As I stepped out of the ship, I stopped beside Zircon and watched the movement and excitement in the village. Tariel and Anastácia were there as well, having fun with the new toys. A few meters uphill, Soyo was unloading more prefabricated parts.
“They say they can’t read our thoughts, yet they know everything I’m thinking,” I complained.
“They’re fascinating,” Zircon agreed.
“If just three of them changed the fate of Earth and Donna, imagining two hundred thousand is overwhelming.”
Zircon chuckled.
“What are they building over there?” I asked.
“Sacha called it ‘William’s Love Corner,’” he laughed. “A place with a large dining hall, a game room, and showers… and a bedroom for three hundred people.”
I laughed, covering my eyes with my hand.
“Get bikinis for all of them.”
“You don’t like seeing them naked?”
“I love it. But they were fascinated by the variety of clothes and felt even more beautiful and sensual.”
“It’ll be done.”
I walked toward the village, but noticed Aluram and went over to him.
“May you have a productive day,” I greeted him.
“How do I trade with the Xerantos?” he asked, pointing to a log where we sat down.
“Call your observer and tell them what you need. It will be arranged.”
“My observer?” he asked, surprised.
“Your people belong to the Known Universe. Every person will have an observer to protect them and communicate,” I explained. “You’ve also been stripped of the right to die and to be unhappy.”
His eyes widened.
“What are we supposed to give in return?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? I’m talking about trade.”
“The Known Universe is a single entity, a single being. There’s no way to trade with yourself.”
“I see. We are one,” he said calmly.
“Do you really understand?” I asked, not expecting an answer. “I don’t. A human can’t understand what it means to be one. That’s why I keep debating my own choices… how am I supposed to be one, with three hundred wives?”
“You kissed all of them on the navel?” he asked, astonished.
“I did what I felt.”
“An act of madness and extreme courage,” he laughed. “I’m not capable of taking more than one wife. But I want to change that. I want my people to want more than one wife.”
“Why?” Now it was my turn to be startled.
“When I saw you promise love to those young women, and even to Mala, I felt inferior, cowardly…” Aluram smiled awkwardly. “Even in the face of difficulties, you promised not to leave them alone. And that’s what keeps you awake at night. You truly love them and won’t abandon them. That’s why you’re desperately searching for a solution.”
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“How can you feel inferior because of something so irresponsible I did?” I asked.
He laughed.
“I love my wife, but I also love the others. After everything I’ve seen, I couldn’t find a valid reason to let Selium women suffer for not having someone to welcome them. When Mala lost her daughter and her husband, even with our support, she had no one who could hold her and promise to take care of her.”
“I understand,” I said, smiling awkwardly.
“Look at them. Their joy overflows, and it’s not because of the houses or the novelties. It’s because you told each of them you would be there, that they could rely on you. Just by being close, you make them happy.”
“You felt selfish. But there is no species more selfish than humans.”
“That’s not it. I felt envy because you were able to overcome reason in favor of your feelings. Accepting the Known Universe represents, for me, the opportunity to grow in that sense, to achieve well-being for everyone. We don’t want to remain prisoners of our culture and our fears.”
“Your words brought me great comfort.”
Even though the Sekvens told me the same thing all the time, hearing it from Aluram made me feel lighter.
“Are you afraid that Tariel won’t see the situation in a good light?” he asked after a pause.
“I’m more worried about Anastácia.”
“Why?”
“She’s human. Selium women are competitive, but I don’t see jealousy or resentment in them. A human can let hatred and anger take over.”
“That hatred almost killed my entire people.”
“And yet, you’re friends with one,” I replied.
He smiled.
“As for trade,” I continued, “everything you produce—whether as surplus, a hobby, or simply for the pleasure of others consuming it—the Known Universe will make good use of it. On Earth, we produce some exotic fruits for the Xerantos and the Sekvens. They’re difficult to grow on their farms.”
“That’s good.”
“You can start by telling the story of your people. What do you know about the Seliums’ past?”
“I know there were gigantic cities, buildings that reached the clouds. Artifacts with displays, like the ones on your ships. That’s why we thought AX was one of them.”
“But here? On Donna?”
“Our people lived in the south, but the climate changed and we came north. Still, we found nothing here. Maybe we’re from another world.”
“You originated here. But it’s a good hypothesis—you may have left Donna and lived on another planet. The Xerantos mapped Donna and found no ruins. In a few years, they’ll search underground.”
“That reminds me of a legend,” he said, settling in and turning toward me. “It tells of a forbidden cave, north of the forest, that takes people to the past and never brings them back.”
“To the past? It could be a ruin. Have you been there?”
“We’ve seen the cave, but we haven’t entered it.”
I waited for an explanation. He gave it.
“There was no reason to go in. In cases like that, it’s better to trust the legend.”
“Zero curiosity,” I said, laughing. “Is the entrance big?”
“No. It’s small.”
“Even so, AX and I will go.”
“I can go with you. It might be dangerous.”
“You have too much to do. AX can get me out even if there’s a landslide or I get lost,” I replied, excited.
The sunlight, the birdsong, the chatter of the Seliums having fun, and the smiles they gave us as they passed made us stay there a little longer.
“You have many reservations about your own people. Not just about the humans here,” Aluram remarked, waiting for an explanation as he played with a small branch.
“I’m a historian. I know what we’re capable of, for good or for evil. At the same time, I know what the Known Universe has done, and that awakens a certain envy… Not that their stories don’t have highs and lows, but they evolved, and we destroyed ourselves.”
“So the other peoples also had their wars,” he concluded.
“Except for the Sekvens and the Miliamedes, who emerged as conscious and united beings.”
“How did the Sekvens deal with humans?”
“What do you do when an animal catches a deadly disease?”
“We eliminate it, so it doesn’t infect the others.”
“That’s what the Known Universe did to us. They tried in many ways and grew tired of human violence. With the technology they had, they eliminated the ‘contaminated’ before they were even conceived… before they became living beings.”
“That’s intense. It’s selection.”
“It was the only way. We became more violent as things went wrong. A spiral of suffering that always drags us to the bottom, to extinction,” I took a breath. “We were the ones who asked them to do it—to save us from ourselves. The problem with violence, as you saw in the humans here, is that it only takes one to destroy thousands or millions.”
“Something went very wrong with us too,” Aluram said. “But Tariel told me the Sekvens descend from humans. So they’re you, evolved.”
“No. They wouldn’t exist if the Miliamedes hadn’t taken Milena from Earth and fought for eighteen years to stabilize her DNA. They were enhanced by technology so their bodies could withstand the power they held.”
Aluram smiled and concluded:
“The Known Universe gave them its love, and now it receives an even greater love in return.”
“It’s just as they say: love, and you will be loved.”
He looked at the Reborn, at Tariel, at Mila, who was watching me with a smile.
“And you did that masterfully. You took it literally.”
I took a deep breath, trying to control the chill running down my spine.
“Yes. I love them. All of them.”
