The surface of the lake was now sparkling under a ray of sun.
"It's beautiful out there." said Marvin.
"That's for sure. Nature is so powerful here. It has such a soothing virtue. I finally feel at peace since I came here."
"Yeah, I know. You were not… fully accepted in town."
"Not fully accepted? You mean everyone rejected me. They all thought I was some kind of lunatic."
"Must have been hard for you."
"Hard? Well, it has been hard. But at the same time, it has been the best thing that ever happened to me. Having these visions. Before that, everyone thought I was not insane, just boring. I thought myself that I was boring. But with these visions, I felt that I was special."
"Oh, you are special."
"I felt compelled to voice what I saw. To tell the truth."
"It's actually kind of surprising."
"Why is it surprising?"
"Because I heard you used to be a math teacher."
"I was teaching mathematics, yes. In a high-school."
"So, I thought a scientist like you would have… let's say a more cartesian worldview. Even if you saw these visions from another galaxy, which I don't doubt you really saw. I mean, most people would have doubted that a vision could be the truth. Rather, they would have maybe thought…that they're becoming crazy, or something."
Gropius laughed with amusement.
"You know, I'm not a physicist. Us, mathematicians, we tend to think that what's in the mind is somehow more real than the material world. Take a circle for example. If you think about it, it's a purely imaginary object. There are not perfect circles out there, in the real world. Not even one perfect circle in the whole entire universe. Does it mean that what we can imagine, and visualize and understand in our minds as a circle doesn't exist at all? I sometimes prefer to trust my deep instinct, and my intellect despite all the stuff that comes from the real world."
Gropius kept speaking:
"Maybe I'm too much of a dreamer. I don't know. But my instinct told me that what I saw in my mind was more real that the things that everyone else was able to see on the screens."
"I see…" said Marvin.
"What I saw was the truth for me. And one should always stand for the truth, right? And it's okay if I got rejected for that. Because I finally found some people who understand me, and who trust me. And I found this place. And now I hear the call of a higher destiny."
He was gazing at the clear sky reflected in the serene waters.
"You were lucky." said Marvin.
"Yes, sometimes we need a bit of luck in our life. Do you know why I sent that pigeon with an invitation for you? It was because of Lachance."
"Really?"
"Let me tell you the whole story."
Gropius chuckled.
"After we failed to meet in Montreal you and I — because of that damn Exolib attack that day — I had a lot of personal trouble with the Justice, and I had to move away quickly. I was not thinking about you anymore, and, frankly speaking, I had more urgent matters to deal with. So, I completely forgot about you.
"Eventually, I was able to found my community, here in the mountains, far from the city, with the few fallowers that I had. I didn't have to persuade them. They came by themselves and asked to hear my teachings. Anyway, there was that forest ranger. He heard about a crazy guy who was living in the woods, together with his community, and who was talking about cats from another galaxy. He came to me, and surprisingly enough, he also wanted to hear what I had to say.
"He had some personal trauma, involving a cat. What was strange is that he didn't remember what the issue was with that cat. I thought it could be normal, because sometimes a trauma can induce a loss of memory, as a defense mechanism. All he could remember was that the cat has done something to him. But it was not a normal cat. It was more like a fantastic creature, with mysterious powers. He came to me because he hoped I had an answer. He heard that I received messages from divine cats from another galaxy.
"I thought: maybe this guy is special too. Maybe he also received the same messages as I had. Only, he could not remember them clearly. Maybe for him it was just like a dream that you forget in the morning. You know you dreamt about something important, something that could change your life, but you are unable to remember what it was.
"Then, some day, Lachance showed me his notebook. I saw your name written in it, Marvin. I don't know why it was written there. He didn't remember either. But I suddenly remembered about you. And I don't believe in coincidences. I thought, everything is connected. If this Marvin is implied in all this too, I thought, then maybe he also knows something. Maybe I should invite him. This is meant to be…"
"I'm mostly looking for answers." tempered Marvin.
"I know. But, you see, I thought: maybe everyone received some nugget of truth, but they can't remember it. But I can very vividly remember my dreams, the messages I receive. So, now I conceive my role as someone who has to help the others remember the truth. To help them awaken."
But, meanwhile, Fluffy who was walking behind them was losing patience. She urged Marvin:
"Come on. We haven't come to chat about that nonsense. Ask him if he knows something about an appointment with my space crew. I have to know where they're going to land."
"Hum, yeah… Gropius…" started Marvin "There's something I wanted to ask you."
"Sure. What is it?"
"You claim you've received your visions from some sort of space cats who come from another galaxy, right?"
"Feline galactic beings. Yes. They're mysterious, I don't know much about them. But I still receive new messages from them. Regularly."
"Regularly? All right… So… In those messages, have they mentioned some kind of appointment? Do they plan to come to Earth?"
"They surely have! They are definitely going to come to save us. We're waiting for them."
"Really? I mean… That's great! Good news. Tell me, where are they going to land? And when?"
"Er… Well… I don't know yet… But they are going to come, that's for sure. We have to be patient."
"So, you mean you have no clue?"
"Well… Not yet… But…"
Gropius saw that Marvin seemed quite disappointed. He heard him say, as speaking to himself, or maybe to his cat:
"So here we are. Have we done all this just for that?"
Fluffy was silent, but her semi-closed eyes were also expressing weariness.
"But…" started Gropius again, trying to comfort them "I'm sure they are going to tell me. Yeah, trust me. There's no point in them announcing they're going to come and not telling me where and when."
Marvin seemed perplexed.
Gropius went smiling a confident smile again.
"Tonight, Marvin. We have already planned a sacred ceremony for tonight because I felt like they are going to speak again."
"A sacred ceremony?"
"Yes, this is how we call it. We gather outside in the night, waiting for a message to descend on me. When they send a new message I act as a receiver for the entire community. My followers can have me sharing my vision with them, live."
Fluffy looked jaded.
"Why wouldn't you stay with us tonight, Marvin? I can't promise they will reveal this tonight. But I feel like they will. Stay for the ceremony."
"Hum… I'm with my wife and baby. We haven't planned to spend the night."
"We have a guest room for you at the chalet. You and your family will be just fine there. I'd be happy if you'd stay."
Marvin interrogated Fluffy with a look.
"Okay. Whatever." she agreed.
"So? Do you want to stay for the ceremony tonight?"
"I'll ask my wife. If she's okay with it, we'll stay."
"Great! It's gonna be fantastic!"