by E. L. Aldryc
Although they could only harness enough power for transferring and carrying information, tola nanos were small enough to penetrate beyond matter to the sublime, accessing power of forces only those who followed the Five could truly understand. The rest knew terms based on their approximations, like intent, materialisation, will, consciousness. These took over when conventional knowledge showed limits. They were forces that were shunned until the appropriate climate emerged for them to find their way back into scientific discourse, as fragile as it was a hundred years ago. Forces almost lost to oblivion after the Five failed, until one woman, Seravina Giovanotti, put a lot of money behind them and created a product that promised energy beyond the limits of possible. The legacy of the Five Philosophers resumed the making of the future they dreamt so fervently. It was easy to hope in this world. With only a billion people left, all living in safe curated zones around the world, it felt quiet and empty. Elodie brought up a window too and read the note.
[TOPIC: Testing Tuesday
The Rising Dawn HQ will open its doors on Tuesday, the 29th of January 2365 to all the Institute to take part in a large-scale ability testing event. All will take part. That includes you, and, if applicable, your subordinates.]
“Now, let's talk about the why,” Seravina said, clearly having prepared a speech. The sequins rattled, and Elodie watched them reflect the single ray of sun that snuck in behind her. “The recruitment drive into the Rising Dawn slowed down during the last months, but the demand for gifted services is still increasing. Rising Dawn cannot dilute its pool any further by accrediting more associations—they’re already stretched too thin. As an umbrella organisation, the Sight Institute is responsible for ensuring the thriving of its parts. We must lend our efforts to aid the gifted with their proliferation.
“A healthy number of gifted is the most important symbol of progress, power and sustainable development. Strengthening Rising Dawn directly means strengthening the Institute and makes the Madilunian government look very good. The government enables all of us to live and work on this island without imposing its interests on the agenda of the Five. If these things make little sense to you, I suggest you look at a different career.
“Above all, we’re dedicated to the slow, steady, and sure progress, which can only be achieved through increasing the strength of the gifted. Testing Tuesday will contribute to the glorious future of the Five Philosophers and help the legacy of Nada Faraji thrive. The current prognostic efforts have predicted a huge breakthrough within the next few months, which means we might enter exciting territory with new faces at the helm.”
Elodie was waiting for Seravina to look at her, out of all these people, and make it real. To say they were waiting for her.
“So how, you're probably asking.” Seravina scanned the table instead, looking for resistance. Elodie noticed Seravina always played up her Sicilian accent when she looked for dissidence. “Even though our employees are twice as likely to test for giftedness, the actual number of those who do it is still low. Seeing that there are just so many people who are already knee-deep in their understanding of sublime forces, Tammy proposed that we boost Rising Dawn numbers internally. And here you go: Testing Tuesday is born.”
She raised her arms in a self-congratulatory pose. Obligatory testing. What an idea.
“Testing hundreds of people in a single day obviously won’t be easy, so it’s up to you to make it painless. Encourage your colleagues and friends to do it as early as possible. I’d rather have a queue at 7 a.m. than in the evening.
“Of course, we need to go through some legal business to put you at ease. We recommend that you have this conversation with your team if you are a department head as well. This is an obligatory work event. However, the results are for internal purposes only. We cannot emphasise enough that even if you, or your subordinates, test positive, you won’t be forced to be part of Rising Dawn. But you will be warmly encouraged.”
Elodie looked at Soraya, sitting there on the opposite side of the table, her lips tightly pursed together, a look of solid hate directed at the small holographic window.
It was quintessentially Madilunian to fight about, think about, explore the philosophy of the Five. That’s what made it a place of its own. Elodie often thought about how the history of the entire world led to this meeting, in this room, in a place that would have been unimaginable only a hundred years ago. Madilune. An accidental island in the middle of the Atlantic, a city state that birthed six new music genres, with no respect for anything other than the legacy of the Five. The work here was so coveted that no one dared attacking the ideas, slowing down something as beautifully precious as hope. Madilune was bursting with life, shaping the world with a quest for goodness. Special. It stood for something. Just like Elodie wanted to.
Not even Soraya could stop it now. It was all coming together. They said it. Testing Tuesday was obligatory.
“All right, everybody.” Seravina clapped to hush the murmurs. “This will be a logistical nightmare to organise, and it will mean several days with no real work done. But it’s imperative that we do it.”
Why? Why now? Rising Dawn was always scouting for fresh meat. She looked over to Tammy instinctively, as if she could get answers from her face alone.
In that moment, Tammy turned to address the room.
“It’s so lovely to hear the Institute is on the same page about this,” she said, even though the rest of the Institute was merely receiving orders.
Tammy Two Feathers was a sleeker, less aggressive counterpart of Seravina. Exuding peace and diplomacy, wearing white blissful dresses, she seemed like a person who was easier to empathise with. But Soraya always warned that Tammy was much more than a harmless spiritual leader. Seravina favoured the gifted, which was a warning sign. According to her, a certain degree of aggression and manipulation was key to get into their leader’s good books. Elodie doubted the gifted needed that. They were the most useful part of the Institute. They predicted challenges and dangers so well that life at the Institute was mostly uneventful.
“Because there’s a reason why we need reinforcements now, more than ever,” Tammy continued. “We’ve sensed the Universe of Infinite Wonder on the horizon. Just barely, but we sensed it.”
The table fell silent. So that was the truth behind it. Not a marketing ploy, but a door to true progress, heralded by a sign of wonder. The kind worthy of the universe they desired. This wasn’t supposed to happen in their lifetime. They were always told that the Five had failed and there was no way of telling when humanity would be worthy of another chance to reach for the Universe of Infinite Wonder. But Tammy stood there gravely and peacefully. Meaning it.
Elodie heard a rushed whisper from several parts of the room while Soraya shot a patronising glance at Tammy and returned to feigning boredom.
“We will not be participating,” Dr Birkelund said, rushing out of the meeting room. “Call us when you have something solid,” he said to Seravina, and practically dragged Frederich out the door with him. So much for interdepartmental collaboration.
“Don’t go crazy, people,” Seravina said with agitation. “Tammy and the rest of Rising Dawn might be excited, but this changes nothing on a day-to-day basis. Futures come and go out of the picture, and even if we do everything right and keep the event horizon stable, we won’t be anywhere close to the finish line for at least a few years. We won’t be sharing this with the public, is that understood?”
The business side took over. An unexpected future would destabilise the investors’ plans and markets all over the world. It shocked Elodie that no one else felt the pull. The gifted just announced that they had sensed the Universe of Infinite Wonder. This was a key step in bringing it into reality. And she was in this meeting. Right in the core of history.
“I’m just happy I could share the news with you all.” Tammy smiled benevolently, sweeping the room. She stopped and stared at Elodie just long enough for her to understand that she knew. The stars were aligni
ng. For Elodie, and for the world.
Rebelo Horizonte
Wednesday, 2 January 2363, 1 a.m.
“Are you going to talk to me about it?” she asked Soraya, immersed in a schematic for the new upgrade to the Particle Lab complex.
It was late at night. Elodie had come home last, which was rare. Soraya working from home was not. Not responding to a perfectly reasonable question like this—equally common.
“Looks nice. Is this the annexe?” Elodie walked through the schematic and got a beer from the fridge.
“It might be, if Rising Dawn doesn’t poach our entire workforce,” Soraya replied. She was still wearing the lab coat as if the twenty miles between their flat and the Institute were nothing. Her feï was sloppily parked on the terrace. This was a premium limited-edition vehicle that could fly around the world in an hour if it ignored airspace laws, and it deserved better. It painted a clear picture of distress, but Elodie had spent the day elated. Resistance was expected. She could deal. Testing Tuesday was mandatory. What was she supposed to do?
“I thought you’d be happy. They’ve just spotted the Universe of Infinite Wonder on the event horizon. That doesn’t happen every day, does it?” Elodie stretched on the couch.
“I don’t believe a single word that comes out of that woman’s mouth,” Soraya said, “We’re in no position to be looking at the Universe of Infinite Wonder. We’ll just fail again. Every science apart from alchemy is slowing down. The AIs are neglected. Even if it were true, it was a stupid thing to say.”
She made the schematic hologram disappear and sat down on the couch with her strict, upright posture. Soraya was always so stressed about things. Perfectionism ate at her. Of course she didn’t think they were doing well enough to try again.
“Didn’t AI Kondou say that the gifted would be the first piece of the puzzle?” Elodie tried to give her hope. “They’d see the path for the other sciences to take? So maybe that’s what’s happening. And with the new gifted that will come from Testing Tuesday, they’ll be strong enough to see it all.”
She must have said the magic word.
“And what,” Soraya said, “you’ll be the one to do it? Show us the path to the Universe of Infinite Wonder?”
She meant as a jab, but Elodie couldn’t help but to smile.
“Well, maybe I will.”
Soraya got up from the sofa and walked off without a word. She stopped at the entrance to her room.
“I’m not angry at you. I don’t want to be rude,” she said, “but please do some research and find out what you’re getting yourself into. If you don’t want to follow through, I can get you out of Testing Tuesday. You won’t be the only one that refuses.”
Her voice had a barely distinguishable shiver to it. Elodie kept thinking it would get easier.
“I know what I’m doing, Soraya,” she said. And it came out colder than she wanted. “But I really appreciate that you care. And I promise not to be stupid about it.”
Soraya looked like she had so much to say, which Elodie hated. It wasn’t fair. And it was just after New Year’s Day. The perfect time to make bold changes. She was about to close the door behind her, when Elodie asked, “Why do you hate the gifted so much?”
Soraya stopped the door animation with her hand and turned back around. Progress.
“Because I’ve never met a gifted individual who wouldn’t want to either hurt me, steal from me, or lie to me. And I know a lot of people,” she said, leaning on the frame. “I notice patterns like these. There’s something about the gifted. It almost reeks.”
At least she was honest. Elodie appreciated it. Tammy didn’t strike her as a bad person. Same for the other members of Rising Dawn that she’d met. Soraya just had had bad experiences, and Elodie needed to respect that. Respect, not copy.
“It just means I have more to prove,” she replied.
Soraya smiled weakly and stepped back into her room. “I guess you will. Good night.”
The Infinite Lightness of Testing Tuesday
Tuesday, 29 January 2363
The secret was in the shape. Every inch of edging closer towards the Sight Institute revealed more of its complex structure that could easily be mistaken for a beloved sacred ground. The tall grass surrounding a vast circular plain on top of a hill—never cut, as no one walked on it—determined the borders of Elodie’s world. Instantly recognizable.
There was a smaller concentric circle in the middle, where everyone landed, got out, and let their feï hover a foot above the soft surface until they sunk underground. A series of plain, nearly white rectangular structures, growing bigger and bigger as you approached them, surrounded it. They all faced the interior circle and were distinguishable only by the differently sculpted entrances. People stood out like ants around an iced monolith when you looked down, rushing about in the winter sun. There were never any windows to the interior. Everything was made from the same material, enhanced by alchemy so that it could look like certain things and mimic the properties of others. The buildings were nimble, moving and changing in size when they needed to. Static matter would just slow them down. Plus, it was expensive.
Elodie approached the Rising Dawn HQ, one of the first structures that called for attention when you landed. In theory, it should have looked like all the other buildings. Blocky, off white, an inch of creative freedom permitted with the entrance. In practice, the gifted kept throwing on forbidden decorations that were promptly removed when the facilities manager spotted them, only to return again late at night when no one was looking. A daily dance.
People were already there, enjoying the rare silence of the central reservation where all feï went off to drop passengers and then get swallowed by the underground parking. The Institute was a 24/7 affair, but today, the complex started off almost empty, with employees dripping in. Like all obligatory things, Testing Tuesday was a hated idea at first.
Since the announcement and a few additions to the agenda, the dissidence fizzled out. There was only one type of pan-Institute event that got everyone to both come in early and complete a bothersome task, and the PR knew what they had to do. Organise a party. And that’s what Testing Tuesday had to be reborn and rebranded as.
Outside of forwarding the agenda of the Five, Seravina was famous for throwing obscenely indulgent soireés. It was one of the top perks of working at the Institute. Leaked videos of internal binges were one of the first things that attracted Elodie to join, and the only one that turned out to be as good as she expected.
While most of the staff was coming in curious and relaxed, a small group of hard-boiled haters refused to participate, writing letters of protest and threatening legal action. What surprised Elodie the most was that there were so few.
As an employer, Rising Dawn had a bit of a mixed reputation. Those who dreamed of working there, got tested, and got in, loved it. People who tested, got in, and preferred to stay outside, not so much. The gifted had a hard time taking no for an answer when people showed great promise. Elodie had had a friend who discovered a telepathic inclination but refused to leave his geological studies. Seeing how rare telepaths were, Rising Dawn relentlessly showered him with attention, messages, and gifts until he got tired and joined. The word harassment came up a few times. Soraya, of course, tried to convince anyone in that position to press charges. No one did. It didn’t feel right fighting an organisation whose end goal was literally the survival of humanity.
Today, as Elodie moved closer to Rising Dawn than she’d ever been (outside of a telepathic probe that was mandatory when she joined the Institute), she could still see the details of their daily violation of standards before it got removed.
Golden shapes floated about the blocky surface like sea creatures, and there was a smell of freshly cut grass and myrrh in the air around it. Walking past the first pair of giant doors, ornament free, and another with heavy gilded Corinthian pillars felt like enjoying a song everyone thought was trashy. There was a theme, Elodie found. Surfaces
looked monotonous until she caught a glimpse of something at the corner of your eye, under a right angle. After that, she couldn’t unsee it.
She’d arrived early, no queues. This was it. A relaxing day without protective gear. Nothing to be worried about.
Speaking of worried, Soraya had been sending memos saying that there was a maintenance error she needed to fix throughout the night. The series of messages were addressed to everyone in charge and forwarded to Elodie. She detailed a collapse of cleaning procedures—a safe bet to keep people away. And just in case Elodie missed the hint that she could have volunteered to help with the emergency, Soraya then sent a message directly.
[I’m doing everything in my power to avoid the clutches of Rising Dawn slavery and greed. Please join in and reject the forceful recruitment. You know where I am.]
As dramatic as always.
Elodie could have been offended that she didn’t do more to show support. But this was probably the closest Soraya came to it. By not dragging her away.
Knowing how hard it was for Soraya to accept her decision made her appreciate the freedom to go through it even more. She was tired of being the only socialite the Institute had produced in its long history. Here to be seen, but essentially useless.
It was a crushing sentence, especially when Soraya told her with firm hope that “something will sit with her eventually”. As if someone so talented in so many things could ever understand.
The moment she picked up a questionnaire at reception, Elodie felt the weight of it. It included a distant possibility of making the two equal one day. That was indulgent of her.
Imagine. Elodie Marchand. Of value.
She sat down to answer the questions, but they weren’t exactly what she expected. She kind of wanted to be asked what kind of gifts she’d want. Maybe telepathy. Then she could find out if people really did think she was stupid or something. But the training was awful from what she heard. Stuck in silence with telepaths constantly talking to you in your mind until you spoke back with force. It sounded creepy. No one ever complained about paragnostic or prognostic training.