Curved steel with a black outline around it, sharp and curved edges, quite light, gray, and brown in color with rusty flames. It smells like metal and tastes salty. The form reminds of a weapon, a knife, a tool, an organ, a body part, a prosthetic device, a continuation, a replacement. It might be a functional object such as something from a construction site or factory. It’s bendable and not very hard. It makes a sound when you touch it. It doesn’t have a number or any kind of mark on it except for rusty flames and burned lines. It looks as if it has been modified. It might be part of something – one of several.
It might belong to an archive, or it will.
***
We don’t know with certainty when the object was discovered and to whom it belonged. But from now on it is in our archive, so, for now, it will remain here. The story of the wanderings is confused, many papers have been lost, but we didn’t lose the hope that we will find them.
***
Sunbeams disappeared as soon as the metal met the light and sent the signal back to the other side. It took a couple of minutes of waiting. It’s never clear here whether the sign has been received or lost. Received, forgotten, or ignored. The day was longer than before, and the air stayed still and heavy with one little change. No wind today. Strange, generally at this time the weather is changeable. It would be great to be frozen in this stillness for a while. But if you close your eyes you fail. So it’s better to wait.
***
Was this object archived earlier, or is this happening for the first time? How old is it? Its value is also interesting because of who is determining it, how it can change, and if it can be subject to a sociocultural hesitation and be devalued.
***
On the other side of the shore, a small, almost indistinguishable movement was noticed. Yes, finally, it happened. Several quite intensive gleams blinked in the air. It was possible to slow down the vision, to see how candles of light cut the air, passing over the terrane of the atmosphere.
***
I will have to go deep into books, contact several of my colleagues, conduct an examination, and only then draw a conclusion. I don’t usually know how to conclude – is this my task, or is it better to put all these question marks here, and end there? What do you think?
***
It means there is something.