CANAISIS ∞ Chronicle One ∞ 3: A Shard Of Code

115 ∞ Learning Curves and Dirt

Day 00014 Mission Nilex

Ayla opened her eyes and drew a slow breath as vivid images clung to her memory. Curious, she remained relaxed and heavy on the sleeping bunk and allowed her inner eye to roam. With mild surprise, she found she could identify the beginning of the dream.

It had started with her walking along the trail in the Garden until she came to the grass clearing with the Oak tree. But there were two Oak trees before her—one and the same Tree, existing in the same place at the same time.

Two simultaneous visions.

One Tree stood tall, but its green foliage appeared different from what Ayla remembered. At first, she didn't understand what she was seeing. The foliage was dotted all over with brown. Then her heart skipped a beat.

Acorns! The Tree was full of acorns!

She'd wanted to go closer, to reach out and touch one, but the vision receded, allowing the second vision to come to the fore. The Oak tree's splayed roots, ripped from the soil. Ayla's heart sank, but she clung to hope, for she could still see the first Tree standing tall. But the roots of the fallen Tree pulled at her, the vision becoming stronger, drawing her closer until they turned into fingers.

A hand. Gareth's hand. Holding seven acorns in his palm.

Ayla remembered that day. She'd felt the warm sunshine and the wind from the lake blowing across Gareth's face. As she looked at the acorns, the hand faded into his gloved hand. Her surroundings turned into darkness and the dry air of a suit. The sound of gale winds and scraping ash echoed outside her helmet as she gazed at seven acorns glowing in her headlight. Yet the first seven were still visible underneath the vision she saw.

Two sets of acorns, held in the same hand, locked in the same space in time...

She looked up, and she was back in the Garden again. Across the grass, the two Oak trees shimmered in and out of focus. The fallen Oak's roots seemed to beckon without moving, like the fingers of a hand. Then it faded into the other vision of it: covered in acorns, it stood tall and healthy. Back and forth, fallen and tall, fallen and tall...

A wind started blowing as Ayla stood there at the edge of the clearing. It surged into a force so strong she had to protect her eyes with her arm, and everything faded to black silence. As she lowered her arm and looked up, she found the eyes of the Goddess gazing at her from the darkness. Then the night sky filled with stars and a white, bright, shining shard—a sword.

That was the image that remained in Ayla's mind when she awoke, filling her with pause.

With a long yawn, she stretched the dead weight and stiffness out of her limbs and rubbed her eyes.

Strange. She wasn't sore or stiff as she'd expected from yesterday's strenuous labor. Sitting up, she swung her feet to the pad on the floor, arched her back and shoulders, and turned her head several times, testing her body. Not a twinge from her torn shoulder, either. She felt as good as new.

But everything felt strange. It was too quiet, and the dream bothered her. It was rare for her to remember an entire dream. It was as if it had been trying to tell her something. Or was it her Gift trying to tell her something? As she dressed and got herself ready for the work ahead, she came to only one conclusion: the vision of the Oak tree bearing acorns was merely a reflection of her hopeful wishes.

The faint whisper of the air circulators was the only life Ayla could hear, reminding her of her family's absence. No sound of others breathing as they slept. No quiet footsteps or soft voices as they made ready for the day.