707. Amor desti, 9
When I was still a child, I remember seeing a few people excavating a barrow near our town.
I recall being puzzled at how this could be a job or passion to anyone. Everyone knows what lies in a tomb, whether it’s modern or old.
What’s interesting about that? Honestly. I couldn’t see.
I also recall the tales of ancient treasures associated with tombs. From the holy grail to the mountains of gold buried with the pharaohs. Things are generally more colourful when you leave Occident behind.
Now though... The idea of powerful artefacts left buried isn’t completely irrelevant. We’re in a time after Solaris.
Computers remain numerous albeit seldom working. So it does make sense to expect to find a few more intact computers inside of artificial caves.
Since civilisation collapsed, so has its technology and industry. Making artefacts actually useful sometimes and not just fragments of history.
The loss of knowledge is saddening. Sealed tombs are useful today.
For us, and for the flowers who will come next.
As preserves of knowledge instead of food.
We’ve had many occasions to encounter such places already, with varying outcomes.
I’ve come to learn the importance on a civilised scale to burry treasures as spare seeds and preserves for the future. It’s a great investment for rebuilding after times of recessions, great or slight.
It was a smart idea from Nightmare to seek the tomb most likely to hold space travel history and data.
I’m still surprised she had that idea to be honest. That she admitted the superiority from humanity...
N - My wariness with humans is a different thing from acknowledging their achievements.
R - Right. But from one claiming to be a god, I couldn’t help but see some pride involved.
N - Pride hm?
Nightmare is thinking about it. I let her be. I shouldn’t judge I feel.
We walk the day, along endless roads not unlike Russia in some ways.
Nightmare gathers food and cooks during the evenings and nights. I watch the noises over the sea of T.I. before falling asleep, like watching fire in the hearth. It appears as light fluctuating glows to me. We’re still floating lost in the middle of that ocean, sis’ and I.
I hope Nokarlık is alright.
I don’t hear her voice coming from the earth. Not that it ever should, but it would ease me a little.
I grab Nightmare’s hand as I try to fall asleep. She asks me what’s that about, but I don’t reply.
Her consciousness mostly localised in that body of similar manufacture to her daughter’s reacts oddly.
She’s still a little spooked by me indirectly or instinctively. I do want to blame her for that, but I hold my tongue.
And I hold her hand, a little forcefully.
I’ve passed every test and check since we were reunited. I want my reward or recognition of loyalty in exchange... So yes, I’m a little proud as well.
Stop pushing me away for a while please.
Nightmare ponders about that too now. How much risk she’s willing to take on that soft matter. She makes a face to me in the dark.
But she lies there and leaves her hand held by mine.
~
I wake up alone, of course... But she’s not far, I can tell.
I find her right outside the rusting coach where we camped for the night. She’s slicing an enormous mushroom by the side of the road I didn’t notice yesterday. Other slices are already roasting on a small fire a little further. I go help myself for breakfast.
I check the compass and the maps. Well it’s probably roughly the right direction so far. Hopefully we’ll find more road signs still readable as we get closer to that specific mountain.
Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not. Like most things of decay since the white day, it’s mostly unpredictable.
I’m sure she can fly with her pelt like Nokarlık now does, but likely she saves her energy for when she’ll need it later.
I’m less easy without wings to control and assist a flight, but in a pinch I probably could do the same. I wonder if I should train on that as well?
R - Say sis’, what do you think would be best for me to train after biological engineering?
I can hear her instinctive mean replies, but she holds them back. She then looks for an answer to tease me, but nothing comes... So only one serious answer comes in the end.
N - Translating your brain and identity into trustworthy T.I. structure.
R - Right. Making insurance seeds by myself.
Nightmare hands me another gelatinous egg meanwhile. I take hold of it.
N - Make another one for now, to better remember.
R - No biting this time.
N - Unless you want me to.
R - Gosh. You’re worse than Blume sometimes!
The reprimand does make her crack a smile.
All sadists and perverts... I try to convince myself they’re good people as well, but their natural tendencies always resurface... Oh the woe...
But I’m grinning too oddly.
~
I focus onto abstract assemblies of proteins, catalysts, enzymes and all their necessary feeding stocks, and wastes, trying to complete another ridiculously difficult puzzle.
R - A hug is okay though.
Instead of biting. To turn the tease back on her. Nightmare opens her arms and comes to hug me quite tenderly, even coming to rub our cheeks together and ruffling my hair. It’s very familiar. Puzzling, but I like it.
Now I’m all smile and willing to work harder.
As night falls, she then goes to look around, leaving me to work on my own.
I do my best! And I’ll demand more hugs for any reason I can think of looking forward.
~
I have rather bad dreams again. Another poor night. I’m concerned for Nokarlık and it shows.
Nightmare shakes me.
N - Come on, we should move on, it’s about to rain.
It’s probably normal rain, but we want to be careful. We can’t exactly see that exotic material that destructurates T.I. and organic materials. It doesn’t irradiate at all and doesn’t carry any heat. So we can only see it when its effects become clear, in rains.
Thus, we don’t take our chances. I put the egg I’m working on in my bag and we’re rapidly hitting the road.
The way this rain falls is erratic, but its origin and targets are without ambiguity anymore.
R - Maybe we could try to analyse its T.I. from higher above the atmosphere?
N - Why do you think so?
R - It made me think of aurora borealis. Maybe this exotic material doesn’t come from the moon, but is T.I. around the atmosphere structured that way by another signal or particle coming from further away?
N - Good question. What do you suggest?
I show her the egg she gave me.
Not enough to restart a Kosmos from the beginning, especially since it’s still raining. But enough surely to make a high altitude bird to do some more analysis. Correlating it with what we already know and what Kosmos sent in its last moment, we might find something most interesting.
N - Okay. Here.
Nightmare hands me a few more pearls. How many programs has she developed?
I try to guess what they hold, focusing my microscope on them.
I recognise one of the pulsoreactors with liquid fuel. Hard to believe a living thing can actually spit fire biologically, and use it to fly. If a bird must use that, what a bird it will be!
Another holds some brain tissues and sensory organs for T.I. I find more fruits of her own labour for me to try using...
She’s finding me worthy...
N - Don’t look at me like that.
R - But I’m touched. I want another hug when I make that one successfully fly.
N - ... Fine.
R - You kind of want it too, don’t you?
Ouch, now she looks mad, and conflicted. And maybe even blushing slightly?
She’s lovely.
~
