Rooms Read online

  Zeer gave Dominie a goodbye hug and then looked over at Landree. What a wonderful, giving man he was. They had shared so much. He’d been her teacher and her friend. His eyes twinkled in anticipation and excitement for her as they sat in the bubble-chair and flew off towards the History Cluster and her new home.

  “Landree?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m really looking forward to becoming part of the History Cluster, but I’m also sad to leave you and everyone in the Learning Cluster. I’m feeling a lot of different emotions, and I can’t help but think back to where it all began. I think a lot about my home on R-131, the people that I knew and cared for there, and the experience of coming here. It makes me feel small.”

  “That’s to be expected, young one. You are still so new, and there’s so much yet for you to learn. As Loonites, we’ve spent centuries progressing, studying, and becoming who we are. And you’re part of us now in a way that no one ever has been before. You came here from the outside. You weren’t born from the original reproductive material that was sent out from Earth, but you are still our sister none the less.”

  “I know, Landree, but part of me would like to be able to help the other humans across our galaxy. What about them? They’ve all been searching and hoping to find another planet like Earth just as your people have. I know it’s been a long time and most of them have probably given up, but underneath, deep down, that hope is still there. We all know how important it is for the human race to find its new home. Loon seems to be that home. I understand the delicate balance that exists here between the people and Loon. I would never want to destroy that, but what about the others?” Then Zeer had to ask again, “And…why was I chosen? I still don’t completely get that.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll have all of your questions answered in time.” He then banked the bubble-chair towards Sholar, and Zeer’s attention shifted as Landree set down next to the water in a place where she knew that the Scree often visited.

  “It might be a while before you’re out here again. Speak to the Scree. Ask them your question.”

  Zeer moved forward, placed her sphere in the water and quietly thought of the Scree. A phenomenally large head moved out of the water towards her. It was Calna again. Zeer looked into her eyes.

  “I know, young Zeer. You have a question.”

  “Yes.” Zeer could feel Calna’s concern.

  Calna knew immediately what question Zeer had. Landree and Calna seemed to glance at each other knowingly and then back at Zeer. “You must work hard in your new Cluster, learn about our history, and become even more a part of this planet.” Zeer was startled at how Calna seemed to know everything that had been happening, even about her decision to become part of the History Cluster.

  “You will understand more in time, Zeer. But, don’t worry, the people of Loon love all of the human family and are working for them as well. Remember, diversity is essential to the health of all.”

  Calna began moving back into the water. The meeting was short, but somehow Zeer felt better and ready to move on. She walked out of the water, stepped back inside the bubble-chair, and moved off towards her new home.

  As the two of them glided towards the History Cluster, they were being watched by a large gathering of her old friends from inside the great hall of the Learning Cluster. The group was standing in a circle, each of them holding their sphere in the air, creating a large projected image. The image gave them a crystal clear view of Zeer and of Landree. They shared in this moment, and Zeer seemed to be able to feel the care and love from all of them. As everyone looked on, Loon’s daylight dimmed, and the planet lay bathed in moonlight. Zeer and Landree passed along the edge of Sholar on their journey. The water glittered as if diamonds dotted its surface - the night, a sweeping canvas of hope, stretching out as far as they could see.

  18

  One

  Standing next to the plastisheild covering of the lifeglobe on R-131, Rad gazed outward, watching and longing to be beyond the transparent wall. The surface winds blew, the light was harsh with stark shadows and contrasts, and the mountains stretched skywards in the distance, cutting jagged shapes out of the smooth horizon. Rad’s memory was fresh and hot with his recent experiences, but even though he yearned to be free again, it had also felt wonderful to just live and contemplate what he’d gone through for a while. It all seemed such a fantasy, but it had been absolutely real. Real experiences. Real people. Real places. Real living things.

  Sweat from his brow slid down his forehead. He had been resting for a moment; his speedcycle lay next to him. He glanced up. The lifeglobe was impressive. The engineers had outdone themselves with this one. He could see in all directions with a minimum of obstructions. The workers from the terrarium had planted extravagant varieties of trees, shrubs and flowering plants wherever they could. It was a very pleasant place to live. However, Rad’s yearning had grown. He had grown, and his view of life had expanded exponentially.

  He had read so much in the leather-bound book about Earth. Its environment at one time had been so vibrant. He looked out again and saw R-131, but his mind’s eye visualized Earth from the pages of that book and from the phenomenal experiences of the second level of the Room. He saw humans as they should be – vulnerable, free, and living in a natural and vital world.

  Rad had spent the last couple months enjoying Tal, Simon, and his new friend, Vella, a young woman who had recently moved to R-131 from a lunar settlement nearby. She and Rad enjoyed each other, laughed easily, and spent a lot of time talking about the life they were living. She was a great friend and companion, and she enjoyed Tal and Simon as well. They had all become very close. However, Rad’s memories and his subconscious yearnings were beginning to take hold again. His thoughts wandered, even when they were all together. Tal, Simon, and especially Vella, had noticed the change in him. They were all aware that he seemed to be focusing on the Room again. It worried them, but Rad could no more control his thoughts than he could forget what had happened.

  He climbed back onto his cycle and flew off. It brought him out of his obsessive remembering and relaxed him. He pulled up to the building where he lived, hopped off, folded the speedcycle, and bounded up the stairs to his living quarters. He often felt the best there. His flat was filled with things that meant a great deal to him: pictures of his family and friends, places he’d been, music, art, decorations that reminded him of significant times in his life, and items that brought beauty to his home. Two of those were especially important to him – the sphere and the book. They lay next to his bed, and as always, he felt drawn to open the book and read. Tonight, though, he decided against it and glanced out at the Center of the lifeglobe. He would contact his friends and go out again. He simply needed their companionship and a good time.

  ***

  Vella saw Rad first and snuck up behind him. She poked him in the ribs, causing him to flinch and laugh. She always seemed to be able to make him smile.

  “You’re a pain, Vella!”

  “Yeah, I know. You love it, though, don’t you.”

  “Sure.”

  They both laughed and noticed Tal and Simon coming down the walkway towards them. When they met, they hugged and started ambling off together. They had already decided which room they were going to play.

  Simon summarized all of their thoughts by saying, “This is going to be great!” Everyone agreed. The rooms on R-131 had continued to evolve and change more and more as high-level players continued to be drawn there.

  ***

  They stood together just outside the entrance – a touch of apprehension passed between them. Looking at the exterior of this Room, it seemed that there was absolutely nothing special about it. It was the newest game on R-131 and was just on the far side of what was considered the Center.

  Vella’s hand brushed Rad’s as all four of the companions shared glances and obviously questioned what was soon to happen. Passing through the doors of any Room, especially on R-131, brought up feeli
ngs of nervousness and insecurity as well as anticipation. One never knew for sure what would happen, who would be chosen, or what would be seen or felt. It was, simply put, always a very powerful event. And this Room, in the short time that it had been in operation, was already known as one of the most hypnotic and the one that everyone was talking about, especially at The Club. It had a very simple name. It was called “One”. Anyone who had played it had left exhausted because of the physical and mental energy required, but they’d also been exhilarated by the depth and quality of the encounter.

  The four were ready. They stepped up to the simple door. There was no light or vid to view them, no automated system to let them in. They’d heard that the door simply locked when the optimum number of participants was inside. Tal placed his hand on the handle and turned the knob. The door opened. Simon glanced back and noticed others coming to participate. The door shut quickly behind them as they entered a small room. They read a sign that asked them to take off their shoes and place them under a bench. Another sign was attached to a door at the far end of the room. It said: ‘Please come in.’

  Simon led the way. They had wanted to get there early so that they could get the best seats around the viewing area. They glanced into the dimly lit enclosure and noticed that there were no seats. However, a comfortable floor covering caressed their feet. It made them all look anxiously at one another. Their eyes began to adjust to the low light. They could now see small candles that looked as if they were floating near the center of the room. They sat near the candles on the floor. Meditative music played in the background; the melody embraced and surrounded them, creating a quietly energetic, expectant atmosphere. They waited. No one spoke.

  Others arrived. The room filled. The tension was building. No one knew what to expect. No one knew how it would begin. The music flowed on, adding to the nervous anxiety being fostered and created by the rising and falling within the melodic line and rhythm of the music.

  Then the volume lessened, and everyone could then distinguish soft murmurings around the room. The music finally faded completely, and even the murmurings stopped. Everyone felt a mild, cool breeze as the candles were noiselessly extinguished and darkness fell.

  Nothing happened for what seemed a long, drawn out, uncomfortable period of time - the amount of time that produces questions in a person’s mind. It was awkward.

  And then…the tiniest point of light pricked the darkness, almost unnoticeably. It was several meters off the floor in the center of their vision, and even though it was infinitesimal in size, everyone’s eyes were drawn to it. They stared at the small light, and at the same time, the floor, the air, their bodies, and the room began to vibrate from a single deep note - one note, prolonged as if by the constant bowing of a symphony of cellos in absolute unity – a note that encompassed and penetrated the souls of the gathered. It focused and delivered them into the moment.

  Sitting on the soft material that covered the floor, Rad looked into Vella’s eyes for a moment just as everyone had begun to feel a shift - a shift in time, space, and reality. The note continued. The players lost touch with their bodies. The room seemed to melt away. They were now in space. The lifeglobe was far below them – stars spread out above. They were floating as a group. They could see each other clearly. Surprised, quick glances moved between the players. They gasped; every person there had been chosen.

  The longer they remained dangling together in space, the more they noticed a slight glimmer, a sparkle, a curved shield that surrounded all of them. Everyone tried to breathe normally and remain calm, but what they were experiencing seemed impossible. They should all be gasping for air in this weightless vacuum and feeling the utter coldness of space. They didn’t. Physically, they were comfortable, but the experience was mind-bending.

  Communally, the group was still in a circle, still in their original positions. With the passing of each second, though, each of them became more and more tense and nervous as they floated in this black and weightless environment, transfixed by the realization of the dizzying distance between where they hovered and R-131.

  The oblong sphere of glimmering energy that encapsulated them was even more evident now. Vella then noticed the tiny ball of light again in the center of their circle. She pointed towards it. Everyone looked, and as they did, they suddenly burst towards the surface of R-131. They couldn’t actually feel the movement, but they could see what was happening as if they were being propelled from a tremendous height directly towards the planet - naked, open, and fragile. The surface flew towards them. They all knew that this was the end.

  But at the very moment that they and their bubble were about to crash into the lifeglobe on R-131, they changed direction and jetted out across the planet’s surface at a height that allowed them to consciously observe its topographic variation, its vast, raw beauty, and its moons on the horizon becoming larger and larger.

  Covering almost the entire planet at lightning speed, crisscrossing its surface, and passing over their lifeglobe several times gave the exultant passengers a perspective of their planet that was beyond words. But then, just as they had become used to flying across the planet’s surface, they quickly changed direction and were thrown high up into the atmosphere. When they reached their original starting point, they came to an abrupt halt. All movement ceased, and the participants sat wide-eyed, catching their breath. But even that only lasted a moment as the glowing bubble jerked into hyper-drive once more. This time, They sped off in the direction of R-131’s moons where they skimmed ancient craters, icefalls, deep canyons, and the many features of each of the white lunar orbs near their world.

  Slowing and setting down lightly, the players landed on R-131’s outer moon, B, and in the distance they could see their home – a round ball, hovering in the dark blanket of space. Rad merely shook his head as Simon spoke clearly and plainly for everyone as he said, “I can’t believe this! Jesus!”

  Vella grabbed Rad and Simon’s hands and saw the questions in Tal’s eyes. They were sitting hundreds of thousands of kilometers from home on a moon of stark and marvelous splendor. They breathed deeply and sighed almost jointly as the seconds passed.

  In the middle of the gathering, voices began to come out of the small bright light at the center of their collective circle. It was almost a chanted chorus, calling to each of them. Listening more intently, they noticed the voices gaining strength and power while continuing to emanate from the tiny bauble. As this happened, the bauble expanded in size, and a distorted vision of a human being appeared within it. Staring, they could now see that it was a man fighting to get out, yelling…silently. His eyes showed the strain of capture, of being held and desperately trying to free himself. Then Rad, Vella, and Simon realized who the person was. It was Tal. They quickly looked over to where Tal had been. He was no longer beside them. They wanted to go to him – help him. They couldn’t. They were held in place, unable to move. He looked past them, not actually recognizing that they were there at all, and then unexpectedly, he ceased struggling, sat quietly for a moment longer…and then vanished.

  Everyone looked around the circle trying to understand and decipher what was happening. Then, another person in the group vanished and reappeared in the center inside the bauble. Struggling again at first, then becoming subdued and again fading from view.

  One by one, each individual that was there appeared in the structure at the center of their circle for a few moments then vaporized and was gone. Finally, only Rad and Vella were left. They held on to each other. Then Vella vanished from Rad’s arms. She, too, appeared inside the bauble and then disappeared. He was alone.

  He felt worried and unsure. He was facing his home planet. The light was just beginning to crest the horizon; morning was touching its surface.

  At the point where the small bright ball of light had been, Rad now noticed a dark pinpoint of emptiness. It grew. He felt the pull of it. It tugged at him. He was being wrenched towards it. He was thrown into it. He felt terror - th
e type that consumes and controls every nerve. The darkness had a heaviness to it that was eating away at everything around him. In that moment, he looked back towards R-131 and reached out towards his home. Then…he, too, was gone.

  ***

  The members of that night’s gathering were now back together again, sitting in a circle in the room where the game had begun. Each of them had been on their own individual journey after leaving the moon, experiencing moments that belonged only to them. Now, though, they sat witnessing the last moments of Rad’s experience. Tears, sighs, and spoken thoughts of deep concern were shared. Then…the room went quiet.

  The lit candles rematerialized. The curved walls of One reasserted themselves, and the luxurious covering on the floor again caressed their bodies. A silent understanding of completion passed between everyone. It was done.

  As the players began to leave, they could still feel what had happened, but no one said a word. No one could put out of their mind what they had witnessed at the very end. They had seen Rad reach out and then watched as he had been yanked into a dark and terrible abyss. He was simply gone. Vella was the only one who finally gave voice to everyone thoughts as she wondered, “Where…where is he? What happened?” She couldn’t believe and wouldn’t admit that he was gone.

  The last to leave the Room were Rad’s three friends. They’d stayed behind in the hope that he would somehow reappear, but then they, too, left and walked back into the night. The door closed behind them, and as it did, Tal reached back just to check. It was locked.

  19

  The Decision

  The mineral-laden liquid spread across the sand like shifting layers of glass. It was a clear, warm evening on Loon as the water pulsed in and out, and the warm sun slid across the sky near the horizon. Its bright rays were glancing off the water-laden shore near Sholar, sparkling in the eyes of the members of the Circle who sat together on the beach. It was an important meeting. It was time to decide.