~ Solara ~
For the first time since they had returned to their natural form, the ten spirits converged on the same spot.
The enigmatic foundation of Halla known as Solara usually appeared differently to each of its spirits, but now, it formed itself into a lush, grassy meadow, just as it had done when they had last been together...when they had still been Travelers.
Now, it was different for them all. They were no longer restricted by the rules that applied to the physical beings of Halla. They were nowhere...and everywhere. They existed inside the collective mind of humanity. They experienced events through the eyes of the beings they entered. But, though they acted as guides to the lost and the confused, they never controlled their decisions, or even suggested the proper course of action. All they did was offer clarity.
However, none of the ten had yet truly experienced the true magnitude of their abilities. They had restricted themselves only to the worlds in which they had existed as Travelers. They had not been forced to do so...it had been their choice, for all of them were especially interested in their own worlds.
Now, they were returning to greet each other once more, and share their recent experiences.
The ten spirits held hands, standing in a circle, saying nothing. Then, as they waited, an eleventh figure slid into focus, standing in the center, and looking around at them all. This new spirit examined the clear blue sky, the colorful, vibrant flowers, the ten faces of the circle. His gaze lingered on one of the spirits, before he spoke.
"So...we are all together again." said Press Tilton. "It feels odd to exist in this form now, doesn't it?"
"Yeah." said a blond girl with yellow-tinted glasses. "I've already gotten used to my natural form."
"So, tell me Aja," Press said, turning to her. "And you, Siry," he added, wheeling to face a dark-skinned boy with long, brown, curly hair. "What has transpired on Veelox since last we spoke?"
"For the most part, we saw what was going on through the eyes of the Tribunal of Ibara." said Aja Killian.
"They formed an alliance with the Flighters and attacked the Conclave of Ravinia." added Siry Remudi. "They really taught Veego and LaBerge a lesson!"
"And they organized another pilgrimage." said Aja, her eyes shining. "Perhaps it wasn't exactly the way I had planned it to be, but it all turned out the same in the end. Veelox is going to be repopulated, and the world will come back to life!"
"Excellent." said Press, before turning to face a dark-skinned warrior girl. "Now, Loor, how are things on Zadaa?"
"I am amazed by what Saangi has done." said Loor. "Not only did she manage to bring about the fall of Ravinia on Zadaa, she also reconnected with the long-lost brethren of the Batu, and became queen of her tribe. I only wish that I could tell her how proud I was of her. She acted with the wisdom of a king and the strength of a warrior."
"You can tell her." said Press. "Even if you can't speak with her, you can still give her the wisdom she needs to be a great ruler. Now, let us hear about recent events on Denduron." He turned to a big knight standing behind him.
"I entered the minds of many on Denduron." said Alder. "I was particularly intrigued by the experiences of Bollod, the rebel leader of the Lowsee. On Denduron, it took a few centuries for Ravinia to collapse. The event that brought it about was a massive tak explosion which blew up a mountain and destroyed the capital city of the Empire. The leader of Ravinia actually realized the error of his ways and worked together with Bollod to create a better world. They even found a far more practical use for tak, which enables the mineral to be used to do good."
"Wonderful." said Press, beaming at Alder before turning to a klee with black fur. "And what about Eelong?"
"I have seen much cooperation and reform." said Kasha brightly. The klees and gars have forged a new era of harmony and prosperity. And Boon is now one of the viceroys!"
"As with Saangi, you can give Boon the wisdom he needs to rule." replied Press.
"Hobey! I guess I should do the same for Yenza!" said a dark young man with long black hair and almond-shaped eyes.
"Absolutely, Spader. How is she, anyway? Come to that, how is Cloral?"
"It was a real nasty-do for a while there, but Ravinia was defeated in the end." said Vo Spader. "And Yenza played an enormous part in the whole thing. It's all spiff."
"Now, Elli, are things better on Quillan?" inquired Press, wheeling around to face an elderly gray-haired woman.
Elli Winter seemed happier than any of the others could ever remember seeing her. "At last, the people of Quillan have started to take back their lives. Ravinia and Blok are no more, and the Revival has finally taken hold. I finally feel as though I'm doing some good in Halla; giving clarity to the people of Quillan has helped to get that world back on track." Elli's face fell, and she said, in a quieter voice, "I just wish that Nevva was here to see it too."
Press laid a hand on Elli's shoulder. "Though misguided, Nevva always intended to do good. She only ever bought into Saint Dane's vision because she thought it was all in the best interests of Halla. I know she would be proud of what you have done."
With that, Press slowly turned to the remaining three spirits; a tall, elderly African-American man, a thin, brown-haired man in simple black clothing, and a boy in his late teens with long, dark hair and brown eyes.
"And what has become of Earth?" Press asked, in a low voice, as he stared at Vincent "Gunny" van Dyke, Patrick Mac, and Bobby Pendragon.
"It's difficult to look at Earth without thinking about the way it should have been." said Gunny.
"Ravinia has done much damage." agreed Patrick. "The healing process will take centuries, perhaps millenia."
"But it has begun." said Bobby. "Mark Dimond has become President of the United States, and he's working hard to revive Earth. I think that, given enough time, that world will heal."
For a moment, nobody spoke. Then, Press said, "Would you like to see the seven worlds of Halla as they are one thousand years after each of their chapters of Ravinia ended?"
The ten spirits in the circle collectively drew a sharp intake of breath.
"We can do that?" said Aja, amazed.
Press chuckled warmly. "Remember, Halla is not merely every place that exists, it is every time that exists. As such, you are not constrained by the same physical laws which limit its inhabitants.
With that, the surroundings began to twist and blur. A moment later, they reformed themselves. "Gaze upon the future of Denduron." said Press.
Alder's mouth fell open.
They were now standing on top of a colossal glacier...a wall of ice at least two miles high. The ice sheet sloped downwards, and at its base was a great city.
"This is one of the many frozen continents which in your time was completely uninhabited." Press explained to Alder. "The use of tak as an energy source rather than a weapon became an engine for a spectacular technological revolution. Denduron now has cars and trains and powered boats, and also special mechanisms called Radiators."
"Radiators?" cut in Bobby. "You mean, like the kind that warms a house?"
"Not quite." said Press. "On Denduron, Radiators use tak to generate specially controlled waves of heat that can manipulate the climate. This process has made sections of the meridian continents warm enough to inhabit. But it doesn't stop there. The advent of tak power also allowed Denduron to develop a globalized economy, which in turn allowed for the free exchange of ideas. This eventually resulted in a worldwide network of fair and democratic governments, not to mention racial equality."
"I do not believe it." whispered Alder.
"Denduron's society isn't perfect, of course. Tak is a nonrenewable resource, and at their current consumption they will exhaust the planet's deposits in five more centuries. But they are even now exploring alternative energy sources, with some success."
Press turned around now, to face Spader again. "Ready to see Cloral?"
"Hobey-ho, Press!"
The scene changed again, and now it was Spader's turn to look shocked.
They were standing on dry land. But it wasn't Faar...this landmass was far larger. It might even have been a continent. All around them were rolling hills and lush forests, with some mountains in the distance. Turning around, they saw another city. This city looked just like the urban habitats of younger Cloral, but it was on land.
"How can this be?" gasped Spader.
"It's all the result of Faarian technology." Press replied. "You see, the Clorans still needed a way of feeding their ever-growing population. They created a radical solution. They built continents all over the planet."
"But how can you 'build' a continent?" said Spader, utterly confused.
"They used essentially the same technology that drove the transpire of Faar." explained Press. "But on a much, much larger scale."
"But that would be so reckless!" interrupted Patrick. "To completely transform the nature of their planet. They might have blocked vital ocean currents and wrecked delicate ecosystems!"
"That's why it took so long." said Press. "The engineers of Faar spent over a hundred years just calculating the precise placement of new landmasses that would have the smallest possible impact on the environment of Cloral. It was actually quite easy ensuring that the landmasses didn't destroy any underwater ecosystems; most of the Cloral ocean is actually completely devoid of life. It's easy to overlook this fact, because the habitats always took care to plot routes that would take them over the most fecund places in the ocean, so there would always be a nearby food source. Harder to factor in were, as you mentioned, the ocean currents. It was impossible to leave them completely unchanged, but many of them were strategically rerouted so that they would still connect the same parts of the ocean. The final design consisted of four vast continents.
"It took another two hundred years to construct the technology needed to raise the land, and after that, another few centuries to fully seed the new landmasses with plants from the farms. At the same time, animals had to populate the continents. A few land animals existed on Faar, but most of them were genetically engineered, so that they would be able to eat specific plants and other animals and maintain a balance of life. These new animals were bred using ancient genes found in fossils of creatures from a prehistoric time when even more of Cloral was covered in dry land.
"Once all that was done, it was finally time for people to colonize the land. Over time, they built cities and towns and roads, all the while making absolutely sure that their presence would not damage the new ecosystems they designed.
"The whole process was completed around two centuries ago. But the Clorans haven't abandoned the old ways, either...they still have habitats and underwater farms. But a larger percentage of the population lives on land now, because it's so much easier to house lots of people there."
"Now," said Press, looking at Aja and Siry. "I think you two will like the new Veelox."
The surroundings changed. For one confused moment, the spirits thought that they were in a Ravinian conclave. Then, they realized it was a temple draped in flags. Aja's eyes widened. Each of the flags bore a picture of her face.
There were no benches or pews in this temple. There was only a blue carpet which ran from doors which seemed to lead outside, to an elaborate sculpture which looked like an inverted pyramid covered in writing, as well as a set of large windows which looked out over the skyline of a city. This place didn't have a crowd of people listening to a priest, either. Instead, people came in at random intervals, sometimes on their own, sometimes in groups. Everyone would walk along the carpet to the sculpture, and place their hands on the top with looks of reverence, a few of them muttering under their breaths. After a few seconds, each visitor would turn around and leave through the door they had entered.
"Where are we?" asked Siry.
"This is Rubic City." said Press. "And we are currently inside a house of worship."
"Worship?" said Aja weakly.
"The principal religion of modern Veelox is Killianism." said Press. "Over time, the historical knowledge of your accomplishments became legend. You are now seen as a deity...a supernatural spirit capable of enriching the world with clarity and wisdom."
"That basically describes my role as a spirit of Solara." said Aja, looking stunned and gratified.
"Funnily enough, it does." agreed Press. "The people of Veelox have come closer to guessing the truth about everything than those of any other world."
"But I thought that Ravinia had made all that stuff about Halla and Travelers and Saint Dane common knowledge." said Gunny.
"Initially, it did." said Press. "But after a long time, the truth about what happened was lost to time on each world. People came to believe that Ravinia had simply been created by greedy individuals who made up the whole thing just to gain power and riches. It is probably better that way."
"Why couldn't I be a god too?" said Siry, looking bitter.
"You are still remembered as one of the most famous historical figures in the history of Veelox." Press assured him.
"Let's back up a moment." said Aja. "What happened after Veego and LaBerge were toppled from power, and the pilgrimage began?"
"For a time, it looked as if Veelox would crumble again." said Press. "The pilgrims were faced with the task of trying to coexist with and civilize Flighters all over the world. But ultimately, it proved to be this world's salvation. You see, once the Flighters finally allowed themselves to be reintegrated into organized society, their presence effectively watered down the collective intelligence of Veelox. That might sound like a bad thing, but it wasn't. It ensured that Veelox would have a clean slate...that there would be insufficient curiosity about the past for there to be a risk that Lifelight would be recreated. Reality on Veelox was here to stay.
"Eventually, society evolved again, and now enjoys a great deal of advanced technology. But it has never produced anything like Lifelight. If you will remember, the idea for Lifelight was planted by Saint Dane in the first place, so it's unlikely ever to materialize again. And all of the advancements that the people of Veelox have made on their own serve the greater good of their world."
"Wow." said Siry and Aja together.
"Zadaa, too, has undergone an incredible transformation." said Press, looking at Loor. "In fact, most of it happened in the first few hundred years after Saangi's dynasty came to power."
When the scene reformed, they were standing in a magnificent city of stone pyramids and beautiful ornate fountains of water. But beyond its walls, there was not desert, but grassland. Rolling fields of green stretched for as far as the eye could see.
"What has happened to the desert beyond Xhaxhu?" said Loor.
"This isn't Xhaxhu." replied Press. "In fact, this is a city near the south pole of Zadaa, over ten thousand miles from Xhaxhu."
Loor looked amazed.
"Saangi proved to be the greatest ruler in the history of Xhaxhu. She brought unprecedented prosperity to the Batu, Rokador, and Xhinna. After she died many years later, the three tribes decided to honor her memory by spreading Xhaxhu's peace across all of Zadaa."
"You mean..." said Loor.
"The first tribe to be civilized was the Zafir." said Press. "Though far more violent and primitive than the Batu or Rokador, the Zafir were reasonably civilized compared to the rest of Zadaa. Many other tribes were far more savage, and it took a great deal more effort to make peace with them and teach them how to form a more advanced civilization.
"Unfortunately, this came at a price. Some cultures on Zadaa had done truly spectacular things beyond even the Batu and Rokador, in spite of their violent histories, and several of these were wiped out as the people were coerced to abandon their old ways. It wasn't until after all of Zadaa grew peaceful that the true extent of this damage became known.
"But many of these old achievements actually ended up being restored with time. Some people passed down the old ways through the generations, and eventually were absorbed into the global society. Among these ancient skills were the ability to produce natural medicines that, when introduced into the worldwide medical sector, revolutionized health care. Another was the domestication of some exotic animals which could be used to perform vital farming tasks.
"Not all of Zadaa exists in perfect harmony. There are still some cultural conflicts and the occasional war. But compared to how it once was, this world has come a long way."
"As beautiful as it is, Zadaa doesn't seem to have advanced much in the way of technology." said Gunny, staring around at the stone buildings.
"That is true." said Press. "There have been some slight improvements to the technology that the Rokador developed long ago, but compared to the other worlds there wasn't much change. The real evolution on Zadaa has been society.
"Eelong, on the other hand, has enjoyed tremendous advancements in both regards." he added, looking at Kasha.
Now, they were standing on a bridge, looking out over a treetop city.
Unlike the other worlds, Eelong appeared to have retained some of its Ravinian technology. As it had when Saint Dane had ruled it, the city of Leeandra looked far more developed and sprawling than it had prior to Ravinia's takeover. In fact, it looked far more so. But now, gars were living here once again, and this time it looked as though they were being treated equal to the klees.
"The movement to give gars total equality was driven by two powerful factors." said Press. "First, klee supremacy was forever linked with Ravinia in the minds of Eelong's inhabitants, and was consequently rejected along with all other tenets of Ravinian philosophy. The only thing from Ravinia that they kept was the building architecture, as it allowed a larger population to live in a smaller area. Second, the gars soon established for themselves a reputation of technological ingenuity, with their inventions of energy storage, in addition to improvements to virloam and link technology. The famine plaguing Eelong was soon nothing more than a memory, the domestication of tangs allowed cities to be built on the ground without fear of attack, and as the solar power collectors became more efficient, new inventions became possible."
"Hobey!" said Spader. "It's like a better version of what Eelong was becoming before the Ravinia natty-do!"
"Yes, it is." said Press. "Now, Elli, how would you like to view the Quillan of tomorrow?"
"Very much, thank you." replied Elli.
The scene they now saw was completely unrecognizable from the gray, dead world that they knew. The city of Rune was now bustling with color, energy, and life. The buildings were no longer boxy and gray; some were elliptical, some angular, and some that tapered to a needle-sharp point. They looked like vast, abstract sculptures. The suspended flat-screen monitors which once saturated the people with Blok advertisements and reports were gone. Cars of every shape and size zoomed along at their ease. The sidewalks and streets were no longer jam-packed, which meant that small towns and suburbs existed again. People were dressed in spectacular fashions, so unlike the plain shirts and pants sold by Blok. Every few streets, there were small, grassy areas decorated with elaborate fountains or magnificent statues, like miniature parks.
Perhaps the most wonderful part of this transformed city, however, were the flashy, charming shops that lined the streets. Their names were spelled out in decorative, eye-catching fonts, just like the abandoned stores in the underground mall complex, with the exception that these places were open for business. Some of them looked like small, family-owned shops; others were big, but not Blok big.
"I was wondering if this day would ever come." said Elli, tears of joy forming in her eyes.
"The Revival took a very long time." said Press. "It was done methodically, with a loving attention for detail. And it wasn't just about dismantling the remains of Blok...it was also about recreating everything that was lost as well as possible.
"The loss of Mr. Pop was certainly a blow. If Mr. Pop hadn't been destroyed, it would not have taken nearly as long to bring Quillan back to life. But ultimately, the logs of its contents hidden away by the Revivers produced a result which was basically the same. Books were reprinted. Music was reproduced. Notable works of art were remade with extremely accurate replicas. Even several of the companies Blok had out-competed were reformed, conforming to recorded documents of their corporate strategies.
"Meanwhile, the pre-Blok infrastructure of Quillan was also restored. The tarz plants were scrapped in favor of slightly less efficient but far safer and cleaner methods of power which had been used in the past. Eventually, improvements to these designs would generate more power than even the tarz plants had produced. Smaller communities were also rebuilt, relieving the crowding in metropolitan areas. And the underground malls were reopened for business.
"Once the Revival was finally completed, it was time for the world governments to take measures to ensure that history would never repeat itself. Some people called for blanket bans on vertically integrated corporations or company mergers, and a few were even in favor of an "asset cap" that would forbid companies from having a certain amount of resources or generating a specified level of profits.
"But the wisest leaders of Quillan knew that these extreme limits imposed on the world economy would compromise efficiency far beyond acceptable levels. It was eventually agreed that the government's decision to take action against the growth of a company would be determined not by hard data, but by that company's effect on the people. This effect cannot be quantified, but it nevertheless leaves its mark. If the masses were abandoning everything to mindlessly purchase whatever a firm sold, if a company was making gargantuan efforts to stifle ingenuity in the name of profit, if a business could get away with turning its offers into demands, that would indicate that something had to be done.
"There were a few times over the centuries in which the government took action against corporations on these grounds. But most of the time, such companies were thwarted by the people themselves. They all knew the cautionary tale of Blok, a story handed down through the generations, and the majority of them were able to recognize the danger signs. Whenever this happened, they simply stopped purchasing that business's goods and services, forcing the company to either think smaller or go out of business. As time wore on, corporations began to to act ethically and responsibly of their own accord. It became the cardinal rule of staying in business. If word got out that your big chain store could be the next Blok, that was it for you. You were finished. Nobody would shop at your place anymore.
"For a time, it looked as though this might cause a second collapse of Quillan's economy. As much as the people were turning a blind eye to this fact, big businesses mean more and cheaper products, so long as the industry remains competitive. At its worst, people were so opposed to corporate expansion, and corporations were so frightened of appearing monopolistic, that not enough got done. There wasn't enough of anything to go around, prices soared, and a lot of people had to live in poverty.
"Eventually, however, Quillan experienced a new social revolution. People slowly began to realize they were moving too far in the other direction. They knew they needed to strike a balance, but it had been so long since that balance had existed that they weren't sure how to do it.
"The solution they finally came up with was absolutely brilliant." added Press with a smile.
"What did they do?" asked Elli curiously.
"They created a global supercomputer to measure the economy." said Press. "The creation of this computer was, without hyperbole or debate, the single greatest invention in the history of Quillan. They called it 'Trubbis', and its capabilities outstrip even those of Lifelight."
"What do you mean that it 'measured the economy'?" inquired Elli, confused.
"Trubbis was able to reference every single business in the world, and calculate the ways that they interact. It was even able to measure the global impact of how firm or warm or sweaty the handshake was between two senior executives of companies in separate industries. And it used all that data to put together a measure, on a scale of one to one thousand, of how the world economy was compared to the most perfect balance of efficiency and quality possible. But the most significant feature was that when Trubbis detected a weak point, it determined all of the ways in which this problem could be reduced or fixed. Usually these lists of recommendations included thousands of individual steps, and some might be as trivial as eliminating company parking or adjusting some random worker's salary. The majority of these courses of action didn't even directly involve the problem, or the company causing the problem; the lists often hundreds of companies in total, some of which had never even had contact with the "red flag" company. Trubbis calculates the ways in which certain unrelated events will likely affect the problem in a paradoxical manner.
"The real beauty of Trubbis is that it does not force anyone to do anything, but still gets the job done. As long as even a small portion of the advice is heeded, there will be some improvement. And because some of these measures actually provide short-term benefits for the companies themselves, at least some of the recommended steps are always taken. The most drastic step the computer ever takes is to suggest that the government launch an investigation on a certain firm, but even that is rare.
"Soon after Trubbis went online, Quillan entered an age of prosperity greater even than the days before Blok, which continues to this day.
"But I've spent far too long explaining the specifics of what happened on Quillan." Press said suddenly. "We have one last world to examine." he nodded to Gunny, Patrick, and Bobby.
A few moments later, the three of them beamed with delight. They were in New York...and it looked almost exactly like the Territory of Third Earth had before Saint Dane took control of Halla.
"It took another thousand years," said Press, gesturing to the sloping green hills, the clear blue sky, and the small, pretty housing complexes. "but Earth returned to the what it was supposed to become."
"That seems like an awfully short period of time." said Patrick. "It took three thousand years for the society of Second Earth to evolve to this state."
"The difference is that the people of the post-Ravinian Earth were following a clear vision." explained Press. "Mark Dimond knew what Earth was meant to be like, and laid the foundations to enable that future to evolve as soon as possible."
"Is it exactly like it was?" asked Gunny.
"It is very close." replied Press. "Very few plants and animals actually went extinct as a result of the environmental destruction. The Ravinians bred the most sensitive ones in captivity, so that they could always have them around. And while a few things were never invented or designed, all of the key innovations which allowed Earth to achieve prosperity eventually ended up being created.
"The first step was clearing away the shattered remains of the former civilization. Over the course of a very long time, the people of Earth managed it, and had a clean slate. This time, they got off on the right foot from the start. They built most portions of their cities underground, to be more gentle to the surface world and give it more opportunities to heal. After hundreds of years, the people of Earth now have fundamentally the same world that they did before Ravinia took over.
"Amazing." said Bobby.
Press stared around at them all once more. After a moment, he spoke again.
"Though each of the seven worlds experienced different kinds of social progress, there is a trait all of these tales have in common. Can you think what it is?"
No one said anything for a moment. Then, Bobby said slowly, "On each world, the people corrected their own mistakes. They didn't do it perfectly, and there are some flaws, but when you view the big picture, the inhabitants of Halla are constantly improving themselves through their own choices."
"I couldn't have put it better myself." said Press. "And that, my friends, is the final proof of Saint Dane's folly. When left to their own devices, the people find their own flaws."
Press stepped back to the center of the circle.
"You have all done better than I could have hoped for, both in your former roles as Travelers, and as spirits of Solara. I believe that you have all contributed to the resurrection of the seven worlds with your subtle guidance. Now, it is time to return. And this time, I would advise you to enter the minds of individuals from all of the worlds, rather than the worlds you knew. The territories must remain on their separate paths...but our own paths are one."
With that, Press Tilton faded and vanished. The ten spirits broke the circle, and faded away themselves. There was no more Traveling. No more flumes. No more desperate struggles against Saint Dane. There was only guidance, and humanity. This was the way it was meant to be.