INTO THE VOID

CHAPTER 12: THE UNWAVERING ONE

Meditation is an art developed by the masters of old. It is the ultimate manifestation of the mind over the body. We tend to neglect the fact that we are more than just flesh. Life is more than the physical things we see. Meditation helps us better understand this. These were the words of a man with a bald-shaved head. He was clad in an orange robe and had a necklace made of big, round, brown beads hanging from his neck. He paced around slowly as he admonished his students; a group of young men and some teenagers. The pupils all sat down on the graveled courtyard as they attentively listened to their teacher. They were high up in the mountains and it was winter season. The temperature was frigid and unforgiving. But this weather did not deter the teacher. He was hell-bent on carrying out the teachings for the day.

The students all sat shirtless; wearing nothing but a pair of trousers rolled up to their knees. The sat on the gravel filled courtyard legs folded, watching intently at another shirtless man who assumed a particular posture. It was like one of those yoga poses but he was very concentrated. He had his legs folded in, his back straight, and his hands resting on his knees with his middle fingers in contact with his thumbs. His eyes were closed and his breathing slowed. While the students shivered from the cold; their teeth chattering, this man remained unshaken. Snow hand gathered on his eye lashes but he did not flinch.

“People believe what they see, so much so that they are carried away by sight. They are limited by the obvious and do not move beyond what they eyes show them. These people are wrong.” The man said after which he took a brief pause and looked slowly at the freezing students. “You feel cold. You see the drizzling snowflakes and say within you, I cannot do this for long. You doubt your ability to stay out here much longer. Well, what if I told you that Master Lu Ming has been up here an hour before we arrived.” The men were shocked. Their teachings discouraged them from showing emotions so all they did was elevate both eyebrows in shock.

We look at ourselves as boats tossed by the waves of a mighty storm. We succumb to the raging waters splashing against our sides, rocking us from side to side. We see most things as beyond our control and yes some things are. Yes, it is true that we cannot control the shinning of the sun, or the fullness of the clouds. We cannot stop the Earth from changing her seasons. But there is one thing we have absolute control over. We have control over what we do. As the waters rage and the winds blow at our sails, do we wait for the storm to overrun us? Do we do nothing and watch ourselves capsize? Plummeting to the depth of the sea? No, no we do not. We are ferocious oarsmen who look the storm in the eye and swear to survive. So we row, we set our sails and paddle as hard as we can against the forces of nature.

So, even now, battered by the cold, tortured by the freezing weather, you can control what your response will be. Do you get up and leave? Do you give up? Do you cower at the weather? Or do you show the forces of nature how strong of a rock you are. Just like the mountains that remain for centuries taking the punishments of heat, of cold; taking the beatings of rain… you too can stand; unwavering.” The teacher said.

After this admonishment, he proceeded to doing the most absurd thing. He walked over to two other robed men standing a distance away. He picked up one of the two buckets that were kept beside the men. He walked over to the sitting mad and emptied the content of the bucket all over his. Within seconds, the man who had sat still all this while began to shiver. The water soaked his hair and poured down his body soaking his trouser. His breathing increased but still he sat there.

After about a minute or two, steam began to rise off his body. It seemed as those someone had forgotten to bring down a kettle of water from the stove. The students were in awe. The water was evaporating of his body.

“This is the power of the mind. We were taught that if the environment is cold, then our bodies will be cold too. Well, we were taught wrong .You can decide whether or not you want to be cold and it is all in your mind. This is the power of The Inner Flame; Tukdam in the ancient tongue.” The teacher said. When the sitting man was almost dry, the teacher walked over to the second bucket and pulled out a blanket that was soaked in the water for a while. He then placed it on the sitting man. The students watched, astonished by the mere resolve of this person. He sat there, shirtless, shivering in the cold but he was completely dedicated to his craft.

After 30 minutes of watching, steam began to appear. Just as they had earlier saw but this time the vapor was a lot more than the last. Within an hour the blanket was completely dry and so was the man.

“Thank you for that demonstration Master Lu Ming.” The teacher said.

“Anytime time Master Xhou.” Master Lu said. That was the first time the students heard his voice. He sounded stern and discipline; he was the kind of man that will regard humor as an unnecessary thing, a man of few words and a man who have seen the struggles of life. As he turned to bow to Master Xhou, the students caught a glimpse of his back and on it were scars that told the stories of a rough life. This man was really as unwavering as he was still.

“Hello Agent X” Petrichor said. “Wow, it feels so weird to say it.” She giggled afterwards.

“Desertwind… Who comes up with these names?” Xaviere asked.

“Well we did apparently.” Petrichor replied. “Do you remember The Book of Eras?”

“The Book of Eras; an elaborate theory about reincarnation being the recycling of a spirit into another body, yes I do remember reading it.” Xaviere replied.

“Exactly… some souls are so powerful they entangle with their spirit sort of imprinting on it. So even after death, the life force carries around the identity of the person that once lived. When another body is given life by that life force, the memories of that soul begins to manifest in the new body. It is almost like there are two personalities living in there. Eventually, the new soul will overshadow the old dismantling the bond. Every one of us at The VOID had imprinted on our life force…”

“We lived before.” Xaviere said cutting her short.

“Yes we did and our past selves chose the names we now bear as agents. It’s a baffling truth.” Petrichor concluded.

“Well, tell me this Ms Petrichor Dune, was that all part of an act; making me fall in love with you? Was it just a mission?” Xaviere asked looking Petrichor straight in the eyes. She moved her lips with attempts to say something, but before she could respond, they heard an alarm go off.

“Warning, warning…threshold frequency detected” At the sound of the alarm, the two them instinctively ran to The Panic Room. Zero and some other agents were already there, standing around a circular suspended platform. It was like a round table with no legs, it simply just hung up a few meters above the ground.

“X, Desertwind; so nice for you to join us. There has been a spike in the Soulish energy we have been monitoring from the Mongolian region.” Zero said looking at the circular platform. It had some hologram projections from the surface. “We have traced the energy signatures to a monastery in the Tibetan Mountains. We will need the two of you to go check it out. We need complete evaluation of the threat and take action accordingly. Report all activities. Desertwind, you will be heading this mission. Suit up and meet me at the hanger.

“Ok sir” Petrichor said. Petrichor walked towards a wall and Xaviere followed her. Like she did before, they were able to seemingly walk through the wall. They walked into the Supply Close; this was the room where agents got ready for missions.

“Get dressed.” Petrichor said as she began to take off her clothes. She still had the short gown on from the party. She unzipped the dressed and had it slip off her body. Xaviere paid no attention to her words but only looked at her unclad body.

“Agent X, we need to go, get dressed.” She reiterated. There was professionalism in her voice. This was not an advice or an admonishment; this was not a suggestion, it was an order. There was a locker with Agent X bold written on it. Xaviere open it and got suited up. The locker was unlocked by retinal scan, so, Xaviere placed his eye directly at the panel on the exterior of the locker. As the locker opened, he saw different shirts and trousers all black neatly folded in there. The apparel consisted of a pair of black trousers with pockets at the knees and a long-sleeved, black turtle-neck. The threading of the clothes was special; it glowed. When Xaviere was fully dressed with a pair of black boots and a black jacket, he turned around and saw Petrichor standing, all dressed in a black leather jumpsuit. Her hair was packed up in a bun and she had a stylish utility belt on. He was in awe. He had seen her sparsely dressed before but not even in her semi-unclad state have she looked this sexy to him. He saw curves he never knew existed. Xaviere was still mesmerized when she cut short his chain of thought.

“Agent X. we need to go. Zero is waiting for us at the hanger.”

“Lead the way.” Xaviere responded.

“The energy signatures have been uploaded into the pod. You have all you need. We have coms on standby best of luck and Godspeed.” Zero said as he waved them goodbye.

Xaviere and Petrichor got inside a circular pod. It was a device that enhanced Geographical Translocation. They had locked the coordinates of the Monks Soulish energy on it. Petrichor placed her palm on a flat keyboard like platform. In an instant, the pod swooshed forward and disappeared.