The Experiment

by Costanza, Christopher

  I walked up to 3 and put my hand out. “I know you will… Oh, and we received word that tomorrow will probably be our last day of mining. We may even leave by nightfall.”

  He smiled and I could see the all too familiar mischievous look in his eyes. “Not that I won’t miss you two… but… GOOD!”

  We all laughed, said our goodbyes for the day, and then Kayin and I headed back to the ship….

  That night, I spent hours making a detailed account of everything that happened on the mission. I explained about our home world, who we were, the soft yellowish mineral chrysos, what the ACI made us do, and how we took back their freedom.

  At the end I even included an apology on everyone’s behalf for not acting sooner… I wanted them to know how sorry we really were... That we would have gladly died trying to free them. The ones we actually hurt might not ever be able to understand it, but one day someone would…

  During this time Sara and I had become extremely close, almost inseparable. The effects of our strange connection from our time in stasis never went away. If anything it’s amplified over the years.

  I looked over to see if she was already asleep… I wanted her to read everything and see what she thought. She might even want to add something.

  I considered waking her, but we were all so tired from the mining. It was hard to keep up with the natives and we wanted to contribute as much as possible. She was probably exhausted, so I just let her be… Sometimes I enjoyed simply watching her sleep. When I look at her it reminds me of all that time we had to be apart and how happy I am to finally have her…

  It was only a few hours until morning and tomorrow we’d be preparing leave. I know that one day they would learn to shed away their superstitions and truly understand the stories of their ancestors and history… It was just a matter of time… Maybe they’ll even forgive us for what we did.

  I was able to fall asleep knowing that I had a real plan to fix the damage we’ve done to the natives. It’s just like repairing the atmosphere on Aeris. It won’t truly affect anyone now but the future generations will greatly benefit…

  When I woke up I reached over for Sara but she was gone. It immediately alarmed me so I sat up and looked around the room. I saw her at the desk reading what I was planning on giving 3.

  Once I was done rubbing my eyes, I got out of bed and stretched… I said “What do you think?”

  When Sara turned around she had tears in her eyes “It’s perfect Atlas… they need to know what happened. They need to know that we cared and how sorry we are… I wouldn’t change a single world.”

  “Are you sure? I was wondering if you wanted to add something to it…”

  She wiped her face with her sleeve. “No, I really mean it. I wouldn’t want it any other way… Everything you said is exactly what I’m feeling, and more.”

  I truly did fear that 3 was right... It’s something that could last tens of generations… They could all wait around with piles of chrysos in the hopes that we would come back. We may have done more damage than we could ever know.

  I didn’t tell Sara that… I just wanted her to think I was happy, in the hopes it would make her feel better about everything…

  I prepared a bag with some books from my room, including the history of the ACI, a book on aeronautics, and one explaining the engines and computer systems on the Sirius. I also included some various trinkets, tools, and small pieces of machinery. I figured metalworking, mechanical items, and a written language would be clear enough and easily understood. Someone in the near future had to figure it out… but if not, I was including one of our handheld computers too - eventually there would be no denying what that is.

  Sara was still wiping the tears away from her face so I walked over and held her… I felt so bad for her… I can’t ever forget how much more she went through than I did. That’s why I wanted to her to have a nice and easy last day.

  I looked down at her “Sara, go ahead and assist the stasis team. There’s no need for you to mine today, you’ll be a lot more useful helping them anyway.”

  “Yeah you’re right; maybe I can make it so we can leave even sooner… They should have the rest of the chrysos mined and loaded on the ship by the middle of the day.”

  I kissed her and said “I’m going to meet Kayin now so we can head over to the site… I’ll see you soon.”

  She stopped me. “Wait, before you go… I was thinking that maybe we don’t need to go in stasis right away. Imagine everything we could see from the observation room along the way.”

  “I’ve been thinking the same thing… I’m with you. And I’m sure Kayin wont’ want to go in right away either… It’ll be great.”

  She smiled… As I walked away she grabbed my hand and held on until I was out of reach…

  As soon as I saw Kayin, I said “I have another idea… Don’t make them get up today. I’m going to give the natives a computer too. Hopefully they’ll view it as an important gift and never let anything happen to it.”

  “Yeah that sounds like a good idea… I just wish we could do more.”

  “Well it’s just like what we’re doing for Aeris… It’s our fault and everything we do is going to take a long time to have a real impact… We’ve run out of options…”

  “I know, it’s just sad… 3’s right, they’re going to keep mining once we leave and there’s nothing we can do about it. Even 3 can’t get through to them.”

  “Kayin, we’ve seen them learn a lot over the last few years… I don’t think it’s going to take as long as 3 thinks it is… I’m thinking only a few hundred years… They have a lot of potential.”

  Kayin let out a big sigh. “It’s nice to think that I guess… Let’s just get this over with and go home….”

  I would have kept trying to make Kayiin feel better about this but I knew it wasn’t going to work. We just quietly boarded the transport ship and headed back to the site to meet with 3…

  When we walked through the woods I didn’t hurry this time. I slowed my pace and tried to enjoy it as much as I could. I wanted to smell the air, feel the wind, and hear all the different sounds that no longer existed on Aeris… I’d have one more trip back through and then I’d never see it again…

  It was deeply depressing… I kept wishing Sara and I really were going to stay and build that little house near the lake…

  Since we had been spending most of our time at this site, we would just take a few tents, walk a few minutes into the woods, build a small fire, and get plenty of privacy and quiet. They were some of the best nights of my life.

  Neither one of us ever ceased to be amazed by the indescribable amount of stars we could see in the night sky… It will be a sad day for me when those memories start to fade…

  As we approached, the head of the mining division ran up to us.

  “We should be finished in a few hours. I’ve ordered all the sites to start dismantling the unneeded equipment and bring it back to the ship… I can pretty much say for sure we’ll be out of here before nightfall.”

  Kayin said “Just do your best… If we have to stay another day, we have to stay another day. Nothing we can do… Have you seen 3 around?”

  “Far as I know he’s at the mine… We’re doing our best to disperse the natives but they don’t want to leave. I thought we cou…”

  I stopped him and said “Don’t worry about that, we have a plan. They’re confused enough as it is and I don’t want to leave them thinking we’re angry… Just get on the radio and let everyone else know not to try and force them to leave.”

  “You got it.”

  Kayin turned to me “You know… if our story makes it into the history books, maybe sometime in the future people from Aeris will return here just to check on them. If your plan hasn’t worked yet maybe they can do something about it.”

  I smiled and said “Yeah it’s a long shot but you never know I guess… Although we did promise 3 we’d make sure no one ever came back…”

  Kayin shrug
ged “I was just thinkin about it… I feel like not knowing will always haunt me…”

  When we got to the mine, the natives immediately noticed us and started chanting. I could see 3 because he was only one still standing.

  We made our way down to the center of the mine and I yelled out for them to rise. The mine actually made my voice echo as if I were some type of almighty being… I’m sure it only added fuel to the already brightly burning fire…

  When they got up, I walked over to one of them and put my hands on his shoulders… I wanted to signify that the gift was very important.

  He immediately fell to back the ground and the others backed up. I told him to rise and helped him to his feet. I took out the computer and held it up to the sky… they all became frightened and started chanting again.

  I took the natives hands, and placed the computer in it. Making sure to keep eye contact the whole time. I took a step back and he returned to his knees…

  3 yelled out “Anu-Naki!” and they continued chanting.

  I slowly backed away, and after a few minutes the other natives gathered around and started trying to inspect the computer. The one I gave it got upset and started chasing them away… It looks like my plan worked; He was already protective of it.

  3 walked over. “That was perfect; it should become their most prized possession… Look at them, they’re already fighting over it…”

  I stepped closer to 3 and put my hand on his shoulder. I’m sure he could see how sad I was…

  “Well this is it 3… Kayin and I are heading back up to the ship. We’re going to get back into orbit so the flight and stasis teams can prepare. We’re either leaving tonight or early tomorrow.”

  I handed him the first bag of items I prepared.

  “I wrote something on behalf of all of us, and put in some books and a bunch of random things like we talked about.”

  Then I handed him the second one. “This is full of books. I was able to find quite a few that could help your people. Farming, architecture, medical techniques, I even threw in some philosophy and poetry…”

  He took them, smiled and said “Thank you for everything… both of you… Now… I hope I never see you people again. Please get off my planet!” Then he closed his eyes and pointed to the sky…

  I knew he was joking and I wanted to laugh but it just wouldn’t come out… We had been through so much together.

  I wanted to stay and help them… I couldn’t stand the thought of returning to Aeris and never knowing what would become of them… Like Kayin said – I’d forever be haunted by it… I’d even miss 3.

  We shook hands, then Kayin walked over, did his best to say goodbye and we started back to the transport ship.

  I figured 3 was going to insult Kayin or say something funny at his expense… The bickering between them never stopped, even for day… Surprisingly he didn’t. And I could tell by the way they looked that they really did grow close after all. Kayin might even miss 3, just like I would… Though I doubt he’d ever admit it.

  As we left they all continued to chant… About half way up Kayin and I stopped to take one final look back… We could see they were starting to mine again.

  Kayin said “Oh man, we haven’t even left yet and they’re back to mining… I can’t leave like this, I just cant!”

  He ran back down and started yelling “Un-Tu!, Un-Tu!” which means “stop.”

  He started going around, taking their tools away and throwing them as far as he could. Still yelling “Un-Tu!” every few seconds.

  They all stood there, frightened and confused… and just as with all of our other attempts, they started frantically working because they thought we were angry.

  3 rushed over. “Kayin!, this isn’t helping! You’re only making it worse, don’t you get it!?”

  He grabbed 3, tears streaming down his face... “I can’t leave it like this!..”

  3 looked him in the eyes. “Kayin please… We’ve done all we can do. The only thing that will fix this is time.”

  “That’s not good enough for me!”

  3 put his hands on Kayin’s shoulders. “Even though so many horrible things have happened, your people have also given us a great gift… I know this might sound selfish… But I wouldn’t trade what Horus did to me for anything… And that’s the truth Kayin. I’m going to be able to teach them so much and I’ll make sure the value of human life is top on the list… I learned that from all of you.”

  Kayin stood there in silence and then just walked away.

  I said “He’ll be fine… He’s a really emotional guy. But that’s what makes him special.”

  3 laughed. “Yeah, he’s special alright…”

  I smiled. “So 3… It’s been two years now, I know you’ve come up with a name by now… I’d like to know it before I leave. That way when I tell your story you won’t just be a subject number… I might just have to make one up!”

  “Well… I wasn’t going to tell you… but I’ve chosen Atlas.”

  “Atlas?”

  “Yes, remember I told you I liked your name? That it sounded strong?.. Well that’s what I choose… You’re leaving so I’ll be the only Atlas on the planet anyway.”

  I was kind of shocked… “Wow, I’m really flattered…”

  “Well you should be! I’m the most brilliant man on the planet AND the soon to be leader of my entire race… Flattered is an understatement! You should be honored…”

  We both started laughing. “Oh I am, believe me.”

  3 smiled. “Now go home and help your people Atlas… So I can start to help mine.”

  Just before we parted ways I stopped him. “So what are you going to name the planet? My people will want to know.”

  “Well they already call it “Su-Bur”; it means ground, dirt, grass, trees, basically everything… I guess to your people it would be… “Earth”… It’s simplistic for my taste but it’s not up to me at the moment. I’ll come up with something better once I’ve gained more influence.”

  “No, I really like it… Earth it is…”

  I walked over to him and said “this is another custom you probably won’t like, but I’m doing it anyway” then I hugged him.

  He hesitated and put one arm around me “Alright that’s enough of that… Goodbye Atlas, I’m really glad I got to meet all of you and learn so much about what our species is capable of... And just how special we can be…” He smiled.

  I was fighting back tears so I just nodded, turned around and walked away…

  On the way back to the Sirius, Kayin was completely silent; I could tell he was still really upset. His face was still bright red from crying and I could hear that he was all congested.

  I leaned over to him and said “It’s ok Kayin. What’s done is done… We tried our best and one day they’ll understand, even if my plan doesn’t work… it’ll just take a lot longer that way, but it will happen.”

  “Atlas, we’ve caused them to develop an obsession with chrysos, all because they think it’s important to us… They’re going to spend thousands of years slaving away instead of actually progressing… I just know it… And I don’t think 3 has as much influence over them as he likes to think either…”

  I sighed “Yeah well we can’t think like that Kayin. If it wasn’t for us who knows what would be going on right now. There’s no telling how many more would have died… Horus obviously wasn’t done with his experiments and you remember my theory about the ACI seizing power on Aeris… There’s probably still a lot more to this than we think… We’ve freed the natives and done our best to send them down the right path… They’ve learned a lot because of us and Atlas will be an excellent guide through their progression… I’d like to think in some ways they may be better off…”

  “Atlas? You mean 3?”

  I coughed… I felt kind of funny about the whole thing… “No I mean Atlas… He chose to name himself after me. Said it was a good strong name…”

  Kayin just let out a grunt and kept
looking straight ahead as the transport ship cut through the clouds.

  I said “I’m telling you Kayin… I know they’re going to be just fine.”

  He never answered me back; I guess he just needed time to think… Either that or he still didn’t agree with me… I wouldn’t blame him, I don’t think I did either… In reality, as much as I hated to say it, he was probably right…

  Once we got the Sirius back up to orbit, we sat in the observation room for hours, looking out at the stars and X-451 while we waited for word that everyone and all the equipment was back on board.

  We didn’t talk much; only a little about what we’d do when we landed in the middle of the Capital… I knew Kayin was still trying to think of something to do for the natives before we left, so I just left him alone…

  Eventually Sara came in and told us it was time to leave.

  Kayin said “I’m going to stay here for a while… need some time to think. Just give the orders Atlas.”

  I walked over and patted him on the back “Ok, we aren’t going into to stasis for a few days so we’ll be right back… I want to get a look at the other planets before we leave. One of the flight crew told me there’s one that’s particularly amazing.”

  Kayin didn’t turn around, he just nodded and continued to gaze out into space.

  When we got to the flight deck it was confirmed that everyone was on board and the techs were readying the stasis capsules. I thanked the flight crew for all of their help and gave the order to head home.

  We didn’t have much time before we’d be out of the solar system so Sara and I rushed back to the observation room.

  Before we went in Sara said. “Just give him some time, I’ll try and talk to him later…”

  She sighed. “He’s probably right… You have to understand what an impression we made on them… they watched us come out of the sky Atlas. They’re still terrified and amazed. Try to imagine how you would feel as a primitive man witnessing that… I’d have to agree with Kayin. There’s no doubt in my mind all this has done a lot more harm than we could ever imagine… but like you say we did everything we could do… I’ll try and cheer him up anyway. At least we’re able to go home and help everyone on Aeris… We’re just going to have to live with what happened and know we tried our best…”