Josephine signaled that she was full, so sister Joseph got up, dragon on her shoulder, and followed Lily along the corridors of the institute. They found a magic carpet and moved quickly three floors up through the open atrium, then turned left and landed on one of the catwalk gardens on top of the aviaries.
Since the institute had grown to five times the size of its early design concept, the construction team had decided that a building this large needed means of internal transportation, so they threw in the magic carpets as an afterthought because they were the easiest way to solve the problem. Sister Joseph mockingly called them 'magic carpets' and the name stuck, but they looked more like little square baskets that could transport one or two people at a time, moved freely in every direction and could turn on a dime. They were tied into the interlink system, so that one didn't need to tell them where to go. This feature was welcomed with great enthusiasm by the sisters until the children started playing with them, going in two at a time and giving the poor carpets contradicting directions which made them move in chaotic beelines, like drunk robots.
"Leave it to the little fiends to find a way to mess this up! I blame the parents, you know!" sister Joseph complained out loud, secretly amused by the endless ingenuity of the youngsters.
The sister and Lily walked above a racket of birds and tree frogs while Josephine decided to stretch her wings a little bit and flew majestically over the open spaces to the delight of children and picture takers.
Sister Joseph went about her morning observation, making sure the animals were healthy and well cared for and noting changed in their mood or general behavior, while Lily was tagging along, not really sure why.
"What does Seth have to say about all of this?" sister Joseph asked all of a sudden.
"Nothing much," Lily remembered her mentor's reaction. Seth had listened to the young woman's account of the conversation with the immortals, noted that if they spoke Purple instead of human short hand the explanation would have been a lot more nuanced and maybe clearer, then she suggested that Sys could serve as an intermediary, as originally designed and sent Lily to Roberta to unravel the mysteries of space and travel. If one didn't know any better, one could have thought that Seth was trying to brush off her mentee and this theory of space in flux was of little interest to her. In reality she was just as ill at ease with having her reality turned upside down as Lily was.
Chapter Twenty Six
Of Flux
Jimmy and Jenna were expecting and the wonderful news sent waves of excitement through the vast universe, or if you subscribed to Purple's theory of everything, realigned the threads of existence to create a slightly revised tapestry.
Sys left for Soléa immediately, to see its childhood friends and congratulate them on the blessed event. Once there um started generating toys, clothes and baby paraphernalia, playpens, playgrounds, food warmers, Purple music gadgets, and a series of virtual reality environments that covered every fairytale and every nursery rhyme ever written.
Jenna, who was still in her first trimester, looked dumbfounded at the ever flowing fountain of baby stuff, unable to react and starting to wonder exactly how much her life was going to change. She was carrying a baby girl, fact that had been brought to her attention by the immortals before she had an opportunity to ponder whether she wanted to know or not; Purple was more of a blabber mouth than usual and volunteered the information without being asked, compliments of a quick DNA analysis they performed instantly on contact with her skin.
"Purple. Love. Girl. Baby. Sister." they kept squeaking and chattering in excitement and making so much noise the dragons that safeguarded their perimeter started fussing uncomfortably.
Lily arrived a few weeks later, as soon as she learned the news upon returning from one of her trips. When she reached Soléa she found Sys working on a little amusement park, age appropriate of course.
Lily hadn't been with her friends in a while and found it a little strange to see them as a couple, with a baby on the way, no less. It had always been more or less obvious that Jimmy and Jenna were entwined souls and they had to end up together sooner or later. Due to the very long span of their lives child bearing age had slid significantly, and one hundred and forty nine, the age Jenna was at the time, was way too young for motherhood if you listened to her parents.
The sisters found every unrelated reason their imaginative minds could conceive to visit Soléa and hang around Jenna like overprotective mother hens: Sarah supposedly harvested 'vegetation' to replace the crops devoured by the ravenous Josephine, Roberta needed to improve the calibration of the solenoid, sister Novis found exploring the caves of the blue planet fascinating, sister Benedict had regular meetings with the research team of Antares Corde, and last, but not least, sister Joseph was there to "make sure Purple didn't harass the dragons with their obsessive humming", despite the fact that the dragons were soothed to the point of bliss by the immortals' strange music.
Lily was happy to find her friends so well adjusted to the deep skied planet, even if for a relatively brief research mission, and tried to ignore the eerie call of the wind that brought back memories of old angst. The dragons welcomed her and resumed their unofficial sentry duty as if she never left.
Jimmy and Jenna were thrilled to see her and listened long into the night to the stories she told them, stories of far out star clusters, galaxies and nebulas, stories of alien lives, so very different from their own, of green suns and amber oceans, of the things beyond the boundaries of existence. They listened to their friend as they watched the little camp fire cast a wild glow on her chocolate skin and light the shadow around her face, bringing her nearer and making her look more vibrant. The assurance with which she described her acquaintance with beings from across galaxies, beings they had never met and never knew existed put them ill at ease, almost as if someone had molded their childhood friend into this almost alien being, significantly the same but with no shared history.
Lily herself didn't realize how much she had changed, and neither Seth, nor Roberta, the sisters she spent most of her time with while on Terra Two, had the kind of temperaments given to psychoanalysis, so they just noticed how different she was now, but never mentioned it to her. There was something about her, something they couldn't put their finger on, that instinctively told them she felt more at ease traveling among the stars than at home.
The young woman looked even stranger since she had returned from her last trip to the Orion nebula. She had found a planet there, a habitable planet, a strange labyrinth of dizzyingly tall stone spires, where one could skip step from steeple to steeple over the deep chasms whose bottoms often got lost in the mist.
Due to the low gravity she could jump from stone top to stone top floating in the dense atmosphere with the grace of a butterfly. The air was so thick that she could propel herself by flopping her arms, not far enough to fly, but the arm movements certainly gave her enough impulse to glide over the wide open spaces between the stones.
She told no one about this dare devil activity, of course, she couldn't even imagine what her parents would say about it, and the sisters still intimidated her enough to keep the distance, she still saw them through the eyes of her seven year old self, and she sometimes found herself reduced to squirming uncomfortably in her chair in Organic Chemistry class.
When she jumped, the mist moved with her, pulled by the vacuum she left behind, folding and spreading as if animated by an inner force. Sometimes thick clouds almost covered the stones, revealing and concealing them with swift movements, as if the mist were daring Lily to jump from stone to stone across the deep, sight unseen. Here and there in the heavy fog diffuse lightning glowed, lighting entire clouds from behind like giant lamp shades.
Lily didn't know if it were the fact that she could 'fly' on this planet, or the warm, familiar feeling she had when the mist surrounded her, or if the peaceful swish of the ocean lapping against the pebbly beach reminded her of her childhood, but she was happy on h
er planet with no name, a planet that didn't appear on any stellar charts, that wasn't even supposed to be there, according to the laws of physics. It just floated in the middle of nowhere at the intersection of three very large gravitational fields of far away stellar clusters, its sky studded by numerous tiny suns that continuously went up over the horizon, casting a familiar rosy glow on everything.
Sometimes she thought she could see shapes in the mist, and she worried she might be hallucinating, and the next moment the mist lifted and she found herself bathed in the peachy light of the perpetual sunrise.
She didn't know why that was, but the longer she stayed on 'her' planet, the less she wanted to leave it, and she put off one research assignment after another to sneak out to one of its secluded beaches and watch the suns rise for a few hours. Wisps of mist danced above the surface of the water, glowing diffusely with electric charges and then settled at her feet, laying on the pebbles of the beach like strange amorphous creatures.
***
She liked to keep her little weird paradise all to herself and she only mentioned it to Purple because she knew the immortals were always thrilled to experience unfamiliar places.
"Purple. Go. Nameless. Planet." they whined. "Lily. Must. Take. Purple."
Lily gave in eventually, for the sake of peace and quiet, and took the immortals with her to the planet against her better judgment. Purple was strangely quiet during the visit, and only started talking her ears off after they got back to Terra Two.
"Why. Lily. Visit. Wisps." Purple asked, with a tinge of jealousy in its breathy voice.
"What? Do you mean the fog?" Lily asked, doubtful.
"No. Fog. Wisps. Haughty. Purple. Talk." Purple continued. "Wisps. Like. Lily. Wisps. No. Like. Any. Body."
"What in blazes are you talking about? It's just water vapor!" Lily blurted louder than she would have liked.
"Giant. Slow. No. Vapor. Wisps." the immortals continued, stubbornly. "Wisps. Not. Solids. Wisps. Think. Solids. Dense." Lily took a moment to remember how many times Purple told her she was slow and couldn't help enjoying a little bit the fact that the shoe was on the other foot for a change. Microscopic they might have been, but the immortals were still solid after all.
"Why. Lily. Visit. Wisps. Deceitful. Bad." Purple ominously threw everything but the kitchen sink into the warning. "Wisps. No. Like. Solids. Why. Wisps. Charm. Lily."
"You talked? What did they say?!" Lily asked, overexcited.
"Lily. Like. Rock. Lily. Solid. Rock. Solid." the immortals mumbled, peeved at her curiosity.
"You mean they said I was dumb as a rock? I thought you said they liked me!" Lily couldn't help laughing.
"No. Reason. Talk. Wisps. Talk. Purple. Lily. Sister." Purple continued defensively, more stubborn than ever.
There wasn't a dash of hope that once the chatterbox grasped on a subject it would not be broadcast into the entire community to friends and strangers alike, via interlink, so the whole population of Terra Two was briefed on the existence of the unnamed planet, its gaseous beings and their disdain for solid matter. Everybody acknowledged the new species and discarded the news the same evening, together with the morning weather forecast and the traffic reports.
***
Lily decided to do something she hadn't done in a long time: she took a shortcut through Sarah's office, cut through the healing garden and headed towards the Prayer Hall. She strolled in, alone, listening to the echoes of her footsteps reverberating between the stone floors and the arched vaults. She skipped the walk to the main hall, however, and made a turn towards the back corridor that lead through the refectory into the kitchen.
Sarah and Mary Francis were seated at the long wooden table, their backs to the door, laying down medicinal plants to dry on large mesh frames. The entire kitchen smelled like a meadow baking in the sunshine.
"Why are you doing this in the kitchen? There are thirty seven drying rooms at the Institute, with controlled moisture and temperature levels!" Lily couldn't help herself.
"Oh, I like doing this the old fashioned way every now and then, it reminds me of Perpignan," Sarah sighed imperceptibly, exchanging a glance with sister Mary Francis who answered with a small grin filled with longing.
"What's Perpignan?" Lily asked innocently, stirring a growl of disapproval from the sisters.
"Young people! It figures!" sister Mary Francis said, slighted.
"What brings you here, darling? We haven't seen you in a long time?" asked sister Jove, who had just entered the kitchen.
Lily hesitated before answering, trying to take in the familiar sights and sounds while her lungs were filled with the intense aroma of the wilting herbs.
"I missed you, I thought someone would be here," she avoided the answer, smiling at the sisters with the childhood smile they knew so well. All their uneasiness melted in that soft sunny smile and sister Mary Francis forgot for a moment that the young woman was approaching one hundred and fifty and stepped quickly to the pantry to bring out the honey chamomile cakes they'd baked earlier, which were Lily's favorites.
Her former pupil's uneasiness didn't escape Sarah's keen eye. She shooed Solomon, who had jumped on the table to sniff the fish fillets the sisters were preparing for dinner, and tried to dig deeper into Lily's thoughts, unnoticed.
"Did you have a pleasant trip?" the redhead tried to entice the young woman into an open conversation.
"Yes, thank you for asking," the latter didn't engage, but instead picked up Solomon and put him on her lap. The cat half closed its eyes, purring with delight, and settled down for a nap. The sky turned on several rain showers and the water condensate dropped like waterfalls over the thirsty herb garden. One of the jumping rocks split and sprung itself a twin of a different color and transparency. Lily wondered suddenly how she could have forgotten the absolute peace that lived between these walls, the safest place in the universe, as far as she knew: a stronghold of glass, protected by unconditional love. She got up slowly, to Solomon's displeasure, and walked to the doorway that lead into the kitchen garden, followed by the herb fragrance and the monotonous hum of the mundane conversation. She stood there, in that doorway, watching the rain fall on the brick colored soil and turn it deep ruby and burgundy, the colors of wine. Jumping rocks popped every now and then, like popcorn in a heated kettle.
"Purple told us about your beautiful planet," Sarah started tentatively, making Lily a little uncomfortable.
"Of course they did, the blabbermouths, I bet they spilled like a broken pitcher! You can't keep anything to yourself on this darned planet!" Lily thought, growing more upset by the minute. Sarah heard her thoughts, but curiosity was stronger than her usual discretion.
"I heard you found a new life form!" she continued, cheerfully. "That's exciting!"
"Call the presses and let's have a party!" sister Joseph replied sarcastically. "I can't wait to communicate with smoke signals and make quick friends with fog. Who forgot to water the Soléa vegetation? Poor Josephine is starving, you nincompoops!" The sisters in the kitchen collectively rolled their eyes.
"I felt that! What does a person need to do around here to earn some respect!" sister Joseph reacted, offended.
"Yes," Lily responded wistfully. She wished she could express the bond she felt for that new planet, a bond impossible to describe in words, the joy she experienced when she was flying, the thousand lights of the perpetual sunrises, the warm caress of the mist that surrounded her ankles on the beach. Sarah saw her thoughts and smiled.
"What a beautiful place!" the redhead marveled. "Have you thought about a name?"
Lily was still peeved about Purple's blabbing. The reason she kept her planet unnamed was because she wanted it to be her private realm, a place far from prying eyes and well worded opinions, but now that the cat was out of the bag it hardly seemed necessary anymore.
"Why do people expect me to name every new celestial body we come upon?" she wondered to herself, quietly irate.
; "I'll name it for you in a jiffy! How about Murky Pits?" sister Joseph picked up her cheeky tone and ran with it. "Or Hazy Brains, that would work too!"
"I'll think about it," Lily said out loud, suddenly aware of the horrid repercussions the naming delay could have on her beloved planet.
"Planet. Name. Already." Purple intervened, without being asked. "Wisps. Name. Planet." and they didn't continue, to Lily's annoyance.
"Named it what?" the latter asked eventually.
"Vlor." the immortals obliged. "Means. Reason."
Chapter Twenty Seven
Of Immortality
"What do you think about Lily and her planet of reason?" Seth asked, startling Sarah, as usual. The redhead was in her herbalist shop, cataloguing DNA sequences, and the leader had approached unnoticed as usual.
"Ethereal," Sarah half smiled.
"Rational vapor, that's unexpected," Seth continued, trying to suppress a grin.
"From what I understand, they think we're a lower form of being, solid as we are. You know, we could fill entire galaxies with the details Purple doesn't feel a need to share with us! How long do you think they knew about the wisps?" Sarah commented.