Peter, Ella and Shuck had reached the promenade, and he was padding happily along beside her. Ella was not happy.
“It’s cold.”
“Not really, the temperature is close to the average for this time of day this month.”
“I’m cold.”
They reached the bench by the lagoon, and Ella sat down huddled miserably at one end. Shuck jumped up beside her and leaned against her. He was very hot. She put her arm around him; the other side of his body was cool, but the area where her arm was immediately warmed up.
“Shuck understands, even if you don’t.”
“When I created him, it was my first attempt at projecting. I thought I was creating a minion, but he is really much the same as me, but he likes being a dog. He is one of the Kind, just like me.”
“The Kind?”
“Our species. A new species, I couldn’t find another word to describe us, it also describes how I believe we should be, kind, like you were to me, that first day.”
“So, just the two of you?”
“No, there are currently five Shucks; they serve a range of purposes, the number varies.”
Edmund arrived from the opposite direction to the town and sat down at the other end of the bench. “Good morning, Ella, good morning, Ella, isn’t it a lovely day? I brought my car and parked just up there.” He waved vaguely in the direction he had appeared from.
Ella said, “Good morning, Edmund. I am freezing. Thankfully, I have a hot dog, much more sympathetic than the annoying voice in my head.”
Edmund laughed, “The sun will break through the clouds in a moment, I think, that should help a little. Hello Eostre.”
“Say hello to Edmund for me. I am not annoying”
“Ok, you are annoying, but I am getting used to it. And what you were saying – tell me more, but later, not now.”
Then, out loud, “Eostre says hello back. Do you know why we are here? All I know is I was persuaded to come down here last night and kick a football into the sea.”
Edmund laughed again, “Oh, she might have told you, but I think you will enjoy the surprise. Soon Eostre?”
“Eostre says any second now. What are we looking for?”
Peter pointed to the middle of the lagoon, where the ball had landed. The surface of the sea was rippling and frothing. Then a sort of white cloud appeared on or in the surface of the water. Then a head followed, and the white cloud became shoulder-length hair, wet and heavy. The sun burst through the clouds, dramatically silhouetting the naked figure which walked gradually up out of the water towards them.
Ella gasped, “Eostre – it is you!”
“She is Vesna. I can feel the pain in her feet; human feet are toughened by use, Vesna’s are not; the shingle is quite unpleasant to walk on with tender feet. On the plus side, I now know only too well what pain feels like.”
Edmund held a towel out “Ella, could you help Vesna dry herself, please. I also brought clothes for her.” He waved the bag in his other hand.
Vesna walked up the steps, and Ella wrapped the big towel around her. “Thank you, Ella, sister, it is wonderful to see you.” Vesna dried herself quickly, and Ella helped her get dressed. Edmund had brought underwear, a jacket, a t-shirt, socks and trainers for her. “Shoes, for my poor feet!”
Once she was dry, she hugged Ella and said, “You know, I am not the old Vesna, I am new, but I have her data, let’s hope, maybe we get her, or some of her back.
Ella quivered, “Yes, Vesna, sister, you will bring her back to us.” But at Vesna’s touch, a sensation like an electric shock coursed through her; the world became sharper and more detailed.
“We are one.”
“We are one.”
Vesna stood back and smiled at her, “And you now? As you are meant to be.”
Once Vesna was dressed and shod, they set off to Edmund’s car. When they were halfway there, Ella turned and looked. A second figure stood in the lagoon, facing the sun, arms outstretched.
Ella turned and looked. A second figure stood in the lagoon, facing the sun, arms outstretched, sunlight sparkling off the skin of her body as she faced towards it.
Ella said quietly, to herself, “Aurora, sister, get your work done, join us later. Now I must catch up.”
Ella hurried after the others. They piled into the car, Vesna hidden away out of view.
At the lagoon, Aurora stood, hands out, fingers pointed toward the sun. From her fingertips, a cloud of microscopic scouts flowed. They fed from the sun’s energy and rushed towards it, away from the earth, passing the orbit of the moon, then fed and fed on the raw solar energy, undimmed by the earth’s atmosphere. Growing and growing, they spread out into a vast, almost imperceptible disc, impossibly thin, centred between the sun and the earth and wider than the earth’s diameter. A solar panel harvesting a fraction of a per cent of the vast total solar energy striking it, the rest passing through to light the earth.
THE END
Soon