The Alien Agenda (#Wattys2018)

[Chapter 46: Symbols]

2 months 10 days 14 hours 32 seconds

I sat on one of the plain white S-shaped chairs, at a round glass table. Relaxing into my seat, I placed the ancient scroll on the glass platform and unrolled it. I placed my glass tablet above the ancient texts and allowed the translator application to translate the words from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, to modern day English.

After a long day of training, I stepped into my new daily routine of dropping by the library and going through some of the books, scrolls and journals. I have been doing so for a month now, learning more and more about the true history, present and future of humans.

Today, I picked out a peculiar scroll, from the Ancient Egyptian section. It was part of a book- which in Ancient Egypt meant a collection of scrolls- written by an ancient Egyptian philosopher named Amenhotep. He was a predecessor of the infamous Imhotep, and was well known as a god of healing.

But what interested me, was not his status, but his old scroll that was covered by a black piece of cloth, was rolled around it, tucked in tight and secure, unlike any of the scrolls in this place.

The first few lines were intriguing enough. It began with Amenhotep stating about his last visit to the land of the Sea People, which I believed meant Atlantis. He was a regular visitor, constantly seeking newer information, being the curious philosopher he was.

However, curiosity killed the cat, as the saying goes. As a matter of fact, his curiosity literally killed him.

I remembered the stories I have read about Amenhotep. It was said, that he foresaw great danger that would threaten Egypt in the near future and so, he advised the king at the time about it, in a letter, which he sent before killing himself.

Now I knew it was indeed not just a story.

Though the only aspect that varied was the danger he foretold. In the stories, he mentioned that the kingdom lepers would ally themselves with people coming to their help and subdue Egypt. But the truth was far from a terrestrial attack.

I gasped as I completed reading the text. Amenhotep received a message, information from the so-called Gods, of a series of events that would trigger the end of humanity. He deciphered this from the five symbols he received from the message.

The same five symbols that appeared before me months ago, marking the starting point of my involvement in the alien agenda.

The symbol of a triangle with three diagonal lines within it.

The Alien Agenda.

The symbol of infinity with two vertical lines intersecting the centre.

Time travel.

The third was three jagged lines that intersected at a centre. The fourth a spiral, and the fifth a hexagon with a horizontal line in it, their meanings still unknown to me.

"What do the other three mean?" I said to myself.

"The crossing over of dimensions, the manipulation of the mind and the end of humanity," a low, raspy voice said from behind me.

"General A-Roz!" I exclaimed in surprise as I watched him walk over to me, his thick robes trailing behind him.

"I see you have found the scroll of Amenhotep. The last he wrote before he committed suicide," the general said.

I nodded, glancing at the scroll and the five symbols scrawled on it with ancient ink.

"So that's what they mean. The symbols... the alien agenda, time travel, crossing over of dimensions, mind manipulation.... and the end of humanity," I murmured.

The general came to stand beside me, his long grey fingers brushing the symbols on the scroll. His expression was somewhat pained.

"It was these symbols that became the starting point of a disaster," the general said in a low voice. I could not help but agree to the statement.

"Amenhotep was one of the first few, to have received the prophecy. The word prophecy itself sounds far-fetched. But after what I've been through, I can only agree," he said with a weary sigh.

I shook my head,"I... don't get it, what do you mean?"

The general walked to one of the glass shelves and removed another scroll from its place. It was covered in black cloth as well. He brought it over and unrolled it. Ancient Greek words were written on it, and within the writings were the same five symbols.

"The message was received not only by the Amenhotep, but various other people from around the world as well, from both the past... and future," he said taking a seat at the the table as well.

"During my time, the symbols were dismissed as a hoax. We were foolish to not believe in them. Now we know, it was a message, sent from an unknown origin, through the Akashic, to humanity... as a warning," he said pausing for a moment before continuing.

"It was a prophecy, of the threat that was to come. It was terrifying to think the world would end. We were afraid, afraid of the truth. Choosing to ignore. Amenhotep, was one of them who could not bear the truth. He chose to escape from the massacre, by killing himself... He was a fool," General A-Roz said in distaste.

"But does that mean the prophecy has yet to come true?" I asked.

The general shook his head,"We believe it already has. The alien invasion, the time travelling, the human manipulation, the crossing of dimensions and the end of our race. My people have went through it all. Now these symbols are simply an image of the past," he said in a voice, cracking slightly.

I did not want to bring up the bitter future-past. But I could not help but wonder if the prophecy was truly over. What if it had only begun?

"We are going to stop it from happening. No matter what the costs. That's our goal," I said, resolutely.

The general glanced at me. I could not make out the emotion. It was partially relieved but at the same time laced with guilt and sadness.

He stood up from the chair and rolled the scrolls back, and covering them with the black cloth. After putting them back in place, he turned to me.

"I would like to show you something, Laila," he said.

I followed him to the edge of the library, where a protruding metal door stood before me. The general keyed in a code and the door slid open revealing an elevator. We stepped in and traveled to the highest point of the library.

The doors opened and I gasped in awe.