From Gaia's diary
The weeks between my last entry and now weren't easy, but slowly I started to resign about my loss, and to give some order to my thoughts.
The weeks passed by so quickly that it was Winterfest before I could realise that much time had passed already. All the people I know had other plans for the day, but I had no intention of staying home alone any longer with my depressing thoughts. So I took the initiative, and joined the other people in the neighbourhood who had decided to celebrate at the local bar. If I really think I'm too lonely the first thing I should do is meet new people, isn't it, my dear diary?
I didn't expect to find so many people, it seemed like a real party!
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So little by little I'm finding a routine I can enjoy again. In the morning I take Pixel for a walk, I don't know which of the two is the most eager to stretch their legs a bit after waking up.
The neighbourhood has improved so much in recent years, and I am so proud to see so many of my projects implemented at every corner of the port.
Evergreen Harbor has improved so much that we are starting to notice some curious people from nearby cities who decide to spend the afternoon here by the sea. Needless to say, this was completely unthinkable until just a few years ago.
To be honest, this area used to look like the perfect set for a post-industrial dystopian film, with the old skeletons of industries and waste overtaking everything else. When it was decided to build the new stellar core power plant just behind the hill, all the residents began to resign to the idea of seeing this place definitively suffocate in the name of progress.
But it was enough to roll up our sleeves, draw some good projects, and bring together all the inhabitants in well-studied community plans, to completely turn this place around.
Mum and Dad would be proud to see this place now, they always went out of their way to save the environment even when it meant working day and night and sacrificing everything else.
I can't say I'm as idealistic as they were about it, but I'm certainly proud of the way my work, and that of my colleagues and neighbours, is finally starting to bear fruit.
Gaia: Ah, you found the ball in my pocket! Do you wanna play?
Gaia: You're a really smart dog, you know?
Pixel: Wof!
At home, however, I'm trying to liven up the atmosphere a little. In short, I decided to get a chicken coop.
Nacho doesn't seem to appreciate the change, but he will have to deal with it: aren't they beautiful? And then so I can always have fresh eggs, I'm sure they will also prove useful.
I admit that the black rooster intimidated me a little at first, he has such a sharp beak... But I soon discovered that he's a softie too, I'd hug him all day!
But no more chatter, I have much more important things to write today. You may be wondering what could have possibly happened to make me write like this, isn't it, my dear diary?
Well, it's a day to mark on the calendar, because Tommy has finally decided to move in with Valentina. They recently moved into a nice little house in New Sixam, and I decided to help them move some boxes.
Gaia: They chose a really nice area, don't you agree?
Pixel: Woof!
So we rolled up our sleeves and started bringing in furniture and boxes.
Gaia: It's a very modern house, I like it a lot!
Thomas: It's a common style around here, not different from the neighbours.
Gaia: Can I ask you a question, just out of curiosity?
Thomas: I guess...
In fact there was a detail I was very curious about. Valentina had always lived in the area of the old Evergreen Harbor mine, one of the most modern areas in town. Since Tommy also often worked there, why did they decide to move to New Sixam instead?
Gaia: Why New Sixam? Fed up with Evergreen Harbor?
Valentina: Ah ah ah, always straight to the point, I see!
Thomas: She always does this, after a while you no longer notice.
Luckily Valentina seemed more amused than annoyed by the question, and she immediately replied.
Valentina: Well, I program video games for a living, and computer technology here is at least a season ahead of other countries. When Thomas showed me this place, I immediately wanted to move here!
It was fun to help him with the move. It was the first time I had the opportunity to really talk with Valentina, she is very funny. I really think that in the next few weeks I will try to invite them both for dinner at my place, I think she would be a good friend too!
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So I did, at the first good opportunity. It was a rainy Saturday night and no one found anything better to do, so we decided to spend the evening watching TV at my place.
Valentina: Thanks again for the invitation, it was kind of you!
Gaia: Thanks to you too, no trouble, really!
Thomas: Rather, what's on TV tonight?
Gaia: I was thinking of watching a documentary, this channel always talks about strange things.
Valentina: I always watch it too, it's where I learnt about the hole in the ozone layer! Let's see what topic they will talk about tonight then.
So we turned up the volume on the TV to hear that program better. I didn't know it yet, but the content of that documentary would have affected me more than I could have suspected at the time.
TV: " ... However, Brunner's mantis has a very peculiar characteristic: the entire species is solely made up of females. Contrary to most other species belonging to this order, these mantises are in fact able to reproduce on their own through a biological process called parthenogenesis. This process in nature is more common than one might think, both in species for which it occurs exclusively such as the aforementioned Brunner's mantis, and facultatively, as for example observed in isolated specimens of shark or Komodo dragon. This process involves…"
Gaia: (amused) I like this episode, can you think about what it would be like if we were all females too? No offense, Tommy.
Thomas: (sarcastic) Sure, how could I ever get offended by so little?
In the meanwhile, Valentina had ruffled Tommy's hair a bit in a playful way, and then went to his rescue saying:
Valentina: C'mon, you know how boring it would be if there weren't any boys around?
Gaia: Well, actually you're not entirely wrong... But have you followed what the documentary is saying now? On species in which females can decide whether to procreate in pairs or alone? That doesn't sound bad at all, to me.
Thomas: (confused) Wait, what do you mean?
Gaia: I'm just thinking out loud, that's all...
While I was thinking, the other two exchanged a couple of worried looks, the more they tried to understand what was going through my head the more they seemed to realize that I was taking that idea way more seriously than expected. After a while, Valentina decided to intervene by nudging Tommy and whispering to him:
Valentina: (whispering) Thomas, tell her something!
Thomas: Erm... Here, Gaia... Don't you think you're exaggerating a little? I mean, we know that you weren't very lucky with your past relationship, but if you really wanted to start a family there's still plenty of time to find the right person to do it, right?
I saw Valentina nodding vigorously, but the more time passed the less I felt like sharing that opinion. This elusive "right person" that everyone always talked about seemed to me to be just a mythological figure now, why wait for him without even having the certainty that one day he will really arrive? And I certainly don't want to settle for some random guy just to have a baby.
I had always taken for granted that, in order to become a mother, I had to at first find a partner, and then try to have children. It had never occurred to me before that the two steps could be switched, though. I'm way more sure of wanting children than I am of wanting a life partner, would it really be that crazy?
Gaia: (serious) What if I didn't want to find the "right person", though?
Thomas: (perplexed) What do you plan to do, then? Go to one of Tech Sixam's new artificial pollination clinics, and have a child on your own?
Gaia: (serious) Well, I don't rule out doing something like that, no. But that's the first time I hear about these Tech Sixam clinics, what do they do, exactly?
Tommy seemed caught out, he realized that he had not only failed in his attempt to dissuade me, but that he had also given me a new idea. Reluctantly, he replied anyway.
Thomas: They opened them a few decades ago, but it's not like they're particularly famous at the moment. In short, they took the technology of the old pollinator ships, the ones that the early sixamians used to pollinate the earthlings, you know?
Gaia: Who could ever forget them? With those anyone could get pregnant in the blink of an eye, even you, Tommy!
Valentina: Ah ah ah ah!
Tommy now seemed shocked by the turn the conversation was taking and stared at me shaking his head, while Valentina laughed out loud, for her the conversation must have seemed surreally funny. She then tried to compose herself a little, before turning again to me.
Valentina: Jokes aside, if I were you I would go to one of those clinics to ask for some more details. I think you made quite a few good points to give it a go, you know?
Gaia: That's also what I was thinking!
Having said that, we went back to watching that documentary, but I couldn't listen to a single word anymore. After that speech I couldn't get that idea out of my head anymore, could that be the answer I was looking for?
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