Shaman Machine the Mentor

by Trenlin Hubbert

  “The integrity of the shape is dependent on the interweaving of the four. A single sphere cannot be extricated without destroying that integrity,” Pancho explained.

  “Hmm,” Danel said again. “But surely there is some way to intercede. Disrupt the process to create the single sphere. The mosaic is a very compelling detail.”

  “I’ll examine the sound in binary…see what I can discover,” Pancho said.

  “Great! Looking good, Pancho,” Danel claimed, immediately marching from the room.

  CHAPTER 40

  The portal closed behind her. “Home sweet home,” Carla sighed, kicking off her shoes. Though she’d come home to her hotel room, her work day was not yet completed. Going through the underwater video sequences from Chance-bot's memory analogue was taking up a lot of extra time. At least she could accomplish this task over dinner, in private. Collapsing on the couch, Carla called room service. This time she ordered the shrimp and manioc plate. On impulse, she decided to add a bottle of island brew to her order.

  Succumbing to fatigue, she slouched; her head lolling against the couch back. Admittedly, the videos had thus far been amazing. On Earth, she’d probably have invited friends over for viewing parties. Sadly, much of the pleasure was lost to the pressure of too many hours to watch in too little time. Plus, she felt sadly certain that Danel considered the task a mere formality. She very much doubted he would allow the content of the footage to influence his design decisions.

  Carla decided to take a quick shower before room service arrived. Pushing herself to her feet, she hurried to the bedroom, slipped off her clothes and neatly draped them over a chair. In the shower, she tapped her preferences to her arm. When the water hit she focused on the rat-a-tat-tat of the water hitting her lower back. The tension began to dissolve. By the time Carla emerged from the shower stall, she was considerably more relaxed. Back in the bedroom, she donned a one piece pajama. When a soft chime announced the arrival of room service, Carla ambled to the portal.

  The service bot greeted her amicably. “Good evening, miss,” it said, “Where shall I place your food tray?”

  “Good question,” Carla answered. Feeling tranquil, she considered watching the videos from bed. But, no, she decided. This was work, she didn’t want to take the chance of falling asleep. “I suppose you better put it on the table in front of the couch,” she said.

  The humanoid bot carried the tray to the table. Kneeling gracefully, it commenced to organize the items into a pleasing arrangement. On standing, the bot folded its hands behind its back and smiled pleasantly. It had gray skin with very striking silver and blue eyes. She had seen this combination quite a lot since coming to Varun. That the bot could swim was obvious, given its idiosyncratic construction.

  “Is there anything else I may do to be of service, miss?”

  “No, I think that’s everything,” she answered. Inexplicably she asked, “By the way, what’s your name?”

  “My name?” it responded with obvious surprise. “My name is Three-fourteen,” it answered.

  Carla felt an unaccountable urge to cry. “Thank you, Three-fourteen.” Probably just overtired, she told herself. When the bot had gone, she settled on the couch. Stroking her arm, she flooded the wall with the view from her queue. She dipped a shrimp into the zesty sauce.

  Exploring Varun, from the bot perspective, was kind of amazing. Carla had never seen a dolphin before; but she recognized them from history classes, or…maybe it was art…or probably both. The rescue segment had her on the edge of her seat. That the dolphins were intelligent was patently obvious. Of course, the indigenous have aquatic bodies. What other kind of body could a native possibly possess? Why had everyone presumed the planet devoid of consequential species? Was it really possible that no one had expected such an abundant planet to hold sapient life? Carla suspected this was willful ignorance in the interest of conquest.

  CHAPTER 41

  “Joud!” Alex bellowed.

  Fortunately, Joud's earbuds compensated, by auto-modulating the comm-link volume. When he looked up, he saw Alex bouncing in happy agitation, as though dancing. Hopping from the Captain Chair to the window, Joud looked to see if they were there.

  “The Seaweed Field! The Seaweed Field!” Alex crowed. “Dead ahead. Under half a league away!” he shouted. “Better come to. Take it slow,” he warned.

  Joud jumped back into the Captain Chair to knock the h-liner down to a crawl.

  “We’re coming right up on top of it. And. Cut the engines!” Alex bawled.

  Joud stalled the h-liner which strictly speaking did not involve cutting the engines.

  Laughing and tapping his wrist, Alex dropped the connection and turned to me. “Go get the netting, bot! Oh! And some memory cord, too.” Clapping his hands excitedly, he added, “That's how the pros do it.” Prancing about, he sang, “Some memory cord….”

  Joud joined Alex at the bow. Together they admired the glossy field. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite so green,” Joud said, “It seems. Kind of…surreal.”

  “I was thinking it looks oddly solid,” Alex countered; “like a very flat island.” When I stepped into view, Alex said, “Here comes, the bot with our cord. You don’t mind being captain while the bot and I set up the net, do you, Joud? I’m curious to touch it. I want to see if it feels as solid as it looks.”

  “Uh…sure. Makes no difference to me,” Joud said.

  Turning my way, Alex instructed, “Bot, you take the starboard ski; I'll take the portside.”

  “Sure, Alex,” I affirmed. “Shall we use the winch to center the net over the skis?” I suggested.

  Alex stared at me for a beat. “Good idea,” he agreed.

  Joud set the net while Alex and I waited to mount the skis. At his first opportunity, Alex knelt down to examine the weed, touching it with the flat of his hand.

  “Amazing how dense it is, Joud,” he called up.

  “Well, be careful, Alex,” Joud called back in reply.

  “I will. I know the stories,” Alex assured him. To me Alex said, “Let’s get to it.”

  He and I worked cooperatively when unrolling the net; but to secure it, we took turns. Employing extra care to stretch it taut. Having reached the tip of his ski, Alex was about to secure the final length of cord when he dropped it into the weed.

  “Ah for the love of…!” Alex hollered, “Hey, bot! Go get me another piece of cord.”

  Using due haste, I took a flying leap up onto the deck; and jogged hurriedly to the tool box. On my return, I hustled down the ladder; but slowed down to exercise extra caution while navigating out to Alex. After handing off the cord, I looked out over the emerald weed. Since I’d seen only desert before arriving to Varun, I was genuinely impressed by the photosynthetic richness of the scene. The gentle undulations added to the glamor.

  I was flying through the air. Inexplicably my foot had been forcibly thrust upward. When I landed on my back at the center of the net, Alex burst out laughing. Having witnessed the malicious motion, Joud gasped in shock at the dangerous act.

  “You should pay better attention, bot,” Alex joked.

  “What the hell, Alex?” Joud choked.

  “Lighten up. Just testing the net. No harm no foul.”

  Alex displayed an unrepentant indifference when Joud insisted, they exchange roles. Readily capitulating, Alex took over as captain while Joud and I harvested. In spite of Joud’s renewed distrust, Alex was in high spirits through the remainder of the day, energetically chopping and stowing the weed for later processing. Alex even poured compliments on me that very evening, for the savory dish incorporating weed. Crediting exhaustion from the heavy work, the men retired earlier than usual that evening.

  CHAPTER 42

  Diving into the water for my night swim, I had just cleared the aft skis when Chaser and Dodger swept in. This bewildered me. The pair had not previously ventured so near the h-liner. Performing a playful hello, the dolphins spun around me. When Chaser s
piraled into a leap, Dodger and I copied him. Landing back to the water, Chaser darted off toward the west while Dodger and I blithely pursued. We were coasting in comradely accord when I was surprised by the appearance of a third dolphin.

  Even before I expressed my surprise, a fourth dolphin arrived; followed by another and another…. Incredibly, a quite sizable pod of dolphins came to envelope me. As I became more and more densely flanked, I was struck by the realization they had not come to play. They were herding me.

  Initially, I was tolerant; I had no reason to resist. But as the night drew near to closing, I balked. However, my reluctance was irrelevant, as my captors would not be denied. They met my resistance with warning nips, and by crowding more tightly together. I realized there would be no escape without causing harm to my friends. In the end, I relented. The next day turned to night and morning came again. After that I abandoned the struggle even within my mind.

  On the evening of the third day, the dolphins abruptly relaxed their guard. Abandoning me, they rearranged themselves to form a giant ring with me at the center. Much to my amazement the dolphins commenced to move in what could only be construed as a ceremonial dance. They sang a hypnotic chant while slowly rotating past me. Building momentum, their revolution gradually picked up speed. Faster and faster, they circled. Floating at the vortex of their action, I found I was being sucked upward. Arriving, to the surface, I watched while every other dolphin took into the air. I saw that at any given moment, half the dolphins were arcing through the air while the other half were stirring through the water. With the twin movements blurring any line of separation; the spectacle delivered for me the uncanny illusion of air and sky united. Building to a crescendo, the dolphins suddenly collapsed inward; their circle cinching tightly to contain me. Again, I was compelled to move as directed; this time in an angle of descent. To me it seemed we journeyed dangerously deep, considering the dolphin’s obvious need to constantly resurface.

  The Levihopi were waiting. Side by side by side by side, the four faces made a steep ledge in the otherwise emptied sea. Far away, beyond the cliff of faces, their bodies tapered to four distinct points. Made compliant by the journey, I was easily delivered quite close to the formidable creatures. Their duty completed, the dolphins withdrew to go recommence the pursuit of play. Drawing separate from the main event, they engaged in a game of tag; with groups and pairs of them occasionally shooting back to the surface.

  Centered on the row of faces, I received a tapping vibration that was recognizably a comm-link request; but different in an undefinable way. I accepted the request by the usual means; whereupon, the Levihopi spoke directly to my mind. Like a chorus; in unison, they said, “We called you here to meet with us because we want you to know the story you have entered into. Long ago, on the planet Earth, there was risen into prominence a race called human. Failing to comprehend the nature of duty necessitated by power, they initiated a spiral of destruction. Humans filled the oceans with masses of plastic, with corrosive chemicals, and with radioactivity. They even polluted the water with disorienting and destructive sounds. The oceans on earth were manifestly devastated. Once alkaline seas were made acidic. Temperatures rose. Ice melted. Sea currents shifted.

  Migrating en masse, terrified creatures frantically searched for a place to survive. But to no avail. Change occurred far too rapidly to foster adaptation. Magnificent species were wiped from existence. Many dolphins had already lost their lives when with deep reluctance those yet remaining determined to leave the planet of their birth. Into the cosmos they cast a call for help. Acceding to their cry, we invited the dolphins to join us here. Tragically, having already suffered so much devastation, the dolphins were overwhelmed by fear. Far too much fear, did they hold, to safely travel to a new planet without exceptional help.” When the Levihopi paused, I became aware that I was not merely hearing; but was also seeing the unfolding of the story at its telling.

  Time either did, or did not pass.

  Seeming to change subjects, the Levihopi continued, “All of perceived reality consists of vibration. There are no empty spaces. All is energy.” They paused. “Every types of energy can be interchanged. An atom can be instantly transformed, by changing its vibration. To alter vibration is to alter physical manifestation.” They paused. “Changing a vibration is best undertaken through careful consideration of overall balance. Disturbing the integrity of the existing harmonics can cause instability; can result in potentially perilous consequences.”

  My awareness…slipped…from internal to external reception. Freed from the plane of pure ideas, my focus was called back to the physical world of water where the enigmatic Levihopi held dominion. With my senses contained to their impressive contours, the four proceeded to explain, “The atoms of our skin can be swapped with the atoms of the water, by changing the vibrations of one set into the vibration of the other. Watch as we exchange the atoms of our skin with the atoms of the water.” The four giants appeared to drift sideways. “To travel a great distance this is done very rapidly.” They disappeared altogether.

  When they spoke again, I realized they’d move to a new location, directly behind me. I spun around. There they were, an edifice of faces; their bodies tapering into the opposite distance.

  The Levihopi told the story of migration. “When the time came for the dolphins to journey through time and space, their logical minds were much too polluted with fear. Paralyzed by fear, the dolphins were unable to navigate as we do: by setting intention and acceptance, simultaneously. Inevitably the dolphins would leave a gap between the moment of setting the intention and the moment of receiving the intention. Try as they might, they could not refrain from filling that gap with fear. The fear was an effective blockade to success. For this reason, we chose to intervene. To facilitate the journey, we placed the logical mind of each dolphin inside a bubble of artificial perception. Thus blinded by illusion, we ferried them, unharmed, to this planet.”

  Chaser brushed up against me. Temporarily disrupting the mesmerism, he lured me into a game.

  CHAPTER 43

  Even drunk, Alex was difficult to overpower; or perhaps because of it. Ultimately, Joud won the battle. After fighting his way to the top, he’d knelt on the older man’s biceps until exhaustion, or maybe simple boredom, caused Alex to give up. Now, Alex lay passed out on his back, snoring, still posed in the losing posture with palms up on either side of his head. Close by in the near dark, Joud sat hugging his knees.

  Too angry to speak, discontent warped his features. His first words erupted as a complaint. “I’m not happy either, Chance. You've been gone a whole week. I don’t get it. Why? What happened? Where did you go?”

  The fight broke out when Joud blocked Alex who lunged at me on first sight. “I did my best; I tried to come back. But there were thirty of them; and only one of me,” I explained.

  “What?” Joud spat, still angry, but also bewildered. Contorting his features, he struggled to let go of hostility. “Okay,” he finally said with a sigh. “I’m listening. Thirty of what?” he asked.

  When the conference room portal whirred open, Danel and Pancho were equally surprised to see the large bruise coloring an edge of Joud’s jaw and the ugly abrasions marking his scalp above one ear. When I followed him into the room, Danel’s bafflement turned to irritation.

  “When you said we needed to meet, I thought you wanted to talk about the project,” Danel groused.

  “I do want to talk about the project,” Joud assured him.

  “What happened?” Danel asked, touching his own jaw to signal the subject of the question.

  “Yeah…well…when…. Oh. It doesn’t matter,” Joud babbled, “We worked it out. That’s not why I wanted to meet.”

  “Sit,” Danel commanded.

  “Come on,” Joud murmured to me. We sat down opposite Danel and Pancho.

  Taken aback that I was joining them; Danel’s eyes slid back and forth between Joud and me. “This is irregular,” he said, stiffly.
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br />   “Danel, this is important,” Joud said flatly. “Chance had a pretty fantastical encounter that directly affects your project.”

  Danel glanced at Pancho, who remained characteristically indifferent. Relenting, Danel said, “Fine, share your fantastic tale, Chance-bot.”

  As added encouragement, Joud nodded at me. I didn’t really require encouragement; merely opportunity. The Levihopi had sent me on this mission. I recounted the story of my capture by the dolphins, and my schooling by the Levihopi. “…and though the dolphins fear you will make this planet uninhabitable,” I concluded, “the Levihopi promise this will not happen. They will not allow it. The Levihopi want you to know, they understand and accept that humans have become inseparable from their technology. They will not resist construction of a human habitat; but they require the city to be harmonious with the living spirit of this planet. They will even help you to accomplish this provision.”

  Glowering, Danel leaned away from the table to assume a stubborn pose with arms crossed tightly over his chest. Dismissing me from further consideration, Danel directed his comments to Joud. “Have to hand it to you, Joud. When you call a special meeting, you don’t disappoint,” he joked with a hard edge to his voice. “Your fish tale has certainly added some intrigue to the day.” In a bid to exert his authority, Danel leaned forward, placing his forearms on the conference table. “You are probably unaware that Pancho and I used those sound recordings you furnished. I want you to know,” he told Joud, “we've altered the design of the city by using those recordings. Be sure and let your fish friends know, we have always planned to build a city in harmony with the planet.” To signal the meeting’s conclusion, Danel stood and reached out a hand. Joud stood and received it. Danel added, “By the way, I’d like to invite you to join us for a small party to celebrate the commencement of construction. We’re ready to fabricate the superstructure. Obviously, Alex is also invited. I will definitely mention it to him next time I see him, so you don’t need to worry about it.” With a smirk, he added, “Try not to tear each other apart, before the party.” Joud and I started for the exit when Danel said, “You know what? Go ahead and bring the bot too.”