Chapter 3: Comercia Planet

To Carl's great dismay, Hermes had forgotten to warn him about the methods used for travel, so, when the Spearhead essentially bent space to its will, causing both the space around the ship as well as the ship itself to alter slightly. This gave way for one of the strangest sensations Carl had ever experienced. It was as if his head had turned into jelly, and everything around him seemed floaty. Nothing seemed even remotely solid any more. Then he felt as if he was being squeezed through a keyhole and then, nothing. Everything was back to normal. Since Hermes hadn't warned Carl about this he started worrying he had caught some horrible space disease. When nothing happened again he decided however that it probably wasn't urgent, but would have to ask Hermes about it when they met again.

Outside the little window, space had changed dramatically in just a couple of minutes. They were no longer seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Instead, a huge colourful planet came into view. Comercia. Hermes' home planet. The planet had originally had a different name, but after being bought by half a dozen companies, the planet itself had changed so much its original name was no longer appropriate. Eden XII just didn't work when considering that every inch of it was crammed with billboards. It was almost strange seeing the one huge building among all the billboards as it stood there much like a lone tree stands out on an empty field.

In another part of the ship, Hermes was talking quietly with the captain, who seemed to be hiding most of his body under a long, dark blue, buttoned up coat. He seemed to be twice the length of Carl, who was already quite tall. Aside from his length he resembled a human in many ways. His dark brown eyes seemed fixed on the planet outside the huge window in front of him.

“I wish you would stay a little longer, we need you here Hermes...”

“And I wish I could stay, but things have gotten... complicated.”

The captain turned around, and his eyes locked on Hermes.

“Last time you said that the Spearhead ended up getting grounded for months. I don't like this. I don't like this at all.”

“You don't have to worry, once I leave, you won't see me again. I'm leaving my position on this ship.”

“What!? Permanently?!” the captain blurted out, not quite able to grasp what Hermes had just said.

“I'm afraid so. I wish I could explain, but it's not that easy. It's a huge and complicated affair, but, you won't have to worry about it.

The captain turned back to stare at Comercia.

“So, when do you leave?”

“Ca has been through a lot in the past few hours, I think it's a good idea to let him sleep for now. We'll leave when Comercia's only building is in daylight.”

The captain cleared his throat and looked down, possibly hoping to find answers at his feet, which were equally as covered by the coat as the rest of his body.

“Ah yes, the... Thermian. Something isn't right about him I tell you. You should be cautious around him.”

Hermes chuckled quietly, and realized it had probably not been appropriate, not to mention it was mildly revealing.

“He's a good guy. He's just... different I guess.”

“Different... If you weren't so sure he's a Thermian, I wouldn't trust him. I tell you, he behaves as much as a Thermian as I do.”

Hermes understood exactly what the captain meant. If Carl didn't change his behaviour, he would be revealed almost instantly.

“Oh well, as long as he isn't causing any trouble, I guess it's okay.”

Although Carl had been given plenty of time for it, he hadn't been able to sleep a single minute after the strange universe altering experience he had had. Instead he was lying awake thinking of what life lie ahead of him. He had always assumed that he knew a lot about the world around him, but in just one short day he had seen more strange things than he could ever imagine and it didn't seem like it would stop in the near future. He was almost relieved when Hermes showed up in the door, looking awfully happy.

“Well then my good friend. It's time for us to go.” he said and smiled as wide as his mouth would allow.

“Go where?” Carl asked tiredly and sat up.

“Look out the window.”

Carl did as he had been told. Outside he saw Comercia, still colourful, and somewhat nauseating to Carl who wanted nothing more than peace and quiet.

“Are you ready?”

“Not really, no...”

“I can wait.”

“No, I don't mean like that.” Carl stood up. “How could I ever be ready for the huge and intimidating Universe? I'm from Earth! The most exciting thing to happen there is war, and even that is nothing compared to everything I've seen yesterday!”

“Oh, okay.” Hermes said, his face expressionless. Carl wondered if Hermes even understood why he was so frustrated. “Well, no matter. It's time we get going. We've lingered here long enough.”

And just like that, Hermes had ended a conversation that Carl could have kept up with for another half hour. Carl even forgot to ask about what had happened to him earlier, when everything had suddenly turned to jelly.

Just like the trip to the Spearhead, the trip to Comercia was made in one of the egg shaped pods. Carl had entered reluctantly, once again. The whole trip, he gripped the seat in fear, rapidly muttering “Oh god, oh god, oh god” to himself. Hermes didn't seem to pay any mind to his mutterings. Instead he did his best to enjoy the speed, laughing almost hysterically, and holding his hands up in the air. Carl had never been as afraid as he was when he noticed the ground coming closer as quickly as it possibly could manage. He made sure to announce this fear by screaming at the top of his lungs. And then the pod did what it had done on Earth. It stopped just before it hit the ground.

“Oh how I've missed this all these years.” Hermes said and turned to Carl, who looked like he was about ready to murder someone.

Carl's intense anger was quickly alleviated by the general strangeness of the planet. Nothing seemed even remotely right about it. Aside from the many billboards, the planet was cluttered with people eager to sell something. Carl was almost forced into buying what appeared to be a very expensive rock. Hermes had shooed away the strange looking alien and then pulled Carl with him, towards the tower like building not that far from there. From a distance, it looked quite threatening. A simple, tall and lifeless building, covered in windows.

“So, what's the story behind this place?” Carl asked, his head almost spinning around on his shoulders, trying to take everything in.

“It's a rather long one actually.” Hermes said and turned to Carl. “Do you really want to hear it all?”

“Sure.” Carl said, still trying to look at everything at the same time.

“Well, let's start from the very beginning then. Comercia wasn't always known as that. At one point in time, it was a beautiful vacation paradise for people with too much money. Back then, it was called Eden XII. You can still see some traces from that time, the colourful plants among other things. Back then though, they looked more lively, everything did. This place has changed so much since then, it's hard to believe it's the same place. But, I guess, in a way it really isn't. Anyhow, as Eden XII grew more popular, more companies locked their eyes on it, like vultures on a corpse. Then, one day, a flock of representatives from dozens of companies showed up at Eden, all with the intent to buy the whole thing. The owner then was a stubborn old man, Mr Ju I think his name was, who wouldn't give up his paradise for anything. After all, it earned him lots of money, and anyone who wanted to buy the place would have to offer insane amounts of money. More than anyone could possibly imagine. When it appeared like no single company would have the chance to lay their hands on Eden XII, they finally joined forces. Together they approached Mr Ju with an offer that would make anyone fall of their chair. It is said that he actually fainted from hearing it. When he... came back, he said he would have to think about it. It didn't take long though before he had made up his mind. A couple of hours later, he was back in his office signing contracts and handing over all the necessary papers. For the first time since it had been discovered, Eden XII had been sold. Initially, there wasn't much change at all. For many years, Eden remained a paradise. But the changes started coming gradually. First one single billboard, which seemed innocent enough. But it was obvious it wouldn't take long before it was joined by many others. It only took a few weeks before a whole forest of billboards had popped up all over the place. The change didn't stop there. To make room for even more billboards, they deforested the entire planet. As if all life had been sucked out of the place, the rest of nature shifted too, becoming barren and dry. Eden XII was no longer a paradise. The only thing left from that time, aside from some shrubbery is that building, and even it has changed. You probably wouldn't believe me if I said it used to be quite colourful. In either case, shortly after, the name was appropriately changed, and now here it is, Comercia, the planet that was ruined by commercialism.” Hermes sighed as he finished the story. They now found themselves right at the entrance of the great building, where Carl could only assume Hermes lived. Up close it seemed even more intimidating than before. He had thought some of the many skyscrapers on Earth had seemed dreary, but they were nothing compared to this. Carl wasn't allowed much time to take everything in as Hermes pulled him along inside the building. The interior wasn't much livelier than the outside. All the colours seemed washed out and slowly fading to grey. Going further into the building didn't seem to change anything. Then Hermes pulled Carl up some stairs. Carl was almost surprised to find stairs in a building like this, but didn't think for too long about it as he was soon pulled through a corridor. It didn't take long before they stopped in front of a much too decorated door. To top it off, placed in shoulder height on the door were large golden letters spelling the name Hermes XLII. Hermes opened the door and revealed what was probably the most colourful place on the entire planet, not counting the billboards.

“Well, here it is. My home.”