dialaterage2015

@@@@@We'd used much simpler language than this, a silent language of thought that connected us all into one great mindA necessary convenience when one was rooted forever into the wet black soil I could describe that species in my new human languageWe lived on the floor of the great ocean that covered the entire surface of our world?a world that had a name, too, but that was also goneWe each had a hundred arms and on each arm a thousand eyes, so that, with our thoughts connected, not one sight in the vast waters went unseenThere was no need for sound, so there was no way to hear itWe tasted the waters, and, with our sight, that told us all we needed to knowWe tasted the suns, so many leagues above the water, and turned their taste into the food we needed I could describe us, but I could not name usI sighed for the lost knowledge, and then returned my ponderings to what I'd overheard Souls did not, as a rule, speak anything but the truthSeekers, of course, had the requirements of their Calling, but between souls there was never reason for a lieWith my last species' language of thought, it would have been impossible to lie, even had we wanted toHowever, anchored as we were, we told ourselves stories to alleviate the boredomStorytelling was the most honored of all talents, for it benefited everyone Sometimes, fact mixed with fiction so thoroughly that, though no lies were told, it was hard to remember what was strictly true When we thought of the new planet?Earth, so dry, so varied, and filled with such violent, destructive denizens we could barely imagine them?our horror was sometimes overshadowed by our excitementStories spun themselves quickly around the thrilling new subjectThe wars?wars! our kind having to fight!?were first reported accurately and then embellished and fictionalizedWhen the stories conflicted with the official information I sought out, I naturally believed the first reports But there were whispers of this: of human hosts so strong that the souls were forced to abandon themHosts whose minds could not be completely suppressedSouls who took on the personality of the body, rather than the other way around But that seemed almost to be the Healer's accusation I dismissed the tho