Harmony

The Message

The words were fixed for a few seconds and then they started flashing. Le could feel the intense excitement in the room. For some reason she glanced at Pixie and Suria. They were both fixated intensely at the words on the glass – clearly sensing they were finally going to get answers. Pixie, however, launched to her feet and raced out of the room. "I'll be back very soon!" she called over her shoulder.

Le saw Suria stare after her in disbelief that she had left the room at such a critical moment. It was soon evident why, as Pixie returned promptly with a notepad and a pen.

"Great idea! You write down message." Rais' natural enthusiasm had reappeared. Dinner and rest had served him well too, apparently.

"So it is a computer screen. Now we know. It is so advanced!" Arias' statement didn't totally make sense to Le. It was indeed advanced, yet she didn't understand how he knew it was a computer. There was nothing attached to it that she would have expected to see if it were some sort of computer. There was no keyboard, for a start. Text on a screen, that she knew, but it was usually words on a small green screen in a science or engineering lab somewhere; not a large, thick sheet of glass like this was. It had also just played a short classical piece as if it were a synthesizer. Where were the speakers, like she would see on a stereo system? The sound was actually coming from the middle of the screen, too. No speakers there at all. She was astounded by it and could not imagine which company would have made it. There wasn't even a commercial logo on it.

The initial three words were still blinking. It had now been a minute or so at least since they first appeared. They suddenly stopped blinking and then vanished, replaced gradually by more words, again in large red letters.

WELCOME TO YOUR VILLAGE. SENSORS IN THIS ROOM HAVE DETECTED THE PRESENCE OF TWELVE PERSONS. THIS MEANS YOU HAVE ALL ARRIVED SAFELY. PLEASE DO NOT FEAR. IF TWELVE PERSONS HAD NOT ARRIVED, A SEARCH PARTY WOULD HAVE BEEN ORGANISED.

The message stopped for now. There was a collective pause for a moment as everyone read the message. Le now knew they had all come from different countries. She hoped those from some of the non-English speaking countries could read it. There were no initial indications that they couldn't. The silence was broken by Neca's emotionally charged voice, saying something in her native language.

Rais, the only other person who could understand her, happened to be sitting next to Neca. He put his hand on her arm. At this, she almost threw herself at him, holding him as if he were her only source of comfort left in the world. He was bewildered. It was the first time Le had seen him with that expression. Once again, she was struck by the lack of emotional barriers between people who had only just met. It had happened with Rivo and Prina. She sensed it had happened with Pixie and Suria and probably others as well. There was no difficulty in communicating with anyone, or in the group, to this point. In her knowledge, if not her memories, this was quite unusual.

Rais was offering words of comfort. "I know, Neca. I know. I know what message mean. We maybe be lost. But do not worry, we make it all safe. We here now." Rais was so great. Such a source of strength for everyone. Neca pushed herself away and glanced at Rais with some puzzlement at her loss of control.

"Thank you Rais, thank you. For your kind words. I am sorry for... that. Yes, I got the meaning right away. Anything could have happened to us... to you, especially you all, up there in the aircraft. Camping out and all that." She turned back to the screen in a rush as she finished speaking. There might be more words.

"What were you saying, Neca? Are you alright?" Suria's voice of concern from across the room.

"I was speaking Arabic. I was saying 'oh my god'. I thought how awful it would be if one of us had gotten lost. I'm alright. Sorry, I get emotional easily." She glanced at Rais. He was still stunned by Neca's reaction. Or perhaps the fact she'd hugged him in front of everyone. That was more likely the problem, if she could call it a problem.