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Portal to the City of Gods
«Everything was interpreted afterwards. We don’t know what the inhabitants of this city really called themselves. The inhabitants of the City of the Gods couldn’t fly. Although there could be even more incredible artifacts left in the city, proving a higher level of development among its inhabitants,» explained the father.
«Where could they be left?» asked the boy.
«The city was destroyed.»
«That’s correct, the city was destroyed, but artifacts could remain under the rubble,» said the father animatedly. He always had that intonation when he intended to find something, especially if it was unique, long-lost, and belonged to the realm of legends.»
«Нobody tried to find them for several thousand years?» exclaimed Alcmen in amazement.
«The city was found just a few days ago. Prior to that, nobody knew its location. The city only existed in legends and oral traditions. A month ago, I told you that we needed to check a hypothesis regarding its location, and now everything has been confirmed».
«So the city really existed. Incredible! And what about the artifacts?»
«What artifacts?» the father didn’t understand.
«Artifacts are a magic wand, speed boots, and an invisibility hat?» Alcmen asked.
«Something like that, but much more interesting».
The father himself didn’t know what to expect from the excavations. He only hoped to find the clock that could control time and the spear of strength, the most powerful weapon on earth.
«According to legends, there were clocks in the city that could manipulate time and a spear of strength, which had tremendous destructive power. But in reality, we don’t know what we can find in the City of the Gods. It has long been buried under sand and time, and this is a more destructive force than any weapon used in war».
The boy put the book aside.
«The clocks of time and the spear of strength, isn’t that evidence that history was completely different? It’s strange why my dad doesn’t agree with me; if people were able to control time, they must have been more advanced. In my opinion, this completely proves that there was a more advanced civilization in ancient times,» Alcmen concluded.
«Tell me something else,» the boy asked, realizing that his father knew much more than anyone else.
«Like what? You seem to know more than me,» the father smiled. «You tell me, your story is already different.»
«Okay, never mind. I’m intrigued by what the clocks of time looked like. What could you do with them? What power did the spear have? How did they use it?»
The boy looked at his father with great curiosity, thinking that there was nothing more mysterious and enigmatic than the secrets of the City of the Gods.
«The shape of the clocks was represented differently. I can assume, and most researchers agree, that the clocks were shaped like hourglasses, but I don’t think so,» the father calmly said. He didn’t want to make a sensation out of it. He had enough of that last time.
«We cannot treat legends as reliable sources. I can say that only select warriors were able to control the spear. They had something like a fingerprint recognition today. Each chosen warrior had their own access to the spear, and the spear itself was used only in special cases. We cannot say for sure because we have not seen the spear itself or its images.»
«I understand. This is to ensure that no one can use the spear arbitrarily,» Alcmen said seriously.
«Correct. The spear had incredible power. It could shatter a granite wall to pieces. Unfortunately, the principle of its operation is unknown.»
«Why did they leave then? If they had such an incredible weapon?»
«No one knows that. I want to say that this is based on legends, I emphasize, what actually happened is unknown. We still have to find out how everything really was, if we are lucky. I am more convinced that we know about the legends that circulated in the city, rather than what actually happened.»
«And if we are lucky after all?»
«Then they will talk about us on the radio and write about us in the newspapers.»
«I can’t even imagine it. I always want to imagine the inhabitants of this city. How they lived, what they did, how they communicated. Their life was probably interesting and completely different from ours. They couldn’t have made up the legend out of thin air,» Alcmen stated.
«Probably…,» the father looked at his grown-up son. He reasoned like an adult, and he could no longer be treated like a child.
«That was a different life, that’s for sure. If we believe the legend, then the chosen ones were taught from an early age. They later guarded the clocks of time and the spear of strength. All ordinary citizens were engaged in ordinary activities, went to school like you. By the way, did you do your homework? I promised your teacher that you would do your homework and read. I have already talked to her about everything.»
«I do my homework, but what you’re doing is much more interesting and useful. We are like keepers of the secrets of the inhabitants of the City of the Gods,» the boy said in a whisper and looked around.
«Go to bed, keeper.»
«And what about you?»
«I will think a little longer. Various thoughts are swirling around in my head and I can’t seem to stop them. Remember when I told you I didn’t agree with the common opinion about the shape of the clocks?»
«Yes.»
«Well, I think the clocks that could control time looked like the Latin letter ’y’. It’s the beginning of everything, when everything converges or diverges from one point. According to this principle, the universe emerged from a tiny point and grew to infinity, and it continues to grow.»
«So you mean it’s possible to stop time or control it!?» the boy asked, feeling both surprised and curious at the same time.
«I don’t know, time inexorably moves forward. I think the principle mentioned in the legend is not without foundation…,» the father fell silent and looked through the walls, then suddenly came to his senses and said:
«I need to think, and you should go to bed.»
«Will you come in?»
«To tell you a story,» the father said ironically.
«Yes,» confirmed the son.
«Okay.»
Alcmen went to his room and went to bed. He closed his eyes, but his thoughts didn’t want to calm down. «The clocks of time. I wonder what they looked like? I wonder if we can find them. It would be great to find the clocks themselves. And with their help, go back in time and see what really happened there.»
Then his father entered the room.
«Are you already asleep?» he asked.
«No, I’m waiting for you. I forgot to ask, when are we leaving?»
«Very soon. I will go to the university tomorrow and find out everything for sure. Most likely this week.»
«Great! It’s the most beautiful fairy tale. I will visit the City of the Gods. Tell me something else?» the boy asked, staring at his father with curiosity. He couldn’t fall asleep.
«In the City of the Gods, there was a temple that had clocks of time where you could control time. That’s actually what I want to find. It’s more likely. And if I find it, it will be a great success.»
«What small goals,» the boy said in surprise. He imagined himself looking for the clocks of time and the spear of strength, while his father talked about hoping to find only the ruins of the temple. He didn’t agree with settling for something less.
«I always set small goals for myself so that I won’t be disappointed later, and if something bigger happens, I will be more pleased.»
«Interesting perspective.» The boy looked at his father in a whole new light. They, for the first time in their lives, spoke so openly and as equals. Alcmen understood that behind the word «dad» was a very ordinary person with his fears and quirks.
«You see, we’re just going on an excavation, and we don’t know what awaits us there. I’ve often dealt with simpler things in my life than with truly amazing artifacts. So let’s put your fantasies aside and think about what you’ll take with you. I think you should take some textbooks so you can continue your studies.»
«Dad, I’ll only take a math textbook with me, that’s all,» Alcmen declared.
His father looked at him intently.
«I will probably agree with you, but you will be doing math from start to finish,» he said.
«Agreed!» exclaimed the son.
«What were we talking about?»
«The temple where the clocks of time were kept,» said the boy.
«Yes. It wasn’t quite a temple as we know it. I don’t know why it’s called that in legend because in reality, this temple was like our university. They studied sciences and kept track of time. I assume that they also had their own library, no worse than the Library of Alexandria. It’s strange that we don’t know what tools the inhabitants of the City of the Gods used to store information. I doubt they used clay tablets or papyrus given their level of development.»
His father thought again, only now noticing this interesting fact. «The absence of written sources… it probably proves that their level of development was not as great as the legend says.»
«Digital technologies,» Alcmen declared.
His father startled, as if he had been woken up.
«Why do you say that?» he asked.
«It’s very simple! Digital technologies leave no traces. Information is stored in the cloud,» explained Alcmen, surprised that his father hadn’t thought of the most obvious thing.
«Either I’m out of touch or you’ve grown up a lot.» The father couldn’t get used to the fact that his son was already grown up, in his mind he was still small. Sadly, this happens in life when parents rarely see their children. «That’s what an unclouded view does,» the father thought.
«Don’t worry, I’ll help you,» the boy encouraged him.
«That’s it, go to bed. We’ve clearly stayed up too long,» said the father as he looked at the ordinary wall clock. The clock’s hands showed one in the morning. They had never stayed up so late.
«What about the temple? I want to know everything about it,» Alcmen pleaded.
«We’ll go and find out,» the father said, ruffling his son’s hair and covering him with a blanket. The boy lay down on the pillow and closed his eyes. In his imagination, a majestic temple appeared, very similar to the university building in their small town. People walked in and exchanged information. They wore togas and sandals, like the ancient Greeks. He knew that the temple held time clocks, but as often happens in dreams, something kept getting in the way of reaching them. Sometimes a wall appeared in front of him, or he suddenly found himself not in the temple, but in the square, or someone started talking to him, explaining the principle of a spear. The boy tossed and turned, and the dream took a different turn. He calmed down and slept until morning.
Chapter 4: The Riddle of Time
The next day, when Alcmen woke up, his father was already gone. He had gone to the university.
Time stretched out very slowly, as it often does when you are eagerly waiting for something. It was his first trip, he had never been anywhere before. So the anticipation was both exciting and agonizing. He tried to imagine the journey the whole time, but he couldn’t, even though he had a very good imagination. «If only I had a time clock, with which I could control time, I would move time forward now and we would already be on our way,» the boy thought.
Alcmen got up and walked around the room, then sat down and sat for a while, then walked up to the window and looked out. Outside the window, everything was the same, he could see the edge of the library and the neighboring house, with bushes growing between them, where he sometimes hid when they played in the yard. «Nothing has changed, is there a place somewhere where everything is completely different?» he thought and looked at the sky. The sky was always different, whimsical clouds changed shapes and made you think. The color of the sky also changed all the time, and it allowed you to look at it longer without getting tired. «You can look at the sky endlessly, it never stays the same,» he thought, took a deep breath, as if something had already happened and it was impossible to change it.
The key creaked in the lock, and that meant only one thing – his father had come. Alcmen went out to meet him, but he had a rather tragic look on his face.
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«Are you so sad?» his father asked.
«That’s how it always is when you’re eagerly waiting for something. Time stretches as if it has stopped, but when you need to catch something, it flies by at the speed of light, and you can’t catch anything,» the boy philosophically remarked.
«Don’t worry. We’re leaving tomorrow,» his father announced.
«Hooray!» shouted Alcmen.
«We’ll have to travel for a long time, so we need to prepare thoroughly. First, we’ll take a plane, then we’ll take a train, and after that, we’ll be picked up by a car. And if we’re lucky, I’ll show you a sunset. They have amazing sunsets there.»
His father looked somewhere through the walls, a sweet smile appearing on his face. Alcmen looked at his father and smiled too. He had no idea what they would need for the journey. When you always live at home, you don’t notice such little things as a lack of certain items. Usually, those things are always in their places and can be easily used.
«What do we need to take?» Alcmen asked.
«Just the essentials, the rest will be provided for us there. The first container with our things has already been sent, and that’s actually very good. So, take some spare clothes and a toothbrush with you.»
«Great!» exclaimed the boy and ran to the bathroom but immediately came back.
«If I take my toothbrush with me, then how will I clean my teeth tomorrow?» he asked with a clever look.
«And that’s true. We’ll take it tomorrow, but for now, take the spare clothes.» «Alright.»
Collecting his things turned out to be not so difficult, just a little boring. And the thought kept swirling in his head that he would forget something. In the end, he took a spare set of underwear, a spare set of clothes, and placed everything on a chair next to the bed. And then he placed his math textbook on top.
Dad looked into the room.
«How are you doing?» he asked.
«Everything is great, but I don’t have a bag.»
«Look in the closet in the hallway, there should be my old bag, it’s just small and should be enough for you. Meanwhile, I’ll gather my things.»
The boy nodded and left the room. The big closet always seemed like a maze to him, it was always difficult to find something in it. It was the size of half the room, and if you wanted, you could get lost in it. Alcmen cautiously opened the door and, to his surprise, his father’s old bag fell at his feet.
«Incredible,» the boy whispered. He immediately closed the door, took the bag, and returned to his room. The items he prepared were still lying on the chair, as if waiting for their moment.
Alcmen opened the bag and carefully placed the items at the bottom. He could feel the importance of the whole process happening at that moment. «Maybe that’s what thoroughness is all about,» he thought, and tucked the bag under the bed. «That’s it, I’m ready. Tomorrow, I just need to take my toothbrush and that’s all.»
«Dad, I’m done!»
«Well done!» praised his father.
«Will you come? I want to hear about the Temple of Time, you haven’t told me about it yet.»
«Yes, I will soon. Do you happen to have an extra notebook? It turns out I don’t have a journal for notes.»
«I do.»
The boy rummaged through his desk and found a 36-page notebook. He took it and brought it to his dad.
«Thank you, but it’s not suitable for me. I think I’ll go to the university now. Please don’t be bored,» his dad said.
Dad looked at his son and smiled awkwardly. He understood perfectly well that he couldn’t leave now, but he had no other choice. The observation journal had to be filled out according to a special form. It needed to be submitted after the expedition.
«I miss those hours of time. It would be great if dad came back right away,» he thought. «They were so intelligent and never worried about time passing quickly or slowly.»
«I won’t be bored. I’ll read,» the boy said.
«That’s great,» replied his dad.
Dad left the apartment and closed the door behind him. Alcmen often observed this process, but for some reason, it now seemed to him that dad was leaving for a very long time, despite the fact that it was only a ten-minute walk to the university at a slow pace.
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