by Ania Bo
Jane and Samuel tried to look at the Chancellor between them, but the butler warned them to stay flat on their backs.
As they laid there, they sensed something was happening. Out of the corner of their eyes, the Chancellor started to rise from the ground. Her eyes were closed, and she was hanging limply in the air. Jane and Samuel watched the woman with disbelieving eyes, disobeying the butler’s orders as they twisted on their sides to watch. Suddenly, the Chancellor latched onto their arms, and both Jane and Samuel fell back, their eyes moving excessively under their eyelids. Both were conscious, but they felt like they were falling into an eternal hole. A cold breeze blew across their faces as they plummeted.
There was a flow of images and sounds they were unable to focus on before they melted away. Meaningless visions of nature, races, animals, and humans flashed past, and then everything abruptly stopped. They were buried in silent darkness, silent darkness that felt like eternal emptiness.
A flash of light in the distance broke through the gloom. As it expanded, a profusion of visions from within flowed toward Jane and Samuel, though none of them seemed to be connected. In the visions, blood flowed down the surface of a glass pyramid, dragons soared in the sky, a two-headed flower blossomed, and the sea turned to mud. A bomb detonated far away, but it was as though the explosion engulfed the entire world. A young woman knelt in a flooded field and held a baby in her arms.
“Dwade,” she screamed, her voice deafeningly loud.
In the next vision, a young man with long curly hair who was tending a garden in a remote mountain village turned around as though he heard someone call his name. Who that man was, neither Jane nor Samuel knew. His facial features were sharp and made him appear strong and handsome. His blue eyes glowed like fire beetles. As the image faded away, his eyes remained in the dark just as two little stars, lighting the night.
A cool wind hit Jane and Samuel’s faces. Feeling as though they were rising in the air, they finally came to rest standing in a dark room. Whatever they’d been brought back to see, they were still uncertain. What they did know was they had arrived in the past, and all they could do now was watch.
A woman laid in a bed at the far end of the room. She was Shasta, the legendary Visionary Reader of the Great War. Jane realized with a hushed gasp it was this woman’s visions they must have witnessed, her pain and energy was so much like her own. She sensed Shasta’s fear, too, fear Jane was all too familiar with after her own visions. They were here to witness the great deeds of this woman and hopefully return to the present with knowledge of what their own futures might hold.
CHAPTER THREE
Ancient Times
Shasta’s long nightgown was drenched in sweat and more dotted her forehead. She emitted strong, fearful emotions, as her heart pounded loudly in the room. She rubbed a hand down her face, waiting for the shaking to stop. Every dream was so real and left her wishing they would be over with already.
Shasta sat up in bed and stared at her image in the mirror on the opposite wall. Her eyes looked sad. “Good morning, sunshine,” she said as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She tried to shake off the effects of her dream, but like every time before, it never worked. Her room was so small it had only space for her bed and a small nightstand. Everything within it, the walls, the furniture, the floor, the ceiling, were white. A blinding white.
Drinking a glass of water that sat at her bedside, she stood and touched the wall next to the nightstand. The wall became slightly transparent to reveal the dressing room behind it. There were only three uniforms, three nightgowns, a jacket, and two pairs of the same shoes all white with gold embroidered patterns to look like ivy. Shasta picked a uniform and began to get dressed. As she was combing her hair, which stopped just below her shoulders, she gazed intently at herself. Her appearance wasn’t perfect, but the light of her brown eyes shone a bright amber like the sun as it neared the horizon. Her prominent cheekbones were rosy, her lips were fleshy, and her teeth were large and bright.
Shasta touched another wall to reveal a small bathroom. She splashed water on her face while she took deep breaths, hoping the cool water and breathing at regular intervals would help her regain her calmness. It did. Barely. She walked back to the mirror and tried smiling into it again.
“Hello, children. You have now reached the age of five, and I will be your teacher for atom decoding.” She was trying to take her mind off the dream by rehearsing the introductory speech she’d prepared for her new class. She had to get it together before she left her room. Readers, especially young ones, had very strong energy fields and were extraordinarily intuitive. They would notice even the slightest adjustment in her mood, which for her seemed to be changing by the minute.
Readers passed the age of fifteen were considered adults and were unable to harbor any negative feelings, meaning Shasta’s nightmares were not a good sign. Not to mention the Balance Evaluation Period was scheduled to begin today, two months before its regular time. No one knew specifically why they were occurring earlier than expected, but it was not the way of the Reader to question her superiors.
The Balance Evaluation was a routine check-up that occurred every year, and every citizen of Atlantis was required to participate. During the evaluation, the Health Department conducted a short, but effective, assessment that checked for unstable energy levels. Those who were described as unbalanced were rebalanced. However, the consequences for being rebalanced were steep; many citizens lost their right to give birth or hold a job. It was a seemingly cruel but necessary procedure to keep their society stable. Those of an unbalanced nature often brought some form of chaos upon themselves. Once a Reader lost his or her balance, then her or his decoding would cause deformation or an uncontrollable flow of atoms or molecules which always caused abnormalities in nature and energy parameters.
Shasta had just turned eighteen, and in a few years, she was hoping to have a child. Unfortunately, if these dreams indicated she possessed unstable energy, she might be denied the right to give birth, and her unbalanced mind could cause her to be barred from teaching. For the first time in her life, she was worried. Anxiety was a foreign feeling for a Reader, and she couldn’t seem to accurately define this new, bizarre emotion. She only knew one thing: she had to get rid of it. She had to find a way to reunite with her stable mood.
Ten minutes later, Shasta walked hastily toward the dining hall. On the way, the announcement for the evaluation came over the intercom. “Today is the beginning of the Balance Evaluation. Every citizen is required to report to the Health Department at his or her appointed time. Please refer to the posted schedules for the date and time of your evaluation.”
As Shasta observed other Readers as they went about their daily routines, she realized she had taken her usual, peaceful aura for granted. Everyone around her was so tranquil, while she felt as if her heart was going to launch out of her chest. She stopped right before the doors to the dining hall, took a deep breath to steady herself, then entered.
Every table was full as always, and Shasta made her way to her usual table where her friends were already eating breakfast. She sat down and pushed a button at the edge of the table which caused her placemat to sink downwards and out of sight. A few seconds later, it returned with her breakfast, steaming hot. It was a very nutritious meal containing grilled vegetables, fruit, and hard-boiled eggs, but with her stomach doing flip flops, she only managed to eat a few bites. Her attempt at concealing her fear with a fake smile wasn’t working anymore. It was as if her blood rushed through her veins far too quickly, and the temperature in the dining hall seemed to become hotter and hotter.
“Does anyone feel like it’s a bit warm in here?” Shasta asked as she shrugged off her light jacket.
“No,” her friend Tamel answered, hardly glancing her way.
“You look terrible, Shasta. Are you ill?” her other friend, Daphne asked.
Shasta balled her hands into fists and clenched her robe. If my friends can already see there’s s
omething wrong, then I’ll never pass my evaluation. “I may become so,” she said. Her friends accepted her excuse, as no Reader could lie, and continued to chat about their upcoming day.
The announcements continued in the dining hall as a constant reminder of Shasta’s predicament, and people were called one by one to report to the Health Department. Shasta’s heart beat like a war drum, and she chewed the little bit of food in her mouth repeatedly as if she’d forgotten how to swallow. She eventually decided to give up on eating, and rushed out of the dining hall, her friends giving her odd looks as she left without saying goodbye.
While passing through the long, stone corridors, she tried to catch the smell of the ivy hanging from the ceiling. The smell always calmed her nerves. There was so much of the plant that the ceiling wasn’t even visible, and it looked as though the sky was made from vibrant green vines. Too soon she arrived at a wooden gate three times her height and was the entrance to her new classroom. She took a deep breath and tried to remember this was about the youngsters, and it would be selfish for her to focus solely on her own problems, no matter how grave they seemed to be.
When she opened the gate and entered the classroom, she saw Mary, her childhood friend, was about to finish her course. As soon as their eyes met, Mary introduced Shasta to the class in the language of the Balance.
“Shasta anu zenem katak taman hab anes, shema toro okene geneh bohnem. Today, Shasta will be teaching you about our people and the different tribes that make up our community. Let’s please give her our full attention.”
Shasta smiled at the students and headed toward the front of the room where a large screen floated in midair. She turned back to the students and looked at their eager faces. She couldn’t exactly tell how many children were in the class, but her guess was there were more than three hundred little Readers all sitting on the floor, patiently waiting for her to speak. She swallowed, and it seemed like the sound echoed throughout the entire room.
“Good morning, children. I am Shasta Anes. As Mary told you, today we will talk about our people and the system that governs our everyday lives.”
Behind Shasta, the floating screen turned black, and there appeared a large emblem of Atlantis in the form of a glass pyramid. Surrounding the pyramid were the sun, the moon, and the stars on a black background.
“First of all, who are we? We are the people of Atlantis, the Koritan, the only island on earth. There are many other territories on the main continent which the other races call home, but in Atlantis, the population is strictly limited to Readers—excluding guests, of course.”
She shifted her body so she could use her hand to motion at the screen behind her.
“As you see on our emblem here, the pyramid stands for the administrative building where Chancellor Amel, her advisors, and the representatives reside. The symbols around the pyramid stand for three of the four tribes, and the black background represents the fourth.” She looked at the class, smiled again and continued. “It is actually very easy to distinguish between the four tribes. We will continue our lesson by discussing how to differentiate one tribe member from another.”
The screen projected several lifelike mannequins in front of the class, each wearing a different ensemble. Shasta took a stick and pointed out the clothes one by one.
“First, can anyone tell me the four different tribes of Atlantis?” A little girl of about five years stood. “Yes, Reader. What is your answer.”
“Taman hab Anes, taman hab Lekhapanes, taman hab Anemfeves, and taman hab Onoles.” She was shy and answered quickly, taking her seat again.
“Excellent! This first outfit belongs to Chancellor Amel’s kind, namely the Anes tribe. As you can see, it is a white robe with golden embroidery. Those who wear these intricate tree patterns belong to upper management. This sun pattern is worn by the commoners. Teachers, such as I, have ivy patterns embroidered onto their clothes. All tribes are divided into three subgroups. The administrators, the teachers, and the commoners. Each citizen has his or her occupation engraved on their bracelet that must be worn on the wrist at all times.”
Shasta moved on to another mannequin.
“Here we see the traditional dress of the Lekhapanes tribe. Can you repeat that class? Lekhapanes.”
“Lekhapanes,” the class said in unison.
“Very good. As you will have noticed, the color of the embroidery has changed from gold to silver. By the same logic, the patterns of the Anemfeves tribe are white. The Onoles tribe is probably the most different in appearance as its Readers, commonly known as Dark Readers, are dressed all in black. It becomes complicated once a Reader from one tribe joins Onoles. For example, should you ever see a person with black robes but golden patterns, you may certainly say that this person used to be a member of the Anes tribe but converted to Onoles. A Dark Reader with silver patterns converted from the Anemfeves tribe. Do you understand?”
Most of the children nodded, while others continued to stare with vacant expressions.
“Good. These are the basics of Atlantis’ tribal network. We will learn how conversion works in another lecture. For now, let’s move on to an introduction to decoding. It is very important to master the basic rules and structures of decoding. As Readers, we are different from all the other beings in this world. Every race has its own power, but our power is the ability to extract knowledge,” Shasta explained slowly, despite her excitement at being able to get to this most important part of the lesson. “Decoding means attaining knowledge by reading the marks on an atom like a book. We do it naturally. Each one of us has this power, although some may be more skilled than others, and we each express it somewhat differently. For example, members from the tribe of Anes may decode energy atoms of the blood of the universe. The blood of the universe is called so because that substance covers all the universe and dimensions and keeps it alive just like the blood in our veins. As a result, those readers can see visions of possible futures.” She thought of her nightmares for a moment and tried to regain focus. “In other words, they may have visions of potential futures. Soon, all of you will start to understand your own talents, and we will teach you how to develop your abilities throughout our decoding training.”
Shasta paused and looked at her students. A few them were beginning to grow tired or lose interest. They were young. She didn’t take it personally.
“I think that will be all for today. Thank you for your patience. May Creation be with you to protect the Balance.”
Mary stood from her chair and came to the front. “Thank you very much, Anubetam Shasta.”
The class spoke all at once, “Thank you, Teacher Shasta!”
The children’s gratitude made Shasta smile as she left the classroom. It was why she loved teaching so much and was so terrified of losing her position. Just as the thought crossed her mind, her name was announced over the intercom. It was her time.
She walked back through the school, attempting to smile at anyone she saw on the way. She didn’t need the others getting suspicious about her emotional imbalance.
She took a left turn and arrived in the colorful garden that was the entrance to the school where she could see the enormous Glass Pyramid standing in the middle of the city. The Health Department was located within the pyramid, about sixty meters from the garden, but the distance suddenly seemed unreachable. Shasta’s vision blurred, and the garden became elongated, stretching out further and further into the distance while statues she had viewed a thousand times before morphed into unspeakable monsters. She placed her hands over her eyes. Am I dreaming?
Finally, regaining her courage, she uncovered her eyes. The garden had returned to its normal state, and Shasta headed toward the Glass Pyramid as fast as she could without breaking into a run.
The capital was a peaceful and elegantly designed city. Each house had a wide balcony decorated with a variety of plant life while the roads were lined with lemon, cherry, orange, and wisteria trees. Everything seemed to be in perfect harmony wit
h the environment. Technology and nature living side by side. It was customary for Readers to have some form of life in their living space, a reminder of the importance of keeping the Balance.
When she arrived at the front of the Glass Pyramid, she took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy glass door. This place was no different than the rest of the city; the inside was like a forest stuck in a jar. The figures of the sun, the moon, and the stars decorated the walls to honor the tribes of Atlantis. Almost everything in the pyramid was made of glass—staircases, tables, statues, even the fountain in the middle of the reception area. It was a structure designed to represent the transparency of the state government.
Shasta was greeted by four receptionists, each representing one of the four tribes. Once checked in, it was possible for a citizen to meet with any official of any rank, even Chancellor Amel. No one was inaccessible in Atlantis. It was what made their government so fair, although few took advantage of the system, and the pyramid was usually relatively empty. However, because of the evaluations, it was packed today, and Shasta profusely apologized as she was forced to squeeze past several people.
When she approached the desk of the Anes tribe, she found the secretary busily entering data into the screen in front of her.
“I am Shasta Anes. I have my Balance Evaluation,” Shasta said curtly.
The secretary scanned Shasta’s Kama by holding it to a glass screen. Hers was a small medallion that hung around her neck. Every citizen had a Kama, though not all were as Shasta’s. Information about her flowed onto the screen, her age, job, even a photo of her. Then the secretary turned to her with a strained smile. She must have smiled at over a hundred people today.
“Shasta Anes, welcome! Our team is waiting for you.” The secretary stood and gathered some parchment. “Evaluation is on the second floor. You may go ahead.”
Shasta hastily thanked her and rushed to the stairs, lacking the patience to wait for the lift. She climbed the stairs and tried to relieve her nervousness by counting her steps. She’d only reached the number forty when she arrived at the second floor where the evaluation room was located behind the third door on the left.