What the hell had just happened? Alondra sat up in the middle of the puddle of her own substance, in the darkness. Vega and Altaír continued within the circle at the top of the dome, and the Moon was entering it. Only the crickets could be heard in the distance. She examined the metal platter. In it there were only useless remains of her technology and wet ashes of rags floating in the water. She searched with her tied hands to see if the water pipette had been saved. But when she found it it was open and empty, because the fire had consumed the stopper.

 

Naked, confused, terrified and with her hands tied, she left the dome and climbed as best she could up the slope that led to her room. The door to Agua's room was closed, her own was open and dark. She was afraid of hearing sounds in Water's room and what that might make her feel, in any way. She didn't understand what had just happened. She didn't understand how it made her feel towards Agua. On the one hand, it was undeniable that she had worked hard to give her immense pleasure. But on the other hand, that evidently fell within some kind of larger framework of which she was completely unaware. She wondered if it had something to do with the «Radix Speciosa». She had lost the water. Without the water, she couldn't produce more water, if the laboratory could be used for that purpose. She also didn't know what would happen to her status within the community after this shocking experience.

 

She was determined not to sleep until someone explained something to her. She untied her hands using the legs of the bed. She kept vigil all night. She woke up. At a certain time, like every day, many Identes passed along the path a few meters further towards the orchard above, behind the old church. No one looked into her room. She then thought about going out, but she had no clothes. With the quilt from the bed she made a kind of dress. As she was tying it, looking toward the back window, she heard the "slam!" of the door behind and a few hammer blows.

 

- What are you doing?! What on Earth are you doing?!

 

Alondra tried to look out of the window but since there were bars she couldn't stick her head out very far, so she could only make out the bottom of a habit that was the same as everyone else's. They had locked her up. She didn't understand anything. She pounded on the door from the inside desperately screaming if they had all gone crazy. When she got tired of screaming, she fell asleep. She had barely rested with Mirlo in the forest the night before, so she had gone almost forty-eight hours without sleep. She thought that whatever happened, banging on the door, at least for the moment, would be useless. If The Identes were a cruel sect, their cries would only encourage them. She undressed again and got into bed to sleep.

She managed to fall asleep and stay awake for a couple of hours. Then, the girl Marta looked out the back window.

 

- Agua!

 

Alondra sat on the bed and watched her without saying anything.

 

– Here, I'll bring you water. That's all you need to take for now.

 

– For now?

 

The girl left without answering. Marta, Alberta and Carimea. Alondra kept wondering if everything was a simple coincidence. She didn't believe it. She examined the water, in case it might contain some type of drug. She smelled it, tasted it, tasted it and spat it out. It seemed to be normal. It had the delicious taste of the water from the spring that reached the fountain that was a few meters from the hermitage. She decided to manage it as she had always been accustomed to do, since she did not know how long they planned to keep her confined. She knew that no one was going to explain anything to her.

Night fell. Alondra contemplated the planets descending after sunset. Mars and Venus were much closer to each other than that night when she had spoken to Water for the first time. “Am I the Radix Speciosa?” she wondered. “Could this whole mess be some kind of purification ritual?” It reminded her of things that Liuben told her sometimes, things that were done on Earth when the peoples were not yet completely interconnected with each other. In fact, the current times were times of return to that state of things. It was different, because it was known that there had been a past when it had not been like that. It was known that in the future it would be technologically possible to return to that previous state of interconnectedness. So, in that sense, it was a totally different time. But who knew if Las Identes, who were proving to have a whole range of unfounded beliefs, would not have the intention of emulating those types of customs. Maybe all of this was some kind of rite of passage that they understood Alondra had to do. But to become what? Or to generate what changes? Well, from the little that she had learned about prewar anthropology, it was that rituals of this violence usually had a specific function, which transformed some of its members or the entire community. Then she remembered that Agua had told her that the "Beautiful Root" would mark the moment when Las Identes would have to leave confinement and go out into the world to carry their message.

 

When Venus and Mars hid behind the horizon, the ocarina of Water was heard. Alondra tried to look out the window. It was dark and she could barely see a knee sitting in front of the door of the adjoining cell. Even though Alondra hadn't heard any noises in Agua's room all day, the ocarina had to be hers.

 

– Agua?

 

No one answered. The sweet sound of the ocarina continued to fill Alondra's room and the entire mountainside. Surely all the Identes heard it.

 

– Agua! Agua, answer me. Answer me please.

 

The ocarina continued playing unfazed until Jupiter and Antares also set on the horizon. After that, silence. Alondra decided not to speak, because she had already verified many times that, when she did not speak, that was when Agua began one of her explanations. Indeed, that's how it was.

 

– Have you ever wondered why, except for the hall of the old convent, there is not a single image in our entire complex?

 

Alondra hadn't asked him and it didn't seem important to him at all, but he played along.

 

– No, why?

 

– As I have told you on several occasions, Las Identes have valued the contributions of many different religions. Just as we understand the importance of meditation, or try to go back to the seed by cultivating our body, we also embrace the idea that representing the divine does not help on the path of consecration.

 

It was the first time that Alondra heard the word "divine" from Agua's lips.

 

– As we are an open-minded community, and in knowledge of the history that precedes us, of course it is not that we establish some type of persecution over the images. On the contrary, images, whether those of divinity in all its forms, or those of nature, are beautiful and important. That's why I didn't object to you continuing to dedicate yourself to your design tasks, which had occupied you so much in the city.

 

Alondra began to see where Agua was going. Her voice was a sound that came from the darkness, while Alondra observed the vault of the night sky behind the bars of the window.

 

– Once again that child hanging around here… – she continued. “One more time? Mirlo?”, Alondra thought –. What do you know him from?

 

– I don't know what you're talking about – she answered.

 

– Alondra. We do not allow men entry into Las Identes, I already explained it to you. If he tries to enter again, we will do to him what we did to the others who tried too stubbornly in the past.

 

Had she said “Alondra”?

 

– We do not want to harm anyone. But when men are warned twice, it is right that they abide by our wishes. Just as the privacy of religious communities was respected in the past, we hope that our decision to form a community of women will be respected. Otherwise, we would not have gotten to the point where we are now. Otherwise, we would not have a mission to fulfill. And, as I already explained to you, the “Beautiful Root” marks the moment from which our retired life ends. It is a moment that many Identes look forward to, but also fear, because we have become accustomed to living like this.

 

Then Agua suddenly looked into Alondra's small window, grabbing the bars with her hands and staring at Alondra, who got scared and leaned back. Her light irises were drawn among the darkness, under the light of the Moon and the stars.

 

– Let me in, Alondra.

 

Alondra did not understand anything and felt more and more frightened. How could she let her in? But she was the one who had locked her up. The door was barred. What was she supposed to answer? Why did she know her name?

 

– If you want to enter you will have to remove those bars that you have nailed to the door.

 

– What are you saying? There is no bar. I'm asking you to let me into your cell. I've been wanting it since the day you arrived.

 

Alondra thought that she had to treat her with care. Suddenly, all Agua’s authority became a socially legitimized manic state. Alondra was afraid that she was not aware of the limits of her body. She thought what the options were, from Agua wanting to physically attack her, sleep with her, do some other weird ritual, or kick her out. This last possibility seemed quite suggestive right now. But she seriously feared what message would be hidden in the sweet music of the ocarina and the attitude in which the rest of the Identes might be in right now. She could perhaps beat Agua, but all of them, no. Escaping seemed the most attractive thing, but down the mountain at night, the chase of a hundred people, taking into account the distance at which Mirlo was, whom she also did not want to put in danger, the objective seemed difficult to achieve. Alondra thought that she had a better chance of success if she tried to charm Agua in some way, so that she could leave Las Identes with her consent.

 

– Of course I want you to come in. I've also been looking forward to it since I arrived.

 

Which was indeed true.

 

Agua opened the door. There was no lock. Alondra thought that they must had taken it away while she was sleeping. She regretted not checking it. The silhouette of Agua’s magnificent body was silhouetted against the night light. She sat on the bed next to Alondra, who was naked under the covers.

 

– Alondra. It has taken me a long time to admit that you are the Radix Speciosa. First of all, the dates did not match. Secondly, I believed that perhaps I was the Radix Speciosa after all. I've been preparing my whole life for it. And thirdly, you arrived lying, and lying is something that Las Identes do not approve of.

 

Alondra tried to listen to her with the most serene face that she could imitate right now. She tried to lower her heart rate and regulate her breathing, so that Agua wouldn't lose her composure either. In reality, she had never seen Agua lose her composure, but she had the impression that if there was a time when that could happen, it was now. And she understood that, as composed as she was, that's how fierce and fearsome she could be.

 

–But the Identes began to insist that it was you. And I always listen to them. Also, yesterday, when you left, browsing your computer, I found certain files that could only belong to one person. And then I realized that you are Tecla's famous daughter, Alondra. And, although there is no more talk about her in Las Identes, it still seemed like an incredible coincidence to me. What disturbed me the most was when you told us that your name was Agua. For months I thought you wanted to unseat me, or get revenge. But later I understood that, like what happened with Tecla, it was just a coincidence. After all, the paths of the women who end up living in Las Identes are always interconnected in one way or another. So, be it... I surrender. Be Agua. Be Radix. Be whatever you want to be.

 

Agua showed Alondra her wrists and brought them close to her face. Alondra surrounded her fine wrists with her fingers and let them fall on her bedspread, brought her lips close to her face and kissed her. Suddenly, Agua, who had just seemed so vehement and dangerous to her, became a cuddly and docile kitten. There was a lot of information that she had just received. Something had become more or less clear to her, and that was that Agua had feelings for her. She "made love" to her the way she had always known, that is, as someone who can handle the situation of surrender of another body.

But when Alondra woke up the next morning, with the bitter taste of just having gotten what she wanted right after she stopped wanting it, she was alone and the door was barred from the outside again.

 

[…]

 

The first two days she could barely sleep, remembering her life. Remembering the people she loved, and fervently hoping for news from the city. She prayed – she didn't know to what divinity, but not to Las Identes’ one – that Mirlo would be well. She regretted having wanted to return to Las Identes after finding him. "On a whim," she told herself. The next two days, she told herself that the urgency with which she wanted to see her body change or be in Water's presence had been misfortunes. Ironically, the techniques by which she had learned to question excess desire, such as meditation or the mysterious movements, she had learned there, in Las Identes. With the confinement, she understood that she had not yet linked this learning to her experience. It had been her desire that had brought her to the forest and that had brought her back to the monastery. And it seemed most likely that that was why she now found herself in this situation. If the Identes' plan was to starve her, she didn't understand why they gave her water. So she came to the conclusion that the confinement would have an end, and that after that end would come another strange ritual.

 

Starting on the third day, the ketosis process, the confinement, and all of her open questions generated a mental state of lucidity and energy that made her feel particularly powerful. She no longer felt that Agua was the leader of Las Identes. Whatever Radix Speciosa was, she was much more than that.

Every day she dedicated more and more hours to meditation. She came to feel that her body was the entire mountain. She also felt that there was no such thing as her body, but a huge empty light. She also felt that the body, as well as the germinated seed or the root of the tree, were unpleasant things, which broke the rhythm of matter. Excesses of complexity piling up infinite scars, wrapped one on top of the other. Clusters of penetrated holes, layers of residue impossible to clean. She seriously regretted it, no longer the longing for the transformation of her body, but rather the very fact of wanting to be one of them.

​

In short, she entered a state of delirium. She no longer answered the girl Marta when she brought her water. She forgot about everyone, she forgot about the city and that she was in Las Identes. From the seventh day, she abandoned her will. She told herself that there could be no greater freedom than that. She understood that the meaning of living was to stop dwelling on existence. It was not the result of sadness, but rather she experienced it as a dialectical triumph. The stopping end of the wheel. Do not deign to answer more questions, which could only make more matter emerge and, in the long run, new scars of things and people. End the chaos-generating questions.

 

Two weeks passed and autumn arrived. In the hermitage, Alondra had become the Radix Speciosa. On the twenty-first day, in the morning, all the Identes, except Agua who, if she had spent these weeks in her room, had not made a single noise, stood forming a large arch in front of the hermitage where Alondra was. They began to sing in a variety of tones, like the night of the previous rite, forming a thick, atonal chorus that produced a severe headache. Alondra didn't listen to them. She continued meditating on the floor, looking at the wall in front of the bed, since early morning. She had lost a lot of weight but she looked surprisingly fresh. They sang and sang all day long without going to eat or leaving for a moment. In the afternoon, when the Sun began to fall on the horizon, the sound of the ocarina began to be heard. The Identes were silent. Alondra opened her eyes. The girl Marta and Mrs. Alberta, the youngest and the oldest of the Identes, opened the door. Agua followed them into the room playing the ocarina. She looked at Alondra, and with a gentle gesture between inhalation and exhalation, she motioned for her to get up. Marta and Alberta both took her hands and guided her. They headed to the orchard at the top, followed by the entourage of almost one hundred Identes. When they reached the center of the garden, there was a hole previously dug in the ground. Although Alondra still retained some consciousness to observe what was happening, the hole did not surprise her in the least and she celebrated it as the fulfillment of what had been her delusions during these weeks of fasting. Although something deep in her brain brought images of herself digging to the surface and fleeing in the middle of the night, when they were all gone, the front of her brain dismissed them as childish, animalistic survival strategies, and not of gods like her. Agua, who was presiding over the entourage with her ocarina, turned around in front of the hole, and the orange of the Sun touching the horizon line flooded her blue eyes, which looked at Alondra with desire. They all turned around and so did Alondra. When the sun finished setting, Venus began to appear in the sky.

 

– Venus has defeated Mars – said Agua.

 

Indeed, during the previous nights, Alondra had observed that Mars and Venus had been getting closer, until Venus completely covered Mars, which was no longer visible. All the Identes shouted endless jubilant uproar.

 

– The Radix Speciosa must return to earth! – Agua announced.

 

Marta and Alberta held Alondra's hands, and she felt all of her muscles defeated and her joints fragile and sliding, ready to let herself fall into the hole. She collapsed in the arms of her companions, and the ten Identes who had been at the dome ritual weeks before approached, took her body and put it into the hole, grabbing it by all four of her limbs. They all began to throw handfuls of dirt, exactly as was done at pre-war funerals.

 

Agua prepared to play the ocarina again. She brought it to her lips, closed her eyes and inhaled. In that exact moment one of the Identes on duty came running to say something in her ear. Agua remained petrified. With her eyes wide, she grabbed the wrist of the person closest to her, telling them to stop throwing dirt. Alondra felt the handfuls of fresh earth stop falling on her body and she was surprised, but she did not flinch, thinking that it would be part of the rite. Agua retreated, and behind her the rest of the Identes.

 

It was the beginning of autumn and it was starting to get cool at night. In the hole, feeling the life of the mantle of earth, Alondra woke up. She remembered again that she was a person and not a god. Although it was not as simple as simply as suddenly returning to the state of reason that her grandmother had transmitted to her with so much effort. She still felt far above ordinary mortals, but she remembered that being a person meant having a mask. She thought that perhaps being a god was not, as she had come to believe as she sank into her euphoric state, the definitive unveiling of the mask, but just another belief. Another judgment. And, deep in her conscience, Alondra had always had a deeply embedded negative opinion of judgment. Just as, in the past, that opinion was in relation to the morals of the flock, she now realized that the god was equally inauthentic. To truly be god, she should also get rid of the belief of being god. She should stop judging herself as a god. For if the judgment was a cut in consciousness, a folding of thought that gave it limits, the god could not be conscious. She started laughing. She felt stupid for having had the arrogance to proclaim herself divine just for a few weeks of fasting. “A small change in a person's eating habits is enough to turn the world upside down. What nonsense.” And she laughed at her own imbecility. She contemplated the stars, with Vega and Altaír on the dome of the sky, like every night. What a small planet, she thought. “What a narrow perspective.” He got up and left the hole, her skin covered with the smell of the fresh earth of early autumn, and went to the fountain next to the hermitage, where she bathed. There was no sign of Las Identes anywhere.