Gary Brandt delivers his most world-expanding and emotionally devastating chapter yet in this episode from The Dimension Of Mind Dot Com when a tragic funeral becomes the catalyst for first contact with an ancient underground civilization, fundamentally altering everything the girls believed about Earth's history and their own destiny.
The brilliant heartbreak emerges through Jenna's posthumous dream visit to say goodbye after her suicide by vodka and Xanax—a devastating end that forces Ella to confront the cruel reality that sometimes love isn't enough to save someone from their own demons.
What makes the chapter so emotionally complex is how Brandt balances profound grief with supernatural wonder when Helena channels Jenna's spirit at the funeral, providing closure for the grandmother who feels guilty about being 'embarrassed' by her troubled grandchild.
The two-year time jump reveals how the girls have evolved: seventeen now, driving government-modified bulletproof Land Rovers that earn them the 'Rich Bitches' reputation, with Ella focusing on college credits while avoiding dating, Roxanna breaking hearts while deepening her faith, and Helena struggling with needy friends who drain her empathic abilities.
But the real genius unfolds through the stunning revelation that comes via mysterious blonde Asherina—a telepathic member of humanity's forgotten underground cousins who've been hiding for half a million years since Homo sapiens wiped out competing human species through violence and cannibalism.
The chapter's profound scope emerges through Asherina's explanation of cyclical solar catastrophes that require underground survival, her people's moral struggle over whether to save the surface dwellers who would eventually destroy them, and her generation's radical plan to create hybrid children who might bridge the gap between violent surface humans and peaceful underground dwellers.
Brandt brilliantly balances cosmic revelation with intimate family moments when Asherina introduces her surface-dwelling husband Dany and baby Chessa in their beautiful hobbit-like underground city, while Helena immediately falls in love with the idea of hybrid babies and Ella recognizes that pooling resources might finally make their tunnel-building survival plans feasible.
The chapter ends with perfect emotional resonance through Ella's diary entry—her raw grief over God letting 'a little girl be born just to suffer,' her uncertainty about trusting these potentially trickster telepaths, and her practical worry about Commander Beaker's reaction to their newest crew member—a haunting meditation on how first contact often comes through personal tragedy, and how the most profound revelations about human history might emerge not through grand announcements but through chance meetings in the woods after burying someone you couldn't save.