Centaurs (Parallel Worlds) Read online

  "Jesus," Nicole gasped a moment later. "You just turned yourself into barely the size of a dust mote."

  Martin chuckled. "Yes, I can sense that. Which tells us that our powers are even more awesome than we’d thought they are. Feels strange, though, to be this tiny."

  "Are you still as functional as you were before?"

  "Absolutely." Martin popped back to his previous shape and size. "But it was quite disconcerting to be so little, like I could be blown away to hell on the slightest breeze."

  "I doubt that, but I’ll admit that I prefer you to be this shape."

  "Same here."

  "Anyway, also because of our mind’s ability to store so much information we no longer possess a subconscious since it had merged with our minds completely."

  "I’d just considered the possibility and came up with a similar answer."

  Chapter 3

  They fell silent for a moment before Martin spoke. "So it seems that I’d truly become super human with these unusual powers and abilities that I possess. And so have you, a fact that I want to get back to in a moment. But there are a few issues that we hadn’t touched upon, the most important of them is why, if it’s that powerful and could've easily repaired my body, hadn’t my mind healed it when it started to deteriorate."

  "The answer is simple—because we’d declined in tandem, so to speak, and because you love me as much as you do, which I now know is a hell of a lot more than I’d ever imagined. That’s why your mind didn’t repair your body while mine kept sliding toward oblivion."

  "Makes no sense because if my mind’s so powerful it could have fixed both of our bodies a long time ago."

  "That’s because it didn’t know that it could do so, I’d imagine. Not until last night, that is, when my fool of a loving husband had doubled the dose of Viagra in order to please his wife on our fiftieth anniversary."

  "Oh, my God. Which helped destroy my heart, weak as it must’ve gotten by then?"

  "I’m sure of it. Which served as a catalyst to make your mind save you and itself from certain death. And since it knew that it would devastate you if I died and you were left alone, it decided to save both of us. So it drew the lightening onto itself because it was the only means of saving us that it knew was possible to achieve."

  "How did you figure that out?"

  "Because if the lightening had hit our room naturally it would have blown the window completely and burned us to a crisp. Instead, it passed through it in an almost surgical precision and entered your head without damaging it."

  "Then, once it released itself from its confines in my brain, it entered your head and melded your brain lobes together so that your mind could be released as well?"

  "Exactly. It sounds like a lengthy process but I’m pretty sure that it only took mere seconds for your mind to save both of us from ignominious deaths."

  "By turning us into living blobs? Yes, it must have. But what are we going to do about our crazy situation?"

  "I’m sure that your mind was certain that we’d find a solution. Actually, the more I think about it the more excited I get."

  "That’s a strange thing for you to say considering the mess we’re in."

  "We aren’t really in any mess because the way I see it what had happened to us is sort of a blessing in disguise."

  "How so?"

  "Well, we both had to retire not only because we got old but due to our deteriorating health. The ugly truth is that we were marking time lately until our demise came, even if we never dared say it this openly. But now we are suddenly in an opposite position—of hope and possible renewal."

  "I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Nikki."

  "That’s because you’re a warrior rather than a scientist like I am. So let’s consider the possibilities for the future based on what we had found out about ourselves so far—super-human minds capable of doing some amazing things if we want to return to being physically functional people again. And young ones, too."

  "Are you saying that we should take over someone’s young body?"

  "I’d hate to have to do that, but we can if we want to."

  "You’re talking in riddles, Nikki."

  "Okay, I’ll come right out and say it. The fact is that we can’t last long in the state we’re in. I don’t know exactly how long it’ll be because no one had ever had to consider such a thing, but the fact is that all minds subsist on energy, which needs to be constantly replenished. That’s what a human body does, you know, feeding its mind so it will continue functioning."

  "Is that why undernourished children grow up to be kind of dumb?"

  "Exactly, Marty. And the way I figure it we got a day, possibly even two before we must ingest new fuel for our minds. And only if we cut our current size and activity to a minimum."

  "Oh, shit. And since we don’t have the proper digesting apparatus, we’ll be doomed again if we don’t find a quick solution to this dilemma. Then even if it’s quite a repulsive concept to take over someone’s body, particularly if it was a dying one, we shouldn’t have a problem fixing it with our newly found powers. We can even do something that’ll regress a body to it’s healthy, unhurt shape. That’s what you meant, wasn’t it?"

  "Yes, but I have a real problem with doing such a thing because it will involve killing the chosen person’s mind before we take over its body."

  "That’s a silly attitude to have. The kind of donor we’re talking about is going to die shortly afterward anyway if we don’t take over his or her body. So what’s the problem?"

  "I’m not the kind of person who could do such a thing, Marty."

  "While I’m a natural born killer? Well, fuck it, if it means our life versus that of a dying person I’d do it any time it’s necessary for my survival. But what would you do? You know I’d never leave you behind. Never ever."

  "I know that, Marty, and I also doubt you'd willfully kill an innocent person despite your bombastic-sounding attitude."

  "Maybe. So what do you suggest we do, lie down and await the end to catch up with us like it was supposed to happen anyway?"

  "No, of course not." Nicole thought for a moment then, suddenly, her form turned an angry red. "Gosh, am I ever pissed off at myself for not recognizing the solution when it has been here all along in front of my ersatz eyes."

  "Come on, Nikki, don’t drag it out. Tell me what you’re talking about."

  "Small things, Marty, but so momentous that we should’ve both noticed them hours ago."

  "Tell me about it."

  "Okay, okay, don’t you get your non-existing asshole in an uproar. Now tell me, what was the first unusual thing that you noticed when we moved out to the living room in the hotel?"

  Martin thought for a moment before bursting out. "The crystal ashtray on the coffee table, which shouldn’t have been there considering that we were in LA, where no smoking is permitted. And this one in our apartment, where we hadn’t needed any for years. Could it be that both of them appeared due to our sudden wish for them to exist?"

  "By using telekinetic powers? It would’ve been possible but I doubt that we did that because there’s more weird stuff all around us that has no business being that way. Just look around you, Marty, and tell me what you see."

  Martin did, and responded with a whisper. "Jesus, Nikki, nothing looks the same suddenly—subtle stuff like the wallpaper, the color of the couch, and I bet you many other such things. Actually, it almost looks like we’re in someone else’s apartment."

  "That's right. Yet we’re not in someone else’s place—but, rather, sometime else."

  "Sometime else? What are you talking about?" Martin stopped when the realization of what Nicole said hit him like a sledgehammer. "We are in a different time and world, aren't we?"

  "Yes. It’s called a Parallel Universe—another scientific theory that has just proven to be correct. And that’s not all because everything keeps on changing in minuscule ways and given enough time to pass this place will probably vanish an
d, hell, maybe even the whole of the United States as we’d always known it."

  "That’s a possibility. You think that it’s because we’re not anchored to a body—just floating in nothingness?"

  "Absolutely correct. Which means that we must acquire a physical anchor, as you so aptly put it just now, before our entire world turns topsy turvy."

  "I’m with you on that. But who do we anchor ourselves to considering that we don’t have the wherewithal to effect such a thing?"

  "That’s simple—to ourselves."

  "You’re talking in riddles again."

  "Well," Nicole said slowly yet thinking quickly as she spoke. "If the theory about the existence of Parallel Universes is correct, and it clearly is, then we must exist in some form in each and every one of them."

  "Which means that if we occupy our own parallel bodies in another timeframe we won’t be harming anyone other than ourselves?"

  "Maybe. But we’ve got to do it quickly or else our replicas may turn out to be something entirely different than what we are."

  "Like good old savages who’d never left the primordial forest?"

  "It’s a definite possibility."

  "But how will it affect us and them if we do that?"

  "I have no idea…. Actually, I do. We’ll be literally grafting ourselves into their brains and become an integral part of them since we’re in essence the same people."

  "Why not just join their minds as separate entities?"

  "Because two minds can’t inhabit the same body at the same time, no matter how primitive the host's mind might be."

  "Why is that?"

  "Because we may become schizophrenics, where each mind will pull the other in a different direction. So the only way to accomplish such a thing is a total integration of both minds."

  "I see, but what if my copy wherever he is has a stronger mind than I do and literally obliterates me?"

  "That’s a possibility, which means that it’ll kill you. But since that’s our only means to survive we must take this chance."

  "And if our minds can’t integrate with our copy we’ll have to obliterate it?"

  "I’m afraid so."

  "It’s all too damn complicated, Nikki, but I know for sure that after what my mind did to keep us alive I doubt it’ll shrink away from surviving in such a way."

  "I guess mine won’t either. Anyway, now that we reached a decision we better move fast before our timeframe reaches who knows where."

  "Makes sense. So what should we do to meet up with our replicas?"

  "I'd imagine that we should hold on to one another and wish ourselves to meet them, wherever they are."

  "That simple?"

  "It’s the only way I can think of to do it, and at least we'll get to wherever we go together."

  "Okay, so give me your hand and let’s do some long distance time traveling, to where we’ll be able to find our other selves quickly."

  "I agree, so let’s not waste any more time or we’ll end up somewhere at a time before we ever existed."

  "It’s a distinct possibility."

  They held hands while wishing to reach an earlier reality, and a second later both felt themselves reaching an indescribable vacuum. Then vanished simultaneously.

  Chapter 4

  Martin had no idea when or how he had reached and invaded his facsimile person, but he was sure that he succeeded in doing so since he felt as though he were placed in the right corporeal environment. But he received a confirmation that everything that he and Nicole had planned on came to fruition when his nearly exhausted mind begun nourishing itself. I feel like a real cannibal the way I’m feeding, he thought fleetingly, but feeling safe he allowed himself to relax by relinquishing control of his mind and falling asleep.

  He woke up in a confused state of mind after spending the night in what he knew from experience was a stable, where he had been surrounded by horses. He knew it to be factual since he kept hearing strange-sounding neighing and his nose told him about their presence as well since the place smelled of hay and equine urine. He could not understand what he was doing in a stable and why he had slept near a bunch of horses during the night or possibly longer, on a pile of straw in a stall.

  Oh, never mind all that, he thought as he stood up and saw through an open door that it was beginning to lighten up outside, which made him walk toward the exit. The inside of the stable was dark and by the time he reached the door the light, though not yet strong, hurt his eyes and he was forced to close them. Wishing to escape the nauseating smell of ammonia that filled the stable into the outdoors, he walked out quickly. Touching the wall to his right, he moved slowly until he felt that he had reached a wooden fence, where he decided to wait until he was ready to open his eyes.

  Finally, when he was was unable to resist inspecting his surroundings, Martin opened his eyes and began to tremble the moment he realized who, or what, he had become in this reality. Had he not always been as tough-minded that he was, Martin would have gone berserk the moment he saw himself standing on four legs, each with a hoof rather than a foot at its bottom. And then, turning his head backward, he saw that he possessed a tail at the end of a long horizontal trunk, which suddenly rose as a jet of urine burst out from under it and a pie-size mass of dung dropped to the ground at the same time.

  Oh, God. Did I really just piss and crap like a real horse while standing on my four hoofed legs? Is this where Nikki’s and I had wished to reach, where we’d be able to live again and ended up being fucking damned horses? Or maybe this whole thing is just an old man’s dream of becoming young and strong again and ending up as a horse? It’s also possible I’m having a nightmare—quite realistic but still a dream. And even worse, maybe wherever and whenever I'd reached, this is what I used to be at one time.

  Every one of these possibilities was so distressing on it’s own that he nearly fainted but was prevented from falling as he swayed when two very strong hands grabbed his shoulders and steadied him as a voice spoke with evident urgency.

  "Better grab a hold of yourself or your weakness will be seen openly and you might be returned to the people you were bought from as an unsuitable weakling, and who knows where you’ll end up afterwards."

  Steeling himself to look at the speaker, Martin backed up until he could see its entire body, and shivered at the sight. Son of a bitch, it’s an honest to goodness centaur. No it isn’t, because female centaurs were called kentaurides in the old Greek mythology. And this one, with a hugely swollen udder between her hind legs in addition to big human tits on her chest, is definitely a female. And a beautiful one, too, if you can forget that her trunk is that of a horse and that she probably weighs about half a ton.

  The kentauride came closer and grabbed Martin’s hand and shook it before speaking in a rather sexy, raspy voice as she pranced around him in a circle as he moved away from the fence to avoid the smell of his own dung. "Welcome to the Farm, cutie. I’m Angie, and you’re no doubt called Blackie."

  Cutie? Blackie? What the hell was that? Martin thought disgustedly and then nearly burst into laughter when he saw Angie’s breasts and teats jiggling in all directions as she moved. His laughter stopped just before he let it out when he noticed that he also had large jiggling breasts but a rather small udder that looked somewhat undeveloped between his rear legs.

  He stopped to prevent his strange flesh from its disturbing wobbles, his mind in utter turmoil. Jesus H. Christ. So I got tits and an udder just like this Angie has, which means that not only am horse-sized, but a female centaur with a slick black coat over all of my equine parts. Deciding to stay as calm as possibly, Martin responded by giving her his nickname.

  "Marty?" Angie repeated it. "Sounds a bit masculine but I like it."

  I must accept who I’ve evidently become or as this Angie had said, I’ll for sure be sent someplace that I may not like much. "Actually, my name’s Martha." I hate it, but anyone who got tits and an udder might as well be a Martha.

  "I see. Anyway, I
was assigned to be the guide and a mentor for you and your boyfriend for the next two days, but since he seems to still be sleeping I guess I might as well take care of you by yourself."

  Could she be talking about Nikki, who ended up like me, but apparently in a male body? I hope it’s her so at least we’ll still be together but I wonder how she’ll react to finding us here as centaurs who’d turned out to be of the opposite gender.

  "Are you sure it's him and not someone else, Angie?"

  "How can I be sure of anything when I wasn’t given any names or description. All I can be sure of is that I found him in the right stall, where I saw a this huge brindle male sleeping on his feet. Yeah, that’s what we’ll call him until he comes out—Brindle."

  "Actually, if it’s him then his name’s Nick."

  "Oops, here I go again giving people names when they don’t need me to."

  "No harm done. How long have we been here?"

  "You were caught a week ago and brought over to the yearling stable where you were given the pills that kept you under until today. And you were the first one to wake up."

  "Why was it necessary to sedate us?"

  "Because you’re ‘wild-caught’ and it takes lots of effort to clean you up of all the vermin in your system. That’s why you need me as a mentor and guide for a while so you’ll get used to our civilized way of life."

  Shit. Like wild-caught salmon, except we’re a drastically different kind of fish. "What are we, really, Angie?"

  "Our elders call us Equine People, which I have no idea what it means."

  "Then unlike the wild ones that Nick and I are, you were born and raised on this farm? But why do the farmers keep us confined rather than let us run wild on our own?"