The Grid

 

When they were about halfway, the smell became salty and fresh, and the air cooled down a little. And after just a minute or so, they landed on the beach, on sand so white it reflected the sunlight. Thomas stood perfectly still, sensing the warmth of the grains of sand on his feet, and the fresh sea breeze made his hairs stand up, regardless of the jacket his avatar was wearing.



The beach was just as beautiful as every other place they had been, but it was rougher and sharper. The white sand was soft, but there were big white stones lying further down the beach, and huge cliffs could be seen at the horizon. Seagulls were screaming while they were circling through the air.



‘I used to go to a beach like this one,’ golden helmet guy said shyly.

‘Most people base their worlds off of a place they know,’ Thomas said.

‘But I didn’t build this,’ he said quickly.

Puzzled, Thomas thought about that response. It was impossible. Someone must have built this, somehow.

‘Did this place pop up out of nowhere, then?’

Golden helmet guy shrugged. ‘I don’t remember how I got here, and maybe I have added things along the way... but... I could never have built all of this! It would have taken me forever!’

Well, that was true. Thomas still didn’t understand any of it, but he had had enough of logical problems. He sat down in the white sand and took off his shoes, the shoes that had once been pixelated but were now cooler than the shoes he owned at home.

‘Are you going in?’ the avatar asked.

‘Oh yeah!’

‘Wait for me!’



Splashing through the low water, they ran into the ocean. The water was warm, and when Thomas took a look at his feet, he noticed it was intensely light blue of colour, more like the sea in touristic advertisements than what it actually looked like. Feeling so damn happy about being here, he attacked golden helmet guy by splashing water all over him. He laughed and his helmet blinked in the shape of a grin.



‘Hey, look at this,’ Thomas said, holding up a shell with a gorgeous, vein-like pattern of deep red on bright green.

‘There’s so many of them, but that one is great,’ the avatar said. ‘I’ve never seen one like that before.’

He approached Thomas and looked at the shell himself. ‘Wow,’ he mumbled. ‘You know, I have a collection.’

‘Where?’

‘In that cave back there. I should put this one there, too.’



Holding his shoes in his hand, Thomas enjoyed the almost forgotten feeling of walking through sand with wet feet until they reached the small cave golden helmet had been talking about. It was relatively dark, but some light shone through a hole above them, making the shells gathered there sparkle like gems. Thomas picked up some of them, studying the way they gleamed and twisted. They were real pieces of art, and there were even a few shells that looked exactly like the ordinary ones he had picked himself as a child. The small ones with a few pink lines on them, the boring white ones the entire beach was filled with, and the black ones that shone in green, silver and purple on the inside. He glanced at golden helmet beside him, who was carefully putting the shell Thomas had found next to a similar one. There was no question about the inspiration for this collection. The guy with the golden rainbow helmet was a human being who had walked the earth. He had to be.



‘It’s getting dark,’ golden helmet commented on the sky, that had become blacker in the time they had been in the cave. Thomas looked over the ocean, and at that moment, tiny red lights flashed in the distance.

‘What was that?’ he said, suddenly alarmed because he was in a dark place and had no idea how to get out.

‘Oh, that’s the city,’ golden helmet answered. ‘It has lights everywhere, so it can send out signals to travellers.’

‘Travellers?’

‘Us,’ the avatar winked.



When they entered the city, Thomas couldn’t help but experiencing a deep, desolate feeling of loneliness. Lights were blinking on and off, and inside of the countless buildings lamps were switched on, for no one. There were newspapers on the streets, scattered by the wind, but they were the only objects there. Traffic lights regulated the non existing traffic. The entire world had been relatively empty, but in an urban area, where you would expect people, it struck a strange snare. Thomas looked beside him.



If this was all just a dream, a creation of a subconscious mind, that mind did probably not have much affinity with people.



‘This is really strange,’ Thomas said, feeling more and more out of place in the absolute silence.

‘Yes, I think so too,’ golden helmet said. ‘But I come here mostly for the music.’

Now that he had mentioned it, peculiar, electronic melodies entered Thomas’s ears. They followed them, and they grew stronger, until they found the source inside of the largest building, precisely in the middle of the city. There were at least fifty floors that all looked alike, but there was a different melody on each one of them



‘This is sort of my library,’ golden helmet laughed while they were climbing the stairs to the 34th floor without any effort. ‘My memory. It’s useful for my work.’

‘Really?’ Thomas asked, genuinely interested in this guy’s daily life. ‘What do you do?’

Reluctantly, he admitted: ‘I’m a dj.’

Thomas’s eyes became big when he looked at this small guy, standing in the disco lights.

‘So am I.’

Golden helmet made an exclamation mark appear on his screen, and his avatar jumped up and down a few times in enthusiasm. ‘I knew there had to be some similarity between us!’

‘Yes, that is a coincidence,’ Thomas smiled. ‘We should work together some day.’

Returning to his shy persona, golden helmet seemed to carefully consider that suggestion.

‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘I think I want to.’

Thomas laid a hand on his shoulder, happy to finally have some sort of a partner. He didn’t know how much he was worth in real life, but he was the best melody- and dreamscape builder imaginable in here, and that counted for something. Besides, if they actually decided to go through with it, they would have to meet in person. Thomas was so curious he could hardly wait.

Golden helmet moved back a little, but seemed just as happy with their agreement after the initial shyness about physical contact had disappeared.



They went to take a listen to every single floor. Golden helmet had a huge load of material stuffed in here, and Thomas felt optimistic about their possible future projects together, if they would ever get as far as meeting each other offline. Even if he would have to wait a year, or more, Thomas would do it. Another partner would do, but it would be such a waste of potential. He wanted to work with golden helmet guy, no matter how impractical it would be. His tunes were great, and his imagination was truly endless.



‘The mirror lake is on top of this building,’ golden helmet guy said when they were on the highest floor.

‘And what’s that?’

Golden helmet guy sighed. ‘It’s amazing. You’ve got to see it.’

Suddenly, he looked up, as if he was startled by something. ‘I’ll have to leave soon,’ he explained.

Feeling more disappointed than he would ever admit, Thomas said ‘oh’.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll have time for the mirror lake,’ golden helmet assured him.