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I
was born on the Moon near the complex of central peaks of one of the largest craters
situated in the Transient Zone. My Parent-Rock had been impregnated, over a period of
millennia, by Cosmic Rays; it contains unusual, by Lunar standards, concentrations of iron
and iron compounds which I use for nourishment. I
was born alone near an ancient lava tunnel - a single long corridor of silence originating
on the Bright slope of a central peak, but emptying into the Dark-Side. During my
childhood, I took many excursions in the Tunnel; it was my favorite place in the whole
Crater-Home. Throughout
my first few centuries of life, I was unaware of the existence of Earth. The walls of the
Crater-Home were too high and my vista to the universe was, accordingly, too narrow. It
was only when I decided, one day, to explore the world beyond the Crater-Home, the Bright
World, seeking to ascertain the nature of the tumult which came from that direction and
which had frightened me for so long, that I finally became aware of the existence of
Earth. But once I beheld the Earth, it immediately became the single most important fact
of my own existence; and the source of my inspiration. It became a vital part, if not the
most vital part, of my religiousness. And
ever since I knew that intelligent life-forms must exist on Earth and I yearned to
make contact with them. But I never imagined
it, or wanted it, to occur the way it finally did. True,
I felt estranged on the Moon; I was the only life-form there. I did not have to explore the
entirety of its surface and underground to know that. All I had to do was to think
“life”...and there was no echo. But the Moon was my world, and to the extant
that life and barrenness often nourished each other, I developed a sense of Lunar
Belonging. And no matter how long I gazed at the Earth, I never seriously entertained the
thought of leaving the Moon...my Home. Seeking
to make contact is one thing, emigrating or being displaced is something completely
different. To leave the Moon, I had to be plucked out of it. To go to Earth, I had to be
taken to it as a captive. I
was accidentally “collected” as a part of a dust sample and put in a
hermetically sealed bag. The iron content in the sample was not sufficient for my
nutritional needs; thus, in order to avoid starvation on the way to Earth, I had to put
myself in a semi-vegetative state. But I was aware of my own inadequacy and helplessness;
and I was ashamed. I
felt even more ashamed and inadequate when it took them several years on Earth before they
finally decided to identify me as a life-form, albeit “of an extraterrestrial origin
and viral in nature.” But at least, now that they have reached this conclusion, they
stopped injecting me with all these poisonous chemicals that wreaked havoc upon most of my internal systems,
although not beyond repair. In retrospect, I find it hard not to sympathize with them;
they did have to experiment with me for they had seldom, if ever, seen something
like me before. At
any rate, now that I am being preserved, now that I am considered to be precious, at least
by some, now that my destiny has been irrevocably tied up with that of Earth and its
inhabitants, humans they call themselves, now I have time. Time to study these
meddling creatures, their thoughts and their ways. Time to develop a suitable vision for
my future with them. Time to plan my palingenesis, so that I can infuse my vision in the
living history of Earth. After
all, I was the center of life on the Moon; it would not be suitable for me to be
marginalized on Earth. But in all this, my scheming... my pretension, I do not mean
to harm, rather I seek only to belong again. When
there is a will to survive and a will to prosper, powerlessness does not last forever.
Those that make me powerless will eventually empower me, no matter how involuntarily. I am
developing a vision for Earth... and I shall carry it through. November 8, 1992; 10:28 am. |
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lust for salvation, Brother, as though it were a woman, and I - a man.
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