Illusion of Gaia Part #14 - In Which Will Trips the Light Fantastic

Part 14: In Which Will Trips the Light Fantastic

The Memory Melody

“Somehow I feel a little homesick…”

“I feel like I’m back in the womb…”

“I can touch everything… except… myself…”

“I was raised in the town of South Cape. When my father didn’t come back from an expedition…the most important thing in my life was gone. I didn’t know what to do.”

“It’s awful when someone loses their life. What had taken years to put together was destroyed in one moment.”

“I wonder if Seth is all right…?”

“He’s with Riverson now.”

“Not sure where you’re going with that one.”

“What’s happened to everyone?”

“Lance! Your memory is back!”

“I was worried!”

“I wondered what would happen.”

“What’s the last thing you remember? We’ll start from there.”

“I… guess? Where the hell did that idea come from? Who is this guy?”

“I think his name is Neil…”

“Wait, did you say Neil!? That’s the same name as my lost cousin!”

“Can’t be the same guy.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.”

Quite a crowd with us. So, the question is where are we? This looks like the northern coast of Africa, but…

“Neil. It’s me. Will from South Cape.

“Oh! Will! You’ve gotten strong! Are all of these people your friends?”

“You don’t have to act like you’re surprised that I have a grand total of four friends.”

“What are you saying! You shouldn’t talk like that!! There’s a wonderful smell in this room, isn’t there?”

“It smells like foot.”

“Hey, hey, both of you talk pretty harshly. When you’re wrapped up in inventing something, you don’t care about your appearance. I don’t think the smell is THAT bad. Not enough to hate me for it.”

“I’ve only had mine on for three weeks. I guess I lose!”

“I can’t believe it! I don’t want to breathe the same air as him.”

“I think at this point we all lose.”

“Make yourselves at home. You’re Will’s friends. Welcome.”

“Seth will be pleased when he sees this invention.”

“Let me show you my inventions.”

“With this you can breathe underwater, but there’s only one minute’s worth of air inside.”

“Sounds like it could use some work.”

“Compressing the air would let you stay underwater longer, but I don’t know how to do it.”

“And…?”

“The problem is that it takes almost 30 minutes. Scenery doesn’t move, but to photograph a person means they can’t move for 30 minutes.”

“Starting to see a pattern here.”

“When I used it, the eyes turned bright red like a rabbit’s.”

“What’s the problem with that one?”

“Nothing. Works like a charm. And those…”

“It’s part of a machine that will fulfill man’s dream of flying in the air like a bird. The body’s too big, and you need a runway to take off, so it’s hidden in the desert.”

“That’s more like it.”

“Tell me why you came to see me.”

“Heh heh. Interesting. I, too, have some interest in ruins. The ruins Will talked about are scattered over the world, but they have something in common. Drawing a line among the ruins makes a shape that looks like the constellation of Cygnus.”

“That’s the Tower of Babel, where Will’s father got lost. It’s in the middle of the ground painting of the big white bird.”

“Big white bird? Doesn’t Cygnus mean swan?”

“There’s a new red star below the constellation of Cygnus.

“That’s right! You know a lot! The red star in Cygnus, Will’s interest in ruins. Different elements are bound together organically. I don’t know if it’s by confidence or design, but something is going to happen.”

“We have very different definitions of fortunately.”

“We’re going, too! We don’t want Will to be the only one having a good time.”

For reference, Nazca is located on the southern coast of Peru. Geography has REALLY taken a holiday for this game.

“It wa s along way, but you did a good job. This is the most famous of the ground paintings - the Condor. Have you ever heard of it? No one knows why ancient people drew pictures like this. Whenever I come here I’m overwhelmed by the grand scale. You should go see it for yourself.”