4.4) Idealism II ~ The Thesis of Humanity

Minutes later, Mary was still staring down at the cafe she casually ate a sandwich just a short lifetime ago. But slowly, her sanity returned and her mind was starting to put the pieces together.

Atlas. That was the man’s name. The man was built like an Olympian. His moderately dark skin was strange and cold to the touch, almost like a bronze statue. His hair was unnaturally white, though there were no signs that it was bleached. And his eyes were blue, almost like that of a clear sky. Perhaps these individual features of his weren't impossible to find naturally throughout the world, but to see all of these features combined into one man?

Suddenly, his name made sense. This man was inhuman. Maybe a Titan, if he really came straight out of the Greek Mythos. But that would mean the stories of Zeus and Poseidon and the like were real. No, no, that couldn’t be…

Perhaps he was one of those Leviathans? But no, none of them could float. Rutger Kindred, the Leviathan who was in possession of the First Anomaly, could teleport, but none of them could just float. This was unprecedented.

Maybe, just maybe… he was just God? Was she looking at God?

What the hell do I do now? Bow? Kneel? Beg? I swear, if he tells me something like “oh, do not be afraid,” I’m going to freak out.

She could hear his footsteps approaching. Soon, Atlas was next to her, also staring down to the streets, resting his arms on the short wall that prevented them from falling forward.

Mary sighed, believing that she was going to have to be the one to get him to talk as usual. But this time, Atlas spoke first.

“Tell me, Mary Everhart.”

“Y-yes? What is it?”

“Do you want to do that again?”

“Do… what again?” she asked, still dumbfounded.

“Soar through the sky. See the familiar world in a way that you have never before.”

“I… well…”

She looked down at the cafe and the streets below. It was a strange feeling, being far above where she would normally walk. The winds blew stronger up here, unaffected by the buildings that would weaken the winds below. And she could see the skyline. She could see the mountains without buildings blocking her view. And perhaps, if Atlas would carry her further upwards, she would even see the ocean. Perhaps if she went even higher, the noises of the city would become distant, allowing her to feel free…

But, if he were to just drop her, her blood would splash against the pavement. And she would be a comedian.

I mean, I joke about it now, but that would be a pretty stupid way to die.

… But she wanted to experience that again. Her mind wasn’t prepared before, so she hadn’t really been able to experience it.

“I… want to experience it one more time. And… can we rise even higher?”

Atlas nodded, then stepped backward, opening his arms once more. And this time, with even more hesitation than before, Mary walked forward. And once more, Atlas gently lifted her in his cold arms in a bridal carry.

“Right. Let’s go,” he said.

This time, she nodded, not saying anything. And once again, she felt her body momentarily feel heavier from the upward acceleration. She slightly whimpered, but then realized that she felt fine momentarily afterwards. Atlas was moving quite gently–he was moving at a constant velocity after briefly accelerating, protecting her from feeling sudden g-forces. And once again, his cold body began to turn warm, as if his body was releasing energy as they floated through the sky.

This time, she watched as the evening city passed by below her. There was a church there, an alleyway there with a few dogs guarding the entrance of a back door with a group of kids playing handball just a little bit further down, and an interesting looking restaurant that she had never seen before.

And as they got higher and higher, she could finally see the coastline from where she was. It was interesting. The coast seemed to be only five to six miles away from the campus, and yet she had never seen it when he was attending school. In fact, she didn’t even realize that she was so close to the coast.

And as the Sun descended further, the city became brighter and brighter beneath them. And the further they ascended, the quieter it got.

“It’s getting cold,” she whispered.

Then, she felt her body get momentarily lighter as they decelerated and eventually stopped in the middle of the sky.

And Atlas shifted his position, sitting her down on one of his legs as he sat cross-legged.

“Wuh…” she muttered, before Atlas wrapped his warm arms around her.

“... Guh.”

It wasn’t very awkward. Perhaps this entire situation could have been awkward, but it wasn’t, perhaps because he simply treated it all like it was normal. And despite his warmth, his skin was far from soft. It was not an understatement that he felt like a living heater.

“Still cold?” He asked in his familiar, unemotional voice.

“... No. I guess not,” she said relatively calmly.

“I see. Then let’s continue our conversation from here.”

“What? What conversation?”

“You mentioned earlier that you believed there were just two sides to this life: reality and worse reality. But what do you think now?”

She blinked, then tilted her head. Then a realization dawned on her.

“... No way. Was this all because of what I said back there? You took me all the way up here just to ask me that? Is that why you were so damn quiet? Because you were thinking about a way to change my mind?”

He closed his eyes. “I failed to articulate my feelings at the cafe. So I decided I would just show you something that might change your mind.”

“Oh, revealing that you’re basically Superman and can defy gravity definitely changes things.”

“That’s not my point.”

“Fine. Maybe there’s reality, worse reality, and…”

She sighed. “… better reality, I suppose. Yes, you got me, things can be better…”

He nodded. “I think some may call it idealistic thinking, but surely, there must be an outcome where you can improve your living standards. To achieve the life you idealize.”

“But the life I idealize is one where I do nothing,” she said.

“That’s just asking for too much.”

“So what are you saying? That I should compromise what I really want and settle with a lesser life?”

“No. I’m not saying you should settle. If you want to live that life you idealize, you should pursue it without giving up. That’s how humanity has come so far. Look around you.”

Mary looked into his eyes, then followed his gaze below.

He continued. “How do you think these offices, stores, even your university, came about? Do you think it was the result of someone's wish to degrade humanity? To punish and torture the common folk?”

He shook his head. “No. Humanity must have come this far because they want to improve their state of living. To not live in a state of discomfort, but to live in a more ideal world. Perhaps there is pain and suffering still rampant in the world, but it isn’t because of the lack of trying. Perhaps there are quite a few people who work against these wishes–but as a whole, it’s clear that humanity wants to advance…”

“... And at the end of that endless advancement is where your ideal world lies.”

His voice softened. “Perhaps humanity will never reach that ideal world. But you can fight for that ideal world–and in that process, the life you have now can be transformed into something more ideal. Your life can get better if you hold on and struggle long enough. I think that… that is enough. And that is the core belief of humanity. We aren’t like some lifeforms that live day-by-day only considering survival–we want more because we can dream far beyond tomorrow. Think about it: humans willingly imagine worlds where everyone is happy. That is often the world that they idealize. Even if humanity can never reach those dreams, isn’t it amazing that they try anyways?”

Mary continued listening while silently noticing that his voice was slowly becoming more passionate.

“And look. Even now, you and I haven’t reached the clouds, the moon, the Sun, and the stars far, far past the Solar System… but isn’t the view from up here just a little bit better than the view you had from down there?”

By the time Atlas finished his thoughts, she was baffled as she watched his face. She felt like she had just witnessed a butterfly emerge from a cocoon. Or perhaps it was more like she had watched a wilted flower return to life. Or perhaps it was more like she had watched a statue become alive.

Because Atlas was smiling. For the first time since she had met him, he was smiling. For the first time since their meeting, his poker face had vanished, leaving the face of a man that reflected a love for life. And because of that smile, she found it impossible to deny his idealistic ramblings. To tell the man that she believed otherwise. Perhaps a part of it was because she didn’t want to see that smile fade from his face.

But if it was possible she could smile like that one day, believing in humanity, believing in the future, believing that things can be better with such sincerity and determination…

… She wanted to believe.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, looking down on the Earth and whispering. “The real, and…”

“... The ideal,” she said, looking up to the skies and the vast universe above.

She closed her eyes. “If my life really could get better… if humanity really does strive for that ideal world… then fine.”

She reopened her eyes, speaking the words that went against everything she had believed in for years. “I too, will strive for my own, idealized vision of my future.”

Atlas’s eyes softened. “I see. I’m glad, Mary.”

Her heart skipped as he referred to her by her first name. It was like everything had changed about him through the course of a single conversation.

“... What’s going on, Atlas? What’s happening to you?”

“What do you mean?” he said, tilting his head with an innocent look on his face.

“You’re smiling. I know that sounds weird, but… it’s not something I expected to see today.”

“Oh…?”

He touched the corners of his mouth, as if surprised by his own behavior. Then, with a warm blush, he spoke once more.

“... Perhaps you’ve helped me regain an important piece of me that I had lost.”

“What?”

He chuckled. “I didn’t understand why I felt this way at first, but I think I understand now. When you spoke so pessimistically, every fiber of my being rejected your beliefs... As if after everything I've lost, this was a part of me that had never died; as if these years, my body–or perhaps my heart–still remembered the essence of my identity. I suppose it makes sense in retrospect–I'd have to have been someone pretty dogmatic to willingly carry the weight of the world.”

Mary had no idea what he was talking about, but she had enough sense left to deduce that she had accidentally brought out a side of him that even he had forgotten. Which was crazy–but less crazy than the fact that she was currently floating thousands of feet above ground.

He smiled, almost like a golden retriever. “Perhaps I should thank you.”

Guh. Don't do that.

He laughed, as if noticing her internal reaction. “Now, do you want to stay up here? Or do you want to do something else?”

She sighed, seeing that the evening sky had now turned dark. “Well, despite your body’s built-in heater, it is getting pretty cold…”

“… But I think it would be cool if you took me jumping across the rooftops.”

Atlas nodded, then gently picked her up from his leg and returned to holding her in a bridal carry, descending towards the familiar world below.

Perhaps it was too soon for her to think about all this in a calm manner. Without a doubt, she was in a state of emotional high. She knew this was a dream-like situation and that she should be questioning everything.

But at the same time, it was a dream-like situation. She was in a state of bliss that she had never been in before. It felt as if everything was possible, as if today and tomorrow could and would be better than yesterday and the day before.

She wanted this to be her reality.

And as Atlas leapt across the skyline, gently carrying her through the air as their bodies cast a long shadow from the moonlight, she wore a soft grin on her face, having all but forgotten about the fate that awaited them.