Life

There lived two birds in that lake, a beautiful white female swan and a duck. She was constantly preening, eagarly awaiting the moment people came to admire her shape and bring her tributes. He didn’t receive any attention, moving quietly around the lake. The day came when authorities decided to relocate the duck, and just as they were about to capture him, the swan rushed in front of the duck, aggressively moving her elegant wings against his captors. “Don’t you dare do this to me”, she cried. The relocation had to be cancelled. That day, everyone in that lake was surprised by this event, except for the duck.

The river seemed to go forever into the horizon, escaping from them. Albert had suggested to go against the current and find the source of the river. That may help clarify what had happened to her.

“So you don’t remember anything that, erm, fisherman told you?”, he asked. She assented slowly, without a word. “I certainly don’t remember being frozen, in fact I was calling for you but you wouldn’t stop, so I figured you were just enchanted by the view”, he said laughing. She smiled, although she knew she hadn’t told him everything she saw.

The sound of the gentle current mingled with that of the continuous blossoming, able to appease the fiercest. Like a stiletto cleanly stabbing through a weak heart, Albert started whistling. Her peace decimated, she noticed how the golden dust gradually condensed, giving birth to a concrete shape, a sign with a message written on it: “Continue, you’re very close, we will see each other soon”.

The golden dust dispersed, slowly, losing its inexplicable liveliness, and going back into its original entropy. Still dumbfounded, they didn’t question the instruction, albeit its unknown origin. While risky, it was the first time they had been contacted since the beginning of their journey.

After some more time walking, their expectations where satisfied by something amiss, a scene that emerged from the bare theatre they’d been traversing. The terrain gave rise to unnatural shapes, angled and of considerable height. The were scattered around a central place, where several people congregated around a flat surface. Albert and her could hear their talking in the distance as they approached.

“I already told you that won’t work, Mary. This is the same pattern that started in 17-112, and nothing happened back then”. A tall, haggard man explained trenchantly to a young woman. Four others, two men and two women, listened intently. A child sat at some distance from them, inattentive.

“But Joseph, the speed we recorded in 31-16 is much slower than last time, don’t you see this could be the time”. While they kept disagreeing, Albert and her reached the central place.

“Oh, here are our visitors, please welcome”, said Joseph. “I suppose you did receive our message, didn’t you? The sign in The Cloud”.

Albert was keen to ask. “We did see a sign, formed by the golden dust along the river. Was that you? How was that you? Also, what is The Cloud?”.

Joseph noticed his enthusiasm, and he was ready to boast about his clearly superior knowledge. “Let me enlighten you. What you call golden dust we know as The Cloud. It is a highly sensitive network of diminute interconnected particles. With the right tools, which we have, one can sense alterations in The Cloud from long distances, and can communicate visual messages with ease. We sensed you two and sent you a message so you would look for us”.

Joseph continued, already savouring the feast of reverence that would inevitably ensue. “You probably encountered several luminous veins on your way over here, didn’t you? You see, these veins continually produce the Substance, which is the basis of our tools. The Substance is highly moldable at first, but eventually it hardens, adopting the shape it has been casted to”.

Surprisingly, Albert was still listening at this moment, although it was unlikely he was following Joseph at all.

“When hardened Substance enters in contact with The Cloud, it reacts to anomalies in it by lighting up. We have several lines of Substance connecting The Cloud to our settlement to detect alterations, such as those from visitors like you. With a specialised tool, we can also create anomalies wherever in The Cloud we want, that’s how we created that sign”.

Mary promptly intervened. “Joseph, you should probably stop there, this man has not reacted for some time”. As her travelling companion was still ecstatic, it was her opportunity for questions. Her incipient exposure to the world manifested in an unexpected clarity of thought, unbiased by previous experiences. “What is the purpose of what you are doing? And why would you lead us here?”, she asked.

Joseph stared at her innocent figure, admiring her courage. He then signaled to Matthew, one of the men, to give an explanation. “A long time ago, for some of us the dawn of our lives, she told us the following: ‘You are empty shells of existence. Your thoughts are predictable moves in a game you are bound to lose. From now, look to seize the light, in the moment of harmony, for only that will extinguish your ever-growing darkness’”.

“That marked instant 0-0”. Matthew sighed, showing signs of frustration. “You see these tall slates? They are records made of the Substance. These records contain all the knowledge we’ve accumulated from this world. Joseph has not told you before, but hardened Substance decays after 7-0 instants, so we have to copy the records to new slates. As our knowledge grows, so does its burden on us”.

“Even with all this knowledge, we are now in instant 32-73…”. In the distance, a new blossom fed The Cloud. “…32-74, apologies, and we still cannot control the light of that river. Anything that gets in contact with it is absorbed, even us, even our memories. James here voluntarily agreed to go into the light. 3-0 instants after his dive, a man with his same name and same appearance returned, a man empty of experiences”.

“As for your second question…”. Joseph interrupted. “…we cannot answer that at this moment. Freida, bring the preparations”. The child complied and went into one of the many Substance-made cabs where they seemed to store some of their tools. Both Albert and her were distressed by the voice tone used against the child.

Freida brought one Substance-made box. Inside of it there was a strange, small, round container. “She gave us this when she left”, Joseph explained. In the cap was written ‘mm’. “This must be the light bearer”. Matthew and James started to surround Albert. “And you must be the light carrier”, he shouted at her. The men forcibly seized Albert, who struggled to free himself.

“You have seen it, don’t you?”, Joseph continued. “That anomaly in The Cloud… you know how to seize the light!”. Albert was being carried towards the river, as she watched unable to help. “Will he remember you when he returns? Who knows, he may never return”. Joseph approached her, menacingly. “Tell me the secrets of this world”.

As he said this, a new blossom emerged. His facial expression slowly changed. “33-0… the harmony…”. He looked at the cap of the container. He then looked towards the river. Freida was crouching, inserting her hand into the river. She smiled tenderly as she stood up, her left hand rised, while the light playfully went round her lowered right hand. The light seemed to feel safe in her innocence.

With a gentle movement of her right hand, the light flowed upwards towards her left hand, leaving a dreamlike trail of particles behind. Joseph stood dismayed. “You child… all this time… you were the light carrier… Seize Freida! Seize the chi-”. He couldn’t finish his line before the light quickly dashed from Freida’s left hand and engulfed his whole, to then immediately dive back into the river.

Albert used the state of bewilderement of Matthew and James to free himself. “Seize the child!”, Mary said in the distance. But Albert was fast, way too fast. He took Freida by the hand, and started running away from the settlement. At a short distance, his companion picked up the container from the ground, among the scattered pieces of the Substance-made box. She then began running towards Albert and Freida.