CHAPTER 148: GÖBEKLITEPE

The ancient site rose from the brown earth like a dream of prehistory.

Massive T-shaped pillars carved with animals stood in circular arrangements. Lions frozen mid-prowl. Foxes with knowing eyes. Scorpions with raised tails. Birds taking flight toward a sky that had watched them for twelve thousand years.

The morning sun cast long shadows across stone older than writing itself. Older than pottery. Older than civilization as humanity understood it.

Marcus stood speechless.

Even knowing about world seeds, about cosmic creation, seeing this place hit differently. Humans built this when they were supposed to be primitive hunters gathering berries and chasing deer. When they were supposed to be struggling just to survive the harsh winters.

Instead they carved this. Someone, or something, had guided them.

Behind the tourist groups Marcus and Tom walked with Hasan Yıldız. The old man had thrown them a welcoming feast yesterday and with all the commotion the other members of the Keepers hadn't found time to ask their millions of questions. But Marcus had seen it in their eyes. Hesitation. Doubt. The wariness of people being asked to believe the impossible.

Hasan pointed out things to Marcus and Tom. Things the tourists weren't noticing or weren't fascinated by. Hidden symbols. Alignment patterns. The way certain pillars faced certain stars.

Marcus was fascinated despite himself.

Apparently Hasan's great-grandmother had moved here from what is now known as Iraq to learn about and help Ephus. But she hadn't had much success in her mission. Her notes never mentioned any dark lord rising. Whatever Malachar became, it happened after her time.

She had bought the land during the Ottoman era and vowed to protect its secrets.

Later Hasan explained the site's modern history, things his great-grandmother had written about in her journals.

"After the Great War, foreigners came with shovels and greed." His voice carried old anger. "They stole what they could. Damaged what they couldn't carry. Took pieces of pillars. Artifacts. Anything they could sell to museums in London and Paris."

"What happened?" Marcus asked.

"My grandfather's generation made a choice. Reveal the site to the world. Put it under government protection. International eyes."

"You exposed your own secret?" Marcus couldn't hide his surprise.

"Sometimes the best hiding place is in plain sight." Hasan smiled wisely. "Now UNESCO protects what we cannot. Cameras everywhere. Guards. Researchers. The true secrets remain buried, waiting for those meant to find them."

"But... but.." Marcus tried to protest but couldn't find the words.

Hasan placed a weathered hand on Marcus's shoulder. "Marcus you have to understand. We are not a secret organization. Many of us are descendants of two-worlders. Their duty to protect this world remained with us as a memory. And we are protecting or studying what they left behind."

He walked enthusiastically to a certain pillar with a clear human glyph carved into its surface. A figure with arms at its sides. Simple but powerful.

"Grandma told my grandfather that when we started exposing this place we would see wonders. Imagine Marcus. Twelve thousand years ago every other man was trying to find berries or dead animals and slept in caves." His eyes sparkled with wonder that age hadn't dimmed. "This man or woman who built this drew himself on a giant pillar. Isn't that fascinating?"

Marcus nodded slowly. Twelve thousand years. It was most certainly fascinating.

"Wallahi I cannot even draw a stick man. Look at it." Hasan called Tom to his side. "My giant nephew what do you think?"

"Hasan uncle... place.... old. I mean .... ancient." Tom tried to talk with his crooked English. He was getting there. Talking with everyone and studying with the phone was really working.

"Yes nephew this is ancient. People like you lived here."

Hasan walked to the other side, wonder still lighting his eyes. When Marcus tried to take a step to follow, Tom grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"I feel it Marcus." Tom's voice was low. Urgent.

"What?"

"I feel raw energy."

Marcus's breath caught. It came to him too now that Tom mentioned it. A humming at the edge of perception. A warmth that had nothing to do with the sun.

This place had to have the Earth seed. And by the look on Tom's face it was probably near.

"Are you sure? Is it similar to Malachar's headquarters?"

"It is." Tom glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "It is probably under this pillar."

Marcus scratched his head. The implications were enormous. They had found it. The source of life on Earth. The seed that had birthed everything.

"Okay Tom for now don't mention it to anyone."

Tom nodded solemnly. He took one more glance at the pillar before they caught up to Hasan.

After the tour almost everyone gathered in the courtyard of Hasan's estate. When Hasan saw the commotion he immediately ordered his grandchildren to brew tea and bring it out.

Yesterday's friendly Keepers were now demanding answers to their questions. People from all around the world were present. German businessmen. Dutch academics. Chinese historians. Turkish locals who had guarded these secrets for generations.

Hasan invited them all to his grand village-styled salon and showed them to their seats.

Beau Van Bastian spoke first. The red-bearded Dutch man was tall and well built, almost like Tom. "I heard the claim that you are not just a two-worlder but a physical traveler. Is that correct?" He leaned forward in his chair.

Marcus wanted to answer without leaving any doubts. "I am both a two-worlder and also forced to travel here physically with my cousin Tom." He pointed at Tom sitting beside him. "Tom is only here because of that."

A deep sigh and murmur rose among the crowd. But Hasan's servants interrupted with tea, raising the mood slightly. Kevin and Numan were sitting in the corner giving Marcus nods of encouragement.

"Okay then explain to us how?" Baran asked. Baran was born in Diyarbakır, Turkey, and had joined the Keepers after finding out about family inheritances related to preserving the past.

Marcus took a deep sigh. "Ever since I was born I changed bodies. Or so I thought until coming here."

"What do you mean?" Chiesa Carlos cut in.

"I will come to that. Like I said I was switching bodies and didn't know if this was real or not or if I had a purpose. We lived in a small town. The kind that only traders come by twice a year. Until we had to relocate because of a world-dominating army."

Marcus looked around at their faces. They wanted more of the story but Marcus had to cut it short.

"There is this crazy powerful mage in our world. I later learned he is also a two-worlder and he used his immense treasure of Earth knowledge to build a portal. When we infiltrated his headquarters to get a crucial relic in exchange for a defense against his magic we came face to face with him."

"So you escaped with his portal?" Van Bastian asked.

"No we got into a heated and deadly exchange. I had a rifle I made with a genius iron molder and my thousands of attempts with my Earth counterpart. I shot him." Marcus paused. The memory was still raw. "After that his mind-washed minions pushed us through that portal in order to save their master."

Marcus took another deep sigh. "I think the portal wasn't finished yet. Its guidance system was incomplete. So they hoped to kill us by sending us to empty space."

"But you somehow emerged here?" Hasan asked this time.

"Correct. In fact the portal opened on my counterpart."

Marcus pulled out his phone and called his counterpart with a video call.

"Here he is." On the screen Marcus Chen was driving, heading back to Chicago after his deal with Gerald. "He is currently returning from a deal with a manufacturer to build mind protection devices against Malachar. Right Marcus?"

"Yes Marcus. And tonight before you see it in your memories I'll give you the good news. Their prototype works. I ordered a hundred. It will probably cost thirty thousand."

"Thank you Marcus. Hanging up now."

Marcus put the phone in his pocket. The Keepers were mostly dumbfounded. They stared at him with wide eyes and slack jaws.

"You really are a traveler," Van Bastian said finally. "Huh. That's a first."

Marcus smiled. "As for switching bodies, we thought... I mean every two-worlder thought is different. We learned with my counterpart that each night when we sleep we see what the other did. But as you see it you feel as if you do it. And each decision and memory etches in your head, shaping you as the same person."

"So we are just going to believe this?" The Chinese woman Xi Xuan asked. Silence fell over the council.

"What do you mean?" Van Bastian queried.

"Everything he told and showed could be faked." She turned to the room. "Easily."

Numan tried to take a turn to talk but she stopped him with a raised hand. "The Gurbanov family is a respectable family. And they have revealed lots of buried secrets. But Numan is just a teenager. Bringing two random guys with a wacky story is...." She stood up and looked around, puzzled. "...if not stupid then shows a lack of responsibility."

Marcus turned to Tom and asked for the seed. He stood up to face her. Unwrapped the seed from its protective covering.

"Ma'am. If you don't want to believe us it is your choice. But please stop going hard on Numan." He held up the glowing object. "This I am holding is the copy of my other planet's Earth seed."