The port here is very small, much smaller than usual. Kind of strange for a planet this populated. I get out of the shuttle and thereās barely enough space to fit all the passengers and their luggage along with the next group thatās preparing to board. We all make our way through the line, filtering out of the building and out into a slightly larger plaza.
I didnāt notice it at first, but the other buildings here seem to be other ports? From the air it looked like it was just a small port among a group of shops, inns, and other businesses, but the digital sign outside the building labels them all as ports. A weird design, but this makes a little more sense for how many people must be going through here on the average every day. Itās a slow day though, most planets have reduced capacity around their Cycles because whatever happens typically interferes with travel. This is nice for me, because it means I get through pretty quick.
The plaza itself is paved with large slabs of stone in a few different colors. If this is meant to create some image, Iām struggling to see it. Itās quite pleasant to look at nonetheless.
I hopped onto a bus and sat for the long ride into town. We drove along a dirt road, even stranger for a planet this big. Thereās very little in the way of signage, either, the driver mostly relying on a screen in his dashboard for things like traffic and detours. I look out the window and see what looks like parts of old paths, overtaken by nature again. Strange, disconnected segments of path. What is this? Why would a planet this developed have infrastructure like this?
An hour or so later, we arrive in town. The bus stop has another digital sign with directions to key landmarks and businesses. I look through the list, past restaurants, museums, and the court house to find my hotel. Itās a 10 minute walk from the bus stop, I head out on another dirt walking path, well trodden, inviting. Thereās something almost adventurous about this. A couple minutes down the path, I encounter another sign, pointing me to the right to go toward my destination, a few minutes to go. Again, another sign, another turn, this time just 2 minutes of walking left.
As I come upon my base camp for this expedition, I feel like I should be unrolling a map, maybe referencing my compass, and marking this down with a flag. Itās a small hotel, maybe 6-8 rooms at most, and a lobby that could sensibly be compared to a shed. I check in, drop my bags in my room and get ready to find some food. Perhaps Iāll be foraging for my dinner with how things are going so far.
I ask the man at the front desk if he has anywhere he recommends for food. He pulls out a tablet and shows me a map of the town, with a route highlighted that takes me to a small diner.
This is my first time seeing the town from above, none of the signs so far have had any sort of aerial view, just names, arrows, and ETAs. Itās weird; just like the port, buildings and paths are haphazard, it doesnāt seem like there was any planning that went into the layout. He recommends that I download a map of the town as itāll help me navigate a lot better than the signs, and he shows me where to find the map online.
I thank him for the help and head on my way. Out into the world again, I unroll the parchment of my imaginary map, ready to fill in some more blanks. āHere be dragonsā it says in the part Iām heading towards, but Iāve got my hat and trusty whip, and Iām ready to take on the unknown. I smile to myself and begin my walk. The breeze blows my hair back like Iām riding my horse down the path towards my quest.
The restaurant is quiet, itās already dark out and Iām quite late for dinner in local time. This part is typical for me though. I havenāt mentioned it before, but quite often Iām the only one eating when I arrive. Itās like jet lag times a hundred. Not only do you arrive at random times, the day is a different length entirely.
I stare at the menu for a while, trying to work out what Indiana Jones would pick if he were here. I come to the conclusion that the most adventurous thing I can pick would be breakfast for dinner, so I settle on sausage, fried eggs, and a bagel.
Itās routine at this point; my food arrives, I review my checklist for the workday tomorrow while I eat, and then stare out the window. I wonder to myself whether I would look good with a hat and a whip. Maybe that can be my thing. I leave the coins for my bill, stand up, pull my imaginary outfit from the hook next to the booth and slide the whip into my belt loop.
Where to next? Back to the hotel would be a good idea. This adventurer canāt sleep in tomorrow, unfortunately.
The work day goes by without a hitch, the checklist is done, and Iām chatting with Mark, the local tech manager about what kind of things there are to do in the area. The Cycle is tomorrow, so I have a bit of time before then that I need to fill.
āWell if you donāt want to be spoiled, skip the museums until after. Thereās a beautiful garden near the edge of town, and thereās a cafe right next to it now. You can go pick up a drink and walk around the garden in the morning while you wait for the Cycle to start. Itās a great place to be for it, too. Iāve got to be here tomorrow, unfortunately, otherwise Iād join you there.ā
āThatās a shame, thanks for the recommendation, though!ā
āIf you grab me a coffee on your way back, we can chat about the Cycle, I get the feeling youāll have a lot of questions.ā
We make it a plan, and I add it to my calendar. I grab my things, put on my imaginary explorerās kit again, and head out for the diner. A woman only has so much adventure in her and Iād rather save that for walking than eating.
My trek is at a much more normal time today, so thereās other people out on the paths with me. It feels a lot less like uncharted territory when thereās dozens of people walking home from work.
Back at the diner, I hang up my hat, sit down and unfold the menu. I take this as another opportunity to try something new. I order the soup of the day without even asking what it is. I think that counts for filling my adventure quota for this meal.
The waiter tells me itās tomato. Not as adventurous as I was hoping, but I add on a grilled cheese for dipping and a steaming apple cider to drink. Something to warm me up after my stint in the wilds beyond those shiny metal doors.
I contemplate the strange things Iāve seen here. I assume this must all have to do with the Cycle, but I canāt figure out how. Thereās just no way people would intentionally build everything this way if they didnāt have to.
The meandering paths, small buildings, sporadic placement of things, thereās gotta be a reason for all of it. When walking, I noticed something on the side of every building, a large metal box. The boxes have bright yellow labels with lightning bolts and some measurements, so they must be generators or batteries of some kind. On top of each one, thereās what looks like an antenna or maybe a conduit running up the wall that itās attached to.
I come to the conclusion that they must be antennae, probably used for communication of some kind. They have satellite communication, though, just like everywhere else. So what kind of communication would these be for?
The thought lingers, a puzzle to remain unsolved for now. Whatever the Cycle is, though, it must be pretty big if they have to make this many changes to what is otherwise standard practices among builders and city planners across the galaxy. Maybe itās related to the power, and thatās why every building has those giant boxes.
My mind begins to wander. Iāve been feeling strange again, feeling the blur again. Not nearly as overwhelming as when I was there, but flashes, moments. This is one of those moments.
I look across the booth, and thereās another me. She seems sad, or maybeā¦ confused? Itās hard to tell. The image of her is clear, but I can tell that none of this is sticking in my mind. If I try to remember this moment later, itāll all be fuzzy. Sheās staring out the window, off into the distance. Sheās somewhere else entirely.
After a drawn out moment, the other Olivia notices me. She blinks a few times and shakes her head a little like she just woke up from a nap, then she looks at me. She gives me a look like sheās asking āhow long was I staring like that?ā but she doesnāt move her mouth.
Iām about to respond when Iām interrupted by my dinner arriving. I thank the waiter and by the time I look back across the booth, sheās gone. These glimpses of myself have been happening every few days since the blur. Every time, itās like watching a shot from a movie; just long enough to see whatās happening, but never long enough for any details.
But this is the first time another Olivia has noticed me. I would say āthe real me,ā but Iām just as much a copy to them as they are to me. At least, if my theory is correct that these are actually alternate realities that my brain is seeing after that Cycle. Maybe theyāre just projections from my brain, though, and not real at all. Cycles can do all kinds of things to reality and minds alike, so theyāre both possibilities.
Youād think with how far weāve advanced in space travel and communications, weād have a better understanding of our minds to know which it is. Weāre still pretty in the dark there. And our understanding of the universe still hasnāt advanced enough to determine if thereās a multiverse or not, so thereās really not much for me to go on here.
I try to focus on something else while I eat. If I think about this too much Iāll start to spiral.
The soup and sandwich are gone and Iām left with just my drink. Iāve been sipping at it very slowly, I think my brain is trying to stretch this small reprieve from the unknown as long as it can. Iāve been moving head first into this for so long that I need just another moment without my adventuring gear before itās right back out there.
Later than expected, but sooner than I wanted, the cider was gone as well. The coins clink as I leave them on the table for the bill. Once again, I don my hat and thread the whip through my belt loop. Back into the unknown.
The following morning, I wake up oddly well rested. So far when I have one of those moments, I canāt sleep well the following night. I file that thought away in the back of my mind so that I can get ready. I donāt have too much longer before itās supposed to happen, and I need to get across town to the garden. I quickly throw on pants and a sweater and tie my hair up. Itās windy today and I really need a haircut.
Iām starting to get the hang of navigating this place without a map, so I confidently jog down the paths towards the garden. Into view comes the cafe and then a small gate leading into patches of flowers.
I swing into the cafe and order a hot cocoa before making my way through the gate. Itās fairly plain, not even a name, just wrought iron in an arch, marking the entrance. Once inside the flowers are cut through by a network of paths, almost like a spider web, but much less regular.
Each bed of flowers is one or two colors in a pattern, very distinct and each has a well defined border, almost like the paving stones from the port. I stroll through the patches, stopping to take a closer look at each. The flowers within each patch are similar colors, but the whole is made up of several varieties of different shapes and sizes.
After half an hour or so of wandering, I find a bench along the path and take a seat, waiting for the Cycle to begin. It doesnāt take long before I notice things getting quieter. The birds have stopped chirping, the insects have stopped buzzing around the flowers. They must sense that something is about to happen. The only sound left is the whistle of the wind in the nearby trees.
Then I feel it, first in my feet, but soon in my whole body. The ground is moving. Not shaking like an earthquake, but vibrating. The patches of flowers start to move. I start to move. Everything begins to slide and twist around each other.
I notice that all the moving pieces line up perfectly with the edges of the flowers. That explains a whole lot. I bet the paving stones and the buildings are all like that too, they must be, or theyād be torn apart right now.
I lose track of which way Iām facing as the ground Iām on spins and shifts. Things are beginning to move quicker now, and thereās a lot of dirt and dust getting kicked up, obscuring my sight beyond a few feet.
Itās beautiful though, the swirling colors of the plants are almost like a moving art piece. Thereās no discernible pattern to the movement, but it feels methodical. It almost reminds me of water currents.
Things begin to slow down, settle into place. The air clears and I can start to see again. The cafe is gone, or at least itās not where it was a few minutes ago. I find the gate again, but the path outside is broken, pieces scattered everywhere. I spot the cafe, must be a few hundred feet away. I guess thatās just where it is now.
Then I see it, the antenna. It has extended and revealed something on the top that looks like itās spinning. A second later a beam of light shoots out of it, spinning around. I notice another beam overhead, coming from the garden. I turn around to spot another antenna that I had missed before, inside the garden, also spinning.
They too begin to slow, and then each one shoots out several beams. One beam connects directly between the garden and the cafe, the rest I have to assume are connecting to other antennae elsewhere. I follow the network towards the cafe and one of those signposts comes into view, connected via a beam to the cafe. Itās hard to tell from this distance, but thereās definitely no longer any locations listed on the sign itself.
I run towards it to find that the screen is showing a simple loading animation, a cloud of points, with lines pinging between them, over and over. One of the points changes from black to green, and a solid line begins to run from it to somewhere.
Before I can even start to wonder about that, I very quickly realize that I am lost, really lost. I donāt know which direction to go to get back to the hotel, the office, the diner, or anywhere familiar. I donāt even know which direction Iām facing right now.
Then the panic sets in. I rush back to the cafe, and step inside. The barista must have noticed me taking deep breaths and assures me that in a few minutes weāll have paths again. She hands me another hot cocoa and sits with me. I must look like a mess right now.
We chat for a while about other things, my life, her life, the book sheās reading right now. Anything to take my mind off of the thought that Iām completely adrift, lost at sea somehow in the middle of land.
Outside, a small drone appears, and the barista points to it.
āThere we go, paths will be ready in a jiffy.ā
Just as she says that, the drone sprays some kind of paint down onto the ground, starting at the cafe, and moving in the direction of the signpost. We step outside and I see more drones flying around, one from the garden, and another from another direction, both coming towards the cafe to connect into the line the previous one started.
Once the garden drone connects its line in, it zips back to the antenna and deposits itself into the box through a hatch that has opened on the top. I thanked the barista for her kindness, ordered a coffee for Mark, then made my way back towards the signpost.
A much more welcome sight this time, directions and ETAs. Just a left and a quick 10 minute walk and Iāll be at the office again.
At the office, I hand Mark his drink and wait for him to finish up on the computer heās updating. A few short taps later and the machine is shut down. He takes a sip and turns to me.
āSo where to begin? Iām sure you have many questions.ā
Heās got that right, so many questions and no idea where to start.
āWell, Iāve had a lot of questions answered,ā I laughed.
He chuckles and continues on to tell me that the top layer of ground on this planet is made up of millions of plots. Each one varies in its exact shape and size, but theyāre all roughly hexagonal. There are occasionally some larger plots, although soil tests seem to imply that they're made up of a few smaller plots that stuck together. Not much is known about the origin of those larger groups, and no new ones have been observed, at least in the time since this planet has been inhabited by people.
My comparison to being lost at sea also seems more apt now that I've learned my observation that it seemed to flow like a liquid was correct. Movements at the individual level are chaotic, but they combine into currents at the large scale that are slightly more predictable when taken as a whole.
There are even areas that are seemingly entirely cut off from the rest of the ground due to these currents. The same few plots swirling around in them every time. The garden is in one of these places, the port in another.
The original expedition to this planet included a group of engineers who came up with the antenna and drone system. Itās low cost, easier to maintain than a system of satellites, and helps to keep the environment as untouched as possible. Paths are optimized not only for travel time, but for minimal disturbance to the land. A satellite would be able to find every building, but the drones can get closer and see if there's any pieces of path that can be reused or important flora and fauna that should be left undisturbed.
Something I found interesting in all this info is that those lights aren't actually important to the process. The antennae connect to each other via radio waves, and they're accurate enough to gauge direction and distance all on their own. The lights are actually a way to communicate what the system is picking up to any humans that might be watching. These days it's mostly just for the pretty light show, but back in the first few years, it was a very important tool to work out some issues they came across.
The power grid for this planet is very unique as well. Standard cables wont work for obvious reasons, so everything runs off of batteries; the third use for the boxes on the buildings. In the middle of every night, the drones take spent batteries from their reserves to a charging station to be swapped out for fully charged ones. The energy capacity is high, but buildings still need to have their power usage carefully constrained to ensure they don't run out before a replacement. Some of the more important buildings like the hospital have multiple redundant boxes to ensure continuity if there's issues and provide extra power capacity for the larger medical equipment.
Mark continues on to describe some of the more specific things that have happened as of late. Things like the cafe ending up next to the garden last year, or a few years ago when one of the plots from the port managed to escape, taking its large paving stone with it. He also mentioned a planned research program, meant to start this year, but delayed while they work out some technical issues. They intend to tag every single plot and track them year to year. One person hypothesized that an unknown number of plots are fixed in place, attached fully to the lower layers beneath them.
With that, Mark has hit the limit of his knowledge, though he does recommend one of the museums to me. He says it has one of the original drone and antenna set ups inside. That sounds like a good idea. I thank Mark for everything, wish him luck with the rest of his day, and head on my way. The unease is still wearing off, but one last time, I don my hat and whip, and step out into the world.