by Alex Getz
“What’s holding this down?”
Carol shrugged her shoulders and tried to get her body into a vertical position. She fluidly lowered herself onto the table, standing on top of it with both feet.
“I think someone is there!” Arthur said guardedly, looking into the next room.
“Did you see someone?” Carol asked.
“Yes, someone was definitely there.”
“That’s probably just one of our new groupmates,” River said calmly.
“But it wasn’t! It was a grown man. Look! There he is again! He’s swimming through the room! In our direction!”
Panic resounded in Arthur’s voice. Carol and River swam up to Arthur and indeed saw a stranger unhurriedly crossing the room. It seemed that he didn’t notice his guests yet. The kids sped from the room. Unluckily for Arthur, his diving suit was caught by one of the sculptures near the exit. He wanted to call out to his friends to wait for him, but the man from the other room suddenly swam out, so the boy all of a sudden remained silent. Goosebumps popped up over Arthur’s skin. The stranger had grey hair and beard, and his clothes looked as it was from a store that rents out historical costumes from the Middle Ages. Emerging in the center of the room, the stranger remained in place and stared in Arthur’s direction. Arthur tried to free his suit from the sculpture, while the man's eyes stared in Arthur with a vacant gaze, endowing the stranger with certain cold-bloodedness.
“Carol, where's Arthur?” River asked. Turning around, they suddenly realized that Arthur was no longer with them. “I'll swim back to him. You wait here.”
Swimming back, River saw a man in the room and Arthur facing him, held captive by a sculpture.
“Arthur, hold on!”
River swam to his brother's aid, and together they managed to tear Arthur's caught suit from the statue. The brothers lunged for the door with all their strength and quickly swam out of the room.
“I was worried something had happened. I was ready to swim after you,” Carol told the boys when they reemerged in the corridor.
“Carol, swim quickly to Rufus!” River yelled without further explanation.
She turned around sharply and set off for the exit. Along the way, they ran into David and the twins and told them to leave the castle as quickly as possible.
Vic soon grew bored of exploring the castle by himself and decided to return to the meeting point and wait for the others. When he came there, he saw Rufus standing on the edge of the balcony. He only noticed Vic when the boy swam quite close.
“Already seen everything?”
“Almost,” Vic answered. “Will this city ever exist?”
“Everything will depend on the council’s decision, where rulers of different civilizations consider projects.”
“How do they decide if the new planet needed in the universe?”
“Mainly, by new experience which it can bring with its existence. As well as benefit.”
Vic watched the whales swim below near the foot of the castle. Suddenly, the rest of the group appeared on the platform, each with a not-so-happy look.
“Did something happen?” Rufus asked, examining their faces.
“Rufus, there is a man in a medieval costume!” Arthur blurted. “He scared me to death!”
“Men?” Rufus asked, remaining calm but slightly perplexed.
“Yes, with grey hair. He’s swimming around the rooms. He wanted to finish me off, so we should probably scram as quickly as possible.”
“Wait a minute. Theoretically, no one should be in there. I wonder if Philip has already started incarnating the city’s inhabitants. Now isn’t this a great story! It seems that you’ve been lucky enough to meet King Junius. They planned to work on him first,” Rufus seemed thrilled by the children’s sighting.
“But he was going to kill me!” Arthur protested.
“What are you going on about?”
“Well, I was in the room when this king began to approach me…”
“Did he do something to you?”
“No, but he looked like he can.”
“Are you sure?” Rufus asked.
Arthur now realized he probably worked himself into a panic over nothing. Indeed, the man only tried to swim toward Arthur; he did not demonstrate any aggressive movements. Most likely, Arthur was just overwhelmed because he couldn’t free himself from the sculpture and also that he didn’t expect to see anyone in the empty castle. On top of that, King Junius, with his soulless gaze, looked like he could draw a sword at any second and pierce through Arthur.
“Right now, the king, or rather his robotic prototype, is likely programmed just to swim around his castle. It is simply a coincidence that you happened to be in the same room as him.”
“But what if it isn’t him? What if it’s one of Ortigon’s tricks?” Arthur remained stressed.
“From your description, I can confidently conclude that this man was King Junius. I didn’t think that he would materialize precisely today. By my calculations, this was going to take place in several days. But if you look at it in a different light, you were lucky enough to see a real resident of the underwater city! And not just a resident—the king!” It became apparent that Rufus was teasing them lightly. “Let say you overreacted of something just because you were not sure what it was.”
“Maybe it would be better if your team could redo this king’s face, so he doesn’t look so menacing,” Arthur muttered.
Arthur had an inkling that Rufus intentionally set up this meeting to check their reactions.
“Before you arrived,” Rufus quickly changed the topic, “I was telling Vic that every planet is created to bring the new experience to the universe that had not existed yet. You need to remember this, as the rest of the day will be dedicated to your assignment—planet creating. But you don’t need to develop the whole planet, for now, it should be just some part or detail of it, for example, a new type of animal, or it could be a new type of knowledge or emotion that beings will experience, it's up to you. Decide what new you can bring. Also, create something that will excite you.
In the training lab, you will be able to make scenes that will demonstrate your project. In the beginning, share your ideas, discuss them, and start to create. You will complete this project as a group and will present it when it is ready after a few more lessons. But keep in mind that every lesson will be evaluated by elders separately.”
“How could this assignment help us in our world? If we wouldn’t be able to do something like that when we return home?” asked River.
“The task here is to broaden your visions. Living in your world, people mainly think that this is the only place where life is. We want you to look from another perspective.”
On that note, Rufus whistled to the whales, which promptly swam up to their riders. Saddling back onto them, the elder and children returned to the laboratory the same way they came — through the underwater city.
Chapter ten
The New Project
River, Arthur, Carol, Vic, and Venusians were in a training section of the laboratory. Rufus left the group on their own after detailed instruction for their assignment.
“Does anyone have any ideas to start?” Arthur asked the others.
Vic plunged into his thoughts, and a picture gradually took shape in his mind. “I think I have one,” he said, “but I don’t know if we can pull it off.”
“Lay it on us,” said Carol.
“If we will create something… that could help our planet?”
“What do you have in mind?” River asked.
“We could think up something to help our planet to free from Ortigon’s curse faster.”
“Do you really think it is even possible?”
“Why not?”
“If Florence and other smart guys in Octavia didn’t come up with something, do you think we can?”
Everyone was looking at Vic, and he started to walk hither and thither. “We can create someone or something—a new kind of beings or
things—that could help to spread information about Octavia.”
“What kind of beings and things could they be?” River asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Vic answered. “Or wait. I guess I know. We should create those whom Ortigon couldn’t catch or harm. We’ll make robotic prototypes of people, like Elsa! They will be programmed for all necessary actions!” He looked at Carol, probing for approval in her gaze. He raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“Awesome!” exclaimed David, while others tried to digest information.
“Sounds pretty crazy,” Arthur said. “But there is something in it.”
“It’s risky,” Carol said at last. “We don’t know Ortigon’s full potential—”
“It seems to me that anything concerning Ortigon is going to come with a certain degree of risk,” Vic muttered, but Carol’s words sowed seeds of doubt in his mind. “Anyway, this is only a project for the assignment. So there is no point to worry much about.”
“Does anyone have other ideas? I quite like Vic’s,” Arthur said.
“Let’s say we create this. How should those beings or things look? And how will they help?” River asked. “Do you think when people will hear about Octavia with its flying bikes and elves and all, they’re going to believe everything just like that?” River snapped his fingers to emphasize his point.
“Of course not,” Vic replied, “but we can devise a plan to point them in the right direction gradually.”
By saying davriada, Carol made a drawing easel with paper.
“Take this,” she offered a marker to Vic.
Vic walked up to Carol’s easel and made some quick sketches. After discussing, everyone agreed to continue with Vic’s idea. They decided to split the project. River, Arthur, and Vic were developing ways of how information could be spread, while others were helping with visual details. Everyone sectioned off space in the training laboratory to bring their ideas to life. When Carol walked over to Venusians twins, she saw that Kristen was choosing a manicure for the human prototypes.
“Kristen, I thought that inhabitants on your planet don’t do manicures?”
“No, we don’t have fingernails. I just thought it was interesting how earthlings decorate ends of their fingers,” Kristen smiled in response.
“Yes, I can imagine it might be quite unusual from your perspective. But it is not a very necessary detail, really. Let’s work, for example, on their clothes.”
“Okay, let’s do that.”
“Great! I’ll help you.”
In a short time, a bookstore appeared in front of Vic, shelves packed with a multitude of books. Others came closer to watch his scene. Everything looked more than real, visitors wandered around the store, examining books. One visitor was walking toward the historical section. Taking one of the books from the shelf, he opened it and started to read. After ten seconds or so, he furrowed his eyebrows in surprise and opened the book on another page. Vic stood right next to the man.
“Excuse me, sir,” Vic asked him.
“Yes?”
“Would you mind giving me that book for a moment?”
The man extended the book to Vic, not paying attention to the other children standing near.
“Look,” Vic handed the book to them. “Here is all about Octavia. So that people in bookstores could accidentally stumble across this information. It is my first idea. And right now, another one. Come here.”
When they turned around the next high bookshelf, they found themselves in a completely different place. Someone’s bedroom, to be exact. The kids lined up along the wall and watched as an adult man and woman in striped pajamas got into bed. Nightlights glowed on either side of the bed, and small stacks of books rested nearby. A woman pushed the pillow against the wall and leaned up against it. Picking a book off the very top of the book pile, she opened it to a bookmark.
“Dear, what is your book doing on my nightstand?”
“What book?”
“I don’t know. Something about teleportation.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“I could ask you the same thing!”
“I don’t care about teleportation. Are you sure it isn’t just one of your new novels?”
“Not this one! Here, you read it.”
“You’re right,” the man scratched his bald head, opening the book to the first page. “Here it goes on about a land located on our planet, but we know nothing about it…”
Vic stepped aside and opened the door into a different room. Now they found themselves in a living room. The same couple sat on a couch. The man was watching soccer, and his wife was flipping through the journal next to him.
“This is the third time in a row that they’ve lost! Can you imagine?” the husband complained.
“Yeah.”
“I can’t watch this anymore. I don’t have the patience for it. Their game is so lousy, I’ll only get upset,” he picked up remote and changed the channel to the news. “Maybe something more interesting is here.”
The news first dragged on about political stuff when suddenly, about a man holding almost the entire planet under his control.
“As it appeared, he is an unspoken ruler no one knows anything about,” the narrator’s voice asserted.
The couple stared silently at the television screen.
“What is he talking about, dear?”
“I have no idea!”
The voiceover continued, “You see these mountains? These fields? This small town?” Shots of Octavia rushed across the screen one after another. “Yes, this is our planet. And there is nothing especially distinctive at first glance, but…”
“I didn’t overdo it, did I?” Vic asked his friends with a hint of doubt in his voice.
“What can I say?” Carol said. “I can fully imagine this in real life.”
“Now is my turn, come over here,” River told the others, while Vic’s imaginary world froze. They opened a door, behind which yet another scene awaited them.
They appeared in a large restaurant with numerous tables and diners conversing noisily. Music played loudly, and waiters ran between tables with trays. River headed to the group of three people seated at the table. By the time the kids approached, the waiter already took the money after their finished meals and left each a fortune cookie before departing.
“Oh, no. River, please don’t say they’re going to find out about Octavia from these fortune cookies,” Arthur pleaded.
A woman at the table broke her cookie in half and pulled out a piece of paper. Arthur walked up to her and read over her shoulder:
“Very soon, you will find out the truth. Follow the signs.”
Then he walked up to another woman, who got a different message: ‘You are the creator of your dreams, as well as your fears.’
“That’s all for now; I know it could be better. I will try to work more on the messages,” confessed River. “What do you think?”
“The one is too blurry, and another seems too straightforward,” one of the twins said.
“I like your idea. But agree that predictions could be a bit more informative. Guys, we have very little time left until the end of the lesson,” said Carol.
“River, if you finished, can I take a turn?” Arthur asked.
“Go for it.”
Following Arthur, the group exited from a restaurant onto a crowded street with cars and bicycles moving along a road.
“Over here!” Arthur showed a small newspaper kiosk.
A man in a business suit and with a briefcase in hand was standing there.
“Yes, that newspaper, please,” the man told the seller.
“That’ll be two dollars.”
The man withdrew two coins from his pocket, paid for the newspaper, and set off along the sidewalk. Slowing his pace, he read while walking,—the group clustered around him on both sides—“From today forward, you will begin to understand that you live under evil’s rule. Once you know your true essence, changes will start to
appear in your life. You are more than you think of yourself. Pay attention to signs and follow your intuition.”
The man stopped and even read a few horoscopes for other zodiac signs, but those referred to work or relationships.
“I think this is exactly what we need to begin with,” Vic turned to Arthur, but he was already hailing a taxi at the end of the sidewalk.
The yellow car pulled up to the curb with a squeal and stopped. Arthur opened the door.“Climb in, quickly!”
“But there isn’t enough room for everyone!” River said.
“It’s roomier than it looks, get in! Come on, already! Don’t forget that I am the creator of this taxi and can expand it as much as I can, haha!”
As strange as it was, everyone indeed fit in the car.
“Where to?” the taxi driver asked.
“Highway Fifteen,” Arthur replied curtly.
A radio station played in the car; the passengers heard the song’s lyrics:
“There is a land where you are free
Where you are the creator
And where you become everything you want to be
It’s not difficult to find
If you open up your mind...”
“That’s pretty cool, Arthur!” Carol exclaimed.
“Where is taxi racing us off to?” Vic wondered.
The taxi driver drove at a too high speed, turning sharply around corners and making the children involuntarily smash into one another.
“What’s going on?” Carol asked, slightly panicking. Suddenly the taxi driver seemed to have completely lost his sense of direction. The car headed directly toward a few cyclists on the side. Everyone screamed.
“Arthur, stop it! Why are you―?” River yelled.
The very moment when the car should have smashed into the cyclists, it drove off the road and raced across a field.
