The Others - Chapter 2

Nunu learns more about the shrunken planet.

Nunu was mesmerized, her breath caught in wonder as she gazed at a large, transparent square object roughly twelve cubic meters in size, containing a tiny galaxy inside. Captivated by its stunning beauty, Nunu walked toward it and touched the transparent frame. To her surprise, it felt unexpectedly warm and emitted an unusual vibration that traveled through her hands.

Nunu found herself overwhelmed, unsure of where to direct her gaze. Before her floated dozens of planets, each spinning lazily in the vast expanse. Some were as small and delicate as peas when compared to her, while others loomed much larger, with the grandest among them rivaling the size of a football. Her eyes watered, forcing her to turn away when she attempted to stare directly at a brilliant yellow ball that blazed with an intensity too fierce to endure without risking blindness. It was the sun.

Gently, Divani approached her daughter, resting a hand on Nunu's shoulder, her eyes filled with pride as they took in the celestial spectacle together.

"Impressive, isn't it? Divani said. "I gaped at it just like you when I first saw it."

"Is this a projection of a distant galaxy?" Nunu said, gazing up at her mother with interest.

Divani shook her head. "No, it's all artificially created. It's cleverly crafted using metamaterials, carbon nanotubes, quarks, leptons, and a bunch of other things I won't bore you with. None of it is real, except for that lovely green and blue sphere over there, which resembles our home planet."

Nunu looked in the direction her mother was gazing at and saw a planet that resembled their home planet. She has never been there.

Their people had embarked on space exploration and eventually started colonizing other planets long ago. Nunu, along with many generations before her, grew up on a planet much larger than their original one. She learned about their home planet—the land her people originated from—in school. Unfortunately, that planet is now uninhabitable.

Nunu raised an eyebrow and asked hesitantly, "Is it our home planet? Only as tiny as a golf ball?"

"Nope, it's not our home planet, dear. But you might say it's an exact replica." Divani said.

Nunu felt her head spin with confusion. Divani noticed the perplexity in her daughter's eyes and smiled. "Come on," she said, guiding Nunu to a sleek, transparent panel with glowing circuits that seemed alive.

"What is this?" Nunu inquired, standing beside her mother.

"It's a control panel. Let me show you something," Divani replied with a knowing smile. Her hand moved over the panel with the grace and precision of a seasoned expert, her fingers dancing swiftly as they entered a flurry of commands. Her hand seemed to meld seamlessly with the sleek surface of the panel. Suddenly, a holographic screen materialized in the air before them, casting a soft glow. The screen displayed vivid images of people going about their daily routines on the bustling street, each figure captured in motion, living their ordinary lives.

Nunu gasped in amazement as the flashing images illuminated her youthful face. She saw people who resembled her, but they wore unusual clothing and had strange hairstyles, and the environment looked unfamiliar. "Are these recordings of our ancestors?" Nunu said.

Divani shook her head. "These individuals are alive right now. These images are all happening in real-time." With a gesture of her hand, the images shifted to show different scenes: people celebrating in a bar, driving on the freeway, and cheering at a sports event in a stadium.

"But who are they?" Nunu couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer. She was eager for an answer. "I've never seen people like them before, not even in my history classes."

Divani smiled. "They refer to themselves as 'Humans' and inhabit the planet you were observing." Nunu let out a noise of disbelief, glancing from her mother to the galaxy contained in the box behind her. "You're joking, aren't you?"

"I'm most certainly not, dear," Divani said.

"But they seem so real," Nunu said, observing the images of ordinary people engaged in their everyday activities. The holographic display of these humans was nearly as tall as Nunu, and they appeared so vibrant and lifelike. It felt as though Nunu could reach out and shake hands with one of them. The notion that these people were living on a planet no larger than a golf ball seemed absurd to Nunu.

Divani noticed the disbelief in her daughter's eyes and realized she needed to provide some evidence. Words alone wouldn't be enough to convince Nunu that these people she observed were incredibly tiny and resided on a planet she could effortlessly obliterate with her pinkie if she chose to.

"Alright," she said, "this usually violates our code and my own principles, but you leave me no other option. Watch this."

Intrigued, Nunu moved closer to her mother, watching as she swiped her hand across the panel. The images shifted until Nunu saw a picturesque park scene, with pleasant weather and people leisurely strolling, walking their dogs, or lounging on the grass.

"Notice the sky, darling? It's cloudless. Watch what happens when I give this command."

Nunu squinted as she noticed several people glancing upward in confusion when tiny raindrops splashed onto their hands. The rain intensified quickly, with dark clouds sweeping in unnaturally rapidly. Soon, a heavy downpour drenched everyone, prompting them to rush for shelter. "You expect me to believe you caused that?" Nunu asked her mother skeptically. "How do I know you haven't just shown me edited images?"

"You're not one to be easily convinced, are you?" Divani asked, pride evident in her voice, pleased that her daughter wasn't easily influenced by what she was told.

However, she found herself having to step in with these humans once more. Even though causing a local downpour in some city didn't interfere with their progress, Divani preferred not to get involved in their affairs.

"Fair enough," Divani said, tapping her finger on her lips as she thought of how to persuade her daughter that the scenes on the holographic screen truly represented events on that small, golf ball-sized planet called Earth.

She snapped her fingers. "I've got it! It defies all my principles, and I hope it does not do any real damage. However, by triggering this event, you'll have no choice but to be convinced."

Nunu watched with interest as her mother's fingers glided over the control panel, issuing various commands. A fresh image appeared on the holographic screen, depicting an arctic scene with a majestic ice-covered mountain in the distance.

"That is Mount Erebus," Divani said. "Although it appears to be just a regular mountain, it's actually an active volcano. I'll trigger an eruption, and because it's situated in a remote location, it won't directly harm any human life. If you look closely at the planet and from the correct angle, you might witness this eruption, Nunu. This will serve as evidence that everything you see on this screen is indeed images from that planet."

Nunu stared in astonishment, glancing from her mother to the small sphere suspended in the artificial galaxy behind them. Could it be true that the people she had seen before, who looked just like her, were living on that tiny orb? Her mother encouraged her to stand closer to the planet for a better view. "Here, hold this," she said.

Nunu opened her hand, and her mother placed a small circular black device with a lens and a screen into it. Nunu looked at her mother with a questioning expression.

"It's a quantum zoomer," Divani said, her back already turned as her hands were busy swiping and giving commands to the control panel. "It's a device that offers unmatched clarity and magnification. You should be able to..." She abruptly stopped speaking, as if she had just realized something, and then started laughing.

Nunu frowned and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Because I'm acting stupid. Hand that to me."

Divani said, taking over the quantum zoomer from her daughter. She approached the encased artificial galaxy, directed it towards Earth, and zoomed in. Within moments, Divani transitioned from a vivid view of the green and blue planet to a detailed landscape image, as if she were examining a map.

She could make out mountains, forests, and the gray specks that were cities. She focused on one particular city. "There we go," Divani said with triumph, passing the device to her daughter. "Look, my dear daughter, at the people who call themselves humans."

Intrigued, Nunu took over the quantum zoomer to examine it. As her mother had described, Nunu observed humans engaged in their daily routines in a bustling city, much like what she had seen on the holographic screen earlier. The scene resembled a view captured by a drone hovering over a crowded marketplace. The images were so vivid and colorful that they seemed to come with accompanying sounds in Nunu's mind.

"Okay, I believe you now. But why are these people so small?" Nunu asked her mother.

Divani smiled at her daughter. "Because we shrunk them, darling. Them and their entire planet with it."