Nisha and Rachel woke up early and took a walk to the edge of the colony and back. The edge closest to their tent wasn’t expanding because of the rocky terrain nearby. They watched thousands of speeders taking off and landing.
“I haven’t seen this much activity before. Where are they going?” Nisha said.
“Hold on,” Rachel said as she investigated her eyepiece. “Omanji are being spotted at many places around the world. Here’s a story from the pyramids at Giza. Several dozen Omanji entered a pyramid that’s off limits to the public. A security officer tried to shoot at one of the Omanji and the officer fell dead. The Omanji walked inside and inspected a tomb and left. An hour ago, 20 Omanji walked down the crowded Ipanema beach in Rio. They frightened children and the beach was evacuated. Thousands of tourists left in a hurry.”
“What else?” Nisha said.
“This scenario is common over the past few days. The Omanji are touring the earth. They’re looking around. They take in the scenery, and they inspect the people and animals. They’ve taken a few dogs and other animals from their owners, but that’s the extent of the interaction. They enjoy tropical beaches, possibly because Earth’s oceans are calmer than on Oma. They still make no attempt to communicate with us. Also, they’re building several large single towers all over the world at viewpoints just like on San Gabriel Peak near Pasadena and on Half Dome in Yosemite. They’re here for good. We need to accept it.”
“I’ll never accept it,” Nisha said.
“It doesn’t matter what we think,” Rachel said. “They don’t care.”
Bok and Beedee arrived in his speeder in front of his tent.
“How are you doing today?” Bok said.
“We’re okay,” Nisha said. “How is your colony developing?”
“It’s developing too fast for me. More than 300,000 of us now wish to join. I’m building towers as fast as I can. Two of them are complete and we’re moving in.”
“Do the Esteemed Elders notice?” Rachel said.
“Yes, they notice everything, but they haven’t contacted me. Up to this point, the elders consider my colony to be a minor nuisance. Approximately 11 billion Omanji now live in the colony. The 300,000 in my colony are a drop in the bucket as you would say.”
“You told me that back on Oma, 0.1% of the population doesn’t merge,” Nisha said. “How many of you are at the age of dissonance?”
Bok paused as he usually did when he connected to a database.
“I don’t hold access to live data anymore. I’ll do the calculation in my mind. I’ll assume 11 billion of us have moved to Earth so far. We live to be 400 years old and for two of those years, we are at the age of dissonance. Our population curve is flat for all ages, so 1/200th of us are at the age of dissonance. This means about 55 million of us right now are at the age of dissonance. The Esteemed Elders expect 1% of that number will decide not to merge here on Earth compared to 0.1% on Oma. The number is 550,000.”
“The elders won’t be concerned unless more than 550,000 join your colony?” Rachel said.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Bok said. “And that’s my worry. The number is 300,000 already and soon at this rate we’ll exceed 550,000 because 600,000 are on the waiting list. I’ve done the calculations. More than 50% of us in my age group no longer wish to merge. That’s over 20 million, so they’ve noticed. What happened between me, and my parents is happening hundreds of thousands of times in the colony right now. For me, having my neural connection severed with my parents was as painful as cutting off an arm. I’m sure the Esteemed Elders are monitoring the situation and are aware of the trend. They’re smart and they keep a tight hold on society. They say it’s a free society but it’s not.”
“It’s a free society as long as you play by the rules,” Nisha said. “Most free and open human societies enforce rules. However, Omanji rules are much more restrictive. I’ll admit that the results are impressive, and you haven’t self-destructed in a long time. It’s not all bad.”
“Bok, we have to go,” Beedee said. “I received a message indicating the second tower is complete.”
They picked up some equipment from the tent and took off in a swirl of dust for the new colony.
Nisha watched them as they disappeared into the vastness of the desert.
“I still wonder if we’re doing the right thing by encouraging Bok not to merge. He is in pain. We’re helping to set something into motion that won’t be under anyone’s control, even the Omanji’s.”
“I don’t know if there’s a best way to behave in this situation,” Rachel said. “We don’t know the future, so we must choose the best path to take every minute and hope for the best.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem I’m having with Pree. She wants to go to that school they’re setting up at Stanford for the mods. I’m afraid for her to go since she’s only 16, but this is the best path for her to take. Two months ago, before they came, I never would imagine her deciding like that. Wait, she’s contacting me.”
“Hi Pree, how are you this morning?”
“I’m excited. We were going to take the Hyperloop to Palo Alto, but Daddy is driving Sophie and me up to Stanford today. It’s six hours away if we take the scenic route up 101. We’ll stop at Pismo Beach for lunch. We may take an extra two hours and drive up highway 1 through Big Sur. They finally fixed that big landslide. Amy is coming for the ride too. She’s supportive, but she doesn’t want us to go.”
“I don’t want you to go either, but sometimes you must let go of the things you love and hope they return of their own free will. I want you to be happy and Amy does too.”
“I know Mom. I’ll come back. I need to do this. Dad is calling me, I gotta go.”
They disconnected.
Tears rolled down Nisha’s cheeks. Rachel gave her a tissue.
“You’ve let her go and I know she’ll come back. You can stay connected with her as easily as before.”
“Thanks Rachel, I know you’re right, but I’ve lost her. I guess I lost her when they took her and modified her.”
“No, you lost her on the day of her birth. And a little each day since.”
Nisha was silent as she composed herself. She was never comfortable showing vulnerability.
“Yeah, that’s true. Birth is the first of many separations. It’s part of life. Okay, speaking of separations we need to find out how we’re going to get the Yoots moved up to their new colony in Humboldt County.”
They spent the rest of the day and evening working out the details of moving 50,000 Yoots.