Perplex Vision 2000

"Not really, Diane. We just helped Geoffrey tune in into his knowledge banks...and ours. He did it all by himself. That was truly amazing, indeed."

"It sure was, Uvi. I want to know more about you two. A lot more," said Diane, feeling quite attached to this being inside her body.

"Everything in due time, Diane," the soft voice coming from inside Diane whispered.

"Time is now due, Uvigadva," Diane responded eagerly.

Vaton and Peter watched Diane curiously, trying to figure out her strange conversation with herself.

"Diane..." Vaton called to her in a soft voice. Diane, her head cocked on her right shoulder, her eyes looking aimlessly in the distance, raised her hand stopping Vaton's attempt to finish his sentence.

"Not now," she said firmly, listening to her inner voices. "Let's have it, Uvigadva. The truth."

"It is not as easy as it may seem...back there in the marshlands close to your cottage, that is where everything started. It is very difficult for me to tell you all these things, but sooner or later you have to learn it."

"The truth. Let's have it," Diane said impatiently, her mind tuned into her inner self, carefully listening to Uvigadva's words.

"I'll try to jog your memory. Several weeks ago, you and Geoffrey went for a short boat ride before dinner...you and Geoffrey..." Uvigadva went silent for a moment. She was carefully tapping into Diane's memory banks, retrieving bits and pieces of stored events, putting them together in her own mind, trying to make it more bearable for Diane to cope with the truth.

It was a difficult task.

"And?" Diane whispered, her eyes closed now, listening carefully to the friendly inner voice.

"As you two were cruising the marshes, you ran across another boat. They were bad people. When they saw you and Geoffrey, they opened fire on you..." Uvigadva paused for a moment, searching for words to present the events in a more acceptable manner. Not finding anything appropriate, she resumed to the plain truth, "They killed you both and sank your boat with you two dead in it..." Uvigadva fell silent, allowing Diane time to digest and cope with the shocking truth.

It was a difficult moment for everyone.

Diane, her eyes wide open now, was staring into the blue sky above them, her mind frantically processing the latest information string. Swallowing the hard knot in her throat, her head cocked again onto her right shoulder, she closed her eyes.

"And where were you and Vaton when this happened? Why didn't you do something about it to save us?"

"We did, Diane. At the time you two were shot, we two, I mean Vaton and I were up in the tree foliage in our own spheres, taking shelter from all the dangers of the marshlands. An alligator nearly killed me only hours before we witnessed you being murdered. We were scared, Diane. We still are. This planet of yours is bizarre and very dangerous."

"So, if we both got killed, how come we are here now, talking to you, Uvigadva?" Diane asked, her voice humble, instinctively sensing that somehow this very truth is partly due to the two strangers she was learning about.

"After the other boat left, Vaton and I descended from the foliage and pulled your bodies out of the sunken boat. We didn't know what to do at first, so we ran some tests on your dead bodies, learning more about them in order to save your lives. We were lucky. Your brain cells were still alive. It was a difficult task to bring you two back to life again. We had to learn first about your bodies' workings and we didn't have much time. But we did it in the end and here you are," explained Uvigadva as simply and clearly as she could.

"Holy Shit, Uvigadva. This story of yours is hard to take," Diane said in a low voice, her heart pounding in her ribcage with the force of sledgehammers.