Awakening

by Hayden Pearton

  *

  “...You are perfect, Alza. Now, go out and complete your mission, and let nothing get in your way. When you return, you will be our saviour...”

  Alza did not know for how long she had slept, though judging by the soft moonlight streaming in through the hole; it had been for some time. Maloch was where she had last seen him, still hunched over, peering at the chamber. When he saw that she had awoken, he hastily said, “My deepest apologies Mistress Alza, It appears as though the dose I gave you was greater than necessary. Most humans would need as much to deal with the pain, but your pain sensors barely activated. Curious. I have finished the DNA sequencing.”

  Time for answers, one way or another. “Go ahead. Tell me what you found.”

  “Affirmative, Alza. Starting genetic feedback... Approximate age: fifteen years, seven months, fourteen days. Pollutant concentration: Zero point zero zero percent. Inherent Genetic Damage: None. Telomere length… error. Percentage of DNA in common with average human profile: Ninety-Eight percent. Error. Two percent of DNA not found in any database. Foreign matter detected. DNA anomalies detected. DNA replication protocols within norms. Error. DNA age does not match physical age. Logging error as due to malfunction in sequencing equipment. Final analysis: DNA is mostly within normal ranges. Is this result satisfactory?”

  Alza sat in silence, processing his words. She did not know what she had been expecting, perhaps she had thought that the re-mech would simply tell her who and what she was. It was a clue, of that she was sure, but she knew that the real answers would not come so easily. Taking a deep breath, she calmly, yet firmly said, “Maloch, you are not to tell anyone of what we you have found. Not the old man, not even Barsch. Do you understand?”

  It was clear that the re-mech was having a hard time justifying having to keep secrets from them. Taking pity on the re-mech, she followed with, “You may consider that an order, Maloch.”

  If he had had lungs, he would have breathed a sigh of relief. It was so much easier to follow orders than to have to think up lies. Suddenly, they noticed a new sensation, or rather, the absence of a familiar one: movement. They had stopped.

  After a few seconds, moonlight flooded the dark container from the now opened door. Barsch stood outside, his pale face made even more so by the soft light. Shaking his head, he muttered, “Crazy old fool... didn’t even use the break... jumped the canyon... never again...”

  Still muttering to himself, he walked out of view. On her third try, Alza managed to stand up, though her vision was still unsteady as she lurched out the back of the Voxner. The painkillers had numbed her senses, which naturally included her sense of balance and proprioception. After half-falling out of the rickety vehicle, she glanced at her new surroundings with something approaching awe.

  They appeared to be in a courtyard of some sort, though erosion and time had robbed them of their certainty. On either side of the possible courtyard were large stone pillars, their faded white faces carved with scenes of ancient battles and forgotten rituals. Suddenly, Alza noticed a small figure beside one of the nearer pillars. The figure turned towards them and said, in a soft voice, “This place is old... very old. Long before the Quantum Age of Humanity if I’m any judge. This architecture... these hieroglyphs, I’ve never seen anything like this before... and I’ve been almost everywhere.”

  Barsch appeared from the other side of the Voxner. Taking one look at the pillars, he turned to the figure and said, “Kingston... There’s something you should see...” Kingston gave instructions to Maloch on setting up camp, and trailed off after Barsch. Alza followed, marginally interested in this strange place. Beyond the courtyard, she could see several broken towers and the remains of a thick wall. As they walked, they passed wonder after wonder, from huge, multi-tiered fountains to free-standing glass obelisks. Down one alleyway, Alza swore she could see moonlight glinting off a perfect golden sphere, with not a mark on it to indicate it had been shaped by human hands.

  After a while, a suspicious feeling came over her, and she started paying more attention to the buildings they encountered. By the third, she was sure: they had not been built, they had been shaped out of the earth. Every stone fit perfectly, until one could not even discern where one block ended and the next began. The walls seemed to run into the dusty soil, and the white stone transformed effortlessly into the brown and red of the land. Even the glass obelisks, which seemed to have been used as streetlamps in some fashion, had no bases, as glass met earth and disappeared. She was still puzzling out how such a thing could be possible, when she realized that Barsch and Kingston had stopped. They had reached a large plaza, some two hundred feet across. In the centre of the plaza lay a raised dais, where a towering statue had been erected.

  The statue also appeared to have been grown out of the earth, yet it was who it depicted that drew Alza’s gaze.

  “Terra...”

  She did not know who had said it, perhaps all three at once. It was unmistakable, as before them lay the Avatar. Not all details matched of course, otherwise the Terra they knew would have been fifty feet tall with burning eyes and angel wings, but they could still see the similarities. His serious face, framed by golden locks, and the remains of emerald paint on his cloak gave his identity away. Still, it was a far cry from the stern yet friendly Avatar they had met in the dream. If Alza was any judge, this statue had portrayed him as an angel, or perhaps a god.

  “It’s him, isn’t it? I mean, they did say that they had helped guide humanity in the past, right?” Barsch was looking at the statue with a mixture of anxiety and awe, as though he could not decide on whether he should be fearful or relieved.”

  Kingston turned back from his own study of the plaza, and replied, “It’s him alright. Still, to create an entire city out of the earth... we must take care never to get on his bad side.”

  With nothing more to do there, they turned around and headed back to the Voxner, each preoccupied by their thoughts. The journey back was uneventful, and Alza did not glance at a single earth-grown building. Before long, they were back in the courtyard, with Maloch’s bright eyes acting as a guiding light home.

  “It’s getting late. We should go to sleep.”

  Again, Alza could not make out which of them had said it.

  Without waiting for anyone else, Kingston climbed into his sleeping bag and was soon fast asleep, if his gentle snoring was any indication. Maloch had taken up post beside the Voxner, his searchlight eyes sweeping across the courtyard in perfectly timed intervals. Barsch took one last look in the direction of the statue, before moving to his own bedding. The painkillers were still calling to her from her own bedding, and Alza did not wait long before following the others into the dreamscape.