| Generated by Google Flow text-to-video AI software, powered by Omni Flash |
Resi opens his eyes. He is lying on his back, half naked and confused. A
familiar face appears over him. She looks down with a hint of sadness, but
also some familiarity. He tries to speak, but air isn’t passing through his
lungs. How could he be alive but not breathing? He starts to panic, but
tries to remain still. It all comes out in his eyes, wide like an open door.
The young woman says nothing, but reminds him how with her own breath. She
sweeps her hand in circles in front of her lips, down and up. Resi opens his
mouth again, searching for the right positions of his tongue and throat to
form the right words. Her own eyes widen encouragingly as she waits
patiently, still refusing to speak first. He finally thinks he has it
correct. “Report.”
She smiles proudly. “You did it. You saved us. You figured out when the
volcano was going to erupt, and we were able to prepare for it. It wasn’t
even that hard.”
“So you’re Bungulan? Kinkon?” he asked. “You dropped a magical bomb into the
caldera, or whatever you would do to put a stop to it.”
She laughs, and tries to find her own words. “Volcanoes are not destructive
beasts which must be broken. They are the means by which the planet
replenishes itself. When a volcano erupts, the planet is breathing. Would
you like to see? I advocated for reviving you in time to witness the
eruption yourself.”
“It’s still going to happen?” He looks around, panicking again. “You’re not
stopping it at all? Did you just evacuate?”
She places comforting hands on his shoulder. “No need. We didn’t have to
evacuate the island. We’re just redirecting the danger.” She points to a
window. She then has to help him stand and walk a little. Reviving the dead
can’t be easy.
He manages to walk over there without her having to hold him up. There is
Central Mountain in the distance. He’s seeing it from a high vantage point.
They have really built this place up. How long has it been? “How long has it
been?” he asks her.
She sighs. “Resi, you’ve been dormant for one hundred years. It wasn’t my
decision, I didn’t even know you were still alive until recently. I demanded
they bring you back. The brain disease you have, there’s a cure. The
Bungulans weren’t allowed to use it before, but things have changed. We have
new laws now. You’ll learn them.”
The mountain looks vastly different. He can see residences in the distance.
They’re just regular bungalows and treehouses, but there’s all this big
metal piping on the side of the mountain. He doesn’t understand what it’s
all for.
“We’re going to redirect the lava and ash when it erupts. The planet will
still breathe, but it won’t hurt anyone. We have had decades to plan and
build it. We are far more advanced than we were in your time. There is
something else you should see. Resi, your body died a century ago. There was
nothing anyone could have done back then. Like I said, the laws have
changed. The non-interference policies no longer apply. We are all Bungulan
now. Some live on Yana, some don’t. The Houses aren’t necessary anymore. And
you...are no longer Tamboran.” She flipped a switch.
The window shifts to a mirror so Resi can see his own face. He is white.
Why? Why would they make him white? He touches his face in horror.
“This is what you looked like hundreds of years ago, before you came to Yana
to help our ancestors the first time. You have a choice. You can stay like
this and retrieve all of your memories, or you can go back to how you
looked when you were Resi.” She shifts half the glass back to window mode.
Central Mountain erupts.
No comments :
Post a Comment