Vai

It was good to sit in class again. I couldn't follow Other Vai into the ansible. I was even happy to see Teacher Miller and listened to every word as she explained about current political leaders and their stances on the current issues - the importance of voting as some of us would be turning 18 soon.

Not much had changed in the classroom. Spencer spent his time with Hani and Nathan now instead of Mark and Viko. Shel was of course absent now, but Esther occupied his seat. Even just watching her back I could tell she was happy and content to be in school as she listened intensely to Teacher Miller's every word. I knew how she felt. I didn't think much of school when I had attended regularly, but not being able to go at all was a kind of torture in itself.

Owen had sent a group message to everyone right before class started. It stated that he had opened the light in Spencer, Hani and Nathan. Before Esther or Minmin could ask about it - they had both looked at their ansible okuli so I knew they had seen the message - Teacher Miller had started the class. Neither Shel nor the adults had replied to it yet.

My okulus beeped with an incoming message from Shel five minutes before class ended.

«Meet me in my sanctuary immediately after class.

I almost closed the message without noticing it wasn't the normal group he sent it to. Spencer, Hani and Nathan had been added. I looked across the fake school room in their direction.

The three of them looked at each other. Hani whispered something that I couldn't hear across the distance. Spencer shook his head. Their three heads swiveled to my direction. Owen squirmed in his seat next to me, but didn't look at the others. Minmin and Esther acted like they hadn't just read the message, but I knew they had. I didn't want to give a clue to any of the Corruption that might be watching that anything was happening between Spencer's little group and our little group. Could the Corruption follow their host into the ansible? They were connected through the mind so I supposed it was possible. I turned my attention back to Teacher Miller.

Class ended. I tightened as I feared Spencer or one of the others would approach us, but all three of them logged off quickly.

"Will they come?" Owen whispered even though it was a generic enough question that the Corruption wouldn't know.

"I don't know," Esther said. "Let's go find out." She logged out of the school program first. Owen followed her. Minmin and I lingered a moment longer.

"You should have discussed it with us first - what happened last night," Minmin said.

"I know," I said. "It wasn't my choice and it happened so quickly. I tried to stop it."

She nodded and her long, floppy ears bobbed from side to side. "Do you think it will be okay? Can they be trusted?"

"I don't think they have a choice now. I don't think we have a choice now."

We were the only ones left in the classroom.

"Let's go find out." Minmin logged out of the school program.

I logged out of the program and immediately logged into Shel's sanctuary. I adjusted my clothing appropriately for the beach setting. Shel sat in the green tree. He wore swimming trunks after his people's fashion. His large bird sat on his shoulder. Shel's bare, blue toes curled around a branch as his legs stretched out before him.

Owen, Esther and Minmin were already there. The three of them stood around the base of the tree. They wore their normal clothing except they were all barefoot.

"It was the right thing to do," Owen said.

I stood on the beach by the shore. A tranquil wave came in and caressed my bare feet.

"You should have discussed it with us first," Esther said. "First your parents, now this. How many people are you going to open the light in without at least talking to us."

"Okay. I'm sorry. I should have talked with everyone first. But we killed his mom. Don't you feel guilty - " Owen stopped mid sentence when he saw the sudden pain that flashed over Esther's face. We all saw it.

"I'm sorry," Owen said quietly.

Esther shook her head and turned away from all of us to look out over the ocean.

"This place is beautiful," Hani said as she logged in. She turned completely around to take it all in. She touched the petals of one of the large blue flowers. The petals folded into themselves. "I always wanted to go to the beaches of Bundu IV."

"You recognize it?" Minmin asked.

"I've looked at vids of Bundu IV almost every day since I was ten," Hani said. Her attire changed so she was barefoot and in a red one piece swimsuit. She ran to the shore, but stopped as the waves lapped around her ankles. Spencer and Nathan logged in at that moment. They looked at Hani first and then at the beautiful scenery. They stood side by side in silence as they waited for us to speak first.

Hani spoke again. "Can I go in the water? Is it safe?"

"Of course it's safe," Shel said. "It's just a program. Nothing is going to attack you though if that's what you mean."

Hani smiled and clasped her hands in front of her in excitement. She ran in a few steps and then made a beautiful dive into the water.

"Let's start talking," Spencer said. He crossed his arms over his chest. It was more of a defensive posture than a threatening one.

"Maybe we should wait for Hani to come out," Nathan said.

Shel jumped out of the tree and landed lightly on the green grass. "She can hear everything we say," Shel said. "We can start."

"Is it possible to train with the light in the ansible?" Nathan asked. He looked down at his open palm, but there was no gray light.

"No," Minmin said.

"Then why are we here?" Spencer asked. "No offense, but - " He sighed instead of finishing his sentence.

"We killed your mom," Owen said quietly.

Spencer didn't look at any of us, but he nodded.

"She had the Corruption," Shel said. "There is no other way once the Corruption has bonded with them."

"She tried to choke Owen," Esther said. "Your mom would not do that if she was herself I'm sure."

"No. She wouldn't," Spencer said. He stared down at the silver sand. "Is there really no other way to stop the Corruption?"

"I wish there was," Minmin said quietly.

"But you still killed her," Spencer said. "How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"My entire colony was wiped out by the Corruption," Esther said.

"People you loved weren't killed by your supposed ally," Spencer said.

"Yes, they were," Esther said.

Spencer's head shot up from the fixed spot on the sand to finally look at Esther.

"The first Awakened One was found by the Lion of Judah Research Station. He was the one who told us about the Corruption although we had already suspected the presence of an unknown alien species. He was the one who opened our light, but he wouldn't do it until he ate some of us - in front of me - just to prove he was more powerful." Esther's voice cracked and she turned away from all us to stare at the sand like Spencer had just done.

"It's dangerous for you to train with us now," Shel said. "The Corruption know about us and are trying to kill us. Practice on your own. Try to figure out what you can do with your light. I will leave this place open to all of you. If you ever have questions or want to discuss what you've learned about your light, you can come here. It is safe."

"Can we come here if we just want to visit?" Hani was sprawled out on the silver sand. Waves washed over her, but she seemed content as she stared up into the blue, cloudless sky.

"Of course," Shel said.

"Do you have any questions?" Minmin asked. "Have any of you figured out what your light can do yet?"

Hani sat up in the water. "I have. Tiny pink explosions. They don't really do much damage. They kind of just look like exploding pink fireflies."

I left the rest of them to talk and went to stand next to Esther.

"Are you all right?" I asked her quietly.

She glanced at Owen who sat on the grass near the others, but not really participating with them. Their eyes met for a brief moment before they both looked away.

"I'm fine," she lied.

"Owen knows you saved his life when you killed Adi Pines," I said quietly.

She nodded. "I don't like killing anyone, Vai. It stays with me. Each of them." Tears welled up in her eyes, but they were suddenly gone. She must have quickly told the program to not show the tears in her avatar, but that meant she was crying in real life. "I thought the first Awakened One was a monster, but he gave us the light and by doing so possibly saved the entire Gathering. Am I any better than him? I don't know. I think I might be a monster too."

"You're not!" I hadn't seen Owen approach us, but he was suddenly there. Everyone else looked at us. Owen waved at them to continue their own conversation.

"You're not," Owen said quieter. "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way. The Awakened One did it to show off his power. You killed because there was no other choice. He killed innocent people. You only killed those who had been taken over by the Corruption. They had no control over their lives anymore. Esther, you are the bravest, kindest person I know. I lo - we love you."

I noticed that almost slip of the tongue and suddenly felt uncomfortable standing there next to them. It felt like a private moment I was intruding on. Owen hugged Esther around the waist. She returned the hug. I was sure she had noticed Owen's slip of the tongue, but she didn't say anything about it either. I hadn't realized until then, but it seemed so obvious now that the two of them loved each other. I took a step away from them. A step back towards the others.

"Vai." Relief flooded through me as Shel called my name. I turned to him and the others. He waved in the direction of the horizon above the ocean. There was an enlarged image of a male Bundu-Jo reporter.

" - two missing vessels from the Gathering Exploration Fleet," the reporter said.

Owen and Esther broke from their hug to watch with the rest of us.

"In addition," the reporter went on, "there are unconfirmed reports that two K'thaktra warships are also missing. Communication with the Brist homeworld is spotty without any reason. There are also unconfirmed reports that the Brist homeworld is gathering their warships in an unprecedented move. The local Mars government is denying a break in at the military storage facility, but there are many reports to counter their claims.

"There are whispers that an alien species no one has heard about is making a move to take over. The Gathering Council denies these rumors, but they do not answer the questions regarding the missing vessels from the Gathering Exploration Fleet, the K'thaktra warships or the lack of communication from the Brist homeworld. Several Gathering colonies have also gone silent."

The broadcast got cut off. We all looked at Shel.

"I didn't cut that off," Shel said. "It got cut off direct from the station."

"Is it true?" Hani asked.

"I think the Corruption is readying to attack," Minmin said. "Maybe Owen was right and we should be opening the light in as many people as we can. We can't win this war by ourselves."