Adam, in his child form, casually walked over to the girl on the beach mat. Judging by her appearance; long black hair, black pupils, rosy cheeks and tiny lips, Adam could tell she was Nana's avatar. Then, his gaze shifted to the pitch-black raven.
"A raven?" He muttered, quite amused.
The raven's beak parted slightly and a feminine voice reached Adam's ears, "Why? Is it strange?"
Adam shook his head, finding it to be in line with Nina's personality. He sighed and asked Nana, "How have you been?"
He had learnt from Nina about their argument, and couldn't help but feel like he was the cause, although he had not asked for the specific reason Nina decided to join the ranks of the Overseers.
The girl looked at him with a mixed expression. She wasn't sure how to feel, as he seemed to be the reason Nina was putting herself in danger. She nodded tersely and responded in a low voice, "I've been good."
After a moment of contemplation, she put away the disturbing thoughts and said, "Since we're all here, let's get down to it. I surfed the internet for the Bible, it's actually in two parts. The Old Testament and New. I should begin reading it tomorrow, or now. However, the oldest versions I found only date back to the later years of civilization on Old Earth."
Adam spoke up, his feet shuffling beneath the sand, "That should be around 900 years ago. Was it in English?"
Nana nodded.
Hmm… Adam thought for a moment and said, "We probably need texts that are even more ancient, but let's make do with what we have. At the very least, it should give us a rudimentary grasp on things we need to focus on."
"Maybe reading the Bible will make me understand these powers. Or my purpose and why I was chosen."
The Bible was something everyone from Old Earth naturally knew about, along with the creation story, as it was taught and preached. However, as time passed, more and more people began to regard these tales as mere myths, tales spun together to forge morals and guide human behaviour.
In this regard, there were mainly two schools that held different notions. The men that believed fact before belief; the men of science, and those that believed in the Lord and religion. Eventually, as humans pursued technological advancements and evacuated the now-dangerous planet, those that preached the Bible began to dwindle in numbers.
And soon, the contents of the Bible were forgotten, lost to time. Even though it remained in archives and was just one search away, no one remembered, no one cared.
Adam settled on the soft sand, momentarily stunned by the vast ocean before him and the golden glow of the sun beyond the horizon. He felt comfort, and he reminisced about how he spent a lot of time in the Metaspace when he was a child.
If only he could forget all his worries, all that had happened, and spend eternity in this space. The view was simply beautiful. But then, what he actually wanted was the real thing. The current view was merely ephemeral.
"What's on your mind?" Nina's voice jerked him out of his thoughts.
"Do you ever wish that you were born during the time Humans lived on planet Earth?" He asked in a low voice.
Nana glanced at the Raven beside her, quite expectant of the answer her sister would give. Personally, she didn't mind life on New Earth. Technology made things so much easier, but she couldn't deny that planet Earth looked way more spectacular. But since they could imitate the view with technology, what else did they need?
Nina was silent for a while. Soon, the Raven's beak parted once more. "I feel lost here."
"Like you don't belong here, and that there's something you're forgetting or somewhere you desperately need to be…" said Adam, adding to her words.
The Raven nodded.
"The feeling of being incomplete."
"And when you think of tall trees, the wind in your face, or those snowy mountains… Your heart finally stops aching."
The Raven's eyes shimmered. "You feel like you're home."
Nana looked at both of them. They seemed to be completely intoxicated by the view. At that moment, she suddenly realised that Adam and Nina were awfully similar. They both had this…lifeless, distant touch to them. They both seldom spoke, and only became talkative when around each other.
The girl with a vibrant look exhaled and looked ahead. Maybe her sister wasn't putting herself in danger because of Adam, but because they both harbour the same dreams.
Her sister had met a kindred spirit. It was quite a lovely thing to see.
A soft smile formed on Nana's face as she listened to both of them drone on and on. She let them have their fun and tapped her virtual wristband. She stared at the holographic panel that had popped up before her and read softly, but with intent.
"Genesis 1:1.
"In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep–"
At that moment, Adam ceased his daydreaming. His pupils dilated and his gaze appeared slightly lost as he fell into a daze. Slowly, he turned to look at Nana and muttered, "And I said; Let there be light…. And there was light."
"What?" Nana and Nina turned their heads to look at him, the former wearing a deep frown on her face.
"Hm?" Adam blinked twice, as if trying to shake off a veil that had clouded his thoughts. "What?" He looked at the girl and bird, wondering why they were staring at him so Intently.
Nana smacked her lips lightly and said, "You just said the line contained in the next verse."
Before the confused Adam could speak, she added, "And you swapped "God" for "I". Then, she stretched her hand towards him, so that the holographic panel was right before his face.
"Read," Nana said to both of them, pointing to a certain line.
Adam and Nana focused their gazes on the text and the former read out loud, "And God said; Let there be light. And there was light."