“I had an idea, but I can’t try it in Freddie. When we go to your world or mine, I can wait close to some animals and when one dies I can invite it. If it has a soul it will come to me and you’ll know they have souls.”
“It was a very clever idea but you should have worried at the concept for a bit longer Ivgos. Let us examine the various possibilities. I’ll leave the successful transfer for last…if the soul does exist, but is too primitive to be sensed as a soul, which is causing us the problems we have, do you think your invitation will be sensed by it?” He nodded. “Okay, the next question is, do you think you’ll be able to identify it? After all, it will not have self-awareness, or if it does, perhaps you’ll not recognise such self-awareness as it will be far too simple for you to think of it as a mind or personality.”
Robbie turned to a Thinker. “If a pre-soul is still non-sentient, I’m presuming its abilities to think logically will not be developed, but its instincts will be strong. So, a soul that is still mostly energy, would the instincts of its last lifeform still affect it?”
“At the very early stages it is not likely, but at the level of a creature like Tippity, I am confident we’ll find instincts and sentient logic still affect it after death.”
Robbie turned back to Ivgos. “We’ll come back to animals at the higher end of evolution afterwards, let’s continue with the possibilities we were examining. Do we agree that even the first spark of energy that is to form a soul is precious? Since you agree, it means we must be careful of doing anything to harm it. Ivgos, if such a tiny spark of soul is called and it enters you, what will you do with it? Are you able to release it or must it actively participate in departing from you? How will it react to being in you - what is it like for a soul not capable of understanding the strange environment it finds itself in? Could it panic and tear itself to wisps of energy that dissipate - for that would, in effect, be final death for it.” By now Ivgos had a bleak look on his face, but Robbie was determined to continue as he felt that many have not thought it out thoroughly and could end up causing irreversible harm by experimenting.
“Imagine that you do not cause it harm and to the contrary, it feels happy and safe within you. What then? Will you have the heart to cast it out once the experiment is over? If you do, could it be damaged, acquiring instincts that make it impossible for it reach its potential someday because it feels rejected? You cannot keep it, for then it definitely will not grow to become a sapient soul. Now, back to Tippity or some such advanced animal. We know they have emotions as we do. We also know that they are more sapient than we’ve believed, but their ability to understand is limited. So, a Tippity dies and you invite him. He enters and you are happy, for you have proved he has a soul. If you fail it does not prove he does not have a soul, just that he did not respond to you. Okay, we know you are happy, but let’s examine the sequence for Tippity. I’m going to use my belief system and claim that Tippity knows he is dying when his time arrives. For any being, sentient or not, to not feel fear when death comes knocking would be counter-evolutionary. In all species, if we ignore the individual and consider them statistically, those who fear are the ones who are likely to survive longer. Tippity is afraid when he dies and his soul is afraid and stunned, for none of us believe it should happen to us. The souls you hosted, did they feel that way?”
“Yes.”
“We know that those you hosted all suffered from shock and withdrew into themselves, as if they were asleep. As they became aware, they adjusted and finally you were able to communicate with them.” Ivgos nodded. “But all those who came to you, whether they had believed it or not, had known what to expect so they were able to adjust. How would a stranger who does not know react under such circumstances? Would many of them be terrified?” Wide eyed as he tried to imagine how they’d feel, he nodded his agreement. “I wonder what Tippity thinks death is. I’d say he has to base his opinion on what he sees, which would suggest he no longer exists once it happens. His soul is not strong enough or has not intuited how to leap to the void, so it wanders close by his body, probably dazed and needing time to adjust or else, maybe it just loses its awareness until it is drawn into its next body. Hopefully nature has established a procedure that leads it to ever more sophisticated minds without it having to suffer between lives - the way we Terrans do in the void.
Suddenly Tippity becomes aware that he has not ceased to exist, but he is not within any kind of environment he recognises. I don’t think you have to be sentient for that to be frightening. Ardrigio, what do you recall of when you first arrived within Ivgos.”
He looked startled and then tried to recall. “All I seem to have sensed is light pulsing until I fell asleep.”
Robbie grinned at the idea of a soul falling asleep but did not comment. “And you Grosts?”
“I seem to recall swimming in a thick and sticky syrup. I would say it was comforting so I faded into being nothing for a while.”
“Morbo?”
Robbie looked at the rest of the family. “You all fell asleep or something akin to it, but otherwise, the environment for you was different from what the others experienced?” They confirmed he is right. He gave a grin of delight. “Here I was, thinking I was doing a great job of boring you to death and we stumble over a truth nobody knew! Ivgos, I bet you thought they experienced something you wanted them to feel, but their own experiences or instincts altered how they perceived it so as to suit them.”
“How would a non-sentient being experience it? You said their instincts can change what I want them to sense?”
Robbie nodded, “It would not be the same. Ivgos, those you invited were people who love and trust you and they had known for a long time that they would be invited, so their instincts did not have a free hand. An animal would only have its instincts and it would arrive fearing it is about to stop existing, I’d say it is likely its instincts will create whatever it fears the most or else it would arrive with teeth and claws ready to tear and kill. I don’t know how that would affect your inner world.”
All the species shared the conversation from us or from each other and we soon heard of five planned experiments that were suddenly aborted without an explanation, but we sensed their apologetic or sheepish emoting. Ivgos was not allowed the opportunity to kick himself or feel like crying. Robbie thanked him for thinking of the possibility and having the wisdom to ask as it has led to all of us learning so much. As for me, I’m flying high! Our Robbie still has the gift of directing us towards Cherine The Light! (Dommi: We all feel that way, not just us of the family. It is true that we do tend to forget why he is called our protector when he spends months or years just being Robert our husband, father and love.)
An Inguel team is still monitoring this Earth without interfering. When they are asked for advice they are generous with it, but they try to encourage the Terrans to continue effecting the healing of their planet on their own. They did not expect the Terrans to surprise them with major discoveries, but they are enjoying learning little details they had not thought of. Until now their role has been of terraforming and correcting-healing damage caused and this is the first time they are part of a team made up of the species that caused the damage. Noting what changes this has brought to the people of Earth has taught them a lot, or so they claim. What has impressed all of us is the emoting of so much love from the Inguel towards the local Teller family and the love that is emoted back to them. The local Cherinians tell us that this is mostly because of their Robert.
Our arrival was greeted with joy by the local Cherinians. They were disconcerted, for a while, when they learnt that we had come because of Arthur asking us the question about Tippity, but then they also heard about the anniversary and they became nicely emotional again. After they were told about Tippity, a Cherinian comedian known as Jerry Suxby put on a skit for us about Arthur deciding that he finds us Cherinians boring and he confers super powers and intelligence upon Tippity and he replaces us as the beloved of Arthur and this becomes the new Prime reality because their chimp superhero belongs here. At times we found it excruciatingly funny and the imps offered to have it performed in other realities where the Normals know about us, giving him a wider public. They got talking, exchanged some barbed bits of humour and then they told him about their ‘moo’ play of Robbie. They were able to make it real for him in his mind and he ended up with sore ribs. They are his favourites of our family now.
The Duluti house is no longer as it was - neither is the house next door. Now that they can teleport, Robert, Cherine, Wendy, Aganthi and Nitsa spend many of their weekends at the farm (they had to hire Cherinians as guards so that nobody wonders how they arrive on weekends without flying in. A tribe of chimps have been relocated and their community is thriving as the surrounding farms and the government troops provide a security zone that even poachers with high powered weapons are not willing to provoke. The security is meant to be for Robert and Cherine and for Eddie and Hettie, but the chimps also benefit. Having their forest in a half-moon around a lake is ideal for the chimps and there are a number of females expecting to give birth soon.
We were sprawled all over the lawn, the sounds from the trees close by an exotic background to our gossip and teasing. A few years have passed since our last visit and we wanted to know from Cherine why their family has not grown.
“The truth is, we’ve been too busy and our three loves do make us feel like a family so we haven’t had the incentive.”
Cherine understood, but she could only counter with the truth. “We enjoy what we do. It is a wonderful feeling seeing that we make a difference. To grow by even one more person would cause us many problems - it was touch and go when we had to explain the presence of three children in our family.”
Syrina shook her head. “It would have been worth it! Having a bigger family would mean that those good moments are shared with people you love and make your successes feel even more special.” She recalled her good manners and apologised for speaking as if she knows better than they do what is good for them.
Normally Robbie would choose the company of little girls, but he was sitting with Robert, enjoying their conversation. With a teasing look he said, “This must be the first Earth that is going to earn more wealth from our alien friends than it is going to spend. The air purifying invention, I’m told, has been successfully converted to work just as efficiently for other atmospheres. As you are probably aware, the rarest atmosphere of all are the chlorine gas giants, we’ve only discovered a handful of them in our galaxy. They are even more sensitive to pollution as it is only the correct mix of gasses that keeps them viable and we are ecstatic at having a way of protecting them now.”
“We are going to run short of certain metals as we do not wish to destroy any areas of our planet by mining for them, so we are secretly trading for them and for knowledge. I doubt we’ll earn anywhere as much as we’ll spend.”
Robbie wiped the dew rolling down the green glass of the bottle of beer in his other hand with a far away look in his eyes. “You would do better to concentrate more on the technology you are being supplied with. It might reduce the tonnage of metals you require while also decreasing the pollution.” He hesitated, as if considering whether he should continue with what he’d intended saying. “It is strange how the wisest of our friends can develop a blind eye when the facts might require of their people some sacrifices. I think your success in this regard has awed everyone more than any developments your people have invented for fighting pollution. I certainly feel that way.”
Robert frowned as he tried to guess what Robbie was speaking of. “In which way are they blind and which species are you talking about?”
Robbie shrugged. “All of them, apart from the Sparklers and the Wirms.” He took a long swig so that the upended bottle emptied. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and gave a grimace of a smile. “The Unation species have been Cherinians longer than any other species and they are a wise people and yet, even they refuse to worry when I warn them. It is not that they don’t see the dangers Robert, but the time span I speak of is too immense for them to feel it is worth worrying about from now.”
“What is the time span?” By now I was listening, so it meant our Cherine was and that made his Cherine listen.
“I don’t have an exact figure for any planet, but I guess the worst case scenario would be around about a hundred million years.”
“A…a…a hundred million years? Are you pulling my leg?”
Robbie opened another beer and took a long look at Robert's legs. “It’s not me, maybe one of the girls is using telekinesis to pull it?” Robert was not amused when the two Cherines, I and a couple more girls tittered.
“I thought you were being serious.”
“I am. Surely the subject of our discussion just before my comment gives you a clue? You were talking about bringing metals to Earth. The metal will be used to make machinery and so on? Even with efficient recycling, a percentage of it will be added to the soil, seabed and so on. The increase will be very gradual, giving life enough time to mutate so that it can survive, but do we want to add reasons for all of life to mutate? The same is happening with plastic; the new kinds breakdown over six months but the chemicals leach into the soil and water. The quantities are minute but over…” He frowned at Robert, doing his best to ignore the emoting of us girls. “You see? Even you don’t take the problem seriously.”
Cherine was suppressing her emoting as she answered, “I see, you are thinking of the chicken and egg situation?”
“Huh?” He was still trying to work out whether there really would be a problem.
“If Robert does not worry, why would the technology be developed in time? If he does worry, he is funny?”
As Robert went “Uhh…”, trying to work out whether our Cherine was upset with him, Robbie choked on the beer he was guzzling. Soon, we were all laughing as the local Tellers stared at us with red faces. Robert joined us as he saw the ridiculous side of it but his four little warriors kept their stern glares fixed on us until we sobered. At least Tippity and his girls were not upset with us. When they returned from playing among the trees they each came to their favourite girl to be groomed and fed.
When the Mansfield couple died and Robert and Cherine inherited their group of Talents, not all of them were willing to remain part of the group - especially once they heard that Robert had died and Frank is a vegetable. When the Mansfields reappeared they did not force the issue and everyone who had been in the group was asked whether they want to stay or go independent. Those who had left stayed out, but most of the rest preferred the comfort of a good salary and the feeling that they belong to an elite and powerful group. The fact that they are now concentrating on doing good also helped - which explains why so many of them became Cherinians.
A few of those who decided to go it on their own found themselves facing temptations which they succumbed to. They remained wary, knowing that they are not the only ones with powers and they still feared Eddie and Hettie, so they did not come to the notice of governments or the media. As long as they only enriched themselves in ways that did not harm Normals, they were ignored or, at best, given a warning by the Cherinians. Unfortunately two of them infuriated Eddie and he made a mistake that was to lead to many deaths and could have exposed the Cherinians and all Talents to the governments.
The Mansfield industries range from household goods to engineering, computers, telecommunications and ship building. Their interests are too diverse and large for the two of them to monitor the details so they have management teams to do so for them. As any prudent business owner would do, they stage surprise inspections - not of the factories and so on, but of the accounts. When they do so they go to the basics, the stuff their bookkeepers see, not just what goes to their auditors. When they found evidence of false documents they appointed a forensic accounting company to report to them. They found no paper trail worth investigating, which did not make sense.
At the same time, Hettie learnt that container lots of their products were being offered at a heavy discount and when they checked, they found that what was on offer came to about thirty percent of the production of their manufacturing company. Again they checked the company accounts and found blatant evidence of the loss of products and yet, when they called in the forensic accountants they shook their heads with wonder, for they could not find clues that would explain how the stock was being stolen. It was only then that the couple realised they are facing Talents, not ordinary criminals. They called in a group of their most trusted Talents so as to catch the thieves, but no more stock was stolen. They decided that someone in the team is working for the other side also, so they pretended they were now convinced they’d panicked without reason and blamed what they’d thought were discrepancies on ‘clerical error’ and disbanded their little group.
The two Talents did not believe what they were told, but they did not care that the Mansfields knew the truth, for two reasons. The first being, they could only be arrested if Talents were used against them and that would lead to the government learning that the Mansfield couple are mutants. The second was that they did not appear to be stealing the products themselves. Eddie theorised that they provided the mental cover for their teams who did not even know they were helping them steal. If this was true, all the Mansfield couple would get are the workers. The pity of it is that although both Eddie and Hettie suspected the truth they were angry by now and Eddie allowed his feelings of outrage to dominate his thought processes.
Although Hettie is better at organising, Eddie has the more powerful gifts. Hettie was supposed to monitor the dispatch bays with data of what shipments are legit so that she can let Eddie know what trucks leave with stolen container lots. Eddie was supposed to use his powers to monitor the trucks in the hope of discovering where they go for storing the containers. Neither of them could put in an appearance within the warehouses as they would be sensed so they confined their watch to the area close by the security gates. For two nights they waited in vain and then we arrived. They came with everyone else to Freddie and the next day they learnt that another million and a half dollars worth of merchandise had disappeared. Eddie was seething and determined to catch the thieves himself, so he did not ask us for help.
Eddie was watching when the trucks arrived at the yard of the container trucking company. The drivers signed in, locked the trucks and handing over the keys they went home, bitching about having to work at night but comforting each other with comments about the overtime they were earning. After the trucks were delivered to the companies for loading, without Eddie seeing the containers being unloaded, he was furious at the sleight of hand that he was convinced had been practised on him, so he was determined not to give them the chance to either vanish his stock or swop the vehicles en route. Legally, for the goods to be considered stolen the criminals or their agents have to attempt to pass them through the security gate - off the premises of the owning company. Eddie was no longer interested in the legal aspects since he knew the Talents could not be contained in any prison. He was convinced that the Talents were in the containers, teleporting the products somewhere else as the truck travelled, thus arriving empty. No longer thinking logically because of his rage, Eddie waited until most of the trucks were en route and then used his powers to explode the containers on seven trucks. The drivers were killed and the out of control mass of burning metal crashed into other vehicles. Twenty nine people were killed.
We were very lucky. Their Cherine was monitoring them as she had sensed their growing frustration and anger. With the explosions and deaths, she screamed and jumped. Her Robert and Robbie were right behind her and as soon as Robbie realised what had happened he ordered all of them to return to Freddie. He called to Solomon to hold the souls and for healers to re-create the bodies while he jumped back in time, got the serial numbers of the vehicles, jumped to the closest alternate Earth, bought the same vehicles and brought them back in a platform. The debris and all signs of the explosions were cleared by hundreds of us working while Robbie was gone. As Robbie placed the vehicles where they had been (stationary, as he did not want them to start a pile up of vehicles) the people brought back to life were placed in them, their minds cleared of their last memories and feeling slightly dazed. They soon drove off and as we’d gambled, there was no public mention of them feeling dazed and finding themselves stopped by the side of the road. They told their families or friends about it, but it ended there. We did have to place a compulsion in the minds of the truck drivers so that they would forget what happened and not mention any discrepancies they noticed. We broke our own rules but we felt justified and our Council exonerated us when we reported ourselves.
While there was an emergency we worked as a team, but as soon as everything was back to normal, Robbie exploded. If either Eddie or Hettie had tried to excuse or justify their actions, I do not know what Robbie would have done. Luckily they sat with faces burning, ashamed of themselves and feeling Robbie was justified in anything he said. The fact that they held hands under the table during his tirade was noticed by Robbie and it helped steal just a tiny bit off the edge of his anger.
The suppositions I made above became obvious once the couple explained the events that led to the need for Robbie to interfere. We did not try to smoothen out the relationship between them and their Teller family and friends; that is something all of them will have to work at so as to find a way to heal the rift and loss of trust. At least, what happened has not affected our love and trust in our uncle Eddie, it may have made him even more precious to us than he was. Privately, Hettie admitted to us that our Eddie used to have these unreasoning flares of rage many years before we’d met him, but spending time at his camps studying the animals had smoothed out his temper and taught him to control himself.
Freddie left the reality, but Robbie and Vincent returned. Robbie became the void and without bodies they waited until the two Talents learnt it was safe for them to steal their next lot. Robbie placed each of them in a stasis bubble so that we can release them individually for interrogation and Vincent and Robbie brought them to Freddie. Neither Eddie nor Hettie felt they had any rights and coldly watched the two Talents as they waited within the stasis bubbles. They were surprised when Robbie curtly told them they are the injured party and this is their reality and they must interrogate and decide the punishment for both Talents. Hettie accepted his statement at face value, but Eddie, for the first time, we felt that he began to understand our Robbie and love him. Privately, very privately, but allowing it to leak out to Robbie, us girls told each other that Robbie must be our ‘special’ one that night and pretended to debate how it should happen. Feeling Robbie as he ‘secretly’ listened to us was wonderful.
“The two of you should be judged according to your own rules, for the harshness of the sentence would suit your crimes better. However, I became a Cherinian because I believe in what Cherine represents, so I’ll have to judge and sentence you according to our rules.” Eddie briefly outlined the plot, explaining how they had stolen from him using Normals so that they would pay for the crimes of these two should their plan go wrong. “I was foolish and did not take the trouble to learn how you are stealing from us. This led me to presuming others were stealing for you and I became careless of their lives. If the prime family were not visiting, my anger would have cost many lives - far more than those I directly am responsible for killing. My industries and my wife and I would have come under the spotlight and it would have become known that there are a number of us with psychic abilities. Exposing all of us to the Normals in this way would have led to panic and war. The two of you provoked me, knowing how I would react - it can be the only explanation for you choosing to steal from us when it would have been easier and safer for you to steal from corporations belonging to Normals. Before my wife and I confer to decide the sentence, do either of you have anything to say in mitigation of my accusations?”
The one Talent swore, but refused to plead. The other, his eyes cold and hard, turned to us, addressing his comments to Robbie. “This man you have accepted as a Cherinian is a cold-blooded killer. Over the decades I’ve worked for them, the couple ordered and even directly executed some of the Talents who would not work for them. You accepted them as Cherinians and then wonder why we refused to join you? They do not have the moral right to judge us and carry out any sentence, and by your association with them, neither do you. Only your power over us gives you the right, which means you will be acting as common criminals and dictators do. I refuse to beg for mercy, so do your worst.”
We were pleased when our Alki spoke. “Your courage is commendable, but your arguments are flawed. When Cherinians speak of punishment, they do not use the term with the same connotations Normals do. As for your accusations regarding our morals because of us linking the Mansfields, if you had spoken to us before taking the law into your own hands - which you did because you thought you had the power to get away with it, we would have listened and welcomed a debate that guides us so that we only do what is moral and ethical. Your arguments and accusations at this time smack of opportunism and justification, weak excuses for stealing and causing the deaths of innocents.”
Jade just had to pop up with, “We cannot add to the accusations the deaths of the Normals - no proof has been tendered that they planned for it. They were careless and at worst can only be accused of second degree manslaughter. They should only be punished for what they did and what they are directly responsible for.” The two Talents watched us with astonishment in their eyes as we then argued to and fro, trying to establish the truth and split the blame accordingly. Finally we fell silent and Eddie knew it was time for him to announce sentence. It did not make it easier for him knowing that apart from so many species watching, he could feel the eyes of Dimitri (Dimi Mansfield) on him. Both Eddie and Hettie have come to think of him as their son also and love him. Eddie knew that Hettie would be harsher, so he had to take responsibility for the sentence on his own.
“I would like to address everyone, apart from the accused, before I announce the sentence I’ve decided on. I came here this morning expecting everything to be far more simple than it has turned out to be. As far as I was concerned, the two of them had planned and committed a crime and they should pay for it - in the Cherinian sense. I have not changed my mind in that regard, but I have been forced to look beyond the obvious and I see more decisions will have to be taken today…and I will need your help to choose correctly. Let’s start off with the two - Robert, do I have the right to pass sentence if it affects everyone in Freddie?”
“I don’t have enough facts to answer you. What do you have in mind?”
“I would like to have their powers suppressed until they have proven they will use them wisely, for the good of others. The balance of the sentence will include the…not order, since Cherinians don’t order others but…what? The decision that they must stay in Freddie until they have matured?” We’ve also struggled at times with finding the correct terminology to use as Cherinians so nobody showed amusement at his floundering.
“Surely the most worthy of being their guides should undertake the role since we are discussing something as important as the saving of two souls that have taken a wrong turn? Would you disagree with the claim that my Eddie chose wisely?” For the first time since the accidental deaths, our Eddie and Hettie gave a grin and relaxed. This Hettie will serve the Cherinians of her reality just as effectively as our own has…as a politician.
Their Cherine frowned and her Robert cringed as he sensed what she was about to say. She felt him and temporarily compromised, “It is for the prime family to answer you, but Eddie, you said there are other decisions to be made?”
“Larry made accusations and he spoke truly. Hettie and I have caused many deaths and misery for many more and those will have to be dealt with separately. Bearing that in mind so that it is known that it is not forgotten and will be dealt with, I suggest that for this moment we restrict ourselves to what happened and the twenty nine deaths my impulsive actions caused - Larry, my past actions were known to our Cherine and to the prime family and I feel that they must have had their reasons for accepting the two of us as Cherinians, but if it is to be discussed, it should not be as part of this…trial. I have my actions of the last few days to account for and they must be dealt with now.”
I grinned at Jade and spoke to the two Talents. “If we agree to your staying in Freddie for a while, you will not be prisoners - not in the time honoured sense. As far as we are concerned you are here so as to learn and will be free to visit the worlds we travel to - should you wish to. To be honest, if it had been up to us to judge this case and to choose how you should be helped to grow to become the kind of people we’d like to link, we’d have reverted you to babies and given you to a good couple to rear as compassionate and caring people. Eddie chose and I think his decision is gentler than ours would have been, but it will only be of benefit to both of you if you are willing to give it a chance and try to keep your minds open to us. To ensure that you are heard should you have a grievance with any of us or an open mind willing to listen when you need to speak, I suggest you accept Jade as your friend and representative.”
Farm-Cherine cut off those who might have wanted to comment on what I’d said, her voice stern, intolerant of time-wasting. “Eddie, you are willing to discuss the past later on?”
“We are, whenever you wish.”
“Then what do you expect us to decide with regard to your temper tantrum?” She did not realise she was twisting a piece of her skirt as her hands lay in her lap. She loves Eddie, despite her knowledge of his past and hated having to ask, perhaps fearing that bringing it all out into the open could lose her their love. Luckily she is a Cherine and does not allow her fears to dictate to her how she deals with life or her choice of words.
He came to his feet. “What do you suggest?”
“I…,” her voice changed, “were you planning on choosing your own punishment?”
He gave that quirky half-smile we love. “I was worried nobody else would so I was willing to do so. Cherine, nobody who cares for me as a friend should have to make the choice.”
Jodine answered him, “Robert says that we are each our harshest judge. I think your Robert and Cherine should decide, not you.”
Robert sat back, pretending he is relaxed, but looking at Robbie. “How did your Eddie and Hettie pay for their pasts before becoming Cherinians?”
“I thought we were discussing the twenty nine deaths.”
“We were? How about we ask those twenty nine how they feel?”
Robbie frowned. “Are you playing games?”
“Maybe.”
“You are saying Eddie needs to be punished?” I did not bother replying since he knew the answer. He raised his hands like a Greek. “Samantha, both Eddie and Hettie have freely given of their entire fortune and used whatever influence they hold to saving our planet. Their days and nights are devoted to the same purpose. What else could I ask of them?”
“May I answer for Sam?” our Cherine asked. At his nod, she continued, “You arranged for a tribe of chimps to be saved by buying and making land available for them. Has saving them given you the same degree of pleasure and meaning as saving Tippity, by buying him and caring for him, did? A Cherinian punishment is supposed to only help the person being punished become a better Cherinian, so why not ask of Eddie and Hettie that they adopt at least one person, child or adult of their choice, so that the good they do is felt directly by them, adding depth to the truths of all we believe in?”
“This person should be in addition to the children whose bodies they used? Good, I like the idea. Eddie, will the two of you do it?”
Cassie squeaked with pretended indignation, “Only Eddie is supposed to be punished, but now you are punishing Hettie also?” Eddie and Hettie also laughed and the mood lightened as the couple reassured Cassie they would both be happy to do as asked of them. We found it funny when the two ex Talents protested vehemently, claiming Eddie is not being punished while they are. Jodine sweetly asked them whether they would also like to adopt a child. That shut them up. (
Seeing as to how we came here to answer questions about Tippity, my apologies for digressing Arthur. We could not use Tippity or his girls to prove any of the scenarios postulated by various people as it would be necessary for them to die, so we did the next best thing. Sparklers agreed to monitor all chimps, orangutangs and gorillas, whether in the wild or in captivity. As one is sensed close to death, we will be notified. Their populations are so low that it took eleven days for the first death to occur. The Dalai Lama and his companions had agreed to leave their bodies and allow us to ‘carry’ them to the dying chimps and then to the void if we sense any form of a soul jumping there.
Our arrival upset the entire tribe, distracting them so that they seemed to forget the chimp who was dying. They swiftly came to the conclusion we were not there to harm them and resumed their soothing of the dying female. They did continue to often try and sense exactly where we are and what we are emoting, but as she died they forgot about us and grieved for her. Since there were so many of us watching, I did not feel the need to try hard to identify the energy or soul leaving her body and allowed myself to become distracted - more about that later.
As she took her last breath and expired, nothing happened for a second or two. As a growing dismay began to affect everyone, the dye of void energy Robbie had surrounded her with showed a form of energy drifting out of the body. Robbie was able to keep the void energy around the soul energy and we saw it drift close to one chimp and then to another. After the fifth one ignored her, she drifted aimlessly for a while. The soul energy remained within the area the tribe inhabits and soon many of us grew bored and returned to our bodies.
The Dalai Lama has not been told what our rules are as I want him to feel free to ask or comment on everything. He asked me, “What excited you?” My loves and friends grinned as they know I like to have some time to mull over my thoughts before speaking.
His elderly companion added, “Before we sensed the soul, everyone despaired but you did not - why?”
“Because we already had proof that they have souls from before her death.”
They all stared at me blankly as they tried to work out why I thought so. Claudia burst out with, “You’re nuts! What makes you say such a thing! None of us noticed anything.”
“But you did - everyone did.” Cherine did not cheat so it was Robbie who gave a start first and then the Dalai Lama’s elderly companion and then the Dalai Lama himself. After that it seemed that they all understood at the same time.
“Just because they sensed us you take that as proof that they have souls?” Elpida asked.
Candy was holding Bitsy so she patted him and added, “Dogs too.”
I teased Lusalith, telling her that our author is partly a mouse and she was not amused. It had me in stitches as she emoted a glare at me. Maybe when we get Arthur here we can convince her to dream dance him as a mouse? Just so as to tie up loose ends I’ll mention a few details. Pre-souls at various stages of their evolution have been identified. Some animals of certain species have been seen to have souls that look fully developed and they can and do jump to the void - the less developed ones do not…in most cases. Robbie studied from the void and found pre-souls arriving, some of them very primitive, the one cell equivalent in souls. We don’t know why this happens, but it does prove they all have the capability. I’m theorising that those who go to the void must be doing so for a very basic reason: fear. Fear triggers the run away instinct, which probably lingers after death for a second or two, prompting the pre-soul into using the teleportation power all life has. I guess being killed by a predator must really send strong signals.
We delayed our departure by a few days so that all the Cherinians can come with us. It will be funny being able to say all the Cherinians of an entire reality are at the anniversary celebration. We really must convince them to link more people. After all, they do know a number of Cherinians from other realities who have not been linked in theirs.
Twenty four Teller families, friends and other Cherinians from a like number of realities have been collected. We were dawdling our way to the next reality when the twins, Alexis and Nicole came up with a suggestion. “We should invite Patrice Dagàn Venghaus and his wife, Lady Annabelle, but, if we do, then surely we must also invite Godfrey McCloud and Angelia?” We decided they were right and Freddie realised we wanted the change so he changed direction, aiming for their a-reality.
Patrice and Annabelle have done the unexpected. They went to Greece for a holiday because of us loving it, (after the very brief civil war ended) and they both loved it there. They moved to Greece once they saw that Germans are no longer hated and Patrice was able to convince a couple of large German manufacturers to appoint him as their representative. He does not need the money as he could just as easily collect a few diamonds from Southwest Africa, but he does not want anyone questioning how they survive financially. With the Greek secret service of that world being paranoid about the groups who secretly name themselves communists, they would have become suspicious if he had not made the arrangements. A business card can be a very effective disguise.
Although only four years their time have passed since we left them, Patrice has allowed himself to age so that he appears to be about thirty five. The wings of gray hair at his temples does make him look more distinguished and he claims they make his business life much easier. They are both happy to see us again and we were not surprised when Patrice and our Alki and Elias ended up on their own to discuss the economy of Greece.
We enjoyed a nice meal at the local Moustakas taverna and then the real conversation started. We wanted to know how many they have linked.
“We are in a unique position Cherine. Your alternates have evidence of potential candidates to help them choose safely, but we don’t. There is no Alki here for instance, just as there is no Robert, Cherine and so forth. Your author invented you and our author invented others. As you may recall, the people of our realities are not as nice as yours are so we have to be ultra careful - even one bad choice could cause terrible catastrophes. We have two potentials we are considering, but we are still studying them. Only once they have proved themselves under difficult conditions will we introduce ourselves.”
“Take your time and depend on your intuition Patrice, there will be no pressure from us for you to grow your Cherinian base. I trust the two of you will be willing to visit with us for a while?”
During our collecting of guests for the celebrations, we passed from the Ribbon Planet twice for Ivgos to notify divides of the changes coming. It has been implied that this is the one time and place that Robbie is willing to come back to at the same time as he previously did and will do so in the future - as it was obvious from the first time (by the number of future Freddies).
Riivjii and the other elders have spent all their time with us studying us and all the other species. They have grown used to travelling to the Sparkler Worlds and once they trusted us, they allowed us, the first time, to take their souls to the void. Knowing that we would soon be returning home for the celebrations, they asked us to pass from their planet. They feel they are ready to make the changes needed and Robbie asked Freddie to take us to their world. I asked Riivjii to accompany me and jumped us to the balcony of my apartment. I sat on the parapet with my legs dangling on the inside and he bent over to look at the surface of Freddie for a moment and then turned his attention back to me.
“Riivjii, I still mourn.”
“For Faiiis? It is not my wish Samantha, not after all you have done for my people, but I do not see how I can alter what was done.”
“Perhaps by altering what will be done?” He took his time trying to work out what I meant and I was forced to explain. “You know of my Samuel, can you not do the same?”
“But…he is…was of your present at that time.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I do not understand how it is you think a past life may be removed without destroying me.”
“If Solomon shows you it can be done without you losing any part of yourself, will you agree?”
He straightened and his pose told me he was giving it serious consideration. “Samantha, I must ask the others. If the elders, as a group, agree, I will do it.”
“Why must they agree, this only applies to you, they will not be affected.”
“Over the multitude of lives we have all been child or parent or sibling to each other and many have past lives with memories of Faiiis - it would not be right to take him away without asking for their permission.” I wondered, with pleasure, at how alien his way of thinking is to our species.
“Faiiis will not be removed, all that I ask is that he be shared so that he has one more opportunity to live his life.”
“If that is so, then the others will not refuse you.” I gave up and asked for Solomon. Arthur, I am so happy, they have agreed and Faiiis will return to life tomorrow - once we are at their planet. I had not realised I’d felt guilty, as if I was responsible for his death.
Solomon decided that my request was moral and Cherinian and he agrees to do as I ask. I do not like the idea of splitting or sharing the personality of Faiiis, giving life to one half while leaving the other within Riivjii with its memories that do not belong to the life Faiiis originally lived. When Faiiis is brought back to life with his own body, Solomon will remove the memories relevant to this time so that the original Faiiis can rest with only his own memories to trouble him - which he owns the right to.
Riivjii and the elders demanded we first deal with the rest of the elders and the people who knew nothing of all we planned for them. It was pointed out to the elders that this will be a time of fear for their children, for they have lost the ability to make difficult decisions. The elders agreed to the Unation keeping a spaceship in orbit with a number of advisors-educators to help the new generations grow into mature adults. As we speak and plan and dream for their people, so do we sense the grief grow in the elders as they become even more aware of the damage they caused and the wasted generations that never knew what it is to become adults, dying from old age to become elders while still childish and immature (those are, in bulk, the elders waiting on planet).
Freddie has been taking his time getting there for it has been very obvious to even the most obdurate of us that the elders need time to adjust and face their future. I’m glad, for it gave them the time to face their fears and make an important decision - a decision which I admit I never would have had the courage to take for myself or my loved ones.
