The problem was amplifiedin the year 1979 C.E. when, due to a freak accident, my central processor failed confusing everything. It was difficult for me to take care of the maintenance tasks of the planet while my thoughts merged with my memories, forming a dream world in which it was difficult to distinguish the actual events from the imaginary. The planet would collapse if I didn’t find a way to fix it. I had to unify all my knowledge and find a remedy for the problem, otherwise the planet would suffer continuous cataclysms and would end with all the forms of life it housed.
My knowledge about life was broad, having followed its course from the very inceptionof the planet, so gathering all the information in my possession I worked day and night without a rest. I had to give "Hazel Eyes’ “children an opportunity.
Among some of the possible solutions, the most immediate required a long process of at least thirty years. I didn’t know whether there would be enough time to save the planet but since it was the most feasible option I needed to focus on it. I needed a young being of reproductive age, and luckily I found him nearby. Using the equipment I controlled the geology of the planet with, and by applying a number of changes in the frequencies, I created the necessary conditions to exert an influenceon the young woman who lived next to me at a cellular level. Through these radio transmissions, I created inside her a being, a living being whom I endowed with intelligence to carry out my work - his mental capacity would be completed after his physical maturation.
The process was very complicated but after nine months a healthy child was born, with whom I established a mental rapport and little by little, every night, I forwarded information of all kinds to him with the intention that one day he’d be able to rule over the planet and if my calculations were correct, just in time to prevent its destruction. The candidate was the perfect woman to take care of the child until his mental capacities were fully developed to do his job. But the estimates did not appear to have been correct and the planet was dying faster than expected. This forced me to accelerate the data transmission process -I had to convey large amounts of information to that boy and this caused his whole nervous system to collapse. I know that for the young man this was an absolute torture but there was no other solution. If I failed to convey him the entire body of my knowledge in time the planet and all its living creatures will perish.
Over millions of years all living creatures lived in harmony on the planet but in a short period of time barely computable in the planet's history, the activities of men who tried to achieve wealth relentlessly driven by greed without measure, had affected the planet to a degree that made it impossible for me to counter the effects of their destruction. The continuous gas emissions into the atmosphere, the highly toxic chemicals used in agriculture, the absurd agricultural methods that required a lot more than they could supply like the irrigated plantations in the desert, the perforation of the earth in search of anything of value regardless of the damage caused, all of these factors drove the planet to a point where life could very well disappear forever.
The damage I suffered in my power cells predicted a catastrophic end for the planet, and the insatiable desire to collect commodities accelerated the process so that even my last resort would not be ready in time.
I have always believed in ‘Hazel Eyes' and in her children, and for a long time I had stored inside me all their details, their thoughts, their parameters and their souls but now all would be lost like a drop in the ocean. I resisted this end, I resisted it with all my strength, processing everything that was in my power, I tried to find the formula to save “Hazel Eyes’” children but time was running out, there were just a few hours left, days at most. The raging seas battled, colliding with each other; earth had split opened and swallowed everything on its path, the winds were blowing with such violence that nothing held still on the surface of the planet, the internal heat of the earth, its own blood, was spewed by volcanoes. In other areas the water guzzled everything and others were crushed by the weight of snow and ice.
I had to finish the process, I had to get new energy and recoup the control of the planet. Why was this happening? Was it the first time? Had it never before happened in other worlds? How could one survive this industrialised era in which the only think that mattered were the economic benefits? I didn’t understand how the Gardeners had not taken this into account. All my efforts would be pointless, all the work I’ve done for so long would now be meaningless if everything was destroyed in the blink of an eye. Why did they leave me in charge of the planet if in the end, I wouldn’t be able to deal with the damage caused by the beings who inhabited it? Be as it may, I would do whatever was in my hands to preserveso many wonders. I could not leave the souls of the children of "Hazel Eyes” in eternal oblivion, I could not “let them disappear in space and time, as if they had never existed, as if they had never lived. Now I had to work beyond the limit of my own abilities. If time didn’t allow me to finish my calculations accurately, I would have to make estimates, approximations, conjectures, something for which a logical machine was not ready, something thatwent against all my programming principles. But now it was imperative that I worked beyond these parameters, I had to make it possible for my last resort to succeed.
A new blow on my structure had separated the old mud head which rolled over on the ground and caused further damage to my already run-down system, so this was my last chance, I had to transfer all my data without waiting a moment. Elías was near me and I proceeded to transmit the entire process, all the data at once. This could collapse his nervous system and kill him or leave him in an irreversible catatonic state but at this point there was nothing else I could do. It was my last chance. For years Elías had received all my information continuously every night and finally the time had run out, now there was only this last transmission left, and hopefully Elías would acquire all the knowledge needed to fix the poor state the planet found itself in. If he didn’t, all living beings would disappear without a trace, all their information, their history, their soul, as if they never existed.
I focused all my energy on a single transmission, this caused a deafening sound and all the energy shot out for a few seconds illuminating a large radius of the neighbourhood.
The Relative Speed of Light
We have taken the speed of light as a field of reference but far from being a constant, the speed of light is a variable. It is a constant speed to the observer that measures it from a reference point. However, although it may seem unchanging, in reality it doesn’t stop changing as it hurtles through space. We have taken the speed of light as a universal reference, as if this would replace time without taking into account that space itself is formed by the movement of lightitself. Light is both wave and particle, while it is both space and time. It cannot travel faster than it does but it can cross an extension of space larger than a light year in less than a year. Because light itself is space, it can manipulate it by bending and twisting it, even folding it. It is not necessary for a particle to have a mass to cause the curvature of space-time. If space is compressed, light will cover a larger section of it in less time, so from outside this compressed space an observer will see the beam of light moving at more than 300 000 km/s.
An object produces a greater curvature in space as speed increases. In folding time, it also folds space. So, finally, a cosmic explorertravelling through the cosmos taking advantage of these disturbances in space-time, could traverse great distances very quickly and reach thecentre of our galaxy and back without investing huge amounts of time on this trip. He could leave today and come back tomorrow, he could even return before he had left.
As mass is not needed to bend space-time, we can use light itself to bend it, opening a wormhole.
We could be travelling in a slow spaceship and yet we could reach our destination the moment we chose.
Our ship could have a central moving core where light bended space causing disturbances in it as we move through it. Thus, space-time would not affect us. For
us, everything would stop and an outside observer would claim that we move faster than light.
About Flat
MORNING crept slowly, they barely noticed its arrival. The night before had been very long and they only managed to survive because they remained together. Their bodies were semi-frozen and the arrival didn’t seem it was going to do anything to improve their condition. One constantly wondered why continue fighting, after all the storm didn’t seem to have an end, except for brief instants when it seemed to calm down slightly. Some people give up easily, they are not used to fighting. Others, on the contrary, don’t give up in difficult times, quite the opposite, they glow with a special light, emanating an energy that radiates strength to others, just like María. Even though she looked physically very fragile, in difficult times the girl was overcome by asort of superhuman strength. Flat didn’t pale next to her butin his case, his strength didn’t come through, and itwasn’t noticeable. He was more like a rock, like a turtle, and in seeing his slow way of acting and thinking, it was easy to reach the conclusion that he was not very smart but as in many other cases, the turtle’s plan was better than the hare’s. His determination was relentless. Perhaps he didn’tthink fluently and spoke even worse but his will was unbreakable and he was one of those people who could move mountains with a teaspoon. María encouraged the others, telling them to fight to survive, to find the strength within themselves, and if they couldn’t, to think about their family members who would need them after this tragedy.
Although the day had risen, the sky was still dark. It was like that sort of unpleasant feelingone gets when things aren’t good and can’t wait for the sun to appear shining brightly on the horizon, its heat filling you with energy, but no matter how much you wish for it that day never seems to dawn and no matter how much you wait for it, the sun never seems to rise.
The rain eased, but no one noticed it, and then suddenly, it stopped raining. At first, no one could believe it and when they finally came to terms with it, they shouted out ofpure joy. Then, the clouds dissipated and disappeared altogether, displaying a blue sky crowned by a bright sunshine. The water level began to drop rapidly as if someone had pulled the plug of abathtub. Everyone hugged crying with happiness- they were survivors and that was all that mattered.
When the water disappeared altogether, it was time for the rescue team to disband. Although the situation was critical throughout the city, each one of them would have to form their own rescue team and find members of their families. There was much to do but they had learned a lot from Flat and María and now it was up to them, they were now meant to help others, and perhaps also to convey what they learned. There were no goodbyes, they barely exchanged any words, all of them felt in their hearts that they were part of the same family and knew they would remain close wheneverthey needed each other.
Flat walked toward the motel observing the devastation caused by the storm. Everything was upside down, you could find the unimaginable on a tree top, balancing between branches. I will not mention the amount of lifeless beings scattered everywhere.
The motel was built in concrete so it was very solid and Flat’s room was high enough, so chances were the waters might not have reached it. People took to the streets and began to form groups, the army and firemen were also out on the city streets creating make shift rescue teams. Everything began to reorganise itself as an anthill does after rain. Flat thought his help might possibly be needed so when he reached the door of the motel, he turned back and headed for one of the hospitals improvised by the Army. They were in need of people for everything -the rescue teams arrived, left the wounded and quickly ran out again. Flat joined one of the groups and went in search of survivors throughout the city.
The rescue tasks were endless, and for many days the search and rescue work did not cease. Gradually the waters returned to their normal course but nothing would ever be the same, people had changed, they realised that they had barely survived and that what really mattered in life was not in distant places but very close to them, in the simplest of things, and that the planet would not tolerate to be maltreated any longer.
The rescue work was coming to an end and Flatdreamt of returning to his pier. So weeks later, when he was no longer needed, he returned to the motel. Everything had changed. He proceeded to his room directly without saying anything at reception. He put the key in the hole without even thinking about what he was going to find in the other side but he was unable to rotate the key in the lock as it had been changed. This, however, was no problem for a master locksmith like himself so he set out to force the door, and just as he was about to have a go at it, the motel maid walked down the hall. She looked at him and walked directly towards him.
I know where I know you from, I remember you from before the flood. Yes, yes I remember it well, you left a couple of heavy sports bags in the room, I have kept them for you.
Thank you, thank you.
By the way, I know it’s none of my business, but what do you keep in them?
Books.
It was the first thing that came to his head.
I knew you were a writer, I could tell by the clothes you wear.
Flat tried to get out of this situation as soon as possible, he didn’t like talking to strangers, but she went on:
Now I remember what I knowyou from - you're the man on TV.
Flat’s heart sank. Was it possible they were looking for him because of the robbery and that his face had been filmed by the cameras in the bank and was now being broadcast in the news? Now, this would be a pickle. What could he do? How would he get out of this one? The best option would be to run away as soon as possible.
Yes, you are the one all over the news, the hero who has saved so many people.
In hearing these words, Flat adopted a hero demeanour and nodded with his head. It seems that the woman perceived that certain attractivenessthat Flat had when he was young and kept talking to him and the truth is that he had thought she was a lovely woman from the first moment he saw her. They continued talking and getting to know each other a little better. It turned out they had many things in common - she always had the intention of leaving the city, her job in the motel was only temporary and when she saved enough she’d move to a small house in a village, just like those small towns surrounding the large lake, a quiet village where she could have her own garden. They both felt really good in each other's company, and continued chatting throughout the day and into the night. When the new day arrived, they knew each other as well as if they had known for a lifetime. Then, they made plans together and decided to move to a small town by the lake where Flat would set up his little boatyard and she would have a vegetable garden from where she’d collect everything they needed to live.
That was how it happened, that’s how sometimes a man can change his luck, that’s how, with some effort, Flatreached his dream.
There was barely anything standing in the pier, but it was still up for sale. He’d have to invest a lot of work to restore it but, on the other hand, the current price was much lower now, so he was able to buy it together with anearby house, where they had plenty of space for the perfect garden. He still had enough money to restore the pier and start building boats, magnificent wooden boats that Flat built unhurriedly and with dedication, achieving a level of perfection and detail that made his customers fall in love with them, clients who soon had to get used to waiting in a long list.
The Relic
WE TEND TO THINK that things are as we remember them, as we know them. We can complain of having led a bad life, a lifetime of hard work, we can even think that tomorrow will be older than today, but this only occurs in our perception of things. Time is not linear - time is a spiral. The temporary spiral is given to us by the movements that take place in the universe, the movements of galaxies, stars and planets. Just as gravity affects tides, it also affects time by making it advance in a spiral motion. If we count seconds passing by as a child who is starting to learn its numbers would, the
numbers in this spiral would not follow the usual order where 2 goes after 1 and 3 after 2, rather, we would count in a seemingly absurd fashion, jumping from 1 to 7 and then 2 and 3, only to repeat some numbers like 1 every now and then. This happens in a very small time scale but the effects can be enormous if the spiral is affected by a large mass, it can distort the size of its rings and force it to do even longer leaps in time. If a large celestial body passes near us, like a comet or a large planet in its regular rotational periods, this spiral is distorted by the gravitational attraction of its mass, making us jump back in time without a logical sequence. Thus, a man who is now forty, tomorrow may be twenty and the next day seventyand yet at every point he can only see the past but not the future, so he will think that the timeline of his life has always been straight.
The Relic Page 16
