The Life of Gaia

CHAPTER 4: HA! Funny

The thought that gripped me at that moment was that I wasn't ready to be there. From the moment he had met me, Zantas had filled me with information and dragged me to an absurd place without me even knowing who I was or what my sense of being alive was. 

If this mysterious flying sign that I used to make my way to the elevator waiting area hadn't frightened me so much with its reticence, and if he hadn't presented himself as some kind of god, I would have left him and gone back to that nice girl we had met and who seemed to me to really need a friend.

When we arrived in Deep Reality, we found ourselves on one of those small planets that Zantas called "a point where all kinds of services are available". Each sphere had a specific function: one dealt with food, one with security, one with entertainment, and another (the last one) with the administrative management of all the others. Each of the planets was different from the others, both in appearance and in building materials, and whenever you needed something, there was bound to be a place that could serve you well. 

The one we were on now was dedicated to medical care, and on our way we saw an impressive concentration of first aid stations and pharmacies. We arrived at the station in ten minutes. I was about to board one of the free elevators when, contrary to my expectations, Zantas stopped short and moved to the side to hide from view on the main street. We both found ourselves talking from behind a tree.

"What happened? I thought we should carry on from here," I pointed out to the tiny "god" as he nervously peered over my shoulder.

°That girl we greeted is a dreamer. You could be the one we're looking for!° he said with a very quick shiver of excitement. I wanted to point out that I hadn't felt any particular vibrations despite having been attached to her for quite some time, but I avoided it. Not having the right experience to be able to contradict him, I humored him. He was older and more powerful than me (so I believed)...he surely knew what the right choice was.

"If it's really her then we have to get to her now, right?"

°No no no, let's wait for that nasty wound in her heart to heal, otherwise she will risk dying. Better to wait for her to show up outside the hospital.°

I nodded vigorously, convinced of his plan, and followed him at a fast pace toward the large structure we had left behind a few minutes earlier and which Zantas had indicated as the hospital in response to my question. 

We left the elevator area and, with some trepidation, took the tree-lined road that connected the basic services, then followed the direction of a sign and turned left. The wind blew under my arms and caressed my hair, while the white night sky still shone above our heads.

 I was wondering how I was going to tell Aries that we were actually sisters, when a group of six humanoid figures on motorcycles blocked our way. Their engines sputtered rhythmically, creating the impression of a comical tune of whistles and percussion. They all wore the same black overalls with red stripes and sat in the same blood-red vehicle: if you looked closely, it wasn't a motorcycle, but something very similar on two wheels. Above them, black stars shone like pitch lamps in reversed constellations. 

The group of men approached us aggressively and without a word, letting the silencers crackle in that rhythmic way with which they had introduced themselves, and putting one foot on the ground so as not to lose their balance.

"Excuse me gentlemen, is there anything we can do for you?"

At my question they all looked at each other through the black glass of the helmets that covered their entire head and burst out laughing, then one who had come forward of the others turned to me and said, still laughing: