Mineral-Soul: Zero Origins by Kenta Tahir

CHAPTER 6:

Six Degrees Separated

When we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. 

-  Wendel Berry 

The elder woman eventually shrugged her shoulders and turned her head toward the fire eater man. He simply looked at her and shook his head back and forth. He had no idea of what Vishta was trying to say. Snapping her fingers and clicking her tongue, she gave him a signal.

“Mi kʼú waskuyeca ” [Give me my fruit] 

 He grabbed the basket sitting next to the vineyard and quickly handed a bag to the elder native. It was a ten-inch blue drawstring pouch with beautifully stitched seams. The outside of it looked like it was created from animal skin, maybe a small furry creature of some sort. The inside was smooth like silk and jet black in color. She then handed it to Vishta, and he gave specific instructions.  

“WawókiyA kičhí kíči natá!” 

“He says, these are the same berries he gave you earlier. They will help with pain. Take ten every day.” He then spoke again.

“Záptaŋ ekta apawi kȟó Záptaŋ ekta haŋhépi. Mmm epi naké, wanzi čónala a --- lak A aŋpétu.” 

“He says, five berries in the sunrise and five before shadow hours fall. You do this every day. Whole pouch should last you a few more days.” 

Vishta was very overwhelmed. The other remedy given to her from the shakan was left back in her tent miles away. There was no way she could go all the way back and still make it to base camp as scheduled. Unfortunately, the seizures were getting worse. Though reluctant, she decided to humbly accept the remedy from both of them. She quickly gathered herself to continue her journey. Before she could completely walk away, the elder woman hurried over and grabbed her arm, looking deeply into her eyes.

“Watch yourself young one. Nobody walks away from the circle feeling the same.” 

 “Kiló! [take care] – no overdue berries. Will cause you to čheslí [poop].”

He squatted with his hands waving below his ass and smiled with green jade plated teeth. “Holy shit I thought he did not speak my language,” thought Vishta. She laughed with embarrassment and gave them both a thanks goodbye.  

“AH!” the elder said, “I almost forgot - take this with you.”  

She handed Vishta a five-inch sage wand wrapped in vibrant flowers with a small stick attached to hold it together. It smelled of licorice mixed with a hint of citrus. It was tightly wrapped as one string intertwined around the other in a triangular shape. Intrigued, she asked the elder, “What is this?” In all Endorea she had seen nothing like it.  

“Uchawi caduceus [Magik serpent]. A wand used to calm your spirits while you sleep,” the elder said calmly while giving it to Vishta, closing her palms on top of hers.  

Vishta smiled, put the uchawi in her bag and hugged her with love, “Nzuni sana mzee [Thanks for everything elder].” 

There were more miles to go until she reached her destination. Leaving the outskirts of Imana, she noticed something strange. Usually there were workers close by a few miles outside of base camp to check in visitors. 

But at that time there was nobody in sight.

“They had to move because of an emergency, did something last minute come up, or did I get left behind?” 

Hours had flown by, and the sun was kissing the horizon. Far off in the distance, about two miles outside base camp, there was a boat floating at a pier. Surrounded by a large body of water, base camp 232 is the third largest of all Proxima Scorpii camps. 

This watery borders had kept the workers safe from any criminals who would smuggle resources off the island. It would be extremely tough getting inside Scorpii campus. Miles of water surrounded the base. If someone was crazy enough, they’d have to swim for miles just to escape and touch any land on Endorea. Only boats can help natives get anywhere close to 232.  

Once a boat gets close enough, the water-gate bridge opened up outside of base camp; there was one way in and one way out.

Security was airtight and there were always patrollers inside and outside of campus to all directors that ran operations. Approaching closer, she noticed there were cans of food and scraps thrown on the dock. Trash was littered everywhere. Picking up cans, she smelled each on. They all had a pungent mildew aroma. There was no way somebody ate them recently.

“Damn I guess they were too lazy to throw this shit away.” 

A beautiful island like this is not made for dirty people, thought Vishta. 

She boarded the boat and checked out the scenery. It was nothing. Nobody was inside and it was as empty as a rotten seashell. The boat itself was in great shape and there was nothing wrong with the helm, mast, bow, or any other part on it. Everything was in great shape. Looking far out, she used binoculars inside her bag to see if any patrollers were standing guard outside the water-gate. To her surprise there was one. With a sigh of relief, she rode the boat toward the entrance. A breeze of wind swam past her face and each wave slapped the boat, spraying water onto her face and hair like a hydrating mist.  Endorea got warmer at night, so the mist felt great on her skin.  

“Shit! I almost forgot!” screamed Vishta. 

She took out the bag of berries given to her by the elder along with a sip of fresh water. As she tied the pouch back up, she had a peek at the uchawi sitting in the bag. It made her feel warm and safe inside. As the boat approached the gate, the security guard quickly pointed her plasma guns toward the boat. 

 “Halt! Show me your I.D.N.A. State your name, credentials and reason for your visit!” 

It had been so long since she had been back to base camp, she forgot how tight assed security was. She cooperatively followed the directions given to her.

“I am Vishta Saturi! I am a field worker in group twenty-five of camp Ectron. I received a transmission to show up to base camp at 1200 hours?”  

Confused, the security guard yelled out, “You’re here a bit early before check-ins! Why is that?”  

Vishta rolled her eyes and yelled back, “I don’t know!!” She pulled out a piece of crinkled paper and flagged it in the air back and forth.

“Here is the transmission given to me! Would you like to see it!?” 

For a quick second, the guard radioed in on her yellow nano transmitter and uttered words into it. She shook her head, put down the weapon and opened the water-gate. Vishta fake-smiled and thanked the guard for letting her in. 

“You’re told to report to the head director immediately, Saturi! Welcome home.” 

Turning back toward the guard she cracked a fake-smile and kept it moving then whispered, “Bitch.” There was no doubt about it, the campus was empty.

The guard was right, it was too early, and no workers had shown up for check-ins. The purple hairs stood up on the back of her neck. Her instincts screaming at her. “I don’t know about this…”

Something about the air felt wrong. Finally, she make it inside the headquarters of base camp. Vishta was immediately greeted by a sachem who stood behind a flock of two to three weaponized guards. In the middle there was a tall woman who stood an intimidating six-foot four with short, black hair braided into a fro and golden-brown skin. 

Her face was smooth, and her lips were plump with the color of rouge roses. She had long eyelashes hovering over her stone-cold eyes; having the hue of jet-black coals. To put it simply... she had a resting bitch face. \

“Habari Vishta. I am Dr. Kalia Kuti, and I am the head director of this campus. I am sure you are aware that we told you to come here ahead of schedule today. I apologize for the delay. But I’d like to ask you a few important questions...”  

Not knowing what to expect, Vishta became suspicious. Instead of asking a question with a question, she followed the flow of the conversation. 

“Habari Dr. Kuti. Yes, I am aware of that. Please go ahead - ask away.” 

The doctor then continued to ask her about quotas, the conditions of her work environment, and even asked her what delicious food tasted the best while being on Endorea. The conversation, the energy, and her demeanor seemed very lax. It turned out to be a very pleasant conversation. At first glance, no one would ever know the doctor was so laidback. Her stature was so intimidating, yet her vibe was so soft and assertive. At first, Vishta thought it was all a bullshit front.

Eventually, they reached a voice operating door. Kuti said her name and the door slid open, slowly revealing an auditorium with a large floating screen in front of it. No field worker in hell had ever seen that room before. Not even Vishta. The doctor took a laser device, pointed it toward the screen and cut it on. Considering all the security clearings they had to get through just to get inside, only someone of high authorization could enter that room. Looking dead into the screen. All the words in Vishtas throat dropped straight into her stomach.

Time stood still. The mission just became much more complex than she had ever anticipated. 

There were no windows and barely any vents inside the whole area. Just tables with slide chairs behind them and one bathroom. Suddenly, the screen flashed on with a burbling sound. Projected on it, in bold black capitalized projected letters it read: 

OPERATION 9th HORIZON

 It finally hit her. The hunt she had been on, for what seemed like forever, had finally found her. That tattoo on her navel turned out to be good luck. She wondered if Doctor Kati knew about her ventures of discovering the mysteries of the ninth horizon. Not even seconds later, the doctor took steps forward with her hands behind her back, looked up, and told Vishta something remarkably interesting. 

“The politics of Proxiima are just that. Politics. At least to the public eye. To be quite honest with you Vishta, it is all a façade. No governmental organization would be honest with the people they depend on for their power. Proxima is all just a cover up. A web of deceit to gain advanced access to a more ancient knowledge...a more valuable knowledge. Knowledge directly stored within the archives of the 9th Horizon.”  

Vishta stood there quietly taking in all the information the doctor spewed out. Vishta wondered why the doctor did not hesitate to tell Vishta this information. Suddenly, Kati turned her body completely around to face Vishta. With a slight smirk on her face.

“Oh…and we heard about your search for the ninth horizon long before you worked for Proxiima. We have eyes and ears all over. Nothing gets past us without me knowing about it – somehow someway we’ll find out.” 

“Why else did you think we hired you?” 

Vishta’s anxiety went haywire. She could be in trouble and locked away from the world forever by Proxima. Her back was against the wall. Kati offered a deal to protect Vishta; only if she agreed to report back to them daily with anything she found out about the ninth horizon. Before Vishta could say anything, Kati continued.

“You see Vishta - many advanced technologies have existed through modern science beyond the masses imagination. People assumed having technologies made society a better place. In fact, they believe they are living on the forefront of technological advancement. No... in all actuality, they are sheep. They have no clue just how primitive they truly are. Once the portals open, the true savages will eat away at eachother until it is nothing left. ” 

Though reluctant, Vishta agreed. Proxiima’s top researchers believe that the portals were hidden beyond their world and exist in another.

"What portals?"

“Frankly speaking, the ninth horizon exists behind the very same compressed hydrogen plane as all other eight horizons. It is a multidimensional landmass woven among the same fabric as their quantitative time frequency, the landmass could not be tracked or seen. One would compare it to a ghost appearing and then disappearing before their very eyes. At least in theory...this is what we have found out so far.” 

"But how? There actually isn't any solid proof of this. Its a myth. Allegories wrapped in riddles and fables. "

"Well yes...and no. Throughout history philosophers, scientists, teachers, archaeologists, occultists, and others throughout the century have had theories but nobody ever came close to discovering proof of its existence."

"So they were half right?"

"Yes but they drove themselves mad. Many of them were exiled by society, and in truth, those who found answers were eventually silenced by the Nucleuz."

Science at that point and time had reached its zenith and somehow Doctor Kati found Vishta to be the key to finding more intel on the ninth horizon. Taking a deep breath and gathering her thoughts, she realized she had a huge opportunity to gain great leads. She already thought of all the pros and cons that could come out of working with Proxima. The manipulation of corporations can very well be a trick. They only help out just to put you to sleep and silence you in the end. 

To her, people out there in the cold world will do a few good things just to disguise their con game and true intentions at the end. The taste of a double-edged sword was bittersweet. They use her and she would use them. 

To win this game, you must not play, she whispered to herself. 

Proxima and Vishta were pieces on a board game being moved. Except this time, Vishta could see above the board and where she was moving; her decision was final. Vishta could finally put together connections that will aid her journey. Moments later, Kati introduced her to another scientist who ran the whole project under her lead.

His name was Doctor Gabe Obi’Yo [Oh-bee-Yo]. He is the leading scientist in conspiracy theories and one of the best brains beyond the world of time travel, terraforming, and multi-dimensional contact. Obi’Yo had a short stature and lighthearted demeanor. Total opposite of Doctor Kati. His skin had patches of brown and milk white all over his body, from head to fingertips.

His beard was groomed with strands of yellow brown and grey hair connecting to his shiny bald head. He smelled like patchouli incense, red musk, and had a slight tinge of sweat dripping from all the cooking vials inside the research lab. Vishta assumed that there was not much cool ventilation inside certain labs. With a slight smile and aroma of confidence and calmness, he introduces himself to her.  

 “Habari Vishta. My apologies for the sweat. I work extremely hard, and it is hot as monkey nuts in here. Kati has told me all about you. For a while we have been watching you closely. Sorry you had to find out this way, but understand it was for a greater cause.”  

“Habari, Doc. Nice to meet you…” she said, biting down with a toothy grin.

She hated the idea of taking orders from anybody but chose to put her pride aside. Playing her cards right would mean gaining access to the secrets of the ninth horizon. Finishing her acquainted with doctor Obi’Yo, all three of them walked together making their way out of the lab toward the campus entrance.

Vishta received her first secret top mission from Proxiima. She decided to wait until shadow hours to get whatever else she needed left before her next journey to the fifth horizon; Faro-Khemu [Fair-oh kem-oo].

She could not figure out why they would send her there for the first mission. It was going to be a long trip. This time she was treading into very dangerous territory.

There was no looking back now.

END OF CHAPTER 6