My World. Part three.

Every time I get in the car, I squeeze my seat tightly and close my eyes. Despite the fact that in the world everyone can fly as an experienced pilot, I still am afraid to fly.

Height scares me. And at the very moment when my mother turns on the engine and presses the take-off button, I close my eyes and count to three.

Three seconds, this is the time needed to take off and be among the clouds.

This time too, I closed my eyes and one, two, three, and we were already in the sky.

"Why are you so afraid of heights? I want to buy your own car."

"Don't. I think I'll always be afraid to fly."

"Once, I also was afraid of heights. But over time, I'm used to it. It's worth getting used to. Otherwise, how you're going to move around the world?"

"In the 21st century, people drove cars on the ground, and it was much more convenient than it is now."

"Why do you always talk about this 21st century? Is this century so interesting? What was memorable about this century?" mother asked and removed her hands from the control panel. Now, our car, in the shape of a drop of water, flew forward without needing anyone's control. And that, I think, scared me, too.

"I don't know, just recently, I came across a book about the 21st century. And I was curious. But life was much different then, than it is now. People used to drive cars, they enjoyed life, they went to work and learned new things. Sometimes, I think, the 21st century was the age when people were just people. Without immortality and all sorts of crazy ideas."

"Worked, studied, were mortals, do you think they really were happy with such a life?"

"I don't know. But it seems to me that the past was much livelier and happier than the present. Look at this world, people don't do anything. They stopped following the knowledge. They stopped dreaming and making plans. Everyone is immortal, rich, no one needs to work, study, everyone just lives. But can it be called life?"

I looked down at the city, which seemed to float under our feet.

A city that had a million skyscrapers, and flying cars that closed the sky.

I looked around and saw in front of me round glowing doors that led to other dimensions that were created by people.

Cars flew into these dimensions, and only we flew past whole rows of doors that hung right in the air.

Other dimensions, the entrance to which was through the door in the air, that's what modern science has achieved. But this is certainly a good thing, because the extra dimensions have solved the issue of the lack of land because of the growth of the population and immortality.

People now need a lot of space to live.

One planet won't be enough for anyone.

Feeling my mother's tender embrace, I looked at her and saw a slight smile on her face.

She said, "You are so special."

When our miracle transport finally landed, I found myself in front of a tall building with multiple columns and a hologram in the form of an image of my mother.

"Well, let's go."

"Mom, wait."

Before I went forward, I hugged her a little bit and said, "You're a great human. Tonight, this evening and all this is in your honor. I'm very proud of you."

Not being a sentimental person, she still lowered her eyes to hide her tears. "Let's go," she said and smiled.

Following the train of my mother's dress, I stared under my feet and paid no attention to anyone until I came across my old friend.

"Okinizeus! Where have you been?"

It was the first question this tall brunette asked me, with purple eyes and many tattoos that were moving right on his skin. (And this is another achievement of science, moving tattoos.)

The man who hugged me tightly is Yundoran. And he, as everyone already knows immortal. That's probably everything you need to know about him.

"I haven't seen you in so long, and all you can do is just look at me like you're seeing me for the first time," he said, and slightly pinched my cheek.

Yundoran and I have been friends since we were kids. But over time, when I got older, I for some reason began to distance myself from him. Although, there was no good reason for that.

"I'm glad to see you," I said softly, and remarked that there were too many people in this too-spacious hall with white walls and ceiling. And all the people were clearly set up for fun and happiness. It could be seen in their eyes, which tried to sparkle.

"And that's all you want to say to me?" And then I remembered why I started to distance myself from him.

He asks too many questions.

I looked into his eyes, which were much brighter than the others. Now, looking at his sincere, not fake facial expression, I suddenly felt ashamed that I ignored his calls and messages. Yundoran, indeed, was a very good friend whose heart was still beating and remembering that it was alive.

A lot of strangers passed by us, and each of them smiled the same way. Because of that, literally everyone was alike.

"Let's find a quiet place," I said, and taking my best friend by the hand, led him away from the center of the crowd.

While my mother was talking to important people, I found a cozy place right on the balcony. I sat on one of the chairs and silently continued to look somewhere ahead, but not on Yundoran.

It happens to me, if I haven't seen anyone for a long time, then I have to get used to this person anew. And it may take some time.

Feeling his hand on my own, I looked at him and caught a glance full of sadness and longing.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Tell me why we stopped communicating?" he asked, approaching me.

I shrugged my shoulders and removed a strand of hair from my face. "I guess, over time, I just have nothing to say to you. I just don't know how to start talking to you."

He suddenly pushed me and said loudly, "So this is it?! You just don't have anything to say to me! And I, then, began to blame myself that maybe I offended you somehow. You're a weird person, so I'm not used to it. So, between us, everything's fine. That is a relief."

Embracing me, he put his head on my shoulder and laughed joyfully. It was only now that I noticed that he was wearing a red shirt and leather pants that made his legs even longer than they were.

"What have you been doing all this time?"

"Me? Well, actually, during this time, while we didn't communicate, I did a lot of useful things."

"Which ones?"

"I read the book you told me about," he said, and laughed loudly.

"Have you read the book? Really?"

"Who do you think I am? Of course, I read the book to the end."

"How do you feel? Do you even remember the names of the two main characters?"

"Romeo and Juliet."

"You've really made progress."

He hugged me again and this time, with all his might, he literally climbed on me and began to push me into the chair.

"I think you've become too brazen!"

"Enough! Let me go!"

When Yundoran began to tickle me, he did not stop until a woman with a dissatisfied look came up to us.

"What are you doing?" she asked, holding a very long glass of golden content inside.

She looked like an octopus.

"What are we doing?"

The woman made an even more dissatisfied look and quickly walked away.

I was wondering why she came up to us at all.

"People are so strange," I said, and finally, I freed myself from the strong embrace of Yundoran.

"Romeo and Juliet, even weirder."

"Do you think they're weirder than modern humans?"

"Well, yes. What kind of thing is this love. And why does love make you do such terrible things?"

"You don't understand anything."

"And you do. Well, of course, you live in the past. And what do you like about the past? Look around, this world, there is no better time than now."

I paused and just looked into my friend's eyes. I haven't spoken to anyone in a long time.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, propping up his chin with his hand.

"It turns out I missed you."

"Missed me?"

"You don't know that feeling?"

"I don't know."

I remembered that feelings in the modern world have become not important at all. And no one really gave them much importance.

Feeling the faint wind, I looked around.

The evening around us was beautiful, but I wanted to see Moonlight and the stars instead of the artificial glow of these huge buildings. I wanted to hear the sound of the sea and the rustling of the leaves than these sounds of flying cars and the ringing of musical instruments that tried so hard to be like a violin or a piano.

Sometimes I felt like I didn't belong to this era. Sometimes I felt like I was from another world, a different time.

"Boys, what are you doing?"

My mother came up to us and gave us a little hug.

"Why are you sitting here?" she asked.

"We talked about Romeo and Juliet and it seems your son just admitted that I am the most important person in his life," Yundoran said and winked at me. I kicked his leg.

"The most important person? I thought that it is me."

"You're my universe, mom. And this guy, he's just an insensitive robot."

"Speaking of robots, Okinizeus, someone wants to meet you."

"Who?"

"Someone who makes robots, machines and immortality."

I think I knew who she was talking about.

After following my mother, we walked through the crowd, which threw suspicious glances at us. And to surprise or shock everyone, Yundoran hugged me and lifted his chin.

I followed his example, and we walked through a crowd that diverged on both sides like kings.

When my mother stopped, she straightened her hair and looked at me with a cursory glance.

Then I realized she was nervous. But I did not have time to say anything, because the next second, we were approached by a tall man, with white hair and blue eyes. From the manner of his movement, I realized that this man, the very popular scientist, who literally built this world.

I used to see this man on TV or his big image right on the sky or on the walls of houses.

But it was the first time I'd seen him in front of me and it was worth it to get closer, as I noticed that he had qualities of women and men. Then, I realized that this most popular person, possibly in the whole world, is genderless.

But do not be surprised, in such an advanced age, people can easily change their appearance and essence. And to become something, like a creature that does not belong to a man or a woman.

And so, that the gentlemen, the man who created immortality, flying machines and rings of the earth, as well as artificial dimensions, was Sennhandd.

He was very beautiful. "He" had long white hair, a thin face with perfect facial features, and large blue eyes. The clothes on him were always white or pure black.

But most of all in this man I liked his look. A look that was filled with questions that never knew the end. And now, it is rare to meet a man with lively eyes, though everyone was immortal, but the eyes of almost everyone had an inanimate, frozen gleam.

"Harmony, how glad I am to see you," Sennhandd said, and lightly hugged my mother. (Yes, I forgot to say that my mother's name is Harmony)

"How are you doing? It's been a long time since we've seen each other."

"That's for sure. But what time is it now? I think time has long left us alone," Sennhandd said. His voice sounded melodic and pleasant. While he was talking, I was looking at him and I was interested to get to know him better. He must have a lot of interesting thoughts.

Seeing me standing still, next to Yundoran, he suddenly made a surprised expression.

My mother stepped aside a little and pointed at me and said, "Let me introduce, my son, Okinizeus."

"Okinizeus?! A beautiful name," he said and reached out to me.

I shook his hand and felt that his palm was colder than the ice.

"It's a great honor to meet you. My name is Yundoran. And I'm Okinizeus' most loved person," Yundoran said with a broad smile.

"It's nice to meet you," Sennhandd said.

To which Yundoran replied, "I thought you were an arrogant person with whom it is almost impossible to talk."

Sennhandd laughed and directed his dreamy look at my mother. "Harmony, it's time for me to go."

When he left, my mother looked at us, and I noticed that she was a little dissatisfied.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Yundoran loudly asked.

"You haven't changed a drop."

After that short conversation, mom left us in the middle of the crowd and soon, we all took our seats in front of the stage.

Bright outfits of people and strange voices, which seemed to sound from some muffled place, surrounded me.

And sometimes, I heard my name in conversations.

Throughout the room, I only knew one person. And he was sitting next to me.

"Tomorrow, are you free?"

"Tomorrow, I don't have anything to do. Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Yes, I want to show you something."

"Good."

"And today I will spend the night at your house. I have a lot of things I want to tell you about."

I nodded my head and the next second, the light in the room went out, and only the stage glowed with bright lights of joy and eternal celebration.

When the lights went out on the stage and then immediately lit up, Sennhandd appeared in front of us.

Now he was wearing a white suit with a delicate shirt with ruffles. His long hair hung perfectly on both sides of his shoulders.

Well, blue eyes, even in such darkened light, sparkled just like two stars. And even if people couldn't see the stars anymore, they all had these two stars. And those were the two eyes of the great scientist.

"I am very happy to see you all today. After all, today is an important day, an important triumph of the human mind. And the human for whom this evening was created is true proof that the human mind knows no boundaries. Since the moment when human entered the age of immortality, since then, science, art, literature, all this has changed a lot. But talent remains a talent. And the creator of the next talent, another masterpiece, is Mistress Harmony! She created a whole world filled with the ability to think, speak and create. From - under her pen came a lot of masterpieces, and her way of thinking gave our world, the most beautiful and ingenious creations of art. For her creative thinking and desire to develop the world, I want to give her the Mind Creator Award. And in handing over this award, I know it's a great honor for me and for all of you. Please welcome, Harmony, a great artist and the creator of new ideas!"

When Sennhandd finished his speech, to the sound of applause, my mother came on stage.

And she looked just fine. My heart froze with pride and happiness at the sight of her smile.

Sennhandd, handing her a statuette in the form of a human holding planet Earth, whispered in her ear and then left her alone on stage.

No sooner had she started to speak her speech, as everyone began to clap their hands again. I looked around and through the twilight I noticed that there were no emotions on people's faces. They were just doing what they were supposed to do. All actions, words, emotions, were automatic. And it made me feel a little uncomfortable.

When everyone fell silent, my mom started talking.

"The goal of my life is to create and create a lot. And all my efforts, of course, are not to stand here and listen to the sounds of applause. My efforts, of course, were for the development of art and to show you all emotions, feelings, and what is important for the human soul. My sculpture is dedicated to all the efforts and sufferings of mankind. It's also a symbol of the future. The symbol of a new human who has left his past in order to take off and never fall again. When I was working on this sculpture, I was helped by my son, who with his unusual thinking and view of this world, taught me a lot. Without him, perhaps, I would not have been able to make this sculpture a reality."

When she stopped talking, a thin ray of light fell on me and now, all the attention was on me.

I got up from my chair and smiled, looking at my mother.

After a few more words of gratitude, my mother left the stage.

Upon the return of the light to the spacious banquet hall, everyone got up and returned to their former places. But the faces of all were still the same.

And most importantly, no one really talked.

"Your mom is so beautiful," Yundoran said, sipping fresh, orange juice.

"Have you seen the faces of all people? It's like they're not alive."

"Forget it. Leave them alone. I'm like, I don't care about people. I'm just enjoying eternity."

"And what do you plan to do for the rest of eternity?"

He scratched his head and made a confused expression. I liked looking at him when he thought. I've always thought it was funny.

He said, "I don't know yet. But I guess I'll just live and explore this world. And also, I will always be there for you."

I was amused by what I heard.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

Once again, when he hugged me, he almost knocked me to the floor, but he stopped at the sight of Sennhandd, who was heading in our direction.

Sennhandd, striding as if he were floating, came up to us.

I didn't know how to behave next to such a great man.

Yundoran, not daring to stand and remain silent, said, "It is a great honor for me to see you so close."

I heard a sarcasm in his voice.

Sennhandd, lowered his eyes, as if he felt ashamed. I liked his personality. He always acted like he was an ordinary man. He never shouted that he was a great scientist, without whom there would be nothing.

"Your mother is very talented and intelligent. Now, such minds are rarely met. You too are probably just as smart," he suddenly said without looking at me.

"This guy is very smart. He reads books at the speed of light and I think he's read all the books in this world. He's the smartest man," Yundoran said and patted me on the back, then hugged and proudly lifted his head up.

Sennhandd, now staring at me, asked, "What books are you reading?"

"Basically, history books."

"So, you like the story?"

"Yes."

"Interested in the past, well, what about the present?" he asked and came closer. But it didn't make me feel any awkward. To my surprise, in the company of this man, I was calm.

"The present scares me a little bit. But the past, studying those times, I feel safe."

"Unusually. I like the way you think."

"Why don't we take a walk? Look, I think I see the stars. Come on, " Yundoran said, and taking us both by the arms, led us forward.

He was right. Once we were outside the building, as my gaze caught the distant glow of the stars. It was only three stars and then, a few minutes later, the machines closed them, and this beauty remained only in the memory.

"How pathetic. The stars disappeared again," Yundoran said and sighed.

Sennhandd, looking at the sky with eyes full of dreams, smiled and said, "I think I know why you like the past."

"And why?"

A traffic patrol flew past us in the form of small glass spheres, the purpose of which was to catch those who violated the celestial movement.

I loved looking at these little glass spheres. They reminded me of something fabulous and pleasant.

Looking at these spheres, Sennhandd replied, "In the past, the sky was always open. People could watch the stars and admire the Moon. You probably like stories where people looked at the moon and dreamed. And then when they saw the first morning rays of the sun, they felt a new hope."

"You're right. With the sky, it was different."

"A boy who lacks the sky," Yundoran whispered and directed his romantic gaze high into the sky. But iron drops floated slowly and without any sound over our heads.

"Previously, people could see beauty in simple things. And also, all lived side by side with nature. But not now. And when I lack beauty, I just start reading and immediately go to the distant past. When someone ran on the green steppes and felt the fresh wind, and then with the arrival of the night, admired the sky and fell asleep, expecting from tomorrow something new. I think then, a man valued his life more. Because a man had time. Now, what does a man have? Only a cold eternity that stretches far ahead. In a straight line."

Sensing Sennhandd's gaze, I stopped talking, even though I had so many words, so many emotions. And it was easier for me when someone listened to me.

"I understand you," he said, and slightly touched my shoulder.

"But we need to be grateful. If before, people had beauty and nature. That wasn't for long. The man was mortal. And now, thanks to you, everyone is immortal. And I think that's a good thing. Even if before, a person could admire the sky, the stars, now, everyone can fly into space and look at the star up close," Yundoran said and pushed me lightly as a sign that we should go.

Hearing my mother's voice, I turned back and noticed that she was waiting for me.

But before I could leave, Sennhandd stopped me and said, "If you want to see the sky, come to my lab. You know where I am, don't you?"

I was surprised by his words.

"Yes, I know."

"Can I come too?" Yundoran asked.

It seemed to me that he would start jumping and hugging the scientist with happiness.

"Of course," Sennhandd replied, and without saying anything else, slowly and silently left us.

"What were you talking about?" mother asked.

"He invited us to his lab! I can't believe it! I always thought he was an arrogant man! And he is so simple and ordinary!"

"Sennhandd is very kind. I'm glad you found common ground with him."

"He just invited us to his lab. You don't have to make a noise out of it."

Sky.

Have you ever felt like you were short of air?

Every time I go out, I feel like I have no air to breath at all.