12:48 AM, November 17, 2661
5 kilometers beyond the edge of the Community
Jonas pedaled steadily away from the Community that he had known all his life as the moon rose slowly but unfailingly toward the top of the sky. Every now and then he would screech to a halt and stand absolutely still, just in case the search planes that were looking for him were watching from up above and not from the shadows of his imagination alone.
Thank goodness I even have an imagination, Jonas thought. I certainly didn't have much of one before the Giver transferred all those memories to me. Speaking of the Giver, I wonder how he's managing back there after we telepathically transmitted that information to the rest of the population.
Jonas' question did not go unanswered for long. A minute or so later, Jonas felt an immense heat at his back. He pulled the handbrake of the bicycle and turned his head to see what was causing the wave of thermal energy. To his surprise, an immense beam of white light was shooting up from the center of the Community, and it appeared to have spawned an energy shockwave that was spreading out rapidly. Jonas noticed that the new child riding in the carrier seat of the bicycle, Gabe, felt it too. He squirmed in his cushioned seat as the energy wave approached. Already Jonas could see and hear the struts of the bridge at the edge of the Community groaning and collapsing under the immense power of the wave. Jonas whipped his head back around and pedaled as fast as he could away from the Community, although he knew that the bike could not outrace the rapidly growing destructive force.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Jonas felt a telepathic flash in the back of his mind. He had felt such a flash before, when the words for things he perceived in memories, like sunshine and snow, came to him. It was the Giver trying to contact him! Even over this immense distance, he could still communicate with Jonas! He was amazed. Jonas concentrated, trying to understand the vague message. All he could make out were two words:
Chaos Control.
And lots of it, Jonas thought.
Then the shockwave caught up with Jonas' bike and the world went black.
12:34 AM, November 17, 2661
Jonas' former dwelling
Lily was awakened by a strange sound and a bright light outside. She sleepily slid open her eyes and ran over to the window of her sleeping room. Looking outside, she could see a strange creature hovering in the air outside the dwelling. She was too far away to make out the details of its appearance, but from inside it looked almost like a living comfort object, except it was bipedal, almost as tall as her, and at least as massive. Even though she knew it was against the rules for her to go outside during night hours, her curiosity overwhelmed her and she crept out of the room and out the door of the dwelling. She tiptoed closer for a better look.
Now she could see the creature much more easily. It did look slightly like an oversized comfort object, like the one her classmate Angela used to have. It had been called hedgehog. Its appendages were longer than the hedgehog's had been, with opposable thumbs on the ends of the arms. Its torso was small compared to the rest of its body, and it had quills covering the back of it. Its head was also very strange, with human-like ears, six large quills on the back, pointing upwards slightly, a small, black nose, and a mouth that seemed to move across its lower face as it changed expressions. And the eyes. There was something very strange about its eyes. They were large, and so close together that they almost connected. But its irises and pupils looked strangely familiar. They were unusually pale, and looked like they belonged to a human. This was impossible, unless… no, it couldn't be…
Lily bolted back inside, not caring if her parents heard her. She threw open the door of Jonas' sleeping room, only to find that he was not there.
"Jonas? Where are you?" Lily called out. "There's something you've got to…"
But there was no response. Jonas was not there.
Lily ran back outside to confront the strange being. "Who are you?" she asked, shaking. "What do you want?"
The creature did not reply. It merely raised a barely-visible eyebrow, and its eyes flashed in, once again, a very familiar way. It then turned its head, gazing at the House of the Old just two blocks from the dwelling, where Jonas had told her the Annex room was. For the first time, Lily noticed that a beam of white light was shooting straight up from the top of the room.
The creature took out a pair of strange-looking gems, one a single shade, the other two shades. It held them up to the sky.
Then it spoke. It spoke in a very strange tone, and when it opened its mouth, two voices seemed to emerge from it. One voice was ominously recognizable, the other was not. Lily did not have time to reflect on this, as when it had finished, the light coming from the Annex room abruptly intensified, and a shockwave of power emerged from it, creating blinding flashes and strange noises. Lily only had time to ponder for a second the meaning of the two words the creature spoke:
"Chaos… Control!"
And then the world went black.