several of the men would pull the plow and shave off thick pieces of sod from the prairie

Penny Lake: 5250 AD.

"Another perfect day. Another boring perfect day. It's so quiet here now," Sally sighs, the weight of solitude evident in her voice.

"I know, sweetheart. Some of the domains were hardly touched by the re-population, but Penny Lake was mostly cleared out. Between the first and final wave, your whole family left you," Penny says gently, giving Sally a little hug—the kind of comfort that comes from years of friendship.

"For years I was busy with the Council, but now that they've disbanded—most of them going in the final wave—I'm sort of stuck here by myself, and I'm kinda bored," Sally says, casting a look toward Penny that practically begs for sympathy.

"Since you're back together with Patrick, why don't you make another baby?" Penny suggests, as if it's the most natural solution in the world.

"Baby!? You're kidding. I'm 97 years old. That's a silly idea," Sally responds, almost laughing at the absurdity.

"Oh yes, you've experienced 97 years. But your physical age is stuck at 33, just like all the young ones who grew up in these domains. So you could keep making babies for a million years if you wanted to," Penny points out matter-of-factly.

Sally just stares at Penny for a moment before saying, "I don't think it's the physical age that's the issue. After you've raised a family and gone through several sets of grandkids, you're just not interested in making any more—even if you could, which I can't."

"You can't?" Penny asks, genuine concern creeping into her voice. "Is something wrong I don't know about?"

"Baby making stopped in these domains shortly after the final wave. It seems the life energies are refocused on the planet, which is so much denser. The necessary resonance for procreation just doesn't exist here anymore—at least not for humans. Plants and some animals still procreate, which is a good thing, or we'd run out of steak and lamb chops in the denser domains. Here in Penny Lake, though, I don't eat for months. It just isn't necessary in such a light domain. And sex? I'd just as soon cuddle a little and go to sleep."

"I hear it isn't that way on Earth," Alexa chimes in, appearing as if summoned by the conversation.

"Hello Alex. Nice of you to pop over," Penny says warmly.

"Yes. As soon as I say the word 'sex,' here you are. Why don't you go home to your husband and work on that? I swear you girls are like a bunch of horny little rodents," Sally says with a knowing smile.

"Like you said, Aunt Sally, it's hardly worth the trouble in Penny Lake. Ethan and I will go to the city soon and spend a few days there, and we'll see what happens," Alexa says with a giggle. "So tell me, how are they doing on the planet? I haven't heard much from Mom and Dad or Grandpa lately. Tell me about Penelope. She left way before I was born. Tell me the story of the Princess."

"If you wanted stories, you should have gone with your Grandpa John. He's the storyteller, not me," Sally protests half-heartedly.

"Please?" Alexa pleads with the persistence of someone who knows exactly which buttons to push.

"Yes, please! I want to hear it again. You tell it so well," Penny chimes in enthusiastically.

"Okay, guys. It's not like I'm busy anyway," Sally smiles as she settles in to begin the story.

"I got Penelope and Anahere enrolled in the university. That was a real hassle. We don't have a lot of celebrity culture in these domains, but my daughters were genuine superstars. I was on my way to becoming director of the council, so I had political fame as well. We had to arrange serious security for the girls on campus, which they absolutely hated since they couldn't run around wild like the other kids. They did well in school though, despite the social restrictions, so it all worked out. The university had started specializing in courses for the re-population by then, so Penelope majored in agriculture and Anahere in sociology. That prepared them pretty well for what was coming.

"My life at the council got really ugly, and the girls got dragged into that mess as well. There were dozens of competing plans for re-population, most of them designed to reconstitute one ancient dynasty or another on the planet. Patrick was chairing the subcommittee responsible for working all that out, and the political fighting was unbelievably fierce. Our family was becoming increasingly unpopular in the press—we were seen as controlling the whole affair for our own benefit, at everyone else's expense. It looked like some vast conspiracy for us to rule the new world. It wasn't, but I suppose I can see how it appeared that way, especially given our personal relationship with Nettie, who was key to making it all work, and with Josh, who brought the technology that would allow us to convert to level 3.

"Anahere was instrumental in reaching the final agreement, not only because of her training as a sociologist, but also her position as ambassador of the First Ones. The final arrangement was to divide up the planet into watersheds—areas where rainwater all drains to a certain point, usually a river. It's a natural division of the land, so the borders can't be easily disputed. With Nettie's help, we selected the 100 most potentially productive watersheds. We chose 100 groups of 500 individuals—50,000 people who went through two years of extensive training. From those, 10,000 individuals were selected: 100 groups of 100 people each. Penelope led one group, and Anahere led another. The press claimed they got special privileges, but those girls worked incredibly hard and earned those positions. I was so proud of them—so intelligent, so capable, so beautiful, so physically fit. You couldn't ask for better daughters.

"My daughters did have certain advantages, though. The groups weren't just specialists in re-population, survival, and community development—they were also selected as the best genetic stock for breeding. Re-population is, after all, about making healthy babies, and lots of them. So most of the younger participants were paired up with spouses before going to the planet. Penelope and Anahere, being famous, beautiful, and politically connected, had their pick of the young men, and I believe they chose wisely. Each group also had a contingent of the First Ones, many of them elders, so not everyone who went to the planet in the first wave was there primarily to reproduce.

"The only way to get from this level 5 existence to the level 3 density of the planet requires what Josh calls an 'organized energy matrix conversion.' We are, apparently, an organized energy matrix both here and there, so what they have to do is take that matrix and add countless times more energy to convert it to level three. This is only possible with living tissue, so when you get converted, you find yourself on the planet completely naked. So part of the training here was done in the nude—the girls called it 'naked training.'"

"I'm sure that helped them pick out the best husbands," Alexa says with a mischievous giggle.

Sally giggles too. "Yes, I caught the girls ranking the boys on what they called their 'equipment list.' But I think as they got used to the nudity, it was no longer a novelty and they made their decisions based on more mature criteria than the column I saw labeled 'the package.' A requirement of the training was celibacy—if you got pregnant, you were eliminated. And bonding was prohibited until a stable community structure was established on the planet."

"So they didn't have sex until they could have really good sex, huh?" Alexa asks with characteristic bluntness.

"It's all about sex with you, isn't it, girl? But I guess you're right. From what I've experienced, and from what others have told me, there's a huge difference between experiencing life here and in level 3. It's like in level 5, you're listening to music on a little tinny speaker with no fidelity, limited dynamics, and everything's in black and white. Then in level 3, it's like you're standing right in the middle of the orchestra, experiencing the total vibrations of sound and color. So something like sex in the city here is fun and exciting and all, but in level 3 it really blows your socks off. The same is true of taste and other sensations, like the aroma of a flower. Food becomes a major experience there, compared to here. That's what I hear, anyway. I haven't tried it myself."

"So why not, Aunt Sally? Most of the important people from the council went on the second wave, including my whole family. Why didn't you and Pat go too?" Alexa wants to know.

"Pat and I figured our work here wasn't done yet. Level 5 is really changing, going back to what it was before the planet was fully populated. I felt we'd be needed here during that transformation. So we didn't go on the final wave."

"Okay, Aunt Sally, that brings up something I've been thinking about a lot. Was the final wave really the final wave? I know everybody said it was, but I know you have special connections. Can't you call Josh and have him do a few more conversions? And if you can, could you take me and Ethan with you? I want to experience standing in the middle of the orchestra, if you know what I mean."

"I suppose I could probably arrange that, but I'm not sure I want to. Even though we all look 33 years old here, Pat and I have experienced nearly 100 years. I'm not sure our mindset is suited for going to the planet to live in a hut making babies. And you made your choice 20 years ago—you were all in love with Ethan, and he wasn't on the list to go, so you stayed behind to be with him. It's a little late to change your mind now," Sally replies with gentle firmness.

"So the only way to get to the planet is to be born there? That's just not the same thing. Most of those born on the planet forget all about who they are here. It's not really us anymore—we'd be somebody else. I'm starting to believe it's just a fancy way to die," Alexa complains, frustration evident in her voice.

"Well, no. You don't cease to exist when you're reborn, but it is true that your memories of a previous existence aren't necessarily part of your awareness in the new person you become. I've learned, though, that all those memories—those other people that you are—persist, because I've begun to remember some of them, and others who knew me before have reminded me of them. We also have new preparation training that teaches you how to hold on to who you are and bring that into the awareness of the new person you become. So we don't have as many 'fade outs' as we had before. Many of the Earth children have contacted us and reported back as both the people they were and the person they've become. In the old days, movement between level 3 and level 5 happened just because it could—it was unorganized and chaotic. Now it's managed and much more under our control," Sally explains patiently.

"It's still not the same thing, though. What if Ethan and I get reborn and then I'm looking all over to find my soul mate, but he's a girl, or married to someone else when I find him? I really, really want to go the way that I am, with Ethan. I know it's possible if you'll just say it is. I know you can do this, Aunt Sally," Alexa pleads with desperate hope.

"There are a couple of problems with that. The decision was made to limit the transformations so there isn't so much coupling between the domains. Things need to go back to the balance they had before, otherwise it isn't healthy for the developing and evolving humans on Earth. Eventually they may evolve into something that isn't even human anymore, and we shouldn't have level 5 getting too involved in that process. If level 3 and level 5 are too tightly connected, then we get stuck in a rut, just living the same sort of existence over and over without evolving. We need that disconnect created by death and rebirth so that evolution flourishes and the experience of life stays fresh and new. So for me to use my influence with Josh to keep doing transformations isn't a good idea. Besides that, rejoining your family on Earth may not be what you think it would be. Penelope and Anahere are old ladies in their mid-70s now. Your mom Elina, who you knew as perpetually 33, is now in her mid-50s. Even though your aunt Alannah got your grandpa John's age reduced to 40, he's now 60. Everyone has moved on, gotten older, started new families. You can't just pop back into their lives and expect it to be as it was. Life is hard there, and unless you bring some skills to pay your own way, you'd be asking them to use their meager resources to feed and house you. That wouldn't be fair," Sally explains with the wisdom of experience.

"You know I'm gonna keep asking. And I can develop skills too. And I'll be a great mom—something I can't do here," Alexa says with characteristic persistence.

"You are your mother's daughter," Penny says with a knowing laugh. "Your mother Elina is a very persistent soul."

"We're getting off track here. You asked for a story, so I'm going to continue the story.

"Penelope and her crew were transformed in the Ishikari watershed. The Ishikari Plains are on the western side of a very rich and fertile island. There's a river running through it and a coastal area. This was crucial when 100 naked humans suddenly appeared—at first all they could do was hunt with their bare hands until they could fashion tools from rocks and trees in the area. Part of their training was hand fishing, so with their knowledge of indigenous plants, the fish in the rivers, and creatures in the ocean, they could survive long enough to start building a community. There's also an underground network portal nearby that Penelope had access to, so she could report back here and we could monitor their progress. The area was also chosen because my parents, who went as elders in Penelope's crew, were familiar with it. Parts of the ancient cities there—although buried under hundreds of feet of dust and volcanic ash over the years—still poke through in certain areas. The thousands of years without plant life allowed numerous dust storms, but still the tops of some tall buildings emerge. So they could take shelter in the ruins. Part of the crew was trained to dig deep into the ruins and extract materials for building their community—things like glass and other building materials. The glass has pooled into puddles and most of the aluminum and steel has dissolved, but there's still a lot of usable stuff if you know what to look for."

"I thought Penelope lived in a grass hut?" Penny asks.

"In the beginning, yes," Sally answers. "At first they gathered sticks from the forest and fashioned them into frames, then covered those with grass to make huts. The area gets a lot of rain, and the huts could be fashioned to keep the rain off much better than the ruins could. So initially they built grass huts. Penelope's husband is a tool specialist, so when they started digging up materials from the ruins, he made a plow. They had no domestic animals yet, so several of the men would pull the plow and shave off thick pieces of sod from the prairie. They'd use these patches of sod like bricks to build walls, then cut timbers from the forest to make beams to support a roof. So in Penelope's second year there, she had a nice warm sod house.

"The first year was brutal, and many had to dig down into the earth to find ways to keep warm. The winters are harsh there, with about half the year covered in snow. There was still plenty to eat, though, and as soon as they fashioned spears they could harvest the deer, which were everywhere. The deer had never seen humans so they weren't afraid—they could sneak up on them and spear them. So a lot of the community's work was preparing deer hide for clothing.

"They arrived in late spring—the month of May—and by the following May, 20 children had been born. That included my first grandchild, Kokoa. Penelope missed her second female cycle after transforming, so once they got that grass hut built, they put it to good use. By the time Kokoa had her first child, Kimiko, they all lived in a nice stone house. Many of the original crew were trained as stone masons, so once they built enough tools, they started constructing more permanent structures. They're still a long way from glass and metal buildings and hover cars floating around, but they're advancing very quickly.

"It's sort of like after the war of 2053. Over 90% of the world's population was destroyed—only about half a billion people survived. But technology survived. So by the time I was born in 2107, the population had doubled, we had all sorts of high technology, and we'd created Nettie, the global network entity that's still there on the planet watching over things. So I think technology will develop quickly, and soon it'll be as it was. The population doubles every dozen years or so. By the 200th year after re-population, they'll have about a billion souls there, and things will be as they were when I first lived there as a girl."

"That still makes no sense to me," Alexa complains with obvious frustration. "You lived there as a girl over twelve thousand years ago. You've been here in level 5, counting the days, for over 3,000 years. But you're only 97 years old? Explain that to me again, please."

Sally laughs. "Don't expect me to say I understand it either. But it goes something like this: Level 5 has an extra temporal dimension that makes time more variable—not a constant ticking of the clock like it is in level 3. In addition to that, living beings measure time as time experienced, not the physical time elapsed. So for example, when I came here over twelve thousand years ago in Earth time, I was 15. At age 20 we had what was called the great awakening, where we began to regain our memories of who and what we are. In those 5 years between 15 and 20, I'd lived through more than 3,000 years in physical time at Penny Lake. But only about 5 years of that was unique experience. The rest was just doing the same thing over and over again. It's like the workman who does the same thing for 20 years—he doesn't have 20 years of experience, he just has 1 year of experience 20 times over. That's part of it. The other part is the temporal connection between level 5 and level 3. That connection is through life energy—living things. When everything on the planet died, that connection was lost. So the temporal synchronization between level 3 and level 5 in this part of the universe was lost. For quite some time, for every day that passed in level 5, many hundreds of days passed on the planet. After Nettie restarted life on the planet, and I went there and did some work with her to get the planet ready, temporal synchronization was re-established. So now time there and here—experienced and otherwise—is occurring at the same rate."

"Okaaaaaay. Now tell me you actually understand any of that," Alexa says with a skeptical smile.

Sally laughs. "Not even a smidgen. I suppose I should, since Pat and I are considered sort of the time lords in this domain. Pat understands it all a lot better than I do."

"So why is it then, since I'm having all sorts of unique experiences, that I'm stuck at being 33 years old?" Alexa asks.

"Actually, you're about 40 years old experientially, sweetie. But there's a difference between age and change. On Earth, as your body ages it continues to change. First it matures, then it begins to break down, get old, and eventually stops working—it dies. Here your body only matures. It doesn't break down. It doesn't stop working and die. A mature body has about the same characteristics as a 33-year-old body on Earth. That's why we say your body gets stuck at 33 years old. That isn't really what's happening—you're not actually stuck. It's just that your body finished maturing, but the process of running down and falling apart doesn't happen here like it does on Earth."

"So why is it different on Earth? Why don't they just mature and then stay that way?" Alexa asks.

Sally smiles thoughtfully. "We're working on that. Apparently physical life forms are programmed to get old and die. Many believe that programming can be changed. For now we're just working on rebuilding the basic community structures on Earth so human populations can survive there. So probably in about a hundred and fifty years or so, when we have the planet pretty well repopulated and technology is back in place, we'll start working on the problem of aging. Until then, if you go to Earth, enjoy your 70 or 100 years or so, because your body is going to wear out. Many believe now, with the healthy lifestyles on Earth, we may have already extended lifetimes there. Time will tell—it hasn't been long enough to know."

"Whoa! What was that?" Alexa asks, looking quickly around the room with startled eyes.

"What was what, honey?" Penny asks.

"I saw something—sort of a flash—in the corner of my eye when I turned my head. It's like there's something there, but when I look straight at it, there's nothing," Alexa explains, still scanning the room nervously.

"Sometimes I see that too," Sally explains calmly. "I think I've attracted an orb or two. Sometimes just before I wake up, I'll hear someone call my name. But Pat is asleep, and there isn't anyone here."

"Now that's just plain spooky, Aunt Sally. I'm never sleeping here again. Aren't you afraid?" Alexa wants to know.

"No. A little irritated, yes. But I'm not afraid, since I'm an orb too," Sally says matter-of-factly.

"You're an orb? You don't look very orb-ish to me. You just look like Aunt Sally," Alexa says with confusion.

"No, when I visit Earth. Normally they can't see me—my density is too faint for them to make out. But sometimes, just for a second, in the corner of their eye, they can see something. That little something is me," Sally explains.

"You visit Earth? As an orb? What's that all about?" Alexa asks with genuine curiosity.

"I don't go as an orb. I go just like I am, but I'm invisible to them since level 5 and level 3 energy don't interact. But sometimes they may get a flash of something—an energy field—and it looks like a blob of light. So we call it an orb. It hasn't been done for many years, but we can make what's called an etheric visit to Earth. We leave our domain and as individuals move to Earth and take a look around. We have to get permission from Nettie to enter the shielded area, but once there we can see a little of what's going on. We can't actually see the planet, or the sun, or the water, but we can see the shimmering of their life forms. Sometimes it's hard to make out what we're seeing, but if it's someone you know, you can get a pretty good idea. That's how I watched my daughters and my grandchildren. But they asked me not to do that anymore—it was too spooky and creepy for them to deal with. So they basically exorcised me from their domain. I haven't been back since my great-great-granddaughter was born. Her name is Hoshiko. That was 13 years ago."

"They are forgetting, aren't they?" Penny asks gently.

"I think so, but not so much forgetting in the sense that their identity and memory of this place is fading away. They can still remember if they try. It's like you've moved away from home and started a new life. At first you're still strongly connected to the place you came from. Then after a few years, that begins to fade and you think less and less about it. After a lifetime—with your own kids, your own grandkids, your own politics and daily concerns—you pretty much don't think about the old place anymore. You're completely immersed in your new life, and your old life becomes like a dream, slowly fading away.

"No, it doesn't work that way. They can't orb into our reality—they're too dense. Sometimes, I think, we connect in our dreams. But that doesn't have anything to do with Level 3 or Level 5. Dream space is nonphysical—it's mind space. So density and dimensions don't factor into that. No, these orbs are showing up in our physical reality somehow, so they're from some other dimension, not level 3. I have a feeling I know where they're from, but they're going to have to get stronger before they can make contact, if they can. Probably they'll just fade away."

"Enough theorizing, girls," Penny says with a practical air. "I made some lunch. Let's go out back and enjoy the afternoon."

"It was quite a shock to Penelope when John's family transitioned to the planet. A group of naked people walking into their little village caused quite a stir. They went to the Ishikari Plains and joined Penelope's crew there. Penelope was always extremely close to her Grandpa John. When John's daughter Brionna met Penelope and Anahere at the university, it resulted in John's family reunion—they all became very close. When they arrived at Penelope's little village, which had about 800 citizens by then, John's family were like strangers.

Penelope was middle-aged by then, totally involved in community development. She had kids older than her aunts, physically, and even had grandkids. John's family, although they brought many skills, had to be accommodated and supported for a while before they became productive. Elina brought a husband along, but Alannah and Brionna were single, and the addition of single women in a population that pairs up very young created some sexual tension and jealousy among the women there. Their husbands were showing some interest in the new girls. It was all worked out quickly, and they're all friends again, but John got the impression that Penelope was feeling a little put upon by their sudden arrival. John, being a wise old man, didn't challenge Penelope's position of authority in the community, so that made things go much smoother."

"Okay, so now that they're all into being Earth people again, are you, like, never going to see them again?" Alexa asks.

"I can see them right now. See, here's my locket picture that we took when Penelope was 14. I've got all her keepsakes since you can't take anything with you when you go," Sally says, touching the locket tenderly.

"It's so weird to see her age. She's always been so young and vital. I bet she's still vital, but to watch her get older than I am, older than Penny—it's really weird."

"So where's the picture of me I gave you?" Alexa asks with a playful smile.

"It's right here, sweetie. I've got keepsakes from all you guys," Sally responds warmly.

"About Penelope, though—that's not what I meant, Aunt Sally. I mean see her for real, not some old faded photographs," Alexa explains earnestly. "Maybe that orb is her looking in on you? Do you think? Maybe?" Alexa asks with intense hope.