Moho (Part One: Rise of a Symbol) (12 page)

"What?" I ask.

"You don't use your hands to pick up your food," Kai says. "I wish I had the talent to connect to matter."

"Oh yes, I know, it does look fancy. But you can do it, too," I assure him. "First I didn’t know I could do it myself but Maya taught me to open yourself to the possibility that it might work. And it has ever since," I explain.

"That’s because both of you have a Spring-given talent. This talent is part of your essence. But it is not part not of ours," Kai claims. He doesn’t seem jealous of our 'talent'. He states it like it's a fact that no one can change. As if to prove this, he picks up a fruit from the Hotstones - by hand. Maya, on the other hand, rolls her eyes.

"All it takes is determination," Maya says. "There was a time when even I couldn’t do it and now I’m a nominee. It is exhausting, yes, but it also is possible with a lot of hard work."

"Then why doesn’t everyone get selected? If Cosmo doesn’t select you for talent, then for what?" Kai asks.

"For inspiration. We want to give people the hope that with a lot of hard work you can become whoever you want to become," Maya explains.

"A hope you eventually have to crush for most in order to remain highly selective," Kai counters. "I mean, it’s crazy. The more people he rejects, the more elite his institution becomes and the more people will try out which will lead to more rejections. Institutions like his exploit a navee’s needs for status and power. A small elite
fulfills its needs at the expense of everyone else’s. That seems all very unfair to me," Kai says.

"But Cosmo's Islands also satisfies our needs for curiosity and acceptance. The range and quality of sessions offered
are marvelous. Our mentors are the best in their respective fields and we study with other navees who are just as hardworking as we are. And, by the way, those Islanders would never call someone out for using their hard-earned skills," Maya says with a nod towards me and my fruit. "I don’t see how we are anything but beneficial for naveekind."

"And I don’t see how any of those institutions are necessary. I mean what’s the point? All your memories of the sessions could be published on MNOP, all the knowledge of your mentors could be available on KNOP and people could share their thought on those sessions on TNOP. That way every navee could 'work hard' wherever they live and acquire all the skills you have. But instead all of you keep your relevant memories, knowledge
, and thoughts behind your Wall of Secrets so that they are impossible for us to access," Kai complains.

"Touché,"
I think to Maya. She doesn’t respond but I know that she knows that Kai is right. However, I have to admit that I hadn’t thought about it like that at all. I wonder what Ravi, Aziz, and Vijay would say right now. And what about Nouvel? He is working on those networks that include every navee on Persadia and yet he does so at a place that excludes nearly every navee on Persadia. Cosmo’s Islands become more mysterious the more one knows about it.

"You’re missing the fact that there is no Cosmo without Cosmo’s Islands," Lee says to Kai. She doesn’t bother to look up.

"Cosmo’s Islands are famous because of Cosmo. Not the other way around," Maya corrects her.

"Cosmo is famous because of people like you," Lee says.

"People like me?" Maya repeats.

"People with a deep and abiding passion for Cosmo," Lee clarifies.

"I don’t have a 'passion' for Cosmo. He was my tutor. I have the same amount of passion for him that I once had for you and Yo-Yo," Maya says.

"You’re right. You have a deep and abiding addiction to fame itself. You would replace him with someone more famous given the chance. Just like you replaced us with Cosmo all those cycles ago," Lee argues.

"Those words ring hollow coming from an icon of Holo Holo Nalii," Maya snaps.

"Holoholo-what?"
I think to Maya.

"Holo Holo Nalii. It's a sport using mental animal control,"
Maya thinks to me.

"Cosmo has founded a remarkable institution. Cosmo has helped dozens of us to become Creators. And Cosmo has made me who I am," Maya states. She may be serious but that was another slap in their faces. Lee breaks eye contact and looks over to Yo-Yo. I feel a little bit sorry for them.

"And who are you?" Lee asks quietly.

"I’m an assistant, a tutor, and most importantly a nominee. And I might be a Creator of The Spring very soon," Maya says with pride and stands up.

"So you are one of those now? One of those people who live for The Spring?" Lee asks and stands up as well. "Are you worshipping The Spring every night like all those other Islanders?"

"The Spring has given us our bodies and our essence. We all ought to be eternally thankful. I don’t see what else one would want. For what other reason did The Spring create us if not for becoming a Creator and join The Spring?" Maya asks.

"The essence is a part of the body, not an addition, just like eyes are part of the head. And, yes, we all remember our moment of creation in The Spring. But The Spring is also the reason for our darkest moment. The Spring is the reason why those three seats are empty now," Lee says and points to the three small Nightstones next to Kai that I wasn't allowed to sit on.

"Humans are the reason why those three seats are empty now," Maya corrects her.

"Did they darken my triplets? No. The Spring did," Lee counters.

"The Spring did it because they behaved like humans," Maya argues.

"They did not know what they were doing… Why did The Spring create humans if it then punishes human behavior?" Lee yells. She is in tears.

All remaining spirit of the conversation is carried away by those words and a deep, sincere sadness descends on the group. Maya has no comment. She sits down. Lee sits down. Reem strokes Kai’s back. He tries to smile at her but his lips won’t move. Maha leans against Yo-Yo who lays his right arm around her. Enyo stops playing with her stone. All eyes wander between the ground and the three empty seats. A long silence follows.

"When?"
I think.

"During the Mass Darkening that ended The Second Dark Time,"
Maya thinks.

"All the more reason to become part of The Spring then. To do everything in my power to become a Creator myself, to prevent this from repeating itself," Maya says inwardly. Her voice is shaky and I might have been the only one who heard those words.

No one reacts. Everyone is lost in their memories about the triplets. It’s dark. The wind is blowing through the grass around the empty seats and through the palm trees above us. I’m not hot any more. Instead, I now appreciate the warmth Lee’s Sunsetstone gives me.

"Come home, Maya. Just come home. That’s all we want," Yo-Yo says. Kai and Maha utter their consent. "We admire your accomplishments. But now the time has come to end this madness. We don’t want you to leave. And neither do you," Yo-Yo concludes.

"Those are big words from someone who called me a 'guest' a few minutes ago. And what do you know about me anyway? I do want to become a Creator," Maya states.

"No you don’t. Not any more at least. You wouldn’t be here if you still wanted to get summoned," Yo-Yo says. He speaks slowly, his voice is soothing. He is the polar opposite of Lee.

"I’m here to say goodbye," Maya claims.

"No you’re not," Yo-Yo insists while shaking his head a little. He knows of the delicate balance he has to strike here.

"You decided to stay when you decided to visit us. You wanted us to ask you to stay," Lee says. "You like the idea of getting summoned but you are afraid of leaving. And now that you are this close, you grab onto anything that can possibly keep you among us. That’s why you came today, that’s why you are upset now, and that's why you pretend to care about this new acquaintance of yours," she says and nods towards me without looking at me. Her eyes are fixated on Maya. "Your life is a mess. Look at you! You get this close and then you get yourself a… 'friend'? You wanted our attention. That is what you’ve always wanted — and now you have it."

Maya is upset. For the first time
, I see tears in her eyes. She grabs a fruit and bites off a big chunk. She coughs, waves her hands in false panic, then she drops the fruit on the floor and pretends to have bitten into a chili. I look down. The fruit is bread filled with cheese and vegetables. No chili. She wipes the tears of her face and I stroke her back. She tries to smile at me, but her eyes are red. All of the sudden she is real, vulnerable, accessible.

"Look, honey, you have the right to be angry. And scared. And frustrated. I can barely imagine how difficult the position you find yourself in is for you," Yo-Yo says. "But I have seen all of this before and it’s better to stop late than never. It is lonely at the top. No one knows that better than Lee," he says and signals Lee to fill in.

"You and I have always been different from anyone here but in different ways. And we didn’t stand in your way. We supported you every step of your way. And that is exactly what we are doing right now," Lee explains.

"How can you compare yourself to me? I will become a Creator! Not some animal torturer like you!" Maya shouts. Her accessibility has vanished in an instant.

"I train animals and you create them," Lee argues.

"I’m about to create animals. I’m about to create navees. I create. You train animals as a relief for your revenge disease. You pit animals against each other until one doesn’t move any more. You destroy," Maya slams Lee.

"I sense an attempt at blaming me," Lee says.

"Oh, really? How did you notice? Everything else seems to evade you," Maya snaps.

"Are you saying you are not proud of our sport any more?" Lee asks. She seems genuinely surprised by this which is so bizarre.

"Of course not! I’m ashamed! What you do is despicable!" Maya shouts. This is the third slap in everybody’s faces. And I’m not even sure if Maya noticed the first two. Whatever this Holo Holo Nalii is, using animals to fight against each other sounds so not like Maya that I wonder who they think Maya is
, or who she used to be. I mean, officially, I’m not even allowed to use matter to fight another navee. And water doesn’t even have an essence. How can Lee think that it’s okay to use an animal? Basically matter with an essence, something that was created by The Spring?

"Maybe you have erased it from your Memoryspiral but there was a time, long before Cosmo took you away from us, where you loved this sport. You trained with Apu from sunrise to sunset. You won tournaments. You wanted to become the second trainer to win The Grand Tournament of Persadia twice. You wanted to become me. You were proud of me. You were proud of all of us," Lee claims. "I can barely recognize you any more. Cosmo has changed you."

"You were ashamed of yourself. First you let the pain of animals give you status. And then you used me. You pushed me to become a Creator because you were too lazy to do it yourself. You benefited from my selection. People congratulated you. You were at the top of your small sports community but that community was despised by most navees and now your Maya was on her way to the top of naveekind. You made me do this for you. Don’t pretend you don’t know how despicable your profession is and that you don’t want what I have," Maya shouts.

Lee and Maya pause their mania for a second
, which Yo-Yo takes advantage of.

"Honey, maybe we are to blame for the past because we pushed you towards a goal we now understand we don’t actually want. We didn’t foresee the consequences but we are not to blame for that because none of us had been selected. There was no way for us to know what toll getting selected would take on us. Yes, we did want the esteem that your education would give us but we also wanted this for you," Yo-Yo explains. "It was just a plan and its success was unlikely. We didn’t think it through. We didn’t realize that if successful, our plan was going to destroy us. And you."

"That just keeps getting better… You didn’t even believe that I would be successful!" Maya snaps at him. "I couldn’t foresee the consequences my selection would have. But you should have considered it more carefully!"

"Kai and Maha weren’t like you. They weren’t talented the way you were. Look, you know that our work isn’t respected. Yet we consider our sport a valuable contribution to society. It’s what feels right to us even if society doesn’t agree. When we realized that The Spring had given you a tremendous talent, we saw a way out for you. We didn’t want you to face the same adversities we faced whenever we left our home. You had the chance to jump from the bottom of society all the way to the top. It was our dream. And we thought it was yours too," Yo-Yo explains.

"You’re lying to me. And you’re lying to yourself. Only you would have benefited from my summoning. I will be among equals in The Spring. Getting there won’t do anything for my self-esteem. And I won’t be able to return and revel in all the admiration. But everyone knows that I used to live with you. And you would be able to bathe in my accomplishment for eternity."

"Well, maybe we should all calm down. You have only been nominated. You may not actually get summoned," Maha says. Her sudden entrance in the debate
throws everyone a little.

"Yes, we already have benefited from your success. But so will you," Lee says.

"Didn’t you hear me? Or do you think I won’t get summoned?" Maya asks.