Twin Earth

Chapter 29

At first, I saw and heard nothing, just darkness and a muffled softening of external sound in my ears, but then slowly, fuzzy at first, a landscape began to appear in my field of vision. Lush fields of long grass flowed endlessly into the distance where huge mountains glistened under the soft glow of a sunset. Even brightly coloured butterflies fluttered in the gentle breeze I could now feel on my skin. For a moment I gasped at how real it all felt and looking down I realised I could see my own body and even touch my own skin. I was able to move my hands through the grass and feel the texture, disturbing the grass and the butterflies as I did so.

"Welcome," a voice softly announced from behind me. Spinning around, I saw that it was the man from before. "My name is Apo. I am one of the guardians of Mochuvia."

"How... how am I seeing you right now?" I stuttered, confused.

"You see all of us," Apo smiled, waving his hand around and directing me to look. He was right, appearing before my eyes in a fuzzy like haze was Rachel and four other Mochuvian people, two male and two female.

"Are you the Order?" I asked.

"We are all the Order," one of the other men replied walking over. "I am Sachihiro."

"Sachihiro? That sounds Japanese."

"Japanese?" the man asked curiously. "What is Japanese?"

"It's err... a country on Earth. I am half Japanese, half Scottish."

"What is half?" one of the women asked.

"Is that why you look so different to each other?" the other woman asked.

"This is Itzel and Akna," Apo replied, smiling.

"And I am Adom," the final man added.

Looking at the aliens I was stunned to see how similar they all looked, all much taller than either Rachel or I, dark-skinned and with long narrow eyes and noses. They were also all completely bald and hairless, with skin so smooth it looked like it was made of the same silk as their fabric.

"Do you not have different looking people then?" I asked, confused.

"We used to, but not for thousands of years," Adom stated.

"We have evolved beyond differences," Apo added.

"Who are you people? And what is this place?" I asked, looking around. Rachel had walked away from the group to play with the butterflies and for a moment I felt annoyed at how detached she seemed to be from our mission. It was like she had taken a drug or something because of how calm she was. Turning back to look at the aliens I waited for an answer but was greeted with only curious smiles.

"We are the people of Mochuvia," Adom finally replied.

"But earlier you said we are human, just like you. What did you mean by that?"

"We came from Earth," Apo replied.

"Earth?" I asked, dumbfounded. "But how did you get here?"

"Please, calm yourself. You have nothing to fear from us," one of the women known as Akna replied.

"This place is magical," Rachel breathed, re-joining us. "Don't you think it's magical Tom?"

"Is that your name, Tom?" Apo asked curiously.

"Sorry, yes. My name is Tom and this Rachel."

"Yes, we know Rachel. She is gifted," Adom smiled.

"Gifted huh," I mumbled, whilst watching Rachel happily play with a butterfly. "So, what is this place? Some kind of virtual reality?" I asked.