Chapter 1

They called it the Black Sunset.

It was 500 meters in height and nearly 3 kilometers in length. Its width was only 100 meters, so it stood out like no other rock. Some said that it was a god's skipping stone that he'd tossed into the universe, skipping every planet until it hit Terron and buried itself into the ground.

It was a marvel to the scientists because for 10 eons of recorded history the rock stayed the same, although rain and wind in that very region was harsh. The Faraoan temples had turned to dust in the third eon, but the blackest rock in the universe didn't show the slightest sign of losing weight.

Some people called it their life, some their bane. It was a place of wonder for every night the sun set behind it, giving that black smooth rock the name 'Black Sunset'. It drew people from every corner of the universe, and the poor in the city surrounding the rock could for the busiest months thrive of their skills by selling handcrafted creations, all of them inspired by Black Sunset.

A century ago a girl with flaxen hair had captured the most beautiful view of the black rock - the one that was the hardest to duplicate — when the sun set behind it, making it look like it was the rock that was the sun, and although black never emanates light, the rays of this black sun gave itself the most beautiful aura of colors ranging from blazing red to smooth lilac. The buyer of the painting fell in love, not only with the painting, but with the girl at first sight and drew her out of poverty, and took her off to his own small planet far away in the next galaxy.

It became the dream of the poor, to have that life, to create something just as beautiful as she, and be swept away on wings of love. But they were just dreams. But dreams can be powerful, and they all tried to follow them. The young paid attention to their looks, and soon the city of Aurora's ghetto was inhabited by some of the prettiest teens in the universe. But eventually their dreams lost their glamour, and skill was preferred to beauty.

On the flanks of the rock, the rich parts of Aurora, dwelled some of the most intelligent scientists and prospering artists. Intelligence or aestheticism was praised above all else. These artists succeeded in what they were trying to attain — some of the most beautiful renditions of the black rock. And the scientists claimed that the rock had certain properties that could be harnessed and hopefully duplicated for everyday use. Some had already started experimenting against the UPU's knowledge, and some were waiting for the UPU's approval.

The experiments were the offspring of a freak accident. A cat lapped the stone of the Black Rock, and mutated. The owner of the cat, a very renowned scientist, discovered his beloved cat's new posterior, and experimented on rats. He reported his very unusual findings to the UPU, and the issue was still under discussion when other scientists discovered the very same thing - without reporting to the UPU. And not long after, they started abusing the poor and the moneystarving students. And the UPU didn't seem to bother about it.

She was fully aware of that it wasn't magic. The hard thing was to get everyone else to understand. The only logical explanation, to others, was that it was magic, and everybody knew that magic didn't existed, so therefore she had to lie.

She could imagine the looks her letter must have gotten as it passed through the first order reading. She bet that her letter didn't reach further than to the second order. It wouldn't amaze her if the first order burnt it up, because you don't take an old-fashioned ink written paper letter as seriously as a chipletter or a cybermessage. If she only could have afforded a Recorder, never mind how secondhand it was, she could have captured to whole procedure, sent that instead and show the UPU that she wasn't a lunatic.