Sounds came from the left tunnel. A strange creature emerged, probably the most alien thing I'd seen yet. He, and I use that pronoun loosely, was like a small human cuttlefish wearing a plain white lab coat. His hands and feet were made of tentacles and his mouth was a small black beak that clicked when he spoke. Wet eyes the size of softballs glowed softly with figure 8 shaped pupils. They bulged out of his oblong head. His skin was slimy black and white zebra striped with a tint of purple. 

Two humanoid robots armed with blaster pistols followed the cuttlefish.

Abednego snarled his lip at the creature. They clearly didn't get along. The cuttlefish man walked up to Mox and spoke with a stammering chirpy voice.

"I am...you see...Professor Mildabbar...I will...inspect...your technology."

"Professor," nodded Mox.

Baba and Yaba giggled with joy that he made an appearance. "Oh, Professor."

This feigned term of endearment made Mox laugh, which spread to Werner, Forklift, and myself. For the first time since he yelled at Forklift, I saw Dr. Death acting himself. He stood up straight and resisted laughing.

The Professor went over to the machine and placed a tentacle hand on it. The device came to life and Mildabbar changed color several times, going from black and white to bright red, to a translucent blue, then to almost a coral or rocky look, then back to purple zebra stripes. 

"I'd...like to...run...a...run a compatibility test...before we accept...this."

Mox graciously gestured. "By all means Professor, take all the time you need."

The robots moved the unit off to the side of the altar and two dark gray Mega Therions came out of the left doorway. The Professor took two transponder units out of his pocket. The two wolves went on all fours and curled up on the floor next to the simulation unit. Mildabbar placed the transponders on their temples. He chirped a soft whisper to the wolves, they closed their eyes, and seemed to go to sleep.

"I'd like...to also test...with...with...one of your crew."

The Professor shot a slimy glance my way. I jumped down from the whale tank to the floor. Mox indicated I'd be glad to help with the testing.

Myself over neural transmitter to Mox: "That device is a nightmare machine and it is under control of the Vedma Virus. I may never wake up."

Mox's mind to mine: "Well, we might not get out of here alive anyway and you are the simulated environment and lucid dreaming expert. Who better to connect to the machine? I have complete confidence in you."

Me to Mox: "Great."

I walked over to where the wolves were sleeping on the floor and the Professor attached transponder units on my temples.

"I won't need them if you free the device from the Vedma light beam control. I have an internal transmitter."

Mildabbar wiggled his tentacle fingers at me. "Well...that might be a good idea...but...I'd...I'd...like to also be able...to monitor...what's going on. Let's use these."

He slid his hand over the device control panel and eradicated the virus effect. The simulation unit seemed to be operating normally, free of the virus. What had he done? I watched as closely as I could. It wasn't clear that he pressed any particular set of commands. He had ten tentacles on each hand. It seemed as if he initiated ten commands simultaneously. I made a mental note of that. 

Mildabbar placed two transponders on my temples and advised me to lay down. I looked at the floor where the giant wolves were sleeping and at the rest of the floor covered in blood and guts.

I felt their hands touch my arms at the same time.

"I'm sure you'd be more comfortable laying on the couch with us."

Baba and Yaba led me up on the altar. We walked through what appeared to be a force field. A thin beam of energy that I couldn't see before. I was aware that it scanned me completely. They led me to the couch and sat me down next to Faye, who scooched over a bit, suggesting I lay down next to her. Which I did. She touched my arm and slid her leg up against mine. She smelled amazing.

Once, I was in the old Kim's video store in the East Village of New York City looking for a movie and I smelled this amazing smell. It moved me to walk, searching through the aisles of rental films to find its source. When I did, it was this devastatingly beautiful young woman, surely a model or an actress. I can no longer remember what she looked like but I never forgot her scent.

That same soft flowery aroma filled the air around Faye. I lay next to her feeling safe with a sense of peace and harmony I had never experienced before. It was like my whole life led up to this moment. I was high. Stoned on the olfactory delicacy of the Vedma witches. The comfort I felt was divine. 

I closed my eyes and let the simulation take my consciousness.

At first, it was dark, then as if looking at a three-dimensional computer screen I was shown various options. A soft mothering voice instructed me from inside the program.

"Please select your humanoid form. Or if you would like to choose the cetacea option for an aquatic experience please state this now."

I was feeling so good. I chose the whale's life. The instructional voice confirmed my choice.

"Your one hundred year simulation will begin now."

All went black again. I opened my eyes to total darkness. I closed them again. I could hear a large thumping heartbeat. It wasn't mine. My body was in a compressed space. Very warm, very comforting. I could feel the size of my body. It was big. I felt the space push in on me. I felt the pressure release and the lower section of my body fall into openness. I felt my tail. I moved it freely. I felt the temperature change as it was exposed to cool water. More pressure, more movement, and I was squeezed out.

I was a newborn baby whale! I opened my eyes. Light was all around me, so bright, so sparkling. It was miraculous. To experience birth. I became aware of my mother, her huge protective body near to me. The once close heartbeat now lost to the sounds of the ocean I swam in. I moved toward the light and surfaced, blasting the water out of my blowhole and gulping down my first breath of air. 

There were other whales all around us, circling and protecting us. Once again, I was overcome with a feeling of safety. I swam and swam. I wasn't very agile yet but I could maneuver in the water. Other whales brushed me and nudged me to the surface for gulps of air. Some even bit me with gentle nibbles. It was a sensory overload experience. 

I swam with the pod. They showed me what to do. I learned. I communicated with them. They spoke to me. I understood. They sang to me. My mother fed me.

We were in shallow southern waters. Every moment was a learning exercise. These great mammals of the sea had a culture and they were teaching it to me! 

I learned my new name. I'll not share it with you though. For some experiences are so personal they can never be fully explained.

For a day I journeyed with the whales along the shoreline. It was an amazing day. The sensations on my skin, the bulk of my body, the strength of my tail, moving in the weightless underwater world. The closeness of my pod. The pure joy of being alive! 

My mother taught me to click. My mind interpreted the ocean around me and everything in it. The topography of the ocean floor was perceived through sound. I had excellent vision in conjunction with my echolocation abilities and understood the world in an entirely new way. I had a built-in sensor array. 

I drifted to sleep as the night came and the water darkened, angling my body upright in the water next to my mother. Feeling her close by warmth wrapping around me.

I opened my eyes to see Faye's soft blue human eyes looking at me. They shone almost unnaturally from her dark complexion. Her curls tumbled down her cheeks and shoulders. She'd been monitoring me and so had Professor Mildabbar. Had they experienced my short whale life? Did they know? It seemed unlikely. 

I took in a big breath and moved my fingers. I hadn't missed them at all but now back in my body, it felt nice to have them. My body, what an interesting thought.

I looked at Faye's beauty and drank it in. I smiled at her like a fool. Her smell enveloped me again. Soft and perfect.

"I bet that was fun, wasn't it?" She asked.

The shifting from one world to the next is never an easy transition. It was so incredibly real. Jonas is truly a genius.

"It was amazing. Completely real. Perfected vivid sublime reality. You should try it."

I sat up on the chaise lounge next to Faye. Everything in the room appeared as before. It seemed as if not much time had passed. The two wolves were still sleeping on the floor connected to the machine. The Professor was monitoring them. He was looking at me strangely. I panicked. I reached up and pulled the transponders from my temples. I moved to get off the bed.

Faye's hand touched my shoulder. "You know this Jonas, who wrote the program. Tell me about him."

I moved away quickly, tripping on the blankets of the couch, and stumbled down to the flower-covered floor. I bounced off the force field falling backward to the ground. I looked up from the floor to see Faye standing on the couch behind me. Beautiful perfect Faye.

"Mr. Mox, we're satisfied with this technology. Here is your whale."

She raised her arm gesturing to the left tunnel. As she did so a steel tank with two windows on either side emerged from the passageway pushed by four wolves. Water sloshed out of the open tank as it came to a stop in the middle of the room. Inside was a white baby sperm whale. It lumbered slowly in the tank. It was connected to various wires and monitoring devices as well as some kind of feeding tube. I clambered to my feet for a better look.

We needed Veronica. The baby didn't look good. The water in the tank was murky and not adequately maintained. Who knows what kind of tests they'd been doing to the poor creature or what kind of physical and mental shape it was in. I couldn't communicate with it.

Mox gestured to Werner and Forklift. Seeing the whale snapped them out of their stupor. He was a sad sight to behold. They shoved our tank next to the metal one and climbed in with the baby whale. I stood next to the chaise lounge and waited to see what would happen next.

Baba and Yaba were out on the floor petting the two sleeping wolves who were coming back to consciousness. Professor Mildabbar took the transponders off both wolves. He singled his droids and they picked up the simulation unit and headed down the passageway. He made his exit silently with the two wolves he had used as test subjects at his slimy heels.

Werner removed all the hoses and electronics from the little whale's body. The white baby thrashed around in the tank, knocking Werner over. He was much bigger than Werner and Forklift but the Robo-suits gave them a strength advantage.

Werner struggled back to his feet. Both he and Forklift locked their arms around the whale as best they could and in one awkward lift, raised him above their heads. He wiggled his considerable mass and they struggled to hold on. His blow hole sucked in the air and his eyes looked full of panic. They walked a few steps and dumped him over the side into our glass transport tank. The little guy flipped and spun in the new tank. The clean fresh saltwater appealed to him. He slapped his tail and sent a big splash of water across the floor. Werner and Forklift climbed out of the old metal tank and worked to secure the top of ours.

Movement to the right caught my attention. Abednego, the silver wolf, had signaled and several Mega Therions appeared with long poled nooses. They encircled the monster polar bear as it roared, still injured and not at all happy with the wolf pack activity. They tried and failed, but eventually got two ropes over the animal's head. Then a third and a fourth around its front paws. They pulled the beast to the ground and jumped it in an attempt to hogtie the wounded bear. Abednego took off his leather belt and muzzled its blood-drenched jaws. Then he kicked it in the head, repeatedly. On the third kick, the polar bear gave no response and he stopped.

Mox did not like this. He moved forward to protest, only to be cut off before he spoke by Faye.

"Well, Mr. Mox shall we, as you say, get down to business?"

Mox hesitated. He looked right at me. It dawned on me he was trying to communicate with me. I attempted to talk to him via my transmitter. It wasn't working or at least he wasn't hearing me and I wasn't receiving him. The energy field around the altar space must have been blocking our signals. It was unclear if the Vedma knew this or not. It didn't appear they had before. Maybe the transponder they attached to me had knocked out my transmitter? They were definitely monitoring my every thought during that time. 

Had I fucked up and spilled the beans on Jonas? I wasn't feeling very happy, stuck in a bubble with space witches, that I wasn't feeling in love with at that moment.

Mox spun around pulled out his skinny fencing sword in a rather overzealous way. He parried and thrust and stuck it into Dr. Death's right arm.

Death snapped out of his daze. "Hey! What the fuck."

He lifted up his hand cannon. Baba and Yaba jumped back through the energy field. He aimed right at them. Luckily, Mox stopped him.

"Don't shoot. They're behind a force field. We have the whale." He twisted the top half of his body around and faced Faye and me. "The whale is ours. Yes?"

Faye smiled a rather disheartening grin. "Yes."

Mox contorted himself back to facing Death. "Go with Werner and Forklift, take the whale, and get to the hangar bay. We will be along shortly. You know what to do."

There was a bit of a delay, where he was hopefully communicating with X. He spun around sliding his sword back into its sheath. Death went into action, ordering Werner and Forklift around. They secured the whale tank and started out through the open brass doors. The Vedma didn't offer any resistance.

The Wolves had immobilized the monster polar bear but it wasn't going along quietly. It thrashed and growled fiercely at them as they attempted to drag it. Mox went over, whispering to the bear in Varan. The bear calmed itself. The wolves dragged it down the right hallway. 

Mox found himself facing me and the three Vedma woman on the shielded altar.

"Well, Faye, it seems you would like my fine steed. I assume you will give him proper medical attention from his wounds?"

She twirled a lock in her slender fingers.

"Of course we will, all of our pets are well treated. He'll be back to his ferocious self in no time."

She moved forward sitting on the edge of the couch.

Mox turned to the Sentinel droid. "The weapons. And the head."

In a series of fast moves that squarish clunker fished the two rust blade rifles out of the bloody remains on the floor and attached them to his forearms. He picked up Veronica's skull and splitting it with his claw precisely removed the rust neural transmitter from her head and touched it to his chest, where it attached like a magnet on an industrial refrigerator.

Faye didn't like this and she looked at me. Not so much at me, but at my head. Which I was rather attached to.

"Yes, we'll be keeping your bear and the transport ship. The bear will pay for the officers it killed and the transport will help replace the fighters you destroyed on the way in."

Mox shrugged as if this seemed fair.

"And how should we transport the whale off your ship without a transport vessel?" He inquired.

As if on queue a holographic display appeared next to the chaise lounge. It was a three-dimensional projection of the team moving down the hall. They had reached the outer doors of the hangar bay, but they were shut and all the team members were too big to go through the small door to the controls on the other side. They stopped there. 

The doors opened. They pushed the whale tank through. Death signaled Styx in the hovering diamond scout to go get us. The Sunshine scout rocketed down the hallway coming our way. The outer hangar doors slammed down behind it and the huge brass doors of the cathedral hall closed trapping the scout ship in the main corridor and Mox, the Sentinel, and myself in the cathedral.

I was also trapped behind the force field but somehow forgot at the moment. There was no way we could fit the whale tank in the scout ship anyway. The situation seemed bleak. The projection showed the team fumbling with controls on the outer doors of the transport ship. They couldn't gain access.

With a wave of Faye's hand, the inner airlock door of the docking bay opened.

"Tell your boys to get in the airlock." She ordered.

It was clear she knew we could communicate with each other. Mox sent the command to Werner and Forklift who in turn passed it to, a not so happy to hear it, Dr. Death. After all, he had no robo-armor, no way to survive in space. He weighed his options.

"Tell that big gorilla of yours that if he doesn't get in the airlock right now, we'll just open the door and suck everything out of the hangar bay." Faye calmly stated.

There was no reason to doubt her. Mox sent word and Werner passed it to Death. He ran over to the whale tank, thrust his rust cannon into Werner's hands, opened the top and dove in with the baby whale. Werner and Forklift secured down the top. The inner airlock door closed and a second later the outer door opened. They were violently sucked out into space. The outer airlock door closed behind and they were gone.

For a brief moment, the hologram display showed them free-floating in space outside of the ship and then it flickered out.