Nova "I have reached Nova!"© 2002 by Adrian Gaetano
The cry issued forth like a primal, instinctive call. Yet it was more than instinct. The man had moved beyond instinct, beyond nature, to reach a new height of evolution. His companions cheered and applauded as he extended his arms in rapture, closing his eyes and screaming a cry of pure joy into the winds around him.
"You have evolved..." exclaimed the Leader, as the other members of the group linked hands in a protective huddle around him, and began their holy song in homage.
"We are star dust...we are star stuff...
"From the stars we have come,
"To the stars we shall return..."
The man laughed joyously."You have evolved..." repeated the Leader, "...and yet you have moved beyond evolution. You have reached: individuality!"
Then the Leader began a testimonial, a tribute, and each member of the group spoke in turn of their part in leading their friend to his new calling.
"I'm a member of the Church of Relativity and Alternative Progress..." stated Harry, as he and Tony sat together on the inter-city shuttle, during their nightly commute home from work.
"You're telling me that you're a Crappy?" Tony had asked with a sense of open amusement, using the slang term that was common-place and somewhat derivative, "Are you serious?"
"Yes..." grinned Harry, "I tend to keep it to myself, but I'm not ashamed of it..."
Tony sat back in his seat, feeling astonished. He had heard of the sect before, but Harry was the first person he had met in real life who claimed connection with such a group.
"Why don't you come along to some of our meetings or social events?" Harry continued, "You shouldn't judge us before you hear what we have to say. Besides, you may be pleasantly surprised..."
"I've belonged for three years now," explained Elaine, as she and Tony danced and gyrated in the virtual dancefloor.
"Why did you join?" Tony asked, more out of a desire to make polite conversation than from any genuine sense of curiosity. They twisted and intertwined amidst zero-gravity explosions of colour, sound and emotion.
"Why did I join?" she laughed freely, "I felt that there had to be more to life and the Universe than I already knew...I was searching for the Universe. I found it."
Tony nodded, feeling genuinely impressed by the sincerity of her answer. In the three months since he had begun to attend CORAP social events, he had enjoyed the company of many friendly men and women. He had found them to be - like himself - genuine, sincere seekers of knowledge. He saw that it was good.
But he had to admit to himself that he enjoyed Elaine's company most of all.
"...and that's the current proof of Universal expansion..." continued the Leader during their weekly CORAP meeting. Around him evolved a three dimensional virtual model of the Universe, absorbing itself into the neural nets of his audience.
Tony gasped in awe. He could hear similar exclamations and astonishment from his friends in this latter-21st century religious congregation.
"Parkerson's Law of Universal Atrophy," continued the Leader, "dictates that the Universe has developed consciousness and instinct as modes of evolution. These two forces remain in opposition. Instinct is necessary to ensure survival and evolution of each species and the Universal biomass. But consciousness and intelligence are the intended result. And when that result is achieved, we find the potential to break free of evolution...to move beyond instinct and sub-conscious ritual...to tear ourselves out of mindless automatism."
The Leader's words sank deep into Tony's consciousness, along with the images and sounds of the virtual display:
"We can remain slaves to base evolution and the ways of the flesh - or we can choose a higher path. We can go Nova - we can allow our consciousness, our mind, our personality, to all explode outwards, upwards..."
"I went Nova last year..." smirked Stella, as a small CORAP group sat in the local coffee shop, enjoying cappuccinos and lunar herbal saki after their weekly Virtual-Scripture uplink.
"So did I..." said her partner, Pulsar, reaching across to hold her hand. The others in the group smiled at their tender, public display of affection.
"And before you went Nova, you two weren't together, like, er..." Tony began awkwardly, but then paused. Pulsar understood the intention of his question.
"Yes, before we went Nova, we could never have learnt to love each other like this...but going Nova allows us to reach the point where we can break free, break out, disengage ourselves from the pull and call of base instinct and emotion. We are free to love each other with a purer, more spiritual form of love."
"If there is a God, some form of Universal Creator, " agreed Stella, "Then He or She must surely be like us, like those who have gone Nova, living and loving in a form that is above and beyond basic sexual procreation. We have spiritual reproduction!"
Pulsar nodded in agreement and squeezed Stella's hand: "We have been cured of our previous lives and sexual needs. We have attained hyper-love. Any other form of love or sex must surely be seen as a travesty, an abomination."
Tony exchanged glances with others from the group. He had to admit that he didn't want his personality - his sexuality - his psychology - to be changed or cured, but he had to admit that their arguments were logical.
"I have reached Nova!" he cried again during the ceremony.
Around him, holding hands, his friends exchanged smiles of pride and love - Harry, Elaine, Stella, Pulsar, the Leader, and so many others.
"You have gone Nova..." acknowledged the Leader, "My medical equipment confirms that your personality, sexuality, psychoneural and hormonal constituents have reached a plateau beyond which you are free from your base instincts. You have hyper-evolved. Welcome to your new Universe!"
They all cheered and applauded, welcoming their new friend into his new life.
"I am washed anew in the primeval dust of the Universe..." Tony chanted the ceremonial lines, "I am reborn as a creature who is in the Universe but not of the Universe!"
And now he could understand the meaning of the words he was speaking: "I claim my place as someone who has taken all the gifts decreed me by the Universe, and has gone Nova, exploded out and beyond into a new and better frontier!"
"I welcome a new person, who shall go by a new name..." announced the Leader.
"I choose the name Aurora!" declared Tony proudly.
"I welcome Aurora!" announced the Leader.
Then Harry moved forward and extended his hand -
- or, at least, the man who had been named Harry until he had himself undergone Nova a few minutes earlier.
"I claim you..." he said warmly, "as my new partner."Aurora moved forward happily and clasped hands with the other man. Alongside them, the women - Stella and Pulsar - also clasped hands, as did the other same-sex couples.
"You have moved beyond the need for base instinct and reproduction..." proclaimed the Leader, "The Universe welcomes all hyper-evolved beings!"
"I'm finally cured..." whispered Aurora happily, resting his head softly against his new partner's shoulder.
Above them, the stars sparkled and twinkled in their age-old wisdom. The Universe was looking good and the future was looking even brighter.