Lovers of Babel

by Valerie Walker

  During the months leading up to the great ascent the super humans learned how to use their powers more effectively. Amias and the trio who first discovered their hidden powers devised a plan to help the citizens of the new world harness their abilities in a more controlled environment. They assumed that since their powers were able to appear from the use of their imaginations and experiences, their abilities could improve with the proper training. They decided that on the surface there would be power schools built to teach the young how to develop and control their powers. George, Cameron, and the Australian would be the superintendent of their specific division of power with Amias being the headmaster of all the schools.

  The creators with a background in architecture were in charge of building the structures for the new world. They spent just a couple weeks creating a replica of what the new world would look like. Each building was a unique piece of their imaginations come to life. Some structures were asymmetrical with small round windows. Others were made to mimic the planets. There were some buildings that were designed to camouflage with the environment. Some skyscrapers were so high that they reached into the stars.

  The central power school was the most unique of them all. It was gigantic, round and it was made out of reflective glass that made the building outside look like a giant drop of mercury. There were two other smaller ones just like it that sat on either side. It was a sight to see once they got to the surface.

  Their way of traveling from one point to the other had to change as well. Down in the Underground they had to use ground cars and trains like in the old days because there was no sky. On the surface they would use hover cars that were minimalistic, small, thin and sleek. They were flat on the bottom and curved on the top like a pod and looked completely opaque and shiny on the outside even though it was transparent glass. There were all sorts of color cars and each car was equipped with wheels for surface riding. The car creators had a field day with designing these flying machines and came to the conclusion that they’d only design one model to make everyday life appear more uniform.

  The homes on the surface could be built by individual families so long as they were aesthetically appealing and appeared to be houses. There was a restriction by law on how large a house could be. No family could build a house bigger than a vintage mansion unless they had enough credits to afford a castle. Houses that were in city areas with a lot of buildings were smaller than those that were built in more rural areas on the surface.

  The restrictions didn’t stop there. Amias knew that even though he had great power, he was not the only one. His plan to be the ruler that everyone aspired to imitate was falling through the cracks. Almost everyone had a new-found power and this reduced their dedication to the system. Amias needed them to continue serving the system, because then they would be serving him. The buying power through credits would continue to operate on the surface. The only difference was that the credits that each person earned in the underground, which were stored inside a computer system, would be transferred into chips. And the chips would be stored in the eye. Before their ascent to the surface, each man, woman and child by mandate had to undergo an operation to receive the chip eye implant. The implant didn’t distort vision in anyway; in fact, it was like nothing was there. The operation was relatively painless with proper anesthetic and once it was finished the chip technology could be activated with a quick scan of the eye. The scanners would then store all the information about that person including credits earned and location at any given time. Every citizen was told that the chip simply meant that they would have easier buying experiences and that their whereabouts were only checked for matters of security. It made no difference whether the authorities were honest about the chip or not. The citizens were so ecstatic about their powers that they didn’t care if the chip took away a bit of their freedom.

  In each city there were chip clinics on almost every street corner. Families would go and get their procedures done as if preparing to be vaccinated. It was as simple as ABC: A- The top layer of film in their eye was sliced into a flap; B- the tiny computerized chip was placed delicately under the flap; C- the flap was restored and the eye was scanned so the person could be stored into a system that they would never escape. If anyone were to try and remove their chip, the system would immediately notify authorities that they were suddenly off the grid, and the Grid Authorities would put on a massive search for the perpetrator. But this wouldn’t happen for another decade. At that time, the newness of hope and power had made the citizens blind to the way this chip harmed their freedom. It mattered not that thousands of babies would be born with a chip in their eye. Babies like Sage, who was introduced to the world by having her eye cut open. She never had a chance to experience the world without knowing that they were watching. They had eyes so that they could see the world around them and maneuver without injuring themselves. Never once before did anyone feel like the eyes were the injury, but her eyes betray her.

  When it was time to move to the surface everyone from every corner of the vast underground gathered inside their local elevator ports and waited for their scheduled departure. There were thousands of elevators throughout the underground, but the process of getting everyone to the top was long. After an intense rocket ride to the top, one by one each group reached the surface and stood in awe of the land that stood before them. It was desolate, but beautifully pure as though nothing had ever tainted it. The centuries of pollution and contamination made by human hands had withered away and what was left was a virgin earth. It was day and although the sun was not visible, the light from the stars reflected upon the earth’s surface and everything was silver. The sky was neither blue nor grey. It was black with swirls of pastel pink and purple painted on by the hands of God. They looked around them at the trees whose leaves were turquoise, gold, silver and red glowing underneath the soft sky. They looked beneath their feet at the glittering mud and over in the distance a meadow with tall golden grass that swayed in the wind. This part of the earth was what the elders knew as the grasslands.

  When the underground was finally emptied of all human inhabitants it was closed off by authorities and never to be entered. The weight of the world would never fall upon them again. The heavy burden was lifted and now was their freedom. They declared their new world, Equinox.

  Prelude

  The Grid Authorities arrived as soon as Chad and I made it through the electric barricade that separated our world from an alien territory. The light from the distant sun was much brighter there. We shielded our eyes to keep from being temporarily blinded. In Power School we had an artificial sun to add light to our days, but there the rays were real and more intense. We had traveled beyond our world and became fugitives of the Equinox.

  We were the first people to ever reach the edge of our jurisdiction and as soon as our feet touched the ground the Grid Authorities appeared out of nowhere like lightning. The most impressive teleporters that ever lived were adorned in black suits and they were angry. I looked at Chad for plan B, but he just stood there, pale as snow, looking hot and defeated.

  “Chad, what do we do?” I whispered sharply.

  One of the Authorities pointed his long finger at us.

  “You have entered forbidden territory that has been made impassable by our leader. The consequence of this defiance is imprisonment for life. Surrender immediately or we will use force,” he declared robotically.

  My adrenaline was pumping madly and I was all out of ideas on how to escape. We made a terrible mistake and now our future was threatened. A bead of sweat made its way down my cheek. I heard rumors of what happened to citizens who defied the law. I heard the Authorities take them to a facility and turn them into mindless androids. Once the operation was complete and the victim was completely lobotomized, they were freed into society again, as if nothing ever happened. The thought of this happening to me sent a shock to my body. I took a split second to look around the new environment. The grass was taller than our trees back h
ome and there was lots of it. I looked at Chad again for any ideas and his face was grave.

  “Sage, I’m going to distract them while you try to escape. I won’t let them take you like this,” Chad said with clinched fists.

  “No I can’t let you risk your life!” I whispered in desperation.

  “There’s no time to argue about this one Sage.”

  His intense blue eyes urged me.

  “Go, now!” he yelled.

  Suddenly, Chad disappeared from beside me and reappeared behind the Grid Authorities who were visibly confused. I used this small break in their concentration to run like the wind to the tall grass. I knew one of the Authorities was running after me because I could hear his feet planting heavily on the soil. As I reached the grassland I increased my speed and the blades whipped my face. I could hear him gaining on me and then I wondered why he wasn’t using his powers to capture me. This reminded me of my own powers and I conjured up a Punji stick used to blow poisonous darts into victims; only the darts I used would only paralyze him. If I were to have killed him, his chip implant would’ve immediately alerted more Authorities and I wouldn’t stand a chance against a mob of them. So I slowed down, turned around, and blew into the grass. I kept spitting darts at the Authority until I heard a thud then silence. Cautiously, I walked over to him and saw him lying on his back fully conscious but completely immobile. I surveyed his paralyzed body and realized that he could teleport to safety right then if it wasn’t for my darts that paralyzed him. Soon, the paralysis of the poison would wear off and he would be able to teleport to headquarters and place our names on the most wanted list. The entire Equinox would soon be looking for us.

  My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud yell coming from the border line. It sounded like Chad! I started to run back slapping the blades of grass away from me as I go. I reached the end of the grassland and saw Chad with an electrical current coming out of his spine leading to a gun belonging to Authority number two. I started at the Authority, but as soon as I made my move, they vanished out of thin air. I looked for them in the sky like a fool. I knew they were nowhere near that place. I dropped to my knees in exhaustion and hopelessness. Chad, what are they going to do to you? Then a memory caught me suddenly. One day in the annex at school Chad was telling us all sorts of random facts of science that we had no use for. He was spouting off about how our powers aren’t completely organic and how they come from a shift in the electromagnetic field or something like that. He said something about how teleporters leave a short portal open that follows their trail and can be accessed up to thirty minutes after they teleport. So, I stood up and surveyed the area for the portal. I waved my hand around in front of me slowly. Then I saw it. It was nearly invisible, but there was a small concentration of stardust-type flickers of dust floating just a few feet above my head. I took a deep breath to prepare. I backed away about a dozen feet from the portal to give myself a running start; then as soon as my feet left the ground, I vanished.

  Chapter 1: Power School and the Tourney

  We were born with chips in our eyes. Our ancestors were the only remaining human beings on earth when Armageddon destroyed the old world. Only, it was not the complete end. It was the dawn of something that morphed human existence into a cosmic dream. Our ancestors were forced underground for thirty years and when they made their way back to the earth’s surface, the earth was not as they left it. It was as if some space alien threw up stardust all over the planet. The essence of all things was more potent and real than ever before. The trees glow in an array of colors at night and in the day they were white. The mud was fluorescent and the water illuminated in an array of colors under the moon. The forestation, once alive and dead, was now more alive than ever feeding off the celestial atmosphere. The sky’s stars glowed brighter and were nearer than they once were. It was as if the entire universe huddled close together around planet Earth.

  This was our ancestors’ new beginning. They were the only survivors of the apocalypse that the Mayan’s predicted would happen in 2012. The Mayan’s were a century early with their prediction, but the rest was horrifyingly accurate. While the rest of earth’s inhabitants were swallowed up by the Milky Way, our people used the earth’s surface as a shield. In the beginning, there was doubt as to the strength of the earth. Would it hold up when it finally approaches the black hole in the center of the Milky Way for the second time in 260,000 years? It did, but it was changed forever.

  I’ve heard my people talk of a time where the plant life was a dull green with variations in pigment. I’ve heard that the moon was so small that you could hold it in between your thumb and index finger. The elders said that when it rained, the water was clear and the drops would fall down on whoever and whatever they willed. The sun once shined on people’s faces, I heard. But after the apocalypse, everything was illuminated by the cosmos that hovered closely over our heads. The colors of the earth were vibrant. Our surroundings camouflaged with the heavens that was our backyard. The moon was the biggest light that shined on our world and it was only half a light year away. It didn’t rain there, although we did get the occasional star seed shower. And the sun, well, I heard it was glorious.

  I am a third generation Equinoxian creator. My grandfather is a first generation natural who was here when the earth catapulted into a new age. He told me stories of the old world and sometimes I wondered how he could survive such a different environment. “Sage my child,” he would say, “people were so helpless then. They harmed each other and battled over land and territory. There was no order in things. It took 30 years and a cosmic boom to make humanity stop and savor life for a while.” My grandfather is 70 years old and has no powers. He along with the rest of the first generation weren’t affected by the equinox and remained completely human. However, the rest of us born after the apocalypse were born with abilities that defy the boundaries of physics and biology. We are a new breed of human.

  This is not an autobiographical tale nor is it a fable. This is a war story that is 320,000 years in the making. I am here to tell it because I am the only one left of my kind that is willing to tell the truth. Oh, but the truth is not for the faint-hearted. I am telling this story with targets on my back, but the truth is the only thing that can separate a depraved man from his freedom. The truth is what is keeping me alive and so many of my comrades who I’ve met along the way. Although I will tell my story plainly, the truth will be bizarre and will shake the foundation of your hearts, but please I implore you, listen.

  Learning hexes was a part of a creator’s necessary education. We went to schools like they did in the old age, but only in Equinox the school buildings are a manifestation of someone’s imagination come to life. In fact, all the buildings were created out of thin air. Our courses ranged from geometry to history with some type of performing arts in between. The course that every kid creator loved, however, was Hexing. In this class we were taught how to use our eyes and imaginations to create objects out of nowhere. There were also classes for those who possessed different powers. Some people could transform themselves with just a thought, and others could teleport to different places in a matter of seconds. Those powers were great in their own right, but it was understood among the Equinoxians that the creators were the most powerful. We could use our minds to create things out of thin air and some of the more skilled creators could even change particular environments. This might seem impossible to you now, but our abilities were explained to us in this way: when the tri-lunar equinox happened in 2112 it released an abundance of energy into our atmosphere and into those born after the apocalypse. This allowed humans to interact with their environment like never before. We were able to create our own realities, change our phenotypes, and travel long distances within seconds. We could manipulate our environment to whatever our imaginations summoned. We were gods.

  Well, at least it seemed that way. Celestial beings don’t have to go to school to strengthen their abilities, but we did. My father, leader A
mias Riley, developed power schools for those second and third generation Equinoxians who were able to afford this higher education.

  I was five when my parents sent me to power school. In order to be accepted into the school, parents had to have a large amount of credits and only those families who were specifically chosen could be invited to attend. Since I am the daughter of Amias, the leader of the new world and headmaster of all power schools, I got the first invite for elementary school. I remember the day I received the invitation like it just happened.

  My parents and I had just gotten home from visiting the Museum of Lost Artifacts in Senegal. We lived in a posh gated community in northern New Washington where every house was painted in a soft pastel making the place look like a sea of flowers. Our house was lavender and was the biggest in the community.

  I remember being so excited about traveling to Africa because we got to use my mom’s teleporting abilities. Through enough practice she discovered a way to bring other people with her on her teleport. We would have to stand in a circle holding hands and my mother would close her eyes, then violà, we were there. The Lost Artifacts Museum contained lots of ancient objects that were found after the apocalypse. Some things were still intact and others were partially destroyed. I remember seeing an old 21 century Hummer vehicle and wondered how they got a car that big to move. While we were in Senegal we also went on an African safari. The animals were so close to our tour jeep that I clung to my father for protection. This was one of the last times I can remember actually feeling safe around him.

  Once our vacation was over we were back in Washington in our living room as if we had only been gone for a few hours. I was sitting on the floor in front of the hologram set that was showing a commercial for the galactic amusement park and playing with my transformer doll, when suddenly a silver blob appeared floating in front of me. I reached out and touched it with my finger and it was cold and gooey. I immediately brought it to my father so he could inspect the object. Although he was the headmaster of Power School he had no part in the invitation process. This was all the work of the school board. He placed it on the dining room table and we stood there watching it and waiting for something to happen. Then, it began to grow. We stood back in awe of what was happening before us. It began to expand more and then stopped. Then it began to speak softly to us. It said,