Carlos and Luis were gasping for breath as coming out of a shock. Lyle put his wings behind his back and the feathers on his hands reattached to his body.
- Are you all right? – said the girl walking down from the hilltop.
- Thanks to your friend we are. – said Carlos
- His name is Lyle. Mine is Aurora.
- I'm Carlos and he's Luis. How did you get to meet us anyway?
- A man called to my house and said that a friend of Lyle needed help close to the airport. Lyle said he could smell something familiar and he guided me here.
- Did he tell you who he was? – asked Carlos shaking the dirt from his clothes.
- No. But he did seem to know that I had met Lyle yesterday evening when I was coming back home.
- Where exactly did you meet him?
- He was close to a place that had an power line tower of some sort. – she said pointing at the distance. – There…..
- I can see some kind of communication antenna. This is getting interesting….. –said Carlos to himself when the cell phone started ringing again…. Carlos was very upset.
- Hey! Listen to me! I want you to explain to me right now why are we running away from our homes and why a giant bull almost cut us in half!!!
- Calm down…. It seems that they have located you.
- Who is "they"?
- The scientists hunting down for them. They seem to have a stock of their own.
- What's so important about these animals to make them chase us like this?
- Well. You see; they are not simply animals. They are an artificial intelligence construct.
- You mean like a robot?
- Oh no. They are much more….. Imagine someone with the intelligence of a robot, its memory capabilities, its calculation skills blended with an organic life form. An OEA.
- An OEA?
- Organic enhanced Algorithm. Powerful as machines but elastic and graceful as organic creatures.
- That answers part of the question. So why are we here?
- As you might deduce these creatures do not belong to this world. They accidentally stumbled upon it, and they need guidance to go back. The problem is that scientists could detect their presence and now they want to get their hands on them.
- So, where does this path end? How far do we have to go?
- Don't worry. Their friends have set up a rendezvous point for them but it's located way north so you have to continue.
- How far north is it?
- You have to go across the sea to the United States of America.
- What!!!? Is it not enough for you that we have problems with the local authorities?, now you want us to get into trouble with the United States police, coast guard and who knows what else?!!!….
- It's not an option!! – shouted the man at the other side of the line interrupting Carlos. – Most of their bodies are data. If you don't take them to the rendezvous point the data will undergo degradation until they disintegrate, Do you want that?!
- No, I guess not….. But how are we gonna get across? – wondered Carlos and then proposed an idea. – I know!!…..Why don't you do the same trick you did back there in my country and sneak us into an airplane.
- It's not possible. The place now is being inspected by the police. Besides, ask your new friends for another reason not to leave that way.
- What's he talking about? –whispered Carlos covering receiver with his hands to Aurora who was close to him
- Another friend of ours is stranded here….. – said Lyle looking at the sky vaguely.
Carlos frowned with this answer. He sighed deeply to continue with the conversation but the person at the other side had hung up.
- Ok….. – said Carlos to the rest of the group. – We can't fly away. So I suppose that we have to go by sea. But first, we need a means of transportation. So, you stay here and I'll be right back. – said Carlos walking away toward the airport main building.
Half an hour later Carlos showed up walking from the freeway.
- Follow me. – He said pointing at the freeway that exited the airport.
Everybody follow him for a while until they got to the shoulder of the freeway where a yellow compact car was parked.
- What do you think? I rented it with the credit card.
Everybody happily boarded the vehicle. Aurora was of great aid because she knew her way around the city.
The sky was darker. Big black clouds were gathering and threatening with a storm. Carlos switched the radio on.
- …….and in international news, in Asia, authorities are still looking for a missing boy from a rural area of Indochina. Residents of the zone claim to have seen a strange creature abducting the child. One of the divisions of the Chinese army have joined the search……..we'll keep you informed. – with this. Carlos switched it off.
"Is it someone like us? – thought Carlos as he parked the car at the pier. It was deserted. The path to the beach was closed and there were red markers everywhere. On the main driveway to the boat house there was a posted sign.
"Beach and Boat House Closed. Storm Warning"
- Great! – said Carlos shutting the engine of the car.
- He's that way……. – said Lyle looking at the beach.
With this tip, everybody hoped down from the car. It was raining lightly as a drizzle, but the wind was strong and at the sea, giant waves that could sink any small boat in seconds could be seen.
- Wait here. I have to go to the W.C. – said Carlos pointing at the boathouse. – Aren't you coming?
- I went this morning. –replied Aurora.
- W.C? – asked Lyle and Luis puzzled.
- The bathroom. Don't tell me you don't need to get rid of wastes.
- Wastes? Oh yes, but we already disposed of them in the car…..
- What?!!!!!! – shouted Carlos running back to the rented car. On the back seat there were a couple of small swirls of pink color that did not expel a bad smell.
- Is this all? – said Carlos picking the waste in a small napkin.
- Yes, I think…….- Said Luis very embarrassed.
- How practical. – remarked Carlos sarcastically directing everyone to walk toward the beach.
When he came back from the restroom, everybody was waiting for him. They walked toward the totally deserted beach.
- You were telling me how did you met up with Lyle…… - said Carlos looking at Aurora.
- Oh, yes…… I told him I found him close to that tower. I was coming back from buying groceries when I heard someone moaning. I turned at the alley and there he was, lying on the floor. He looked quite stunned so I decided to take him with me back home. Once there I asked him what was he doing there.
- What did he say?
- That he couldn't remember anything except for a very white light and then he suddenly found himself in front of many machines inside that tower. He wanted to touch everything but when he touched one of the computers he felt that his body was burning up and he got stunned. Now you know the rest.
- I don't trust the telephone guy….. – said Carlos changing the topic.
- Yes, so I noticed when you were talking to him. –said the girl with a smile on her face.
- Look! Over there……. – said Lyle pointing way ahead.
A small shining light could be seen. As they approached Carlos realized that it was a camp site fire. There was a small tent close to it.
- Wait here. – said Carlos to the rest of the group.
He came closer to inspect, noticing nobody was there. He looked at the sea and saw someone sitting on the sand close to where the waves struck the ground. He approached this person carefully. He saw he had dark skin and curly hair and he was staring at the emptiness of the sea.