Gary Brandt delivers his most tenderly transformative and joyfully revelatory chapter yet in this enchanting episode from The Dimension Of Mind Dot Com, where Sally's surprise appearance at dawn with her own fishing pole creates the perfect intimate setting for John's vulnerable question about her cosmic transformationâ'you two turned into these beings of light, merged as one' and his confusion about 'how to act around you now'âwhich Sally answers with ...
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Johnâs just grabbing his bait and tackle, ready to head out the door, when he hears a cheerful, âHey, John!â Sally bounds up onto his porch, her smile lighting up the morning, and wraps him in a big, warm hug. âYouâre here early, kid,â John says, a bit caught off guard. âI havenât even caught any fish yet.â
Sallyâs grin widens, and she holds up a fishing pole with a playful flourish. âDidnât you notice? I brought my own gear. Figured itâs about time I joined you out there instead of just mooching off your catch.â
Johnâs face breaks into the biggest smile, his eyes crinkling with joy. âWell, I canât think of anything better than that. Letâs go fish, then.â
The sunâs barely peeking over the treetops, and a soft fog still blankets the lake, giving everything a dreamy vibe. Sallyâs fumbling a bit with the pole and reelâfancy stuff sheâs not used toâand her sweater sleeves keep slipping over her hands in the chilly air, making it trickier. But Johnâs patient, guiding her with a gentle hand. His tackleâs in top-notch shape these days; heâs given up tormenting Ben by making him fix it every morning, and now itâs just about the joy of fishing.
John hesitates, then says, âSo, Iâve been wanting to ask you something, but Iâm not sure if Iâm stepping over a line here.â
Sallyâs smile is warm and open. âJohn, thereâs no question you canât ask me. Whatâs on your mind?â
âWell,â John starts, scratching the back of his neck, âlast time you and Pat went to Earth to reprogram that computer and kick off the terraforming, you two turned into these⌠beings of light, merged as one. Then you came back, and youâre just the same old Sally and Pat Iâve always known. I guess Iâm wondering what the heck that was all about. Iâm not sure how to act around you now.â
Sally lets out a bright laugh. âOh, John, you saw something pretty incredible. For a moment, Pat and I got a glimpse of who we really are, like, the full version of ourselves. We had to step into that state to tweak the universeâitâs not something we couldâve done from Level 5. But just like when we came to Level 3 in human bodies and forgot our true selves, weâve come back to Level 5 as the Sally and Pat you know. What we did feels like a dream now, fading fast. So when I hug you, hug me back! Iâm just Sally, not some glowing cosmic guru. Iâm here to live as a Level 5 person for a long, long time, and I plan to spend a ton of it hanging out with my favorite guy, John.â
John looks relieved, a grin spreading across his face. âAlright, then. But weâve gotta work on your fishing skills, kid. At this rate, youâll starve out here.â They both crack up, the sound echoing over the lake.
Johnâs just getting the fish sizzling over the fire when two familiar faces stroll up. âHey, Mike! Hey, Ben!â Sally calls out, waving down the lane. âWhat brings you guys up here?â
Mike smirks. âI think you did, Sally. Something about a big announcement?â
âOh, right, *that*,â Sally says with a giggle. âGrab a seat, guys, and help yourselves to some fish. John and I caught plenty this morning. Weâve got some big newsâthough I havenât even told John yet.â
John raises an eyebrow, handing out plates of fish. âReally? Okay, maybe I need to sit down for this too. So, Sally, whatâs the big news?â
Sallyâs eyes sparkle with excitement. âAlright, hereâs the deal. You know Pat and I made some tweaks to your domains. John, youâre getting your own domain soon, which is gonna be a blast to set up. Pat and I will be popping in to visit you guys now and then, so donât be shocked if we just show up. One of the big changes we made was speeding up the terraforming so Earth can support human-like life in a few thousand years instead of billions. Letâs be realâthis old solar system doesnât have that kind of time left. We also set Level 3 and Level 5 into a temporal free-float, so timeâs gonna move a lot faster for you than it wouldâve otherwise.
âItâs so weird saying all this out loud,â she adds, shaking her head. âIâm still connected to my Level 10 self, but itâs like Iâm hearing this for the first time too.
âWe had some help from another dimensionâfolks who came in to collect DNA from Earthâs cells to seed the planet. The bots werenât quite up to that job. When the timeâs right, life will bounce back fast, like it used to be. Weâll need to step in again for the higher animals, especially the social ones, because they need a special reintroduction. The top primates will be the trickiest, but weâll figure out the best way to handle that when youâre ready.
âFor now, weâre stuck in Level 5 for a while before we can repopulate Level 3. So, we made some tweaks to Level 5 domains too. Get thisâLevel 5 entities can now have babies, just like in Level 3. So, Michael, you better stock up on condoms in Powder Junctionâor maybe cribs and diapers. Your call.â
Michaelâs jaw drops, and he looks a little spooked. âWait, howâs that gonna work here? The blueprint for life is in the DNA, which is Level 3 stuff. Weâve just got an echo of it here. Did you and Pat mess with something the Big Guy set up for Level 3 and 5?â
Sally smiles, unfazed. âGod, if thatâs who youâre talking about, didnât design Level 3 or 5âyou did. It evolved based on what you needed to have the experiences you wanted. When something massive happens, like what went down in the Terran sector, evolution canât keep up, so we bring in technicians to tinker. All levels are more connected than they seem. The âechoâ of Level 3 isnât just a shadowâitâs all part of the same song. Everything in Level 3 is vibrations in a field of existence, and our forms here are a resonance of those vibrations. Thatâs why they act the same, even if theyâre less dense. All existence, everywhere, at every level, is just harmonic vibrations of one fundamental field. Itâs like musicâform is made from music, a song. To propagate here, we sing a song with someone else in harmony, and the interference patterns create a new songâour child.
âLife, like energy, canât be created or destroyedâit just changes form, sings a new song. Your kid is the harmony you make together, one from two. Itâs the same in Level 3, but you donât hear the musicâyou just see DNA and cells and think thatâs the whole deal. By retuning Level 5, we can do it here too.â
John looks totally lost. âSo, what, we gotta take music lessons to have kids now?â
Sally bursts out laughing. âNah, John, itâs like Level 3âweâre only aware of the physical part, you know, the fun stuff. You just have sex, and the song of procreation gets sung. Bet you already knew that part. And hereâs the *best* news of allâJohn, youâre gonna be a grandpa! Iâm pregnant, and Iâd love for you to be my babyâs grandpa, if youâre up for it.â
John pretends to rub his eyes, hiding a few tears, and grins. âYou try and stop me, little girl. That kidâs gonna be spoiled rotten if I have anything to say about it. Sally, I love you so much I canât even put it into words. And now youâre having a baby? I donât think my heart can take all this. Might trade in my fishing pole for some woodworking toolsâgot cribs and toys to make, and Iâm the man for the job.â John thought giving Sally away at her wedding was the hardest and best moment of his life, but heâs starting to realize the best is still ahead.
âOh my!â Ben jumps in. âI gotta get back to Pennyâsheâs probably already picking out baby clothes. But quick question, Sallyâyou and Pat came to Level 3 knowing what was gonna happen, didnât you? Why not just fix the universe back then so none of this had to go down?â
Sally giggles. âWhereâs the fun in that? I donât remember all the details, but lifeâs an adventure, and itâs gotta play out its own way. Truth is, that network fiasco did you a favor. You were losing the fight against pollution, wars, and bad industrial choices. Cancer, neurological issues, endocrine problems, radiation effects, dementiaâall of it was skyrocketing. From a hundred million species, you were down to a few thousand. The planetâs gene pool, the foundation for Level 3 life, was collapsing. Most species go extinct pretty quick, but a small groupâabout one in a thousandâcarries evolution forward. A few thousand species isnât enough to keep that going. Your planet was already dead; you just hadnât buried it yet. The network crash sped things up and ended the suffering faster.
âLevel 10ers donât usually step inâitâs on you to learn, evolve, and shape your reality. We make small tweaks to boost lifeâs potential, especially for new life like Nettie. What you do with that potential is up to you. If weâd stopped it, I wouldnât be here sharing this with you, and I wouldnât trade this for anything. As Terra regenerates, itâll be fresh and full of life again. Iâd suggest using this time to evolve your consciousness before jumping back to Level 3. Having kids around will help with that. Iâm one of you now, and Iâll be here to help. It all works out, Benâit always does.
âThereâs one more big task for Level 5 while weâre here. By tying our consciousness so tightly to physicality, we deal with its flaws too. There are Level 5ers stuck in dementia, insanity, or delusion, locked away in hospitals, suffering quietly. Weâve got time to fix that before we repopulate Earth. Thereâs plenty to do, so no oneâs gonna be bored. Oh, and one last thingâMr. Tekky, Iâm gonna need your help setting up my new computer. Nettieâs coming to stay with me for a bit once sheâs done on Earth. And Michael, I hear youâve got some little ones in Powder Junctionâkittens! I want a white fluffy one. And John could use a couple of puppiesâno, make it two each. Canât have them getting lonely, you know.â
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