“I forgot how beautiful this used to seem, here in the woods, before everything happened. Fifteen years ago, I left, and this was a place I never wanted to see again. But here I am, and now, look at this. I never knew this was here. The love, the kindness, the thoughtfulness of everyone here.” Joanne was in tears. She looked down at the flowers on the ground, and then back up at Thomas, or at least his image, and she put herself together enough to continue to share what was burning within her chest, “This, in its own way, is the sweetest and most beautiful act of kindness I could have ever dreamt to see.” She then looked to her right toward Sky and to her left toward Erin. “I couldn’t have done this without you two. Thank you, so much.” She wept.
They had gathered around her on both sides to comfort her in a big group hug, their heads were turned downward in reverence toward the scene before them, and for all that it meant. After a moment of pause, Erin and Sky looked up toward Joanne, and Sky said, “thank you for sharing this moment with us. It is such a tragedy to lose such wonderful people in this world or in any part of our existence. It is a sad tragedy to see the light of such beauty extinguished far before its time. To those we have lost, their untold potential, their place in our hearts, their unique spirit, and their love for others will live within us forever. We can only hope that someday we will be able to see them again and in a much more harmonious, peaceful, and better way”
Optimized or not, a broken heart and sorrow for loss, as well as gratitude for the goodness of others despite all, still affected each of these individuals, from vastly different beginnings, yet now brought together by an immensely saddening tragedy.
It was late noon, and Sky had conjured up a couple of extra sweet, glazed, and dark berry pastries and cinnamon cream chai tea for each of the three-member party. “With such sweet acts of kindness, it seems reasonable to have something sweet for the taste buds and mind,” said Sky.
After about thirty minutes, Sky had scanned the area, done the math and science behind the weather existent in the scene on the day of the crime, the pictures registered in Joanne’s memory, and had quietly formulated a strong sense of who was behind the acts that left Thomas dead on this day, 17 years ago. Meanwhile, in a shared moment with Erin and Joanne, she helped the creatures in the clearing to find hospice in the surrounding forest, built a small lake, filled it with beautiful fish, and raised within the center a beautiful fountain that could spray its mists upon every onlooker that would ever come, in a way that would refresh and surprise, but cause no harm. Around the lake were white sandy beaches and places to rest in the Sun. All three laid down for a few minutes to take in the beauty, and the new ambiance fits well with the statue.
Afterward, they dusted themselves off and continued on walking on the left side of the highway to see the oncoming traffic, and to make sure their sturdy yet petite frames didn’t damage any nearby or passing vehicles, in the event the drivers weren’t paying attention to the road. As they walked by, wildflowers continuously blossomed, the trees that were damaged healed and began to grow year-long flowers, little creeks quietly trickled its water from underwater passages to aquifers filled with healthy probiotics down toward larger creeks with minerals, and then to the rivers teaming with fish and flourishing flora. The birds of every variety were tweeting away, unaffected by Pathway’s sentient upgrade instincts, but Sky could tell what they were saying anyway, and then she bequeathed sentience into them. She knew every language, chirp, frequency, and wavelength, and she could translate each method of communication into clear and concise spoken language. They had asked for help in their own way, for a broken feather, or a damaged disk, and she provided it, and they became wise.
“I’m glad you invited me to come here with Joanne, Sky,” said Erin. They slowly walked down the road, the trees were green with leaves and the scent of the flowers filled the air. After twenty minutes of walking and occasionally exchanging dialogue, they arrived at the outskirts of Joanne’s neighborhood, by another bridge, where Sky continued to work her countless miracles as she tamed the wild, breathed sentience and healing into every creature, and made every location a beautiful place for the living and a vacation tourist’s dream.
They looked behind them and watched as Sky added an ornate and a charming sense of architectural and flowery awe to the welcome sign for South Otselic. Joanne lived just on the outskirts of town and had jogged to school and back every day until her parents had purchased a vehicle for her, the one she drove out of town with when she left fifteen years prior.
Her vehicle for leaving town had been a used and weathered, forest green, 2002, Jetta model Volkswagen, and her parents had paid for it in full and given it to her for her 18th birthday, more than halfway through her senior year. She had since given it away to someone in New York, a gentleman who had no home at the time. While recording her first album, during her time for lunch she would buy a meal for two, sit with him at a nearby park, and share it with him while listening to his stories of Vietnam, and of his desires to open up a restaurant someday. Before leaving for her first global tour, she had gifted it to him, fully operational, and then she kept in contact. She visited him throughout the years, and he had since opened up a small restaurant in New York City and had done very well for himself.
“I met him too,” said Sky. “Jeremiah Voltaire. He not only cooks well, but he has quite a singing voice. Sometimes he’ll get on the microphone at his restaurant and sing for the patrons. He is quite a handsome old soul, in his twenty-two-year-old and clean-cut package. Have you ever thought of singing with him on stage?”
“I had entertained the thought, but since he’s currently living life and walking around as his young grandson, I thought it best to not put him into the public foray quite yet, at least until after Eliza takes office. He bears a striking similarity to Jordan Vale; a bit shorter, but wow he is a handsome man! Once Eliza takes office, a lot of things such as cell regeneration therapies and physiological optimizations will be put into the mainstream, and he can come out as himself, but rejuvenated. Can you believe Eliza recruited him? She has quite the busy schedule.
“Thank you for visiting him, Sky.
“I knew he was fully read-in; Eliza has him in mind as the Vice Commander for IMC Zone-06 with Rebecca Knight as the Commander. I saw him in passing about a year ago, and he went from looking his age of seventy-two to looking like a dark-skinned, handsome, and clean cut twenty-two-year-old heartthrob. When I saw him way back in the day, his skin had been greying just as much as his hair, and now his hair is young and black again, cut almost to the skin on the sides and back, with long hair on top, or closely cropped in a gorgeous loose and wavy afro high top. I could tell it was him because the flavor of each of our memories was undeniably unique and distinguishable in the most beautiful of ways. Yes, Sky, we actually did sing together a couple of times for his patrons, but we both tried to keep him somewhat low in profile.
“Low profile or no, he got into lab farming, culinary arts, honed his singing and music skills, and has finished his Ph.D.’s in neuroscience and biotechnology. He has done so much. He has even designed gene-fortifying clean meats! He can cook on the same level as the best of chefs at the T.O., yet maintains his restaurant in New York City, but on a much smaller scale, and he maintains a very loyal clientele. Jeremiah has done a few missions with Pathway, in free moments, yet he works there still, going to the Melrose Campus through his own jump gate in his elaborate apartment upstairs to do research with Pathway in the Virtual Universe. When people ask him where his grandfather went, he says he’s retired, but works on all the paperwork for the business, while he manages the restaurant for his grandfather. It’s interesting because he never had any children. Rebecca will be tickled silly to have such a fine gentleman as her Vice Commander!”
They continued their walk, and for a second there, Erin thought about the title, Vice Commander, and thought quietly, “Vice commander, that does have a nice ring to it…” She didn’t bring it up, and they meandere
d on.
As they moved on from their temporary break by the bridge, Joanne suddenly felt her nerves creep up again. “Even though I’ve been optimized I still feel nervous. How can that be?” asked Joanne. She knew the science behind why nervousness occurs, and she wasn’t looking for schooling on that, merely a little validation. She also knew the science behind validation too.
Erin beat Sky to an answer, “I feel nervous too, and we all know why, but even still, your parents love you. I can tell already. I’m picking up on their mental activity right now. Wow, Joanne! They truly love you and have missed you for a long time. They have watched your rise to stardom, even as you won all of the awards possible in the music industry, and then your continued growth in the industry after you joined Pathway. They have watched you for years with pride. It looks like they understand you didn’t leave them because of anything they had done, they know you love them, but that you left because of the sorrow you felt and the lack of closure surrounding your brother’s tragedy. Wow, they were the ones that worked with Martha and the rest of the town, to build your brother’s shrine. I’m picking up on Martha’s parents, who live in the house across the street, and it looks like Martha Serena works up in Georgetown and won’t be back for a couple of hours. From what’s going on in the minds of her parents, now is a good time to meet your parents first and catch up, in an old-school-conversation style.”
As they walked closer to Joanne’s childhood home, Sky turned to Joanne and asked, “Do you mind if I work a little of my magic? I promise no harm to any living being.”
Joanne would have normally said no. She wanted to keep it completely her parents’ choice when it came to changes to their home and their surroundings, but for some reason her curiosity was peaked, and she responded with approval and a little whimsically, “I don’t mind, if you’ll show Erin and me how you do it, so maybe we can take turns. Do you mind?”
“Sure,” said Sky.
Sky did not touch Martha’s home with any of her changes, but she did show the vivid details of how she could change every road, every tree, every landscape, every creature, and every mind. “The least sentient, and the highest and the lowest elevations are always changed first. I only change them as they would have become had humanity never cursed them with poison or torn their environment asunder, but had instead sought to understand their purpose, while simultaneously finding mutual determination, shared drive to mutual advantage, and bliss-inducing and beautiful coexistence. I then combine the organization of chaos of both humanity and Nature and create a beautiful and harmonious reality that can be shared, allowing a reality similar to their own, but with somewhat subtle and obvious changes.
“As I connect their minds to the Twelve Database Moons, it allows them to have a shared cognitive and existential experience with everyone and everything else linked to the Virtual Universe for complete and appreciated understanding from one creature to the next. I then show them a source of nourishment that doesn’t involve predation or destruction of any kind, except for the breakdown of refuse, or obvious trash and waste, into material that allows for abundant nutrients for the ground, the flowers, the blossoms, and the waters that flow both above and below the ground to allow everything and everyone around it to flourish.
“The clouds of nanos are encoded through time dilation, with my interface to the Virtual Universe, and they render the structures to be filled in the same spaces as they were previously, to avoid movement or harm to living beings that may be in a certain location at a given time, but are also left with increased quality and craftsmanship as shared and even hoped for prevalently in the minds of each individual in a household, or the owners or professionals of a place of work. The places they stand on don’t move, instead, their minds are carried away in thought, for as long as it takes for a blink of an eye. The materials below, above, and all around them are converted through artistically detailed and architecturally-sound designs into materials that are stronger, more malleable, and pleasing in every way to their minds. Once the flicker of light is done, my work is complete.
“Do you want to give this a try, Joanne? Or would you rather interface with my mind as I do it? Erin, you can interface with my mind as well.”
“I think I’ll practice somewhere less likely to be harmful to my parents,” Joanne said with a tone of humor and excitement at what Sky was about to do to her childhood home.
In a flicker of the light of the surrounding area, Sky was done. Both Joanne and Erin were amazed in every way with what they had witnessed and experienced. In a fraction of a second, weeks, months, and even years of work had been done, and the result was gorgeous. “You can do this, too, Joanne and Erin. You have to believe you can, visualize every possible aspect of everything influenced by what you are doing, and essentially have what you already have, which is a kind and beautifully creative frame of mind.”
Joanne took in all that Sky had done, was completely impressed with everything she saw, and in a contrite voice, she said, “I’m afraid that if I did this, something or someone would get hurt. But, I saw how gentle you were with every creature, almost like a gentle hand or blanket nestled around them, as changes were made to their environment, their minds, and their shared instincts, where predation and overpopulation is no longer a concern. Instead, everything works now to sustain and grow an environment that will allow the living to change desolation and destruction into something of beauty, joy, innovation, and continuation of shared purpose. At the core of this purpose, lays the ability to preserve the Universe itself, rather than let it wither away.
“These changes will serve a purpose, where legacies of music, art, romance, history, religion, and science can be preserved for the long-haul. A beautiful legacy of the preservation of life and all of its splendor can endure for indeterminate quantities of time. Our legacy will help us to bridge the gaps of understanding between us and other civilizations of every type, and through it, we may meet and share our civilizations and lives with others, while working together to preserve our Universe, rather than render our civilizations worthless and non-existent through violence, uncontrolled chaos, and destruction. Wow, Sky! Keep on being your amazing self!”
“What Joanne said,” Erin smiled in agreement.
Sky could tell that the Sun would set in less than an hour and a half, and she knew that Martha would be home soon. There was something peculiar about Martha, and Sky would open up and address that in due time. To properly heal both the minds of Joanne and Erin, Joanne needed to knock her childhood front door, first. From there, she could continue optimizations, as they made their introductions, shared their conversations, a homemade meal, and a few moments watching the beauty of the Sun, as the Earth revolved around its own orbit and our vantage point caused by the photons from the Sun causing them to hit the crystal-like expressions of the particles in the sky to become iridescent, with overtones of purple, plum, peach, giving way to a clear and starry night sky. Yes, a sunset.
“Are you ready, Joanne?” asked Sky.
Chapter 53: Joanne Gallant, Section 6
With a small hint of hesitation, Joanne mustered all of the courage she could from within. In the grand scheme of things, this was a small matter given all that she had done in the last four years; however, for Joanne seeing her parents again after fifteen years was actually quite a challenge. Nevertheless, armed with the reassurances from her two friends, she nervously took the lead up the now pristinely finished driveway, which was actually quite gentle to step upon, almost like memory foam. As she looked down, she noticed that her garments had changed into something professional, a beige cardigan and a matching pleated skirt, underneath her cardigan, was a white blouse and her buttons were buttoned to the top with a bowtie that matched her argyle socks and professional women’s Sienna shiny and flat black Crocs. She then turned right and noticed that both Sky and Erin were groomed and dressed breathtakingly too. She followed the little sidewalk to a short stairway, both of which were firm yet gentle to the feet and
stepped up the three stairs to the entryway. As if time stood still for her, she drew up her courage from within, raised her right hand, formed a fist to knock on the door, and hesitated.
Typically, for most anyone, it is actually quite easy to knock on a door, but when you’re not sure how the reception will be it rarely ever is. Each person is wired differently, however. Some can put their minds and notions into auto-pilot, feel allowed to do what they have to, overcome their fears, and then deal with whatever comes along, should any of a multitude of situations arise. Knocking on the front door as a solicitor or a missionary might be a challenge all of its own, always at risk, and never sure of what is on the other side. However, knocking on a door, especially to greet your Mom and Dad when it’s been almost fifteen years, well that is something else. Most people avoid that altogether, or they ease into it with more frequent texts, phone calls, letters, and some pre-emptive coordination. Attempting to do so without any sort of communication for almost fifteen years, can make someone rather queasy, and queasy was exactly how Joanne was feeling. Despite the fact that she was optimized, and to standards at the level of both biopod and Sky Taylor, she was still as queasy as one would be just before the beginning of a very important race, where if you lost you were shamed for life.
Sky had explained to Joanne earlier, during their trek from town, that she merely needed to have faith in her ability to reach other’s hearts, and that if she did, there wasn’t much that she couldn’t do. So, there she was, she had to knock on the door, but she was nervous and trying not to shake. Standing just behind her right side, Sky put her right hand on her shoulder to calm her, and said, “It will be alright, Joanne. Please, do not worry. Everything is going to be alright.”
Further than Before- Pathway to the Stars Page 91