The Index -|-

Kpleeb woke to an enjoyable warmth and softness to which he was entirely unaccustomed. The soft heat of the cave floor did not normally feel so wonderfully encompassing, and he knew that he was dreaming. He sighed and kept his eyes closed. Thoka’s warm body rested next to his, and he could feel her chest slowly expand and contract with her breath.

To his fuzzy mind it was a fantastic dream, and he nestled into the coziness. As with most dreams, nothing remained the same, and after a few seconds he felt a dull ache begin to grow at the back of his neck.

This should not be in my dream.

He shook he head and felt his hair brush something behind him. It feels so real… He reached out hand up and opened his eyes as his fingertips brushed skin.

“Urh… Thoka?” Kpleeb scrambled to his feet as he felt the blood rush to his face.

Thoka stirred and opened her eyes slowly. Her hair was perfect – as usual – and Kpleeb saw her face change from surprise to concern. “Are you okay?” She maneuvered to her knees quickly and reached up to touch his head.

Kpleeb had no idea what she was doing, but he was frozen in place by the swaying of her neck piece. He understood as soon as she touched the bruised spot above his eye.

“Ow! What’s the deal?” he said.

“You fell- or something. I’m not sure. I found you here, facedown earlier. Are you okay?”

Kpleeb took stock of his body at that moment. Bump on head. Wound on neck. Again? Torso: nothing. Disconcerting heat in groin area. He flushed again. Scrape on knee.

“Other than my head and knee, I feel fine. I guess the gods got to me again?”

“Do you remember getting up this morning?” Thoka stood and looked into his eyes.

She has very nice brown eyes. Big too. “Urh… no?”

“You don’t seem sure.”

“Well, I had some kind of dream and I remember walking and then nothing.” Kpleeb shrugged. “Maybe that was it?”

“Kpleeb, I don’t remember ever passing out after the gods changed me. I only remember the fuzzy-brain feeling and being tired and sometimes the dreams. You have the neck wound. Do you not remember the rest?”

Kpleeb paused for a long moment and tried hard to remember. There was a dream, but he could not recall what it was about. He shook his head to test his current level of lightheadedness.

“So you don’t remember?” Thoka said taking his shake for a denial.

“I do not feel fuzz-brained. I do think that I dreamt, but I have no idea what it was about. This is different, but maybe not in a bad way.” Kpleeb smiled at Thoka. “Why were you lying next to me anyway?”

Thoka blushed. “You wouldn’t wake up! I was worried.” She turned and began to walk toward the food outcropping in her cave. “I’m hungry. Are you?”

“Are you trying to change the subject?” Kpleeb grinned widely as Thoka appeared to become flustered.

“I was worried, that’s all. Who knows what these gods will do to us? I thought that maybe you would die or…. be a brain-dead idiot.”

“I do appreciate your concern,” said Kpleeb as he approached Thoka. He boldly wrapped his arms around her in a hug. “Thank you.” He closed his eyes and hoped that she would accept this intimacy from him.

Thoka looked surprised, and though she did not reply, she did return his embrace. They stood there for a drawn-out moment before she let go and turned to speak to the food outcropping.

“Flatbread, please. With melted cheese-of-yak.”

Kpleeb was disappointed. He had thoroughly savored the physical touch and intense feeling of closeness that experienced. He was a caveman after all and no more or less driven by his physical desires than any other caveman. He had some experience with women and had twice before convinced a tundra-girl to share his bed. He was not trying to bed her, but he was not, not trying.

Despite the fact that Thoka was so beautiful, her mind was intimidating to Kpleeb. He had thought from the moment that he saw her that she was different somehow. She was a higher bar even though he was a prisoner in an unknown cave ruled by terribly powerful gods. There were only two of them, and he considered that fact alone to be enough to land him a relationship with any cavegirl. But there was something about her that made him take the situation more seriously.

If Thoka saw the disappointment on his face, Kpleeb could not see any reaction. She appeared as oblivious as she normally did. It was disconcerting to be so dismissed at times when he felt such intense feelings. He was not a quitter.

“Can I have a taste of that?” he asked pointing. “You make such strange food sometimes.”

“Of course.” Thoka ripped a small piece of flatbread off and handed it to him. “This is a quick meal that my nan would make for the kids. In fact, all of the kids in the west mountain tribe called it ‘nan.’ What do you think?”

Kpleeb was still chewing. The bread was slightly chewy and had a nice texture on the outside as if it had been made on a hot stone over a roaring fire. The yak cheese was creamy and pungent, but the earthiness of the bread went very well with it.

“This is very tasty, but you know what this needs?” he said. “Moose-tard.”

“Hmm. Okay, what’s that?”

“It is a tangy yellow sauce. Maybe I can get the outcropping to reproduce it.” Kpleeb made a mental note to complete that task later. “The fab elder Shoofit used to make it the best, and nobody in the whole canyon river tribe knew if he used magic or just had a great secret recipe.”

Kpleeb watched Thoka as she ate and nodded. Having food in the mix definitely meant that she was not thinking about how amazingly great and handsome he was. The moment had passed. Time to move on.

“You know,” said Kpleeb, “I was thinking that you might be able to help me with my rotating wall-breaker device. That is- if you’re interested.”

Thoka nodded and mumbled through her last bite. “Show me what you mean.” She followed him as he returned through the gap into his cave.

“Cave, open a hole here,” he said pointing with his knuckle at a spot in the food outcropping. “Fill this with water.” The cave complied as it always did, and water began to fill the bowl, pour through the opening he had requested, and run down a chute onto his device.

“I have this water wheel. It turns, and this system of wheels here reduce the speed and rotate the final piece. It appears that as the speed of the wheel is reduced it also produces more force. The final piece, the bit, is sharp you see.” Kpleeb put his finger on the point of the bit. “I will push this against the grey stone and let the bit turn slowly and eat at the grey stone wall.”

“Will it work?” Thoka said. She bent and examined the device closely. “It will need to be pressed firmly against the wall, but… the grey stone is so dense. I don’t know what can possibly scar that stone.”

“-Except itself.” Kpleeb nodded. “I cannot get a piece of grey stone to use as the tip of this device. That’s why you might be able to help me.”

“How? I don’t have any grey stone or any substance that is strong enough.”

You have your ugly rod that directs the hidden forces. Can you not use that power to reinforce the tip of my device?”

“Well, maybe? I don’t know. This is a different application than I have ever thought of.”

“I believe in you, Thoka,” said Kpleeb with a smile. “You’re the smartest person I know. When our hammer fell against the wall, it did leave a mark.” He pointed at the spot. “It is small, but it has not changed since then. I thought that it would have repaired itself by now, but it has not changed.”

“But the voice, Kpleeb. It commanded your hammer to become dust. What can we do against that?”

“We must proceed slowly and make smaller portions of damage to the wall. We will learn much as we do so.”

“It seems that you have become as infected with learning as I have,” Thoka said. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Yes, but not math. I don’t care for math, although I can now believe why it might be important. But about this device,” Kpleeb squatted on hairy calves and quads, “if you can strengthen the tip of my grinding stone, it just might be able to scratch the grey wall. A scratch, in time, will break through. Right?”

Thoka saw what he meant and nodded. “I will build something, just give me time, okay?”

Thoka and Kpleeb talked, ate, and slept (separately). The next few days were spent mostly in isolation. It was not Kpleeb’s wish. He wanted to work and watch Thoka, but she was adamant about having time to work alone.

Finally, one day at breakfast, she spoke.

“I think I have figured out how to strengthen your stone bit.

“I knew you could do it, show me!”

“I will after we eat. I just have to make one more piece. I do have a request of my own.”

“Well, what is it? Of course, I would do anything for you.”

Thoka looked at Kpleeb fondly. “You are a sweet caveman, Kpleeb. Thank you for being so supportive and thoughtful.”

“Kpleeb flushed slightly and shrugged.”

“Anyway, I want you to sleep next to me tonight. If you are interested.”

“Urh-” Kpleeb’s mouth flapped stupidly for a second while his mind reeled at the shock. “I thought… I did not know that you were…” He squared his shoulders. “Yes, I am interested. How could I not be? I have been interested. Why now? What did-“

“-questions for another time. I expect that we have much time, after all, look around us.”

“I understand, let us eat and then you can show me your magic stone strengthener.”

“It’s not magic, but… okay.”

Kpleeb gulped down his remaining few bites, and sat impatiently as Thoka ate at her normal pace. When she was finally done, she picked up a bowl that had been resting on a shelf on the far wall and carried it into Kpleeb’s cave. They worked together for many minutes and the time stretched into the afternoon when the sun was past its prime.

When they were done the device stood unaltered except for the bit. It was now bulbous and engorged with several protrusions. There were three mounts that angled to point at the end of the cone-shaped tip. The mounts were built into the bit’s main shaft and would rotate with the tip. On each mount was one of Thoka’s rods. These were new, though to the untrained eye their purpose would not be obvious.

Thoka stepped close to Kpleeb and slid under the arm he placed around her shoulders. “Okay, cavecraftsman Kpleeb, start it up.”

“Outcropping, fill with water.”

It began. The water filled and moved down the chute onto the water wheel. The wheel turned – slowly at first then picking up speed. The shafts turned, and Kpleeb’s multi-wheel system reduced the speed at the tip. The tip rotated with Thoka’s rods mounted at exactly 120 degrees around the circumference of the shaft.

Kpleeb pulled a lever that extended the bit outward by a finger length. The rotating bit converged on exactly the same spot where Kpleeb’s hammer had fallen many days in the past.

Thoka reached out and placed a small rod with thin, straight hairs into a mount behind the lever. “This should keep that bit pressed tight against the wall.”

They stood together and quietly watched the device for several minutes Now that they had completed their task, Kpleeb’s mind was already on Thoka’s invitation. He looked up at the sun, but he saw no sign of it dimming.

It is going to be a long afternoon, Kpleeb thought nervously.

The Index -|-

A swirl of purple and grey drifted slowly across the cave in front of Thoka. The purple was faint, almost translucent and wavered slightly as it moved. The grey was merely a mist, but it distinctly avoided intersecting with the purple. “Like oil and water,” she said aloud to herself as she watched it.

The haze shifted as she walked toward it. She raised her arm to touch it, and it flowed around her hand. There was a pulse as the wavering purple caressed her hand like an ocean wave gently washing over her skin. The feeling was faint, but she felt incredibly peaceful and encountered a strong desire to bathe in its light.

Thoka disrobed slowly. She dropped her neck piece on the floor, and then detached the cord that held her loin cloth and let it follow the neck piece. She spread her arms and stepped into the cloud. The waves washed over her skin, and she closed her eyes and raised both of her arms while she savored the moment. She could barely feel the slow and gentle pulse as it moved under her skin and on her bones.

She pulled her fingers apart and the haze separated and swirled momentarily before returning to fill the gap.

“Thoka, Thoka… wake up.”

The jostling of her shoulder pulled her out of the dream, and she opened her heavy eyes. Kpleeb’s blurry face appeared above her, and she blinked to clear her vision.

“What do you want, Kpleeb?”

“It’s almost time to eat. I did not want to wake you, but… it’s almost time.” He grinned in a kind of boyish manner and stood still looking down at her. Finally, he held out his hand in an offer to help her up.

Thoka took his hand and visually appreciated the hairy bicep that tugged her to her feet. [How does he even stay strong in this cave?]

“What I made for you was not at all the kind of food Mam would make,” Kpleeb said. “I could not think of anything for you that was not already my own wish.” He shrugged. “So… I invented some food based on interesting dishes I have had before.”

Thoka did not know what to make of his statement. “Being inventive is good.” She sniffed the air. “I’m hungry as well, so let’s eat!”

Kpleeb led Thoka to the table and presented her with water and a plate. On the plate were four separate pieces or piles of food. “This is wildebeest flavored long grain,” he said pointing. “And this one, it is river shoot wrapped in frog-skin. This one is spotted owl gizzard with a tundra-hare cream sauce. And lastly, a crispy fried pummeled dinga with a spicy dip.”

Thoka nodded. “Thank you, it all looks very good.” She reached and took her scoop and ate a mouthful of the long grain. The texture was slightly sticky and it was warm, but bland. She detected a faint sense of meat, but the wet mountain tribes had not regularly eaten wildebeest, so she was unsure if that was it.

Kpleeb looked at her expectantly, but she only smiled and reached for the river shoot. The frog-skin that wrapped the shoot was cold and kind of droopy and damp. [Not appetizing.] She bit one end of the shoot knowing from experience that they were crisp and delicious if prepared correctly.

The shoot was tough. The frog-skin was chewy and smelled slightly dank, and she put the remaining portion back on the plate. After trying the other two items, she finally gave in to Kpleeb’s queries.

“The long grain is pretty good,” she lied. “I did not like the river shoot much. Too tough, and the frog-skin,” she shuddered slightly. “Blech. The gizzard and cream sauce were interesting, but it tasted much like the long grain. My favorite was the fried dinga. The spicy dip really helped it out. Have you tried it?”

Kpleeb shook his head and reached to test the food he had made. After a minute he shrugged and his face fell. “I see what you mean. I’m sorry that it wasn’t good. I’m not a good cook.”

“It’s okay, Kpleeb. Often, it’s the thought that matters, and I am very grateful that you care enough to make food for me.” Thoka put her hand on Kpleeb’s shoulder and grinned widely.

“Maybe you should leave the cooking to me?”

Kpleeb nodded solemnly, but Thoka poked him in the ribs gently and smiled even harder until he responded with a weak smile of his own.

“We can’t all be the best at everything,” Thoka said. “Cooking takes practice just like anything else.” She reached an arm around Kpleeb’s waist and gave him a quick squeeze before letting go. “Do you want me to eat the rest?”

Kpleeb looked embarrassed. “No, please. Let us eat something we actually like.”

“I could choke the rest of it down… for you,” Thoka said with a grin.

“No, no. You just make what you want and I’ll get what I want. Cave, give me a nicely roasted muskrat leg. Thank you.”

“And I’ll have a bowl of soup. You know how I like it,” said Thoka.

Thoka and Kpleeb ate and talked for some time before Thoka started to yawn. “It’s about my time, Kpleeb.”

“You go to bed so early. Why is that?”

“It’s just my habit. I think better in the morning, but only if I sleep well.”

“Well, I will go continue working on my device.” Kpleeb smiled at Thoka. “Thanks for understanding about the food. I had a wonderful time talking to you as usual.” He stood.

“It was fun, and my soup was excellent.” Thoka smiled brightly. “Good night, Kpleeb.”

Thoka watched as Kpleeb walked away and closed the gap between the caves. [He really is a nice caveman.] She blushed when she remembered the squeeze she had given him. [He didn’t react. I wonder if I surprised him? I wonder if he would cuddle with me?] Her mind wandered for a few minutes, until she finally fell asleep.

When Thoka awoke the following morning, she spoke quietly at the gap. “Kpleeb, are you awake?” He did not answer, so she went to her table and worked to understand the forces that she had begun to discover.

She continued her thread from the previous day. Her special wands moved water, so she tried green goo, spit, and various edible liquids that the cave produced for her. Thoka mixed everything she could think of and tested the mixtures in different ratios. Everything was affected by the invisible forces to some extent except the pure green goo. She was not sure why. She molded her hair with stone and made new threads for her wand. She tried different combinations of meat, plants, and other materials in an effort to find the alloys and shapes that made the most effective threads.

It was mid-day before she realized that Kpleeb still had not surfaced. She stood and slowly stretched her arms, legs, and back. She took a drink of water, and then asked the cave to open the gap. As the surface vacated the wall where the grey stone had opened up, she stepped through and looked.

Kpleeb was face down next to his food outcropping.

Thoka rushed to his side and turned his head. There was a large lump and bruise above his right eye. [He must have fallen… but why?] As she examined his head, she noticed a swollen bump on the back of his neck. The center was a red dot with a puffy white ring, and then more purple that faded into his skin tones. A semi-sticky clear substance coated her finger when she touched the bump.

She shook Kpleeb gently. “Kpleeb, wake up.” Thoka shoved his body over until he lay on his back. He was breathing, but did not stir. “Wake up.” After a few moments she stood and retrieved a handful of water. She splashed his face, but nothing happened. There was nothing else she could think of to do except…

Thoka sat next to Kpleeb and wrapped her arms around him. His body was warm, and he breathed – in and out – slowly. After some time, she drifted off.

The Index -|-

Kpleeb woke every day with a new sense of excitement. For the most part he forgot about the gods and his anger toward them. His days passed quickly, and he noticed that he was distracted much of the time. Thoka was always on his mind. He found himself pacing the cave as he tried to think of new and more clever devices to build. Each time he passed the gap in the cave, he would stop and look at her.

She does not seem to be distracted at all. She is so focused… I cannot even understand what she is doing. Yet, she is beautiful. His mind was torn between the curves of her body, the sharpness of her mind, and his own seemingly insatiable drive to build something that would crack the cave wide open.

Despite all of his mind-flutter, he did achieve new heights of understanding, and was eager to show Thoka one of his ideas.

He cleared his throat and approached slowly through the gap between the caves. Thoka did not look up. Her hands still moved slowly in circles around a bowl that she held between her crossed legs. Her pale hair lay gently across her shoulders and fell all the way to the middle of her back.

“Urh, Thoka?” Kpleeb crossed his legs and sat in front of her. He looked at her face and was surprised at the confusion that was written there. “What is wrong?” he said laying a hand on her arm. She finally acknowledged him, and in raising her eyes, he saw that they were puffy and rimmed in red.

She did not respond.

“Are you okay?” he asked again.

Thoka finally answered, slowly and in a thick voice as if her lips were too large and her throat was clogged by mucus. “They did it again.”

“Did what? Who did what? You mean… the gods?”

Thoka raised her hand, gently pulled back her hair, and turned her head so that he could see the large, red welt that adorned the back of her neck.

“Oh, I see,” he said quietly. He moved to looked more closely. “It looks the same as the last one. Does it feel differently?” He gently caressed her soft neck in a circle around the bump, and when he pulled his fingers away their tips were covered with a sheen of clear goo. He moved his hand into her line of sight and tapped his fingertips together. The slightly tacky goo glistened.

Thoka bowed her head and began to sob silently.

There was nothing that Kpleeb could think to say, so he did what felt the most natural. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed gently. His nose was tickled by a strand of her hair as he knelt patiently next to her and let her cry.

After some time – not too long, but enough for Kpleeb’s mind to focus on the way she smelled and how softness of her skin – Thoka spoke.

“Will it ever end?” Her voice was rough. She cleared her throat the then spit a large wad of mucus out in an impressive arc.

Kpleeb did not release her.

“I see patterns, Kpleeb,” she said. “This time, they have awakened something new in my mind.” She shook her head slightly and then shrugged in apparent helplessness.

Kpleeb, not wanting to push his luck, began to let go of her.

“No, don’t let go.” Thoka brought her hands up to rest on his right arm as it crossed under her chin.

As Thoka rubbed his arm lightly, Kpleeb felt goosebumps rise on his skin. He froze and waited, hopeful that it would not end. But Thoka shifted gears and jolted him out of his reverie.

“We must continue to learn everything we can. We will escape from this place, and there will be an opportunity to use what we learn here.” She turned in his arms and he let go and rocked back onto his heels. “Don’t you see, Kpleeb? We are their special creation.”

Kpleeb did not understand. “Then you believe they truly are gods…. Like the great spirit tahr?”

“Maybe, but if they make us in their image… does it really matter what form they take?” Thoka shifted onto her knees and leaned toward him.

Kpleeb’s mind swam with the ideas she spoke about, but when she swayed, he was distracted by the way her topcloth swung and settled against her skin. Flustered, he felt his face heating up and stood abruptly. He turned and walked toward the cave wall. When he turned, Thoka was standing and watching him.

“Come, look at this,” she said. She took the bowl full of water that she had been holding and set it on the table. She then picked up an odd-looking stone rod the size of her finger. A handful of infinitesimally small stone threads protruded from the end in a complex shape.

“How did you get the threads so small?”

“Wait,” she said impatiently shushing him. “Watch the water.” She moved her hand around the bowl holding the rod. Nothing happened.

Kpleeb started to speak, but Thoka held up a finger. She picked up another rod that had a completely different shape and held it on the opposite side of the bowl from the first rod. The water moved.

“You see?”

“You blew on the water, and it moved. So what?”

Thoka rolled her eyes. “Okay, watch again, but stand here on the other side of the table so that you can see. She moved moved the rod into place again and the water rippled.

Kpleeb looked at Thoka’s face and she had her mouth closed. The water continued rippling. Wha….? “Wow,” he said, “what is that?”

“I do not know, really.” Thoka moved the rods into various positions and the water ripples followed her motions in a number of different ways. “There is a force that we cannot see, and it moves the water. I think that I am moving the force… or at least manipulating it.” Thoka’s eyes were still rimmed in red, and her voice was still rough, but she was clearly excited.

“I don’t understand. I mean- I understand what you are saying, but I don’t understand how that can be. Is it magic?”

Thoka smiled at Kpleeb. “I don’t think it is magic. We will both understand, I am sure of it. You just have to be patient.”

There was not much that Kpleeb could do. Either he would understand or he would not. He did feel slightly jealous that Thoka was so smart and knew so much. “Okay, I believe you. When?”

“That is up to the gods.” She smiled widely and circled the small, stone table to stand next to him. Her head came just past the height of his hairy shoulder. She reached her hand out and rest her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “This is useful to us. I promise.”

Thoka turned away and gestured at the room. “This cave is made of stone. This stone understands our words. It moves as we command and takes shape to fill our needs. It is filled with hidden forces that communicate and act on the world. This cave is alive, Kpleeb! It is all a gift from the gods, and I must study it!”

Kpleeb was a bit taken back by the fervor in her voice, but deep inside he felt that she was correct. “If there is anyone who can figure this out, it is you, Thoka. Let me think about all of this.” He turned to walk back to his cave.

“Hey Kpleeb.”

“Yes?” Kpleeb turned.

“It is we, Kpleeb, who will figure this out. It is us, together. You are my partner here. Don’t forget that.” She flashed him a beaming smile and turned toward her food outcropping.

Kpleeb did not know what to make of this new and more friendly Thoka, but he liked the attention. He sauntered back to his cave a picked up the small device that he had been working on.

“Take a look at this,” he said as he walked back to Thoka’s outcropping. He placed the device adjacent to the waterfall that tinkled at floor level.

Thoka turned and clapped with glee as soon as she saw the moving wheel. “Oh Kpleeb, it’s genius!” She skipped around the outcropping and gave him a quick side-hug before kneeling to examine his machine.

Thoka’s waterfall trickled out of her outcropping an struck the device on its wheeled edge. The force of the water, though small, made the wheel turn continuously. A small two-dimensional rabbit shaped stone was attached to the support structure near the center of the wheel, and the wheel’s turning shaft had a rabbit tail. The tail turned and twitched when the wheel spun.

“It is useless, but I thought that you would like it,” Kpleeb said. He was still shocked by the unexpected hug.

“It is nice. I like it.” Thoka put her finger on the spot where the water exited the outcropping. “Bigger gap here,” she said.

The water stream increased and the rabbit tail moved faster.

“I am building a larger version for drilling the grey stone.” Kpleeb knelt beside Thoka. “The center shaft will be very long, and much thicker. I will press it against the grey stone and let it turn for days to make a hole there. Do you think it will work?”

“Maybe,” Thoka shrugged. “We can only know by trying it. You keep improving this, and I will increase my knowledge of the hidden forces. Together, we will learn much.” She paused, and looked him in the eye. “Can you make a special dinner for me tonight? Anything but muskrat leg.”

Kpleeb was shocked. “Urg, yes…? What do you want?”

“Anything, but muskrat leg. I will take a nap and clear the brain fog, but I feel that this is an auspicious day, and we should celebrate.” Thoka stood again and put a hand on Kpleeb’s shoulder.

“Okay, I will think of something,” Kpleeb said. He bravely patted Thoka’s shoulder and smiled widely when she did not reject his touch. “Time for your nap, I will work.”

With the gap between the caves closed behind him and Thoka napping, Kpleeb took a moment to let the whole morning sink in.

The gods changed her again. Every time I think she is the most intelligent caveperson ever, she becomes even smarter. Maybe there is hope for escape after all. He remembered how it felt to hold her, and grinned to himself. She is so smart and smells nice. I have to impress her with dinner. Maybe I can make something amazing that mam gave me. He pictured muskrat leg and dinga root. No, that is my favorite, and I already tried that. This has to be about her.

Kpleeb spent the better part of the day working on his larger drilling device and thinking about dinner with Thoka. In his mind, nothing would surpass the excitement and satisfaction that he felt at that moment.

The Index -|-

Thoka lay awake staring at the moon. Something bothered her, but she was not quite sure what it was.

It was normal for her was to think excessively. Her mind spun like top, and though it ricocheted off the surfaces of a multitude of topics, it never seemed to stop. She had so many ideas and so little time. Despite the thinking, she never failed to sleep, but tonight was different.

After some time lying silent, she realized. [It must be Kpleeb. His kindness is surprising. He was clearly very genuinely concerned.]

She turned her head to look at the gap between the caves, and her eyes swept the room slowly. Her mind wandered when she saw the food outcropping.

[So much to learn. I need to dissect and analyze.]

Thoka sighed and looked back at the moon. She sat up and looked at the gap between caves again.

[Focus, Thoka. Focus. Kpleeb has come a long way in the last handful of days. He was clearly altered just as I was. — But he is such a caveman. Can’t he just brush his hair and maybe throw some water on his face now and then?] — She sighed. [This is so petty, Thoka.]

[He is strong and really seems to work well with mechanical devices. He already understands almost more than I do in that regard. — He is more than a little hairy. Even his feet! Can’t he just take a little extra time to clean up? — Who cares? Who cares about his grooming habits? His looks don’t matter. He is a caring and sensitive caveman. He is capable, and does not try to impress or lie to gain your favor.]

Thoka laid back down and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to sleep.

[Envision complete darkne– but you could groom him yourself, and maybe he would like it and learn. ENVISION COMPLETE DARKNES– some cavemen just need to be trained a little.]

“This is pointless. We need to get out of here,” Thoka said to herself. “Who cares what he looks like? Just shut up!” She growled quietly, and close her eyes again to envision the darkness that would help her sleep.

In the morning Thoka woke up and yawned as she ran her finger through the little waterfall noisemaker that tinkled near her outcropping. It was early even though she was exhausted and had slept longer than usual.

[Kpleeb is not up yet. Now is a good time to learn.]

Thoka relieved herself, drank, and did her stretching exercises as she did every morning. When she was done, she found her mind to be clear. Stretching always cleared her mind, and she had learned to harness that focus for her work. She began by taking apart her food outcropping.

The stone that it was made of was the same as the rest of the stone that lined every surface of the cave. It was organic in shape and there were no separate parts or pieces that she could find. Her first cut was horizontally into the wall under the bowl. The water that drained away trickled into her cut and down the side of the cave. The hole she requested in the bottom of the hollow bowl had no bearing on the tube that carried the water through the stone and downward. When the hole was closed, the tube remained intact.

Seeing this, she cut stone away from the tube that continued downward until her cut intersected the grey stone. There, the tube stopped, and the grey stone was solid.

[Interesting.] “Cave,” she said, “close the drain and give me water.”

It complied and she took a handful of water and poured it on the grey stone at the bottom of the hole in the floor. When the water splashed into the hole, the grey stone opened up a perfectly round hole that would easily fit her arm.

She laid on her stomach and shouted into the hole. Her voice echoed eerily for a moment. She reached down and put her hand inside. The hole did not close. The hole was dark and the seemed to continue indefinitely into the floor.

“Enlarge this hole,” she said tapping the inside of the hole.

Nothing happened. It was no surprise to Thoka. The grey stone seemed to be designed as the substructure that contained all else. It opened only for specific reasons. [And maybe in specific places?]

She stood and started removing stone from the bottom of the defecation pit instead. As the stone moved out of the way, the green goo that was contained inside slowly spilled out of its pit and spread out across the grey stone. She wrinkled her nose at the strong, astringent scent that accompanied the green goo.

Thoka made a cup out of stone and then scooped green goo into it and set the cup on the table. Using a stone spatula, she pushed the green go out of the way and looked at the grey stone underneath. There was no hole. She gathered a handful of water and poured it into the puddle of goo. The floor opened in an identical sized hole, and the water drained away with some of the goo following slowly. This time the hole closed on its own.

[Interesting. Maybe it knows to keep the goo in but needs to eliminate water.]

Thoka picked up her cup with the goo in it, made it into a ball by building the walls upward to meet at the top, and placed it on the shelf. She then made a larger bowl and scooped a bunch of goo into it and put it on the table.

“Hey, Thoka, can I come in?”

Thoka turned and saw Kpleeb waving through the hole they had agreed on. It was there to pass sound, but too high to see through. “Yes, come in,” she called out.

He told the wall to open, and then came in smiling. “What’s that?” He sniffed. “Oh. I have never seen that outside of the hole.” He poked the goo with his finger.

“No!” said Thoka brusquely, but it was too late.

Kpleeb grimaced and waved his finger around wildly. “Ouch, that hurts. A lot!”

“Well stop waving around like a tundra hare. Let me see it.”

Kpleeb out his hand, palm up, into Thoka’s waiting hands. She ran the tip of the finger gently against the wall.

“Oh, ouch!” Kpleeb cried.

Thoka ignored him and splashed some water on his finger. It had an angry, red blister where the green goo had touched it, but it looked clean. When she sniffed it there was no scent. “That was not smart, Kpleeb. You know the goo dissolves feces. Your finger is made of the same basic stuff.”

Kpleeb looked sufficiently embarrassed, and shrugged. “I was not thinking about it.”

Thoka smiled at him and patted his hairy shoulder. “It’s easy to get excited about new things, but you have to be careful. This cave,” she said gesturing, “this whole place, the food, the walls, the gods… everything is new and potentially dangerous. Wash it off, and just wait a few days for it to heal.”

“Thanks, Thoka,” Kpleeb said with a smile. “You are the best.”

Thoka shrugged. “Of course I am. Now, go back and work on something. I am still busy.”

“What is all this anyway?”

“It is just the cave, you know? I have to determine where this power comes from. Is the stone a creature that obeys our commands? Is it magic? I want to know if I can use these new discoveries for us. I do have some ideas already, but I need to know.”

Kpleeb nodded at Thoka. “I believe it because you are the smartest person I know.”

“Thank you, Kpleeb,” Thoka said. She grinned at him. “You always say the nicest things.”

“Well, it is true. You are pretty too.” Kpleeb looked at his feet momentarily and then back at her with a smile.

Thoka stood there for a moment silently trying to find a response. She was silent for just a few seconds too long, and the moment became awkward.

“Urh, sorry. I did not mean to offend you.” Kpleeb shuffled a little and turned to walk away.

“Wait, it’s fine. I- I just don’t know what to say. Thank you.” Thoka smiled broadly and hoped that it would ease Kpleeb’s feelings.

He walked to the gap in the cave and turned to look back at her. “I’ll be over here working on a device.” He waved awkwardly and turned away.

Thoka turned to continue her own work. She felt a flush in her cheeks that she had not experienced for a long, long time. [He certainly is a nice caveman.]