Planet-H: The End of the Beginning

by J. T. Winterlord

  I took the elevator to Sales and saw Margot who was issuing instructions to the office employees. I indicated I was looking for Denise and she motioned to the upper floor. Denise was in my office. I climbed up quickly, gave a quick hello to Alice and put down the bag with the files that I had brought home. No trace of Denise.

  I took my phone and put it in my pocket. Alice told me that Denise and the others were waiting for me in Matt’s office so I went to meet them. Denise, Mario and Jack were all sitting in front of Matt - Sonia was standing before the large window that overlooked the hills. She was slowly leafing through a file of papers. Matt explained that today was my first day of instruction and they all turned towards me with an air of satisfaction.

  He went on by saying that Denise and Jack had proposed Margot and Gianni for promotion.

  “What do you think Kate?”he asked me.

  I was thinking that he didn’t need to ask me for my permission but I said,

  “I think their proposals have matured after lengthy observation and reflection and so they should be considered seriously.”

  Matt looked pleased with the three people at his desk and told them they could return to their work.

  They said goodbye with a few pleasantries and Sonia moved into the office. She said lightly,

  "Here comes the mysterious cavalier who will introduce you to our Sgrunfy."

  She made a ghostly mime and some childish noises,

  "Uhh uhhh, I’m the mysterious ghost, so dark and handsome!"

  Matt laughed and Valdes entered.

  Matt explained that Valdes would introduce me to my teacher and that when I had any questions or concerns I should ask either one of them.

  He also told me that he preferred not to give away anything because I would soon understand what was going on.

  Valdes took my arm and led me away in the direction of the archives.

  THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

  I didn’t release Valdes’arm even for an instant as he led me down the long corridor that I had visited previously. He pointed out the room where Sgrunff would teach me for most of the time.

  The Infirmary was next to that enormous room and right in front was a rest area with a bar.

  "We should make a toast to celebrate the first day," he said, opening the door to the rest area.

  The place was empty, there was only a bartender behind the counter.

  Valdes ordered two Alaskas and the barman served them.

  "Cheers," said Valdes.

  “Your health and let’s hope all runs smoothly," I said.

  I was of course curious to know how many people were receiving instruction and what the teaching was actually about. I was really in the dark about everything. I thought perhaps it was some kind of a corporate update.

  Valdes took me to the room where I would be receiving my education, as they called it. It looked like one of those large classrooms in film sets of a famous American university.

  Behind a long table there was a little man seated who greeted me with a hint of a smile.

  He had a pleasant face, almost funny, slightly plump and with a grey walrus moustache.

  As I drew nearer to him however I realized that something was not quite right

  Valdes made the introduction.

  “This is Sgrunff, he’ll be your theory instructor from today.”

  I greeted him with a hesitant "Hello Mr. Sgrunff ...." and immediately thought - Sgrunff? What terrible thing had he done to his parents to deserve a name that was a cross between a dog and a grunt?

  He said,

  "Good morning Kate, I’ve really been looking forward to seeing. I've prepared a few things that will be useful and by the way you can drop the‘Mr’. Everyone here just calls me Sgrunff."

  He was holding a strange looking pen in one hand while with another he held some strange metal cubes, in another hand a long wand tipped with a bright tip and in still another he held a purse.

  I took a small step backwards, frightened; I looked at Valdes with widened eyes and asked him falteringly the obvious question.

  "But ... but…how many hands do you have?"

  Valdes chuckled and in response Sgrunff came towards me, coming around the desk.

  I thought he was sitting, but he was just short, in fact very short. He covered the distance separating us in short steps, seeming to kick at the air.

  Valdes was still holding me by the arm; this was probably the only reason why I had not yet fled or fainted.

  Sgrunff came up to me smiling and when he took my hand, indeed it would be better to say that he forcefully grabbed my hand to shake it, I noticed that he had only three plump fingers. He placed his second hand on mine in a warm handshake and then another on top of that! In a moment my hand was literally enveloped by four soft hands that shook my arm up and down energetically!

  I was terror-stricken. My arm was at the mercy of something that I simply could not deal with.

  "Yes, yes…. extremely happy to begin your training Kate," the strange creature said enthusiastically.

  I tried to pull back. I didn’t want to look impolite but the shock had not diminished in any way. He finally let go and moved towards one wall that served as a board. As he moved I heard him chuckling with amusement.

  I was still very agitated. Valdes chortled softly, and said,

  "Don’t worry Kate, our Sgrunff is harmless and he’s the best theory teacher there is, believe me! He’s going to start your lesson now and I have to leave you, but if you need anything I'll be around.

  I wanted to scream at him not to leave me alone, but I couldn’t even get a word out and

  I was frozen - I couldn’t get my limbs to react to stimulus. I just about managed to turn around in the direction of Sgrunff and watched as his four arms crossed behind his back and he looked up at the wall in front of him.

  "So Kate, let’s proceed calmly and take all the time we need. The important thing is that you're here and we should now discuss a couple of things to try and remove some of the tension that you are feeling at present.”

  He went on,

  "Do you know about video games Kate?" He had quite a thunderous voice considering it was coming from such a small man.

  The question was innocent enough and I tried to respond but my tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth.

  He saw my embarrassment and took out a small console device from his pocket which he proceeded to operate. Two large comfortable looking armchairs with footstools suddenly popped up from the center of the room and he invited me to sit down.

  He told me he enjoyed video games a lot, in fact he was one of the most popular beta testers. In particular he had a lot of fun during the construction and testing of‘Planet H.’

  I didn’t know the game and he explained in a few words,

  “It’s a game in three dimensions.”

  He asked what games were to my liking.

  I remembered the video games I used to play when I was a kid. I told him I had smashed Lara Croft against the wall so many times I was always afraid that one day she would come back to take revenge!

  I had managed to un-stick my tongue, and he laughed, amused at my joke.

  I was still terribly uncomfortable, but at least I could listen and speak.

  Sgrunff continued to be show interest in my previous studies and he asked me what I knew about chemistry, physics and astronomy.

  I remembered a model of the solar system built at school the one with the planets revolving around the sun, all connected by rods.

  "Good," he said, and he activated the screen on the wall before us. I realized that it was in fact a colossal video screen about five metres high and twenty long.

  You could see the entire solar system in 3D and Sgrunff proceeded to give me a short simple lesson.

  I asked him if it was possible to see the sun better. He asked what magnification I would like and when I hesitated he decided for me. I saw the sun in huge 3D, so realistic that I gripped tightly to the
arms of the chair. It was almost coming up to meet me.

  He stopped the picture when the sun took up most of the screen. I got up and walked over to observe as much as possible.

  I saw the large dark spots that I knew to be sunspots and bright curls of the solar wind that stretched around the beautiful star. I clearly saw some rebellious tongues of fire you could imagine were attempting to escape. Sgrunff waved his pointer across the screen and indicated the different parts.

  When I was satisfied with the explanations I walked back to my chair.

  “I’ve never seen such clear images,”I said,“were they computer-generated?”

  "Of course," he said, "do you want to see something else?" The picture promptly changed and showed the earth that I knew, the kind of images I had seen many times on TV.

  Sgrunff touched the console again and numbers appeared on the screen that reminded me of coordinates. I watched spellbound, like a child in a magical world.

  From my chair I had the sensation of travelling on a space ship towards the earth; the small planet grew as we entered the atmosphere and after a trip through the clouds you could make out the continents.

  The video was directed towards the European continent and I had the impression of landing softly by large parachute.

  I began to see buildings that gradually became more and more sharp and familiar. I finally saw the 'N Technology’building from above. The camera zoomed in and then stopped at a precise point.

  "Parking Number Four," I whispered almost inaudibly. The number could be read clearly on the tarmac in front of my vehicle that was parked as I expected in its place in front of the office building.

  Sgrunff turned off the big screen. I was slightly stunned and I asked,

  "How is it possible we could see right down into the parking lot out there?"

  He chuckled and replied, "Just by watching my dear, just watching."

  He stood up and walked to the desk, still chuckling.

  "Right, come on, we have a timetable to respect" and he added: "I have togive you some homework. We’ve rather deviated away from the purpose of the first lesson.”

  He was having a ball at my expense, that little man.

  "And what was the purpose of the first lesson? 'I asked.

  He said that he had to teach me to hone the ability to recognize truth from falsehood by careful and meticulous observation.

  He continued with a complicated explanation that was presumably very clear to him but I did not understand what he was talking about.

  He explained that on the planet where I lived there were a variety of many different activities, from sports and entertainment to art, which in turn was divided into several areas.

  We were going to finish up in a different world where politics and finance were the masters, but the most inexplicable of all was concerned with religion.

  Sitting quietly in his chair from where I noticed he could not touch the floor, he explained:

  "It seems an elusive and mysterious God has taken all true knowledge and formed it into a small precious gem, and then, rather scornfully, he took this gem and shattered it, scattering dozens of fragments into the various corners of the earth."

  He simultaneously spread the fingers of all four hands and went on,

  "Anyone who has come across one of these fragments has realized that he was faced with a small piece of true knowledge and the enthusiasm of that discovery has led them to want to communicate it to others."

  He placed a hand to his chin and scraped it doubtfully,

  "But the trick lies in the fact that other people have found similar fragments over time and each believed himself to possess true knowledge. And so the various religions came into being. Each of them was sure, falsely, that they had in their hands the certain and absolute truth.”

  “This is the first relative truth, from which we start.”

  "That is? Which?' I asked, not having fully understood.

  "The first truth is that every religion thinks it is in possession of the one, true, absolute knowledge. Strong and sure that what someone else has said is true, men tend to believe in their own religion without questioning it."

  This seemed to me something that could be taken for granted but few people reflected on it. I followed him, listening respectfully.

  "Your first lessons have to do with religion but the purpose is absolutely not religious.

  It's simply the best battlefield. It is in fact the place where you can find great controversies and the biggest truths.

  The purpose of all this is to sharpen your mind to develop a special kind of ability of observation. It is without thought, a pure and simple observation, sharp and crystal-clear.

  After catching his breath he added,

  "You should read through the mass of all the written material relating to the various religions and their philosophical theories."

  "But come on Sgrunfio!" I blurted, "all of it? We're not talking about a cookbook! There are thousands of books written on the subject. The years I have left to live wouldn’t be enough to read all of them!"

  He smiled, amused by my reaction.

  "First of all ... do not call me Sgrunfio! It sounds like the name of a scruffy old disheveled cat. Sgrunff, my name is Sgrunff. Anyway, it appears to be a huge task but in reality it isn’t. Just start to get familiar with the material and we’ll meet again tomorrow.

  I liked the idea ofSgrunff in the shoes of a hairy old cat.

  He filled my bag with some odd cubes and an even stranger‘pen,’explaining that some were books that I had to look at while others were tables on which I could transcribe my notes.

  He threw what I thought was a small brick at me, but in fact it was rectangular, slightly bigger than my thumb, about five millimeters thick. It seemed to be made of the same material as the solar panels that we produced here at the 'N Technology."

  He told me to press it lightly with my left thumb and when I did it expanded to the size of an A4 sheet. In surprise I dropped it and it immediately closed again into its original form.

  “That is in fact a book,”said Sgrunff,“to change the page you simply touch the top right hand corner. Touch the left side to go back. If you touch the green button on your pen that will select the text, the yellow button is for copying and the blue is used to paste.”

  This last was delivered so quickly that I was still trying to simply change the page and there was no time for repetition or to ask further explanation.

  As Sgrunff left, Valdes came in.

  “How is the first day at school going?”he asked with a grin.

  “Pretty bad!”I said,“If I said I was simply confused that would be too much of a compliment. I can’t really understand what is going on around me Valdes. And especially why I have as a teacher a strange being with four hands!”I tried to make it come out in a patient tone but I think my irritation showed.

  Valdes laughed and looked me in the eyes. I calmed almost immediately - I was still confused but I was with him again and for a moment I managed to forget the odd lesson.

  Valdes led me towards the archive saying that it was late, almost everyone was gone and it would be better for me to get my head down and rest also.

  I said goodbye, stroking his hand and headed to the parking lot and home.

  The day had flown away; time sometimes seems to condense or shrink only in relation to what you're doing.

  I was under the impression that I had only recently arrived at work and it was already evening. When I got home Serena had left a large tray on my desk and I ate without taking my usual shower.

  I ate ham slices absently, emptying the contents of my bag on the table. I began fiddling with the pen that had aroused my curiosity. Pressing the various buttons gave a faint illumination from the tip which changed colour.

  I took a look at the 'books' but there were many, too many for my tastes. And the topics were certainly not of any interest to me.

  I picked up one of those strange transparent b
oxes and hefted it. It was rectangular, very light and with mitered corners that made it look like a construction brick.

  I put pressure on the centre of the rectangle and the little rectangle expanded in size to become as big as a sheet of paper, coloured a deep red. Shiny gold letters appeared under the title:‘The Pentateuch.’The bible! I hate the Bible! Not a good start, I thought.

  I touched the bottom right corner of the cover and the page turned and displayed the chapters -‘Genesis’,‘Exodus’and so on. This was all new to me.

  I chose another - the‘Koran’and then another‘The Vedas.’I carried on switching books on and off, distractedly reading a few lines of each. There were texts on Hinduism, Buddhism and an infinite number of minor religions and techniques including the spiritual ones, from Zen to Yoga and ending with‘The book of The Dead’from ancient Egypt and that of the same name from Tibet.

  Many of the books I did not even turn on, I felt overwhelmed.

  I felt a growing discouragement - what I had been asked to do was well beyond my abilities and more importantly, did not interest me in the least.

  I suffered a night of absurd dreams, finding myself in the midst of the apocalypse with thunderbolts hurtling down from heaven; from the burning earth I was in a tavern where Muhammad was arguing with the waitress because she had not brought the dishes ordered but had served only one simple date.

  The scenario changed and found me giving a hand to the Dalai Lama who was in difficulty during a game of chess with Arjuna from the sacred Hindu text. More prosaically, the dream ended with Sgrunff washing the windows of a car stopped at the traffic lights. He was very quick .... that’s the advantage of four hands.

  I got up still shaky and headed in a pitiful state towards my breakfast.