Pilgrim/Chronicles of Un

It was hiding under the rock. "Where is it? Where is it?" it asked itself. The monster, who was hunting it, was lurking nearby. For that, it was sure. The lizzard cautionly look around, prepared to run if needed to. Suddenly, without warning, something hit it hard in the neck. The last thing it's brain thought, before shut itself down, was that althought it was the faster of the two, hunter was cleverer than it.

A man in his early thirties took a body of a dead lizzard, extracted the arrow sticking from its neck, put it in the bag, and said to himself:"Poor thing. It never knew what hit it. But most important is that a caught myself a dinner."
For two days he was folowing a human who was making weird footsteps in the sand. And he still haven't seen the slightest sign of him. He was slowly beginning to think he was halucinating and the footsteps were only product of his imagination.
Omoro, who was slowly passing through the sky, was still at least two hours away from dissapearing behind the horizon. Nevertheless, it was still hot. "If I won't find a water soon, I will die because of thirst." And in a midst of this thought, he saw a blue dot, slowly moving in front of him.
"Ah, finally," he said to himself and began to run. The blue dot grew bigger and bigger. He son realized that in front of him there was a man, dressed in a blue robe. But that was not what caught his atention. Oh, no. Because a man was chained to small tree, which he was dragging behind him. "Poor soul. He obviously hasn't got an ox or a horse to help him."
The stranger heard that somebody was behind him only when he was a couple of meters away. He immediately turned around, his old wrinkled face calm, but his eyes full of fear and his hand seeking the hidden weapon under his robe.
"Stop, stop. I won't harm you. I am just curious where are you going and why are you draging this tree with you."
"It is nothing of your concern. Go away."
"Look, I will share a lizzard I caught with you."
"Oh, very well then," said the still suspiciously looking stranger, unchained himself and went under the trees nearby to seek the shelter from the burning sun. Younger of two men collected some pieces of wood and wanted to lit the fire the way his ancestors taught him, when a man in a blue robe waved his arm and took a small metallic object from his pocket. He pushed a small button on the left side and fire burst out like a water demolishing a dam, and engulfed the wood. Young man's eyes almost popped out of its sockets.
"How in the name of the Wooden Gods did you do that?"
"Later. Now, if you tell me who you are and what are you doing here, I will do the same later on. Agreed?"
The young man nodded and said with a sad expression in his voice:"My name is Jonti, but everybody is calling me Traveller since I like to travel. I am here because … Well, you see, I am a dead man."
Old man bend itself forward and said:"Come again? I didn't understand what you said? A dead man? Are you sure? Do not get offended, because I see a young man, full of life."
"Sadly, old man, my appearance is misleading. You see, I carry a creature inside me. A Mardunian worm. One day, when I was hunting a long distance away from my home, the night came too son and I had to sleep under a tree. Next day, when I had awoken, my leg began to itch like crazy. I take a look and found a wound – worm's entry point - below the knee. He will gradualy move through my body and will in approximately one year reach my brain. You know, human brain is his favourite food. "
"And there is no cure?" asked the old man.
"I am afraid that there isn't. Maybe with the technology our ancestors had. Otherwise, no."
"I am sad to hear that. Please, tell me more."
"Well, I live in a small village called Breeze at Noon, which lies under the White Mountains, 200 days of long walk to the west. So, when I got the worm, I decided that I wanted to see the world for the first and last time. I said goodbye to my mother, her maid and her daughter …"
"A maid and her daughter … are they beautiful?" old man happily asked.
"Well, you have to define beauty first. Are they as beautiful as Tanya from the neighbouring village, who has the most beautiful eyes and smile I have ever seen or Miriam, the woman with raven hair from The Shrine of the Weeping Women, which has a body to die for? No. But my mother, who is old and feeble, always gets new power to live another day when they see them when they in the morning come to her and make her breakfast and help her get dressed. In that respect, they are beautiful. Real beauty comes only from the heart, you know… Ok, to resume my story: All 40 vilagers came together on the day I went away. I still remembered how they all waved to me and shouted how they want that I will come back safely. A little girl even brought me some rocks to defend myself against the monsters that are lurking in the shadows. Ah, kids … So, 200 days and numerous adventures later, here I am."
"So, what have you seen travelling around the Un? Is everything as bad as I think it is?"
Should I tell him about the city where citizens play games with the heads of their enemies? Or women who like to hang from the trees with hooks, which connect their back with metallic ropes? Or tribes, which are eating their dead? Or men, which are replacing their limbs with robotic extremities? Should I tell him about races, which are carving the simbols of their Gods on their skin, just to gain salvation? Or should I tell him about Undead, brought back from the other side by powerful magic, which brought havoc in the City of Brown Rocks? Maybe I should mention the Scavangers, which are under White City seeking the weapons their ancestors left behind, which can destroy the whole planet? There are so many of them ...
Old man saw that Traveller can't decide what to tell him, so he seized the iniciative and said: "By the expresion on your face I see that the situation is worse that even I have thought. Well, promise is a promise. I am so old I cannot even remember if I had any name. My co-workers called me Pilgrim so you may also call me so. I am, or I was until recently, the last Master of Collectors of All Knowledge. I and my co-workers lived in a valley to the north of here. Actually, we lived in the big underground facility. We had informants from all parts of the planet which until a couple of hundred years ago provided us with useful information about our collapsing culture. Then, one after another, all my co-workers died. So, I was left alone. Did I despaired? Yes. Was I defeated? Hell, no. Not yet. I always said that you cannot break a man if he is not willing to be broken. Or something like that."
Traveller saw that Pilgrim's eyes now glowed like wild animal's eyes which glowed at night. "But then, sadly, came something that did broke me. You see, one day in front of the main entrance I found a young women with a small child. What could I do? If I would left them there, they would die. So I took them to my home. The mother, whose name was Myl, said, that she and her son Damiun left the village they lived in shortly before wild beasts attack it. She did not know what happened to her husband and other villagers. They were probably slained to death. So I offered her that she could stay there at me if she would cook for me. She said yes and that was it. Oh, and Damiun – that was a wicked child. He always played with my instuments and broke them into pieces. But I could not hit him. How could I? My parents always tought me that children are God's tears and that if you hit a child is as if you spat a God in the face. Twice. And that cannot be good, can it? So I tried something else. I began to teach him. And miracle happened. He wanted to know more and more. When I was telling him about ancient history his eyes opened wide and he gazed at me like small children look at you when you for the first time show them some toy or a pet. He was the best pupil I ever had. Well, I had only one, but never mind that."
Pilgrim then took a breather and after awhile continued:"Last year our valley was hit hard by rainfall so we gathered inside for shelter. I went to work when Myl came to me and said that she cannot find Damiun anywhere. He said to her he was just going to the toilet. I almost immediately thought he went to play with his small hand-made ships outside. I ran outside as fast as I could. I began to yell 'Damiun, Damiun', but I got no reponse. I wentured to the other side of the entrance and there it was where I heard a cry. When I looked to the source of the sound, I saw him entangled in some debris. He was to his throat in the water. I jumped into the water and said to him:'Give me your hand'. He tried, oh, he tried! And after several unsuccessful attempts, he actually managed to stretch his hand long enough so I could grab it. Then I tried to pull him out, but I could not. And by the minute water grew bigger and bigger. Damiun was smart, he knew that his life was at stake. 'Please, Pilgrim, do not let me go. Do not let me go! Please!' He began to cry as his mouth was filling with water. He tried to move his head to the left and to the right so he could spit it out. And situation got worse because the water was beginning to also endanger me and my power was slowly, but surely ebbing away. So I was left with two choises: or left him go and he dies or let myself go and we both die. So, in that very moment, I choose my life, the life of an old man, over his. I let him go. It was only a moment, but for me it was like an eternity. I still do not know what I saw in his eyes: dissapointment, anger, sadness, bitterness? He stopped fighting and soon after dissapeared under the surface. And that was the end of Damien, my favorite pupil. I do not know what happened next. I somehow managed to get home where Myl was standing, hoping, praying, that I would get her only son back. When he saw me, alone, without Damiun, he yelled as strong as her voice would allow her and ran to her room. I went to my room and wept all night long. The next day, when I woke up, there was only silence. I went to Myl's room, but she was not there. After a thorough search I found her dress at the river which took her son. Obviously, she could not cope with her son's death and took a decision to end her life. Oh my God, what have I done? What have I done?"
Pilgrim began to rock to and fro, his hand shaking like the trees over the Traveller's village, when the wind hit at them hard. Pilgrim then began to cry, his tears vaporing away soon after touching the hot sand, while one of them hit a small lizzard, which, suprised, immediately hid itself under a small rock nearby. And stayed there.
They sat in silence for an hour with Traveller happy that Pilgrim didn't break down completely. The old man, which by now regained his composure, started to speak again:"I tried to continue with my work but I could not. Every night I dreamt about Myl and Damiun, about how I could not protect them. Then I decided to leave my home, trying to find redemption although I do not expect to find it. But I am trying, as you can see. I am dragging the tree because I think if I will drag it for enough time, Damiun, wherever he is, will forgive me."
Pilgrim drank a water out of his cup and asked:"By the way, in which direction are you travelling?"
"From west to east."
"But how do you know where the east is? How do you know that you did not travelled to far north, for example?"
"I have this." Traveller reached to his pocket and took out a small round object."This shows me where north is. So, therefore, I also know where south, east and west are."
"Where did you get it?"
"I made it although my grandfather gave me the idea."
"Oh, thank you, Gods of Un, there are still smart people around! Not long ago I saw a man who was proud because he made a wooden spoon. A wooden spoon! For crying out loud! Philosophers, for example, for ages tried to find the answer to some insignificant problems of their own. Let me give you an example. If a tree fall down in a forrest when no one is around, does it's fall produces sound? Well, a scientist can give you an answer to that in a couple of minutes. If for you a sound is a vawe, that the answer is yes. But if you under the term sound think of vawes, that travel to an ear or some other organ for listening, and are then send to a brain, where brain decyphers them as sound, than the answer is no, since there are no beings with brain and ears around. Or this one: Can a one handed man clap? If a clap has to be performed with your own two hands, than answer is no. But if you can clap by hitting your hand against a hand of your friend, than yes, you can clap. Also, this way, one handed man can clap by hiting his hand against a tree. Ok. Enough of philosophers. Linguists are even more stupid than them. For a 100 years they quarreled, where the term 'That's woman is hot' came from. At the end, they agreed that the great Babbus of Ecliptica found the right answer. According to him, some day long ago some ancient king, travelling on the road back to his castle, saw a young woman by the road and yelled 'That's woman is hot!' The man, who was traveling with him, jumped out of the carriage, ran to a woman and touched her forehead. 'Your Majesty, you are right. She is indeed feverish'. The girl was taken home to lay in bed and later became singer in some bar while a king became known as 'Majestic Seer' … Idiots. I do not know about you, but in our country, that term has another meaning."

After the Traveller nodded, they began to laugh. Khigga, which was sitting on a tree and was waiting for some female to flew neighby, watch them with interest.

"Oh, how has our society fallen from it's former glory. But it was not always so. If we were back at my home, I would show you how developed our ancestors were. I could show you pictures of biggest city that ever existed on this planet with it's four several miles high white towers …"
"I saw it! I saw it!"
"What! You were in the White City? Tell me, what have you saw? Tell me! We haven't got any news from that city for some 400 years."
"The people are now living in the stone city nearby. But there are special units of people which scavange the facilities under the city, seeking the hidden knowledge about weapons."
"Yes. I thought so. But nevermind. Let them seek. Omoro is nearing end of it's life cycle. It would not be long before it explodes."
"What!!! Really? No way! When will this happen?"
"Soon. Scientists, whose names are long forgotten, made a calculation by which Omoro will explode sometime next year. Apparently, our star, which was stable more that eight billion years, will next year became unstable and … as I said, it will blow itself up. I found this information in a long forgotten books. Look, even Un is preparing to die. Smell the air. It stinks, doesn't it? Even the sand won't move when you step on it. It just does not want to move anymore. And the people of Un are already dead for a long time. Well, at least the most of them are. For them, the end of our world is going to be a salvation. But I do not care about them. Do you know which people you should remember?"
"No. Which?"
"Children, which were thrown away by the mother after the birth, or the ones that were physically or verbally abused; all those people, that lived, loved, had ambitions to achieve something in life, but were forgotten as they never lived at all. All the men and women, who died in a trenches during the war, following some idiotic ruler of Un, who did not have any family which would cry after them. What were they thinking moments before their soul left this planet? 'Why am I not home, where it is warm? Why am I here at all?' Tell me, who remembers them? Does anybody even care? And all the people that commited a suicide because they did not have anybody to talk about their problems? I ask you again: Who remembers them?"
"I understand that you feel pity of them. But why do you care so much?"
"I care because, you see, I was abandoned by my mother shortly after the birth. Some night 79 years ago, my father and mother roamed around the suburbs of the White City, searching for food that they had not got plenty at the time. Suddenly, while searching through the trash, something touched my mother's hand. She screamed because she thought it was a Ponjito. You know what is a Ponjito? No? Well, Ponjito is kind of a rat. Big rat with poisonous fangs. Instead of it she saw a small hand, which was holding her middle finger and which resisted to let go. When I was little, she always said to me:' We did not found you, you found us.' Apparently, a couple of Scavangers left me there just because I am blind on a left eye and have one foot shorter than the other one. They thought I could never became a Scavanger so they left me behind. Funny, how all turned out. I, who could not be a Scavanger, now, at the end of the world possess more knowledge than all of them … Well, I thought that if I survived that, I would be Ok. Oh, how wrong I was! In school, there were two boys, who teased me because of my disabilities and the fact that my hair was black while my parents had brown hair. 'I still think that biggest mistake Pellet, the dark haired magi, made, was that he mispelled one of his spells and by that way killed 10.000 citizens of the Town of The Iron Fist. But you must be his second biggest mistake. Probably made in union with some witch from the north.' So that was what one of them said to me. And to make matter even worse, they spat on me, made fun of me and when they wanted to hit me, they hit me on the left side of my body which I could defend well because of my eye. Not to mention that they whipped me a couple of time as well. Bastards! They were sons of some wealthy families outside the town, so I could not said anything to my father. But I did tell my mother. And she said:'My son, do not fight them with your fists! You will surely lose that way. Use your brain and your tongue instead.' And I did. They beat me up, but I whipped them with my tongue. Oh, you should see me then! I cursed in all 63 languages, which are spoken on central part of Un. They thought I called some demons from other planes of existence so they left me in peace after that. But day of my victory came on the last school day. Oh yes! You see, we had a spelling competition. I had no problem reaching the final where one of them was waiting for me. The words they gave us were very hard, I must admit that. I was first to go and I spelled requested word nicer that Khigga can sing. It was his turn then. After the teacher said the word, Zor's eyes turned up, as if he was trying to find a solution, written on a ceiling. He then turned red. In that moment I knew that his two remaining brain cells, rotating around each other like two subatomic particles, were trying to touch each other in order to find a solution together. I think they had rammed into each other and destroy themselves because the answer never came out of his mouth. 'Zor, your answer, please,' said the teacher. Zor stood there for a couple seconds, then he turned himself around and walked outside the room. So, that way I got a prize. It was a bicycle Zor wanted so badly ... Years later, I saw the other one, digging a grave for some old lady which died of fever. When I had gone by him, I tapped my head as if to say "Brain. Just use your brain." But he thought I am saying Hello and he bowed to me with weird expresion on his face. I think he was suprised how some stranger even acknowledges that he, a worm that he was, even exists. I never saw him again after that day. Years later I heard he and Zor were killed in some robbery, which had gone wrong … But tell me, Traveller, have you ever said yourself: This just is not worth the trouble. The life, I mean."
"Yes, sometimes I did. You see, my job is to protect the village. My pay is food and clothes vilagers give me. But since Kharrs and the Hurrs stopped attacking our village, some say that I am not needed anymore. That my job is meaningless because I just walk through the village every day and do nothing …"
"Ah. I see. I will tell you this. Some philosopher once presented this problem: Stone gods ordered a man, that he must push a stone up the mountain. When he reached the top, a stone fell back to the bottom. He had to do everything all over again. Do you think his life has a meaning? That his life is not dull?"
"How cruel gods. It is dull and meaningless indeed."
"You are wrong. First: about dull. There are infinite paths between the bottom and the top of the mountain. So he just has to find a path he never walked on. Or he can invent some new song while he walks. Or he can try to set a new speed record for rolling a stone up the mountain. Second: about meaningless. Well, he can envision a scenario by which everytime a stone is dropped to a bottom, one soul enters heaven. But even if his life is meaningless for him, that does not imply that it is also meaningless for others. Ants were maybe happy whenever he came by because he killed some worm with his foot which they used for a meal and could not catch it themselves. Or scenario by which two princesses are locked in two towers, one seeing only bottom of the mountain and the other the top of it, and which haven't saw a men for some time. Do you know how happy they were when they saw him only for a second or two before he has to do his job all over again and dissapears behind a mountain? Your life is meaningless only then when it is meaningless to you and all others. Otherwise, it is precious beyond everything else. Do you think this example is not good enough? Ok. Let see: The dates of your birth and death are predetermined. Also the date of your marriage and the woman you will marry. To make matters worse, we are all dying at the same speed. One day on Un is 22 hours long. So we are all dying at the speed of 22 hours/day… By the way, did you know that if you could board a space ship, fly around Un with very high speed and then land on a planet, you would be younger that your twin brother, which was left on Un? You do not believe me? I could not believe it myself. But it is written in some book scientists from White Town wrote. I could not grasp what logic lies behind this wonder. This is too dificult even for me to understand … Ok. So what now? Is your life meaningless because you can not control parts of your destiny? Of course not. You are still allowed to choose your friends, you can still decide not to shave every second day if you do not want to. At the end, who says that if you do not like the woman you "had" to marry, that the next day you divorce her and marry someone else? If important details about your life are set, than you must seeks meaning of your life in other, smaller things. That's it ... I will tell you a real story about a young men who was imprisoned in a Teluzian prison. He was jailed for life just because he stole a jar of marmelade. They had put a collar with explosive device on it around his neck. When he touched a wall, a sound was produced and he got three seconds to move away or explosive device would blow his head away. His jailors wanted that he would be miserable forever. What did he do? Well, touching different wall produced different tone. So he touched different walls for different periods of time and by doing that he produced a beautiful mellody. It would be really great to see him bouncing around all day long! He said he produced mellody more beautiful that 'I watched women swimming naked in a lake' by great poem Sallidicus. They had to tighened him to a chair with a rope. He then began to move his head rapidly from left to right. They asked him:'What are you doing?' 'I am a clock,' he said. They fastened his head. He then began to blink really fast. 'I am an atomic clock now,' he said. They put a mask over his head. He began to sing. They put even bigger mask so he could not open his head. They even put lights out. Still, they heard him giggling all day long. So they promised to let him go if he tell them what is so funny. 'When I am daydreaming, I think how would be if you would be locked here while I would sleep with your women. When I sleep, I dream the same thing."
"Did they let him go then?"
"Yes. He became one of my co-workers… You see, even back then, nobody wanted to be a scientist. If I only think of times when Head of scientists in White City was second-in-command in the empire. Women were throwing themselves at his feet. He had so many women he had to give not-so-favoured-ones to his colleagues. How would I love to be him or one of his colleagues! But to continue with my story: I searched for workers in nearby villages. Nobody wanted to hear anything about the subject. 'I want to be an actor', 'I want to be a politician, because they have a lot of cash and influnce'. Somebody even have the nerves to tell me how he wants to be a sports player, because of the women, cash, influence and everything else. I heard that on island of Komt some new game was invented and that it was spreading around like a plague, but never before was sport ahead of science. But there was one man who looked Ok and was really happy that I picked him out. But I could smell that something was wrong with him. He did everything just oposite he was told to. When I aked him what was reason for this kind of behaviour, he begged me to beat him up. "Why?" I asked. 'I am a masochist. Friends told me that to be beaten by a scientist, a person who is novadays so rare, is something most beautiful in the world.' I asked him to leave. I did not hit him, though."

Pilgrim took a bite out of a lizzard's leg and continued:"My co-worker, his name was Lodi, did not like to collect information. He collected old books and comics. He never read them, though. I remember how he one day came home yelling: 'Pilgrim, look what I have found!' And he showed me some old comic with the title 'Moluba, the Slayer Vol. 1'. He said this is worth more that one of the towers in White Town. I did not believe him. You see, his life by then became meaningless. Well, at least by my then standards. All that he do was to go search for book and comics and when he found one, he put them in vacuum so they would not desintegrate. That's all. He did not do anything else. And just when I wanted to tell him that he has to leave us, he selled one of his comic to collector from Town of Spiderwolves. He got a wind turbine for one of his comics! I could not believe my eyes. My jaw almost fell to the floor. After that, he became one of our worthful co-workers. He was telling us jokes all day long. We all loved him appart from Ticcus, who was laughing so hard he never managed to get to the toilet in time."
"What happened to him?"
"After we found out that Omoro is near it's end, he looked at me with sadness in hie eyes and said:' We can wait to look at Master Death's eyes with pride in our hearts or we can drink ourselves to death.' "I did not know you have a pride," I teased him. 'I do not.' He soon "owned" all pubs from Wood of Tranquillity to the Desert of Flying Cactuses. Finally, he fell ill. When I visited him, he could harldy breathe. I said:"Is there anything you would like to do?" 'Yes. When Mater Death comes to me, I'll ask him:' I'll go with you only if you promise me that I could drink Masaki Beer in afterlife. Othervise, I am staying here." He then closed his eyes and died.
"Did he came back?"
"No."
"So, Master Death did grant his request."
"I guess it did."
"But nevertheless, his books and comics meant everything to him. They were his life. He found a meaning in buying and selling them. Something we were not been able to do or see. For most of people, he was a joke. But if you could see him on that day he came back with that 'Moluba, the Slayer', you would know what that meant for him. He was dirty, his hands were full of blood, and yet he did not even notice it. Oh, how I miss him … As I said, try to find meaning in life through small things, even if this means going to the woods and listening to Khiggas singing. Just try. Because, instead of eternity that that man with stone had, we all have just one year left."
"But that mean nobody will know we ever existed! Why did not our ancestors, which knew about this, made flying ships which would rescue them then to another planets like Un?"
"First of all, I made sure that if multiple Universes really exist and a visitor from one of those Universes would come here he will know who we were. Do not ask me what have I done. This is going to be my small secret. To answer to your other question: You do not know, do you? Let me tell you a tale. There was a huge empire, named Hull Empire, which capital you visited. And there were others, but much smaller. And Hull Empire vas always on the move, always trying to expand itself. But the others made the alliance and so kept it in check. So, for a while, there were no wars on our planet, for the first time since Gog Whose-Hands-Were-Amputated found out the secret of fire. And then somebody came out with the idea that we have to conquer other planets like Un. If we do not do so, the inhabitants of these planets would conquer us. Great idea for that time. To find external enemy. Just great. So, a plan was proposed to gather resources from all over the world, which would be used for making of huge exploration space ship. Oh, if you could see all the marvels that age had! Huge flying ships orbiting White City, towers with technology to monitor everything that moved; flying town, capital of Northern Empire; huge cave cities in the South, underwater ships which defeated huge monsters which ruled the Big Sea for centuries, polar stations; everything you can dream of, they had it. So they managed to build the ship. The launch day was the greatest day our ancestors had. Everybody was happy, people were dancing in the streets. All was beautiful."
"What happened then? An accident?" quietly asked Traveller.
"Nothing of the sort. They launched succesfully. The ship, named the Shiro, soon moved by three Un's Moons and accelerated to maximum speed shortly after using the matter-antimatter propulsion.
A couple of days from a ship came a message that they spotted a new sun. And then, they came back."
"So what? What was wrong?"
"Nothing. They have reached the new sun. It was Omoro. You see, they flew in a straight line using beacons they left behind for orientation. Even if they flew straight, they still came back. Do not you see? Our space is extremely small and very curved. It is like Un. When you are walking on it, it appears it is flat. But you know that Un is basically just a huge ball in space. The crew saw Omoro as it was getting smaller and smaller on their back screen. Then they spotted a sun on their forward screeen. It was Omoro all over again. Well, the fact is, our Universe is made out of only Omoro, Un and it's three Moons and a lot of empty space around them. Well, there are some rocks flying around Omoro, but that is basically it."
"Shit. How did people react?"
"Well, as usual, the philosophers were the first to have spoken anything. They have split into three groups. The first, called Back to Our Origin, wanted that people save rare materials since they obviously could not get them anywhere else so the best way for them was to live in villages using water, wind and other renewable resources. The second, called The Special Ones, claimed that since we are alone in this Universe, everybody is special and should be treated like one. Everybody matters, every opinion counts, they said. The third group, called Gods are mocking us, proposed an idea that since everybody and everything is against us, we should collect all weapons in one spot and blow ourselves up in one huge explosion. Shortly after that they were executed by the White's City special forces. One of my ancestors, who belonged to the second group, tried to verify the idea that multiple Universes exists but he failed. It seems we truly are alone in the Universe."
Pilgrim, who was now visibly exhausted, continued:"The first group prevailed. But rulers of White City did not want to give up just that easily. They send armed forces to stop people leaving town, but there were not enough soldiers, so they got overwhelmed. Rulers tried to flee before the angry citizens to a Lab City, but the scientist closed the entrance door. It was smart of them not leting politicians enter their City. Rulers were then arrested and had to live in villages for the rest of their lives, where they had to feed the domestic animals. So, the big cities were eventualy abandoned, flying city was alowed to crash into the Big Sea, people were just fed up with everything and went back to Mother Nature. But my ancestor started collecting knowledge so it would not be forgotten. Soon, other folowed his example. And they managed to collect very valuable information. You see, people then moved away from technology and invented new songs, sport disciplines, new art, languages, but with years, all that more or less vanished from the mind od residents of Un… Ah, I am tired. I want to sleep. But just tell me this: How do you know what are people thinking about you? When do you feel threatened?"
"Their faces tell me what they think even if they do not tell it aloud. And their eyes – hatred in their eyes."
"Or in the eyes of the mother who lost her only child," with a sadness said Pilgrim.

The next day, when Traveller opened his eyes, Pilgrim, who was preparing to leave, took something from his bag. "Here, this will help you on your quest to reach home. Touch it with your finger and it will show you map of the area and all types of wild animals nearby. And this is a ring my father gave me." The ring was made of gold and it was beautiful. On inside, it was written 'Better to be ugly than stupid'.
"My friend, we will never see each other again. I hope you will reach home before our sun dies in agony."
"And I hope you will find what you seek."

Pilgrim went to nearby fallen trees where he was trying to find something.
"What are you trying to find?"
"Bigger tree. This is not big enough. Salvation won't come to me if the tree is not heavy enough."
He then took one of the trees and dipped it into water. To make it even more heavier, thought Traveller.
Pilgrim waved to him, then put a chain around it's body and began to walk. After an hour, only a dot in the horizon was visible. Traveller took his weapons and began to walk in a different direction.

A small lizard was glad that both men left. It was hungry. Time has come for it to catch some flies. Khigga just could not wait anymore for females to appear, so it decided, for the first time in the history of this beautiful birds, that it would try to find them itself.