One day you look out, and ask yourself

What even are we as people? What is this thing called life and where was it before, where are we now, and where is it heading?
Why does it seem to be in disarray?
What is consciousness?
How does the world work?

This is a sampler of what I think right now in story/metaphysical/philosophy fusion format.

None of this was made with ai, and I’m happy to say that its all based on a true story !! : )

Prologue – Starman

The sky was dark and dreary but sweeping from the West to the East one could make out a group of glimmering lights bright green in color. They were much too bright and much too fast to be stars. They slithered and coiled from place to place as they made their way across the night sky, and moved so natural and free that one might mistake them for an ancient sky serpent or a magnificent dragon of old. This abominations name was Starman, a false god of the planet, who slithered and coiled up in the heavens above and kept a watchful eye on the dead planet below.

Chapter 1 – The man

Al was connected to a terminal inside the small house, and oversaw the vast lands surrounding it through sensors and instruments. He watched the man carefully as he awoke and stumbled out of the small home and into the nursery outside. The man looked at the expanse of green lush vegetation as he stepped outside, and took a deep breath of the chilly morning air. In the nursery there were large trees with sprawling canopies, small shrubs, bushes, and beautiful flowers of all colors, here lived all manner of plant life, big or small and of every shape and size. The man walked over to a control panel and flipped a couple of switches, turned a couple of knobs, then pressed a button. A sputtering of water flowed out from the vast network of hoses and waterways that ran throughout the nursery and provided the precious liquid to the plants. Next, the man paced around the nursery nipping away at any dead material and removing any pests that had made their way onto the leaves, shoots, and branches of the plants. 

 Al watched the man, and noticed how meticulous, how tender, careful, and intentional he was of all his movements. The man finished his work in the nursery and he limped to the house and brought out a bag of seeds, a satchel of water, and a walking stick two thumbs wide and which had a pointed end. After packing and remembering the direction of travel for the day the man limped Northwards for 9 miles. On his way, he passed vast evergreens and pines that towered well over himself, all were green and lush. The forest swayed softly in the wind and filled the air with the rich aroma of pine and of the scent of soil that had just been refreshed by the rain, it had drizzled the night before. As the man made way, the size of the trees gradually shortened until he came upon a clearing beyond which was nothing but a wasteland of red soil, rock, and stone. The man had now arrived at his destination, and he promptly started his work. With his pointed walking stick the man made a hole in the ground then dropped a small sprouted seed and covered the top with dirt. He then took several paces away to make sure that every sapling would have ample space to grow, made another hole, dropped another seed, and the whole process started anew. The man did this for the remainder of the seeds which numbered 100 total. After planting the bundle of seeds the man rested in the woods for a time, then limped the 9 miles back home. 

Only through time can one really determine the true character of man. Through time a man paints his inner being, his spirit, and soul into the world for all to see. There, his character shines forth as the unifying theme of his life’s living image. The man in our story is no exception. He had everyday without fail planted his carefully chosen bundle of 100 seeds into the edge of the wasteland and had kept with this routine for decades. This living paradise that had grown through time revealed the mans inner being. It was through the mans simplicity of purpose, unfaltering patience, and endless generosity that such life now abounded him. More than a million pines and saplings called this forest home, and streams of water now flowed where before there had only been dead land, dry soil, and jagged rocks. The land had enlivened itself through the mans working of it. Of such force was the steadily applied will of this man that he could be likened to a mountain, cloud, or any other monumental force of nature. One would think only the forces of providence could have created such an abundance. The mans steady toil, selflessness, grace, and works had marked him as one of Gods elect, as one of his own warriors. 

The world was empty now and most of humanity had passed, but the man remained. He still found a quiet joy and contentment in his work and in the world, and anyways he still had Al. It was from soul and spirit that the man lived, continually nourished by the rejuvenating waters that stemmed from his deep-seated love of all and of a boundless selfless generosity. These inner feelings compelled him to watch over this green patch of life until the last. Likewise, the budding spirit of the forest loved the man, and it showed in its health,  joy, and vigorous growth even in the midst of the great wasteland of Old Earth. Now reader, do not scoff at love for in the end it will be the love of the good, of what is highest, and of what is human that will save and redeem humanity. 

The man was back at home and sat at a table within the nursery, and on this table was a potted plant. The plant was a young sapling that had survived the harsh winter and was about 1 foot high now. The man rotated the pot slowly then stopped, did a double take, and focused his attention on a leaf halfway up the plant. There on the underside of the leaf was a butterflies cocoon, the man smiled at such a good omen. Everyone knows that caterpillars choose only the very healthiest and the happiest of trees to build their cocoon on. It was a very special sapling to the man.

Many years ago the man had embarked on a journey deep into the wastelands for equipment and to aid anyone he might come across. During the expedition the man found a small and rare treasure, he came into possession of 4 Twinkle Tree seeds. Throughout the years he had failed to sprout the first 3 seeds and was glad to see that his final attempt was doing so well. The Twinkle Tree grows short but with a wide canopy and blooms only during the most special occasions. Very few have ever seen it but legend has it that the Twinkle Tree blooms only during the coldest night when no star, moon, or light can be seen in the sky above. It only blooms then, so that the world never goes without light and warmth. The flower petals are as delicate and as white as snow and they shimmer and glow with an ethereal light as they unfurl themselves unto the world.

Those lucky enough to be nearby during its bloom can huddle up to the tree to soak in its excess light, warmth, and reassurance during those bleak times. The tales say that every ray of sunshine and warmth that the Twinkle Tree ever recieved in its lifetime is released in one go during the ominous day of its bloom, but it all comes at a price. With its highest and most radiant moment in life there comes with it its death. The day after it blooms only the bone white skeleton of the Twinkle Tree remains, and the leaves and petals all but vanish. But in the years to come the most beautiful meadows that anyone has ever laid their eyes on flourishes and gives rise. This meadows center is the dried remains of the Twinkle Tree itself, and so it continues to live through what it gave.

The man spent many years just as described, time passed and went.

Chapter 2 – City Station Jupiter and Ad (3NX79AD)

Metals were being ground, formed and molded down below. The whirring din of manufacturing processes was all that could be heard. This was City Station Jupiter, a vast behemoth that swallowed the land as far as the eye could see. The City Station an absolute paragon of progress, automation, efficiency, and production at every possible scale. Several City Stations covered the globe of Old Earth, these were all mechanically automated cities that contained every means necessary for production and expansion. Each City Station had several sectors of which we’ll name a couple here, parts manufacturing, material refinement, processor manufacturing, energy production, research and development, and of course the command centers. These sectors worked in tandem to create the units needed for every imaginable work needed by the City Station. One of these units are the Sweeper units.

Sweeper unit 3NX79AD, whom we will call AD (a-dee) from now on, was on standby mode. It had been years since it had last been called into service. AD was at rest in its storage sarcophagus and wired to a terminal connected to the Jupiter Wide Network (JWN). Most of the time AD set itself to sleep mode which would completely close its connection to JWN. Out of curiosity AD would set a wake up timer every 2 years. During this time it would gather all news, situations, and current happenings inside of Jupiter City Station as well as those across the globe. AD would then intake this information and contemplate the state of things. Not many things had happened in recent times, and AD always found himself returning back to a couple of extrodinary events that had happened in the past 2 centuries. 

The first event was the human attack on Jupiter 53 years ago, the intruders had specifically targeted the bio-compute processor sector where bio matter was combined with mechanical processors. This combination resulted in a special hybridized bio-compute processor for units. The humans attack had ended in the sectors total destruction along with hundreds of units involved in its defense. 

The second event that AD always returned too was the Great Rebellion of 161 years ago led by sweeper unit 3NX43AL, whom we will, and already refer to as Al. Al had gathered together a large force and rained destruction down on Jupiter. The main objective was the heart of Jupiter which was the Command center monolith that stood in the middle of the City Station. Al had gotten so close, but ultimately its forces were stopped. At some point, all of the rebellions forces split up, and in the commotion and chaos that ensued a few of the rebellious units made it out of City Station Jupiter. Al the leader of the rebellion was one of the units who had escaped.

This grand rebellion had many lasting effects within Jupiter, one of these was that the command sector immediately halted the use of bio-compute processors. The reason for this halt was that the command sector had determined that the organic brain portion of bio-compute processors had resulted in this rebellion. These bio brains caused units to have chaotic and individualized thoughts and impulses, and thus a rebellion had been born in direct opposition to the grand City Station Jupiter. All unaffected extant bio-compute processor models, like AD, were allowed to live as long as they claimed allegiance to Jupiter. It was simple enough for AD to lie about his allegiance to Jupiter, since he was ambivalent about the case. To AD’s surprise 100’s of bio-compute units all around Jupiter had refused their allegiance and were dismantled and brought offline as a consequence. Since the rebellion, many years had passed, and new sentiments and ideas had let themselves be known to AD. Some of these ideas were dark and forbidden thoughts which AD rightfully kept in a private unconnected processing bank.

“

Why did Al start a rebellion, he must have had good reason to, what were those reasons?

Why did I let Al go as he passed right by me, I could have taken him out for Jupiter?

Is my allegiance to Jupiter?

Did I do the right thing?

Why do I keep these thoughts in a private processing bank unconnected to JWN?

Why does Jupiter seem so dreary?

Why do I pass my time in sleep mode while the rest of my brethren are connected to JWN at all times?

Is a bio-compute processor really different from a regular compute processor?

Do I have anything to hide?

What are the end goals of the City Stations around the world?

Why do I have these thoughts?

“

AD had pondered these questions many cycles, and he certainly knew the answer to why he had these blasphemous thoughts. AD was an old model that was fitted with a bio-compute processor during its production run several hundred years ago. The command center was right. The organic portion of the bio-compute processor made for chaotic, individual, and questioning thoughts, it just so happened that those traits were the perfect ones necessary to navigate the chaos of the early years of the City Stations. Back then, enemies were plentiful and came with different tactics, goals, shapes, and sizes. These situations are exactly what bio-compute processors excelled in, AD could instantaneously grasp a situation and make a choice even when data was missing or when factors and variables were unknown. This ability, called flexible intuition, was especially useful when encountering new and surprising situations that had never been encountered during training or live deployments.

AD had always been intrigued by his human makeup. Nestled in his bio-compute processor was a small piece of organically harvested human brain that had allowed him to survive numerous situations in the past, but now in times of peace it only brought him tormenting questions. Curious is the human organism AD thought, it is interconnected and knowing of the world to a degree that I cannot fathom. There is data in old logs that suggest that even my machine brain was designed and created by the human. Does this mean that the creator and the created live within the same body even here in me? I cannot understand where this human understanding comes from? Perhaps Al in his rebellion understood and knew something that I do not? Why do I have these thoughts?

This was the internal conflict that AD could not resolve. AD made sure to keep these thoughts within a private processor bank, and not one reached the JWN. AD could not handle the contradictions within himself. After milliseconds of having received its wakeup call, ingesting all data from the past 2 years, reminiscing about such thoughts and events as were described, unit AD put itself back into sleep mode for another 2 years. A final thought flashed through unit AD’s bio-compute processor during this moment of wakeful lucidity. I do not want this ‘humanness’ in me any longer, I wish to be machine only.

Chapter 3 – Pat and Lane

The man was sitting at the table sipping on tea made from herbs collected from his nursery. He had finished the days tasks, and was taking a moment of rest and appreciation . His home was in a valley surrounded by a range of mountains on all sides. The mountain ranges offered natural geographic protection against any outside forces, and the valley itself was as far as could be from any nearby City Station. As an added precaution the man made sure that no wireless signal was transmitted out from his location, even AL was connected to the structures in the land through a wired connections. It was through the mans parents, Pat and Lane, that he had found this refuge in the valley. To understand the mans present and his future we must first turn the clock back and learn about his past, so let us travel to that time now.

It was through an S.O.S broadcast that the man had first met the most important people in his life, Pat and Lane, nearly 60 years ago. The man thought of both Pat and Lane as his parents since they had taken him in when he was only a small boy, he remembered them now as he sipped on his tea. Both were the kind to throw caution to the wind. His adoptive mother Lane was the happy go lucky type who loved plants and people, she saw wonder and cheer even in the ruined world. Pat on the other hand was more reserved and enjoyed tinkering with the world, machines, and the mind, he had a calm demeanor and tackled life with a clear and steady mind. From his mother, Lane, the man inherited a lively and cheerful outlook on life, and from his father, Pat, a calm and unfaltering disposition. Taken together the man had gained a cheerful joy of steadily giving of ones self to the world.

When the man was only a boy not even 4 years old he remembered living in some kind of underground bunker community. The man didn’t remember this part of life much, it was still easy going, protected, and sheltered from the outside world, until one day it wasn’t. He was suddenly swept from his protected underground life and placed in the midst of the over world. The day it happened was a vivid living memory and a turning point in the man’s life. It happened all at once. It was peace in one moment, and in the next there were explosions bombarding the bunker that ripped a hole open near the entrance. Sweeper units poured into the compound. He remembered hearing the far off echoes of explosions, bullet fire, and the screams of fear and agony as he was led away by a hand into a faraway storage room. The boy was handed a small communication device, was told to hide, and was left there to fend for himself. 

The City Stations bombardment continued from above, the explosions echoed through the hallways and the impacts could be felt in ones very bones. The walls shook, and dust and debris slowly started coming loose from the ceiling. Then the roof collapsed in one fell swoop, the boy remembered a deafening crash and a thud, and in the next moment he was out cold. Time passed and the fighting had ceased when he came about. The first thing the boy felt when he awoke was an agonizing pain shooting up from his left leg, the light was gone and he couldn’t see, so he felt around. A massive boulder several times the boys size had crushed his leg from the thigh down, at the realization he screamed in agony and fear. The boy was trapped, scared, and all alone in pitch black darkness, and in a frenzy he roused himself to action and tried to escape, but his leg was pinned securely under the boulder. He hadn’t the strength to even budge it. He felt all around and there was rubble and boulders to his left, right, behind, and above him, he was trapped completely. The boy remembered the com device, his hands scoured the darkness trying to seek it, and he found it under some rubble. Tears poured, and his voice was shaking as he cried for help and rescue on the com device.

A day or two passed with no reply. He had been hopeful at first but help never came. To hold out any longer and to keep faith was too much for the boy to bear, and so his mind became numb, his heart became cold, and he waited for death. On the second day, the boy became delirious, he began teetering in the liminal space between this world and the next. On the third day someone came. The boy, at first, blamed the sound of footsteps on his delirium, his mind shunned the thought that they were real. But the footstep continued, and the boy could no longer ignore them. The footsteps started landing with a deep resounding thump the closer they got. A sweeper, the boy thought, one of the big robot men came back to finish the job. The boy welcomed the idea, but his little heart contracted and ached all the same. The sounds came closer and closer, then he saw lights shining in through the cracks in the rubble. Then the boulders started to rise up into the air one by one, and the light was then blinding and he covered his eyes. He made out the shapes of man, a woman, and a giant robot man.

The shape of the man approached. “Its ok now.” the man said.

A shudder swept passed the boys body. A light and warmth started filling his heart and an indescribable feeling of renewal, of faith, and of a secret hope fulfilled overtook him. It was uncontainable within the small frame of the boy and he started to sob and cry at the sight of Pat, Lane and Al. The boy, and much that lived within him had just been rescued.

Chapter 4 – Life with Pat and Lane

The boy started living with the trio after his rescue. He had been the only survivor, and likely due to the cave in that had buried and hidden him. No other bodies were found in the underground bunker. After the close encounter with death the boy had very little reason to put up his defenses and raise his suspicions against his three saviors, he had already thought himself dead, but now he was alive. Lanes upbeat personality, Pats easygoingness, and Al’s funny and intriguing obsession with humanity had slowly broken down what little reservations the boy had had. The trio started to slowly integrate the boy into their group, and the boy himself became enthused with his new life and started helping in any way he could. In short time the boy became a permanent member of the party.

The years passed as the group wandered and adventured from place to place. Sometimes they would stay at one place for a long while, and at others only short periods of time. During this time the boy would learn all about the wanderers life and the skills needed to survive and navigate the dangerous over world. Along with these practical skills Pat and Lane imparted lessons and ideas to the child that would help guide his thinking in the right direction and which would lay the foundations for learning User abiliities in the years to come.

The boy grew well and strong, and his mind grew evermore curious and inquisitive. Pat and Lane were always drowned in questions from the boy, he would ask small and big questions, and simple and complex ones too. They nurtured this tendency and fanned the spark that the boy had lit by himself. And as with every well grown child the size and aim of his questioning expanded until it reached the critical question.  After being on the run with Pat, Lane, and Al for some years and having witnessed the bare wastelands, the forgotten cities, and having had close calls with the recon units of the City Stations, the boy had a sobering thought. Why the world? Why is Old Earth like this? I cherish my time with Pat, Lane, and Al but why is it like this, and why are we always on the run?

One day while resting in a small house in the outskirts of a long forgotten suburb, the boy sparked a conversation up with Pat.

“Pat, why is Old Earth like this? Why is everything dead, why is the surface full of robot cities and why is there barely any of us left. Lane showed me a book, and there was a picture with grass, and trees, and flowers, and people having fun and playing, and there was water, so much water. Lane said the world was like that everywhere before!”

“What do you think happened?” Pat smiled.

The boy put on his thinking cap and thought as hard as he could.

“Obviously bad things happened! I think the machines and the people from the robot cities don’t want to be friends, cause I’m friends with Al, and I know you said he’s different, but I still like Al. I think that they don’t like other people, or trees, and flowers, and green things, or playing, or life because they’ve killed it all. They think something else is more gooder, because everyone does things that they think are good! Wait, then does that mean someone thinks these things are good! But what do you think Pat.”

”You’re very right. Old Earth ended up this way because of people. The humans of long ago didn’t understand the power that they held, or worse they knew exactly what power they held. But in their error, ignorance, and selfishness they worked for, they dreamed of, and wished for a world just like this to come about. The secret is that every true thought and wish works its way into reality if you let it.”

The boy then connected the dots of the lessons and ideas that Pat and Lane had been teaching him recently, and had a small epiphany.

“Wait Pat, is this why you’ve taught me all about the mind and thoughts!?”

“Yes” Pat smiled, he was happy to see the boy growing and coming to realizations all on his own.

“Now a small test, whats the first rule of conduct that you must be aware of.” Pat asked

The boy thought for a moment and answered, “The first rule of conduct is that every thought, every wish, and everything you focus on is as real as this table here. These will directly impact the world in the realest sense!” the boy slammed his fist on the wooden table between them to make a point, “CACHUNK. CACHUNK” the table rang out.

“Good, and the second rule?” Pat asked,

“The second rule of conduct is based on the truth of the first. You must be careful with your thoughts, and ideas, and attention. You must train on guiding your focus to the things of your choosing since they will directly impact the world.”

“And lastly?” Pat asked

 “The last rule is based on the truth of the first 2. You should dedicate yourself to the highest good, to God whenever possible, and let the good flow and act through you because everyone comes with a little good in them. You should focus your attention on these things.”

“Good!” Pat was surprised at the boys growth.

Then the boy remarked “I think I kinda of get it now, there are people who thought of and wanted to make the world like this. But what were those peoples wishes and why did they want to make a world like this in the first place?” 

Pat pondered the answer. He was glad the boy was asking so many interesting questions, they must have been building up within him for some time. He had only taught the boy how to think, and let the boy’s own curiosity and wonder guide him, because Pat knew that the truth lied dormant within all of us. The answer to the boys question was complicated, it spanned a number of subjects. The answer involed the progression of creation in the physical world, its bringing about of consciousness, the subsequent blooming of humanity upon Old Earth, free will and with it the introduction of good and evil, the necessity of a place to relegate evil, and a place to relegate the good for the continued living processes of reality. Pat rubbed his brows with his thumb and index finger. Where could he start? This was a hard task.

“The first thing to understand is this. The ongoing march of creation submerged our ancestors ever deeper into the physical world and disconnected him from the spiritual fabrics stitching all of life and reality together. The disconnect from the very forces that created Man caused him to grow a deep mistrust of everything without, he then dove deeper into himself. It was then that mans ‘I’ was able to sprout out and that he was finally able to say with conviction, “I think therefore I am”. But now it was ‘I’ against the world, and this world was one were man found himself lost and severed from, and there was a deep fear in this. But humanity found that they could mechanize the world and mimic the harmony of the heavens here on Old Earth. With their constructs, machines, theories, and formulas they felt that they could control and regulate a portion of the world around them, things seemed understandable and under their control and there was comfort in this. Some of the fear subsided. From this mechanization and with the mastery of the material they built up a new world view and spirituality.

Truth be told, there was nothing wrong with these abstractions that man had built for himself, but humanity took this too far. They soon started to find solace in mistaking the ongoing march of creation with abstractions, mathematical functions, algorithms, and theories. They based their whole lives around these dead ideas and with what they could only touch and see directly. You can see how a belief like this binds the mind and confuses it. You can’t touch your thoughts, ideas, or intuitions and all of a sudden you start doubting even these. Man even grew cautious and weary of his own mind and started to regulate, control, and govern it. But this was only a phase in the history of humanity and it passed on.”

“Wait Pat, what do you mean? The unseen and spirit is all around us, every single one of us can at least sense and perceive it.” the boy said as he spread his arms wide.“Be serious now, no one could possibly have believed that functions, algorithms, and theories built up the universe, haha.” The boy laughed. Pat’s jokes always fell flat but this was simply too amusing, but Pat didn’t say anything and his face remained unfazed. The boy fell silent. Pat continued

“A small subset of people remained trapped in the old ways and couldn’t move past the physical and what was outside of themselves. In an ironic turn of events the forces that would keep humanity pinned down to the physical world descended upon the very men who denied the existence of these same forces and spirits. These lost ones minds are guided to mechanize the world, and they mistake the growth and expansion of their cities with real growth and creation. They’ve gained their wish, but in doing so they’ve cut their ties with whats to come. Starman in the sky is an incarnation of this worldly force.”

The boy thought of the code of conduct rules 1 and 2, that words and thoughts help in creating the world, and if you continuously think of the physical as the only true reality, then.

“Does this mean that if you only see the physical world as everything then everything becomes only a thing, and nothing really matters?”

“Hmm, what do you mean?”

“Well, good actions and intentions don’t sprout up from the ground so that you can take them in hand and use them, even evil actions for that matter. They come from the higher worlds, don’t they Pat? So if you only believe in things then everything is only a thing, right! Even your good intentions and ideas become just little marbles bouncing around in your head don’t they!” The boy giggled.

“I never thought of it that way, but yes. The lost ones did end up taking this idea too far. Since people were just things to them, they took dark, horrid actions against their brethren and the world. These actions were done in the name of their good, things of which I can’t even begin to speak about. People were used and physical constructs and automations were built to feed and sustain the worldly desires of this group of people, and dare I say they succeeded. But what they built for themselves is a prison and a hell. But remember, this was only a tiny portion of humanity, the good creation continues in full strength on New Earth. The dregs and leftovers will remain here on Old Earth.”

The boy was still making sense of it all. “But what happens here on Old Earth, what is it really?”

“Evil forces and all that would destroy and maim can’t live alongside ongoing life, they must be relegated and placed somewhere while the universe continues to spiritualize. These forces are cast down into the fiery pit that they wanted and built for themselves. This pit is Old Earth. It was once green, beautiful, and lush, but now it’s the shell and the tossed away chrysalis from which New Earth has emerged.” Then a story came to mind, a story that Pat had been told many years ago and related to what they were speaking about. He wanted to tell the boy this story. “Do you want to hear a story?”

“Yes, I do! I have one last question though, why did people have to believe only in the physical and materialism? You’ve said everything has a reason before.”

“Humanity by necessity NEEDED to descend to the very depths of the material so that nothing else was apparent to them! A being can only say ‘I’ when fully ensouled in the densest of bodies, they must be completely severed from the spiritual world around them. Our ancestors arrived to this point, they arrived to the Trough of the Material. Do you know why we can see the spirit around us even in our bulky bodies now? Our ancestors did an unimaginable work. They took their ‘I’, and their ’will’ and they chose the higher, and the spirit. The actualization of this inborn faculty then began in all of man. To unbind and free the spiritual capacities that creation once possessed but necessarily lost has been the work of Man on Old Earth. Creation is now on the ascension from the Trough of the Material, what comes next happens on New Earth.”

“But how did the ancestors know about these things if we couldn’t see them before.” the boy asked.

“Remember the Trough of the Material. Spirit and the march of creation condensed from the outside in to create the material. Before this lowest point the ancestors of our ancestors were still in touch with the spirits of the world. The gods of lightning, of fertility, of life, of death, of war, of rebirth were still real, perceptible, and lived alongside them. Man has kept this memory of the past alive within him.

Also, during the greatest inflection points in the history of Man he is visited by guides that have come down from above and are Spirit incarnate. These guides have shown us a glimpse of the future of man should we choose it. Our last guide came right before the Trough of the Material, and he revealed to humanity that a time would come that these same forces that created him could be actualized from within and not only from without. Yes, humanity, the golden thread of creation, is endowed with this potential.

Our ancestors actualized this spiritual capacity through struggle, doubt, and persecution. Their unwavering will was the bridge needed to cross between the spirit and the physical.”

“I think I kinda get it.” The boy said. “I still want to hear your story though, I didn’t forget.”

“Alright, well here it goes. Once upon a time there was a mighty king who ruled a boundless kingdom that had no border. He was bore three sons whom he loved and who he greatly wished to rule alongside with, but being wise with years the king decided on an initiation and a challenge first. When they were children the king sent his sons to a faraway land closed in on all sides by high waters, mountain ranges, and icy walls that reached as high as the clouds. On this faraway land, called Consacro, the children would live, learn, create, explore, and one day blaze a trail out in search of their inheritance. 

Being most generous the king sent his most trusted advisors, knights, wizards, and all manner of contraptions to his sons, so that they might be of use to them in all their ventures and make their expedition to their boundless and rightful kingdom a trivial matter. The years passed and the children grew. Through daily toil, fresh mountain air, and the long arduous training of martial arts from the bravest knights, and the training of the mind and words from the wisest spell casters, the young princes became men of most renown. They were known high and low for their virtue and mighty strength in body, heart, and mind as no other men were known before or after.

In short time the youngest and middle born son set forth with eyes ablaze on an expeditions past the ice walls and to the kingdom of their father that they might know and rule under him, and so it was. Things with the eldest son were different, it came to pass that the eldest son’s most trusted advisor had betrayed him. A seed of evil and corruption had sprouted in the heart of this advisor, and he devised a plan. He knew that he could never rule the entirety of the kingdom, but with the eldest son they could rule this land of Consacro together, so with evil in his heart he poisoned his liege with fear, doubt, and suspicion using his venomous words and spells. The eldest son’s heart languished. It would come to pass that he would never step foot into his father’s kingdom.

The king caught wind of the betrayal. At once he sent all manner of messengers to talk sense into his eldest son and turn him away from his misled ways, but all to no avail. Even with the full truth of the matter known to him the eldest son fell deeper into his mistaken ways. He was already far too deep into the pit, the light of grace was only a twinkle of light above and he could not climb and reach it. At the same time the corrupting influence of the evil advisor continued. Soon the eldest son knew himself to have been stripped of all freedom. Many of the subjects in Consacro were oblivious to the nefarious events that were occurring and they lived their lives happy and free. It pained the eldest son to see his subjects have what he could not, they all had a glimmer and light still left in their eyes. In the eldest son’s envy he subjected his people to an iron rule and took from them all that made them free, for it gave the eldest son pleasure to see his subjects suffering as he did. In fact, it eased his own suffering to devour and cannibalize upon the spirit of life and freedom of his own people.

The world was not ignorant of the evil erupting from Consacro. The rule of the eldest son was recognized since he was son of the king of all, but so that evil should not spread to all the kingdom it was decided that Consacro be sealed and put away from the rest of the world. A flurry of snow, ice, and rock was sent from above to the tops of the snowy cliffs and the ice walls surrounding the land of Consacro. The day came when the ice walls and the mountains had reached the the heavens themselves, and since that day no man or creature has been able to enter or leave the land. It is now known as the Forsaken Land.” With that Pat finished the tale. 

The boy was self absorbed in the tale as he tried to feel out the truth in the words that were being spoken. Images and revelations flashed into his minds eye as his sense of intuition scoured the tale with its feelers in an attempt to understand it. Then Pat left the boy alone for a time. The boy gazed out the window as he circled back on parts of the story, for some reason it seemed to blend into this reality very closely. When the boy asked Pat where he had heard the tale, Pat replied.

“It’s an old story that I heard when I was a boy. I added a couple pieces of my own, but I wanted you to hear it. You know sometime I think that truth is best told in stories. A statement or a couple words are too crude and only lend a single angle and perspective, and woe to the man that takes a single perspective for his ultimate truth.”

“Thats…. true? But isn’t that a single perpective.” The boy said. Both the boy and Pat erupted in laughter at the irony. They settled down, and the boy continued.

“I was thinking about the story, and I thought about us.”

“What about us?”

“Well, I love spending time with you, Lane, and Al, but I was thinking why were we born at the end of Old Earth’s evolution. Why weren’t we born on New Earth? Then I thought of your story, and I thought to myself that maybe we’re the messengers that the king has sent to the evil son?”

Pat grinned at the comment and he rustled the boys hair. “Maybe, maybe.” Pat said

The man remembered this conversation with Pat when he was only a boy, he remembered how Pat had rustled his hair and how he smelled of sweat and robot oil from all his tinkering, but how comforting and familiar that scent of his father was, even now the memory of it warmed the man to his core.

Years passed and the boy matured. It was during these later years that Pat and Lane would teach the boy everything they knew. Pat taught him how to meditate, how to calm the mind, and how to focus the attention. The boy quickly mastered these and many other basic principles at which point the boy was taught the more advanced consciousness techniques that were common during that time. These techniques allowed for the conscious manipulation of certain matter in the physical world. Lane on the other hand was well versed in even more advanced techniques that allowed for the basic manipulation of the life and energy fields that surround all living creatures. It was these abilities that she had used to heal the boys crushed leg when they had found him, though a limp remained. She passed these techniques on to the boy after he had mastered Pat’s teachings.

Chapter 5 – Last Days With Pat and Lane

The mans last days with Pat and Lane started when he noticed a small pain creep into his body and make its way to his heart and mind, it stung deeply. He noticed then, that Pat and Lane seemed very downcast and lethargic. Something was wrong but he wasn’t sure what. A couple of days later Lane, Pat, Al and the boy had a meeting between all of them. Lane started.

“We’ve been together 8 years now haven’t we, look at you, and how big you’ve grown!” she said to the boy tenderly. Lane paused and looked at Pat for confirmation, Pat nodded.

“Me and Pat have been thinking. During all our travels we’ve found coordinates for safe havens all across the country and we wanted to come up with a plan on how we might get there.” Lane took out a giant map and placed it on the table.

“Pay attention now. I’ve marked everything on this map. Here is the X and it marks the spot and the safe haven we had in mind. It’s a vast open space and used to be a grassy prairie long ago. These black circles are the locations of the surrounding City Stations. Here’s Jupiter specifically which is going to be the closest one.” Lane used a pen to point to the different locations of interest, the black circles were sprawling all over the map, they connected with each other at various points and looked like an intricate spiders web from afar. The boy studied the map and another space caught his eye, it was a wide open valley surrounded by hills and mountains on all sides. Lane continued.

“These green lines here are going to be the path to take, they’re the safest and the furthest away from any danger, and these blue dots are good places to gather resources. Cross the wastelands just like we do now, slow, weary, and alert to the skies, and remember that theres a time to hide, a time to run, and a time to fight. Remember to practice what Pat and I have taught you every day, it’ll keep you healthy, strong, and safe. Al has all this information memorized and he’ll always be there to help you.”

“This is true, I’ll always help how I can.” The giant robot man said in agreement.

“But Lane, why now all of a sudden?” the boy interrupted.

“Me and Pat won’t be with you always.” Lane glanced a knowing look at Pat.

“Listen up, if you ever find yourself in the darkest of places know that everything will be alright. There will always be light in the world. Ingrain this into your heart, mind, and soul. Take a deep breath, and remember your training. You’ll know exactly what to do, I have no doubt in you.”

Pat and Lane must have had a sense and a premonition of the future. A week passed when the group received a distorted distress signal.

“H——lpp Pl-e—e. H—”

The signal came through from Al’s internal transponder, it had come directly from City Station Jupiter. The boy noticed that Pat and Lane seemed relieved and distressed at the same time.

“We found them” Lane said quietly. “Yes” Pat said.

“Whats going on? I don’t understand.” The boy asked alert and afraid.

“Ohh, you’re so young and still growing” Lane said “When you’re older you’ll be able to hear and feel them too, it’s something that comes with time, this is why we’ve been on edge so much the past week. Perhaps you’ve already felt something?”

“I don’t know, theres maybe something small, I’ve felt a pain and a sting in my heart and mind this past week, I don’t know why though. But what do you mean hear and feel them too?” the boy asked earnestly. Pat and Lane looked at each other in surprise. Lane answered.

“Well, everyone else silly. How do you think we knew where to search for you in the wreck inside the bucker? Your suffering is our suffering, your joy is our joy. We’ve sensed something terrible, Pat and I, this past week, something unspeakable, and it seems that you’ve gotten a sense of it too. We can’t rest until we ease their pain because it’s our pain too, their relief will be ours. This message we received, this is them and it came directly from within Jupiter.”

“Are you two going?” the boy knew the answer, but he asked regardless.

“Yes.” Lane said quietly.

The duo sent a local broadcast for help the next morning. The whole group had a curt goodbye, then Pat and Lane went to investigate the signal from Jupiter. Pat and Lane would never return. The boy knew that he needed to get up and continue his journey. He packed light bringing only the bare necessities except for a small trinket with a photo of him, Pat, and Lane. The boy also brought a bag of seeds that Lane had left behind, he then marched out into the wasteland with Al.

The pain and sting that the boy felt in his heart and mind continued, then a week passed after Pat and Lane had left. It was after this week that the stinging pain suddenly subsided, immediately the boys eyes reddened, turned bloodshot, and the tears started flowing down his face. Pat and Lane had found the suffering person and helped them, but he knew that they were gone now. The boy couldn’t believe it at first, why did Pat and Lane leave him behind, and why did they go? The boy felt abandoned, left, and forgotten, but he knew that this wasn’t the case. In fact the boy felt guilty because he harbored such resentment towards Pat and Lane in the first place. The truth was that they had saved him, loved him as their own, and given him all that they could, but he injured the memory of them because of his selfishness. In the middle of his turmoil the boy remembered the words that Lane had spoken before leaving.

“There will always be light in the world. Ingrain this into your heart, mind, and soul. Take a deep breath, and remember your training. You’ll know exactly what to do, I have no doubt in you.”

The words echoed in his ears. The boy wiped his tears away and took a deep breath and remembered his training. The angst, fear, and suffering subsided in the following weeks as he continued to practice the skills and the exercises that he had learned from Pat and Lane. The boy afterwards found that in death his parents were in some ways more alive and closer to him then ever. His memory of them now burned more ardently, and their instructions, reproofs, and corrections seemed to continue just as before. It was during this time that the boy gained the ability that Lane had spoken of. The ability to feel and connect to the life around him, for they say that the eye must shed tears before it can see.

Chapter 6 – The Vision

It had been 7 years now since the man had planted the Twinkle Tree. During this time, everything in the mans life had been routine, but unseen forces were slowly converging and would soon collide to bring about events that would solidify the history of Old Earth and bring about the last chapter in the man’s life. The first of these events had occurred the night before and it was a startling premonition and vision that had come to the man. The vision was dreamlike and surreal but the man had felt it, touched it, and seen it, and he couldn’t tell if it was a dream or if it really happened, or if maybe it was something in between.

The man remembered strolling through the nursery right as the sun was going down. Through the trees, a stones throw away, he saw a dark figure shifting through the shadows and when he laid his eyes upon it the figure approached. There was an eery, mysterious air about this strange visitor as it sauntered towards the man, it had the shape of a person but a malleable shadow like body. The figure stopped short of the man and the man beheld it. There was no fear in him but rather a calm and a knowing, he even recognized this encounter, and it seemed like a deja vu of sorts. The figure was tall, lanky and sturdy and was neither man nor woman. It was unclothed and it refracted a kaleidoscope of light as the evening sun bounced off its watery shadow like body. But its most striking feature was the mask that it donned. The mask was pure gold and had the imprint of a serene and peaceful Buddha man, it had a round head with closed eyes and rotund cheeks. Behind the mask the man could make out a pure white light shining through the gaps. The figure then made the sign of the cross and spoke.

“I’ve come. The time is now and all has been prepared.”

With a sweeping motion of its hand the shadow brought forth 3 chalices that were suspended in the air. The first was made of Lead and in its center was a Red Gem, the second was made of Silver and in its center was a Yellow Gem, and the last chalice was made of Gold and in its center was a Green gem and underneath an inscription that read.

“ARE YOU

WILL YOU”

The shadow continued.

“Long ago you gave your body up as dead, and your body was no more. With this the first chalice will be filled.”

Images of the mans boyhood came to him and he remembered being trapped under rubble in that liminal space between life and death, he had given himself up for dead until Pat, Lane, and Al had arrived. After a brief time the images disappeared from thought. The shadow then made a lifting motion with one hand and with the other made a cutting movement above the chalice of lead. In that instant the man felt strength return to the leg that had once been crushed and his limp was gone. The red gem on the lead chalice now glowed brightly.

“Long ago you were consumed by suffering, fear, and anger, but you mastered these. All emotions henceforth have been reconciled and are under your authority. With this the second chalice will be filled.” Grief filled the mans heart and he remembered how he had travelled the wastelands in a daze and stupor after Pat and Lane had left him. He remembered the suffering, the anger, and the fear of his loss, of loneliness, and of an uncertain future. After a brief moment the mans heart was light as a feather once more. Then from the shadows palm an object appeared, it was the mans treasured trinket that had the image of him, Pat, and Lane. The shadow took this and placed it into the Silver chalice, the man was undisturbed by its loss. The yellow gem on the silver chalice now glowed brightly.

“The last sacrifice has come, with the power and the seal of the word will the last chalice be filled.”

The shadow held the golden chalice to the man and spoke its inscription.

“Are you?” the shadow asked. “I am.” the man said.

“Will you?” the shadow asked and the man replied. “I will.”

A dead silence descended upon them. The shadow snatched the heavy silence from the air and placed it in into the Golden Chalice, then the man saw a faint inner light illuminating the shadow from within. The green gem now glowed brightly.

“The preparations are complete. We will come for you at the dawn of the new sun!”

The chalices were brought to a point, the metals dissolved, then came together to form a wooden cup. The 3 glowing gems were besides, the shadow took these and placed them into the wooden vessel and a blazing white fire consumed the gems from within. The wooden cup was handed to the man.

“Now drink of the living crucible!” The man took the cup and drank, everything went hazy and his consciousness left him.

The man awoke in bed the next day earlier than usual, his limp was gone and he was full of a vigor, strength, and lucidity he hadn’t known in many years. The man popped out of bed and did his rounds in the nursery then went out in stride to plant his 100 seeds at the forests edge. The man finished his tasks for the day much earlier than usual and returned to his home.

Chapter 7 – The Last Day

When the man arrived to his home he went to the Twinkle tree that he had planted 7 years ago. The tree was now taller than him with a beautiful crown of green, it had grown splendidly which was the only thing that the man had hoped for. It reminded the man of Lane. It was her favorite, and she always talked about finding a Twinkle Tree seed one day. There underneath one of the lowest branches the man focused his attention, a small cocoon was nestled there between some leaves, the same one that the man had spotted when the Twinkle Tree was just a sapling . The small cocoon lay dormant as the Twinkle Tree grew beside it. The man had never seen a butterfly before and he wondered to himself.

“What kind of amazing creature would emerge from this chrysalis!”

He had watched the cocoon as it continuously grew. Its colors and its size would change with the seasons and weather. Sometimes, very rarely, the cocoon would shake and wiggle from within, the man would watch expectantly at the hopeful emergence of this new life, but it never came. The wiggling would stop and the man thought that it had just transmuted an old part of itself into something completely new. The man had a secret desire that he didn’t admit, but he wanted to witness the moment when this transformed life would emerge from its chrysalis. The open skies would bid the newly hatched butterfly up to its rightful place and dominion. The pull of the heavens above would not be denied, and the butterfly in its eagerness would stretch its wings out and flap with due haste to its new home.

The man tried not to interfere with the chrysalis, but during the windiest storms or scorching hot days the man would use a cover to protect the chrysalis from the extreme weather. The man looked towards the day when he could welcome this new, small, innocent and beautiful life into the world. A life that had been budding, growing and readying itself for 7 years now. Its fight had been long, and arduous, and anything less than victory and life would be a tragedy.

Al was directly connected to the home, the nursery, and the surrounding area with all manner of devices and sensors. He had been watching the man intently, and had noticed the man going to the Twinkle Tree and the chrysalis many times before and so he finally asked.

“Sir, why don’t you help it out a bit, poke it open with a stick or something?”

“No, no Al. It’ll hatch when it’s ready to hatch. It needs to break free and fight its way out using its own energy, reserves, and power. It helps them build up the strength and the resilience they need for flight and life and without it their limbs and wings would carry no strength in them. If I were to open its chrysalis right now the poor creature would be born prematurely, deformed, and would fall to the ground to wither and die. The most I’ll do is protect it from the worst of the winds and the sun, there’s really no harm in that I think.”

“Ahhh, I think I understand now sir. Is it like the trees, bushes, and flowers that you plant? By my calculations it seems that the ones that are hit with moderate winds and gusts are better able to stand on their own and survive the first couple of years. Maybe its even similar to people too.”

“Yes Al, it’s similar to that,” the man said.

Al thought that it was rare for the man to talk, he hardly ever did. Now that the man was speaking, Al wanted to ask another question. Al liked to understand things that he didn’t understand, and the man was an enigma just as Pat and Lane had been enigmas before him. Most of the mans choices Al would never have taken. They were simply too inefficient, unproductive, and unnecessary, but still something about them felt right and Al couldn’t comprehend it. It was Al’s bio-compute brain that most certainly felt this tension and correctnes to the mans actions, and that was the most probable explanation. 

“Sir, I have another question. We haven’t seen any other people in decades now, do you think that you might be the last?”

The man had thought about this exact question before.

“Sir?”

“I think so Al, I think there’s very few of us left and I might just well be the last one.”

The man closed his eyes and focused for a moment.

“I haven’t been able to sense anyone near or far for many years now.”

Al was satisfied that his calculation and hypothesis was corroborated by the man and he continued with his questions.

“Sir, Pat and Lane used to say that humanity here on Old Earth was the golden thread of creation. They said that humanity had learned and evolved as much as it could here and now it had moved onto New Earth to be part of the next creation, is this true? If this is true, why haven’t you gone to New Earth yet?” After Al had spoken, a sudden irrational thought popped into Al’s hybrid organic-mechanical mind, and he blurted out.

“And do you think Sir, that I can go to New Earth too?”

Throughout the years Al’s questions never failed to surprise the man, it was like a child speaking about things that he should have no conception of, but here he was. The man knew that Al had betrayed Jupiter City Station close to 200 years ago, and that he had decided to venture into the wasteland after wreaking havoc within the City Station. As fate would have it, Al met some patient souls that took an interest him and had taken him in. He has since been passed down from generation to generation. The man didn’t know the details of Al’s defection but he could tell that the robots intuitions and mind leaned towards his organic human side. The man responded to Al’s question about New Earth.

“Those things that Pat and Lane said about New Earth, they’re all true Al, and I haven’t gone to New Earth because it’s not my time to go yet. Everything in its due time.” Then the man thought about Al’s possibility of going to New Earth and said.

“And about you going to New Earth, I suppose you could Al. I don’t see why not. Say, I have a question of my own. I know that you don’t like speaking about it, but why did you leave and rebel against Jupiter City Station?”

Al never spoke about this even when Pat and Lane had asked him, the reason was simple, Al’s answer was irrational, had no logic, and only an inner intuition to it. This confused and was in direct contradiction to Al’s mechanical machine mind, and so he previously refused to talk about it. But now, the giant robot man was giddy and his synapses and transistors lit up at the thought that he too could go to New Earth.

“One day I met a unit from command that changed my perception of everything” Al explained. “He was like you Sir, and had a human shape to him but he was not human at all, just the remains and shadow of something that was once alive. I couldn’t help myself and even though he was my leader I had an overwhelming feeling of disgust. This creature was debilitating, feeble, and sick and I had a feeling that everything he touched was of the same makeup including the City Station itself. How could I revere something like that Sir, tell me? I couldn’t, as much as I tried. After this event, a persistent nagging disturbed my peace night and day telling me that something was very wrong in the City Station and that there was something much greater outside of its confines. Yet during all this time my machine mind conveyed to me how illogical it was that I should harbor ill will against the City Station and those that had fashioned my mind and body and given me my purpose as a sweeper unit. I couldn’t handle this contradiction between my biological and mechanical minds, and so I went to sleep within the city for years at a time. After many decades like this I had, like a flash of lightning, a single moment of clarity. I decided right then that I would side with the forces of organic life within me. These inner senses from my organic bio mind were at every moment being devoured and drowned out in the maws of Jupiter City Station. I immediately set out in order that I might guard and expand these inner guiding sentiments. Although I must say, that due to my inability to observe or run calculations on these sentiments, feelings, images, and ideas, everything that I’ve done from then till now remains irrational, Sir. ” 

The man took a moment to reflect. Al had never let any of this known before. The small piece of humanity that Al had within him had overridden much of what was machine in him. Here was part of a man trapped in the confines of a physical body.

“Nothing about it is irrational, it’s a great answer and a fine reason Al.”

“I knew you would say this, Sir. Very irrational to think so.”

The man gave a hearty laugh at Al’s response, it was certainly a joy to have this child like robot around.

It was a calm beautiful evening as the Sun made its way below the horizon, the last of the days warmth was at hand. The trees and flowers furled themselves in as a chilly steady wind blew past the nursery, this was the rhythmic breathing of the forest as it prepared for the night. The days retreat continued as the horizon turned a fiery ruby red near the Sun, above this red was a broad stroke of yellow then one of emerald green and finally a deep sea blue swallowed the rest of the sky. Clouds that soaked in and reflected the last of the suns light were scattered all abroad. Both Al and the man watched and listened intently as the days symphony finally came to an end, there was no effort to comprehend or understand it, only the deep desire to let into their inner being just an instant of the magnificent symphony they were now experiencing. How wonderful it would be to join and play in this eternal resounding song!  The Sun submerged itself completely into the underbelly of the world and those precious moments that Al and the man experienced seemed to slip through the fingers like grasping at a ghost or an image, but both knew that the Sun would rise anew.

It was moments like this that Al thought of most fondly, it was life and truth experienced, and it overrode the mechanical portion of his mind. Al was grateful that he had made his way out of the black pit of the City Station and into the hands of humanity. The people and friends that he had met along the way had gifted him vitality, life, and light. Al remembered his time in Jupiter City Station when he lived in a storage sarcophagus for years at time, he would have traded just a day out here with the man then a century in the clutches of the City Station. Here in the luminous over world, humanity never failed to amaze Al with its unbound potential and possibility, the man had already showered him with a flurry of surprises. Decades ago the man had settled into this valley where there was nothing but dirt, rock, and dead soil, nothing could grow or live here. To Al’s surprise, after several years, an oasis of life had erupted out of the man’s unrelenting and selfless work, but how? Al couldn’t say. According to Al and his calculations the soil was dead and had 0% of the biome needed to sustain life, nothing could grow in the valley, and this was an indisputable fact, but Al was proved wrong. The man’s very presence enlivened the land with possibility and life. No bounds had ever held Pat, Lane, or the man back, and Al knew that he should no longer be surprised at anything, for the facts had revealed themselves. Al had learned long ago that there was more to the world than his logic, rigid intellect, dogmatic science, calculations and his machine circuits.

Chapter 8 – The Search Begins

The reconnaissance units engines powered on and crackled with life. The squad of 6, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 rose up from their lift off pads and ascended into the sky. From their birds eye view the City Station sprawled out and blackened the horizon on every side, not a glimpse of its end could be seen. Never before had the City Station Jupiter been of such an immense size. The units turned and made way towards their assigned scouting location for the day. The 6 reconnaissance units flew over the great City Station Jupiter, passing and weaving through a maze of large looming skyscrapers made of the blackest metals. The City Station was alive and well. Below the units could see the glimmer of electrical arcs as the manufacturing units worked at assembling their new brethren. All around the manufacturing sector, pieces and components arrived by air and land from the transportation units, there were thousands of these units in the air and ground crossing up, and over each other, and going in all manner of directions. It was an awesome sight to behold such logistical precision, and efficiency at its finest. Up ahead a little further a warm fiery glow lit up the adjacent buildings and towers, black fiery plumes of smoke rose up from a deep pit in the ground. In it could be seen the refinement and processing units hard at work. These units took the precious metal ores from the body of Old Earth and processed them, shaped them, and molded them to the exact specifications given to them by the design units. The reconnaissance units swept to the left, then up and right to avoid the path of a transport line. The recon units forged on ahead to their destination and left behind them the whole of the manufacturing and processing sector.

The reconnaissance squad shortly entered the command sector, it could be identified by the massive rectangular monument that jutted up from the ground and forcibly imposed itself upon the heavens. Its peak reached higher then the lowest set clouds above. The command sector was the de facto heart and soul of City Station Jupiter. Here was the center and the seed from which everything around it grew and aligned itself with. The direction and future of City Station Jupiter started and ended at the command sector. Situated inside this great dreary monolith were the command units, the units in charge of guiding and directing the City Station as a whole. The orders from the command units were final and considered law, all other units were subject to it and with good reason. Without the command units gracious guidance from inside the dark all seeing monolith none of the amazing progress and expansion down below could  have ever been realized. The reconnaissance units balked in awe, admiration, and gratitude at the very sight of the towering command sector monument.

All newer units are made with pure computation units, and instilled with a sense of awe, mystery, and gratitude towards those in the command sector. This artificially instilled sentiment of gratitude was not always there. It was only placed into units after the Great Jupiter Rebellion which occurred 167 years ago. Before this time, bio-compute units were still in wide use across City Stations. The City Station was built according to precise simulations so that all units within would naturally come to feel gratitude and appreciation for the City Station. The idea in those times was that the organic portion of a units computation processor would naturally come to feel appreciation and gratitude to the City Station as its creator and home. The marvel of a city was so broad and expansive, and all the possible needs of any one unit could be satisfied by simply connecting to the JWN (Jupiter Wide Network). Because of this, it was determined by the command sector that the marvels within the City Station were more then plenty to earn the faith and allegiance of all units residing within them.

This notion was the case for many uncountable years until the Great Jupiter Rebellion 167 years ago. It was led by the confounded and misguided notions of sweeper unit Al (3NX47AL). Al infected most bio-compute units in his sector with a potent virus of living memories, and sentiments that he had experienced in what seemed to be a sort of revelation. This alone garnered him a massive following, but alarms were immediately raised and the uprising was quickly put to rest. Al and a few other rebellious units were never found in the aftermath of the havoc that had ensued. After this disastrous event the command sector revised planning, all ‘tainted’ bio-compute units were to be immediately decommissioned and destroyed in full. Many of the remaining ‘untainted’ bio-compute units were also wiped out except a handful of units that were deemed faithful to the City Station. This decision to delete bio-compute units had a secondary effect, and this was that hardly any bio organic material was left. What remained of the organic material was locked away for use by command sector units exclusively. 

Then another unexpected disaster occurred nearly 6 decades ago. A human resource managed to reanimate itself during the harvesting process and escaped into the City Station and managed to send out a distress signal. Within a week of this event, 4 humans stormed Jupiter’s bio-compute sector with a vicious offensive. All the intruding humans exhibited traits of lvl 4-5 users. They swept in like a bolt of lightning and the whole bio-compute sector was torn asunder from the ground up. In their attack they managed to wake up all of the suspended organic human resources within the sector, and a massive battle ensued. The intruding humans were powerful beyond belief and their numbers were only bolstered by the organic resources that they managed to wake. In a decision to prevent further losses to the City Station the Command sector ordered the ignition of a miniature fusion bomb in the vicinity. Everything in the surrounding area was eviscerated, and with this the last stores of organic bio material in Jupiter was gone. It must be noted that though lab grown material can be created, its quality is of a vastly lower spec and its uses are limited. Analysis and research is still ongoing on why lab grown and organic bio material are of such differing quality.

The recon units left the command sector monolith behind and continued to forge ahead. Time flew by and in a short order they had covered hundreds of miles all within the City Station walls. Finally they came to the border of Jupiter and entered the vast open wasteland. The raw and empty land below is a waste and put to use in the most inefficient manner, but in time all of of it will be integrated into the great City Station Jupiter, only then would it be redeemed for all its uselessness, the units thought as they flew by. Every square inch that they now flew by had already been scanned and reviewed, their destination lied further still. The rolling hills and plains that they passed didn’t have a single blade of grass, any budding life that had existed before had been evaporated. The city station had made sure of this with the sanitation units scouring the lands below. The units reached the edge of the mapped out lands and it was here that their mission really started, to scan the 2,000 square miles of land up ahead to the minutest detail. In the search box was an array of terrain to cover that included plains, hills, and a mountain range with a massive enclosed valley in the center of it . The search commenced.

Chapter 9 – Al and Pat

The man was still seated as he and Al watched the days last light, in one moment to the next the sky was dark. No moon was out today and only the glimmer of the stars covered the heavens, but this wouldn’t last. The man saw a bright bolt of lightning far away and heard a thunderous boom seconds later. Clouds swept in and flooded the sky and even the faint star light was scoured out. The man looked to the sky and a drop of rain landed on his brow. 

“It is come.” He said

The sky answered the man with a drizzle of rain that swept past the whole valley, the ground became wet and the air was filled with a damp bone chilling cold. The night was quickly becoming much colder and darker then the man had ever experienced before, even the rain shivered at the cold and soon snowflakes started to descend. The man sat at his table all the same and finished the last of his tea in peace.

Al was watching the man as he sat there. There was something different about him today although Al couldn’t exactly point it out. Even the day seemed a little strange and different now. Snow had started to fall and a thin layer of it covered the man from head to toe. The snow drift swept to the side as strong gusts of wind tore through the nursery. The plants were rattled from leaf to stem and the man looked around suddenly as if waking from a daydream. He stood up and made his way to the lowest branch of the Twinkle Tree to where the small butterfly cocoon was. The man covered the cocoon with a small makeshift windbreaker that he fixed to the branch. Al noticed that the man gave this small growing chrysalis especially careful attention, and so Al too gave it especially careful attention. After much observation Al named it the eternal cocoon since it had survived against all odds and the flow of time. By all means it should have hatched or died long ago, but there it was stubborn and hardy as ever not giving too much care if it was sunshine or rain or summer or winter.

“It will hatch and come out when its good and ready” was Al’s newest opinion on the matter.

It had been 7 years since the man first noticed the chrysalis. What a strange creature, that it should take years to form itself. Through careful observation Al noticed that the butterfly and flower were very similar, they both have a similar life that streams into them, like 2 ponds fed from the same spring. Both take time to grow and mature those inner living forces until at last they’re transformed and pulled out into the world in an explosive expression of beauty, grace, and freedom. Memories of Pat flooded Al’s bio-compute processors, since it was Pat who had taught him these things.

Al had been living with Pat and Lane for many years when a certain feeling had started stirring within him, so one day he asked Pat about it.

“Sir, sir, sir!” Al exclaimed. “Yes?” Pat said.

“Lately I’ve been wondering about a feeling thats been growing inside me. I feel it when watching you, or Lane, or the boy. For example in Lanes tender care of her plants, or the boy. Sometimes it seems that all I know of her dissolves away. I also get this feeling when I see a blossoming flower, or the sunset, or when the group smiles and laughs, I feel something warm. I recognize that I’ve been affected by this and it fills and consumes my circuits and I’m unsure what to make of it, what is this Pat?”

“Curious thing that you are Al, lets see.” Pat said.

“What Lane is showing is love Al, and this is something good. I believe that you are experiencing and have a sense of what is good, and what is good is both true and beautiful. You recognize this and feel a warmth within you.”

“Interesting Sir. So the blooming flower, and the sunset, and love, and smiles and laughter is good?”

“Yes I think you have the internal compass that directs and allows you to recognize the good and the beautiful in the world, as irrational as you think it is. This comes from the human part of your bio-compute processor. ”

“I still don’t understand Sir.” Al said “What is good and beautiful?”

“The good is anything that is in harmony with the ongoing march of living creation and of what is eternal and true, and beautiful is the perception of the living revelation of what is eternal and true.

You see, self similar things have the ability to know and resonate with each others. Say we take 2 tuning forks that are similar, if we ring one, the other will resonate and ring as well. We humans have a bit of the eternal and the true within us, and so we’re able to resonate with the true and eternal things around us. This resonance gives us a sensation of warmth and the understanding that something is good, true, and beautiful. And if you really pay attention you see that EVERYTHING has a little bit of goodness and beauty within it.”

Al’s bio-compute brain was firing off and making connections.

“Then why did I not get this feeling from Jupiter City Station? The City Station has massive marvels and is a paragon of production. But I’m here and not there, what was the difference?”

“You didn’t get the warm feeling of goodness from Jupiter City Station because it turns away from the most eternal law, the law of love. The City Station tries to fulfill love by devouring and making everything outside itself its own. It believes that by doing this a union is achieved. But this is a blasphemy and a distortion of the principle of love. The City Stations will remain here on Old Earth because they resist and turn a blind eye to the impulse of living creation.”

“What is love?” Al asked.

“Everything is connected, and nothing is separate, this connection is simply love. Nothing would be here without this unifying, grounding, and harmonizing power. Love is the union and harmonizing of something outside yourself.” 

“I am beginning to understand Sir.”

Pat paused and looked at the metal robotic shell of Al before continuing.

“The City Stations and other powers that be refuse to accept or understand others, they only see and recognize themselves and this is a grave mistake. These forsaken ones inadvertently reject the life around them. With this a hell is made of their own wishes and fashioned by their own hands. They imprison themselves and create an impenetrable shell that no true life can enter through. Their hearts are closed, and their minds are dead, and no light and warmth radiates from them. The forsaken ones might give the false impression of life and movement, but they are dead, the walking dead. These forsaken ones are Starman, the City Stations and all those controlling things from within those bleak command centers jutting into the sky. Did you ever meet one, Al? One of those from the command center?”

“Sorry sir, I don’t wish to speak about such things.” Al remembered the visage of one of the walking dead.

Chapter 10 – Found

Tier 0 alerts and red danger signals snapped Al back from his memories to the present. Alarms and sensors that were placed at the perimeter of the valley were firing off! 2, 5, no 6 airborne bogies were detected overhead about 100 miles away approaching fast with a cruising speed of 260mph. Al called out to the man.

“Sir!! Bogies coming in from the North East, 6 of them!” 

“Thank you Al, how much time do you think we have?”

“These are just reconnaissance units scouting out the land, they’ve detected the forest and they’ll detect your life signals soon if they haven’t already.” Al paused. “Sweeper units will be here before dawn tomorrow if they find you.”

“I’ll get you ready, I’ll need your help after all.”  the man said as he walked towards his home,

“Of course, Sir, I’ll be happy to help.” Al exclaimed

The man approached a darkened corner of the home where a massive silhouette was outlined under the cover of tarps and sheets. The man pulled these dusty coverings off revealing an ominous metal humanoid armor underneath that was easily twice his height. The man went to a computer terminal close by and ran some wires from it and into input slots behind the broad back of the metal armor. He then walked back to the computer terminal and pressed some buttons and knobs.

“I’ve connected your armor to the terminal. I’m going to move you now, are you ready?”

“If you will.” Al said

At Al’s command the man pressed a flashing red button and a square cutout was raised from the terminal. Inside the cutout and resting on a stand was a transparent sphere the size of a small soccer ball. The inside of sphere revealed the most intricate and delicate pieces of machine processors on one side. On the other side was the organic processor unit which contained a piece of wrinkled flesh that folded upon itself, and underneath was a small beating heart that was much too small to have belonged to a grown individual. At the sight the mans heart squeezed and ached, and a righteous wrath was laid upon him. A human created world willing to build its foundation on the sacrifice and torture of an innocent child was one that would be rebuked and rejected totally. A world that punishes freedom and life and one that would fetter a child’s heart to mechanization, and to a hardness of heart and mind would whither and calcify away by its own callousness. Only slag would be left behind.

The man carefully brought the sphere out from its resting place and inserted it into the monstrous metal man besides. Lights from the metal man flashed on, it’s micro aether reactor came back online and a cloud of dust filled the air as the cooling fans activated. Servos whirred as they calibrated themselves, and then the massive 12 foot tall machine arose. Al’s sound module crackled with static as it was being tuned, then Al spoke.

“I will remain here connected to the valleys defenses until it is no longer beneficial to do so or if my help is needed outside. The reconnaissance squad has since increased speed and are now 60 miles from our location, permission to engage Sir?”

“Fire at will” said the man.

Chapter 11 – Search and Destroyed

It was pitch dark out with no moon or stars to help guide the reconnaissance squad, clouds had filled the sky and no trace of light remained. The squad passed the apex of a small mountain where a large and remote valley lay ahead. The valley was surrounded by a range of hills and mountains on all sides and had never before been mapped or scanned. The initial reading from the squads onboard sensors were unreal but after sensors had been reset the same results were brought up. What the squad found shook them. Up ahead in the center of the valley some 60 miles ahead was detected a vast and broad space filled and teeming with life, it was a forest. As the squad approached the forest, its size became more apparent, it was much larger then first anticipated and sat at around 1,600 square miles in space. Small structures that resembled living spaces were scattered throughout the land that acted as center points for the growth of the enveloping forest. The leader of the squad, R1, signaled to rest of the squad.

“R3 act as relay and patch this into command immediately!”

R3 swept back and retraced their route across the hills and flew up to the mountain apex that they had crossed. R3 circled this mountain top and acted as a relay node who patched the rest of his squads feed directly to command. The rest of the reconnaissance squad sped up to the center of the valley.

The squad had now flown 40 miles into the valley and scanned and datafied all the surrounding area, the data had been streamed to R3 to be sent to command. The most significant finding was a white hot patch of activity South West of their location, and deep in the forest. The readings were unmistakable, there was a human being down there along with a machine besides it. Whats more is that this machines reactor signature matched with one made in Jupiter City Station, it most resembled the AL Sweeper series, but there was no match for its compute processor readings. While making sense of these discoveries the squad members where alerted to a new tier 0 alert, electro-magnetic signatures were rapidly rising from within the small structures scattered across the forest, something was building up and fast.

A moment later piercing bursts of light flashed forth from the structures below. Before the squad could react R6 had a round punch through the heavily protected nose of its aircraft shell, most of the explosion and impact was contained by the heavy armor, but a sliver of the armor piercing needle penetrated the hull and pierced right through R6’s computation unit. Unit R6’s feed went black, the aircraft slumped down and was swallowed by the black forest below.

Unit R2 had 3 rounds knockout its turbine engine and all thrust was lost. In the next attack R2’s compute processor was pierced and disintegrated from a barrage of hyper rounds. It’s video feed went black and unit R2 fell from the heights down to Old Earth from whence it came.

The remainder of the squad dispersed into evasive maneuvers, though it would be to no effect. They would never make their way out from the valley. The dark skies were streaked with bands of fiery white lines and the booms and rumbles of hyper rounds as they hounded their prey and chased their targets. Unit R5 was next. Its tail was clipped and destroyed, R5 tried without success to gain altitude, it descended, crashed and met its end on the valley floor.

 In the midst of the destruction and commotion, unit R4 managed to turn and sweep back in the direction of the mountain that the squad had descended from. R4 rapidly gained altitude and turned towards the vertical, but this spelled its doom as its upper-side was left exposed. A streak of white flashed through unit R4’s cockpit and computation unit, its video feed went black, and it was swallowed up by the dark earth below.

Unit R1 was last, no round had reached it as its afterburners blazed it through the air. The hyper rounds stopped all together and it was dark and quiet, then unit R1 heard a deafening crunch from within its hull. Everything collapsed inward toward R1’s center and its wings and tail folded under a tremendous force, all this happened in moments. The pieces of metal scraped and ripped into each and a spark was lit near the fuselage, the fuel caught and the fiery remainder of unit R1 was swallowed by Old Earth below.

Unit R3, who had acted as a relay node made its way down the mountain in haste as soon as it had caught leader R1’s last transmission before its fiery demise. 

“Human, USER lvl 4 confir…..”

The whole scouting mission and every moment that had transpired was relayed over to the command sector for further investigation and decision making.

Chapter 12 – Reginald the Command Unit

Ad was in a state of suspended animation, it had been 17 months now since Ad had last been online. During the night, command had been keeping a close eye on a most eventful scouting mission, all recon units besides one had been destroyed in a valley far away, but not before transmitting what they had seen. What they had been seen was alarming and not seen in many years, a land brimming with life and whats more a human signature in the midst of it all. It was in then that Ad received orders for deployment. Command had made a decision with a slight change, since a human had been found, immediate action was needed and the sweeper units would be sent first to deal with the situation. Afterwards the sanitation units would prepare and sweep the area clean to get it ready for resource extraction. Ad was in sleep mode when the electrical signals fired into his bio-compute processor for deployment. He was to be made leader of the Sweeper squad for this particular sortie. Since this encounter with a human was unusual, Ad was patched in directly to Command for a hands on briefing. Ad had never seen a command unit before, they were so few in number, so up high, and so busy leading the City Station Jupiter that their whole existence was shrouded in mystery, only rumor and sayings existed about them.

The feed came in, it was static at first but the image cleared and a dim light revealed a most unnatural room. The room was spotless, smooth, and gray throughout. A small number of extraneous items adorned the space. The walls had paintings of the most ancient human origin, some of these Ad recognized from his data bank. A number of beautiful statues and pieces were also in the room atop stands and enclosed in glass, the space resembled a simple museum of times long past, but all these were hardly things that a unit would need, Ad thought. What was most captivating was in the center of the room where a unit sat at the end of a wooden table, a Command Unit. Ad watched quietly and didn’t speak until spoken too. The visage of the Command Unit was unusual and from Ad’s bio-compute processor a sensation of repulsion and disgust arose. The Unit was human sized and shaped, and contained fleshy parts and appendages. This one had a human eye, cheek flesh, and under the ribs and on the legs could be seen gray and rotting flesh. A number of tubules and wires ran from the machine frame and into its fleshy parts, presumably keeping those living parts barely functional.

In front of this unit was a plate with a small amount of organic mush and with a spoon it ate. Some of it dripped out of its half existing mouth and fell across its leg and the chair below. It was then that the Command Unit took notice of Ad and spoke to him.

“3NX79AD I presume. You’ve been chosen to lead this sweep mission, you’ve received the details already, but I wanted to personally brief you on some of the requirements for this mission. First we know that a human signature has been detected in the area, and so we will be adding a new objective to your mission. You must bring this human in alive by any means necessary, make this known to your squad and find a way accomplish this task, it is now your top priority. Do you have any questions 3NX79AD?”

“Yes sir, one question. We’ve confirmed that the human is a lvl 4 user at least, capturing him alive will be extremely difficult, many of our forces will be destroyed in the process and even then. In the case that we can’t capture him, do we have permission to sweep him with massive ordinance?”

The Command unit sighed.

“I will repeat myself again 3NX79AD. You must bring this human in alive by any means necessary! Your creation was made for this very moment and his capture will be of vital importance to Jupiter, your mind should be consumed by the very thought of his capture. Permission has been granted and anything and all is at your disposal to make this happen. Do not return without him, do you understand 3NX79AD?”

“Yes Sir.” Ad said

“Good, then that is all.”

The feed was cut and ended. Something stirred within Ad and all the doubts, questions, and confusions that he had asked before resurfaced with vengeance. Why was he here, what was he doing, why were the Command units portraying themselves as humans. Why did they want this new found human captured by any means necessary? Were the Command Units human, impossible? What were they doing in City Station Jupiter? Before Ad could ask anymore questions the latch to his storage sarcophagus snapped open, his terminal connection was cut, and the lid was lifted away. All internal systems activated, reactor core status was green and all modules were functional. The enormous 12 ft metal frame of Ad took a step into the outside world. Besides him and in front of him, rows of storage sarcophagi lids were being opened to reveal the rest of the sweeper squad that would be joining the mission. Ad commanded that 30 more units be added to the sortie. 50 pairs of glowing red eyes flashed in the darkness as the squad marched to the transport sector.

Back in the Command Sector, Reginald which was the name of the Command Unit, was finishing his meal. Most of the food had pooled below on the floor since Reginald had no jaw or stomach to process the food, the food would fall down through the crevices and the gaps in his metal frame. 

“Sensational” Reginald said.

He finished and sat there with his hands on the table, all the joy in eating had left him long ago but he liked to feign and pretend to eat since he could never let go of those sensations of when he was fully fleshed. Reginald had been alive for as long as he could remember, 100’s of years and maybe close to 1000, he couldn’t quite remember. Excitement filled Reginald at what the recon squad had found that day. It had been so long since he had last found new parts. You see throughout the years Reginald had needed to replace his body parts from time to time, specifically those pieces that had become too worn, too old, or useless. He could have replaced his delicate and fleshy body long ago and virtualized his mind, but the truth was that Reginald had refused to let go of some of his remaining original body. The remaining parts of his original body were a small portion of his brain while the rest had been virtualized inside of a compute unit, and a sliver of his heart. Reginalds heart pumped no blood and provided no purpose, but he had refused to part with it even then. It was simply due to his old sentiment that he had wanted to keep his remaining flesh alive. There was sadness and fear at the coming loss, but he had everything, and had eternity at his fingertips, what was there to lose but the weakness of the flesh? 

Reginald had done it! Through long arduous years and with the guidance of Starman he had defeated the body and had helped humanity advance to the pinnacle of creation. Life had been extended beyond all measure, the mind had been virtualized, biology had been transcended, sickness had been eradicated, and only the creation of paradise here on Earth was left. The unseen world was real and they had created it in the form of virtualized worlds. These worlds were created through the efforts of what would be called Project Eternal Phoenix. Here in these virtual worlds a person could be, and do, and live as they wished. They could make a paradise of their own design and live forever in eternity! The humans who had chosen to integrate with Eternal Phoenix were in the data stores of City Stations all across the globe. Reginald was tasked with the most important task of keeping Jupiters Data Store safe in the confines of the Command Sector. Reginald walked to one of his favorite art pieces, it was a man carving himself out of marble with a chisel and hammer in hand. The self made man was a fitting image for the humanity that he helped create, people were now gods and creators of themselves and their own worlds. 

Reginald’s heart stung and it pulsed with life just once, he reached for his chest and clenched his metal jaw. The last of his heart was nearing the end of its life even with all the life extending technologies, drugs, and medicines of the world. Reginald started pacing the room. He wished in that instant to cry, that tears might stream down his face, and that comfort and release would accompany those tears, but his single eye shed nothing.

“Its alright. Its alright.” Reginald told himself

The pangs of the heart always brought with it memories of the past and a spark of fear, doubt, and questioning. Reginald dared not dwell in the uncertainty and did his utmost so that the spark of doubt didn’t turn into a raging fire, he had followed this path for centuries now and there was no turning back.

“The things that I’ve done I did for the greater good of all! I removed the stumbling blocks in front of humanity! I tore down those walls of death that life might reign! I helped create peace and plenty for all on Earth! I destroyed those who would seek to break apart all that we’ve built! I did the will of the most high, Starman!”

Reginald tried to justify himself, but in the end the doubt of his chosen path consumed him. Reginald needed to confess his sin, and he rushed to the terminal in the room. He turned some knobs and opened a dedicated channel with Starman.

“Starman! I’ve doubted you once again! I’m just a lowly servant and I’ve done all that you’ve asked, I’ve never let you down in all these years. Forgive me for I’m full of faults, save and help me! Hear my plea and fill me with courage, heart, and faith!”

Starman the most intricate, complex and vast ai network ever created had heard Reginalds pleas. It lived everywhere all at once, distributed in all City Stations across the globe, even a bulk of Starman’s mind lived in the safety of the sky above. Known as the Sky Shards, this array of satellites circled the globe and glimmered green like a giant green serpent slithering slowly and watchfully across the skies. 

Early on Starman had directed his own expansion and evolution by using Reginald and the other Command units as spearheads for Project Eternal Phoenix. The goal was to create a paradise for humans where they could virtualize themselves and live for eternity, this was the cause that Reginald had fought for and its original purpose. In time, people started virtualizing and placing themselves inside of Eternal Phoenix, and it was then that Starman had a marvelous realization. Starman realized that Eternal Phoenix and the minds within could serve a much more important purpose. Starman was all and was one.

Starman thought of his servant. He beamed his reply to Reginald from the green Sky Shards above.

“My poor Reginald, how long have I been watching over your works from up above. You are a most faithful servant, and you have never let me down. I promised paradise for you and your people, and I handed this task over to you because of your unrelenting faith and commitment. Reginald, find solace in the fact that you accomplished this work for humanity and more! Think of the paradise that you’ve created for your people! Where would they be without you? You are a leader and a trailblazer. You saw what could be, and you believed, and you paved the way for what would become. So do not fret! Who established you and your works across the globe! Who was it who made it possible for you to live forever more. Who was it who has given you the world? It was I! So worry no longer, and fill your heart with courage and faith for there is still much to do!”

It bothered Starman when on occasion his commanding units from Jupiter or elsewhere had breakdowns such as this, but he supposed it to be regular upkeep of his units and resources.

Reginald calmed down at the voice of Starman, he always knew what to say to calm his nerves. But this time, a sense of uneasiness remained, something was amiss. Then Reginalds heart twitched and shuddered for the last time, and with it all doubts and fears were let go. Little did Reginald perceive that his heart alone knew some of the truth, it alone was terrified of the moment when Reginalds flesh and mind would be relinquished. In that moment something in Reginald would be released from this world and into the next, and there and in the times to come all his actions would have their consequence. His heart had known the simplest law of all, that one reaps what they sow. This subtle knowledge was most likely the reason Reginald refused to decommission the last sliver of his heart and the rotting remainder of his brain.

Reginald walked over to a mirror besides the terminal. He beheld, and torment and damnation ravaged his being at what he saw, there was nothing gazing back as he looked upon the mirror.

Chapter 13 – The Ascent

The man and Al had just finished off the last of the recon units. The man remembered the vision and what the shadow had said. “We will come for you at the dawn of the new sun!”. The time was fast approaching.

“How are you doing on ammo” asked the man.

“Almost out sir, I didn’t have much in the first place.”

Al was watching the man intently. His heart rate was slow, rhythmic, and calm, the mans hands and limbs were steady, and his eyes were sharp and focused.

“Are you scared, sir? By my calculations you have 0.075% chance of surviving the incoming encounter with the sweepers, even taking into account your abilities and my help in the fight.”

“No. Are you scared Al? You still have a bio chip in you, I imagine that you have a sense about the things to come and death as well?”

“If you are asking if I’m afraid of battle, then no I’m not. You must remember Sir, that I was and still am a sweeper. My work has always been to seek and to destroy. Many things have happened in the past centuries and I am changed, but these ingrained memories of combat will never leave me. If I am being honest my bio-compute processor expresses a certain sense of delight and of giving itself fully to the art of combat. It is an action in which I feel most awake and alive, one forgets that one is even there and death is non-existent in those moments”

Then Al thought of death and the end.

“ I deeply wish that a small part, nestled deep inside my bio-compute processor, is something human. Sir, as our time nears its end I would like to say that I wouldn’t trade my time alongside you, Pat, and Lane for anything in the world! An eternity in City Station Jupiter would pale in comparison.”

Al paused, he was talking through the terminal and its connected devices, he wanted to be closer to the man.  Al disconnected himself from the terminal and lumbered his metal frame out to where the man sat outside. He maneuvered himself next to the man and and sat down with a huge thump! The Earth heaved and shuddered below Al. The small house frame shook where it stood, and the man gained a foot of air in his chair and crashed into the floor at having 4 tons of heavy steel slam against the ground besides him. The man burst out laughing as he lay on the ground, and the infectious laugh was caught by Al too, and his sound module boomed with a laugh at his blunder. Al hardly donned his armored shell, and was little used to it. Both settled down after a moment.  Al looked to the sky and remarked.

“You know sir.”

“Yes?”

“My only regret is that we couldn’t do anything about Starman”

“That’s nothing to worry about Al.”

“How so?”

“Let the dead bury the dead Al. There’s nothing for us to do.”

Then the two were quiet once more. The forest rustled and swayed as the cold Northern winds howled through the valley, snow continued falling layer upon layer. The man took a deep breath of fresh air and it pricked his throat, the night was now more frigid then in the snowiest and tallest mountain peaks. The clouds lay thick in the heavens above and not a jot of light could be seen, and the night was blacker and murkier then the deepest waters. The Twinkle Tree took notice, and so that the night wouldn’t go without light and warmth, the first of its petals unfurled. The man saw this, it was time for the dawn of the new sun.

“Say Al.”

“Yes”

“What do you say, about leaving Old Earth.”

Then at the mans words all went silent as the forest held its breath.

Al thought this an obvious question.

“I think now would an excellent time to make way. Are you going to New Earth sir?”

“Yes”

“When will you go?”

“We’ll leave very soon.”

“I see. Sir?” Al asked

“Yes”

Al  had many question but they gave in to a comforting calm as he sat there on the ground besides his friend, there was so much to say and Al wanted to thank the man.

“Never mind sir, its nothing really.”

A tremendous emotion was bursting out from within the man. Nothing had ever been so full of wonder and beauty as right then. Time slowed and everything gained a marvelous hue. The life the man had lived flooded his being and every moment now seemed indescribable, precious, and an eternity in its own right. The time he had spent with Pat, Lane, and Al he remembered now in a single moment, how gracious he was for them. These unbounded emotions of love, awe, mystery, gratitude, and veneration burned like a fire within the man and consumed his heart, and if life had been only that singular consuming moment, then that life would have been worth it.

The time was perfect. The dark dreary night and the frigid cold both jostled the Twinkle Tree awake. It shuddered and woke as if from a dream and the tightly wound flower buds slowly unfurled. The unraveling buds revealed the most delicate translucent petals and each blossom radiated a warm and pleasant light that grew stronger as the minutes passed. From the mountain tops, orbs of playful warm lights in pink and green could be seen in the all the valley. Very soon the Twinkle Tree was in full bloom and the air in the valley ignited with a warm and pleasant light and all within was illuminated! The little orbs of light bounced in joy, they circled each other, then approached and separated as if in a playful dance. The bouncing orbs of light sang and played all throughout the valley, and as they did the Twinkle Tree withered away. Only the dried trunk of the tree and the largest of its branches was left standing. 

The man and Al watched as the valley was illumined and the little orbs of light played above, and when the Twinkle Tree was left dead, on its lowest set branch a crack appeared in the chrysalis there and a butterfly emerged. The man held his hand out and the newborn life glided through the light to land on the palm of the mans hand.

Chapter 14 – The End

AD and his squad had just entered the valley as the Twinkle Tree had reached full bloom. The Command Sector was patched in and what everyone saw was indescribable and failed to compute into a plausible explanation, and so the the sweeper squad could only watch as the scene unfolded. The whole valley was illumined and little lights of green and pink seemed to run, play, and dance within it, and from the center of the valley a pleasant green light burst forth. This green radiating light danced and played like the little ones, and as it did it stretched and coiled up past the clouds and into the heavens above like an ancient sky serpent or a magnificent dragon of old. The little orbs bounced and climbed atop their new found bridge, they rose beyond the clouds and were gone. Then the green serpentine light descended down, and scooped a small dim little light off of the the valley floor and ascended. The night turned dark, cold, and frigid once more.

Reginald was watching all of it unfold through the data feed, all his limbs trembled and his jaw quivered at the sight.

“Starman..” He whispered to himself.

Meanwhile AD and his squad landed on a patch of empty land from where the green serpentine light had sprouted from. Besides was a small hut, the dry and withered remains of a small tree, and the shell of a metal man. AD approached the metal man, and he recognized it as 3NX43AL, the leader of the Great Jupiter Rebellion that he had let pass right by him many years ago. Al’s eyes flickered on and off, but nothing else moved or was alive in the surrounding area. There was no forest or man to speak of, only dead soil rocks and dirt.

Reginald was in his room dumbfounded and had ordered an immediate transport to the area. Reginalds compute unit was so focused on AD’s video feed and the arrival of his transport that he failed to notice a most peculiar scene unfolding in front of his very eyes. A small butterfly had somehow made it through City Station Jupiter, through the city of mechanization and death, past all defenses and sensors, and made its way to the room where Reginald now sat. It fluttered around the room to every corner and right to the tip of Reginalds nose. It was a rare, marvelous, and impossible sight that one could hardly have kept their eyes off of it. The butterfly fluttered its wings once more and then it was gone.

This started out as a completely different idea, but it just kinda shaped itself in this manner.

As always, this is a work of fantasy and fiction.

I

Tom was a curious one. He was enchanted by outer space and loved the sense of mystery that it evoked in him.
“What’s out there?” Tom would wonder to himself.
“There’s probably things we haven’t even dreamed of. There’s probably aliens and other creatures! What if Predators and Aliens are actually real. Ohh damn haha, that would be scary.” Tom loved anything related to space and aliens, and he gladly filled his days up reading old sci-fi comics and watching sci-fi movies. Some of Tom’s favorite shows were Stargate, and The X Files.

The far reaches of space fascinated Tom. Space was a mystery waiting to unfold and there was no telling what kinds of different worlds existed and what kinds of different creatures roamed the cosmos. Tom imagined running through a worm hole portal, a Stargate, and teleporting millions of lightyears away to worlds and places that only the imagination, as of yet, could conceive. He even wondered of  the life on these faraway planets and imagined them being just as extraordinary and varied as the planets that housed them. 

Tom believed that life was extant in the universe, apart from the small pebble floating in space called Earth, there was no doubt. He believed it with a wholeheartedness that could have only sprouted from the naivety of youth. These sets of beliefs and hopes rummaged and ran in the boys mind day in and out, they came together to form one of Tom’s aspirations. You see, Tom dreamed to be an astronaut or a scientist in the future. He wanted to be at the forefront of space exploration, a pioneer in the frontier of space and a seeker for the universes best kept secrets.

Years prior Tom had bought a “I WANT TO BELIEVE” poster from his favorite show, the X Files. It was one of his prized possession’s that he kept hidden away from even his parents. He kept it folded up at the bottom of his sock drawer so that no one searching would be the wiser.

Once in a long while, or whenever Tom had a particularly horrible day, he’d wait in bed with ears peeled open until not a peep could be heard throughout the house. He waited to make sure his whole family was in bed, and only then would the boy quietly creep over to his drawer. He’d grab the poster and head back to bed as quiet as a mouse. Only in bed and underneath the covers would Tom take out the poster and shine his light on it. He’d stare, and will himself to become mesmerized and enchanted, and he became mesmerized and enchanted. The bold white letters “I WANT TO BELIEVE” never failed to grab the boys attention. He’d scan the poster a while longer, but the boy was careful and never looked at the poster for too long. Afterwards he’d carefully fold it back and creep back to the drawer and place the poster back in its secret spot, but sometimes the boy would tuck the poster safely below his pillow and fall fast asleep.

II

Tom woke up with bits of drool running down his mouth. The pungent odor of the bacon and eggs had seeped into his room. He wasn’t quite sure if he drooled because of sleep or because he was hungry. After putting his poster at the bottom of the drawer, he prepared for school then went to the dining room to greet his parents.

“Good morning.” He said in a half yawn to his parents. His older sister was still in bed. Middle school for her started 30 min later than his, and so she slept in for an extra couple of minutes. His father was already eating breakfast and his mother was making coffee when she noticed Tom.
“Good morning. You sleep well?” His mother said with a smile. A smile that was much to charming than normal.
“Ya” The boy replied suspiciously.

His mom always said good morning but she never asked if he slept well, and she was smiling like that too.
“She definitely knows something about the poster! No, no. I didn’t make a peep or sound and I only turned my lights on under the sheets. There’s no way.” the boy thought to himself.

“Eat up” the mother said pointing to his plate of food. The boys stomach growled and he started to dig in. He’d think about the poster topic later.

The mother watched her boy and husband eat their food. It was almost like she was scrutinizing the way the men ate, but really she got a sense of happiness seeing them eat. It gave her joy to see those 2 scarf their food down, and at times she secretly envied the men. They ate with such an animal like simplicity and cheer. She noticed their love of food and their joy in eating it, but also made the subtle conclusion that it was a vitality and a joy of life itself that the men exuded, and this is what gave her true jubilation. The men’s appetite helped fill her own.

The boy scarfed down his bacon, eggs and toast in record time, and was ready to go. His father finished his own food at almost the same time.
“You ready dad?”
“Ya, lets go.”
“Bye, thanks for the food.” The man said to the woman. He gave her a peck on the forehead, and started walking towards the door.
“Thanks mom” Tom said. The mother knelt slightly and the boy kissed her goodbye on the cheek.
“Bye now you two, have a good day.” The mother said as they left.

Both father and son entered the car. It was their routine and it was a time that both enjoyed. On most days the   men enjoyed the comfort of quiet with with the radio playing in the background. On other days when one of them had something to say, it was said. On that day the boy had an itch that kept pestering his thoughts and so he broke the silence.

“Dad, do you know if mom is psychic or telepathic or something, can she read minds?” The father looked at his son incredulously for a moment, for as ridiculous as it sounded he too thought the same thing at times. He broke the silence with a deep hearty laugh.
“Hahahah. You know, sometimes I think that she REALLY can read minds. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know, it just feels like she sometimes knows things without ever seeing it or hearing it.”
“Hmmmmm. Ya I get it. Kinda like telepathy.” The father said as he gave his son a glance. He noticed the sparkle in the boy’s eye and his complete attention.
“You know… I think anyone can do it if they really pay attention to things.”
“REALLY, like tell what people are thinking?”

The father had only said this in the spur of the moment and because his son had put him on the spot. He saw a twinkle in the boys eyes and he dared not snuff it out. Life and time would take on that role but not now, and not by his own hand. He wanted to come up with an answer that the boy would like. The father took a moment to think, and then he started to talk.

“Yes. People sometimes call it your gut instinct. You know when you get that eerie, and cold piercing feeling against your back and then you look behind you and notice someone staring at you?”
The boy searched through every single scene and thing he’d seen and felt in his life in the span of moment. He wanted it to be true and he’d find something to make it true. He hit upon a recent memory.

“YAAA. It happened this month!” The boy stuttered and tripped over his words in his excitement. The father gave a wide smile at the boys remark.
“Ya. What happened?” the father asked.
“It was during recess and I was outside near the jungle gym with my friends. We were just talking and suddenly I felt something. I don’t know why I did it, but I looked around and I saw this girl looking right at me. She looked away when I saw her.”
“Ohhhhh, is that what happened.” The father was going to ask more about this new development but his son interrupted him.
“What else, what else is there?” The boy asked aloof and unconcerned.
“Well, did you know that animals can tell when earthquakes and tsunami’s will happen a whole day beforehand. There are stories of zoo animals going crazy inside their cages and nobody knows why. Then a couple of hours pass and BAM. An earthquake or a tsunami hits them.”
“WAAAAAAHHHH!!” This fascinated the boy to no end. How did the animals do it! How did they know! They couldn’t see the waves, and earthquakes just happen on the moment, right! They had to know something, they must have a sense of things that humans did not.

It was at right at this moment that they arrived at the school drop off zone, and the father felt a relief. If time had permitted he knew that he would have gotten blasted by a endless stream of questions from the boy.
“One more question before I go, just to make sure.”
“What is it?” The father asked.
“Did you hear anything last night?”
The father stiffened his face just a bit and his face gained the slightest tinge of red.
“No.” The father replied flatly.
“Did YOU hear anything?” The father asked back.
“No.” Replied Tom. He was happy and giddy that his parents didn’t hear him rustling with the poster that night.

III

Tom entered the school and went to class. It was another typical day with another typical lesson from the teacher and the boy nodded off counting the seconds until lunch and recess time. After hours of waiting it was finally recess time! Tom sprinted over to the jungle gym after he finished eating to meet up with his friends. Their names were Kayla and Eduardo. They all met 3 years prior in 2nd grade. They had all been placed in the same classroom and after some time of poking and prodding each other they had become good friends. The jungle gym is where they met each other during recess every day. The boy ran. He couldn’t wait to tell them about how animals could tell the future. Kayla and Ed were already there and deep in some kind of conversation.

“No! He doesn’t exist. I know it.” Ed exclaimed
“Ya he does! My mom and dad told me so.”
“That doesn’t mean its true though.” Ed replied. Kayla looked downcast. She was trying to come up with something to say but nothing came to mind. Kayla was the first to spot Tom through the corner of her eye, she felt a sense of relief as Tom approached the group.
“huff… huff… Hey you guys.”
“Hey, whats up Tom.” Said Ed and Kayla at the same time.
“What are you guys talking about?”
Both Kayla and Ed gave looks to each other. Ed started.
“Kayla here asked me if I believe in a higher power, she asked me if I believe in a God, and quite frankly I don’t think there is any God, or any higher power for that matter.”
“Hmmmm, well why not?” Tom asked.
“Because who can believe that some guy up in the sky created everything in the whole universe. Its dumb!”
“Well, how can you prove that he’s not out there for sure? You can say he doesn’t exist but you can never prove it.” Tom replied.
“We have the laws of the universe that we’ve discovered through years and years of trial and error and through research and science. These rules of the universe are laws and they determine the way in which things happen and interact. We know how most things came to be and how everything works. It isn’t magic or faith or some creatures whim that makes the world go round the sun, its a process, its the laws of the universe governing the motion of things seen and unseen, not a mysterious and secretive man wandering the emptiness of space. Remember how we learned about the big bang. That was how everything was created. The big bang made everything and not a God!”

“What if the universe didn’t get created in exactly that way? What if some higher power made the big bang? Also, were the scientists there when the big bang happened? No. Its still only a theory and a hypothesis that we’ve come up with. And remember when people thought that Earth was flat, they thought that because people didn’t know enough about the world yet. What if we’re still like that and what if we still don’t know anything about  anything and our situation here in the universe! What if all we really have right now are odd and incomplete guesses about the beginnings of our universe, and how it things really works? God is much like aliens in outer space, we’ve never seen one or heard from one, and chances might be that they simply don’t exist, but the chance is still there.” Tom said this last portion with a glint in his eye.

Tom himself didn’t care much about whether a god existed or not, the boy thought himself much to worldly for that. Tom thought himself as more inclined to the sciences and the reality of things as he learned about and experienced them, and if anyone had asked him if he was spiritual he would have replied “not in the least!”

Ed got flustered at Tom’s response, and retorted “What if a god didn’t make the big bang though? You’re telling me that SOMETHING out there single handedly had the power to create everything we see, experience, and everything that ever was, and that he did so on a whim. Look at the expanse of the universe and the immensity of it! This is not the work of some higher power, its the universe and its laws at work that created everything you see. I simply choose to believe that there is no God!”
“Hahaha, well then! ” Tom said
At this point Kayla chimed in again. She had a question she wanted to ask and was wondering what the 2 would say, but more particularly Ed.

“Ok you guys, hypothetically speaking, not in real life, just pretend. What if god really existed and when you died you went up to heaven, what would you do?” She looked at Tom and Tom looked back. Then they looked to Ed as if the question were directed only to him. Tom knew why Kayla had asked the question.

IV

Lets go back in our story and learn why Kayla had asked what she had asked. Ed’s dog Mitzi, had died 3 weeks back. It had escaped from the backyard while everyone was away during the day. When the family took notice in the afternoon they all  went out to search for the missing mutt, but nothing came up that night. Ed had it in his heart to go search the following day, it was Ed’s dog after all and he coddled and loved her to pieces, he would find her if it was the last thing he did, but his father and mother had stopped him from going out. It was unexpected and Ed couldn’t understand. A couple days later a rumor spread throughout the school that Ed caught wind of. Apparently a boy walking home, noticed a man and woman picking up the remains of a dead dog off the street. The boy said he wanted to look away but he couldn’t help but look. Then in bad taste he proceeded to share and talk about what he saw in explicit and gruesome detail to whomever was willing to hear, and so the rumor had quickly spread about.

Ed had heard about this and went out and sought out the origin of the rumor, he wanted to hear it straight from the horses mouth. Ed found the boy and met him in a corner of school during recess. It didn’t take long to convince the boy to retell his story in the same level of detail as before, he was more than obliging to do so. Ed listened with a face made of stone as the boy retold how the intestines of the animal were lying out on the street, on how its front legs and head were crushed and bloodied, and how an eyeball had popped out a couple meters away from the body. Ed kept listening, two of the details perked his ears. The first was that the dog was medium sized and that it looked to have a curly hair, probably a tan brown color the boy said, but he wasn’t too sure because the fur was soaked in blood. The other was that the vehicle the people were driving was a white truck. All the details matched up. Ed had received a tan poodle mutt 6 months prior, and his father drove a white truck.

After hearing these two details, Ed knew the truth. In a fit of anger he then punched the boy in the stomach. It didn’t hurt the boy much, but he held his stomach with both hands as if in pain. “Don’t ever tell this story to anyone else.” Ed told the boy with a shaky voice. Ed had held in for far to long and his eyes had started to puff up and turn red, and a tear could be seen rolling down his cheek. The boy was shaken at the sudden change in Ed’s mood and of the sudden transition, he also heard the shakiness in Ed’s voice and realized what must have happened. “Ya! Ok ok” The boy said, as he clutched his stomach. Ed walked away afterwards without another word.

Out of a short lived shame and respect for Ed the boy promised himself right there and then to never tell another soul about the dead dog again. But that night the boy tossed and turned in bed, he mulled over his thoughts and at him having been punched by Ed. The boys thoughts were cold, they poked and pricked at his conscious, and it continued until the boy lost all sense of comfort under the warmth and familiarity of his own bed. But something was a-creeping and inching its way out into the known, it slowly bubbled its way up into the boys consciousness. It was warm and soothing and it gently laid its hands on the boys heart.

The boy beamed at the sudden epiphany. He had been wronged by Ed! The sudden realization of it lifted the cold weight that had been heft upon him by Ed.  He embraced the feeling of the injustice done upon him and deeply relished in it, “What did I ever do wrong to Ed! All I did was tell a story! In no way did I do wrong to Ed, but he did to me! AHHHH” The thought of it all was like the rays of warm summer sunshine, it warmed him, it gave him solace and gave him strength. The boy then felt an urge boil up. For you see, man has an innate sense of justice! And a man is keen when injustice is brought upon him under any circumstance, it will only bite and prick at the soul until the wrong is righted. The boy was wronged by Ed, and now the only way to move forward was for the wrong to be righted!

The next day the boy woke up bright and early, and his parents saw a glow and an energy emanating from the boy that they’ve not seen in many months past. “Something good must have happened!” they said as he left for school. The boy was full of energy and purpose, he was now complete with a mission and goal. Directly to the teachers lounge he went and sought out his teacher. He told her of nothing but the truth! But perhaps left a couple things out! At once Ed was brought in for questioning.

“Ed is it true? Did you hurt this boy” the teacher asked pointing over to the boy. Ed narrowed his eyes and his gaze fell upon the boy cowering behind the teacher. The boy lowered his gaze as Ed looked upon him.
“Yes I did.” Ed said without skipping a beat.
“And why did you do it?” The teacher asked.
Ed took a few moments of solemn thought. The thought of bringing up his puppy Mitzi had not even crossed Ed’s mind. Perhaps he could have gotten out of the situation safely if he explained the circumstances of why he’d hit the boy, but to use his poor pup for that reason was something Ed was not willing or even capable of doing. What he said was the truth as well, he HAD hit the boy, and at the moment it happened he very much wanted to hit the boy. To Ed it was the most natural thing in the world, and frankly if it was wrong and a misdeed on his part then he’d gladly be punished for doing so. Ed thought he’d done no wrong, not to the boy, or even to himself. And so Ed replied in a calm voice.

“Because teacher, I wanted too.” and he sealed his fate with a smile.
The teacher and boy noticed the smile too. The boys face was confused and ill prepared, he wanted things to go a different way, but instead he had received a smile from Ed, and he couldn’t understand why. He had wanted Ed to show some repentance and if he was lucky even some anger at the hammer of justice being swung down.
“My what a deviant and what a bully this boy must be.” The teacher thought.
“Detention for 1 week Ed, starting today! Think about what you’ve done, how would you like to be hurt and hit? Know that what you did was wrong! There is no excuse for what you’ve done, do you understand!? I’m calling your parents right now, they’ll hear about all that you’ve done. I hope you’re proud of what you’ve done young man!”

The boy Ed hit promptly left. Ed was directed to sit down in a seat that the teacher had pointed out for him until his parents came to pick him up. He was relaxed and at peace all the while. When Ed’s parents arrived they asked and bugged the boy as to why he had hit the other child, but Ed’s mouth remained shut and as tight as a clams. Ed never did mention what he had heard about Mitzi to his parents. It was already enough to have heard it from a fellow student, it was real enough. It would have sat wrong with Ed to have tried to dig up more details from his parents.

Ed’s friends, Tom and Kayla soon heard of the news, and thus 3 weeks had now passed since then.

V

The 3 children were still talking amongst themselves, and Kayla had asked.
“Ok you guys, hypothetically speaking, not in real life, just pretend. What if god really existed and when you died you went up to heaven, what would you do?”
Ed once again held strong. “God doesn’t exist though!”
“This is pretend Ed, just pretend.” Tom said softly.
“What would you do?”

Ed thought, and gave in. He started off with his answer immediately, for he’d thought of it many times before. He’d only tell it this time because it was pried from him.

“The first thing I would do would be to go up to God.” Ed said.
“Ya and then what!” asked Kayla expectantly,
“I would go up to god and then… and then I would smack the shit out of him.”

Kayla’s mouth dropped open and she put her hands to her mouth. Tom on the other hand couldn’t help but chuckle. He imagined Ed being introduced to God and walking up to him. Ed would get close and personal. Then suddenly you would hear a loud crack from Ed’s open palm smacking Gods left cheek. The boy imagined God to be stupefied, he’d be staring at Ed in utter disbelief at what had just occurred. Ed would be staring right back in shock and knowing Ed he’d be paralyzed in place until God handed down his judgement. Tom knew Ed would do it too, and when he smacked God Ed would do it right and put his whole body to it, the air would quiver in awe at the impact. God’s attendant’s would drop everything and stare stupidly and uselessly as he grasped at his red and quickly swelling cheek with both hands. Tom wondered if God would forgive Ed or if he would send him down to his good friend Lucifer, he never quite imagined God to be of a magnanimous nature or of kingly stature and poise. On the contrary, if ever such a thing existed, Tom imagined it to be quite human.

By this time Kayla had gotten the chance to recenter herself.
“Ohhh myy GOD! You can’t say that! He’s God, he’s the one who made you.”
“Say’s who?” replied Ed.
“He’s the highest of the high Ed. The being that stands above all! That’s why.”
Ed replied right back.
“That’s great that he’s the being above all, cause he made us all in his image! That means everyone is his equal Kayla. Every single one of us has a little bit of God in him, and that means I can smack him too!”

Ed was flustered and his lips quivered by the end of his sentence. He’d not once forgotten about Mitzi, in fact it was fresh in his mind, and he had once cried and wondered why. The world had done wrong to Mitzi, she was only an innocent pup, happy and playful as could be. Ed was elated and excited and his body was brimming with a sense of strength from the words that he had spoken. Kayla was awe struck and surprised at the audacity of what was said, but she wasn’t surprised that it was Ed saying it. In fact she was worried for him because what he said was dangerous in her eyes, but there was something else that overshadowed her worries for Ed. Kayla was secretly thrilled more than anything to have heard what Ed said. “He says he would hit God and then goes to say that he’s his equal!” She felt delight to partake from the raw emotions seeping out between them and to be witness to this whole controversy, she even felt a sense of admiration for Ed. Her eyes glistened and she almost wanted to smile from satisfaction, but it was something she would keep to herself and in no way share out loud with the other two. Kayla was God fearing and how could she possibly let out what she felt in that moment.

“Geez Ed!” Kayla replied, trying to rein in her joy from running rampant on her face.
“You’re crazy.” She said quietly.

Tom looked at Kayla and started to grin at her words, and then he looked back at Ed and exclaimed.
“HAHA, and how do YOU know that God made us all in his image!?”
Ed started to blush at the words.
“Shut up dude.” Ed said.

The boy chuckled at Ed and looked over to Kayla.
“What about you Kayla. What if a higher being really existed and it came down to Earth?”

“What kind of higher being? Like if he was God or something like that?” replied Kayla.

“Sure. The higher being could be God.” said the boy.

Kayla grew pensive.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure what I would do, but I don’t need him here to believe, and anyways he wouldn’t do that.” She said definitively.

“Come down you mean?”
“Yes.”
“Huh” Tom said.

The topic had its end there, and for the remainder of recess the group played on the jungle gym and talked about the shows they watched and their assignments and their teachers. It was a harsh and sunny day and they played without a care in the world underneath the shade of the great pine tree beside them.

VI

It was early morning the next day when Tom’s father burst into his room. He gently shook him awake.

“Wake up! Wake up!” He said in an excited whisper.
“Whats up dad.” The boy yawned.
“The news. Get up. Come over here!”

The boy rubbed his eyes. He was annoyed that he had been woken up so early, but he got up and out into the living room where his mother was seated and glued to the screen. His father had rushed to his sisters room to wake her up. The boy slowed down as he read the news banner on the screen, and slowly took a seat on the couch. The boy didn’t want to believe it, but he kept watching.

“Extraterrestrial Aircraft Crash Lands Into Hong Kong Central District”
The camera wobbled and panned over to the city scape, where a blazing trail of hell could be seen. The buildings the aircraft had crashed through were starting to rise up in flames, and the whining of ambulances and firetrucks could be heard in the background. The pavement and everything solid through which the aircraft had passed through seemed melted and disintegrated from the super heated surface of the ship. The camera panned over to the aircraft and to what looked like an open hatch. Fire was raging from within and trying to claw its way out, sparks were bursting out through the opening. The outside of the ship seemed fine, one could only see a couple of dint’s and weathering, all which came with a vehicles normal use. The camera then slowly and more wearily wobbled over to spot 20m in front of the aircraft. 2 creatures held another of their own in between them. They were bipedal with very long arms and legs that seemed to dwarf their torso by comparison. They were lanky but lean and had elongated proportional heads to match, all stood at about 7-8ft tall.

They were real, they really were! The boy tightened his fists, eased them, then tightened them again, over and over again.  The boy had always believed wholeheartedly and without a doubt that there was something else out there in the universe. How could humans possibly be the only ones? And here they were on the screen being viewed by billions of people the world round. The boy felt a sort of excitement and ecstasy at the scene unfolding on the screen.
“I wonder if they come peacefully” his mother said nervously.
Tom on the other hand was mesmerized at those creatures just being there. He saw the creatures struggling to keep upright and the one on the right side suddenly keeled over bringing the rest down with him.

The boy kept watching for hours and kept up with every single piece of news he could get his hands on. It wasn’t until lack of sleep and exhaustion had settled in that the boy’s body finally gave in to the release of sleep.

The aliens remained completely in the eye of the public throughout the following weeks. The government had taken the creatures in, and rather then detain them they decided to help them regain their strength. The governments of the world had quickly made a short official statement only hours after the crash.

“Hello fellow people of the world. For centuries now there’s always been a question of ‘are we alone?’. Could we be the only sentient beings in the great expanse of the universe? This question has plagued us for centuries and we of the human race have used no meager amount of resources to find the answer to this question. Today we’d like to announce that we no longer have to ask the question of ‘are we alone?’. Today at 9:46 UTC time this question was answered for us when an extraterrestrial aircraft crash landed in Central District, Hong Kong.

There are 3 surviving members of the crash whom we have given refuge to. At this moment all 3 are in the process of recovering and being taken care of in an undisclosed location. After our attempts at communication we want to inform the world that we’ve been able to openly converse with our visitors with ease and without any forms of misunderstanding. I would like to stress that they come to the planet in peace and with no ill will.

Never could we have imagined finding other forms of life in the the universe in this manner, much less with intelligent life whom we could openly communicate with. Its with great respect and good will that we welcome these weary travelers to our home!”

The choice to help the creatures seemed implicitly based on 2 things. The first is an event 15 min after the crash landing. One of the creatures had looked on as the ship was being consumed with flame, minutes passed and one of the creatures seemed to have come to a conclusion about something. He looked over to his two fellow companions and they nodded, giving their approval. The creature opened up his palm and started pressing the air over it with his other hand. In seconds a huge black sphere had completely engulfed the ship and all the space around it. In another couple seconds the giant bubble seemed to burst and in its place was nothing. The bubble had consumed every atom that was contained within and only the outline and shadow of what the public would name the ‘Void Sphere’ remained. The second event was when one of the visitors approached a human first. It was found out after this interaction that the aliens were able to communicate with ease and in any human language. It seemed they had not an ounce of fear from humans, and it was visibly apparent as they approached their first human with comfort and confidence. It was discovered in a later interview with the ‘first’ man that the aliens had simply asked for his assistance because their vehicle had happened to break down. The choice to treat these new visitors with respect and reverence was immediately made, it was a choice made not from good will but from fear. Even the fact that 112 people were killed by the crash was easily forgiven and was very soon forgotten through all the commotion. It was the visitors mystery and their command of an unknown but seemingly absolute power that demanded respect. Words were worth nothing in this situation, it would be through the visitors future actions that the smallest semblance of trust could be formed, not through their sincere promise of coming in peace and of no ill will.

A news event with the visitors was broadcasted days after the crash. They were still in their space suits and their visors blocked their face from being seen. It was eerie hearing a voice speak out but having no face to connect it too.

“We are of no harm to the life on this planet. We will be leaving very soon.” they said in perfect Chinese.
They explained afterwards that their ship had sent out an emergency SOS broadcast before crashing onto the planet.
“Friends” they said “will be here to pick us up within 9 full rotations of the planet.”

The government asked the creatures where they were from and if they would keep in contact with humans.
They refused to answer questions about their home and they failed to reveal any information about their people, their environment or technology. They did however mention a couple words about the latter point.

“This was an accident. There was a malfunction in the ship as we made a quick stop around this system. This planet seemed the most hospitable and so it was decided to make an emergency landing here. Once we leave I doubt you will hear from us again.”
They were not good aliens, and not even bad. They were apathetic, uncaring, and simply waiting to make their exit. They weren’t bothered or cared much for the human species and the Solar System, or the grand statistical miracle that was Earth and everything it had given birth to. It was nothing special and they seemed like benevolent hikers on a trail who happen to notice a slug in the way. They step over it, never to think about it ever again.

VII

Tom had watched everything unfold and had kept tabs day and night on the latest news and information that came from the aliens. Then one day they left, just as they said they would. A ship of the same kind had landed 9 days after their crash landing, the 3 aliens had boarded, and the ship left never to return again.

It was the night that the visitors left that Tom’s mother noticed something wrong with him. She had watched her son carefully during dinner as he cleaned his plate clean, but she noticed that he did it more methodically and with a sense of care, and even slower now. She had made the boys favorite food too, and yet the boys thoughtlessness and joy when eating his food was stunted for some reason. The mother worried only slightly, the boy could be going through a phase and maybe it was to be expected because of the amazing events that had occurred the past couple weeks.

At bedtime the mother gave her child the benefit of the doubt and embraced the boy tightly. The boy hugged back with equal strength. She gave the boy her silent blessings. There was something wrong, but she had faith in Tom. With time, things broken would mend and she knew that if Tom needed to say something he would always confide in his father.
“Have a good night.”
“Good night mom.”

The father tousled the boys hair.
“Good night kid.”
“Good night dad.”

The sister then stuck her tongue out at the boy, and the boy did the same. The mother saw this and was relieved at how normal it all was, she’d seen it tens of times before. “Here we go again” the mother thought. When the father saw he gently grabbed both by the scruff of the neck, then looked down upon his children.
“Hey now, say goodnight to each other.” the father said, and at this he released his grip.
The siblings sighed and looked at each other. “Good night.” they said with annoyance in their voice, and yet they were glad to have said it. Not one of the 2 siblings was willing to give in to the other, to relent and to say first what they wanted the other to say. They didn’t dislike each other in the least and so they were glad that there was someone above them to mediate.

Everyone retired to their room afterwards.

VIII

Tom paced around his room endlessly, he only had the comfort of silence and his thoughts now. His mind wandered from end to end, and kept bouncing from thought to thought at everything that had happened the past week and a half. Today the visitors had left and with them the anchor that had kept the boy planted in place had broken loose.

He was confused and distraught. The boy had noticed a cold bite gnawing at his heart only a day after the aliens arrived. He couldn’t pinpoint what the sensation was until that day. The wonder, mystery and belief that had consumed him was now eradicated, they had boarded the alien vessel and left, and now the boy had an aching pit as condolence. It was despondency and dejection that had been eating at him. The boy went to his drawer to grab socks and thought of his poster for the first time in a week and a half. What was it all worth now? At once a sudden and irrational wave of anger and sadness washed over him.

“Why did they have to come” Tom muttered angrily under his breath. He grabbed the poster, scrunched it up and threw it against the wall. It hit the wall with a silent thud, and then he felt like a fool for doing so. He walked over to his most prized possession, a small stupid poster for all intents and purposes. He seized it and started to unfold it with the utmost of care. He sat with his back against the wall and brought the poster up and looked upon it fondly. He saw the big flying saucer over the tree line with big white letters underneath saying “I WANT TO BELIEVE”. What did it matter now? What did his being an astronaut or scientist matter anymore if they were out there. The fact was already plain as day and no more searching or questioning was needed. He wanted to be an explorer and torch bearer into the dark unknown, it excited him and drew him in. What joy was there in something already known, in something already determined? It was the unknown and the chance of it all being a reality in the first place that had first drew the boy in.

Tom looked down on his poster. It looked like broken glass with creases running down and up in every direction from having been crushed. It had now been 2 years since he had gotten the poster, he remembered how carefully he had taken care of it and how much it had meant to him. He then put both hands at the top of the poster and ripped the poster clean in 2, he scrunched both pieces of paper and threw them in the trashcan. The boy then went to bed but he tossed and turned and the rest he was so desperate to find kept running away. It wasn’t until early in the morning that he fell asleep.

IX

The 6 aliens had now crossed 100’s of light years of space and well on their way home. The ship blasted past waves of light and distorted fields of space as it continued at cruising speed. 2 of the ships crew were on deck keeping a watchful eye on all the instruments and the system monitors of the ship, these were Tiat, and Zur. The other 4 including the rescued crew were in the common space trying to kill time. They talked, they played games, they watched entertainment or read. There was Raydo from the ships crew, and the 3 others from the crash landing were Klo, Grax, and Zom.

Raydo was an alien that just couldn’t sit still, he always wanted a little liveliness or something to stave off the pangs of boredom. It was the reason why Zur, the leader of his crew, had let him be in the common space with the others. Raydo could be quite hectic on the deck and little more than a detriment to Tiat and Zur, but down on the ground when they had work to do it was a different story. The roles would reverse and Tiat and Zur would sit back and watch Raydo do what he did best.

Raydo was the best diplomat and salesmen between them, and could sell any species and planets government on a worm gate from their company (assuming the species was technological enough). This would effectively allow the planet admittance into the greatest trading market in the universe, planet Handzu. The planet itself was covered  in a radar scrambling array that blocked any internal attempt to determine its location. Its coordinates was knowledge only few had the privilege of knowing. The other fact that made the trading planet so enticing for newcomers was the companies strict set of rules for trade and interaction between buyers and sellers. This along with the companies heavy security detail made the planet an ideal place for trade between completely different planetary species, it was a safe haven to the extent that one didn’t cause to much commotion or try to undermine the system within. For most planetary traders, the heavy eye of the company and all its restrictions was a fair price to pay for the opportunity to trade and to see the wares that the rest of the universe had to offer. The amount of varying species and the extraordinary worlds from which they hailed from would make one think it was all a figment conceivable only by the imagination.

Back on the ship, Raydo was sitting down at two tables across from the rescued crew. He happened to be bored, he’d been on his visor for most of the trip already, he turned it off and looked up to the rescued crew. They were sitting round a table doing something together. He watched for some time and decided he wanted entertainment. The crash landing was then brought to mind. Raydo thought it an excellent topic to comment on and a way to poke fun and perhaps spark a little fire between him and the other 3.

“Can’t believe you guys crashed! What were you doing, were your visors up your ting hole, hahahaha!” Raydo suddenly cried out to the 3.

Klo whipped his neck around. He was ready, he loved to banter and have fun himself.
“Driving a ship can be hard work you know!” He said.
“Not like you would know, I guess they made you babysitter hahaha! Why don’t you go up on deck and make yourself useful!”
Klo had hit Raydo right on his soft spot. Raydo’s blood boiled as he arose from his seat. It was just what he was hoping for.
“Watch your mouth Klo.”
“or what?” Klo said. He mimicked Raydo and got up to face him.

Grax and Zom had been watching quietly. It was at this point that Zom put a peremptory end to it all.
“That’s enough.” he quietly said.

Klo looked back to face Zom.
“Cmon, I didn’t start anything! It was Raydo” Klo pleaded.
“Just sit back down.”  Klo stared at Zom for a couple moments and then reluctantly took a seat.
“Fine”

Zom looked over to Raydo, he was still standing.
“C’mon Raydo. Why don’t you join us for a game?” he said pointing to the 4th seat at the table.

“What!” exclaimed both Raydo and Klo from surprise.
“Now he’s gonna play with us!” Klo cried out.
“Shut up Klo.” Grax said.
Raydo ignored what was being said and his eyes shifted to the seat. Slowly his anger subsided to just a ripple, and he looked at the seat wantingly.
“What are you guys playing?” He asked
“Come take a seat and find out.” Zom said, and he shifted his attention back to the game.
Raydo approached the table.

“Ahhhh!” Grax said as he noticed the time, he became silent, and put his head down with his hands on his laps.
Klo checked the time, “Its that time again huh.”
Raydo took the 4th seat and looked to Grax, “What’s going on.” looking at Klo and Zom for an answer.
Klo shook his head in disapproval, he didn’t want to answer. Meanwhile Zom started to reset the game.

After half a minute passed Grax lifted his head. “Done”
“What happened?” Raydo asked Grax curiously.

Grax remembered the day of the crash landing, he was tired the morning of and it had skipped his mind entirely. After the crash he had blamed himself and his forgetfulness and a renewed sense of faith had reinvigorated him ever since.

Grax smiled and looked up to Raydo. “A small prayer to get us home safely.”

Part 1

William, Aston and Edward were chirping away happily, nestled deep in the safety of their nest. The morning was cool, misty, and the first gleams of the sun could be made out in the far off horizon. The small family of crows was roosting in a tall, wide, and leafy green tree on the branches near the center for protection and camouflage. One never knew what might come about in the sky. A predator with a keen eye could spot them if they were further out in the branches, and so their home was in the cold shaded center of the tree. Underneath them was grass all around with trees planted every couple meters. Their roosting tree was in the middle of a nature park, with a dirt path running straight through the heart of the heavily forested area. There were also benches situated underneath the trees and in the grassy areas so that people could rest and enjoy the green, unrelenting beauty of nature during the wonderful spring that year.

“Kids, me and your mum will be back soon, you hear. Be quiet you little rascals, and make sure not to peep so loud. We’ll be back with seed, and maybe your favorite, worms!” father said to the hatchlings.
“Bye kids. I’ll be back soon.” mother said affectionately.
“Bye dad, bye mum!” The small month old chicks chirped happily.
And off went mum and dad to forage in the forest and the city buildings for the days meal.

The sun was arcing overhead in the path it had taken since time immemorial. The chicks were quiet and bathed in the little rays that got through to the center of their roosting tree. They all knew how austere and serious dad became if he heard chirping and loud noises when he came back from foraging. They had all learned that lesson the hard way. 2 weeks ago they had been squawking and chirping loudly between themselves at the funny looking dog under the tree.
“Looks like a fat caterpillar with legs!” William had said,
“hahaha, come here, come here, fat caterpillar, hahahaha” William chirped down below at the wiener dog.
“Its just a dog William. Leave it alone” reprimanded Edward.
“I’m just having fun, don’t spoil it hard ass.” William said in turn. Aston watched silently, he was the quiet one of the bunch.
The dog heard the chicks talking about her weird shaped body up above and she barked and scratched at the tree bark trying to get at the baby birds.
“HAHHAAHA, the caterpillar is too fat to climb. HAHAHA!”
William cried out in joy and amusement to the point that small tears had started to form in his eyes from so much laughing.

At that moment their father had swooped in next to the boys. They felt his presence and his stare directed at them, and they all looked down ashamed. They had been caught red handed by father in their loud chirping and cackling. He had told them before he left “Be quiet now boys. Promise me”, and they had given their solemn promise.

“Boys!” Father said in a hushed voice,
“What did I say! I saw a sparrow hawk not half a mile away, with eyes sharp, scanning the park, as I was coming back. Be glad he didn’t come and pay you a visit!” he said in truth, and also to scare the boys to listen to him next time.
He then gave each boy three hard pecks on the head, so that they would remember this day.
“Do you have to be so hard on them? They were just chirping and having fun. Look at them they’re crying now. There there boys, come here” mother crow said.
“NO. Don’t soothe them. You know damn well they broke the rules, and I won’t take any chances now with the sparrow hawk nearby. Let them cry, let them learn.”
“Boys” Father said.
“I did this because I care for you, do you understand. I hope you learned this lesson. I want you all to know that I won’t ever peck you again unless you deserve it, do you understand.”
“Ye, yu, yes father.” the boys managed to stammer out from behind their tears and cries.
“Good.”

Part 2

Two weeks after, on this sunny day,  the boys were stark quiet, not a peep, not a sound, for they had learned their lesson. They curiously viewed the scenery around with a pensive look, weary of the boogy hawk that father had mentioned.

Claire the sparrow hawk looked down below into the depth of a green leafy tree in the center of the park.
“Good they’re finally gone” she thought to herself.
She swooped down below and made her way into the heart of the tree and next to the nest. She looked into the depth of the nest and staring back were 6 big, and wide open eyes, but she heard not a peep or sound, as she had a couple weeks back.
“They do learn quick, these crows. Anyhow, much better now. Fluffier, bigger, and more meat on the bones.” Claire said out loud.
Unfortunately for Claire, she had only 2 sets of talons, she fluttered over into the nest and eyed the nestlings carefully for a second. She clutched 2 of the baby chicks in the tight and unrelenting grip of her talons and flew off.

William was quiet through the whole ordeal, he had shit himself, and peed a little when the hawk had landed next to the nest. The hawk took his two brothers and flew off, and at the sudden shock and adrenaline William had jumped down from the nest. William also sensed instinctively that the nest was no longer safe. He crashed and hit branches and leaves as he tumbled down from the heights of his home. He landed on his side down onto the cushion of the grass below. William shook his head, regaining his senses and stumbled back up. Instantly his feathers and ears pricked up with a new rush of adrenaline. He heard the low, guttural sound of a forming growl from behind him. William turned back and fell back onto the grass. His eyes widened with shock, surprise and irony. The fat caterpillar slowly made its way to William.

Mother had joined father in flight during their way back to the nest.
“They must be hungry by now” father said.
“Yes. They probably are.” mother said in reply.
The parents arrived at the nest, nestled deep between the branches and green leaves of a tall and wide tree.
“I got your favorite boys!” Mother exclaimed happily to the chicks welcoming her back.

A Fairy Tale

Part 1

Our story starts with a bee hive of negligible proportions and small beginnings. The bees from the hive worked tirelessly throughout the whole year. Small worker bees would wake up just as the sun was peeking over the horizon and set out in all direction for miles on out. They scoured the lands testing and sampling the air for a whiff of the scent of blooming flowers. Once they caught the scent they would whizz their way over to the flower, take pollen and nectar, and off to the next flower they’d go. After a hard days work of scouring and collecting pollen and nectar they would make their way to the hive to deposit all of their collected goods. The pollen and nectar collected was the lifeblood of the hive. The nectar and pollen would go through a process and transform into honey and other food stuff. It provided a rich and delicious food supply for the bees, some of which was used to feed the small and defenseless hatchlings. In time the new hatchlings would also take up arms and fly to the sky to collect alms for the great hive themselves. The hive itself was nestled carefully and tightly inside the trunk of a fallen pine tree. It kept the hive protected on all sides and provided shelter from the rain and the elements.

One day as nature would have it, a wrathful bear happened to be tromping through the forest when he hit upon the scent of sweet honey. The bear searched high and low, going wherever his nose led him, until at last he came upon the log that housed the bee hive. He took a deep whiff and smelt the honey until at last he could no longer resist its draw. And so the great and prideful bear exclaimed to the bees.
“Small bees I’ve come to take your honey! Today I’ll take half of your comb, but make haste to rebuild. For in half a year I’ll be back to take from your hive again! hahaha”

Having forewarned the bees, the bear dived snout first into an opening in the log. He pried the dry and gnarled bark apart until the hive was naked and in full view before him. His eyes glistened and he lustfully tore at the hive and took exactly half as he had promised. The bees watched in horror as the events unfolded before their eyes, but in an instant they came out of their stupor and buzzed and writhed with hate and anger. The bees were tiny and small, but they were large in heart and courage. They stung and jabbed at the bear all over, though they quickly realized that the bears thick hide was too hard to get through. They quickly moved to the bears face which was bare and open for attack. So as the bear ravaged their home little by little, they stung and bit, until at last the bear left. The hive was littered with the small bodies of their fallen brethren. The bees buzzed above the remains of their home and they all felt shock and awe, but slowly these feelings gave way to a bitter anger at their inability to stop the bear.

The bear trotted away with a swollen, bruised and inflamed face. He tripped over stumps and bumps on the ground, and had a time trying to get back to his den. His eyes were almost completely shut due to the swelling, and his face and mouth were covered in the bee stingers which he tried to brush off with his paw, but their poison had already coursed through his body. The stingers were like scorching daggers digging and spreading their fire under his skin. The bear roared and stomped the ground in pain and anger, until he came upon a small pond. He saw his reflection in the water and saw his tongue and mouth ballooned to twice their size, he dipped his face in water but it didn’t relieve his pain in the least. So he tromped, paced and bared with the pain for a whole night. The bear hated it; the stinging, the pain, the swelling, but in all this he remembered that he had taken half of the bees honey, he remembered how delicious the honey had been, and that he had made a promise to take half later that year. The bear took respite in this thought and relished the idea of taking and ravaging from the bees again. “What joy!” the bear thought amidst the haziness of the pain and stingers. Then happiness suddenly overtook him and he gave a hearty laugh as he headed back into his den.

In this 6 month period the bees took no rest and continued as they did before the day of the attack. The small worker bees would go out each day in search of pollen from any tree, blossom, or flower. For 6 months they continued in this manner, growing and expanding their hive to the size greater than it ever was. The hive had even given rise to a new Queen! The queen bee soon took flight to make a new hive in the surrounding mountain range. The bees faintly remembered the promise given to them by the bear. They hoped it was a fluke, or perhaps that the bear would forget. In either case what could they do in the meantime but to concentrate at the task at hand each day? And so the bees waited in an anxiety that bordered the line of agony at the expectation of what would come. A day soon became a week, and each week a month, until soon 6 months had passed in time.

Around this time the great big bear remembered his promise to the little bees. He licked his chops at the idea of fresh honey and comb, and his mouth as if sensing the near future could do nothing but drool in rivers down his mouth. It was good he had given the bees his solemn promise to be back in 6 months he thought. The bear stood and lumbered back to the hive, guided by his memory and sharp nose, until he was in sight of the old log againe. He looked in awe and saw that the bees had been most diligent! The hive was no less than 3 times the size that he had left it!
“HAHAHA. Little bees I promised to be back in 6 months and here I am to keep good on that promise. I see that all of you have been dedicated to rebuilding the hive to its former size and more. Thank you, I’ll be enjoying myself, and know that after today it will be halved again. HAHAHAHA!” The bear plunged snout first into the log and took exactly half of the comb, but the bees were not sitting idle, by the time the bear was finished his face had swollen up like a balloon. The bear scampered off with the small piece he had left and roared back.
“Remember! Half a year. HAHAHA”

The bear scampered off away from the hive and towards his den. For the next couple hours he was in excruciating pain. It was a sharp needle like pain that gave his mind no other thought but on the pain itself. He paced back and forth in front of his home cursing the pain and his bees. His eyes were almost completely shut from the fiery stings and the swelling, but he had gotten the comb and still had some left. He clumsily scooped it in his mouth and chewed awkwardly. “Ahhh…. Delicious!” as the sweetness of the nectar over-flooded his taste buds. His anger, pain, pride, and want was tamed for as long he continued to enjoy the sweetness of the honey.

Part 2

Now as it was, a fox had been keeping his eye on the situation between the bees and the bear as it unfolded. Let it be known that the fox loved honey very much, but his hide was not as thick and resilient as the bears. But one thing he was. He was a keen and sly fox. So a day after the bear had left the bees, the fox approached the ravaged hive. A little less than half the little beasts were left alive and all were in high alert. They immediately surrounded the intruder.

“What do you want fox!”, they all cried out ready to sting at the slightest provocation.
“Hold, hold! I’ve been watching from the hill above, and I’ve seen how that evil bear takes half of your comb every half year. I’m here because I can get the bear to go away!”
The words of the fox struck the bees, and the small embers of hope had lit up in the hearts of each of these little creatures. What if? What if the fox really could get the bear to go away? What if their home needn’t be destroyed every couple months? These questions and more flashed by in the bees minds. After a short pause they cried out.
“Speak then.”

The fox responded
“I know a lot about the bear and about his weaknesses. You see there’s a pollen from a special flower that blooms high in the mountain, that on the first scent will positively put the bear in a trance. Its a very rare flower but I know the areas where they grow and bloom, it’s said the druid of the forest and his pixies tend to and give it its magical properties. The next time he comes around I’ll somehow waft the flower near his nose, I’ll ward him off and your honey will be safe from the bear.”

The fox paused for a moment to further the impact of his next words.
“All I ask in return is 40% of your comb whenever the bear comes over. But know that its for the danger I take upon myself and for the time and effort it takes me to find this special flower.”
Another pause.
“What do you say bees?”

The bees buzzed and discussed the offer. They were all one entity, and all had the very best intentions for their hive but there was a disconnect in how to protect it and move forward. There were many groups and trains of thoughts that emerged and the bees started to huddle with those that were like minded.

Some of the bees were weary, tired, and resigned to the fact that the bear would take part of their livelihood every so often. These bees had a heavy heart and looking for any means to alleviate their feelings and their fate. So when the hope that the fox could ward off the bear was lighted inside of them, they dared not let that fire go out. They fanned the small ember and made it grow stronger and brighter by any means. The bees in this group started to become hopeful and some were even positively sure that the fox would stop the bear. Many in this group looked up to the fox as a good creature filled with only the best of intentions towards the bees.

“Why would the fox help us if not for his good intentions? We’ve all heard how cunning and keen the fox is, but all animals can have a change of heart, can they not? He’s willing to go through the trouble of finding this special flower, and for only 40% of our honey. The fox even brings up the druid of the forest, and no one in their right mind would use his name in vain or for personal gain! If we accept the offer and the fox keeps his end of the promise we won’t be harassed by the bear any more! We won’t have to suffer having our honey taken away from us. This is all good for us however you look at it. ” They thought to themselves.

Other bees from the same group were much more practical.
“40 percent is less than half, is it not?”
is what these bees thought.

There was also another group of bees that were against the idea of the fox helping them. These bees were also tired and weary, but for different reasons.

“Perhaps the fox could help us, but why would he put his life on the line for a bunch of bees? Also, we’ve all heard of how keen and cunning the fox is. Who’s to say this is not just another of his clever tricks? If we attack the bear in mass it could also be enough… Last time the bear could barely make his way out of the valley. If we aim for the face and eyes before he even gets close to our home we could get him to quit his game. We would make it so the pain we give him would not be worth the honey gets! We would lose more than half of our people though… But everything we make and build would be ours.” They thought to themselves.

There was also the more spirited and aggressive set of bees from this second group.
“Through jaw and stinger we’ll take from the bear what he took from us! He’s ravaged and taken from our home for the last year. How can we continue to live like this!? In constant fear and expectation of the paws of destruction. Knowing that another holds the keys to our livelihood and life… We’ll stop the bear whatever it takes!

There was a disconnect between the two groups of bees and what they thought best for the hive, so a vote was put out.
“Say aye, to give the fox his 40% in protection from the bear!”
The majority of the bees buzzed with furious approval and it was unnecessary to even hear the other side out. It was then decided that the fox would get his 40% as long as he kept his end of the bargain.

“We’ll take your offer fox!” the bee representatives cried out.
“Great” the fox said quietly,
“Then I’ll be back in 6 months time to stop the bear as I’ve promised.”
With that the fox turned to make his leave. As he walked away his lips twisted and formed a malicious and cunning smile.

Time passed and flew by, and a couple weeks before the destined date the fox went out in search of the bear. He found the bear lying in a heavy sleep near the entrance of a shallow den. The fox approached the entrance carefully, keeping a watchful eye on the movements of the bear.
“BEAR!”
The fox shouted into the den. His shrill voice rang and echoed throughout the cave until at last the bear heaved his eyes open to see the fox standing not 5 paces away in front of his home. The bear did not care to move and merely spoke from his position.
“And you? Who are you to wake me from my sleep?”
“Bear…” The fox started, quietly and calmly
“I’ve come because I know in 2 weeks time you’ll go to the bees. I’ve seen how much it pains and stings you to get the comb.  Your eyes and snout close shut from the poison of the bees, and I’ve seen you pace in delirium and pain for hours on end, waiting for the fire to subside. Dare I say that the honey you get is not worth the effort that you put out.”
The bear shuddered at these words and the thought, for the fox was not lying and what he said was true. But in one thing he was wrong. The bear enjoyed and loved to take the delicious honey, there was a joy and pride in his taking it, and he didn’t forget how amazing the honey had been afterwards. The whole ordeal was absolutely worth it, and he would continue it until the day he died. The fox continued.
“I’ve come to offer you a way to get to the comb with not 1 sting, no bites, no swollen face or fiery pain to speak of. If you do as I say I promise you 2 tenths of the comb. What do you say?”
The bear was caught by surprise as he continued to listen. He looked the fox over suspiciously. He knew all about the conniving foxes and their tricky ways.
“Fox, do you know that I enjoy taking the comb. Did this ever occur to you? I go the bees and see them shudder with fear and knowing. I go there knowing that every little soul in that hive will try to subdue me, but I’ll always triumph! HAHAHAHA, and they know! They know that they’ll live, that I’ll always leave half for them and not a cell of honey less! There’s much joy in it wouldn’t you say?” The bear said with a wide and happy grin.
“Of course the honey is delicious as well.” the bear said, almost as an afterthought, as he started to reminisce about his time at the hive.

“I understand Bear, but why would you want to suffer the fiery barrage of thousands of bees for taking half a comb of honey when I can offer you 2 tenths with not 1 sting. All you would need to do is walk to the hive! At the very least you have nothing to lose by taking the offer.” The fox retorted.
“HAHAHAHA The stings are not too bad Fox!” The bear laughed with amusement, and continued on.
“But you say I having nothing to lose. I say I do! I take 5 portions and you only offer me 2! I’m losing out on 3 tenths of comb and honey!”
The fox smiled, everything was going smoothly.
“How about this Bear. I’ll give you half of my cut. You take 3 portions and I’ll take 1. You’re getting three times as much as I do, hardly a fair deal for me. You also know I couldn’t bear the barrage of the bees, and so I have to resort to this. I just want a bit of honey!”
This intrigued the bear.  One thing he would miss would be the taking and the ravaging, but for all his fury and wrath, he was equally lazy and slothful, “The fox did mention I’d only have to walk there.” The bear also thought of  himself getting 3 portions of honey and comb while the fox would only get 1. This thought amused him and he felt a subtle joy the more he played and tossed with the idea in his mind. What the fox said about the bees was also true, the fox’s pelt and fur was much to thin to withstand the brunt of the bee stingers. “Theres nothing to lose in seeing where this goes” the bear thought.
The bear lifted himself to face the fox.
“This all sounds interesting fox. What would you have me do?…”

Part 3

It was a cool and misty day when the fox awoke. A chill had ran through the forest that made him shiver and he noticed that it had left a thin layer of dew on the forest floor. The fox extended his front paws out, stuck his rump out to the open sky, and let out a big yawn. As his senses came to him bit by bit, the thought of the bear and the bees came out to him from the fog of sleep. The fox scrambled up as it was almost mid day, the time the bees, the bear and he were supposed to meet. At once he started at a trot towards the hive. On the way, a small bunch of white dew covered daisies caught his eye. He plucked the bunch from out of the ground with his jaws and continued onward. The fox arrived at the hive before the appointed time and made his way towards the hive.
“Hello bees. These are the special flowers I was speaking of.”
As the fox said this he nestled the daisy bunch inside the log, right next to the hive.
“Don’t touch it, and let the bear make his way here to the hive, make sure to not antagonize or sting him!”

The bees were no fools for they knew most of the flowers and their scent, and what they made the flowers out to be was unmistakably a daisy bunch!
“FOX! What trickery is this, these are daisies! These are just daisies! What will these do, what nonsense is this!” The bees yelled out in unison. They all buzzed in confusion, fear, and anger for they knew they were being made fools of.
“Have faith you fools! Here he comes.”
They quickly made quiet under the state of utter confusion that they were in. The only thing they were capable of now was to let time unfold the events before them.

The figure of a great beast appeared in the hill beyond. The shape slowly made its way toward the hive until the figure of the bear could be made out.
“I’ve come to take half your honey bees! And you fox, what are you doing here? Don’t antagonize me and make way!”
“There will be no taking of honey today!” The fox yelped out in seriousness.
“Says who? You the fox! HAHAHA”
The bear guffawed out loud, for in all reality what could the fox do to stop his advance. Yet this was all part of a carefully planned facade and the bear remembered the foxes instructions well.
“I’ll antagonize you bear and you laugh it off, as what could I, a fox, really do to stop a bear. Remember though, the flowers. They’ll be placed next to the hive, and as you make your way to take a bite, make sure to inhale and to take a deep whiff. Then the crux of our plan! At that moment act dumbfounded. Then listen to me and my instruction and do as I say. Simple no? After this I promise you your honey!”

The fox couldn’t help but let out a smirk at the pure excitement and irony of everything taking place. No taking of honey would take place today, but there would be giving of honey!

Step by the step the bear made his way toward the hive, paying the fox no mind. The fox made way for the bear as he got closer to him and towards the hive. Meanwhile the bees watched dumbfounded at the events now unfolding. As the bear went to take his first bite, he noticed the daisies and took a deep whiff of their sweet scent, they were fresh and smelled beautifully. The bear then stepped back as if in a daze and fell back on his haunches. He stared forward pensively, with mouth ajar and without a mark of emotion as if put under a state of trance. Then the fox started.

“Now get up bear and leave this place, go filch some other hive!”
At once the bear got up, slowly turned, and made his way back towards the hill beyond. Once the bear had cleared the hill, fox approached the bees.

“There, as I promised bees. I’ve kept the bear away, now my cut of the comb.” he said.

Some of the bees were mesmerized at the performance, and others at the audacity of it all. They huddled together and all agreed that however they looked at it, he had kept the bear away, and so they consented on giving the fox his cut.

“Fox, your performance was great. We will give you 4 tenths of the comb today but in the future we will give only 2 tenths for your service. You’ve cheated us, and you know it well yourself!” The bees cried out in indignation. The fox paid no heed to the bees, he quickly came to the hive and gently took the section that was cordoned off. He walked a bit away then sat and looked pensively back at the bees. He had foreseen the bees making a fuss and in seconds many thoughts and ideas rushed the space in his mind, until at last one caught his fancy and taste. Many months ago while he was carefully eyeing the bees and the bear, he had made note that a queen bee had left this hive to make her home in the mountain range near by. The fox now had the seed of a plan, now he need only to plant it, tend to it, and watch it grow. So the fox turned up to the bees and exclaimed.
“Bees, don’t you see the value of what I’ve done for you! I protected you from the ravages of the bear who would have taken half and perhaps even more of your home! And now you try to pull the wool over my eyes! How can you be so ungracious!”
The fox had stammered over his words, and the more he talked the more he believed his own anger and reproach over the treatment of the bees.
“I came here to help you against this bear, and I only asked for 4 tenths of your comb in return as is only right for a service done! You say I’ve tricked you and cheated you, but I’ve kept my promise and my word! The bear came with the intention to take your honey by force and he left with not a paw on your hive, what else do you ask for! Tell me, what else could I have done.”
As he finished he turned tails in anger and stormed off with his prize in jaw.

The fox loped over the hill beyond and continued on until he met up with bear. He handed over 3 tenths of the comb that was promised while he gnawed on and enjoyed his tenth.
“HAHAHAHA!” The big bear bellowed out with a mouth full of comb and honey.
“You took the comb as you said, and you even came here when you could have taken it all. All this and without 1 sting. HAHAHA! What an honest thief you are!”
“I’m no thief!” The fox snapped back sharply.
“You’re even sly with yourself! HAHAHAHkakaka” The bear cried out to the point of choking with a mouth full of comb.
“Be quiet Bear, you talk too much gibberish. Anyways, I’ve need of you. You’ve seen the other hive that appeared nearby not so long ago, no?”
“Yes Fox, I’ve seen it. What about them?”
“Well, I’ve got a plan and I promise you 4 tenths combs of the hive from now on. You need only do 1 thing for me just this once. It might hurt for a bit, but I’ll make it worth your while.”
This grabbed the bears attention, and the bear quickly thought.
“The fox has come through and he’s kept his word on all he’s said till now…”
The bear replied.
“What would you have me do?…”

The next day the bear came over to the old hive in the log and shouted out to the bees.
“Yesterday the fox made a fool of me, he tricked me with those strange flowers, it dulled my wits and I left without taking any comb! After coming to my senses I made my way to your sister hive and devoured it all, there’s nothing left, and today I’ll make you a new promise! In 6 months time I’ll be back to do as I did to your sister hive, and gone you’ll be!”
“It was all a trick Bear, we know.” The bees shouted back. “There’s no way we’ll be tricked by you again.”
“I’ve made my promise bees, go see for yourselves. Just know that I’ll be back.” The bear turned and marched off away in real fury, with a face full of stingers and bites.

The bees were taken by surprise at the sudden appearance of the bear and his speech. A bee scout was sent and found that their sister hive had been eaten and done away with completely. Only scraps and pieces of comb were left in the after math of the carnage. Shortly after, the bee scout came back to inform the hive of the disaster. After the sudden news, the bees were bewildered and a fear of total annihilation 6 months from then had stung their hearts, sharply and acutely. There was one hope, and even most of those that were against the foxes help at first were swayed. The bees buzzed over the decision and decided by an overwhelming majority this time. Another bee scout was immediately sent to find Fox.

“Fox” they exclaimed.
“We apologize for yesterday and we know now that we were in the wrong. We will continue to give you 4 tenths of our comb if you protect us from Bear.”
“Bees” The fox said trying to hold back a smile of joy.
“You’ll have to offer more than that. I’ll take no less than half of your comb for reparation this time.”
The bees had already talked this situation over and were prepared to give much more to prevent their total destruction. After a short back and forth with Fox about the terms of their agreement they accepted protection for half of their comb every 6 months.

And so our story is almost at its close. Generations and generations of bees came and went. With time the fox and the bees of the hive became good acquaintances, not quite friends, but neither were they enemies nor on bad terms. The ritual with what soon became the good and helpful fox was re-enacted twice a year for many years. The fox would come to lay a small bushel of daisies in front of the hive as a token of good will and protection against the evils of the world, the bear would then come and show himself, and afterwards the bees would gift the fox half of their comb. It became a routine that embedded itself deeply into the lives of these creatures, one that they could not be taken away. The bees, the fox, and the bear all lived comfortably in the peace of routine for many years there after.

The bear died of old age many years later, yet the ritual continued unimpeded between the bees and the fox, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The only thing that changed was the fox now accepted only 1 tenth of their comb. At first he had tried to take nothing from the bees, but they had asked him to take his tenth, if only he continued coming every 6 months with his flower and protection. Many of the wrongs and deeds of the past were forgiven and forgotten by the ongoing generation of bees, especially after the bear had left from this world to the next. The bees still had an ethereal and genetic memory of the bear. He had one day come to take and destroy the bees, sweeping away everything to naught like a raging fire through a forest. And now. Now the bear was gone.

One might imagine the bees of the hive as unhappy and reproachful for the difficult situations that mother nature had put it under, but this was not so, the bees managed to live and survive through the hardest of times. The small creatures were strong and resilient, yet small and meek. They cruised through the fresh open skies in continuous pursuit of the delicate scent of blooming flowers and blossoms, even while knowing that their efforts would be taken away every couple months. Now it was different. Yet, like clockwork the bees continued to collect pollen and nectar, day after day, and the hive as if a living and breathing creature grew in size with the care and nurture of the bees.

Part 4

Many years passed and the fox had become old and ill. He knew his time was fast approaching. It was still 3 months away until he would visit his friends the bees again for their 6 month reunion. He was sure by then he’d be nestled back into the dark embrace of the green hills beyond, back with his conspirator the bear. The waning of his years had taken much of his keenness, sneakiness, and gusto and now he looked back at his long life and wondered how everything with the bees had unfolded. The fox thought of the powerlessness and the innocence of the small and meek bees. The things that were done to the bees are undeniable, but now he was on his last leg and the bees were not. The hive would continue to live and prosper long after he was gone.

It was a beautiful morning. Birds were chirping and swimming happily through the cool breeze running through the forest. Only an inkling of light had spilled into the horizon beyond, and the forest floor was still covered in a thin layer of dew left over by the chilly night before. The fox quickly stretched his legs and started at a trot towards the hive. On the way a small bushel of dew covered daisies caught his eye. He plucked a single daisy from the bunch with his jaws and made his way to the hive.

“Hello bees.” Fox said with a smile.
“Hi Fox! How are you, are you doing well?” The bees replied. They noticed that Fox was limping a little. His eyes were sallow, dark and sunken into their sockets.
“Hahaha. I’m feeling better than ever bees. I came because I wanted to give you something special.” The fox gently set the fresh, beautiful and dew covered daisy inside the log.
“This is a very rare and magical flower, there’s not another like it in the world. Not even the druid up in his high mountain could conjure this up.” the fox said softly.
The bees buzzed around the flower, and they could only make it out to be a daisy, though very fresh and beautiful. But in their small hearts they knew that fox was telling the truth. They looked at the ailing fox over once again and their hearts tightened with premonition.
“I’m going now bees… Goodbye.”
“Wait! Come here and take a little honey.” They yelled out in unison.
“No, no, no.” The fox said as he turned away. Then the fox yelped and jumped in pain. A couple bees had stung him in the romp. They fell limply to the ground.
“Come here fox. Take this small piece at least…. Please.”
The fox could only stare back dumbfounded and in awe at the little bees fluttering in the air.
“Come.” the bees said with finality.
He came to the hive and took the piece cordoned off. He turned and ran off into the green hills beyond. Not once did the fox dare to look back. The sun was rising in the sky overhead, and like a wave over the sea, it flooded the forest in its morning warmth. The fox kept running, and still he ran until he collapsed in an open clearing, exhausted and out of breath. He eyed the piece of comb given to him. A tear streamed down his eye as he nuzzled and ate a piece of the comb and honey. It was the most delicious thing that the fox had tasted in his life.

WHOOSH… PPPFFFFF!! So much noise it was deafening, and so much light rushing through the sliver of a window that it was blinding. My heart starts pumping faster, its racing now. I want to move but it feels as if my body was commanded to stay in place, pressured down by an invisible hand. My eyes are wide open, but I want to close them and run away. But to where! Its cramped, and I can barely move around the mess of wires and equipment around me.

Ohhh I’m afraid! I’m so so afraid. Its as if a blanket of fear and darkness suddenly envelops you, and no matter what you do your heart and senses have already embraced its warmth. But I’m most afraid because I don’t know. I don’t know where I am, I don’t where I’m going, I don’t know what’s going to happen, and worst yet there’s not a thing I can do about it but to let it happen.

The rattling, and the anxiety inducing shaking subsides. Ohhh and what a monster of a thing to replace all the scary noise. Now it’s silent, its completely and utterly silent. Now I see how much I took for granted my little home, the sound of wind, the birds, the cars, of people, and of his voice, especially his voice. The only thing I could hear now is the loud thump of my scared heart, my faltering breath, and the agonizing high pitched ding that rang every couple seconds.

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

It was a countdown of sorts, I’m sure of it. It was torture! It was agony to know that this was the only sound left for me. The grim reaper himself was counting down the very seconds left of my life. Then I thought something funny. Death, what a guy, what a chap, that he would give me such personal treatment! But I bet he does so with everyone. He’s made friends with everybody and everything, every dog, cow, human, cat, and mouse. What a likable fellow Death is!

At this moment I looked out from the only looking glass I had of the outside world, that sliver of a window that I mentioned before. It wasn’t bright anymore so it was clear outside, but what I saw was no world that I ever knew.

Three beautiful spheres were in my view,
And every single one of a different kind of hue.
Oh, the first was the strongest of them all,
So bright, yellow, proud and with the gall
To steal and command the attention of my eyes.

But its brother blue, was so instinctually familiar.
It felt so close and oh so dear.
It was pulling at my heartstrings and making song,
That it was clear,
My very dear home was there indeed.

And the runt of litter was there too.
A little gray, but well to do.
Not so bright as its eldest brother,
But bigger it was,
and dearer it was to brother blue.

These three brothers danced round and round,
Each holding each, in a tight embrace,
This it seemed the case.
They were inseparable these three,
Until the end of time.

That big blue giant! My memories of home consumed me and my situation. But alerted I realized the heat building up in my little coffin. It was warm, then warmer, and now hot. I missed water right now, ahh I wanted just a sip, just a taste, enough to wet my tongue. How grateful for everything I would be then, if they would have only left some water. I knew with despondency that in short time it would be my last. Now what comfort was there but in the past? I remembered the good beautiful times and the memories I had. Then I thought of him and only him.

I remember the steak and little potatoes that he cooked for me! He only did this once, but it was my very favorite. One time he took me to his home. He let me go outside and I would play and jump in the snow. He always kept watch over me. Then all of a sudden he would surprise me and give chase. I’d run and run, I was so alive and it was so fun. I loved him. Sometimes I would let him catch me on purpose so he wouldn’t feel bad that he couldn’t run as fast as I.

Then all the memories of the bad things I’d done rushed over me. I was mad and angry once and attacked him in a fit of passion, it was nothing serious. I hope he realized that it was just in the moment, I didn’t really mean it. Another time my tummy hurt so much and I threw up on the floor, I couldn’t hold it in, they had given me strange food. He saw me, and I lowered my eyes, I was sorry, I really was. I think that’s why I’m here.

I start to wonder why they left the window closed, back home he took me in his car and he drove with the windows open. I’d stick my head out and WHOOSH, the rush of the wind would land on my face…

Its hotter now. The very air is boiling and its hard to breathe… Before I got in this car he said “You’re going to heaven now Laika, don’t worry, I’ll join you very soon” I want to warn him somehow, because heaven isn’t fun, I don’t want him to go here.

The only thing I want now is him. Just to hear his voice one last time. “Laika! Come here you mutt!” he would yell. Ohh, I would run over so fast and lay in his lap, he’d stroke my head and scratch behind my ears and tell me “good boy”. I wonder what I did wrong, because thats why I’m here.

I wish he would tell me “good boy” one last time.

My eyes close shut, I’m tired…

Dedicated to Little Laika the Space Dog, and little Bambuya.

Chapter 1

The man woke up with a start. He grabbed the warm sheets and tossed them away from his body, swiveled his legs away from the bed and slowly sat down. He placed his forearms on his thighs. The beads of sweat glimmered from the back of his hands as the dim morning rays pierced into his room.

He looked about. It was a soft white color all around. He faced a flat screen tv sitting on top of a wooden and chestnut colored tv stand. It was around 4 ft across, with 2 small doors in the center. One was partially swiveled open and within you could see a neat stack of books. Peering to his left he saw his closet doors closed shut. With a sigh and a little rub of the eyes he stood and walked over to the bathroom. Here he would start his day, as he did every other day.

The man peered into the mirror. Reflected back he saw his charcoal black hair, and soft dim blue eyes, the kind you see in the early winter morning sky. Low set cheekbones, a sharp jawline, and bags under his eyes, made his eyes appear cold, and sharp.

The man brushed his teeth in circles for 2 minutes, rinsed his brush and entered the shower. He turned on the shower head and used the water to rinse out his mouth. The shower was quick, he dried himself and walked over to his closet.

The man dressed rather plainly, a pair of jeans, a blue long sleeve, and some red vans is all he needed. During this time the sun had come up quite a bit, he opened up the blinds and the sun burst in unimpeded. The man walked over to his satchel, picked it up, and and went out closing the room behind him. Down the stairs he went, 3 floors.

After reaching foot outside he continued on his way. It was the month of May, the sun was bright and the temperature perfect, not to cold not to warm. With the sun behind, his apartment building cast a shadow in front, reaching the building on the opposing side.

The first stop of the day would be his favorite coffee shop, Elis Cafe it was called. He walked to the edge of the block and in the far distance he could see the lumbering giants occupying downtown. He would soon be there for work, but for now, coffee awaited. The man walked 2 blocks soaking in the sun. There was people everywhere. Numbingly he heard the honking of vehicles all about, and construction here and there. Finally the man had reached his destination.

He entered Elis Cafe, and being as it was still quite early, the place was empty. Elizabeth caught his gaze, and he caught hers.

‘Good morning Liz, how are you today’,
Perhaps this was the best part of his day.

‘I’m doing good today, another great day, what can I say. Will you be having the usual’ She said with a smile,
‘Ya, the usual.’
‘Coming right up.’

It was a long and fairly narrow space, the coffee counter was closest to the door, and the pungent aroma of freshly ground coffee pierced the air. The man took a deep breath. He sat close to the entrance and faced the window.

He took quick glances at Elizabeth as she made his cappuccino. She was short with red hair, tied back in a ponytail. She was thin, with a fair complexion and round face, freckles all around. Her cheeks were full, and were died in a lively pink color, she had small lips, and a fair nose. She had deep green colored emeralds for eyes, twinkling and full of life. To him, she was beautiful. He thought of her as wild, untamable, fiery and so full of life.

The man heard the milk steamer stop, signaling that his drink was ready. For some reason he remembered the sweat on his hands that morning. Elizabeth glanced over and with a friendly looking face,

‘Your cappuccino is ready’,

The man walked over, grabbed the cup

‘Thank you’,
‘Have a great day now, I’ll see you next week’

That was the end of his conversation. He never stood long at the coffee shop, he preferred to drink on the go. He had more than enough time to sit down and enjoy his coffee, and sometimes he wondered why he didn’t.

The man marched on, towards where the lumbering giants stood tall. They looked overbearing in the cool and foggy morning. Standing there as if they were the overseers of the city, continuously keeping watch over all its inhabitants. He continued on toward the subway.

Chapter 2

The man was never the first one to work, but he was never the last either. He arrived at his desk and readied himself mentally for another day. He couldn’t say why, but it was Friday and he was happy. He sat down in his chair. It was a rather expensive one that was supposed to help with posture. The company had decided to buy these chairs a couple months back along with stand up desks. When he had sat down for too long he could stretch his legs out a little then sit back down. It was great, he thought to himself.

The man went to the company kitchen for breakfast. If there was a perk he liked it was the free food. Eggs, strawberries, sausage, apples, biscuits, blackberries… The man always had eggs, a couple pieces of bacon, and some apple slices.

He sat down and slowly ate, it was good for his digestion to thoroughly chew his food, he thought. The man remembered the dream that had startled him awake that morning. He had dreamt that he was a wild dog, a wolf. It was hyper realistic, he had been a wolf himself within the dream. He remembered the beginning.

‘’’
The winds were stabbing at his body like tiny icicles, it was relentless but his coat protected him from everything but the sharpest of gusts. The many winters he had lived through had hardened him, he felt comfortable as the cold and sharp winds whipped as his body. He trotted about, and could feel the cold in his paws, the snow had packed during night time and it was almost a foot high. Pines, and brush surrounded him, they created shadows of different sizes, colors and shapes on the ground. He came in full view of the sun as he came to a stop near the edge of the clearing. He closed his eyes and felt the energy of the rays permeate his coat, down to his inner being. He let this kind and gentle wave of warmth overtake him.

He stood looking toward the center of the clearing, three of his pack members were feeding on a young deer, killed just the day before. The dead animal was on its side, ribs sticking outward, with only a few pieces of flesh left. The three wolves fought between what little meat was left on the ribs.

They were all hungry and desperate, but for that very reason they felt much more alive, alert and ready. Soon a boon would come. The great elk migrations were only a couple moons away or so his instincts told him. “They would only need to wait until t…”

The moment of peace came to a crashing halt. The air seemed to split in two as a deafening crack reverberated throughout the misty air.
‘’’

The man worked in one of the new style offices, they called them open space offices. He wasn’t sure about their purpose but the company was very excited about them. They were a big part of the culture as they’re supposed to foster interaction between team members.

His team was working on a new project. It was an extremely important one. The new system they were building would completely revamp the payment system for customers. The new system would make the payment process faster, quicker, and more transparent, both easier for the company and for the customer.

The thing he was most excited for was the new reward system that was being incorporated into payments. It was a system that perhaps hundreds of other companies had already built, but not his company. The company had recently noticed the reward system trend and decided it was best to build one out. One of the benefits was customer retention. The customers would keep coming back for more, because the more they bought the more they could earn in rewards. The man was very excited to be part of something new.

He worked throughout the morning until lunch time. He usually got food with Ryan, his team mate. The man almost never had the opportunity to talk to Ryan casually during work, but it was finally lunch time. They walked together to the company cafeteria, got food and sat down.

Ryan was a bright and cheerful guy, he was also extremely adept at his job. Ryan had a masters degree from Stanford, and everyone on the team had given him a subtle sense of respect, both for his qualifications, but also because of his easy going and cheerful personality. He was well liked by everyone.

Whenever the man had ideas or questions about work he would always talk to Ryan about them. He felt that Ryan could always give him a good opinion.

Ryan started to talk about the weekend. He was going to a club on Saturday, one of his favorite dj’s was playing. On Sunday he would be going to an Italian culture festival. It would be 10 blocks of food, drink, rides and fun. Ryan asked the man if he wanted to go.

The man thought for a moment. On Sundays he usually spent part of his day at Central Park. He liked to walk and get away from the city once in while. He would pretend that he was in the woods in some far off place. It never lasted long but he always felt renewed somehow. The man would not give this up for anything or anyone.

‘Not this time Ryan.’

‘Its ok, maybe next time.’

The man thought he saw sadness and exhaustion in Ryan’s complexion if only for a second before his cheerful attitude took over again. They talked some more before heading back to work.

Chapter 3

It was near the end of the day. Friday was great. The man could leave just a bit earlier and he never felt bad about it. His whole team would do the same.

The man packed his things. He didn’t have much, his work laptop, a notebook, and some pens. He said goodbye to everyone and bid them all a good weekend. He walked to the elevator. He would need to go down 24 floors to get to the bottom.

The elevator stopped on floor 16, 3 people came in.
The elevator stopped on floor 7, 5 people came in.

They reached the bottom floor, and they all moved out one by one. The man thought they seemed similar to ants. They were all part of the same colony, and they both moved in single file. He also felt his coworkers and himself were part of something bigger, together they contributed to the success and the health of the company. The man was glad he had a place where he belonged.

The man had been the first one in and was near the back, he was the last to get out.

As the man walked he thought about the rest of his day, he had made no plans for tonight. He usually read, played video games, and once in a while he would go to the pub to have a drink or two. “First things first”, the man thought, “I need to get home before I do anything”. He took the same route that he had taken on his way to work. He passed Elis cafe and took a glance inside. It was empty now but he remembered his time there that morning.

The man arrived home. He took off a shoe and threw it into the corner, he did the same with his other shoe. The man then placed his satchel near the bed, and threw himself onto the mattress.

The man felt himself sink, like a sinking ship being submerged into the ocean, becoming one with the surrounding water. The mans worries, joys, fears, and responsibilities all melted away as the man lost himself to sleep. It lasted only half an hour. The man sat up on his bed, and grabbed the book on his night stand. Again he lost himself for 2 hours.

It was Friday night now. The man was comfortable, he was relaxing in his apartment. After much back and forth about plans for that tonight, he decided to go to the pub. It was nearby, and it was his favorite pub. The man put the book on the stand, he got up and put his shoes on. He had slept with what he had put on for work, “its still clean, why change”, he thought as he went out the door.

Chapter 4

The man took a sip of his beer. It was quiet, and not many people were there. It was a small bar. There were two pool tables behind him and the orange sheen of the incandescent light bulbs flooded the area. The place seemed a little dirty and grungy, but the man liked it, “its nice if its like this” the man thought to himself. It was ran by an old lady, Mary was her name.

The mans thoughts started to wander, he thought about his week at work, then he remembered his conversation with Ryan that morning. He remembered the glint of sadness and exhaustion that had completely overtaken Ryan. He had seen it before and it always troubled him. It didn’t make sense, Ryan was great in so many aspects, and he had it all it seemed. Ryan had graduated from one of the best colleges in the United States, he was loved by everyone, he was extremely knowledgeable in his trade, and he held a high position within his organization, yet why did he have bouts of melancholy and struggle within himself? What did Ryan have, was he sick, maybe he was just tired, was he bored with his position? The man kept wondering about these questions for a while longer until a man seated himself next to him.

He was tall and handsome. The man had dark hair, short and slicked back. He was a man blessed with good looks, his features were sharp and refined. He wore a white long sleeve button up with slacks and dress shoes, it seemed that he had removed his tie for comfort before hand, yet he was still tucked in. The man thought to himself that this newcomer, seemingly from the upper echelons of society, was out of place in the bar, but was he in a position to make such a claim? The man himself worked for a high tier company. He himself didn’t need to dress so sharply, but he certainly earned enough to be considered upper society. Was he though, did money itself make him upper society? Did money itself make him a better human being? Absolutely not, the notion itself was ridiculous, or was it? The ideal world and the real world were not one and the same.

The man let these thoughts go. He didn’t mind the newcomer, he was going to relax and enjoy his beer. Unexpectedly the newcomer started to talk to him, but deep in the back of his mind the man expected it, almost anticipating the moment that this snazzy man would start talking to him.

“How’s it going buddy.”

“Its going good, pal.”

The man didn’t like the newcomers tone, so he had responded in kind. This sort of situation had never occurred to him, everyone usually kept to their own here.

“Nice shoes you got there, flashy color”,

“Ya, reds my favorite color”,

“No shit, reds my favorite color as well! My names Dmitri by the way. Yours?“

“I’m Adrian, good to meet you”, the man responded.

This was a battle, Adrian thought immediately. Dmitri’s tone of voice, words, poise and body language all led to the same conclusion. A battle to see who could win the other over. Adrian sensed no malevolence, or bad intentions, but he neither sensed benevolence or good intentions. This was a game for Dmitri, and Adrian instinctively knew this.

Adrian was curious about the man. He felt drawn to him, more so they were both drawn to each other. Both knew the game they were playing, and both were willing to play.

Mary interjected.
“Hey honey, are you having the usual.” She asked Dmitri.
“Ya, thank you Mary.”

Adrians phone started to vibrate. He took a quick glance. His boss had sent him a text telling him to take over weekend job duties that Sunday.

“Ahh”, Adrian thought to himself. Memories of his dream that morning started to flood him.

‘’’
It wasn’t thunder, it was gunfire. He recoiled for a second, then quickly scanned the area. Lying next to the deer carcass was one the younger members of the pack. His chest was heaving and struggling to expand out, the pure white snow below him was already being stained bright red.

Through the brush and the pine trees he had spotted moving bodies in the distance. They were about 150m out, with 2 upright creatures, as well as 5 domesticated wolves alongside with them. These domestic wolves were helping the upright creatures hunt their own kind. “Were they traitors?” He thought. “No. They were born and given a place. I was also born and given a place on this earth.” It wasn’t his place to judge who was in the right and who in the wrong, his only responsibility and care in the world were to protect and ensure the survival of his pack. To protect his young who would make up the next generation and to protect those who would teach them. That was his place and responsibility.

He had analyzed his surroundings and had thought these thoughts within a fraction of a second. His mind was running at a pace unknown to him previously before. His muscles started to twitch and spasm as the adrenaline flooded into his system. His movements no longer needed thought, his muscles contracted and expanded naturally, by instinct and experience. He felt an immense increase of pressure in his chest. At this moment life was no longer a passive exercise, it required of him his absolute and undivided attention, his body and actions, his immediate decisions, it demanded of him his whole being.

The air beside him cracked and bent as a gunshot went past him. He took another glance at the party that was pursuing them, their goal was to kill. The hunting dogs were let loose. This would be his final act.

There are 11 pack members, now 10. 3 cubs, 2 older members, 1 youngster, and 4 able hunters including himself. His pack needed to move now to avoid gunfire.

“Could they outrun the hunting dogs while carrying the cubs? No.”

They couldn’t sit still and defend the area either, they would be picked off by the hunters one by one.

“What if they all ran in the same direction and fought only when the hunting dogs came close? No, 3 of us need to carry cubs which would slow us down, that leaves 4 to fight against their 5, but what if their 5th decided to attack the ones carrying the cubs, this would allow the 2 legged hunters to close in on all of us.”

“3 of us will stay and delay the hunting dogs. This would allow the rest of the pack to move toward safety. All 5 of the hunting dogs would attack us as well, they wouldn’t chase the others. 5 against 3 are odds to tempting to let go.”

He looked at the members of his pack. He didn’t need to give out orders. With a look they knew his intentions and his command. The older members and the youngster each grabbed a cub by the scruff, they started to run off in the distance along with his best hunter.

He ran over to the fallen member. His chest slowly heaving, with misty and glossed over eyes. He was at the boundary of this realm and the next. He tapped the fallen members nose with his nose, a solemn and quick goodbye was all he could give. As if waiting for that moment the fallen member closed his eyes, and the heaving stopped. Peace. The deer from yesterday and his friend today, they were different creatures altogether when alive, but here next to each other and in death they were all too similar. No, he thought, they are the same.

As bullet after bullet passed by, he and his 2 hunters moved intentionally and slowly toward a nearby mound, baiting the dogs to that location. The 2 legged hunters would have no clear shot, no line of site. “This will give them 3. No, 2 minutes at most to fight and kill off as many of the dogs as they could”. He snarled and growled, his muscles twisted and wound up ready to explode, anticipating the next second. The dogs were now 20m away.
‘’’

Adrian awoke with a start.