Carnage by Aer-ki Jyr (the chimp paradox .TXT) 📕

A moment later Paul jumped again, this time going lateral, and disappeared from view as Cal-com slipped off his pack and threw it over as well, but he knew he couldn’t jump that far.

Instead he laid down on the sand horizontally and parallel with the tract of the dune, wrapping his robe around him tight as he began to roll up the incline slowly, digging in as he did so, but with his weight spread out he was able to stay aloft without sinking in deep.

Inch by inch he crawled up to the peak, then plowed through it until he began rolling freely down the far side until he hit the firmer sand at the bottom. He rolled out of his cocoon and stood up with a twirl of sand coming off his robes, then retrieved his pack from Paul’s waiting hand.

“Jumping is preferred,” he said, a little dizzy but not letting it show in his movements. “I envy your mobility.”

“There are some psionics that I can’t turn off,” he said in apology. “Kex being one of them. But I liked your technique.”

“I dislike the sand in my collar,” Cal-com said, walking on as he tried to shake some more of it out without using his Lachka.

“Feel free to cheat on that.”

“No. If we are to remain small, we must deal with things in a small manner. Your Kex and Saiyan genetics have become a part of you, not a temporary boost. You must find your smallness within them.”

“Within?”

“You’re not a regular Human, Paul. Just as I am not a Human. I am far larger, so my steps through the sand are easier than yours. But I am ‘small’ in the same way you are despite our differences in race.”

“Small as in no powers, just genetic enhancements?”

“My entire race is a genetic enhancement. Our origins are lost to history. Perhaps the Elders know where we came from, but our biology has been either designed or designed into what it is now. We are stronger, faster, and smarter than most races, but wisdom is not something that can be encoded. The pilot inside charts the course, no matter how many incentives and diversions are involved. When we focus on only our path, in our natural state, we find our smallness. Your natural state is different than that of your birth, and that adjustment is not something I have to make. You must embrace what you have become, else you will always be holding yourself back to find your smallness…and you will fail in doing so.”

“Why would that guarantee failure?”

“Because only the large hold back. The small act with their full potential, and often it is not enough. They survive by luck and wisdom rather than brute force or racial attributes. These are both utilized, but rarely enough to survive.”

Paul looked around at the blankness of the desert, save for the sand ripples and needle-like towers in the distance, and put aside his pertinent mystery for a moment. “You mean we have to be the underdog again?”

“I am unfamiliar with that term.”

“The one who is not dominant.”

“When one is the player versus the environment, the player is never dominant.”

“True. And this fatigue plus the heat is draining me of water. If I run out I’ll be dead unless I can fly out of here.”

“Let the realness of that threat ground your mind. Thoughts of responsibility for others will diminish as you are forced to focus on your immediate needs.”

“My enemies might not be able to kill me in combat, but they can still starve me to death?”

“And only your wisdom will aid you in avoiding such a fate,” Cal-com said, pulling out a water bottle and handing it to Paul, who took a very long swig of it before passing it back.

The two continued to walk, navigating off the towers position, for several hours until they reached an outpost. New Luminance was the name, and most of it was below ground level, making it invisible to those moving across the desert until you came upon it. One moment there were endless sand dunes, and the next you came across the peak of one to see a dug out city some 20 meters deep in the desert with the building tops setting slightly lower than the surrounding dunes.

“There it is,” Paul said, shocked at its sudden arrival. “Why don’t they have some tower or light for navigation?”

Cal-com used his shoulder plates for a moment, mentally linking into his armor systems. “There is a signal beacon, but a visual reference would also be appropriate. The design of the building layout is also inefficient.”

“Yeah, it’s not based on anything we have,” Paul said, following him down to the poured stone edge walkway that had a short railing to keep people from falling off as they stumbled upon the city, though trails of sand already were pouring over the edge.

Paul looked down and saw a pit around the inner edge of the wall, and at the base were piles of sand with little robots scooping it up and removing it at a lethargic pace, but on the other side of the pit was a staired incline that led up to the outer buildings that appeared free of most sand, including the walkways that were also made of poured stone.

“There,” Cal-com said, pointing to his right.

Paul followed the line of his finger to where a bridge was seen descending from the railing at an angle down to level with the sunken ground.

“You want to stay the night or move on?”

“Our purpose lies beyond. We need supplies only, as well as an additional water canister at the minimum.”

“I think I can handle a second pack easy enough,” Paul offered. “Let’s get enough to stay out a few extra days, then get lost in