GLASS OF THE SUN
Henry N. Silva
NOTE: The following story is technically a sequel to my book Sunrise Order. That said, I did my best to structure this story in a way where it can be read without needing to also read the book that precedes it.
Kane faces the blue sunset…
In times of stress, the sun of his home-world usually manages to put him at ease. He cherishes that blue sun, against the reddish-gray sky, the two colors meshing perfectly together, across the world of Deltax…
But everyone knows that Kane doesn’t just admire the sun for its beauty. He needs that sun, more than any ordinary human ever could…
He remembers hearing the bedtime stories from his parents, over and over, when he was just a little boy. Night after night, they told him of the time, centuries ago, when humanity first came to Deltax, and how some of those very first settlers became blessed by the blue sun. These chosen few soon found themselves with heightened strength and intelligence. They were humans no more…
They and their descendants became known as the Sunchildren, and together, they formed the everlasting Sunrise Order.
And you’re a Sunchild too! Kane remembers his mother first saying to him, so long ago…
The young man continues to gaze at the sunset, feeling his mind clearing with each passing second. Back when he was a child, hearing the stories about his ancestors for the first time, he dreamt endlessly of the many ways he would use his “gifts” to bring peace to the people of Deltax. But now, as a young adult, he questions everything…
Soon enough, he takes his attention off the sun, focusing instead on the desert around him, feeling his golden travel suit growing heavy with heat. He’s been wandering between the four regions of Deltax repeatedly for months now, unsure where he belongs…
“Hey,” a voice suddenly calls out.
Kane turns around, only to find Dean, a fellow Sunchild roughly his age, approaching him from a small town nearby. He bares dark armor, accentuated with purple, the color of The West.
“You sure you don’t wanna stay for awhile?” Dean shrugs, “I know you’re just passing by and all, but figured I’d ask anyways.”
Kane responds with a shrug of his own, and then faces forward once more. Squinting his eyes, he can see a space port on the horizon, a ship taking off into the faint stars above.
He turns back towards Dean, “You ever thought about what’s out there?”
Dean raises an eyebrow, “Out where?”
Kane briefly points up to the sky.
“Ah,” Dean nods, now understanding. “I’ve read enough about the other colony worlds. Don’t really need to see them. Besides, our powers don’t work out there.”
Kane shrugs yet again, “Is that really a bad thing? Look how much turmoil there is here between the regions. And it’s all cause of us.” He lowers his head and sighs, “Maybe being a Sunchild isn’t worth it… Maybe there’s more to life anyways.”
Dean remains silent, unsure what to say…
Kane looks back up. Suddenly, off the corner of his eye, he sees something else.
“What’s that?” He points to what looks like a giant magnifying glass, standing tall above a small, nearby mountain.
“Oh, that,” Dean laughs. “From what I understand, like hundreds of years ago, our ancestors here thought it could help to multiply a Sunchild’s powers, as long as they stood in front of it when the sun’s position was just right, I guess.”
“Multiply our powers?”
“Yeah.” Dean elaborates, “Like increase our intellect to the point where we can accurately predict the future and whatnot.”
Kane’s eyes widen with wonder, “And did it work?”
“No, but they left it there anyways. Guess they just thought it looked nice.”
The visitor continues to stare, unable to take his eyes off the fixture, “Am I allowed to get a closer look?”
“Don’t see why not.” Dean motions with his arm for the wanderer to follow him, “C’mon.”
Together, they head on over to the rock formation, helping one another up to the summit. Then, with a deep inhale, Kane leaps onto the two-dozen-foot structure, pulling himself upward, the sun giving him all the strength he needs…
Carefully, he examines the rusted, metallic rim around the glass, finding exactly what he expects, “I knew it!”
“Knew what?” Dean calls from below.
Kane makes his way back down, “The left side of the rim is rigid, and the rest is smooth.”
“So?”
“So,” the traveler continues, “a part of the original structure must’ve been broken off.”
“You’re saying there’s a piece missing?”
Kane nods.
Dean looks back up, studying the monument, “What could possibly be missing?”
“Another glass, maybe,” Kane explains. “Another lens. Maybe one that could actually make the whole thing work. Maybe we can actually find out if all the regions really will unify again someday.” He strokes his chin, “The hard part now is actually finding another giant glass lens to attach to it.”
Dean faces his friend once more, “I think I might actually be able to help with that.”
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
The pair of Sunchildren watch, as a new layer is placed upon the great glass of the sun, by various assistants…
“Sure is a good thing you know glass-makers down South,” Kane jokes, before turning his head towards Dean. “You must miss it there sometimes, right? It’s where you’re originally from, after all.”
“Sometimes,” Dean admits.
Kane clears his throat, “I’ll be honest… The South is actually my least-favorite region.”
Dean can’t help but break out into laughter, “Is that so?”
“Don’t take it personally,” Kane elaborates, “It’s just… The Northern Sunchildren follow a corrupt government. The Western Sunchildren take the law into their own hands too much. The Eastern Sunchildren think that just giving normal people advice is enough. But at least they all try. The Southern Sunchildren don’t.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Dean rebuttals. “The Southern Sunchildren just like to, I don’t know… Think for themselves. If they wanna help the community, they help. If they don’t, they don’t. That’s all, really.”
“Then why did you leave?”
Dean shrugs, “Sometimes it’s less stressful when someone else is calling the shots.” He turns his head towards Kane, “Why did you leave The North?”
Kane lowers his head and sighs, “Got tired of someone else calling the shots.”
Suddenly, one of the workers walks up to them both, “We’re done! It’s all good to go.”
“Perfect timing,” Dean says, pointing to the sun in the sky, just as it’s about to line up with the glass. He lowers his arm, turning back towards Kane, “You sure you wanna do this? Could be dangerous.”
The visitor nods, determined, “I’m ready.”
With that, everyone else backs away, giving Kane all the space he needs… Soon enough, the sun aligns itself with the glass, its beams hitting Kane straight in the face. He closes his eyes. Everything feels normal at first… And then, suddenly, he feels his own brain beginning to change, running algorithms on a scale it never had before…
In time, all the different calculations begin to present themselves in the forefront of his mind as visions. He sees a utopia. A bright, happy place where all four regions live together in harmony. No conflict. No bloodshed on their hands… And then, the vision begins to change, as his calculations move further into the future. The utopia collapses, morphing into a dystopia. A dark landscape, scarred in warfare…
His brain keeps working. He’s even further into the future now. The utopia is back, rebuilt from the ashes of war… And then it collapses once more, warping again into the hellish vista…
He continues to move more and more through time, but nevertheless, the cycle remains the same. Eternal conflict, intercut with periods of peace.
This can’t go on forever, he tells himself. It has to end somewhere!
Relentlessly, he keeps pushing his mind, hoping to see the utopia again, at the end of the planet’s lifespan… Alas, he quickly realizes that he cannot see that far. No one can, for such an end is too distant for any accurate predictions to be made…
As the sun moves away from the glass, Kane collapses to the ground. Dean and the others there with them rush over to help him back up.
“You okay?” The Western Sunchild asks.
“Yeah,” Kane nods, catching his breath.
“So what did you see?”
Kane doesn’t answer…
THE NEXT DAY
Kane Solaris finds himself standing on a long line, waiting to enter a starship, there at the space port…
Disillusioned, he’s anxious to leave the world of Deltax behind, to make a new life for himself, powerless… Determined to take his mind off stressful thoughts, he begins to look around, at the others there in line with him. To his surprise, he notices other Sunchildren, still wearing their uniforms.
For a moment, he takes comfort in the fact that he’s not the only member of the Sunrise Order abandoning their own birthright. He and the other Sunchildren there are likely not the first to leave, and they certainly won’t be the last…
Suddenly, his people-watching leads him to a new realization; the other Sunchildren there with him sport green and orange, the colors of North and East, but silver, the color of The South, is nowhere to be found…
In that very moment, he thinks back to Dean’s own words:
The Southern Sunchildren just like to, I don’t know… Think for themselves.
SEVERAL DAYS LATER
Kane Solaris makes his way through the endless snow of the southern region…
In the distance, he sees the capital city of The South. A place for him to finally settle… A place to call home.
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