IMG SRC: https://wallpapercave.com/w/wp5440124
Hi Scholars, Scribes and fans of positive speculative fiction. Here is the second chapter in my solarpunk story 'Cthonic'.
I hope that you enjoy this part. Chapter 1 is available here.
I've been following Cloud for two seasons now. She is familiar with the presence of my little balloon. From time to time, she sends a little uplifting wind my way, on cloudless, hot days, I'm rewarded with a little patch of cover between me and the Sun.
My role is to observe, record and interact with Cloud as she travels. Our balloon is loaded with sensors that monitor changes in as much of the e+ spectrum as we can. They're based on designs from Switch, the first of the Cthonic who recognised the powerful education that humanity could receive merely by watching the others.
Switch is the only Cthonic to prefer a male persona and is the most communicative of his kin, being integrated into nearly every circuit realised since his arrival. I say 'realised' not 'built' because much of our technology is based on the capacity of the Cthonic to fold materials and information into our space. Some of the instruments in my balloon are quite arcane in their function.
Cloud is working her way along a river, recharging her virus sized nano-bots with the clean water that provides their energy source while they exist in this space time. As she moves, the bots spread outward, adjusting the local climate to the needs of the plants and animals that live in and along the river. Her nature is to replenish, to stimulate growth and to clean. She is responsible for the rain that cleans the river.
At the moment, I am above Cloud, recording subtle shifts in energy that come from her work. I know that she is heading to meet Rainforest.
Communicating with Cloud takes some getting used to. Without warning (to our senses, that is, though she tells me that she gives me plenty of notification and that I just don't get it) I will be enveloped in a world of blue and grey, space less and timeless but full of love. I never remember the conversation but when I return to our world, I have a memory of a full conversation, filled with knowledge and humour.
Rainforest and Cloud are starting the task of cleaning the world of the remains of a city. For the Cthonic themselves, removing a city is not difficult, they just fold time until they are at a place where the city doesn't exist, whether before its inception or after its demise but in this present, some energies need shifting and materials physically moved.
I'm excited because the city is near an ocean and they are partnering with a third Cthonic, Current. Current is the most reclusive of the formed, performing her work in the depths of the oceans where she is currently shifting unthinkable masses of sediment to help raise an island chain that has been perceived by them to be of importance. Only one other human has experienced Current so I am nervously excited. Ecstatic is a better term. Her power is legendary, even among the other six who formed here with us.
Watching a Cthonic work is a weird experience, not everyone can witness the work and retain all of their sanity. They work both in and outside of our time, shifting to work both in the past and future, confusing our limited perceptions as they build a new present. Things grow, disappear and reappear as they develop, shimmering in and out of our space until complete. As I said, not everyone's mind can handle it.
