Chapter 12

12: Temeron, the elder Collective had a group gathered around him who were eager to learn more about the religion of the Collective.  "It's called the Hierarchy of Sypraxus.  To begin with, it is important to note that the more solid something is, the less you need it.  Food is the least needed, then water, air and finally your spirit.  Life follows the example of these different states of matter.  Sypraxus is the ability to change at will between the different states of matter.  This is only possible through a deep understanding of the three stages of life. 
  "We all start in innocence.  For the Collective, we call that the solid stage.  During that time of your spiritual development, you are in ignorance and bliss.  You do not take notice of the problems of the world.  Some may even be in denial that problems even exist.  You are only in touch with your needs.  You tend to be more real. It takes nothing to be innocent.  You don't want anything to change.
  "The second stage comes when we start to notice the problems in the world.  We might become disillusioned or disenchanted.  We call that the liquid stage.  Everything seems to be bad.  We lose our innocense and begin to be aware of wants as opposed to mere needs.  We may become superficial or even hateful.  It takes your five senses to reach the second stage.  You want the world to change.
  "The third stage is enlightenment.  We call that the air stage.  At this stage you begin to have hope.  You begin to recognize that there is more than your eyes can perceive.  You begin to be aware of others' needs.  You become more deep.  It takes faith to reach the third stage.  You can be calm and at peace.  You want yourself to change.  Unfortunately, some people never get past the first stage.  Most people never get past the second stage. For some reason unknown to me, some people want to go back to the first stage after having reached the second. I must confess to you that I have never met anyone who has truly reached the third stage.  It would take an incredible amount of love and faith to reach the third stage.  The Sypratic Tome promises that there will be someone who will reach all states of matter: solid, liquid, gas and spirit.  We await their arrival eagerly."
  In a different part of the hotel, Jeffrey was sitting in front of a microwave reading a book.  Alexander approached him, intrigued by the wonderful aroma emanating from the microwave.  "Chuptu?" he asked Jeffrey.
  Jeffrey looked up from his book.  "What did you say?"
  "I said, what are you up to?"
  "Oh.  I'm microwaving some popcorn that I won in the raffle.  Want some?"
  Alex's eyes lit up.  "Sure, sounds good.  What are you reading?"
  Jeffrey showed the cover of the book to Alexander.  "I'm reading about a guy named Pavlov who trained his dogs to salivate when he rang a bell."
  A really confused look came across Alex's face.  "That's weird."
  Jeffrey shrugged.  "I guess it depends on how you look at it."  At that point, the microwave beeped.
  Alex rubbed his hands together in eager anticipation.  "Alright!  Popcorn's ready!"
  Jeffrey sighed and shook his head.  Then he put the book down and pulled the microwave door open to retrieve the bag.  Lowe walked into the room just as the two of them were munching.  He looked downcast.  With all the rescue parties coming back with survivors they had found, there were many tearful reunions, but there were still many loved ones missing.  One of those was Lowe's uncle.
  Jeffrey offered Lowe some popcorn, but Lowe was in no mood for any.  "Lowe, they did send a search party in the direction of your uncle's home.  You did give them his address, right?"
  "Yeah.  Him and his boyfriend live at Casanova Mobile Homes lot 1408."
  Jeffrey did a double take and suppressed a laugh.  "Casanova Mobile Homes?"  After a second, he shook it off.  What he was thinking wasn't appropriate to say at the moment.
  Alex swallowed a mouthful of popcorn.  "So your uncle's gay?"
  Lowe looked at Alex for a moment.  "If you laugh I will seriously hurt you."
  Alex shook his head.  "No, I won't laugh.  There's nothing funny about homosexuality."
  "Well, my uncle is a lesbian stuck in a man's body.  You see, he's gay, but his body just doesn't know it yet. In order to fit in with the homosexual crowd, he has a boyfriend for now until he can have the sex change operation.  Think of it as a reverse 'fag hag', as much as I hate that term."
  "I look forward to meeting him.  What does he do?" asked Alex.
  "He's the singer for a midget metal band called Bawdy Flies.  You know that T-shirt I wear that says 'Asian midget trannies are people too'?"
  "Oh yeah, I think that shirt's hilarious."
  "Well, it's not supposed to be funny.  It's my way of supporting my uncle.  His name is Singh Ho Ping, but his stage name is Urban Confucius."
  Alex's eyebrows went up.  "You uncle is Urban Confucius?  Dude, I've heard of him.  He did that one Christmas song or something.  I once saw his band perform dressed as female elves."
  "So you've heard 'Don We Now Our Gay Apparel'?  It was a minor local hit.  Got some air play."

Chapter 43

43: Kenn and Daniel had worked out a plan to destroy Rend and they knew they could coordinate it with Jeffrey's mission to rescue Sandy.  Kenn took Stratford and left in his car to set his plan in motion.
  Jeffrey decided to take Chadwick, Alexander and Lowe Freq with him to the school.  Daniel was going to travel to the school separately in the red jeep that Chadwick had acquired.  Daniel was the diversion in charge of luring Rend away from the school so that Jeffrey could locate and recover Sandy and bring her to safety.
  "G Bomb."
  "What up, Lowe?"
  "Why do me and Alex need to go?"
  "I need your help, man.  Along the way, we may run into some of the Revenant.  Once we get to the school, we'll bump into Defectors.  We need extra eyes to find my mother once we get there and we need someone to stay with the truck so we can make a fast getaway.  I wouldn't have asked you except for the fact that I trust you.  I know you care about my mom too.  This is a really dangerous mission, but I've known you since we were three years old.  There's no one else I can think of that I would want right there with me.  You're my best friend, man."
  Bill put a hand on Lowe's shoulder.  "Are you familiar with the teachings of Confucius?"
  "A little.  Just what my grandma taught me when I was a kid," replied Lowe quietly.
  "He once said, 'When love is at stake yield not to an army.'  I've known you since you were this tall, Yong.  I remember when Jeffrey got the chicken pox, you still came over every day to play with him and you caught them too. I've always admired the bond you two have."
  Bill turned to his son and put his hands on his shoulders.  "Jeffrey, I want you to know how proud of you I am.  You have turned out to be quite a courageous young man.  Your grandfather would be proud.  One of my father's favorite sayings by Confucius was, 'A heart set on love will do no wrong.'  Since we've been here, I've seen that you have pursued your dreams with all your heart and you seem to be very happy.  In my eyes, that makes you successful in life.  I trust that you will pursue this rescue mission with just as much heart.  You mother needs you.  You will save her."
  Barney walked up to his son and said, "Daniel, you know that Rend will not chase you without the intention of killing you.  This may be a suicide run, son."
  "Yes, I'm prepared for that.  You know, when I was younger, I used to think a lot about the nature of sacrifice.  I mistakenly thought that the more you hate giving something up, the bigger the sacrifice and, therefore, the more it would be appreciated.  I thought about the sacrifice that Jesus made.  I thought he made the ultimate sacrifice because of what he had to give up, but I was wrong.  What he valued more than his own life was the lives of the people who would be saved by the spilling of his blood.  Why?  It comes down to one thing: love.  There is no sacrifice without love and with love, there is no sacrifice too big.  Father, I'm sorry for all I've put you through all these years."
  "Daniel, I am nothing but proud of you at this moment.  I finally have my son back.  I thank God for that."
  "I am honored to know you, Daniel," said Bill with a deep bow.
  "I've done many things in my life that I regret.  There is no amount of good I can do to repay it.  I only pray that I can do enough to help those in need."  Daniel hugged his father, then got into the jeep and drove off to the school.  Jeffrey embraced his father as well, then his group of friends made their way to Bill's black truck which was parked just outside the hotel.  Jeffrey noticed a distinct design in the rust patterns of the truck.
  "Well, I'll be damned.  It's a yin and yang symbol right there in black and rust.  Buddha has spoken.  It's a sign that we will be successful.  There will be a mass pilgrimage of Buddhists to see this miraculous sign."
  "Dude, there's gonna be a mass pilgrimage of Revenant to our asses if we don't get the hell out of here," said Alexander.  With that, they loaded into the truck and drove in the direction of Wolf Cub Elementary School.