Chapter Forty-five

Aleister/Part 2

Future

March 15th. Year 5 S.A.

Kolsay Lake, Kazakhstan.

The mahogany cane with the head of Horus sank into the earth and the snow that was beginning to melt. The young looking man stopped to rest as he looked around at the cloudy morning and the mist that blurred the landscape a little.

Nature surrounded him and he turned to look back the way he had come. He had just crossed a natural log dam. The raging water almost overtopped the logs and for a few moments he had doubted whether he would be swept away. But finally he had crossed.

The man had dark red hair, gray eyes and was dressed in hiking clothes. He wore a red thermal jacket with a strange symbol on the right sleeve. It was some kind of incomplete malt crosses surrounding a letter A. Under that symbol read: Amalantrah Corporation. Aiween Division.

The man sighed and continued on his way, going deeper into the forest, while every so often he checked his map. He had a Neurowire, but maybe that came from the old days, maps always made him feel calmer than resorting to digital location programs.

He looked up several times, peering into the treetops, but continued to move deeper into the forest. That was until he heard first the crack of a branch and then a familiar sound, it was a rifle pointed at him.

"Don't move!" Said the voice of a man behind him, about thirty meters away.

Everything happened quickly. The man pointing his gun saw a reddish glow out of the corner of his eye and there was the sound of a detonation. But the man had flown several meters into the air until he crashed into a tree and fell to the ground cursing. He was a middle-aged man, with a cold look and ashy blond hair, which did not cover a scar on his forehead.

"Scarlet, stop!" shouted the man with the cane.

The shooter stood up in confusion and leaned against the tree. The sight overwhelmed him. The natural landscape had been filled with a red that contrasted with the scene, as if someone had put a series of red lines on a freshly finished canvas. But that red was silk-like fabric, or perhaps hair, floating through the trees and moving as if it had a will of its own. Whatever it was, it had stretched for several meters.

But what overwhelmed him was when that red began to diminish, until it concentrated into a mass that moved towards him and from it emerged a woman emanating a murderous aura. For a split second he thought he saw the pale skin of her totally naked body, but part of that red was actually cloth and it had wrapped itself around her body forming a sort of dress almost instantly. She was beautiful, but he had no words to say it, instead of words of fear, or admiration for that girl, something else came out of his mouth.

"It's you... you're really here... I thought it was impossible."

The man with the cane approached the man standing against the tree and looked at him. "It's you. Were you waiting for us?"

"Did you…"

The man with the cane smiled and nodded. "I saw your face only once, almost two hundred years ago, but I know who you are. It is an honor to meet you, C-5, Franco Bicini. The sole survivor of the cleanup team from the operation at Lake Lemac."

"Aleister Crowley," mused the man named Franco Bicini.

"Aleister is fine, I got rid of my last name when I became a homunculus."

"You're here for this..." Franco Bicini brought his hand to a bag he was carrying with him.

Aleister gave a weak smile and nodded.

"I just had the vision, so I was supposed to be here. You saw me?"

Françoise nodded. The two men looked at each other for a few seconds. Scarlet Lam hovered close to Aleister, but at no time had she taken her eyes off Franco.

"For how long...?" Franco asked.

"A long time. I guess for you it happened in the Lemac operation, right?"

"Yes…"

Aleister turned and looked in the direction of the lake. "Well we should hurry... who knows if that thing can't attack us when we're done. I want to get out of this place as soon as possible."

"That won't happen for a long time, it's still too small. Don't you know that?"

"I only saw, what I saw, nothing else. But I know that something terrible lives in those waters."

"The reason the stone has to be here is to help that thing in the lake. That's all."

Aleister looked at him and frowned. "Do you know who's the one who's going to carry it?"

Franco shook his head. "No, I never saw that."

"I guess we don't have all the answers."

"You know which part it is?"

Aleister nodded. "Come on."

They walked a little further into the forest. With every step they could feel the snow crunching under their shoes and, at the same time, melting snow falling from the trees.

In Aleister's head the thoughts were spinning, he had also considered the possibility that it was all impossible, but it was not. That man, Françoise Bicini was one of the faces he had seen in his visions and that day they both had to be there. Everything was happening according to the visions that, although different, both of them experienced.

It was only a few minutes that Aleister guided Françoise through the trees, until they reached a part of the forest where the trees were not so close together and from there they came to a set of four fir trees.

"This is it," said Aleister approaching one and pointing upward.

Françoise approached and nodded. "Yes, this is it. I guess you were the one who had that piece of information that I didn't."

"Those visions were too fast, it's a miracle that after so many years I can remember everything well."

Françoise opened the bag she was carrying and took out a black case. The scene reminded Aleister of how the madness had begun. In that bar in Sapporo.

Françoise opened the case and showed what it contained. That black, crystalline stone that had been left behind by that fractus in Lake Geneva that had killed his entire team. Aleister looked at it and could not deny that a shiver ran down the back of his neck.

That stone was different from the one Satou Nobuyama had shown him. It was not split, but he knew that. It was the same one that the drunken professor had shown him that night, he had no doubt about that.

Franco took it and looked at the fir tree trunk and then at Aleister. "You know? In the visions I got I saw too many things, but many of them were from the past. That's right, isn't it? How do we know no one will take it the whole time it's here?"

"Because it already happened," Aleister said and looked at Lam who floated around the trees examining them and then looked down at the lake.

"I don't like this place. It's not safe. Even nature seems to be silent." The men looked around but it was true. It was as if the whole place was silent. Or something was watching them.

"We'd better hurry," Aleister urged and then looked at the stone. "Before, can I have it?"

Franco looked at him hesitantly, but then reached out and handed him the stone. Aleister examined it. There was no doubt in his mind, it was the same one he had seen in that bar, only a little bigger and not split in two halves. How? and why? he wondered. After a few seconds he gave it back to Françoise. At that point it was absurd to ask those questions. Let bygones be bygones.

They both looked at the log again. "I think in my vision it was at the high part of that trunk."

"Yes, in mine too," Aleister nodded. "That would make sense, so the animals can't reach it."

Françoise took a few steps away and looked at the log. "Five meters should be fine, I guess."

"Lam, do you want to help us?"

Scarlet Lam sighed and floated over to Franco. "Give her to me, I'll do it. It'll be faster."

Françoise hesitated.

"In your vision did I steal the stone or something?" Lam asked with a mocking tone.

Franco shook his head and handed her the stone. Lam took it and when she held it in her hand she looked at it strangely. That had been the rock that had put her in contact with Aleister but, for some reason, it made her feel uncomfortable. Finally she turned around and approached the trunk. With her free hand she touched a part of it, while with the other she examined the stone. Her fingernails grew and her whole hand took on a reddish hue equal to that of her hair. There was a glow in her hand and she rested it on the bark while not taking her eyes off the stone. After about twenty seconds she removed her hand.

Where the bark had been there was now a perfect hole the size of the stone. Lam inserted it into the hole and it fit perfectly, as if it had been made with millimetric precision. Then she moved a couple of feet away to contemplate the work and returned to Aleister's side.

"I guess that's it," she said.

"So much trouble over something so simple."

"I still don't feel safe leaving it all this time in there. Anyone could notice."

"Not many people come around here. Not even those who live in the surrounding area, it's mostly weekend homes and there's been a lot of depopulation in the last few years."

Franco sighed and looked at the stone. On the one hand he was relieved that he would no longer have to carry it. The last few years after the war had always been something that shook him. It was a reminder of what had happened at the lake and how he had been the only survivor of all that nonsense

It might be a bit of survivor's guilt but, the years had passed and he now had more responsibilities to take care of. The war was over and with that stone in place that had shown him everything would have to end. He already had a wife and a one year old son to take care of. If the stone had given him the vision of that place, it would have to stay there.

Aleister, on the other hand, looked at it with a bit of apprehension. He had doubts in his head, but that image was another of many that was fulfilled. All that was predestined to happen. Maybe for Franco everything was already finished, but for him he still had a couple of visions that had been entrusted to him, but for that he would have to wait.

" Shall we go?" Lam's voice brought the two men out of their musings and memories.

They both nodded and slowly set out the way they had come. From time to time they looked behind them, they felt presences in the surroundings, but could not see anything. Whatever it was, the feeling did not dissipate until they crossed the log dam.

Behind was that mysterious rock from another dimension, waiting for someone or something to arrive in the future.

***

February 12th. 109 S.A.

Mount Gianocolo, Rome. Italy.

Moonlight illuminated the abandoned place through the broken glass. It was a large hall with grand staircases, which once must have been a perfect facility. Now everything looked dirty with some leaf litter and cold blizzard blowing into the place.

The huge security robots swooped down on the intruder in the abandoned lab facility. Abandoned at least from human presence. The security robots had a certain gorilla-like appearance, but were much more cubic and geometric in shape, and unlike the place they were gleaming. They could also twist their limbs, making it impossible to attack them from behind.

It was Aleister who had burst in. His face had not changed at all. He was still a young man but, on his face, he wore a kind of nervous smile and blood from a freshly cut gushed from his cheek.

"Is this necessary? I'm not here to pick a fight!"

No one answered him.

He raised the staff he was carrying and pointed it at the robot that came closer and said something in a low voice, a red flash glowed in the darkness and the robot flew off in the opposite direction. It moved fast and evaded a huge metal arm, which could have almost taken its head off and rolled over its body and quickly got up. Another flash and another robot flew away.

That exchange of flashes and missed shots went on for another two long minutes for him.

"I should have brought Lam," Aleister lamented, when suddenly he heard a sound above the din of the fight.

It was the sound of footsteps echoing in the room and seemed to be coming from upstairs. The robots froze their movements and ceased their attack. Aleister stepped cautiously away and looked up the stairs. There stood a man dressed in white. It was Janus and he seemed almost unconcerned about the intruding Aleister. Shirt with rolled up cuffs and a vest. Considering how fashions had changed over the years, it was not unusual for old fashions to be revived for a period of time. But it certainly reminded Aleister of an old style of dress from his time.

"I don't come looking for trouble."

"Three barriers. You jumped three security barriers to get in here. Forgive me if I'm being cautious, but I know who you are. Which brings us to another no less interesting question. Why would one of the most powerful people have to sneak into an abandoned place in the middle of the night?"

"Maybe because I know who you are too. Mr. Janus. One of the first conscious AIs. There's a two hundred meter fenced perimeter around this place that's private property, but there's more security than you'd have to have for an abandoned place."

"I like my privacy. Something that mankind has generally given up in favor of general security."

"Whatever. I have no ill intentions. In fact I'm here to help."

"I'm not interested in joining Aiween," Janus said with a smile. "I know perfectly well that that technology division is creating aeons with magical capabilities with the help of fractium cores."

"I don't come to offer that. But it is arguably far more important than that."

"You're looking for a something, or rather a someone. Someone like me, but different."

Janus narrowed his eyes as if examining him closely.

Aleister didn't seem frightened by Janus, but he didn't move from his spot as Janus walked around him.

"You haven't noticed yet have you? I guess I can't blame you. We each have different parts of a puzzle. But I think the final pieces are in my head."

"I have no idea what you might be talking about. By that you may be referring to many different things."

"Don't play dumb. You're just like me. One of the ones who received the visions."

Janus had stopped behind Aleister's back and his gesture had hardened. "You had better choose your next words carefully. Depending on what comes out of your mouth you may very well not make it out of here. I can see that scarlet woman of yours is not with you tonight."

"It doesn't sit well with her in this place. It brings back bad memories. But that's not what's important. If you don't know why I'm here it means only I have the visions of it."

"A lot of visions but, you still haven't told me anything."

"You're looking for two people aren't you?"

Janus approached and his gaze was fixed on Aleister. Even though he knew Janus' body was artificial he couldn't shake the feeling of the gleam in his eyes, almost as if they were those of a bird of prey. "And who might those two people be?"

"You were looking in the wrong place."

"What do you mean?"

"Those two aren't here, yet."

***

Thursday, March 22. Local time 10AM. 125 S.A.

Aleister opened his eyes. He had been sweating in his sleep and could feel a sticky wetness in his hair.

Although he couldn't call it a nightmare, the truth was that remembering past things always made him break out in a cold sweat. He turned his head to look to the side and there he found two red eyes staring at him. Next to him was Lam, completely naked, but awake.

They were both in a huge, minimally furnished room with dim lights. The sparse furnishings did not detract from the refinement of the whole place, and it was easy to deduce that the place, though minimalist, must have cost a fortune.

"Good morning," Lam said in a playful voice.

Aleister simply swallowed hard first, "I'm not sure they're that good."

"What are you talking about?" Lam stood up and straddled him. She had taken his penis and started rubbing it against her vagina. She was stimulating him and he could feel her wet lips moistening his glans. Her hair floated weightless in the room and her eyes glowed yellow. No matter how many years had passed, she was still beautiful. But this day was different, there was no time for bedroom games.

"I don't want to now, I can't," Aleister warned her.

"You don't have a choice, suck it up."

"Are you serious?"

Lam looked at him with a disgusted face. "What's wrong?"

"Today is the day…"

"I know. Aren't you relieved that the waiting is over?"

"I don't know. I guess after all this time I'm afraid."

"Scared? Are you? Don't make me laugh. What the hell would someone who escaped death be afraid of?"

"There are fates worse than death. "

Scarlet Lam simply moved down and gave him a fellatio, even though it didn't seem like he was really in the mood for it. Aleister looked at the mirrored ceiling and the reflection of the two of them.

"I think having followed those visions for so long has made me dependent. Maybe it really is good to follow a deterministic plan, rather than rely on arbitrary decisions and not knowing what the outcome will be."

Lam removed the limb from his mouth and advanced toward him. "Frankly, I don't care. That's why I prefer to live in the moment rather than think about the future. In that I prefer your old self, who was somewhat more impulsive." She kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth. Then she moved forward to put one of her breasts in his mouth.

It was useless at that moment to talk to her and he knew it. After all, eroticism was part of Lam's nature. Despite not being in the mood at first, that woman knew all his weaknesses and it didn't take more than a couple of minutes for him to get an erection and succumb to her and her selfish desires. Lam was the embodiment of desire and passion in bed. Whether it was the centuries old age of her, or simply her outward beauty, she was a temptation and a curse to anyone who didn't know who they were dealing with.

After about ten minutes he managed to come inside her and she finally reached a wet orgasm that made her legs shudder.

"I can't, my ovaries, thanks for breakfast," Lam laughed and rolled on the bed in amusement then ran a hand over her crotch and then brought two wet fingers to her mouth to lick with a lustful expression.

Aleister snorted tiredly and got out of bed. He walked a few steps to one of the walls and leaned his hand against it. Almost instantly what looked like walls turned out to be windows. The whole room had a spherical shape and seemed to be at the highest point of a city.

Through those windows one could see a city of great dimensions, with some skyscrapers and other much smaller buildings of spherical shape. The activity of the ships and other vehicles in the streets and in the air indicated that it must be the early morning hours. But the landscape was different. There was no blue sky. The color of the sky was aquamarine, with some reddish tones towards the horizon. There were many green parts but the landscape, towards the horizon, everything acquired a much browner color, giving the impression that the whole city was a kind of oasis in the middle of a desert.

Aleister looked at the city and his index finger tapped on the glass. Almost instantly images began to appear on the glass, which darkened slightly. It was local news. That was the news from Hellas Planitia. It was not the news from Earth, it was Mars.

And that huge building where they both stood was also the personal apartment Aleister had in the company he and other Aeon had founded after the Great War. That was Amalantrah Corporation.

While watching the news almost reluctantly Lam had floated up to him again and hugged him from behind, pressing her breasts against the back of his neck.

"And what will you do then? Will you go? she asked."

"I have to go... there's a lot of explaining to do. And there will be a lot of angry people too, even though the Council may give me amnesty for this."

"Do you really think he might still be alive?"

Aleister nodded. "He's like me. No. I should say he's much better than me. I didn't have any more visions of him but, if what I think is right, there's a chance he's still alive."

"Do you think he'll forgive you?"

"No, but at least if he's alive it will be enough."

Lam kissed his cheek and looked at the sky through the crystal smiling. "Earth, here we go."