The Station, Part 57

And where am I now? I am bombarded by noises and lights. I’m now surrounded by these same strange, seemingly helpless beings the humans. They swarm around me, so many of them, all unaware of my presence. They take no time in going around me, walking to destinations unknown. It seems I am to be but am observer here as well. But everywhere I cast my eyes, I see artificiality. Metal and other materials I cannot readily identify, but I know to be of a manufactured nature. There are smells that defy classification for me. Many of them emanate from the humans. It is all overwhelming. And I see that there are even more of these humans above me, inside floating vehicles to whisk them to and fro. I look to the horizon, see towers of metal and glass and then the other. More of the same. Both are blocked by massive constructs. They stretch as far as I can see. Perhaps these constructs cover their entire world. Regardless, I see that these humans, however physically ill equipped as they are, have somehow managed to succeed. They need no outside help. Their technology has even outpaced them. They are still just evolved creatures of nature after all. I wonder if they know it themselves any more. This is a species that will go on. And now this vast landscape is gone.

I should know where I am now, but I do not. I used to know it, but now it is just another strange place. I don’t know what to make of it. Not yet. It is a sterile place, made up of white, unblemished walls of metal on three of four sides. The four is dominated by a transparency that reveals the one familiar sight—the stars. Under it is long, smooth machine covered in all manner of lights in a dazzle of color. I know that each one of those lights means something, but what I do not know.

Near the center of this collection of artificial constellations is a seat. It is high enough that I cannot discern if it occupied, but no, now I can. There is movement that reaches out from either side. Hands. Pale hands that touch a light here and there, changing little square window of other colored lights. Their meaning goes beyond my understanding, but I have seen these motions before. Each one serves a purpose. But what, I do not know. It is interesting, but not so much as the being that is performing the actions. It is another one of those creatures. A paler one at that. It seems it does not live under the light of a star and so does not require pigmentation. It has the hair on top of its head. In fact, I see a strong resemblance to the male with the facial hair. The one from the grove. But no, this one with the naked face is not the same individual. And its clothing is quite different as well, not the lurid colors of the city. This is a monochrome covering, even more artificial looking than all the previous examples. But like the rest of the many of his species I had encountered, I am but an observer here as well. He does not acknowledge my presence. I’m not being ignored. I simple am not here. That allows me the ultimate freedom to observe. Which just may be the sole reason I am here. This is yet another part of the sleep lesson. And perhaps the most important one of all. I think I know this odd being. This pallid skinned, soft bodied creature with no other seeming purpose then to touch these lights. His countenance is not one of what I would interpret to be happiness or sadness, nor anger or fear. It is a blankness. A lack of luster. Living inside this metal construct, away from what is natural, and alone. No contact with others of its kind. That must take its toll over time. Does this poor creature have a choice in the matter? Is he trapped? If so, is this how he deals with it. By randomly touching these insipid lights that do nothing but blink back at him? What kind of horrible existence is this?