The Twins

AXKZ sat back down at the console. It read 98 percent complete. “At last,” he thought, “I can begin on this damnable assignment.” Even though he was peeved that it took so long to compile, AXKZ knew there was good reason for the length. Many of the humans’ stories contained quite a few references to events which were assumed to be known. They weren’t really written with the intent of being comprehended by other life forms. So, since no one had the time (or desire) to learn much of human history, the computer revised the story in such a way that its human-centric parts were understandable by others, such as AXKZ. COMPLETE, read the screen. AXKZ leaned back, hit a button, and the story was on its way...

“Hurry up, Castor!”

“I’m coming, Pollux, I’m coming!”

They were a rarity in this day and age. Two beings, born of the same life-giver. This was both a blessing and a curse; while any new life was certainly appreciated, as it was hard to come by nowadays, the second boy’s birth came at a price. See, over time, Castor and Pollux’s ancestors had evolved to live countless years and be resistant to most forms of wounds and disease. Effectively, their entire race was immortal. However, the nature of how the twins’ Life-Egg split meant that only one of them retained his immortality. Poor Castor, though given the gift of life, was as mortal as one could be.

Despite their biological differences, Castor and Pollux grew up as the best of friends. Hardly ever could they be found separate from each other. When they were mature enough to join the Explorer class, both chose to embark on the same expedition. They sailed all over the galaxy under the helm of the legendary captain Jason. During a particularly bad solar storm, they even ended up with matching singe marks on their foreheads, earned when they were on the outside of the ship repairing the hull.

Their exciting voyage was eventually cut short due to the outbreak of war. A rival civilization was trying to occupy the same solar systems as their race,and this simply could not be tolerated. The brothers fought together in countless battles, until one fateful evening when Castor was cut down by an enemy blaster. Pollux could not fathom the thought of continuing on without his twin, so he sought the help of J.U.P.I.T.E.R., the most intelligent android they had on their side. The closest thing their race had to a god, J.U.P.I.T.E.R. had been one of the leaders of the civilization for as long as anyone could remember. If anyone could help bring back Castor, he could.

Many days J.U.P.I.T.E.R. toiled in his laboratory. At last, he emerged with a small, glowing box with two wires coming out of it. He sought out Pollux and explained the function of this new device. “It is designed to contain, fully, the life force of one being. It can then transfer this life force to any other user of the box, and this process can be repeated ad infinitum,” J.U.P.I.T.E.R. explained.

“So, how does this help me?” inquired Pollux.

“Simple. All you must do is transfer your life force into this device, which can then transfer it to Castor, thereby reviving him and making him immortal. However, this means that, while Castor is alive, you must remain dead. I have prepared a cryotube for you and your brother so that your bodies may be preserved while they are without life force.”

With these instructions, Pollux took the box to where his brother was resting. First, he wrote a note to Castor, explaining the situation. Then, he hooked up the machine and relinquished his immortality. Castor awoke with a gasp. He read Pollux’s note and grieved for the situation he had put him in. After coming to terms with his situation, Castor went about his business, until the end of the day, when he left a note for his brother and transferred the life force back. In this way, the twins communicated and shared the gift of life, forevermore, each willing to offer up his life temporarily for his brother.

AXKZ stepped back from the monitor. What was this madness! That fool Pollux gave away immortality, and for what? Another average body? Pollux gained nothing from this ordeal … did he? Why would he do something so drastic if it didn’t improve his lot in some way? AXKZ decided he needed to step away and ponder this for a while. What Pollux did was completely irrational and unintuitive. Pressing another button on the supercomputer, AXKZ retired to his quarters while the computer loaded the next, probably equally bizarre, tale...  

AXKZ lay sleepless in his bed. He wondered what it must be like to have what the computer called a “brother,” one born of the same life-giver as himself. Was this biological connection the key to Pollux’s actions? Did he have an inherent obligation to Castor because of their circumstance? Turning on his personal computer, AXKZ decided to research this human “brotherhood.” He could tell already that he wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.

>>Original Story Source: “Castor and Pollux” by Thomas Bulfinch, from Age of Fable (1913). Web Source: Bartleby.

>>Pictoral Archive Inforamtion: Jonathan Ortiz, Sad Astronaut, 2011.

>>'Internet' location: deviantArt.

Author’s Note: This retelling of the myth of Castor and Pollux followed the source material fairly closely. Aside from the obvious change of setting, the story remained largely the same. I kept all of the same names and plot points in my version, even down to the fact that the twins went on a voyage together and ended up with twin marks on their heads. In the original, Pollux is still the immortal twin of Castor, and ends up splitting his immortality with his brother in order to revive him. Jupiter is the literal god in the source version, but, as that made little sense here, I decided to simply make him a deified being, with powers almost equal to those of gods.

My goal with this story in the overall frame tale was to introduce AXKZ to one of the concepts that makes humans unique, brotherhood — that is, the ability to sacrifice for someone else wholly out of brotherly love (even if not strictly siblings). The concept of doing something which does nothing to directly benefit the self is a completely alien idea to AXKZ, so I used this story to challenge his conceptions of how beings should act towards one another. This is only the beginning of his lessons in what allowed humans to thrive, even if they weren’t as “strong” as other races.