The Box

Chapter Two: Heresy and Babysitting

Milo saw Cornelius coming out of store, one that specialized in jewelry. "Hello, Cornelius!"

Cornelius spun around to see who had called to him. His shoulders sunk visibly once he saw that it was only Milo. "Oh, hello, Milo, I didn't see you."

"I stopped by the Academy's warehouse and they told me that you had finished putting everything away. You should have told me and I would have helped you."

"Does this mean that you have decided to pursue archaeology as your career now, Milo?" Cornelius grinned slightly. It seemed that Milo was good at everything, but nothing could hold his interest for long.

The look on Milo's face confirmed with Cornelius had guessed. "No, I found that digging around in the dirt for days on end does not appeal to me. Archaeology may not be my calling, but I have narrowed my future down to do something with history."

"History?", Cornelius tilted his head to the side and gave Milo a long look, "Which period?"

"Pre-ape."

Cornelius almost fainted from shock, "But, Milo- you- heresy?"

"Let's go to your apartment and talk."

On the way to the Academy where Cornelius's apartment was located there was very little speech that passed between the two apes. Each one was lost in their own thoughts, centered on the same subject. The sun was beating down on Ape City with it hot rays turning the whole city into one giant sauna. To Cornelius the walk to his apartment seemed to be twice as long as it normally was, and the thought of his friend studying heretical ideas for a profession was tormenting him.

Finally they arrived at Cornelius's residence, both with grim faces. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No- yes, I think I'll have a glass of water."

"Why don't you go into the parlor and have a seat, I'll go get the water," directed Cornelius. Milo had been in Cornelius's home before, but now it seemed distant and unfamiliar, as if something had changed; he knew that it was not the room or his friend that had changed, rather, himself.

"Here."

"Thank you."

An uncomfortable silence penetrated the room as Milo sipped on his glass of water, not paying attention to what he was truly doing and Cornelius sat nervously in his chair. After a few minutes of no one saying anything Milo finally set his glass down and turned his piercingly keen eyes to Cornelius.

"We have been taught from our very births that all apes were created in the image of God and that we are supreme." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Supreme over what?" The question hung in the air.

"The beast and animals of the wild," said Cornelius, "and of course man."

"Yes, man. Why do we as apes fear man. He is just as much as an animal as a horse or cow isn't he? If that is true…" he rose from his seat and began pacing the floor as Cornelius knew he was accustom to doing, "then why do we kill him for sport and scientific research. We don't use horses for target practice or"- Milo was interrupted by Cornelius.

"Milo, we are pacifist, we don't shoot anything, that is the gorilla's you are talking about. We are intellectuals, not monsters. Humans are not capable of thought, speech or making anything useful."

"What about the artifacts that we found on the dig? Some of them were far more advanced than we could ever imagine. Does it make sense that the older culture would be the more advanced?"

"No one knows what the ancients knew."

"Who were the ancients? Who made those items that are unidentifiable? Cornelius, what if man was once capable of…"

"Milo!" Cornelius exclaimed, "that is heresy you are talking about. You could be thrown in jail for thinking such things, never the less saying them. It's impossible… isn't it?" The last part of the question was asked more to himself than Milo.

"You're just as curious as I am. Now you see why I want to pursue the past to see what the future might bring. Aren't we always told to learn from the mistakes of others? What if man had once ruled," Milo stopped to see if Cornelius was going to say something, but did not, "then what happened to him? Why isn't he in control anymore? I need to find the answer."

"Why do you think these things? Milo, you cannot talk like this, if someone other than me heard you, well, you'd never have a chance at living a good life. No one would associate"-

"What? No one would want to be around me? That means it would be no different than things are right now. I'm sorry that I have drug you into this Cornelius, but I thought that you would understand since you first put the idea into my head."

"Me? I've never said anything like that."

"You took me on the expedition and you found a box like no other box that has been seen in over 2,000 years."

The box. A feeling of dread settled over Cornelius, if he had never found that drat box, if Milo had never seen it, if… If seemed to rule.

"… I'll be going now. Don't worry I won't mention your name in my 'heretical' speaking, Cornelius. Goodbye." With that Milo picked up the knapsack he had been carrying and walked out of Cornelius's life for many years to come.

A heavy sigh escaped Cornelius as he watched Milo walk away. There was nothing he could do now, maybe he could try to convince… No, Cornelius knew that Milo would not stop looking for answers until he was either locked up in prison or dead. Why was the truth so elusive? With a swift look at the clock Cornelius decided that he had enough time to start on his report for the senior advisor of the Historic Department at the Academy before he had to be at Lana's to help Zira baby-sit Lucius.

A rumbling sound interrupted Cornelius in the middle of a paragraph; he ignored it until he realized that it was his stomach reminding him that it was time to eat. After scrambling around in his cabinets for something that looked edible, Cornelius found a package of pecans and walnuts. It wasn't much of a dinner, but he knew that there would be something at Lana's that he could eat. The clock chimed four-thirty. Cornelius decided that there was not enough time to get any more written on his report. What was he going to do for thirty minutes? At first he picked up a book and began to read, but it was one that he had read numerous times and he could not seem to focus.

4:33. "Damn," Cornelius swore softly to himself. Why did time seem to slow down when he needed it to go by swiftly? "What to do. What to do," he repeated over and over to himself.

A satchel on his bed caught his eye. Without thinking Cornelius walked across the room towards the rucksack which contained the box. What was the meaning of the strange call that they box seemed to have on him? It seemed to Cornelius that it was impossible not to think of the box for more than a few hours, it had a way of making its presence known. With a momentary glimpse at the clock Cornelius took the box out of the knapsack and set upon examining the box more closely. He knew that he should have included it in his inventory at the museum at the Academy, but he could not part with it before he knew what was in the box. Then why didn't he open it?

Cornelius had only inspected the box closely once before, at the camp the night Milo had surprised him. So he took the box into his long nimble hands and looked at it very closely. It was made of a strange material, at what had first appeared to be some type of metal, but now, on closer inspection, it was actually a more flexible substance. "What are you?" Cornelius queried the box. Before he could open the box he looked up at the clock and noticed that more time had passed than he had expected. Now was not the time to open the box, he had to be at Lana's in just a few minutes.

'Rap, rap tap,' Cornelius waited patiently for someone to open the door. "Coming," called a voice from inside the house. Finally Lana threw open the door and emitted Cornelius inside.

"I'm so glad you made it, Cornelius, Zira told me to tell you that she would be running a little bit late, so you might have to watch Lucius by yourself for a little bit, but he is such a good child," with that Lana rushed off to do something at the last second. It still amazed Cornelius how anyone could live in such a breathless manner.

It had been a few months since Cornelius had last visited Zira's sister's house and took some time too look around and re-familiarize himself with the layout. Suddenly a small body slammed into Cornelius. "Hi! How are you?"

"I am well, Lucius, how are you?"

"Good. Are you gonna marry Aunt Zira?"

"Well, I"-

"Can you play horsie with me?"

"Maybe…"

"You are hungry? Mama says that…"

"Good evening, Cornelius," Simon, Lana's husband walked into the room putting a stop to Lucius's breathless chattering, "I hope that this isn't too much trouble."

"Oh, no, it is perfectly alright. I trust that you and Lana will have a wonderful evening together."

"Yes, yes, thank you. I'm sure that Lana told you that Zira is running a little late, but I'm sure that she will be here in no time."

"Ready?" Lana asked as she waltzed into the room.

Simon finished straightening his tunic. "I believe so. Now, Lucius, you be good and listen to whatever Cornelius or your Aunt Zira tells you to do," stooping down to his son's level Simon bestowed a caress then stood back up.

"We must be going. Come, Simon, Lucius, don't be a bother." With that they were out the door. "Oh, Cornelius," Lana stuck her head back in, "remember that his bedtime is at eight o'clock sharp. Goodbye now."

This was the first time that Cornelius had ever been left alone with a small child since he had been the youngest child. What did six year old boys like to do? It had been a long time since Cornelius had been a child and even then he had always had older siblings to play with. "So, uh, Lucius, what do you want to do?"

"I'm hungry," announced the small ape. "Fix me something to eat."

It surprised Cornelius how forceful the little one was. "Oh, well, I think that I can find something for you." They made their way into the kitchen. "Um, what do you want to eat?"

"Can you lift me up?" Lucius's head didn't quite reach the top of the counter.

"Up we go," Cornelius gently lifted the child up onto the counter so that he could see what there was to eat. "What would your mother usually fix you?"

"Hum…" the little boy looked around for a few seconds, taking in everything that there was to eat. "She usually lets me eat chocolate or cookies or…"

"Wait a moment, are you sure?"

Innocently Lucius looked up at Cornelius with his big brown eyes, "Yes."

"Well, if you're sure." He reached for a plate that held cookies on it.

"Hello… is anyone here?" Cornelius's hand stopped as he heard Zira come in.

"We're in the kitchen finding something to eat."

As Zira came into kitchen Lucius squirmed. "Having any luck?"

"Yes, we were just going to have some…"

Lucius jumped off the counter and ran into his playroom. "What did he tell you?"