Oracle: The Dream
#3 of MMCXII
This was truly the worst day in the wolf's life. Not only was his beloved instrument, the same one which he had found deep in the cave, deemed unfit and destroyed by the Priests for cultural advancement, but his very faith in the Solar federation had been shaken. Why are they so opposed to the people of Megadon creating their own music? And why were the Priests so focused on maintaining the status quo, even if the status quo was so unchanging that people would soon grow tired?
Sure, many of his friends were obsessed with the news they read in the Temple Paper or what they saw on the Templevision at home but that didn't mean the wolf wanted to see them as well. Sure, he had been placated by these things in the past but now, the wolf realized that this entertainment was literally mind-numbing. The people of Megadon loved their media, created by the Priests themselves, the same way that a baby likes a pacifier- it kept them quiet, kept their minds occupied. What could be dangerous about people producing their own form of entertainment, their own art, their own music? The Priests were constantly reminding people that everything had been taken care of and sure they had plenty to eat but when they wanted entertainment or anything to give their lives meaning, they were completely dependent on the Temples to provide for them. And why did the Priests remind citizens that they needed to live such highly-regimented lifestyles so as to avoid them creating their own sources of entertainment? It was as though the Solar Federation itself was fighting not for the betterment of society but for stasis and inaction.
The sun had set on the wolf's dreams and ambitions. He wanted to advance the culture of the city desperately but now he was forced to regret ever finding the instrument. So as he came home back to his dull grey cramped house, he thought of the events that had transpired over the past year- the discovery of the instrument, the hours of training, the eventual confiscation and destruction of said instrument. The fears of living in a static, unchanging world upset him as did the shattering of the ideologies he had been taught at an early age.
'I lie awake, staring out at the bleakness of Megadon. City and sky become one, merging
into a single plane, a vast sea of unbroken grey. The Twin Moons, just two pale orbs as
they trace their way across the steely sky. I used to think I had a pretty good life here,
just plugging into my machine for the day, then watching Templevision or reading a Temple
Paper in the evening.'My friend Jon always said it was nicer here than under the atmospheric domes of the Outer Planets. We have had peace since 2062, when the surviving planets were banded together under the Red Star of the Solar Federation. The less fortunate gave us a few new moons.
I believed what I was told. I thought it was a good life, I thought I was happy. Then I found
something that changed it all...'
The wolf thought of his childhood and what he had been taught at the schools- to honor the Solar federation and to hold the Priests in high regard. But these same Priests were working to keep his hometown in a state of stagnation. If they're so sacred and help our culture, why did they destroy the guitar? Eventually, the wolf did fall asleep, though it was by no means easy. Little did he know that the dream he was about to have would hold so much information in the history of the Solar Federation and the Elder Race who lived before 2062, the year of the Solar War.
'...I guess it was a dream, but even now it all seems so vivid to me. Clearly yet I see
the beckoning hand of the oracle as he stood at the summit of the staircase...'
In his dream, the wolf found himself climbing a spiral staircase to the top, where he met a white-clad human with a star-shaped halo around his head. All around were the distant stars and he realized that the stairway led from his bed to several miles above the Martian surface. He was in deep space now.
"I am the Oracle, the undying spirit of the Elder Race which lived before the rise of the Solar Federation. Put your paw into my hand, for there are things which only you, who discovered our most prized possession will see." The wolf did as he was told and was led on a fantastic voyage through the solar system, through time itself. The wolf was led to Earth, a planet which was at one point, the palce where all living things resided but it was somehow different.
"This is Earth in the 2050's. This is what we, the Elder Race created and what the Solar Federation destroyed many years ago."
'...I see still the incredible beauty of the sculptured cities and the pure spirit of man
revealed in the lives and works of this world. I was overwhelmed by both wonder and
understanding as I saw a completely different way to life, a way that had been crushed
by the Federation long ago. I saw now how meaningless life had become with the loss of
all these things...'
This was a place the wolf had never seen, at least not with this beautiful art and architecture. It was so spontaneous, so colorful, so bright and imaginative, unlike the buildings and artwork of the Temples. This was artwork made by artists who wanted to express themselves in their own ways, not in the ways that served to benefit a government entity like the Solar Federation. These were the works of artists not satisfied with ideologies that shut the mind down but artists with hungry minds and opened eyes, who sought to engage the intellect of the viewer. And having never seen this artwork before, the wolf fell in love with it on the spot and announced it to the human.
His human guide spoke to him, his halo radiating as he spoke, "The Solar Federation forced us to leave the interior planets five decades ago. But from beyond the asteroid belt, we continue to develop. We are preparing an invasion of Federation planets- where you live today is the land that belongs to us. We will tear the Temples down but we mean the common people of the planets no harm. We will give these people the opportunity to create their own entertainment, their own art and music rather than having it created for them by an oppressive government."
"The time has come for the Temples to be torn down. It is now time for change."