Chapter 5 - The Last Man on Earth IV
Submitted February 22, 2017 Updated February 22, 2017 Status Complete | 2nd Story is about the last survivor of the Independence Culture (I). A Proto-Inuit civilisation who lived about 4000-3000 years ago.
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Fantasy » Misc. Fantasy |
Chapter 5 - The Last Man on Earth IV
Chapter 5 - The Last Man on Earth IV
Apsida knocked twice on the door then came into a small room lined on either side with rows and rows of books, where a lady in her late 30s with brown hair and wearing a green dress and black tights was looking through her filing cabinet.
‘Ah, you’re back! Good timing as I was just about to leave for the day. We can start again tomorrow, or the day after if you need some rest.’
‘I talked to him.’
‘You… what?’
‘I found him and talked to him.’
The lady shoved the folders she was holding back into the cabinet, and staring at Apsida in amazement, sat down on the closest of the two chairs in front of the wooden desk before her.
‘So you actually managed to find the last survivor of the Independence Culture?’ she said quickly.
‘Yes.’
‘The Paleo-Eskimo race with little known history who lived in Northern Greenland 4000 years ago?’’
‘Yes.’ Apsida took the other seat, and sat up straight with Cotyl resting against her legs.
‘That’s… Unbelievable. I mean it took you two days.’
‘I’m not 100% sure, but judging by time frames from each jump and how many people I saw each time, he was probably the last of them.’
‘When exactly was it? Is my estimate of 1600BCE correct? ’ the lady had a habit of holding her hands like claws and waving them around when she was excited, and she was making such gestures now, ‘how old was he? What was his name? What was he wearing?’
‘Woah woah! Hold on professor!’ Cotyl spoke up, ‘just before we talk there’s one thing we gotta make sure of. Remember you can’t intend to publish anything you learn from us. You can’t even tell your friends or family. It’s a huge risk to tell someone like you all this stuff anyway.’
The lady rose and went to turn up the nearby oil heater. Her voice became soft and stern, as if she was leading a lecture, as opposed to the chummy, excited voice she had been using previously.
‘Of course not. I did my research on Sputniks before I called you, and I know how things work. I would love to be able to publish everything you find out, but I know that is not possible. But even while knowing I can never make the things you discover public, I at least want to be able to quench my own curiosities. In fact, that’s why I began this research in the first place. I would gladly give up all hope of fame and honour for the truth.’ She sat down again opposite Apsida and Cotyl and eyed them with a steadfast face.
‘Are you sure you want to trust this person?’ said Cotyl.
Apsida did not look at Cotyl, but instead answered by means of continuing with her story.
‘The man’s name was Thuluk. He looked to be about 25 and had brown hair and brown eyes. When I first came he thought I was an enemy, and he looked hurriedly around with his spear ready as if searching for other people.’
‘Fascinating!’ The woman interjected, ‘that could mean he was used to getting in scuffles with other tribes, or he believed there were still other humans somewhere in Greenland with him, or a myriad of other things!’
‘After he had realised I was alone, he became much more friendly and even gave me a small item made of some bone which he called a “thoyu”,’ Apsida took out the trinket she had been given and handed it to the lady, who in a melodramatic, professor-like sort of way, caressed it like it was a diamond.
‘His parents were called Thoyu and Nagl-‘
‘Oh, just like this artefact!’ the professor interrupted.
‘Yes, one of his parents was named after the item.’
‘You didn’t find out which parent was which?’
‘No,’ Apsida felt a pang of guilt as the memory came back to her, ‘I wanted to learn more about his lineage, but talking about it was too much for him and he began crying.’
‘So you never found out how he became the last of his people?’
‘No.’
They remained in silence for half a minute, the professor carefully looking over the bone trinket that she had received.
‘Oh, please, go on,’ she said finally, still eyeing the trinket.
‘Well, I did manage to go through a series of words—the environment, body parts and stuff like that—and learn what he called them in his language. I don’t have much experience with Native American languages, but at the very least I couldn’t find any cognates with any languages that I know.’
‘Oh please do tell me some of the words you learned!’ said the Professor.
‘Well,’ began Apsida, ‘for example the numbers from one to five were koh, eaksi, asnik, awat, and aksif.’
‘Yes! Yes! Fascinating!’ The professor once again began to wave her hands around, ‘there isn’t any other Native American language that even remotely resembles those in their names for numbers. A language isolate, perhaps! But please tell me more!’
It is not a wise use of time to relate here the rest of this conversation, as it has already been listed before what Apsida and the last man of the Independence Culture—Thuluk—discussed. Sufficed to say that the professor, eager and enthusiastic as usual, hounded Apsida with questions, and Apsida, to the best of her ability, answered for a good thirty minutes, before all questions had been asked. And Apsida was released so that she could make her way home.
‘Ah, you’re back! Good timing as I was just about to leave for the day. We can start again tomorrow, or the day after if you need some rest.’
‘I talked to him.’
‘You… what?’
‘I found him and talked to him.’
The lady shoved the folders she was holding back into the cabinet, and staring at Apsida in amazement, sat down on the closest of the two chairs in front of the wooden desk before her.
‘So you actually managed to find the last survivor of the Independence Culture?’ she said quickly.
‘Yes.’
‘The Paleo-Eskimo race with little known history who lived in Northern Greenland 4000 years ago?’’
‘Yes.’ Apsida took the other seat, and sat up straight with Cotyl resting against her legs.
‘That’s… Unbelievable. I mean it took you two days.’
‘I’m not 100% sure, but judging by time frames from each jump and how many people I saw each time, he was probably the last of them.’
‘When exactly was it? Is my estimate of 1600BCE correct? ’ the lady had a habit of holding her hands like claws and waving them around when she was excited, and she was making such gestures now, ‘how old was he? What was his name? What was he wearing?’
‘Woah woah! Hold on professor!’ Cotyl spoke up, ‘just before we talk there’s one thing we gotta make sure of. Remember you can’t intend to publish anything you learn from us. You can’t even tell your friends or family. It’s a huge risk to tell someone like you all this stuff anyway.’
The lady rose and went to turn up the nearby oil heater. Her voice became soft and stern, as if she was leading a lecture, as opposed to the chummy, excited voice she had been using previously.
‘Of course not. I did my research on Sputniks before I called you, and I know how things work. I would love to be able to publish everything you find out, but I know that is not possible. But even while knowing I can never make the things you discover public, I at least want to be able to quench my own curiosities. In fact, that’s why I began this research in the first place. I would gladly give up all hope of fame and honour for the truth.’ She sat down again opposite Apsida and Cotyl and eyed them with a steadfast face.
‘Are you sure you want to trust this person?’ said Cotyl.
Apsida did not look at Cotyl, but instead answered by means of continuing with her story.
‘The man’s name was Thuluk. He looked to be about 25 and had brown hair and brown eyes. When I first came he thought I was an enemy, and he looked hurriedly around with his spear ready as if searching for other people.’
‘Fascinating!’ The woman interjected, ‘that could mean he was used to getting in scuffles with other tribes, or he believed there were still other humans somewhere in Greenland with him, or a myriad of other things!’
‘After he had realised I was alone, he became much more friendly and even gave me a small item made of some bone which he called a “thoyu”,’ Apsida took out the trinket she had been given and handed it to the lady, who in a melodramatic, professor-like sort of way, caressed it like it was a diamond.
‘His parents were called Thoyu and Nagl-‘
‘Oh, just like this artefact!’ the professor interrupted.
‘Yes, one of his parents was named after the item.’
‘You didn’t find out which parent was which?’
‘No,’ Apsida felt a pang of guilt as the memory came back to her, ‘I wanted to learn more about his lineage, but talking about it was too much for him and he began crying.’
‘So you never found out how he became the last of his people?’
‘No.’
They remained in silence for half a minute, the professor carefully looking over the bone trinket that she had received.
‘Oh, please, go on,’ she said finally, still eyeing the trinket.
‘Well, I did manage to go through a series of words—the environment, body parts and stuff like that—and learn what he called them in his language. I don’t have much experience with Native American languages, but at the very least I couldn’t find any cognates with any languages that I know.’
‘Oh please do tell me some of the words you learned!’ said the Professor.
‘Well,’ began Apsida, ‘for example the numbers from one to five were koh, eaksi, asnik, awat, and aksif.’
‘Yes! Yes! Fascinating!’ The professor once again began to wave her hands around, ‘there isn’t any other Native American language that even remotely resembles those in their names for numbers. A language isolate, perhaps! But please tell me more!’
It is not a wise use of time to relate here the rest of this conversation, as it has already been listed before what Apsida and the last man of the Independence Culture—Thuluk—discussed. Sufficed to say that the professor, eager and enthusiastic as usual, hounded Apsida with questions, and Apsida, to the best of her ability, answered for a good thirty minutes, before all questions had been asked. And Apsida was released so that she could make her way home.
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