by Davi Cao
“Give this up now, it’s time, before we’re all doomed!” Ai.iA hopped towards OOOO.
“What, now? Now that’s becoming so interesting? No, that’s not fair, is it? I want to see what happens, don’t I?” It gave her a broad smile.
“Hey, we are still only in the beginning. Let’s get back to the table, all who want to help, and see what we can do. If we can make ourselves heard, then we can find a way to communicate with this Voice. And if we can do that, we can find a way to make it want to kill itself.” Oliver stepped in front of everybody, picking the resisting materials on the table and banging them again to appease the World Voice.
“Yeah, come on, it’s that or death, what do we have to lose? If we can destroy it, Colin can create us the world that we want, isn’t that right?” Amanda sided with Oliver, holding a bucket of untested objects.
Things didn’t melt any longer in that world, now that an anguished excitement took over depression. The objects collected in the buckets morphed into masses of joined matter, one sliding over the other, solidifying in a big blob of different surfaces and materials. Amanda grabbed a slice of bread blended with a metal scrap, and cutting or ripping either part proved impossible.
They turned the table into the lab’s core once again. Angeline, new to the game, watched Oliver’s commands and suggestions behind his back.
Amanda rebuked him often, “No, not the intensifier, we’ll have to think of something else, think, think.” Dominating the room’s opposite sides, both had the same intention in mind. Oliver noticed Angeline and waved a hand.
“Come here, you can help us out, can’t you? Better than doing nothing,” he said.
She stared at Colin, leaning against the wall, far from the group. She said to him, “Won’t we help them too?”
“They’re smarter than me in this. Besides, too many people involved at something can be worse than having fewer,” he said.
“Hm ... Would ... would you mind if I help? I want to see what I can do.”
“That’s alright, don’t worry. I’ll be here if you need me.” He watched her join the table with a shy smile, regretting not taking the initiative to do something too.
“Yeah, Colin’s alright, he needs to rest after creating us the pool,” Oliver said, pulling Angeline to his side. “We’re working in two fronts here, so you have to pick one. The first is trying to discover more resisting materials, and the other is charged with discovering a way to communicate with the World Voice. A language, a code, whatever we can find.”
Angeline looked at the busy table with an opened mouth and glistening eyes.
“In what front are you involved?” she said.
“The language one,” Oliver said.
“Then that’s the one I want too.”
OOOO bugged Ai.iA, trying to fit in with her, while she watched her researchers break their heads. She lost patience with its insistence, now that her reunited team brought hope back to the table, looking for a way to destroy OOOO’s world. She chased him away with raised rods, forcing it to seek comfort in Colin’s lap.
“It’s the closest they’ve ever been to Utopia, and look at how amazing they felt back there,” Dalana said, by Colin’s side.
“It was the life of Terra, simple as that. We don’t need more than it to be happy,” he said.
“Did you have free, abundant food in there? No need for money, no suffering?” She twisted her mouth, smirking at him.
“Yes, we suffered, you know it. And that’s why we lived so intensely.”
“Look, look,” OOOO said, staring at the table, where two humans in particular exchanged excited glances. “Your Angeline is really fond of that Oliver, isn’t she?”
∙ 13 ∙ Blending
They accessed the World Voice’s dimension through those two stones. Such a small amount of variety had one possible combination: a bang. One could mess with the collision path, or tweak the time and the tension involved in it, and it ended there.
Angeline handled the stones, the new scientist exploring a mystery. The first bang under her control made Oliver jump and OOOO’s head spin fast. It brought them pain again, it pressed their heads against the world, it tore their brains apart and inserted a mountain in their skulls. The second and third ones made their minds scream, sharing the World Voice’s pain.
“Argh! Is that all you can do ... I don’t understand it, it is just another kind of silence ... infertile, a desert ... is this my world? Endless void, even with company?”
Angeline resisted the pressure in her head, supported by Oliver, by her side, who had also attempted countless rhythms without success. Using the two stones to make a drum out of the table, she joined both pieces to play a song, squeezing them in the moment of contact.
The sounds emanating from impact formed a recognizable melody for those born in the last century of Terra, the easiest of songs, and it trespassed the World Voice’s dimensional barrier.
“You are dripping ... you are mocking me ... I deserve it, I am worthless ... won’t you tell me who you are? What do you want from me? Just save me from this place, and I’ll give you anything ... Anything!”
Zach sang along with the bangs, whistling, easing his headache with music. He searched for more untested objects in the buckets at the wall. A few of those still remained, some still intact, some grabbing his hand like creatures from hell. Dalana helped him get rid of the biting stuff, afraid that it could merge with his skin and bones.
Even the walls changed their attitude towards the world, the protective walls who kept their holy place. They felt no absolute sadness anymore, for it had vanished, so the house was safe and needed no more protection. Dalana had to think of another concept to recreate the house, telling matter to keep itself still until the big Prophet came from the outside world.
“Try a faster song.” Oliver drummed on the table with his fingers.
“No, try this one.” Charlotte suggested a different rhythm.
“You didn’t try Morse code yet,” Colin said, from the wall.
Oliver frowned at him, Angeline winced in shame by his side.
“Morse code?” Charlotte shook her head. “We’re not dealing with anything from Earth. It’s stupid.”
Colin looked down, in silence, framed by the humans' awkward expressions.
“No, no, let’s give it a shot, it’s worth trying” Amanda said, observing Angeline’s yellow smile. “Everybody knows at least SOS, we can see what we get.”
“That’s not how you build communication.” Oliver dropped one piece of intact, nonreacting matter on the table. “Do something that repeats itself. When the Voice speaks, stop at every certain word it says. When it says it again, repeat your own code. Maybe it can associate the sound with what it says.”
“Interesting, isn’t it?” OOOO moved its face closer to Oliver’s pulsing neck veins.
“Yes, that seems more like it. Colin won’t mind if we skip his idea, will he?” Amanda nodded at Angeline.
Ai.iA joined the circle of humans, which closed on itself, leaving Colin alone at his corner. Dalana walked the room looking for opportunities to be helpful. She created a fountain of potable water in the second room on the corridor, and by the side of it she materialized a cornucopia, a spinning wheel which brought endless food to the area. Inside their heads, a monotonous bang, bang, bang played, spaced evenly, with intervals at every three repetitions.
“I hear ... I hear ... And yet, you’re not here ... You don’t show yourself ... enough of these silly noises ... Show yourself! You don’t have to fear me ... I am nothingness incarnate ... I just want to talk ...”
The World Voice interrupted the looped bangs with its words of despair, and although Angeline stopped banging and proceeded to hit the stones again when it said “me,” the Voice perceived no relation between one and the other. Lacking other ideas, she’d insist for as long as needed.
“Do you want to go outside and collect more resisting materials with me?” Dalana said to Colin, n
oticing the nearly empty buckets by the side of the table.
“No, thanks. I want to stay here with Angeline.”
“But you’re far from the group. Why don’t you join her?”
“I don’t know how to do it. The others are friendlier, and I only say stupid things.”
“Then come with me,” Dalana said, simplifying the situation.
“You can go, if you want. I want to stay here.” Colin watched Angeline pass the stones for Oliver to try.
“I see. We’ll go out another time, then. I’ll stay with you.”
Emotions affected all states of matter in OOOO’s world, but the mind displayed the most acute sensibility. The World Voice invaded and pillaged the reign of silence, clearing the path to whatever it spoke.
Zach, used to a life of rummaging on uncertain land, who whistled to calm himself down, knocked untested objects on the table. He trembled, sweating, feeling his blood boil. Catching a Voice’s line inside his head, he yelled.
“This is hell! I want more! I have needs! More than this! More than this!”
He grabbed the untested stuff he found on the table and threw it hard against the wall, dashing where it fell down to pick it up and throw it again. The collision power transformed those objects, as they glued on the surface, looking for new substances in which to blend, mimicking the World Voice’s mood.
He kicked them from the wall to violate them again, failing to remove any piece. Unsuccessful, Zach, punched the bucket lying on the table and scattered the big clusters of collected materials over the people. Laura jumped in fright and hid behind Dalana, who placed herself in front of all humans. She glanced at Colin with widened eyes.
Colin held Zach’s shoulders, but the strong man squirmed and avoided Colin’s grip, pushing him away. Zach hugged OOOO, who stood by their side watching the scene with interest. It accepted his embrace with a curious smile, closing its legs to give him more contact surface.
“I found it, I need you, I have to talk and understand,” Zach said, biting OOOO’s leg, drooling and licking it.
His tongue glued on the Creator’s body, doing its best to mingle with the first different being it found. Charlotte, behind Dalana, swung her hips towards him, also looking for new contact.
“I need to find you, I need to meet you ... I can’t be alone anymore, I need to be with you ...” she murmured, scaring Colin, who struggled to control Zach.
Dalana caressed Charlotte’s arm, though, calming her down with the power of her gentle touch.
“He really likes me, doesn’t he?” OOOO watched Zach’s muscles begin to blend with its body like a parasite eating a tree.
“Take him off! Spin around fast, and I’ll hold him here,” Colin said.
OOOO did as ordered, tearing the uppermost skin layer of Zach’s tongue and arms. He yelled in pain, expressing physical harm and not emotional need. Dalana stepped by his side and rubbed her dark hands over his wounds, recreating the damaged flesh with gracious gestures.
“Do you want to play a game with us? What do you like to play? Huh? Tell us, we’ll play with you, and talk, and make you feel better,” she said to Zach.
“Ping pong. I want to play ping pong.” He twitched his lips, joining his palms on his chest, giving one short step in her direction.
“Good, I like ping pong too,” Colin said, joining Dalana, tilting his head to stare at the man with attentive eyes. “We’ll make two teams, so that we can have more matches, ok?”
“Angeline, come with us, you’ll be the fourth player.” Dalana grabbed the woman’s hand and led them to the corridor with Colin and Zach.
Dalana knew ping pong from observation alone, from her long time enjoying Terra’s people. But she despised competition. Utopias were the land of cooperation, not of battles for the best. And yet, she offered herself to be the first to play against Zach on the big table that Colin crafted for them in one of the empty rooms.
“You suck at it, don’t you?” Zach said, laughing after scoring his third point in a row.
“Totally! Look, I’ll defend the next one on my knees.” Dalana knelt on the floor to fulfill her promise.
The ball hit her racket and returned to Zach’s field. He saw her head nearly kissing the table and aimed for her mouth. She leaned back to have the ball strike her lips, and blew as hard as she could to send it to the other side. Zach got that one easily, so overconfident that he sent it out of the table.
“Score! We’re equal now! We’re both winning in our own ways.” Dalana stood up to try another way of playing.
“Oh no, miss, it’s my turn now, and nothing passes my belly wall.” Zach laughed at her, putting his racket on his belly and swinging his waist to prepare for action.
Angeline giggled at their confrontation, anxious for her turn with Colin. She kept the score, watching the small ball move over the net and almost always bounce at Dalana’s side. To break the silence, she cheered for both, making “uhus” and “yeys” with her arms up. She tried to push Colin into doing the same. He raised his hands, smiling, or clapped his palms, leaving the sounds to her alone.
“I heard you’re pretty good at ping pong,” Angeline said to him.
“Really? Who told you that?” he said.
“Jason did. In your first year at work, in Mr. Alden’s house before Christmas, he said you guys played a few matches. You and I didn’t talk much at the time, so I couldn’t see it. I’ll see it now, right?”
“Yeah, I remember it now. He exaggerated, though, because I’m not good. He didn’t even know how to hold the racket.”
Zach won the match, amused at Dalana’s celebration of her loss, leaning her back on his back and swaying her spine from side to side. He joined her moves, shaking his whole body until it drained his sense of victory, remaining only that of gratitude for her care.
Colin scored his first few points easily against Angeline, who still analyzed the table to feel its size. She had vivid eyes that watched the ball invade her area, that studied the best path in which to send it, but Colin stroke faster than her and broke her plans at every hit.
He won the first round without letting her score at least once. Angeline adopted a silent stance, frowning, practicing her moves at the table’s edge, waiting for her chance. She didn’t look at him, she had eyes only for the ball.
“Come to me! Where are you? I need you now, now! I don’t want noises, I want you! You!”
The Voice sounded in their minds, it called for attention, it threatened to make the world boil with its desperation. Dalana patted Zach’s shoulder to keep him from another nervous attack. He watched the game and smiled, keeping his eyelids raised. If Angeline lost, however, she being a competitive person, would she be an easier prey to the Voice?
She scored her first points in the next match, grinning in silence, still afraid to celebrate before actually winning. Colin sent her some easy strikes, opening the game up for her skills. He made deliberate mistakes, either hitting the net or throwing the ball out.
“He’s letting you win, Angeline! Toughen up the game, show him what you got!” Zach said, slapping the table.
“No, I’m not. She’s good at it ... She’s good, look” Colin said, trying to defend himself.
In the end, Angeline won the match, after a clumsy hit by Colin. He calculated the mistake, he showed it in his eyes, staring at the net so that the ball stopped short of reaching the enemy’s field. Angeline dropped the racket and clenched her eyes to face him, pressing her lips, placing both hands on the table.
“You just don’t know how to have fun, don’t you?” she said.
“What do you mean? You don’t like ping pong?” He opened a yellow smile.
“Nobody likes to win because the other gave up the game. I don’t know from where you got that idea.”
“Hey, you’re better than you think you are! I did my best, honestly. You’re good.”
“Yeah, yeah, ok, fine. Next match. Zach, come here, play with me now, let’s see if I’m goo
d for real. No mercy for me, as I won’t have for you too, old man!” Angeline said.
“I have no mercy, babe, get ready for my rage.” Zach grabbed Colin’s racket and positioned himself on his side of the table.
Embarrassed, only trying to help his beloved one feel better, Colin joined Dalana in the spectator’s area, who greeted him with a side embrace. His life’s film screened inside his mind, ghosts of his many mistakes zipping across hushed scenes. Regrets began to swallow him, for he never knew what people looked for in another person.
“I only wanted to help,” Colin whispered in Dalana’s ear.
“I know. That’s the Utopians’ burden,” Dalana whispered back, looking straight into his eyes.
Zach challenged Angeline enough to make her strive harder. She scored even with him, sending him fast balls that confused his action and amused her. He lost a part of the game for real. She yelled at him, daring him to do better, and he did the same.
They filled the air with the excited shouting of competition, concealing the ever-present Voice of loneliness in the depths of their heads. Amanda entered the room with Ai.iA, both marveled at the ping pong match.
“Hey, check this out, you two, this new girl here is looking for trouble! Wanna join us, Amanda?” Zach said at their approach.
“Sorry, we come for another reason,” Amanda said. She then turned to Colin and Dalana. “We’re out of new materials. The buckets are empty, so we need at least to check the stuff we left at the intensifier. Could you go there and fetch us whatever is left?”
“We need to make more experiments, now, before it gets worse.” Ai.iA closed in on Dalana, making her step back to have talking space.
“Fine. We can do it,” Dalana said. “Can’t we?” She looked at Colin.
He nodded, freezing with the fear of entering that room again. The World Voice’s tone had changed to something against which he had no defenses, and if on the last time he had trouble to leave, now he would risk his life.
