I was back in a former job. Oh Dream, did you have to hit the nostalgia button? At my complaint, I was transferred out of my (former) job to some place deep in a forest. Trailblazing, it was my job to be translator between the Land and the humans that were hellbent on laying a road through this very old stand of trees.
Yea. That didn’t work out well, either.
Especially when the trees had granted permission to Road Cutter Group A, and to cut a certain route through, but the Chief to RCG B played political games to get the job instead and is disregarding the initial agreement. Chief B wants to plow right through the middle of the stand.
Chief B accused me of falsifying the translations and ordered his men to go forward with their plans. I warned him that every man that does so risks losing a limb. Chief B tells me my replacement will arrive in the morning. I ask if that will be before or after the High Inspector arrives. Chief B orders the machines to move forward.
Tree roots have grown upward into the vehicles, pinning them to the ground.
The next day, the High Inspector and the City Envoy arrive. The HI talks to the Chief, while the Envoy talks to the trees. They both arrive at the same conclusion and the Chief is fired on the spot. His Second-in-command quits in protest. The most senior man steps up.
“I’ve been talking to these trees from before that gal was kicking her mommy’s bladder. I know what should be done. I told them to tangle up the gear to keep the men from risking themselves. I know the original plan, and I’ll see it happens.” He was promoted on the spot. At once the tree roots release the vehicles and retreat into the soil.
As I leave with the Envoy, he asks me why I don’t have my own transportation yet. I tell him I usually don’t need it. “But the human worlds are more restrictive than you think.” He takes me to a dealership, picks out a car, pays for it, and hands me the keys. He leaves, telling me to drive back to the City.
That bastard!
The dealership he took me to? It’s on an island!
As I ask about getting the car shipped I hear a big commotion. The new luxury building down the street is on fire! At least twenty floors tall with another five floors in the basement. The fire was so intense, the steel framework bent inward and collapsed.
No one could stop the fire.
No one saw what I saw. The fire elemental was methodical, meticulous, and massive. It would take another elemental to stop it. But the water had pulled back, even lowering the water table, to allow the fire to devour the building without challenge.
The Fire saw that I could see it, and paused in challenge. I nodded my head discreetly and took a step back. I’m not interfering in this one! It nodded back and continued destroying the building.
Soon the building had been devoured all the way to the fifth basement floor. Some pieces of girder jutted up from the concrete sheath. Most of the metal had been burned away in the unnatural heat. The Fire’s work complete, it allowed its material form to burn out and it departed from this world.
Calls for construction crews echoed across the lot. “We’ll build it again!” Idiots. The ground shuddered as Water reclaimed dominion. The water table rose under the remnants of the building. Through the cracks in the basement walls and foundation made by the supernatural heat, water began entering. Seeping and slow at first, as it pushed aside loose blocks it sounded like a waterfall. In less than an hour, the pit of the building’s former self was filled to the street level with water. I noted the water slowly seeping down and checked where sea-level was. Indeed the water level in the flooded basement stabilized at sea-level.
No building was going to be built here. Ever.
I got the sense that whoever had the building built was in the wrong. But the details escaped me. No one was injured. The building was empty, not yet ready for the grand opening. I shrugged and went back to reading the manual for my new car.
So many gadgets. Bloody hell. Why is there a (very small) hair trimmer that recharges from the lighter socket? This comes with the car? I don’t even…
Oh. It flys. Hot. Shit. I have a flying car. I can overlook the bureaucratic appearance now of the all black sedan. I have a flying car! (Fuck yea!)
To test it out, I take an aerial spin over the flooded remains. Clear blue water all the way down. The beginnings of coral formations are appearing on the sunken girders already. I can see where a basement wall collapsed, revealing an underground tunnel connecting the flooded basement to the sea.
Then I note the surface of the pool is rippling. A wave is following my path. I get a sudden sense I am not welcome above the site. I wave and pull away.
Landing the car, I walk back to the flooded basement. Standing close to the edge, I mutter apologies. A wave suddenly rises before me and breaks. But I’m not wet. It wasn’t me that was the problem, it was the car.
A tendril of water wraps around my ankle. I’m welcome to enter if I want. I consider it, but decline for now. There are too many open questions, and this reeks of political intrigue. I congratulate the water for reclaiming the area and leave.
Back at my car, I find a compass like device. Speak the location, and it points toward it. I asked for the City, and a bright arrow appeared. I also find a book light, a cup warmer, and an electric blanket. The car is starting to appeal.
I take off again, make a wide arc to avoid the flooded site, and set direction for the City. As I leave the island behind, the dream fades.
Make of that, what you may.