Breaking the mold

Chapter 9: The difference between father and son.

The voice asked again.  [PLEASE ASSESS HUMANITY AND DETERMINE ITS VALUE TO THE TAYLORN.]

Inside my head the voice was so cold and logical.  Had I really been this way as a being of light and energy? Was it really who I may have to be again?

[DJINN, YOU WERE ALLOWED THIS EXPERIMENT TO EXPLAIN TO US WHAT IT IS TO BE A CORPOREAL HUMAN BEING.  WE EXPECTED RESULTS TO EXPLAIN THEIR CURIOUS BEHAVIORS.  PLEASE EXPLAIN NOW.]

The voice in my head boomed these demands.  No one could hear it but me. As they continued to yell, my Taylorn brain began to grow and try to come up with an explanation.  There had to be a quantifiable way to explain love, hate, fear, anger, FRUSTRATION!

[TAYLORN COLLECTIVE: THERE ARE THINGS WE HAVE FORGOTTEN...]

[WE KNOW ALL THERE IS IN THE UNIVERSE. THERE IS NOTHING WE HAVE FORGOTTEN.]

[YOU FORGET EMOTION. YOU FORGET FEAR.  WHAT IS THERE YOU HAVE TO FEAR WHEN YOU KNOW ALL THINGS?]

[WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND]

[YOU WOULDN'T.  THERE IS NO WHERE TO GO FOR YOU. EVEN DEATH ITSELF HAS NO MEANING TO YOU.  WHAT DO WE VALUE AS TAYLORN]

[WE ARE THE KEEPERS OF THE UNIVERSE.  WE HAVE NO VALUE SAVE EXPLORATION AND THE STUDY OF ALL THAT LIVES WITHIN THIS UNIVERSE]

[THERE IS A BEAUTIFUL SIMPLICITY TO LIFE THAT WE HAVE FORGOTTEN. A FEAR OF OUR OWN EPHEMERAL NATURE CRADLES OUR CREATIVITY AND VISION]

[EXPLAIN VISION, DJINN. THERE IS LAWS AND RULES OF NATURE BUT WHAT IS VISION?]

[VISION IS WHAT HUMANS USE TO FORGE A PATH. TO  TRY THINGS DESPITE THEIR PROBABILITY TO FAIL.]

I would not know it but later would be able to see it through the collective consciousness of my bretheren; My eyes, nose, ears and mouth had begun to bleed. My "spirit" or rather the Taylorn consciousness in me had begun to expand and the body I inhabited was unable to contain it. It would be like a sippy cup trying to contain a nuclear reaction.

[YOU DO NOT HAVE MUCH TIME, DJINN. YOU WILL SOON BE ONE OF US AND YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO RELATE TO THE HUMAN FORM.]

[DADDY!]

[WHA... WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?]

[DADDY! THIS IS NOT A CONCEPT YOU WILL UNDERSTAND. LOVE IS UNNECESSARY WHEN YOU HAVE NO PHYSICAL BOND TO THAT WHICH YOU LOVE. YOU LOOK AT TIME AS AN ETERNAL CONSTANT AND WHY THEN WOULD YOU RELATE TO A CHILD? DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER THAT I AM YOUR CHILD? DADDY, THERE WAS ONCE A TIME YOU SMILED AND FELT A WARMTH FOR ME. THERE IS NO WARMTH IN THE DARKNESS OF ETERNAL SPACE. THERE IS NO BOUNDARY TO WHAT YOU HAVE TO CONQUER OR EXPLORE. YOU DON'T EVEN SEEK TO CONQUER AS THE CONCEPT WOULD BE FOREIGN AND USELESS TO YOU. MANKIND ARE CHILDREN! THE WORLD IS ALWAYS NEW AND EXCITING TO THEM. THEY BICKER OVER TOYS THAT GET BIGGER AND MORE COMPLEX AS THEY AGE BUT THEY WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO KEEP THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE HAVE ACCUMULATED BECAUSE THINGS IN THEIR WORLD ARE BOUND BY THE LIMITS OF THEIR FORM AND SUBSTANCE. IT IS THE SAME WAY THAT WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THEIR PALTRY BUT MEANINGFUL LIVES. THEY ARE CHILDREN. BEAUTIFUL AND SIMPLE, VIOLENT AND YET HUNGRY AND CURIOUS. WE ARE SO FAR BEYOND THAT, THAT WE CAN NEVER LOOK BACK AND RELATE. TO DESCRIBE TO YOU, DADDY, THE LOVE FOR A CHILD, I WOULD HAVE TO DESCRIBE TO YOU WHAT LOVE IS IN YOUR COLD IMMORTALITY. PERHAPS I HAVE MUCH TO LEARN THOUGH. I WILL REJOIN YOU SHORTLY AND BEGIN AGAIN.]

[YOU ARE WRONG, SON. EVER HAVE I HOPED FOR YOUR FULFILLMENT. I SEE YOUR LIFE DIFFERENTLY THAN THAT OF A MORTAL BUT FOR THEM I WISH THEIR ENTIRE SPECIES LONG LIFE. WE WATCH HUMANS WITH DISTANT "EMOTION." HOWEVER, WE CAN APPRECIATE THAT THEY HAVE IT. WE ARE ETERNAL, SO WE HOPED TO UNDERSTAND THROUGH YOU. YOU CANNOT EXPLAIN TO US ANY MORE THAN WE CAN SEE IN OBSERVATION. THIS IS A PITY BUT NOT UNEXPECTED. WE WILL PROTECT THEIR RACE AND PERHAPS, THROUGH YOUR FORCE REJOINING US, WE WILL BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND, JUST A LITTLE BIT.]

My body began to seize and I fell over in my wheel chair by the window of the Tall Oaks Nursing home. The official cause of death was massive cerebral hemorrhage. The doctors would tell each other they'd never seen anything like it before and write papers on it. A few of the nurses would even try to create failed religions around it.

Overall I rejoined my people and went back to keeping the universe the night I died, the night sky would glow with color that no one would ever understand or be able to explain.

The human experience is like that of a father and son. One thinks they bear the weight of the world, the other actually does. Neither will understand each other because neither are each other. That's okay. We all have our roles to play. Yours, human, is to make your world a little bit better, every day.

Sincerely,

Djinn, Second of the Taylorn collective.