Harmony
11

On the morning of day fourteen, measured from the point of Pixie’s arrival in the village, Suria was treasuring the peace and comforts of the village. Coffee with Le and Pixie on the patio and become an enjoyable mid-morning occasion for each of them. This morning, however, they’d been contemplating the walk up to the lookout on the eastern side of the village. They were much earlier than usual; the sun had barely risen above the eastern mountainside. Nervous energy had woken her, and even after the passage of days since the decision to go up there had been made, she was still convinced Versena was just about their only hope. They had to replace a way to get there, without too much difficulty, and get the answers they all craved. The passage to Versena was on all of their minds.

Le tried to reassure her. “It okay Suria. We make it happen. We very smart people and we replace the way together.”

“I know, Le. I know it’s irrational to worry, but I am anyway. I wish I knew why. Where are those god forsaken waves of peace anyway?”

“Are you really that bad?” Pixie was mildly concerned.

“Well… no, but things have been so easy the past week and so much fun that this feels a bit harder to deal with by comparison.”

“Hey, little one, you just enjoy walk! It beautiful day to walk.” Le grinned at Suria, knowing what her reaction would be.

“Stop calling me that! You’re not exactly tall yourself.” Suria laughed at her teasing name.

Arias’ voice interrupted their banter. Suria hadn’t heard him approaching. “Buenos dias, beautiful ladies. Ready for the walk?” He had a charming way of introducing himself. He flashed a broad smile at all three of them, but Suria was acutely aware he was watching Le the closest. She was still oblivious.

Suria sighed and started rising from her chair. “I guess so. Buenos dias to you too, Arias. Nice to see your cheerful face.” Her appreciation was genuine. Arias had provoked a true, uninhibited response from her, like he did with everyone.

The four of them moved inside the community centre, where the rest of the group was also getting ready, making last minute changes to their backpacks. Suria was still a bit sore from the epic volleyball game they had all had the day before. It was their second game, and some of the skills were lacking, but it was a lot of fun. It had been Arias’ idea. The equipment was readily available, plus they had the perfect number of people to play it: six a side. She was no good, she knew, but she wasn’t the only one, and everyone had lots of laughs. She wanted to do it again soon.

Some of them were exceptionally good at it. Bia especially astonished Suria with her agility. For such a quiet, gentle person, she really came out of her shell and showed considerable skill. She was adamant she’d never played before, but Gimi had jokingly said she was lying, and anyway, how could she possibly remember? Arias clearly had played before and also had great skills. It was good to have a few of them who knew what they were doing and could teach the others. It promised to be a fun activity for as long as they were together in the village.

Arias promised they would mix the teams up each time, as it was all in fun, he said. No-one really took it seriously, and she didn’t even remember who won or what the score was. She loved being a part of this group. In everything they did, they had fun, they laughed, they supported each other, and they valued opinions and ideas from wherever they came. This was partially down to Rais’ leadership, along with some of the others who showed considerable initiative, but mostly they were just great people, all of them.

Suria’s pack was all set, having prepared it with Rivo and Arias’ advice the night before, as all twelve of them assembled their walking gear together in the community centre. It was kind of fun too, that little gathering. They were focussed but excited, and all committed to what they were going to do. Now it was the actual morning of the walk. The day was here. She hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders and headed out the back door of the games room and onto the path with the rest of the group.

After a few words from Rais to make sure everyone was happy and ready to go, they made a start towards the path where they had met the other six eight days ago. Suria found herself walking next to Tau and Neca on the path out of the village. They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the sun and the fresh mountain air. It had only rained once in the entire two weeks she’d been here, yet the grass and trees were green and vibrant. The air was fresh, and the scents of the valley were subtle but invigorating. She inhaled deeply and could almost feel the oxygen entering her lungs and energising her.

An ongoing mystery to Suria as she walked was the easy, relaxed atmosphere around her companions, no matter who they were. She never had to fill the silence by talking, for the sake of it. She could say something if she wanted, or nothing at all. No-one minded either way.

However, at this time, Tau wanted to start a conversation. “So Neca, how’s your painting going?”

“Good, thank you! I have so much freedom to just do this. I must not have before coming here.”

“Any idea what it is that you painted before?”

“Not sure really. Landscapes maybe. People? I’ve got no idea. I like all types. Drawing portraits I think might be fun – I’d like to try doing that instead of painting them – but for landscapes it has to be oils. Oils are so gorgeous to work with. I love the texture and the bright colours. Brightness in art really excites me. I like my art to be bold and colourful.” Neca was talking rapidly, on a subject she clearly loved.

“What are you going to do with the ones you’ve finished?” Tau asked.

“I don’t know. I haven’t given it much thought.”

“Can you spare one for our house? It’s nice in there, but I’d love to personalise it a bit.”

Neca couldn’t answer quickly enough. “Oh of course, Tau! I’d love to share my work around the group, but only if people want them. You’re not the first to ask, by the way. Rais wants my village painting.”

Suria chimed in at this point. “Oh that is gorgeous, that one, Neca! How did you do that?” Neca had painted the village as if she’d climbed an exceptionally tall tree, because it was an elevated view from the front of the community centre. No-one could work out how she did it. Even she was amazed at how it turned out.

“I still don’t know, Suria. I just kind of imagined it. If I could fly, what would I see? I did walk around a bit from different angles, to get a feel for it. I like it too.” Neca spoke with a subtle tone of humility.

“I’d like whatever you want to give up, Neca. Anything at all. Rais is lucky to have that one though in his house.” Tau was quite keen, but not pushing it too much.

“Oh no, he didn’t want it for his and Le’s house. He wants it up in the community centre. He just asked me last night.”

“Great idea! It would be perfectly placed on the opposite wall right as you walk in the front door.” Suria could picture it already.

“I think Rocsi’s village map should go up too. It’s brilliant, but she’s surprisingly humble about it.” Tau was referring to the detailed village map Rocsi had just completed the day before.

Neca admired it too. “Oh, that is gorgeous, that map. It’s so great. So colourful and artistically done. I’m so proud of Rocsi. I could never do anything as special as that. She is so talented!”

“Oh, that’s rubbish, Neca!” Tau’s tone was teasing. “It is pretty special, yes, but so are your paintings! You have as much talent as she does. I studied Rocsi’s map with her, though, for a while yesterday. It made me wonder about the people who designed our village. They are not your normal builders.”

“Why do you say that, Tau?” Neca had picked up on Tau’s change of tone. Suria was about to ask the same question. Instead she glanced back at the village, now somewhat distant, as Tau replied.

“Well, there is the symmetry of it all. Rocsi went and measured everything, and I mean everything. She told me. Then she checked it all several times, very carefully, and averaged out the results, to reduce error. The village is perfectly symmetrical, left to right. It’s phenomenal. Rocsi is a cartographer, as you know, and she is pretty sure this is not physically possible in today’s construction industry.” Tau’s words astounded Suria. She wasn’t immediately able to assess the implications of this.

“There are those weird symbols above the doors, too. Like some foreign language,” Neca said.

“I have the vaguest notion I’ve seen them before, but I keep forgetting to do more research in the library. I keep getting distracted with other things. Something is always happening. You guys know how this group is.” Suria’s tone was light, referring as she was to the fun and laughter that often occurred around the community centre at times’.

Tau nodded, then continued Suria’s line of thinking. “The symbols on the buildings, the strange symmetrical design of the village. It’s almost some sort of code for us to figure out, but I haven’t the faintest idea how to do it. There’s so many weird things about this village. It’s obvious that there is some elite group running the whole show. It’s just a matter of replaceing out who they are and why they put us here. We are test subjects for some purpose we don’t understand yet. I can’t imagine why I was chosen though. I mean, why pluck a cook from Botswana and bring him to Switzerland?”

“Or a psychologist from Hong Kong, or a painter from Egypt.” Suria agreed with him. “Not to mention everyone else. To me it’s as much a social experiment as anything. I’m wondering if it is actually an experiment, but what would I know? It’s the best explanation we’ve got until the next message hopefully tells us more. There is something else, too.”

“Go on.” Tau was interested in the change of tack.

“Well, Gimi and I were talking the other day about how easy it is between all of us. It seems like that’s planned as well. He and I think we should start doing some personality profiles and seeing if we can figure out why this is. It might give us some insight into our situation; an angle we haven’t thought of, or something like that.”

“What would that involve?” Tau asked.

“Discussions with everyone, trying to understand personality traits, likes, dislikes, extraversion or introversion. That sort of thing. Then we match up people who are getting along best and see if there are any patterns or potential issues. Off the top off my head, though, I can’t think of anyone who has a problem with anyone else. Not even a little bit.”

Tau nodded. “You’re correct there. Me neither.”

“Will you have time, Suria?” Neca’s question was valid. It was only a week until the next message, and the group often got distracted with, well, group things. Like volleyball, going on short walks in small groups and all gathering together on occasions for dinners or lunches together, all twelve of them. Suria loved the group meals because they all helped Tau create them and then they enjoyed the food and the camaraderie while they ate.

The board game parties were great fun too, especially the rapid board games. A few minutes playing one game, then a designated person yells “switch!” and everyone immediately moves to another table with a different board game, against a different opponent, resuming that game regardless of how badly or well the previous player was doing. There was chess, and Sorry!, and checkers, and Monopoly, and others. Lots of variations. So many laughs, so much teasing of each other for playing badly and so much chaos. She loved it.

Suria snapped out of her momentary reverie, taking her mind back to Neca’s question. “We can make a start,” she said. “Gimi’s been great with this. His anthropology knowledge and my psychology knowledge are well suited to doing this, so I think we’ll try it. Why not?”

“It’s nice everyone is replaceing something to do. It will be useful to know this. Very useful.” Neca reflected. She took out her water bottle, as did Tau. The conversation ceased at that point and the three of them went silent.

Later on, after they’d all taken a rest break, Suria found herself walking with Prina and Rivo. Throughout the past week she had been wanting to ask if they were a couple, but felt it wasn’t the polite thing to do, so she didn’t. Above all, they came across as really good friends. There were no public displays of affection. She therefore at this point assumed nothing more. Instead she asked Prina how her clothes-making was going.

“Oh, very good thank you! I am enjoying myself. Something stopped me before now. It must have. Maybe I had a lot of study at university. I want to make up for lost time.”

“She is,” Rivo continued. “Sometimes I wonder – where is Prina? Then I kick myself. I should know where she is.” He laughed, and Prina laughed too.

“Are you making any specific clothing projects?” Suria vaguely remembered some days ago that Prina had said she wanted to start working on something.

“I am, but nothing is finished yet. I’m enjoying being in that artistic environment. I can’t get enough right now.”

“She likes being here with so much freedom.” Rivo seemed pleased that Prina was so happy.

“How about you, Rivo? Are you enjoying the mountains? How is the garden going?” Suria hadn’t talked as much with him as with some of the others. She felt privileged to be temporarily within this special friendship that, according to Le, had started almost the instant they awoke in the aircraft.

“The garden – yes, we have done some plantings. We try to grow some herbs and some vegetables. Do I like the mountains? Oh, Switzerland is bella. Italian mountains very nice too, but nothing like here. Best place in the world to walk. We are so lucky.”

“We are,” Prina continued, following Rivo. “We really are. I talked to Tau again yesterday and asked him again what he thought about us all being a family, sort of. He’s more open to the idea than he was previously. I am not trying to convince him or anything, I just wanted to know. He is enjoying how we all feel together too.”

This triggered a slightly different line of thinking from Suria. “He is older than most of us though. He and Rais are probably around thirty, maybe older. Gimi too. I have to wonder if they have wives or even children. It’s entirely possible.”

“You might be right Suria. We don’t know.” Prina looked downwards, as if thinking deeply on what Suria had suggested.

“You are okay to ask him again about your family idea, Prina. He was not unhappy you did, I think. I know Tau well enough now.” Rivo’s tone was reassuring, but with some doubt.

“Oh no, he wasn’t. I got the impression he wasn’t even trying to talk himself out of it. Even so, there was still something Tau wasn’t saying and now I think I understand what it was. It’s quite possible he might have children too, but he doesn’t remember. I don’t know what that must be like.”

“I can only imagine.” Suria really had no idea.

“Suria?” Rivo appeared to have a question down a totally different line of thinking.

“Yes?”

“You are a psychologist, yes?”

“I am certain of that, yes. Why?”

“What do you know about memory loss?”

Suria had an answer ready for this. “I discussed this with Gimi the other day. There is a psychology book in the library – the one in the arts and music room. I checked it to confirm.”

She looked up from where she was focussing on the path as she was walking, to make sure they were listening. It was about to get a bit technical. They were both intently paying attention.

“Ok, here’s what I know about memory. Stop me if I’m going too fast. There is something called episodic memory and there is something called semantic memory. These terms have only been around for a few years. Episodic memory is exactly how it sounds – it’s episodes from our lives. Events, people, places, things we can think of as being personal to us and occurring at certain times. Our first day at school, a birthday party, seeing a movie. They are all episodic memories. Learning, too, is episodic – for a time. We read a book, we sit in a classroom, and we learn about something for the first time. Then after a while it goes into long term memory and becomes semantic. Am I making sense?”

“The knowledge bank! That’s our semantic memory.” Prina seemed to get it right away.

“Yes, exactly. Semantic memory is everything we know, but it’s not tied to events or a particular time. We just know it. How to ride a bike, how to bake a cake, what the capital of Norway is, and so on.”

“That would be Oslo, Suria.” replied Rivo, giving the helpful but unnecessary answer.

Suria laughed. “Yes of course, and to be honest I had no idea. So we know what the capital of Norway is, but we don’t remember at all when we learned it. Except that now I have an episodic memory of it, when you said it just then, but you don’t remember where you read it or who told you, because it’s no longer episodic for you, Rivo. Do you follow me?”

“Yes I think I do. You are saying we have two types of memory. One is for things we know, the other for events. Something happened to the event one? This is why we can’t remember any family because that is all events?”

“Yes! Pretty much.” Suria was pleased she’d made herself understood. “Something happened to all of our memories with respect to events in our lives. It’s why we know our names, because that’s a knowledge thing. But what I can’t work out, and neither can Gimi – we talked long about this – is why our families aren’t knowledge. Why they aren’t semantic memories.”

“Or our houses, and our workplaces, that sort of thing.” Rivo was thinking hard.

“So, if I understand it, somebody, somehow, removed our episodic…” Prina paused and looked at Suria as if making sure she’d gotten the word right. Suria nodded, and she continued. “… our episodic memories. Not semantic. But why?”

“We have no idea. We have to trust there is a reason. The message said there is and for us not to worry. So I’m trying not to, but it isn’t easy. Worry probably isn’t the right word. It just occupies my thoughts a lot. I really want to know.”

“I think… me too.” Rivo was trying to be brave, but the uncertainty in his voice was obvious. “I would like to know. But, I trust the message. I hope we replace out soon, what happen to us.”

“I cannot imagine where we’d be if not for that message.” Prina spoke gratefully.

“Yes I know. I don’t even want to guess where our anxiety levels would be at. The waves of peace would be off the chart.” Suria had discussed the waves of peace with Gimi; how they worked, who might be sending them, and so on. They had come up with absolutely nothing. She had no answer to give to Prina and Rivo had they asked, but strangely neither of them wanted to talk about the waves of peace at all. In fact, the conversation went silent at that point, and the walk continued. They were now in relatively thick forest, although the path was well defined.

A little farther on up the mountainside, and Suria was starting to tire. As if sensing this, Rais pulled the group up and suggested they rest for a bit. Rocsi said they had about another hour’s walk until they reached the plateau. Suria could already see through small gaps in the trees that, once they reached it, the view was going to be spectacular.

After about ten minutes Suria felt better. They started walking again. The exertion of constantly climbing the mountain was nonetheless starting to wear on them all somewhat. Talking was at a minimum. Suria was focussing on keeping one foot in front of the other, until she heard a shout from up ahead. It was Arias.

“Amigos! Look at that! Hola!” It took a few moments for them to all arrive at the top of the rocky outcrop they had been traversing around. As they were now above the tree line and past the rocks, they could see dramatically farther than before. The wide expanse of the valley was visible in its entirety, including their village down below. The path Suria had taken up to the village on her first day, as well as the one the others had taken down to the village from the other side on their first days, were clearly visible from here. Not only that, but Suria’s side of the path extended out the other side of the forest and along the stream into the distance.

There was clearly a path that would take them to Versena.

Suria’s heart leapt with joy at the sight. They collectively gazed at the scene in silence, taking seats on some of the nearby rocks, or on the grass. Water bottles came out. Lunch followed and the joyful silence continued. Nothing needed to be said; the evidence was there in front of them. Peace enveloped them all.

“Oh, thank god.” Pixie was sitting on a rock next to Suria. “No more bad dreams.”

Without realising, Pixie had said those words loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Bad dreams?” asked Bia. “About what, Pixie?”

Pixie was someone taken aback at having admitted this and looked at Suria pleadingly.

Without missing a beat, Suria turned and spoke to them all, softly. “The night you all arrived from the aircraft, Pixie had a nightmare. Le heard it; she was out walking because she couldn’t sleep. Anyway, we talked to Gimi and Rais the next morning. We decided not to do anything unless it happened again.” Suria looked at Le. Perhaps her vision was worth sharing, but that was up to her.

Pixie continued from where Suria had left off. “I had some trauma before coming here. That I know. The dream Suria just told you about was for me a memory as much as it was a dream. It was vague, though, as far as details go. I couldn’t see much. Just a few… horrible things I won’t talk about here.”

Gimi spoke next. “Suria, we should probably take a quick verbal inventory of any other flashbacks and write it all down when we get back. Le, I know yours, but why don’t you tell the group?”

Suria was nodding at Gimi in response to his direction as Le began to speak. She relayed her vision from seven days ago, stating that it had not returned since then.

Rais spoke next. “I have flashback too.”

“What? How, Rais?” Suria was amazed. He had not even hinted at this previously

“When I first wake up in aircraft, I hear my father speak in Russian, tell me I know what to do next and I get on with it. It help me get my mind straight.”

“Was that related to the aircraft crash you thought you remembered, Rais?” asked Prina. To Suria, this was news, and she was intrigued.

“Yes, all part of same memory. I am in crash some time, but not remember when.” He was definitive regarding his uncertainty.

“So both your father and a possible aircraft crash, no other flashbacks?” asked Tau.

“No more flashback.” Rais turned to Tau. “Only few seconds and not since. You have memory Tau?”

“No, none for me. Nothing like what Pixie, or Le has had. Rocsi does though.”

“Oh, Tau, thanks for swingin’ me in there. I was wonderin’ when it was my turn.” Rocsi laughed at her own exaggerated accent, and this brought smiles to more than a few of their faces. Suria loved her gaiety and ability to take the seriousness out of almost any situation.

She continued. “I think I told y’all about my memory of Michigan football, but I also remember being in a car going somewhere in Detroit and watching colour television for the first time. Only flash memories, mind you, but that’s what I have. No dramatic ones though. Probably for the best.”

Gimi was continuing to facilitate. “Anyone else? Now is the time.”

There was silence for a moment. Then Arias spoke up. “I have a bad memory too. Maybe I was a captive, like Pixie think she was. But I have no details or special things I can remember.”

Suria was immediately concerned. Pixie surprised Suria by being the one to ask the question of Arias. “No details, but what did it feel like, Arias?”

“The only thing I get is that I cannot get out. I have no escape. That is it. I have had it two times. Once on first day at the river, the other time when I was out walking. I was thinking how nice to be free and to walk. Both times very quick and then gone with the waves of peace.” Arias was a little unsure of his words.

“You sound unsure, Arias. Is there more?” Prina asked, voicing what Suria was thinking.

“No, nothing more. Each time it has happened I block it straight away. Or waves of peace block. Something like that. I am only not sure because it is very quick, then it is over. I think maybe that I did not need to share.”

“Oh no, you sure can, Arias!” Suria was adamant. “I want everyone to share anything they can remember. Like Gimi said before, we are going to analyse it all and try to work out what is going on.”

Suria wondered how many more memory episodes or disturbing dreams were yet to surface amongst the group. They seemed to be increasing in frequency. It had to mean something. She was momentarily distracted as she pondered this by the wide expansive view of the valley in front of her and the path that would take them to Versena someday soon. She tuned back into the group conversation after being lost in thought for a few moments.

Rocsi was speaking. “… but Arias has a point. Why do we want to remember? We have such a nice life here. What if we get our memories back and they are all bad? What if we got here only because we were rescued from bad situations, all of us?” Rocsi was somewhat concerned.

“I agree Rocsi. We have a good life here. Our families know where we are, the message said.” Prina’s tone was pragmatic, but hopeful.

Bia was next to talk. “It may be temporary, though. We have to face the fact that one day we will know, and…”

A loud clap of thunder struck right behind them, cutting Bia off in mid-sentence. It was the first time Suria had heard thunder since she’d woken up thirteen days ago. It was coming from somewhere behind the summit of the mountain they’d partially climbed.

They all looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were gathering from beyond the mountain peak above them. “It’s not raining yet, but it will be soon. We have coats. Good thing I tell us to pack, yes?” Rivo had insisted they all bring wet weather gear and was grinning broadly that his foresight had paid off.

Suria paused for a moment and took in the view once more. A breeze had sprung up from the lower parts of the valley and was gently blowing in their faces. It was quite refreshing. The thick green forest below almost obscured their village, but not quite. She felt warmth when she thought of their village. It really was their village – the message had said so. Perhaps Arias was right: why did they want to know? Couldn’t they just assume they’d always lived here and be happy with that? Suria knew this was not practical, not for all of them anyway, probably not even her. She indulged in the thought anyway. The rain started to fall lightly, threatening to increase as it did so.

Rais spoke up. “We should get going. We don’t know how long rain go for. We start soon, maybe we miss some of it,” remarked Rais.

“I agree Rais,” said Rivo, putting his coat on, prompting Suria to retrieve hers from her pack. The rain got heavier.

“We go, come on!” Rais’ words got everyone up and moving. The rain had softened the landscape somewhat. The grass lay a bit lower and the leaves of the trees in the forest hung down more with the weight of the water droplets on them. As if the scene couldn’t get any prettier, it suddenly did.

On the way back down to the village, Suria had an interesting conversation with Le and Rais. The subject of the lightning strike came up in the conversation, and Rais had a curious view of it.

“I wonder if lightning a sign for us,” he said.

A momentary pause before Le responded. “We make too much question, Rais?”

“Yes, I think too much question. Message tell us not worry about memory, we keep asking. I know it interest for you Suria. I understand.”

Suria nodded thoughtfully. “I still believe we will get to the bottom of our amnesia, but then, how do we know when or how? I mean, we were told we would replace out at some point, but there was a subtle message within that. There I go again.”

“What you mean Suria?” Le was looking at her quizzically.

“I mean, that I am overthinking it again. Something I am prone to doing.”

“No, I mean your word ‘subtle’.”

“Oh. I was wondering if it’s going to take a while before we get our memories back. Like weeks or months or something. Why, I don’t know. The message is stalling for some reason.”

“That what I think too.” Rais wasn’t even perturbed by this.

“We wait seven day and we see then? We hope not long time before we replace out?” Le’s questions were not really questions. She was as resigned to the whole situation as everyone else was.

“Yes, Le, we wait. Is the best course. We not been here long. If family know where we are, they not be worried.”

Suria was still mystified by the mention of families in the message. “I hope so too, Rais, but I’ve been thinking about that part of the message – the part about our families. It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“How so?” Rais was a little perplexed. He appeared to have not thought of this too much and to have accepted what the message had said. After all, he had come from a military background. He was probably used to believing and doing what he was told.

“Well, I just replace it strange that we don’t know who our families are, and we never hear from them. What would be the point in that? Okay, we’re staying in a really nice village and it has been comfortable and fun. Life is easy and safe there, but wouldn’t our families want to know we are okay? What if some of us have kids? Wouldn’t they miss their mother or father? Husbands and wives too? I can’t comprehend the benefit of this. It’s been driving me crazy trying to understand the logic behind it.” Suria really was somewhat annoyed. She hadn’t voiced any of this before. She, for the most part, tried her best to take the message at face value. She wanted to give the author of the message the benefit of the doubt.

Whoever designed the village, and dropped them near it, knew what they were doing. This was evident in the intelligent design of the village and the carefully engineered group dynamics, where all of them got along extremely well. No cleaning or housework was required either and everything they could possibly need was given to them; for nothing. All the evidence pointed to a highly capable group running things – one that also had access to advanced technology. If so, they must also have an extraordinarily valid reason for doing this, and perhaps were expecting payback of some sort. Would that mean she and her friends might have to do something unpalatable later on? Suria shut off that line of thinking immediately before it got any worse.

Her thoughts drifted towards the families aspect of the message. So the people who put them here were highly advanced and had technology that the rest of the world had never seen. They must be very smart also. In that case, why block them from seeing their loved ones? What could possibly be the reason? Was this part of the experiment? There was another problem in this line of thinking too. Suria had to get it off her chest as well.

“Guys, one more thought.” They had been silent, pondering her previous words.

“Sure, Suria. Go ahead.” Le’s tone was a little flat, and Suria felt bad about that. She’d probably caused it, but she wanted to work things out. After her last words, Rais and Le had had no response, and had been silent. Come to think of it, no-one else was talking either. She was suddenly aware that the whole group, despite the gently falling rain, could all hear her. She didn’t care. This was important.

“What if this isn’t an experiment?”

“How so?” asked Le.

Suria already had her answer ready before Le asked the question. She was quite sure of herself now. After all, she was the one who originally came up with the idea. This gave her license to modify it. Maybe it was flawed. She couldn’t help herself in getting a bit melancholy with their whole situation. Perhaps it was the frustration at not knowing her personal history; her home, her family, her missing life prior to arriving here. The gaps in her existence as a result of her missing memories had been shoved away and repressed to the point where they were threatening to reveal themselves in their full glory. Perhaps it was also the stalling nature of the message. Perhaps it was the too-perfect environment. Either way, she wasn’t dealing with it all, and the waves of peace had not arrived either.

She answered Le’s question but was really talking to all of them. “The message never even remotely confirmed that this was an experiment. None of us questioned this. No matter how smart we all are, we never questioned it. What if it isn’t? What the hell sort of situation are we in if it’s not an experiment? There are all sorts of other possibilities, not many of which I like, despite how nice the village is. We don’t even know what’s in Versena. What if that path we saw doesn’t take us there? The path isn’t on the map. Don’t you replace that a bit unusual? I don’t like the possibilities that are starting to form in my mind. The more I think of this, the more I wonder if there is any way out of the situation we’re in. We’ve maybe been kidding ourselves that there is. The village and all of its comforts is possibly too good to be true, and that seriously worries me.”

Suria paused momentarily, considering whether or not she should continue. Something else had to be said. The implications of all of what she’d just said were somewhat frightening to her. They led to a conclusion she’d been trying to avoid, but no longer felt she could. She stared off into the distance. Her words came from somewhere else.

“There’s only so long you can live in an incomplete heaven before you realise it’s actually hell.”

There was no response to her words. Just silence from everyone. All that anyone could hear was the crunching of their feet on the gravelly path, trudging down the hill. If she was right, and she was becoming more certain with each passing day that she was, they were returning back to their pretend paradise, to a place where they might be trapped for an indefinite period of time, with no way out.