Arcene: The Island

by Al K. Line

  That was it, that was what it all came down to. You were lucky. Your life was almost an impossibility, except it wasn't, was it? You were alive, you got to experience such a rare and beautiful occurrence, and you had to be thankful, show you deserved it.

  For Talia it took a long time to truly appreciate the truth of what she was told. Lucky, that was it? All the teachings, all the endless hours learning of the past, the history of the world and her home, and it all came down to that? Luck?

  She wasn't special, singled out as worthy of being alive? It was just luck?

  Yes, and no, was the answer. You were lucky, extremely lucky, but The Void didn't function by luck alone. You were lucky because the essence of you, not the person, but the real essence, the unknowable "thing" that was you at your core when you stripped everything else away, well, it deserved to be born a person. You didn't end up a worm, or a squid drying in the sun, or a bird, fly or maggot, you were a fully formed human being and there weren't many of them left, maybe hardly any.

  Yes, there were people alive and struggling on the mainland, but did they know how lucky they were? No, was the answer. But those on The Island, they understood the truth of what it was to be a human being in the world.

  It was a struggle for Talia to understand and accept this "luck," until one day her teacher explained it to her when she was old enough to get a grasp on the numbers. More than that, the concept of existence in the first place.

  "You know how babies are made, right?" asked her teacher. Talia nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed.

  "A woman produces eggs, one hundred thousand in her lifetime. A man produces four trillion of his seed, and each one is different, same for the woman. If it had been a different seed, or a different egg, you wouldn't be you."

  "Wow!" The numbers were mind-boggling. What were the odds of her ever being born?

  "But that's just the beginning. Parents had to meet—" the teacher held a hand up as Talia was about to interrupt. "Yes, I know, there aren't many people on The Island, but go back to before The Lethargy, what were the chances of their ancestors meeting? And then think about all the generations before, the unlikelihood of them meeting, staying alive, having a child, that child surviving and meeting someone to have a child with, and so on and so on. It goes back to the beginning of time, and you are the product of an unbroken line that began with the very first people and has all led to you being here today."

  Talia found it too hard to take in. The numbers became meaningless as her teacher tried to explain further. Instead, she took a different approach.

  "Okay, Talia, you know about atoms, right? The tiny things that make up matter, make up everything?"

  "Yes, like little blocks that give us people and everything else."

  "Exactly. Now, the number of atoms in the entire Universe, in you, me, everyone else on The Island, the atoms that make up the sea, the land, the air, the whole planet and everything else in the whole Universe, all the stars, and all the things we will never know, that go on forever out in the Universe, well, the number of all those atoms, the chances of you being here, being you and everything that happened to bring you to this point, it is so much larger than that number of atoms that I wouldn't know where to start if I had to say the actual number. You are more precious than the entire Universe. You are such an unlikely thing to exist that the odds of you being here are so close to zero that it may as well be. But it isn't, is it Talia? Because you are here."

  "So, I'm a miracle then?" asked Talia of her teacher.

  "Yes, Talia, you are a miracle of the most magical kind. You are alive. You are lucky."

  From that day on Talia believed in luck, and she believed in miracles.

  Maybe that was why 111 kept nagging at her consciousness. Could it be a lucky day, a miracle day?

  "Hey, watch it," said the gruff fisherman before he realized who he was speaking to and bowed his head. "Sorry, my fault."

  "No, Gramwell, it was my fault. My head was in the clouds and I wasn't looking where I was going."

  "Yes, Talia. Thank you, Talia." Gramwell hurried away to the surface, keen to get away from Talia and his indiscretion.

  She still found it hard to accept that people looked up to her if not physically then mentally, and when she looked in her cloudy mirror in her tiny bathroom she found it doubly hard to accept she was the age she was. She held a certain position now. Even with the whispers about her mother, and the gossip, there was no doubt in anyone's mind she was special. Awoken so young, powerful, going places in the closeted hierarchy of their home.

  We're all lucky. I guess some of us are just luckier than others.

  Talia stepped off the walkway and shielded her eyes against the glare of the early morning sun. It rose above the sea, promising a hot day and a darkening of her already chestnut skin as she directed work to maintain her home.

  Last Inspection tour. Yes!

  Bunch of Idiots

  There was no doubt about it, this was a test. Talia walked over to her "Team" and tried not to scowl at the chaos they believed was them being organized. Why had she bothered to get up early, and try to get a head start on things, when as soon as she goes off to deal with the never-ending small issues, that always pop up at the last minute, they manage to make a mess of things and she has to organize them all over again?

  Talia made a conscious effort to relax and think back to what her teachers told her. To how lucky she was, how lucky they all were. They were young, had a lot to learn, still babes in arms really, although many of them were well into proper adulthood and shouldn't need such close supervision. She let her shoulders drop, emptied her mind of bad thoughts. She was the Leader, had a role, and couldn't wait for the damn thing to be over.

  Best not to think about it. Even if the water remained calm they would still be carefully inspecting, cleaning and repairing in the middle of winter, when the wind tried to push them into the blue and the platforms rocked wildly. This was why it was paramount safety was the first consideration, and she had to stay calm and focused to ensure that the first day went perfectly.

  With a deep breath, and 111 flashing in her mind, she began the first day of The Inspection. It would be a long one.

  Look at them, you'd think they'd never done this before.

  Every member of the Inspectors had been with her since the beginning. It was the way it worked, so they should be completely professional by now, or at least know what they were supposed to be doing, but, as usual, it was a shambles unless somebody stepped in and give direct and clear instruction.

  Talia busied herself with organizing the crews, split people off into work groups she knew from experience functioned best — the strongest in charge of the ropes used for raising and lowering those with the best head for heights and the hardiest stomachs. In other words, those on the outside.

  It was interesting how the dynamics changed over the years, the men exercising with all manner of heavy objects whenever they could so they would be better suited to having the job of hauling others up and down. The chance to work from the relative safety of The Island rather than be the lighter workers better suited to nimbly moving from platform to rope, performing the cleaning duties and repairs with nothing below but the blue making their exercise regime more than worth it.

  Bunch of macho show-offs. She smiled at the men, felt sorry for the women as they were always the ones doing the most dangerous of work. Not that she had ever lost anyone on her Tour, something that filled her with pride no matter that by rights that was exactly how the work should be done.

  After an hour of interminable fussing, and question after question, not to mention bickering about who was doing what and why couldn't they start later, and on and on, the work was finally ready to begin.

  Each Inspection Team Leader was free to direct the work how they saw fit — a learning experience in leadership and problem solving — and Talia had found the absolute best approach was to get the most difficult work out of the way first. This meant t
he most dangerous jobs.

  It was best performed when the blue was at its kindest, leaving them to do the easy top passes around The Island as the weather worsened. That way they could rest easier, do work that required the least effort when they were all almost exhausted, and knew that the most terrifying parts of the job were well behind them.

  As Leader, Talia had no choice but to accompany the Inspectors for the first few days. It was an unspoken rule, and apart from anything else she needed to ensure they did everything as instructed. It meant supervision.

  Without further delay, the ropes were checked and surface anchors double then triple-checked. The men nodded they were ready, the huge, ancient gears manned. Talia nodded in return and she and her crew watched as the well-muscled men, already stripped down to the waist even though it wasn't really the done thing but sometimes exceptions had to be made, gripped the handles tightly and slowly the cogs turned.

  The platform lowered until The Island's beautiful surface was lost, replaced with concrete.

  Here we go again.

  Got any Food?

  Talia hung upside down with her ankles tied together and another rope around her middle — safety first. She lifted an arm behind her back and gave the thumbs-up signal. Slowly, she descended. This was the absolute worst bit, so she insisted it be done first. Eleven others, coincidence? were in similar positions at other struts.

  Once the bases were cleared it would be a quick rest then on to the next. It usually took a few weeks to get them all done. It was scary, dirty, tiring work, but once it was over everything else always felt easy in comparison.

  She swayed a little, so made the motion with her hand to slow her descent. Her weight dragged the rope to stillness. Another hand signal. Lowered. So it continued. Talia hated this so much she kept her eyes closed apart from a quick glance to ensure she didn't knock her head on the pillar, always staring just at the pillar, never at the blue. If she couldn't see it she could pretend it wasn't there. Almost

  "Ow!" Talia knocked against the barnacle-encrusted support and opened her eyes. She tucked her chin in and stared up at the men in charge of the rope on the platform. What was wrong with them? She'd just got a little knock, that was all. Why were they so terrified? And why had they stopped lowering her? Was she there, as low as she could go without being dunked?

  They really do look petrified. Maybe they think I'll scold them for the knock on my head.

  The rope twisted and with it her body. She slowly spun around, facing away from the stanchion, and found herself staring into two upside down hazel eyes as large as the angry turbots she grew to hate eating over the years because they looked so damn depressed with life. But these eyes were far from depressed, they shone with mischief and intelligence. As she flapped about in a panic, and made urgent gestures to be lifted up, she felt a raspy tongue lick her forehead, run across the bridge of her nose and finish with a smack as it hit her mouth then her tongue, swallowing her scream as it escaped.

  "Help, help! Get me up, get me up." Talia panicked and tried to bend double out of the way of the monstrous creature, but it kept coming at her as she spun in circles. Her fear caused her to sway, coming dangerously close to colliding with the concrete upright. Just missing, she gathered her pride and let her body relax a little. She rose, and with every revolution she uncovered a little more of the sight beneath her.

  Then there was a voice. "Um, hello, do you have any food? Can we have a drink please?"

  Woof.

  It was a girl, and a... A dog! She'd heard all about dogs, seen pictures, but nobody had told her quite how large they were. But a girl, what was she doing here? Then it hit her: 111. This was her premonition, too much of a coincidence, this was the importance of the 111. But how?

  Talia continued to swing, gave manic gestures to be pulled up to the platform faster, and as she rose away from the seemingly rather friendly dog and the lanky, stick thin girl, it hit her: it was one hundred and eleven years ago that she was born, it was also how long ago a visitor had come to The Island.

  And what number had that visitor been? Yes, the hundred and tenth visitor since the Founders arrived and never left. Most came in the first few years, trying to get somewhere else, always ending up at The Island. Something to do with the tides changing because of crazy things those in panic did with their bombs, and with satellites falling into the ocean and the land, everything going haywire. But, over the decades, visitor numbers had lessened — this was the first human visitor since the day of her birth. 1.1.1.

  What did it mean?

  "Hey, where you going?" shouted the girl with silver hair. "You coming back?"

  "Um, yes. Just, er, got to think for a minute."

  "Oh, yeah, right. Good, Leel's quite heavy."

  "Leel?"

  "The dog." The girl pointed at the animal like maybe Talia had missed it. "I'm Arcene."

  "I'm Talia," shouted Talia, as she was hauled up by the terrified men who then stared down along with Talia at the strange visitors to their home.

  It won't be another average birthday, that's for sure.

  The Summons

  Talia ordered her Inspectors to return to the top as fast as possible while staying safe — the last thing she wanted now was an accident. This was momentous news. The first newcomer in over a century. It was too much of a coincidence for it to be this day and not mean anything. Heck, the presence of the girl was astonishing. Maybe not up there with her having been born, but it was certainly big. More, it was the single most important event in her whole life.

  They moved from ladder to rope to platform. Taking it carefully, their strong, lithe bodies moving assuredly. Eventually, they made it back to the surface. Talia sent off two of the younger ones to give a message to the first Elder they saw. They had a habit of not showing themselves until lunch time, mornings spent in The Noise or on Island business from the comfort of their subterranean rooms.

  It felt like a lifetime before the youngsters returned, out of breath and giddy with excitement. They'd told Elder Geon, who would tell Vorce, although she took some convincing and scolded them for playing a silly practical joke. Talia thanked them and told them to go wait respectfully until Vorce came. Reluctantly, they did as they were told, soon chattering animatedly about what a great day it was.

  "Happy birthday Tal," said Erato, smiling up at her.

  "Hey Erato, thanks." Talia looked at her friend suspiciously. "What you up to? Did you hear? I found a girl, and a dog. Can you believe it, a dog!?"

  "What? When? Where?" Erato looked around but obviously saw nothing.

  Where was Vorce? Why was he taking so long? It wasn't as if he was an ancient geriatric that never left the cloistered confines of his home — every day he walked at least a little of The Island, taking the fresh air. It was his "thing."

  "They're still in the water. We're waiting for Vorce."

  "No way. Really? What is she like? What does she look like? Is she scary? Oh, now this seems kind of lame." Erato held out a tiny figurine to Talia, intricately carved and beautiful. He shifted his eyes down as if worried she wouldn't approve.

  Talia took the gift with both hands and nodded her gratitude. "Wow, thanks. This is incredible. I didn't know you'd got so good." She turned the warm wood over, no larger than her hand, but still an incredibly precious commodity. The detail was amazing. A fish complete with fins and scales. It even had eyes. Perfect.

  "Do you really think so? I've been practicing. Glad you like it."

  "Like it? I love it." Talia bent a little and kissed Erato right on the lips, right out in public and she didn't care. He deserved it, and why not?

  "Talia!" Erato smiled and blushed almost as deeply as Talia, but he didn't move away or turn his eyes from hers. They shone like light bouncing off coral, pale green and deep as the sea, brighter than ever contrasting with his flushed cheeks.

  There was a commotion at the entrance to The Island's interior. "Here comes Vorce. I'll tell you all about it later,
if I get the chance." Talia pocketed the gift in her shorts and hurried over to Vorce and a large gathering of Elders.

  Stay calm, keep it together. You found them, you deserve to be the one seen talking to Vorce. Like an equal.

  "Ah, Talia, I believe you have made an interesting discovery? And congratulations, I believe today is your birthday."

  "Thank you, Vorce. Yes, it is my one hundred and eleventh." Will that mean anything to him? Talia didn't have long to wait to see if it did.

  "Hmm, really. Why was I not informed of this?" Vorce turned to an Elder, the man wilting under Vorce's steely stare. It could turn you into a gibbering wreck if you let it, or even if you didn't. Vorce was extremely powerful in The Noise, stronger than anyone else on The Island by a large margin. It was why, and how, he ruled.

  "I, I, didn't realize," spluttered the man, the sycophant making Talia dislike him even more.

  "Are you aware of the significance of this?" Vorce asked Talia. "The number is far from any normal number, Talia. Do you know how this number is linked to our guest below us in the blue?"

  Talia stood tall, kept her arms loose by her sides, chin up, as she returned Vorce's intimidating gaze. "I am aware. She is the hundred and eleventh visitor."

  "Not only that," said Vorce, rubbing at his chin, "but it was on the day you were born that our last visitor arrived. This is a day of many coincidences, is it not?" Talia was unsure if it was a question directed at her, or if Vorce was merely thinking out loud. He stood, eyes unfocused, fine black hair blowing in the warm summer breeze like seaweed drifting with the tide.

  Talia watched as the perfectly straight, always clean and sweet smelling hair blew around his shoulders like it relished the light and came alive to dance in the open air. Was he about to speak again?

  "Walk with me, Talia. The rest of you, wait here." Vorce dismissed them with a slight nod and stepped to Talia. He took her arm, and they walked away from the gathering crowd, everyone eager to see what Vorce would decide. There was no doubt this was a momentous day, one that would forever be tied to Talia, thanks not only to her find but the significance of the dates. A miracle.