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The Inner Asylum

Sporky's Art Gallery

The Oracles of Sporky

A Room with a View

Kaire looked at the letter her daughter sent to her through Jonathan's brother. For the past several months, Kaire spend her time in hiding to recover from her presumed death. Only recently was she well enough to see the letter's words.

"Good morning, Dean," she said as a servant opened the room to her quarters. The servant wore a white oxford shirt with khaki pants and brown riding boots. Dean had long hair that was always tied back in a ponytail. Kaire couldn't gauge Dean as a person. Sometimes Dean seemed feminine with a caring and nurturing spirit. But at other times he seemed cruel and evil, behaving with a machismo that had no equal.

"Good morning, Kaire," Dean said in a jovial tone. "How are you today?"

"I can see the text now."

"Good for you," Dean said as Kaire got out of bed. "You ready to move to a new room?"

Kaire nodded. Since she arrived at the Lower Mesathama castle, she had stayed in a hidden room in the castle's recesses. The I.S.F. had searched the castle on numerous occasions for Kaire and had no luck. Once the king had gotten word that the I.S.F. had discontinued its search, he decided to move Kaire to a nicer room. Dean, one of the king's bodyguards, was ordered to protect Kaire at all times just in case the I.S.F. decided to stop by again.

When the king claimed his throne after the death of his son Jonathan, Dean became his most trusted advisor. Not only was Dean wise, but also the devoted servant had resources and strength that was unrivaled on Kilepa. Dean carried out the various orders of the king with the utmost haste and quietness. And as such, the king depended on the servant to carry out the most sensitive orders.

Dean was ordered to give Kaire a new room today. Dean did everything just as he was ordered and found a secure room on the far end of the castle. It wasn't as secluded as the attic she was now in, but secluded enough that it would take time to find her.

Kaire gathered some of her belongings and studied Dean for the first time. When Kaire first arrived after fighting off the I.S.F.'s attempt to kill her, she suffered from temporary blindness. The former agent never could really tell when Dean entered the room. She didn't get anything off the servant -- no mental readings, no vibes, nothing. It was like Dean wasn't even there. But yet, Kaire heard and felt the servant while she was recovering. Now that Kaire was well enough to fend for herself, Dean became more of an enigma.

"Dean, I have a question," Kaire asked as she slipped some slippers onto her feet.

"Go ahead," the servant said while gathering the rest of Kaire's things.

"Are you human?" Kaire asked.

Lower Mesathama's castle was a composite of Lower Mesathama society. There was a good mix of humans and non-humans. The royal family brought servants from all over the Empire when they came to Kilepa in secret. Once the Ritalian mad contact with the planet, the royal family welcomed them as tourists and settlers with open arms. Lower Mesathama was the closest to an utopia to be found on Kilepa. The rest of the world look to it as a model.

Dean raised an eyebrow. A wide grin spread across the servant's face. "Not exactly," Dean said. Then the servant stepped into the hallway and began his trek to Kaire's new quarters.

She followed Dean to the new room. As they walked down the winding castle corridors, Kaire didn't feel that it was necessary to press Dean for more answers. Dean's silence said it all.

As they neared a door at the end of a long corridor on the north side of the castle, Dean stopped and turned around. "Kaire this will be your room," he said. He opened the door and stepped inside.

Kaire stepped inside and gasped in amazement. It was a bedroom suite. The entryway opened into a cheerful yellow living room. Kaire looked around the room. To the left hand side was a white and yellow love seat and what looked to be a hallway. A sheepskin rug covered the hardwood floor near the love seat. On the other side of the rug was a pair of Queen Anne Chairs. Behind them stood two giant pillars that looked to be hundreds of years old. Directly in front of Kaire was a large stonewall with a large fireplace. Tapestries flanked the chimney. It was a peaceful room that Kaire immediately grew attached to.

Dean let Kaire take in the room for a bit before putting Kaire's belongings on the couch. After Kaire did the same, the servants began walking towards a pair of Greek Doric columns.

"This way please," Dean said like a tour guide beckons tourists. "The tour will now begin."

Kaire paused and went to shut the door. Dean said, "Close" and the door closed before Kaire could reach it. "It's voice activated. The lock is one of the many security features I'm put in place to ensure your safety."

Kaire when to the columns and then followed Dean to a library wall.

"Here is the best part," Dean said. "If you pull on this book, you can get to your cave."

"My what?" Kaire.

"Cave," Dean said rolling his eyes. "It's an escape from the rest of the world. A place that only your and I will know about. I put it in myself."

"Oh...okay," Kaire said with a slight shrug.

Dean sighed and walked back to through the columns to the other side of the yellow living room. As they went behind the love seat, dark green look over. Kaire smiled. This color and black were her favorite colors.

"This is a room you can do what you want to with," Dean said. "As you can see to the right, there is a recessed panel. That panel is a sliding door into your bedroom. Straight ahead is a mini-gym. Of course, you're welcome to use the pool anytime your want as long as a tour group going through."

"I see," Kaire said. "Will you give me a list of the dates and times of the tour groups so I stay out of the way?"

"It's in your bedroom."

Dean always seemed to thing of everything, Kaire thought. During Kaire's stay, Dean looked at every possible scenario that would result in Kaire being discovered in her weaken condition. No expense and corner was cut, everything was as secure and foolproof as the servant could possible make it. Both of their lives depended on Kaire's safety.

Dean lead Kaire into her bedroom. Against the left wall was a canopy bed with velvet surrounding it. Against the far wall was a full-length mirror.

"What's that for?" Kaire asked while tilting her head to the mirror.

"That is for you to learn about yourself," the servant said.

"What? I already know who I am," Kaire said nonchalantly while looking at her reflection.

"You think so," Dean said with a hint of disbelief.

"I'm Kaire McDowell," she said.
"Yes," Dean said. "You are also a mother, a former I.S.F. agent, a loving sister and devoted daughter to your adopted parents. You are also possibly the future heiress of an Empire at war with itself."

Kaire let her breathe escape through her lips slowly. Kaire had spent ten years trying to forget some of the things Dean brought up. It was opening old wounds for her.

"So what does that have to do with this mirror?" she asked putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head ever so slightly. Dean smiled and looked at Kaire for a moment. She is nothing like the king said she was, the servant thought.

"This mirror, as you call it, is an entrance way to your parent's home world," Dean said. "It's a portal that operates using various scientific methods that you can't comprehend due yet."

Kaire's eyebrows rose as she took Dean's words as a challenge to her intelligence. "What do you mean by that?"

Dean snorted. "What I mean is that the technology and methods of this entrance are far more advanced than anything you've ever seen or read about in that stupid Allura Log..."

"How..."

"I know and see all. I know what you've done and what you will do," Dean said. "Anyway, to enter this portal you have to become your true self. A being in its purist form to enter."

"And if I don't," Kaire said. She didn't like how this was going. Dean was acting too much like her superior for her tastes.

"You won't be able to enter," Dean said. The servant chuckled for a bit. "It's just that simple."

"Hmm." Kaire thought for a bit. "How to I become a being of its purist form?"

"I'll teach you," Dean said. "It many take a while, but I think you can do it."

"You didn't answer my question," Kaire said, relaxing and sitting on the bed. She looked at the mirror with fascination and dread.

"Okay. To become a being in your purist form," Dean said slowly while piecing words together, " you'll need to transform yourself into a being of pure mental energy ... It's difficult to describe it to someone that hasn't experienced it. It's like discarding your body and replacing it with an aura."

"For example?..."

"Let's take a preacher and a serial killer. The preacher has serene, peaceful mental energy, hopefully, and would be visible to other beings usually as a blue light. (There are always exceptions you know.) The serial killer has dark, chaotic mental energy. Most individuals with that kind of energy appear as a red light. In the home world, instead of seeing these individuals by their occupations, preacher and serial killer, you'd see them as blue and red light."

Dean continued. "When a being goes outside of the home world, say to this planet, the energy formed a body to him or her, just like when they were home. This body is made up of thought and creates an image of that person according to his or her thoughts."

What does my mother look like in the home world?" Kaire asked.

The room was silent for a few seconds. Dean's hand moved to rest on Kaire's shoulder as if to brace her for the news.

"She has no color," Dean said solemnly. The servant's hand gently lifted from Kaire's shoulder. Dean then turned and walked out, leaving Kaire alone to stare blankly into the portal.

THE END