III
“I am very satisfied with your advancement, Lexan,” Master Raki watched the boy wake up from a deep meditation once again, “You have definitely gone beyond the 'in training' stage.”
Bran had already explained to the boy the ranking system, ranging from In Training, through Student, Basic, and beyond that to higher ranks such as Trainer and Master.
The two discussed some recurrent thoughts that Lexan encountered in his meditation and moved onto other subjects of interest.
Raki paced around the room, talking, “We have four weeks left until you have to enter the Academy as a Student. I think it is about time for you to try the Aetheral transformation.”
The man paced around and started his regular lecturing, “You will need to focus. Free your mind, imagine that total freedom. You have to command your will to subvert your body under its complete control. Feel your heart pound, and feel the blood rush through your veins. Imagine flying among the clouds with nothing to stop you and think of a world where no one will impede on your happiness. Nothing can stop you, now free your mind and let the winds in the skies envelop your body.”
Lexan listened to Raki's words and relaxed. He let his thoughts roam and he let his mind grow separate from his body. Yet his mind grew one with his body at the same time. He felt the beating of his heart beat slowly and solemnly, and he also felt his lungs expand and the air come in. He felt the neurons fire all over his body in a strange pattern until the wave reached his brain where the energy set off his whole neural network.
The fire inside his body started cooling from within to the surface of his skin. The boy felt it expand to cover his chest and then extend to his arms and legs. Lexan shivered slightly and opened his eyes when the cool sensation reached his neck. His breathing accelerated slightly when he saw his body shimmering slightly.
“This is amazi-” The boy was cut off as the cool liquid pumping through his veins suddenly dissolved into nothingness.
“You need to concentrate better and not let your thoughts stray. Go rest and meditate. We will resume later.”
Lexan frowned and left. He could not settle his mind enough to meditate. He stared straight at the wall and contemplated on the past months that have become his new life. The old life, before he embarked on this journey, seemed like a dream from far away and long ago. The technology, the culture, everything, he did not know how he could get used to the new life, and live it this way forever with long days of meditation and contemplation and studying. It seemed rather boring, despite the exciting history and everything and civilization he had a chance to be a part of. “I am not the person I used to be,” Lexan whispered.
IV
Lexan sat still, contemplating further upon his past and his future when Master Raki called him up again, “Lexan, let us try again.” The boy walked to Raki's quarters and waited, “DO you think you can concentrate enough?”
“I believe I can,” He was confident enough after the first six tries.
“I am giving you only one more chance. If you do not succeed, you will have to learn to transform in school, just like everyone else.”
“Why is that?”
“There is a time constraint. Once you transform, you will faint and your body will put you into a coma for three weeks. You will awake once we reach the Aetheral System,” Raki moved his hand over no particular area and a star system appeared. A single bright yellow star shone over six planets of diverse terrain. The Master made another gesture and a single planet zoomed it.
“This is where you will be spending the next six years of your life,” He said and smiled. The planet was approximately half green and half white with great blue rivers flowing through. As the projection rotated, a great ocean came into view that spread from the northern pole to the equator and a little beyond. All in all, it covered a quarter of the planet while various other bodies of water dotted the landscape around.
“Is that ice?” Lexan asked pointing at the white formation.
“The translucent white is the school. The greens are farmlands and woods.” Lexan raised an eyebrow at the declaration.
“Look,” the planet zoomed in closer, revealing large pyramid-like structures,” These 'pyramids' are spheres connected by transportation tubes. It provides for faster movement and it is rather space-saving. As you will notice,” One of the pyramids zoomed in to show the spherical vertexes and the tubular connectors. Some other structures connected to the spheres and tube, “when the Spheres are not enough to house all classrooms and dormitories, you will see these structures build there too.”
The planet zoomed out again, this time to show a thin ring, a space station.
Master Raki used the incentive and once more encouraged the boy to try to transform, “Concentrate, Lexan. It is the only way you will be able to achieve that which you desire.”
Lexan sat, cross legged. He breathed deeply in, and relaxed hi muscles. He imagined flying away toward freedom, freedom away from everyone into the emptiness of space where he would be left only to his own thoughts. He imagined pain disappearing, and peace spreading through his body. A smile appeared on his face, as the boy imagined never coming back to this bleak world of problems. At first, he desired this, but then he felt it as if it had become true. Even now though, Alexander remembered his old love; he wanted Alary to be with him in this new world. A world of peace, his own little universe full of fulfilled wishes, a universe of joy, and eternal life.
Lexan visualized that universe and flew inside it, watching the stars shining in complicated patterns. The boy landed on one of the quadrillions of worlds present. The atmosphere was thick with clouds, but dispersed enough to let thin rays of sunlight pierce through. Manta-ray-like entities flew toward him and sung beautiful under-sea songs. The world contained any and all wonders imaginable.
He breathed in deeply, and Lexan felt free. He felt so free, he could not stop. His imagination ran wild, and soon all his thoughts inter-twined to create a self-sustained web of consciousness. Lexan felt compelled to make this dream world come true, to create that dreamland for himself and those he loved so dearly.
Cold shivers ran down Lexan’s spine as his body twisted and contorted in the four dimensional reality. He dived in his dreamland, deeper and deeper into a lake made of silvery, shimmering liquid. The lake accepted him and warmed him, prolonging his descent into more pleasure.
He smiled, he smiled even more as his body started pulsating, awakening beings around him. His aura pulsated strongly and vigorously, invigorating the beings around him. They absorbed the energy. And with each pulse absorbed, the subsequent one exerted more power.
Finally, Lexan remembered his happiest memory with Alary and she appeared before him. His body exploded with everything that was inside him. The wave exited going every which way, vibrating through the whole ship. The boy opened his eyes to see Master Raki knocked out against the wall, still pushed up against it.
The transformation forced the excess waste energy outside which in turn matter all around absorbed. Oxygen started creating bubbles of vacuum, following the pattern of the wave. The ship started bending and misshaping as if Lexan was a black hole. It tried to reach out to him and touch him as soon as the wave passed.
Lexan felt on top of the world, he saw the world as he had never seen it before. He saw beyond the ship, he saw through everything. A jab of pain surged through his neural network, making him wince. Another jab followed, and the pain overwhelmed his body. The boy fell to his knees, he looked in front of him, inside the three casket-like objects. Inside, he saw someone sleeping, “Alary--?” he spoke his last words. In a desperate attempt, he reached out, screaming her name but no sound escaped his throat. His consciousness retreated to a void, to darkness to rejuvinate.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I
The average person sleeps between seven and nine hours a day. Such sleep progresses and cycles through periods of surface sleep, to deep sleep, and dreaming.
Lexan sl
ept for fifteen days without waking once, this was the time required for his body to regain its strength. He slept for fifteen more days as a result of his diet, the nutritional cubes. During all this time, his body repaired every tear, fixed every mistake. It was as if he grew a new body.
It is a tradition in the Aetheri society to sleep for a duration of two weeks every year to revitalize one's body. The nutritional cubes, as well as training, high oxygen air, and other factors, cut out sleep altogether from an average Aetheral's life.
Lexan opened his eyes slowly into bright world. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the level of light coming in. When his eyes finally focused, he knew he was on a bed inside his cabin and soon enough, he noticed that he was still wearing his suit.
“Bran?” he called out.
Lexan heard her voice directly inside his ear and words flickered across the screen of the helmet, “Welcome to the School Planet in the Aetheri System. How have you slept?”
The boy stretched slowly, yawned, and answered, “Very well actually. How long have I slept?”
“Thirty days.”
The boy did not register the magnitude of the answer, “How come that long?”
“After your transformation, your body went into a short-term hibernation wherein it adjusted to your new Aetheri transformation.
He nodded and stood up. Bran announced once again that they were on the planet and she encouraged him to go outside.
“There is one more subject that Master Raki wants you to learn -” Lexan ignored Bran for a minute and walked outside through the transparent and immaterial opening in the ship. He found himself standing on a wide platform with numerous markings on it. As he looked left and right, he realized that he was standing on a landing pad that floated high above the clouds. He saw other such concrete structures around, some hosted other ships, others connected ships like a bridge. Yet others did not have any ships around them at all and were left abandoned.
“The issue of the Aetheri and the Nethers is a serious one, while the -” Bran droned on and the boy kept ignoring her as he stared out and stepped down onto the shiny platform. He noticed that the ship was still floating in the air, but it was floating comfortably with two large clamps below it that could catch it in case of emergency. A small building stood opposite the ship on the platform. Lexan started walking toward it.
“They live in the Andromeda galaxy and though it is far -”
“Bran, can I take off my helmet on the planet?” He interrupted her.
“The oxygen level in the atmosphere is too high and may poison you. The injected nano particles that you have received during hibernation will adjust your system accordingly within a short period of time.”
The sun shone a distinct yellow, almost bright enough to be white. Lexan's helmet filter shifted and dimmed the sun while still retaining the initial brightness of his surroundings. The glass building in front of the boy housed furniture, a small bar, and it was big enough to hold as many as ten people for several nights.
The boy stared at it and saw the furniture inside, light-weight, made of what resembled dirt. Even the chairs were made out of “dirt” though it was not exactly dirt. Chairs and a table, the boy thought. Am I still on Earth? He thought, it seemed dully impossible for him to have traveled thousands of light years. He could not accept the fact he had left, all of a sudden. Everything seemed like a dream but it was too real. Lexan looked quickly left and right and saw something. There it was, a ripple, a distortion. Yes! He thought as he imagined finding out that this is all a hoax. The idea of being on an alien world, even the past six months he spent aboard the ship, seemed so ridiculous now.
It must all be a hologram, he thought, an illusion. He walked to the edge of the platform and extended his arm. He could not touch anything but he did notice that the lighting coming from inside the glass building bounced off and created a reflection in several spots around the platform, seemingly in thin air. Lexan laid down and extended his leg as far as he could but he could not reach the anomaly just yet. He decided to jump, expecting to fall through a wall of screens. He did not. He fell through a protective bubble that held oxygen in, he realized. It dampened the harsh winds, regulated temperature, and did all kinds of other things.
Soon enough, the boy boy fell weightless through the bubble. He quickly gained velocity and reached the moist clouds below. His heart thumped loudly and he quickly regretted his doubts on the issue of reality. He could not scream, the fear gripped him too tightly. He was going to die, he thought.
The wind rushed around his body and could be felt through the protective suit. The temperatures changed wildly and his teeth started chattering from the cold.
Bran sounded through the helmet, “I will contact help.”
“Whatever,” he retorted as he recognized her dismissive tone.
He fell through the few initial cloud layers until he entered a rainstorm. The droplets did not stick to the boy, however, but they still splashed against him at incredible speeds. The lightings flashed and clashed while the thunders screeched soon after.
Lexan blinked and realized that a multitude of figures flew around in the mayhem. They were, in fact, enjoying the chaos of the storm, surfing on the clouds using strange boards. The view, though deadly, was amazing. The sky mirrored an angry ocean but was tamed by the board-users and used for entertainment. The boy forgot about his dilemma for a few seconds until a lightning hit him and subsequently caused a reaction that shifted him into an Aetheric state. The raindrops slowed down, a few hazy figures appeared that were not there before. The figures were cloud surfers, more of them.
“What a wondrous world...” He whispered in English and in disbelief.
“So why not enjoy it for a little while longer?” Someone asked him and Lexan swirled around to face a tall, lean figure in a silver suit with a tail hanging out.
Lexan froze and laughed as he realized how funny the situation was. He was flying through the air, about to die, talking to an alien girl with a tail who was hovering in the clouds.
“Any reason why you are flying through the air with no Cloud Board?” She asked.
He stared blankly without uttering a word at first.
“Activating profile imaging,” Bran called out.
Her suit suddenly disappeared to reveal a blue skinned woman with shimmering skin covered by some type of a gel. Tiny scales protruded in some places on her body. Her eyes glowed brightly red in the dark blue skies. Thin tails grew out of her head, instead of her hair, resembling her actual tail. Her skin bore thin slight fur, barely visible but still there. She wore brown, featureless robes.
She smiled as she noticed him looking her over.
“What's your name?” She asked impatiently yet still playfully. She tilted her Cloud Board to match his falling velocity.
“Lexan,” he muttered, his heart still pumping with adrenaline.
“My name is Blooranga, people call me Bloo,” she started, “Do you need some help or do you plan to keep falling?”
Lexan reached for her and she caught him and placed him over the front of her board. She tapped her foot and flew up through the storm.
“Where did you fall from?” She asked.
“Jumped,” he responded and pointed his finger toward the platform where Master Raki's ship resided.
Lying on the board, the boy looked around and saw the pyramid-like structure of the school and the cities that enveloped the planet. He lay there in awe and realized he was still an Aetheri. Concentrating, he turned his body solid and felt the warmth of his blood and his body return.
Bloo flew over the bubble surrounding the platform, tapped the board again, and descended gently. She dislodged from the Cloud Board and looked around, “I’ve never seen a ship like this, is it yours?” She asked, and Lexan shook his head, “Are you going to be alright?”
“Yeah, thanks,” the boy stepped down from the hovering surf. His feeling of disorientation subsided and he
brightened up, “I guess I should not have jumped.”
“I thought you fell, why did you jump?” She stopped him from answering, “Sorry, never mind, I have to go. See you later!” She climbed on her board, taped it again, and dove straight down into the clouds, disappearing with a thin trail following her. A yell of excitement followed seconds later.
Lexan shook his head and breathed in deeply, feeling the pain of loss inside his body. He sat down slowly, leaning up against the glass building. He pulled his legs to his torso.
“Bran?” He said emptily, shivering slightly.
“Yes? You sound upset.” Her voice was as emotionless as ever.
“Could you please alert me when somebody comes close by?” A warm liquid ran down his cheek as he realized where he was and how far away from home he had gone and what he had lost and given up. All that was familiar was gone.
“Yes. I am turning off profile. Turning on private mode.”
The boy cried without the slightest whimper. I am too old to cry, he thought and felt the pain inside him surge.
He blamed and pitied himself for hours. Discussing with himself all that he left behind on Earth. Muttering to himself about Alary. Thinking of all the things he loved back in the orphanage. Remembering all the great moments with his parents. Gradually, he hated himself and his life more and more. He hated himself even more when he realized how suddenly this came over him and how he cannot stop his train of thought, and how he feels.
Now he is here, an alien world. The only person, Master Raki, that he knew, left him. He had no one besides a stupid computer inside his head. He felt alone, he felt desolate and his mind could not accept the reality.
II
Rhythmical beeping tore through the solemn sad silence. Lexan woke up sharply.
“Bran?” He tried to open his eyes but felt too tired to do so.
“You must have fallen asleep,” the computer answered, “Master Raki is looking for you.”“Why is that?”
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