Exploits of a Hummingbird Author: SSP: The Ending, the Beginning

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Max Kirin.

The End, the Beginning

The modern world is something I will never understand. I feel like a time-traveler out of place with my own existence; stuck in an alien world where I never belonged. This of course is just an exaggeration─It's the year 4200 and there has been no advancements in the field of time travel for centuries. We managed to go into the future, but never the past─It was basically glorified cryogenics. Those who did manage to go forward in time eventually went mad; a terrible side effect of seeing the future but never going home.

I've always lived in this time so I couldn't go mad even if I wanted to─I just felt more connection to those of the 22cnd century. Ancient history was my favorite subject in university. It was going to be my life-path upon graduation─that is, if the world wasn't going to end after the graduation ceremony.

It's not as if the world was revolving around my school, the dates just happened to line up so the uni pushed back the ceremony to match the time. What a joke. The worst part is that it isn't as though life would cease...it'd be easier if we were all dead.

No, a few years ago we were visited by beings from the fourth dimension─we, humans, are scheduled to evolve into 4-D beings; leaving our carbon-based life behind. No, we had a whole new existence ahead of us. According to our top government officials, we will no longer have suffering, or poverty, or death...but we also won't have what we would consider free will─all for the spiritual connection to the universe.

Great. Glad to know I worked my ass off the last eight years of uni just to become a gaseous being with no individuality. Well, at least I don't have to worry about my loans.

It took all of three years to convince all of humanity that this is the step we need to take. At the beginning of this year we broke the 99.999 percentile─complete participation. I may not be entirely stoked about it, but I certainly won't be the person who holds us all back by indecision. The beings made it very clear, if a single human being disagreed─the whole of us would have to wait for the next century to apply again. No way am I going to be that pariah.

The air was crisp, like a fresh bottle of oxygen being cracked after a long day of studying. The one thing I do appreciate about my time-period is the weather─apparently we came really close to killing the whole planet. Today was a significant improvement to those days; a constant 74° with a perpetually partly-cloudy sky.

It was in this beautiful weather that I was basking as I was sprawled across the grass of the quad. My fingers traced across the blue satin gown. I would've been more excited about it if I didn't know it would be the last thing I wore.

"Hey you, whatcha up to?" Their voice was sweet, friendly, familiar.

I opened my eyes to see the handsome person shading my eyes from the sun.

"Hey Yxzy."

"Come on Psi, we're gonna be late." They gave me a hand to my feet.

"Do we really have to?" I folded my arms across my chest as they wiped the grass off my back and butt. It wasn't exactly strange─we have been close friends all of our lives.

"Sure it's just for show, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun, no?" Their pearly teeth broke the tan skin of their face.

My shoulders fell backwards. "I guess we can give them a good show."

We made our way across the quad as the sun slowly descended down the mountainside.

"So what do you think of all this?"

"All of what?" Yxzy asked, skipping a stone across the pond to our left.

"Y'know...the end?" They weren't looking at me so I could read their reaction─but there definitely was one.

"I don't know. It's a good thing, right?"

"That's what they tell us."

"I mean, it's not like we got anything going on..."

I frowned, I'm not sure why but I didn't like their nonchalance.

"...like, we are graduating tonight─it's not as though we are leaving anything important behind."

"Well what about our humanity? That's important." I don't know why I was getting so defensive─they just seemed so negative about it.

"I guess..." We stopped to sit by the pond─who cares if we were going to be late.

"I mean..." They continued, "it's not like we were doing anything useful with it."

I huffed as I turned to face them, "But it is ours. We have made it this far with just our civility, why not leave the fourth dimension to the gas folk."

They raised an eyebrow at me, "Hey I thought I was the one who was supposed to be bitter about the change...you got some doubts?"

The tree frogs glided gracefully across the pond and up into the trees─where they hung and watched us with their bulbous eyes.

"I don't know, there's just..." my face slowly flushed, do I want to say this out loud?

Yxzy looked at me nervously, trying to read me. "What is it Psi?"

I took a deep breath and looked down, looked at the pond, at the frogs; anywhere but Yxzy's beautiful emerald eyes. "There's some things I'm not looking forward to...to losing."

I glanced up and they were staring into my eyes─closer than I had thought. My breath caught. "I know what you mean."

I may not have been a time traveler, but I know when the world stops moving. We were caught in that moment and nothing else mattered.

They brushed a golden strand of hair from my face and my heart leapt from the electricity of their touch.

Their voice was quiet and sweet. "Psi."

Mine was barely above a whisper, "Yzzy"

They smiled, this was my most endearing nickname. "Psycho."

I laughed and playfully pushed him─but not hard enough that we would lose distance.

They started again, "Psi...I don't know if I should say this..." trailing off.

"What? You can tell me anything." Is it? No way. This can't be happening. But it is! Eight years of liking them, eight years of failed relationships for us both. Could this be it? Are they going to tell me what I've wanted to say for so long? I could only hope.

Yxzy placed their hand on my warm, blood filled cheeks. "YOU are the thing that I am afraid of losing."

They closed their eyes and slowly leaned forward. I thought time had stopped before, but in these moments it was slower than ever. I closed my eyes, anticipating our lips' embrace. They pressed them against mine, softly and slowly─mine tried to pull in more but their strong hold kept them in control. My hands work their way through Yzzy's messy green hair─pulling them closer. I'll be damned if I let this moment pass. I've been waiting too long to lose this dream. I wanted more than anything to melt into them and to make us one.

Though our timeline was frozen, the moment couldn't last forever.

We were shooed away from the pond and hurried off to the ceremony; but we did so hand in hand. Our lives may be over in a matter of hours, destined to be unfeeling balls of gas─so I'd be damned if I couldn't spend every last second with Yxzy.

We spent the whole ceremony in giddy whispers and soft pecks on each other's cheek. On several occasions we were shushed by the girl in front of us. Each time Yxzy stuck out his tongue at her, or made silly faces at the back of her head─causing me to erupt into a giggle fit which would only cause her to turn around again!

We got our diplomas and threw our caps─the whole time playing the charade that our existence wasn't about to be snuffed out. Eventually the time came.

"Alright students, if you would all place your Zapeli on, the chancellor will be addressing the world soon!" The dean was twittering with anticipation.

"Ugh, that guy gives me the creeps."

"Me too."

I pulled my Zapela out of my pocket and attached the shiny white metal to my glasses. A quick squeeze and it booted up. The little spinning wheel on the corner of my vision told me it was getting ready.

Yxzy fumbled theirs on their face. They were one of the few people on Earth that didn't need glasses so the Zapela wasn't made for them. In our class Yxzy was considered exotic, and was the cause of much swooning from the other girls, guys and gender non-conformers. Some thought they were faking their eyesight so as to cultivate that persona; but I knew that wasn't true.

Soon it clicked on and in front of me was a holographic image of the World Wide Broadcasting Network. It wasn't long before the half-hour ticked over and the image of an elderly Chinese man appeared in a stunning suit and a pound of makeup. The Chancellor of Earth.

"My fellow humans. It has been a long-time coming but I am pleased to say the time of Recollection is upon us. I have to congratulate each and every one of you for doing your part for the betterment of humanity. Soon we will be as wise, complex, and in-tune with the universe as our fourth dimension counterparts. Today is a historic occasion for the story of life, and tonight we shall further solidify humanity's place in the great cosmic novel. Congratulations everyone. WE DID IT! I would wish everyone luck for the recollection─"

A smile.

"─but from what I have been told, luck has nothing to do with it...but you all will learn that soon enough when we become enlightened beings! So instead of luck, I wish to extend to you the great feeling of peace. Goodnight and goodbye. It has truly been an honor to be your leader in these historic times."

The picture went dead and was instead replaced by a countdown to the impending change─28 minutes.

Yxzy and I walked back to the pond─the tree frogs were buzzing about, croaking their nightly tune, completely unaware that they were to be left behind. No recollection for the beasties.

"What a crock of taliban." They snorted, skipping a stone and nearly hitting a frog.

"What?"

"This whole, great job humans, we did it! bit. We didn't do anything. They came to us."

"Well, getting everyone on board was certainly a huge challenge."

"Yeah but what good will it do. None of us will have our personalities anymore. We're basically signing up to be zombies."

"You know that's not true."

"You're right, at least zombies still have rights. Hell, once we go they'll be the dominant species. I bet they're thrilled." The sarcasm was ripe in their words.

"I don't think the zombies will care that much...it's not like they've really been doing much of anything lately."

There was a long pause where nothing was said. They stared into the pond and I stared at them. From across the campus we heard the chanting.

FIVE...FOUR...THREE...TWO...ONE!!

Then nothing. Then more nothing. The silence was broken by a trillion Zapeli ringing across the globe. Not wanting to lose this moment with Yxzy, but also not wanting to miss the announcement; I obediently placed my Zapeli back on. Yxzy didn't even bother, just continued to stare into the inky liquid.

The Chancellor reappeared.

"WHAT HAPPENED?! I thought we had a unified agreement! The beings just confirmed that there is one of us who decided against the recollection. ONE OF YOU, ruined our chance. The beings departed and said they wouldn't be back for another century. I demand to know who is responsible. From this point forward, whoever you are...know this. We will find you, and you will pay dearly for this act of global treason."

The picture cut out again.

"We...we aren't evolving." I said nervously as I took my Zapela off.

"I know."

"How? You didn't even put the..."

"It was me."

"WHAT??"

"It was me, I changed my mind."

I was floored, my jaw may as well have sunk into the muk at the bottom of the pond.

"How could you?!"

"It's not like I wanted to..."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" I adjusted myself to face him; I needed to search their eyes for the truth.

"I...I...I couldn't bear to lose you."