Ripple Effect

Vibrations.

Deep, slow, oscillating vibrations are moving through Anna’s cold back as if she were laying on a refrigerated sub-woofer.

She doesn’t know where she is. She can’t see anything - she can’t even speak. She can't move her chin, her lips only quiver - her lungs won't provide air to her mouth to form any words.

Is she even breathing?

Her mind is flooding with questions but she can’t think clearly in this sudden survival mode...

‘Are my eyes closed? Are they open? Am I...dreaming? No. This isn't a dream. I've had lucid dreams. This is...different...’

She’s no stranger to thinking herself up an emotional ledge but this is a new level of paranoia for Anna - something is very wrong and she has no idea what's happening.

Suddenly, a new sound...

Click.

Click click...

It comes from over her shoulder, followed by an exhausted energy that moves over her body like a warm breeze - but it's not air. It's something new.

Something she hasn't felt before.

Light.

A radiant, glowing light fills her entire ocular anatomy to the point where it's the only thing she can see, but it isn't blinding.

This light, much like everything else she's experiencing, is very different - she can feel it.

Slowly, she begins to regain some of her motor skills and slowly opens her hands - she can feel the light bending between her fingers like water, only thicker.

As her vision slowly restores, she realizes that she is indeed laying down. She can make out what looks to be a low ceiling, only a few feet above her, made of unfamiliar material. As she looks to her side, she sees that the walls and floor are made of the same material.

The surfaces are nearly indescribable; they're smooth but textured, a shade of sandy grey - and seem to inhale and exhale in sync with the sound of the deep, oscillating vibrations.

And as she rises to a seated position, she sees it.

A Being.

If it's standing, it's only as tall as she is - but she cannot comprehend whether it's standing, floating, crouched or in any discernible position.

'Do not fear me.'

The Being speaks crystal clearly in a soft, flanging voice, yet it made no sound.

It spoke to her telepathically.

She was afraid upon first sight but immediately after hearing those words somehow isn't; as if she had no say in whether or not she could fear whatever it is.

'You have been taken to a place unreachable by your kind, far from your sense of reality. You are safe.'

The hair on the back of her neck stands straight in the presence of The Being. She feels as though she should be afraid, but the overwhelming sensation she feels through all of the mental static is just that; safety.

'Speak with your mind. I will hear only what you allow.'

She doesn't know why but she trusts that The Being is truthful; well aware that she should have so many questions, she has no intention of asking them all.

'Where am I??? Why am I here?'

'You are present. You are chosen.'

Her eyes widen, dumbfounded by such a philosophical response.

'Chosen? What am I chosen for?'

The Being remains totally still before her.

'I have brought you here to heed a warning.'

This immediately unsettles her, stripping away the safe feeling she had only a moment ago.

'The sensation you feel is not fear. It is truth.'

She lingers in the sentiment, trying to wrap her mind around everything...

'Okay...why me?'

The Being hesitates before responding...

'There are two specific reasons. One of which may sadden you deeply. The other...'

Anna tries to find something that resembles eyes on The Being, but she can't. She wants to find some version of body language, but nothing about this Being is the slightest bit familiar.

'The other may frighten you.'

An introvert with deep social anxiety, Anna has no shortage of quirks and nervous responses.

She bursts into a nervous laughter.

We now hear the sound of her voice fill the room for the first time - her laughter not only echoes along the surfaces, it bends like the light in her hands.

'I'm sorry, this is just...this is insane. I stopped taking acid in college, okay? I don't need anymore of these regressive dreams about my youth. Time to wake up, Anna.'

She thinks she's dreaming.

'You, much like many of your kind, value societal progress over life itself. So much so, that your idea of progress has cost you a most meaningful relationship with your Father.'

The words cut Anna quick and deeply.

Anna knows that this would be incredibly triggering coming from anyone in her personal life, but she has no ability to manifest any anger or resentment. She feels an emotion similar to sadness, but all she can do is take it.

'You've struggled in the shadow of your Father's work because you specialize in the same field. This struggle lead to a fallout in your relationship when he challenged a breakthrough you discovered, implicating a danger that may come with it...a breakthrough that you've since built much of your identity into; but you have yet to consider that he may have been correct.'

She's trying to formulate some sort of reply, but she can't.

'This breakthrough is why you are chosen. You will soon be faced with a decision that will alter the future of humanity. Forever.'

Her mouth hangs open, empty of words. She's searching for something to say, but it's obvious that this is striking a very personal chord.

'Perhaps a visual will assist.'

Suddenly, the light in the room bends again to produce a familiar, hologram-like image of a road traveling through a desert and forking in the distance.

Her eyes dazzle in the glow of the image.

'This image is what your kind refers to as a metaphor - the road represents your existence on earth. The point at which the one road becomes two represents a choice that you will be faced with...the outcome of which will trigger what your kind refers to as a 'Ripple Effect', thus altering the course of humanity forever.'

Anna glances at the being suspiciously.

'All humanity??? What choice? What do you mean?'

'It is forbidden for my kind to manipulate your free will. I cannot provide you with the answer you seek.'

Anna looks away, trying to imagine what such a choice could even be.

'Okay...well, what if I make the wrong choice?'

'Right and wrong are relative terminology to your kind. Please specify.'

Anna laughs to herself.

'Okay. What if I make the choice that affects humanity forever?'

'Both outcomes will affect humanity forever.'

She laughs again.

'This is like talking to my ex.'

The being doesn't share her humor. This time, she carefully crafts her words...

'What if...what if I make the choice that affects humanity...negatively?'

Suddenly, the hologram image of the road becomes something else.

Something horrifying.

Entire cities flattened in the wake of a massive explosion.

Jungles with trees burned to ash, rivers running black.

The complete absence of life on earth.

We see all of it in the reflection of Anna's pupils - and beyond the reflective imagery, in her eyes, we see a young Woman shaken to her absolute core.

'No. No. This cannot be possible. I've done the work, the math, the science. All of it checks out. I didn't spend the last 12 years of my life racking my brain...'

The being interrupts, abruptly.

'Therein lies the problem - you have performed the work in the conscious mind while overlooking the heart, resulting in subconscious doubt that cannot be denied.'

Finally, a flood of emotions that Anna recognizes...

Guilt.

Shame.

Regret.

Her eyes fill with tears.

'Well what...what do I...what am I supposed to do? How am I going to know?'

The being remains silent before her.

'Follow the heart...'

Anna's eyes look desperate.

'Anna.'

And with the sound of her name, it all goes dark.

We linger in the darkness, in the silence, until a new voice slowly begins to manifest in the distance.

'Anna? Anna! Wake up!'

Suddenly, Anna leaps backwards in her chair.

She's seated at the desk in her lab at Adirondack Nuclear Research and Development, located in midtown Manhattan.

Through the window to her lab, her partner, Richard, is knocking on the glass.

'Anna! Hey! I left my keys. Over there.'

He points to a nearby surface where sure enough, a set of keys is sitting.

Anna slowly rises from her chair. Still disoriented, she's barely present as she approaches to let him in.

'I'm glad I caught you before you left,' Richard says.

He takes another look at her, curiously sizing up her strange state.

'Sorry,' she replies. 'I'm just not feeling right.'

'Don't let the pressure get to you,' Richard suggests. 'All of this hard work is about to pay off. Big time.'

Anna couldn't be any more dismissive if she tried. Her mind is glued to whatever she just experienced - it had to be a dream. Right?

Richard squares up with her, placing his hands on her shoulders. He leans in, encouraging her.

'I know it's scary presenting this research to the board...but your breakthrough on uranium atomic structure is about to change the world forever. You have no idea how big this is yet.'

Finally, he goes for his keys.

'Do you want a ride home?' he asks. 'You look like you need all the sleep you can get.'

Anna, still in a daze, responds half certainly.

'Actually, I think I'll walk home. I could use some fresh air.'

Richard's eyebrows raise. He grabs something else beside his keys.

'Well then maybe you can do me a huge favor and drop this at Priya's place? With the doorman. It's right on your way.'

He hands her a shoebox filled with belongings.

'I'll do anything to avoid running into her at this point,' he proclaims.

But sitting in the box, on top of photos, lipsticks, a toothbrush -

A heart shaped locket.

And like sonos speakers in her ears, Anna hears the words of the being...

'Follow the heart, Anna.'

Her eyes dart up to meet Richard's, who is sporting a very confused look.

'West 14th and 6th, white brick building.'

Anna freezes.

'West 14th and 6th???'

She nearly can't believe the coincidence...

'That's my Dad's block.'

Richard takes a closer look at her, concerned.

'Anna are you sure you're okay?'

Anna stutters.

'Yeah...yeah. All good. I'll bring it. White brick building.'

'Great,' Richard proclaims. 'See you in the morning.'

And as Richard exits her lab, she takes a seat and stares at the locket, drifting deep into a reflective, emotional state.

After a long moment, she grabs her coat, heads for the door and clicks the light off.

The end.