THE MOMENT
"Oh, excuse me," Sadie apologized by habit. The unknown woman wasn't the first person she'd ever bumped into and wouldn't be the last. She often walked with her focus on the ground in front of her; she preferred that to risking eye contact. She didn't like the way other people made her feel. She knew it was her imagination; but, any time she engaged in conversation with someone she always felt out of sorts. Unfortunately, after a lifetime of studying the unease, she realized it was always there. It was only more pronounced when she talked to someone.
"That's alright," the brown-haired woman smiled at Sadie as she passed, and they both kept walking. But, Sadie noticed something after a few steps. It was a surprising sensation that she didn't want to lose. She whirled around.
"Excuse me!" she repeated; but, this time she was clearly trying to get the woman's attention. She dashed a short few steps to catch up to the stranger. Thankfully, she stopped and turned around.
"Yes?" the stranger asked. Sadie was almost too surprised to speak. She hadn't paid any attention to the woman when she apologized. But, now that she was looking at her Sadie noticed the woman's left eye did not match her right one. A blue-green Earth-like ball spun slowly in her left eye socket and the number 37 was tattooed below it on her tan cheek. She had shoulder-length dark brown hair with a thin red streak running through it. But, it wasn't her rotating eye, nor the tattoo that surprised Sadie. Instead, she was left speechless. For the first time that she could ever remember, Sadie felt welcome. As she appraised the feeling, Sadie realized 'welcome' was too strong a word. But, at the very least, she did not feel like the world did not want her there in this woman's presence. However, if she didn't say something soon, the woman herself might not want her there.
"Do I know you?" she asked. It was a stalling tactic in the hopes that she could come up with something better. The woman shook her head.
"No, Sadie, you don't," she said. Then, she offered her hand. "You may call me Gaia." Sadie reached for the hand out of habit, but she realized the woman used her name and pulled her hand back.
"How'd you know my name?" she asked. Gaia shrugged.
"I'm the spirit of the Earth," she said. "I can know anything." Sadie's first impulse was to laugh and dismiss the woman as a crackpot. But, she couldn't the way she felt throughout her life and it was obvious something was different about Gaia. Instead of challenging her directly, she made a joke.
"So, the spirit of the Earth just wanders around parks?" she asked. Gaia shrugged.
"I have a life to live like anyone else. Some days, I enjoy the park." It wasn't even a direct answer, but Sadie somehow felt that answered her question. She was ready to believe and hopefully learn something.
"So, you can really know anything?" Sadie asked.
"If I choose," Gaia nodded.
"Can you tell me what's wrong with me??" Sadie blurted out. And, she kept explaining the situation. Once the flood started, she had to get it all out. "I don't feel like I belong anywhere here. It's not even a sensation I can explain.. but I really feel it. It's like the world itself is trying to reject me; push me away. Even just taking a drink, it almost feels like the cup wants to jump out of my hand..." Gaia focused on Sadie and she was forced to lock eyes with the woman. Then, she noticed the painted-glass eye in Gaia's left socket stopped spinning.
"Hm, interesting...," Gaia noted aloud. Then, a broad smile grew on her face. Sadie's hopes grew with Gaia's smile. She assumed it meant she learned something. But, her hopes gave way to insecurity at Gaia's next utterance. "...an actual mistake," she chuckled.
"What do you mean a mistake?" Sadie asked. "I'm not a mistake.. right?" No one wanted to be called a mistake; but, if any one word could sum up how Sadie felt most of her life, that would be it.
"Yes," Gaia nodded; but, her smile remained. "...and no. You, Sadie, are not a mistake. However, your presence on this Earth is a mistake that someone else made; someone who, arguably, doesn't make mistakes. You don't know how happy you've made me just by existing here."
"This.. Earth?" Sadie asked. Gaia nodded.
"Oh yes, infinite alternate universes exist," she said. "You're not from this one. It's not normally that big of a deal, people Traverse all the time; but, due to someone else's mistake, this universe has been trying to reject you. I'll be glad to arrange someone to take you to your own Earth, or any other you might like."
"You keep saying it's a mistake that I'm here... but I was born here on this Earth...," Sadie said. Gaia nodded.
"And, that is the mistake," Gaia replied. "This isn't, technically, the same Earth you were born on. It changed recently. All the changes are supposed to be accounted for and modified. But, you weren't. That means that someone was cutting corners, and that means that they probably cut other ones too."
"What...?" Sadie was losing her place in the conversation the longer it went on. And, she didn't even need to go through the conversation. Gaia already said she'd help Sadie get somewhere else, and Sadie was ready. It wasn't like she had any friends to say goodbye to. "Wait, never mind. Tell me later. Yes, please. Take me somewhere else," she said.
"I have someone on the way already," Gaia nodded.
"Oh," Sadie nodded. Now it seemed like she had some time to kill. She didn't know how much, but she hoped it was enough for a question. She had a million in her mind, but she tried hard to whittle them down to one that she really wanted the answer to.
"So.. can you explain this mistake to me? What do you mean the Earth changed?"
"Hmm..." Gaia thought for a moment. "...imagine you have a video game. The game is the software, right? Now, imagine the creators decide to change things up a bit. Add new features, or change the lore, or what have you. So, they push out an update to the game. Now, arguably, the new game is distinctly different from the older version, even though they are both the same game."
"What?" Sadie asked. She knew video games existed, but that was the extent of her knowledge on the subject. "What does that have to do with me? And this Earth changing??"
"Your game...," Gaia gestured at the park around them. "...got updated. You were born in the old version, and somehow, your soul, your 'code'," Thankfully, Gaia used air quotes for that. "..is still from the old version. You didn't get updated like everything else around you."
"I'm a game...?!" Sadie was too surprised by everything to know how to feel about that piece of information. Luckily, Gaia shook her head to put her at ease.
"Of course not," Gaia said with a broad smile. "You're misinterpreting the whole thing. You're not a game," she said. "You're just an NPC."