The World Changers

By Raymond Towers

What is the nature of our reality? What is truth? What is fantasy? Perhaps it is time for us to break the paradigms of the mind, dogma, history and the universe all around us. This tale begins in the present, but the adventure is more profound than you can imagine. Let us travel to pre-Biblical Canaan, a time when the gods shook the Earth to defy the World Changers. Rating: HIGH controversy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raymond Towers
• Release date: Apr 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310061523

Raymond Towers

Raymond Towers is an author of fantasy, horror and science fiction that strays away from the mainstream, plus a little in the way of true paranormal and other genres. He has written and independently published over forty titles, most of them full-length novels and collections, with several more on the way. The author has been a lifelong resident of warm and sunny southern California, a location that pops up frequently in his writing. At the moment, the author is looking for ways to reach new readers all over the world, in addition to pursuing his great love of writing and taking it to the next level.

Book preview

The World Changers

By Raymond Towers

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2015 Raymond Towers

Smashwords Edition, License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Content Rating: All of the characters in this e-book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, whether living or dead, is purely coincidental. This e-book contains a HIGH amount of controversial subject matter.

Cover Image: The cover image is titled Prêtresse. It was produced by Lumir Beleza and can be found at Flickr. It is being used under a Creative Commons 2.0 License.

Foreword: This novel is a complete and separate work. However, it is set in the Chaos Rift Universe, which is an ongoing and far reaching series. As such, some of the characters and / or events described here may pop up in unexpected places elsewhere in the series.

Dedicated to the young woman with whom I had many, many interesting conversations with, and who inspired me to put my pen down onto my notepad to write this novel. Thank you, ‘Alyssa Noble.’

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Table Of Contents

I. The Present World

Oscar

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Omar

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Limbo

Chapter 8

II. The Next World

Meshi

Chapter 9

Elyam

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Cahfi

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

About The Author

Author Website

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I. The Present World

Oscar

Chapter 1

Alyssa Noble glanced down at her iphone. It was another text from Oscar, and it read simply, ‘15.’ She wasn’t supposed to answer him, she knew, only to wait fifteen more minutes before she drove over to his place.

Alyssa frowned slightly, as she’d already been waiting for over half an hour. She only had the patience of a typical nineteen year-old. Already, she had sent out replies to all of her smart-phone’s messages, and she’d looked up all the new stuff her friends had put up on Instagram. As Alyssa set her phone down, she was reminded that none of her friends would ever understand her relationship with the much older Oscar.

Alyssa had parked near enough to the Jack In The Box to catch a strong whiff of all the goodies being prepared inside, and they were tempting her mightily. She could not take the time to grab a bite, however, as she still had a task to do. Besides, Oscar would spring for something to munch on soon enough. Probably burritos, she thought, as she was craving one of those just as much as she was craving a hamburger.

Alyssa was barely one year out of high school, the offspring of a Hispanic father and a Negro mother. Her skin was unusual in that its color would range from creamy coffee to dark chocolate depending on how long she stayed out in the sun. Alyssa stood at five-foot-six, with large, curious eyes, a captivating, playful smile and a cleft on her chin that had been passed down by her dad. (Oscar found it hilarious when she referred to it as her butt-chin.) Her middle was thick but still shapely, her curves pronounced and voluptuous, and her breasts were large and heavy enough that they threatened to start sagging early if she didn’t take care of them.

Oscar, on the other hand, was forty-three and older than her dad. He was stocky and Hispanic. Oscar showed traces of having run wild on the streets in the distant past, although he’d since turned into something else entirely. When she’d first met him, he’d kept his hair short and his face clean-shaven. More recently, he started growing his hair out and was patiently sculpting a goatee that gave him a more street-wise look.

They’d met at the Hildebrandt in La Jolla, which was the large and upscale hotel where they both worked. Alyssa had been hired on as a housekeeper there. Despite her supervisor’s attempts to properly introduce Alyssa to the staff, her fellow housekeepers were either unable or unwilling to train her. Apparently, this same scenario took place often enough that one of the building’s engineers, the infamous Oscar, had been summoned over to show her the ropes.

He seemed pleasant enough back then, as he’d taken her under his wing. He showed her where everything was and how to get everything done. He pointed out which managers were easy to get along with and which ones should be avoided as much as possible. Then, he’d gone on his way and left Alyssa to do her job.

Over the course of the next week, Alyssa suffered through a rough backlash from the rest of the maids. From the start they didn’t like her. Alyssa knew just enough Spanish to catch some of the snipes aimed in her direction, but she never let on that she understood what the maids were saying.

Strangely, she always seemed to be assigned to clean the worst rooms. Also, while the other maids would frequently help each other to finish their rooms faster, none of them would ever come by to help her. They referred to her as La Negra, or The Black Woman. It was becoming frustrating enough that Alyssa was getting ready to quit.

Somehow, Oscar got wind of what was going on. He stepped in and started turning things around for her. Oscar took over assigning which floors the maids would be cleaning. If he caught the maids adjusting the schedule to suit themselves, he simply removed Alyssa from the list. This forced the remaining maids to clean all those unkempt rooms they’d been trying to push on Alyssa. Meanwhile, Alyssa would be comfortably dusting the lobby or making sure the chairs around the pool were all pushed in. She couldn’t help but give the other maids a smug look, when they walked by and saw how easy they’d made her job.

Not too long after that, the supervisor for the housekeepers was summarily dismissed, and it was none other than Oscar who helped break in her replacement. Thanks to Oscar, the new super understood Alyssa’s plight. After that, her duties became a lot more tolerable.

Still, Oscar seemed to have taken a liking to her. If he had to change the grout in a suite’s bathroom, or drag out a piece of furniture that some guest had somehow damaged, it usually fell on Alyssa to come in after him, to make sure the room was presentable. If there had been some sort of banquet in one of the ballrooms and there were leftover desserts or pastries, Oscar would always manage to sneak some out and bring them to her. He’s just trying to get into your pants, her friends would tell her, whenever she mentioned Oscar to them. For a time, she thought the same thing.

Although Alyssa had kept her guard up, and almost as if it was fate, she and Oscar evolved past the acquaintance stage. They became friends. They started talking openly to one another and her perspective of the man changed entirely.

Oscar spoke to her about things that had been, and things that were and things that were to be. He told her about worlds and dimensions that could not be seen, but that existed alongside the physical, material world they lived in. He related some of the many, many strange and harrowing things that he had experienced in his life.

And then Oscar began to ask her questions. He would present Alyssa with bizarre concepts like reincarnation or parallel worlds, or out of body experiences. He’d give Alyssa his thoughts and theories and ask for her opinion on them. Even though Alyssa had never considered or even heard of some of those notions, she quickly absorbed them. Even more peculiar, she was able to give poignant replies and asked her own insightful questions in return.

On a profound, spiritual level, they connected. They were so in tune with one another that when Oscar suggested they’d known each other in a past life, Alyssa had been inclined to agree with him. She’d never been uncomfortable around Oscar from the beginning, and at any time she felt that she could tell him anything about herself, and he’d understand.

Then came the stunner. Alyssa had revealed to Oscar that she’d always known she would end up with an older man. He would be ten or twenty years older than her, she said. Alyssa was so convinced of this that she’d previously told her mother about it. Alyssa couldn’t really explain it; it was just something she’d always felt.

She intrigued Oscar, enough that he decided to make her his special project until he could figure out what it all meant. If Oscar was assigned to work in a suite, he’d request that Alyssa be sent in there with him. If he completed his duties early, he’d track her down and help her finish her rooms. For hours and hours and hours they talked, but even when they weren’t talking there was a comfort and a familiarity that seemed to fill up the space between them. Often, she would catch Oscar gazing at her, as if he was trying to piece together the secrets of her soul. He never turned away when she caught him looking, nor did his attention bother Alyssa at all.

A few times, Oscar had taken her out to a casino, to a comedy club and to a couple of other exotic places that Oscar found interesting. Alyssa probably would not have gone to any of those places on her own. He even gave her a key to his house and told Alyssa that she was welcome to visit anytime she wanted. Day or night, with or without calling first and even if she knew Oscar wouldn’t be there.

The first time she’d gone over was right after Alyssa had broken up with her last boyfriend. She burst into Oscar’s house, not really angry or depressed over her ended relationship, but just needing someone to talk to. It turned out that Oscar kept liquor in his fridge. Alyssa had gotten good and drunk, before Oscar led her into a guest bedroom and tucked her in for the night. Oscar played around and joked with her. He even flirted with her sometimes, but he had never, ever taken it past that point.

Also, she found it odd that while Oscar flirted and joked with all sorts of women at work, he never mentioned any women in his personal life. This uncertainty over Oscar’s private affairs had just been solved, however, and precisely by the task he had asked her to do that night.

This prompted Alyssa to check the time on her phone. Twenty minutes had passed, much faster than she’d expected them to. Perhaps Oscar wasn’t kidding when he suggested that time might be speeding up, unless you were paying very close attention to it. Or perhaps, she grinned, he was just being crazy. Alyssa started up her eight year-old black Mustang and pulled out of the Jack In The Box parking lot. A minute later, she was cruising down Forty-Third Street.

By hanging out with Oscar so much, she learned a few other interesting things about him. At the hotel where they worked, a lot of people asked for him by name. People in lavish business suits, carrying expensive briefcases or satchels, were seen having animated conversations with him. Oscar would stand there in his engineer’s uniform of a blue and white striped shirt and blue work pants, with a utility belt that held a hand-radio, a few tools, and about a million keys. On a coupe of occasions, Alyssa had even seen or heard Oscar being called up to a specific room. Shortly after he left that room, a mysterious guest would check out. To Alyssa it appeared that the guest had only come in to see Oscar and then leave.

Having no qualms about asking Oscar anything, she brought up these mysterious meetings the next time she was alone with him.

Come over to my house tonight and I’ll show you. He said, simply.

This was the second time she visited Oscar at his home. According to him, the house had been built in the sixties. Despite that Oscar tried his best to maintain it, he always joked that the house would show its age like an old woman wearing too much make-up. A large and forbidding hedge encompassed the front of the property. This defensive, natural barrier was only broken up by the driveway and the black, wrought-iron gate that guarded it.

Oscar’s gray, unassuming Ford sedan had rested on the driveway that night. Directly to the right of the driveway was a path that led to a set of four concrete steps, and a small landing of about five feet wide. Since she already had her own key, Alyssa walked right up that path let herself in without knocking.

The house was laid out with three modest bedrooms on the right side, and an ample living room and small kitchen on the left. Past this was a large and open great room. This is where she found Oscar lounging.

Right away, Alyssa brought up his clandestine meetings at work. Oscar responded by making her memorize some ridiculous phrase that he called his secret pass-phrase. This done, Oscar led her to the third bedroom, which had a padlock screwed into its door. It was a simple enough security measure, thought Alyssa. Once Oscar had pushed the door open and motioned her forward, she eagerly stepped inside.

The room was painted in a soft white and illuminated by a plain, circular ceiling lamp. Three rectangular foldout tables sat in a rough horseshoe shape. Large, black tablecloths covered all three tables. Only one of the tables had any items on it, and these were a pair of sturdy and expensive looking briefcases.

You can look all you want, but don’t touch anything yet. Oscar cautioned her.

In the first briefcase and surrounded by corrugated black foam were several pieces of what looked like a handgun. In the second and encased similarly was what looked like a ray gun from some old science-fiction movie, with a fat barrel, a red trigger and a tiny dish antenna on the end. The second weapon looked more like a toy than anything else, she thought.

What kinds of guns are these? Alyssa asked, casting her large, curious eyes in Oscar’s direction.

He stepped in close beside her and motioned toward the first briefcase. This one is more or less a regular handgun. It was scanned by a 3D printer.

What’s that?

You know, just like when you make a regular copy on a copy machine. Oscar explained. Except this kind of printer works in three dimensions instead of two. It’s a technology that’s barely becoming available to us common folk. It works like this: Say you need a tool because the tool you have just broke. You can download a 3D digital scan of that tool, input it into a 3D printer and print a new tool out. Right now, most technicians using this kind of technology are working with hard polymer, basically hard plastic, to make those tools. If a tool has moving parts, they have to print each part at a time and put them together by hand. Well, somebody just came up with something better. He pointed at the fragmented gun in the briefcase. That gun was printed as one piece, with the slider and the trigger and all the other parts already in place.

Nuh-uh.

Have I ever lied to you?

Yes. She grinned at him.

Right. Oscar dismissed her reply, barely keeping his own grin from surfacing. Well, I’m supposed to pass that along to a Japanese guy in a couple of days. He’s going to have his techs take a very good look at all those parts, to make sure they’re top notch quality. If he likes the way they turned out, he might invest big money into the company that is about to introduce this digital scanning process to the public.

Why do you even have something like this? Alyssa asked. Isn’t it top secret stuff?

Oscar shrugged. Not really. The scanning process is the big secret, but the gun parts aren’t illegal to have. The biggest worry is that this gun can be smuggled into airplanes because the metal sensors in the airport terminals won’t register it.

Warily, Alyssa peered out the door. So nobody’s going to try and kill you for this?

No. I told you before, I’m protected.

What does that even mean?

I’ll tell you about that one of these days. He moved over before the next briefcase and picked up the strange-looking ray gun. Come with me.

Alyssa followed Oscar back into the great room. He paused to check a small array of controls on the gizmo before he handed it over to her.

It seemed kind of light, Alyssa noticed. So, what is this thing? Some kind of crazy bug-zapper?

Oscar went to stand before the couch he’d been sitting on earlier. It’s called a Vortex Ray Gun. I want you to point it at me and shoot me with it.

Alyssa looked alarmed. I’m not doing that!

Oscar stood there with a big smile on his face.

Well, what does it do? Are you even going to tell me anything?

Oscar held his arms out wide. Shoot me, or I’m telling everybody at work that you’re my girlfriend.

Alyssa giggled. Everybody at work already thought that.

She pointed the little antenna dish at Oscar and pulled on the bright red trigger. She heard a sound like a balloon being popped. Before her eyes, Oscar was suddenly shoved back several feet and into the couch. He smacked into the cushions hard enough that he almost tipped the couch backward.

That was so cool! He shot back up to his feet. Do you want to try it?

No! Alyssa cried out. She was nearly ready to drop the device, except she figured it might cost a great deal of money. What just happened?

Oscar stepped over and took the weapon away from her. This little beauty works on sound waves. It was first designed way back in the fifties, when the Navy was trying to make a weapon that used sound to attack countries way on the other side of the ocean. They could never make such a weapon work because the sound waves were so strong they screwed up the scientists and technicians trying to build it. Theoretically, this model could have worked. The scientists on the project designed a handful of small prototypes like this one to show off to each other. A rich collector of antiques is going to come by the hotel and pick this up early next week. He stared at the item for a few more seconds, before he held it out to her again. Shoot me again. It’s on the lowest setting so it can’t really hurt me.

Alyssa did. After a few more tries, she even agreed to have Oscar point the thing at her. It felt like a strong man pushing her, hard enough to tilt her balance back and into the couch. She got off the couch laughing. For good measure, she had Oscar shoot her a couple more times, too.

That had taken place last week, Alyssa recalled, as she made the last turn to Oscar’s block. She frowned, because it was always hard to find parking on the street. As she drove up to his driveway, she noticed that Oscar’s car wasn’t there and that the driveway was wide open. He must have moved his own car earlier, she thought, to make room for hers. Alyssa pulled in and took the empty spot. A moment later she rounded the back of her car and trotted up the steps.

After unlocking the door, Alyssa stepped in. Figuring that Oscar would be in the great room, she first went into the kitchen to grab a wine cooler. After that, she sauntered over and headed for one of Oscar’s couches.

Earlier, he’d told her to dress casual but kind of sexy, and she had. She had her hair fixed up and wavy. Her pink blouse with white spaghetti straps showed off plenty of her coffee-colored skin. Her arms, shoulders and boobs were there for anybody to look at.

Oscar sat on his favorite couch, looking pensive. A Hispanic woman Alyssa had never seen before stood a few feet away from him, her arms crossed and her countenance solemn. She was pretty enough, Alyssa thought, as she casually stepped over, plopping down on a couch directly across from him. Oscar and this woman might have been arguing before she’d come in, Alyssa deciphered. She watched the woman turn toward her and give her a cold eye, before she turned back toward Oscar.

Who is she? The woman asked.

This is my enigma. Oscar replied, right before taking and releasing a long breath. She was once my father or my mother, my brother or my sister, or my son or my daughter, in another life. She’s come back to torture me into figuring out who she once was.

The woman turned to scrutinize Alyssa further, while Alyssa merely raised her eyebrows and took another drink of her beverage.

Are you sure she wasn’t your lover? The woman asked, icily.

Oscar replied, I’m positive that she wasn’t. I don’t get that resonance from her. She doesn’t seem to have any idea who she was to me, either. What do you think, Alyssa? Father, mother, sister, brother, son or daughter? Which one were you?

It was just like Oscar to turn that into a rhyme. Offhandedly, she replied, Maybe I was all of them.

Oscar leaned back in his seat, his eyes and mouth gaping as if she’d just said something monumental. He did that sometimes, whenever Alyssa said something casually that seemed to have some profound meaning for him. She watched Oscar glance around until he found one of his little notebooks. Quickly, he retrieved it and started to scribble notes on it.

The Hispanic woman sighed, before striding out of the room full of purpose. Alyssa paused to take another drink. When she lowered her bottle, the woman was gone.

Be a sweetheart and get the door for me. Oscar kept writing. I’m sure Maria has left it wide open.

Only if you buy me a burrito in a little while. Alyssa replied, as she went over to take care of the minor task. On her way back, she asked, Who’s Maria, and why did you want me to show up and get rid of her for you? Is she your girlfriend?

Oscar sat there thoughtfully, before he set his notebook and pen aside and looked up at her. It’s complicated. On my side, it’s because of the duality of my zodiac sign. Part of me loves her, but the other part of me doesn’t want to be tied down to any woman. Especially after the bullshit I went through during my divorce.

This was something Oscar rarely talked about, she knew, and he was still very bitter about that. Oscar hadn’t seen his kids in years because his ex-wife had moved several states away from him and refused to allow him to visit.

What about on her side? Alyssa asked. What does she think about you?

Oscar chuckled. She tells me that she’s attracted to several men. This fits in great with the part of me that doesn’t want to be tied down, but the side of me that loves her hates it. That side of me doesn’t want to be part of a crowd, if you know what I mean. I don’t know what I’m going to do about her yet. He sat there thoughtful for a few more moments.

I’m hungry. Alyssa announced. "And since I just did you a favor, I think you should buy me a carne asada burrito." She gave him her best smile to further entice him.

Oscar gazed at her for a time. You know what I hate the most? Its having been born twenty years too early to be your boyfriend. He sighed. Well, we will go out and get you a burrito in a few minutes. I have something to show you first.

I wouldn’t mind if you were only ten years older than me. She teased him.

Stop that. Oscar said, as he left the couch and pulled his keys from his pocket. What’s the pass-phrase?

She laughed out loud. You can’t be serious!

Oscar glanced back at her. It’s a safeguard against crossed dimensions. If you don’t tell me the pass-phrase, I’m not showing you my surprise.

A crossed dimension, he had explained, was when a person left their time-stream and ended up in a different time-stream. Apparently, Oscar had been about to die in a parallel universe, at least four or five times by his count. Somehow, he’d been plucked away from the point of death and put into another universe, where he had survived whatever calamity was about to finish him. Alyssa wondered if this is what he meant by being protected, as she recalled the pass-phrase he’d made her memorize. According to Oscar’s way of thinking, he would have chosen a different pass-phrase in another dimension. This is how he made sure that the Alyssa that was standing before him was the same Alyssa he’d always known.

Alyssa rolled her eyes, as she felt dumb just saying it. Okay, okay. The rain in Spain is falling again! She’d pronounced again as ay-gain, exactly the way he’d told her to.

Come on. Oscar went to unlock the door of the third bedroom.

Inside, he showed her the usual fancy suitcase sitting on a table, although this one wasn’t made of hard plastic like the others. It was made entirely of dull metal. Alyssa didn’t think she’d ever seen one like that before.

The metal keeps the contents cool. Oscar explained, as he opened it up.

Inside the suitcase was what looked like a full jogging suit, made of a very thin plastic and nearly transparent. Oscar took out a long-sleeved shirt, long pants and strangely enough, a full head-cover, gloves and boots. He set each of these items out on the next table, where they both glanced over them.

What is this, some kind of zombie protection suit? Alyssa joked. In case there’s nuclear contamination or something?

No, not quite. Oscar grinned, picking up one of the gloves. Hold out your right hand.

What’s it going to do to me?

Probably nothing. He shrugged back. The man who brought me this suit said his company was very upset because it wouldn’t work the way they hoped it would.

I’m not going to put anything on unless you tell me what’s going to happen first. Alyssa refused. I don’t want to turn green or something!

Have I ever done anything to hurt you before? Oscar reminded her.

No, Alyssa knew, he never had. From the first day they’d met, she’d known she could trust him. She took a quick, resigned breath and held her hand out.

Gently, Oscar slipped the very thin glove over her fingers, stretching it back until it reached her wrist. The glove had a tiny elastic band along the wrist opening that kept it in place.

It might take a couple of minutes to work. He said. There are two ways this material powers itself. One is through electromagnetic energy, which is direct sunlight. The material absorbs sunlight and holds it in reserve, like a car battery. The second way is through a person’s body heat. This triggers the sun’s energy into activating the material into what it it supposed to do.

And what is it supposed to do?

It will make you invisible.

Alyssa had been staring at her hand this entire time, expecting something weird to happen to it. Now, she looked directly at Oscar. This will not make me invisible!

Keep looking at me. He instructed her. Do you think it’s possible for a person to become invisible?

I don’t know, I guess. She shrugged.

It is possible and I just put a glove on you that will make your hand invisible. Say this out loud; that you know this is possible and that it will happen. You have to tell yourself that it can really happen, because if you don’t it won’t work.

Okay, my hand can become invisible. She made a disbelieving face at him.

Try it again. This time really believe it.

Alyssa took a deep breath. She cleared her mind of distractions by imagining the white screen in an empty movie theater, just like Oscar had taught her once. I truly believe that my hand can become invisible.

Now look at your hand.

Alyssa discovered that her hand was no longer visible from the wrist up. It was unnerving at first, as if her hand was really gone. Alyssa wiggled her fingers a few times and felt that her hand was still attached to her. She tried to bring her arm up so that she could look at the stump at the end of her wrist, only to bump her fingers against her face.

Your fingers are still there. Oscar said, an amused look spreading on his face. They just don’t think they are. That’s why you can’t see them.

What do you mean? She asked.

Remember what I told you about this being a hologram universe. He replied.

Alyssa recalled a few of the long and deep conversations they’d had together. The soul always lives on, Oscar had explained, but the bodies that host it come and go, as in reincarnation. This was something that Alyssa truly wanted to believe, because she always had a fear of dying and being taken away from her loved ones.

This takes away the physical part. She deduced. It removes the body from the soul?

Kind of. Oscar nodded. As usual, this invention was made with military applications in mind. Heavily armed soldiers were supposed to put on suits like this, step into enemy territory and blow up or assassinate or wreak whatever kind of havoc they were ordered to.

But it didn’t work right. Alyssa assumed, as she continued to stare at her wrist. It seemed to just end at a blurry line. She would have been grossed out if she’d seen bone or arteries or any of that stuff at the end of her wrist, but there was simply nothing there.

The suit is based on Quantum Mechanics. Oscar elaborated. This means that something is only acting a certain way if you’re paying attention to it.

Kind of like when you said that time was speeding up?

Yes, exactly like that. Scientists and engineers are just beginning to understand that there are other dimensions all around us, and that what we think is real is only real because we think it is. This suit was supposed to make soldiers impossible to see. The problem was that when they had all their gear on, they ended up looking like the alien in Predator. You remember that, don’t you, where the alien’s silhouette was visible as the alien moved around in the jungle?

Alyssa nodded.

Well, that made it worthless to the military. They passed the technology on to all the spy organizations, to secret agents and such, but there are other problems with the suit, too. A person can’t wear it for very long because it gets very hot. On top of that, when the electromagnetic energy is released it gives people with light skin a hell of a suntan.

That wouldn’t happen to her, Alyssa thought, because of the unusual way her skin absorbed sunlight. She’d just get a little bit darker and that was that. She turned away from Oscar, scanned over the rest of the suit. I want to put all of it on, so I can make myself completely invisible.

You’d have to take off all your clothes. Oscar replied. And I mean everything.

She turned to face him. Why?

Because the fabric of your clothing stifles how much of your body heat the suit receives. That is another reason the military couldn’t use it. They couldn’t take along their big, bulky backpacks or their automatic rifles, or anything. A soldier would have to wear the suit naked, step into enemy territory naked and get very hot, very fast, until they got back to a safe zone to take the suit off. A person can only wear the suit for about two hours before they get too hot.

I would have to take off even my underwear?

Oscar nodded. If you didn’t, you’d be mostly invisible, but an outline of your bra and panties would still be seen. You wouldn’t be one hundred percent invisible.

Alyssa mulled this over. Does this suit take my body to another dimension?

That’s a very good question. Oscar looked mildly surprised by her insight. "This is why the guy brought me the suit in the first place. He knew I was into all this metaphysical way of thinking and might be able to figure that out. The answer is maybe. Your physical body is still here in the material world, because you still have the ability to open a door. You’ll still be able to pick things up and interact with the environment. You won’t be able to go through walls, though, or do things you couldn’t normally do. The rest is where it gets weird and complicated.

Have you ever heard the question; does a tree falling in the forest make a sound if there are no people around to hear it? According to quantum physics the answer is no, because the sound is only possible if someone is there to comprehend it. This means that if you’re standing next to somebody and you say something to them, they won’t be able to hear you because to them you are not there. I should be able to hear you, because I will know you’re still around me. So in that case, sometimes your voice apparently goes into another dimension and sometimes it doesn’t. And then there’s the light spectrum. The only reason people can see each other at all is because of the light that reflects off our bodies. That reflection goes somewhere else, too.

So you’ll see me naked the whole time, because you know I’m here. Alyssa wondered, now a little anxious.

According to the guy who brought me the suit, no. Oscar replied. Once the soldiers wearing the suits became invisible, they were no longer visible even to the technicians standing right next to them, even though they were still being heard. The soldiers could not be seen by heat detection or motion detection, either. To the outside world, they were gone except for their voices, or for when they reached out to touch a technician or some other test item. To the soldiers inside the suits, they were standing in the lab the whole time, living and breathing and moving around like always. The guy who brought me the suit hoped I could come up with some answers for him, but I’ll have to do some experimenting with it first.

Alyssa stared at her invisible hand.

You still hungry? Oscar asked. Because I’m hungry!

It was a little awkward for Alyssa to stand there in the great room, naked except for the semi-transparent suit, while waiting for her body heat to activate the material. They decided it was the only practical way. If Alyssa went to