The Beaded Tapestry

Dear Annalis,

As promised a continuation of my introduction to this wonderful place. I will keep this narrative in roughly chronological order although my temptation is to begin with the meal Nikolas prepared for me. My second day began with a much needed run over the various trails crisscrossing the surrounding area. The equilibrium imbalance I experienced on the trip here has completely disappeared and my system is slowly starting to adjust to the higher altitude of this region, Even so, my lungs limited me to a slow pace enabling them to grow accustomed to the lower oxygen content here. I did manage to complete an hour of constant mobility before returning to the complex for a much welcomed breakfast. The early morning coffee Nicolas had served me was long gone as I settled down to a simple meal of cereal and fruit pilfered from his pantry. After he made my coffee earlier he was quickly away to his laboratory anxious to begin his creative day. He is as driven as I am if not more when it come to his project and he warned me it would be a late hour before he returned for our dinner, Even during the preparation of our coffee I could hear him talking to himself, analyzing the different chemical reactions of the brewing process and how it could be manipulated to enhance the result. I brought him a few beverage selections from the shop in Newton to thank him for the invitation to visit here. It seems like such a small gesture on my part in comparison to this incredible experience but he seemed to be genuinely pleased with my gift. He has used the variety of coffee beans each morning for the two of us but has retained the selection of herbal tea ingredients I included for his experimental kitchen. It seems at least two of the herbal additives I brought him are not easy to obtain in this area. The pytherium was of special interest to him since he had not encountered this material before and the osmanthus I cultivate in my own hydroponic garden was also new to him. They are both southern sourced plants so they are logically not easy to obtain here. I was surprised he was unfamiliar with the pytherium since it is widely used in the area where I live.

After my run and the replenishment of my nutrients I set out to explore the complex. They have a number of activities planned each day, all focusing around the Equine. The establishment is broken into different section, each concentrating on a separate faculty. The area just below the housing area is dedicated to the visual perspective of the creature. This includes a traditional art and sculpture studio but also offered a virtual theatre displaying the Equine from different perspectives in space. I pointedly avoided this area and headed for the auditory center instead. I had hopes of recreating the wave sensations I experienced on the ferry trip here and this seemed the logical place to expand this type of perspective and steer my mind away from my project at home. The sound perception area is located in the lower section of the main building, dominated by a large amphitheatre that opens to the sea. It is carved directly into the cliffside rock, sixty meters below the stone outcropping containing the monolith of contemplation. The shell shaped structure is immense, able to accommodate several thousand people for scheduled music events. Unfortunately there are none planned during my stay here, but there are several classes on focusing the aural property of the Equine. I attended one of these demonstrations, standing within the focal point of the amphitheatre training my body to detect the incoming waves from the Equine. The most difficult part of the exercise was quieting the mind in order to focus only on the auditory part of the body. With eyes closed, we reached out our perception across the open expanse of the auditorium allowing the incoming waves propagating in from the surface of the sea to enter the vortex of air inside the center of the carved out stone shell. It was similar to the manifestations I experienced on the ferry but intensified. The feeling of something just out of hearing was gone replaced by an allover vibration soaking into my bones and traveling along my spine to finally exit into the rock through the souls of my feet. I felt like a lightening rod collecting the sound particle out of the air and focusing them down to a single stream flowing through my body before directing them into the rock below. Once again the sensation stayed with me long after I left the demonstration. Another surprising aspect of the Equine I did not expect to experience.

I returned to Nikolas's quarters ravenous from my day. I restrained my desire to relieve my hunger in anticipation of the evening meal. I busied myself making notes on the occurrences of the day while I waited impatiently for Nikolas to arrive. It was late as he predicted when he entered the door laden with the bounties of his craft. Several of his team accompanied him, also carrying various pieces of equipment and consumables. To my surprise they deposited these on the large work surface in his kitchen and after given a short salute to the two of us, left the premises. I was then treated to the most incredibly intimate culinary adventure I have ever had. Nikolas began by describing his culinary philosophy and the history behind his concepts. A follower of the eighteenth century practice of Transcendental gastronomy, Nikolas explained how he became fascinated with this practice after reading an ancient book written by Jean Anthelme Brillet-Squarine mapping out this discipline. The ancient manual drove his craft to new extremes in culinary experimentation and set the bases for his future endeavors. The process Nikolas finally settled on uses a combination of the practice of this ancient meditation philosophy with the scientific molecular methods introduced in the twenty-first century. The mix creates an atmosphere that promotes and encourages the diner to savor every bite of substinance and analyze the texture of the ingredients. Allowing each morsel to remain in the mouth until the full chemical reaction is experience to completion before ingestion. It sounds strange when I try to describe it. There are not really sufficient words to do it justice. After his explanation Nikolas then proceeded to demonstrate the various techniques used in his kitchen. We sat well into the night, talking and tasting. Discussing each plate of morsels as if we were art critics at a gallery opening. Some of the dishes were in my eyes to elegant to eat but Nikolas encouraged their destruction with each offering explaining their background history and connection to the Equine. He taught me how best to enjoy each dishes taste and form using meditation and visual techniques pulled from his study. He used the majority of his processes during the performance ranging from spherification to produce his honey caviar with black mushrooms, to foam production for his artichoke and espresso nebulas. Strangely we continued to consume for several hours but I never felt saturated. The last dish of olive oil bubbles encasing wild fungi left an aura of satisfaction that no dessert on Earth had ever produced in me. I remained in a state of enamoured admiration at the abilities of this incredible man as I assisted him, clearing the kitchen of all evidence of our culinary journey. We then stepped out of the house for a short walk to “assist in the process of our natural digestion”. Nikolas fell silent as we passed over the dark paths of the complex allowing each of us a quiet moment to contemplate the experience we had just had. My mind traveled back to the past hours as I gazed up at the Equine in the night sky and realized the creature had remained in my thoughts throughout the entire meal, injecting itself into every bite and flavoring every morsel. I remembered the revelation that I was tasting a small piece of the creature every nibble I consumed. Each creation contained a focal ingredient as the previous night’s offerings but the finished products Nikolas created had an added aspect not included by his staff. The rosewater crystals he created half way through the meal were stained the exact tint of the flowing limbs of the anomaly. The acacia honey mixed with black tea formed a living sculpture of spider web filaments representing the signals emanating from the equine. Each delicate thread an explosion of flavors when broken off and consumed. My mind raced on and on as we walked, making each meaningful connection as I thought of the experience as a whole. Nikolas glanced over at me as we arrived before his door and smiled. “Now you have the full story.” He said then turned and walked inside. It will be difficult to return to my boring soups and concoctions once I return to my studio in a few weeks. I did not think it was possible to learn two new methods allowing me to experience the Equine in one day. I am glad to be proved wrong.

Let us see what the rest of my visit will bring. Tomorrow I feel ready to return to the Equine Journal. The prediction is for stormy weather so it seems an opportune time to continue with my study.

Love,

Victoria

Dear Fellow Traveler,

A bleak and eerie entry from the Equine journal to begin my journey, Together with the equally dark dream I had last night, I feel the desire to share this occurrence with you. I will begin with the narrative from the Equine since it is foremost on my mind. The dream will follow since I also need to relate it.

Silence ensues throughout the surrounding space. Black, matterless, void of energy. No voices rise from the limits of her perceptions. The molecular deconstruction is complete. She is the last. Constricted into the last sustaining sector of her failing macrocosm with no outlet for escape. The loss of her community weighs greatly on her along with the occupation of why. The space continues to diminish and it becomes impossible to degrade her structure further without complete loss of mass. The acceptance of her demise is complete and she embraces the final moments of her exponential existence as it arrives. Her sensors shut down one after another until only a single point of awareness is left. A small gleam of energy is sensed at the apex of her shrinking space. The spark pulses from a miniscule slice in her ever collapsing capsule. Only a molecular distance across, she seizes the chance and slips through. Condensing herself into a string of quantum particles escaping one quark at a time. Stretching her mass to its extreme limit and emerging again on the other side of the exit as the slice in the infrastructure snaps shut.

I can feel the power of this entry all over again as I relate it for you. My heart is pounding and I feel every muscle along my spine spasm at the thought of such constriction. I am normally not affected by tight places, but the idea of being squeezed out of existence is terrifying. There are only three more entries in the journal before I come to the end but I hesitate to continue with my research. The narrative continues to darken as I near the end and I am not certain I want to experience it. If the Equine was not a constant visible reminder in the sky assuring me that it survived this dark adventure, I do not think I could continue with the journal. I always did read the end of the book when the story became too intense. Wanting to reassure myself who survived until the end. Since I know the creature will survive this story I will not skip to the end. If only I could read the end of our novel and see how it turns out. It would comfort me to see us happily enjoying our finished work surrounded by an appreciative audience. Oh well, I must stay with the present and concentrate on the here and now. Dark reading brings dark thoughts as father always said. I wonder what he would make of the next part of this tale.

I awoke this morning to a gloomy house. It was over an hour before Alpha Centauri was scheduled to show its head above the horizon and I was confused what had caused me to exit my sleep. The flagstone floor was cold beneath my feet as I stepped into my workshop and made my way to the door leading out onto the outer courtyard. Someone was standing just beyond the light of the open doors. They had their hands raised above their head, tracing patterns in the air. I walked closer watching the appendages forming intricate spirals and shapes in the blackness. Lights began to gather wherever the hands made contact with the sky, creating bright iridescent pictures until the figure was completely encased with an incredible halo of luminescent and color. It was as if the stars above were drawn to the the outstretched limbs, coming down to the planet surface to dance for them. I must have made some audible reaction because the figure suddenly stopped and dropped their arms. The beautiful patterns disappeared and the speckled night sky returned. I felt a moment of loss and thought at first it was due to the disappearance of the display. I then realize what was missing from my vantage point. The Equine was no longer in the sky above. Only the twinkle of stars and the empty inky black of space. The figure turned as I realized this loss. Thinking to see Katryna I was completely shocked when it was your face revealed by the glow from the doorway. I was just starting to work out why you had come to New London first instead of your New Lab when you collapsed onto the ground. I ran to your side and bent down, You were holding your hands together protecting something against your chest. I bent closer and you opened your fingers slightly. Within the cage created by your hands I could just glimpse the Equine. You slowly lifted your burden and deposited it into my hands, closing them tightly with your own. Your form then slowly faded, leaving me alone kneeling in a completely dark world.  

It wasn’t until the last instant that I realized I was dreaming. I can still feel the heat of the Equine within my cupped hands and the stones against my kneeling legs. When I did actually wake up I spent the morning in a daze, trying to complete the final preparations for my trip, If it had not been for Katryna I am not sure I would have made it to my train this afternoon, This is a lot for me to digest on my journey. I had hoped that the Equine entries would provide some distraction from the dream when I open the journal during the first hours on the train. Adversely it seems to have only emphasized the dark emotions I am already imbibed with. I am going to wait for a few days before continuing my journal study. I would like to see Nikolas before I put any more strain on my psyche. Luckily there is no need for me to paint during this emotional period. I cannot imagine what my creative brain would produce in my current state of mind. After I arrive at the mountain retreat we will see if I can continue till the end of the Equine chronicle.  

Love

Victoria