Chapter 3: Unchosen
Jones and Coop resumed their conversation in the mess hall while Jett held court on the table. Jett waited patiently as if she would be participating in the discussion herself. She was an old cat, apparently in her 20s in human years, which Coop hadn’t even known was possible. She calmly listened as Coop described what he had seen during the apocalypse, allowing Jones to interject with what he had learned.
After the first interjection, Coop had to ask where the hell Jones got his information, but he just insisted it was reliable and wanted to try explaining it all in order, encouraging Coop to continue.
Supposedly, the meteors that Coop spotted in the sky were actually magical objects designed to release ‘mana’ on Earth. The sonic boom that exploded Coop’s ears announced their arrival and all the proceeding events were caused by mana being released into Earth’s ecosystems. Coop only half trusted what Jones had learned, unsure if Jones was damaged by the floating blue orb, or if whoever gave Jones this information mistranslated radiation and called it mana.
In any case, Jones explained that the large meteors had landed on Earth in specifically calculated locations. They had to be precisely arranged in order to optimize the mana cycles of the planet. Neither of them knew what mana cycles were, but Jones interpreted it as mana becoming a part of the fundamental processes of Earth, something like the carbon cycle except magical. It seemed like everything had some mana and it came in all sorts of different types and flavors.
The story was that the massive meteors awakened mana ley lines, jump starting the planet’s mana cycle. Unleashing mana caused all sorts of reactions, even expanding the planet itself. This was why the fort was split in half and the trip from the lighthouse to the fort took longer than Coop expected. Rock Key had expanded with the Earth.
The smaller meteors were also noteworthy, even if they were less exact with their placement. Some of them were mana seeds. These seeds form valuable ‘Mana Wells’ by slowly concentrating ambient mana around their landing spot. Jones speculated that the meteor Coop witnessed crashing into the ocean was one such seed. It would be a double edged sword to have one so close to them, it promised to be a source of potential wealth and potential conflict.
The crystalline meteors that landed gently, causing no damage, were civilization shards. Civilization shards were essential for survival. There would be a limited number of civilization shards dispersed to locations that had the widest variety of mana affinities which normally corresponded to population densities. They were meant to establish the population centers for the newly mana enriched planet. They held the possibility of becoming places of shelter and safety, and would ultimately determine the fate of the planet. Coop wasn’t clear on why the previous population centers couldn’t be used, but if he asked, he was sure the answer would have something to do with mana. Jones was excited to learn they had one land on their tiny island, claiming they were very lucky.
When it was Jones’s turn the explanations got… crazy. Crazier. Coop was more ready to accept the weird magical meteors and the expanding planet because he had seen it with his own eyes, and he couldn’t come up with a more believable alternative to explain what he had witnessed. Mana, like the magical fuel from popular fantasy, was real? Fine, whatever. But when Jones claimed that, the instant the planet had received mana, his consciousness had been whisked away by an interested faction of aliens, Coop felt like he was being taken for a ride. Apparently, Coop drew the line at aliens.
Supposedly, Earth was being integrated into a galactic community of aliens. A community regulated by an ancient AI that preexisted all known species. The AI itself was the original source of mana, which was the primary component that unified the factions of the universe. The AI had encased Earth inside a giant shield that isolated the planet for 111 years to allow the mana assimilation process to proceed uninterrupted by other civilizations.
Yes, Jones reiterated upon Coop’s skepticism, there were aliens out there. He even claimed that he had met one, as that was the source of his information. Still, it was all more magical than sci-fi. Jett just quietly observed them both while Coop remained incredulous.
The problem for Coop was that he and Jones had vastly differing priorities. Coop really just wanted to know what was going to happen to them and what to do next, but Jones was absolutely fascinated with the machinations of the universe as a whole. Coop was in disaster scenario mode, while Jones was operating through the lens of a scholar discovering humanity wasn’t alone.
He had been summoned to an interview with some alien who offered him a sponsorship. Once he accepted, he became a ‘Chosen’ for their faction, and they gave him a short orientation to the universe while offering some advice for survival. In exchange, Jones would provide the faction with what they called pre-mana knowledge after the assimilation completed. Other factions would have other priorities.