Journey of Ric Heiden

The Journey of Rick Heiden

All Rights Reserved © 2018, Rick Haydn Horst

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

CHAPTER TWELVE

I could not fathom coping with what David had gone through at nineteen years old with his parents. In my opinion, he paid too high a price. He said he made a temporary move to Magnar's home not long after the incident until he could get a place of his own.

David knew the area around his parents' home well, so rather than returning to the penthouse, he showed me places he enjoyed while growing up. One seemed unusual for a fourteen-year-old, they called it the Primorium. I saw the unmistakable building from the overlook at the temple. Built on a grand scale, they made it of white stone. It had colonnades with towering ionic columns, styled in the highest form of neoclassical architecture.

The Trust had existed over a thousand jears, and it always had the Prime, an elder deciding when someone had demonstrated themselves worthy and performed the ceremony to bring them into the Trust. The Primorium consisted of ten floors of corridors lined in alcoves. The inside of those alcoves held a life-sized stone statue of the one hundred sixty-two Primes that had come before Amaré. The figures stood upon beautifully inscribed rectangular pedestals, the interior of which contained an ossuary filled with the remains of the Prime. Upon Amaré's death, his statue would stand among them.

The people of Jiyū didn't consider the mausoleum an abode of morbidity. The quiet stillness inspired a solemn reverence, and they viewed it as a beautiful place of quiet contemplation, to sit and read, study the artwork, or enjoy any quiet activity.

"I came here often in my youth," David whispered as we slowly walked down a corridor lined in gracefully posed statuary of long-dead Primes. Crafted in the Ancient Greek style, they looked exactingly realistic, but they left them unpainted. "I enjoyed the quiet, and I found it fascinating how people automatically lowered their voices upon entry as people do in libraries on Earth, I even do it myself. There's peace here like no other."

"Perhaps people come here to experience some peace, so their everyday lives feel bearable," I said.

He looked at me with a sad smile. "Perhaps."

My comment sounded strange, even to me. I recognized Jiyū as a paradise. What problems could anyone there possibly have to endure? As it turned out, people had quite a few. By comparison, sure, Jiyū readily evoked visions of paradise to what many people on Earth experienced daily. However, problems persist in every culture, precisely because they involve humans. No one should view them as a competition as to who had more. So, I proposed a more appropriate question; what sort of issues have we the will to face, entirely avoidable ones intentionally made by humans for others to endure, or those emanating from sources beyond anyone's control? If we did nothing to stop the former ones, as they had on Jiyū, we would still have the latter ones to deal with as well. So, while humans will never see a real Utopia, is it not foolish to maintain an existent imperfection only to suit the prosperous few?

Just after 11:00, David took me to the Archives on the edge of Bragi college --the only building never replaced during the college's reconstruction. They built the archives into part of a five-story, annulus disk shape building cut into three, equal but separated pieces. This created walkways to a charming little courtyard in the center where each building had an entry.

They contained an array of departments on a variety of topics. One of the buildings comprised the entirety of Jiyū's planetary studies, its atmosphere, and environmental sciences, geology, geography, glaciology, limnology, and botany. It also held the catalog of the planet's plant life, and they kept samples of the more unusual botanical species on display in stasis.

They used the second building for astronomy and astrophysics. Jiyū had no ground telescopes. An artificial intelligence known as Rom controlled all the robotic satellites and telescopes, whether in orbit or distantly located at the edge of the solar system.

The last building housed the museum of Jiyū history on the first four floors, and the archives on the fifth. The repository contained the writings of everyone that had ever written anything found the last 3154 jears and beyond. They kept the original manuscripts sealed in a stasis room of their own, but we could view electronic copies on a portable device like Jiyū's version of a tablet, made mostly of unbreakable glass. It displayed the texts of every book and writing scanned or translated by computer into its system.

However, the fragile writings farther back than 3154 jears had too much damage. They took on the arduous but necessary task of unrolling and hermetically sealing them to protect them from further deterioration. I wanted to see those pieces. I asked one of the archivists to show me the text referring to the earliest days. He gave me a puzzled expression, but he brought me the sealed documents anyway. He placed on the table stacks of about four dozen incomplete text pages written in ancient Japanese. Of all the languages I knew, I had only studied the classical forms of Japanese, which made me curious to see if I could read them. I could not detect a discernible difference from the ancient language I knew, and I could understand quite well the legible texts available to me. I found myself lost in them for the rest of the day.

David quietly sat watching me, occasionally rubbing his hand up and down my back, letting me know he found satisfaction in my proximity.

I saw nothing of much interest in most of the texts, like daily struggles, trial-and-error with food, and building shelter, but on one of the documents, I found an interesting passage. I showed it to David.

"Why does this look like Chinese to me?" he asked.

"Japanese didn't have characters of its own back then. They wrote in Chinese characters."

"That sounds a bit odd, doesn't it?"

"Not really. English, along with multiple other languages, uses Latin characters and Arabic numerals.

"Okay, that's true. So, what does it say?"

"From what I've gathered," I said, "these people originally came from the area near the fire mountain, that's Mount Fuji in Japan. While on Jiyū, they wrote of a journey to the west. The text has something too damaged to read here. Then it says something about not wanting to leave freedom, they traveled far to the west, it forced them to --and I think that character means

to abandon

-- to abandon the sun to seek food only to find the sun had followed them."

"If you travel west, the sun will follow you," David said.

"Or it can lead you depending on the time of day you leave," I said. "See how that doesn't quite make sense? How do people abandon the sun?"

"How old is this in Earth years?" David asked.

"Well, the language comes from Feudal Japan, and based on certain characters, I would say...early Fourteenth Century maybe."

The Archivist came back hours later to ask how I was doing.

"It's been enlightening," I said.

He crumpled his face in confusion. "You've studied these for many hours. Can you read these?"

"The legible parts, yes. Well, good enough, anyway."

"Who are you?" he asked in suspicion.

"I'm Rick Heiden, and this handsome, patient man, is my mate David."

"Oh! You're Mr. Heiden. Someone had mentioned your name yesterday. You're the new one," he said with excitement.

"Yes, that's me."

"Please, don't go anywhere. I have someone who needs to meet you." He hurried off to get them.

"What an unusual experience for me," David said, "I'm glad we stayed."

"An unusual experience for you in what way?"

"Seeing you in your element," he said. "The party had been one thing, but this is quite another. I finally see Rick the academic. I see why you and Aiden get along. In some respects, you have much in common."

"Perhaps," I said, "but I think he would prefer to have more of your attributes. He already seems to have a few that I've noticed."

The Archivist returned with a woman who had the walk of someone confident and powerful. She had short, black, curly hair, dark skin, and eyes of a color that reminded me of full-bodied Earl Grey in a glass cup. She wore a lovely, flared, knee-length white dress with vermilion flowers, and strangely she had high heels on her feet --the only woman I had seen wear them. David recognized her instantly and rapidly stood in her presence, so I did likewise.

The Archivist spoke, "May I introduce you to Meridia, our second eldest and cousin to Amaré."

Meridia looked at the Archivist with unwavering calmness. "Yes, because all women desire to reveal their age at every introduction. Go away, Ned." With haste, he receded. "I know Ned seems rather obsequious, but despite his faults, he's a meticulous and methodical archivist, and we love him here." She turned to me, with fluidity and grace. "So, you are Rick Heiden. I've heard interesting things about you from my cousin" --she turned to David-- "and you have David as your mate." Meridia, looked David, up and down, staring into his eyes. "You did well, Rick." She smiled, showing a beautiful, envy-inducing set of teeth. "You stayed away too long, David. How are you?"

David looked a bit anxious. "I'm okay."

"Really? You look

fine

to me," she said, seeming to enjoy inducing his state of uneasiness. "Well, Rick, I hear you can read these texts."

"Yes. Why is that such a revelation to anyone?"

"Because no one here can read them," she said. "Amaré can read some of it, but he keeps his Japanese fairly modern, and he doesn't know enough ancient Chinese characters to feel comfortable with claiming he can translate it."

"All this time, no one has read these?" I asked. "Couldn't you have gotten a scholar to read them ages ago on Earth?"

"We could not take them to Earth," she said, "and bringing in outsiders has its difficulties. Some things happen slowly on Jiyū because --for most things-- there's no rush. It seems the time has come to translate them. When you return from the mission on Earth, would you be willing to translate these as best you can? We have quite a number more than these few."

I nodded. "Yes, I look forward to it."

In the late afternoon, Venn drove us home from the campus. I felt most intrigued by our conversation with Meridia. She displayed a distinct difference from Amaré, yet I sensed a sort of sameness about her. Did people acquire that with age?

En route, I asked David, "How do you know Meridia? She certainly knows you."

"She taught me applied mathematics as a professor in college," he said.

"That makes sense. Meridia has your number," I said, teasing.

He put his arm around me. "Maybe, but not my heart."

I put my head on David's shoulder. "Yeah, I did well."

Aiden arrived at the penthouse before us. His skin appeared a bit red from the sun, so we knew he spent time on the beach at some point. We joined him for fourth meal.

David smiled at him. "Did you like the beach?"

"I would love to go there every day," he said. "After seeing the people there, I know now why I need to lose the pudge, and it seems to be dropping off quickly." He looked down at his belly.

"Have you sunburned yourself all over?"

He gave a little shrug. "When in Jiyū..."

"Do as the Jiyūvians do?" I glanced at David. "So, why this sudden change from a lifetime of modesty?"

"I love it here," Aiden said. "I guess I want to embrace it. I find myself already thinking of this as my home, and my loyalties are grounding themselves here. Why would anyone want to go back to what we had on Earth? Knowing I don't have all the money worries I had in London gives me the ability to think of others rather than my own immediate needs."

"Yes, I feel the same way," I said. "I don't feel my loyalties shifting though; they don't have to. I look back, and I don't think I ever had loyalty to anyplace I lived on Earth. A reason always deterred me from making that kind of commitment."

"This place feels so different," said Aiden.

David nodded. "Nations on Earth demand loyalty, while simultaneously doing the least they can get away with to earn it--if they bother at all. Most countries act as if birth inside their borders means they own that person, and therefore this person owes that country their life--even though no one has a say in where they're born.

"The community here doesn't demand loyalty. It doesn't have to; it just happens. We don't focus on maintaining things like governments, economic ideologies, or religions. We have a human-centric philosophy based on a kind of mutualism and the desire to live a good life. It perpetuates itself. As one people, we instinctively know that when the community flourishes, we flourish, and as a result, we can give back to the community."

"All for one, and one for all?" I suggested.

"Sort of," said David, "the Swiss did pick a great motto."

Before the next meal, we exercised for a few hours. The gym had more people than usual. We all knew that the storm was coming, and we might not have the opportunity to exercise the next day. Once Aiden had gone to the beach, he put everything he had into his exercise routine determined to keep making positive changes, and I admired him for his diligence. We don't see ourselves as others see us, so it was fascinating to watch Aiden's transformation. He had come so far in just a few days. I figured that he just needed what most humans need, people who care, a genuine opportunity to do something worthwhile in a space with a clear benefit, and to have his effort recognized. In the environment of Jiyū, he could go far.

After fifth meal, we played about in the pool on the balcony. We noticed how different we already appeared. Already, my soft penis had grown longer by nearly two inches, and both David and Aiden's had grown as well. I hoped that if I saw mine enough, it wouldn't feel like such a sudden, drastic change by the end of the transformation.

Along with that obviousness, David and I had lost all the body hair we would. Neither of us had hair on our abdominals, but whatever we would gain would have to take time growing over the next few weeks. Aiden hadn't lost any hair, and from what he said, it would only thicken. It would likely have impressed Maggie.

I had wished Maggie lived on Jiyū too, and I sought a way for her to join us, but I knew the mission would come first. A possibility of bringing her may not have existed, but I would have regretted not trying.

We sat in the deck chairs, waiting for first sunset. If I faced due south, toward the sea, the sun would sink behind the mountain ridge to the right causing a shadow to pass across the city from right to left. The city would then remain in shadow until the sun fell beyond the horizon two hours later at the beginning of Beddo. I called it shadow time.

We stood at the balcony wall, watching the vale pass over the city. David held me, his head resting on my shoulder while he gently rubbed his cock on my ass. He loved embracing me as often as he could, and while some people might find that annoying, I always enjoyed it. I dreaded having to return to Earth, as it would force us to tone it down. After living on Jiyū for just a few days, I already couldn't stand Earth. I honestly had no concept of how fantastic normalcy would feel. I understood that I technically permitted others to make me feel abnormal. But such adversity doesn't exist in the heterosexual community. People like me hadn't the freedom to

feel normal

on Earth; we received a regular bombardment of negativity from perpetrators attempting to manipulate us into feeling as uncomfortable with ourselves as they were with us.

As we stood there, Magnar contacted the three of us together in Jiyū's equivalent to a four-way call. We each told Iris to connect us, and together we spoke to Magnar just as if he were standing there with us. He wondered if we would like to join a beddo party for the next few hours. David and I thanked him for the invitation, but we declined. However, Aiden, who hadn't had much experience with parties, showed a keen interest. We encouraged him to go if he wanted.

"What should I wear?" Aiden asked Magnar.

"They have a

come-as-you-are

theme tonight," he said. "I'll have Venn pick you up at 21:45. He will know where to bring you. I'll meet you at the curb when you arrive."

"Sounds marvelous. I'll see you then."

Upon breaking contact with Magnar, we began laughing, as we stood there half wet and naked from our swim in the pool.

"I don't think he meant come-as-you-are literally," I said.

"What's a beddo party?" Aiden asked David.

"I've never personally gone to one but let me put it this way...." David motioned for Aiden to come closer to whisper into his ear.

I couldn't hear what he told Aiden, but his eyes lit up, and then I had no difficulty guessing. He left to get ready in a hurry. Aiden's absence left David and me alone at the house for a few hours, so we took full advantage of it.

I had David sit on the side of the pool, and I sucked his cock for a few hours. He wouldn't let me make him cum though. He said we would need it for the next day. I didn't know what he meant by that, but I satisfied myself with sucking him, and before we slept that evening, David had his face planted in my ass for quite a while. He had me begging to get fucked by the end of it, but he assured me that I would find the wait worth it.

We didn't know when Aiden came home from the beddo party the night before, but he seemed chipper the morning of the third day. Due to the previous night's activities, David and I awoke to a mood not conducive to exercise, but we did it anyway deciding to take care of other needs later.

We felt lucky to have the opportunity to exercise that day. We raced home before the storm hit. It was frightening, no wonder people stayed home. Lightning strikes pounded the ridge at the top of the mountain surrounding us and the lake. I didn't know why it never hit the city, although I suspected the involvement of some innovative technology. We watched the spectacle for a while, and after we ate second meal, we hoped it would give Aiden several hours of enjoyment while David and I busied ourselves with other things.

I had something I wanted to do since we had lost some of our body hair. We got naked in mere seconds. I had David lay back, and I put his hairless balls into my mouth. They were perfect. I loved to suck on his balls without the hair. I sucked and stretched the scrotum until I could grab him by it and tried to stuff both into my mouth. I couldn't do it, but one at a time would go in with ease. I had him flip over. Supporting David's huge thighs was his impressive, muscular ass. It felt as hard as granite, and now hairless. I jammed my tongue into his deep crack where his little virgin pucker lay unfucked. He told me no one had ever eaten his ass, and I had the privilege of being the first and only one to do it. Without the hair, it felt smooth and unobstructed. He lay moaning, arching his back.

"I see why you like this." He pressed my head deeper into the crevice.

Once he let me up for some air, "Would you ever think to let me fuck you?"

"I don't know. Now that you enhanced your cock. You're going to be huge. Would you want to fuck me?"

"Probably not. I think I prefer to get fucked by you, but it might be worth a try one day. Not today, because I want you to fuck me repeatedly, but one day."