Just something that popped into my head overnight. I wrote it for myself,
but decided I may as well send it to the FFML.
COMPANIONSHIP
A tale of the far future of the Lightsphere saga
By Andrew Dynon
Any and all C&C needed. MSTs appreciated.
Based on the Iczer series by Toshiki Hirano
* * * * *
Most people would call this planet uninhabitable. It is, for most races
apart from my own. It is blisteringly hot, highly radioactive, and has a
toxic atmosphere and acid seas. Strangely, there is evidence that this was
once the homeworld of another, long-dead race. I have no sympathy
whatsoever for them, whoever they were. If they turned their planet into
this, they deserved to be wiped out. And yet, with its boiling oceans and
the deep gorges where acid rivers run, it has a beauty that is completely
unique. Truth be told, I'm ecstatic that my race chose this as their
homeworld.
Okay, so, technically, Kalra isn't the Iczer homeworld. That honor goes to
Tshela. But we left Tshela untouched in order to preserve its environment
- an old joke is that we only use it for making love to our partners on.
All our technology, infrastructure and everything else is located either in
space or on this planet.
"Out here again, Tariyu?" I know without looking who it is, but I feel
it's polite to stand up and turn to face her. Not that I'm in the mood to
be polite at the moment.
"Athene-oneesama." She stands, smiling, her long, thick black hair blowing
freely in the wind, contrasting with the white bodysuit she wears. When I
first met her, she told me how she was named after a warrior-goddess from
Nagisa's original homeworld. Many of my sisters are named for goddesses
and heroines of legend - I myself am named for a legendary queen from Ishua.
"How are you holding up?" She asks, concerned.
"I can handle it." I reply, somewhat defiant, not feeling nearly as strong
as I want to sound.
"Liar." Athene says in mock-scolding. Damn. I don't want to talk about
this. Even to her. I just want to think about it alone for a while.
"Let's sit down."
Her words are an invitation, but, even though I don't want to sit down and
talk to her, I feel I have to. Damn you, Athene. You really know how to
make me feel guilty, don't you?
"You know that I went through the pain you're going through." She says.
Oh, she's so sympathetic. Show me some sympathy by leaving me be, will you?
"Yeah. Centuries ago. I doubt you even remember it." I watch as anger
flashes upon her face for a moment... and then clears away.
"I'll always remember it, Tariyu. The death of my partner, Kalyla, was...
well... the sorrow was as great as the joy I felt when I synchronised with
her. Then, she reincarnates, and grows old again, dies again, reincarnates
again... every time the pain gets worse." There is no way the pain in her
voice is anything but genuine. Maybe I was a bit too nasty with that last
comment of mine, but right now I don't care.
"So the pain from Loru dying the first time wasn't enough? Why do I have
to have it repeated over and over, just so I can synchronise? If that's
what happens, what's the point?" I yell despairingly.
"Well, Tariyu..." Athene says to me in her "mentor" voice, "How did you
feel about Loru?"
"That is so obvious!" I respond derisively. "I was in love with her,
wasn't I? The same way all of us who have partners feel about them!"
"And that's the reason." Athene says, looking... well... smug. "You
loved her, so you need to feel the pain of losing her. The alternation of
love and sorrow... it's what saves us from our death wish."
"I don't have a death wish!" I fire back angrily. What the hell is she
thinking?
"No, but you're only young." Athene responds, calm as ever. "But,
still... you've fought, and you've seen our sisters killed in battle,
haven't you?"
"Yeah. I've been fighting for sixty years now." Fighting for sixty years
against a powerful, implacable enemy, seeing dozens of Iczers, dozens of my
sisters, killed in many ways. Quickly and brutally, slowly and
painfully... I'm not some novice just out of her training! I know exactly
how terrible this war is, even for a race of warriors.
"It's something the shorter-lived races don't feel. When you're fighting
and killing all the time, you begin to wish to die yourself, to escape from
that life. The trinity were forbidden by their programming from
deliberately dying, but we Iczers have free will now, since we left the
Kthulhu and made our own civilisation in this galaxy. We can choose to die
if we wish. But that synchronisation, that love... it's what keeps us from
making that wish. The pain of loss is the price we pay for our desire to
live."
I don't respond. I want to, but I can't think of anything to say.
Finally, Athene stands up.
"I'll leave you alone, now. I won't stop you from mourning her any
longer." She teleports away. But I don't want to mourn, right now. I
don't do all my mourning at once, it comes in fits and starts. Right now,
I want to shed my bodysuit and dive off the cliff into the acid ocean
below. I am an Iczer - the ocean cannot harm me, any more than it has any
other time I've done this.
So, I strip, and dive, and feel the warmth of the ocean on my naked body.
The feeling of the ocean is relaxing to me. I can feel my body being
cleansed, and with it, the weight on my mind being melted away, at least
for the moment. I am going to synchronise with Loru again, and I'm going
to watch her grow old and die again. The pain's going to get worse, so
I'll have to learn to bear it better. But that's better than dying because
I don't give a damn any more.
END
Okay, as I said at the beginning, this one just popped into my head. It's
set in the far future of the Lightsphere universe. If I ever get as far as
I'm planning, the Iczers will leave the Kthulhu, and create their own
civilisation in another galaxy. I'm fascinated by cultures and beliefs as
well as being a big Iczer fan, so naturally the question "What would a
planet full of Iczers be like?" is a very interesting one for me. This fic
provides a glimpse into my thoughts on their lifestyle and beliefs.
_____________________________________________________________
Andrew Dynon
There are certain sincere practitioners who, out of ignorance
and lack of contact, believe only in their own religion and
consider other religions wrong. In some cases it is the result
of teaching, but usually it is due to lack of contact, lack of
awareness and real understanding of the deeper value of the other
tradition. Once you realise that there are wonderful people
among Christians and Muslims, you automatically develop an
appreciation for their tradition.
- The Dalai Lama, _The Transformed Mind_