NOVEL NEXT B3 | 53 - Expansion
When I opened my eyes, I found our spiritual forms still high above the clouds. Though the susurration had disappeared all at once, our connection to one another remained. I peered around the circle, and as my thoughts ran through my companions’ minds, they felt as if they were my own. There was a moment where we instinctively raised our mental walls, seeking to keep ourselves hidden. But then we threw the gates wide, inviting each other in.
Maria was right beside me, and her soul was just as beautiful as she was. Filled with light and life, she wanted the best for everyone around her. When I felt her love for me, I echoed it back toward her, delighting in the way it made her core seem to vibrate. There was a hint of something more within her, something she had pushed far down. She could have kept it from us if she wanted. Instead, she offered it up, baring her soul. It was a desire to be more useful—a need to contribute. We neither judged nor denied this aspect of her, simply acknowledging it as truth.
Claws was to the other side of Maria, and as her true intentions were revealed, I wasn’t the least-bit surprised. She felt an immeasurable amount of love and affection, and she wanted to share it with everyone. Some might call it an issue that she showed her affections by being a menace and pranking people, but not me. There were no hidden secrets deep within my favorite otter. She was exactly what she appeared to be.
Snips’s presence called out to me next, her motherly instincts drowning out the other voices. Snips sought to protect everyone, to be the last line of defense should the worst come to our shores. More than anyone else, she wanted to defend me. Her opinion of me was... a lot. If presented with the choice, she would sacrifice her life ten-times over to save mine. If I was my usual self, I might have told her I didn’t want that. I might have denied her feelings. But as with all the revelations so far, I accepted it for what it was. Who was I to tell someone how to feel?
There was something else deep in her consciousness, an aspect of Snips that she was just discovering for herself. Instead of shoving it down, she offered it toward us all, letting understanding of it unfurl in our minds. It was a small bubble of loneliness, its source clear.
She missed Rocky.
He had transformed over the past months, becoming more and more of an issue. That wasn’t the version of him that she longed for, though. She missed the troublesome crab that kept inviting himself into her tidal pond. Even his desire to be yeeted was a source of entertainment at first, one that had grown less and less endearing as they had to become punishments for his misbehavior. She had never voiced it, but she believed something was corrupting Rocky from the inside. More than anything, she hoped he would return without it, his time alone having banished that misguided part of himself. Even if he was still afflicted, however, she’d take that version of him over nothing. It was a raw truth, and I sent waves of love her way, as did everyone else, thanking her for her openness.
Cinnamon was next, and she didn’t give a frack about anything other than sick martial arts moves and going for rides in the sky with her adopted daughter. The contrast was hilarious, and I sensed my body laughing involuntarily. Cinnamon loved everyone, of course—especially Pelly—but her true passions were aerial moves atop Pelly’s back, and perfecting the roundhouse kick.
Borks’s sense of belonging called out next, and as he gazed around with puppy-dog eyes, his ghostly tail wagged. Before arriving on our shores, all he had wanted was to belong to a pack once more. He had found that and more. As each being offered their truths up to him, his sense of family only increased. He felt like he was a part of something bigger than himself, and his only desire was for our bonds to go deeper.
Unexpectedly, the next thing that drew me in came from two different creatures.
It was the pelicans, Bill and Pelly. They both called out to us for one simple reason: they shared the same hidden, non-romantic affection for one another. They stared at each other as their dual appreciation unfolded. They weren’t ashamed of their feelings, and had only kept their truths close to heart for fear of overstepping. Pelly saw Bill as a father, and he felt the same. Now that the depth of their platonic love was revealed, they offered it up freely, both to each other and the rest of us. It was beyond heartwarming.
A motherly pride radiated from Cinnamon, momentarily interrupting her imaginings of karate chops and flying kicks.
The Buzzy Boys were next, and they were just happy to be here. They got great satisfaction from being needed by their ‘hive’, which included all of us. They would do everything they could to guard and protect our surrounding lands, even sacrificing themselves to do so.
Twin appreciations radiated out, louder than the rest of us. It was Queen Bee and Bumblebro. The two were family oriented, and they held equal love for both everyone present and the Buzzy Boys, their children. There was a dark bubble or wariness within them, and without more than a moment’s thought, they offered it up. It was a fear of Teddy. They were aware of it and trying to challenge their preconceptions, but they couldn’t deny its potency.
A strong reassurance came in response, Teddy both acknowledging and opposing their fear. He wasn’t at all bothered by the insects’ assumptions. If anything, he understood it better than most. He loved honey, but now that he was a sapient being, he would never harm even a single bee again. He was ashamed of his past actions and assumptions, yet didn’t blame himself. Teddy had been a primal creature following his instincts when he’d destroyed hives in the pursuit of honey, just as the bees’ primal instincts told them to be wary of him now.
When the bees felt this, their worry evaporated, leaving behind a healthy respect and a desire to learn more about the bear.
Pistachio’s spirit nodded at them, appreciating their resolve. At first glance, his internal sentiments were just as strong as his outward-presenting stoicism. But buried deep down, there was a shadow of sadness there for his fellow lobsters’ downfall, the ones that had been dispatched as part of Snips’s vengeance against Sebastion and the Cult of the Leviathan all those months ago. Snips sent an apologetic pulse toward him, but Pistachio cut it off. He didn’t blame her for her actions, and he reminded her that she had spared him. He felt a need to rectify the injustice, but he saw it as his responsibility, not hers. He didn’t yet know how to do it, but now that he was fully aware of the desire, he would find a way.
Lemon, unable to suppress her feelings any longer, called out. She identified strongly with Claws’s means of affection, finding joy in expressing her love by tricking and surprising those she cared about. Lemon had a root-deep desire to help everyone, but it stretched far beyond the connections present. She revealed it, making us raise our metaphorical eyebrows. She wanted to help the entire world. It was ambitious, to say the least. I noticed her delving deeper, intending to show us what she had been doing over the past weeks, but I sent out a pulse of my own. Telling us now would run contrary to her desire for surprise and trickery, so I told her to keep it to herself. Surprisingly, the rest of my companions did the same, echoing an identical sentiment.
All attention turned my way, and filled with gratitude for everyone’s transparency, I unveiled my deepest thoughts. First, my love and appreciation of the surrounding souls flowed out, slamming into and resonating with their cores. Brighter than all the others, an image or Maria planted itself firmly in mind. The sun was behind her, illuminating her sandy hair as it fell from behind an ear. Without prompting, the image shifted. Hundreds of different scenes appeared, only vanishing when another took its place.
They were all of Maria.
Her blue eyes beneath the midday sun as she stared up at me. The way she flushed and averted her eyes when she was embarrassed, only making my affection for her grow. Her hugging Claws tight and giving the little otter a good scritching, delighting just as much as I did in the little miscreant’s soft fur. Us walking hand in hand beneath the verdant forest, her gazing up at the shifting canopy and me gazing at her. On and on they went, none of a sexual nature, yet all managing to perfectly capture an aspect of her entrancing form.
It felt like it went on forever, yet it was over in the blink of a cultivator’s eye. As the last of the images disappeared, I was left with my companions’ emotions, all as happy as I was that I’d been able to make such a rare connection. Maria’s love came through strongest, both giving me the mental equivalent of a hug, and urging me to continue sharing.
With my core buzzing, a profound thankfulness for my new life came next. I knew it might be overwhelming, but out of respect for their own openness, I didn’t hide a single ounce of the truth. As with some of the others, I had a patch of darkness coloring the depths of my awareness. Despite my willingness to share, it opened up slowly, like a black rose blooming.
I was all too aware of my deep-seated fear of taking control of the church, and now everyone else was too. There was a reason for that fear, of course. I was terrified of losing the freedom I’d gained when arriving in Tropica, and anything contributing to that, whether perceived or real, was immediately deemed a threat. Along with the fear of taking control, there was my worry of gaining too much power. Of being forced into the role of a god. I’d expressed my willingness to do so for everyone’s sake, but that didn’t make the idea of it any less unattractive.
With my deepest secret revealed for everyone present to see, I focused on why I was so afraid of changing the status quo. I’d told most of my animal pals of what had transpired in my previous life on Earth, but now that we were one, I showed them.
My privileged life as the son of a billionaire, and the way I was molded to inherit my father’s business empire. The relationship with my father and mother, the former having cared only for his wealth and legacy up until the very end, the latter leaving when I was still a boy, likely unable to deal with my oppressive father.
It would have taken an entire day to explain all the intricacies if they were expressed by words. With their consciousnesses joined to mine, we relived the moments together, my companions reexperiencing the emotions with me. A hint of shock came from everyone, Maria included. I’d already told her about my past, opened up as much as one could with words. But hearing was different from seeing.
From there, I returned to my life here, showing how ecstatic, how blissful, my time on Kallis had been. The sun that rose every morning, casting its warming light over everything I could see. The joy I got from the simple parts of life, like fishing, cooking, or even just having a nice nap in the shade of a tree.
Finally, I let them see how I felt about all of them again. Because of the dark cloud of fear coloring my thoughts before, I hadn’t unveiled the depths of my appreciation for them. This time, I let it all out. All the souls surrounding me, along with all the human pals I’d made since arriving in this world, were the seasoning of my life. The activities and scenery I enjoyed in Tropica were wonderful, sure, but without others to enjoy it with, it would have been bland. Flavorless.
Allowing this gratitude to flow out of me washed away the negative aftertaste of my previous life, cleansing our palates and leaving only love for one another behind. Adoration poured from each of them, feeling the same way. Even Teddy was there, already attached to us after becoming one with our thoughts and seeing the color of our souls with his own eyes.
The fondness for one another built, each participating core resonating with the sentiment. As it climbed higher and higher, I sensed that a change was coming. The chi connecting us all shuddered, then expanded. In what could have only been the barest of moments, the interconnecting ropes flew out from us, their tendrils spreading across the sky. They sprawled out far into the distance, the kilometers-wide net slowly ceasing its expansion.
Through the affection and thankfulness for one another, a great curiosity sprouted. We all watched as the chaotic shamble of interconnected vines began sinking. Down and down they went, and rather than stopping on the ground when they landed there, they sank down through dirt, rocks, sand, and water. Only when they were deep, deep below did they come to a stop, seeming to find the right place.
Immediately, they called out for something—something that neither I nor my present companions could give them.
Now that the mesh was no longer connecting us, our knowledge of each other’s internal state slowly receded. Though it was like losing a part of myself, I used the last of our ‘oneness’ to thank them all. The emotion was echoed tenfold, washing over me until the very last moment.
As our spirits floated back down toward our bodies, my awareness once more singular, I bathed in the aftershocks of what we’d just experienced.