06

Over the next forty-five minutes, Dr. Snowden chatted with Emily and V, in body mode, who had joined them. He cast an occasional look at Evaran pacing around the room with his hands behind his back. There were many questions he wanted to ask, but Evaran seemed to want to be alone with his thoughts.

It reminded him of Dan’s final moments, his deceased older brother and Emily’s father. Dr. Snowden had paced around the room similarly to Evaran, while Emily held Dan’s hand until the end. His chest tightened as the memory cascaded over him. He wiped his eyes as they watered.

“Hey, you okay?” asked Emily, tilting her head.

Dr. Snowden nodded. “Yeah … was just thinking of Dan is all.”

“Oh,” she said, looking down and away.

“Analysis,” said V, looking at Emily. “Your heartbeat has increased.”

She pulled her lips in. “It’s … it’s nothing.”

V nodded. “I am here if you need me.”

“We know,” said Dr. Snowden, laying a hand on V’s shoulder. His attention focused on a light inside the re-formation chamber. “Something’s happening.” He hustled over to the transparent wall, where the others joined him.

The old man began to tremble as a light-orange glow began to intensify around him. After a moment, the man yelled out as his skin dissipated, leaving a light-orange humanoid form with black striations. After another moment, the form collapsed into a swirling cloud with fast-moving objects in it.

Dr. Snowden remembered Evaran in both of these forms, but the cloud he was seeing was much smaller. Maybe the Time Wardens took so much that this was the end result. His eye caught streams of orange tendrils emanating from small holes in the ceiling. He pointed at them. “Look!”

The tendrils connected with the raw essence, boosting its size and intensity. When it had doubled in size several times, it exploded in a bright light.

Dr. Snowden raised his left arm and tucked his head, as the bright light seemed to persist for a few seconds. When it stopped, he checked around and shot Emily a look.

They both peeped out, and when it was safe to look again, they peered into the room. It had gone pitch-black again, and the silhouette had disappeared.

V stepped forward.

Evaran shook his head. “It is okay. Defensive mode is not needed.”

“Acknowledged.”

“What happened?” asked Emily.

The door to the room slid open. Out stepped a muscular six-foot female with a suit slightly different from Evaran’s. Although she had fair skin like Evaran, her long black hair pulled back into a ponytail stood in stark contrast. On her face was a thin metal band that stretched across her forehead and extended down the sides. Two flat circular metallic pieces stood out near each shoulder and attached to a cape that flowed down her back to her calves. She strode forward. “I happened.”

Evaran scanned the woman with his ring. “You are at full strength.”

“Oh yeah, and it feels good,” said the woman.

“Umm … hi,” said Emily.

The woman snapped her head toward Emily.

Dr. Snowden gulped. “So … uhh … do we call you Evaran too?”

The woman eyed Dr. Snowden for a moment. “Since I’m the last plane form and an Evaran, and there is already an Evaran here, you can call me Levaran. Obviously, when it is just me, I will go by Evaran.”

Emily stepped forward and extended a hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Levaran shook Emily’s hand, then held it up. She ran her other hand over Emily’s. After a few looks over Emily, she said, “Hoxscarus’ ancestral form.”

“I believe that they are, and they call themselves human,” said Evaran.

Levaran smiled. “You actually found them, well, at least one possibility.”

Evaran nodded.

Levaran walked over to Dr. Snowden and ran a hand across his cheek. “Amazing.” She tilted her head at Evaran. “And they travel with you?”

“They do, and can be quite feisty.”

She walked over to V and ran her hands across his upper chest. “You’re beautiful.”

“Analysis. Syrilus mentioned this as well. I believe it has to do with my origin.”

She chuckled. “Of course it does. Your inner container was created alongside the Torvatta when the first plane form entered the plane, and it houses both planar and cosmic energy. The outer container is the plane form, and would be built. I don’t know, though, if your current plane form was the first.”

Evaran examined V. “He was not. The first one introduced itself as D.”

Levaran nodded.

V tilted his head. “Analysis. This means I possess a combination of energy similar to Evaran and Syrilus.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “So … V is Evaran and Syrilus’s child?”

“In a sense,” said Levaran. “He is a raw essence that is unique.”

Evaran eyed V. “I did not know that your essence was mixed. My scans indicated your inner container was just planar energy.”

V swiveled his head toward Evaran, then Levaran.

Levaran nodded. “Syrilus kept some things from you. From all of us actually, at least until I met her.”

“For what purpose?” asked Evaran.

She grimaced. “As you’re here, then you know she met all plane forms initially, splitting that event eight ways. You got the Torvatta, the rest of us got a ship that could travel within the universe. She sensed that there were … abominations in some of the futures she saw. Part Evaran, part … something else. As I was the last plane form, I decided to have you sync with me after your second meeting, assuming your plane form was pure. The other plane forms agreed, or at least that is what Syrilus told me. It appears you have had your second meeting already and met Pozarra, the Hoxscarus I asked to stay behind and relay my messages before I entered the plane.”

Evaran narrowed his eyes. “Pozarra has relayed your messages. What was the something else?”

“Syrilus said some were corrupted by various energies. Some were extra planar in origin.”

Evaran rubbed his chin. “I see. She saw that I was not corrupted, and directed me to you so we could sync. I suspect she would have exterminated me if I were corrupted.”

Levaran pulled her lips in for a moment. “That’s right.” She stood back and swung her head around. Then she ran her hands over her suit and body parts. With a yank of her ponytail, she chuckled. “It appears I’m female.”

Dr. Snowden adjusted his glasses while looking at Levaran. “Were you able to choose what you wanted to become?”

Levaran shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. However, I was able to signify elements I wanted.”

“Oh,” said Dr. Snowden. “Well, I have noticed you speak differently.”

“Every plane form can choose how they speak when created,” said Levaran. She waved her hand out in an arc. “Before we go any further, I wanted to say … thank you for my second chance.”

Evaran nodded.

“The Time Wardens …”

Dr. Snowden chuckled. “Evaran took care of them, and then some.”

Evaran met Levaran’s gaze, and then they nodded in sync.

Dr. Snowden cleared his throat. “So to be sure that I’m understanding this … you’re both Evaran, just different plane forms.”

“You got it,” said Levaran. “Although we’re the same in the Cosmic Medium and would merge into our main form, our plane forms take on a unique identity, shaped by the form we take. The plane forms are, in essence, sentient suits made up of planar matter that has its own life link layer. Our raw essence is a dimensional overlay on the body. That allows each plane form to have its own take on things, while still being an Evaran. Our plane forms are quite resilient.”

“We’ve seen it,” said Emily.

Dr. Snowden chuckled. “We don’t mean to rapid fire questions at you, it’s just … we’ve traveled with Evaran for so long and are just now learning all of this.”

“It’s okay,” said Levaran. She tilted her head. “Your curiosity is refreshing. I can already see why he travels with you.”

“Speaking of which … do you remember anything from your old plane form, the old man?” asked Emily.

Levaran nodded. “I do. My previous form was unique, as is this one, but the memories are the same. However, new memories from this plane form will take precedence.” She took a deep breath. “I’d been preparing to no longer exist.”

“So … how’d you end up with the Time Wardens?” asked Emily.

Levaran clenched her jaw for a moment. “I had been on a planet with a civilization that was technologically primitive. The Time Wardens found it, and the civilization tried to protect me. The Time Wardens rained destruction upon them, and although I was able to stop a few, it was clear I had to leave.”

“In your universal ship,” said Emily.

Levaran nodded. “Its shielding was subpar to the Torvatta’s, but still powerful. When I tried to leave the planet, the Time Wardens were able to grapple my ship. Although they could not breach my shielding, they dragged my ship to the edge of a black hole.”

“Whoa,” said Dr. Snowden.

Levaran chuckled. “Whoa is right. I had a choice. I could either go into the black hole, which would crush my ship or surrender and have some time to formulate a plan. They accepted my surrender and … ,” she said, with eyes flaring, “ended up where you rescued me. I was there for approximately one thousand three hundred ten of your years.”

“Oh, wow,” said Emily. “That must have been torturous.”

“It was, and they slowly fed off me the whole time,” said Levaran. She glanced at Evaran. “How’d you get inside their base?”

Evaran nodded. “Syrilus gave us a pattern for a planar beam generator to breach their shields. I also used the end of one of their tentacles to access their doors.”

“You’ve fought them before …”

“I have, and they no longer possess a timeplex in the timeline that I inhabit.”

“I was not strong enough and underestimated the Time Wardens,” said Levaran. She clenched her jaw. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

Evaran nodded. “I suspect that will have some influence on your new plane form. The Time Wardens most likely have a timeplex in this timeline. I will help you shut it down. However, before we do that, I need to update my UIC for this universe, and you will need one as well. It would also be helpful for you to travel with this timeline’s version of Dr. Snowden and Emily.”

“Say what?” asked Dr. Snowden.

“Huh?” asked Emily.

Evaran grinned. “I have found that travel with you both has broadened my perspective. I value your insight and am glad you are with me. I believe Levaran could benefit from this as well.”

Dr. Snowden bobbed his head. “So we’re going to meet our parallel-universe duplicates?”

“To them, you would be the duplicates,” said Evaran.

Emily shook her head and exhaled. “Can’t be any crazier than meeting a nanobot duplicate.” She nodded at V. “Don’t forget him.”

“I have not,” said Evaran.

“I can work with that,” said Levaran. She nodded her head back at the re-formation chamber. “There are two containers in there. They were filled during my re-formation. One is for a new Torvatta, mainly the Torvatta’s dimensional doors, access to shielding, and the planar dimension that powers the Torvatta. The other is for V, or my version of it. Assuming you have no issues with another Torvatta, I will need a shell to work from. That could take a while to replicate.”

Evaran raised a finger. “There are no concerns here. As for the shell, I may know a few friends who can help with that.”

“Excellent,” said Levaran.

Dr. Snowden wagged a finger. “So that’s an additional benefit of the chamber. Not just to boost you, but create containers of re-formation energy to be used as needed.”

Levaran nodded. “The boost was my design, but the containers were Syrilus’s. The re-formation chamber would only exist if the first plane form was not corrupted. I am thankful he was not.”

“Did you have a V?” asked Emily.

Levaran’s eyes lit up. “A2 was killed trying to save me when I was forced to leave my ship by the Time Wardens.”

Evaran’s eyes glowed for a moment. “They will be dealt with. This, I promise you.”

Evaran and Levaran synced gazes, and then nodded.

“Levaran and I have some things to discuss,” said Evaran. “It is almost six p.m. Earth time. Let us meet tomorrow morning at ten a.m. in the conference room.”

“Going to do that sync thing?” asked Dr. Snowden.

Evaran nodded.

“All right,” said Dr. Snowden. He inhaled as he dipped his head. It was apparent the Time Wardens had all but destroyed Levaran. Now with two plane forms, and a bigger group, he knew they would be in for a fight, but he suspected it would not go in the Time Wardens’ favor this time. Being on the opposite side of one determined Evaran was bad enough, but two was suicidal. Although Evaran showed little emotion, the anger and determination on Levaran’s face was all too easy to read.

The prospect of meeting this universe’s version of him and Emily intrigued him. Although he remembered Nanobot Emily was a duplicate of Emily, he was not sure what he would make of meeting his duplicate. He understood the Torvatta’s origin now but would have a chance to see one built. His nerves pulsed at the thought of everything he was learning. He would even get to see Levaran’s version of V created. The friends that Evaran mentioned did not ring any bells for him, but he suspected they would be powerful. As he left the maintenance room, Emily half smiled at him. Given everything they had seen, he was glad she could share in this experience with her.

Emily eyed the blank holo room. She was up early at 7:00 a.m. and figured she would get a workout in. The previous night, she and Dr. Snowden had gotten dinner and then gone their separate ways. After that, she had a training session with V, which tuckered her out. The night ended with her adding notes to her virtual workspace with information she had learned. There was a lot to add. It was not long before she had fallen asleep.

Before she had gone to the holo room, she had searched around. Both Evaran and Levaran were nowhere to be seen. She figured they probably went somewhere private to do the syncing thing for the rest of the night and maybe were still at it. What would be synced or how long it would take was a mystery. She wondered if they would tell her. With a smirk on her face, she stretched around. The border of the holo room doorway lit up, catching her attention. She wrinkled her eyebrows as Levaran entered the room.

“I figured you might be here,” said Levaran as she strode over to Emily.

“How’d you figure that?”

“I synced with Evaran last night. He showed me the major parts of his journey from his entry to the plane to now. Quite a journey.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m aware of what you went through, and sad that you had to go through it.”

Emily searched the ground for a moment. “At least I learned from it, and I feel like I’m overall stronger.”

Levaran nodded. “You are. I saw your fight with the Time Wardens. Very impressive.”

“What about you? I assume Evaran got to see parts of your journey as well.”

“He did. My journey was … not quite as extensive as his, although it’s apparent we made different decisions based on the circumstances. I find that interesting.”

“So plane forms can make different decisions,” said Emily.

“Of course. Where I would jump in and fight, he sometimes left.”

Emily tilted her head. “You sure about that? The Evaran I know has jumped in every time.”

“As of late he has. His first five thousand years, not so much.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “First five thousand years!” She shook her head. “He always avoids discussing his age.”

“There’s a good reason for that.”

“I knew Evaran was old … well … the plane form we travel with anyways, but not that old.”

“Indeed. We are ancient relative to a human lifespan,” said Levaran.

“Yeah,” said Emily. She snorted. “It’s so weird to talk with you. I know you’re the same as Evaran in the plane system void and different in plane forms, but you seem a lot like him.”

Levaran smiled. “Our essence is the same. The first … your plane form … is more resilient than the others. I suspect that is due to being more cautious in general. That is unusual in a plane form. He also travels with others.”

Emily swatted a strand of hair out of her face. “I’m just happy he lets us. You didn’t have any traveling companions?”

“I didn’t,” said Levaran. “Other than A, A1, and A2, it was just me, and whatever civilization I visited, and I wasn’t shy to showcase my physical prowess if needed.”

“Huh,” said Emily. “Care to join me?”

“Sure. The Kreagan colony ship? V says that’s your favorite.”

Emily smiled. “Sounds good to me. Speaking of which, where is V?”

Levaran crooked her thumb back. “He is observing the creation of my version of V.”

“What’re you gonna name it?”

“To honor you all, I am going to call it Edev. An acronym of you, Dr. Snowden, Evaran, and V.”

Emily chuckled. “I like it. Will Edev have the same personality as V?”

Levaran shook her head. “I don’t know, but I suspect since the inner container merge with the outer container requires some of our raw essence, it will be different.”

“I look forward to meeting Edev.”

“As do I. Now, transformed?”

Emily nodded. “What level do you want?”

“Your highest to date, and set it to triple.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “You sure?”

“I am. I want to see what this new form is capable of.”

“Okay … ,” said Emily. She pulled up the options menu and set the holo room to the Kreagan colony ship. Tripling the amount of transformed—mutated humans covered in leathery skin with appendages poking through—made the total amount around sixty. She extended her utility handle into a staff with one end glowing blue and the other glowing white. “What weapon are you going to use?”

Levaran pointed to her plated forearm that had her utility handle attached to it. “My utility handle will cover ranged fighting, and I have shielded gauntlets for close-quarter combat. I can create a shield on my left and right forearms as needed.”

Emily bobbed her head. “Interesting setup. All right. Let’s do this.” She started the simulation.

A swarm of transformed rushed toward them.

Emily adopted a defensive stance. She drew her head back when Levaran surged forward into the transformed.

A light-orange shielding appeared that wrapped around Levaran’s fists.

Emily noted that Levaran did not move as fast as Evaran.

Levaran swung to the left and right as she charged into the middle of the transformed, who went flying in every direction. One of them jumped on her back. Levaran calmly grabbed it and threw it into the air, then punched it when it came down. It went tumbling like a bowling ball through the others.

Over the next couple of minutes, Emily dodged the few transformed that got past Levaran and used her staff to deal with them. Levaran had all but dismantled the rest of them. There were transformed on the ground that had their heads knocked off. Emily swung her gaze from side to side, examining all the transformed as she approached Levaran. “Those shielded gauntlets are pretty tough, but so are you. Do all plane forms have the same abilities?”

Levaran shook her head. “It varies. Plane forms can take on many different abilities, but it is informed by how the previous plane form died.”

“Ohh,” said Emily. “I guess spending a thousand years in a Time Warden siphon tank gave you super strength.”

Levaran sighed. “I think you’re right. I noticed I don’t move as fast as I used to.”

Emily eyed Levaran. “If you had this strength when the Time Wardens took you initially, would it have helped?”

“It would’ve. The Time Wardens would’ve been torn to shreds.”

Emily nodded.

Levaran swayed her head back and forth. “That was a good workout. I want to talk with your uncle alone before we all meet up again as well, but I’m up for another run at this if you are.”

“You want to talk to Uncle Albert alone?”

“As I did you. I wanted you to feel comfortable with me while I’m a guest aboard your plane form’s Torvatta. I didn’t get a chance to really introduce myself to you yesterday. Since I’ve never traveled with companions before, this is new to me.”

Emily chuckled. “Well, you seem just like Evaran so far, although you speak and look different.”

“I look better, though,” said Levaran.

Emily laughed. “All right then, round two!”

Levaran nodded.

Over the next forty-five minutes, Emily and Levaran went through several rounds.

Emily enjoyed her time with Levaran. She was easy to get along with and had a similar, yet distinct, demeanor to the Evaran Emily knew. Bonding with Levaran would be easier since Emily already knew Evaran, and it felt like she was talking to a different side of Evaran. She knew the plane forms were different, but Levaran seemed to have more in common with Evaran than not.

As she watched Levaran leave the holo room, she reflected on the pain that Levaran had to endure in the siphon tank for over a thousand years. She wondered what impact it had on Levaran’s views now. Although she did not see anything outright, she was looking forward to having Levaran aboard for a while.