Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 16.2: A Void In You

The Ergosphere grabbed the drunk by the back of his collar again, led him into the room and pushed the man onto one of the two beds.

"Information, what?"

The Ergosphere dug into the man's back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He fished through the wallet and found a driver's license.

"John Michael Donnelly. A nice Irish name."

"Let me go," the drunk said. "I want to go home."

"Just relax already. Ignore the feelings of anger and paranoia, and just give in to their drunken stupor. That will make it easier for both of us."

"You want money? I can..."

"The last thing I need is more money," the Ergosphere said. "I need to know what you know."

Donnelly held up both fists in a klutzy approximation of a boxer's stance. "I'm not going down without a fight." 

The Ergosphere's fist found just the right path through both of Donnelly's fists and right at the bleeding nose. With this punch, Donnelly fell back onto the bed, and then again onto floor.

"What is this?" Donnelly said, holding his face in his hands.

"This," the Ergosphere said, "is mental telepathy. People assume that reading another person's mind is easy, and that with just an intense look you can tap into a human being's mind. But the human mind is more complicated than that reading it, as it were, and the ability to sense, record, and absorb all those impulses of information in addition to one's own incredibly busy mind. Well, it's nearly impossible."

"I don't know anything about that."

"Interesting. Most folks in your situation would make a run for it. But you? You just lie there and insist you know nothing. All this says to me is that you know something you don't want anyone else to know."

"Please, no. Just leave me alone."

"I can't do that," the Ergosphere said. "Now, enough hiding. If you've got secrets, it's time for them to come out. Unlike you, I am an honest man with nothing to hide."

The Ergosphere lowered himself down and placed his fingertips against Donnelly's temples.

"Just relax," the Ergosphere said. "You can't hide your dishonesty from me, I can see right through you."

The Ergosphere concentrated. If it were possible for him to close his eyes, he would have. Instead, his eyes remained hidden behind his round John Lennon sunglasses, as always.

"Six years ago, you were contacted by a group of three men. No, make that two men and one very attractive woman. They offered you enormous financial success. Stupidly, you signed their contract, you gave them everything and now look at you."

"Wha?"

"Show me the void."

The Ergosphere slowed down his breathing and relaxed his muscles, drawing power from within.

"I said," he growled, "show me the void."

Donnelly didn't respond, but stared stone-faced at the Ergosphere. Some part of him must have understood.

"I don't... I can't..."

"The unexplained increase in your personal finances, your treating people like garbage, possible life on Earth as usual, but something more about you."

"You stay away."

"The thing about me is, I have a different perspective on how the universe works. That's what brought me to you. The entire universe is pulling in one direction, but something's pulling you in the other, you have a void in you."

Donnelly got to his feet and ran for the door. The Ergosphere moved in front of him, put a hand to his chest and pulled him back onto the bed.

"Guess I have to do everything myself."

The Ergosphere relaxed and slowed his breathing again. He pressed his palm down onto Donnelly's chest. The Ergosphere channeled the unnatural force of gravity in his heart out through his arm and hand to pin the man to the bed.

The Ergosphere closed his eyes and, thanks to decades of practice, entered a state of deep meditation in only a moment. With his mind open and free of distractions, the Ergosphere could now sense the void, an invisible vortex swirling about Donnelly's person, leading seemingly into nothingness.

The Ergosphere didn't believe in nothingness so he reached out even farther with his consciousness and entered the other side of the void.

He inhaled deeply. Within the void, his mind's eye beheld stars, solar system, entire galaxies, as far as he could comprehend.

"Another universe," he whispered. "There's always another universe."

Next came the hard part – not getting lost in the enormity of a universe and instead focusing on the issue at hand.

This took even slower breathing, relaxing his muscles to the point where his body might almost pass out. But it was worth it. He found what he was looking for.

Long streams of psychic energy, represented by glowing yellow lines, connected galaxy to galaxy that only the Ergosphere could see. He reached out with his mind and gave one a slight tug.

Everything changed. Instead of glowing golden, the strings were now a faded purple, and instead of an orderly straight lines, they were frayed and random following no pattern.

The Ergosphere pulled back his consciousness and took in the bigger picture. Before him stood one universe that once followed a single order now, though it was a billions upon billions of galaxies, each containing billions upon billions of civilizations whose inhabitants, making their own choices and forming their own likes and dislikes, rather than follow a single order.

The Ergosphere's consciousness returned to his body. He inhaled and took a few steps back from Donnelly, still lying on the bed.

For a few seconds, the hotel room was its own universe, with the generic paintings being galaxies the bed being solar systems, and the weirdly stiff carpeting being made out of countless individual planets.

Then he reoriented himself, remembering Las Vegas, the casino, and Donnelly. The man had curled up into a fetal position on the bed and started crying.

"What have I done?" the man whimpered.

The Ergosphere decided not every situation needed a quip, so he just left.

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Next: Playing the slots.