I am Ecco. I had many names. I was well known and legendary.
I have seen more on this Earth than any other beast, dead or alive. I have swum
these oceans a thousand times over. I have drifted in the void that is space. I
have coursed the tides of time. I am a warrior. Many battles have I fought, and
many enemies have I overcome. The Foe and their queen, the hive of the Vortex
and their queen…both did I triumph. Sharks feared my song, man dared not speak
my name, and as for my own kind…I was dead to them. I left them behind to their
own thoughts and jubilation.
I am alone now with my thoughts.
The Asterite is gone. The Guardian was not made to last forever. The empire of
man and dolphin was doomed to fall as all empires do. Evolution, progression,
and extinction have taken their toll on Earth's flora and fauna. There is
nothing more that I fear, and only one goal I have not yet accomplished; yet,
it eludes me no matter how hard I try to achieve it.
I curse these stars! These stars on my forehead shaped so like the old
constellation of god. But of course, I know better now. Time has shifted those
stars, and one has disappeared all together, gone a brilliant flash so many
years ago. I remember in my youth how people would stare at my forehead, wonder
at the shimmering incandescence, like the rainbows of abalone, like
mother-of-pearl. I remember how they burned, how they glowed and lead me places
no dolphin should have ever been. After the Foe, people feared me. They dared
not speak to the star brow, as if I might look at them and set them aflame.
These stars created a lonely life for me.
The sun hangs heavy and swollen in the sky. The hanging waters and aqua
tubeways have long since fallen. It is cold now, and the white fire of an
ancient sun dominates the sky. Stars wink day and night, and the moon has
drifted off somewhere…I don't know, possibly to find a new companion, as its
old one is tired and empty.
All those I have ever know are dust. My pod, my friends and family are gone.
Then long after them, Trellia, my love, and the other long fins, and not long
after that, the Asterite, my last friend. I left it behind one day, and never
returned. Eventually I could no longer feel its presence, and I knew I was
truly alone. Every once in a while I will hear strange voices calling to me,
young delphine voices singing so sweetly I will smile and turn, expecting to
see the pod just over yonder. How cruel the mind is when it plays tricks upon
the soul!
I surface now. The ocean is still and quiet since currents no longer flow. The
rotation on the earth has all but stopped, and the water and earth would broil
away if the sun were not so weak. No songs shimmer anywhere, land or sea. I
would like to think I am completely alone but I see strange white crabs now and
then. I think those creatures will live forever. But I know better. They too,
will eventually disappear. I know this because a see them less and less as time
goes on.
Death eludes me. Death is the one thing I cannot accomplish. I cannot drown, I
cannot starve, and I will not wantonly impale myself upon a sharp rock. How
messy. It has been eons since I was born. Eons are very very long…only three
had occurred by the time I was born…the Archeon, the Proterozoic, and the
Phanerozoic, each about 2000 million years long. There have four more since,
and Earth is showing its age.
Once a seaquake caused a tidal wave that swept me many miles inland, beaching
me (how ironic isn't it…I was far from any beach). I lay there, a strange
creature among these terrestrial beasts. I had hoped to die, but my body
refused to quit working. So after days of resting upon land, I finally made a
long journey back to the sea. Terran fauna has changed. No longer do mammals
frolic in green grass. Strange insects and over sized worms bump mindlessly
among thorny scrub. For some reason, they chose not to bother me.
Immortality is not what it was cracked up to be.
I wonder what will happen to me when this planet finally gives up its fight
with time. It will remain a desolate ball, spinning erratically around the
grotesque sun until the swelling of the sun swallows it up. As for me, will
fire end my suffering? Will I be incinerated along with everything else? Only
time will tell!
Who is it that made me untouchable by death?! If I could I would go back in
time and plead for mercy, beg to have this "gift" taken back. I would
threaten and kill anyone to die. But I don't know how I am the way I am now,
only that it is irreversible.
Once, long ago, when life was vanished, an alien ship arrived. I spoke to them,
telling them there was nothing for them here. They asked how is it you are
here, and I could not say. I cannot tell you how disappointed I was when they
left me here.
I take a deep breath of air, and exhale slowly. The air is metallic and bitter,
clean and acrid. An electrical storm gathers on the horizon. Its beautiful
flashes of blue-white and great purple sheets are among the last of
aesthetically pleasing phenomenon left. The auroras, ion storms and dog fire
are other atmospherical delights that serve to liven up my otherwise dull life.
Does it rain? No, not anymore. The Earth does not turn like it once did, and
the only wind that blows are solar winds, powerful gusts rare and frightening.
I say frightening but I am not really afraid. All fear stems from death.
Whether it is the death of a loved one, death of an idea, or death of one's
self, death is the root of all fear. I don not fear any kind of death. No, I
welcome it with fins wide!
The water is so still I can see my reflection. Do I look old? Yes I do. Scars
mar my features, my stars have faded, and wrinkles pinch the edges of my mouth
and ring my ear dimple. Only my eyes are still fiery and vibrant. They have
stars in them, echoing an eternity of life and an infinity of time. But the
fire is cold, the stars desolate and alone. I am alive, yet only just so.
I slip below the waves and allow my mind to recede into the past. It's the only
thing I have left to do. I return to days of warm waters, sparkling sunshine,
and colorful fish. How young and blessedly naïve I was! When all of life was a
great game frolicking below the waves with my companions, pestering the gentle
whales, and taunting sharks from a safe distance. When the sun was still a
small disk burning fiercely in the sky, not the vulgar behemoth it is now,
swollen and ponderous. Life was a joy back then so long ago. But even then the
stars upon my forehead set me apart from all the others. A sign of destiny! How
exciting. The pod elders would whisper behind my back, saying strange things. I
didn't care of course.
Then the vortex came, great sucking fiends of death and destruction. When I
found myself the only dolphin left, it seemed as if it were true that the winds
of fate were sweeping me along to this maelstrom of life. So began my many
excursions through time and space. I defeated the Vortex twice, after numerous
journeys to and from the past and present. Not after the second triumph over
the Vortex did we dolphins finally reveal our true intelligence to man, and,
using Vortex technology, we rebuilt Atlantis and made preparations to travel
the cosmos.
It wasn't long before yet another alien race bent on usurping Earth's resources
appeared. The Foe, as we came to call them, were a tough and wily bunch, but
together with the help of the humans, we dolphins fought off these would be
conquerors.
By now I was in my prime, and my name was sung throughout the seas. The
Asterite disappeared from common knowledge and in its place, the Guardian was
built using ancient Atlantean designs. Only I knew of the Aterite's location.
The metaspheres disintegrated, and the Guardian's ancient power of
metamorphosis was used instead. So things changed.
The Foe returned once again, much like the Vortex did. See how boring and
predictable these chitonous fools were? Again it was up to me to save the world
and defend the future. Again I went to different eras of time, this time to
different possible future's, where I met such characters as Pilot and
Mutaclone. I finally restored the true path of time, and no one has bothered
with Earthly fauna since.
So life went on. I first noticed my immortality when it became painfully
obvious that while the rest of my pod was dead or dying, I was still strong and
spry. One by one my loved ones and friends died away, leaving me to a younger
generation that feared me as a god. For a while I entertained the position of
pod leader, but it difficult to help those that fear you. Many would refuse to
meet my eye, and all conversation would cease the instant I swam up. I had made
my first acquaintance with loneliness, which would serve as a lifelong
companion.
I finally made up my mind to leave my kind behind and seek a new life
elsewhere. But it was all in vain. Everybeast knew my name, my song, and of
course, the damn stars. I even went as far as covering them up but no! The
damned things GLOW and shine through even the thickest mud.
Time rolled by in hours days and years, all driven by the spheres. A thousand
years. A hundred thousand years. Dolphins evolved and I remained primitive and
unchanged. Human left this planet altogether, finding more enticing things off
planet. Good for them. What has happened to their species I will never know.
Probably long extinct by now, or assimilated in some alien species, their genes
mingling with the genes of some exotic race. All I know is that in their
absence, dolphins took over. They…of course "they" and not
"we" as I was not a part of them…took to the air, rising above the
sea and developing gaseous organs that enabled them to float. Their fins and
flippers elongated to compensate for air currents and wind. As their world
expanded, so did their minds. They developed powerful telepathic abilities and
could carry things with their minds. The Asterite also reemerged.
Then I met Trellia again.
During my encounters with the Vortex and my many travels to the future, I met
an intriguing female dolphin named Trellia. She looked so strange to me back
then, but still very beautiful. When we met again, she had no real memory of
me, as the sands of time had erased all other paths and therefore it was as if
I had never been anywhere. Even so, we somehow found one another again,
although she did not know me, we somehow connected, and she and I became fast
lovers. We shared many blissful, happy years together.
Immortality is a curse.
I watched her die of course. Not even the Asterite can stop nature. We could
not even have children for so much time stood between us that our genes were no
longer compatible. Such is life though, isn't it?
Eventually the dolphin race stagnated and became extinct. Other races took
their place and they too shared the same fate. Eventually the Asterite's power
failed and I was again left with y old friend, loneliness.
For the past couple eons I have spent my time alone, learning everything I
could, trying to keep my sanity, at first. I gave up talking with the other
creatures for their language is far too bizarre. These crab things at present
don't even sing. I long for death to end my suffering. Or at least insanity to
take my mind but neither will grace me with their gift.
Right now, the barren rocks below flicker with the dancing water-webs. I nose
the silt at the bottom, startling a few pale crabs from their resting spots.
They don't even need to hide nothing hunts them. I stare at them for a moment,
tempted to kill them, but the urge soon passes. I have killed many things to
satisfy my anger, but it still burns deep inside, so I see no point in crushing
a few senseless crabs.
The darkness of an abyss calls to me all of a sudden. Having the uncanny
ability to withstand the crushing force of deep water, I have ventured many
times to explore the previously unknown territories of darkness. I made a few
remarkable discoveries, but having no one to share them with, they remained
trivial.
However at this moment I begin to think of the volcanic vents far below. Could
extreme heat finally end my suffering? I ponder this notion while I swim slowly
to the edge of the abyss. I am so desperate for death! Without a second thought
I descend into the trench.
Down down down down. Miles and miles of seawater gather above my small body as
I swim for minute hours. I sent sonar ahead of me, expecting to hit the bottom
soon, but I am greeted by emptiness. Perplexed, I keep swimming for hours more,
but still no seafloor.
Suddenly, a small light catches my attention. Curious, I swim over to
investigate it, but another small, winking light catches my eye. As I turn to
look at this light, dozens more bloom in the darkness. Tiny dots of sparkling
light unveil themselves before me the farther down I swim. They are like…like…
Stars!
Indeed they are stars! I am swimming in a sea of stars! How…how is this
possible? In all my years I have never before experienced this phenomena!
More stars flare, bright and blue, clouds of stars, voluminous and beautiful. I
smile and laugh for the first time in I do not know how long. I am completely
surrounded now by these cosmic baubles. Up down left right…all directions studded
by jewels.
A delicate pink and purple haze spreads below me…glowing from within. A nebula!
Eagerly I swim to it, enveloping my body within its vast mists. A great white
light pulsates below me…I cry for it is so beautiful! My eyes squint against
its fire, but I race ahead, never stopping. Soon I have reached the light and I
pass through it…and below me are the warm, flourishing waters of Earth as they
were when I was young. I can see dolphins frolicking amongst the waves…my
podmates, my friends…and Trellia.
My heart! Oh my heart just bursts inside of me to see their smiling faces
again! They do not yet see me; I must hurry forward and greet them!
Oh Delphinus! My heart….my heart is exploding within me! Oh gods the pain! NO!
My strength is failing…I am so close yet I cannot seem to swim any farther…
Am I…am I dying?! NOW?! How can I die now when I am so close? After all this
time…Trellia….you see me! Oh you can see me look how you fly to me!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The body o Ecco the dolphin floated listlessly among the gently waves. Two
young dolphins spied him and swam over to investigate.
"Oh no Niatto, it's Ecco," murmured one.
Niatto nodded. "Yeah well…the old dodger had it comin. They say he lived
the life of three average dolphins. He was ancient!"
"I know but still…he has always been around."
"It is a shame isnt it? Well, I think it's all for the better anyhow,
B'teel. Poor 'phin has been in his own world for years now, not talking to
anyone, just sitting there dreaming his strange dreams."
"Well, we have to go tell the others. First that storm now this…"
"Yeah. Shame. Hey I hear that Caelsia is going to enter the races this
year…" The sound of their young delphine voices faded in the distance as
the two swam away.
Ecco's corpse bobbed in rhythm with the sea, his body withered and gray. His
eyes stared sightlessly through a thin glaze of death, his final journey having
come to an end.
