The Forest of Solitude - Part 3

For hours, Dirk walked. Given his lack of destination, and the lack of any sentient life around, Dirk didn't care which direction he was walking. Odds were, he figured, there had to be something found in the Forest of Solitude that could help him escape the timeless trap. For the duration of his walk, Dirk would shift his shades amongst the variety of scanning functions it possessed.

Tired from the monotonous trail he was traversing, Dirk decided a higher perspective could give him a better layout of what was in front of him. Picking the tallest tree in his vicinity, Dirk attempted to climb above the tree line. A few failed attempts to climb later, and Dirk decided to use the third of his three marvelous devices, the Golden Rod.

The Golden Rod, in its original capacity, was a general issue weapon found amongst soldiers in the alternate timeline where Dirk had his first mission. The Golden Rod had the ability to transform itself into any armament imagined by its wielder, as well as enhances the wielder's athleticism. In the hands of Dirk, however, it became far more dangerous and incredible. By interfacing the Chronoton Dynamo's central core with the digital sentience of the Golden Rod, Dirk was able to unlock abilities possessed in the rod that would have been prohibited from the typical foot soldier's use, including full biological boosting capabilities.

Utilizing the Golden Rod, Dirk leapt upward from branch to bough until reaching a thick mist that lingered in the forest ceiling and obstructed the sun. Determining the mist as being non-toxic via a forensic scan from his shades, he pushed his way through the vaporous curtain to look upon the sky.

Whereas one would expect to witness a blue cascade hovering over the Forest of Solitude, Dirk discovered that in reality, beyond the mysterious mist, there was nothing. Above the mist, Dirk viewed an ebony sky as ink. Though black, the sky was still illuminated. A crimson son shone over the bed of mist that blanketed the Forest of Solitude. Dirk scanned the red sun to see if it was the temporal anomaly he was sent to repair. With reports reading negative on the sun's involvement in the era's aberration of time, Dirk descended back into the Forest of Solitude.

Dirk decided to rest in one the tree's boughs before returning to the forest floor. He sat there and thought about his options. With the rod boosting brain functions and the Dynamo providing probability scenario feedback, Dirk had theorized and tested over a hundred escape scenarios in under an hour without finding anything that could provide him respite.

Dirk groaned. "Maybe if I found a way to upgrade the rod again, then I could think of a probable way to escape." With that thought, the Dynamo began processing upgrade scenarios for the Golden Rod, itself, and the Shades.

"No...I need to upgrade the shades!" Dirk realized.

Just as he had unlocked the Golden Rod's full potential using the Dynamo, Dirk created an interface between the Golden Rod and his Shades to boost the scanning power. Connecting the rod to the Shades, Dirk now wore a set of golden, wrap around sunglasses, which allowed him to see the entirety of the world. Equations regarding the descent of individual air molecules in the environment began filling up Dirk's view screen.

"Whoa..." The pure stream of unfiltered information quickly overwhelmed Dirk. "Limit display parameters to basic sentient necessities." The information disappeared, and all Dirk saw was a simple arrow. Flummoxed, he increased search functions. Still, the arrow sat in front of him. "Dammit!"

Before he could remove the rod in frustration, Dirk noticed that the arrow would change direction depending on what direction he was looking. If he looked straight ahead, the arrow pointed down, but if he looked down, the arrow pointed forward. Finally, Dirk found some direction.

Having descended the tree, the arrow urged Dirk to continue forward on the path he had originally been walking. Meandering further into the forest, Dirk was caught unawares when a few equations began popping up again, this time in accordance with the arrow, however. As the arrow lead him along a predetermined path, it occasionally pointed out unusual flowers or fungi, and brought up their basic chemical equations. Dirk's brain, backed by the rod’s continual bio-boost, began reading the equations more as names than as numbers and letters. Long strings of identifying code were soon seen by Dirk as simple as the names "Bob" or "Tim" on a nametag.

Following the arrow with steadfast pace, Dirk soon came across an open grove. Within the grove was a boy. "Why didn't the Shades pick him up earlier?" thought Dirk.

The child in the grove appeared to be only three or four years old. He was dressed in a pair of smooth, creaseless yellow overalls and a long sleeved red shirt. His skin was pale, but his hair glowed blue. Surrounding him were small floating globules of liquid. Every couple of seconds, a new globule would emerge from the boy's eyes.

Dirk stood outside the grove observing the boy. "What is he?" thought Dirk. A deluge of information filled his visor, and Dirk was overwhelmed. His brain felt as if it were a balloon filling too quickly with air. Unable to withstand a moment more of this incredible data flood, Dirk removed his Shades and cradled his burning, tearful eyes with his palms.

"Are you sad too?"

With blinded eyes, Dirk stumbled backwards. "What?"

Floating a few feet away was the boy. "Why are you sad?"

Dirk removed the rod from his Shades before putting the tinted lenses over his eyes again. "I'm not sad."

The boy tilted his head. "Then why were you crying?

Dirk's lips curled to the left. "Heh...so that's what you were doing. Crying?"

The boy nodded.

Dirk's Shades gave him some basic information regarding the boy. "So...you're a child...but you're more than that, aren't you?"

The boy nodded again.

To Dirk, the information provided by his shades looked familiar, but he wasn't sure why. "What is your name?"

"I had many, and now, none."

"What do you mean?" asked Dirk.

"Before," said the boy, "there were many of us. We ran wild amongst the world now covered by these silent woods."

Dirk sat to listen to the story.

"Then, there was a great catastrophe. In order to save ourselves, we learned. We learned how to live on within each other. We learned to consolidate knowledge so it would live on beyond any one person. And by doing that, we learned how to live on ourselves. Now, we are many, but have become one."

"And you are that one?" said Dirk.

"Yes," said the boy, "but even though there are people inside of me, I am lonely."

"I see..." said Dirk.

"Tell me," said the boy, "you are only one, correct?"

"Yup. Just me," Dirk crossed his arms, "No one else."

"Then what is your meaning?"

"What do you mean?"

"What is the purpose of living if you are alone? My purpose is to keep my people alive, so I live. But you...what is your purpose? What does your life mean?"

Dirk thought for a moment. "I think you have it wrong."

"Wrong about what?"

"I don't believe that any one person has any single meaning, or that there is any over-riding purpose to life itself."

The boy smiled "There are many of me, and only one of you. How can all of me be wrong if we are all in agreement?"

"It's happened before," said Dirk.

The boy thought for a while, "True. But if life has no meaning, why don't you just die?"

Dirk stood up. "Just because I don't believe life has a single meaning doesn't mean I can't give my life a meaning. Or multiple meanings for that matter. My theory is, you have to always look forward."

"Oh." The boy was now hovering next to Dirk, looking up at him. "Are you God?"

"No."

"Then who are you?"

Dirk kneeled down to eye level with the boy. "My name is Dirk Mason."

"Thank you Dirk Mason." The boy smiled. "You have answered my questions and made me happy. If you hadn't come along, I would have quit existing."

"Well," said Dirk, "you're welcome. I'm glad I was of some help."

"Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"I don't suppose you can help me get back home?"

The boy looked quizzically at Dirk. "Hmm...you are from the past, aren't you?"

"Yes," Dirk said, "how did you know?"

"Your coding is very primitive." The boy explored Dirk. He was especially curious about Dirk's watch. "Is that a Chronoton Dynamo?"

Dirk was surprised that the boy correctly identified the secret of his wristwatch. Then, his shades flashed a familiar signal. Dirk had just unwittingly corrected a temporal disturbance. "What..oh, yeah."

"You'll need chronotons to fuel your trip home, then." The boy reached out and touched the watch face.

The dynamo jumped to life, once again brimming with the energy necessary for it to function properly. "How did you know that?"

"Time travel is like breathing to us," said the boy, "eventually, your race will reach its pinnacle and become like us."

Dirk had already prepared the necessities to open the corridor back homeward. "Well, thanks."

"You're welcome"

"So when I get home and fill out my report, what do I call you?" said Dirk.

The boy smiled. "From now on, I think we shall be known as Sprite."

If there had been a smile on Dirk's face, it was gone before the dynamo enveloped him in the sapphire sphere and brought him home.

***

The Birth of the Sprite 03B