The Worlds of Cog

Chapter One |Re-mastered|

She is gone. Think thought, sitting atop the library roof trying to read. He set his book aside, and pulled his knees to his chest, resting his head on them. When somebody was taken it could not be reversed, you could not bring them back to Cog.

His eyes started to burn from staring at the Great Star as it's light turned orange and dimmed for the night, was there anything for him to live for any more? He had no more friends, they had been taken, his research and experiments had been destoyed by the Council's sentinels. His books had been burned, and soon all of the libraries were scheduled to burn the next night.

Think felt as though this was all his fault, he would have probably been able to  get on without Dream. And continue his work and just talk to Bike, but all of that was gone because he had to be curious, he had to know how and where they disapeared to when they were taken. Only Bike remained, his last friend on Cog was a motorized bicycle with an artificial personalty. Perfect. His life was great.

Everything was fine. That was what he told himself, but he knew he was lying. Think stood up and looked over the edge of the roof at Bike parked below. He thought about jumping, but then he remembered he would live if he did. The system was designed that way, he would get attention he didn't need and the Council would have an even better reason to 'Hide Him' combined with his curiousity and the fact that he hadn't been taken, it had been three centuries since he appeared on Cog. If it had been this long that meant he must be a defect or just useless.

Sighing he went through the hatch that led to the attic which was perched atop the lonely and deserted library. All of the shelves were empty, every single gray shelf was void of everything except dust. Once he got to the ground floor he saw the gray pile of books in the middle of the floor, tossed there carelessly by Sentinels. Everything is black and white, there is no color in Cog, not even in flowers or the eyes of the people, There was only one thing that produced any color at all and that was The Great Star, but the color stayed there.

Think bent down and picked up a book, tucking it under his shirt and slinking out of the door. He was grateful that he could salvage one thing as he jogged to Bike and hopped on.

The little bicycle shuddered to life and started bumping along the irregular roads making it's way toward town. Think looked down at Bike, a little frustrated at the noise he made amd how slow he was. He wanted to get home and read this new book, on their way they passed Dream's Cog-work shop, empty and desolate, no longer full of the lively toys she made. But something caught his eye, glistening on the floor. "Bike, stop." Think commanded, Bike obeyed and Think hopped off of Bike and pushed on the door to the shop. Surprisingly it swung open and he walked in, wondering why it hadn't been locked.

Dismissing those thoughts he knelt beside the object and picked up the tiny silver chip looking it over, on one side was his name engraved into the surface and on the other was the word Gratitude .  Think slipped it into his pocket and as Bike carried him home he thought about the message, it was clearly meant for him. or maybe it was just a memory chip that happened to have his name on it. In any case he decided to insert the chip into his Medi-Gram when he got home.

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Bike was leaned up againt the wall in Think's apartment turned off and sitting there silently.

Think pushed the little silver chip into his Medi-Gram and sat down on his couch, watching the air above it with eyes empty of anything of what he once was.

A bright white light and then a video of Dream's tenth Birthday showed up, there she was, sitting in front of a large ice-cream cake, a huge smile on her face. Then all of their friends started to sing and Dream started to cry. laughing at the same time. The camera swiveled to see Think, standing in a clown costume singing a goofy version of the song.

Think smiled a bit as he watched the scene change and an image of the Water Gardens too, Dream was walking in front of the camera, far enough away so you could see the upper part of her body as she walked. 

She looked over her shoulder and smiled at the camera and pointed to a strange creature swimming above, "How amazing is that!?" she said, staring for a while before starting to walk again. The images faded and then Dream again appeared, this time wearing her overals and her hair a mess. She was sitting in her shop with a square contraption in front of her, he couldn't see much in it except a circular shape. But the machine didn't matter, she mattered. "Think, I suppose that if you have found this I was probably taken. And I likely didn't get the chance to thank you."

Think leaned forward, fighting the tears that threatened to show themselves. He couldn't imagine anything that Dream could thank him for.

"Thank you for being my friend, thank you for confiding in me and letting me be the same for you. It meant a lot to me, it still does, wherever I may be. You are so smart and kind, a little bull-headed and oblivious sometimes but you always tried to cheer me up and say something nice about my work. Thank you for everything. Now, before I go I want to show you what this machine is supposed to do here. You need to fix this world because nobody else will."

Think watched as Dream demonstrated and he listened as she explained, as she did so he was filled with a purpose and his heart was light again.

When she was done she looked at the camera again, but it seemed  she was looking right at him. "Be happy Think." and the hologram disintegrated.

He stared at the place it had been for a while before smiling and jumping from the couch, pulling the silver chip out and putting it in his pocket before running to Bike and patting the warm metal. "Ready to go fix the world buddy?"

Bike rung his rusty bell and his head light flickered on, illuminating the darkened room.

And there was light in the world again.