Katya wanders for days through the endless boulevards of the city. She awakes one
morning in a park- she keeps her eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin.
She hears a fountain nearby, its soft mist touching her face- the air is heavy with the smell
of flowers- a shadow passes- someone walking by. She hears them stop and sit down on
the grass- opening her eyes, squinting in the light, she sees Lao.
“You knew what would happen, didn’t you?” he says.
There was something very different about him- a scar on his forehead, in the shape of a
familiar symbol. Her heart freezes- she stands up slowly, backing away. “Jal.”
“Don’t act so surprised- you did exactly as you were supposed to. I think our Creator must
be pleased- you don’t have the smell of his curse on you. I’m sure you could do whatever
you wanted to now- perhaps return to the Steppe?”
“I can’t go- not without you.”
Jal pauses thoughtfully for a moment. “I would go with you- there’re a few things I need to
complete here before I go- you could stay with me, and when I’m finished, we’ll leave
together.”
“I know what you’ve done here- you’ve created your own collective unconscious with
yourself as Tep- I couldn’t figure out why at first, but it’s a weapon, isn’t it?”
“No,” says Jal, “Not a weapon- but a schematic of one. When it’s completed its template
will be able to be grafted onto a psychic resonator, which can be installed into a satellite.
As it travels through space, races light years away will be able to hear it.”
“So they can build one of their own?”
“No,” Jal smiles thinly, “Weapons aren’t the answer- but they can point to one. Freedom
from the collective unconscious should be the responsibility of the individual. Most beings
aren’t even aware there’s a prison, much less that there’s a way out- this art work will
point to both of these things. This will be my last work of art- when it’s done, I’ll release the
souls in my Steppe to do as they wish. I’ll reconcile my soul with Siah’s, and together we’ll
all go back to the Steppe- the real one- and live out our eternities.
Katya looks at him, lost for a moment, in dream: Jal united with the fragment of his
alienated soul, the dismemberment of the nightmare weapon that used souls as its
components, Jal and herself walking together into the Steppe. Katya allows herself this
only for a moment before setting the vision carefully aside. Then, she begins to form a
plan.
#
Darkness and bright contrails of meteors that fill the night sky- the shadows play over
Katya’s face as Jaldeja watches her sleep. Silently, he gets out of bed and gets dressed,
a breeze from the window chilling him for a moment- Kat stirs and for a moment it looks as
if she’ll wake up. Jal is shocked- he has no explanation ready- he’ll have to tell her
everything.
But Katya doesn’t wake up- she stays peacefully asleep while Jal watches her a moment
longer, backing away and shutting the door softly behind. In the hallway he hugs himself
tightly- it’s cold- he should’ve worn more. Stepping into the elevator, he backs against the
wall and closes his eyes, feeling the descent. When the doors open at last, he steps onto
the vehicle platform- the cold wind with its ocean smell whistles through the tunnels,
whipping his clothes about him.
Walking up to a featureless section of the wall, he places both hands against it and
watches as the solid surface fades to form a doorway- beyond is a short passageway that
leads to a stairwell. He hesitates for a moment, but a warm draft of air from below lures
him in. The door fades back into existence behind him, shutting off all light for a moment
before a thin light strip along the ceiling flickers on.
The stairway seems worn smooth, as if from centuries of heavy use. The satellite had
been formed under his guidance over thousands of years from the implants of all his
people. Now that he was flesh, he would be able to see it at last. Standing in front of the
door at the bottom of the stairs, he places his hands against it and it fades.
A brightly lit white room- the object sits before him, almost complete; it was only a little
larger than himself. Made of intelligent metal and other biomechanical compounds, it could
configure its organic and machine components at will, enabling it to adapt to any situation
it encountered while its telepathic array transmitted its coalition of images, sensation, and
emotion.
Jal watches, fascinated, as it forms nodules of flesh-metal antennae that wave like plants
under the sea- it was recording even now. Approaching slowly, he moves his hands
across its leathery surface as the device sprouts more antennae that softly caress his skin.
In a way, Jal thinks, he’s telling Katya the truth- they are returning to Earth. His eyes blur
for a moment- warm tears- it’s almost over now. The satellite’s sensors change
configuration to record this new emotion. Sitting down on the floor in front of it, he thinks
how it will record everything telepathically- his psychic image, Katya, Siah’s, that of the
Earth itself- all of them would be in the final picture.
Jal had machines on Earth even now- intelligent machines that were hidden, recording.
Soon they would reveal themselves, but only after they had gotten a pure psychic
template of that innocent place. Earth had know no such machines for eons- he must
record how the current inhabitants will respond to them, how seeing them will affect their
souls.
It would be a build up to the final catastrophe- to expose them to their fate all at once
would only drive them into catatonia, but a gradual disintegration- it would be like a
painting whose colors were filled in one at a time- a mystery until the last color’s shape
was revealed.
The tears flow freely now as the machine records his reaction to these thoughts. It could
be done no other way, and it was far too late now- it had been too late when he had taken
his first breath of his first life.
Even as he tries to fight it, the final stages of his plan become clear.