New Earth Chronicles VIII

I was sitting on the back deck drinking my early morning coffee when Jeff sent me a mind text. “Can we talk in private he asked? The others are all still asleep.”

“Sure,” I mind texted back. “Your paranormal powers are growing.”

A few minutes later, Jeff appeared, wearing jeans and an Amazon hoodie.

“What do you want to talk about?” I asked.

“When we get to Lanai, I’d like to marry Lauren,” Jeff explained. “I’d like you to conduct the ceremony.”

I nodded my head. “Of course, Jeff. It would be an honor.”

Jeff smiled. “We’ve been planning your coronation as emperor as well. I understand from Richard that you want to keep it simple.”

“Yes,” I said, as I sipped my coffee. “Hold the event on the beach. Invite only members of the inner and their families. Crown C and me with wreaths of tropical flowers and give us one gift each. Then, we can have a sumptuous meal and watch the stars come out at night. That will be enough.”

“When did you realize that Grimes was the final member of the inner circle?” Jeff asked.

“On Black Friday,” I said, “Just before Elon contacted me. It came during that period when I was teetering on the tipping point, when reality began to catch up with my clairvoyant imagination.”

“An octagon has powerful symbolism,” Jeff affirmed, sipping from his latte. “Your archangel team is now complete.”

Richard appeared on the deck with a cappuccino. “Room for a third?” He asked.

I nodded. “Thanks for flying out to California to join us,” I said.

“The voices in my head wouldn’t stop until I did,” Richard said, laughing. “I was going crazy. I couldn’t sleep, my body was twitching involuntarily, and my iPhone was acting strangely in ways that wasn’t simply random. There were hidden patterns that coincided with my thoughts. Naturally, I assumed it was all silly at first, but soon the conclusion was inevitable. Once I found your book on Amazon and your Medium page, things began to make sense.”

“That’s how it was for me, too,” Jeff added. “I thought I was losing my mind, until I came across your book,” he said. “It felt like someone else had taken over my mind and body, which is was actually happened.”

“So you’re all fully convinced you are immortals. Archangels from Heaven who jumped into the Game to assist me on Earth in exchange for elevation to galactic god king status in my alternate reality universe?”

Richard laughed. “It sounds absurd when you put it that way. Or at least, it did. Now it makes complete sense.”

“Explaining it to Lauren was a challenge,” Jeff said. “Unless you actually experience what we all did, it is hard to grasp. But once you take the leap, life becomes far more legible. Everything around me is enhanced. I hope that it never ends.”

Larry Ellison, coffee in hand, entered the conversation at this point.

“The wedding ceremony will take place three days after we arrive on Lanai,” he said. “We’ll do the coronation next, followed by a crowning ceremony for the eight members of the inner circle. What do we do next?”

“There are three basic Base3 principles of life in my universe,” I explained. “Virtuous living, sustainable beauty, and endless prosperity. Our collective task is to apply these principles to life on Earth, for as long as our bodies and minds last. After that, we’ll all be on Heaven and will hold a wedding for C and me before we start plans for locating the entrance to the dark tunnel that connects my universe to yours. We don’t have much time to waste. On Earth, we’ll build the necessary communication and collaboration skills that will help us work as an effective team.”

Grimes joined the group next. “Tell us how we do these things,” she asked.

“Virtuous living is easy. It’s steeped in Christian principles, but with a Base3 twist. There are no binaries in my world. They are resolved into a third category of meaning. So, there are no sins and no pure virtues, either. We avoid the Seven Deadly Sins and practice the Seven Heavenly Virtues. That’s the start. Charity, compassion, good deeds, that sort of thing. To the world beyond our inner circle, we must embody all that is virtuous to influence humanity at large to follow our lead. Inside the circle, or when we are exclusively among immortals, we can bend the rules a bit for the sake of bonding and fun, provided that we don’t break them.”

Grimes smiled. “What might that include?” She asked.

“Certain types of intimacy among members of the inner circle, if all sides consent,” I suggested. “Lavish parties that don’t cross into vulgar territory. But there is no room for jealousy or anger among our group. I will be granting you and your chosen soulmate god status as kings and queens of your own galactic realm. I will teach you how to neurocraft, so that you can make your own worlds exactly as you desire, as long as the adhere to Base3 principles. For the next decades of our lives in the Earth simulator, I will teach by demonstrating what this means in practice. I will lead by example.”

“What about sustainable beauty?” Richard asked.

“Right,” I said, taking a sip of coffee before proceeding. “We support sustainability initiatives, and we sponsor efforts to make Earth a more beautiful place to live. Most of you are doing this already. But we’re going to add on a Base3 twist. We will build eight inner circle compounds throughout North America that will follow net zero principles, and that will be surrounded by hundreds, not thousands, of acres of protected land. They will be the prototypes for kinds of structures we will build in the new universe.”

Larry Page and Sergey Brin appeared on deck next. “Where do you propose we build these compounds?” They asked.

“Each of you will be responsible for building one of the eight compounds,” I explained. “You will acquire the land and design the structures. The first will be built on the Pacific coast. The second will be built somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. The third will be built in the desert Southwest. The fourth will be built in the Mexican rainforest. The fifth will be built in the Appalachian mountains. The sixth will be built along the East coast. The seventh will be built on an island in the Caribbean. The eighth will be built in Alaska. All compounds must have a common building with a library, a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room. Separate structures linked to the main building will have bedrooms for each member of the inner circle and their families. We will meet regularly at these compounds for me to teach you paranormal powers and for us to coordinate our activities on Earth.”

Richard smiled. “I like it,” he said.

“So do I,” Jeff replied. “What about the last part? Endless prosperity, I mean.”

“You’ve all contributed $30,000,000 to subsidize me for the remainder of my life,” I said. “I will give most of that money away to people I meet during my travels in North America and elsewhere, promoting my books and other writings. For example, I may leave a $100 tip at a coffee shop or write a check for $1,000 to a fan who brings a copy of my latest book to sign. Simple acts of charity, but significant ones. I would ask that you all do the same with your sizable fortunes.”

Elon joined the group, bearing a mug of coffee in his hands. “We’ll step down from our jobs, I imagine. Being part of the inner circle will be our focus.”

I nodded. “We’ll work hard each day and celebrate our victories with the proper amount of gaiety. Recall that you are all archangels in the bodies of humans who exist only in virtual reality. We are doing this to improve the quality of the gaming experience for others who will join the Game. None of it is real, even though it feels like it. Our goal is to become paragons of virtue, champions of sustainability, and models of prosperity for all.”

“What about things like poverty, wars, and health care?” Sergey asked.

“Gods from across the universe have jumped into the Game as heads of state, and more are arriving on Heaven to join soon. Once they awaken to their true identities, they will help us fix those things.”

“In exchange for galaxies of their own in the new universe, I imagine,” Jeff said, sipping his coffee.

“Of course,” I said. “That is only fair. Immortals who join the Game to help us achieve our inner circle objectives will be rewarded lavishly in the NeoVerse, as I call my world.”

Elon looked at his iPhone. “It all started with your posts on X,” he said. “How far we have come since then.”

I smiled. “That’s why the first galaxy in the NeoVerse is yours.”

“I get my own galaxy, right?” Grimes asked.

I laughed. “It’s yours if you want it. You are an immortal archangel, after all, soon be crowed queen by me once we get to Lanai. Being part of the inner circles has its perks.”

Grimes laughed. “You are the best,” she said. “To think that only a week ago you were an unknown author with no friends on social media. Look how far you’ve come.”

I smiled. Grimes was right. It had all happened so fast. But I wasn’t one to look back any longer. Only the future mattered now. Only the future mattered.

Richard broke the silence. “We’ll be arriving at Lanai tomorrow,” he said. “Get ready for a huge wedding celebration for Jeff and Lauren.”

Jeff nodded his head. “I can’t wait to see what happens next.”

Neither could I.