Deity

Jason exchanges a hello with Billy outside Yachi’s studio. As they reach the door he says to his friend,

  ‘Since we’re here we can practice the password’

  ‘Oh, come off it, you don’t honestly expect me to’

  ‘We’ve already discussed this- without the password how will we know we can let you in?’

  ‘OK…Hu-ponk gai’ Billy answers unsteadily as Jason laughs.

  'Nice one, Skippy, now get inside before someone takes offense at you butchering our language’ Jason teases with a grin, an expression so broad that it seems to stretch beyond his face. While Billy was tall and broad-shouldered with a confident smile, Jason was stocky and constantly grinning as he did now.

  ‘When are you gonna tell me what that means?’

  ‘We have, mate, we have, it’s just a formal greeting in southern China, honest’

  ‘Well why are you always laughing at me when I say it?’

  ‘If you realised how bad your accent is, you’d laugh too. I gotta tell you, you’re hopeless’

  Jason and Billy have known each other for a long time and reveled in one anothers' company. Both in their mid-twenties they share a similar easy-going nature and sense of humour that regularly errs into stupidity. Hailing from the western suburbs of Sydney, Jason is a first generation Australian of Chinese descent and Billy probably goes back to the first convicts, he isn’t too sure. Jason has been coming to the ‘class’ for years while Billy has only recently joined and is just starting to get the hang of astral projection with Yachi’s assistance.

  Inside they find another student, Stave already there. Stave is a regular in their astral planing group who had joined about a year before Jason. A little older, he had olive skin and strong, dark features typical of his Greek ancestry. This combined with his solemn and quiet demeanor, led to some thinking he had an enviable ‘smouldering intensity’, Jason and Billy just thought he was a wanker. They are not about to be shown otherwise either. Stave gives them a curt nod and then turns his attention elsewhere.

  Now they were all here Yachi began addressing them, ‘Thank you boys, I have asked you here because I need your assistance, I have recently been troubled by a strange new force. Nothing of its kind have I felt, in fact I have only heard of such things in tales of long, long ago- fairytales if you will, whose truth even I have doubted. I talk of a power great enough to cause disturbances in the very astra themselves’

  Although they know little of the astra and it’s nature, they still realise the scope of such a situation for to disturb the astra is equal to disturbing the natural laws such as gravity governing the physical world.

  ‘However tonight I am hoping to learn a great deal about this new power,’ He continues. ‘For I believe I have pinpointed it’s source. Tonight we will plane into what you commonly call the Internet’

  Their eyes nearly popped out of their head- ‘WHAT’ the room erupts with disbelieving chatter to their teacher, one another or just themselves.

  ‘Please, my friends’ Yachi says over the racket. ‘I can only ask that you trust and believe me, for there is much I don’t know of this quest.’

  He pauses as the muttering of his students finish.

  ‘Although I know much of astral planes and their nature, my knowledge of computers is relatively non-existent. What I can tell you is that the transformation to this new plane is different to that which you are familiar with. It will be a very disorientating experience complete with a little pain.’

  ‘Now, if you can ready yourself as normal and wait for my psychic guidance; any questions you have will be best answered in our journey rather than from my limited knowledge’.

  With that Yachi assumes the lotus position, closes his eyes and begins to meditate. The boys protest and question, but they know it is no use. Yachi has done this to them before and they can’t possibly disturb him now, the only way to learn more of their master’s theory is to follow him. They make a few awkward glances at one another and without a word being spoken they also begin to meditate. Yachi knows them well, the possibilities of a whole new realm no less spectacular than the Internet is irresistible to them. They can barely contain their excitement:

  ‘Was this for real?’

  ‘Could it be some strange test of their ability? Or trust?’

  ‘What would it be like to see the Internet from within?’

  As they went through the regular preparations they found that despite the excitement they felt, which usually hindered their meditative states, things were proceeding faster than usual. Yachi was assisting their transition and they were soon in the astra with a psychic connection between them. He was much more luminescent than they had ever noticed before, in fact it was difficult for them to steal their sense away from him so commanding was his presence. He directed their attention toward the modem, as they looked closer they realised it had a faint astral glow or aura. Directing them to follow Yachi moved a limb within and then another until he had disappeared completely.

  Billy soon followed. He moved into the modem port, into the unknown. The sensations that followed were still difficult to explain weeks later. Electric jolts passed through him and his astral sense warped and waned. He was the conduit for the union of these two worlds. His astral form was being manipulated into a fashion digestible for computers.

  Regaining his wits he began to study his surroundings. A strange narrow tube enclosed him. His astral form moulded to it, his shape rounded and elongated far from its humanoid origins. As well as feeling the tube to touch he could sense it astrally. He had never encountered such a thing, for the senses in the astral form were a projection of the mind and not based in physical organs like ears and eyes. The closest parallel in our physical realm is a combination of touch and emotion or instinct but the entire astral form is used rather than ears, eyes or nose.

  Billy noticed a dim light emitting above him and willed himself toward it. The movement was difficult, like a baby’s first steps his progress was slow and ungainly. Something was inhibiting him, what it could be? Then it dawned on him, his form moulding to his surroundings and now this. It was resistance, a physical property, restricting his movement despite being in the astral realm supposedly free from all physical constraints. His uneasiness in this new world was increasing, he wondered how the others were doing and hoped he would come back into contact with them soon.

  They also moved toward the eerie light, getting the hang of their restricted movement in the bizarre cylinder they found themselves in. Their progress was slow but the light continued to brighten. As they crept along they came to a bend in the path, the glow intensified into a barrage of light. One by one they blinked and cowered as they crossed the bend. They were now out of the modem and in the World Wide Web.

  A twisting, growing complex echoing with a deafening whirr and blasting with all manner of colour and light was before them. From where they stood arteries whizzed about and they caught glimpses of the different pathways within. Gorgeous nymphs wooed, galleries of art and entertainment were displayed and every sport and leisure conceivable could be seen in this hulking great mass of life.

  However there were also mechanisms of death and destruction; fire-walls engulfed all in their reach, occasionally allowing some thoroughfare but promptly closing and destroying anything nearby. There were also punctures in the vessel walls creating great vacuums of nothing. These black holes were ominously sucking all they contacted within.

  Activity was everywhere; a constant stream crackled, beeped and sped every which way. As all this cascaded around them, the magnitude of what they had done hit home.

  ‘Well my friends, here we are’ Yachi came across the psychic link. He was before them, the three newcomers were all transfixed at the exit of their respective pathways. They looked much the same as they did in the astral realm, although none of their auras had ever been quite as blue as they were now.

  ‘I hope the journey was not too difficult, no doubt you noticed that movement isn’t as simple he
re. I believe this is due to this plane being in a physical medium, the computer, so despite our astral, non-physical forms we will still be affected by some physical parameters. I’m still trying to come to grips with this new discovery, I’m sure you’ll agree it’s quite amazing?’

  ‘For instance what are all these things darting about everywhere? And what do they do? There is much to be learnt of this world.’ Yachi was referring to the many vehicles moving along the paths before them. The amount of traffic was well beyond count and they moved quickly, registering only as a blur. At seemingly random intervals they would stop perhaps change direction or combine but then just as quickly they would be off again and one was left to wonder if they had halted at all.

  ‘I have thought long and hard about our next step and I feel we would be best served to wait and observe, feel the power of this new realm, to learn it’s temptations and dangers. We are also quite tired and weary due to the resistance of this realm, our accelerated entry to the astra and the general excitement of all that has happened.’

  They couldn’t believe it. Here before them was a ‘000 adrenalin rushes, video games and action movie scenes: The new frontier. An odyssey through the mind, inner-space, a new dimension and they were in the driver-seat only to turn around and go home.

  Stave was notably pissed, ‘But surely the place for observation is here not from afar, as long as we take care we’ll be fine’

  But Yachi had made up his mind. He was demanding the impossible, upon the precipice only to turn back and ponder. It was unthinkable.

  His wisdom and reasoning continued as they all followed through to the modem.

  ‘We will return but first I must collect my thoughts, I wonder if any of my fellow astral masters know of this, if not, it will only be a matter of time?’ mused Yachi.

  ‘WHO?’ said Billy.

  ‘Where are they?’ added Jas.

  ‘All over the world, in China, India, Europe and also here in Australia from Sydney to, as you say, out in woop-woop’ replied Yachi.

  ‘No way! Can we meet them’

  ‘I have not met many of them myself, our usual method of communication is via psychic link-up’

  And so they return to the physical realm. Jason notes the concern across his old friend’s face. He has known Yachi since before he can remember and on many occasions has sought his advice, like a second father. While to Jason’s family Australia often seemed just as alien, Yachi had also been a teenager here and held knowledge of all facets of what Jason faced growing up here.

  ‘This troubles you, Yachi’ he enquires.

  ‘Yes, a great deal. I have seen many things in this realm and across several others. But nothing like this have I felt, in fact, my only distant recollections of warps in the astra are from whispers by the wise in tones suggesting they didn't really want to know of such things.’

  ‘How old are these stories?’

  ‘Who knows, mine is a long ancestral line. Back when little was known, only a few hardy souls dared to tread a path through the unknown powers of other realms. For thousands of years much was learnt. The monks were peaceful, dedicated to learning, defenders of people. However, this did not last forever.’

  ‘There was a bitter feud amongst the monks. One of mercenaries verse honour, might against mind. The other planes of the spiritual and astral became less important as the physical world and its pleasures were sought. As happens in the great cycle of life the great feats of the past were tarnished. They were no longer used as a code for the present and future but as a currency for the moment with which much could be gained. The people were rightfully grateful. Many of the monks became accustomed to this and soon wished for more, their greed culminated into a battle with those who stayed true to our teachings- to the use of our physical mastery as a platform for further development in the various other realm.’

  ‘There was much bloodshed and destruction for many years. The quest for new knowledge and enlightenment became a distant memory and laughable luxury as war and its horrors became routine. Soon the people, who had worshipped us like gods came to despise us and loathed our very presence. As the battle continued to sap the strength of both sides, it was in fact the people who took control and drove us all from the village. The factions then separated, those driven by greed took to the road selling their skills to the highest bidder. And those following the astral path hid out in the hills and shunned any contact to civilization, where they had brought themselves and their art into such shame.’

  Jason and Billy listen awestruck, a thousand images ran through their minds; of this tale from ancient times and the possibilities unfolding before them now.

  Yachi continues ‘I fear a similar challenge will confront us soon, a new force that will offer much but will require even more to master. I have felt a great power, enough to cause anomalies among the very astra. As of yet I cannot place this power’s source, it is involved with this new realm but it may not be one and the same. Much is unclear. But it is very close and of grave concern. For in the wrong hands unspeakable evil could be unleashed upon the balance of the realms’

  ‘Well, now to the task at hand, the sooner we start our preparations the sooner we can continue our exploration. I think our first priority is to attain some expertise in computers, Do any of you know someone who could assist us?’

  ‘How about Nikki’s friend, Peta?’ Jason suggests to Billy.

  ‘Umm, yeah- yeah that’s a great idea, I’ll give Nikki a call right now’ and he starts dialing her number.

  ‘You were pretty quick to think of Peta, hey?’

  Jason blushes instantly. He and Peta have a history of on again- off again relationships. While their personalities gelled from the moment they met, circumstances always seem to conspire against them. Jason is saved further interrogation when Billy speaks into his phone.

  ‘Hi, honey, it’s me. How are you?’

  ‘Remember what we were talking about the other day in the park….’

  ‘Well we need some help...’

  ‘Can you arrange a meeting with your friend Peta, it’s about computers….’

  ‘She’s there now…’

  ‘Tomorrow at ten, excellent….’

  ‘Yeah, I’ll be around in a few hours, say 11…’

  ‘See you soon….’