On The Origin of Xe

We'll Be Back

Chapter Twenty-Three

As Whitney and Xe continued their emotional reunion of sorts, it became apparent that the daylight was fading fast. There was so much more to talk about, but time at least for this day, was running out. They both quickly agreed that they would return the next day to continue discovering who they were. They would arrive early so that there would be plenty of time to talk. Whitney had one last question as she readied to leave. "How did you get here?"

Xe replied that it was a bit complicated. Not something that could really be answered in such a hurried manner. Suffice it to say, Xe answered, it's all a matter of consciousness. Something that will become more familiar to you over the next couple of days. Whitney felt a little dismissed, but at least she knew she had a couple of days.

As Xe made headway through the berry thicket, Whitney turned and made her way towards the trail heading back to the switchbacks. She looked back once, just to make sure all of this was real, but Xe was nowhere to be seen. Starting up the side of the canyon, she was alone with her thoughts. One foot ahead of the other. Disappointed that the day had come to a close. Once she reached the top of the canyon, she looked back down hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of Xe. Xe was still nowhere to be seen, but at least Whitney had hope.

Making her way past the gardens, Whitney thought about how she was going to present all of this to Andre. She knew he would understand. He was the only one who could. Entering the habitat, she proceeded to Andre's chambers. It was just after dark and she knew he would be there. Probably just getting ready to start reading his book before getting set for bed. Whitney knocked on his door, which was quickly opened. Andre had been concerned that she had been gone for so long. It must have taken an awful long time to figure what had happened to the interferometer. Turning around with his book in hand, he asked if she had been able to fix it?

Whitney figured there was no better way to say it, than just say it. She replied, "I met Xe". Andre abruptly dropped his book. Turning around he had a look of incredulity. Then his look quickly changed to an expression of genuine happiness. Once again, he was onboard with Whitney. Standing right by her side in an emotional embrace. Whitney explained that there really wasn't anything wrong with the interferometer. It did what it was designed to do. Kind of. The motion of Xe picking up the rock had signaled a fault error. In fact, what it was really doing was issuing an alert.

After briefly explaining how she and Xe met, Whitney shared with Andre her concern over her own self awareness. Who was she, really? She was Xe, but also felt herself to be Whitney. Andre seemed perplexed. He replied that she had always been Whitney to him and the others. That, of course, made Whitney feel like she was shorting a circuit or something. Andre went on to explain that, in her own mind, she was both. He likened it to the frozen surface of an iced-over pond. Sub-consciously she was and always had been Whitney. At the frozen surface was Xe. The awakened consciousness of the Xe from Xeron.

Whitney was stunned. First, that Andre was able to have figured all this out so nonchalantly. She had spent a considerable amount of time thinking about this on her way back from the Great Divide. Second, that what Xe had said about getting to Goldilocks-P3 was true. The way Andre described the connection between her conscious and sub-conscious made it a little easier for Whitney to accept that consciousness is something that can be navigated.

Whitney and Andre spent the next couple of hours hashing over in detail the meeting with Xe. He thought it kind of fascinating that someone so young had diagnosed the true purpose of the interferometer that they had created. Or thought, they had created. Of course, Andre wanted to meet Xe. After thinking about this for a minute, Whitney confided that she didn't think she was quite ready for that yet. Andre said that he completely understood. He would wait for the appropriate time. Maybe in a day or two.