The Nibiru Effect

Memory 83

When did this happen?" asks Korri as we travel across the city. Around us, lava korrigans are busy destroying homes and using the boulder fragments to build a protective wall around the metropolis.

"The magma level has been rising exponentially for the past few months," explains Korri's father, "but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that it finally reached our shores."

"We've been working to keep the lava at bay ever since," adds Korri's mother, "but it's only a matter of time before we're overrun."

"Why not abandon the city?" I ask.

Korri and his parents stare at me like I just suggested a planet-wide genocide.

"What?" I ask. "What did I say?"

"How dare you?" snaps Korri's father.

"Leave him alone," chastises his wife. "He doesn't know what he's saying."

Korri's father glares at me, then walks off. His wife gives me an apologetic look and hurries after him.

"I'm sorry," I tell Korri. "I didn't mean to insult anyone."

"It's not your fault," says my friend. "You couldn't have known."

"Known what?"

"Korrigans abide by a very strict set of rules."

"Like the one that kept you from returning after you left?"

"Exactly. In fact, it's that very same rule that keeps us from abandoning the city."

"I don't understand," I admit.

"We're guardians," explains Korri. "We are duty-bound to protect the volcano until the day it erupts. Abandoning one's post is tantamount to treason."

"Is that why you were banished?"

"No. The rules that govern our society are ancient. It's not unheard of for lava korrigans to venture out into the outside world. They remain unpunished as long as they return in a timely fashion."

"Then why were you banished?"

"I was promoted to the status of lava shoveller," explains my friend. "It's a very prestigious post. Most would have been thrilled."

"Not you?"

"No. I didn't see the promotion as an honour, but rather a life sentence."

"Why?"

"Lava shovellers are held to a much higher standard. They're treated with respect and honour, but their elevation in status prohibits them from leaving the volcano."

"Then why did you leave?"

"I never wanted to be a lava shoveller," admits Korri. "I wanted to travel, to see the world."

"So you just left? Even though you knew you could never return?"

Korri nods.

I now understand what happened to Korri. His unquenchable thirst for adventure kept him from enjoying his new and prestigious title. He left, only to realize the outside world was a dangerous, unfriendly place. By then, he had already forfeited his right to be a lava korrigan, so he was forced to find a home with the forest korrigans. They treated him like an inferior being because he was different, but he had nowhere else to go, so he endured the constant demeaning. That is, until my friends and I arrived.

We walk in silence for a while before another question bubbles to the surface of my subconscious.

"What's with the hats?" I ask, gesturing to a group of lava korrigans who are just finishing up the destruction of a stone residence. They all wear the same pointy red hats I noticed earlier.