The World's Game

by Jacobo Izquierdo

  Pix was still swaying and trying to gather strength to move the load far enough not to die crushed. A midarian rescue team quickly got onto one of the platforms to reach him and help him move the block. Although the performance speed, Pix’s hampered strength finally ran out. The fifteen tons of stone fell down on him, resulting in his death.

  “Is this what amuses you that much?” Cabolun asked.

  Palac did not answer.

  “Another day I’ll tell you what happened with the game.”

  “I still don’t understand why he didn’t want you to take part in case he was in danger. Maybe he was sick of life.”

  “I didn’t understand it in that moment either. There are so many things you don’t know about your grandfather…”

  Pix’s body was quickly taken away in order not to overshadow protagonism to the winner. Using the platform, Mitro descended to the esplanade center waiting for the new badge to be engraved on his helmet. Palac stood up as the rest of the supporters, waiting to watch the so longed moment.

  “You’re the best!” He shouted with satisfaction.

  “I’ve had enough,” Cabolun said. “I’ll go for your grandfather’s last will. I’ll be waiting to show it to you. Don’t make me come for you.”

  Hypnotized by the show, Palac did not realize of his father’s absence and continued celebrating victory.

  Chapter 6

  The chilly winter afternoon started to crystalize the water in the fountains. A drizzle softly caressed the leaves on the grief stricken trees. The moon tried to make it way through a line of packed with water clouds. The blink of a streetlight broke nature’s hegemony, a nature that had been harshly battered and modified by humans. The same nature that, from time to time, rebelled and claimed for the space humans had occupied for millions of years.

  Josef was walking hastily. The twenty minutes that he walked every day to the campus, had started to seem eternal for him due to the weather conditions. The day had been quiet, but he hadn’t managed to take the golden haired waitress from his mind. An unusual feeling of regret invaded him. «I behaved in a nasty way. I have to apologize!» He could only think about getting home and warming his numb body. He finally arrived and, as fast as he could, he had a shower. After dinner, he took the book his grandpa had written and started reading it lying down on the chaise long.

  Chapter 2. Who built the pyramids?

  Over history, a lot of people have asked themselves such question, but no one has been able to answer it accurately. The similarities between several of the pyramids scattered around the world, and even outside it, make us think about the possibility that the architects who built them were the same.

  Egyptian pyramids

  The pyramids of Egypt are the most majestic and powerful monuments of that civilization. Investigators cannot reach an agreement about when they were built, but everything seems to show that their origin took place in 2700 B.C. There were found more than a hundred along the Nile.

  The Great Pyramid of Keops is the biggest of all. It originally was 146 meter tall or which is the same: forty storeys, but it was reduced in 9 meters due to erosion and the passing of time. It was built with 2,300,000 stone blocks. The minimum weight of each of them is of 2.5 tons and its maximum of 70 tons. At the beginning, The Great Pyramid of Keops was covered with 27,000 white polished limestone blocks of several tons of weight. The pyramid interior is decorated with a lot of hieroglyphics.

  Its alignment with the constellation of Orion is other of the mysteries that are driving the investigators mad. The theory that they were built by aliens is the most accepted by society.

  Mayan pyramids

  Mayan pyramids are one of the most powerful architectural achievements of the ancient world. The beginning of their construction is estimated to have been in the year 2000 B.C. There are plenty of constructions of this kind scattered across Mesoamerica.

  The Pyramid of Kukulkan is one of the most representative ones. It was built with stone blocks and its cladding is made of limestone. On their walls there are engravings which are very similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics.

  As it happens with Egyptian pyramids, they are aligned with the constellation of Orion.

  Pyramids in Antarctica

  In the year 2012, the ice melting caused by global warming made it possible to photograph three pyramids in Antarctica. The extension of the freezing continent did not allowed to explore them closely. It was in the year 2020 when an expedition formed by four scientists could reach them.

  The description they gave was very similar to the one of the Egyptian pyramids. The block samples they took indicated they had been carved in the year 2800 B.C. As well as Mayan and Egyptian pyramids, these were also aligned with the constellation of Orion.

  Pyramids on the moon

  In 1974, the Apollo XVI crew photographed pyramidal structures on the moon. Little was known about these mysterious constructions since apparently the U.S.A government prohibited returning there. For several years, financial problems served as excuse, but the truth is that over the last decades billions of dollars were invested in the space race and no governor at all has included the moon as its destination.

  In the year 2032, a former person in charge of NASA, sick of several governors’ occultism, made of public domain some confidential documents. Among a good deal of interesting information, a recording made by the spacecraft camera was filtered. In it, the Apollo 11 crew appeared, it was cornered by gigantic creatures in a threatening position. The theory of the moon being guarded and watched by aliens regained strength.

  Pyramids on all the planets of the solar system

  Mars was the first planet conquered by humans. One of the missions that appeared on their road map consisted of exploring the interior of the pyramids, which had been photographed from satellites for several years.

  The description made by the astronauts who visited them was very similar to what we can find in Egypt. But the most curious thing was that as time went by and satellites were improved, the photographs became more accurate and confirmed the existence of all pyramids on all the planets of the solar system.

  Josef continued reading the chapter until he finally fell asleep.

  The book was handwritten and each pyramid was shown with a photograph. Sudan, Peru, China, Iraq, Spain, Greece, Japan, France and Bosnia were some of the places that appeared documented.

  The following morning, the young librarian woke up with the striking sound of the alarm. The awkward position in which he had fallen asleep had made their muscles stiff. «I’ll take an anti-inflammatory pill and I’ll remain brand new.» Self-medication was a very habitual practice in his life. He dressed quickly and he started to the cafeteria.

  Once there, he picked the newspaper and started reading it. Two minutes later, the golden haired waitress surprised him by serving him a cup of coffee with cold milk and two chocolate cookies. Without saying anything, she turned around and went to serve another table.

  Josef felt how his pulse accelerated. The incident of the previous day had made him think about if continuing or not with his «sometimes» damned character.

  “Miss,” he said with a trembling voice.

  “How can I help you?” The waitress asked without turning around.

  “I’d like to apologize for yesterday incident,” Josef’s eyes were shining as fireflies in the night.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  The girl turned around to see his expression.

  “Maybe I was a bit rude with you…” he added lowering his gaze.

  “I’d say your reaction was disproportionate. I had already told you, sir, that it was my first day.” She answered.

  “If you don’t mind, don’t call me «sir». I’m not that old.”

  The waitress made a slight gesture and sighed deeply.

  “Would you like anything else?”

  “I simply… wanted… you to forgive me.”

  “I forgive you,” she answered quickly. Her tone of vo
ice revealed she was not being honest. “I’m leaving. I have to continue working. Otherwise, I’ll lose my job.”

  “I won’t entertain you more, but I’d like to know your name.”

  “Margaret.”

  “I’m Josef. Nice to meet you,” he smiled.

  “Well, goodbye. The boss is already looking at me,” Margaret said as we walked to the counter.

  Josef stayed at the cafeteria reading the newspaper and having breakfast for some more minutes until he went to the library. He dedicated the first hours to catalogue and classify some books that had been donated by the family of an old man who had recently died. Only a very few people still kept books at their homes. The majority of the copies sold were digital editions. Only a very few presses had managed to survive to the impact produced by such format.

  At midday, Josef decided to have lunch in the library. His grandpa’s mysterious book had hooked him. He felt an uncontrollable addiction. Literally, he gulped a cheese and bacon snack he had bought at the cafeteria and quickly opened a small sports backpack and started to read.

  Chapter 3. Who was the actual creator?

  Scientists haven’t still found out the origin of life on Earth so far. Several theories exist, but which is the correct one?

  The theory of Panspermia: life could have reached the Earth through meteorites or through the trail of a comet. Within the theory of Panspermia, it has been postulated the hypothesis of an artificial or directed Panspermia. This means that a deliberate transportation took place when beings from other planets sent microorganisms to the Earth with the purpose of creating new forms of life on planets without life.

  The glacial theory: this theory establishes that 3700 million years ago, the Earth was covered with ice since the surface of the oceans had frozen due to lack of sunlight. Fact that happened because the sun was a third of the size it is now. That large and thick ice layer was useful to protect the most fragile organic compounds from the ultraviolet rays. Such shelter, dark and cold, it had also helped the molecules resist and had more chanced of developing effective reactions, which would have been important for life to appear.

  The hydrothermal fountain theory: the theory of the respirator or deep waters ventilation suggests that life could have appeared from submarine breaches or from hydrothermal respirators under the sea. These would have released molecules rich in hydrogen, essential for life appearance on Earth. The hot rocky corners of such formations would have had big concentrations of this kind of molecules in order to provide with the mineral catalyzers necessary for chemical reactions.

  Theory of evolution: the origin of life is produced by molecules that evolve over thousands of years. Although this theory shows a lot of relevant information, it does not clarify how the first sign of life appeared.

  Religious theories about creation: life was created by an almighty God.

  There are different religions around the world and each of them has a name for the creator of the Earth and the sky. Focusing the investigation on Catholicism, the Bible leaves several questions unanswered about the origin of Jesus Christ. He was born by the action of the Holy Spirit, who chose a virgin woman and Jesus was born from her womb. His first years of life are not documented in the Bible: little or nothing is known about what happened during that period. However, Jesus’ miracles do appear. As when a blind beggar was restored sight, a man is able to walk again, breads are multiplied. Was a human being able to do such things?

  On different paragraphs, the Bible talks about celestial angels. What were those angels? When Jesus died, he resurrected and a great light took him to heaven. What was that light?

  There are several fragments in the Bible that talk about an almighty being, who always made it very clear that his reign was not on the Earth but in some other place. What place was he talking about? Was it possible that Jesus had come from another planet to lead us on the right track? What is true is that the Bible leaves several unanswered questions. There are a lot of paintings that were painted in different periods. On them, Jesus can be seen surrounded by the apostles, and in the sky there are flying saucers with the shape of a craft…

  Josef was very concentrated on his reading. So he was that he had not realized there was a student waiting for him in front of his desk. Two knocks on the wood made him leave his reading and come back to reality.

  “Hi,” he said at the same time he raised his head. “You? What a surprise! I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

  “More surprise is how I am. I didn’t know you were the librarian of the university,” said Margaret in a sharp tone.

  Josef sighed deeply. «Try to be kind,» he said to himself.

  “I’ve been here for a couple of months,” he said faking his best smile. “Everything all right?”

  “I need a book that talks about reincarnation to do a task for Psychology,” Margaret answered sharply. The incident at the cafeteria was still in her mind and she did not want to have the slightest sign of complicity with him.

  “If you let me advise you, I’ve got one that can help you.”

  The girl nodded. Josef stood up and walked along the long library corridors for several minutes. Margaret walked at a meter of distance of him. Finally, he stopped before aisle number fifteen. He took a small ladder and he step on it to reach the highest shelf. Very carefully, he pulled the book and showed it so that Margaret could see it. Mery’s reincarnation. The book cover showed a middle-aged woman and in her eyes it appeared the face of a teenager.

  The apathetic librarian went down the ladder and gave the book to her.

  “Why do you think it will help me?” Margaret asked as she had a look at it.

  “Because it was written by my grandmother, Mery Johnson,” he answered with proud.

  “Interesting,” she answered with what seemed to be a smile attempt. “Is the story told real or fictitious?”

  “All the cases written in the book are real. As far as I know, my grandmother spent ten years gathering testimonies and interviewing people from different countries.”

  “Can you tell me about any of them?” She asked, intrigued.

  Josef shook his head.

  “The magic would vanish. I’d rather you discover the essence of the book yourself.”

  The librarian returned to his desk, sat down and started to type quickly on the computer keyboard. Margaret, who was carrying the book against her chest, looked at him, but he did not look her back.

  “Do you know something?” The golden haired girl asked just before going through the library door.

  Josef shrugged.

  “I’m glad to know you’re not so stupid as I thought. Maybe the other day I judged you too soon,” she said a bit blushed.

  “I’m horrible in the morning,” he joked.

  Chapter 7

  The historical pyramid contained thousands of documents and scriptures about the history of Mida: from information related to how to make a rudimentary tool to the narration of the most dreadful battle. It was a dark place full of forgotten secrets.

  The person in charge of guarding such archaic treasures was Jalop, a former warrior of the midarian army. His strong and stout appearance hid a vast number of references which were unknown by the majority. A small perforation on his suit surface, which he had not wanted to fix, it was the only inheritance that had survived from his past as a warrior. Although he was not in touch with Beiler nowadays, he did not forget he had once formed part of his combat team.

  That day, he was finishing organizing a group of old and dusty papyrus on a granite table. They had been made by the ancient midarians, those scriptures contained reports and references about multiple deeds. The battle of the brothers: a battle that was useful to raise respect from some planets to Mida, which until that moment was undervalued. A dozen of warriors, all of them brothers, fought against a whole planet and resulted victorious without having to lament a single casualty. The immortal warrior: Racot, a brave fighter who managed to escape from planet Laxtra af
ter having been seriously injured and disarmed. In that battle, fifty thousand midarians died and only he survived. The perfect defense: ancient historians wanted to immortalize one of the best defenses carried out in Mida. Hundreds of enemy crafts invaded the planet and only Beiler’s expertise and skills were able to save them from being conquered. After the attacking soldiers, the captain ordered lifting his whole air fleet under the risk of losing it and it formed a perfect circle in the sky. The fast movement of his aircrafts confused his enemies, who without knowing what to do or where to attack tried to escape, but they did not make it. Before lifting the first craft to the midarian sky, a strong projectile broke it into a million pieces. That was what happened to all of them…

  Palac barged in the pyramid.

  “What has brought you around?” Jalop asked. He had never been visited by the young midarian and the situation was awkward to him.

  “I’ve come for answers. I want you to tell me everything about our civilization.”

  Jalop started to laugh. A long list of battles, treasons and leaders, nearly fourteen thousand, were too many. Up to a dozen times the planet was reduced to ashes. Although all this, intelligent life was never extinguished from the planet. There was always a midarian to tell and continue the story.

  “Sorry for laughing,” he added. “Our civilization has six thousand millions of years of history. Can you be a bit more specific?”

  “Actually, I’d like to know the reason why we stopped using our weapons.”

  The historian made a gesture for Palac to take a seat on one of the huge stone benches placed around the table.

  “The existent quietness and harmony on our planet haven’t been present all the time. Our specie has been on the verge of disappearing in a big amount of occasions. The last time was only four hundred million years ago. I hadn’t even been born yet.” Jalop was around a hundred million years old. “Our planet was too different from the one we know now. Animals and plants coexisted in perfect harmony in a colorful environment and carefully disposed. The great Astronomy knowledge provided them with generous olowo harvests, which printed in the landscape beautiful vegetation rivers. Olowo is a bluish cereal which is very similar to corn. Huge trees sheltered dozens of birds inside them and, on their laps, entire animal families rested and hunted instinctively. The excessive wetness of the planet made life sprout on every corner. Flowers and plants of incredible beauty formed an unbelievable paradise in the galaxy.”