Level 5

By Alexis Sixela

We are following the same path along the Milky Way as our sister planet. They are ahead of us. Their present can give us an idea of what our future will be. Today they are afraid of being invaded. It is not an assault by foreign warriors with big armors and fancy lasers. Of course not! It is their brain that is under siege. It is a battle of the souls. They are conscious of the first four levels of their planet: Matter, Plants, Animals and People. What they would like to know is what comes above that. They have a body and a soul. That makes them live in two different worlds. Their neighbor just above is their LEVEL 5 and that's where the problems seem to come from. Their soul is revolting against the dominance of LEVEL 5 like teenagers revolt against authority. Could we be dominated by our own LEVEL 5 like we live under the influence of our weather Helping our sister planet is the best way we can help ourselves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257506880

Book preview

did

]>

1

Pack and go

Fred was waiting for me at the door of the spacecraft.

Good morning, Fred.

Good to see you. Come in! We’re ready for take off. Did you get the message I left for you at the office?

No. What’s going on? Where are we going? I came back from another mission last night. The boss called me at home this morning. He did not even give me time to go to the office and check my mail. He only said that he needs me somewhere and you will tell me all about it. We are not going very far. Only three days of spaceship to go to our sister planet in the Milky Way. Their inhabitants suspect that they are being used. They want a second opinion.

Used by whom?

That's what they want to know. I had a meeting yesterday with John - our president. Here is what is happening. We have an agreement with our sister planet to help each other, like cities help their sister city. This is the first time they have ever asked for our support. We want to respond and show our good will. Their problem is in the immaterial department. Their life is divided into two, just like us. They have the material part with a body that has to be fed and kept in working condition. In the immaterial part, nothing has a shape, color or weight. This is where their logic, ideas, feelings, energy, heat, life, time, love and much more is located. They call it their better half. It seems that their immaterial half has been invaded, and foreign forces are getting control of their society. John said yesterday that they found an abnormal level of anger among some social groups. It is normal that some people need to dissipate some anger. What is not normal is that the level of anger in the general population keeps increasing without apparent reason. It is like a flood that affects some areas and not others. They are used to seeing their kids fighting at school. What they find alarming is that a whole society can regress to the level of kids on the playground. Thousands of people who lived a normal life in the past are now killing each other every day. The only explanation to the phenomena is an uncontrolled amount of anger. They don't know where this anger originated. It goes through some countries like an epidemic, killing the peace lovers and the warriors, the child and the adult. What is the most painful is to suffer without reason and those people seem to be the innocent victims of forces beyond their control.

Fred sympathized with the victims. The least we can do is to go there and be willing to help. Their latest theory is that their mind can get sick from time to time, like their body can get a virus. This is surprising. I know! To understand them, you have to place yourself in the shoes of our first scientist who was trying to convince us of the presence of what he called 'microbes'. How could something so small create such a big problem? He had to overcome a lot of skepticism. Today, their question is: Could something immaterial be the cause of their anger problems? Their mind may be under the assault of some kind of 'anger virus' taking advantage of a weakness in their immune moral system. This is only a theory, of course. They are investigating. They are willing to consider any possibility, and that includes anything we can come up with.

Are you sure that this is not getting into religious territory?

That was my first reaction until John explained that there are many levels between them and their god. What they call Level 5 is way below any religion. It is, at best, the first step of a long stairway that we are not supposed to climb. We may look at their stairway, but we stay with them, at their level.

I was still very reluctant. I refuse to get caught between those people and their gods. It is company policy that we are not qualified to deal with anything related to religion. What do they want from us?

They suspect some Mini gods of being corrupted and taking advantage of them. Some people want to revolt, but how can you revolt against Mini gods?

The more I travel, Fred, the more I realize how lucky we are at home. We don't have a Level 5 to worry about. No Mini gods neglecting us. Nothing between us and our Main God.

He closed the door behind us. Let's take off and we’ll have plenty of time to talk about it.

We started the computers and went through our checklist. Fred pressed the button. Let's go, and very soon, our dear little planet was shrinking until home was nothing more than a little dot in the sky.

We were waiting for you, said Fred, because you have visited other planets in the past. This time, it will be a matter of experience. I am glad you could make it. For many months, our sister planet said that they have good reasons to believe that somebody, somehow, somewhere is taking advantage of them. They have been talking about it for quite a while. So far, we did not pay much attention. Things changed last week, after our president had a long conversation with our contact over there. Her name is Helen. She convinced him that what is happening to them could also happen to us. She pressed his panic button. Since that time, 'Sister Helen' has been the main subject of conversation around the drinking fountain."

Did this 'Helen' have something new that started the panic?

It was not the first time she warned us. However, it is the first time that they mentioned that anger may come from something like a 'virus of the mind', and greed could come from some kind of 'bacteria of the mind'. Helen told our president that sooner or later, we may also have to face a contamination of our immaterial department. In her opinion, they need detectives to tackle this problem, and John told her that we are the best detectives on this side of the Milky Way.

I have the strange feeling of being seated on a horse and facing a windmill. How long do you think that mission will take?

A couple of weeks… maybe.

My son's graduation is the 25th of next month. I have to be back on time.

Three day in the spaceship to get there, plus a couple of weeks to investigate and three days to come back. You should make it for your son's graduation. They want to tell us how they feel and explain what they are going to do about it and ask us if it makes sense. They want the view of an outsider who can show them a mistake in case there is one right under their noses that they cannot see themselves. When I prepare a message for the Internet, I read it again and again to make sure there is no mistake before I press 'Send'. The server forwards a copy to everybody on the mailing list, and thirty seconds later, I receive my copy and I see some big mistake that I did not notice a few minutes earlier. It is the same message, but when it comes from 'outside', I see it in a different way. It must follow a different path in my brain. You know what I mean! They want somebody else to point at a mistake if there is one.

Can't we do that over the Ethernet?

No, and you know why. You have to see their planet and the way they live. You cannot separate them from their environment, and you cannot reduce their life to a few messages. You have to be there …

We remained silent for a while until Fred opened his bag and pulled out a brown envelope with reams of copies.

Yesterday, John gave me a copy of the emails he exchanged with Helen. You should have a look at them. You have three days to read it.

Everything started with a message that our president sent to thousands of stars around the Milky Way. That was some time ago. It was not spamming. At least not in his mind. It was more like the SOS of a ship in distress. Some of them responded. This is how he got in contact with Helen.

From John to Helen:

Thank you for answering our Ethernet message. It is our opinion that our planet is minuscule compared with some monsters out there. It seems that we could disappear any day and nobody would notice. We feel weak and lonely. This is our motivation to look for similar planets, in the Milky Way if possible, with which we could share our concerns. It is not safe and healthy to remain isolated in this vast universe. It is not only the size of our neighbors that preoccupies us, but also what you can find on other planets.

Here, we have only four layers:

Level 1: Matter

Level 2: Plants

Level 3: Animals.

Level 4: People and their thinking.

That's about it. We can imagine a lot more. Some stars could have a Level 5 with inhabitants who possess something better than thinking. Above that, they could have a Level 6 with something better than something better than thinking… Who knows? The sky’s the limit. The more we imagine, the more insecure we feel … and the more we need friends. John - President.

Was it spamming or a public offer? I asked Fred.

John said that when you become the prey of such feeling of total isolation, you don't care if it is spamming or not. You are at the bottom of a well and you would do anything to get out of there. See for yourself. This copy of emails between Helen and John was made especially for you.

I glanced at the heap of papers. I found later that the sheets bound together were emails written the same month.

From Helen to John:

You came to the right place. We seem to be in a similar predicament, even worse. Here is a brief description of our planet:

Level 1: It is made of matter: I mean carbon, copper, iron, calcium and all those things you find in the ground.

Level 2: Plants. You go from matter to plants by adding a shape and the possibility to reproduce.

Level 3: Animals. You go from plants to animals by adding the possibility to change the shape of their body and move.

Level 4: That's us! We can think and we have feelings. When we look outside, we see objects and we think of what we can do with them. When we look inside, we find feelings. You could cut our lives into two parts. One half is looking outside and thinking about things. The other half looks inside and experiences feelings such as attraction, rejection, love, boredom, greed, patience…

We also believe that there is a Level 5 above us. No need for matter. It includes only what does not have a shape and a color. This is where ideas, heat, feelings, electricity, chance, love… come from. You may have noticed that to go from one level to the next, you have to add something important. That means that to go from our Level 4 to a Level 5 above us, you would have to add something much better than thinking. There may be more levels above that. We don't know for sure. We heard of levels inhabited by Archai, Thrones, Cherubims and Seraphims… but this is way above our heads. We are only concerned about the level just above us. That's enough!

Helen

From John to Helen:

We don't have a Level 5. What good is it if you cannot see it? I don't see the purpose of your Level 5.

John - President

From Helen to John:

You don't travel very often, do you? It's about time you got out of your cave. Everybody knows that there is something above Level 4. Because you cannot see it does not mean that it does not exist. Feelings and ideas are important in our life. Everything we do starts with an idea. Before we can make a table, a car or a computer, we need the idea of a table, a car or a computer. We even need to dream about something before we can make it. Feelings make us happy or unhappy. For instance, we need to feel loved. We need to belong to a society. Without feelings, we would be like robots. There is also random. It does not have a shape either. No weight and no color! That does not mean that it can be ignored. Knock on the wrong door and your life may be changed forever. Random is very important in our life. We think that it comes from Level 5. As you can see, Level 5 is important to us. It is our source of ideas that will completely change the way we live. It could send us feelings that make us well balanced or paranoid. It could send us anger and make us fight with our neighbors. It could send us energy, consciousness… we are at the mercy of the level above. I don't know if I should say 'it' or 'them', because our brain is much too simplistic to grasp it. Sometimes, we refer to them as our 'Mini gods'. Sometimes, we say 'The gods' or 'Level 5'. It is the same. It means what is directly above us, governs our life, has something better than thinking, cannot be seen and cannot be understood. All we know is that it is there and it is important. There seems to be many things that you don't know about the universe. You may have a Level 5 at home and you may not be conscious of it. Our concern is that we are not sure whether they are helping us or taking advantage of us. We are not unhappy. We have a rather comfortable life, but we are suspicious - Helen

From John to Helen:

You have a comfortable life but you have the vague feeling that you could be unhappy. We call that paranoia and we try to stay out of it.

John - President

From Helen to John Wait a minute! When you go to the doctor because it hurts, you don't know the origin of the pain. What would you think if he gives you a prescription for paranoia? Our problem may sound a bit nebulous, but it is real. This email system is limited to words and words have to lie flat on the page. Feelings are in three dimensions - at least! Whatever we can put on a screen can only be the shadow of our feelings…

Helen

From John to Helen,

Sorry - I did not mean to be mean...

John

I checked the dates of those messages. They started long ago. As I kept reading, the messages became longer and longer. The word 'feelings' was used more and more. That did not come without some misunderstandings.

From Helen to John,

I am afraid that you may have the wrong idea of our planet. We have to be careful with this Ethernet. It does not carry smiles, tone of voice or body language. By the way I give a piece of paper to someone, I can attach my own message. I can mean, Read this. It is important. Or I can mean, You can throw that away. I don't care. The way I present you with the piece of paper makes all the difference. Interplanetary Ethernet does not have that facility. It transmits only what is written on the page. It is possible that in the past, the gods may have put together the ideas, the consciousness, the heat, the electricity, the love and the thinking necessary to make a star, and then decided to stop there. Adding matter was not necessary for the kind of star they had in mind. When we look at the night sky, we only see the bodies made of matter. We cannot see the others. That does not mean that they don't exist. There is plenty of room up there for everybody. The fact that the gods used matter to make your planet and ours does not mean that they have to use the same raw material for everything. I want to confirm that matter was used to make the continents, the plants, the animals and the people of our planet like it was used to make yours. We have the same four basic levels that you have. We also share with you feelings, gravity, forces, thinking, consciousness and many of those things that are not made of matter. Like you, we do not know what is happening at the levels above us. We are sister planets. Don't hesitate to ask questions if something about us is not clear in your mind.

Helen

Not only did they talk about the stars, but they also talked about themselves. Helen explained that her life was governed by ideas until her daughter was born. Everything changed when the baby started making the education of her mother. One day, she left the child with her husband and went out to do some shopping. She was gone for two hours … and the baby kept crying for two hours. Her husband tried to add a blanket, remove a blanket, give her a bottle, rock the baby, check the diapers… he tried to understand what was wrong … he did nothing for two hours but think of a way to stop the crying. When Helen came back, she leaned gently over the crib and said a few words. The little hand held one of her fingers and the baby stopped crying. That was the day they both decided that life is not governed by ideas. What her daughter needed was the habitual face above her crib and the reassurance of a familiar voice that she associated with comfort, milk and safety. The words did not matter. She needed some feelings that no idea could replace. That was the day the parents decided that you need feelings to guide the ideas, or the baby will keep crying.

This exchange of emails was not limited to a week or two before our president decided to send us on a mission. It was not limited either to the influence that children can have on their parents. They talked at length about all kinds of subjects such as governments, religions, music, science and even love.

From John to Helen

You mentioned relationships. I think that a 'relationship' should have a life of its own. Some are made to last only one day or one week. Others are made to last years. The more they last, the more difficult they are to find. A relationship that could last a lifetime is rare. It does not happen at random. Both lovers must be prepared for it. I have women friends that I have known for many years. I am sure that if we had been lovers, we would have gone our separate ways by now. It could also be that we are not made for each other. We know unconsciously that it would be a disappointment. You are going to tell me that 'knowing unconsciously' does not make sense. There are many things in our relationships, Helen, that do not make sense… John

Several emails mentioned that some day, somewhere, somehow, they should get together but nothing was decided. The agreement was that, … If some day you are in the neighborhood, we should have a cup of coffee together.

Then something happened. John must have been in that neighborhood, some day, coming back home from one of his business trips.

From Helen to John:

You are not the way I imagined. Neither better nor worse. Just different. Thank you for paying us a visit.

I approve of your idea of having a network of similar planets with similar concerns. It would open the minds. It would take us away from our little problems and give our life a more general view. I would compare that to a peasant leaving his village and going to the city for the first time. Our leaders arguing about our little conflicts of interest may look like kids fighting about their toys. Some knowledge of the history of the universe could make us ashamed of paying so much attention to our little worries. I would be delighted to work with you on such a project. We are the little guys. Let's get our solitudes together.

You said, at lunch, that you want to meet inhabitants of a distant planet who are not limited to 'thinking' like we both are. We better be careful! If those people have something better than thinking, they could dominate us and we could become a toy in their hands. To me, they represent the perfect idea of Level 5 with all its possibilities and all its dangers.

It seems that your scientists are just like ours. They want to stay on the material side of our life. They want to play it safe and measure everything. Anybody can come behind them and make the same experiment again, and he will find the same answer. They disregard what does not have a shape, a weight, a color, and cannot be measured. They know that there is much more out there, but they decided to keep science on firm grounds. They do not pretend to study the whole world. Only the half made of matter! What we both need is a new breed of scientists willing to take chances and start doing for our second half what has been done for the first.

Anyway, I want you to know that I would be very pleased to work with you on establishing a network of planets similar to ours.

Helen

Could John and Helen have a meeting of the minds? Why not? I could see nothing wrong with that. On the contrary! That is the first step of a rapprochement between our two planets. Was John having some kind of intellectual affair with Helen? That may be going too far.

Imagine, said Fred, that some day they discover that a network of similar stars already exists. They only have to fill an application! What a nice surprise that would be! I can see the front page of our newspapers: A family reunion! At last! Our president would become the pioneer of a new civilization.

You’re dreaming, Fred. Before we get to this point, we have to decide how to approach those people. I know what will happen. The first thing they will try to do is to submerge us with their preconceived ideas. It’s their way of saying, Look at the situation the way we do and tell us that we are right. Those people must be looking for something wrong in their environment. They are prepared to tell us, You see! It was not our fault".

What we need is to spend some time on their planet without them, just the two of us, before we ever meet anybody. We want to see their planet the way it was before they started remodeling their environment. We have to go back to basics. Let's take a tour around their little world and land away from any civilization. We want to have a look at their plants, their animals, and breathe their air before we even start talking with them."

]>

2

Their natural environment

Three days after this conversation, we took a tour of their planet at high altitude. Some places looked normal, but their highly populated areas seemed very strange. In those places, our sister planet seemed to have a skin cancer. You could see straight lines where there should be curves. There was too much gray and not enough green. Sometimes, we could not even see the ground. It was clear that the presence of those people did not contribute to the general harmony of the universe. We could see a lot of traffic on their freeways, even at night. That could be an indication that they may not be very well organized. They have to keep driving back and forth all the time because nothing is at the right place.

Our first landing was much more pleasant than expected. It was on a small island under a blue sky with palm trees, long beaches of white sand, clear waters, beautiful fish of many colors and nobody in sight. You would never imagine that such a beautiful place could have problems. Our first suggestion to get them out of their predicaments would be: Take a deep breath, relax, enjoy your life and let others do the same. If there is a problem, it can only be in you. Look inside instead of blaming God or your neighbors.

The first day, we did nothing. Absolutely nothing! Listen to Nature, I told Fred. We listened all day. We stayed in the shadow of the palm trees. The birds were singing. We watched the tide coming in and going out... we also had a walk on the beach. Not very far.

The second day, we decided to do some exploration. We climbed all the way to the top of the small mountain at the center of the island. A bit more