by Dave Corrick
Chapter 11
Pearl Explains her Theory.
Pearl soon arrived at the Nest Café. She waved out to Louie and Lulu acknowledging that she had seen them.
Before she sat down, she stopped and chatted to some of her subjects. She was indeed a much adored Moth.
When Pearl finally sat down she enquired apprehensively. ‘How are you two now?’
‘We’re fine’, said Lulu. ‘In fact we were just talking about our wedding coming up in spring’.
‘Oh good’, said Pearl relieved. ‘I am really glad that you are not too worried by this business with the tunnel. We really could be onto something quite incredible here’.
Pearl relaxed with a little red wine and composed herself before announcing her theory.
‘It’s a complicated subject’, said Pearl. ‘I will explain it the best I can. I did a lot of research this afternoon before meeting you, and I think I have got it just about nailed.
‘As you know there are many creatures on the planet, ranging from small ones such as ourselves, to large ones such as humans or even elephants’.
Louie had no idea what an elephant looked like but mentioned that he had heard it was not good to be sat on by one.
Pearl smiled patiently and reassured Louie that even though large forces were involved in her theory, being sat on by an elephant was not one of them!
Pearl continued. ‘There is one thing in common with all of us; we are made up of the elements of the earth itself. Everything in our wings, legs and bodies comes from the earth via the food we eat’.
Pearl now had the undivided attention of Louie and Lulu.
‘I believe’, Pearl continued, ‘that when life first started on this planet, a simple form was created by the passing of electrical forces through a mixture of some of the Earth’s elements. The electrical stimuli possibly came from lightening or sun activity, who knows.
One theory I have is that a source of electrical stimuli could have been from quartz crystal similar to what we have found in the tunnel. As I explained yesterday, when quartz crystal is impacted or compressed, extremely high voltages are produced across the crystal faces. These high voltages, if conditions are right, appear to have the ability not only to create living cells but to change the characteristics of DNA and bring about a mutation to something else’.
Louie and Lulu remained silent, staring intently at Pearl.
Pearl paused for a moment to gather her thoughts then went on to say. ‘Yesterday when I was close enough to the quartz to be affected by the electric fields present, I mutated into another form. In the normal course of events nothing happens when a living thing encounters quartz, even if the quartz is in a state of being highly compressed. We saw this with Arnold from the Reserve Bank.
I believe that before being able to mutate into something else via quartz as I did yesterday, the cells of a living creature have to be first conditioned and undergo a molecular change through some other force. This conditioning has happened to me and it is why I could go through the quartz yesterday. I believe that the conditioning I am talking about here has also happened to you two’.
Louie and Lulu were totally lost as is maybe the reader.
Louie sighed and said ‘Sorry Pearl I don’t really understand it, this conditioning, what does it mean? I am not the brightest of bees’.
‘Louie, both of you’, said Pearl realising it was very hard for Louie and Lulu to grasp. ‘I’ll just go over it again. Don’t worry yourselves too much about the detail. Just accept that in the quartz at the end of the tunnel there are electrical forces at play that have brought about what we have observed. As I explained before, they are due to the quartz being under immense pressure from the surrounding weight of rock and earth. What I haven’t been able to understand up until now is why Arnold and the Ten Ants haven’t been able to see the blue light that the three of us can.
‘As I have just explained, it appears that there has been some molecular conditioning of our bodies that allows us to see the blue light and it is unique to the three of us!’
‘I sort of see’, said Louie hesitantly. ‘So what you are saying is that you, Lulu and I have been conditioned in some way so we can see this light and also be accepted for mutation by the quartz into something else?’
‘Precisely, you have got it Louie’, said Pearl amazed that Louie really was catching on to the concept now. ‘Can either of you guess what this unique conditioning might be?’
Louie and Lulu thought about it for a moment.
‘Does it only apply to insects that can fly like us? The Ten Ants can’t fly and neither can Arnold’, said Lulu.
‘Good try Lulu’, said Pearl. ‘No it’s not that. It actually relates to a place where only the three of us have been and it is where there are strong electrical forces at work’.
‘Gosh what is it, where is it?’ said Louie. ‘What has changed us and nobody else?’
‘Well’, said Pearl. ‘My theory is that the only insects that have been changed and can be accepted through the quartz in the tunnel are those who have been in my apartment!’
‘Your apartment!’ said Louie and Lulu together. ‘How!?’
Pearl continued. ‘It’s like this. Louie, you and Lulu have both been in my apartment when the street light has been on. I wondered at first about Lulu but remember when you first came yesterday it was quite dark and grey and the street light was on. When the street light is on there are quite strong magnetic and electric fields passing through my apartment and thus anyone in it. This is what I believe has changed my molecular structure as well as yours. This change we have undergone is the catalyst for us to be accepted by the quartz in the tunnel for mutation to another form!
Seeing more puzzled looks on Louie’s and Lulu’s faces Pearl went on to further explain. ‘I know it’s difficult to grasp. Even I am having trouble to come to terms with the concept. However I am sure that over millions of years it has been phenomena such as what we have found here that has created the diversity of life on the planet and it is why we are not all the same’.
‘Remember’, Pearl continued, ‘insects were on this planet long before humans. Think about it, where did humans come from?
I believe the DNA of insects such as us may at some stage in the past have been changed by the electrical forces similar to what I have described. Different species such as birds, humans and others could have subsequently evolved from insects such as us.
What I experienced yesterday appears to be exactly this. For some reason that I can’t yet explain, the process here is incomplete, it is sort of in between. Yesterday I had the ability to go forward or back from being an insect to something near being human. In the halfway state my molecular structure was probably akin to that of quartz thus providing the ability to move through it’.
Pearl smiled and her eyes glistened. She concluded by saying. ‘The fact that it is possible to go forward or back opens up so many many exciting possibilities!’
Louie and Lulu sat quietly for a moment then Louie said. ‘You must be right Pearl, it’s the only explanation. You are just amazing with what you have found’.
It was an exciting theory. Lulu was still a little bit reserved and said to Pearl ‘Do you think the ‘whatever it is’ in your apartment has harmed us in any way Pearl?’
‘The electrical fields from the street light?’ Pearl responded. ‘No I don’t believe so. We are all subject to various forms of radiation all the time without coming to any harm, for example high frequency radiation from the sun. I have lived in my apartment for some years now without any side affects at all. No I really don’t believe there is any problem and that this is something to be really excited about’.
Lulu feeling relieved at what she was hearing and realising perhaps it really wasn’t something to be scared of after all, hugged Louie then turned to Pearl. ‘I just can’t believe what is happening in my life. A short while ago I was just nothing, my life was so dull and boring, now having met you two i
t is just excitement beyond my wildest dreams!’
‘Yes Lulu’, said Pearl. ‘I believe it really is something to be excited about. If we can, we must explore what this ability can offer’.
Louie also feeling a bit more relaxed after Pearl had explained things said. ‘Where do we go from here Pearl?’
‘Let’s order some food’, said Pearl. ‘Then I will tell you about some thoughts I have and what I think we should do’.
The three chatted about the incredible discovery while they waited for the food to arrive. Pearl went over the concept again to help Louie and Lulu understand. Pearl could see that Louie and Lulu were gaining in confidence, and their feelings were changing from being apprehensive to being curious and excited.
The food duly arrived; they all had a spider egg soufflé peppered with pollen. Pearl then went on to talk about thoughts she had and what they should do.
‘Something that has bothered me at times is that our community is in a quiet relatively undisturbed area where the only concentration of humans is a comparatively small number down in the village. We have become complacent because there has never really been much to disturb or threaten us apart from Al Spider. It’s highly likely that sooner or later humans will probably change our area. Unfortunately from what I am seeing it’s more likely to be sooner.
‘Through human activity we might have to move away, we could lose everything. Humans are taking up more and more of the free space left on the planet. In fact as I see it, the planet is now infested with humans’.
Pearl stopped for a moment to have some more of her soufflé. It was delicious.
She then continued. ‘I don’t want to bore you two with too much detail but I have come to realise that the human society and the economic system that operates within it depends on an increasing population to sustain it. This is a recipe for disaster. At some time in the future it’s quite likely that because of overcrowding and dwindling resources, humans will disappear as a species and leave the world to the insects again, as it was millions of years ago. However before that ever happens our insect world could be badly affected by pollution and disruption by human activities’.
‘When I was on the “other side” yesterday, I climbed high over the village, higher than we do as insects. In the distance I could see the outskirts of a large city. Because of expanding population this city will be getting larger and coming ever closer to us here. At some stage, the area we live in now is likely to be destroyed in the name of human progress. With what we have discovered there are probably many things we can now do to protect our lives and preserve things as we know it and want it.
‘Another aspect to this new found ability that came to me was that we all enjoy things from the village such as chocolate cake and wine. I believe we are now in a position to return a few favours to the village for this privilege’.
‘How could we do this Pearl?’ said Louie.
Pearl explained. ‘I have come to realise that the human society has some horrible social characteristics that we don’t have. Examples are greed, crime and corruption. I believe as mutated invisible forms we could reduce the effects of greed and do a lot to prevent acts of crime and corruption. Doing so would alleviate some of the misery these characteristics of human society cause to people such as those who live in the village. It is early days yet but I think you will see what I mean as we gain more knowledge about the scope of our abilities’.
‘One thing I felt when I was in the village yesterday was that the life we have here along the stream bank is the most precious and essential thing to preserve. The humans I saw didn’t have the happiness we have here’.
Pearl paused to reflect a moment and enjoy her wine then carried on to say. ‘In the morning, if you two are happy to do so, I suggest we should meet at the tunnel and test that we can all go through the quartz to the village. If the transformation is successful we need to see how we look to each other, test whether we can communicate, just get a feeling for how we can use this new ability to the best advantage for our community and for the village’.
Pearl was deadly serious for a moment. ‘I think you will both agree that any use of this ability must be for the good of our community and the planet’.
Louie and Lulu both agreed.
‘Yes you are so right Pearl’, said Lulu. ‘Using this ability to do good can only bring about more good’.
‘Well I think this is just about enough about my theories!’ said Pearl. ‘Don’t commit yourselves to going through the quartz now, think about what I have said overnight and we can meet again in the morning. I really don’t believe there is anything to be afraid of in going to try out and discover what abilities we might have. It’s actually probably the other way around; if we don’t take advantage of what we have found then there will be something to be afraid of. As I said earlier if you two feel happy to do so, we will go and test the theory tomorrow. In the meantime let’s relax and enjoy the rest of the evening’.
The three did indeed relax and enjoy the evening. Pearl had convinced Louie and Lulu that there was probably little to be afraid of. In all likelihood they would attempt to go through the quartz tomorrow with Pearl.
Louie and Lulu had several dances together.
There was an elderly Cicada sitting by himself. Pearl asked him to dance with her. The dear old Cicada was just overcome with joy that the Queen of the insect community had asked him. Yes the insect community along the west bank of the stream was a wonderful place to be and may long it stay that way.
As a footnote to this chapter, if the reader feels that what Pearl has been telling Louie and Lulu is a complete load of rubbish it is suggested to do some research on the ‘Piezoelectric effect’.
Pearl Baker-Moth is one clever moth to have worked this all out for herself!
