NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?

CHAPTER 163

"Obviously, you're not ready to read it yet."

"But I was," I protest. "I'm always ready to read a good book."

"The book of Xaxu is not just any old book."

"Look! The one thing I hate is starting a book and not finishing it."

"Oh, you'll get to finish, all right."

"When?"

"Bit by bit, as you wake up."

I chuckle. "But I'm not sleeping."

"You've been asleep since birth; a coma really. You're all in a coma."

"Who is all?"

"You. The sacred ones. The whole of humanity. You're dead to the truth."

"And this book of Xaxu has the truth?"

"Her mother's version."

"Do you believe it?"

"I don't have to believe," it says flippantly. "I'm not the one in a coma, Mary."

"Okay; at least tell me what happened in my dream."

"What don't you understand?"

"Why I fed myself. The map hidden in scattered blood. That puzzle I drew on the ground."

"Is that all?"

"I've got more. But tell me about those first."

"The first one is easy. It has to do with your mirror."

"Which one?"

"The one with your two friends."

"And the map?"

"The names of all the sacred ones you have to wake."

The ones in a coma? Like me?"

"Yes."

"What about that puzzle I drew on the ground? Now that was crazy as hell."

"The only thing I'll say is you'll need a key."

"Forget the key. What do those letters mean? Especially the ones with the slashes and dots?"

"Like I said, you'll need a key."

"All right. What's the key?"

"When the time comes to wake her, you'll remember what the key is."