Harmony

In the right-hand bedroom of house number three, Suria woke not long after dawn. She was glad to be home.

That was an unexpected thought. She wasn’t home; she was in that strange village.

The previous day was spent struggling with memory loss in a completely foreign environment, with advanced technology and waves of peace that stopped her from feeling bad. She had met a lovely young lady named Pixie who might or might not be her friend, if she could only remember. So why did she feel at home, even for an instant? It was all too hard to figure out, for now.

She got out of bed and took a shower right away. It really was calming, as Pixie had reported the day before. It was nicer than she expected before she stepped in, as if it was indeed doing more than just cleansing her. Had some chemical or mineral been added to the water to make it more vibrant? It was a foreign concept, and there was no way of knowing that was within her present grasp of reality, as tenuous as it was. When she ventured out to the kitchen after dressing, she met Pixie, already working the food machine.

The first thing Suria noted was that her new housemate was relieved somehow, as if she’d found something she’d lost, or avoided something she was worried about. Suria tentatively asked her if she slept well, and Pixie’s reply in the affirmative was perhaps more enthusiastic than it might have been. Suria studied her for a moment. Why she might be enthusiastic about her sleep? Was that a normal situation for most people? Those thoughts disappeared as Pixie talked more about the upcoming day. Her name was so apt. She was quite small and fairy-like, and the wavy blonde hair and girlish voice added to the appropriateness of the name.

Pixie’s words startled her out of her distracted state. Suria pretended she’d been listening all along and not away with the fairies. Pixie was asking her about going to the community centre and whether they should look around some more. Suria agreed this was a good idea. Some purpose in their day was a good thing.

On entering the community centre, she paused for a moment, as did Pixie. Something was different. Suria couldn’t figure out what it was; at least not initially. They gave up trying to work out what had changed and instead went to the library the art and music room, looking for any book or text that might explain the symbols above the doors on each house. Disappointingly, they found nothing on symbology or anything like that, although the library was quite extensive.

She and Pixie went there into the kitchen to make a morning tea. Before they headed out to the patio for some sunshine, Pixie spoke up suddenly, startling Suria.

“Look!” she exclaimed, pointing to the tables and chairs at the front of the kitchen. “The chairs are all back neatly together! I’m sure we didn’t leave the two we used yesterday perfectly in line with the table when we left. I remember spilling a few crumbs of my pie, too, which I thought I would get later when I got around to sweeping, but I forgot. They’re not here on the floor anywhere.”

“You’re saying the place has been cleaned?”

“Must have been. I know these are small things, and we hardly made any mess at all, but someone has cleaned this kitchen since we were last here!” Pixie’s excited words led to an obvious conclusion: they might still be here.

“Hello! Anyone here? Anyone?” Suria’s immediate and somewhat desperate calls echoed around the kitchen.

She and Pixie then took off, running quickly through all of the community centre rooms, calling as they did so. No-one answered them. The last room they checked was the gardening room, before exiting through the back door. Suria motioned to Pixie that they should split up so they could check each of the houses, which they did. Frustratingly once again, they found no-one.

“Oh, that’s so annoying!” Pixie was clearly exasperated, panting with the exertion of the search, as they met back in the kitchen at the community centre.

“Yeah it really is! That was our chance. If they were still here, they would surely have responded.”

“So… does that mean someone did it late last night, ignored us, and left?” Pixie’s tone was somewhat peevish.

“Maybe. I’m not sure.” Suria sighed. “If so, then they must know we were here. In that case, I’m mystified why they didn’t check our house and say hello.”

“Answers. That’s all I want.” Pixie was downcast.

“I hear you. We have to trust that answers will eventually come. Hopefully we don’t have to wait much longer.” Suria’s tone aimed to be reassuring, but she didn’t really believe it herself.

“Yeah, I know. No point in getting upset. The waves of peace won’t let us anyway.”

“True,” Suria responded. Something caught her eye for a moment as they were extracting a drink each from the food machines. She stared a bit longer at one of the cupboards in the far corner.

“What’s up?” asked Pixie, a curious tone to her voice.

“Have we… did we open that cupboard yesterday during our search?” The door was slightly ajar, which was why it caught her eye.

“No, we didn’t. I’ve never noticed it before. Didn’t even know it was a cupboard. It has no handle.I’ll go check it out.” Pixie walked over. Suria was sipping her fruit juice.

Pixie opened the door and gasped. Suria quickly put her juice down on the bench and raced over to join her. Inside the cupboard were two silver coloured mechanical robots, about three feet tall. They were the sort of robots she’d expect to see in a science fiction movie. They had a small screen where their face would be, but it was dark. She and Pixie needed to get down on their knees to examine them closely as they were quite small.

“What are these things?” Suria asked.

“Look! They have brushes on their feet. I think we might have found our cleaners!” Pixie’s excitement was obvious, however Suria didn’t share it. Some more advanced technology, for sure, but no human being they could actually talk to. To say she was disappointed was understating things. She kept it out of her voice, for Pixie’s sake.

“Yeah it seems so!” replied Suria, not believing her own fake enthusiasm.

“You’re not impressed?” Pixie regarded Suria with a sideways look.

“Yes… of course I am. I just wish we’d found real human cleaners. Not these. But they’re nice, I suppose.”

“Hey! At least we don’t have to clean anything around here. That’s a positive.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Suria’s attempt at cheerfulness was sort of working.

“I wonder if there’s any more hidden surprises. How about we continue exploring, just in case?” Pixie’s suggestion didn’t help Suria’s mood, although it was well meaning.

“I’m not sure we’ll find anything. We searched pretty thoroughly. Then again, we never found these robots.” Suria closed the door on them.

“How about we explore beyond the village instead? A few short walks here and there. Find some different vantage points; see if there is anything else that will help us.”

“I don’t see why not?” Suria was warming to the idea. “We haven’t got much else to do. We may as well.” Suria wondered at her glumness. Maybe Pixie’s positivity would rub off on her the more they talked during their exploring.

At this they made some portable lunch from the food machines and headed out to the west of the village. Perhaps there were more paths that they hadn’t yet seen. After a couple of hours of walking in several directions of that side of town, they found nothing. Nonetheless, it kept them occupied and gave them some hope that they might find a way to get to where other people were who could potentially help them.

Thus began a daily ritual that, although it yielded little to help them understand where they were or how they got there, at least kept them occupied. They were grateful for each other’s company, as there seemed to be no real way to resolve their dilemma without a map, any road that led anywhere useful or the appearance of other people. They both clung to this last hope more than anything. Someone built this village with a purpose. It wasn’t run down and had been freshly manicured when they arrived. Surely it wouldn’t be much longer before someone showed up. When they weren’t exploring, searching for possible clues to their location or identity, they kept themselves occupied by reading books and playing board games in the meeting room.

Suria had found some larger sheets of paper, and some coloured markers. She had written what they knew in various categories; amnesia characteristics, clothing, technology, trees, housing, interior decorations, and so on. She wrote down what each of them knew of their home country, what evidence they had of the village, and other bits of information such as what time of year it might be, and which country they thought were in. Pixie, for her part, had begun to chronicle their experiences in a large journal she had found in the meeting and games room, as they were now calling it. She hoped it might trigger some lost memories, or perhaps even aid them in devising a plan for how to find other people and obtain help.

They had managed to find some time to do some gardening, which Suria felt good about, as they were at least giving something back to the village. The garden had some weeds, which they removed and placed into one of the compost bins they found nearby. Suria didn’t know enough about what types of plants were in the garden, but they seemed healthy and vibrant and therefore must have some underground watering system. She didn’t question it, filing it away as yet another mysterious aspect of this colossally advanced village.

That morning they had even washed their clothes. The washing machine was so easy to use and as technologically advanced as the rest of the village. It had the same cartoon-like buttons and was quiet and fast in its operation. The best part about the washing machine was that it also dried their clothes at the end of the cycle. Suria had made Pixie laugh by pretending not to be impressed, instead jokingly criticising it for not folding their clothes and pairing their socks.

They had to this point both been meticulously keeping track of what they had used and when; but after a few days they formed the opinion that maybe it didn’t matter. It was a nice idea to try to do the right thing, but they had pretty much stopped believing they were in a resort. It was a village. It just had no residents.

Talking was easy, as were the silences. It was pleasing to Suria that they never felt any discomfort around each other and could share their feelings openly. They had discussed whether or not they might have been friends prior to their amnesia and came to the conclusion that it was entirely possible. Pixie had said it didn’t matter; they were friends now.

Their walks around the immediate environs of the village didn’t turn up any new information. However, on Suria’s fourth day in the village, and Pixie’s fifth, they found a rough path winding up one of the mountainsides to the east of the village. It had been obscured by trees that they had previously thought were just part of the forest. They were already too tired to go farther at this point and decided to head back to the village and potentially plan a longer walk in the next day or so. Before they left, they peered upwards at this particular mountain, to see where the path might lead. There was the possibility of a rocky ledge above the tree line that might give some excellent views of the surrounding area, and would be worth a closer look, when they had time.

“So, there’s no roads, no telephones, and no maps.” Suria was simply kicking off another problem-solving conversation: one they had tried many times before. It was almost pointless to keep going over their situation, yet here she was, doing it again. Pixie gave her a look of gratitude, pleased they hadn’t given up.

“Without telephones we can’t call anyone.” Suria continued. “Without roads, we can’t figure out how to get to another place that might help, and anyway there are no motor vehicles we can borrow to try to drive somewhere. We know that the path that leads towards your awakening point dead ends just into the forest, and then there is only the stream to guide you. My path goes into the forest and after that, who knows? It might lead somewhere but it’s a long way from here. It’d be a long day’s walk or even an overnight night stay if we went to visit either point again.”

Suria glanced at Pixie. She was quietly listening, waiting for Suria to finish her line of thinking. They were almost back at the village now; houses three and four were directly in front of them, about a hundred metres away.

Suria continued. “The village is self-contained and has everything we need to survive and be comfortable. What it doesn’t have is answers. We could probably live here for some time, in perfect comfort, but eventually even the waves of peace aren’t going to be enough to overcome our desire to solve our amnesia. I have an idea though.”

“Oh?” Pixie watched her more intently. They’d so far had many ideas, all of which had led nowhere. Suria was about to answer when she stopped in her tracks at what she saw ahead of her.

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed.

There was a Hispanic man and a Caucasian woman, standing in the centre of the village.

The woman waved at them. Upon making eye contact, both the woman and the man regarded them with hopeful expressions. Suria and Pixie resumed walking with some excitement and consternation at the sight of more humans, wanting to get closer so they could talk to them. Suria was about to say something when the woman spoke first, calling out slightly, to bridge the distance between them.

“Man, have we got a story to tell you!” An unmistakeable American accent. Or maybe it was Canadian? She continued. “Oh, sorry, I should introduce us. My name is Rocsi. That’s Rocsi with a ‘csi’ at the end, not an ‘xy’. My friend here is Arias.”

“Well, friend, yes, from today. Only know you since today!” replied Arias in an upbeat tone, looking at Rocsi as he did so. He had an accent Suria found hard to place, but her initial guess was either Spanish or Portuguese. They were now all together and shaking hands.

“Hello!” said Suria cheerfully, as she greeted each of them.

Rocsi was slightly taller than Suria was, with short dark brown hair that did not quite reach her shoulders. She at first glance appeared a little tomboyish, but on closer inspection, was quite feminine, especially when she spoke. She had on a pair of blue pants that were a little like denim but with a softer, more flexible look. Her tee-shirt was a deep red, and her black boots were a different colour to what the she and Pixie were wearing but were clearly made of same material. Rocsi radiated charisma but possessed it as a way of cheering others up, rather than trying to override them or intimidate them. Arias was about the same height as Rocsi, with short, dark hair. He was quite handsome. He too was wearing blue denim-like flared pants, and a striking purple and blue chequered shirt that had attractive black metallic buttons. He had a pair of black boots on as well.

Suria had sadly already half-guessed, because it was logical more than anything, that these two people were also lost and had no memory. She expected this to be confirmed at any moment and was almost chuckling to herself at the inevitable confirmation she knew was coming. First, though, Suria felt she should do some introductions. She sensed Pixie was a little disturbed at seeing more people who appeared lost, so she took control.

“Hi, I’m Suria, and this is Pixie. Welcome to our village!”

This statement greatly pleased both Rocsi and Arias, judging by the delight showing clearly on their faces. They both radiated peace and gentleness, leaving a lovely first impression on Suria. She was encouraged by this. These people would be good companions and would make life easier for herself and Pixie, regardless of how much or how little help they could give in finding out where they were and how they’d gotten here.

“We’re so happy you’re here!” By Rocsi’s tone, Suria knew what she was about to hear, but stayed respectful and allowed them to tell their own story first.

“How I say this?” Arias paused momentarily. “We don’t know who we are.”

Of course. Of course you don’t know who you are. Suria did admirably well to feign concern, and she glanced at Pixie, whose expression was quite sympathetic. Suria knew Pixie was putting this on, so she replied. “But you know your names?”

“Yes, we do, and we think we know where we come from.” Rocsi was optimistically enthusiastic. Suria liked this immediately. Pixie evidently did as well, as she responded this time.

“Okay, but you don’t know where you are at all?”

“No.”

Pixie’s bravado lasted one sentence. She turned to Suria who, without missing a beat, broke the news.

“I’m so sorry guys. We’re lost too. And we have no memory of who we are either.” She faked a smile. It was probably not going to convince them of anything, but she had to try. By their instant expressions of disappointment, Rocsi and Arias were clearly not expecting this. Suria continued anyway, as cheerfully as she could.

“But we have been here for a few days and we have found out a lot of things. Plus, we can help you get something to eat, as we know where the food is!”

The mention of food was exactly what was needed to raise the mood. A few minutes later, they were all standing in front of the food machines in the community centre. Stalling their discussions on who and where they were until they could create dinner for everyone, she and Pixie gleefully described the food machines and their astonishing function of literally creating food from nothing.

Their new companions were no less shocked than Suria expected. The food machines lent an almost surreal atmosphere to being in the village. Almost everything else she had seen could be at least partially explained from her knowledge bank. Not the food machines. They were almost completely unbelievable. Here they were, creating more meals out of thin air.

Rocsi had opted for a simple Southwestern US meal of fajitas, while Arias chose a Churrasco sandwich with chips, which he said was a traditional beef and salad dish in Chile, were he believed he was from.

“Really? How do you know this?” Pixie asked.

“I know Castellano words better than I know English. I also remember Andes mountains and when I think for a bit, I see Chilean flag flying.”

“What does that look like? Sorry, I probably didn’t learn flags before coming here.”

“It’s okay, mina. Oh, sorry – that is what I mean. Mina is a Chilean special word – slang, I think you say in English for that word. It means pretty young woman. I did not learn that in any other country but Chile.”

Pixie blushed at his explanation of what the word meant. Arias was immediately taken aback that he had let this one slip.

“I am so sorry Pixie. I did not mean – .”

“Oh please! Don’t worry. I love that word! I don’t mind at all if you use it as much as you want. I won’t be offended.” Pixie’s genuine warmth and even mirth was now surfacing, and Suria was pleased, seeing it.

“Anyway, the flag?” Pixie continued.

“Ah. Sorry… mina.” He grinned at her. “It is red on the bottom, white on top, with a blue square also on the top left, and a white star in the middle of the blue square.” He made gestures as he described the colours and symbols. Pixie glanced over at Rocsi, as if to apologise for taking over the conversation. Rocsi seemed to be enjoying the exchange and was not bothered in the least by ‘her’ friend being nice to Pixie. There was a moment of silence. Suria picked up the conversational slack and asked a question of Rocsi.

“And what about you, Rocsi? Where do you think you’re from? I can tell you’re either American or Canadian, but I wouldn’t know which.” Suria momentarily thought it was unusual to ask about countries of origin so early in conversation between new acquaintances, however there must be something to the fact that they all came from vastly different parts of the world. She just couldn’t yet figure out what it was.

“I’m American. From the state of Michigan. Somewhere near Detroit I think, but not in the city itself. Maybe a town called Ann Arbor, about 60 or 100 miles from Detroit? I know a lot about that place and I imagine it’s because I might live there. I also keep seeing lots of snow when I think of what I can remember. I think I – “

“Wait! Sorry – ,” Pixie interrupted at this point. “You said remember.”

“Yeah. I’ve had some flashbacks during the day while we’ve been walking. Nothing earth-shattering, just everyday scenes like streets, public places and so on. Only brief images though.” Rocsi looked at Arias. “He remembers absolutely nothing at all. He knows a lot about Chile, but he can’t remember anything of his family or which town or city he’s from. You said maybe Santiago, Arias?”

“Si. Santiago is where I am from.”

Rocsi continued for him. “He told me that he can picture a lot of scenes of the city, like, y’know, snowy mountains that you can see from downtown. That sort of thing. He knows a bit about other cities in other countries in South America, like Rio, Asuncion and Montevideo, but he can describe many more things about Santiago.”

Arias nodded.

“Anyway! There is so much we have to tell you, and we haven’t even asked you about your situation yet! How did you get here and what do you guys remember?”

Suria was enjoying Rocsi’s energy and obvious delight in friendly, positive conversation. She wanted to know lots more about this intriguing, almost androgynous American woman. The girly voice gave her away though: she was definitely feminine.

“It’s more than okay! There’s so much time to talk, as we have found out.” She glanced at both Pixie and Arias, who had been quietly looking at each other. Rocsi noticed this also.

“Oh my god, what is going on here!” she said animatedly. “In love already, and you’ve known each other how long?”

Pixie blushed again and laughed at Rocsi, her blue eyes flashing with joy at her teasing. She changed the subject, however. “Before I forget - you said remember.”

“Oh yes, that’s right! I do seem to have some memories. I can remember being at a loud football game – American football, not soccer, or what you call football, Arias – and wearing blue and yellow colours. Actually – and this is a quite specific memory – I remember saying to someone I was with that I liked the blue and yellow colours. They corrected me and told me it was maize and blue. That was how you were supposed to say it. I remember joking about those words. “Amazing blue!” I repeated, over and over. I was maybe about five at the time. The other thing I vaguely remember is who I was with. If I try hard to remember, I get a motherly presence. I must have gone with my Mom. From what little I know about football, I have a feeling it might have been the University of Michigan football team I was watching. I don’t know when though.”

“Wow.” Suria responded. “That’s really something. Neither Pixie nor I can recall a thing at all. Those are great details.”

“Yeah. I will have to try to remember more when I get a free moment. Kinda have lots of thoughts in my head right now, y’know?”

“Yeah, I can relate!” Suria glanced down at Rocsi and Arias’ dinners. No-one had started eating yet.

Rocsi was the first to react. “Oh my gosh, I just realised how hungry I am! Arias – can I steal a few of your chips? They look awesome.”

“No need to steal, my love, you can just have.”

“Aw, see, you still love me! There’s hope for me yet!”

Suria and Pixie laughed at this, and Arias grinned.

She continued. “Anyways, let’s all eat. I’d love to hear what you guys have found out since you’ve been here.”

As they ate, Pixie and Suria told them everything they could think of that might help shed light on their situation. Pixie went first, describing where she woke up, what she found when she arrived, and where she guessed she was from. Suria then told her story, remarking on how her awakening point was in a similar location to theirs. They couldn’t discern anything useful by comparing notes on where they woke up. Suria then described what she and Pixie had been doing for the past few days, as far as searching the community centre, the village, and the surrounding area. They mentioned the path to the east they had discovered that afternoon. There was disappointment at the lack of location information, and the complete absence of any maps. This was of particular concern to Rocsi.

“So, there’s no map anywhere in this whole goddamn place?” she asked.

Suria frowned. “No, nothing at all. Believe me, we have searched absolutely everywhere. I also walked back and across my awakening point when I was there and found nothing at all. What about you guys?” She looked at Arias, aiming to involve him more in the conversation.

“We find nothing. We wake up in different place. We meet at the stream and we talk, but she find nothing at her place and I find nothing at mine.”

Rocsi continued. “Yeah that’s right. When I woke I felt nice, like you guys did, and I loved my clothes, but there was nothing else around me. Nothing in my pockets, no food, no nothing. I realised pretty quick that I had to get moving. So I did. I walked down the hill a ways, and then I saw this beautiful man at the stream. I thought I must be dreaming.” She laughed at this memory. Then she looked at him to continue. He did.

“She call out and we talk. We both have same problem. We do not know who we are, and we need to find food. We walk around some more, and still not find anything, then I remember I see some buildings when I wake up. We both go back to my – what you call it, Suria?”

“Awakening point.”

“Si, that. When we go back there, we can see the village. It look safe to us and a good place to find food and help from someone.” Gratitude showed clearly on his face. He was now in that same village, in a place of food and shelter, although they had not quite found the sort of help they were expecting.

Suria regarded Arias while he was speaking, noting how he came from such a place a purity with his mannerisms and expressions. His genuine, unaffected nature was clearly evident and a central part of who he was: a core thing about him that was undeniable. She loved that about him already. There was something else, too: his lyrical voice and the Spanish accent that contributed to it. She felt compelled to remark on it.

“I could listen to you talk all day,” she said.

“Hey! Wait a minute! Just hold on there, young lady…” Rocsi teased again. They all laughed. Rocsi’s tone then became more measured. “On a more serious note, I really think there is at least one map somewhere. We just haven’t found it yet. I’m sure it’s well hidden, and for a reason. Someone doesn’t want this place found easily. I can’t figure out why though.”

They were all silent for a moment, as if collectively thinking on this notion.

Pixie broke the silence. “I think we just keep looking and not worry for now about why, just focus on how. How we’re going to find answers.”

Suria affirmed this, get up out of her chair. “Agreed. Come on, Pixie. Let’s show these guys how we clean up, village style, and then do a quick tour before bed.”

Suria and Pixie demonstrated the dish disposal unit and the cutlery cleaning machine, and then briefly showed Rocsi and Arias the rest of the community centre, promising to spend more time touring it the next day, when they would conduct another full search of the whole village. They then collected a change of clothes for each of them, before taking them over to their house.

They all went inside, and Pixie and Suria showed Arias and Rocsi the layout of the house, pointing out the food machine, and the glass object in the centre of the main living area that they couldn’t figure out. Neither Rocsi nor Arias were able to offer any ideas about what it might be either. They agreed it was probably a nice decoration, nothing more. It was kind of weird, though. After a moments’ silence, Suria guessed that their new friends were probably tired and needing sleep.

Arias echoed her thoughts. “I am tired. I would like to have sleep. It is okay, you say, to sleep in these houses, so we will do that. But there is not enough room for all of us in this house. Rocsi and I will sleep in the one next to you.”

“Oh, heavens no,” Suria could not reply quickly enough. “That will not do. You guys can stay here with us. I’ll sleep on the couch…”

“No, he’s right,” Rocsi said. Her expression was now quite serious. “This house aint big enough for the four of us. We’ll be fine over there next door to you. Arias will take one room and I will take the other. We won’t be far away.”

Suria was crestfallen, mostly because Rocsi was right. Despite knowing this anyway, she had so wanted to find a solution where they could all be together.

Arias placed a consoling hand on her shoulder. “You can come over with us first! You and Pixie. We have some more laughs, and Rocsi can have more of my chips, and we can talk some more about how to fix all of this.”

“And then we’ll see each other first thing in the morning,” continued Pixie. “Come on Suria, she’s right. Remember, you’re the one who told me we have all the time in the world.”

“Okay, okay. I suppose you did sleep by yourself the first night, so they’ll be fine. Okay, let’s go and have dessert and we can tuck them in for the night.”

All four of them went over to house number four. Suria had numbered them one to six on her problem-solving sheet from east to west. They had some laughs, along with some Chilean chips as Arias had promised and talked more about their experiences so far. Tiredness eventually began to dampen the excitement of meeting each other, so they mutually agreed to turn in for the night.

The following day, however, yielded nothing, despite Suria and Pixie finding some storage cupboards and boxes they hadn’t opened yet. Rocsi had reasoned that any map that might exist in the village would be displayed prominently, or readily available. Hiding it did not make any sense, she said. Despite the waves of peace, which they all had felt at various times, the situation was becoming somewhat frustrating. Suria raised the possibility of visiting the potential lookout point she and Pixie had discovered earlier that day. They all ventured out to the beginning of the path, north and slightly west of the village, trying to appraise how long it would take to reach the rocky ledge near the top.

Arias volunteered to go by himself.

“I am pretty sure I do this in Chile; I walk in the mountains. It is something I like, something I know. I will go. I will draw a map and bring it back. We can…”

Pixie gently put her hand on his arm, stopping him in mid thought. “It’s a lovely idea Arias, but it’s a long way up there. Surely it will take a whole day, maybe even an overnight stay.”

“I can do it.. Don’t you worry, mina, I…”

“Hey guys…” Suria interrupted, speaking with an incredulous tone because of what she saw in the distance. It was as if this couldn’t be happening. Not again.

“Oh god.” Rocsi had also seen what Suria was looking at.

About a kilometre away, walking on the rough path next to the stream, were two more people. They had an unmistakeable air, even from this far away, of appearing lost and needing help.