Timeless Visions

By Jack Ederly

Imagine a world where time isn't just a passing constant, but an all-consuming god, who created smaller worlds governed by time guardians. A young girl who's at the center of it all, playing a role that even she couldn't have imagined! Jennene Lynn Hauser, a feisty, intelligent brunette finds herself in a world where she's a prophet, seeing not just the past, present, and future, but multiple time orbs. Where she comes from and how she's able to do this remains a mystery, until one night where she's confronted by a massive abomination created by a horrifying entity, known as Viral intelligence Species (VIS), and she's inhabited by an all-powerful god who refers to her only as the vessel. Her mother, Morgan Sue Ann Hauser, kept part of this dark secret from her, not realizing the full extent of it, ultimately bringing out this immense power by leaving her a heartbroken, empty shell and making her a gateway for a cosmic mediator, for reasons unknown to all. All this was just the beginning for a race of supreme beings called the Zanianites, who find out their existence was to purge worlds contaminated by this powerful, mind-altering virus hell-bent on wiping out all life at the sick and sadistic hands of a corrupted time guardian named TarsisBulvis. There's tears, laughter, memorable characters, and even some characters who will leave you keeping your lights on late at night. All this and more on this epic sci-fi thrill ride, and many more to come, in Timeless Visions, volume 1.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781642989397

Book preview

Chapter 1

A Dark Day

In a foreign war-torn land, a heavy smell of death and decay filled the air, and a putrid green mist littered the ground all around. Everywhere there were smoky silhouettes of heavy-suited men as streams of fire shot with a sporadic glow. There movements were slow and methodic as they stumbled around, looking to be emotionally distraught from all the sadness around.

As the flames and smoke cleared the air, a stern pair of eyes peered out with a serious intensity and frustration in his soul. Looking out at all the devastation, never getting used to it. The mist is getting heavier. He sighed, looking around at the destitute of his men. So much to do. Why am I always an afterthought in the eyes of High Command? His thoughts were becoming a tidal wave of strong emotions as he grew more concerned. We’ll never get anywhere if we don’t give science the respect it deserves. It’s almost like we’ve given up, relinquishing the thought of ever moving forward. Letting out a snicker of frustration. I don’t know if it’s acceptance or laziness. Either way, this won’t be me! He stood tall with resolve, clasping his hands behind his back. No one ever said being a Ta-Nos was easy. In fact, it’s about as far from easy as it gets! Always going into the heart of the VIS. Constantly searching for answers and never finding them. Zul stared up into the warped and turbulent sky feeling complete betrayal. I never thought for one moment I would have two battles to face, one of which would be my own kind. His heart skipped a beat from an unwelcome tap on his shoulder.

Ta-Nos Zul, all my men are getting restless. They want to know what’s going on.

Zul stood there agitated, just waiting for more banter to come out of his mouth, hearing the same repetitious nonsense every hour. What would you have me do about it, Ta-Mok? He stared off, not even concerned about the answer.

The young recruit felt he might have made a mistake. Sir, it’s getting darker and more dangerous.

Having already known that his answer would be somewhere along those lines, Zul had enough as he quickly turned around, striking fear in him. I’m aware of the situation, Ta-Mok!

About to blow, he walked away, trailing off in thought, becoming fearful of never stopping the VIS from destroying not only lives but whole worlds.

Nothing would ever get done with this level of incompetence around him. How can we ever hope to accomplish anything if we can’t even move passed our own fears.

His train of thought was interrupted by a twitch in his eye through a series of neural patterns connected to his entire suit. It only needed activation with a quick blink. Doing so just then brought up a bright-orange projection out of an optical lens only he could see.

Ta-Nos Zul, can you hear me? A shadowed female figure was on the display.

This taking higher priority, Zul turned back to the young recruit. Carry on with the purge.

Feeling insulted, the Ta-Mok threw his arms down by his sides. Ta-Nos Zul—

The tension was growing higher as Zul cut him off. That is a direct order from your acting Ta-Nos. You will do as you’re told!

With a weakness in his regimented turn, the distraught alien disappeared into the smoke, leaving a fading red glow from his pressure gauge.

Zul was tough, but he was the type of science officer who was relentless, and you could only respect the level of achievements that frankly no one else could accomplish.

His desire to unlock the mysteries of the alien virus known as the VIS was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it was scientifically admired and highly valued, but on the other, he would die for the cause, never giving a second thought to those it would affect around him. Zul, the Ta-Nos Beries, would die for the cause because he was selfless, but sometimes the act of being selfless, is ultimately being the most selfish of all.

The extremely weak feed continued cutting in and out from a brilliantly designed super computer that was connected to billions of frequencies that led to each and every one of the highly advanced beings, called the Sydrosesystem, and as amazing as the design was, it had its limitations and range.

Zul walked off behind some rubble, blinking his eye, as a faint whine brought back up the display.

Ta-Nos Zul, can you hear me?

He quickly answered. Mara, are you all right?

Mara answered, sounding a bit more frustrated. Protocol. We talked about this, remember?

More concerned with his Zeek-Nov (which was a life-bound partner designed to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses) than some stupid protocol, he retorted in a much more sarcastic tone. Are you all right, Ta-Rez Mara?

She looked past his display of immaturity, growing hesitant as she had nothing but bad news. Ta-Nos Zul, we’re sending the Skydrosesystem your way.

Zul stood there in disbelief. There was a powerful force wiping everything out, and it was being treated like nothing more than a minor inconvenience, something that Zul noticed getting progressively worse each purging they went on.

Zul started having those same old feelings of just being an afterthought not only by the higher-ups but now his partner. Surely you can’t be serious! There’s still so much to do here.

There was another pause in communication as Zul waited for a hopeful response. Ta-Nos Zul, our readings indicate that the purge is over, and your team hasn’t reported back yet, which to me tells us you’re doing unnecessary readings again.

Zul clenched his fist, feeling completely belittled. Not only was the response something he didn’t want to hear, but it was condescending and trite. Mara by no means enjoyed delivering the bad news, and she would rather see him upset than be a martyr.

I’m sorry, orders are orders. This was never a joint-objective mission. You know as well as I do neither the time or the resources were allocated for anything different. Mara tried to hide behind a collage of status screens. She delivered the final blow with remorse in her heart. The bodar are being called back as we speak, and I’m on my way with the transport. Be ready! Ta-Rez Mara, out. Not even being able to respond, Zul was cut off, just like that.

He stared deeply into the sky, through the proverbial lens of a bleeding and bloodshot-eyed planet, realizing he might be alone in this massive undertaking. He knew he would have to take action in a world where action had become a dull ache in the side of all dying planets.

Chapter 2

A Deeper Meaning

The love of Zul’s life had just confirmed everything he had already known all along. As he felt the strong resonation of the bodar sluggishly start to move away, which was a huge elephant-like creature designed to expel a gaseous chemical that kept the VIS at bay. It was the only means that the highly advanced beings found to protect themselves from the deadly alien mist that constantly had been trying to seep into their minds and make them go insane. The strong beast was translucent and segmented from its head to its tail. It had a powerful glow from inside, looking like an SOS for lost members of an away team. The massive beasts reverberated for miles with their wailing, something that no longer bothered Zul. He knew as long as that ear-shattering cry rang out, he was safe.

Zul sighed, knowing that once his team saw the towering life stability systems moving away, they would begin to panic. He just watched as the streams of orange glow begin to become less and less, as the cleaners threw their hands up in the air one by one in confusion. They were skittish little Zanianites, only bred for one purpose.

Zul was starting to become more afraid because he knew what it meant, but not for one moment did he lay down and quit. In fact, it made him work harder.

Standing in front of his sevront globe that illuminated all the ornate intricacies on his armor that covered his entire body like jewelry. He blinked his eye, and graphs and status screens, horizontal and vertical, started popping up parallel to one another. Zul’s eyes widened. These readings, they’re incredible … This can’t be! He circled the globe with his hands, swaying them back and forth like they were in resistance of water. He blinked again, and a larger projection came up. With two quick blinks, he brought up a graph with the planets’ immediate terrain, and the other was a DNA screen. He swiped them into one another, while watching them slowly dissipate, breaking off into particles. They started swirling around, while Zul stood there waiting for what he felt was an eternity.

Keeping his mind occupied he looked up as he saw the streams of fire had finally ceased and there wasn’t a bodar in sight.

I’m running out of time! he told himself as he heard a faint rumble and his team pointing in the air. Billions of lights signified that the Skydrosesystem was coming near. He heard his weak and disloyal team shouting praises at the awesome sight.

Zul looked back at the sevront staying focused, and all the others watched the brilliantly constructed super star push itself through the putrid green-stained sky.

Zul looked back down and the particles were almost fused together, and a progress bar that looked like hieroglyphics was sitting underneath it. He became very irritated, and a rapid flutter in his eye, followed by an automated voice.

The structure realignment readings are near completion. These readings are unauthorized to all, except the acting Ta-Nos. Your neurological optical interface will be scanned as we identify you as an authorized user. Thank you for your patients.

Ahh, why do they make these things so complicated? Clearly it can see I am who I am! He snorted. Zul took a deep breath, feeling a spastic twitching in his eye, with just a small portion left the progress bar was staring him in the face.

Ta-Nos Zul, you are authorized for the completion of the realignment readings you requested. Thank you for your cooperation.

The scrambled screen came together like a highly advanced puzzle. Zul took his thumb and index finger, pushing it out to enlarge the screen, squinting with examination. This can’t be. So much VIS contamination! Wait a minute, these readings, they show … He quickly enlarged the screen even more, looking highly troubled. There’s a massive concentration of VIS not far from here. This isn’t right … By combining the two graphs together, the highly advanced system could show him the psychological and physiological disturbances of the local surroundings.

The VIS, Viral Intelligent Species, was sadistically designed to absorb all the planets—hates, fears, doubts mental illnesses, every crippling emotion there was—and combine it into one terrifying never-ending nightmare of insanity.

It was made up of psychopaths and murders, and serial killers and sociopaths. All had been absorbed into the foul alien mist. Zul discovered something deeply troubling about his new discoveries. Not far from the research camp, the stench from the mist blanketed the ground over the ruins of what was once a small town. This murderous gas was more active the more it erratically moved around. Slowly the faint signs of life that were littered throughout a once beautiful town was nothing more than a glorified graveyard while dead bodies lay about.

What is this? Zul was terrified at what his screens showed.

A troubling and deep stirring was waiting in the waste, unbeknownst to Zul. The mist almost had an aura of twisted joy, like the essence of evil receiving its first toy. The planets vermin infested the whole area, when suddenly a lone cockroach ran across one of the natives’ faces. His mouth had hung open, completely sucked of all life, looking like dried fruit and smelling like marshmallows in the smoke residue of burning flesh. The putrid mist followed the roach through all the cavities until it abruptly stopped, twitching its legs and suddenly fluttering off. The mist reared up, shot itself through the nose, and began seeping out through the mouth. A few seconds later, the lifeless face started smacking its lower jaw up and down, making a horrible sound.

Zul’s screen was showing a confusing mix of bars and graphs. With the Zanianites, any information that needed to be read was nowhere to be found. It was all purely illustrative. The supreme race of beings not only had developed an efficient way to connect a complex series of transmissions that fed directly into their brains by electric impulses but they also did away with words altogether, translating them through a neurological mores code, linking through a series of transfiguring webs that weaved themselves into thoughts. Through time, they had realized the dire need of information, and this was their way of always learning, even in the most vigorous of circumstances.

A large cluster of lights came up resembling a group of closely knit jellyfish. Zul had no idea this would be the beginning of a disastrous situation that would flood the minds of all those he’d laid eyes on that day.

Not far, dry and brittle fingers reached out through the rubble, and the skin tissue started regenerating like a complex tapestry, fusing itself together, and millions of cockroaches began blocking out the sun, while the horrible sound of beating wings distorted the air, not the least of which were the sound of bones crunching as the deadly virus wove itself into the DNA of the seizing dead bodies. Human and animal alike erratically started popping up with psychotic laughter crying and screaming.

The adaption process was viscous for every life-form having its chemical makeup infused with a completely foreign entity, but it was so much worse for the dead, taking billions of DNA strands and tying them back together was an incredibly violent and freakish sight to watch.

They all rose skittering, and screaming obscenities and complete nonsense. Thrashing and tearing at one another having no purpose, but to just be violent. They were all in a complete state of loss and confusion. A group of them started to climb a nearby building, hopping from window to window, like parkour artist, all while some others began fighting, not just fighting but viscously fighting.

A pair of them had been fighting so viscously. They were covered in the blood that was still regenerating through a dark and twisted healing process. The faster their muscular, ventricular, and respiratory systems wove themselves together, the more nightmarish the scene became as they beat themselves to death. Straddling the other, while repeatedly punching the man in the face, splitting his skull, he just started laughing and singing. The other felt his knuckle bones splinter and began yelling at it, eventually shoving it in his mouth and eating it, suddenly jumping off the man, skipping away, while blood poured down the back of his exposed brain.

The other group who decided they were going to climb a building reached the top and immediately jumped off one by one, not saying a word, as they plummeted to the ground, crushing nearby cars and cracking the ground, dropping like stones. They just got up as if nothing ever happened, talking random nonsense with broken speech patterns.

I peed all over the moose again! one said to the other as she started sobbing.

To where the other replied, I spanked the dragon on Tuesday, and it kicked me in the face!

And then he began banging his head on the wall until he started gushing blood.

Some would cry, some would laugh, and one decided to defecate on all the uninhabited host, while shouting in a gurgled voice, I laid another egg. I’m a goat!

The VIS was the ultimate nightmare in psychological power of epic proportions designed to eradicate all life by taking what’s already inside us and amplifying it exponentially.

Zul frantically brought up another screen that showed all the previous planets that had been purged, looking perplexed. This planet has more psychological anomalies than any other planet I’ve ever been to! His forehead furrowed with undertones of excitement. At almost right where I’m standing is the epicenter for it all! What happened?

Stepping back with his fingers underneath his chin, he took a long deep sigh. This, this is … this is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Zul’s face lit up from the deep-purple hue of the sevront as the sky got darker. Two thousand three hundred planets purged from this monstrosity. Finally!

Zul jumped as he was completely interrupted by a spastic voice that seemed to come out of nowhere, breaking his concentration. Ta-Nos Zul, the bodar have left and the Skydrosesystem is almost at the extraction point. Did you want me to let everyone know to prepare for departure?

Never having witnessed such a show of insubordinate behavior, Zul was furious. Quickly shutting everything down, he turned to the much-eager Ta-Mok, standing there for a moment breathing heavy in his respirator mask, looking the frightened recruit in his eyes. What is your name?

He had a proud, youthful look, the fresh-out-of-college-officer look. No experience, just the rank of Ta-Mok, which was a team organizer that over saw a group of cleaners. I am Ta-Mok Mord, sir.

He was still giving him a dreadful stare, putting intense fear in him as his purple eyes dilated. Are you? Hmm …

Mord began to sweat profusely, having no idea what was going on. Zul had received so much disrespect on both ends of the spectrum.

He had an irritating youth on his hands and a life partner who refused to see things from his perspective, and he might have just lost out on centuries of highly sensitive research.

Zul was usually pretty patient, but that was the final straw. It was a rhetorical question, Ta-Mok. The pressure cooker of a science officer started walking around, waving his arms at the anxiously awaiting team. I know everyone’s name and rank out here. I know who has families and who doesn’t. It’s my job to know every little detail. Zul folded his arms and took a deep breath, looking as though he might be calming down. The young recruit stood as still as a statue fearing for his life. The Zanianites were a military species of supreme beings specifically designed for one purpose.

There was no being fired. If you didn’t do your job, you were killed, plain and simple. The supreme beings found that the only thing that made for perfection and efficiency was to genetically design every Zanianite. If you failed at your tailor-made career, you were no longer useful and therefore removed. It was a harsh, cold system, but they deemed it to be perfection.

Zul never paid any attention to what others thought about him. He was a fast thinker and always reanalyzed everything as he began pondering for a moment. It’s not this young Ta-Mok’s fault. Maybe I shouldn’t be so … His blood started to boil. How could she treat such sensitive research so nonchalantly! Ahh! No! This fool may have cost me major … The pressure cooker blew, taking a wide stride, meeting the frightened Zanianite with a glaring, hateful look and a tight grip around his neck. He jerked him toward the horror of the burning bodies and the refuse of the planet, completely jarring him mentally and physically. Look out there, Mord! Do you see it? Do you see all of the death? Zul was shaking him so hard it was affecting his neural sensors. Before you were even a thought, I’ve had to look at lands similar to this! Billions of countless lives lost! Thousands of planets are burned into my brain! The young recruit wasn’t prepared for anything like this. His weak will broke as Zul started to feel like a vice around his neck. These images haunt me every night! He noticed tears streaming from his face. Yes! That’s it! Now you see. Letting go of Mord’s neck and twisting him around by the shoulders, he gave him a stern look that the young Zanianite would never forget. Let these tears that stream from your face be the tears of all the lost lives you see here today. He gripped him tighter and tighter. Let their pain be your pain! For you see, their pain is not a few shed tears or an emotional outburst. No, not even close. Their pain is constant. Theirs is never-ending insanity! How does that sound to you, Mord? Taking his hands off the Zanianite, he turned back around with great purpose.

You may leave your fears of having your life stability relinquished. You are young. I just want you to realize, as a race of perfect beings who were tailored to do what we do right now, Mord, if one gear slips, our great machine … collapses. He raised his hand out, emphasizing the great devastation before them. What I’m trying to tell you, young Ta-Mok, that if we don’t use every elevation of tier in our given life. He looked up in the sky as a massive shadow engulfed both of them, feeling a dull ache festering inside. Then we lose, and the VIS win. Looking off in the opposite direction of the devastation, slowly walking away, Zul gave his final orders. Go get your team, Ta-Mok. You’re going home. Looking up again as the sound changed from a hum to a chirp, the awesome craft started to descend, and blue lights lit up the ground of its sunless surroundings. Zul walked back over to his sevront orb, quickly bringing up what was left of his new findings. Am I the only one who cares about stopping this mass-murdering abomination? He watched in great peril, while he watched his men standing around jovial, having their meaningless conversations, waiting for the cargo bay doors to open, realizing, They weren’t stumbling around out of sadness. They were stumbling around out of boredom. No longer being able to concentrate, Zul was deeply concerned for the future. The once-perfect race of supreme beings had become more and more tolerant of the cosmic entity they were engineered to stop. While a plague that is threatening our very life stability is so subtle at destroying us … no one is even paying attention, and the whole thing is happening right in front of our eyes.

Zul had always been highly observant and conscientious of everything around him, that’s what he was genetically engineered for, but that day he took it to a whole new level of understanding. Not once have I questioned what I do. I’ve never needed too! All my life I’ve had a burning desire to end all pain and suffering on every planet.

Zul continued to delve deeper into his findings, periodically glancing up. The cockpit door started to swirl around, breaking the silence of the pulsating metal that covered the entire ship, and a female figure walked slowly in front of the door with a magnitude of confidence that would make anyone show her the respect she deserves. She waited patiently while the swirls of water dripped down like a crystal spring, creating a walkway that lit up the whole front of the ship.

Zul took his eyes off his research, glancing up at the amazing technology. Look at all that’s been created. We’ve come so far. It’s almost like we were coming to far and had to be stopped … but why! Why? He banged his hand down on the extraction resonator. I don’t understand! Why have I been genetically imprinted with worlds of information and no understanding on how to fight off the VIS! Zul leaned over with his head in his hand. It just doesn’t make any sense. He rose up, staring into that same turbulent sky in great distress as a tear fell down his translucent, blood-filled cheek, aching inside. Everything I do, no matter how far I come … something always stops me, and now … Looking at the approaching striking, beautiful, armed-to-the-teeth Zanianite, who was being accompanied by a small company, as he heard the pressure pistons shooting from their boots, he started to realize this mission was over. It’s my Mara who stands in the way.

Zul stared at her, thinking thoughts that just weren’t to be thought of by Zanianites. He felt a strong discontentment for his life-bound partner. He felt the pairing process, known as Kezmosis, might have actually been wrong.

Zul began shutting everything down in the research camp, which was a large area surrounded by crystal-blue tubing, encompassing the whole perimeter, with ten sevront globes sitting directly in the middle.

Mara stood behind him, tall and proud, never missing a beat of confidence, sternly looking at Zul. Zanianites, go and see if anyone is in need of assistance. As you can see, the research sector is cleared of all VIS. Turning around, she watched the heavily armored men walk away.

Mara’s sternness gave way as she lay her long, elegant fingers on her life companion’s shoulder. She knew he was upset, but she had no idea the magnitude of how bad it was festering inside. Even in their resting quarters, Zul’s wheels never stopped turning. Mara could never understand what he was going on about, so she would just smile and marvel at his brilliance.

There was no question of her love for him, but she was engineered completely different. Her skin was tougher, and her way of thinking was much simpler than his.

The Kezmosis was never wrong in creating each Zanianite’s pairing. They wouldn’t hear of it. To them, every piece of their technology was perfect. Or so it seemed.

A beautiful voice lay underneath her cumbersome respiratory mask. Taking a deep breath, she tried to let him down easy. Zul, come on. It’s time to go home. There’s nothing left to do here. The purge is over.

Zul was still too focused to let go. He thought now would have been a great time to peer into his Zeek-Novs’ mind. He’d never had so many emotions at one time, coming together like a perfect concoction of a deeper grasp than he’d ever had as he looked over at Mara. Mara … why do you think you do what you do?

Mara wasn’t sure if this was just stalling for more time or if it was something else. Trying to be in two places at once, she appeared to not look to concerned with the question. What’s this all about?

Zul heard the tone in her voice, and from all the alerts verifying system shutdown glaring in his eyes like failure, he grew irritated. Simple question, do you ever question your existence? Do you ever wonder why you were genetically designed to be a Ta-Rez? He looked Mara deep in her eyes. Mara, we’ve all been designed to do something since the elevation of our distribution, ultimately gearing us to fight the VIS, but why? More importantly … by what?

Mara realized this wasn’t just a distraction. Something was seriously wrong. She lay her incredibly ornate, glowing purple rifle down while focusing more on Zul. One because she hated to see him hurt. Two because she was always mesmerized by his great intellect, but this wasn’t the usual scientific talk she was used to. This was something else. My Zeek-Nov, this is our existence. What more would you have me say? Feeling that wasn’t a sufficient answer, she tried her best to follow him on a more intellectual level. Zul, your intellect is much higher than mine. That’s just the way we’re designed to be. Resting her hand on his shoulder, she gently rubbed his midens, which were a tube-like structure that lined the sides of the Zanianites’ skull to release pressure on the brain, there were two on each side, separated by a row of spikes that ran from the crown of their head to the bridge of the nose. All Zanianites had them. The size and shape depended on the breed.

"My design as a Ta-Rez, I have a more direct way of approaching things, while you have more of an open and inquisitive mind. I know you know this. I’m just trying to say that you will always question, you will always ponder … It’s what makes you so great to me. If I had your way of thinking, then I don’t think the Kezmosis would have paired us. Mara let out a little snicker. Besides, my love, you are getting up there in your elevation tiers. There was only silence and a concerned look on Zul’s face. Wow! Now I know something is seriously wrong. No witty comeback, my love, hmm?"

Zul slowly looked at Mara with his eyes glazed over. Mara’s heart sunk as she lay her jewelry-lined hand on his cheek, abruptly being stopped before she could speak.

Ta-Rez Mara! We need your assistance over here for a moment.

All of Mara’s tenderness fell away as she picked up her rifle. We’re running out of time. Get all of this shut down. She quickly moved toward the ship while taking one more glance at Zul.