999 OCTILLION SOULS, DECEMBER 20, 2024
II THE BOX 37
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TRANSLATOR'S NOTE:The following information is derived from Information Seed 40 and received by the Gravitational Wave Observatory. I and AI performed a frequency analysis on it. IE edited certain parts to make them more 'readable'. (He might have overdone it.) Please feel free to comment.37
What if something happened to Petra? The thought frightened her, one early Friday morning in her house. Nothing could happen to her box while guarded in the bank by robots. Crime didn’t exist in the OEF. The healthcare system was perfect, but still, something could happen to the girl. Who would take care of the magic box?
It’s silly to think like this, she chided herself, pushing the irrational fear away. I’m healthy, I’m safe. This is the safest time and place to be alive. But the thought lingered, a nagging worry in her mind.
What if… what if there was an accident? A freak solar flare? Some unforeseen technological malfunction? Her utopian world was built on intricate systems, and even the most perfect systems could fail. And what if it wasn't something physical? What if it was… something else? She shivered despite the warm air. The box itself was a mystery, a whisper from a time and place beyond her understanding. What if it had some sort of… influence?
Lila, she thought suddenly. Lila would know what to do. Lila was practical and grounded. If anything were to happen to Petra, Lila would be the one to figure things out. I should tell her about the box, she realized. Not everything, perhaps, but enough. Enough so she knows it exists, enough so she knows it’s important. The thought brought a small measure of comfort. It was a responsibility she didn’t want to burden her friend with, but the alternative, the thought of the box lost and forgotten, was far worse. Yes, she decided. I'll tell Lila.
Or was it better to tell her family? Was Frank okay with that? He never gave her explicit instructions. Or maybe he did?
He gave her the box so long ago that she wasn’t sure anymore. What did he want from her anyway?
He trusted me with this, she thought, the weight of that trust pressing down on her. He said it was important, that it had to be kept safe. But safe from what? And for what purpose? Those questions had haunted her for years, ever since the day he placed the box into her small hands.
Maybe he thought he’d have more time to explain, she considered. Time to tell her the full story, time to prepare her for whatever role the box was meant to play in her life. He was gone, and she was left with the box, the secret, and a growing sense of unease.
Was it a test? Or something far more dangerous than I can even imagine? The uncertainty gnawed at her. I wish I could just ask him, she thought, a wave of longing washing over her. I wish I knew what he wanted me to do.
Meanwhile, Maia taught Charlotte about diplomacy. The AI even let the young girl join negotiations with her closest allies.