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Adam's mind swept through the misty landscape, unbound by gravity. As it sped towards the horizon, the invisible hands of his perception sifted through the terrain, carving plateaus and rivers, and leaving towering thunderclouds in its wake.
"Adam. Are you awake?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, the sculptor's dream ended. Adam's subconscious receded and one by one, his senses returned to his body, which resided inside a control tower atop the planet's highest peak. A brief analysis of the planet's various systems flickered on Adam's optic implant. After a quick survey of the readout, he pressed the remote communicator button to respond to his mentor.
"I am, brother. What do you require of me?"
"We will be leaving soon. I wanted to ensure that you did not wake to an empty world."
"Ah, I appreciate it, Eli. And this world will not be empty for long. The atmosphere has finally stabilized, and I will soon start the genetic accelerator and begin seeding basic fauna to--"
Eli sighed audibly, prompting Adam to cease his rant.
"Brother," Eli spoke with an annoyingly detectable undertone of sorrow. "We will be leaving soon and you will be alone on this world for a very long time. We all know that you are a dedicated Shaper who is entirely devoted to the terraforming process, but do you not think that you should pause your toil, step outside your tower, and look upon your work for yourself?
Adam tiredly rubbed his forehead and lifted himself out of his stasis chamber as Eli spoke. He had heard the Elder Shaper's lectures so many times before, and decided that his attention could be better focused on fine-tuning the planet's temperatures to facilitate the growth of animal life.
"My data tells me everything I need to know about my work. You know I have the most advanced Shaper implants. In fact, I was personally sculpting some terrain in the southern continent before you awoke me. I believe I am sufficiently interacting with my world."
Eli chuckled lightly as Adam finished his rebuttal. "Adam, perceiving the world through your mind's eye is not the same. What I propose is for you to leave your tower. Feel the newly-carved earth beneath your feet. Smell the presence of the wild plantlife. Listen to your creation breathe."
"For what purpose?" Adam's relatively short temper was starting to surface. "From this tower I can quantify and control everything. Even with my implants, I can accomplish nothing while taking the leisurely walks you propose."
"If you spend the next century staring and reacting to the observations of nothing but survey droids, your creation will suffer, Adam. Please, listen to my experience. When sentience blesses the creatures of your domain, you will be a but template for their intellect. No matter what you can see from your tower, no formula exists that will allow you to control how a sentient being thinks. If the world they inhabit was wrought from the winds of intuition and instinct, then they will seek to emulate that. Perhaps one day, they may become like us. You and I both know that this universe is growing old, Adam. Shapers are the only hope for the sentient mind."
Adam no longer had any desire to argue and, perhaps more than he cared to admit, was somewhat moved by Eli's words. He had never spoken like this before. There was a unsettling desperation in his voice.
"You are right, brother." Adam decided that he would indulge Eli, given that it would be eons before they spoke again.
"I was not expecting that," Eli said with another chuckle, before gracefully changing the subject. "You've created a terrible thunderstorm beneath your peak. You should come outside, and see the twin suns set behind the storm. I know of few sights that demonstrate such raw power."
"I will go."
...
Adam marched up the steps to the top of his peak. The old man was right; the earth had a fresh-made feeling to it. Adam could almost convince himself that it was vibrating with life. As the suns set, Adam's path grew dimmer and dimmer until he ignited the hard-light projector on his staff to illuminate the way. Normally, Adam would use his optic implant to aid his night-vision, but he had disabled it for his excursion. Although he knew there was no way Eli could monitor his implant functionality, Adam felt that the constant flickering of various temperatures, biodiversity ratios, and planetary core compositions would somehow cheapen his promise.
Finally, Adam breached the shadow of his mountain, and the warm glow of the twin suns fell upon his face. Adam's last gasp of breath smelled of petrichor and ozone; the sight he was greeted with briefly stole every autonomous function from his body except sight. It was truly beautiful. Adam had always been aware of the waterfalls bordering his control tower's foundation, but he had never seen them like this. The light of the suns embraced everything, and reminded Adam of the fusion reactors inside his tower. While his mouth still hung agape in awe, Adam heard a rumbling in the distance. Briefly mistaking it for thunder, he quickly identified the sound as the massive thrusters of the Progenitor leaving his domain. Adam, waiting with bated breath, suddenly realized that he was about to watch his species, his family, leave him behind for thousands of years. He had always known this day would come, that Shapers, Elder Shapers, and Shapers-to-be would have to go back out into the sea of stars to salvage what was left of the habitable universe. But in this moment he found himself vulnerable and unprepared. The Progenitor erupted through the cloud cover, and for a few brilliant seconds, the blue streams of the ship's thrusters mixed with the shine of the setting twin stars. Adam was overcome with emotion. Being known as a stoic, even among his regal species, nothing betrayed Adam's sentiments except for the tears streaming down his face uncontrollably. Hardly thinking, he activated his communicator, and sent a message to Eli.
"Until next time."
Adam knew that communications from outside the Progenitor would be queued for a few hours during its liftoff and warp procedure, at which point it would be out of communication range, but he did not care. He did not wait for the enormous vessel to disappear into the sky; Adam collected himself, turned on his optic implant, and began the hike back down to his control tower. There was work to be done.
______________________
I do clouds now. Clouds are cool.
"Adam. Are you awake?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, the sculptor's dream ended. Adam's subconscious receded and one by one, his senses returned to his body, which resided inside a control tower atop the planet's highest peak. A brief analysis of the planet's various systems flickered on Adam's optic implant. After a quick survey of the readout, he pressed the remote communicator button to respond to his mentor.
"I am, brother. What do you require of me?"
"We will be leaving soon. I wanted to ensure that you did not wake to an empty world."
"Ah, I appreciate it, Eli. And this world will not be empty for long. The atmosphere has finally stabilized, and I will soon start the genetic accelerator and begin seeding basic fauna to--"
Eli sighed audibly, prompting Adam to cease his rant.
"Brother," Eli spoke with an annoyingly detectable undertone of sorrow. "We will be leaving soon and you will be alone on this world for a very long time. We all know that you are a dedicated Shaper who is entirely devoted to the terraforming process, but do you not think that you should pause your toil, step outside your tower, and look upon your work for yourself?
Adam tiredly rubbed his forehead and lifted himself out of his stasis chamber as Eli spoke. He had heard the Elder Shaper's lectures so many times before, and decided that his attention could be better focused on fine-tuning the planet's temperatures to facilitate the growth of animal life.
"My data tells me everything I need to know about my work. You know I have the most advanced Shaper implants. In fact, I was personally sculpting some terrain in the southern continent before you awoke me. I believe I am sufficiently interacting with my world."
Eli chuckled lightly as Adam finished his rebuttal. "Adam, perceiving the world through your mind's eye is not the same. What I propose is for you to leave your tower. Feel the newly-carved earth beneath your feet. Smell the presence of the wild plantlife. Listen to your creation breathe."
"For what purpose?" Adam's relatively short temper was starting to surface. "From this tower I can quantify and control everything. Even with my implants, I can accomplish nothing while taking the leisurely walks you propose."
"If you spend the next century staring and reacting to the observations of nothing but survey droids, your creation will suffer, Adam. Please, listen to my experience. When sentience blesses the creatures of your domain, you will be a but template for their intellect. No matter what you can see from your tower, no formula exists that will allow you to control how a sentient being thinks. If the world they inhabit was wrought from the winds of intuition and instinct, then they will seek to emulate that. Perhaps one day, they may become like us. You and I both know that this universe is growing old, Adam. Shapers are the only hope for the sentient mind."
Adam no longer had any desire to argue and, perhaps more than he cared to admit, was somewhat moved by Eli's words. He had never spoken like this before. There was a unsettling desperation in his voice.
"You are right, brother." Adam decided that he would indulge Eli, given that it would be eons before they spoke again.
"I was not expecting that," Eli said with another chuckle, before gracefully changing the subject. "You've created a terrible thunderstorm beneath your peak. You should come outside, and see the twin suns set behind the storm. I know of few sights that demonstrate such raw power."
"I will go."
...
Adam marched up the steps to the top of his peak. The old man was right; the earth had a fresh-made feeling to it. Adam could almost convince himself that it was vibrating with life. As the suns set, Adam's path grew dimmer and dimmer until he ignited the hard-light projector on his staff to illuminate the way. Normally, Adam would use his optic implant to aid his night-vision, but he had disabled it for his excursion. Although he knew there was no way Eli could monitor his implant functionality, Adam felt that the constant flickering of various temperatures, biodiversity ratios, and planetary core compositions would somehow cheapen his promise.
Finally, Adam breached the shadow of his mountain, and the warm glow of the twin suns fell upon his face. Adam's last gasp of breath smelled of petrichor and ozone; the sight he was greeted with briefly stole every autonomous function from his body except sight. It was truly beautiful. Adam had always been aware of the waterfalls bordering his control tower's foundation, but he had never seen them like this. The light of the suns embraced everything, and reminded Adam of the fusion reactors inside his tower. While his mouth still hung agape in awe, Adam heard a rumbling in the distance. Briefly mistaking it for thunder, he quickly identified the sound as the massive thrusters of the Progenitor leaving his domain. Adam, waiting with bated breath, suddenly realized that he was about to watch his species, his family, leave him behind for thousands of years. He had always known this day would come, that Shapers, Elder Shapers, and Shapers-to-be would have to go back out into the sea of stars to salvage what was left of the habitable universe. But in this moment he found himself vulnerable and unprepared. The Progenitor erupted through the cloud cover, and for a few brilliant seconds, the blue streams of the ship's thrusters mixed with the shine of the setting twin stars. Adam was overcome with emotion. Being known as a stoic, even among his regal species, nothing betrayed Adam's sentiments except for the tears streaming down his face uncontrollably. Hardly thinking, he activated his communicator, and sent a message to Eli.
"Until next time."
Adam knew that communications from outside the Progenitor would be queued for a few hours during its liftoff and warp procedure, at which point it would be out of communication range, but he did not care. He did not wait for the enormous vessel to disappear into the sky; Adam collected himself, turned on his optic implant, and began the hike back down to his control tower. There was work to be done.
______________________
I do clouds now. Clouds are cool.
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Bad ass man!