Everything was alive, it seemed. Nothing was right.

Every object was unlike everything I knew in the city.

Back in that dome was a city of straight lines and right

angles, circles, triangles, and little else. Nothing grew there,

aside from people. It was comfortable and unchallenging.

Outside, everything challenged me every moment.

       For the first six or seven hours I found myself wanting

to sleep from sensory overload as I saw things twining and

bending and curving. No two things were identical in this

world. There was no simple geometry or intelligent plan I

could comprehend. Myriad things frightened and enthralled

my senses, every second my eyes were open.

       Our rooms touched down together as a cluster a few

hours after we departed our safe-haven home. I woke up

toward the end of the ride, an hour before we settled. First

we landed on the ground in a clearing within organic shoots

rising high above the Earth. Next, they unhooked us. When

we emerged, I caught a glimpse of the transport vehicle leaving

us; it was high in the sky, chains retracting, path soon vanished

behind the puff-greens above us. The flying machine was

a queer combination of metal shapes, most geometric and

relatively simple. Air was thrust down on us as it made noises.

Then it was gone, the sound diminishing over a few minutes.

        No one said anything. These people worked as if

having endlessly done this routine before. I watched and

stayed near.

       The set of four rooms had been tightly conjoined.

Central seating had a sliding door to close the structure, seats

became lackluster beds, as did the floor and other tubes and

slats folding out higher on the walls. We could all retire there

in a huddle. Fronts and backs of the room housed odd supplies

to one end, food and necessities to the other end. Those large

closets were lockable. We had everything for a week, perhaps,

I figured.

        Everyone waited for items to be doled out. A handful

of foodstuffs was followed by a set of toiletries, followed by

weird metal items which were useless in my hands. I stowed it

all within simple, rough, dark colored carriers we slung on our

backs, fronts, and sides.

        A couple of these worn ogres were left behind to

protect the rooms as the majority of us trooped outward into

the world. Our true motive was a mystery. There appeared to

be some intelligent hierarchy within the group; some specific

men were communicating with grunts and simple commands I

couldn’t fathom.

         We marched and marched as a fairly disorganized

bunch. It gave me time to attempt to become familiar with

everything around me.

        Land wasn’t nice and flat like in the city. This place

was always up and down, always small dips and rises. My

footing had to be constantly aware and coordinated.

It was always cold at first. After walking for hours, it

was always hot.

        Everything jutting upward was living, but unlike

any life I ever saw. Dark, craggy skins and pieces always

branching off into smaller parts. Every bit of ground was

covered by something. Solid shapes like the stuff we use for

buildings and floors were scattered as rounded lumps and

craggy spires. Nothing moved to harass us, which was good.

        Terrifying noises would come from overhead every

so often, randomly. There were creepy things living here that

looked like deformed, small humans with hair. Other creatures

I couldn’t see clearly were flying above us. Nothing wanted to

attack, but their wide, dark eyes were disturbing, when able to

see them look at us before running or flying away. This world

had endless varieties of monsters to challenge or threaten us.

No one seemed to care.

       I began sneezing and sniffling. The air was affecting

me. My sleeves were used to wipe the running mucus away.

        Those comrades from the lower city blended into the

world. Their clothes and skin were perfectly matched to all the

things around us. When we would stop to rest, those remaining

still were hard to detect quickly. I now understood their gear

and styles to some degree; the reason for being so was still a

mystery.

         We did seem to have purpose as we moved. Most

looked left and right repetitively while hunched. It engaged

fears within me: fears of encroaching danger. My mind was

creating worse and worse anxieties every moment as all these

shapes and colors and life forms overwhelmed me.

         Relief came when I realized these people weren’t

laughing. If they were laughing, I would have expected

something dangerous. Everyone was typically emotionless.

         That thought was my anchor to sanity.

         Above, I noted a bright sphere far in the sky. It was

hurtful to my eyes. All light came from that thing, and the

light burned me slightly as it fell on my pale flesh. After hours

of observing shadows, that circle of light was clearly moving

slowly above us. Weird thing.

         And suddenly we were going through something

somewhat familiar, but eerily unlike what I found common:

buildings. These were obviously built by people of some sort.

All structures were somewhat destroyed and overgrown with

life. Small parts of architecture were plainly visible, as were

openings of windows and doors. Roofs were angled, like Mr.

God’s spire, not flat.

          Some of my group were going in and out of these

structures, nervously looking for something.

         We trudged on. Buildings multiplied and grew closer.

They were taller and had flatter tops far out of sight. Some

buildings were several times higher than the ones lining all

streets and avenues in the city. Everything looked awful, but

their mysterious craftsmanship made me crave to discover more

about the people that made them, lived and worked there, and

what happened to them.

          This was an ancient city. It was a constant challenge to

me.

          After a good while, the leaders of our group were

waving and grunting, shouting simple words to everyone. I

followed the lead of everyone else following the signals of

those in charge. We hid. Most of us slouched into the greenery

against buildings, some into opening where they peeked

outward into the street.

           It was boring and confusing to me. We waited and

waited. No noise was allowed to be made. No one moved.

           Noises were soon coming softly from somewhere

ahead of us. I figured one of us was being randy or fidgety,

until another figure unlike any of us appeared in the shadows

along the side of a far structure. It was human, and it moved

cautiously. The frame was slender and small, about two-thirds

my height. Clothes were rags, or very worn, by the way jagged

edges and threads flapped away from the silhouette as it moved.

          Silence. It paused. Several minutes passed.

          When it moved again, it went across the open street.

          It looked like a child, but I wasn’t certain. The person

was smaller and looked young from a distance. It seemed

asexual, so I figured it was immature. Hair was black, eyes

dark, skin deep-brown, all limbs extremely skinny. Feet were

bare, body sheathed in unusual fabrics. Whomever it was, the

person was nervously progressing before halting completely as

one of ours slowly walked out to it in the street.

         The kid watched, face wide in fear at the approaching

man.

         A hand was raised by the shyly ambling figure

emerging from our side. It formed the symbol of two spread

fingers.

         “Peace-peace!” greeted the older human tenderly.

The child turned to run. Loud claps rang out from

somewhere between the figures in the street. The child

crumpled to the ground, bleeding.

          Everyone came into view to stand over the fallen

outsider. The body was dead, slumped over with fear still

etched on its features. Some of my group were giggling and

giving shorts words of praise.

        I deduced quickly that one of the bent metal pieces

we carried was used by the man confronting the exterminated

child. Whatever the instrument was, it cut holes in the flesh.

My mind was starting to fear again.

       Feet shuffled and wandered away, my group was on the

move again. I acted as if I was going to leave with them. For a

few hundred feet I trailed, then ducked away and went back to

the corpse on the road.

       Turning over the body, I found it clutching something

close. Once pried away, I saw the object was like a slate,

but with lots of paper inside attached to one side. Plentiful

symbols were filling every bit of the papers. I had no idea what

the strangely manufactured article meant. Dark brown material

covered the white papers; it help an imprint of a cross in the

center of both large outward sides. I took it.

       There was nothing else of interest on the person. No

other possessions were available aside from the one I took.

This meant there were other people in the world which

didn’t exist within Mr. God’s realm. There were other people

who made things and created their own fancies. I had to

know who they were. If a young one was alive, elders were

somewhere. It seemed as if the group I followed from the

city were sent to kill others outside the walls of our home. I

couldn’t begin to understand a reason, yet.

       I had to know who these others were.

       I had to know what they were doing.

      I had to discover the history of humanity.

      I had to find answers to all these challenges that were

starting to torment me.

       There was a much larger and confusing reality

suddenly crowding around me every second I existed. Same

as in the city, I needed to know, to find the limits of knowledge

and experience, and I needed to discover everything I could

find. It was such a wave of fear, anxiety, and happiness inside

of me. All my emotions blossomed and mingled that moment

in the streets of this wrecked habitat.

       Somehow I would meet these other humans. My

resolve was strengthened by curiosity. I stood and left,

going outward in this crumbled city, on a different path from

my comrades, to attempt to find anyone that could help me

comprehend... everything.