have already used it for potential theories of everything, and one can find this model in many aspects of nature, solar system, electron positions, even traffic on the roads."

Lisa was already lost.

"In 2008, Damien Lee realised the potential of E8, and had an evil hunch. 'What if our brains were really an incomplete portion of E8? If I created a human whose brain works with a complete E8 pattern, what could that human do?' Needless to say, the conclusion that he came to was that such a person could see true reality. How could such a person contribute? His answer? The person could be the most powerful oracle ever known, if such a person worked for Singapore, she could attain economic, social, psychological, civil and millitary superiority. Yes, I'm talking about total defence. He brought this proposal up to DSO, and was rejected. The reason? DSO thought he was a raving madman, and in a sense they were right. But, Damien Lee didn't give up. He collaborated with a stem cell researcher and mathematician, both a little crazy themselves, and together, they managed to create the prototype embryo. To their further delight, the embryo turned out to be twins! Yes, Ike is the same age as Kin, both 17 this year. After 9 months, the babies were born, but Lee had done the heaviest sin on Earth."

"Lee did not understand true reality, being a mad scientist, he believed true reality to be one of simply extra-dimensions, hidden energies and maybe some extra particles. However, Ike and Kin could literary see true reality. They saw not just what Lee believed they could see, but much much more. They saw pain, suffering, hardship and all the other vices released from pandora's box. Even in happiness, they saw an element of suffering. True reality was not pleasant at all. If you ask them, they may even tell you that they see ghosts and demons, but they could be joking. However, Ike and Kin were different. Kin hated it a lot, and he wanted to do something about it. Ike turned to God, became a Christian, and found peace with himself. Contrary to what Ike believes, the missing integer in Kin's brain configuration did not result in his destructive behaviour, it only resulted in Ike having the ability of remote viewing and Kin did not. That's what the chief scientist's always trying to tell him, but Ike wouldn't listen. Chief scientist knows the maths, at least that's what I always tell him, but you know what kind of ego he has. It's possible there're other abilities as well, but Ike always kept that a secret."

"But both had similarities, other than being able to see true reality. They were compassionate people at heart, but Kin believes that the best compassion for the world would be to destroy it, and well, Ike thinks he's nuts. Both were home schooled, because everyone was afraid of their eyes, and qualified as university graduates by age 9, since they could know everything that was needed to know. The difference in attitude is really just a difference in attitude. You see, there's a difference between seeing reality and knowing reality. Ike doesn't know the reason for Kin's behaviour, he only sees what he thinks is the reason, the missing integer. And they were young, less than matured. They didn't grow up as normal children, and as such, well, missed out on a lot. As a matter of fact, we're lucky Ike turned out to be ok. If both thought like Kin, our world would have been long gone. And so, after years of tension, they fell out after an ice cream fight at age 10. What really happened no one knew. But Ike ran away, and began living in the sealed dimension."

"Well, Damine Lee was furious! He wanted to use both children for the defence of Singapore, and now they fell out. Actually, he wanted to become famous. Kin saw what Lee was really thinking, and realised the amount of sin he had accumulated. Then, deciding to act as God, he killed him in compassion. When Ike heard of this, he knew the danger involved. He quickly contacted Mindef and told them the danger Kin could bring. Mindef knew about the Oracle project so they were quick to help. He received aids from the special forces, thereby building his own army to counter Kin. I heard he also received full exemption from NS. So that was that, Kin went around collecting the brains of people with suicidal tendencies and Ike trained his army to fight Kin."

It was finally over, Lisa breathed a huge sigh of relief. She had only taken in the gist of it all. Two people, with extraordinary powers. One wanted to destroy the world and one wanted to protect it from him. As simple as that. It was pretty clear which side she was going to choose.

After rushing through the highway for at least 20 minutes, the car turned into the bridge leading to Sentosa. Where was the sealed dimension this time? Under the merlion?

"The thing about the two of them," continued Lo, "is that they're not exactly all that powerful."

Lisa let out a silent groan, so he hadn't finished!

"None of them could read minds! Fortunately for us too. No one knows why they couldn't read minds, neither do they. One idea was that E8 wasn't complete,or that no matter how mighty maths become, it can never fully describe reality. Whatever the case, that is indeed a true mystery."

Lisa waited. Lo didn't say anything more. Was it safe to relax a little?

It didn't seem like Lo would say anything else, for they were clearly reaching their destination. It was weird too, for Lo was driving the car directly across the beach and towards the sea.

"I'm going to block the windows for a while."

With that said, black shades suddenly blocked up the windows and prevented them from seeing the outside world. Lisa was shocked. They were heading into the water and he decided not to see?!

"I'm resonating our psychic energy, it's only for a short while, not enough for Kin to get a confirmed signal. We need this to enter the sealed dimension."

'SPLASH!' The car had entered the water. There were bubbling sounds on the outside for a while, then silence. The shades wound down, and Lisa was amazed to find herself in a gigantic underwater bunker, deep down below the surface of the sea.

To be continued...

Eyes of the Oracle (part four)

Kin and Ike stood facing each other, like two tigers circling around a lone prey. But unlike the tigers, one wanted to kill the prey, the other wanted to protect it.

"You've improved quite a bit," said Kin. "You managed to find my illusive hideout, counter the blinding light and killed Mu. Looks like you really have become a big obstacle in the purification of the world."

"Obstacle?" sneered Ike. "By getting rid of you, I'll be the one doing the purifying. Don't you see it's that missing integer that's messing up your head?!"

Kin was furious.

"I am perfect! I am the only one fit to act in God's stead! You, Ike, are nothing but a hindrance!"

Ike realised there was really no point in trying to talk to Kin. He grabbed Lisa and ran. But he didn't run straight, no! Lisa was taken through a multitude of irregular walls and sudden appearance of objects. Tree, mountain, house, sky...all these things appeared one after another, and all Ike was doing was running!

"Ike! What are you doing!?" Lisa asked frantically.

"I'm running through several dimensions not seeable with your eyes," replied Ike. "It's the only way to escape Kin."

Lisa felt very sick, the changing scenery was too much for her. To add to her fears, Kin was hot on their heels, shifting through the same dimensions as them!

"Why can't we just run in the usual 3 dimensions?" she asked, ready to throw up at any instant.

"Are you crazy?! That just makes it easier for him to ambush us! Have you ever seen ambushers lying straight in the path of their target? They'll hide in trees or bushes then jump out unsuspectingly. Kin will no doubt adopt the same strategy."

Finally, Ike stopped running. Lisa looked around, Kin was nowhere to be seen. They were now in a desolate landscape, with craters and mountains all around. Lisa looked up to see to her horror, the Earth! They were on the moon!

"I can't breathe!" she gasped.

"Ooops, sorry."

The pair then moved to an underwater cave. There was a large air pocket with rock formations where they could rest. Ike looked around, then sat down on a flat slab of rock.

"Kin may be laying a trap for us," he said. "Or we could have lost him, either way. We must be on our guard."

Lisa too took a seat on the rock formation. For a while, no one spoke, and Lisa eventually got uncomfortable. She had to say something, anything...

"Say Ike, you and Kin always say what you see cannot be described in words, I don't quite get what you mean..."

Ike, while maintaining his guard, saw no harm in starting a philosophical discussion.

"You heard of relativity right? How space and time are really connected and that time is a dimension and all? And that there's no such thing as absolute space or time? Yeah we can say all that, but do we really know what it means?"

Lisa thought for a while, then she realised she didn't.

"Even great physicists have no clue of what they're talking about either. No ordinary human being can see more than 3 dimensions, so there's no way they can picture it in their head. For saying you understand something, it means you can see it in your head. What they understand is only an abstract reality, like the whole world we live in. Remember that the people who came up with language are ordinary people, so the words they invented are only meant to describe the things ordinary people can see. Everything else can only be described abstractly. Think of Zen masters, they often say that true reality can never be described in words. As such, they invented koans, paradoxical riddles which they tell others. At first, these riddles make no sense, like 'we've known each other for so long, yet we've never met'. But to the true Zen master, they understand it fully, in true reality. Koans contain messages of true reality, and another purpose they serve is to make the student confounded and lost, so that they realise how useless their senses really are. In science, things like relativity and quantum physics can be considered a koan, just that they try as much as possible not to confuse the student, but still do anyway. You understand?"

Lisa nodded. Kin and Ike were like Zen masters, understanding true reality and all. But Kin approached it in a totally different manner than Ike. She knew both weren't bad, and deep in her heart, she wished that they could just get along. With two such people working together, the world be much more peaceful

The two of them stayed in the cave for about an hour, and Kin never showed up.

"Do you think he gave up?"asked Lisa.

"No," said Ike. "My hunch is he probably found another suicide case while chasing us, and decided to take that one instead. If that's so then we have to do something."

Ike went up to the water surface and shot out his palm towards it. A bright glare emitted from the water and images began to form. It was an image of Kin. Ike was right, Kin was taking a young student under his wing.

"The boy failed his maths again and was afraid of going home to be scolded by his parents," said Ike. "Kin is making use of it, that bastard. "He then turned to Lisa.

"Lisa, stay here. I'm going to confront Kin, it shall be a fight to the death. If I don't return within the hour..."

He then used his finger to draw an imaginary circle on the rock wall.

"Use this portal, it'll get you back home. There'll be a number I leave on your desk, call it and just say 'Hira221'. You will get help immediately."

Lisa touched the area where the 'circle' was, and to her surprise, found that it passed through the rock wall!

"As a final note, what I did just now, Kin can't do it. My remote viewing abilities are way more advanced than his. So no need to worry about him finding you."

Without waiting for her reply, Ike dashed towards the dark area of the cave, gracefully striding across the water and vanishing into thin air.

Lisa buried her face in her hands. There were so many things she wanted to know... so many questions unanswered. What else could these two people do? What can they not do? All sorts of questions, ethical, philosophical, social, scientific, were running through her mind. Now all she could do was wait in this lonely cave.

Waiting...was all she could do...

To be continued...

Eyes of the Oracle (part three)

(warning: some religious references and opinions)

Lisa hammered hard at the door.

"Let me out! I don't want to be part of this sick plan!"

She was horrified. Just hours ago she was stricken with the thought of suicide, now her suicidal tendencies were being used to bring about mass destruction! The man had locked up the door of the waiting room despite her protests.

"Please try to understand, Lisa," he said through the glass window. "We are making a small sacrifice in view of changing the world for the better."

"Small sacrifice?! It's my life we're talking about here! How am I supposed to live on knowing that I helped to destroy the world?!"

The man chuckled.

"I thought you wanted to end your life just now, why are you so keen on living all of a sudden? Don't worry, what we are intending to do is remove your brain and give it to Kin so he can extract the relevant information and store it. You won't live to see the end of the world."

Lisa was frightened. 'It must be a dream...'she thought. 'These mad men, they can't be real, it must be a dream!'

"We are definitely not a dream," said the man, once again as if reading her mind. "We are servants of the great Kin, his almighty compassion is what we want to bestow onto the world. As a matter of fact, all we need is one more. After we have obtained your brain, we can finally bring change to this world!"

Lisa was taken aback by hissing sounds emitting from the wall. It was sleeping gas! She hammered even harder at the window, as the man stared at her intently. She slammed her fists with all her might, but each slam just made her feel even more tired, even more sleepy. She fell to the floor, struggling to stay awake.

"Bang!" A huge explosion shook the whole room. Gunshots sounded over the screams coming from outside. Lisa was by now very druggish, and did not even jump in fright when a stray bullet hit the man who held her hostage in the head, his horrified face pressed against the window in morbid agony as he collapsed on the floor. The last thing she remembered was the door being kicked open and armed gunmen rushing in.

Lisa awoke in a simple bed in a room lit only by the evening sun which shone through a frosted window. The room was virtually empty, being surrounded by four bleak walls. The only company she had was a young teenager. He looked very sluggish, wearing torn clothes and slumped on a wooden chair, asleep and snoring. She looked around the room, and confirmed that there was absolutely no door. How did they get in here? Through the window?

The teenager stirred suddenly and woke up with a grunt. Lisa nearly fainted when he opened his eyes. Transparent with sparks, just like Kin! She thought she had the good fortune to be rescued from Kin's clutches, but here she was with another of his kind. As a matter of fact, she remembered the man told her there was only two in the world, could she be so 'lucky'?

"I see you're awake," said the teenager. "No need to be afraid, I'm not a crazy malfunction like Kin. I am the leader of the team who opposes him, you may call me Ike."

Ike clapped his hands, and in an instant, the room disappeared! Lisa found that the bed was in an underground basement, and all around were old furniture and other kinds of junk. Needless to say, it was another sealed dimension. She had been into two that day, not something anyone would get to do everyday.

"Come with me," said Ike, and left for the door without even waiting for her reply. Lisa didn't bother, she quickly got out of bed and ran after him.

The basement was under a huge mansion, one that probably even the prince of England would envy and land his helicopter in. All around were exquisite furniture and elaborate sculptures. There were many paintings as well. To Lisa's amusement, all the paintings were of Ike. He was obviously some sort of egomaniac.

Ike walked pretty normally, but on close examination one would notice that his feet were spread unusually wide apart like a duck. Despite that he walked unusually fast. As they walked through hallway after hallway, Lisa had to struggle to keep up with him. Finally, they stopped outside a huge door, which Ike opened. In it was a gigantic room, full of books and study tables, and on the wall was a gigantic christian cross. Being a Christian, Lisa placed her palms together and bowed to it.

"A devout Christian would never think of suicide," said Ike bluntly. "Are you like the people who go to my church and park all their cars on the driveway, causing insurmountable inconvenience to other road users?"

Lisa looked at Ike angrily, then hung her head in shame. He was right, she wasn't as devout as she thought she was. Ike went over to the cross and studied it closely. Did she create some kind of disturbance to the holy cross? It would be a great sin if she did.

"Ha... as I expected. A failed Christian praying to a cross won't affect it. After all, it's just made of wood, a plain old symbol so people won't just pray to thin air. Devoution comes from the heart, and if you are truly empowered with the love of God, church won't even be necessary."

Lisa didn't know what to say. Ike definitely wasn't like Kin, but he gave her a more uneasy feeling than Kin did. As a matter of fact, for the rest of the time, Ike did the most talking.

"I bet you are wondering what is really going on," he said, motioning her to the nearest study table. "What is the oracle project? What is the nature of our eyes? And who am I really? I bet these are all questions running through your mind. Normally, I would prefer to keep this away from outsiders, especially a failed Christian like you, but since you've seen so much already, I may as well come clean."

Lisa was by now getting offended. 'Stop calling me a failed Christian, you egomaniac!'

"As the man whom I personally shot in the head and am pretty proud of it said, his name is Mu by the way, Kin and I are both products of the Oracle project. Back in 2007, after the problem of E8 was solved, Damien Lee initiated the project to create superhumans like us. Damien Lee worked for DSO, and according to him he hoped that such a human could aid Singapore's defence. How? Well...that's up to you to imagine. Truth is he wanted to be famous, like any madcrack scientist who didn't get enough love. Even DSO wanted to get rid of him. At first, no one believed it could work, so it seemed like very good basis to sack the guy. But it worked, and Kin and I were created. All was good at first, but when we were 10 years old, there was a problem. Kin and I fought over ice cream..."

Ike began to chuckle to himself. Lisa also began to think of a suitable escape plan.

"Come to think of it now it was really funny, but back then it wasn't. Kin began a big lecture on how the suffering and pain in this world were caused by greedy people like me, and that I should repent. You see, Kin and I are both designed based on E8, but Kin had a slight error. Explaining in mathematical terms, there was a missing integer in his matrix, but then again, you can never explain these things in words. Don't get me wrong, I know how the E8 group works and all, but getting me to explain it to you in English is like teaching science in Arabic. You don't know Arabic right?"

For the first time that day, Lisa actually thought something was funny.

"Anyway, that missing integer was crucial. Both of us could see reality, both of us saw how troubled the world and all its people were, but the way in which we accepted it was totally different. Kin wanted to do something about it, and I said let God decide what's best. Kin didn't trust God, he even blamed him for all the world's troubles. He wanted to BE God so he could help change the world. The ice cream fight was what blew it. He told me that my stubborness was causing myself harm, and he wanted to kill me in compassion! No thank you! I could do with a little less compassion. So we fought, and I ran away. Yes, I ran away, he was really strong. Afterwards, I've been hiding in this sealed dimension. Trust me, he knows where I am, but knowing him, he's probably letting me repent in meditation. I mean, even to others, he mentions that there's another one of his kind, but he never says it was his brother. I've been hiding here, secretly building my army, ready to fight him again one day. The day has finally come."

Lisa felt more uneasy as Ike spoke. How did he manage to gather an army? And a sealed dimension? This mansion was in one? Then again, she had never seen such an exquisite mansion in Singapore.

"The army consists of members from SOC, SAF, and MRF to some extent," said Ike. Lisa was pretty sure there was something about her that made her so readable. "Yeah, we have MRF troopers too. The gas that put you to sleep? For some reason Kin has lots of it. I mean, you're not the first person he targeted you know."

Lisa definitely knew. She was supposed to be the last.

"But if you knew where Kin was all along, why did you only wait for him to catch me before striking?" she asked.

"Believe me, Kin's dimension is elusive even to himself. The reality is not a stable manifestation and is only viewable even with our eyes at certain times. It took me lots of pain before I finally found it, and just in time too. If Kin had collected your brain and implanted its E8 patterns into his collection, the world would definitely come to an end. You see, Kin believes he is doing something good for the world. But if you destroy it and kill everyone, or at least almost everyone, how is anyone ever going to learn? I mean you can't learn anything if you're dead. I do agree with him that disasters and all do give us good learning experiences, but only if we survive. Even if the world was supposed to face catastrophes, that would be God's decision, not his. Really, I don't know how I'm going to drive this into that thick skull of his."

"Oh, is that so?"

Lisa found the voice ghastly familiar. Even Ike was shocked. Standing right behind them was Kin, arms folded, giving Ike a very disdained look.

To be continued...

Eyes of the Oracle (part two)

The voice that replied was a husky one.

"I see...well, meet me at Outram Park MRT in 1 hour's time. I'll be wearing a red cap."

The man didn't say anything more, and Lisa was left wondering what it was all about. She was sure that anyone who dealt with people like Kin couldn't be simple. She had to be prepared...mentally...physically.

As it turned out, the person who showed up really wasn't simple. It was already so hot yet he wore a thick brown coat as if it was the tundra. The red cap he wore simply didn't make him look sophisticated, rather a failed hybrid of a kid trying to be a man. Lisa cautiously approached him. He too was wearing sunglasses, could he be like Kin?

The man saw her approaching and greeted her. He took off his sunglasses and Lisa was relieved that his eyes were perfectly normal.

"We'll talk as we walk, it's not too far from here," was all he said to her for the next 5 minutes. Lisa followed him into SGH, did Kin want her to be a nurse? She had no nursing experience or whatsoever, her whole life had been dedicated to herself only...

"No, you're not going to be a nurse," said the man grufly, as though he had read her mind. "Kin found you for a purpose, after saving your life, he expects repayment."

Lisa finally said something.

"How did you know what happened?" she asked.

"Kin always finds the same type of people. People who are attempting suicide or have suicidal tendencies. He's gathering them to accomplish his goals, at the same time helping them find a new lease on life."

Lisa decided to wait to see more before she said anything else. Kin and this man, what were they up to? She didn't need to wait too much longer. The man took her to the emergency ward and entered the elevator. He pushed a sequence of buttons, 1,3,8,2,8,6. To Lisa's surprise, the elevator emitted a strange murmuring sound. Colourful lights were emitted from outside the door.

"Put this on," the man gave Lisa another pair of sunglasses. "The finale's as bright as a nuclear explosion."

Lisa hastily put on the sunglasses, just in time. After a brief period of darkness, a blinding flash came from behind the door.

"We were told never to look at the sun directly," said the man. "Even with sunglasses. A nuclear explosion is at least 20 times as bright. Those sunglasses are made of special material, it can protect anyone of us. It was Kin's idea to put the blinding light to blind any outsiders who may have decided to stray in here. That way, anyone who shouldn't see what you're about to see, would never see anything ever again."

Well that was freaky. The lift door opened slowly, and the light vanished, revealing a gigantic factory like lab. There were many people working with complicated instruments, all dressed in neat lab coats.

"Where is this place?" Lisa asked. She hadn't felt the lift move at all.

"You're in a sealed dimension," said the man. "Kin saw this dimension hidden under SGH, and was elated by the coincidence. It was perfect for building a hidden lab. In the 3 dimensional world we live in, there is no way this place could be seen by a normal human. Only people with the Eyes of the Oracle can see it."

"Wait...you mean Kin's not the only one?"

The man gave her a glare, then smiled.

"I see Kin hasn't told you. Today in this world, there are 2 people with the Eyes. There may be more, but we don't know how the project's going."

"Project?" Lisa was confused now.

"Project Oracle. The ingenious project to create people who can see true reality. Ever since the solving of the 248 dimensional E8 Lie Group, there have been hundreds of scientists hoping to find a way to exploit it. There was one, his name was Damien Lee. He was a brain scientist, and he found ghastly parallels between E8 and the patterns of the brain. The brain patterns which we understand today form an incomplete picture of E8, but now that we know E8, we could work out a way for the brain to implement the remainder of the dimensions. It has been said that E8 could be the key to finding the theory of everything in physics, so Lee deduced that a brain that works like E8 could see true reality. As such, he collaborated with stem cell researchers to create a hybrid human, one whose brain could do such a thing. That was how Kin came into this world."

Lisa pondered over what the man had said. She had heard of the famous theory of everything, how great scientists have been trying to solve that problem for years. The E8 was totally new to her though.

"So... what have you brought me here for?"Lisa asked.

"Let me finish the story first, I'll explain it as I speak. Damien Lee was proud of his creation at first, but he totally underestimated what true reality could do to a person. Kin was born with infinite compassion, almost the heart of a boddhisatva. However, he was afraid to go outside to see the world. When he was only three, he told Lee, 'I don't want to leave the house, everywhere I go, I see pain, suffering, it's terrible...'. Naturally that puzzled Lee. Singapore was such a stable country, what pain and suffering could there be? Lee asked Kin to elaborate, and Kin described how he saw greed, anger, envy, jealousy, present everywhere he went. When Lee pushed for more detail, Kin said it was beyond the human language."

Lisa nodded. Kin had said that to her as well.

"But Lee somehow didn't realise what this all implied. Kin saw that Lee had harboured similar thoughts as well. The creation of Kin was for the purpose of becoming famous. Kin wanted to show gratitude to Lee for giving him life, but it got to a point where Kin didn't want Lee to make anymore mistakes, so he killed him in compassion."

That really made Lisa jumped. She heard of euthanasia, but this was ridiculous.

"After that, Kin escaped and found like-minded people, who saw the world as a dark place full of suffering. To them, to me included, he is the hope for the world, one who can change it for the better. Now, why does he choose people like you?"

Lisa looked at the man, finally, she was going to get her answer.

"Kin understood the E8 pattern very well. He could see it in practically every aspect of nature. For people with suicidal tendencies, their brain pattern would occupy a special portion of E8. The very same portion is occupied by events which cause great sadness, such as natural disasters or wars. Despite that, that portion also has the ability to change things for the better. In his words, great disasters are tragic, but they make people learn. When you lose all your possessions in a flood, you realise how illusive everything is. When you lie in bed from an incurable disease, you realise how useless modern medicine really is. For people who survive, they carry this invaluable lesson, and forever become better people. Likewise for suicidal people, if there is someone who can save them from killing themselves, and can talk them round, such people will have a brighter view on life, a more enlightened one. What Kin saw over your shoulder was a representation of E8, with the patterns of your brain highlighted in that special area. At least that's what he says he sees, in truth, no one can describe it."

Lisa was actually quite fascinated.

"My God! You're saying a mathematical model like E8 can explain so much?"

"Exactly. That is the power of E8, that is Kin's power. Now, he wants to make use of the brain patterns of such people to bring about change to the world. He is collecting their energy, and once he has enough, he would unleash it on the world and make it a better place."

Lisa was delighted. She was going to help in changing the world! She never realised that she could actually be so useful. As a matter of fact, she was so happy, that she neglected to ask a crucial question. It was only after the man took her to a waiting room did she remember to ask.

"Erm...what is the nature of this change you talk about? Is it describable in words?"

The man stopped at the door, then turned his head back.

"Not completely, but you may see it like this. If you realise I've been dropping you hints. Suicidal tendencies and great disasters occupy the same E8 area, so what do you think?"

Lisa was horrified.

"The apocalypse?!"

To be continued...

Eyes of the Oracle (part one)

Once again, Lisa had no luck with the cash. She had decided to take the risk, borrow $300 000 from the loan sharks and multiply it at the IR, that was her plan. But now, she was left with zilch. She had tried everything, pray at the church, pray to the kitchen god, any god she could think of, all turned a blind eye to her fate. Now not only was she bankrupt, she had loan sharks to deal with as well.

She was stricken with tonnes of choices and decisions, she could run away to another country and start a new life there, but how could she even afford to travel? She could recoup her losses by starting a small business, but that wouldn't stop the loan sharks from coming after her. She could go to a temple and become a nun! no...no...no. Or she could just kill herself...that would solve everything wouldn't it?

Lisa decided that was it. She would end her life. She had lost everything, her business, her family, her pride... She climbed to the top of her flat, and looked below, the ground of the carpark looked very serene...

"Giving up on life is not how one should live, isn't it?"

Lisa turned around and was surprised to see a young man, dressed in casual t-shirt and jeans, staring at her through sunglasses.

"What do you know? Please, just leave me alone..."

The man didn't move, and pretended not to hear what she said.

"Call me Kin, I've followed you from the casino."

Lisa was becoming hysterical.

"I don't owe you people anything! Leave me alone already!"

"I didn't follow you to get money, I followed you because I saw something above your shoulder, which made me curious. I was right, it was a sign that you were going to kill yourself."

Lisa quickly glanced over her shoulder. She didn't see anything.

Kin chuckled.

"You can't see it, but I can. I can't describe it either because it eludes words."

Lisa gave him a sour look.

"I have no idea what you are talking about..."

Kin took off his sunglasses to reveal a pair of glowing transparent eyes which emitted occassional sparks. Lisa screamed but found she couldn't move! Kin put his sunglasses back on and began explaining as if it was the most natural thing to happen.

"If you go to some science centres, and then to their life sciences section, you may see statuates of bird heads or bee heads. They are huge and you can actually see from inside them. For the bees, you see multiple images just like the bee does, and for the bird, you see a binoculars type of image. To these animals, this is their reality. For you humans, the world you see is your reality, however, I was gifted with a special ability. My eyes can see true reality...my eyes are the eyes of the oracle!"

Lisa was scared, and was wondering at the same time why she couldn't move.

"Humans can manipulate things that are available to perception by the 5 senses. I can see more than just what 5 senses tell me, so I can manipulate more. I have binded spacetime around your body, that's why you can't move. I can't tell you how even if I wanted to, because all this is beyond the human language. However, I do feel cut out to give you a lecture on how precious life is."

Lisa finally regained some courage to speak.

"What kind of monster are you?!"

Kin didn't look the least bit offended.

"I had people calling me that ever since I was a kid, but somehow, I could see what was going on in their heads, and all I felt was pity. I didn't have any friends, but I didn't need any, for I could see how everything really is, and I could do anything. I saw the pain that comes in relationships, and how the joy that comes with it is illusory. I desire not and want not, I would thus prefer to call my eyes a gift."

Lisa then felt the bind around her loosen, she could move again. The first thing that she did was run! Kin made no attempt to follow her, so she ran as fast and as far as she could. Finally, after running at least ten streets and dead beat from exaustion, she sat down in an alley to catch her breath. Just her luck, the loansharks were doing business in the same alley.

"Oh no...please, give me more time!" she pleaded with them.

"No money, heh...we'll let you off for 3 days if you pleasure us a little..."

Just as Lisa was about to lose her chastity, everything came to a halt. And by coming to a halt, it really was to a halt. The loansharks stood frozen, not moving.

"I stopped time," came a familiar voice. Kin was back, standing right beside her.

"How the hell!" Lisa found she couldn't move again.

"Lisa, just listen to what I have to say... Your life was a gift from God. You are expected to carry on living no matter how great the odds. How can you just give up on life that was so hard to come by? Even by borrowing from the loansharks you were already giving up. If you die now, you won't be having a very pleasant afterlife."

Kin then grabbed Lisa's arm and took her out of the alley to a park. He was so strong that he practically dragged her around like a rag doll. When they arrived, he unfroze time.

"Call this number," he said, passing her a slip of paper with a handphone number written on it. "This man is looking for a new employee. It's a very simple job, but it can help you survive. Just tell him Kin found you."

Lisa was still too shocked to say anything to him. She looked on as he walked away from her, went behind a tree, and disappeared!

Trying to dismiss what she had seen, she looked at the slip of paper and decided to call the number.

"Hi...my name is Lisa, Kin found me..."

There was a long pause...

To be continued...