#and mafic is too polite

[eldritchseacrab]

Bookah or human?

[edmund-valks]

A Family Reunion - Part III

(( Part I )) (( Part II ))

Not everything she asked received an answer.  Sometimes they ended up distracted, discussing another topic entirely; others her grandmother dissembled to the point Ilandreline believed she'd gotten an explanation until she thought about it later.  Even accounting for the evasions, it was a lot.  Too much, maybe.

Not that one could really know too much.  It was just a lot to absorb at once, even over tea and biscuits.  There was a vague unreality to the whole situation exacerbated by the eternal twilight in which the settlement existed.  The most fanatical suggested the atmosphere was a blessing from the Beyond.  Ila was of the opinion it had more to do with great trees overhead and the way everything was nestled against an incomplete circle of small mountains.

Regardless, time felt different here.  Less concrete for sure, perhaps less important as well.  She'd had to learn "real" time when she first left, a feat accomplished mostly by learning to reproduce wearable clocks that kept proper count of minutes as they passed.  Coming back to it was more disorienting than expected.

Other things hadn't changed at all.  The air was crisp, biting even, with a constant wind varying from breezy to vicious at any given moment.  She could breathe deeply and nearly taste pine and juniper.  Beneath it all -- or perhaps beyond it all -- was the sense of a precipice nearby.  It felt like standing at a cliff's edge, the bottom so far below it can't be seen, and the sound of any rock you tossed over to gauge the distance attenuating before it can get back to your ears.  If the family ever had visitors, they would have found it unsettling.

It was home, yet not.  Ilandreline had heard hints of change from Granny, but not everything had to do with the place.  More than a little of it was her, if analysis could be trusted.  What worried her was the uncertainty around that analysis.  She'd learned to trust what she could see or count or calculate.  Even magic was a system of rules; that was how she'd managed to do original research into the arcane despite having not a lick of talent for it.  Now there was a whole new mass of potential complications, with loose or no rules, and the costs of performing controlled study very high.

Ila pondered as she walked to her parents' small compound.  There were a number of problems she wanted to solve, many of which were likely to be confounding variables in the experiments she'd need to perform.  It would be ideal to find a way to isolate one but unless things looked different written down than in her head, that was off the table.  Perhaps a system of parallel experiments, not unlike parametric equations, where the combination would help her suss out the particulars of manifested results.  That wouldn't solve the issue of small sample sizes, though; perhaps there was some historical data she could access?

The path she trod meandered similarly to her thoughts: there was a clear destination, but the trail was open to the exact direction from which to approach.  Unlike the convolutions of her mind, though, there was plenty of open space to allow mostly unobstructed views.  Looking out from the structure of skyward-spiraling mafic stone, the views would be quite pleasant in every direction.  One could have breakfast and watch various ungulates gamboling through the underbrush, or perhaps catch sight of an approaching enemy in time to warn them away.

Right now, though, Ila just wanted her bed and her writing desk.  And a vat of coffee.  Maybe something chewy to nibble on.  Was that so much to ask?

Apparently yes; Mellura'thel was waiting when she entered the front door, hands clasped in her lap and perfectly still.  Her mother defined statuesque to Ilandreline -- poised, precise, and cold in a distant rather than harsh way.  "Is all well, daughter?" she asked, stare a touch too intense to be considered "concerned".  It came across as… she didn't really know.  Whatever it was, aggressiveness was a key component.  "You spent rather longer than expected with Mother Eldest."

That's because she likes me, she wanted to say, though she restrained herself.  Her mother was difficult, yes, but she was neither cruel nor hostile.  Mellura'thel was instead extremely knowledgeable about poisons, venoms, and nearly every way the natural world could teach a person to better kill, maim, or indispose.  She was as much a scholar as Ilandreline, but with centuries more experience in a field of greater subtlety.  In short: a nightmare of an enemy.  All the more reason to take the seat she was being offered.

"We had a lot to talk about," Ila answered, letting her usual vagueness offer plenty of cover with what was a verifiably true statement.  "It's been years, Mother.  There was catching up to do."

"I'm sure, but you know it doesn't pay to be seen as a favourite.  Don't you remember what happened to your cousin?"

She was probably referring to Ulistren, an up-and-comer who'd managed to get Aurelaine's attention.  Then he'd disappeared under unusual circumstances.  A number of small, seemingly unrelated social shifts had occurred shortly thereafter.  Somehow the remainder of his immediate family had ended up entirely cut off afterward.  There weren’t many who remembered them now.  “Yes, well, anybody paying attention knows I’m in Grandmother’s good graces enough to leave her place unharmed.”  That wasn’t the case for all her visitors.  “Should settle some of the questions, right?”

The older woman made a noise of acknowledgement, not agreement.  “Do you believe it addresses enough to keep even Wyllanaeth in line?”  Was she smirking, too?

“The only that would keep Wylla in line is being nailed there, Mother.”  Ila’s lips pressed together firmly, any of the earlier vague filial warmth evaporating.  “She doesn’t think I’m weird or useless, she straight up hates me.”

Mellura’thel nodded.  “Exactly my point.  You already have one enemy here, two if you also count that ‘Teth’ fellow you impaled.  Perhaps the others will no longer be hostile, but that is a far cry from friendly.  And if they believe you are, despite all their opinions about you, now the Eldest’s catspaw?  She may be off-limits, but you would make an excellent proxy for expressing displeasure to Mother.”

“Yeah, great, thanks for saying everyone hates me and wants me dead,” she replied, suddenly so very tired of everything.  Ilandreline stood, no longer concerned with whether her mother thought their conversation was over.  “I’m going to my room.  I’ll come out when I feel like it.”

She was halfway to the stairs before Mellura’thel called after her, “If you miss dinner, you will have to feed yourself.  There will not be leftovers.”

Once up in her old bedroom, Ila shut the door -- softly, though she would have liked to slam it.  After arming some of the small traps she’d created in her youth, she also prepped a much deadlier one at the window.  Family would be warned; outsiders would be maimed.

She didn’t bother undressing, instead flopping facedown on the bed.  Sleep waited politely to claim her until she had a hand on her dagger.

[oragamicatinthebox]

The Cycle of Rock: Following the Story of Quartz

Chapter: Quartz

Deep below the ground, O Best Beloved, is a world unlike our own, where minerals and rocks can talk and move and think, and in order for you to enjoy the story you must suspend your disbelief of these things and accept them for truth. Some of the things in this story are more true than other things, but you must decide what those things are for yourself. 

Eight families rule under the earth. One family- the Native Elements- are very self absorbed, seeing that they consist of those materials that People admire most: gold, diamonds, and silver (Mind you, Sulfur also belongs to that family, though they don’t always admit to it). These elements pride themselves for being ‘pure’ in substance, and they have seats on the High Board of The Elements assigned specifically to them. The other families do not mind the Native Elements, and they all live peaceably: the Sulfide ruled by the Sulfurs, the Oxide ruled by the metals, the Sulfate ruled by the Sulfates, the Halide ruled by the Halogens, the Carbonate ruled by the Carbonates, the Borate ruled by the Boron, and the Silicate ruled by Silicones. 

Now the focus of this story is in the Family of the Silicates. This Family has long been seen as having a copious and commonplace existence by the other Families. The Silicates are distinctive for the elements of oxygen and silicon, and it’s commonly known that those are the two most common crystal elements in the world. The Silicate Family themselves are the most abundant mineral group on earth.

The Silicates often felt themselves a little common, but it was one mineral in particular who felt himself completely beneath every other Family. This was the Quartz. He would often ponder his own existence by himself in his home within one of many, many quartz veins. 

“I am one of the most common minerals,” he’d say, his uncut facets frowning. And when his friend, Sulfur, would come to call, he would say, “Yea, well at least I’m valued as an ore.” After that, Quartz usually kicked Sulfur out of his home. “I mean,” Quartz would continue to himself, “I’m really bland in every way; I’m not distinctive in color, I have a middling hardness of seven, I’m not valuable, and when I’m beat up by Topaz and Corundum all I leave against the pavement is a white streak.”

Although Quartz was often dejected, his family looked up to Quartz as the ideal representative of the Silicate family, because all he was made of was silicon and oxygen. Quartz didn’t feel like this needed an explanation as to why that made him boring. Feldspar and Mica would consol Quartz by reminding him that all three of them were major rock-forming minerals, and that had to make him feel important. Quartz would retort that Elmer’s Glue served the same function, and no one used glue anymore. Feldspar would point out that Quartz could beat any of them up because Feldspar only had a hardness of six, Mica had 2.5, and Talc…well… it’s a pacifist by necessity. That made Quartz feel like the most aggressive middle-schooler in a room full of WWF champions. 

Eventually, Quartz got tired of being a plain old mineral. It was when he caught a movie on TV called the Iron King that he had an epiphany.

The young main character and his father the King strolled across their kingdom, the father explaining their kingdom’s political-religious situation.

“Son,” the father said, “all things in the kingdom from the smallest sand grain to the tallest mountain all go around in the Great Cycle of Rock.”

“But dad,” the young prince said, “aren’t we above the Cycle? We won’t get processed, we’re valuable ore.”

“Son,” the father said, “Someday I will die, and my body will become the magma, and the earth shall cool the magma, and I will become a piece of basalt or something, so don’t diss the peasants-folk, because you could become a layer in a piece of sedimentary rock someday! We all go around in the Great Cycle of Rock, my son.” 

Quartz stood up. 

He would become something different, something better. 

He would experience the Cycle of Rock.

Chapter: Igneous

Quartz then found his way to the Igneous Career Centers Headquarters. He waited in the cue with a lot of other rocks, because in order to go anywhere else on his journey, Quartz had to go through customs first. He had never done this process before, but was ready for anything.

It was Quartz’s turn. He stepped up to the automated monitor that had opened up, “What is your destination?” It asked Quartz, rather boredly.  

“You know,” Quartz replied, “I’m not really sure, I’m new at this you see, can you describe my choices for me?”

The monitor didn’t say anything for half a minute. Then it spoke, a little sarcastically this time, “You’re new?” 

Quartz was a little flustered at the tone it was taking with him, “Yea, so what? Don’t you get newbies to the Rock Cycle all the time?”

“No, actually,” the monitor said, “I always get the same rocks over and over again, saying, ‘hi, monitor!’ ‘Long time no see, monitor!’ ‘Remember me, monitor? Last time I came through here, I was toned and foliated. Now I think I’ll go to the mantle for a cycle in the Convection spa…how’ve you been?’ Etc. etc. On and on, I’ve never had to do the Itinerary Rundown with anyone before!”

“Are you OK with that, then?” Quartz was a little unsure.

“Heck, ya! This is exciting! OK, kid, you got any idea of where to go? What’re your intentions?”

“No intentions…just, to experience I guess. I’ve never been igneous rock before.”

“What’ve you been up ‘till now, kid?”

“Quartz.”

The monitor paused sympathetically. “Ouch. Sorry, kid, no hurt feelings, but that’s boring.”

“I know, so what’ve I got?”

“Well…” the monitor began, charts and diagrams flickering on and off the screen, “If you’re new to this, you could always go to the Mantle, stew over your decision for a few centuries going around in circles. You could become some oceanic bedrock, maybe; I hear the Hawaiian hot spot is the ‘place to be’. Become an island, meet some People, it’d be great experience for ya!”

Quartz considered, “No, I don’t want to stray too far from the beaten path yet; I want to go to the surface sooner than that.”

“OK, so you’re playing Traditionalist. Ya got two options: Intrusive Rock or Extrusive Rock. If you’re going to the surface, ya need to decide what’re going as.”

“What’s the difference, why does it matter?”

The monitor scoffed, “You really don’t know anything, do ya, kid? Chipped fresh off the ol’ block, I say. Anyhow…Extrusive Rock gets BLASTED out of a volcano to quickly cool into rather dull specimen while Intrusive Rock relaxes beneath the earth, sloooowly hardening into some of the best-look’n shiners this side of the earth’s crust, valuable, too. You could become a piece of diamond jewelry, or something. No-wait, you don’t have a speck of carbon in you, shame…” 

Quartz pouted for a minute, “Do other Intrusive Rocks get good perks?”

“Heck, yea! We supply them with their very own luxury growth chamber after they have a good soak in the mantle. You have a plethora of choices for roommates and location.”

“You mean that I’ll be able to combine with whatever I want? I even get to choose where I want to surface when I’m done?”

“Yea, kid. A rock is just a combination of various minerals. And for location: You could become part of a new sill, dike, or laccolith, any one of your basic intrusions. If you have grand ambitions, you could join one of the Pre-Meditative Batholith groups (under the sub-grouping of the Pluton Union); they keep an eye on the Plate Tectonics, and go where the action is, see? Where a new mountain range will form in a few million years; you’ll be the new granite core of a mountain!”

Quartz pondered, “All this sounds wonderful, but it sounds like it’ll take too long, I want instant results.”

“But there’s more perks! If you don’t see yourself building countries or making mountains, how about the small-scale stuff? Settle down, have a nice family, grow some new minerals, you could raise a brood of geodes out of your material. Or, our luxury spas can get you that beautiful, bubbly, glassy appearance everyone’s looking for. Our growth chambers provide optimum conditions for maximum growth of intergrown crystals: even pressures, maximum saturation of your personalized solution, even temperatures…the works. We even shift things if you want a personalized look: a pressure shift in a few centuries, temperature fluxuations…you name it. It could be a whole new you!”

Quartz blanched. The suggestion was tempting, but he itched for something else. “Again, too long… and I’m not ready to be a parent; my parents didn’t have the happiest Nucleation period (they argued constantly over what solute to dissolve into my solution). I do want a new look, but I think I’ll go with the Extrusive option, thanks. Tell me more about that one.”

The monitor sighed, “Alrigh’ alrigh’ all ready. In the Extrusive package you get a quick spin in the mantle to soften you up, and then get put into a magma waiting-pool where you and a bunch of other impatient un-ambitious lumps wait for the next eruption around the globe. You normally don’t get an option about where you go; whatever’s going off goes off, and when it does it needs magma to spew. That’s you. On your way up, the changes in temperature, pressure, and other factors, makes you lava and not magma anymore. After that, you get two choices: become mafic lava or felsic magma. You’re mostly silicon, ain’t ya?”

The break in the monotone rant startled Quartz, and it nodded, “Yea, kind of, mostly…all of me. Except what’s oxygen…”

“Then you’ll wanna go down the Felsic-brick Road, kid. That’s got more silicon in it, and that means you get to experience the thrills and chills of oozing down the slope of a shield volcano, slower than a glacier carves out a valley. Felsic lava really ain’t made up of the wild, party-rock material, if ya know what I mean.”

“Oh,” Quartz was disappointed, “What’s mafic lava like?”

“It’s a blast, literally. You line up for a strato-volcano, and wait for the rush. You fly sky-high, turing into ash and bits of rock mid-air, crashing down onto the heads of innocent bystanders, creating exhorbant property damages. Or you’ll just flow harmlessly down the side of the volcano, faster-but not by much- than the felsic lava, just behind the pyroclastic flow. It explodes quickly and cools quickly. It’s really fun, so I’ve heard. Some rocks I see come time and time again for the ride. Well, that’s it, any questions? You still going Felsic, ain’t ya?”

Quartz frowned, “Yes. I’ll take that, I guess. You were helpful.” The Quartz moved away without saying anything else, secretly bummed about his composition and how it was so boring. 

The monitor rolled its eyes…metaphorically, “Thankless job, he don’t know how good he has it. Next!”

Chapter: Sedimentary

When Quartz opened his eyes, he wasn’t Quartz anymore. He looked down at himself; he had turned dark and shiny…and he was still highly silicon-based, dang it. He was still rather plain, but he felt…sharply dressed. Sharper, he was sharper, and at least he wasn’t opaque. 

He nudged a rock nearby him that looked similar to him, “Hey, hey!” The other rock blinked at him. “What are we?’

“We’re Obsidian.” The other rock began to move away.

“Where are you going?” Obsidian followed the other rock, “What happens now?”

“I don’t know about you, but I could use a good sand-blasting back rub. I’m going to get weathered, and it’ll take a while with this composition. Unless you want to be used in the medical field as a scalpel. I mean, each to his own; I won’t shatter your dreams.”

Obsidian watched the other rock go away. He began to ponder, and as he did, he wandered vaguely. What were his dreams? He didn’t really know what he wanted; he was just kind of rushing through the Rock Cycle as fast as he could; he didn’t really have an end goal. He’d barely been Igneous Rock for two minutes and he already wanted to change again. 

Obsidian wandered for a long time, and eventually he fell off a cliff and into a shallow stream. There he lay, still thinking, while the stream succumbed to the cold dry seasons and to the warm wet seasons. Small cracks appeared in his surface, water got in, and when it froze in the cold, it expanded, and tore him. This went on, and Obsidian felt bits of him drift away; larger pieces resisting the pull of the water while smaller specks flew away from him. As his body grew smaller and smoother, his thoughts turned to the Spiritual. He’d heard somewhere about The Metamorphic Path, and how it could change you completely…Maybe he should find his way there….

But something else was happing to him first.

Maybe this is what ‘weathering’ feels like…he thought vaguely. He looked down at the rest of his body, and noticed the cracks the ice had widened and the smoothness the water had worn.  No plants were growing on him, though, and his composition remained the same. 

Why is Quartz so stubborn to remain Quartz? He wondered.

The water continued to physically wash him away, endlessly, like a machine, day in, day out, year after year, until he didn’t exist as a rock anymore. He drifted down the stream as sediment, smaller bits flying along in the fast current, and larger bits straggling along on the bottom. 

The stream joined a river, and he was washed up on shore where the wind whipped him up and threw him across the land. Sometimes he landed on a glacier, and he would rest as the mass of ice slowly took him wherever gravity took it. The wind took him up again, and he finally landed in a lazy river, where he drifted along until he was too heavy for the water to carry; where the river met the sea, the current slowed to a stop, and he drifted down and was deposited onto the continental shelf, where he was buried by the other sediment. 

Their weight crushed him. After a while, there was tons of material above him, and he was compacted, squeezed…And then something tickled. Something was growing, cementing him together. It was quartz. Quartz, dang it, Quartz! Crystallizing inside of him, again! 

He decided to fall asleep and wait until he surfaced again. The earth above him was being weathered too, unearthing igneous intrusions, it would unearth him too, in time. …

He awoke to singing: (sung to the tune of “What do you do with a Drunken Sailor”) What do you do with a bunch of sediment? What do you do with a bunch of sediment? What do you do with a bunch of sediment? Early in the morning?

You transport it down a river Or by wind power or by glacier You transport it down a river Early in the morning.

When it’s eroded then you drop it And the water will deposit When it’s eroded it will drop it Early in the morning

It’s compacted, pressed together, That’s what happens when it’s weathered. It’s compacted, smashed together Early in the morning

Cemented with crystals grow’n Now it’s a rock, that’s how you’re know’n Crystallized, has crystals grow’n Early in the morning!

He was pulled up and helped to his feet. “How ya feel, stranger?”  Someone asked him.

“Gritty, I feel gritty.” 

The stranger laughed, “That’s ‘cus yur Sandstone.” The strange rock was a dull grey and dense. He introduced himself as Limestone. 

“Yep, ‘ur Sandstone, alright. “Ur not dead organic matter or whatever’s left over from evaporated water. Nope, ‘ur Clastic, that’s what you are, bits and pieces of other rocks glued together. In your case, you’ve nice small bits and pieces; Conglomerate over there wasn’t so lucky.” Limestone gestured over to a chunky, uneven rock that looked like a first grader’s art project. 

Limestone leaned over and whispered in Sandstone’s ear, “ ‘e’s poorly sorted,” Limestone said, tapping his head, “Not like you; your grains are all the same size. Though he is in your family, sorry about that. Nothing against him, though – you OK?”

Sandstone grimaced, “I feel like something died inside of me.”

Limestone pointed at his stomach, where a couple of bones were sticking out, “looks like a fish.” 

“What?” 

“It’s not uncommon! Calm down. It happens to my cousin, Shelly, from the Organic side of my family, all the time. She’s practically made of the stuff.” 

“Are you related to me?” 

“Ah, heck no; my family’s Chemical. We’re born out of the precipitate what’s left when water evaporates. I’m mostly calcite.” 

“You see here,” Limestone gestured to the area around them. There were rippling marks imprinted in the Sedimentary rock around them, and large cracks in the ancient mud. “Those marks mean there was water here. That’s where I came from. You were farther down. Nice Stratification, by the way. I’ve been admiring it ever since I pulled you up.”

Sandstone looked down at his reddish body, it was subtly striped by different shades of red and orange. 

“I’ve been meaning to get it done to myself, one of these days.” Limestone turned to go, “Well, I’m gonna go find a cave and become one of those Stalagmites. It’ll be fun trying to reach the ceiling for kicks.”

“But you’ll just be a pointy rock, that’s a boring existence.”

The Limestone turned, “Kid, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Those pointy rocks add all the atmosphere to the place; without them, all you’d have is a hole in the ground.” And with that, he turned and walked away.

“Wait,” Sandstone called after him, “Do you know how to get on the path to Metamorphism?” 

The Limestone called back, “I’ve never needed it myself, but it’ll be over that-a-ways.” he said pointing without looking back. 

Sandstone frowned at Limestone’s back. What an odd rock. Who’d want to be  Limestone? 

Sandstone turned and walked away.

Chapter: Metamorphic

The Quartz had had a long journey so far, but it wasn’t over yet; it still had to become metamorphosed. He was now Sandstone. Some of his old familiar crystals had grown back in between the other bits, gluing him together. 

Just like Elmer’s. Ha.

He’d heard that the path to Metamorphism was somewhere around here. He turned a corner and came across a large sign that said, YOU ARE HERE.

It had a tiny starlite crystal indicating one corner of a triangular graph labeled, “The Rock Cycle.” The corner that it highlighted was called ‘Sedimentary Rock’.

“Hey, that’s what I am now.” Sandstone said. Studying the graph further, Sandstone noticed that two arrows went from Sedimentary Rock and pointed to either Metamorphic Rock or Igneous Rock. Each type of rock had two arrows going out and away from it towards the other two. 

“Wow,” Sandstone realized, “I could go back to being an Igneous Rock from here if I wanted to.” 

Further down the sign, right below the graph was a large arrow pointing down the road ahead of him. It said, THIS WAY TO METAMORPHISM.

Another arrow pointed behind him saying, THIS WAY TO AN IGNEOUS STATE-OF-MIND.

Sandstone traveled down the road until he came to a wide level area. To one side sat a wizened, old Gneiss. 

Sandstone bowed respectfully in front of the Gneiss, “O, most highly metamorphosed one! You, whose parent rock is unknown to us, and whose crystals are larger than mine own! Oh, most honorable of all foliated rocks, help me!”

The Gneiss gestured with a sigh, “Oh, get up already.” The Sandstone sat cross-legged in front of the Gneiss. “There’s an extra Laz-E-Boy next to mine, if you’d rather.” The Gneiss pointed, and the Sandstone complied. 

“Teach me, O master, the ways of metamorphism, teach me to layer my thoughts and separate out my conflicting crystals. Warp me into a new rock!” 

The Gneiss was looking through a rock-identifying guide. “You must be Sandstone…” he began.

“Yes, O Highly-Graded One, You must have foretold my coming!”

“No, actually, I just matched your picture to this little one in my book. Old age does a doozy on the ‘foretelling senses’.”

“I’m your biggest fan, by the way.” Sandstone continued, “ I’ve heard so much about you: you’ve been metamorphosed the longest, so that you can no longer distinguish yourself from your parent rock. Your texture and mineralogy have completely changed. I’ve wanted to be just like you my entire life.”

The Gneiss looked at the Sandstone quizzically, “you’re young! live a little. You don’t want to snooze under the earth for a as long as I have, just to become a warped old gneisser like me - little joke there. You want to know what being metamorphized is like, make yourself balanced and organized. It’s a wonderful way to straighten yourself out; just pop into the pressure-cooker for a few decades, and out you pop, organized!”

“As you say, O Great Gneiss. So, what will become of me?”

“Well, for you…Sandstone becomes Quartzite. If you were a different rock, it’d be different. Nothing radical, a mild-grade change: your spaces will re-crystallize and it’ll be mostly quartz. Nothing you can do about that.”

Sandstone bowed, “as you command, Great Gneiss.” The Gneiss waved offhandedly. “How will this change occur to me, Gneiss?”

Gneiss opened his book again, “Metamorphic rocks are formed by heat, pressure, or chemical action on other rocks. This changes a rock’s texture and/or composition and often is caused by folding and faulting.”

“The Gneiss has spoken!” Sandstone stood up.

“I got it straight from the book.” Gneiss looked up and shut the text book.

“Will I be a foliated rock like you, Gneiss?” Sandstone sat again.

“No, and there’s only two types, so you’ll be all scattered around. Un-foliated.”

“Don’t you mean ‘non-foliated’, Great Gneiss?”

“Whatever, and I’d more likely be your Great Uncle, not your Great Niece, so stop calling me that.”

“But I wasn’t-“ 

“Just pulling your leg…in a manner of speaking. Here, I’ll tell you some more as a way of apologizing, before my shift ends and Shist comes on duty.”

“Shist? Is that a metamorphic rock too?”

“Oh yea, Shist has been through a LOT. It started out as boring old Shale, then stuck itself into the ol’ pressure-cooker. He went through a veritable list of changes then: Shale to Slate to Phyllite to Shist. He’s now a thin old rock, hoarding Garnets. Shist tends to grow Garnets to unnatural sizes.”

“Wow, what about some other boring rocks, do all of them become beautiful under metamorphism? What about Limestone, talk about dull, grey, and dense. What does he become?”

“Oh, him? He becomes Marble.”

Sandstone pouted silently, “And I become Quartzite?”

“Mm-Hm” Gneiss nodded sagely.

Sandstone wanted to change topics now.

“Do you want to learn about the different types of metamorphism?” Gneiss asked.

Sandstone grunted, “Does it matter? I’ll become boring anyway.” 

“Of coarse it matters! There’s more to life than just you. There’s Regional metamorphism, where the entire landscape changes. Tectonic movements change the earth, builds mountains, lifts up hidden igneous intrusions, forces down dense oceanic bedrock…Huge changes happen all around you, daily, and all you can think of is yourself? You could be part of something bigger, or sit back and admire it, but don’t waste your existence whining that you aren’t the epicenter of the earthquake. Everything has its purpose within the Cycle of Rock, and every mineral has intrinsic value. 

“Even if you only ever experience the common, everyday Local metamorphism, you are still being drastically changed by it: Deformation changes you through high-pressure situations, and Contact changes you through heated on-the-spot experience. That’s the way common things are changed, and yet it is intrinsic to the function of the Cycle. And even if what you become isn’t a diamond, you still become something that you weren’t before. And, hey…Carbon can’t become what you are either. Do you still think that you aren’t that special?”

Before Sandstone could respond-he was still in shock from the speech-Gneiss got up. “Well, my shift’s over. If you got any more concerns, ask Shist for help; I gotta go lotion my flaky foliation.” and it rolled away.

“Hey,” Sandstone called, finally getting his voice back, “How do I get down? Do I just jump into this huge hole that leads down to the center of the earth?” he indicated to a large crack that lay in the center of the path behind him.” 

“Naw,” Gneiss called back, “That’s just my steam bath, use the elevator, over there.” It pointed to an ornamental elevator across the path from Sandstone. Sandstone blinked; the elevator had a large flashing sign above it: ELEVATOR elevator ELEVATOR elevator…

“Oh,” Sandstone said to himself. 

He walked over to the doors, and pressed the down button. As the doors slid shut, and he began his long way down, Sandstone felt the mineral holding him together. It was smaller, and scattered, but important to his existence. He doubted that he’d be able to wipe it out of his chemical composition altogether, but then again, did he really want to? After all, it was his impurities that gave him all his various beautiful colors…

He imagined himself back in his old Quartz Vein home, deep within the crust, running beneath mountains like real veins and arteries running through the skin of the earth. He was a part of that once. He was a part of the largest mineral group on the earth; he existed everywhere. He may not be valuable like a diamond, but he was like a small bit of quartz inside a clock. He wasn’t the entire clock, but he was a part – an important part – that made the clock run.

“I think I’ll go join the Convection Cycle Corp,” he said to himself as he stepped out of the elevator. “And create new crust for the earth. Or I can rent a cavern and grow the largest quartz crystal I can! I could join a Pluton and help build a mountain, or I could…hm, I don’t know, but I know it doesn’t matter, as long as I do…something.” And with that, he went off to be changed, not knowing that he already was.