He looks like a retired celebrity rock star seen worldwide in images and videos who stopped coloring his hair. He wears white medical attire with specialized shaded and lighted eye protection along with black military-style boots. Most notably, he speaks with a very prominent British accent: “I am Doctor William Oswald,” he says.
“I don’t need a doctor. Come on, I feel just fine,” Ted Avila says while surveying the unfamiliar medical area he has found himself standing in.
Immediately next to Ted Avila is Vincent Wauneka who is wearing an all-black uniform and black military-style boots. He remains silent but points to Dr. Oswald who says, “You are here, Mr. Avila, in the medical section of this base. Only for observation. That’s my job. Part of our accelerated orientation process. I have asked Mr. Wauneka to join us.”
“Accelerated orientation to what?” Ted Avila asks as he looks down and notices how he, too, is wearing an all-black uniform and black military-style boots.
Dr. Oswald replies, “You see, Mr. Avila, sometimes I find it best to just plunge right in with treatment. Rip a bandage off a new wound, so to speak. It certainly might hurt, but it’s over quickly if you know what I’m saying.”
“But I wasn’t wounded. I’m not wearing any bandages.”
“Figurative language, Mr. Avila, figurative language,” says Dr. Oswald. “You may at first feel somewhat light-headed. It’s the lower gravity here. You’ll adjust really fast.”
“Lower than what?” Ted Avila asks as he watches Vincent Wauneka, who seems suddenly more vibrant as he bounces around the room pushing himself with his feet upwards off the floor in short jumps as though normal gravity has suddenly stopped working.
“This is how one sixth of the gravity on Earth looks here,” Vincent Wauneka says with a sarcastic smile as he stops bouncing directly in front of Ted Avila.
“We are all here together in a top-secret base beneath Crater Clavius on the moon,” Dr. Oswald explains succinctly.
“Oh, shit. Feeling somewhat light-headed,” Ted Avila admits with an expression that betrays how utterly lost he feels.
“Maybe he needs bed rest, Doc,” Vincent Wauneka says without hesitation.
“Maybe not. Mr. Avila, you remember being on Earth but now you are not. Where you are now is inside the medical unit at Clavius Base, deep beneath the lunar surface,” Dr. Oswald explains as he draws a long breath. He exhales slowly then announces, “The year is 2233. You will recall being on Earth in the year 1991. Two hundred forty-two years ago.”
“You know what? I think I better sit down,” Ted Avila admits as he glances around the room for a chair near to him.
“Well, Doc,” says Vincent Waunkea with strong sarcasm, “That went well. Let me try. Ted, you and I first met in the 20th century. I recruited you to work here. Remember?”
Ted Avila shakes his head to indicate “no” and says, “I don’t remember you recruiting me. But, yeah, you sure do look familiar to me right now.”
Dr. Oswald says, “We really need to get going. Tight schedule. What Mr. Wauneka is saying to you, Mr. Avila, is the truth. Understandably, you feel a little disoriented. The lunar gravity alone will do that to anyone. You do seem physically intact and in good health. Also there is certain disorientation from time travel.”
“No,” Ted Avila manages to say. “Feels so real here. But no. Cannot be on the moon. And time travel? That’s science fiction. Just give me a break.”
“Yeah, most people need to believe that time travel is only science fiction,” Vincent Waunkea explains. “Time travel is a closely-guarded secret. Must remain as such for security purposes.”
“Security?” Ted Avila asks.
Vincent Waunkea says, “To maintain control over everyone who never needs to know time travel is entirely real. Top-secret. I am telling you because of your need to know. You have been given top-secret clearance and all. Blah blah blah, Cannot tell anyone, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Standard restrictions, you know?”
“No, no way. I do not fucking accept any of this.”
“What you accept, Ted, is entirely your choice. Make all this more difficult if you choose. I do not give a fuck. Sorry to be so blunt. I am here on assignment. Doing what I was told. Give you the top-secret briefing you need. This is taking longer than expected.”
“Fuck this shit, man. Need to get home.”
“Well, hey, start considering that this is home for you, Ted. You belong here. You are not going to cry now, are you?”
“Your orders are to manipulate me? Is that it?”
Vincent Wauneka is caught off guard. “Uh, yeah. Exactly right,” he says. “I cannot believe, Doc, he figured that out so quickly. Actually, you and I are mission partners.”
Dr. Oswald lets out an exasperated sign, then says with forced self-control, “Mr. Avila, it’s mission critical that we get to your orientation briefing without any further delay.”
Ted Avila shakes his head “no” but shrugs his shoulders to indicate acceptance. Vincent Wauneka jumps up off the medical facility floor with exuberant celebration.
The doctor motions with both hands in the direction of the nearest wall within the medical facility. “We have a train to catch, gentlemen. Can’t be late.”
“A train to catch deep inside the moon?” Ted Avila asks.
Vincent Waunkea says, “This just keeps getting better.”
“Walk with me,” Dr. Oswald says. “The train is several levels down in the elevator.” A set of sliding doors opens as if on verbal command from the doctor. Ted Avila follows Vincent Wauneka into the elevator car and then the doctor also enters. Dr. Oswald says, “Code fifty-eight. Nine, six, twenty-eight.” The elevator doors beep melodically and then slide shut silently. “Hold onto that railing next to you, Mr. Avila,” says Dr. Oswald. “This is different from elevators you have experienced.”
The elevator car quickly drops downward rapidly. Ted Avila loses his balance but recovers by grabbing onto the railing on the wall just within his reach. “Try not to fall on your ass, partner,” Vincent Wauneka says aggressively. Ted Avila feels the change in air pressure in his ears as the elevator car continues its descent.
When the elevator car stops and the sliding doors open following a different set of melodic beeps compared to the start of the descent, Dr. Oswald walks out first. Then Vincent Waunkea follows. Ted Avila stands motionless inside the elevator car. “Get out of there, Ted. Walk with us. You have no other options available,” Vincent Wauneka says. Reluctantly, Ted Avila walks out of the elevator. He sees that Dr. Oswald and Vincent Waunkea have started walking away from the elevator doors down a long, narrow, descending hallway that has no handrails. “No other options,” Vincent Waunkea repeats without turning around to look back.
Ted Avila speeds up his pace so that he catches up in the hallway with Dr. Oswald and Vincent Wauneka. The three continue walking together forward as the hallway descends further downward. The hallway ends at what Ted Avila perceives as an underground train station. He sees a contemporary-looking, windowless train of sleek design with six cars.
The sliding doors on the first car slide open suddenly. Dr. Oswald and Vincent Wauneka walk inside. “No other options,” Ted Avila says in a loud voice so that Vincent Wauneka hears him. Dr. Oswald points in a direction indicating to Ted Avila where the train will move. The sliding doors shut just seconds before the train slides forward slowly and smoothly. Ted Avila notices there are no seats in the train car and nothing overhead to grab onto. Somehow, the train moves so smoothly. The unusually tranquil ride in that train car startles Ted Avila.
“Are we there yet?” Ted Avila asks with deliberate disdain.
The train slows and then smoothly stops moving. As he sees the sliding doors open, Ted Avila watches Dr. Oswald and Vincent Waunkea exit the train car. He follows them. Ted Avila notices that the train car has stopped inside a vast domed hall where the ceiling is hundreds of feet above the floor. He also sees there are circular transparent windows at floor level facing upward. Then he hears Dr. Oswald say one word: “Lights.”
Everything changes for Ted Avila at that precise moment.
He watches brilliant blue-white lighting suddenly illuminating an immense sublunar cavern in which he sees a structure constructed to resemble a gigantic figure of a man. Only the top of his head down to his waist can be seen above the lunar rocks but from the appearance of this statue, the full size of this man standing up would be that of a ten-story building on Earth. Far up above the head of this creation is a natural opening that reveals a few stars floating in the darkness of space above the lunar surface.
Ted Avila feels greatly overwhelmed as his mind races to process his experiences. Gigantic statue. Full color. Masculine. Light-colored skin. Dark beard. Piercing blue eyes. Who is this guy? Is he even a human? The statue appears to have been partially excavated and half of the figure remains submerged below his waist within the jagged lunar rock on the floor of the cavern.
What is visible from the cavern floor is the pelvic region of the statue and looking upwards one can arrive at a large bald head of a bearded man who looks like he is around age thirty. Ted Avila visually follows the broad shoulders of the statue downward to the cavern floor where the immense right hand rests partially closed.
Just below one row of the circular windows in the domed hall Ted Avila sees an engraved metallic plaque. He walks up to the engraving and the first thing he sees is an etched drawing of a man wearing a space suit standing next to the right hand of the giant. The size of the hand is shocking. A human wearing a space suit standing in the lunar cavern next to that hand barely reaches the height of two fingers.
Ted Avila has a wide-open mouth as he turns to look at Vincent Wauneka who is watching his responses. Vincent Wauneka says from memory with no need to look at the engraved metallic plaque, “Here on this spot deep within Crater Clavius on the moon in the year 2192 was the greatest discovery in the history of humanity on planet Earth.”
“Put here by extraterrestrials,” Ted Avila says with difficulty breathing.
“Scientists have concluded that, Mr. Avila,” says Dr. Oswald. “This was discovered and excavated by pioneering lunar explorers from China. This is top secret. It goes by the official name in English as ‘the Colossus of Clavius.’ You, Mr. Avila, are now part of an extremely small group of your fellow humans who have been granted access down here.”
Reflected in the wide-opened eyes of Ted Avila are two giant fingers resting on lunar soil on the opposite side of the transparent dome windows. Why have I been given knowledge about such a closely-held secret about which most people on Earth are completely unaware?
ΔΔ
A small modular room is intended for agents to use to create log entries for personal use and as official records added to their mission documents. Ted Avila sits in a comfortable chair as he faces a large screen which has a microphone sticking up from a desk directly beneath the screen. As he speaks aloud, he watches a text transcription of what he says appear before him on screen.
I accept that Doc Ozzie will read this. I cannot be concerned about holding on to anything private. If there is any privacy for me at all in this place. This is all work-related. What reason do I have for any privacy about aspects of my work? No reason at all. Just shut up. Just do this personal log entry. Nothing to lose.
The colossus. What a massive ripple effect the knowledge of that gigantic statue would have if it were to be revealed suddenly to the people of Earth. I am not sufficiently trained to assess accurately the likely worldwide damage which knowledge of the colossus certainly would have if that knowledge were to be released into an unsuspecting and unprepared world.
So, how does one prepare humanity? That is the question. More directly, how is it even possible to prepare humanity?
How could anyone dare to explain this in a non-threatening way> What does it mean that intelligent life far away from the Milky Way galaxy has taken over control of human civilization? There is no non-threatening way to explain that. Absolutely none at all.
The best I can do is explain the presence of extraterrestrial life on Earth and on the moon happened because of the most unlikely of reasons. My knowledge about the extraterrestrials just popped into my brain. Yeah, I know. Popped. Sounds like a brain injury. Or a tumor or something like that growing inside my brain. But no. I was down deep in the excavation site with Doc Ozzie and Vincent Wauneka. One moment I knew nothing. The next moment, I have awareness and knowledge that seems impossible to me at best.
They call themselves the Ezouia. How do I know this? Why do I know what I know about them?
The Ezuoia are super-intelligent and they have no mass. They are noncorporeal. No bodies. Nothing. Just energy. As with light. Or electricity. Or gravity. Waves or bursts of energy. Perhaps they resemble brilliant lightning flashes across a dark stormy sky.
I do not know why I know these things. No idea whatsoever.
The Ezuoia as bursts of energy have no senses like humans do. No sense of sight. Yet they are not blind. No ability to discern scents. Yet they have sensitivity to be recognize the smallest hint of scent such as the way hair smells after it is freshly shampooed. No emotions. Yet they are sensitive to the needs of their own kind. They live where we human will never visit—inside and around a group of planets in a far away galaxy.
The Ezouia do not reproduce sexually like humans do. They duplicate themselves just by thinking about duplicating themselves.
Then, the Ezuoia discovered something that puzzled them—the sensations every human male feels when he has an orgasm and he ejaculates. The Ezuoia knew nothing of this. Nothing at all. Until the Ezuoia encountered humanity. The Ezuoia tuned into what the sexual sensations feel like to a human male. The Ezuoia successfully made a mental or telepathic connection to the mind of one of the male lunar explorers who discovered the Colossus of Clavius.
This first such connection with a human male gave the Ezouia something they never knew was possible. They never expected what they found. They had thought they knew everything there is to know about the universe. But then the Ezouia started to experience that male lunar explorer’s sexual sensations once he was connected to the Ezouia mentally. He was masturbating alone inside the sleeping quarters of his lunar lander. He gave the Ezouia the single most significant experience they had ever had in the millions of years of their existence. He gave them the gift of sexual sensation and ejaculatory release. He had no idea what he was doing. His mental connection with the Ezouia shared everything. What he felt, the Ezouia felt.
An advanced intelligent life from beyond the Earth figured out they could somehow tune into sexual pleasure that human men feel every day. But, yes, that sounds absurd and more than just a little obscene. The Ezuoia want us human males for our ability to have ejaculations. A few simple words. A far-reaching truth that nobody on Earth would understand or begin to accept.
ΔΔ
Dr. William Oswald is sitting in his small, claustrophobic office at Clavius Base. The military design of the office with metallic struts holding up the ceiling and dull grey walls create an uninviting space that only a scientist could love. Ted Avila arrives a few minutes ahead of his assigned appointment time. He is wearing the all-black off-duty uniform all time travel agents at Clavius Base are required to. His youthful, well-defined body fills out the tight-fitting institutional clothing impressively. His large feet are emphasized by his dark, thick military boots.
Dr. Oswald looks up from his desktop screen spread out flat in front of him. “Oh, you are early, Mr. Avila,” the doctor says as if he is genuinely pleased. “Come in and have a seat.” As Ted Avila looks around the doctor’s office, he wrinkles his nose in response. “It’s not fancy, but I can work here well enough. I’ve been notified that you completed all the necessary data forms that I requested. Shall we begin?”
“I don’t mind telling you, doctor, that I am very uncomfortable with all this.”
“I understand. That is perfectly understandable. I have never been known to devour a man here in my office, Mr. Avila. I’m not a meat-eater.”
“So comforting to know that,” Ted Avila replies with his customary sarcasm.
“I do not even breathe oxygen or drink water.”
Ted Avila stares blankly at the doctor for a few seconds, then replies, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I am a synthetic, automated lifeform created for my work here at this base from AI together with highly-advanced technologies and processes not commonly known to mankind.”
“An extraterrestrial?”
“No. Extraterrestrials created me.”
“This makes no sense to me. What am I doing here, doctor? This is madness!”
“Automation in the workplace, Mr. Avila, that’s all this is. Please have a seat. You are here at this base because you were recruited to work for this agency that now employs you. The truth is you were chosen because you were born with certain gifts. How you use your mind. That’s what I mean. You have rare cognitive capabilities, Mr. Avila. Compared to ninety-nine point nine percent of all people on Earth. You were hired because of those rare capabilities.”
“Nobody has ever told me that.”
“Your mind’s ability for problem-solving is exceptional, Mr. Avila. The speed at which you reason and make choices from among options is unusually fast. How you process your thoughts is very different from the way most other people do.”
“You are suggesting that’s why my memories are messed up, doctor?”
“Mr. Avila, there are events you experience in your life. And there is the way your memory organizes what you perceive. Those two things are what you have come to know as your reality. But the sequence is incorrectly ordered. Your mind insists on organizing and remembering things in a linear way. That is the source of your mental disorientation. In truth, your memories work best when they are non-linear.”
“How long have you known this about me?”
“I know this will sound impossible to you. It may go against what your memories tell you is true. But you have worked for two years on missions to planet Earth. You have lived here at this base for that long now. I make regular medical observations about you when you return from your missions, Mr. Avila. I am not telling you this for the very first time. We have had conversations about this repeatedly. You may not remember.”
Ted Avila sits in stunned silence in response.
“I will do my best to help you through this temporary tension you’re feeling. Your memories are pulling you in different directions. I first need to explain why I showed you what we call the Colossus of Clavius down deep in one of the lunar caverns.”
“I’m listening, doctor.”
“In 2192 Chinese lunar explorers dug up that giant representation of a human male beneath the surface of the moon. It serves as proof of the presence of intelligent life from beyond planet Earth.”
“Doctor, are we supposed to believe the extraterrestrials look like that giant statue?”
“That is not known, Mr. Avila. Humanity has never seen the extraterrestrials.”
“Maybe the gigantic size of that thing is supposed to create fear.”
“Perhaps, Mr. Avila. The one thing that is known for certain is that the colossus gives off invisible vibrations that cannot be measured by any device known to man. The vibrations from the colossus permanently alter the brains of all human males who live here beneath Crater Clavius at this base. Just being on the moon results in such physical alterations of men’s brains. No proximity to the excavation site is necessary. The vibrations from the colossus reach out across the entire sphere of the moon. The change in men’s brains in permanent.”
“So, my brain has been permanently changed by the colossus. Some invisible vibes, right? That’s what you’re telling me, doctor? What can I do now that I could not do before being brought here to the moon.”
“Yes, the same permanent change happened in you as it happened to all men who live here at this base. Now you can travel in time. Prior to your brain being changed by the vibrations from the colossus, you thought of time travel as merely a science fiction concept. That altered brain of yours interacts with the devices down in the Time Travel Hall. They are blue because that color naturally occurred when the Chinese scientists first discovered men’s altered brains enabled human time travel. They created an unusual mix of a few elements on Earth with liquid diamond. When they propelled the resulting liquid onto a man in a chamber whose brain had been altered, he is able to travel in time. That man is capable of traveling in time while seated within one of those blue devices. Now time travel is your job every day.”
“You told me that I have worked on time travel missions from this base for two years.”
“Yes, Mr. Avila. That is how long it has taken me to become aware of something happening in your mind that does not happen with any other agents. Simply put, you are able to remember people and events from timelines that you changed. An agent’s memories are changed whenever he makes changes in a timeline. The agent can never remember anything that happened in the previous version of the timeline. The flow of time itself has been changed by the agent. People and events have been changed by the agent’s actions on a mission to the past. So everyone including the agent only knows and remembers the timeline after it was changed, not how the timeline was before he made the changes.”
“Doctor, as an example, let’s say an agent goes on a mission to the past and the actions he takes change the timeline. That is what he does for work. He changes the past. Let’s say his actions prevent a person from ever being born. After he makes those changes in the timeline, then nobody will ever know that person existed.”
“Exactly right, Mr. Avila. Except, let’s say you were the agent who made changes in the past that prevented a person from being born. You would retain your memories of the timeline before you went back in time to make changes. Nobody else would ever have the memories that you have. If you told anyone about what you remember from before you made the changes in the past, they would not believe you. They would have no way of knowing why your memories are different from theirs.”
“Wait. If time travel was made possible because the colossus alters men’s minds, then only the men whose minds have been altered will be capable of being time travelers, right?”
“Yes, you are correct.”
“Those first lunar explorers who excavated down below Crater Clavius and found the colossus went back home to Earth. There was no permanent lunar base in those days. After it was discovered that there were waves given off by the colossus, Chinese scientists developed a way to make possible human time travel. Because being on the moon changed how certain men’s brains function, they literally were the only human beings who became capable of traveling in time.”
“All that is kept secret from humanity, of course.”
“Yes, Mr. Avila, but humanity now knows time travel is only possible from the moon. Never from Earth. The first lunar explorers who discovered the colossus attempted to create time travel technology on Earth but that failed spectacularly. Over a million people were killed simultaneously by their failed time travel attempt from Earth.”
“In China, right?”
“Yes, you are correct, Mr. Avila. Nanchang is where time travel was initially developed on Earth. The only such attempt. A completely silent explosion in the technology of that underground base wiped out over a million lives in an instant. The Blue Flash at Nanchang. That’s how it is known today by the few who have the security clearance to be told the truth. Scientists eventually figured out that time travel technology would only work from a base buried deep inside the moon.”
“You gonna explain the science of that to me, or what?”
“Not necessary to know. The lower gravity here on the moon makes the essential difference, That’s what’s important for you to know. Also, you need to be aware that your employer has administrative offices on Earth and operates this base under Crater Clavius. The agency is known only by the acronym ‘MMDI.’ Some who work here nicknamed it as ‘Moon Men Deep Inside.’ Kind of juvenile, right? But the nickname stuck.”
“A universe ruled by nicknames,” Ted Avila responds.
“Your mind is getting sharper, Mr. Avila, the more time you spend here. You do realize that, right?”
“So you are telling me it has taken you two years to conclude that my memory issues after returning from time travel missions are caused by those cognitive gifts you spoke about that I was born with. The very reason I was recruited to work as time traveler in the first place.”
“Yes. Vincent Wauneka recruited you to work here on the moon at this base like he does.”
“Well, doc, my memories tell me otherwise. I distinctly recall meeting Vincent Wauneka as I was driving through the Navajo Nation. I picked him up early one morning in the 20th century. He was hitchhiking. He said he would take me to a healing ceremony around a bonfire. You’re verifying that I was born in the twentieth century?”
“Exactly correct, Mr. Avila. Sedona, Arizona, to be specific. You lived there. Grew up there. Now your home century is the twenty-second. And you live here at this base deep inside Crater Clavius. You saw devices when you were with me and Vincent Wauneka down in the medical unit. They are capable of rewriting an agent’s memories. The purpose of that memory rewriting is so the agent keeps his sanity after changing things in the past.”
“Doc, I also suddenly got the understanding of why the extraterrestrial found human males irresistibly attractive.”
“Well, I wouldn’t characterize in that way, Mr. Avila. You used the word ‘attractive.’”
“Yeah, doc, I did. The extraterrestrials can feel a man’s sexual sensations and vicariously feel his ejaculations once his brain has been altered by the vibrations from the colossus. True, he has an altered brain that enables him to travel in time. But his orgasms are forever felt by the extraterrestrials.”
The doctor remains silent with a look of shock on his face. Then he suddenly says to Ted Avila, “In your memories you are aware from your childhood of a popular song at that time about the moon.”
The Secrets of the Moon is the title of a song Ted Avila starts to remember after listening to the doctor. Not only does he consider the song a fixture of his pre-teenage years, this is one of Ted Avila’s all-time favorite pieces of music. He sees himself is dressed in formal wear–black tie tuxedo with bright shiny black shoes–as he dances solo in front of a jazz combo performing to a live audience seated at round cocktail tables inside an intimate Las Vegas lounge. The musicians perform lively and distinctive individual solos within their rendition of The Secrets of the Moon.” Meanwhile Ted Avila dances alone and moves with the skillful grace of Fred Astaire directly between the combo and the attentive audience. Then, Ted Avila starts singing the chorus of the song in an agreeable but amateurish voice:
I will repay you soon
For secrets of the moon
From which I’d been immune
Ted Avila has both arms extended outward in the culmination of complex choreographed moves as he dances across the floor of the doctor’s office. The jazz combo and the music suddenly are gone. His mouth is wide open as he suddenly stops singing. He drops his arms downward as he realizes he is once again in wearing his off-duty fatiques and boots. His face reveals a deep embarrassment. Ted Avila exhales with exasperation.
Dr. Oswald speaks softly as if he wants to downplay the impact of what Ted Avila has seen: “You have just experienced something essential. Those devices downstairs are quite powerful. Devices to make any man feel any emotion. See and hear anything. Remember or forget anything.”
“What the fuck?” Avila asks as he sits slowly upon the shiny metal chair next to the doctor.
“Memory organizer,” says Dr. Oswald. “Nicknamed Moe.”
“You know, almost everything here seems to have a nickname. So, what’s yours?”
Without smiling–a clear signal of his displeasure–the doctor replies, “Doc Ozzie.”
The moon secrets song, when arranged for a cutting-edge rock and roll band, emerges as an uptempo masterpeice that could elevate any listener’s heart rate. The band is performing the song while situated on an oval elevated stage next to several large rectangular concert speakers set on the floor. Behind the band is a generous collection of impressionistic art renders of the full moon, the jagged cliffs of lunar craters, the lunar landscape and Apollo-era spacecraft from the United States illuminated with advanced lighting fixtures that move above the stage.
Seated directly in front of the band on chairs arranged around the stage in the shape of a crescent moon are dozens of youthful and vigorous men each attired in the tight-fitting all-black off-duty fatiques and big boots for which MMDI agents are commonly recognized. Each agent shows his excessive devotion to the band and expresses exuberant appreciation for their performance of the song as it shifts through chord changes and seamless time signatures backed by pounding percussion. Doc Ozzie is the lead singer standing at the front of the band. His empassioned stage presence and body language are infectious as he belts out the chorus of the song:
I will repay you soon
For secrets of the moon
From which I’d been immune
As the performance of the song continues, Ted Avila is standing to the left of Vincent Wauneka as each man is attired in their agency off-duty fatiques and boots.
Vincent Wauneka leans over so that his head is closer to Ted Avila. He wants his partner to hear him over the sounds of the band. Vincent Wauneka says, “You know this song makes you want to dance with me.”
Ted Avila turns quickly and using his right hand deliberately smashes Vincent Wauneka in the nuts, instantly forcing the agent to double over while making a loud grunting sound in response to the ball-busting. The band abruptly stops performing in response to the noisy interruption. The assembly of MMDI agents spontaneously shout out a unified expression of their surprise at the unexpected interruption of the song. Doc Ozzie awkwardly stops singing in the middle of an unresolved note. He points using his left hand in the direction of Ted Avila and Vincent Wauneka while shouting into the hand-held microphone in his right hand, “Avila, Wauneka. In my office. Right now!”
The two agents are wearing their off-duty attire as they are seated next to each other in shiny metal chairs directly in front of Doc Ozzie. The doctor has a mean-spirited facial expression that could be recognized easily at a considerable distance. “You two have earned a solid reputation of working together quite well,” he says angrily. “But you interrupted my band’s music video. You do realize that really pisses me off, don’t you?”
Ted Avila and Vincent Wauneka stare at the floor in humiliation and shame.
In a music recording studio which looks like it belongs in the 1950s in Hollywood, a skinny young man in his late twenties wearing casual clothing of the Eisenhower Era flashes his angry, deep blue eyes at the full orchestra situated directly in front of him while a boom microphone is perched above his curly dark hair. He holds up his right hand and the orchestra stops at an unresolved chord. He shouts, “Nelson, Nelson. I think something is wrong.”
A nervous male voice responds over the speakers in the music recording studio: “So sorry, sir.”
“Not your fault,” says the singer who gestures reassuringly to the orchestra urging the musicians to relax just as a set of cymbals falls to the floor with a crash. The drummer looks mortified. He waves apologetically. The singer smiles and shrugs. “Nothing wrong with the orchestra. You guys are great. What I mean is: This song. What the fuck is ‘I will repay you soon for secrets of the moon’ supposed to mean anyway?” The entire orchestra starts quiet laughter to release their tension.
The nervous male voice in the studio speakers says, “Uh, I don’t know. The song was written during the nineteen thirties. You suppose it was meant as slang from the culture in the thirties? Very famous and popular song all the same.”
The singer rolls his deep blue eyes with clear annoyance. He says, “Ah, that explains everything. Very famous and popular.”
Ted Avila and Vincent Wauneka dare to look up from the floor to make eye contact with Doc Ozzie as the Nelson Riddle-type sound of the full orchestra from Hollywood during the 1950s performing The Secrets of the Moon continues to be heard in the doctor’s office minus any blue-eyed vocalist.
“Very famous and popular,” says Ted Avila. “I think I’m supposed to come to an understanding of the ancient secrets. Me. Specifically. Destined to be the one who brings about an understanding. This intelligent life not of Earth enabled me to bring clarity to the presence of the colossus that was partially excavated down below.”
“Nobody has yet to figure that out,” Vincent Wauneka offers.
“Doc, what do you think?” Ted Avila asks.
“No, no, continue. This is your hallucination,” Doc Ozzie says with a chuckle as he clutches his right hand into a fist and in so doing stops the musical composition from the 1950s Hollywood orchestra.
Just as the music stops, Ted Avila speaks up. “You changed the subject when I initially brought this up. Now I have an explanation that I must share with you, doctor, and also with Vincent. A previously undetected physical change took place in specific parts of the brains of human males,” he says in a matter-of-fact way like he is merely identifying the name of a famous street in New York City.
“Go ahead. Please elaborate,” Doc Ozzie says.
“In two regions of the brains of human males that work together, a new synergetic outcome was discovered.” Ted Avila says.
“Who discovered it, Mr. Avila?” asks Doc Ozzie.
“Some Chinese neurologist,” Avila says. “I could never pronounce his name, of course. He is apparently brilliant. He discovered that two regions working together in male brains produced a physical set of pathways that wasn’t there previously. Electrochemical jolts of energy. Like lightning striking out across the brain. That energy etches a jagged pathway onto a soft, pliable surface in the brain tissue. But a totally unique, totally new pathway. Wasn’t there when he was born. It brings about totally unique and totally new outcomes for the male whose brain this happened to.”
“How is it that you know this, Mr. Avila?” Doc Ozzie wants to know.
“I know this because I am someone whose brain is different from everyone else’s,” Ted Avila replies. “You told me that.”
Vincent Wauneka looks at Doc Ozzie for an answer. But Doc Ozzie just shakes his head to indicate “no.”
“Every agent’s brain here on the moon was changed, too,” Ted Avila explains. “Not just mine and not just Vincent’s. I suppose based on your reactions, doctor, that nobody but me is aware of the changes. But all men who work here at Clavius Base have experienced this same exact brain change.”
Doc Ozzie has an astonished expression on his face.
“The etchings—or however you would like to refer to that electrochemical energy which is overwriting new pathways in brain tissue—were created somehow by specific devices here on the moon. Devices built with specs provided by that intelligent life not from Earth. Devices ow known as memory organization devices. Nicknamed Moe,” Ted Avila says calmly.
Doc Ozzie looks confused and derailed. “Seems to me as if this is highly-advanced medical knowledge,” he says. “You picked all this up from being in proximity to the colossus?”
“Doctor, you’re fully the one who’s in charge here,” Ted Avila says. “I never studied medicine or the human brain. I surely cannot explain what happened to me. Just that it happened. Certain about that. I cannot deny changes took place inside my brain. This had to originate with the extraterrestrials. No other explanation is possible. They gave this brain stuff to me. And to all agents who are working here at this base. I just became aware of it because of my unique cognitive capabilities. I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“No other agent has ever shown awareness about this, Mr. Avila,” Doc Ozzie says. “You, in particular, responded to being down at the excavation site in close proximity to the colossus. We already know the colossus gives off some kind of energy that nobody can see,” Doc Ozzie explains. “I will speculate that you got some new vibrations to make you aware of the brain changes you’re telling me about. You absorbed that energy directly from the colossus.”
“For what purpose?” Ted Avila wants to know.
“A new superpower for you,” Vincent Wauneka says with serious intent.
“Mr. Wauneka, we are not characters in a comic book,” says Doc Ozzie. “This is a scientific facility. An established and reputable lunar base.”
“How can I make sense of this?” Ted Avila asks.
“All I can do, Mr. Avila, is suggest that you attempt to use your mind in non-linear ways.”
“A good start,” says Doc Ozzie. “The crucial question now is what do you, and only you, know about the reasons for the extraterrestrials to have buried that colossus deep inside the moon. Just let your mind process what you know. Try to just speak aloud. Just say what comes into your mind.”
Ted Avila starts talking: “Well, I guess I can do that. I am aware that the extraterrestrials buried the colossus. It is deep inside very dense lunar rock. Creating and then burying that large of an object on the moon is simply an impossible thing to do for us humans. But the extraterrestrials did it. They created and concealed the colossus inside the moon some thirty thousand years ago. Carbon dating could never verify that. But I know that is the accurate origination date.”
“Where are the intelligent beings to which you refer situated compared to Earth? And what else do you know about them?” the doctor asks.
“I know that they have zero mass. Is that even possible in the laws of physics as we understand? They do not have any physical form. They are noncorporeal to use the most accurate word here. They are energy only. Perhaps like light. Or maybe they are like gravity. Or strong lightning shooting across space. I believe they created the colossus to scare humanity because of being invisible. Size matters, you know?”
Vincent Wauneka and Doc Ozzie just stare at each other without speaking.
“I was made aware of their name. Ezuoia,” Ted Avila explains as if what he is saying is already common knowledge. “That is what they call themselves. How we should pronounce it correctly is ezz OY uh. They live inside and around several planets of a small binary star system located in a galaxy hundreds of millions of light years away from the Milky Way. Humanity will never attain the technology to reach them. Just too far away.”
The doctor repeats the name, correctly pronouncing it as “Ezuoia.”
“And here I thought my native language on Earth was difficult to pronounce,” Vincent Wauneka says.
“Even more important is one seemingly impossible thing,” Ted Avila says. “The Ezuoia are permanently connected in real-time with some of us.”
“That is not possible given what we know about physics,” the doctor says.
“Yeah, I thought of that, too. But the brains of us men who work here as time-travel agents were altered by the Ezuoia. The purpose of altering our brains is what the Ezuoia call oremero. In English it’s a word spelled with letters that are the same either forwards or backwards.”
“Are the Ezuoia going to invade Earth and take control over us?” Vincent Wauneka asks.
“No,” says Ted Avila. “They absolutely have no need for our planet. They are light. Energy. Electricity. Gravity. Lightning. Except invisible. They have no military. No starships. No need for faster-than-light travel. They can be anywhere at any time they choose. They don’t need our planet at all. That’s the truth.”
“Why would they want to connect to us through modifying our brains?” Vincent Waunekas wants to know.
“The answer is an ancient secret,” Ted Avila explains. “Secrets held inside the moon for centuries. Only now revealed. The Ezuoia had been incapable of experiencing what it means to be physical beings. So very simple. Yet impossible for them as well. No sense of taste. No pain or sorrow. No ability to discern scents in the breeze. No lungs. They need not breathe. No eyes. No watching the light from stars in the night sky. They also do not reproduce sexually like we humans do. No ejaculations. No feelings of male orgasm. Until that is, they connected themselves with us. They don’t want our planet. No point to that. But they got us by our cocks and balls. So simple. That connection started with one Chinese lunar explorer. So impossible. In all the countless galaxies where intelligent life has evolved, we human males alone provide sexual stimulation for the Ezuoia that they otherwise would never have. They will never relinquish that. Never.”
“Mr. Avila, how did you become aware of this?” Doc Ozzie asks.
Ted Avila explains, “Everything just appeared inside my brain, doctor. Popped in. Impossible, yeah. But it is what happened. As though everything I know today has always been a regular part of my memories. Of course, this is very difficult for me emotionally. Easy to understand, right? I never wanted any of this. I was recruited to work as a time-travel agent. I never would have dreamed that time travel is actually possible for humans.”
“You are saying they feel what we feel whenever we ejaculate?” Vincent Wauneka asks. “Is that what you mean to say about them?”
“Yeah. I was especially freaked out when I learned they are able to feel my orgasms each time I felt them. It seems to me like a total violation. No way to stop them. No way to fight back. No way to prevent them from feeling what they feel because of how orgasms feel to us guys.”
“No man can choose not to have orgasms,” Vincent Wauneka adds. “Until he reaches an advanced age where his body does not work physically like it worked when he was younger.”
“That’s the point here,” Ted Avila says. “Perhaps we are like their sex slaves or however else you might explain this. Kind of sounds like some extreme porno film fantasy that nobody would ever believe. But it is completely true. I assure you of that fact.”
“Mr. Avila, I can confirm that you are the only MMDI agent who has shown awareness about brain changes of MMDI agents,” Doc Ozzie says.
“I was afraid you were gonna say that, doctor,” Ted Avila admits.
The doctor says, “I am attempting to estimate what this full-time connection to the Ezuoia means for humanity. The purpose of time travel is to keep the human species alive. Time travel prevents the human species from self-destruction. And so that justification will continue indefinitely as we move forward in time.”
“And so what will also continue is slavery. Humanity is held captive by the Ezuoia,” Ted Avila adds. “I think we just may have found the dark secret of life on planet Earth. We are controlled by a far-off intelligence we will never see. Siphoning off the unique pleasures and the distinctive thrills of our ejaculations without our approval or agreement. We merely are playthings for the Ezuoia. They are addicted to the passions of our sexual release.”
The doctor says, “The Ezuoia have utter control over human males. What the Ezuoia have is well beyond mere enslavement of men.”
“It is ownership of our manhood,” Vincent Wauneka replies.
“Near the top of the list of the most rare and sought-after resources of the known universe,” Ted Avila adds as he instinctively cups both hands over his crotch.
“A very well organized and repeatable process,” the doctor says. “The Ezuoia enable time travel for men but only after connecting with men in real time for the purpose of vicariously experiencing men’s ejaculations far away in another galaxy. Time travel missions by men keep the human species on Earth from certain self-destruction. That became the justification, right? Time travel has the purpose of saving the human species from self-destruction because agents go back in time and revise the timelines to prevent societal self-destruction. Oh and time travel also keeps us agents from death by bringing agents back to life. So they continue to have ejaculations. So they travel in time to correct various timelines. So they continue the longevity of the human species indefinitely.”
Next: Chapter 4