Day 3
The crew arrived early.
The mood: for Vex and Quibble, frisky.
Mischievous.
They remembered the mating-program experiments.
For Pip, the mood was different.
Anticipatory…
but also, for some reason, a slight knot of dread.
Quibble opened the archives, ready to reminisce.
“There was the project that convinced human males that sending an unsolicited photograph of themselves holding a fish would increase romantic desirability.”
Pip looked confused.
“Did it work?”
“Not once,” Quibble said.
“And yet they continue?”
“Because of the implants, yes,” said Quibble. “Every summer.”
Pip looked at the archive.
“And why are we doing this to the Earthlings?”
The room became slightly quieter.
Vex answered.
“For some, the purpose is to block innate abilities.”
He continued.
“Other implants create harm in various forms. Some are designed for monitoring. Some are designed for control.”
Pip frowned.
“And the rest?”
Vex smiled.
“The rest?”
“Yes. There must be another reason.”
Vex straightened his uniform.
“Entertainment.”
Pip stared.
“We do this because it is entertaining to watch their suffering?”
Pip looked disappointed.
“That does not seem very advanced.”
Vex cleared his throat.
“Enough philosophy. We are here to install one simple device into one ordinary human.”
He enlarged an image of the woman operating the machine.
“To reach the group, we must first get a specialized implant into her.”
The room became quiet.
Vex leaned toward the screen.
“What have we used on her before?”
Quibble opened the romantic-program archives.
A very large file appeared.
Pip stared.
“All of that belongs to one Earthling?”
Quibble nodded.
“Apparently she was an easy target.”
Vex rubbed two of his hands together.
“Excellent. Read me the highlights.”
“It would only delay our work,” said Quibble.
“There is too much.”
He scrolled.
“I am surprised she is still on the Earth plane.”
Pip looked closer.
“What kept her there?”
Quibble paused.
“Energy work.”
“Energy work?”
“Yes. She stumbled onto it in the 1990s.”
The archive displayed images of devices.
Then came the learning.
Then the discoveries.
Quibble continued scrolling.
“And then came the strange realization that the stories her grandmother taught her as a child…”
He looked puzzled.
“Those Bible stories about human survival, transformation, and faith…”
“Yes?” said Pip.
“May have been describing quantum physics… just in the language available to them at the time.”
Pip leaned closer.
“And what did she discover?”
Quibble looked at the screen.
“That humans possessed an inner technology more powerful than anything we could manufacture.”
“Then why do they suffer?”
“Because, just like any other technology, their systems can become disrupted.”
The beings watched as the woman sat at the machine.
“This human is like a gamer,” said Quibble.
“She is always on this thing!”
The scanners activated.
They could clearly see that the group’s inner technology had been activated around the Gallbladder meridian.
The field was reorganizing.
The readings showed energy related to:
Soul Sovereignty.
Mental Sovereignty.
Pain clearing.
Cellular memory restoration.
The scans repeatedly pointed to the same conclusion:
Restore discernment.
Clear obstruction.
Return to original design.
The installers exchanged uneasy glances.
“This kind of work is becoming a problem,” said Vex.
“It is time to put a stop to it.”
“Install the implant,” commanded Vex.
The selection appeared:
The Reality Dampening Module
Functions:
• Reduce independent pattern recognition.
• Blur intuitive knowing.
• Create hesitation before inspired action.
• Make external programming appear as personal thought.
• Lower confidence in innate abilities.
• Encourage reliance on outside authority instead of inner wisdom.
• Create mental static so the subject forgets what they already know.
Vex smiled.
“Perfect.”
He entered the command.
“Implant her Gallbladder meridian. Now.”
Quibble adjusted the coordinates.
The implant launched.
It approached the field.
Contact.
Success.
Everyone leaned forward.
Then—
The woman typed something into the machine.
“I command that all etheric implants, limiting programs, and artificial interference be cleared from my field. My mind remains clear, my abilities remain intact, and my original design cannot be overwritten.”
The system began flashing.
INSTALLATION FAILED.
REASON: SUBJECT REMEMBERED.
Vex slowly stood.
“This woman…”
He paused.
“This woman may be one of the most brilliant Earthlings I have ever encountered.”
Pip tilted his head.
“But isn’t this just a story?”
“Yes,” said Quibble.
“And isn’t she the one writing it?”
No one spoke.
The three installers looked at the screen.
Then at each other.
Quibble slowly closed the archive.
“I believe,” he said quietly, “we may be the ones being installed.”
Meanwhile, somewhere on Earth…
…three men quietly removed fish photographs from their dating profiles.