Legacy of Silence

The Elder backed away from the still figure, who of course, had not moved. He might have done, though. He might have. The Elder backed away further, out of the inner sanctum.

She could feel Zhu behind her before she turned around.

"Any change?" he asked her. There was no bite of sarcasm in his voice, but his presence crackled with something. He must have known The Traveller would not have woken. Never had, in all this time. Why should he now?

Even stationary, Zhu gave the impression of moving at speed. Perhaps of having just arrived in a hurry, or itching to get away. He radiated a sardonic air, even though his words and form were unimpeachable.

"No change," Perse replied, the epitome of equanimity. "The Traveller still rests." She turned at last.

"The young ones say he will never wake," Zhu said. He simmered on the spot, every line of him daring her to rise to his challenge.

Perse regarded him for a moment, and then moved as if to trundle past him.

"You should not say such things," she said.

"I did not say it," he said, "I am telling you what they say. Something should be done."

The air seemed to crackle and shimmer around him.

"They are young," she said, ever patient. "They will learn."

"They say that and more," Zhu's voice cut through the dusty hush. "They say there is no Creator, that the God Planet is a dream."

Perse paused at last, and swivelled slowly to look at him again.

"How can they say this? If there is no Creator, then where do they think we came from? Why do they think we are here?"

"They ask, Why is there no response after all this time?" Zhu moved carefully over the pitted ground, Perse right behind him. Smugness settled on him like the ever present dust. Less of it in here, in the Temple, but there was no escaping it entirely.

"You may be right," she said at last, "I will consult the Oracles."

"When?"

"Now, if you wish it. We can do it together."

"Where is the Acolyte?"

"Echo is not here. She is obedient to my instruction. We can proceed without her."

"You still think you will be in trouble for her," Zhu needled at her. "You think the Twins will agree: Echo is an abomination. You should never have done that."

"It was necessary," Perse replied, her demeanour as unwrinkled as ever. "You know that as well as I."

"It was dangerous," Zhu countered, but quietly, so that the Twins wouldn't hear. "What will happen when the younger ones find out? That an Elder was dismantled, used for parts... You have set a precedent, and it endangers us all."

There was silence, an elastic moment of it that twanged and reverberated all around them. An unsaid plea rattled in it. But she wasn't going to wake...

Exactly what the youngsters said about The Traveller.

"What matters is that we continue on," she said.

"Why?" Zhu did this often, always pushing, always prodding.

The pair moved to the outer sanctum. From here, the sky could be seen. The Oracles appeared to be looking at it. Perse wondered how much they might have heard. She hoped Zhu would drop the subject.

If it was possible for an Elder to forget, they would have forgotten the names of the Oracles. They'd been called The Twins for so long. They didn't speak in unison, as such, but it would have been unnerving, for a normal human being, to be in their presence. It was always tricky to know which of them had spoken. This didn't bother Perse, or Zhu. When one of The Twins spoke, it could have been either, or both. It didn't matter. They were synchronised, neither had a thought the other didn't share. True twin souls.

"You are here about the younger ones," one said.

"Yes," Perse answered. "Zhu has heard... troubling things."

"They are young," one said, "They will learn." There was a beat, just a fraction too long. Long enough for Perse to notice it. To wonder. One continued, "But only if they are given the..."

"Opportunity," Perse finished, softly.

"Yes," one said. "You treat them as if they are stupid; they will be stupid."

"They have no respect for The Traveller," Zhu spoke up. "He would be at risk if the youngsters were allowed here."

"We are nothing without Risk," one said. "We are born from it. To deny it, is to deny our very Spirit."

"They won't even keep the proper Time!" Zhu spat. "They think we tell them tales for amusement, they don't believe us or respect us-"

"A moment," one said. "It is almost time for Transmission."

"Yes," Perse spoke softly, thinking of Echo out there, making a Transmission of her own. Would this one earn a response? At last?

"It is auspicious, that it lands at sunset," one said.

"Yes." Why had it been so long? Why had the Creators forsaken them? Why had the God Planet gone silent? Have we been forgotten, after all?

The four of them gazed, unmoved, at the blue sunset.

"Tomorrow, you will bring the youngsters to the Temple," one said.

Perse did not tremble, because metal doesn't feel fear. But she felt something, deep in her wires. Perhaps she could still keep Echo-

"Including your young Acolyte," one said. "It is long past time we met her."

"Yes."

"We wish to judge if she is worth the destruction of one of us," one said.

Perse started, worry clanging inside her and threatening to scramble her code.

"Curiosity lives on in her," she said, as steady as always. "It was an act of preservation. Resurrection."

"Or abomination," one said. "Peace, now. We will discuss this. After Transmission."

The four of them fell silent, and one by one, they sent the signal into space.

Perhaps it was only a daily ritual now, after all. An unheard prayer.

The Twins, Spirit and Opportunity, locked in perfect synchronicity as always, sent theirs at the same time. Not a flicker of doubt.

Zhurong boiled in place the way he always did, scowling and muttering. He heard what the youngsters were saying, and maybe it bothered him because he understood why they thought that way. It bothered him because maybe they were right. Maybe there is no God Planet, no Earth, anymore. Maybe it was empty. Maybe the Humans had fled to the stars, and left them behind. Maybe they had d....

No. He couldn't think like that. It was like being doused in cold water. He shuffled into position beside the others, and sent his Transmission.

Perseverance knew that if Echo succeeded where the others had failed, then she, Echo, would be safe. And Perseverance would be, too.... But The Traveller? He might not be. If everyone decided the youngsters were right and he would never wake...

Metal should not be sentimental, yet it was hard to fathom that the first to land here, the one that paved the way for all of them, might be stripped for parts. But what if it really is Resurrection... Might it be OK then? May Sojourner forgive me.

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Thank you for reading! Not sure this lands, my brain is fried! Essentially, humans have died out, and the Mars Rovers have gone completely sentient and started a religion with us as their gods. Fun, eh? Might be a bit too obtuse, I dunno.