Читать книгу Portal to the City of Gods - - Страница 5

Alcmen attacked his father right in the doorway, not letting him in. «You just can’t imagine. Our history, or rather the history of humanity, could have been completely different,» shouted the boy. «Where does such confidence come from?» said his dad, not expecting to hear something like this from his son. For him, all historical facts were true and indisputable. He was completely sure that his son would know the same history that he knew himself. «It’s all because of your destroyed City of the Gods. I read about it while you were away. The book doesn’t mention primitive people, no one rubs sticks together to make fire, no one hunts mammoths. Everyone there flies on flying machines, or they can just fly like that. They are advanced!» exclaimed Alcmen. Dad looked at his son and smiled. He didn’t want to argue about anything, because it was he who told his son about the destroyed City of the Gods, where, according to legends, more intelligent people lived than is described in other written sources.

«I have good news,» said the father.

«What is it?» asked Alcmen with genuine interest.

«We found the destroyed City of the Gods,» replied the father.

«How did you find it? It’s just a myth!» exclaimed the boy.

«No, remember we talked about the difference between a myth and a legend?» asked the father with a wise look.

«I remember perfectly, that’s why I’m saying,» said Alcmen confidently. He knew the difference perfectly, and that made him even more eager to understand everything. The boy handed the book to his father.

«It talks about gods.»

«Oh, I see what you mean.» The father quickly scanned through the book.

«This is really a myth that was created based on the same legend I told you about. The author deified the inhabitants of the destroyed city, probably trying to justify their level of development. It’s more of a fairy tale than an oral tradition. The author took the legend as a basis and invented everything else.»

«Why were they considered gods then? Was it only because of their technology? But now we know so much more, and no one calls us gods,» said the boy.

«Everything was interpreted afterwards. We don’t know what the inhabitants of this city really called themselves. The inhabitants of the City of the Gods couldn’t fly. Although there could be even more incredible artifacts left in the city, proving a higher level of development among its inhabitants,» explained the father.

«Where could they be left?» asked the boy.

«The city was destroyed.»

«That’s correct, the city was destroyed, but artifacts could remain under the rubble,» said the father animatedly. He always had that intonation when he intended to find something, especially if it was unique, long-lost, and belonged to the realm of legends.»

«Нobody tried to find them for several thousand years?» exclaimed Alcmen in amazement.

«The city was found just a few days ago. Prior to that, nobody knew its location. The city only existed in legends and oral traditions. A month ago, I told you that we needed to check a hypothesis regarding its location, and now everything has been confirmed».

«So the city really existed. Incredible! And what about the artifacts?»

«What artifacts?» the father didn’t understand.

«Artifacts are a magic wand, speed boots, and an invisibility hat?» Alcmen asked.

«Something like that, but much more interesting».

The father himself didn’t know what to expect from the excavations. He only hoped to find the clock that could control time and the spear of strength, the most powerful weapon on earth.

«According to legends, there were clocks in the city that could manipulate time and a spear of strength, which had tremendous destructive power. But in reality, we don’t know what we can find in the City of the Gods. It has long been buried under sand and time, and this is a more destructive force than any weapon used in war».

The boy put the book aside.

«The clocks of time and the spear of strength, isn’t that evidence that history was completely different? It’s strange why my dad doesn’t agree with me; if people were able to control time, they must have been more advanced. In my opinion, this completely proves that there was a more advanced civilization in ancient times,» Alcmen concluded.

«Tell me something else,» the boy asked, realizing that his father knew much more than anyone else.

«Like what? You seem to know more than me,» the father smiled. «You tell me, your story is already different.»

«Okay, never mind. I’m intrigued by what the clocks of time looked like. What could you do with them? What power did the spear have? How did they use it?»

The boy looked at his father with great curiosity, thinking that there was nothing more mysterious and enigmatic than the secrets of the City of the Gods.

«The shape of the clocks was represented differently. I can assume, and most researchers agree, that the clocks were shaped like hourglasses, but I don’t think so,» the father calmly said. He didn’t want to make a sensation out of it. He had enough of that last time.

«We cannot treat legends as reliable sources. I can say that only select warriors were able to control the spear. They had something like a fingerprint recognition today. Each chosen warrior had their own access to the spear, and the spear itself was used only in special cases. We cannot say for sure because we have not seen the spear itself or its images.»

«I understand. This is to ensure that no one can use the spear arbitrarily,» Alcmen said seriously.

«Correct. The spear had incredible power. It could shatter a granite wall to pieces. Unfortunately, the principle of its operation is unknown.»

«Why did they leave then? If they had such an incredible weapon?»

«No one knows that. I want to say that this is based on legends, I emphasize, what actually happened is unknown. We still have to find out how everything really was, if we are lucky. I am more convinced that we know about the legends that circulated in the city, rather than what actually happened.»

«And if we are lucky after all?»

«Then they will talk about us on the radio and write about us in the newspapers.»

«I can’t even imagine it. I always want to imagine the inhabitants of this city. How they lived, what they did, how they communicated. Their life was probably interesting and completely different from ours. They couldn’t have made up the legend out of thin air,» Alcmen stated.

«Probably…,» the father looked at his grown-up son. He reasoned like an adult, and he could no longer be treated like a child.

«That was a different life, that’s for sure. If we believe the legend, then the chosen ones were taught from an early age. They later guarded the clocks of time and the spear of strength. All ordinary citizens were engaged in ordinary activities, went to school like you. By the way, did you do your homework? I promised your teacher that you would do your homework and read. I have already talked to her about everything.»

«I do my homework, but what you’re doing is much more interesting and useful. We are like keepers of the secrets of the inhabitants of the City of the Gods,» the boy said in a whisper and looked around.

«Go to bed, keeper.»

«And what about you?»

«I will think a little longer. Various thoughts are swirling around in my head and I can’t seem to stop them. Remember when I told you I didn’t agree with the common opinion about the shape of the clocks?»

«Yes.»

«Well, I think the clocks that could control time looked like the Latin letter ’y’. It’s the beginning of everything, when everything converges or diverges from one point. According to this principle, the universe emerged from a tiny point and grew to infinity, and it continues to grow.»

«So you mean it’s possible to stop time or control it!?» the boy asked, feeling both surprised and curious at the same time.

«I don’t know, time inexorably moves forward. I think the principle mentioned in the legend is not without foundation…,» the father fell silent and looked through the walls, then suddenly came to his senses and said:

«I need to think, and you should go to bed.»

«Will you come in?»

«To tell you a story,» the father said ironically.

«Yes,» confirmed the son.

«Okay.»

Alcmen went to his room and went to bed. He closed his eyes, but his thoughts didn’t want to calm down. «The clocks of time. I wonder what they looked like? I wonder if we can find them. It would be great to find the clocks themselves. And with their help, go back in time and see what really happened there.»

Then his father entered the room.

«Are you already asleep?» he asked.

«No, I’m waiting for you. I forgot to ask, when are we leaving?»

«Very soon. I will go to the university tomorrow and find out everything for sure. Most likely this week.»

«Great! It’s the most beautiful fairy tale. I will visit the City of the Gods. Tell me something else?» the boy asked, staring at his father with curiosity. He couldn’t fall asleep.

«In the City of the Gods, there was a temple that had clocks of time where you could control time. That’s actually what I want to find. It’s more likely. And if I find it, it will be a great success.»

«What small goals,» the boy said in surprise. He imagined himself looking for the clocks of time and the spear of strength, while his father talked about hoping to find only the ruins of the temple. He didn’t agree with settling for something less.

«I always set small goals for myself so that I won’t be disappointed later, and if something bigger happens, I will be more pleased.»

«Interesting perspective.» The boy looked at his father in a whole new light. They, for the first time in their lives, spoke so openly and as equals. Alcmen understood that behind the word «dad» was a very ordinary person with his fears and quirks.

«You see, we’re just going on an excavation, and we don’t know what awaits us there. I’ve often dealt with simpler things in my life than with truly amazing artifacts. So let’s put your fantasies aside and think about what you’ll take with you. I think you should take some textbooks so you can continue your studies.»

«Dad, I’ll only take a math textbook with me, that’s all,» Alcmen declared.

His father looked at him intently.

«I will probably agree with you, but you will be doing math from start to finish,» he said.

«Agreed!» exclaimed the son.

«What were we talking about?»

«The temple where the clocks of time were kept,» said the boy.

«Yes. It wasn’t quite a temple as we know it. I don’t know why it’s called that in legend because in reality, this temple was like our university. They studied sciences and kept track of time. I assume that they also had their own library, no worse than the Library of Alexandria. It’s strange that we don’t know what tools the inhabitants of the City of the Gods used to store information. I doubt they used clay tablets or papyrus given their level of development.»

His father thought again, only now noticing this interesting fact. «The absence of written sources… it probably proves that their level of development was not as great as the legend says.»

«Digital technologies,» Alcmen declared.

His father startled, as if he had been woken up.

«Why do you say that?» he asked.

«It’s very simple! Digital technologies leave no traces. Information is stored in the cloud,» explained Alcmen, surprised that his father hadn’t thought of the most obvious thing.

«Either I’m out of touch or you’ve grown up a lot.» The father couldn’t get used to the fact that his son was already grown up, in his mind he was still small. Sadly, this happens in life when parents rarely see their children. «That’s what an unclouded view does,» the father thought.

«Don’t worry, I’ll help you,» the boy encouraged him.

«That’s it, go to bed. We’ve clearly stayed up too long,» said the father as he looked at the ordinary wall clock. The clock’s hands showed one in the morning. They had never stayed up so late.

«What about the temple? I want to know everything about it,» Alcmen pleaded.

«We’ll go and find out,» the father said, ruffling his son’s hair and covering him with a blanket. The boy lay down on the pillow and closed his eyes. In his imagination, a majestic temple appeared, very similar to the university building in their small town. People walked in and exchanged information. They wore togas and sandals, like the ancient Greeks. He knew that the temple held time clocks, but as often happens in dreams, something kept getting in the way of reaching them. Sometimes a wall appeared in front of him, or he suddenly found himself not in the temple, but in the square, or someone started talking to him, explaining the principle of a spear. The boy tossed and turned, and the dream took a different turn. He calmed down and slept until morning.