The Gate

The Real Beginning of the Story

The day began very routinely for Professor Arthur Benini. He always had five classes to begin his day, all in the rigors of physics and thermodynamics. Being the young tenure professor on staff, he sat in a comfortable position in his life, more so than anyone else in their late 20s. When he returned to his office that day after his very basic morning, he asked his secretary half heartedly, as he always did, if he had any important messages from the morning.

            That day, she said yes.

            “Yes?” Benini asked again, having to stop himself from automatically walking into his office. He brushed his long brown bangs off his forehead, running his fingers pensively through his straight, hay like hair. “Well, what is it then? Who is it? Don’t tease me, love.”

            The woman smiled warmly in reply to his teasing, and handed him the card of which she had transcribed, which the man who had called insisted upon. As Dr. Benini read, his expression became more serious, and his charm seemed to fade quickly. He moved back to his office door slowly, and closed it gently without another word. Then, finishing the letter, he went back out into the general office, and nonchalantly sat down across from the woman who had delivered him the message.

            “Elsa, thank you for taking this for me,” Dr. Benini began kindly, taking a device the sent out a high pitch hum in the room. “But this message…”

            “It’s very private, sir,” she interrupted him, looking from him to the device he had set up so casually on the desk before her. “I shan’nt ever speak of it to anyone, you have my word.”

            He smiled gently, relaxing again. “I appreciate that,” he replied simply. “But this is not the last you’ll hear of it, I imagine. You understand who I really am Elsa, don’t you? What I am capable of?”

            The woman hesitated, twirling her white blonder hair around her finger nervously. “I believe I may have observed-something. But it’s so hard to know for sure I don’t make assumptions. And to know-”

            “Well, Elsa,” the Doctor interrupted her sputtering gently. “All you need to know is that I’m a very good scientist, more in practice than on paper if you know what I mean. And I promise I’ll do everything I can to keep you in the dark about this, I don’t wish to see you drawn into this situation.”

            “I appreciate that doctor,” she replied with a faint smile, worry still clouding her eyes. “I have chidren.”

            “Oh I know!” Benini exclaimed happily, turning off his device, and getting up to move to his office again. “And they’re getting bigger by the day, and making me feel like an old man.”

            Elsa laughed, “Imagine how they make me feel!” She continued smiling after the man disappeared back into his office, knowing that there wasn’t anything more she could do now to help him, but remain quiet. She was very fond of the playful, lighthearted man that she worked for. If nothing else, she felt she worked for truly the most brilliant man on the planet, and she would do what she could to protect him as well. Without much more thought, she returned to her own work.

            Yet, she was wrong.

            Dr. Benini at that moment getting to contact the most brilliant person he knew, but before that he knew he had to reply to the message that Professor Douglass had left in the hands of his young worker. Professor Douglass was now an older man, always a little eccentric, and shady, but brilliant when it came to the great works of literature and symbology. Benini took a deep breath, and dialed the number that the Professor had left for him. There was a great anxiety in each dial of the phone, in each ring that proceeded, and before the third, Douglass picked up.

            “Hello, this is Professor Douglass speaking,” the voice on the other end of the line answered.

            “Good day Professor Douglas, this is Professor Arthur Benini returning your-” he began professionally.

            “I need to see you,” the Professor interrupted immediately. Arthur was taken back, uncertain of what to say to a man he had scarcely met. “When is a good time, I can come to you.”

            “Come on by tonight, I’m in the lower section of London University,” Benini replied after a moment. “Is everything alright- your message was, encrypted and coded at best, I imagine?”

            “That I cannot answer until we meet,” the scruffy voice replied through the phone line. “But nothing more can be discussed here, over this phone, as you know eyes are everywhere now.”

            “Eyes and ears, alike,” Benini agreed, then, after a moment, added, “Well, come by as soon as you can then,” Benini amended kindly. “I hate to think it’s a matter of life and death, but if that happens to at all be the case, the sooner the better would be highly advisable.”

            “I concur, I’ll venture over as soon as I can.” With that, the men hung up dispensing with pleasantries.

            Dr. Benini leaned back in his chair, staring up at his ceiling, which had an intricate circle carving on it. It was his carving, he had done it similar to how Michelangelo had, lying on his back on scaffold, using a knife to carve into the wood, feeling the shavings slide down his cheek as he did. It was all his, designed and used by only him, his only was to access the gate, his special practice of alchemy he had learned over his lifetime; the thing Elsa pretended that she never saw to protect the lives of her children.

            Being of the few people left on the earth, outside of secret societies, and backroom soirees, who understood what the gate was, namely a door that lead to the other dimensions, he was considered a dangerous man. His circle was simply a tool; he created such a powerful energy in his body, such an effecting magnetic charge, and simply used the circle to channel and control that energy to do his bidding; whether it be opening gates, or created small horses for Elsa’s children. His ability was both softly artistic and fiercely dangerous; it was a matter of the person’s intentions that decided which way it would go.

            Alchemists were one of four groups who could interact with the gate by harnessing power and gaining access to the other side by opening the gate. There was nothing truly special about these people except that they had developed a heighted understanding of science, of how the world around them really worked. And of course, they answered to high powers as well. When an alchemist opened a gate, he answered to the law of physics; matter cannot be created or destroyed, only exchanged. Therefore, each time Benini wished to create something, he had to give something up in exchange that held equivalent value.

            This was of course easy if an alchemist was trying to turn a rock into a rock toy horse, as the sacrifice would be equal to the product gained; rock would give way to rock, he simply used his energy to manipulate the shape. Simple alchemy, Benini thought to himself, recalling his childhood when he had first discovered his abilities. But other alchemists were more ambitious as you hear in many stories, and when you have the power to create, many will try to recreate human life. These people were of course punished, it being such a cruel crime, but most suffered enough simply from what they had to give up in an attempt to even try; and all failed.

            Of the other groups, Dr. Benini did not know much, he had been surrounded by other alchemists his whole life. The Mystics were another group, but they were invited through the gate by other dimensional beings, and were so private that they frequently lived in remote communities all on their own as not to taint the rest of society with their travels. The Satanists, who access the gate through demons, or by force, were a very obvious group to the Doctor, and frequently the arch nemesis of the alchemists. Many movie stars, singers, bankers, and corporate world leaders would know something of this; they too stayed together in ancient secret societies passing down their knowledge from one generation to another, but they continued to operate in the world as well, and felt superior to all other humans.

            All of these groups answered to equivalent exchange, the main physics principle the dictated the universe, that much he knew. Every group but the last of three: The Guided. The Guided were those who could gain temporary access to the gate to do the bidding of ‘God’ or one of the higher dimensional beings, to create balance perhaps, or establish peace. This was done only temporally, and some Guided don’t even remember their experience of traveling, but those who do tell of the laws of equivalent exchange being ignored. That they were simply taken, and shown something that no other human ever was.

            Professor Douglas was Guided, or had been at a time very early in his life. And while his open access to the gate was gone, it didn’t men it didn’t come to visit him still, whatever high dimensional being had brought his through the first time. Dr. Benini had already contemplated that perhaps that was the reason he was now having a meeting with a man he hadn’t heard from in five years. Perhaps there was some kind of bidding to be done, and perhaps it was something that the higher dimensional couldn’t accomplish on their own.

            The anticipation of the meeting made the rest of Benini’s day long, and it wasn’t until day had given way to night that he heard a very familiar ‘rap’ on his door. “Come in,” Dr. Benini said, clearing his throat.

            An old man glided through the door, wearing a torn brown tweed coat, and a black bowtie. His hair was streaked almost completely with gray, but his eyes didn’t seem to have lost any of their intelligence to the fading of old age, even though he now needed glasses as they physically depleted.

            “Hello, Arthur,” Professor Douglass greeted the man darkly. “Sorry for the delay in coming.”

            “Douglass,” Benini replied with a smile, rising to shake hands. “It’s been-”

            “Very long,” Douglass interrupted him. “And forgive my rude nature, but we’ll have to forgo pleasantries today I’m afraid. We have a great deal to discuss and time is of the essence.”

            Dr. Benini nodded in reply and both men sat down across from each other. “Please, tell me what it is.”

            The Professor paused a moment before recounting his story:

            “It began a few weeks ago, Arthur. As you know, it’s been years since I’ve been able to access the gate, but about a month ago, I dreamt about it again, in perfect recollection. It was not a passive dream, it was perhaps not a dream at all, but it was more visual, interactive than that. The gate opened for me once more, and when I stepped into the darkness to peer into our future, I saw what the demons have planned for us, and our people. I must admit it isn’t anything good.

            But before we head down that path of conversation, I have to detail something further of this first experience to you. Or should I say, the first and the last. I don’t seem to have free access to the gate as I did once before, when I was chosen as a young man, this time it has been different. I cannot relive it, or go on command, I cannot see this vision again, though I have tried, the only bit I have of it is what I remember from my dream.”

            That being clear now, my actions from hereon should make more sense. So, on to the vision then. I don’t believe I need to educate you much when it comes to our Satanist counterparts, being an alchemist yourself, nor do I believe you’d be all to surprise to find out that they’re up to something nefarious in nature. Yet, it poses quite the problem, and I am unable to do much about it being caught between seeing this vision once and never being able to interact with the gate again. You see, the Satanists are gate driven as well, but of course, their way to the gate, like the rest of ours, requires a sacrifice on some kind to open it and walk through. This is where our problem truly begins, at the point of sacrifice.

            In this vision I had I saw a portal, burst open through some kind of magnificent energy creation, some marvelous sacrifice that they made to tear the gate asunder. The portal was furthermore stable from what my short glimpse allowed, and I cannot begin to imagine what kind of sacrifice would be necessary to create such a large, open, stable portal through time.”

            “Millions, if not billions, of human lives,” Benini said dimly to himself, having seen the research done before.

            “But this is now where it ends,” Douglass continued in the same, even tone. I first had that dream a month ago, and yet, you hear from me now, almost thirty days later. Why you must have to ask yourself? Well, it wasn’t until last week when a touring conference took me to Geneva, and I toured the super collider with a group of scientists I was accompanied by. They’re going to use gold in that machine too, the ethereal metal, the stardust that has so scarcely landed on earth. I cannot tell for myself if this is one of the tools they will use, I am no scientist myself, no physicist. So I have humbly come to you; what could it be? How do we stop it, if so?”

            Dr. Benini had listened to his counterpart in silence as he had relayed his story, and continued to process in silence even after the questions were posed. After a few moments, Dr. Benini leaned back in his chair, and kicked his feet up onto his desk, looking, again, at the circle on his ceiling. “I believe,” he began cautiously. “You may not be wrong is what you saw. I know very little of their leaders now, the Satanists, but I do know of Roscoe, and he is a mastermind.”

            “Roscoe?” Douglass asked puzzled. “Why does that name sound so familiar to me?”

            “Roscoe American Credit,” Dr. Benini smiled ironically. “He’s one of the same, gaining his power as they all do, I imagine.”

            “The CEO of a credit union?” Douglass laughed.

            “Aye, we’re not going to be playing with the little fish if we decide to investigate this further,” Benini answered honestly. “Satanists tend to be high profile in nature, or wealthy to some degree, since that’s usually what the demon provides in return for their soul.”

            “That adds of a certain level of challenge to this,” Douglass admitted somewhat glumly.

            Benini smiled.

            “That’s not the worst of it. If what you say, all of it is true, the sacrifice necessary for that portal is an inconceivable number of lives. And if, indeed it is the accelerator as you have concluded, more bad news proceeds because I am not nearly as powerful enough as those magnets are, and I would be unable to contain and control the energy it would unleash onto the world. Further to our fault, if the portal did manage to open, and lead to the gate, and other dimensions, not only is there the potential of other beings coming through into our world, but for us to close it… Well, if it takes billions of lives to open it, already assuming we’re not murderers, there’s probably not even going to be enough people left to sacrifice and close it.”

            “You make it sound very unlikely that you or I can stop this from happening,” Douglass noted nervously.

            Again, Benini smiled, and leaned in to his counterpart. “Perhaps I’m not being clear enough; you or I could not stop this,” Benini said simply. Douglass simply stared into the young; determine blue eyes that laid before his the infallible, logical truth. “But, I may know of an alchemist who can help us. If I can find him, that is,” Benini grumbled, picking up the phone.

            “You cannot tell anyone about this!” Douglass protested dramatically as Benini began dialing numbers.

            Benini held up his hand in silence.

            “Hello? Yes, I’m wondering if you could possibly help me locate Professor Gideon Asher?” Benini asked the desk clerk casually. “I know, you’d think he’d have a cell phone, but he’s so old fashioned.”

            Douglass looked unimpressed.

            “Okay, give me a call back here when you hunt him down. No. No. Thank you,” Benini said, hanging up the phone. “I have to tell Dr. Asher,” he continued as if nothing has happened. “If you want him to do something about all of this, that is. He’s not interested in material things or gain, so you need not worry, he is, at heart, a better man than I.”

            “Perhaps you should convince him to purchase a cell phone then,” Douglass returned snidely. Benini simply raised an eyebrow in protest.

            It wasn’t long before the phone rang again, and Benini gave away his anxiety in how quickly he picked it up. “Hello? Yes? Great,” he said, hurriedly writing down the number. “Thank you again.”

            “Found him, hm?” the Professor inquired.

            “Aye, surprisingly,” Benini continued, dialing the number he has been given. “They found his name of a guest list for this hotel.”

            “He’s an odd one,” Douglass mumbled to himself.

            “Hello, Dr. Asher? Aye, it’s Arthur Benini,” the Doctor began. “Well, I have a bit of a story, or let’s say theory, to relay to you from one of my companions. You might remember Professor Douglass from a few years ago?” Benini smiled at his response. “Aye, that’s the man. So, here’s the short version…” Douglass sat in silence, as the alchemists talked in code over the phone, so no one listening is would have any idea what their conversation was really about. At the end, Benini added, “So, where would you start? I’m perfectly befuddled and lacking evidence,” Benini admit candidly, laughing to himself.

            There was now a long silence on Benini’s part, and his expression began to change to a rather grave one. He began rapidly writing as Dr. Asher continued to talk, and Douglass looked on in anxiety.

            “Alright, thank you Asher, we’ll be in touch,” Benini finished and hung up the phone.

            “So?” the Professor promoted without missing a beat. Dr. Benini with the same look on his face sighed.

            “Well, Asher agrees it’s quite the bind, but he does think if we’re lucky we might have a chance,” the Doctor replied.

            “Lucky?”

            “Aye, it seems that the four ways to access the gate, namely, by force, by invitation, by science, or by guidance, are not the only ways one could access the gate. Asher spoke of a very rare occurrence that sometimes happens when an ordinary human falls through the gate by accident, and survives, and because the act was so random, they retained their ability to open the gate at will…. without sacrifice. It’s an anomaly, but it’s our only chance really. Asher believes that is he also had a way to open and close the gate at will, between him and the anomaly, they should be able to shut down, or maybe even trap on portal in another,” Benini finished.

            “So where do we go from here?” professor Douglass asked eagerly.

            “Well, the first challenge will be attempting to locate such an anomaly,” Benini began, rubbing his forehead thoughtfully. “Asher said they might have some kind of side effect from falling through the rift; an illness, a deformity, a birth mark, even maybe a special talent.”

            “So tell me Arthur,” Douglass said seriously. “How likely do you think it is that we’ll find this person?”

            Benini smiled again.

            “We won’t know until we start looking,” he answered hopefully. “But such a random occurrence is scientifically speaking far below 1%. We’ll just have to hope we’re all kinds of lucky.”

            “That sounds like a half craven theory your friend came up with then, how could that possibly help us now?” Douglass protested.

            Benini regained his seriousness.

            “Professor, it is the only chance we have.”