novelraw Chapter 359 359: Path of the giant
Chapter 359 359: Path of the giant
One more year, more innovations. The more time passed, the more progress seemed to accelerate. It was like a speeding train that multiplied its speed every second: first slow, then faster and faster, until it turned into a giant projectile.
Sobek knew that progress was bound to accelerate more and more, after all it was its nature. For each new discovery, countless doors open. And every door leads to other doors. This was the nature of progress. It was no coincidence that it took humanity less than two hundred years to go from horses to aircraft capable of leaving the orbit of their home planet.
He recalled that on Earth, where he came from, progress had become so fast in the 21st century that it was enough to be born even a generation later or further back to find yourselves in a completely different world. While in 1990 the main communication system was the satellite phone, in 2020 people used social networks for the most disparate things. While in 1990 movies were watched on television, streaming platforms existed in 2020. While in 1990 people wondered if it was even possible to reach Mars, by the beginning of 2023 nuclear propulsion engines had been invented capable of making the distance in just three months, and to top it off there were endless terraforming projects so incredible that the previous generation would have considered them science fiction.
It was no coincidence that people of the previous generation often ended up feeling out of place. The jobs, speech, interests and entertainments of the new generation were so different from theirs that from their point of view it was like conversing with aliens.
On Eden things were no different, on the contrary: with the advent of technologies obtained thanks to the support of dinosaurs, progress seemed to have accelerated almost to the speed of light. Terraforming planets had become the norm, and the first megastructure humanity had ever built, the Dyson Sphere, was nearly complete.
For the new generations it was almost impossible to think that their parents had been born in a time when animals did not speak, space travel was expensive and rare and megastructures were science fiction. When they heard about the world that existed before them, full of poverty, pollution, injustice and divisions, they couldn't help but wonder if they were really studying their history or if that was the invented history of a parallel world.
The extraordinary speed of progress was also benefiting integration. For the new generations it was increasingly easier to accept that humans weren't the only intelligent species and that sharing the planet wasn't so bad after all. Sobek was confident that within a few decades, perhaps even less than a century, the amount of people still preaching 'specism' would be so low that it could not even be calculated.
The mission to explore the outer solar system that had just begun had demonstrated this reality: even if it was only in its infancy, the groups of explorers, made up of relatively young animals and humans, were working perfectly together, coordinating well and making the most of the strengths of each.
"She's got a really good idea" Sobek said as he thought about it. "But I still don't understand why she didn't tell me about it"
In response came a loud chewing noise. Beside him Monica was tearing some leaves from the trees, swallowing them in large quantities. "Yeah, who knows who she got it from. She reminds me of someone who wouldn't reveal his plans to even his most trusted allies"
Sobek snorted. "It was different! We were in the middle of the war, I had to watch out for leaks. And anyway I was wrong, I am aware of it and I made sure to teach her"
Sobek hadn't forgotten that his lack of trust in others had repeatedly risked ruining everything. Don't reveal his abilities to Eden Union, don't talk about atomic bombs right away, don't make sure that some of his subordinates possess [Radiation absorption] even without him. He had realized that while it was best to keep secrets in warfare, trust in your allies was much more important.
He had gone out of his way to teach this precept to Nefertiti, in the hope that she would not become stubborn and mistrustful like him. But apparently the stubbornness must have been genetic, since his daughter had proposed to the Eden Union a project for a mixed exploration mission without telling him anything.
Sobek grumbled. For heaven's sake, he wasn't against that project at all, on the contrary, he praised it: it wasn't bad at all and would have helped to improve knowledge, expansion and relations between their two peoples. But he was rather disappointed to hear about it not from his daughter, but from Al, who had contacted him a few days later to congratulate him on having such an enterprising daughter, discovering to his amazement that he knew nothing of what she had done.
This thing hurt him quite a bit. Nefertiti had gone to the Eden Union, talked to Al, presented her project, done everything to get it approved by proving that she had some familiarity with politics… and all that time, she had said nothing to him.
Sobek had tried to talk to Nefertiti about it, but she had started avoiding him again. After several attempts he had decided that maybe it was right to give her space and had gone to talk to Al about her, hoping that he knew something about it, but even the allosaurus had not been able to help him. He had also visited Nefertiti's other 'uncles', but all of them didn't know what to say to him. In the end, Sobek had decided that maybe he needed a female mind to figure out what his daughter was thinking of him and so he had gone to see Monica.
Although she was the oldest of all the 'old gang' (as Buck often called them) Monica was still very lively and strong. After all, sauropods were very long-lived. Although she was almost eighty by now, she continued to walk and move as if she were a twenty year old. And although she lost her appetite somewhat due to her now weak stomach, she was still able to gobble down nearly a ton of leaves every day. "I think you should just give her space" she told him as she swallowed her last bite.
"I give her space!" Sobek exclaimed. "I know she's a teenager and she needs to be free, but… well, I wish she was more open with me"
Monica let out a soft laugh. "You seriously don't get it?"
"Get to what?"
"Oh come on! Anyone with a little attention could…"
"Monica, get to the point"
"As you wish. She is jealous"
Sobek's eyes widened. "Jealous? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, please! We weren't lucky enough to be able to enjoy our teenage years, but we spent enough time in peace to understand how it works" Monica grumbled. "Teenagers are jealous of their parents, even if they don't even admit it to themselves. Try to imagine the situation from their point of view: their parents, regardless of what job they do, are still people who have already completed their life journey. The son or daughter, on the other hand, who is just starting out, has yet to do it and is afraid of not being able to measure up. Adolescence is that period of life when children are mature enough to understand that they will not always live in the shadow of their parents, but at the same time fear disappointing them. They are afraid of not being enough, of not being able to make them proud, of not being able to become like them. In addition, they are also mature enough to understand that the world is a complicated place and that achieving a goal is difficult and that the road is full of obstacles. And then there are the expectations of parents, who expect their child to behave like an adult but at the same time insist not to treat him like one… this is adolescence. It is pure confusion. It is normal for children to try to distract themselves in any way, entering the so-called 'rebel phase'. And now try to put yourself in Nefertiti's place"
Monica snapped another thick branch from the tree and swallowed it with a small sob. "She's not just a teenager. She is your daughter and a teenager. She knows what you've been up to, and you're so famous… she often gets sidelined when you're around. From her point of view, you are like a shadow that prevents her from shining. Every time she looks at you she sees a huge, very powerful being, admired and loved by all... everything she is not yet. On top of that, she has the realization that she will have to be the leader of the pack one day and that everyone expects this of her, including you, and she is terrified that she won't be up to the job. I fear the pressure is too much for her to bear, and so she has decided to take the easy route, the one that all teenagers take at least once in their life… which is to exclude you, her father, from her affairs. She tries to pretend you don't exist, so she can have the illusion of not having any shadow on her. That's why she hasn't told you about what she was doing with cephalopods, or her plans for a mixed space mission, or any other plans she has in mind. She knows that if she did you would give her advice, and that's just what she doesn't want, because it would mean admitting that you're even better than her, which is what she wants to forget"
Sobek had listened to everything without saying a word. When Monica finished, silence reigned for a few minutes, broken only by the constant chewing of the brachiosaurus. Finally Sobek snorted: "I didn't know she felt so oppressed" he admitted. He felt like a failure as a father for not realizing it sooner. "I wish she had told me about it"
"Teenagers don't talk to their parents about these things. Don't you remember what it's like to be her age?"
"At her age, I butchered people on the battlefield. I just haven't had a chance to have daddy issues"
"Yes, stupid question. I'm sorry, I spoke without thinking"
"It doesn't matter. So what do you recommend? How should I behave?"
Monica shook her head in disappointment. "I've already said. You have to leave her space for her"
"But I…"
"By 'leave her space' I don't mean not talk to her and walk away if she orders you out. You have to give her what she wants: the chance to be like you"
"Like me? You mean a war machine that tears apart enemy armies? I much prefer that I sulk for the rest of my life"
"I know, but I don't mean that. I'm not asking you to send her to war, also because that's no longer an option. I'm telling you you should give her a chance to lead the pack"
Sobek's eyes widened. "Excuse me? Are you asking me to make her pack leader?"
"Of course not! That girl is amazing, but she's not ready for that role yet" Monica replied. "But you could start giving her positions of power. Yes, in short, allow her to lead the pack in certain situations, as she sees fit, without your interfering. You will remain the pack leader, of course, but you will let her have the reins from time to time. So she will finally have the opportunity to prove to herself… and to you too, that she is worthy as much as you are"
"I know that…"
"I know you know what she's worthy. But she doesn't think you know. Don't blame me, that's how teenagers think"
Sobek considered. In fact, Nefertiti had grown up by now. Leaving her in charge of at least some sectors of the pack wasn't a bad idea. Not only would she allow her to prove herself, but she would also allow her to gain experience. Nefertiti wasn't mature enough yet to lead the whole pack, but she could start from small parts of it. "And if she were to make a mistake?"
"You let her make mistakes, and more importantly, let her fix her mistakes on her own" Monica answered. "Don't rush to her as soon as you know something is going wrong. Let her figure out where she has done wrong and find ways to fix it. Show her that you trust her"
Sobek tried to think about it. In fact, the reasoning made sense. He himself had learned to lead the herd correctly, often making mistakes. "What if she doesn't agree? What if she doesn't want to lead the pack, even a small part of it?"
"Oh, believe me, she will agree. It's what she wants"
"Just to know, how can you be so sure?"
"She told me"
"What!?"
"Does it surprise you? It's you she has problems with, not her aunt"
"And why don't Buck, Carnopo and Al know anything about it?"
"Because they are males. Even though she loves them, there are things girls only confide in between girls. Teenage problems are one of them"
Sobek scratched his muzzle in exasperation. The minds of women remained a mystery to him, no matter what species they were… or even what universe they were in.
Suddenly there was a rustle and the body of Nefertiti appeared before him. The young spinosaurus smiled at his aunt, who smiled back, but her expression hardened as her eyes fell on Sobek. "Dad, Al didn't have time to come here himself, so he sent me to get you. You have to go to him, the leaders of the Eden Union wish to discuss the first data obtained from exploration missions and evaluate how to make the most of them"
Sobek looked at his daughter, who didn't seem to want to meet her gaze. Sobek could clearly sense her frustration. He couldn't blame her: even if she had been the creator of the mission, it was he who, as the pack leader, was consulted when decisions had to be made. He must be really annoying… and if he add to that what he'd discovered thanks to Monica, he could understand why his daughter was so frowning.
Finally he made his decision: "Look, I know too little about these things. I couldn't provide much support. Why don't you go?"
Nefertiti made such a confused face that Monica had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. "Me?"
"Yes, you. After all, this mixed mission is your idea. I bet you've spent a lot of time reading about the planets and moons of the outer solar system, and all that other stuff…"
"Well, yes, but…"
"Then what's the problem? Sending you is the best choice. I'd just make a mess"
"But the leaders of the Eden Union want the pack leader…"
"You can tell them you have my permission. If they ask me, I will confirm. Your word, at least at this juncture, will be the word of the pack. You can do whatever you want, I won't interfere. I trust you"
Nefertiti seemed to have lost the use of speech and she looked at him as if she were a ghost. Very slowly she turned to Monica. The brachiosaurus smiled at her encouragingly and then calmly went back to grazing the leaves. At that point Nefertiti seemed to recover: "Well, if that's what you want, Dad... it's fine" she said in an uncertain voice. "Then I go"
And she disappeared with [Teleportation]. "She didn't look very happy" Sobek commented as he looked at where she had disappeared.
"Did you expect her to jump for joy in front of you? She'd rather die than let you know you made her happy" Monica told him. "Trust me, she's oozing with joy right now… and probably dread too. She is alternating the pride of finally having carte blanche with the fear of making even the slightest mistake. It wouldn't surprise me if she was in the throes of a crisis"
"Should I tell her something?"
"Didn't you listen to me before? Don't interfere. Let her decide for herself what to do. I won't tell you again"
"Okay okay! How touchy"
Sobek stayed with Monica throughout the day, talking about the most disparate topics. The spinosaurus was trying not to think about what his daughter was doing and Monica could understand his apprehension. After all, worrying about the baby bird leaving the nest was the normality of being a parent.
However, it seemed Monica had been right: in the evening Al came to visit them and revealed to them that he had never seen Nefertiti so happy. According to the allosaurus, she had become so energetic that if she had a generator attached to her she could light up a city. Despite this, however, she hadn't gotten carried away and had pondered every word that had come out of her mouth, at least when she had spoken to the Eden Union.
It just seemed like Nefertiti was thrilled to finally have a serious assignment, but at the same time she was tiptoeing to avoid making mistakes. Just like Monica predicted.
Al promised Sobek that he would do his best to guide Nefertiti to the right decision if she ever needed to. Monica, however, advised him not to interfere too much. After all, that was Nefertiti's job: it was right for her to do it. Both Al and Sobek found themselves agreeing with her.
Monica would have died some time later, at the age of eighty-six. Prior to that time, Sobek had continued to visit her and Nefertiti had come for advice from her beloved aunt. And when it was time to say goodbye, Sobek confided to Monica that he couldn't help but admit that she had been right: Nefertiti needed to trace her path. In response, the brachiosaurus had yelled at him an "I told you so!" just an instant before expiring.
Monica wouldn't have received any burial: as she requested, her body was left in the middle of the forest, so that she could decompose and feed the plants that had fed her when she was alive. In the future, that area would have become a pilgrimage area for admirers of the brachiosaurus, whose skeleton, although marked by the weather, continued to protrude intact on the ground, without breaking. Various climbing plants would grow on her ribs and bones, until the entire skeleton was completely covered with a light green patina sprinkled with leaves and flowers, as if Monica had merged with them, creating a natural beauty that made honor to her who had been the commander of the exploration.