On Matters Edge - Chapter 9: Reunited at Last

  Cale awoke to a familiar yet foreign scene. For most of his life he had woken up looking at ceilings and the one he was looking at now was not known to him. As his brain slowly booted, he saw that he was in a nice little room, which was wobbling, or maybe he was wobbling? He looked around and saw a bench across from him where there were two people he had never seen before, dressed in green and grey uniforms. He turned his head a little to find that he was sitting next to his father. He was wearing the same type of uniform as the two sitting across from them. Only his father had a gold pin on his chest and was wearing a hat that looked like a beanie from earth. I wonder if that means he is in charge of these people.

  Seeing that he wasn’t in danger, he took a closer look at their surroundings. He was in a nice little baby carriage full of blankets and was quite cozy. He saw the people across from him were sitting on thickly padded cushions that looked very comfortable. The wood trim around the ceiling edges, and around the windows, was covered in ornamental carvings and a little bit of graffiti. Typically, a heart or someone’s initials. Overall, the carriage rode very smoothly, and he was impressed that they didn’t move around jerkily like he used to see in those old movies.

  His father noticed that he was awake, and knowing he would be hungry, he handed Cale a little snack. Cale happily accepted and kicked his feet back and forth while he ate his food. As he ate, his father must have felt a little guilty for surprising him with this journey; he slowly explained that his mother’s work had moved locations and that meant they had to start their trip very early in the morning to meet up with them. Cale had apparently slept through the first part of the trip, thanks to his baby body’s ability to sleep almost anywhere and in any position, but the time for sleep was over as the sun was now high up in the sky, and he was wide awake.

  Cale looked out the window and watched the scenery slowly move by. This was his first time out of the city, and he soaked in the view. With wide eyes he saw trees with a mixture of both green and orange leaves that shimmered in the wind, causing a very pretty pattern amongst the trees. Their bark occasionally had a little shine to it, that would reflect the sunlight into the carriage. Some of the regions they went to had little monkey-like things with long tails that would jump from tree to tree and follow the carriage until they were no longer curious.

  When they stopped to give the animals a rest – which looked a little like horses but had two back legs – his father let him stretch his legs and run around the open area they had stopped in. As they rested for a few hours he occasionally saw flocks of birds high in the sky that flew in a diamond shape, it was difficult to tell how large they were from his angle, but there were quite a few of them and he wondered what other cool creatures he would see on this plane of existence.

  During the second part of their journey, sometimes the road would dip into a valley, and he would be able to see the ground as it curved back up the hill like a giant bowl. In one valley he saw a farmer working in a field with a plant that looked a lot like soybeans with white lined leaves. He waved at the farmer, and the farmer grew a large smile and waved in return.

  The farmer had some tool in his hand that looked like a plant watering bucket, only instead of a single nozzle, it had a bar coming out of it lined with multiple long spikes with glowing tips coming out from the sides. He watched as the farmer poured liquid over the plants, a light green mist seemed to come from the bar on the bucket, and he watched as the plants gained a light sheen and seemed to perk up wherever the mist landed. He quickly got his father's attention and pointed to the farmer working. He wanted to know what it was that caused the plants to perk up. His father smiled at him knowingly; there was no surprise in his face that Cale wanted to ask this question.

  “Universal Plant Tool, it is tech from the ancients that we figured out how to make. But not everyone can use it.” Quickly changing the subject his dad puffed his chest out and took a moment to brag. “Part of my job is to scout areas like these and make sure these people are safe.” He said with pride overflowing from his voice.

  Cale looked at the two people across from him as they shook their heads.

  “Sir,” one of them said. “We both know that you enjoy scouting the more wild lands than tame farmlands.”

  “Hey now! I make sure to check up on any people I come by on my way to and from my scouting locations.” Before the other people could respond, his father turned his attention back to him and asked, “Anything else you would like to ask?”

  Before Cale could respond, one of the other passengers spoke up.

  “Sir, do you think that your kid understands you at his age?”

  His father gave them a strange, questioning look and said, “Of course he can understand me, he is my kid.”

  The two across from them turned their heads and looked at each other with doubtful faces. Cale was enjoying this and thought that he would help his father out. It looked like his father really had no idea how odd it was that Cale could converse with him already.

  “Anything else you would like to ask?” his father repeated. Cale noticed one of the other passengers roll his eyes.

  Cale then pointed to the plants and his dad went on to explain what they were and their agricultural uses, Cale learned the plant was used a lot like wheat and was used to make mostly bread.

  For the next few minutes Cale would point at something and have his father explain it, just to be snarky, between each question, he would look over at the person that rolled their eyes, once they were looking at him, he would point at the next thing for his father to explain.

  His father noticed immediately and found it hilarious. He heard the people across from him groan as his father bragged about his son for a couple dozen minutes. From the looks on their faces, this was not the first time he had talked about him. Well dads are going to dad, I guess. Once Cale felt like his point had gotten across, and that his dad bragged long enough, he stopped the questions and went back to looking out the window for new creatures and new scenery.

  Toward the end of their journey, he saw another large flock of birds up in the sky that were moving lazily along in the air. They were much lower to the ground than the ones he saw earlier. He was able to see far more detail with how much closer they were to the ground. He could see they had beaks with a curved hook on the end that looked very terrifying, and he could see hooked talons hanging below that looked deadly to a small to medium sized creature. He saw these birds a few times and each time he would notice that the monkeys and smaller animals would disappear. Must be a predator of theirs. And at my size, maybe even a predator of me! Cale, having no way to defend himself, tried not to think about the giant birds up in the sky, he hoped they didn’t eat things like him.

  By nightfall they made it to his mother’s worksite, and he was thankful their long trip was over. Though long, it had been fairly uneventful, and Cale had come to appreciate how beautiful the world was in comparison to the city he had seen so much of. The camp they stopped at was at the base of a large, steep mountain that dominated part of the landscape and sky. When they arrived, they themselves were in the dark, but the top of the mountain was still lit up from the sun, casting odd shadows through the basecamp.

  It didn’t take long after their arrival for his mother to find them. His father had barely gotten Cale out of his baby seat and on the ground when he heard, “PHIL! XAVIER!” His vision blurred and he felt some of the air leave his lungs as he felt arms coming around him, squeezing and his feet left the solid surface below him as he was lifted into an embrace. “I missed so you much!” he heard between the squeals and small tears from his mother. She was holding him so tight that he could barely breathe and his ears were ringing from how loud she had been.

  After an eternity in baby time, she finally let him down so she could hug his father with much more gusto than she had shown him. He looked down at the shoes on his feet as his mother and father passionately said hello. He waited for what felt like another baby eternity before his parents finally stopped saying hello with their lips, and his mother led them to the tent where they were staying for the time being.

  The tent was very large and had plenty of room for the three of them, as well as enough room for two desks, with a back entrance to a small yard. Cale happily found out that he didn’t have to share a bed with his parents and he had his own crib. He saw his parents had spent some good money on this sleeping arrangement as it had mesh on it to stop bugs from getting to him and looked a lot sturdier, and fancier than the one he slept in at home. His parents put him down to bed early that night, which Cale was not about to complain about. He was tired from the day's journey, and he had a feeling that his parents had some more catching up to do, and he didn’t want to be awake for that.

  ***

  The next morning Cale, freshly rested after a nice night’s sleep, lay awake and waited in anticipation for his mother to awaken. He was going to surprise her when she went to get him from his crib, but after an hour his baby brain couldn’t take it anymore!

  “Psst, Mom,” he whispered from his crib. “Waaaake up, I’m hungry.”

  He noticed both of his parents stir a little at the noise, so he continued.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Dad, wake Mom. I’m hungry.”

  Cale’s dad was used to his son talking to him in the morning, so he didn’t even question it. With a nudge from his leg, he tried to wake up Cale’s mother.

  “Honey, can you do it this morning? I’ve been watching him for months.”

  “Yeah mom, wake up.”

  To his delight, he got to watch his mother's eyes go from asleep to fully awake. It was like only her eyes were hit with a shot of pure adrenaline, yet the rest of her body didn’t move.

  “What would you like for breakfast Xavier,” she asked. A quiver to her voice.

  “Flakes with berry sauce!” Cale yelled with a hint of mischief on his face. The look on her face was PRICELESS. Besides, he really did want Flakes. Flakes were a lot like mini pancakes on earth. Only you dipped them in different sauces instead of pouring the sauce on top. He loved them.

  “Xavier,” his mother said his name with a questioning tone. He could see her eyes get misty and a small quiver dangled in her throat as she asked him, “You talk now?”

  “Yeah, dad help lot,” he wasn’t able to get the full sentence out correctly, but she understood him. It was also enough to get her attention on his father and off of him. He had noticed the emotion building in her and he didn’t want all of it focused on him. He grinned as he saw his mom kick his dad's leg under the sheets.

  “OW! Wowo! What was that for?”

  “You could have told me he was able to talk so well!”

  “What do you mean so well? I thought this was normal.”

  “Normal?! Our boy is only a year and a half, and he is already talking better than some people I meet in the market! And you thought that was normal??”

  “Look, baby, I had no reason not to think it wasn’t normal. After all he is our son. Why wouldn’t he be gifted? Especially with a mother like you, we both know where he would be getting the brains from in the family,” his father said as he smoothed the fabric on her leg.

  He could see the intensity lower in his mother's eyes and her body posture relaxed a little after hearing his father's words.

  That schmoozer! He didn’t even bat an eye before that line.

  He saw her face start to smile, then her face went bitter, and she kicked him in the leg again.

  “Did you use your script on him?”

  “…baby, I…”

  “Don’t ‘Baby’ me Phil. Talk.”

  “B-ba... Diana, I only used it a little. The boy picked up the talking himself. It just makes it easier for me and him to understand each other. That’s all, I promise.”

  Cale’s mother relaxed a little after hearing these words, after a quick pause she started asking his father more questions about what he did. Cale didn’t understand a lot of the words his mother was saying. He wasn’t sure what his father was fully capable of and was curious as to why she was so concerned. Could his father melt people’s brains? This revelation was only minor to Cale, he already had an earlier suspicion that his father was using magic of some kind or an ability due to the glowing shine behind his eyes, and this confirmed it.

  He didn’t feel like whatever his father did hurt him. If what his father did was rare and helpful, then Cale felt like he owed his father for helping him learn. Plus, it wasn’t really his father's fault that Cale was so inquisitive. He didn’t want his parents to be mad at each other, and since Cale did start this fiasco, he thought he should also try and end it. He listened to his parents argue only to immediately realize that their arguing had turned into playful banter, it was making him very uncomfortable.

  “Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, MOM!” he said quickly to get her attention and to break into the conversation.

  She was just about to caress her father’s face when she stopped talking and turned to him. He noticed his father giving him a little stink eye for stopping him from getting a kiss, but Cale didn’t care. He had seen enough of that yesterday when they had arrived.

  “Yes, Xavier?”

  Having her attention, he pointed toward their bags they had brought along and said, “Mom, I brought book. Need help.”

  “Oh, you brought a book? Can I see it? Where did you store it at?” Immediately, he could see he had her full attention which was exactly what he wanted. His father wasn’t the only one that had missed her.

  He pointed again, this time to one of his father's bags and his mother got up to see what he was referring to. She soon found the word book he had taken borrowed from her sister's house.

  “Need help read.” He said.

  His mother looked at him, a tear forming in her eyes. She rushed to him and got him out of the crib. Holding him tight in her arms, she snuffled a little.

  “Oh, baby of course I will read to you! A momma cannot let these moments pass by too quickly!” His mother picked him up out of the crib and pulled him into her arms.

  “I’ve missed so much of you growing up already. I can already hear your father's terrible accent in your voice; I will have to correct that!” She said with a pointed look toward his father. “It isn’t good for a momma to be away from her boy!”

  Cale found himself suddenly wet with his mother’s tears, flinching as the droplets hit his face that was perfectly in the splash zone. This made his mother giggle, and she soon stopped crying. Seeing her mood suddenly change, Cale was hoping to sneak in a sentence about his name being Xavier. But before he could say anything, his father chimed in.

  “See, it all worked out,” his father said from on the bed. His mother whirled her head to stare at him with a fierce intensity.

  “Oh, this isn’t over. You have some explaining and some making up to do, sir. You could have mentioned this in a letter!” She quipped.

  “Mooooom, I am hungry,” he said. Hoping to distract her and his father from their argument again.

  “Oh right, food! Let's get you fed, Xavier.” She let him down and patted his head. “You can play a little in your crib. I will make us some breakfast now, and as punishment, your father will help me.”

  With some shoving, an occasional bite, and a little tug of war, his mother got his father out of bed, and they made the family breakfast. During the meal he let his parents do most of the talking. She asked him about what words he knew, if he enjoyed daycare, the typical mom things. Cale didn’t understand some of her questions which made her begrudgingly use his father’s script to get her point across. It did not go unnoticed, but his father didn’t seem to want to push the issue. Cale didn’t blame him one bit.

  Afterward, his father had to get to work. He had volunteered for a ranger position here so he could be with his wife and child. Once he took off, Cale’s mother wanted to show him their new place of residence and took him on a walk around her work. Cale had imagined this place to be a small camp in the wilds, instead he found a place that reminded him of a military outpost. It had outer walls that were arranged in a square shape, with jutted angles along the top edge and hidden perches to keep soldiers out of view.

  He saw the occasional green and grey suit patrolling the outer ridge. He didn’t recall any of his places of work back on Earth having armed security guards and it set him a little on edge. Hmm, my parents are in some dangerous work I see. They headed toward a tall building that was located in the center of the worksite, and from his guess it looked to be almost six stories tall.

  It was one of the tallest structures he had seen since ending up here. The bottom floor had a few external elevators with mesh gates that allowed the rider to see out. He watched people go up higher into the tower as well as down below, under the earth. All sorts of people were going in and out while carrying various types of gear, equipment, and boxes. When they got to the entrance, he saw that the tower was surrounded by a multitude of food stalls and there were stores to get equipment for what looked like cave diving. Ropes, pickaxes, saws, and some tools he didn’t recognize were all hanging on the walls of these shops. Some of them had engravings on the sides, others had a slight glow to them.

  “Tools,” he said as he pointed to the equipment. He didn’t know many of the words for these items and hoped that if he started talking, she would play along with him.

  “That’s right honey! Your father was right; you are a very curious one! Here, I will tell you the names of the things as I point to them. Do your best to remember the names ok?” He nodded his head in understanding. She had immediately picked up on his intent. Mom is clever, he thought.

  She brought him over to one of the shops and said the names of all the tools. He didn’t recognize some of the names but repeated the words all the same, trying to get a feel for how they felt on his mouth. Once they were done looking at the tools, Cale’s mother brought them inside the central building.

  The main area was well lit and had religious symbols hanging on the walls. He saw a few more of the warning icons next to people praying over in one of the corners of the room. He wasn’t sure what their main religion was all about, but it looked to be centered around these symbols since there were always people praying by them. They entered one of the elevators and went up a few floors, the sound of the main lobby fading away as the view of the exterior came into focus. He couldn’t even focus on the base because he kept looking at the bolts, the joints, and the large gaps in the walls and wondered if they would make it to their destination.

  The elevator they were in did not look safe and made a lot of noise as it moved. It reminded Cale of those early scissor sliding gate elevators that had holes big enough where you could stick your whole hand through it. Of course you didn’t do something like that, one couldn’t let the intrusive thoughts win, but that doesn’t mean you don’t feel a little uneasy. As ascended his mother talked over the noise about their destination. Cale appreciated how his mother was explaining things to him, even though she was basically yelling it at him so he could hear her.

  “I’m going to show you to my coworkers. They don’t have the day off I like do. But they won’t mind that I brought you in,” she explained with a giant smile on her face.

  The elevator stopped and the duo entered into an open floor. They were only there a few seconds before Cale heard someone loudly call out his mother's name.

  “Oh, Diana, thank the gods you happened to stop by today! We’ve encountered something new, and we need your scanning script!” An eccentric looking man exclaimed.

  Cale hadn’t understood the entire sentence, but he perked up when he heard script as he was suddenly reminded of that day he watched his mother do something strange in the garage... The man before them was a short wiry kind of guy. He had brown hair that drooped a little over the pair of glasses he had on. He was dressed in comfortable-looking clothes and was wearing a belt full of tools. In one of his hands there was a clipboard and in the other, there was one of those storage crystals he had seen when he was getting his picture taken. His mind suddenly flooded with the thought of his baby butt stored on crystals and shuddered internally. That memory would haunt him for a while.

  He and his mother were ushered to a table holding a makeshift device that was held together with what looked like tape, wire, and some sort of clay-like substance. The man placed the crystal in his hand into a specific slot in the device and flipped a switch on the table as bright white lines started to creep along wires on the floor, up onto the table and into the makeshift device holding the crystal. Cale looked at the lines in horror, expecting them to light the surrounding area on fire, but nothing happened, if anything, the grin on the strange man’s face was telling Cale that this was how it was supposed to work.

  Once the lines reached the crystal it flashed brightly once and then stopped, but it now had a slight white color to it and occasionally the edges of the crystal would light up with a quick pulse of light before disappearing again. He noticed the man bring up his interface and point to something. Though he couldn’t actually see another person’s interface, the distant look in their eyes made it easy to tell when they were utilizing it.

  A moment later he saw his mother now looking at her interface and curiosity got the better of him. He buried his head into his mother's shoulder so that she couldn’t see that his attention was elsewhere. With growing anticipation, he closed his eyes and noticed a blinking notification icon in the corner of his eye that he had missed during the excitement. He quickly opened his interface and selected the notification that he had never seen before, hoping to see what the others were talking about. His excitement growing with every moment.