by Rick Kueber
I traveled across the command room, which now appeared as a simple gray room, round and nondescript. I knew what I wanted. I wanted to leave the Titan and find Elle, and as simple as that, there was an odd vibration, and a darkening of my sight, and I found myself heading towards a brightly lit opening. Passing through the light, my feet found the grass covered ground beneath them.
Forward, I pressed on, through a forest valley, without looking back for nearly twenty minutes. The trees were plentiful and varied. Twisted Coast Live Oaks, Cedars, Thorn Apples and Cottonwoods filled the forest with a diversity that I found beautiful in the most profound way. The trees did not judge each other by their height or their specific genus or species. They lived in harmony, side by side, each one absorbing the sun and never jealous or even noticing which tree had the longest branches, the most leaves or which photosynthesized the most efficiently. They merely existed together... and together in that way, they were brilliant.
I began to think about the two Ahsushas, and all of the Takers that I had left behind in the Titan. What had become of them? Though we had different purposes and reasons for being, we were basically the same. If it were not for the desire to overpower, we would be basically the same: beings that wanted to exist for our own peace and happiness. Finally, I turned to see the Titan where it had crumpled to the earth and I was taken aback.
The Titan that I had boarded sneakily had been a deep midnight blue. I watched as it now appeared a very pale blue, even lighter than the sky. It faded as I watched and soon was an ashy white color, as if all of its power, all of its life was fading from it. As shocking as this was, I was more concerned by what I saw between the white Titan and me... Lori and Mitch were leading a troupe of Takers, and they seemed to be following me. Though they were quite a distance behind and I wasn't really able to see the two leading them, I could sense it. It was more like watching masses of ants moving very slowly in my direction. I really had no real idea of where I was, and I could only trust my instinct as to which way I should go.
There were three things that I knew... three things that seemed most important to me...
1) I had to find my way back to Elle.
2) I had to find out what had happened to little Maddie.
3) I had to find my way home.
I had a feeling if I found the first two, I would have to look no further to find the third.
While I walked swiftly uphill, I wondered what would become of the Ahsushas and the Takers without a 'commander' and a functioning Titan to sustain them. 'Don't follow me. Why couldn't you just stay there with the Titan?' I thought out loud, wishing that for once, I could not constantly worry about being chased or sought out by an army of drones. Climbing out of the valley and reaching the apex of the ravine, I turned to look over my shoulder. There, at the farthest point of the vale, laid the Titan, like a hunter's trophy. The Takers and Ahsushas stood, gathered in a huddled mass at the base of the lifeless monstrosity, staring up, in my direction. I could feel them watching me, watching my every step, but no longer following me. I stood looking down at them, and much to my surprise I began to hear a sound. It sounded like a synchronized vocalization... slow and deliberate. I listened as the sound repeated and knew that somehow it came from the Takers below though I had never heard any of them utter a single sound. The coordinated voice was like the sound of a distant crowd at a sporting event, calling out together, but without the energetic passion. At first, I could not make out the rhythmic chant. But the longer I listened, the clearer it became...
“U-NI-FY...”
The word repeated and echoed through the valley. My first thoughts were of the troupe of Takers, banding together under the authority of the Ahsushas, Lori, and Mitch, but I began to come to an understanding... a lucid knowledge that what they were chanting was a desire for what I had become. I had not been overcome by the Ahsusha to become a Taker; I had not become an Ahsusha when touched by the Titan commander. On a level that I did not yet understand, and for a reason that would someday make devastating sense to me, I had become a blend of alien and human.
I was a unique Convergence.
Convergence: v. 1. When two or more things come together to form a new whole. 2. two or more things coming together, joining together, or evolving into one. 3. The coming together of two or more distinct entities or phenomenon.
The Genesis Project
Chapter 1
The Road Less Traveled
The seemingly mindless chanting of the Takers echoed in my head and throughout the forest, hauntingly. Standing at the precipice of the ravine, the brilliant ball of fire, we call the sun, was passed midday. I had lost track of time. It seemed like only a few hours since I had slipped on board the Titan, but the more I thought about all of the information in my head and everything that had happened, everything that had changed... it could have been days or even weeks. Each physical encounter with an Ahsusha, or alien being, had resulted in a loss of memory and a period of complete confusion. With no one and nothing to relate time to, I was lost.
I was not only lost in time, I was physically lost. How far we had traveled in the Titan was a mystery and I could only hope that I could find Barnhill again. I did not know if Elle would be there if Maddie would be there and be okay, or even alive, but... it was the last place I knew they had been. I had to find my way back there, if for no other reason, to begin my search for them. The decision to retrace the path of the Titan was my best bet to find the town, but it was sort of a shot in the dark. The Titan could have wandered for days, zigzagging across the wilderness. Barnhill could be less than a few miles away as the crow flies, but the Titan's path might have traveled dozens or even hundreds of miles. I began to feel overwhelmed and uncertain of my path. The one thing that I was certain of... I was starving.
I left the chanting hoard behind me and followed what appeared to be the path of the Titan. I searched the sparse forest for anything that seemed edible. There were no berry bushes, no nut trees that I could find and I thought about the odds of trapping a hare, of finding a lizard or turtle... I had no way to start a fire. Depression began to set in. A drink of lemonade and one of those dry cereal bars... I would kill for a bite of one of Elle's dry cereal bars. Pains in my stomach poked at me like dull knives tearing at my insides. Nearly a full day of walking had left me no closer to finding any sustenance and my anxiety and psychological state had left me feeling that I may be no closer to finding my one true friend.
As the tormenting sun began to sink lower in the sky on my second day of walking, dying from starvation seemed more likely than ever finding my way back. Sitting on a hard slab of sandstone, with my head in my hands, the voices in my head argued. A weak and timid persona swayed me to believe that giving up, curling up, and waiting to die was inevitable. Another more commanding voice told me to fill my stomach with anything, even dirt, and grasses, to ease the pain, but to never give up because I had a greater purpose... I would have never made it this far if I did not. A twisted conifer wrapped itself around me like it was hugging me, or shielding me though its spindly form was far from comforting or protective. My body, weak and exhausted, crumpled over on the hard slab and I drifted off to a delirious slumber.
Several hours of uninterrupted sleep had passed when I heard a familiar voice.
“Hey you... Wake up... you need to eat something.” The voice of Elle filled my head with comfort. How she managed to find me in the middle of the wilderness, I had no idea, but I knew she was right.
“Elle...” I groaned sleepily, trying to clear my blurry, waking vision.
“Eat something... anything... baby.” Her hand reached out to me and she ran her fingers through my hair and leaned in, sniffing my cheek... and then licking it.
I awoke with a start from a dream that I wished, more than anything, had been real. The stars filled the night sky and the sliver of a moon smiled down on my desperate situation. 'Sniff-sniff'. I flinched and my head spun to the side. There, laying nuzzled up beside me was
a full grown golden retriever... not an old dog, but no pup either.
“Where did you come from?” I asked out loud as if this canine would somehow answer me back. He did answer in his own way. He sat up and his tail wagged vigorously.
A smile broke across my face, despite the wrenching cramps in my empty gut. Leaning on one hand, I rubbed his head with my free hand, scratching his yellow fur and floppy ears. He seemed quite content to have found a companion. While I petted and stroked his coat, I began to notice movement nearby. This was not the movement of wandering Takers, or even a random deer or coyote. What I was noticing was a flurry of insects scavenging around on the forest floor. Elle's words haunted my thoughts... 'Eat something... anything'. A primal instinct took over and I began to gasp at the tiny movements and quickly began shoving crickets, beetles and anything I could grab, into my mouth, crunching and squishing their disgusting shells and guts as if they were delicacies as if my life depended on it... which it did.
When I could no longer force myself to devour any more of the foul bugs, I peeled a small patch of moss from the base of the twisted cedar and began to chew on it to clear my mouth of the repulsive taste and feel of the insect bits and pieces that remained lodged, with nothing to wash it all down with. Much to my surprise and pleasure, the moss held a considerable amount of moisture and also caused my mouth to water. The retriever sat and eagerly watched as I fed myself on insects and the clumps of moss.
I reached up and rubbed his neck, feeling for a collar. A wide, nylon, green and blue, weaved collar had been buried and hidden beneath his thick and matted coat. Both hands took hold of it and my fingers searched the collar. A jingling sound was like music to my ears. It is quite amazing how much the smallest of things can bring a smile and satisfaction when you have nothing. The jingle came from two dog tags that dangled from the well-worn collar and I slipped the collar to the side, in order to get a better look at the tags. The first was an official silver tag and let me know that the pooch had been well cared for and was up to date on his shots. The second was a metallic yellow-colored tag and held the information I had hoped for. His home was on Joshua Lane in Barnhill, his name was Josie, and 'he' was a she. The best news was the name of the town, Barnhill. Dogs have been known to wander from one side of the country to the other, but perhaps Josie would lead me back to her home.
I was feeling a bit rested, and although a bit queasy, my hunger pangs were tolerable. It was hours before sunrise, but I was no longer concerned about running into any Takers or Titans. I stood up and Josie perked up, jumping up on me, bouncing on her back feet excitedly. I ruffled her ears and head in my hands and put my nose right up to her cold and wet nose.
“Hey Josie girl!” I spoke to her as if I were speaking to a very young child or a dog of my own, in an energy-filled voice that wasn't really mine. “You wanna go home? Come on girl, let’s go home.”
Josie jumped up and licked me square on the mouth, and her butt wiggled and her tail wagged in a most feverish way. Though I had no idea of the exact direction, I took a couple of steps to the east, in the same direction I had been traveling the day before. Josie trotted ahead a few paces, but then stopped abruptly and turned to see if I was following behind. When I caught up with her, I patted her side and stroked her coat. Josie panted and looked straight into my glowing eyes without fear or question. This dog had befriended a total stranger, simply on the basis that I was willing to be kind to her and be her friend too.
The remainder of the night, and most of the next day continued in much the same way: Josie running ahead and then waiting for me to catch up. She instinctively knew where the best and safest paths were and it felt, to me, as if we were headed in the right direction. Without warning, after catching up to Josie just an hour or so before the sun began to set on our first day together, she nuzzled my hand with her head and nose and took off to our right, at a ninety-degree angle from the direction we had been heading. I wondered if she had been distracted by a small animal or scent, and I began to worry that maybe she was just wandering through the forest in no particular direction.
She darted out of my sight but soon came rushing back. Josie circled me twice, and jumping up, pawed at me... whimpering to get my attention.
“Get down girl...” I said in my doggie-talk voice. “You're gonna get me all muddy.” A sudden wave of excitement poured over me and hope tingled throughout my body. Josie's paws were muddy, and muddy paws meant... water! “Let's go Josie girl! Let's go!” Somehow I found a surge of hidden energy and I nearly ran after her, through a briar thicket and up a small hill. On my descent down the other side, I watched and literally teared up when I saw Josie galloping down the hill and then leap into a small stream that ran between two spoil-bank hills. She splashed and frolicked in the shallow water and I felt as if I could splash right along with her... I felt as if she may have just saved my life.
I bolted down the hill faster than my feet could carry me. Two-thirds of the way down, my momentum overtook my coordination. I tumbled forward with my feet flying up behind me, my right shoulder and the side of my face planting and then dragging through the leaves and sticks that covered the forest floor. I completed my tumble with my back pounding hard against the hillside, knocking the wind out of me as I slid down the remainder of the hill. Twigs and exposed roots scraped my shoulders, neck, and back, and the back of my skull and my ear were scratched and bleeding when I came to rest at the bottom, against a young sapling. Pain and anger washed over me but quickly vanished when Josie trotted up, licking my face, whimpering, and dripping creek-water on me. I quickly recovered my composure and though I was cut up, bruised and sore, I managed to regain my footing, sauntered over to the stream and knelt down over it. I dipped my hands in the cool running water and raised them to my face as if saying a prayer and giving thanks to mother earth.
I cupped my hands and scooped up the crystal clear water, drinking up as much as I could contain. The cool water trickled between my tightly closed fingers, spattering the creek like raindrops and running down my forearms to my elbows. I had been given hope by man's best friend. This was the second time since the appearance of the Titans that I had been saved by a female... first Elle, and now Josie. Elle... a picture of her face, and the feeling of holding her intimately close, was burned into my memory.
Alien invaders, zombie-like Takers, hybrid Ahsushas, and my own strange adaptation and mixture of alien traits... not to mention this feeling that I was an intentional pivot point of some type of revolution... and yet for some reason, Elle was the thing that filled my thoughts. She had become not only the most important thing in my world... in only a few short weeks, she had become my world.
After filling my belly with cool stream water, and watching Josie playing so contently, I pulled my long sleeved t-shirt (that used to be white) over my head and kicked off my shoes. Unbuttoning and unzipping the blue jeans that Elle had found for me, I shimmied them off. The stream was only a couple of feet wide and less than a foot deep, but it was the closest thing to a bath I had and the cool running water was exhilarating as it rushed over my parched and overheated skin. I knelt in the creek, naked and exposed for all of nature to see, and rinsed my clothes in its swift flowing beauty. I sat in the water, splashing myself and soaking up the life-giving element.
Standing up, I began to awkwardly don my sopping wet clothes. The jeans seemed to weigh a ton and even though they were uncomfortably soaked, I knew they would probably dry out all too quickly. I pulled the long-sleeved, cotton t-shirt back over my head, and the neck stretched out unnaturally. Putting the jeans on was difficult, but the dripping wet shirt was nearly impossible. It clung to me like sticky-tape and I felt like a child who was learning to dress himself for the first time. When I finally had it on, it hung loosely and seemed over-sized, which made me feel even more childlike. Josie played and splashed downstream and lapped up as much water as she could hold. After over an hour of fluid bliss, I slipped on my shoes and called out to my new travel
ing companion.
“Come on girl, let's go home,” I said, thinking if I said a simple and possibly familiar phrase, she might understand in the way dogs understand basic verbal commands. I had no doubt that dogs, and many animals, understood emotions and physical cues. Josie jumped into action with my words and that gave me hope that she recognized something I had said, and I had hopes that if there was only one word that she was reacting to, that word was home.
We trekked along as the sunset turned the sky from an unremarkable pale blue palette, dotted with puffy cotton balls, to a canvas covered in a dozen shades of oranges, reds, and purples as if Monet himself had painted it with blurry watercolors, that began to show more and more through the treetops as the forest thinned out. I tried to keep the thin ribbon of the stream in my view as long as I could, but after a few hours of night, we had drifted too far left of where it had trickled through the almost mountainous woods.
The days in the desert had been searing, and in this forest, they had been smotheringly sultry, but the night was quickly growing cool, and my clothes were still slightly on the damp side. I longed for a fire, and a bed and blanket... and Elle. While we journeyed, I searched for a resting spot, but no real shelter could be found. When the sky had darkened and pinpoints of starlight speckled the evening sky, we began to pass through a grove of evergreens. This patch of pines was denser than the sparse woods we had been wandering through and the thick layer of dead pine needles felt soft underfoot. I chose this spot to spend the night and Josie quickly agreed. Nearly laying on the ground, I used the entire length of my arms and hands to scoop the thick layer of needles into a large pile, a few feet wide, over six feet in length and nearly eight inches thick. Though it took quite some time, I didn't mind; I had nothing else to do. Josie sat nearby, watching intently and I worked. When I had finished, I glanced over at her and her big dark eyes had the most pitiful look. I felt a little guilty, so I started scooping up more needled together to make another spot for her. I made her bedding in a circular shape, about three foot across and almost as thick as what I had made for myself. When I was finished, I looked over and saw her sitting with her mouth open, tongue hanging out, appearing to smile if that were a possibility... I had been played by a retriever.