The Gaia Chronicles- Book 1

Ch 3.2 Dreaming Reality?

10,500 B.C.
Suddenly, Gaia was fully awake, but in a place she totally did not expect. She was 7 cycles old again. And sitting in her classroom at her desk.

She looked around the room. Her memories were flooding in and out as she recalled the classroom, the teacher, and her classmates. She saw all their familiar faces, heard all the familiar sounds of school. The window to her left was open and she could see the gorgeous city outside, all shimmering and full of movement.

Up on a mirrored-glass chateau which overlooked the city from the mountain; a pair of glaring eyes watched a monitor while little Gaia sat in her classroom chair.
The eyes belonged to Takana, Gaia's Step-Mother.

What Takana does with her time is a mystery to Gaia, although she has often overheard her speaking about political meetings, and various plans for the Paluthians- the elite class Takana was born into.

As she watched, Takana tapped a few spots on the floating holo-screen in front of her and was connected to the teacher's direct communication line.
"Hello Miss Falco?"
"Yes?" Replies the teacher immediately.

She was a little startled, but she had been conditioned to respond quickly to   The Advisors, of whom Takana was a part.
A satisfied smile spread across Takana's face.
"How are Gaia's most recent test scores in particle physics?"
Miss Falco was used to these questions, but always hated the redundancy.
"They were perfect, Takana. Any other questions? I must get back to the lesson if you please?"
Takana had a displeased look now. "No more questions Miss Falco. That is all for now. Carry on with your lesson."

Down below at her desk, Gaia's curious eyes became fixed on her iridescent reflection in a droplet of water. The light playing inside of that little globe was like a little Galaxy. A thought occured to her that perhaps water has an intelligence of some sort.

She realize she was now completely immersed in her memories.

At that age, it seemed like her imagination would run wild every time she was in class. It was to be expected, of course, especially for her. She was a rather remarkable child, from a very prominent and remarkable family; although her eyes would roll at times when people mentioned it.
"Her father does this and her mom does that... Blah blah blah.... ". She mused to herself.
The teacher's voice would sometimes come into focus. " It is a universal law that an object at rest will tend to stay at rest, and an object in motion ... " Gaia mused again to herself- And in between, the object wishes it had a choice.
To Gaia, choice was a very foreign concept. Her life was already planned out for the next 100 years; or 200 for all she knew.
Where, and what she would study, where she would live and which career she would be in, all seemed set in stone.

"It is a known fact", her teacher continued. "That the molecular structure of water can be affected by the positive or negative vibrations around it."
She often felt like a particle vibrating back and forth through life. Being carried along helpless in the current.
The fountains outside often caught her attention, reminding her once again of the raging river of her life. Although unlike her life- she thought- The fountain was allowing the water to flow freely, and to start over again at the top.
She remembered back when her father presented it to the school for the first time.
"The bottom of the fountain is lined with a resonant conducting metal, which receives low frequency harmonic tones emitted from a sphere at the top. When you put your feet inside the bubbling water, it balances the body's energy flow."
She could vividly recall every minute detail of stepping into the prototype, and feeling the subtle flow of energy. She relived it just as if she was actually there in that moment. Almost like a dream within a dream.

Gaia remembered seeing the designs her father had made in the evenings at home, and the excitement the day they were installed on the grounds.

Her teacher interrupted this pleasant memory. "Ok children, now you may close down your data screens. Remember to study for ...."
The teacher's voice faded out and
Gaia noticed the sky outside began to appear dark red behind the clouds directly to the east in the sky.
Alerts began sounding in everyone's earpiece. Everyone touched their ear to silence it, then turned their attention to the holographic screen in the front of the class. The screen then vocalized some familiar tones before a news alert. "We are receiving visual data analysis from the sky drones..."
A few children were watching as the images played on the screen showing several approaching meteors...
They half paid attention, not worried in the least, for this was a common occurrence.
But Gaia felt uneasy, and often wondered what would happen if the defense system failed.

As bursts of light filled the sky above, the sense of security felt by the Muranthians was not shared by the people in the little towns and villages below. 
Gaia wondered how they must be feeling right now.
These were the ground dwellers, the pickers, the downtrodden ones who had not inherited a place after the war. One could even find displaced Doltians, who had once reigned for hundreds of years in Murantha; now in hiding from the new Paluthian Dynasty which ruled now instead.

One little town which sat just below Murantha, called Sherenth, for its proximity to the dark and deep caverns of Sher, was full of a mysterious and curiously odd people.

No one in Murantha had ever met a Sherenthan, nor had an inkling of a desire to do so. Aside from their mystique, they were entirely unremarkable.
But Gaia had always been curious about them. She knew that unless a town below was a supplier of goods or services to the great City, they were of no import, and Sherenth had little to no dealings with them. They may as well have been invisible. Although they had their place, occasionally turning out soldiers, or skilled laborers, which provided the only means of escape for the ambitious among them.

            
      Later that same day, a solitary creature was flying high above Sherenth . Looking down below it could see the town spread out with rooftops like so many colourful leaves spread over the rocky landscape. Many industrious townsfolk were out, working, and going about their day. Their attire was of the homely sort, yet clean. And their demeanor was respectable and polite with one another.
One in particular, a little girl, was walking with a fast pace through the maze of people in front of her.

From up high above the scattered canopies of the market, glided the very observant creature, with its eyes trained perfectly on the little girl below. Just an ordinary looking bird, it discretely descended to get a closer look, paying no mind to all the little morsels it could easily have scooped up, it stayed focused on the task at hand. Suddenly, the child tripped over some fruit on the ground and in a fright she gasped. A voice emanated from the little creature's pointy beak, "oh no !"
She slammed rather hard onto the cobblestone street beneath her, with a sickening thud. The bird landed gently on her belly, and shaking about, squawked out " Are you alright young one?! Oh you poor thing! "
In the confusion of the moment and in all her pain, the little girl weakly began to respond to whom she thought was a passer by, " I, I think..." She stopped abruptly when she noticed where the voice had actually come from. She simply stared for a couple seconds, just then the bird said rather politely "My name is Gaia, what's yours?"
"K, K ... Karenia" she was able to manage, still confused and dizzy.
"Oh, sorry i have to go" said the creature.
And abruptly flapped it's wings up and out of her sight.

Far above the little town, its canopies, and beyond the cloud cover, lay a sprawling complex of buildings. Embedded into the mountainside. A few lights shone in the darkly lit face of one particular abode. On the stark white balcony stood a young woman whose slender form was lit up in the moonlight. She looked down at her glowing wrist to deactivate a vibrating timer, displaying bright blue digits. A reflection of stars rolled across her face as she looked up. She reached to lift up a screen covering her face, then slid it up and off, revealing dark brown eyes and a pleased expression. She looked out and said: "Karenia".