The Melted World - Worlds of Creators: Book One

16 - Underground

Hiding underground proved useless against the World Voice. Its great pillar penetrated down to the dead planet's core like a hot knife cutting through butter. The Voice weighted upon every atom, echoing its distressing calls through the whole universe. Different materials, dotted with resilient personalities, yes, psychiatrist walls, they received well the burden of sadness, their depth making little difference.

Colin's current underground shelter had five layers of such walls, some with vacuum in their gaps, some filled with the completely dejected matter from OOOO's fountain, remade just for this purpose. The inner rooms formed a small town with a few streets and cubicles for houses and buildings. A vast warehouse sheltered all these constructions, squarish, long, heavy columns supporting its ceiling, the dark sky.

Entirely at dark, Colin managed to create a power source and turn it into light and heat. Supposedly a nuclear reactor, he had no idea of the workings of such a construction and couldn't hope to recreate a precise one at that, but he wished for power and he got it, no matter what magic or absurd his contraption used. A river of crystalline water flowed in the middle of the major street, coming from a spring that had no explanation other than spontaneous apparition.

Aware of the distance from the Terra of his dreams, Colin settled for cheap and lazy solutions that didn't live up to his expectations. The ecosystem ran a limited balance, insufficient and ugly. In part, he regretted falling for that idea. If he didn't attempt it, though, he would have to spend all his time looking for Lara in a vast, dead world.

"You're stressing too much, aren't you? You could well create humans that don't need any water or light. You have this power, you see?" OOOO said.

"If I do that, they won't be humans anymore. They have to need what they've always needed," Colin said.

"You can make that too, can't you?"

"It's not about them, don't you understand? It's about me! I need them to be what they were. Otherwise they won't be the same, and I'll get as much satisfaction from them than what I get from Creators."

"Which must be a big satisfaction, right?" OOOO said, staring at him with a proud smile.

"Not yet. I need to show them that I can be an interesting person too."

"You are one, aren't you? Go on and show them!"

"I will. And I must ask you, OOOO, to please let me alone in here. They will freak out if they see you. I'll visit you up there when everything is alright, ok?"

"What a pity... I can't even stay hidden somewhere, can I? No?"

"Sorry. Go back to your world and create your things. I'll tell you how it goes."

OOOO left by a hidden passage that cut through all layers of protection and led to the upper world. Colin checked the underground city in the search of cracks, leaks and melting. The cats he had created ran through the streets and climbed on trees, benches and even lampposts. Life followed its path in that world for the first time without fear or sadness. The sky loomed above, a dark ceiling, his world a big box, and he felt inside a bunker. He called a cat and his voice echoed endlessly. The city's atmosphere allowed the next step.

In his chosen house, he took the fragments of his parents' photo from his pocket. Little remained from his reconstruction, but it sufficed. He knew very well what he wanted. They were Francesco and Sarah Zanetti, his father and mother. He imagined them and wished for their existence. They showed up in his room, sitting on the couch. They read on their cell-phones, a day like any other, resting at peace. Colin's clock struck nine at the wall, their relaxation time.

Before going to them, holding his excitement, he imagined his work crew and Angeline, and he wished for them. They materialized in another part of the city, where they would live from that moment on. He waited to meet them the next day, when he'd go to the office and see everybody again.