Aurthor's Note- This is my first try at writing an Asimov fanfic, so all reviews would be much appreciated. I know hat in the books Gaia can't read others minds in the way I have Galaxia do here, but i figured that what with a couple hundred millenia and the skills of the Second Foundation, that this would likely happened. Obviously, this takes place long after the Foundation books.
The part of Galaxia that was Dev stirred and opened her eyes. Slowly, she stretched her mind until she felt her whole planet, her whole solar system, her whole sector, and, at last, her whole galaxy. She sat up and relaxed, letting the pulsing beat of joy that defined Galaxia become her whole being.
She remembered what Sath had told her earlier, how he thought it strange that she had to think at all to feel Galaxia as her. Laughing, she had told him that of course she always knew that she was Galaxia; she just needed to actively feel it sometimes as well. He had not understood that sentiment either.
Dev, are you ready to learn?
Yes Sath. I am ready to learn how to retrieve memories from a black hole.
Please come join me/us/Galaxia. I/We/Galaxia is ready to teach you.
Dev slid on her clothes and used her mind to find Sath. Slowly, she walked towards him. Black holes were the easiest place to store memories and they could hold almost an infinite amount of information. Their very nature made them easy to insert memories into, but that same nature made it difficult for those memories to be retrieved. Therefore, she received instruction from one older then her.
Now, reach out your mind and anchor it to the planet, otherwise, you may be no more then a memory within the black hole.
Dev did so.
Allow me/we/Galaxia to lead you mind. Feel the black hole. Reach in through the back to the singularity. From that point pick a memory, any one will do for now. Now, slowly, pull yourself back on the anchor you created.
Sath's words did not convey the immensity of the task before her. The black whole was huge, it seemed to have no back. She felt herself joining with it, surrendering to its mighty gravity. Then- there it was. That point that memories were stored, the singularity. She chose a memory, one at random. Yet she could not escape. The black hole held her, demanded that she join with it, commanded her to unite with it. Then she felt Sath nudge her mind and recalled her home planet. She pulled her mind back on the anchor she had created.
The grass under her feet felt wet. Dev looked up to see Sath's face near her own.
Do you have a memory?
Yes.
Release it and we shall review it together.
Dev carefully allowed the memory to invade her senses and she felt Sath's mind slide in next to hers as they viewed the memory together.
The mother glanced down at her newborn child. He was small. She/They/Gaia rejoiced in the new life within her hands. The mother sent out a small thought of love, hoping to reassure the infant. He wailed even louder. Again, she/they/Gaia attempted to join with her son, but his mind would not let them. For some reason he was not a part of her/them/Gaia.
Sath, that is a strange memory.
Yes. It is from many millennia ago, when Gaia was the only communal mine.
Not that part. The part about the infant not being Gaia. That is what is strange.
It happened a very long time ago.
Evidently, but how sad for the infant.
It is always sad not to be part of something greater then yourself.
That is not why I think it was sad, I felt it was sad because the infant must have grown in a place where all around him where connected, and it was with a connection he could not share.
Sath was about to respond when a rush of anger and confusion hit him. He fell over and saw Dev do the same. Both felt as the surge of anger turned into a pool of grief.