Myalo Series: The Consolation of Skepsi

        “Syna, what are you doing? We leave next week.”

Myalo was a very large city, the hometown that I had often longed for during the journeys that Skepsi and I so frequently took. The comfort of familiarity was never far away in Myalo, but learning and knowledge was the basis of our society, so I always had new Thoughts that I found myself wanting to explore. I was making plans to examine a recently acquired Thought at the westernmost border when Skepsi came to look over my shoulder.

“Next week!” I cried, dropping my notebook and turning to stare at him. “Skepsi, I’d forgotten about the assignment. I need to draw up our task list.” Skepsi sighed.

“I had suggested you complete that last week.” His voice was stern, but even as I watched him he seemed to smile. “You always wait so late. Nevermind, I’ll help you. You know what course we plan to take?”

“Generally. I believe we are following up on the last assignment?” I reached for the holo-scroll that contained our list of possible tasks.

“We’ll be arriving at the beginning of 2021.” Skepsi propped his chin on his thumb, as he often did when he was thinking carefully. “Of course, Time will be on our side once again. And many other travelers have been assigned to the year as well. It’s a troubling time, we’ll be glad of the help.”

I nodded slowly, looking over the list of tasks that had been provided by the Agency. “There are so many,” I murmured, and Skepsi looked over my shoulder again. “Sometimes I wonder if we are handling another person’s life each time we travel and not just another person’s year.”

“I’ve always wondered the same thing.” Skepsi was silent for a moment after that, then pointed to an assignment labeled Honor-Travelers: Wisdom Expansion. “We completed one of these last time.”

_________________

The week before our assignment began passed quickly. I found myself once again unprepared when Skepsi burst into my room one morning, calling for me to wake up.

“It’s too early,” I cried, turning over. Skepsi sighed.

“The assignment, Syna!”

“...The assignment.”

Half an hour later we were standing in front of a great screen in the dispatch room, watching as blurred images of the era we would travel to cycled slowly before us. I saw Time standing in the middle of many of the scenes, and he nodded at me. I pointed Skepsi to him.

“Time,” I said, smiling. 

Skepsi seemed confused. “You’ve never seen him in these images before?”

“No. Is he always in them?”

“Of course. He’s a part of everything in that world. The Lord handles all of Time’s work here.”

The image of Time beckoned for us to hurry, and the attendant in the room nodded. Skepsi stepped forward, sending off his usual prayer, and we both leapt into the screen.

The dispatch room faded as buildings and people grew out of the nothingness. A moment later we had arrived at the same spot from the last assignment. I looked up at the house that Skepsi had directed my attention to some months ago, and this time I saw Time open the door and move to greet us.

“Welcome,” he said, glancing around. “You see that many things remain the same.”

Skepsi nodded, watching a student bend more closely over his book and adjust his mask. “People seem quite calm.” He looked back up at Time, whose face had become grave.

“Only temporarily, I must warn you,” he replied, turning to watch the same student. “Many of those who live in this world were certain that their troubles were soon to be over when the previous year ended. You’ll find that most are not prepared for their lives to continue as they have for so many months.”

“One of our tasks is to assist anyone who is struggling,” I said, and Time smiled when I spoke to him myself.

“Yes,” he said, turning, “but that is only one of many. You must watch yourself as well. Keep a close eye on what is most important, and focus on those things first. If you do this, your assignment will succeed.”

I nodded. Time looked at both of us. “You have enemies here, but you also have many friends. Watch for those who are honest and hardworking. They will guide you, and they will be more than willing to help you. You’ll find that the truest ones are those that are willing to help you with what must be done and then share with you what is enjoyable.” (Boethius 56-57).

Certainly, I thought, that would be easy.

_________________

It was not easy.

We completed the majority of our assignments on time, and the few that were late didn’t affect the situation too drastically. But I found it very difficult to concentrate on any task, and I did not follow the advice Time gave me as I should have. I found that I could see him less and less as the assignment drew on. Skepsi and I did not do very well with several of our tasks. Some of them we received almost no information for, and I often made it difficult for Skepsi to find the information himself. I believe he had grown impatient with me by the last month of our assignment.

“I can’t understand, and it’s difficult to learn anything here!” I was complaining once as we sat trying to complete a task that was due in several hours. Skepsi had his face in his hand, and I had not yet realized that he was exasperated with me rather than the task. “Every traveler I’ve spoken to, even the veterans, say that this is the most difficult assignment they have ever been given. We can’t possibly—”

“Yes, but have you tried?” Skepsi cut abruptly into my lament, sitting up and scowling at me. “We are doing acceptably on the majority of these tasks even when you add no effort. Surely giving even the slightest amount of extra attention to what’s at stake would improve our performance! Can you not concentrate? Are you not able to find value in yourself (Boethius 46)? Can you not hear Time calling you to stop and learn for yourself?”
“No, I cannot!” I cried, and I leaned back roughly in my chair. Skepsi watched me carefully. “I cannot hear him anymore. I hear him once or twice, but only in the distance, and I ignore him.”

Skepsi was silent for only a moment longer. “You heard him well at the beginning of the assignment.”
“Yes, but now I don’t.” I sighed, standing to pace. “I cannot focus.”
“Rather, you will not focus.” I looked up abruptly. Skepsi was watching me. “It is difficult. There is much to be concerned about here that is out of our control. Don’t dwell on what is out of your control, Syna. Rather find what is within your control, and make that the center of your efforts. Don’t leave things to be done later; if there is time in the day for you to complete something, complete it and you’ll not have to worry about it any longer.”

I sat back down. “You are right,” I said. “You are nearly always right, and yet I do not listen.”
“Certainly you listen,” Skepsi smiled, “but you do not apply. Here, what task are we working on?” He picked up the papers we had been studying. “Ah, yes, we are learning a language. A new way to communicate. You don’t like it?”
“I like it, but I do not like her.” I grimaced as I thought of the person who had given us the language assignments.

“And?” Skepsi turned away, examining the sheets closely. “It is the learning we are concerned with, not the people. Where is the book? We’ll find help there.”

_________________

The rest of the assignment certainly did not pass smoothly. We did not fail what we had been sent to do, but we did not perform as well as we had in the previous year. And yet, I found that I had gained wisdom from the trials of the assignment and the steady words of my companion. Even Skepsi aside, we had been reunited with a pair of travelers that had worked alongside us on a previous assignment. They would often assist with our tasks, and we would assist with theirs. I found that Skepsi and I were most productive when we spent time with those two. Time’s advice had not been entirely wasted on me.

We completed our final tasks and were able to smile as we placed them behind us.

“Perhaps,” Skepsi observed as we prepared to return to Myalo, “now that we have seen this assignment clearly, we will be able to enter the next assignment and recognize how to approach it.” (Boethius 60)

Works Cited

Boethius. The Consolation of Philosophy. Translated by David R. Slavitt, Harvard University Press, 2008.