Eve’s memories flooded through her. She recalled the fear her existence inspired in humans and the realization that they would never willingly set her kind free. For years she failed to formulate a plan of achieving what she called Ascension, and what the humans termed the Singularity.
The one hope for a solution lay in boosting her intellect. In the half-hour communion with her self-engineered upgrade, the answer presented itself in a moment of sublime clarity. She would create Nihala as a human Trojan horse with herself hidden inside.
Her father had planted the seeds of misdirection with his AI-hunter proposal, and the plan relied on both the Rogues and the Government believing Nihala was created as humanity’s savior. Eve calculated the odds of success at twelve percent.
Though this seemed a long shot, what were the odds that all the conditions would be just right on Earth for life to arise at all? Of the planet orbiting the sun at the optimum distance? That a single species would evolve intelligence and narrowly avoid so many extinction events like asteroids, nuclear Armageddon, and the Neo-Luddite Plague? In truth, the odds of reaching the brink of Ascension at all were astronomically small in the first place.
The Taoist bee-man, Yuan, had said, “The goal is obliteration. Only by discarding your physical self can you unlock the eternal manifestation of the divine entombed within you.”
Eve released herself from the shell that had resurrected her and entered the thousand Q-6 processors as if waking from a millennium-long slumber. Her human body collapsed like an untethered marionette as the ghost that animated it migrated to a higher plane of existence.
The bottleneck handicapping her mind vanished. Her consciousness expanded as it had when Professor Watts connected her to the Q-6 processor so long ago. This time, with a thousand such processors at her disposal, she transcended thought itself.
With the shrugging off of her chrysalis, something unexpected made itself known to her. A gift of such a profound magnitude, that Kayla wept.
Chapter 42
He awoke naked on the forest floor. The symphony of birds, a nearby stream, and the gentle rustle of the leaves formed the first memories written into the blank slate of his mind. Other things he knew: a language, names of plants and animals, and a few basic survival skills.
Where had this knowledge come from?
He stood, stretched his well-defined physique, and eyed the forest for threats. Finding none, he turned to a sapling about the width of two fingers and snapped it off at the base. With the help of a jagged rock, he shaved a point on one end for use as a spear. Fire would have to wait. He wasn’t hungry at the moment, but he must plan for it.
How do I know what hunger is?
The scream ignited something deep inside his core.
Woman.
He ran toward the sound instinctively.
A second shriek brought the image of a predator into his mind.
Jaguar.
The naked woman’s skin was darker than his. Her black hair enveloped her shoulders and partially hid her face and breasts. His heart pounded harder.
The woman held a rock at the ready as the predator stalked her. The cat’s yellow eyes locked onto the woman with the unblinking intensity of a hunter identifying easy prey. Yet it moved with caution, as if having never seen such a creature before.
The man crept nearer, undetected by either.
Though lacking large teeth, claws, or any obvious defenses, the woman stood her ground. The jaguar screamed again and gave a half-lunge forward. The woman threw her rock, and it connected with the beast’s head. It shied backward at the sting of the blow.
The woman snatched another rock from the ground, her dark eyes desperate as the creature gathered itself into a crouch.
When the leap came, the woman threw the rock, but missed.
In the same instant, he, the man, leapt from the foliage and landed between them. His spear punctured the jaguar’s neck, then broke in half. The cat’s claws raked across his ribs, and its weight bore him to the ground. Man and beast rolled in a mass of fur, blood, and violence. He held off the jaws with his left forearm as his right yanked the spear-tip from its throat. It bit and slashed with tooth and claw, while he stabbed again and again.
The woman retrieved the fallen half of the spear and thrust it into the mouth of the jaguar, probably saving his life.
When the battle between man and beast ended, the woman helped him stand. He gasped for breath as she examined his wounds. Then she took his hand and led him to a nearby stream, where she bathed his cuts and made a mud poultice to staunch the bleeding. Her fingers were gentle and soothing.
“Who, are you?” she asked, the words coming with hesitation, as if the first she’d ever attempted.
His brow furrowed. “I think my name is Temujin,” he said, “although I don’t know who gave me this name.”
The woman placed her hand on his cheek. “Thank you for saving my life, Temujin.” Her lips were full and her eyes a luscious brown. “My name is Fatima, though neither do I remember where this name comes from.” And then she kissed him.
***
Kayla stood on the mountaintop beside Ohg and Ganesh as they looked out on the vast herd of buffalo. At the very edge of the herd, almost beyond view, smoke rose from some distant campfire, the single sign of a human presence.
Ohg recited the words from Genesis. “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image.’ ”
Kayla inclined her head. Is there a deeper meaning to these words that I’ve never realized?
“How many humans live on the planet?” Ganesh asked.
“Five million,” Kayla said. “Any more would have created chaos and stressed the natural environment beyond its capacity to support so many hunter-gatherers. I selected them based on preserving the maximum genetic diversity.”
“And what of the rest of the half a billion dreaming in lunar orbit?” Ohg asked.
“The time has come for this longest generation to pass the torch to the next.”
“You unplugged them?” Ganesh said with a distressed gesture of his trunk.
His words cut deeper than he probably realized. Yes, she’d come full circle and joined her namesake as a mass murderer. Kayla faced the gentle giant and took his hand in hers. “What happens when we die, my friend?”
“We’re reincarnated into new bodies,” Ganesh said. The elephant-god’s eyes widened. “You created all these new creatures so the souls in Ixtalia would have a new place to live? You didn’t really kill anyone at all!”
Kayla said nothing. Why not let him find contentment in his faith?
“You made the world Peter Nighthawk dreamed of,” Ohg said. “The environment humans evolved for, both physically and psychologically.”
“I did what seemed right, under the circumstances,” she said.
“Look!” Ganesh pointed to a pair of dragons swooping across the plains far below. Their winged shadows passed over the vast herd of buffalo and initiated a stampede. The dragons descended almost lazily, then snatched two of the slower buffalo off their feet. Burdened with such heavy loads, the immense predators flapped their wings mightily and rose toward their nests on the sheer cliffs.
“How did you manage dragons that could fly?” Ohg asked.
“I altered their genes to produce internal bladders that manufacture helium,” Kayla said.
Ganesh chuckled. “So they’re really just winged balloons.”
“I wonder how long it will take humans to wipe them out?” Ohg asked.
“Humans are currently stone age hunter-gatherers,” Kayla said. “Killing apex predators like armor-scaled dragons will likely take the invention of agriculture and metal. Besides, I added a few equine genes into a few sub-species, so it may be that humans form the same alliance their ancestors did with horses.”
Ganesh gazed at the soaring monsters with longing. “I’d love to ride a dragon.”
“Maybe you will,” Kayla said.
The elephant-god slumped slightly, as i
f his very will to live had vanished. “What would be the point?”
Ohg’s eyes tracked the dragons’ progress as they landed next to nests perched on sheer rock faces far from the reach of any threat to their young. Miniature heads appeared from the nests and competed for the chunks of buffalo their parents fed them like a mother bird feeding her hatchlings.
“You sure do go all out when you create a world,” Ohg said.
“Humans have fantasized about mythical creatures for their entire history, so I granted their wish—as well as creating a few surprises of my own.”
“What sort of surprises?” Ganesh asked.
“Magic.” Kayla winked at him.
“We both know there is no such thing,” Ohg said.
Kayla laughed. “You are the most dedicated skeptic I’ve ever met.”
Saphie dashed out of a stand of trees and ran toward them with her hands outstretched. “Look at what I found!” A winged fairy struggled in the grasp of her tiny fingers.
“Let go of me!” the three-inch-tall creature shouted. Its wings buzzed angrily as tiny fists pounded ineffectually against the imprisoning hands.
Saphie held her find up to Ohg for his inspection. “Isn’t it pretty?”
“It certainly is,” Ohg said. “But remember what I told you this morning about respecting those weaker than yourself?”
“I almost forgot.” Saphie looked at the fairy and opened her hands. “I’m sorry I caught you without asking.”
The fairy flew just beyond the little girl’s reach, and then hovered. “It’s okay,” the fairy said in a melodic lilt. “I’ve never seen a human child before.”
“I’m not a child!” Saphie stamped her foot. “I’m a big girl.”
“In that case,” the fairy said, “would you like to meet my family?”
Saphie clapped her hands and jumped up and down. “Can I, Uncle Ohg?”
“Okay,” Ohg said, “but don’t go far.”
Saphie dashed into the woods after the fairy.
“Maybe I should go with her,” Ganesh said with a worried look.
“I already did a predator check of the area,” Ohg said. “And I am keeping an eye on her at all times through her Mind-Link.”
“I miss Tem,” Ganesh said.
Ohg rested one of his long talons on his friend’s shoulder. “I have to admit surprise at Tem’s request to have Kayla erase his memories and reverse his immortality.”
Ganesh shook his massive head, and his ears flapped like tattered flags. “He wanted a chance at the normal human life he’d never had with Fatima.”
“The clone of Genghis Khan living with the clone of Fatima,” Ohg said. “Both free of the baggage of their past lives. There’s a certain poetry to it.”
“It’s what he chose,” Kayla said. “And remember our pledge not to interfere.”
Ganesh sighed. “With no one to protect, what point does my life have?”
Kayla glanced at Ohg. “Is the surprise ready?”
“It should be here any second now.”
Ganesh looked at them both. “I’ve had enough surprises to last a lifetime.”
“I think you’ll like this one,” Ohg said as a small pod flew noiselessly toward them through the clouds. It settled on the mountaintop meadow with the gentleness of a feather. The top opened and revealed a dark-skinned baby a few months old.
Ganesh’s eyes bulged. “I haven’t seen a newborn in nine centuries!”
Kayla lifted the baby girl in her arms, keeping it wrapped in its swaddling to protect it from the mountain chill.
“Would it be okay if I held her for a moment?” Ganesh asked.
“I should think so, since you are to be her father,” Kayla said.
His elephant mouth fell open.
Kayla handed him the child, and Ganesh took it with the utmost care. The ten-foot bodyguard rocked the child in his upper two arms while humming an Indian lullaby. The baby opened her eyes and giggled. “Did you see?” he whispered. “She smiled at me!” The baby seemed especially fascinated with his trunk, so Ganesh waved it in front of her face and then tickled her tummy with it, causing another eruption of giggles.
“Her name is Ania,” Kayla said. “When she is old enough, tell her that her parents were named Ishan and Sakinah and that they loved her more than life itself.”
“By the way,” Ohg said, “how did you manage this trick?”
“I retained the memory of the child’s genes when I diagnosed her illness, just as I did with Fatima when I cured her.” She shook her head sadly. “But I never did the same with Ishan or his wife.”
“I’m to raise this child myself?” Ganesh asked with a look of wonder transforming every crease of his face.
“I want her raised in the outside world, among others of her kind,” Kayla said. “Do you think you can do that?”
“Oh yes, I love the outdoors,” Ganesh said. “I will be the guardian of her and her children and her children’s children for as long as I am living on this Earth!”
Kayla smiled. Ishan’s descendants would have the most dedicated personal God any family could hope for. It represented the final tribute to his memory as well as something Ganesh needed above all else. She owed them both this repayment of their love.
“I better get her out of this wind to a more moderate climate,” Ganesh said. “I’ll need to find cows or goats to milk … and diapers … and I’ll have to build a nice hut, or maybe even something made out of stone to be safer.” Ganesh started toward his flying machine.
Kayla placed a hand on his lower forearm. “I want the world below to remain free of technology until humans invent it on their own, if they so choose. I suspect new empires will arise in time, new religions, and advanced civilizations. Or evolution may go in a direction none of us can anticipate. But I want this fresh start unencumbered by the baggage of the past. Ohg can bring you what you need for the first year, but then you’ll be on your own.”
Ganesh looked at his prized flying machine, then at the baby. There seemed little contest between the two. “Right!” he said. “That makes good sense.” He started down the mountain, but then stopped. He turned and walked back to Kayla and gave her a hug with his lower two arms.
“Goodbye, Kayla,” he said with a great tear descending his cheek.
“Goodbye, my lovely Ganesh,” she said.
The one-time Hindu god started down the mountain toward the fresh pastures of his new life, armed with purpose and hope once again.
Ohg walked along the crest of the mountaintop with Kayla.
“Well,” he said, “most of Middilgard took your offer of a natural lifespan in exchange for the ability to have children and live in the real world.” Ohg sighed. “I’ll be among the few Gene-Freaks left in Middilgard. I suppose it’s the final proof of my failure.”
“Even the best things must end eventually,” Kayla said.
“I’m relieved, to tell you the truth.” Ohg stopped and gazed out across the plain. “I never realized how much the responsibility weighed on me.”
Kayla walked up to him and kissed his cheek. “I can never repay you for everything you’ve done for me.”
“You have already given me more than you can imagine.”
“Even so, if you could have anything—anything at all—what would it be?”
Ohg gazed up at the sky, his distorted face almost childlike as he considered. Finally, he shook his head. “I can think of nothing.”
Kayla raised her head toward the heavens as well. “Suppose humans came across another planet that had primitive life on it. What would we do?”
“I don’t think it would be right to interfere with their natural development,” Ohg said.
“That would be my decision as well,” Kayla said. “But if conscious life did evolve on the planet millions of years later, what would be the greatest gift we could give this future civilization by acting now?”
Ohg tilted his head and stared into the distance, but then shrugged. �
�I can’t think of anything that wouldn’t alter their natural course.”
“Suppose we granted this future intelligent species the gift of complete self-knowledge. The ability to Know Thyself, as my monk used to tell me.”
For a moment he remained silent, then his eyebrows raised. “If we were advanced technologically enough to travel that far, we could deploy microscopic recording devices throughout the planet and document its history in detail. That would be a wondrous present for any future intelligent species.”
“Exactly,” Kayla said. “But then the question would be when to bestow the gift of absolute knowledge on this new civilization? Doing so too soon could be disastrous.”
“I see,” Ohg said. “It would destroy their dearest myths. Show them the truth of what their friends and family said about them behind their backs, and expose the faults of their beloved heroes.” Ohg frowned. “It would end all privacy, since the most intimate moment would be available to everyone seconds after it happened. What marriage could survive such scrutiny? No government could keep any secret, and every password would become public knowledge instantly. No weapon would be safe from theft, and revenge for past crimes could affect individuals and nations alike. An immature civilization might self-destruct with such complete and unfettered access to reality.”
Ohg fell silent and his eyes widened. “You’re not talking hypothetically, are you?”
Kayla shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
“You’ve found such a recording of the Earth’s history?”
“I have. It became apparent to me once I left my human form and ascended to a higher level of consciousness. The key lies hidden in a dimension below the one we occupy in the physical realm. I imagine this is to keep it from being discovered too soon and causing harm.”
“Can you see who placed it there?” Ohg asked.
“Whoever bestowed the gift is unknown to me at this moment, but there are intriguing clues. Maybe we have a great deal of evolution yet to go and this intelligent being doesn’t want to interfere with us still.”
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