A Visitor to the Future - 123 - Progress
Think of nothing in particular. The goal is not to think of nothing at all, so don't try to still your thoughts, but rather rise above them. Think of your mind like a weather system. Observe where the raindrops hit the ground. Find the parts that are frozen, or burned. Where lightning strikes, ask why and where.
That had been one of the many ways that Gatecrash had described their meditation technique to me. But it was difficult. There were constant thoughts demanding attention, ideas, feelings, and then there was my recent discovery...
"I think I can hear you worrying," said Gatecrash's voice from next to me.
I opened one eye and looked over to my right. Gatecrash was sat cross-legged on their own mat, a vision of tranquility in a set of dark green meditation robes. Their fiber-optic hair was almost completely translucent, the barest hint of pink visible. Dela was here too, curled up with her head resting on one corner of the padded mat, eyes open and looking directly at me.
I huffed a laugh through my nose, "You're not wrong," I said, "What gave me away?"
Gatecrash opened their eyes and looked across to me, hair lighting up into its usual vibrant shades of red which cascaded from root to tip. "Your breathing. It's something I'm very conscious of myself. Deep breaths often mean the person is calm. The opposite is also true! Anything you want to talk about?"
I shook my head, "No, thanks. Not at the moment, anyway."
"I'm here if you do," smiled Gatecrash, "We'd better take a break there, actually. We've been at this for a while, and Dela's blood sugar is reading as a little low. You could probably eat too, right?"
Dela perked up at the mention of her name and stood up, Gatecrash reaching out one hand to ruffle her fur. The other supported them as they leaned back, turning fully to face me. "You know, I remember when I first started teaching you - you struggled to stay still for five minutes at a time. You're making really progress. how are you feeling?"
I thought about my answer before responding. "Pretty good, I guess. Something on my mind lately, that's all. A couple of things actually. One of them is recent news."
Gatecrash cocked their head, "I can understand that. I won't pry - let me know if you want to talk whenever you're ready. Come on, let's grab Dela a snack." The word snack definitely got a response from Dela, who made a little chuffing noise and bounced on her forepaws excitedly. Gatecrash moved to a kneeling position and picked up Dela under one arm, the large Friendly Lynx safely secured by the lithe Gatecrash. CIs constantly challenged my expectations of what a person of similar size to me should be able to carry - though when I thought about it, so did Sarkona, who was also enhanced.
We climbed down the ladder from Gatecrash's loft, leaving behind the cosy skylight room where we practiced mediation. The rest of Gatecrash's place was a single-storey space, designed for accessibility by Dela and the smaller children of Baobab alike. The kitchen counter opened into a large, seating space filled with settees, brightly illuminated by another overhead skylight. Skylights were a common sight throughout the house - Gatecrash seemed to love natural light, whether that was from the sun or the stars. A projection was still loaded on one wall of the apartment, where Gatecrash had been teaching chemistry earlier today.
With a bowl of vat-grown meat acquired for Dela, and a plate of biscuits for me, we took a seat at Gatecrash's table while Dela dug in. Spending time with Gatecrash was nice - I never felt like I had to have a topic of conversation ready, we could enjoy each other's company in silence if necessary - I supposed that was a good quality to have if someone was trying to teach you mediation. However, there had been something else on my mind that I did want to discuss with Gatecrash.
"How did you find Anode's pairing meeting, out of interest?" I asked.
Gatecrash smiled, "It was fun! It's been a while since I've been involved in anything like that. Anode and Tungsten make a great couple."
"You say it's been a while - have you ever had one yourself? You know, where you were the subject?"
"No," said Gatecrash, "But I'm not Mars-born, as you know. Pairing is a firmly Martian tradition. I think they're fun but I don't think I'd have one for any relationship that I was in. Why do you ask?"
I chewed a biscuit while I thought of how to approach this, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you have a romantic partner at all? You've never mentioned anybody in the time I've known you."
"I don't mind at all! I have in the past, but none at the moment," said Gatecrash, "I think I'm a little old for you though, Nat."
I had the misfortune of chewing a biscuit as Gatecrash replied, which I almost choked on as I held up a hand to protest. That hadn't been what I meant.
"I'm joking!" said Gatecrash as I coughed, "Sorry, my timing could have been better there. Wow, that really did a number on you. Let me get you some water. Here, drink up. To circle back, no, I haven't had any really long-term romantic relationships. I think my longest was about four years. Why do you ask?"
With my airways clear, I was able to clarify why I'd asked. "I was just curious," I said, "I've just noticed that there's a lot of single people, especially in the older age groups. The only people that I know that are about your age in a relationship are Alexandra and Sasha."
"I guess it depends a lot on the person," said Gatecrash, sitting down at the table again, "I will say with age came my own understanding that people change over time and want different things. Some people pair up, complement each other for life - that's great. For others, relationships are temporary. Whatever works for them! For me, I guess I just haven't met the right person for a longer-term relationship yet."
"Gatecrash, if you don't mind me asking - you're 450 years old. Doesn't it frustrate you that you've not found anyone in that amount of time?"
Gatecrash laughed, "No! In fact the opposite is true. I'm in no rush at all to find anyone. I love my life, and if I find someone I eventually feel like sharing it with, great - but if not, I'm good by myself. Your choice of wording is pretty interesting, though - found anyone. I'm not actively looking!"
"I'll admit that I'm still struggling with that part - having no rush at all, I mean," I said. The idea of my own possible immortality was one I was still struggling with.
"I'm not surprised," said Gatecrash, patting me on the shoulder, "You and I were raised in different time periods, but if there's one thing we have in common it's that we believed we were working against the clock - in one way or another."
"Was there anything in particular that helped you? You know, adjust?" I asked.
A flash of deep red ran through Gatecrash's hair as they thought over their response. "Find what you want to do next, and do it. Then find the next thing. That works for me."
"It's as simple as that?"
"Mmm-hmm," said Gatecrash, "Don't overthink it. We're lucky to have a society that supports that sort of lifestyle. Make use of it!"
There was a chiming noise from my tablet in my bag. I rummaged around and pulled it out, revealing a new video message. This was strange, as I tended to communicate with my friends either by text or in-person. "Mind if I see what this is?" I asked Gatecrash. They picked up a projection disk from their table and tossed it to me. I attached it to my tablet and pressed play.
The projection flicked into life on the table, revealing the face of Stamos Eliopoulos, the drunken philosopher friend of Sarkona's that I had met at our house-warming party. His dark, curly hair was familiar, but he now had a matching beard.
"Hello, Nat! I hope you don't mind me reaching out," said the message, as the projection of Stamos scratched his chin nervously, "Uhm, I was hoping that you could help me with a project I'm working on. I don't know if you remember the conversation we had at your house-warming party a few months ago, but it has had some significant... uh... implications for my research. Could I borrow you for a few hours? I wonder if you could help me get to the bottom of this. I'm really hoping that someone can. Oh- I'm at the First Forum. Thanks!"
"I'm surprised he remembered any conversation you had," said Gatecrash, "He was very drunk at one point."
"Yeah..." I said, "He picked up after some anti-intoxicants though. Do you know where the First Forum is?"
"It's been a long while, but I do! Mind if I tag along? If it has Stamos asking for help, it'll be interesting for sure! Plus, Dela could use the walk - the First Forum has some nice grounds."
So, the three of us left Gatecrash's place, taking a drone-craft into the skies.