Pillars of Creation

The Homecoming

The descent pod hovered over the dry grass and dun earth of the Olduvai Gorge. A few animals had noticed the sphere's arrival but, after it had proved itself to be neither a threat nor potential prey, they had ignored it. The pod was not allowed to land, let alone touch the ground in any way. This place was considered too sacred, too fragile for even the slightest contamination by outsiders.

Inside the sphere, Athena stood naked under a violet ray; her arms and legs were outstretched so that no part of her body was shielded from the sterilising radiation, a pair of dark goggles protected her eyes. A chime sounded and the light shut off.

"Legal Entity Athena Haruna." The voice was calm and, like the chime, seemed to come from nowhere. "Cleansing has been completed. You may commence your pilgrimage. However, I am required to warn you that pilgrimage is undertaken at your own risk. Should you require assistance during your pilgrimage - ."

"I know," Athena replied brusquely. She took off the goggles, then continued in a more apologetic tone. "I'm sorry. I know you have to go through this with everybody, but I know what I'm letting myself in for. I've trained for this."

"I do not bear you any ill will, Legal Entity Athena Haruna," the pod voice said. "However, I require you to provide a formal acknowledgement of the conditions of pilgrimage before I am allowed to release you."

Athena opened a sealed storage locker and took from it the items she had elected to use on her pilgrimage: a stone knife, a wooden staff and a carrying sling. As demanded by tradition and custom, all of these had been made of natural materials from Earth, shaped by the hands of those who had gone on pilgrimage and returned. Athena wasn't superstitious, but she felt comfort in knowing that she was carrying items that had brought other people luck. As soon as she had arranged her new belongings to her satisfaction, she straightened up.

"Very well." Athena took a deep breath. "I, Legal Entity Athena Haruna declare that I formally accept the conditions of pilgrimage. I am solely responsible for this, and alone shall bear the burden of my decisions."I therefore request to commence pilgrimage." She glanced up at the ceiling of the pod. "Will that do?"

The voice chuckled. "Indeed, Legal Entity Athena Haruna. Please stand by."

The light in the pod's interior started to change, simultaneously becoming brighter but becoming softer in tone to match the sunlight in the gorge. Then a hole appeared in the pod wall, allowing Athena her first proper sight of Humanity's birthplace. She clambered through the opening and lowered her feet to the soil, enjoying the sensation against her skin.

"One last thing, Legal Entity Athena Haruna," the pod voice said.

"What?" Athena glanced back over her shoulder.

"Welcome home."

Athena walked away from the landing pod. After she had taken a dozen steps, she heard the keening of the pod's engines and felt a momentary wind tug at her. When she turned around to look, she saw that she was alone.

By sunset, Athena had walked for what felt like miles. In the rolling landscape of the gorge, her untrained eyes had found it difficult to make out any distinguishing features. The only landmarks Athena could remember from her briefing were the distant crags of the Naibor Soit hills - and those were too far away to be of any help to her. They rose above the horizon, never seeming to move. As the day's shadows lengthened, heralding the coming of the night, Athena realised she had not had anything to eat or drink since leaving the landing pod. The rules of pilgrimage were simple - she had to live in the same way her distant ancestors had: surviving on whatever she could find or kill. While she could have asked for some rations to help her in the first week of her pilgrimage, she had refused, confident that a 30th century human being could do just as well as the humans of more than half-a-million years before. Now Athena was regretting the decision.