This morning, I had my third travel. The two Smiths welcomed me as usual. I got into the travel chamber and then waited for the gas. I arrived in a world under a blue light. As if the sun, or something, hadn\u2019t succeeded in rising… I think it was the planet called \u201cMidnight\u201d. I recognized the beings with red luminous eyes.<\/p>\n
Believe me, it\u2019s an amazing world.\u00a0 Midnight is so peaceful aboveground. But I remembered stories about underground cities. I found a way there, I don\u2019t know how. It\u2019s weird. It was like I had already been there. I am sure I will remember it forever. It was huge, and so beautiful. All these sculptures, and cave dwellings. The peaceful sound that could be heard down there: water whispers, bird songs, and what looked like actual birds. I was on cloud nine. I wanted to see everything. And what happened was unbelievable:\u00a0 I went round the planet very quickly. Actually, I saw place after place, like I was attending a slideshow. And you know what? I had a such feeling of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. So I decided not to continue and wished to visit another world. And in a heartbeat, I changed\u00a0 worlds.
\nI ended up in the middle of a downpour. I really didn\u2019t know where I was. I had to go into a house just to see anyone, because outside there was nobody at all. Inside were a sort of blue humans with big orange eyes. I didn\u2019t feel like watching them. Still this feeling of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu. Once more, I wished I were somewhere else. I can say I had a big surprise.<\/p>\n
When I arrived on this planet, I was welcomed by screams. It took me some time before I understood that they were screaming because of me. Every time I went somewhere, screams followed me. The beings of this planet pointed toward a direction. I finally went to it. I wondered if they could see me. A mind? In any case, they felt my presence. They knew where I was each time. I finally arrived in front of a building, after following the fingers that kept pointing the way.
\nInside, I had the feeling of being expected. There was someone at every crossing point. It was easy to find the place they wanted me to go to.
\nAnd here I am, in a big, well-lit room. Inside, just one character.<\/p>\n
Let me describe to you the inhabitants of this planet as I had observed them till now. I couldn\u2019t say if they were tall or small; everything is relative, and as I am just a mind, I don\u2019t have any point of comparison. They are slender though, with honey-colored skin and curved lines on it that vary from pale to dark, depending on the being. What is most remarkable is their eyes. They are almost round, slightly stretched up on each side of their face. But this is not the point that makes them remarkable. It is the mark they have around one of their eyes. A more or less pronounced mark from white to dark brown.
\nThe nose is like a cat\u2019s, the mouth like a human\u2019s, and the ears are very small, almost not visible on each side of the face.
\nThey are draped in a sort of fabric. And in the population you can see beings with their hair in a long plait and others, a bit smaller, with their hair cut just above the shoulders.
\nThe one in front of me has a plait. He has been talking to me for some long seconds, but I don\u2019t understand anything.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 me, draw a circle. Please, I would like to know if you can understand me. I can feel the movement of your mind. If you understand me, draw a circle. Please, I would like to know if you can understand me. I can feel the movement of your mind. If you understand me, draw a circle\u2026\u201d
\nA circle; to draw a circle. I have seen a whole planet pass through my eyes. I came up here. Drawing a circle is not complicated. So I draw a circle.
\n\u201cOh good, the translation is active. You\u2019re an unregistered traveller. You\u2019ve come into town without a body. It\u2019s strictly forbidden in our world. You can\u2019t see without being seen. You should have come immediately in the disembarkation room. In other words, here. You have two choices: you can run away and never come back to this planet, or, you may enter a body. Even if you were not expected, we have one ready for you. If you choose to stay, it is possible you don\u2019t know how to do it. It\u2019s easy. Just watch it and think to go inside. The psychic sensors will catch you and make the linkage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Entering a body? And mine? I really don\u2019t know what I have to do. Run away to Proxiterra? Would I ever have another opportunity to talk to an alien? This story of a body freaks me out,\u00a0 but I am tempted. No more being invisible. Being able to talk, to exchange. And this desire is enough for me to enter the body. So here I am, lying on a sort of couch. I feel I can make the limbs move. I open the eyes.
\n\u201cHere you are. Wait a few moments before trying to sit up. Vital functions have to be activated. It\u2019ll take one or two minutes before all will be operational.\u201d
\nI try to speak.
\n\u201cI\u2026
\n– Be patient.
\n– I\u2026
\n– We are going to have time to know each o\u2026\u201d
\nAnd then I heard the door being starkly opened.
\n– What have you done?
\n– Good morning, Major.
\n– What the hell have you done?
\n– I\u2019ve given a body to a lost traveller.
\n– But you\u2019ve given THIS body.
\n– This was the only one ready to be used at the moment.
\n– He could have waited.
\n– She \u2013 that\u2019s me beginning to better handle my new body, and a weird voice by the way.
\n– She? the Major asks
\n– Yes. I am a girl, and my name is Beth.
\n– What a ridiculous name. Couldn\u2019t your parents find a shorter one?
\n– Major, no need to be rude, says my host.
\n– Are you going to tell her? \u2014this is the Major. I have a feeling he is sniggering.
\n– What about? my host asks.
\n– The kind of body. It doesn\u2019t fit with what she is.
\n– Oh, that\u2026
\n– What? I say, beginning to worry.
\n– You\u2019re in a male body. Not really male. All the attributes aren\u2019t there but\u2026
\n– Shut up!
\n– Yes, Major.
\n– Do you mean I am in a guy?
\n– I\u2019m afraid, yes\u2014still the Major and his mocking tone. She is under your responsibility, he says to my host. And if any damage happens to this body, you\u2019ll have to answer for it.
\n– Eh, I am in. I won\u2019t damage it, I retort
\n– You know nothing.<\/p>\n
And the Major goes out slamming the door.
\nMeanwhile, I have succeeded in sitting up on the couch. I can see my host, and I have seen the Major too briefly. He has turned on his heel by the time I have him in my field of vision.
\n– Nice guy, I say showing the door with my chin.
\n– Don\u2019t be angry with him. You don\u2019t know everything.
\n– Oh, but I just demand to know.
\n– Let\u2019s get to know each other first.
\n– My name is Beth, and I come from the planet Earth. And I\u2019ll have to get used to this strange voice.
\n– You are Beth, the first Earthling to visit Dalygaran.
\n– Dalygaran?
\n– Yes, this is the name given to this world.
\n– Can I have your name?
\n– Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe.
\n– I am asking for you name.
\n– Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe.
\n– Eh, what do you have with this star?
\n– Star Shining in the Vastness of the Universe is my name.
\n– Couldn\u2019t your parents find a longer one?
\n– You and the Major are two of a kind.
\n– Sorry, was I impolite?
\n– Nothing serious. You are a foreigner. There are just things you don\u2019t know.
\n– The Major, what\u2019s his name?
\n– Moon Crystal. His parents were eccentric.
\n– Sorry?
\n– On Dalygaran, we\u2019re used to giving long names. It shows your parents\u2019 love and their vision of you. Moon Crystal, in our world is a short one, and only eccentric parents would expose their children to taunts with such a type of name.
\n– Moon Crystal\u2026 It\u2019s a very nice name, though.
\n– Do you think so?
\n– Sure. How do you find Beth?
\n– Unusual.
\n– You don\u2019t like it.
\n– It means nothing\u2014Beth. It\u2019s just like a name given to a planet.
\n– In my world, people are called that way, by special names meaning nothing. Except sometimes: Rose, Jasmin, Violet \u2026
\n– It\u2019s very short!
\n– It\u2019s not important on our planet.
\n– I understand.
\n– But tell me, how is it possible we\u2019re talking together?
\n– Psychic translation through automatic learning.
\n– Sorry?
\n– Your mind was scanned long enough for a valuable acquisition of your language.
\n– What do you mean? You scanned my mind?
\n– You came without a body.
\n– Yes, obviously! Bodies don\u2019t travel.
\n– Of course they do!
\n– Don\u2019t tell me you\u2019ve got spaceships\u2026
\n– Space what?
\n– Spaceships. Machines that can travel in space.
\n– We have transporters.
\n– What?
\n– Transporters. Machines that dematerializes at one point only to rematerialize again at another. Like your mind does, but with the person, body and all, inside. A transporter. Considering the way you travel, I\u2019m not surprised that you don\u2019t know anything about the transporters.
\n– What\u2019s wrong with my way of travelling?
\n– You watch without being seen. It\u2019s very impolite.
\n– But here, you\u2019ve \u201cseen\u201d me.
\n– Felt. We feel the presence of minds, even alien ones. We felt your surprise and your fear. We have a part of your memory now, which we analyzed during the language acquisition.
\n– You dug into my memory and I am impolite?
\n– It\u2019s reachable only under activation. People know that someone from Earth has just arrived, and they have notions that earthling vocabulary has no equivalent here, like \u201cfish and chips\u201d. That\u2019s food, isn\u2019t it?
\n– It is. How do I know you\u2019re not still scanning my mind?
\n– Because now, with this body, you\u2019re one of us. You\u2019ll be able to feel a mind scan. Everybody does.
\n– Great.
\n– You look annoyed.
\n– My mind isn\u2019t scanned every day, you know. It was really nice to meet you, but even if I didn\u2019t hear the return signal, I think I ought to go back to Earth now.
\n– Hear a signal?
\n– Yes a note which tells me how much time I\u2019ve been wandering around if I wish to go back\u2026
\n– A note? But a mind \u201cwandering around\u201d like you said, doesn\u2019t hear anything that happens near its body.
\n– I assure you that I do.
\n– You\u2019ve been fooled. But, on the other hand, this is less scary.
\n– Could you just explain it to me?
\n– Conditioning.
\n– Yes, I know. Conditioning.
\n– You\u2019ve received electric impulses.
\n– A note.
\n– That too. So then, when an electric impulse is sent, you think you are hearing a note.
\n– I do hear a note.
\n– You see. But you can\u2019t hear anything. You aren\u2019t near your body.
\n– And the electric impulse?
\n– It disturbs the connection between your mind and your body, the connection which allows you to go back. It is why you feel it. You have a prickling in the extremities when you go back after a note, don\u2019t you?
\n– Yes.
\n– Electric impulse.
\n– The bastards!
\n– Don\u2019t be severe with them. Believing it\u2019s a note is less scary\u2026
\n– You\u2019ve already said that.
\n– I really think it. But you won\u2019t be able to go home today.
\n– Sorry?
\n– You wandered in town without a body. The Great Council has to rule on your fate.
\n– Are you kidding?
\n– Not at all. But don\u2019t worry. The Great Council is very merciful with foreigners\u2014I mean people like you who don\u2019t know our rules. They\u2019ll probably vote for an assistance for your return to Earth.
\n– Do I need any assistance?
\n– To go out from this body? Yes. It\u2019s easy to get in, not to get out. Nanites are required.
\n– What?
\n– Nanites. They are very tiny robots carrying micro-active particles. You take them by swallowing a pill to disconnect from the body. But first, as you\u2019re the first Earthling to have come here, we need a blood sample.
\n– My body is on Earth.
\n– I know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This morning, I had my third travel. The two Smiths welcomed me as usual. I got into the travel chamber and then waited for the gas. I arrived in a world under a blue light. As if the sun, or… Continuer la lecture