Lovers of Babel

by Valerie Walker

  “Hurry! Make him disappear!”

  “Um, I’ve never done this before. I’m not sure if it’s possible!”

  “What!!? You brought a 500 pound lion to my house and wasn’t sure how to remove it!?”

  “I thought I could control it better. I just assumed-“

  “You assumed!? My mother is about to get eaten!”

  George was panicking. He closed his eyes tightly and clinched is fists. Her mother could see the lion’s molars from where she was.

  “Get out! I command you! GET OUT!” George yelled. The lion immediately disappeared. Cameron’s mother fainted on the tile floor. Cameron ran to her aid. She placed a warm towel on her forehead. The Australian and George were standing there watching her.

  “Help me move her to the bed.”

  The Australian lifted her torso while George lifted her legs. They waddled to her bedroom and placed her gently on the bed and tucked her in.

  “We’ll tell her that we were trying out the latest 4D technology and she thought the lion was real and fainted.” Cameron told them.

  “She would believe that?”

  She shrugged. “It’s worth a try. Plus it’s much easier to explain right now.”

  They left the room.

  “Well now we know that our power isn’t inherited,” the Australian said.

  “We have the power to create, to transform and to teleport…do you think there are any more powers beyond the three?” Cameron asked.

  “I believe in the power of three. The best things come in threes. It’s a symbol of complete wholeness. If I had to guess I’d say this is it.” George said.

  “So the new human race is composed of three types of super-humans who can create objects out of nowhere, transform themselves into anything, and teleport to any destination. Also, the old world has even changed. Nothing on earth is the same. How do we tell everyone?” The Australian asked George.

  “We’ll need Mr. Riley and a video camera.”

  Amias was meeting with robot manufacturers in the leader’s headquarters to discuss a new line of humanoid androids, when the secretary interrupted them with important news.

  “I’m so sorry for interrupting Mr. Riley, but you have some people here from the cosmology institute here to see you. One of them says he’s been to the surface, and it’s habitable.”

  Amias turned to address his guests.

  “Sorry about this, but do you mind if we reschedule our meeting? This seems to be of the utmost importance,” He asked the two men.

  “Of course. We can reschedule for the same time next week?” One of them suggested.

  “Sounds great. Rachel can you please put that on the schedule?”

  As they were walking out of the room, Amias whispered in the secretary’s ear.

  “And next time try not to announce sensitive information in front of my guests.”

  She nodded shamefully and walked away toward her office. Amias entered a yellow office and after greeting his young guests offered them a seat.

  “Now, my secretary interrupted a very important meeting to announce that you were here. I take it you all have something very serious regarding your trip to the surface that you’d like to share with me.” He looked at George who was preparing to greet Amias.

  “Yes Mr. Riley we have something of the upmost importance to tell you. First, let me say that on my trip to the surface I discovered that many things have changed. Of course, I was born here, underground five years after the equinox, but I had seen pictures of earth and I know that what I saw a few weeks ago was very different. The poles have shifted. The atmosphere has changed. The earth’s position in the solar system has moved closer to the Milky Way. It’s as if the earth has transformed into another planet altogether.”

  “Well you and I both weren’t born on the surface, but I imagine those things are shockingly different from the old earth. However, I, along with every scientist in the underground, knew this would happen. It was inevitable. I imagine this isn’t the pressing topic you want to discuss, now is it?”

  George looked at the Australian and Cameron.

  “No sir. Actually, there is one more shocking change that I haven’t mentioned.”

  “Well please go on,” Amias insisted.

  “Mr. Riley have you ever heard of the Mayan prophecy for 2012?”

  “Of course I have. The apocalypse they predicted was almost identical to what happened in 2112. I think the entire underground has heard of this.”

  “Well you are right about that part of the prophecy. The tri-lunar equinox did happen as predicted, however; there is a very important part of the prophecy that continues to be ignored. You see, the Mayans never thought our world would come to a complete end. Yes they predicted widespread devastation and death, but they believed civilization would continue. 2012 didn’t mark the end of the world; it represented the end of an age in human consciousness. The Mayan researchers of the old age were 100 years off when they interpreted the Mayan calendar. The end of the age was actually predicted for 2112. Mr. President, we are here to tell you that the former age has passed away and we are now living in the age of superior human conscious awareness.”

  Amias looked at George like he had grown three heads. Then he raised his eyebrows curiously and smiled slightly waiting for George to start laughing. When he didn’t laugh, Amias stood up.

  “Look you can’t just come into the Leader’s office and start spouting off a bunch of ancient new age nonsense. I have many other pressing matters to deal with right now. The last thing I need is to be played for a fool. Who let you all in here by the way!? That person needs to be fired immediately. Please leave now.” Amias demanded.

  “The secretary let us in after I showed her this…” Cameron walked over to Amias who was standing with his hand on the door knob. She stood looking at him only a few inches from his face. Then she slowly slid her hands up over her face then through her hair and she had transformed herself into Mr. Riley.

  “After a few minutes of trying to persuade her to let us meet with you I thought she would respond to this better.” Cameron pointed to her transformed face.

  Amias was speechless and frozen.

  “I’ve got to tell you Mr. Riley, the secretary is sure scared of that face of yours.”

  “What is this!? Take off that mask now!” When she didn’t move Amias wrapped his hand around her Amias face and tried to pull off the invisible mask to no avail.

  “Mr. Riley, please. We’re trying to tell you that there are some of us who have superior abilities unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. I don’t think wearing a mask that looks like your face qualifies as a superior ability. But by your expression I can see that you aren’t completely convinced.” Cameron transformed back into herself and looked over at the Australian.

  “Hey Aussie, why don’t you show him something?”

  “Don’t mind if I do.”

  The Australian, who was seated on one of the chairs to the far right of the room, vanished. Then he suddenly appeared seated at the Leader’s wooden desk. He propped his legs up on the table and leaned back with his arms resting on his head.

  “Hey!” Amias yelled.

  A body guard in the hallway heard Amias’s yell and rushed toward the door to the yellow office when suddenly a rope appeared around his ankles and yanked him up in the air. He dangled there like a giant fish. The trio was trying to conceal their laughter and Amias was stupefied.

  “Agent Higgins! Get down!”

  “I can’t Mr. Riley! What’s going on!”

  “Get him down now!” Amias wasn’t sure who to direct that order to. He looked at Cameron, then the Australian, then George.

  “I said release him this instant or I’ll put all of you in prison!”

  Agent Higgins immediately collided with the ground, face first, and created a comically loud thud. The group watched him in silent amusement as he struggled to get on his feet.

  Amias looked at George.

&nbs
p; “Explain.”

  George, the Australian and Cameron sat with Amias for hours explaining to him how they discovered their powers and who in the underground would have them. When Amias realized that he had powers his mind opened up to the unlimited possibilities he had as ruler. Not only was he the sole leader of the entire world, but he was super human as well.

  “So, what would I have to do to discover my power?” Amias asked the trio.

  “Well we came to discover ours when we were faced with extremely stressful and intense situations. We once tried to bring out the power in someone who was born before the apocalypse, but I imagine that technique wouldn’t bode well with your security,” George looked at Agent Higgins apologetically who was now standing by the door with his arms folded.

  “I feel like there should be a more safe and effective way to bring out our powers,” the Australian brainstormed.

  “How about if he just internalizes his anxiety or whatever intense emotion he might have about something? Like instead of actually experiencing something traumatic he thinks about a traumatic experience he’s had or could have and the power would come out that way?” Cameron suggested.

  “That could work,” George looked at Amias.

  “You want me to sit here and imagine a traumatic experience that I’ve had that brings out an intense emotional reaction from within? This will help me to discover my ability?”

  The trio nodded with a slight uncertainty.

  “It beats releasing a massive lion into the room,” Duncan added.

  Amias took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The room was silent. The underground had entered its artificial night and it was black outside the windows in the office. The trio was looking at Amias intently waiting for something to happen. Amias’s eyes were closing tighter and his eyes were rolling visibly behind his lids. He grabbed onto the arm chairs tightly. His brow was wrinkling and he began to moan hauntingly. His grip on the armchair grew tighter. Then is eyes flew open wide. There, behind the group, was a shadowy figure dressed in a black cape and hovering ominously over the desk. The trio turned around to look and the caped ghost was moving closer to them. They immediately moved away alarmed at Amias’s scary creation. George glanced over at Amias who was staring at the ghost as though he were in a trance. The figure started moving quicker toward them and George reached over to wake Amias up.

  “Hey, Mr. Riley! Hello, anybody in there?” George was shaking Amias to wake him.

  Then, he snapped out of his trance and the figure vanished.

  “Whoa! What was that!?”

  Amias was still regaining his consciousness.

  “Well, looks like the Ruler’s a creator! And a good one at that.” the Australian said nervously.

  “Mr. President what was that?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. It just appeared. How strange.”

  The trio looked at each other in silent deliberation.

  “So, now what? Now that we know that some of us have powers. I mean, it’s not like this has happened before. How does the entire world come to know of this?” Amias asked dropping his leadership persona.

  “You can address the underground through holo-vision. Just announce that you’ll have an important announcement to make and when the time comes, tell them.”

  “And what about the surface? George, you said that it’s habitable now right? We all know that humanity can’t continue to thrive here underground. I mean almost an entire generation is lost and the atmosphere down here keeps getting worse. If the surface is safe then we have to go soon. We have no choice.”

  Amias sat thinking for a while.

  “I’ll have to announce that we must migrate to the top. We’ll give the underground a year or two to prepare.”

  “But the surface is empty. There’s nothing left. No buildings, no homes. How do we start all over again?” Cameron asked.

  “There isn’t any reason why we must wait long to start over. Civilization has transcended the boundaries of physics. All we need is a few good architect creators and we’ve got ourselves a new developed world. It’ll be even better than before!”

  The group was full of emotion and excitement. The opportunities for the future were endless. They had found the key that would unlock Pandora’s Box and send mankind into the highest levels of existence ever imagined. The human race would never be the same again. Almost eighty percent of all human beings left on the planet had a super power. Not only could people do things that they could never do before, but they had the entire earth to themselves. And the earth had prepared itself for their arrival. Everything that was before was now going to transcend into something much greater. They prepared to bid farewell to their former selves and let their powers take them to the heights of the gods.

  In 2141, Amias sat in front of a camera and fixed his tie preparing to address the entire underground. He had only a few days to prepare for his monumental global address and it was nearly impossible to think of an effective way to relay this life-changing information to the world. He finally decided to tell them about the surface first and then speak about the powers. He would then instruct all of those born after the equinox in the way that George did for him; to close their eyes and imagine a time when they were the most afraid or emotional. A time when their feelings were so intense they thought they’d explode. And then, wait. Everyone sat silently in front of their hologram sets with their eyes closed waiting for their powers to emerge. Then, simultaneously, in certain homes in the underground there were bodies transforming into people or animals; there were kids vanishing into thin air only to be found in the attic; and there were some whose imagination was appearing before their wondrous eyes. The whole of the underground took to the streets together to share in this epic discovery.

  On the outside of every building in the underground, holograms displayed Amias’s face for all to see. Everyone looked up in awe.

  “Citizens of the underground as you can see we have somehow transcended the boundaries of science. We had reached the peak of our power in the world and have now evolved into something much more than human. Now, after almost 30 years of being isolated from the sky, we can reunite with our earth and enjoy the new wonders of the land while we revel in the power that we have so rightfully earned! I know there are some of you who have not been born with any super-human power, but please do not fret. You are no less important or special than the younger generations. After all, you helped to bring us into the world. Without you, we would have never had a chance at seeing the earth the way you once saw it. We would be destined to live as creatures of the ground while the weight of this planet crushes us to dust! You are our foundation. We will need you to keep history alive and flowing through our civilization as we start this journey. Help us to remember the old world so that we may never take our strengths for granted. So that when we remember religion, and all of the vulnerabilities associated with it, we can smile and know that when mankind was clinging to the power of something greater than ourselves, that something was inside us all!” This sent the underground into a thunderous roar.

  The crowds cheered and celebrated what they felt was the freedom that mankind had been searching for since the beginning of time. The answer had been inside of them and could only be released once the world was destroyed and there was nothing left to cling to. They felt that the God of the old age had abandoned them. When they discovered their powers they immediately forgot about what He had done for them and began to worship themselves. There was hardly any sign of faith after the apocalypse, and after this revelation all faith had ceased to exist. There was no need for strong belief other than the belief that summoned their powers. They had found the answer for the reason they existed and that was to enjoy the universe and live with no boundaries. The only boundaries were the ones Amias established to keep civilization from total chaos; and of course, the problem of death.

  For one year the underground prepared for their ascent to the earth. At first most people were unsure about how to pre
pare themselves. Some people packed suitcases with clothes and toiletries. Others packed loads of vitamins and medication. There were some who walked around aimlessly looking around at their surroundings as if to take a mental picture of the only home they’ve ever known. They would never come back here. The underground would become a legendary tale that would seem centuries old. In actuality, almost an entire generation had passed away underground. And even those who hadn’t died yet, those like Amias’s father, were from such a different time that it seemed like they themselves were centuries old. They got to soak up the sun on sandy beaches that weren’t man-made. They got to fly in airplanes and swim with the sea creatures in their natural habitat. And although technology had reached heights that no man before could ever imagine, they would soon as trade in their flying automobiles for a chance to see the rainforest that had withered away decades before.

  What one generation gained, another lost; this was the course of life. Everything that was before was now gone, and in its place was something thunderous. The idea that human beings possessed such power terrified some and they would secretly plan to escape the system once they reached the surface.

  Many times in history a civilization would come across immense power that seemed to change the world. It first happened in Babylon some time before the Christ when all of mankind had the same language. The ancient city took full advantage of their ability to communicate so effectively. They set out to build a tower so high that it could reach heaven. Their plan worked so well that God was forced to confuse their language so that they would lose their power. Men have tried to replicate this pursuit of power ever since.

  Before their ascent to the Earth’s surface, they imagined a state of continuous peace and freedom to live their lives to the limits of their power. The teleporters imagined traveling to distant galaxies that the human race had never before seen. The transformers fantasized about experiencing life under whatever alias they desired. The creators dreamed about the opportunity to invent their own worlds that could finally exist outside of their imaginations. Their minds were ablaze with the hope of a new world without boundaries. This was their wish, but this, they would never fully achieve.