Echo-1 The Whale

30: The Nidi Years

"Thank you for thinking of me. I'm sure these will save my life one day." 

We walked over to a couch to watch the show. Nidi jumped over the entire couch in a single bound and climbed up on it with us. Dixon snuggled in on one side and Nidi on the other. I noticed that Nidi was considerably warmer. It hadn't dawned on me that we had a lower operating temperature. I supposed we were more efficient in that way. 

"We have a low body temperature don't we?" 

Dixon smiled at me. "You don't really notice it until you come into contact with a mammal. We aren't humans anymore. We're something else." Dixon reached past me and ran her fingers through Nidi's thick grey hair. "She's so soft." 

Nidi curled in a ball and grrr-ed a soft-grrr. 

"She's smart too." 

Dixon changed the subject. 

"You know I always believed in an afterlife. My mother always told me I would go to heaven. When she died I believed that she went to heaven. It somehow seemed comforting to know that one day I'd see her again." 

She looked longingly toward little Nidi. 

"This world is more amazing than anything I could have even dreamed of. I still miss my mom though." 

Dixon had a point. There was a certain sadness in thinking back to our time in the simulation. She had lived out her entire life and died. She left behind children and a large extended family. To her, this was the afterlife. 

I suppose I had died too, but somehow I didn't feel that way. Life on the Banga seemed to be a continuation of existence for me. Maybe it helped that I was such a loner before. I had no family to speak of and at the time I left the simulation I had already sunk into a world of dreams and self-centered personal quests. I felt more connected than ever before in this new life; connected with everyone. Maybe it was heaven but I don't think Dixon saw it that way. 

"Look at them." I pointed forward.

From our seat on the couch, the three of us were in for a good show. The Whales moved about gracefully as if floating in mid-air. The two pods began grouping together. Vronsky moved closer to the window and looked in at us. 

I heard his voice in my head. "I'm assigning two attendants to our new crew member. I'll dispatch them to your present position. You did a great job from what I've heard so far. Welcome back." 

I was filled with gratitude, appreciation, and pride. Vronsky didn't hand out praise. He swam upward and surfaced above. His gigantic tail moving past the window as he ascended. His fluke alone was like the wing of an airplane. 

Dixon and I could watch whales swim all day, we definitely had that in common.

Vronsky stayed at the surface for some time, then sank back down and moved off a short distance. The two pods followed his lead and moved out of the way. The back of the transport pierced the water surface above. Sunshine dove into the water, her fluorescent bikini making her easy to spot. It's decorative and functional she liked to say. The back of the glass tank opened and Veronica's gray mass sank into the water causing a flurry of bubbles that temporarily filled our entire view. As the fuzziness cleared we could see Henry. He was swimming next to Veronica, bright and white and cautious in his new environment. As he passed Sunshine, she reached out a hand and slid it along his stark white side. 

Dixon was very taken by him. "He's as white as a beluga, but twice their size already. He's going to be the real Moby Dick when he grows up." She squeezed my side, giddy, just thinking about this idea.