CHAPTER NINETEEN – PUZZLE
Slig and the Whisps were subjected to a Swirl Chaos several times since Dwarg had left the Aura. The intensity of the swirls had not changed and each event affected them dramatically. Slig’s knowledge at the least, gave forewarning of an event. However, the Whips had found no protection from the ensuing episodes.
Dwarg had been absorbed into the physical, and that, at the very least, may yet prove it’s worth. Slig would continually flux around the planet looking for Dwarg. It had lost Dwarg many Human years ago when that machine left the Aura, with Dwarg wrapped around it. Unlike the machine that Slig had tried to “hitch” on, Dwarg’s rocket did not break up. Slig stayed as long as it could, just on the outer edge of the Aura where it lost track of the machine, and Dwarg.
Nothing untoward happened as a result of one Whisp leaving the Aura, but the Whisps would not take the risk of more Whisps attempting to do likewise. The Whisps would simply have to wait for Dwarg to return and report of its mission.
Slig continued to flux and flutter around the planet looking for Dwarg, or at least, seek for signs that Dwarg may have left - it could find nothing.
-oOo-
Mid October in Vermont USA, is world renowned for the colours of the fall season. Tourists from all over the world drive through the State, marvelling at the spectacular displays provided by nature. The mountains are awash with reds, oranges, golds, greens and browns, plus a multitude of shades in between. The disposition of the Oaks, Beech, Mountain Ash, Alder and Pin Cherry trees offer the viewer a kaleidoscope of exciting and exotic displays. The sight of bright contrasting colours, as where a Maple tree with its brilliant red foliage, stands amid a grove of golden Aspen, leads to gasps of astonishment and joy. To compliment the landscape, nature has also painted the ground awash, into a carpet of beautifully shaped and multicoloured leaves. Even the locals appreciated the wonders of nature’s artistry during the fall.
Dwarg however, had no such feelings – he could only see in black and white and he only saw the trees as creatures, preparing for the winter.
Since his infusion into the physical, he had gathered a vast store of knowledge of Humans and their existence and their effect on the planet. He gained a slight empathy for the individual Human but had yet to conquer the intricacies of their emotions and reactions. Aggie was a suitable host, being young with a young Human’s ability to absorb all manner of information and an ideal vehicle for assisting him in his mission. Dwarg calculated that he had now reached the halfway point in his quest.
The distraction of the coded messages was another matter. It had persistently interfered in his calculations and propositions, and he knew he would have to continue to investigate this phenomena. He had scanned all manner of information available to Humans, learning mainly through their speech, their pictures and writings.
He had even found a way to flux through the huge chasms of stored memories following the pathway of a Human’s chromosome. He was not actually travelling back from the now, but he could flitter from one entire lifetime of memories to another. Humans’ DNA contained, amongst other things, banks of life memories – these memories were added to with each succeeding generation. Unfortunately for Dwarg, the bulk of these memory units comprised of Human feelings and emotions – just the things that Dwarg found profoundly difficult to understand and interpret.
To go on such a journey, Dwarg merely needed Aggie to make physical contact with another Human, usually just a touch was enough for Dwarg to capture a cell, ingest it through Aggie’s skin then simply enter that cell and it’s DNA. At Aggie’s school and on the day of Robert’s funeral, Dwarg had amassed a considerable collection of individual Human memories. He encouraged Aggie to always shake hands with new people she met – in return, he would often offer Aggie some information, snippets and gossip that she or Edna might enjoy. “Aunt, did you know that Mister Norris, our school deputy, has two students in his class that he is the father of – and does not know it?”
At times he would answer more probing questions from Edna, who much like himself, was an enquiring creature. She wanted to know more and more details of his world and his mission, and no, he had no intention of wiping out the Human race. Edna and Aggie would sit at the computer and investigate the many facets of science, including astronomy and biology – Aggie always asking questions (mostly on Dwarg’s behalf) – Dwarg did not have the capability of interpreting anything with electronics. All in all, Edna steadfastly refused to believe that there was any possibility of stopping rockets leaving the Earth “not in this century anyway.”
The Whisps were unaware of the world outside the Aura – what the Humans call outer-space. It didn’t affect Whisps – it was of no interest to them.
They did not know of the moon, the sun, the planets, asteroids and heavenly bodies. Dwarg however, had learnt of those worlds while inside Robert Kellor. He was cautious of any information that the Humans had gained – it was from their viewpoint. Dwarg knew that Humans would gain information and knowledge, then change or sometimes even negate that same information. He saw numerous instances of where Humans would even attack other Humans in order to have a particular piece of knowledge accepted or rejected.
He had managed to work out something else that was peculiar about Humans and their written knowledge – a great deal of it was untrue. They knew it and still accepted these untruths! Of course, the answer was so simple when he found it; the Humans called these writings fiction and fantasy, and the knowledge from them was absolutely useless – just another emotional strand in their makeup which he was obliged to research.
Humans, in their accelerating evolvement to the unknown, now had some knowledge of the existence of atoms, and were investigating these building blocks of the universe. He noted that the Humans believed that these atoms actually existed outside of the Aura and those atoms were random and distant. The further from the Aura, the more sparse and distant they became.
Given this concept, the Humans now believed that there was no such thing as a true vacuum, a true nothingness, as atoms were everywhere. Begrudgingly, Dwarg became to realize that other worlds were a true possibility – and the Humans may well be correct.
As to the matter of the painting of the Swirl Chaos, Dwarg would flux along the lines of the X and the Y chromosomes of the Humans. Using his collected store of life memories, he would try to find a link to the Human Vincent Van Gogh – the vessel, the puppet, the agent, of the unknown and prophetic Whisp.
All Humans are related. By going back one hundred and fifty Human years of memories, from thousands of lives, thousands of paths and branches, twisting and backtracking; Dwarg could not find a channel to Vincent’s memory. The only clue he gleaned was one emanating from a cell belonging to the Director of the Brattleboro Crematorium – Mister Jeroen. The clue was in his memory of meeting a Frenchman in Las Vegas a few months ago. He owned a funerary business in Arles, France. This person told of his family business which had been established in the same premises for the last 300 years and how the tradition was passed from father to son.
Dwarg knew that Van Gogh died in 1890 at Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris – far from Arles. The Frenchman’s great grandfather would not have been involved in Vincent’s funeral because of the distance and jurisdiction. Yet it was a tantalizing clue. If he could find and enter the memory store of Vincent Van Gogh, it was very likely that the answer to this painting, this perplexing puzzle, could be solved.