by Davi Cao
“We were lucky to have found one so easily, and we did that when we had a leader and full resources. We lost many things in that hole, not just John.” She fluttered her eye lashes, fighting back tears.
“It’ll be hard anyway if we stand waiting.” Olin grimaced at the floor.
“Can we at least set a camp here and take a rest? I’m tired, I can’t think straight. Give me a break then we’ll talk more, ok?” Angeline said, her neck bent down, hands falling loose on her sides.
She dropped her bag on the floor, near the original beacon’s device, in a flat surface that seemed to rise slowly to become a plateau. Mary came by her side with a folded tent and flexible sticks. They armed their base without the need of words, arranging everything with the skill of practiced explorers.
“We don’t have food for more than a month, do we? I’ve been counting things, and I think we don’t have enough.” Mary hit a pin on the rubbery floor.
“We’ll have to make do with it. Do you want to face more of what we met?” Angeline sniffed, rubbing her nose on her sleeve.
“I don’t know. It was fine when we had just the native people around. I had no idea they were standing so near a monster.” Mary surveyed the neighboring groups setting up their tents.
“Nobody had it. That was something new, and we have to get out of here to recover and tell the story.”
“It won’t be easy to keep people calm, though.” Mary opened the tent’s zipper to check if it was working.
Malcolm approached them with eyes focused on Mary’s bag. He bent down on it and searched its interior, picking up a key.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Mary yelled.
“We need to eat and I’ll open the cart for us. Are you cool with that?” He turned his back to her, gazing at the food cart.
“No, I am not! Drop it, Malcolm, this is not the time for losing yourself. We need it to survive.” Mary darted toward him, getting out of the tent.
“I know, I know, we’ll just grab a bit. Alice and Olin are going out to look for more, anyway, calm down, we won’t starve, gee...”
“Who told you they’re going out? Nobody will leave this camp! It’s dangerous out there!”
“And didn’t we know that? We came here for the danger, right? And for the honey too, don’t forget that.” Malcolm unlocked one barrel on the group’s cart.
He filled the glass in his hand with honey and drank it in one fast sup. Alice took the glass from him and did the same, followed by Olin. Angeline held Mary back, keeping her from jumping on them like a lion, and said something in such a faint voice that even she had trouble listening to herself. She got distracted by a person coming in the horizon.
“Do you think it’s John?” She pointed into the distance.
“Oh, wow... Could that be him?” Mary said, and by the looks of her surprise, all other people turned around to look for whoever approached far away.
“Let’s get the telescope!” Angeline ran for Mary’s bag.
They set it up, aimed for the person walking in the horizon and adjusted the focus. They saw a naked man, wearing a necklace, his skin brown and hair black as that of native Americans from old Terra. Many small objects spun around his body, making circles across the air. He wasn’t John but he could be many things.
“They’ve come for revenge!” Mary gasped for air.
“Nonsense! If somebody should take revenge, it’s us! They created a monster that took John away.” Alice clenched her fists on her chest.
“We have to follow him, come, the time is now, he’ll lead us to another village where we’ll find honey, see it’s all sorted out, forget this camp.” Olin rushed to repack his bag.
“Stop right here, right now!” Mary waved her hands at him. “Angie, help me out, let’s put some sense into these guys!”
“Wait, everybody, we still don’t know if he’s coming our way. Don’t make stupid things.” Angeline clapped her fingers to call their attention.
“Stupidity is staying here when we’ve got our train coming.” Alice joined Olin in repacking.
“I’m going with you!” Malcolm added.
The naked man walked toward camp, and when he did so, Olin, Alice, Malcolm, and Anna went his way. He didn’t stop to face them. Instead, he walked on, turning around a few steps later to meet the other humans who, in their turn, walked again facing the man. Meeting no backs to touch, he went ahead, doing the same ritual as before and meeting the same fate. Those strange humans behaved in mysterious ways.
“You’re making him confused! Come back to camp, guys, come on.” Angeline ran after the group that kept spinning in circles after the native man and his ecosystem.
“We’re trying to show him that we are no danger! See, our hands are raised, he has nothing to fear.” Olin opened his arms above his head.
“It’s clear he doesn’t see things the same way. These people only care about walking, you saw it in Laura’s lab, they’re not afraid of anything. It’s you he doesn’t understand. Just stop and stay put, ok? You’ll see what he does.” Angeline placed herself in front of the rebels, a hand pushing Olin’s chest.
The naked man turned around behind them and walked toward Alice. She waited for him without looking back, apprehensive about the incoming contact, trusting the reflection of Angeline’s eyes to guide her. He touched her back and stayed.
The tiny objects circling him dodged the line of humans by her side, flying like insects around them. Alice opened her left arm slightly, guiding the man’s intention to her hand. He accepted her gesture, holding her palm and dragging her ahead in a return to his walk.
“Oh, ah-aha, guys, he’s taking me! Let’s go, let’s get to his village, we’re one of his now!” Alice laughed with her free hand in front of her mouth.
“No, no, you’re making a mistake, you guys, get back here, you don’t know where you’re going!” Mary pulled Alice away from the man.
“We’re doing what we’ve been called to do!” Malcolm pushed Mary away, releasing Alice form her grip.
“We’ll take our world to theirs. I’ve got a beacon with me. You’ll know when we find another village.” Olin turned to meet the naked man’s lead.
Olin, Malcolm, and Anna held hands with Alice, making a line of wandering people who had no energy to have ous of their own, making the native man’s ou.uo confused. Why did he make bonds with humans devoid of an ecosystem? Who were those creatures?
Dalana had gone on an air journey to look for new settlements to help the stranded humans. She landed from her flying pill at the origin camp after they'd gone up to meet the wandering man. Empty tents, air still with silence. Far away, tall shapes with backpacks split, half going one way, the other staying in place. She ran in their direction, seeing Colin closer with every step.
“Things aren’t looking bright for them,” Dalana said, meeting him by the side of Angeline and the rest of her group.
“I couldn’t do anything... I mean, I could if I wished for it, I could give them plenty of food, I could create distractions, whatever. But I didn’t want to. I wanted to watch. It was so interesting... They’re gone, the other half. Is this how it’s like?” Colin looked at Dalana with the eyes of pity, of one who saw incoming death and felt powerless to change its course.
“Most of the times, yes. You’re not alone, Colin. That’s why Creators don’t always interfere in other Creator’s worlds. It’s fun to watch. But, listen, I’ve found no other village anywhere near here. They’re hard to spot.” Dalana spun her hand in effusive gestures.
“It’s ok. They can make it with what’s left. If they can’t, we’ll create supplies.” Colin pouted his mouth.
“What if the group splits again? And what about the ones just gone? They won’t find anything, and if they follow the man, how are they going to sleep? He doesn’t need to rest. These people walk forever.” She stepped toward the rebel group, stopping short of following them further.
“We can help them too, can’t we? I take care
of one group, you from the other.” He went after Angeline, away from Dalana.
“Why don’t we get them together again? You just have to give Angeline the means to do so.”
“Leave them be. Or not, I don’t know. I just want to watch her be herself. I love her, you know?” Colin strolled along the explorers, who marched back to camp.
Dalana analyzed the people’s faces and made her reading. Colin was in the middle of an important discovery process, a beautiful stage on a Creator's existence, but those people risked real danger while he had his first taste of the Creator’s trance. He went ahead with the mortals, while Dalana stayed.
She created a small crater where the group parted with the other half of the expedition, and at the bottom of the hole, she created a hexagonal box. It sang a song in the frequency of Angeline, a song that played in her head and told her of good times to come. It produced an irresistible melody, sweet chimes seasoned with dreams.
“We can still get them, I believe we do... So... You know, what do you say? I know you’re worried, but we have to work on this together, say something, Angie,” Mary said, her forehead furrowed, gazing at Angeline's downcast eyes.
“I’m hearing something, shh.” Angeline turned her head down with closed eyes.
Colin, so curious to watch her beloved one exist without his intervention, found himself reduced to inaction by the mystery of her claim. He watched her stop walking and turn around, getting back to where they came from, after the group split in half.
Angeline walked with uncertain steps, leaning sideways, inspecting the secret hidden under a hole. Such a beautiful music as that in her mind couldn’t mean danger.
Where the naked man had touched Alice, and started a new journey, Angeline found a crater the size of a house dug in the ground. It had a smooth slope which she could use to reach down, a rubbery slope with a box in its end. A honeycomb, sparkling with melody, with the voice of angels.
She sat at the crater’s rim and slid down, holding herself with arms always firm on the ground. Her expedition crew, Mary and five others, waited at the edge, hands on her mouths, puzzled by the artifact at the bottom.
“Angie, it could be dangerous... Take care with it.” Mary bit her nails, and knelt.
“Was it made by native people? A gift from the naked man?” Carl said, his white countenance gleaming with hope.
“I guess nobody noticed anything when he left. We were too worried seeing the others going,” Zara said, crouched by his side.
Angeline opened the hexagonal box and found a slice of banana cake. She smiled, picking it up and showing it to the group watching from above.
“It smells great!” She yelled from the crater’s bottom.
“Do you think it’s safe to eat?” Mary said.
“There’s only one way to find out!”
Carl got down to help Angeline climb out of the crater, carrying the box given to her by the music. Its cover was decorated by the patterns of stalagmites, lightweight and matching perfectly. She chewed one piece of the banana cake and her wavy hair became ecstatic, flowing up as if the food had reversed gravity.
The cake tasted delicious, it seemed to fulfill all her needs, making her happy and satisfied. Everything her body needed, every vitamin and protein, all at once, it came in one piece of food. Her white skin glowed with healed blood, making the box on her arms shine, and sing the song for all to hear.
“She’s so beautiful,” Colin said, words coming out slowly from his mouth, making Dalana proud of her doing.
“She’s a special one now.” Dalana sided with him, embracing his waist with eyes directed at the newborn prophet.
Angeline reopened her eyes and found her crew shocked at the food’s effect. She offered them the cake, but they kept their hands tight against their bodies, afraid to touch it. Mary, comforted by her friend’s peaceful countenance, accepted it, grabbing a tremulous bite.
Although she didn’t glow nor had her hair floating in the air, it tasted good, it was real food. She shared the rest with the others, finishing the cake. Angeline closed the box and opened it one more time, repeating the same ritual she used to do with the oven in her apartment. Blessed again with infinite food, she smiled at the world.
Apple pie. The box gave them more, spicing it up with sparkles of light and sound emanating from Angeline. She bore abundance, she held a cornucopia. They shared in their bounty.
“Now we can stay at the camp and wait for the encounter,” Mary said, speaking low, soothed by the plenitude of food.
“We can do more than that.” Angeline fixed her eyes at the upper col.loc, her home planet.
As she walked toward their origin camp, the ground around her boiled with living things. She woke ous from their eternal slumber, energizing them. A human found them, yes, now they could exist in bliss. One by one, the ous met Angeline and turned her into the center of their movement. They orbited her until her individual energy couldn’t sustain more ous, becoming the sun to twenty-five ous.
“They’re following you! Are they doing harm? We have to fight them, guys, help in here!” Mary slapped at the flying things.
“No, they’re not doing anything bad. They’re following me as you also are. They’re our friends.”
In camp, Angeline closed and opened her box repeatedly, producing diverse food and giving its produce for others to store. She had an ou.uo orbiting her, producing dust, and giving her a planetary disk. She gave abundance and promised infinity.
“If you want, you can stay. You have enough food to survive until the next encounter now. I’m going after the others.” Angeline blinked at the slow pace of a saint, energized by the soil.
“We’re going with you.” Mary shook her head, while ous zipped past her.
∙ 17 ∙ The pilgrims arrive
“They’re coming in great numbers, you know that? And you still don’t have a plan,” Dalana said, admiring Terra’s col.loc filling up the sky.
“What else can I do? They’re doing the right thing, they’re coming here to spread the word. We can just watch it now.” Colin lay on the floor with hands behind his neck.
“I know that. I’m curious to see how Angeline is going to greet them, though. She doesn’t seem aligned with your thoughts.”
“She’s free to do as she pleases. I doubt she can interfere with Terra’s path, even with the toy you gave her.”
“Toy? Is happiness a toy?”
“You didn’t give her happiness. She has free food and water, so what? That’s not why she came in this journey the first place.”
“She came here to find a meaning, and I believe she’s found it already. Wait and see, then, if that’s what you like to do now.”
Mary finished packing her bag, after disarming the tent with Angeline’s help. Malcolm got another piece of a cheesecake fresh from the cornucopia, and Olin helped Alice set up the radio.
“I’m sure they’ve mapped all the villages on this side of the planet. That’s why they’re coming in such vast numbers,” Olin said, sitting.
“Those telescopes have to serve some purpose, right?” Malcolm spoke with his mouth full.
“Mary, the radio is ready, let’s hear what they have to tell us,” Alice said.
“Alright, give me the phone. I want to know what we’re waiting for, after all.” Mary took hold of the device and started communication.
“Will we really get back to Earth?” Olin asked Alice, whispering in her ear to avoid interrupting Mary’s talk.
“Well, I will. Wherever Angeline goes, I’ll go with her. She saved us once, and will always save us. If we stay by her side, we’ll never have to fear again,” Alice said, her eyes glistening with the cornucopia's glow.
“She’s not that powerful, although you’re right in some way.”
“It’s not about power. It’s about ending power, don’t you see? That’s the thing about abundance that is so good at changing the world.”
Mary dropped the phone, turning toward the
group. Angeline held the honeycomb box on her lap, glowing with whiteness, her ou.uo making uneventful orbits in a dusty disk. People surrounded her, at peace with the flying ous and the mist covering the camp.
“We’re talking about two thousand people dropping down here. Four brigades total, professionals and amateurs, families, and adventurers. It’s colonization. They’ve found six villages at one to five weeks walking distance from here, and they’re bringing a few trucks along. We’re invited to join in, if we want, but—” Mary tried to say, the only one standing after the message, looking at everybody's face in alternate glances.
“But we will do the opposite, and take them back with us.” Angeline bowed low at them, half offering her cornucopia. “They’ll understand that we don’t need anything outside our world to fulfill ourselves.”
“You’re talking like Laura.” Malcolm lay back on his elbows.
“Laura wants infinite work. I want infinite abundance. If I am a prophet like her, I am the prophet of magical abundance.”
“Sorry, I’m on your side, I told you that many times.” Malcolm spread his fingers in front of his head. “I’m just not sure you’re going to convince them with the box. They’ll come here to form a new life.”
“I’ll give them a new life when they get back. I’ll put this box to beneficial use for the whole of mankind.”
“It’s one box for billions of people... It’s great for a small group, but... You can’t do much with it.”
“We will find ways. Whoever gave me this will help us out.”
“Angie, it’s an army we’re talking about. They’re coming down for real, more people than you can imagine. Are you ready to face an army? Seriously?”
“I am, and it will be easier if you are with me. What is the life that you want for yourselves?”
Wind blew Angeline’s floating hair to her eyes, making her turn her face down. They came, the first impact waves from the upper col.loc’s atmosphere penetrating the other’s. The encounter began, both col.locs slowing down, pulled by their influence, to make it possible for migration to sow their surfaces. Through the sky the land passed by at great speed, like the ground seen from the fastest space probe.