Chapter 20 — An Invitation

Baby Eugene was growing surprisingly fast. He was no longer a newborn. In a few weeks he grew as much as other babies usually grow in months.

His parents suspected that this fast paced development was somehow connected with Fluffy's plots. After all, she somehow programmed him when he was still in his mother's womb. They perfectly remembered how she gently massaged Angie's belly with her paws back then, in a precise rhythm, working her magic on the baby inside, giving him extra strength, and maybe superhuman capabilities.

Anyway, Eugene was very fond of milk. This was also helping him grow fast. In fact, he liked milk so much that his parents started to nickname him "Milky".

Meanwhile, Marvin had become an expert at changing diapers, and Angie was taking good care of the baby during the long nights when she had to feed him many times because of his endless appetite.

In the evening, the child was put to sleep in his bedroom painted with glowing stars all over. The little cuddly toy that looked like an astronaut fox was watching over Eugene, as he was falling asleep. At this hour, Mister Fox would sing a soft lullaby for the baby:

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are…"

Getting out of the baby's room, Angie would slightly close the door after her, without a sound.

After having put the baby to sleep, she would often find Fluffy in the next room, sitting in front of the computer, staring at the screen with intensity.

The cat would be clumsily using her paw to move the mouse and scroll the Internet, looking for God-knows-what.

No one knew exactly what she was searching for, but it looked like she was mostly consulting pages about Ancient Egypt, historical treaties, archeological reports, etc.

Often, the light and the computer's screen would suddenly go out because of a power cut.

"Oh, I'm so fed up with those bloody power outages!" Fluffy would complain, plunged in the dark.

Marvin was sighing:

"I know. This happens all the time since they've decided this World Government thing... We can't even have a warm shower lately! Becomes unbearable…"

Angie was looking puzzled:

"But, what I don't understand is why they're doing this. What is their interest in cutting off the power all the time?"

"Well, they believe it's good for the planet." Answered Fluffy. "Reducing the energy consumption means reducing the human activity per total, which is supposed to be healthier for the planet. The guys who decide these policies actually believe there are way too many people on Earth. And they think it's their job to do whatever they can to reduce human activity and to shrink the population.

"That seems a bit over the top. How could people accept such policies without protesting?"

"Well, they are told that there won't be enough food for everyone if there are too many people on the planet. They're told they have to share the resources that the Earth produces. And the bigger the population, the less available resources for everyone to enjoy."

"Isn't it the case?"

"Of course not! That's nonsense. At which epoch do you think people had more resources available? In the Middle Ages, when there were about five hundred million people on Earth, or in the present days, with eight billion people?

"Hum, yeah. I guess you 're right. Even though... I don't know... It doesn't sound logical."

"What's not logical about what I said? Civilizations create their own resources. See, humans are no longer hunter-gatherers. When they still were, it was true that they had to share the resources produced by nature. When they had finished picking up all the fruits from the trees, when they'd hunted all the game in the nearby woods, there was nothing left to eat for another tribe. But since then, humans have discovered agriculture and farming to produce their own food."

"Yes, but they still have to use natural resources for that... Water, and sun, and land, and energy..."

"And so what? There are plenty of natural resources all around. The amount of energy in the universe is infinite. You just have to figure out how to use it. Was oil a source of energy a few centuries ago? No, people had to wait until the invention of the internal combustion engine for oil to become a source of energy. Was uranium a source of energy? No. Not until the discovery of nuclear fission. So, don't worry too much about the lack of energy. There's energy everywhere. Your civilization is likely to disappear way before there is no more available energy in the universe. But these guys from the Government of Gaia are not able to use their brains. They can't imagine new ways to manage these problems. So, they declare there are no other possible ways than theirs. They want everyone to believe the only way is to destroy the civilization."

"Oh...Okay... Never thought about that in this manner."

"I'm glad you've understood something. But now I'm done explaining obvious things for today. Marvin, since I can never use that damn computer, I would need you to go pick some books for me at the library."

"Huh? Okay, right... What kind of books?"

"I'll tell you what kind of books..."

The next day, Marvin came back home loaded with a pile of books.

There were works about ancient Egyptian royal dynasties, temples and pyramids, archeological discoveries made by the British and the French explorers two centuries ago.

"Now, Fluffy, will you tell us what exactly you're looking for in all this Egyptian stuff? I know you're the reincarnation of their cat goddess - Bastet or something - but..."

Despite Marvin being back with the publications she requested, Fluffy was really not listening at that moment.

She was sitting in front of the balcony, focusing on something.

Her whiskers were trembling with violent spasms. Her throat was emitting high-pitched aggressive sounds.

There was a white bird perched on the guardrail of the balcony.

"Calm down, Fluffy, it's just a bird."

"I... I want to kill!"

She was staring at her prey with lost, widely dilated pupils.

"Hey! We don't do such things here. Aren't you supposed to be a goddess? You shouldn't behave like a mere animal."

"I really need to kill that pigeon..."

"Fluffy!" shouted Angie. "Get a grip!"

Fluffy seemed drawn back to reality, as if waken from a distant dream.

"Huh? S... Sorry. That was my cat instinct that took over."

Marvin put down the books and walked straight to the balcony, agitating his hands to scare the bird away.

"Come on, little buddy, go away. You don't want to stay anywhere near that fierce, crazy, predator."

The white bird flew away on a short distance, but came back and calmly landed on the guardrail again.

It turned its round, placid, eye back on Marvin.

"This little guy doesn't look scared. He's brave. Or stupid. Come on, go now."

Once again, the pigeon took off but landed back on the balcony.

"Look!" said Angie. "It has something attached on its leg."

"Huh ?"

It was true: the bird had a metal bracelet around its leg, from which hanged some kind of silver colored capsule.

"Yeah, I think you're right. There's something there..."

Marvin approached slowly. The bird stood still, letting him reach the small capsule and detach it from the bracelet. Then, it flew away and disappeared behind the buildings.

Marvin unscrewed the capsule. There was a little piece of paper rolled inside.

"A message?"

"It looks like it."

"What does it say?"

It was a message from Gropius. Marvin read aloud:

" Dear Marvin,

"I apologize for having neglected to answer you for so long.

"I know you have been trying to reach me. And I believe it is because you are searching for the Truth. The fact that I have failed you makes me feel sorry.

"Unfortunately, I have been very busy these last days.

"I have moved out of town. It had become an unbearable place for me since I had my visions.

"Since then I have been trying to warn people, to help them see the reality beyond the appearances. I knew that my visions were true, and that what they could see on the screens was false. But they laughed at me. Everybody thought I was some kind of lunatic.

"And who could blame them? I would have probably laughed too if I wouldn't have had these visions of mine.

"But you were more clever than that. You were one of the very few who trusted me, who wanted to learn more.

"But I probably disappointed you. For this, once again, I would like to apologize.

"Of course, I would be glad to make up for the delay by answering all the questions to which I have an answer.

"As I've written before, I have left the city and live now secluded in nature.

"Hereafter are the GPS coordinates where you can find me. Come whenever you want.

"Truly yours,

"Gropius

"P.S.: I really hope this message reaches you.

"Nowadays, a carrier pigeon is more reliable than an e-mail or a phone call with all these power outages.

"Plus, I believe they monitor the regular communication channels."

"Oh, wow..." said Marvin when he finished reading the message. " This guy is completely nuts."

Fluffy, who had been listening carefully was now thinking.

"Do we still go visit him?" asked Marvin.

"Of course we go." she answered.