by Van Forson
“I don’t think we can go any further. We’re not going to be able to bring our bikes through the dense undergrowth.”
“But if we stop now we’ll lose them.” Jet said. “Let’s ditch the bikes and go after them on foot.”
Sal wasn’t blown away by that idea. “The Speedster's my pride and joy. I don't want to abandon her here.”
“Look they’ve stopped,” Skye said. “It's as if they’re waiting for us to catch up.”
Sure enough, the ribbons bobbed in the same spot.
“Well? It’s your call, Kid. What shall we do?”
“Sal, I promise we'll come back for the bikes, but for now let’s continue on foot.”
“If we must.” Sal reluctantly agreed.
We scrambled off the bikes, took the backpacks from the boot and ran carefully through the undergrowth towards the ribbons, which were on the move again
***
Max rang the doorbell of the Twins palatial home. His eyes were scanned before Ms Lush, opened the door.
“Oh, hello Max,” she said through horse like teeth.
Unlike the Twins, Ms Lush, The Twins mother, was not genetically beautiful; in fact, she was far from it. And because this was her greatest sorrow, she lived her life vicariously through her daughters.
“The girls are in their rooms.” Ms Lush said.
She was happy that her daughters were associating with such well-bred company. It was no secret that she was snooty and only wanted her girls associating with other Gold Star Types. Max was a leading brain of his generation, which made him perfect company for her daughters in her eyes.
“Thanks, ma’am,” Max said.
“But before you go to see Mindy and Cindy, please do talk me through your latest work on the evolution of the Tachion.”
“Certainly ma’am.” Max was chuffed.
He loved talking about his essays and lately he had collected a lot of first-hand data on the subject.
“Let’s converse in the study.” Ms Lush walked Max through the plush marble hallway and into the huge mansion.
***
A leafy branch slapped me in the face, and I stumbled on the knotted roots beneath my feet.
“Ow.” I moaned rubbing my cheek with one hand and battling the thick vines with the other.
“It’s a struggle to keep up with the ribbons, they’re moving so fast.” Jet panted.
We were not used to being surrounded by so much of this nature stuff. It was damp, rocky, squelchy and smelly.
“Oh, my days! I’ve had enough of all of these creatures!” Sal cried out, swatting away the bulbous flies that buzzed around us.
“Nature stinks! This real grass and tree stuff, it’s so alive! The holograms are much better. It doesn’t come with bugs. All the beauty without the hassle. No wonder His Excellency, William Admiral called for it to be eradicated from the Upper Worlds.”
Skye shook her head disappointed at Sal’s attitude.
“It’s typical of a Code Type to prefer a pretty fake illusion rather than the gritty real thing. Everything has a place in the world you know, even gnats. I think it’s a shame what The Admiral is doing, wiping out animal species, outlawing nature just because he thinks it looks messy in your environment. We cultivate nature in Zero.” Skye rasped.
Skye’s venom made Sal feel bad. But trekking on foot through dirt was not her idea of fun. And worse still what Skye had said about her couldn’t be further from the truth.
“It’s nothing to do with being a Code Type; it’s just that - Oh, forget it,” Sal said staring down Skye.
“The ribbons have disappeared.” I wheezed, collapsing to the ground out of breath.
“We lost them.” Sal said stamping mud from her feet.
“How could we. They were just there!” Jet said.
Skye looked around. Their path was completely obscured by wild flowers and thick bushes.
“We won’t be able to find our way back to the bikes. We’re the ultimate in lost.”
“To follow on foot was such a dumb idea.” Sal fumed scratching her back.
All this nature made her feel incredibly itchy and irritable.
“I didn’t see you come up with a better plan, big shot!” Jet snapped back.
Sal narrowed her eyes. This little boy was getting on her last nerve.
Jet and Sal started bickering again. Skye defended Jet, and even Little Cheep Cheep twittered as if chiming in. I couldn’t take the arguing. I walked away and sat underneath the largest tree.
“This way.” A little voice said.
I looked upwards.
The ribbons bobbed way up in the treetops. I could not see who was holding the strings, but once again they were patiently waiting for us.
“Look.” I pointed.
They all stopped squabbling and came over.
“What’s this?” Jet said touching the tree bark.
A ladder made from twisted vine leaves wound itself all the way up the side of the tree.
“Climb.” The child's voice instructed us before the colourful ribbons ascended further up the tree and out of sight.
I gripped the ladder and eagerly pulled myself up in pursuit of the ribbons. Sal followed behind me with Jet and Skye.
I was the first to scramble to the top of the vine and belly flopped clumsily onto the plateau. What I thought was a tree opened up to a whole other level. It was foggy at the top, but I could still make out the colourful ribbons bobbing in front of me.
Three small children, the bearers of the ribbons, appeared from the mist. They wore long material garments with scarves covering their heads. They eyeballed me without saying a word.
Sal, Jet and Skye clambered to the top, shoving and pushing each other as they did so.
“You’re so slow.” Jet complained.
“Pipe down irritant.” Sal tutted.
“Leave Jet alone.” Skye rasped.
Upon seeing the children, they stopped arguing. No one spoke, and the children silently stared at us.
“They’re scaring me,” Sal whispered nudging me in my ribs, “say something.”
“Hello,” I said cautiously walking towards the small children. “Have you been leading us here?”
The children nodded.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“This is Commania.” The smallest child answered, taking my hand. “I’m Poppy, your guide. Come with me.”
The other two children followed her lead. One took Jet and Skye by the hand and the other held onto Sal.
“Er, ok,” Sal said. “You're confident little people, aren't you?”
The children walked us beyond the haze, revealing a thriving, bustling land. Trees as tall as tower blocks, stood proudly displaying their dark green and burgundy leaves. Brightly coloured flowers bloomed abundantly. Fluffy little animals ran around playfully with each other. There were hordes of people jovially busying themselves doing all manner of things from washing clothes by hand outside their wooden hut homes to cooking the ancient way with pots on fires.
“Wow! So this is Commania.” I had never seen anything so vibrant and full of life.
The picture the crystal ball had drawn in my room paled in comparison to the real thing.
Through the bustling crowd a small man, leaning heavily on a twisted cane, scuttled right up to us.
“Aha! Keziah Monrova et al. Welcome, one and all.”
“Do you know him?” Sal said from the side of her mouth.
“Yes, I think I do.” I smiled recognising the small man from my dreams.
“I am Dr Stoneway.” He greeted me taking my hand in his. “Nice to see you again.” He smiled warmly.
“And you too.” I smiled back. “How did you know we were coming? Did Lady Zono tell you?”
“No, no. I didn’t, I didn’t know at all, but we always send a band of our young uns to wait for you, just in case.” Dr Stoneway said.
He had kind eyes and a cheerful face with heavily wrinkled tanned skin. His r
eceding hairline sprouted an impressive silver ponytail that trailed down his back. His hunched shoulders and bow legs made him seem way shorter than he was and tiny round glasses swung from a cord around his neck.
“And who else do we have here?” Dr Stoneway asked.
“Sal.”
“Skye.”
“Jet, sir.” They all answered one by one, with an instant respect for the noble looking man.
“Aha!” Dr Stoneway exclaimed again. “You don’t look very much like a Sal. And you Skye are truly as remarkable as the heavens above that provide us with all we need. And Jetsir,” Dr Stoneway paused to think, leaning heavily on his cane before he continued, “You, my boy, are pivotal.”
We all smiled politely not understanding what he was saying but liking him instantly all the same. Dr Stoneway beamed back a knowing smile.
“Now come, come. I’m glad our young uns led you here in good time.” Dr Stoneway looked to the sky. “It’s just after five in the PM, and we're about to eat.”
***
Mindy sat regally on her magenta pink recliner in her pale pink room, with rose pink walls which were filled with metallic pink screens displaying her face. Since deleting all of her Allstar posters, she had to replace them with something else she loved. And what could be more fitting than herself?
Mindy twiddled her golden tresses around her finger. Her smile was even wider than usual because Philippe sat opposite her. He awkwardly tried to relax his bulky frame on a cotton candy coloured beanbag. He was also grinning like a Cheshire cat. Mindy’s dimples became even rounder as Philippe looked down shyly and then back to the main screen. A movie he had selected was playing. He had viewed at least twenty other films before their date, to pick the right one.
Mindy was super excited to be alone with Philippe. She thought he was perfect in every way. He was strong, sensitive and funny. She wasn’t bothered about his appearance. His personality was way more important.
The melodramatic music signalled the end of the movie.
“That was like uber emosh,” Mindy said not sure what to say as she was only half paying attention. She had spent most of the film stealing glances at Philippe.
“I’m glad you liked it,” Philippe said.
There was an awkward silence as they looked at each other. Both smiled goofily.
“So. Where’s Cindy then?” Philippe asked for asking sake.
“Like, I don’t know. Since what went down at TEN Cindy seems a little like distant, wants her own space.”
“That’s a shame,” Philippe said. But if truth be told he was enjoying this rare occasion of being alone with Mindy.
“So, like, we’ve watched a movie, and you’ve eaten all the corned pop.”Mindy play punched Philippe as if upset that he had eaten all of the sugary food she was genetically forbidden from consuming. “What shall we do next?”
Philippe took Mindy’s delicate hand and held it gently in his massive palm. He leant forward and Mindy drew closer. They faced each other nervously. Philippe’s double hearts skipped two beats. Mindy’s perfect pout and Philippe’s chapped lips were about to come together when all of a sudden Mindy’s bedroom door flew open.
“Yuck!” Max said, ruining the fledgling lovebird’s special moment.
***
We were all seated in the centre of Commania around an enormous oak tree stump made into a communal table. A large gathering of Saps were chattering amongst themselves while they dined.
I was enthralled by the sights, sounds and smells of this strange land. From my research, Saps were portrayed as a decaying, lifeless, inferior species. But that didn’t coincide with what I saw before me. Some of the Saps were grey in skin colour, but they were mostly different shades of white, pink, beige, yellow, red, brown and black, just like Code Types.
I had learned at school that Saps needed breathing apparatus, as their lungs were not modified to process the carbon filled air. But only a few were breathing with an aid and the ribbon-bearing children that had led us here were much fitter than me, Jet, Skye or Sal. It simply wasn’t true that the Saps were weak. Seeing it with my own eyes made me question what other untruths I’d been taught at FB.
“I thought all Saps needed help to breathe?” I asked a cheery faced woman in flowing material garments who sat next to me.
“Some of us do, but that’s why we live here in the trees, above the smog of your world. The trees are our friends, our life force. They give us oxygen in the day that provides us with breath, our lifeline. Here, in Commania we work with nature, not against it or try to control it like they do in the Upper Worlds. We plant, grow and rear all of our food with the one essence we all have. Love.”
“Oh, right,” I said trying to take it all in.
The Saps didn’t talk in riddles as everyone in the Upper Worlds thought, but their softly spoken speech pattern and their sing-song accents still made them hard to understand.
“Now please eat, this meal is in honour of your arrival.”
I looked at the table but didn’t know where to begin. I was not familiar with this kind of food and Poppy had to explain to me what it all was. Freshly baked bread, bountiful fruits, rice, pulses, beans and stews.
“A meal fit for a king, or a Keziah,” Poppy said before she patted my hand and walked away.
Dr Stoneway munched noisily next to me.
“Aha! I know it must look a bit intimidating to your palette if you're not used to this kind of thing,” he said, between mouthfuls.
“That’s right,” Sal nodded, “where we're from we mostly eat nutri- granules and vacuum packed sustainable liquids.”
“May I suggest you begin with this.” Dr Stoneway passed a platter to us. “This is warm bread with cheese and fruit. Try it.”
We all took a piece and looked at it for a while. Jet was the first to tuck in. He nibbled on what they called a grape, and the flesh broke between his teeth.
“Ooh! This is sweet.” He licked his lips.
Sal sniffed the cheese and pulled a face, “It smells funny.”
Skye chewed happily on a piece of bread.
“My family can never afford to buy the store manufactured nutrients, so we grow and prepare this kind of solid food all the time.”
I wasn’t sure about the food, but there was something I was longing to taste.
“Dr Stoneway, do you have any chocolate?”
“Aha!” Dr Stoneway said and reached into a bowl.
“We usually reserve that for after the main meal, but we can make an exception on this one occasion.”
He handed me a small brown square, which didn’t look at all appetising.
“Try it.” Dr Stoneway said.
I sniffed the hard substance then quickly took a bite. The chocolate melted instantly and what felt like every taste bud in my mouth came alive. The velvet texture coated my tongue, and the sweetness gave my head a rush, the sensation was incredible.
“Now that is good!” I zinged.
“Aha! Everyone eat and drink to your hearts content. After dinner, we take a nap.” Dr Stoneway announced for our benefit.
“You sleep after you’ve eaten?” Sal asked.
“Yes, we’re mammals we enjoy our sleep, it is essential.” Dr Stoneway said.
I thought back to our trip to UC and Max saying that Saps believed their dream world was as important as when they were awake. He was right and full of so much helpful knowledge. I missed Max and was sad to have left him behind. He would have loved it here in Commania. It would have been a fantastic field trip for him. I made a promise to myself to make sure Max got to experience Commania one day.
“We wake up early grateful to the sun for rising. We eat, dance, sing, exercise, educate or work, dinner, nap and then Kimetic.” Dr Stoneway informed us of their daily activities.
“What’s Kimetic?” I asked scoffing mouthfuls of chocolate.
Dr Stoneway smiled again, “You’ll see.”
***
“What’s the commotion?�
�� Cindy asked, walking into her sister's parlour.
“I caught them getting it on,” Max said scornfully.
“Way to go Minds. Good for you.”
"Thanks, Twinny," Mindy smiled coyly, thankful for the support.
“Shall we call your mother to see how good for you she thinks it is?” Max said.
“Oh like, that’s true, mother would be like so-oo against you two having a relationship. You know she doesn’t trust Tachions. Sorry, Philippe, that’s just the way she is.”
Ms Lush only allowed Philippe into the house because she pitied him. She could understand that his Code Type parents had tried to create the perfect athletic child, but it went wrong, and Philippe had turned out to be a rare genetic mistake. The Twins hadn’t told their mother about knowing Wain. His family were Tachions through and through and had been so for generations. There would be no way the Twins could explain their new friendship with him to their mother.
“Maybe it would be a good idea not to tell mother,” Cindy said.
Philippe shifted uncomfortably, the muscles in his face rippled, “I don’t want to be anybody’s dirty secret.”
“Like that’s her problem, not mine.” Mindy said defensively.
“It’s not just your mother, that's a big no-no on the Upper Worlds. Code Types and Tachions can be friends but reproducing is not fair to your children. Genetically they could be anything.” Max said.
“Then we should change the way things are.” Philippe seethed.
“Yeah who made those rules anyway?” Cindy asked.
“It's like so-oo out of date.” The Twins said together.
“Yeah. In UC all different people were together romantically. Their Code Type status didn’t even matter.” Philippe held Mindy’s hand.
“Well that’s why they live underground, in you-know-where, so that they can get away with that sort of dangerous behaviour.”
“What!” Philippe strode towards Max outraged, pulling Mindy behind him.
“So you think it's justified that Mindy and I be banished to a forbidden place so that we can be together?” Philippe asked towering over Max.
Max nervously took off his spectacles. His aim wasn’t to upset his friend.
