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Chapter 4 - Inside itself

Chapter 4 - Inside itself

The mahogany door swung open and they entered the Pyramid.

A temple.

The interior looked as classical and ancient as the outside; however, it was far more delicate. The concept was clear: the rustic external fortress guarded a precious pearl in its core. Kevin's first feeling was that he was very small compared to the magnitude of the room, and yet he felt important, embraced by its numerous symbols, as if they were already telling him a secret. On both sides, next to the walls, staircases led to an interior balcony. A huge tapestry hung up there, dark red; a golden triangle with an eye in its center stood out on the scarlet background, and it was surrounded by a variety of stars, spirals, waves, hourglasses and other symbols. The polished stone floor of the hall was marked with a gigantic six-pointed star and, right in the center, there was a glass sculpture.

Supported by a granite stand, a three-dimensional version of the Pyroglyph's icon was arranged: there were pyramids within pyramids. Unlike the building that sheltered them, though, these geometric figures had triangular bases instead of square ones. The biggest pyramid was about eight feet long and occupied the entire granite surface. Inside it, the second one was half its size and turned upside down. Then, the third one was half the second and turned up again ... and so on they went, alternating the position of their vertices and encapsulating the next one.

Kevin felt the purpose of the sculpture, even though he wasn't able to explain it. There seemed to be a direct conversation between the pyramids and his subconscious, which common logic wasn't quite capable of catching up with.

'The first fact you need to know ...' came Stella's voice, echoing through the hall. '... Is that the Universe is contained in itself.'

'But all things are like this, aren't they? I mean, nothing goes beyond itself.' Kevin replied, uncertain.

'You are quite right, if we consider finite regions and objects, but there's more to the Universe.' She walked slowly towards the sculpture and rounded it, admiring the effect. 'Look at the pyramids pointing up. All of them represent the Universe, repeating itself ... inside itself.'

'So, there are miniatures of the Universe replicating themselves? Each one enveloping the next, but they are all actually the same?'

'One could put this way.'

'That's not easy to imagine in the real world,' said Kevin, frowning, as he tried to picture how that could work.

'It's because this phenomenon happens at very small and large scales. In fact, the smallest and largest scales possible. Something we could never perceive using our rather limited senses.'

Stella approached him, observing carefully as the boy gaped at the pyramids. He tried to pull off a face that didn't look so stupid; the level of abstraction of their conversation was increasing rapidly. Stella seemed to be reading his mind: there was too much comprehension in her normally piercing gaze.