by Alex Getz
“What does all this mean? Take us back, Arthur!” River demanded.
But Arthur had something on his mind. When the lake soon became visible against the horizon, all eyes fixed once again on Arthur.
“Just wait a little bit more,” Arthur pleaded. “You’ll like it! It’s just like a video game!”
“Now I know where it is coming from—your favorite racing games! But Arthur, this is not a game!!!” River almost yelled at him when the car was already flying over a big, blue lake, rocking slightly in the air.
“You’re off your rocker,” River said.
“Let’s open the sunroof,” Carol seemed to have caught onto Arthur’s vibe. The others stared at her.
“Alrighty,” Arthur obeyed, revealing the cloudless blue sky overhead.
Carol peeked her head out from the sunroof without a second thought and raised her arms upward. Vic and Arthur stood up near her. Music continued to play loudly inside the taxi. The twins sat holding one another. David seemed to get into the spirit of adventure, as he proclaimed his desire to look out the hatch after guys. After he did so, they saw a rainbow appearing ahead of them.
“Wow!” David exclaimed, sitting back in the car. “We don’t have rainbows. Or rain. We don’t have a lot of the stuff as you have here.”
“We probably also don’t have much thing as you have on Venus,” Carol said. “You must have stardust instead of rain.”
“We do, in fact,” the twins replied in surprise.
The rainbow grew brighter, and its arch was rising directly over the car when suddenly surroundings disappeared in a white shroud of fog. The taxi with its driver vanished. And the children stood on the ground in the laboratory where they began their journey.
“That was quite a trip!” a familiar voice rang out near them.
They all turned to face the direction of the speaker and saw Rufus.
“I see you used lots of energy for other purposes, rather than fully focus on the task,” Rufus continued.
Everyone understood he was talking about their trip in a car.
“Your time is up for today. Your second lesson will be in one week,” Rufus’ voice was noticeably stern. Without additional explanation, elder teleported them back to the campsite. Lucy, Kristen, and David returned to their spaceship, which was hanging in the air above the forest.
During dinner, Carol, Vic, Arthur, and River were discussing the day’s events and agreed that next time they would try not to stray from the task, as obviously, Rufus wasn’t happy about it. Besides, it could reflect on their marks. Arthur made an excuse for his actions, explaining that he was only creating something exciting, as Rufus advised them to do. But in the end, he promised he would try to follow the rules next time and would not go too far with his excitement.
Chapter eleven
Possible Future
The next day, breakfast for the guests was in the main house.
“Good morning, everyone!” Patricia’s cheerful voice chirped nearby. “I brought your journals. The elders have already reviewed them. I heard about your project!”
“I hope they aren’t planning to wipe our memories and send us home anytime soon?” Arthur joked.
“That’s unlikely,” Patricia smiled.
Everyone collected their journals with marks and feedback.
“They gave me ten! How about that!” Arthur said delightedly. “How many did you get, River?”
“Fifteen.”
“Really? So how many did everyone else get?” Arthur asked curiously.
Vic looked like he was concentrating on reading the comments in his journal. Truth be told, he just didn’t want to answer Arthur’s question.
“I got fifteen as well,” Carol beamed. “It is a lot, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It isn’t often when you can earn so many points on just one part of the assignment,” Patricia confirmed.
“They took five points from my mark, as I’ve endangered classmates’ safety. It’s written here. Five points were worth that trip, though. But I wasn’t intended to endanger anyone!”
“Sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about,” seemed as Patricia wasn’t aware of a taxi journey.
“Right, don’t bother then. By the way, have you heard if elders liked our idea?”
“Yes, I heard someone said it is quite good and original!”
“Have you ever had such cases, when guests from our world made such a good project, that it was materialized in reality?” Arthur seemed to be very talkative this morning.
“No, I don’t remember such a case. Maybe something like that happened a long time ago.”
“I see. It would be pretty cool if our idea could come to life. If elders liked our project and marked it with a high mark, then maybe there is a point to think about it seriously,” Arthur said while putting jam on a toast. He bit off the toast and, with a full mouth, added, “Really, they should take our project seriously. Vic came up with a fantastic idea!”
Vic was listening to them and also thinking about his mark, which was higher than others, he’s got twenty.
“Well, you never know what can happen! I also wanted to remind you, your next lesson will be held in Room Sixteen, which is on the third floor. It will start in about an hour and a half. Now I have to go hand out journals to the other guests. See you soon!” and she set off to another table.
Meanwhile, Vic pondered Arthur and Patricia’s talk. Their words made him think, “What if this project could be indeed realized?” A firm conviction was growing. Something led Vic, and he knew exactly what he needs to do.
“I am going to the Ketlings,” Vic said to his friends.
“What did you say?” Arthur asked.
“I said I want to go there now and ask Mr. Ketling how we can improve our project, so elders will want to make it real.”
“You must be joking,” said River.
“There is a point in Arthur’s words. If elders didn’t like our project, they would mention it in our journals. But the only thing they wrote ‘it requires some improvements in suggested plots.’ And also, I don’t know how to explain, but I feel like I should try.”
“Why Mr. Ketling in particular?” Carol asked.
“I don’t know anyone else I could talk to about it. I’m going right now,” Vic said.
“Wait, we haven’t even finished eating yet!”
“I’m not hungry. See you later.”
Vic quickly stood up and ran toward the exit. The other children remained in place, following their friend with wondered gazes.
Vic raced across the field. He hastened to the Ketlings house and knocked loudly. Silence. Vic knocked again. Finally, he heard footsteps. The doors opened, and he saw Chloe with a bouquet in her hands.
“Oh! Hi, Vic!” Chloe greeted the boy with a slight surprise.
“Hello, Mrs. Ketling.”
“Are you ok? Don’t you have a lesson today?”
“We have some free time now before the lesson,” Vic panted, still trying to catch his breath. “Is Mr. Ketling at home?”
“He isn’t here. Is everything alright?”
“Yes, thank you. I’d better go then. I thought I would be able to speak to Mr. Ketling, but if he’s not at home...”
“I can contact him if this is urgent, and he might be able to stop by for a bit if he isn’t too busy.”
“Really?”
“Sure, come on in.”
Chloe spoke telepathically with her husband. She said that he would arrive shortly, but still, Vic would need to wait for a little. A smile broke out across Vic’s face.“Thank you very much, Chloe!”
“Not at all. It’s too bad that Germaine and Liz are at school right now. Would you like some tea? I just baked a pie as well, so you’ll get to be the first to taste it.”
“Yes, please!”
Chloe poured aromatic tea into beautiful porcelain cups with matching saucers, and then dished out two slices of pie. She asked Vic about the previous day, whether he liked
Rufus’ project, and what role each group member played in the creating their own when Vic noticed a light wind and a quiet, yet steadily growing noise. He spun around and saw Mr. Ketling, who just teleported home from the station.
“Hi, Vic! Chloe said that you had something important you wanted to talk to me about.”
“Hello, Mr. Ketling! I’m sorry to drag you away from work. You’re probably very busy.”
“Not to worry. I planned to come home for lunch anyway. So, what happened?” Mr. Ketling sat down at the table next to Vic.
Vic placed his journal on the table and pushed it toward Mr. Ketling.
“My notes from yesterday’s assignment are here. Could you take a look at our project, please? Your opinion would mean a lot to me.”
“Sure, sure, Vic,” Mr. Ketling took the journal and opened it to the most recent notes. “As I understand, yesterday you were trying your hand at planet creation. Let’s see.”
Mr. Ketling began to read Vic’s notes. Immersing in the group twenty-four’s process, he saw in his mind their actions from the very beginning to when the car drove through the rainbow. When he finished reading, Mr. Ketling closed the journal and returned it to Vic. For a while, he just studied the boy silently. Vic didn’t want to interrupt Mr. Ketling’s thought process and waited for him to speak.
“Funny,” was all he said.
Vic was preparing himself for any response, but he wasn't expected to hear just ‘funny.’
“I say funny because children often have more courage than adults. In my opinion, this project, of course, needs a lot of improvement. It is very basic, but I understood your main idea. And honestly, I have to say I like it. Well done!”
“What if something like this existed, would it be able to help people in our world to know more about Octavia?”
Mr. Ketling looked at Vic, trying to understand what stood behind that question.
“The thing is… I think this project could become more than just notes in a journal!” blurted out Vic. “It isn’t perfect yet, of course–”
“Wait, do you want to say you are thinking to materialize this project in your world?”
“Yes.”
“But this is only an assignment, there wasn’t a task to make it real. The task was to expand your vision and creativity, and you successfully did it. Just look, your mark is twenty! That’s way a good mark!”
“Mark is not very important to me. If elders think of this project positively, why not realize it then? If Ortigon will not have a possibility to trace it, as there will be no clones or portals, what can we lose by creating it? Don’t you agree that this idea has a chance to make a positive change?”
Mr. Ketling sat with a thoughtful expression.
“You see,” Mr. Ketling explained, “most people require a sufficient amount of time to acknowledge the whole truth and to react to it accordingly.”
“But, Mr. Ketling,” Vic ventured, “how do we know? Maybe they’ll be ready right away! Yes, I know I’m not the best example—I am myself resisted and needed time believing in Octavia. But finally, I understood what’s what!”
Vic spoke with such enthusiasm, he gestured more than he usually did and even raised his voice at the end of his speech. Chloe stopped washing the dishes to observe the unfolding scene from the side. Vic suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just have this feeling that I can’t give up on this... I will probably leave, we have a lesson soon. Thank you, Mr. Ketling, for your time. I don’t want to keep you any longer.”
“Wait. What can I say? How can I be of use to you, Vic?”
Vic sat down back on his chair.
“You could participate in the creation of it and help us with improvements.”
Mr. Ketling cleared his throat. Chloe sat down at the table.
“I think this idea has good potential,” she added softly. “In any case, dear, you aren’t losing anything.”
Vic was ready to kiss Chloe on both cheeks out of joy and gratitude. Mr. Ketling rolled his eyes upward as he considered all the pros and cons of the situation.
“That, of course, won’t be easy. To start working on your project, we have to involve someone professional in this field. Let me say this: when I have enough free time, I will think your idea over, and afterward, we can decide how to act further. Maybe I will be able to find someone who will be interested in participation. If so, I will try to give you an answer soon. We’ll see what happens.”
“Mr. Ketling, I… I appreciate it a lot. Thank you so much!”
“Not at all,” he looked at his watch, “I believe it is time for your lesson soon. You better hurry up!”
Indeed a little time remained, and Vic still needed to walk back to the main house. The boy bolted back to meet his friends. He could barely wait to share the news. The weather turned excessively hot—summer was right on time this year. Vic associated this season with time off from lessons and with days where he could do as he pleased. Now, surrounded by mountains and clear water lakes, Vic found himself far from home, away from the lofty skyscrapers and street noise. Crossing through the field, he ran at first, but in the middle of the road, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. Silence enclosed the field was only broken by the occasional sound of crickets or the singing of birds as they flew overhead. Everything seemed to freeze for a few seconds before Vic’s desire to tell his friends about his meeting with Mr. Ketling abruptly returned. Vic ran again and didn’t stop until he reached the main house.
Vic saw from afar that the others were waiting for him under a large oak tree, presumably attempting to escape the heat of the midday sun. Carol and Arthur were playing chess; next to them, River was reading a book. When Vic approached, they greeted him with curious gazes. Vic collapsed on the ground next to his friends, laid flat on his back, and tried to catch his breath.
“We wanted to go after you, but after breakfast, we had an introduction to our new assignment, which will start in about ten minutes. Now, tell us everything!” Carol said.
He recounted his meeting with Mr. Ketling to his friends, who listened to him almost in disbelief.
“Chloe also liked our idea. She said it has good potential. Mr. Ketling promised to think about our project and tell us more soon.”
“I can’t believe he didn’t refuse it,” Carol said.
“It is early to say something for sure, but hopefully… So, what is our next assignment?” Vic asked.
At that moment, an unfamiliar female voice resounded.
“We ask all guests to proceed to the main house. Please go into the room that was indicated for your group. Each group will proceed separately. Thank you.”
Everyone stood up. Arthur put away the unfinished chess game. On their way to Room Sixteen, Carol explained the assignment to Vic.
“Each person will experience their future. There is a machine that will create different versions of the future based on our biographies and personalities. The amount of versions is nearly infinite, and we will be randomly sent in one of them.”
“This sounds a bit disturbing,” Vic muttered.
“As they explained, our bodies will be here sleeping, while our conciseness will travel in the future. When you are in your ‘future body’, it will act on its own most of the time, based on the specific scenario. But you will also have the opportunity to interact and change the events if you need to.”
“Hmm. So, in ten minutes, we’re going to see our future selves?” Vic asked.
“Our potential future selves. It might be different in real life.”
“So will they put us to sleep for several hours?”
“Yep. I don’t get it fully myself how this whole thing works. We will see,” Carol said.
Entering Room Sixteen, the kids saw four beds that were connected to the metal construction in the center of the room. Mrs. Lilley met the group. She was usually in charge of all organizational things in the main house. She was often seen wearing wide-brimmed hats.<
br />
“Group Twenty-Four,” Mrs. Lilley confirmed. “Please come in and make yourselves comfortable. Now, all you need to do is just lie down on these beds. You will be transported into the dream within a few minutes.”
“Is all this safe?” Arthur asked with a slight concern.
“I can assure you everything is safe. You do not need to worry. If necessary, you will be disconnected from the dream, and you will wake up here.”
“Our Venusian groupmates are not here,” noticed Carol.
“They will not do this task, as they perceive time differently— not in a linear way as we do—therefore, they don’t need to travel into the future.”
At this, each lay down on a bed.
“Lay on your back, rest your hands at your sides, and breathe deeply. Very good,” they heard Mrs. Lilley’s voice gently intone.
Carol stared at the ceiling. Although she approached this assignment calmly, she felt her pulse gradually quicken from anxiety. She kept her eyes open, watching as a slowly rotating shiny circle appeared over the beds. River, lying on the next bed over, yawned loudly. Carol wanted to yawn as well but fell asleep faster than that.
With a brisk step, Carol crossed a spacious gallery. Large canvases with abstractions hung on the walls. There was no one else in the room, and Carol’s every step came with the sound of her soles rapping against the floor. The window looked out onto a busy street illuminated by the soft light of the morning sun. Suddenly, Carol stopped. Images flashed one after another in her head, connecting past and future. Carol realized she just moved into her future self! Intuition told her to walk forward. Carol walked past a room resembling an office. Wait. Carol turned back and stared at a sign with the inscription “Carol W.” ‘I guess this is where I’m supposed to be.’
Carol entered her office. Paintings decorated the walls and, upon approaching one, she recognized a reproduction of one of her favorite artist's works. Carol sat down at the desk, trying to wiggle more comfortably into the chair. The table was piled with papers and sketches; a framed photograph stood nearby. She picked it up, examining the family on the photo with a smiling woman, a man embracing her, and a small girl. Carol scrutinized the face, still not fully recognizing herself as a tall, full-grown woman. So this was how she would look. How old was she? Thirty or around that age, she thought. Carol opened a purse lying nearby and searched through it, drawing out a pocket mirror. Yes, her reflection looked precisely the same as the woman in the photo. A wedding ring adorned Carol’s hand, and she inspected it more closely. Just at that moment, a knock at the door made her flinch. ‘What should I do? What if this isn’t my office? No, how could that be? It’s definitely mine,’ Carol’s head spun with thoughts.
