“Sure.” Sam smiled. “But how did the Vatican get involved with Nostradamus?”
“In 1538, an offhanded remark by the then young, Michel de Nostradame, about a religious statue resulted in charges of heresy. When ordered to appear before the Church Inquisition, he wisely chose to leave Provence to travel for several years through Italy, Greece and Turkey. During his travels to the ancient mystery schools, it is believed that Nostradamus experienced a psychic awakening. During his travels in Italy, he came upon a group of Franciscan monks, identifying one as the future Pope. The monk, called Felice Peretti, was ordained Pope Sixtus V in 1585, fulfilling the prediction of Nostradamus.”
“You didn’t answer the question. Instead, you told me about Nostradamus being able to predict the future, something I’m rapidly learning he was very good at.”
“Nostradamus didn’t just predict Felice Peretti would one day be ordained as a Pope. He told him on that day, he was to start a new division from his private guard.”
“The Minister for the Future?”
“Exactly.”
“You see, Nostradamus wasn’t the only one who could see the future. He was, unfortunately, the only one who was willing to take the time and risk to change it. The Master Builders can see future events, but not in the way you assume. You see, they don’t have the vision in a lineal fashion.”
“They get them randomly?”
“Yes. Imagine this. If you were to walk into a movie cinema and watch a three minute clip at any random point in the show, how much would you know about the event being viewed?”
“Not much, unless we had a point of reference. I’ve already had this explained to me as the way Nostradamus saw the future.”
“Exactly. If you were to walk into the same movie, and see something like a newspaper the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima then you’d have a reference point to where the event came from. Because of this, the Master Builders require me to keep documenting when I see an event. I already have a list of all the events, but when I discover one has occurred I go to the Obsidian Vault to document it. The Masters, you see, are able to reference the events through the documents stored inside the ancient almanac I’ve been keeping.”
Sam asked, “How long have you been alive?”
“No, I think you misunderstand me. I’m fifty-two years old. I’m part of one of the longest relay races ever made. Since the inception of the Holy See, members of our party have lived as part of His Holiness’s unique monitoring services.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re driven to believe a higher power is behind everything we do and see. That someone or something better than ourselves, has a divine plan for all of us. Inside the holy church, we’ve been able to witness most of the events throughout history.”
“The higher powers work for you?”
“No. I work directly for His Holiness. In that position, I receive an enormous amount of information regarding events. Those events are then cross-referenced with the ancient almanac.”
“Nostradamus wrote a second book?”
“No. One of my predecessors copied his down.”
“Is the church behind this?”
“No.”
“I think I just broke the equation,” Sam said. “But I don’t believe it.”
“What is it?”
“The Master Builders didn’t see time in a linear fashion.”
“You think they saw it all as one jumbled up mess of events?”
“Yes. Nostradamus was one of them, or a child of the Master Builders — and although he could see all the events of time, he couldn’t make any sense out of them because, to him, they all occurred simultaneously. The equation was used to form reference points to guide the viewer to make sense out of the events and their relative time.”
“But time is linear!” Sam said, “They can’t just see it from all directions: forwards, backwards, the physical universe simply doesn’t work like that!”
John said, “I agree. But then, I’m not the one who recently found a book addressed to her from four hundred plus years ago, which instructed her to find an island that hadn’t yet formed, to reach to find the answers.” He then shrugged, as though none of it mattered anymore. “I’ve read your journals, Mr. Reilly. The people you call the Master Builders we call the Time Masters.”
Sam asked, “When did they arrive?”
“Arrive? No we’re not talking about Aliens or anything like that. They have always been here. They’re here to help, to watch us and to guide us.”
“And who are you? Are you a Time Master?”
“No. I am simply a witness. They need help to make sense out of the events that are going to occur. I help by documenting them. I write the major events as they are given to me. Then the Masters are able to gain a better understanding of where they’re at. They have long periods throughout history where they leave us alone, followed by others where they need to intervene frequently.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re human. Because we’re weak. And because, left to our own, we’re like little children who want to fight and will eventually kill ourselves.”
“They’re the parents who come to intervene?”
“Kind of. All I know is if you start to see the Time Masters there’s a reason. And recently, they’ve started to slip. They’ve let their presence become known to others beyond our former tight circle. There have been more than a dozen events in the past two decades where a normal person, such as yourself, might put two and two together and determine someone else, entirely different than the history books would have us believe, was adjusting the strings of time.”
“So humanity is squabbling? That's what has brought them out of seclusion? Isn't that business as usual for humanity?”
“Humanity is getting close to the end.”
“Can the Masters change that?”
“They intend to try. I believe they're human beings just like us, and if humanity dies out, they will pass away as well. So they need imperatively to steer us to safety. I’m not sure they know how. I believe they intentionally brought you into this game to help. I just don’t know what you can do.”
“But am I doing something?”
“Yes. Your presence here is affecting the timeline. They know that.”
“But is it improving or worsening the event?”
“That, only time will tell.”
Chapter One Hundred
Sam leaned back into the chair. It was leather, and appeared as old as some of the medieval ruins he’d explored over the years. He shook his head. A wry smile forming on his otherwise cheerful and good-humored face, he remained silent.
John asked, “What?”
“Your name’s John Wallis?”
“Yes. What about it? It’s a common name in society?”
Sam said, “It’s not very Swiss.”
“No. My father was English, my mother was Swiss.”
Sam stared at him. Still unsure why he was even asking the question. “Do you know what the mathematician, John Wallis was most famous for?”
“I do. My father used to tell me as a child. In fact, I believe he coined the term infinity.” Wallis shrugged. “What’s so important about that?”
“Nothing.” Sam stared at him, the slightest upward curve of a smile taking place. The coincidence was just too much to be irrelevant.
“Except?” Wallis persisted.
“It’s just… earlier today I visited an island a friend of mine has spent her lifetime searching for. The island itself was shaped very much like the number eight laying on its side. The mathematical symbol for infinity.”
“And you think it’s symbolic that you were to meet me on the same day you visited an island that looked precariously similar to a name a completely different John Wallis created centuries ago? You are a very strange man, Mr. Reilly. Why did your friend wait until now to visit the island?”