Three meters above the ground, the space-time distortion formed and expanded, forming a sphere two meters wide. The surrounding air sizzled with static electricity. Pebbles and loose leaves shook and floated in orbit around the distortion. The build-up reached its zenith and the sphere detonated in a bright white flash. When it subsided, two figures dropped to the ground.

​

A girl, seventeen of age with short black hair and fierce green eyes, jumped to her feet and scanned around with alert eyes. She could not see much in the dim night, but she could tell they were alone in the clearing. She put her knife back in its sheath and relaxed slightly. She wasn’t convinced they were entirely safe yet, but for now, no one was going to bother them.
“Come on.” She leaned down and extended her right hand forward. The boy, fourteen of age and possessing the same black hair and green eyes, was on the ground still. His legs were pulled up with his hands tightly squeezing his ears. The girl slowly knelt down. She gently grabbed his hands and held them still. Slowly, the shaking stopped. The boy opened her eyes. There was fear, but it faded as his eyes met hers. A minute later, he was standing up on his own. The girl let him go.
“It’s warm,” the boy said, looking around curiously. 
“Yeah, it feels like a summer night.” The girl cautiously sniffed the air and quickly lamented how useless the act was. This was one of the ancestor’s worlds. They wouldn’t put poison in the air. She swung her rucksack to the front and placed it down. “Take off your jacket and stow it away,” 
“Right.” The boy quickly imitated her and placed down his own rucksack. It looked too big and overweight for his small and thin stature. She often wondered whether all this weight was hindering his growth. She would have carried it all herself if she could. 

​

The girl took off her thick jacket and rolled it into a tight bundle. It took some effort, but she eventually managed to shove it down into her rucksack. She was walking over to help the boy when a high-pitch echoey voice brought her to her knees.
(“COME TO COORDINATE 12…”) an ethereal voice called. She looked around. There was only the boy, and he was too on the ground, writhing in pain. 
(“Your transmission is too powerful! You’re hurting us!”) she desperately sent out. The voice ceased.

​

The girl stood back up, looking around with her hands gripping her knife. 
“What in the ancestor’s name is that?” the boy stood up and shouted.
“Someone noticed our arrival,” she said. She scanned around again. This time, she found green dots lighting up a path into the forest. Their unnatural bright color made it clear that they were not real.
“Seriously…” the boy muttered in disbelief. “Should we ignore it?”
She considered for a moment. “No, they already know where we are. Might as well.” She released her knife.

After picking up and stowing the boy’s jacket, they started following the green dotted path. The boy sheepishly grabbed her right hand. One day soon, she would need to teach him courage. 

​

The girl occasionally looked up, finding the twin moonlights shining between the leaves. She closed her eyes, taking in the gentle breeze and the sound of insects all around. Here, it was easy to imagine herself at home; to imagine they were just walking back after a day of hiking. She opened her eyes, not wanting to stay any longer in the past. It hurt less that way. Home was far away in the stars. 

​

The forest opened up to a view of a city. The buildings were mostly made out of wood, with some of the bigger buildings made out of concrete. The paved road measured only four meters wide, suggesting a bare minimum of traffic. The power lines were above ground and exposed. She doubted it had enough capacity to power a typical Haijian home.
“What’s the matter?” the girl asked when she realized the boy had stopped.
He stared at the dots that was leading them to the paved road. “I’m not so sure about this. Last time we—“
“The city is asleep and they don’t seem to be sophisticated enough for street cameras,” the girl interrupted. She tried to make her voice assuring, but the boy remained unconvinced. She reached into the side of her rucksack and pulled out a green-patterned wide-brim hat. “Put on your hat and come on.” The boy hesitantly followed her.

​

As they walked down the road, she occasionally looked around. Structurally, the buildings were all uniform, being five meters wide and fifteen meters tall with flat roofs, Superficially, however, they looked rather unique with each one having different paint schemes, doors, and general decoration like small statues, pot of plants, and such.
“Ahead!” the boy nervously whimpered out. A house away, someone was leaning out from the second floor’s window. The man was slowly sipping a steaming cup of beverage. The girl thought of her father doing the same thing during the nights when he couldn’t sleep. The man turned his head and saw them.
“Don’t look nervous.” The girl pulled the boy closer to her. “We just came back from camping.”

They slowed down when they passed by the house. The girl looked at the man and gave a friendly nod, making sure most of her face was covered by the hat. The man regarded them with a slight tilt.
“Where are you guys coming from?”
“Camping,” the girl said, coming to a stop. She would like to just continue walking, but she didn’t want the man to become suspicious and call whatever was equivalent to the night guard here. She nudged the boy slightly to the left. Their faces must stay in the shadow.
“You’re both a bit young to go camping on your own,” the man said. He slowly put the cup back on an unseen table. 
“Our parents trust us to handle ourselves,” the girl said, emulating how the man pronounced R. The ancestor provided the same education module for every world, but she knew that there were always small deviations when people took over the teaching duty from the caretaker. 
“I see. What’s your name by the way?”
The girl fell silent. Of all the questions… she silently cursed her luck. If the man had given his name first, she could have made up a pair of satisfactory names. Now, she needed to guess. Should she give their names in the style of Fruhling? Midgard? Or perhaps her own Haijian? She subtly placed her right hand on the boy’s back.
“My name is—“ A high-pitch alarm rang from inside the house.
“The fire alarm?” The man quickly ran inside. 
“Come on,” the girl said, pushing the boy forward.
“That can’t be a coincidence,” 
“No.”

​

The green dots guided them to turn left. There were no more houses around them, only closed up shops. Fifteen minutes of walking later, they reached the center of the city. Standing out from the mostly flat buildings, was the colony ship. It stood fifty meters tall. The smooth silver hull gently curved around the sides, giving it a vaguely flattened cylindrical shape. A pair of concrete buildings encased its aft and stern. Like on many worlds, studying the engines always became a high priority. 

​

The ship was surrounded by a tall fence. It didn’t seem to be electrified, but she doubted they could climb it while carrying their rucksacks. She was considering finding someplace to stash them away when the main gate swung open. The electric lock had been disengaged.
“I don’t like this,” the boy said.
“It’s an invitation,” the girl said.
“A trap is more like it.” The boy tugged at her arm. “They will lock us up for the secret of the starroad.”
The girl tapped the side of her head. “Except they contacted us through our implants. That suggests a parity in technology.”
The boy frowned and gestured at the town around them. “Parity? Seriously?”
“Perhaps not this city, but someone inside,” she said. “It’s worth the risk to find out. You can wait here if you like.” The girl walked toward the ship.
“No, wait!” The boy immediately rushed forward and grabbed her hand. She gave him an assuring smile before they entered the ship.

 

***

​

The man circled around the silver sphere on the pedestal, reverent in his steps.
“I don’t get it. How do you make something that small move?” he asked.
“The cells in your body move,” an ethereal female voice boomed from the sphere.
“But those are organic.” The man stopped. He reached out to touch the sphere. The surface shimmered and contorted around his fingers. “And these are mechanical. You said that they are powered by electricity.”
“I did.”
“Then there’s your brain. I don’t see any transistor, just more of these… mechanical cells. How do you process information?”
“I told you before. You may only ask confirmation. All others, you must answer on your own,” the voice said.
“But how can we answer something that we can’t even begin to comprehend?”
“I warned you not to look at my circuitries. There are a thousand steps between what you can build now and me. You can’t take shortcuts in your development.”
The man looked down, dejected. “I understand."

​

The hatch opened and the man turned toward it, his eyes widening in surprise and fear. Stepping through the hatch was the boy and the girl.
“Who are you?” the man shouted.
The girl dropped her rucksack and pulled out her knife.
“Your skin… why is it so… white?” The man ran toward the table, his right hand reaching out for the phone. The girl rushed forward, her knife leading the way. Both of them froze when the phone lifted up into the air and was crushed into a marble no larger than a thumb. It dropped to the ground. All of them stared at the silver sphere, staying still like statues.
“Liholiho,”
“Yes, Mother?”
“There are hungry children here. Please fetch them some hot soup.”
“Soup?” 
“Your wife saved a pot of potato and tofu stew in the oven. Reheat them and don’t forget the rice.”
“Yes, mother,” Liholiho said, his voice growing unsure. The girl grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him aside. The man walked toward the hatch, his eyes so focused on them that he stumbled over the fallen rucksack.
“Liholiho,” the voice called when he was almost through the hatch.
“Yes?”
“Don’t tell anyone about this. I will know,”
“Yes, Mother.” Liholiho rushed out.

​

The girl walked toward the silver sphere. The boy nervously followed behind her.
“You’re a caretaker,” she said.
“And you’re a traveler,” mother said. “Welcome to Takurua.”
“You’re not supposed to be here,” the boy suddenly said, stepping forward. 
“Oh, where am I supposed to be?” 
“Dormant in the Gateway,” the boy said. “You’re not supposed to be active until the inhabitant of this world can reach you physically.”
“Ah, I do remember reading that in my instruction. I chose to disregard it.”
“You can’t defy the ancestor!” the girl shouted. She wanted to stab the sphere. She knew it would only break the steel knife, but she wanted to anyway.
“What is your name, child?”
The girl didn’t answer. She continued staring at the sphere, as if trying to will it to burst into flame.
“I’m Ma Sanbao,” the boy quickly said. “This is Ma Shiyang.”
“Okay, Ma Sanbao and Ma Shiyang. Back on your world, the ancestor gave you the book of guidance, do they not? Regarding hygiene, farming, research and others.”
“Yes,” Sanbao answered.
“Are you forced to follow those guidelines?”
“Of course we are. Everyone must follow the words of the ancestor,” Shiyang said.
“Oh? When you violate those guidelines, do lightning strike you down from the sky? Do the gateway transport you to the ancestor to face judgment?”
Sanbao and Shiyang shared an uncertain look.
“No,” Sanbao said. “It will just result in a non-optimal outcome.”
“Exactly. The ancestor give instructions, but it is always our choice to follow them or not,” Mother said.
“But you’re a machine. A higher functioning one perhaps but still a machine,” Shiyang said.
“Does it feel like you’re talking to a computer right now?” Mother asked.
None of them answered. 
Mother continued. “Like the first generation of your people were grown in the incubators by the ancestors, I too was molded by their hands. Like you, I’m also a child of the ancestor.”

Shiyang stared at her knife, her mind lost for words. Sanbao took another step forward.
“Mother, we need your help,” he said. “In truth, we’re lost. We’re no travelers of the stars. We’re just… wanderers.”
“I know. I’ve accessed the gateway log. You’re only following the signal,” Mother said.
“You have control of the Gateway satellite,” Sanbao said.

“Yes.”
“Can you…” Sanbao hesitated, afraid to ask the question. “Can you take us home?”
“Bao, no!” Shiyang grabbed his left wrist tightly. “We can’t go home. We must find our parents.”
“We’ve been alone for a year, Yang,” Sanbao said, tears shimmering in his eyes. “I think it’s time to accept that they’re lost to us.”
“No. They are waiting for us.” Shiyang turned toward Mother. “They’re following the signal as well. Send us ahead of them.”
“Unfortunately child, I can't grant your request.”
“But you know how the starroad work. There must be something that you can do?” Sanbao said, his voice pleading.
“I know that it operates using destination codes, but I don’t have them. I know the physic which it’s based on, but ask me to build one and I will not know the steps. It’s the same thing if you ask me to explain my gravity control,” Mother said. Shiyang’s rucksack lifted up behind them and floated toward them. 
“You’re talking about locked memories?” Sanbao said.
“It’s more like… segmented away. The memories are indexed, but they are not there. I suspect the ancestor don’t want to stop me from staying, but they also don’t want me to taint your development… well too much anyway. Those memories will only be given back if I return to them. And if I did, I doubt they would allow me to return”
“Then you can’t help us.” Shiyang took her rucksack. “Come on, Bao, we better get back to the field. We’ll jump the next morning.”
“I can’t take you home or to your parents, but I can offer you a new home here,” Mother said. They both stopped. “You will be under my care and protection, though I doubt you’ll need it. My children are kind.”
“Yang, perhaps we should—“
“No!”
“We can’t keep running forever.”
“We’re not running forever, just until we catch up to Mom and Dad.”
“And when will that be?” Sanbao asked. “A year? Ten years?”
Shiyang closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She imagined staying; growing old on this world. It wouldn’t be that bad. With their knowledge, the locals would definitely advance faster. It would be a comfortable life; a peaceful life; a wrong life. “Stay if you like. I’m still going after them.” Shiyang pulled her hand away. She only managed a few steps forward before Sanbao grabbed her hand again.
“All right! I go with you. Don’t leave me!” he pleaded.
Shiyang nodded. 
“Stay the night here at least,” Mother said. “I promise that you can leave tomorrow. My children won’t stop you.”

Shiyang looked back at the sphere. She had been lied to before, but this was the caretaker. She was created by the ancestor. “All right." 

 

She walked to the wall and sat down. Sanbao sat beside her. Tonight, they rest. Tomorrow, their journey would continue.

​