Alex Gore - The Cube

“Here, see? You are the very proof of the authenticity of the ‘Mandela effect’. Half of the people, including the man with the hoarse voice, the actor James Earl Jones, swear that the line is as you say: ‘Luke, I’m your father’. But in reality, if you see the film, you’ll be informed that the real phrase is: ‘No… I am your father’.”

“Not true, this cannot be, you are fucking with my kid’s memories. There is no way what you say to be correct.”

“In one reality it is the first version, in the other – the second. It is stated that the people from one parallel universe have one set of memories, while those in the second experienced a different set. In some way both realities intertwine in a particular point… or they split in the same one.”

“Look, Hans, all this is very intriguing, but what does it have to do with our situation?”

“Have patience, Major, everything will become clear to you very soon. These creatures, our copies, are from another universe, aren’t they? And they are conceived by the Cube or arrived here with its help, right? And which is the source of the Cube’s vital energy?”

“I don’t think anybody can answer that question”, Marcela suggested tentatively. “The Cub is not anything alive, that needs energy.”

Everybody remained quiet in waiting, not daring to move, in order not to confuse Hans.

“On the contrary, the Cube is as much alive, as you and I.”

“But, Hans you don’t think it’s organic, do you? At least from what we found out through spectral analysis I don’t believe it is organic matter”, Marcela said.

“Yes, it might not be based on carbon, as are all living organisms on our planet, but it is alive. It is from another planet on which probably life was conceived and is maintained by different principle. Do you remember how the Cube was connected to us? It was literally knitted together with the non-live matter of our world through the corals. Maybe it needs live matter to feed on, to draw energy and substances from it. To copy its DNA in order to create its doubles. The Cube is at the same time alive and non-live, it creates doubles for the sake of preserving life.”

“And how exactly does it ‘preserve life’ by killing us all, in a very cruel manner too?”

“Yes, it kills only the types that are aggressive and bad, creating their opposites.”

“Well if we are the good and the cool, it means it creates nasty people, who then kill the cool guys. I can’t make sense of it, rather it seems to me vice versa.“ Michael frowned.

“Precisely, because it is ‘vice versa’, Mikey. Don’t forget that it comes from a parallel universe, mirror-like to ours, in which everything is the direct opposite”, Hans smiled at him. “So there, in this ‘upside down’ universe, the Cube makes good doubles from the good guys and bad from the bad, is that it?”

“Exactly.”

“A marvelous suggestion, which we have no way to prove”, Norman sighed. “But how is this going to help us make it toast?”

“Do you remember how the corals appeared according to Greek mythology?”

“Perseus killed some chick”, Michael said.

“Actually yes, the chick was a very beautiful woman with poisonous snakes on her head, whose eyes turned to rock anybody who looked at her. Perseus killed the Gorgona Medusa and put her head in a magic sac, which becomes as big as the thing you put in it. Perseus sat to rest, putting the head on the sea shore, and the blood of the murdered Medusa soaked through the cloth and turned the seaweed to stone. The charming nymphs fell in love with their beauty and spread them along the bottoms of all seas.

Thus, the corals appeared, according to the ancient Greeks. “A very cool story, Hans, this time your overpassed yourself.”

It was Alan this time, who raised from his bunk and interfered. Nobody had noticed him wake up.

“And do you know how Perseus succeeded to cut the head of Medusa without her looking at him? The gods gave him as a gift a polished magical shield in which he saw Medusa as in a mirror. Thus, he managed to behead her with only one hit.”

“So… Hans?” Marcela urged him.

“So… We’ll kill it the same way.”

“How?”

“We have to send it back to where it came from, to its mirror universe.”

“Okay, but in what way?” Norman insisted.

“Ask Colonel Ivanov, he knows.” Hans turned to the Russian, who lowered his eyes in embarrassment.

“What else haven’t you told us, Colonel?!” Norman shouted. “I can explain, Major…” His strong voice had turned into a quiet mumbling.

“Isn’t it enough for you that I closed my eyes and spared you the court martial?”

“Calm down, Major, it’s not his fault, those were his instructions, isn’t that right, Colonel?” Hans approached Ivanov. “You know how the Core is activated, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know” the huge Russian said, lowering his head.

“Yes… You are right.” Hans was lost in thoughts and was scratching his head. “It is heated, too much even. I suppose the temperature of the Cube has been constantly increasing for the last few days, but, of course the dumb headed military did not bother to follow such ‘trifling’ features.

“Hans, I can understand your irony, however, this is not the time for analysis and reproaches, but for actions… Don’t you think?” Marcela touched his shoulder gently.

Hans placed his hand on the Cube but quickly pulled it back. “It’s awfully hot!”

“Don’t play around Hans, it might be dangerous!”

“I’ve a bad feeling about this”, Hans said. “I think the constant increase of temperature in our little Cube will result in mighty fireworks.”

“But how does it produce heat, energy, how does it work?”

“I am not sure, but I have a theory. Do you know how a star works, how it generates energy?”

“I guess it burns out a part of its mass, doesn’t it? The mass turns into energy, isn’t that what Einstein says?” Michael was not very knowledgeable about astrophysics.

“Not quite”, Hans laughed. “Actually, every star, including our bright Sun, works this way. If the Sun burned out its own mass like the burning of charcoal in a stove or in the heat power stations, its fuel would have finished in about 150 000 years. Actually, it produces energy through nuclear synthesis, turning the lighter elements like hydrogen and helium into the heavier iron and cobalt.”

“Something like in nuclear power stations?”

“No, just the opposite. While we break down heavy elements like uranium into lighter ones to obtain energy, the stars do vice versa, synthesizing heavy elements from lighter ones. But in both processes huge quantities of energy are released, that allow our Sun to shine and heat the Sun System in the course of several billions of years. I’m sure the Cube functions the same way, if it was capable of generating the necessary quantity of energy to bend space. If we take this thing and return it to where Norman and the others took it from, it will leave us in peace.”

“Back to the submarine?”

“Yes, Mike, we’ll load it on the Rover and will take it there. When it explodes, it won’t be here and we will be far away in time and space.”

It weighed too much. And it was awfully hot. Three people could hardly take it out of the trunk of the SUV and pull it with ropes to the corps of the submarine. Anyway, they dragged it by the hole, cut there, and dumped it inside.

The corals there seemed to have doubled in quantity. They had as if overgrown the whole place making it seem unbelievably smaller. Four people could push with great efforts the Cube inside and their backs were all the time scratched by the sharp coral edges.