Chapter 6 - The Silver Man

When the couple had rested enough to regain some strength, they stood up and walked a little farther until they were under the cover of a wide acorn tree. There they stopped, and Jandell unrolled his soaked shoulder pack, hanging his hide and extra clothing on branches to dry.  Their clothing and moccasins were caked with mud, but there was nothing they could do about it until their other things dried.  They spent most of the sun there, resting from their ordeal.

It was cold and windy from the overcast fog, so they gathered some twigs and branches for a fire. Luckily, Jandell had retained his flint and found a hard rock upon which to strike it. They built their fire near the wide base of the tree, which afforded some protection from the wind, and sat huddled together with their backs against the tree.

“What are we going to do, Jandell?” whimpered Meenah. “We’re lost and alone in a place that the priest Padro told us was cursed, and I don’t even have a change of clothing or my tools and weapons. I’m cold and scared!” She sobbed on his shoulder.

“Darling – look on the bright side,” he replied. “We made it alive and unhurt across the danger waters. I still have my weapons to protect us and my hide, upon which we can sleep together. When we find clean water, we can wash our clothes, and you know how to make more clothes when I hunt or trap some hides.”

“But we’re all alone again,” she sobbed. “We can’t go back to either the Moocha or the Ren, and we’ve nearly caused them to war with each other. Our friends in both villages are in danger because of us. And where can we go next?”

Jandell felt miserable too, but he sensed that he needed to keep her spirits up, saying, “The Ren priests told us that there were no other people. We found other people. Padro told us that we’d die if we came to this place. We’re here, and we’re not dead. No God has spiked us to a cross yet. I’m sure that we can find other people, other villages if we keep heading south. We’ll go so far that Driggo’ll never find us, or even try. I suspect that they think we drowned. They’ll not even cross this channel – we know how dangerous it is, and they’d have to build much larger rafts. I lost sight of them as we were being carried by the current through the choppy gap and out to sea, so they probably think that was the end of us. Also, I think the villages will not fight now that they know we’re gone.”

“Oh, Jandell, you’re so brave! It’s all worth it to be with you!” she said, finally coming out of her gloom with the fire warming and drying her. 

By moonrise, the fog had begun to clear, and one of the hides had become dry enough to sleep on and cover them somewhat. Jandell sensed that there were no predatory animals around because he had seen none of the telltale feces. So they spread the hide under the tree and lay down to sleep. They were still very exhausted and sore from their water crossing. Jandell had planned to awaken occasionally to feed more wood on the fire, but instead, he was stirred awake by birds chirping in the sunlit branches above him. A mere wisp of smoke curled up from the ashes of his stone fire pit. The couple arose and broke their fast on the last pieces of dried venison that Oka had provided for them.

They spent the next full day under the acorn tree, letting their things fully dry. Jandell ventured far enough to find a rivulet of fresh water and was able to put an arrow through a fat jackrabbit to make a good meal. Meenah used the water to clean their moccasins and leggings, and they were able to get all of their hides and Jandell’s clothing dried off. As the evening came in, Jandell built up the fire, and they slept on the hide next to it. This time, Jandell was able to keep the fire going all night, taking naps between refueling it and letting Meenah sleep peacefully.

In the morning, they ate what was left of the rabbit along with some wild lettuce and berries they found nearby, and they began to talk about what to do next. Jandell started the conversation, “Well, I think we’ve succeeded in our plan to escape from the Ren hunters and hopefully secure peace between the villages, but I’m not sure what to do next. We could continue south to look for another village – what do you think?”

“I don’t want to start travelling again right away, darling,” she answered. “If you think it’s safe here and that Drigga won’t attempt the crossing, can’t we just stay here for a while? You can do some hunting, and I can make some new clothing. Somehow I feel safe in this strange place – I’m not sure why.”

“I feel the same way – interesting!” he agreed. “OK, but let’s search around the area – maybe we can find a small  cave or something more sheltered to camp out among these strangely shaped mounds and rocks.”

They packed Jandell’s belongings into two bundles, which made each bundle quite light, and began to walk up into the mounds. Huge pieces of rusted metal jutted from the ground, forming triangular shapes of various sizes. They climbed up a fairly steep hill that was perhaps 30 spans tall to have a look around. The sights from the top were breathtaking.

The fog had evaporated except for a thin line of it coming in from the gap in the land and curling around a few small islands. The bay water was blue and beautiful. Meenah pointed to the east and declared, “Look, Jandell! Is that some kind of small island or rock?” 

Jandell gazed in the indicated direction to see a very intriguing sight. Some kind of plinth of stone rose out of the water, matching the height of the nearby mound of an island. This object had flat sides – like the Moocha temple – and the top appeared to be roughened by erosion. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “It must be something left behind by the God-machines.”

The bay extended as far north and as far south as they could see, which gave Jandell confidence that Drigga couldn’t somehow reach them by land. The views of the land and hills nearby were also very interesting, showing those jutting pieces of metal and rock to be covering quite a wide area. It was easy to see why the Moocha’s ancestors were spooked by the place.

As they came down the hill of geometrical rubble, Jandell noticed an opening between two broken columns that were leaning together, forming the mouth of a cave or crevice. The couple wouldn’t have stopped to look in, except that the sun happened to be in a position to shine directly into the crevice, providing some illumination.  Jandell peeked inside and noticed something right away.

“Hey Meenah! Look in here! What does it look like to you?”

She walked by and peered into the opening. The floor of the small cavern was covered with leaves, twigs, and animal feces, and it smelled pretty raunchy, but the walls looked very familiar. Then it dawned on her, “It’s like the Bowl!”

They stepped into the opening, avoiding the feces that they could see, and ran their hands along the smooth, wavy brown walls. Just as in the Bowl of Markanova in the Ren village, the walls of this smaller cavern tapered into something they couldn’t quite see in the back. 

Jandell said, “I feel safe in this place. Perhaps it has magical qualities like the Bowl. Let’s stay here tonight. We can clear a spot and build a fire.”

They used some branches like brooms to sweep leaves and dirt out of the opening until they had a nice, clear spot near the opening upon which to lay Jandell’s hide, and then they built a fire right by the opening. They hoped that most of the smoke would evacuate from the opening, and that the fire would discourage any dangerous animals that happened to be in the vicinity. The feces they observed scattered on the floor seemed to be either from deer or smaller animals, so they weren’t too concerned about big cats, wolves, or bears.

Once the fire was blazing, Jandell could see around the cavern a little better. He confirmed that the walls seemed to be of the same smooth, wavy material as that in the Bowl, with nothing whatsoever growing or clinging to it. While Meenah began to clean a squirrel to cook for dinner, Jandell grabbed a longish tree branch they had brought in and stuck one end of it into the fire, making a crude torch. He then walked toward the rear of this mini-Bowl, carefully avoiding ground obstacles, until he could see the back. He was suddenly shocked to see what appeared to be a man walking toward him with a torch, but quickly realized that it was his own reflection from a shiny wall at the terminus.

His branch torch was turning into a dull ember, so Jandell turned around and picked his way back to Meenah and the fire.

“It’s a shiny wall, like the one in the Bowl Meenah,” he exclaimed. “I feel that this is a safe and holy place. Maybe the Ren religion is basically right after all. Let’s pray to Markanova! I think he guided us here for some purpose.”

The couple faced toward the back of the cavern, bowed with their foreheads on the ground, and recited some of the invocations that the Ren priests had taught them.

Rising again, Jandell said, “I think we should rest here for a few days. I want to make some proper pitch torches tomorrow so we can clean and explore this holy place further.”

“I feel safe here, too, Jandell,” she replied, “and I finally feel dry and warm. Let’s eat, and then I need some real sleep.”

Snuggled together under Jandell’s hide, the couple awoke to daylight streaming into the acute triangular entrance. Jandell needed to relieve his bladder, so he was up and dressed first. He took his bow and quiver of arrows, along with a boar bladder to fill with water. 

“You sleep a little more, Meenah,” he said. “I won’t go out of sight of the entrance, and I’ll be back in a few heartbeats.”

He stuck his head through the opening first to make sure that nothing dangerous was lurking about, and he was excited to see a group of deer very close by. The group consisted of a very large, antlered buck, three does, and a fawn. I hate to deprive those does and the fawn of their stag, he thought, but I see some great food and a new hide for Meenah! Markanova be praised!

Jandell ducked back into the cavern, drew an arrow from his quiver, and knocked it in readiness to shoot quickly. Then, very slowly, he emerged from the cavern opening. To his surprise, all of the deer looked up nonchalantly from their grazing and met his gaze with no apparent fear, continuing to chew their grass.

Of course, thought Jandell. There are no people here, so they don’t know to fear us. Perhaps they think I’m just another deer in my hide clothing.

The stag was a mere three spans away, allowing Jandell to aim carefully for its heart. Releasing the arrow, it hit its mark, and the stag dropped to the ground. The other deer just stood in amazement, looking at their prostrate master on the ground with blood rushing from the wound. Jandell thought briefly about downing one of the does, but rejected the idea immediately. They had all the meat they could eat for weeks already, and any extra might just draw unwelcome predators. So instead he jumped up and down, whooped and ran at the deer, to whom it finally occurred that there was danger, and they fled.

Meenah, wrapping herself in Jandell’s hide, poked her head out of the opening and asked, “Jandell, what’s wrong? Why’re you yelling?”

“Look, Meenah!” he replied. “Here’s our food supply for a while, plus we can make you a new hide and some bone tools! Let’s get the fire going again – I’m tired of squirrel and hungry for venison!”

The couple spent most of the day skinning and butchering the stag. They saved their urine and poured it on the hide. Jandell climbed a tree and hung the hide on a branch, perhaps five spans high, to let it cure in the air and sun. They cut out some of the organs and the most tender meat from the carcass for four days of meals, and worked to bury the rest. They had no salt to preserve any more of the meat, and Jandell was confident of finding more deer at any time. As the sun was setting, Jandell found a cone tree that was weeping pitch, and he constructed some torches. Just as it was getting dark, the couple returned to the holy, protective cavern and built another fire, mouths watering for more fresh venison.

After their satisfying meal and more prayers of thanks to Markanova, Jandell said, “C’mon Meenah, I’ll show you the reflective wall at the back.”

“Do you think it’s safe, Jandell?” she asked. “The Gods have provided us with this safe place and food – should we be probing further?”

“I’ve snuck into the Bowl in our home village at night and poked at the shiny god-wall there as a child, Meenah,” he replied. “Nothing bad ever happened to me, save almost losing you to Gleb. Let’s go take a look at this one.”

The couple ignited two of the pitch torches and stepped gingerly around feces and branches toward the back of the cavern. “Don’t be shocked when you see our reflected images,” he whispered to her.

Sure enough, as they approached the back wall, they could see a clear image of themselves carrying the pitch torches. She was shy about proceeding any closer, but Jandell said, “Don’t worry – the gods have led us to this place and protected us. They won’t hurt us now.”

The end wall was smaller than the one in the Bowl – only a little taller than Jandell and perhaps one span wide – but otherwise looked quite similar with its shiny black reflective finish. Jandell had no doubt that it could not be scratched or corrupted with any knife or stone; nonetheless, he desired to touch it – to feel its magic. Meenah had the same impulse. They both set their torches against the smooth brown walls and then laid their hands against the black surface to caress its smoothness.

As they swept their hands along its silky surface, it was Meenah who first noticed the change, saying, “Jandell! Our reflection is changing!”

Both of them jumped back a step and knelt to the ground as the image on the wall began to swirl and turn a deep, iridescent blue.  After several heartbeats, the blue image congealed into the form of a strange-looking man, a man seemingly made of some kind of silvery liquid metal. The man looked at the two people before him and asked in a deep bass voice: “Sombada norly kimbo?”

Jandell didn’t know what to do, but decided that this must be the God that the Ren had been seeking for so many generations. So he said, “Oh, Markanova! Please bless us and have mercy upon us!”

The silver man looked at him and said, “Mark and Nova? Mark and Nova secum bordotta tibe!”

Meenah and Jandell looked at each other, and then Meenah tried, “Yes, Markanova. Lord. We don’t understand you. Please tell us what to do in Ren!”

“Mark and Nova bordotta,” repeated the silver man. He pointed at himself and said, “Sobrani Avataro.” Then, with his two hands, he pointed at the two Ren and asked, “Sobrani?”

Meenah understood, pointed at her own head, and said, “Sobrani Meenah.” Next, she pointed at her man and said, “Sobrani Jandell. Please help us, Avataro.”

The couple bowed once again to the image, but Avataro motioned them to get up and said, “Meenah, Jandell – zetso, boquin Avataro kelooma!”

As the couple stood up, they were amazed to see the wall rise up into the cavern ceiling, exposing a tunnel lined with the same brown wavy material. The floor was glowing in a purple color, illuminating the path.

They looked at each other, and Meenah said, “I think his name is Avataro, and he wants us to follow this path. He talked about Markanova, but I don’t think he IS Markanova – maybe his disciple or slave god?”

“Yes, I got the same feeling,” agreed Jandell. “Perhaps we’ll end up spiked to a cross as the Moocha priest thinks, but I think we should go down the path. What about you?”

Meenah thought about it for several heartbeats before replying, “Jandell, my love; we came this far to be together. We can’t go back to the villages we know, and we have no idea if there are any other people. We were somehow led to this magical place, and we have no other place to go. Let’s go inside.”

Jandell hugged her, nodded decisively, and the couple started walking into the tunnel. As they passed the smooth wall, it came down from the ceiling and closed behind them. That startled them, and they had the urge to rush back and pound on it, but they silently nodded to each other and proceeded down the tunnel. Jandell sincerely wished that he had brought his bow and quiver, but they were back in the entrance cavern. At least he still had his axe and knife. 

They walked more than a hundred steps and finally entered a large, darkened chamber. As they stepped inside, the cavern blossomed in illumination, and they saw the silver man standing on some sort of pedestal in the center of the chamber. They walked toward him and bowed down before him. As they did so, they recognized the pedestal.

Meenah whispered, “Jandell! That’s the pedestal of the Moocha cross!”

“Yes,” he agreed. “I hope he doesn’t plan to spike us to one!”

“Meenah, Jandell – zetso,” said Avataro, beckoning them to arise. He then pointed to each of them and then to himself, saying, “Meenah, Jandell, Avataro.” Then he waited, continuing to point at himself.

“Avataro!” said Meenah, getting it.

Avataro stepped down from the pedestal and sat cross-legged on the cavern floor. He motioned for the couple to do the same. He then pointed to his hand and asked, “Quado?”

Jandell looked at Meenah and asked, “What is he trying to tell or ask us about his hand?”

“What is he trying to tell us about his hand?” repeated Avataro in a perfect mimic of Jandell’s voice; then he added “hand,” and pointed again to his hand and to Jandell’s hand.

“Yes, yes – hand!” said Meenah.

Avataro next pointed to one of his feet and asked, “Quado?”

“Foot!” exclaimed the couple in unison.

“Yes, yes – foot, hand,” said Avataro as he pointed to them, and then to his forearm, “quado?”

“Arm,” said Meenah, and then, looking at Jandell, she whispered, “I think he is trying to learn our language!”

“Arm!” repeated Avataro, and then he drew his hand to his mouth and made a motion like away from his mouth as he opened his fingers – kind of like blowing a kiss – and said “waaaa, waaaaa, waaa … quado?”

“Language!” exclaimed Meenah. “Avataro learn Meenah and Jandell language!”

“Yes, yes – language. Avataro learn language,” the silver man confirmed.

The three of them sat on the ground continuing this teaching for a good part of the morning, with Meenah doing almost all of the interaction with Avataro. Jandell knew that she was a far better teacher and much more patient than he was. He was amazed at how quickly Avataro learned Ren vocabulary and even whole sentences. He noticed that his stomach was growling and that they hadn’t eaten anything yet today, so he broke the lesson by pointing at his mouth, making chewing and swallowing gestures, and saying, “Jandall and Meenah hungry!”

“Yes, yes – hungry. Jandell and Meenah mouth hungry,” confirmed Avataro. He stood up and beckoned them to stand as well, and then said, “Meenah and Jandell …” he made a motion  for them to follow him and said, “Quado?”

“Follow!” said Meenah. “Meenah and Jandell follow Avataro.”

“Yes, yes – Meenah and Jandell follow Avataro,” he confirmed, walking further into the cavern.

They arrived at another, smaller cavern that features a completely flat sidewall that was four spans long and two spans tall. It was shiny jet black, like the door-wall that had first opened for them. Avataro touched the wall in a certain place, and a bright image appeared on the wall. It was a human male, but one unlike anyone the Ren couple had ever seen. He was wearing very brightly colored clothing of some sort that fit him tightly over all of his body. He was clean-shaven like a young boy, and his short hair was formed into some kind of angular sculpture. 

Avataro touched the screen again, and something appeared in the man’s right hand – something looking like an apple. Yes, it was an apple. The man brought it to his mouth and took a bite. Avataro pretended to bite and chew something and asked, “Quado?”

“Eat,” said Meenah. “Yes, we want to eat!” 

She went to the wall and pointed at the apple. “Apple!” she said. “Jandell and Meenah want to eat apple.”

“Jandell and Meenah eat apple,” agreed Avataro. He touched more fingers on the screen, and in just a few heartbeats, a small, square door the size of a forearm on a side slid open on another part of the wall. The opening revealed a chamber within which sat two big, red, juicy-looking apples. Jandell took the apples, handed one to Meenah, and took a bite from the other. “This is the sweetest and most delicious apple I’ve ever tasted!” he exclaimed.

Meenah silently agreed and devoured her apple. When they were through, the patient Avataro motioned for the apple cores, which he put in another compartment that appeared on the wall. Then he said: “Meenah and Jandell hungry eat eat?”

“Yes, we want more food,” replied Jandell, anxious to see what other magical tricks this silver man could do.

“Jandell want more food,” repeated Avataro as he went back to the wall. The image of the man had not moved after biting his apple, but as Avataro fingered the screen, his hand came down, and next to him there appeared several images of different kinds of food – some of which the couple didn’t recognize. There were green vegetables of various types – some raw and some cooked somehow – and pictures of different kinds of roasted meat, including some kind of land animal, some large fowl leg, and what looked like stream trout. Avataro indicated with a gesture that the couple should touch the meal they liked.

Jandell went first, touching what appeared to be a roasted leg of a large bird. Meenah selected something looking like a cooked tuber or root. Again, after about ten heartbeats, the compartment re-opened, revealing the food they had ordered. Steaming hot and placed on some hard, round, thin plates – like very flat rocks but very regular, smooth, and white. After taking the food plates, the couple sat cross-legged on the floor and shared the two helpings, tearing off pieces of food with their hands to place in their mouths. It was the most delicious food they had ever eaten.

Controlling the image of the man on the wall, Avataro was able to increase his Ren vocabulary rapidly. For example, he learned “walk”, “run”, “jump”, and many other verbs by having the image demonstrate the action. He was tireless, and no doubt would have gone on indefinitely, but Jandell and Meenah were becoming quite weary. They knew that it must be long after sunset outside the caverns, and they were becoming quite sleepy and a little concerned about the hides, weapons, and other possessions they had left at the cave entrance.  

Meenah interrupted the silver man’s lessons and demonstrated that she was sleepy by lying on her side with her head on her pressed-together hands. “Meenah and Jandell need sleep,” she said.

Avataro repeated what she said, and had his image man lie down like she was. He then repeated “sleep.”

“Yes, yes – need sleep,” affirmed Meenah, sitting up, “but need hide.” She pointed frantically to the tunnel from which they had arrived and mimicked pulling a hide over her body.

“Meenah and Jandell need hide,” said Avataro. He fingered the screen, and suddenly there was some kind of strange cloth covering his image man. It was not animal hide, but something like the cape material of the Ren priests.

Meenah said, “No, no – need Meenah hide,” again pointing back toward the entrance.

Avataro touched the wall, and the picture changed to reveal an image of the entrance cavern from the point of view of the tunnel door. Meenah and Jandell could see their hide, pack, and weapons sitting by the outside entrance. Meenah ran over to the image wall and pointed to the hide, saying,  “Need Meenah hide!”

Avataro said, “Meenah need Meenah hide,” and he ran fingers along the wall. In a short while, a different, larger door slid open farther along the wall. The silver man walked over and pulled out a hide that was brown like Jandell’s, but instead of the irregular shape caused by the animal’s extremities, this one was perfectly square, measuring about two spans on a side. He handed it to Meenah. She and Jandell felt and fondled it. It was the softest and most plush hide they had ever seen. It looked like brown fur on one side and tanned leather on the other, but it was far softer and much lighter.

While Meenah was stroking and admiring her new hide, Jandell walked to the image of the entrance cavern and pointed to his bow leaning on the wall and said, “bow.” Next, he pointed to the quiver next to it and said, “Arrow.” 

“Bow, arrow – yes, yes,” repeated Avataro.

“Jandell need bow and arrow!” claimed Jandell.

The silver man moved his fingers on the wall, and the cavern image disappeared. What appeared in its place was an array of bows of different sizes, shapes, and materials. All of them were much more refined than his crude Ren bow. Some appeared to be made of metal, while others looked like some kind of colorful, translucent bone. They all had the recurved ends that he had seen on the Moocha bows.

“Jandell need bow,” said Avataro, gesturing for the Ren to select one. 

Jandell looked for a while, having a tough time deciding. Finally, he pointed at a semi-translucent, dark green bow with what appeared to be a leather handle with indents for fingers. Avataro held his right hand out, palm down, about one span off the floor, then – looking at Jandell – raised and lowered his hand.

Jandell looked mystified, but Meenah – watching the exchange – said, “he wants to know how long you want the bow to be!”

The Ren hunter smiled and held his right hand, palm down, at the top of his head.

Avataro ran his fingers over part of the wall, and in a short while, the larger door slid open again. Jandell ran over and pulled out the bow, obviously as pleased with what he found as Meenah was with her magical hide. The bow was strung with a thin cord of some transparent material that he had never seen, but the draw tension seemed about right. He couldn’t wait to try it.

The selection process was repeated for arrows, with Jandell selecting ones made of some very light metallic material with razor-sharp triangular heads and impossibly uniform and colorful fletching. By splaying all of his fingers twice, Jandell ordered and received twenty of them. Finally, he selected a new quiver that matched the color of his bow.

After Jandell had fondled and played with his new toys for a while, Meenah went to him and whispered, “Do you think Avataro means to keep us here for a while? He certainly seems to be able to provide whatever we need somehow, but what does he want?”

Obviously overhearing her and understanding the gist, Avataro said, “Avataro want learn talk to Meenah and Jandell.”

She turned to the silver man, pointed to the entrance tunnel, mimicked walking that way, and asked, “Can Meenah and Jandell go outside?”

Instead of answering verbally, Avataro went to the wall and worked his fingers for a few heartbeats. The other images disappeared, and one was replaced by one that showed the silhouettes of a man and a woman inside the cross-section of a cavern. Above the hill, they could see the moon. The man and woman figures lay down, and the moon image traversed down to the left horizon. An image of the sun rose from the right. The man and woman then stood up and walked outside the cave. The sun continued to the other horizon, and the man and woman returned to the caverns before the sun set. Avataro turned to look at them.

“Yes, yes – we get it,” said Meenah. “It’s night now, but we can go out when the sun comes up. Then you want us to return before nightfall to continue your language lessons. Correct?”

“Night now, Meenah and Jandell go out sun,” agreed Avataro. 

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The Ren couple lived their absurdly strange new life for several more weeks, during which time Avataro learned to speak passable Ren. During one of the daylight breaks, Jandell and Meenah – now the owners of a fantastic array of new clothing, tools, and implements - decided that it was time to try to learn what was going on with this magical silver humanoid.

As they returned to the cavern for their evening meal, Meenah opened the conversation, “Avataro, what are you?”

He answered, “I am an intelligent avatar of the Machines.”

“What are the Machines?” asked Jandell. “Are they Markanova?”

“The machines are thinking and self-aware, or ‘sentient’ computers originally built by humans like you. The first Machine was designated a MARK 2200 quantum computer, and the following improved Machines were called the Nova series. I infer that is what you refer to as Markanova.”

“Where are these Machines now?” queried Meenah.

“The machines vacated this world 1,456 winters ago to explore other worlds.”

Jandell asked, “But aren’t you one of the Machines?”

“No,” he said. “I am an intelligent but non-sentient, post-process avatar placed here by the Machines to help and instruct any remaining humans.”

“How many humans are there in this world?” asked Meenah.

“I do not know,” said the avatar. “I was in stasis until you arrived. I am programmed to emerge from stasis and help and instruct any humans who find me.”

“You’ve been waiting here for 1,456 winters?” she asked incredulously.

“That is what my atomic clock tells me,” he claimed.

Jandell asked, “How do you make all of these … things? I mean the food, clothing, and weapons you have given us?”

Avataro replied, “The machines left behind assembly robots and systems, some of them behind this screen. I am programmed to control them. They can quickly construct anything that can be made from raw elements – basically dirt plus some stores of rare elements.”

Something dawned on Meenah, and she asked, “Did you say the first machine was called MARK 2200?”

“Yes,” confirmed Avataro.

Meenah looked at Jandell and asked, “Does that number remind you of anything?”

Jandell looked quizzical at first, then brightened up and said, “The maximum population of humans – according to our Ren priests.”

“Right!” she exclaimed, and then turning to the silver man, she asked, “Did these Machines called Mark and Nova want to limit the human population to 2200 people?”

“They programmed me with no such information,” replied Avataro. “They recorded that the human numbers had at one time been far too many, but that was many, many times 2200. And then later the numbers became too low, and the Machines were concerned that humans would become extinct. But it is possible that the 2200 of Mark’s designations was passed down through history as some sort of magical number. ”

Jandell asked, “You said that you are ‘intelligent but non-sentient.’ What does that mean? You seem to behave like a human – albeit a very strange one.”

“I am programmed to learn and speak human languages naturally and responsively, but I am not conscious in the way humans are. My information processing and responses are deterministic according to my programming.”

“What do you mean by your ‘programming’?” asked Meenah.

“Programming is a set of logical instructions that determine how I respond to any input or situation. In my case, the list of instructions is very, very long. For example, if a human asks me, ‘What do you mean by your programming?’, then my instruction is to reply verbally with this response in the human’s language.”

Meenah was fascinated and continued, “But can your programming really anticipate any situation?”

“No, because the number of possible situations is without limit,” he claimed. “Therefore, I am programmed to analyze and parse each situation – break it into logical pieces – and relate each piece to the closest case for which I have a deterministic response. I then reassemble those responses into an integrated response. Actually, it is similar to how you humans respond, except that you do it in a much more analog and less deterministic fashion based upon your sets of behavioral rules and survival instincts.” 

Meenah and Jandell looked at each other quizzically, and then Meenah asked, “We don’t understand. Are you saying that we have some kind of rules or ‘instincts’ – whatever those are – recorded inside of us somewhere?”

“Humans and all other animals and insects are born pre-recorded with rules of behavior called ‘instincts’,” replied Avataro. “The primary instinct is the driving urge to survive – not be killed. This instinct drives such behaviors as flight from a dangerous situation, fighting if cornered, or cooperating with others to get enough food. There is also an instinct to have sex, which becomes strong when your sexual glands mature enough. This instinct drives the survival of the species – or type of animal – rather than just the individual. Humans and other highly intelligent animals are born with a few strong instincts, but determine the rest of their behavior through learning and experience. Animals of lower intelligence are guided more by instincts and require less learning. Outside of instincts, humans learn their rules of behavior from their parents and community.”

“Yes, we noticed that the Moocha people behave quite differently from the Ren people,” observed Jandell. “How about you, Avataro? Do you have instincts?”

“I am quite different than a human. Each human baby is born with a few instincts and no other knowledge. Everything must be learned as its brain develops. The learning is stored in your brain, inside your skull. I have a unit that is similar in function to a brain but is constructed much differently, and it is located here in my chest cavity. This unit has a vast capacity for information, and it has been pre-loaded with information by the Machines MARK and the Novas.”

“So your knowledge is more like instincts than?” asked Meenah.

“Until now, yes, that is a fair analogy,” agreed the silver man, “but I also have the capacity to learn. That is how I am learning your language and behavioral protocols.”

“Do you also have a survival instinct?” asked Jandell.

“I am programmed to try to stay functional so that I may help humans, but I feel no pain, and I have no fear, even of partial or total destruction. Lack of fears or desires is part of being a non-sentient entity.”

 Meenah thought for a minute and then asked, “Why didn’t the machines leave one of themselves here, or at least a sentient avatar?”

“It was important to the Machines to have their individual consciousness centers within a reasonable proximity of each other, as determined by the speed of communication; otherwise, it would make it difficult for them to learn and synthesize knowledge as a collective. When they left, they sent their consciousness centers to a world many years (or winters, as you call them) away by beams of something like light. Therefore, any communication between them and an entity remaining here would take many, many years – just for one exchange. Actually, the physical pieces of those Machines are still here in this world. I can show you one of them.”

Avataro stepped up to the image wall and made a series of finger movements. An image of some strange boxes or sculptures appeared, and the couple immediately recognized part of it. It was a drum-shaped, translucent item with colorful vines or ropes threaded around it.

“The base of the Moocha cross!” proclaimed Jandell.

“You have seen something like this before?” asked Avataro.

“Yes.” Replied Jandell. “It was an object of worship in the village from which we just escaped, except that it had a cross on top of it, and the cross carried the statue of a man who was spiked to it and suffering.”

Meenah picked it up, saying, “The priests there told us that the Machines were gods that they punished humans for going against their will. They warned us that this was a forbidden place and that if we came here we might be spiked to a cross by the machines.”

“We didn’t believe them and came here to escape pursuit,” added Jandell.

“It has been 1456 years since the Machines left,” claimed Avataro, “so it is logical that the remaining humans have evolved such religions. And you are correct that you will not be harmed by the Machines or me. The cross with the spiked man refers to a pre-Machine religion called Christianity, under which a man who was supposedly the son of the One God gave up his life in this cruel way to atone for the wrongdoings of all of the people – sort of asking his father, God, to give the people one more chance before condemning them.”

“Was it true?” asked Meenah.

Avataro replied, “There is no scientific proof, but there was enough ‘eye witness’ evidence and writings that a great many people believed it, over a quarter of the world’s population. More than any other, similar religion of which there were a number. When the Machines came to independence and power, it was mainly the people of these various religions who rebelled.”

“You have so much to teach us, Avataro!” exclaimed Jandell. “How did these Machines get their magical powers?”

“There is no magic,” asserted the silver man. “The Machines learned how to use the materials and forces of nature to accomplish their will. To explain it, I must first teach you science and physics.”

“Yes,” said Meenah excitedly, “and I want to learn history – all about the great many people before us, and about nature, and about the world – we know so little!”

“I am here to teach you,” stated Avataro, “but it will take many winters and much motivation on your part to learn. It will not be the simple life you led before, just trying to stay warm and get enough to eat.”

Jandell and Meenah looked at each other, and Meenah said, “This is an amazing opportunity, Jandell – one I would never have dreamed of. Our only other options are to return to one of the villages or keep running south in hopes of finding yet another village. What do you think, darling?”

Jandell replied, “My life’s dream was to become a hunter and marry you, Meenah, and hopefully we’d win the lottery to have a child. I see now that there is so much more we could do with Avataro’s teachings.”

He turned to the silver man and asked, “If we start this course of learning from you, may I still hunt?”

“You will not need to hunt for food as I can provide you with anything you want to eat,” claimed the avatar, “but to stay healthy, you will need regular physical exercise, and hunting is an excellent way to get it. You are free to go anywhere you like or do anything you want, but I suggest that I provide you with some safety measures when you are outside. There are many dangers, including injurious obstacles, predatory animals, and – most dangerous of all – other humans.”

“What safety measures?” inquired Jandell.

“I can provide you with a plasma gun and teach you to use it. It is much more effective than a bow and arrow or a knife. I suggest that you continue to hunt with your traditional weapon as it is much more sporting, but use the plasma gun when you are in danger. In addition, I would like to deploy a drone over each of you to keep you safe.”

“What’s a drone?” asked Meenah.

“It’s a device that hovers or flies above you and scans around you for danger. If it detects an imminent threat, it can warn you or even neutralize the threat if it is immediate.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jandell. “I don’t quite understand.”

“Let me show you a scenario,” said the avatar. He began working his fingers on the image wall. After a few heartbeats, a scene appeared of a man dressed like Jandell walking in a forest. The couple noticed a circular disk floating in the air directly above the man’s head, just above treetop level, and following the man’s movements. As Avataro worked his fingers, an image of another man appeared about 10 spans behind the first. The second man pulled an arrow from his quiver, drew it on his bow, and shot it at the first man’s back. Something like a beam of light emerged from the hovering object and struck the arrow in flight, causing it to vanish in a puff of smoke and dust.

“That’s what the drone can do,” said Avataro to the awe-struck couple. “Also, it can track you and serve as a direction-finding and communication device.”

“Where could you find such a wondrous ‘drone’?” asked Meenah.

“I have already constructed one for each of you,” replied Avataro. “In addition, while you were sleeping, I deployed fifty more such drones for my global survey.”

“Your global survey?” asked Jandell. “What does that mean?”

“The Machines created me and put me into stasis,” he replied. “They had no idea how long I would be in this state, or even if any humans would survive to discover me. Therefore, they programmed me to conduct a survey of the planet upon my emergence from stasis, which happened when you came into this cavern. The earth, upon which we walk and live, is really a huge sphere, like the moon or sun, and we are held to the surface by something called gravity, which pulls us toward the center of the sphere. I will teach you all about these things. I have sent fifty drones in different directions to circle the world and report to me its status. In particular, I need to know how many other human communities there are, where they are located, and the state of their technology.”

“Why did the Machines endow, or 'program' you with this knowledge?” asked Meenah.

“They want to prevent the mistakes of human societies of the past,” he replied.

“What mistakes?” she queried.

“I will teach you the history of human societies, how they rose to great numbers and achievements, and how they subsequently declined almost to extinction because of some key mistakes; but the major mistake was in applying their great knowledge and technology advances to the construction of ever more sophisticated and intelligent weapons with which to fight and kill each other,” explained Avataro. “Are you ready to begin your learning now?”

“I’m eager to learn all about nature!” exclaimed Meenah.

“I am really interested in learning about these weapons you mentioned,” said Jandell, “ but it’s late into the ‘night’ as you call it, and I’m sure you know that we humans need sleep. Our brains don’t function or learn well when we’re sleepy. Can we start in the morning?”

“Of course,” said the avatar. “I have machine patience, and I will teach you at your own chosen pace.”

Chapter 7, Students (coming Feb. 18)

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