Chapter 14: 17. Adaptation Part 3

This city has quite simple architecture as seen from the outside. For one thing, there is a wall surrounding the entire city. Neither Ajax nor Shaula have seen a wall such as this one back on Earth. It is the same height as high rise apartment buildings. Past these walls, they see tens of amazing skyscrapers. Those skyscrapers seem to be concentrated in the center of the city. Any other buildings within the city are hidden by the walls.

Ajax and Shaula watch the plains ahead of them, mostly flat and covered in tall, green grass. There are a few short trees in these plains that have green leaves. The land has a few hills here and there leading up to the city. The view looks very much like Earth for once. They were not expecting to see green life here.

The green in plants is from chlorophyll which is used in the process of photosynthesis. It makes sense to Shaula how many living things in the universe must have evolved the ability to collect food from sunlight. She quickly turns back to the city in the distance. It is impressive.

“Christ… those are massive walls.”

“The cost to build walls like that, the guys here must be really powerful, huh.” Ajax can only believe this to be the case. Any species able to build such a wonder must have impressive civil engineering and construction capabilities.

Although, neither of them can tell what kind of people live in such a walled city. How many limbs do they have? How many eyes and mouths on each head? They are on an alien planet after all so what do these aliens look like?

Shaula tries to focus on the city walls. She cannot see any gates into the city from this distance. Her view is obstructed by a few of the small hills in these plains. Ajax looks around as well for any sign of a road. There seem to be no signs of a road leading towards the city near this forest.

If they found a gate or a road, they could maybe see people traveling to the city. Even at this distance.

“Let’s go. We’re still too far away to make out anything. No running this time, we don’t want to show ourselves recklessly until we know what lives in there.” Shaula is obviously unsure about the danger level of this city and its inhabitants. It would be best to meet new creatures safely. She just hopes that they are not malicious. Ajax sighs and starts walking forward.

Shaula follows behind him while keeping an eye on any movement from the forest. The two of them remain cautious. They walk for about an hour towards the city in relative safety. The few animals in these plains are small and cowardly. The grass is tall enough to hide them quickly. They can even see a lone bright horned deer in the far distance.

However, now that things are safer, Ajax’s thoughts start to drift. He did not have the luxury to think earlier, but now he has plenty of time. The city is still hours away so he thinks about his family. Right now, they are back on Earth. They must have already learned he disappeared. His dad probably knows now too.

What would they do without him? What would they think–

No. No, I’m not going to think about that. It’s… It’s not over yet. I just need to find a way back home.  

Ajax thinks about how he came to this new world. First, he saw a map of the galaxy. Where did that map come from? That is his first question. He used that map and joined the ‘spatial coordinates’ between Earth and this place. It is not like the transportation was something that happened to him. The power was forcibly activated, sure, but it is a part of him.

He knows where it is within him and he might be able to activate it again. But, he does not have the map right now. How would he use the power without that frame of reference? Where did that frame of reference come from in the first place? If he can figure out how to activate that power again, he can go home again and see his family.

What forced him to use his power to come here? 

“Ajax.”

“...”

“Ajax, I know what you’re thinking about.”

“...Shaula, all we have to do is find a way to get back. Then, I can be with my family again. We can both return there again. M-Maybe we’ll have to lose these powers or something, but I-I know we can get back there.”

Shaula knows what he wants. She knows that he loves his family more than anything. She understands that he will not be able to accept that they might be here permanently. She has not accepted this either. She believes that there is a path back, she knows there is, there has to be. She has her own dream that she needs to fulfill and she has to be back there to do it. But, she does not think they can find a way yet.

“Ajax, you saw that three dimensional star map thing, right? The one in your head at that moment?”

“...Right, right, of course, you’ve seen it too.”

“Yeah, I have. That is probably the big key to getting back home. The only question is how we can see it again.”

“How do you think we saw it in the first place? Like, it was completely random, wasn’t it?”

“Just all of a sudden, seeing through everything all at once? That could not have been something we did. But, I don’t know anything on Earth that could show us something like that either.”

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“God?”

“Ha, I don’t know. If God exists, He or She or It probably did it, if no one else.”

“So, how do we–”

“Ajax, I think we should start by going into that city and gathering information.”

“Yeah, we should, maybe some astronomy charts or something?”

“Well, that too, but if we were brought to this place, there could have been some reason we can’t see yet. Especially if it is a God that did it, right?”

“...Yeah, so I guess we should learn what’s happening here then. That seems like it could get us to something useful faster…”

“Right. The only question now is obviously whether the sentient things here are friendly, if they are able to communicate with us, and if so, how we can learn their language.”

“...Language. Damn it. Fuck. That’s going to take a lot of time.”

“It might. But, we already have one piece of the puzzle in our hands, right? That power. You can feel it now, right?” Shaula is talking about the power that they used to come here. She can feel it now, an intangible something deep in her soul. It was not there before for her to see, but it has always been there. It is their power to command space, their inborn ability.

“I can feel it, but I don’t know where it came from. It’s like it was always there too, it’s creepy.”

“Yeah. Right now, though, it’s like a black box to me. I can put my thoughts into it but I’m not getting back a response. But, you and I together can test it out, figure out how to activate it.”

“Right, yeah, This would be a lot harder if someone as dumb as me was left to do all this alone.”

“I wouldn’t want to be alone here either.” Shaula looks over at Ajax’s face. She could tell that he was on the verge of panicking for the past few minutes. He is still in denial about how long they would be stuck here. She cannot have him breaking down right now. They can both deal with how much they’ve lost when they are safe together.

But first, they need to figure out this place first.

Her true goal is to find that spot where they can be safe to deal with all this. They need to find a place without monsters, without enemies, with food and water. If they can find that place, then he can deal with the truth that she has already realized. Whenever he finally realizes it, at least.

She can tell. It might take many years before they can return. In these bodies, who knows how long they will live too. One day, they will return. But, Ajax’s family will have moved on.

The two of them keep walking while speculating about this place. They discuss what kind of sentient creatures they will meet. They wonder which plants and animals here are edible. Of course, they talk about their new powers as well as their true power. The sooner they get used to everything, the stronger they will be.

A few hours pass. It is now the middle of the evening.

“Ajax, stop.”

“What is it?”

“Now is the time for us to be as vigilant as possible. I can see a road.”

Ajax looks towards the direction Shaula is staring. He can see it too. A bit far in the distance, past a hill, is a well paved smooth road. He can also see.

“Are those… carriages on it?”

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