Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Fifteen

Still deeply immersed in one of the Titan jungles, Alex was looking forward to seeing some different terrain. Kyodin had opted not to tell her too much about camp as he wanted to keep it a surprise, but at least told her where it was located and how long it would take them to finish their journey.

"Tell me more about Earth," Kyodin said.

Alex gave him a brief history of the planet, starting from the dinosaurs and making her way through some of the more historically significant times. She talked about Göbekli Tepe, which was considered to be the oldest known archeological site on Earth, then mentioned the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks. She described the major turning points and events that shaped landscapes, cultures, and societies. She spoke of people who made important contributions to science, medicine, and art like Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Edgar Cayce, Albert Einstein, Nikolai Tesla, and Trevor Morrison. Eventually, she described the world war trilogy and how they reshaped the planet once again. In more modern times, she focused on how technology accelerated progress and innovation. She talked about the chips embedded in the backs of people's necks that allowed them to access the global knowledge network and how in turn it created a society of people who were more empathetic, rational, and kind.

Kyodin didn't say much as he was soaking it all in. Alex figured he had heard much of the same history from his father, but perhaps he was thinking more critically and wanted to compare sources. To him, Earth was an alien planet where fascinating things happened. Growing up on Titan without any context of the planet's history had robbed him of that knowledge.

"Why do people go to war?" Kyodin asked.

"I suppose there are different reasons," Alex said. "Sometimes it's to acquire more resources or more power."

"Why do they want more power?"

"With more power, they can have more of the things they value. They also become less vulnerable to someone trying to take away those things."

"So large countries don't go to war because they have enough power?"

"For some, there's never enough power," Alex said.

"Why?"

Alex loved the childlike quality of her brother and desperately did not want to corrupt him, but she feared his questioning may expose some of the flaws within humanity and lead him down a path of indignation.

"I'm not sure," Alex responded, "but my guess is it's to feed their egos — some people view themselves as more important than others and can rationalize some pretty atrocious actions without even batting an eye."

"Was our father one of those people?" Kyodin wondered.

Alex took a moment to carefully consider his question before answering. "In some ways, I think he is," Alex said truthfully. "You don't become the Leader of a planet without have a very big ego, but I think he's a kind and caring man, perhaps more so now than he was on Earth."

"Why do you say that?"

Alex thought she may have trapped herself with the last comment as it almost implied that she had met her father on Titan. She had yet to reveal this encounter to her brother for fear it would make him upset and put them in jeopardy.

"A lot of time has passed since he was the Leader of Earth and I think people have an amazing ability to change. He was generally loved on Earth so he wasn't a bad person to start with. Maybe he just had a superiority complex."

"What's that?" Kyodin asked.

"It's when a person tries to hide their insecurities or feelings of low self-worth by exaggerating their superiority — it's a psychological defense mechanism. So in some sense we pity these people because they are trying so hard just to be accepted."