A Dance of Two Worlds

A Dance of Two Sisters

Chapter Four

A Dance of Two Sisters

The dance of the cosmos is doom for the mortals

Aden.

The Fifth Loop, Year 370, 29th December (5L/370/12/29)

"The fragrance of knowledge."

Andrews the Explorer muttered to himself as he took a deep breath and entered the huge auditorium of the Hamish Scientific University for his monthly interaction with the students. An astronomer, chemist, physicist, and geologist, Andrews was also the first man to map the far ends of Aden and hence King Samuel had awarded him the title of the Golden Explorer.

The auditorium was jampacked, like all his previous visits. Andrews was the most celebrated scientist in the history of Aden and an icon for students. He scanned the keen faces of his audience, he firmly believed that the never-ending enthusiasm of young minds was the trigger for all major innovations.

"My dear students, today let us talk about telephones and how they can change the dynamics of our world."

Once Andrews had finished his lecture, a tall guy repeated one of his absurd predictions in an exaggerated tone. "A phone held in a palm, in which we can see the person we are talking with. Seriously? Are you a fan of Arif's sci-fi novels?"

Andrews chuckled. "I heard his novels are selling like hotcakes. Honestly, I like his books, he is a good author, but his science sometimes doesn't add up. However, mark my words, young man, we will surely see such compact moving phones in the future."

A chubby girl with freckled skin and wearing thick glasses raised her hand. "Sir, what happens at the turn of the Loop? We all have heard many stories about it."

Here it starts. The topic he dreaded.

"I didn't know that telephones were the reason behind the catastrophic events at the turn of the Loop." People in the auditorium just looked at each other. Andrews' jibe had bounced over their heads. "My dear, what is the connection between telephones and the Loop?"

"Sir, the Crossing is just a couple of days away and you have published so many books on this topic. Quite naturally, we want to hear about it from the person who knows the most," the girl replied.

"The turn of the Loop is more than a century away, one hundred and thirty years and two days to be precise, and unless you are a bowhead whale in a human form I don't expect you to make it that far." The girl's face turned red as everyone in the hall burst out laughing. Andrews had compared a chubby girl to a whale in another lame attempt at humor.

"Although curiosity is always a good trait, we shouldn't worry about things we are never going to see. You look like a girl who loves her stories. What is your name?" He tried to salvage the situation.

"Mysha."

"Mysha, why don't you tell us what you have heard about the turn of the Loop?"

Mysha audibly cleared her throat to gain some confidence back. "I have heard that every new Loop begins with catastrophic events—a Month of Darkness instead of ten days. A never-ending eclipse engulfs our whole world, the sun never shines, the thunderstorms don't stop, the rivers flood the lands, the volcanoes erupt simultaneously, and the ground keeps shaking. Even the Great Sea changes its position."

Andrews put his hand over his mouth. "Wow! What a horrifying description of events. You just reminded me of my granny, she was quite terrific in describing the terrible." Andrews immediately bit his lips. As if calling Mysha a whale wasn't enough now he had compared her to his grandmother, although she looked as old as her. "Pretty lady, that all is very true but what causes such mayhem?"