by Steve LeBel
“She was nominated for a Universe Award, but the Committee rejected her submission. The female builders protested for weeks. Finally, the Committee relented and not only reviewed her submission, but created a new award just for her, the Unique Sexuality Award. Her seahorses are a symbol of independence for females. Wherever you find seahorses, you can be pretty sure that world was made by a female builder,” said Suzie, almost out of breath.
“Is that why you wear those earrings?” asked Bernie, with an uncharacteristic flash of insight.
“You get an A+ for the day, Bernie.” She smiled.
They walked around the exhibits, pausing to look through the windows of the award-winning worlds. Bernie quickly oriented himself and easily guided Suzie to the special sights. Someone watching the couple might have commented on how knowledgeable he was about the building process and how quickly he found and pointed out the most distinctive features. The exquisite sights on the winning worlds captivated Suzie, and Bernie was surprised by her discoveries. She saw things he missed every time. He saw the moving parts, but failed to appreciate the total. Together, they made many new discoveries.
In the Symbiotic Section they found strange beings living together in unimaginable ways. The winners had been selected for the unique interdependencies between different species to their mutual benefit.
“This is Miriam’s Universe. I studied her in one of my history classes,” said Suzie.
“We studied her in my creative engineering classes. She broke new ground with the way she forced her symbiots to come together.”
“What did she do?”
“Miriam created a double pair bond, which had never been done before. She used environmental and emotional forces to bring two species together and get them to bond. She created a planet with bitter cold temperatures at night. She made both species warm-blooded with thick fur coats to resist the cold. She gave the first species intelligence and building skills so they could create shelter against the weather. She gave the second species cunning and hunting skills. She gave both species a cooperative nature, so it wasn’t long before they were living under the same roof,” said Bernie.
“It was clever to give them inter-dependent skills.”
“Yes, but Miriam wanted more togetherness, so she removed the fur from the first species. A perfect move. They had to share body warmth at night to survive, which brought the bonding to a new level. They actually formed double pairs of bonded partners.”
“Double pairs? How does that work?”
“At the age of maturity, which Miriam engineered to be the same for both species, they complete their own male-female bonding within their own species. When this is done, each pair seeks out a new pair from the other species for bonding. Once this double pair is formed, they generally stay together for life.”
“Look how they’re all snuggling together as they sleep. I like how they take care of each other.” Suzie smiled.
As they continued their tour, the universe categories shifted toward parasitic relationships. Bernie was jarred when he looked into one and saw a race of intelligent slugs. They made their homes inside a race of big dumb animals. As soon as they entered their host, they inserted a feeding tube into the host’s blood stream. Then they spliced into the nerve center near the base of the host’s brain so they had complete control over its body.
“Oh, yuck,” said Bernie.
“I wouldn’t want to be one of the animals. I wouldn’t want to be one of the slugs either.” Suzie wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Bernie looked up from reading the sign and said, “The animal is still conscious when the slugs take over, but apparently after a few months they give up any attempt at independent thought and just do whatever they’re told. The slugs go through three or four of these guys in a lifetime. Oh, double yuck,” Bernie said again, in case the cosmos hadn’t heard him the first time.
They left the parasite section rather than continue in the direction of even more parasitic relationships. Bernie explained the awards committee looked at many things when making awards. Even a cruel and vicious world could win an award as long as it was done really well.
“Oh, look! There’s one of your dad’s universes.”
“That’s the one I like best. He captured the grace and smoothness of motion I want to build into my universes someday. And he did it from bottom to top.”
Bernie’s father, Simeon, had created a gas planet with a dense atmosphere at the bottom that became thinner in the higher levels near the exosphere.
“Look here at the bottom, just above the hard ground. This is where Dad made the gas so thick it’s almost liquid. Down here, the intelligent life has fins and a tail, which is perfect for pushing their way through thick fluids. It’s dark because the light can’t pass through the thick atmosphere, so he gave them full-range radar which lets them stay in perfect formation, even though they can’t see each other.
“Now look here. About half-way up from the bottom, the gas is thinner. See how their fins are extending out into wings and the bodies are flattening?
“Now look up here. See how in the thin atmosphere, their fins have fully extended into giant wings? Even their bodies have flattened and are almost completely horizontal. They automatically change their form so they retain maximum efficiency of movement for whatever level they’re on,” said Bernie.
Watching them move through the atmosphere was like watching a slow motion ballet. Only a god could see through the thick clouds at the lowest levels, but even there, they swam in small schools where every member matched the twists and turns of their fellows.
“This is beautiful,” said Suzie, as she grasped Bernie’s hand. “No wonder he won an award.”
Bernie felt an electrical shock as Suzie’s hand touched his. He didn’t know how to respond. Even his cloud was shocked into silence. Her hand felt really soft, and he was suddenly aware of an apricot smell coming from her hair. He felt the warmth of her arm as it brushed against his. And he saw a pinkish color where their shimmers overlapped, creating a soft tickling sensation. He didn’t know what to do, so he perspired.
Suzie had planned to take Bernie’s hand ever since they’d decided to visit The Museum. But now, she judged, it was time for a merciful retreat before she scared the poor boy to death.
In one smooth motion, she released his hand and turned to face him. With her nicest smile, she asked, “Are you getting any ideas for your universe?”
“Well, ah…” stammered Bernie, who was still thinking about apricots and sweaty hands.
Finally, he caught up to current time and said, “I like the idea of something that can move around in lots of environments. That’s where I’m going to focus, I think.”
“I know you’re going to do a great job, Bernie.”
An Idea is Born
Journal Entry
I had a great day today.
I finally saw Suzie. I thought she might be mad at me, but she says she isn’t. I don’t understand girls. I think she was a little miffed when I looked away on my first day. I guess I did, but it wasn’t because of her. My stupid cloud grabbed my shirt and started pulling me in her direction. Someday I’ll have to explain it to her. It’s so embarrassing.
Suzie suggested going to The Museum to get some ideas for my universe. We saw some outstanding life forms. I’m full of ideas, and it shouldn’t be hard to pick something. It isn’t like I have to win an award or anything. I just need to do a good job and pass my probationary period.
One thing bothers me though. I can’t explain what happened to my planet. I know I did everything right. The core slipped out of place and wrecked everything. I have no idea why. Maybe they really are making defective parts here. After all, they had to create the Quality Assurance Division, and Shemal even set up his own quality assurance program so he wouldn’t get bad stuff from the other divisions. Maybe I’ll try another planet tomorrow.
Confession: I’m getting nervous about Shemal. He wasn’t impressed with my
universe. There was no reason for him to be. I’m going to do better. Suzie said Shemal is tough, so I need to buckle down.
Well, time for bed.
* * *
I got it figured out!
Suzie’s idea of going to The Museum was just what I needed. She’s so smart I don’t know why she changed majors. Last night when I was sleeping it all came together for me. I’m going to write it down before I forget. It’s going to be so cool.
I’m going to build the ultimate life form. It will live in water when it’s young, on land when it’s an adult, and it will fly when it’s old. I can hardly sit still to write this. I can’t wait to get started.
They’ll start out as eggs. Their parents will drop the eggs in the ocean where they absorb whatever nutrients they need until they hatch. When they hatch, they’ll have tails and fins and live in the water until they mature. There won’t be anything in the ocean except other fish-kids to play with and plenty to eat. They’ll be vegetarians, and I’ll have plenty of plants for them to eat. No predators anywhere. No school and no parents or teachers telling them what to do. The last thing the fish-kids will do is wrap themselves in a seaweed cocoon and get washed ashore.
The land-people will drag them out of the water and give them a home. They’ll emerge from the cocoon with legs and arms instead of fins. The land-people will be telepathic so they can communicate with the hatchlings. In their terrestrial form, they’ll be good at climbing and running and getting around on the land. This is where they’ll breed and then throw their own eggs into the ocean to hatch. When the land-people get old, they’ll go to the top of a high mountain and jump off. But before they hit bottom, they’ll shed their skin and their new form will be thin and light and translucent with butterfly wings in a rainbow of colors. And these bird-people will swoop up and live in the air from then on.
I’m going to make them smart and peaceful, so they’ll get along with each other. Each stage will get along with the other stages. The youngest ones will respect the older ones. And the older ones will take care of and help the younger ones. They won’t have conflicts because I’ll make sure they have plenty to eat and drink, and I’ll keep their population limited so they don’t run out of resources.
Just to be safe, I won’t make them too smart either. If they’re too smart, it’s easy for them to get into trouble. This way, they can hang out with their friends and do whatever they want. If they get bored, they can take a ‘geographic cure’ and go live someplace else for a while. It’ll be like living on a garden planet. They won’t need government or social structures, and they won’t be smart enough to develop technology. Oh, I’ll make them healthy too, so they don’t need physicians or anything.
And I’m going to do something special for Suzie. Yesterday, I got lots of ideas about what she likes. I’m going to make some flowering plants I know she’ll love. I’ll let her name them, too. This is going to be great.
Woo, woo. Move over, Dad. You aren’t going to be the only award winner in the family!
Wow, I just realized something. This means I need oceans, land, and high mountains for my bird-people to jump off. Whoa, Beatrice! I’m beginning to understand this Top Down Planning—Bottom Up Creation stuff you talked about in class. It really is the way to go.
Lunch with Friends
Bernie worked hard over the next few days. He filled his notebook with page after page of sketches and design notes. Everything he’d learned in school began making sense. Words from his teachers came back to him as pearls of wisdom just when he needed them, inspiring many more stickies that found new homes on the frosted glass of his cubicle. He planned and planned. And he planned some more.
He was so engrossed in his design process he missed lunch a couple of days. Today, he barely remembered in time. When he got to the cafeteria, Suzie sat waiting for him. Lenny arrived and set down his tray.
“Hi, Suzie. Have you been skipping lunches, Bernie?” Lenny asked.
“I got wrapped up in planning and didn’t notice the time. My design is going really well.” Bernie’s shimmer echoed his words.
“That’s great, Bernie. But you shouldn’t skip lunch. It isn’t good for you,” Suzie said.
Both Suzie and Lenny pretended not to notice the peas on Bernie’s tray and their madcap race around the rim of his plate. As the peas approached the mashed potatoes, they tried leaping over the white gooey trap. Green polka dots in Bernie’s potatoes stood in mute testimony of those who had failed. Others had already disappeared below the surface.
“What did you decide on?” Lenny asked, trying to ignore the racers, although still curious about who might win.
“Well, it’s going to be amazing. My highest life form will spend its youth in the ocean as a fish, and then move to the land where it develops arms and legs, and then, when it gets older, it will grow wings and live in the air. It’s so cool,” Bernie said without pausing to take a breath.
Realizing Lenny wasn’t really listening, Bernie followed his gaze in time to see the last of the peas about to cross the finish line. “Stop it,” he growled, thus aborting the leaps of three finalists, causing them to fall short and add to the greenness of the potato pile.
Lenny laughed. Bernie just shook his head. Lenny laughed some more. As his laughter subsided, it looked like he was about to say something.
“Ow!”
Suzie had reached out and smacked Lenny’s arm. “Leonard! Stop that. Bernie needs our encouragement, not our laughter.”
“Have you started building yet?” she asked as Lenny rubbed his arm.
“No, I only have a sun and a planet so far. I haven’t done much except planning. One thing is weird, though. I set up planetary rotation and revolution, double-checked it, and the next morning everything was messed up. The planet wobbled so badly it was on the verge of ripping itself apart. I almost ended up with an asteroid belt. Ever hear of anything like that before?”
Lenny shrugged. “I sure haven’t. You hear about quality problems in the divisions, but I never heard of anything that bad. Has it happened again?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t checked it recently.”
“Well, maybe you should report it,” Suzie suggested.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Bernie. There’s a lot of bad feelings about this quality assurance stuff. If you tell Shemal, then he’ll have more ammo to use against the other divisions. They’ll blame you for making trouble.”
Bernie shook his head. “Shemal already thinks the planet problem is my fault. I don’t want to go back and complain to him about it again. If I have to, I’ll get a new planet and start over.”
“You may have to,” said Lenny. “You can’t build advanced life on an unstable platform.”
“Words to live by,” said Bernie.
The Past Barrier
As soon as Bernie got back, he looked into his void. The sun and the planet were still there. The planet remained in its proper orbit. But when he looked closer, he saw a crater on the planet’s surface.
At first he thought it was a volcanic anomaly, but that wasn’t it. It was clearly an impact crater from an asteroid strike. And a big one, too. Then he noticed more. Circling the world, he found pockmarks everywhere; his world had been hit repeatedly.
There’s no way that could happen. The only things in his universe were a sun and a planet. Nothing else. There shouldn’t be any asteroids anywhere.
Bernie moved the time lever forward. He observed the future as one asteroid after another crashed into his planet. He was a billion years into the future and the planet was still taking occasional hits. Where had they come from? How could they have gotten into his sterile universe? There was nothing there except one sun and one rock planet. It made no sense.
He pulled the time lever back to the beginning and started again. As he went forward in time, each time a crater appeared on his planet, he moved the lever back just enough to locate the asteroid before impact. For every future crater he found, he bli
nked an asteroid into nothingness. He spent the rest of the day blinking them out one by one. Eventually, he cleaned up every asteroid destined to strike his planet in the next billion years.
Bernie wished he could roll his universe back a few days to see what had happened. Had he done anything to cause this? Or maybe it wasn’t him; maybe a defect in the prefabs had caused it. If only he could look at past time in his universe, but, of course, the Past Barrier wouldn’t allow that.
He didn’t completely understand the Past Barrier. One of the Great Mysteries was the gods could alter time for everything else, but not for themselves. Bernie could jump back and forth in time within his universe, pretty much however he wanted. But there was a point in the past denied to even the gods. And that point moved with the passage of god time. They called it the Past Barrier.
* * *
Phoebe, Bernie’s design theory teacher, had said, “Our world has its own time, which we call Real Time (RT). We live inside this time. When you build a universe, it has its own time too, which we call Universe Time (UT). Because you have power over your universe, Universe Time doesn’t apply to you. You can move freely back and forth in UT however you want. I know you have all had fun speeding forward in UT, right?”
Chuckles of guilty pleasure rippled around the room as the kids were reminded of their fast forward time experiences. They were supposed to be careful, but what kid hasn’t pushed the time lever all the way forward just once to see what it feels like? Going fast and far into the future was a rush, like flying when you know you can’t fall, with cosmic winds blowing your hair back as eons rip past. There was no danger going forward as fast as you could. Well, the scenery got a little boring after the sun burned out and all, but there was nothing to fear.
“Yes, I can see everyone here knows what I’m talking about,” Phoebe said, as the kids responded with another round of smirks and muffled laughter. She was Bernie’s youngest teacher. It wasn’t that long ago she’d been sitting in one of these chairs herself. When she said things like this, they could see the twinkle in her eye that let everyone know she had done the very same thing.