A phantom image of the world appeared above Natalia's head.
At first, it was a blur of light and shadow. Then it gradually sharpened into Earth.
The image of Earth shifted and swayed. One moment it showed mountains and plains, rivers, lakes, and seas; the next, war, peace, division, reunification... all manner of great events in history.
After a while, the images settled into a set of glass vessels.
Beneath the Yellowish Gas, murky water boiled. Its vapor condensed and returned to the vessels, forming a completely closed system.
Then, under the influence of an external electric field, sparks flashed through the closed system.
After an unknown length of time, everything suddenly froze. The murky water drew closer and closer in the "camera's" view, growing larger until the macroscopic view became microscopic.
In that microscopic view, tiny white particles came clearly into sight.
The world shook. Countless voices rose in a clamor: some gasped in wonder, some sang praises, some hurled abuse, and some spat curses.
But the scene changed again. The vessels kept changing, growing ever larger. Finally, inside an enormous closed sphere, tiny organisms swam through a region of warm water between ice water and boiling water.
Outside the enormous sphere, a crowd of men and women in white coats cheered and jumped for joy. More than one had tears streaming down their face.
At last, every image vanished without a trace, leaving only words.
[Natalia Long's experiment was crude, but it was a great beginning. It marked humanity's first step onto the right path in pursuit of the "Origin of Life," an indelible monument standing through history.]
At the same time, Natalia opened her mouth and declared, "Let history bear witness! Open the gateway to the Mansus!"
As soon as she spoke, the words dissolved, and the