Анастасия Кучеренко

Probability of Love

— As you know, that planet consists mostly of water. According to the Universal cosmic system of measures and concordance, water means love. Therefore, the distant planet Lillia has a tremendous potential of love. But, strangely enough, there is a great shortage of this spiritual energy on the planet, — the gray-haired professor Everon, the chief instructor of the Higher Space Mission interrupted his lecture for the legion of oracles and looked thoughtfully into the oval porthole of the gallery. Now he resembled a frowning, ruffled hawk from the planet Lilia, who was carefully listening to something through the howling of wind and the patter of rain.

— Did you say something? — He suddenly asked the legionnaires, none of whom, however, uttered a word. — Please, express your telepathic thought form to me more clearly, you are not beginners any longer, — Everon said slightly irritated — Well, now your question is clear! The planet Lilia bears its name thanks to our legionnaires. More than two thousand years ago, the first expedition landed on a green meadow, densely covered with amazingly beautiful lilies, blue and yellow. All plants are intelligent and are able to express their own thoughts. The flowers complained that it would be difficult for alien guests to establish contact with the inhabitants of the planet. Unfortunately, they were right — during the following centuries, the Higher Space Mission hardly managed to convey only a small part of our knowledge to the semi-intelligent creatures inhabiting Lilia. However, we still keep trying, because the potential of love and beauty on the planet Lilia is huge, and the whole Universe is keen on revealing it. Love and beauty are vital to all space living creatures, and not just to the Lillians…

A girl entered the oracle lecture gallery. The course by Professor Everon, dedicated to the planet Lilia, required that all his students not only knew the Lillian customs, but also embodied the appearance of the planet inhabitants. Slender and graceful, with curls of red hair scattered over her shoulders, the girl looked like a yellow lily, which had just been mentioned. Trying to remain unnoticed, she took a seat on the second air layer of the oval table.

— Oracle Elia, professor Everon asked her, — I guess, you are late for the lecture, because you have been thoroughly preparing for your future expedition to the planet Lilia, haven’t you? What is your level of readiness as for now?

— Professor, you said that in order to successfully complete our mission, it is necessary to arouse a true feeling of love in the Lilians. And it seems to me, I have such ability of inspiring love, — the girl answered.

— It seems to you?! — for a moment Everon lost his temper, but having controlled his emotions, uttered in a didactic tone of voice, tapping out the key words with his massive walking stick, as if imprinting the meaning of his words into the beautiful head of the overly self-confident field lily: — You are an oracle, and it’s impossible to say, that it seems to you — an oracle must be sure. You said, you can inspire love… well, that’s good, but are you able to love yourself? I advise you to thoroughly explore this feeling for yourself before you go for the Mission of Enlightenment to Lilia. After all, you will not only have to uproot the willful ignorance and delusions of its inhabitants, but also teach them to love, and this can be achieved only by personal example.

— The Lilians have an unconscious desire for knowledge and perception, which makes our work easier. I have observed them and I know that many of them suffer from their vain desires and weaknesses. In fact, they long for enlightenment and purification, but they do not realize this consciously. I think I can complete my mission on Lilia planet. But as for the ability to love… Yes, you're right, professor, I still need to learn it myself, — oracle Elia modestly lowered her sky-blue eyes.

— Learning to love is not easy, it requires a lot of patience and time, — the professor again puffed up like a Lillian hawk and continued his lecture.

An oracle Pinfar has also been preparing for landing on the planet Lilia. However, unlike Elia, he did not have doubts in his abilities. Obsessed with the idea, self-confident, having unbreakable spirit, this young man with the burning eyes believed that he had succeeded in the knowledge of love, having conquered a lot of women's hearts. He was proud of the fact, that he always had control over his own feelings. Having mastered the language of the Lillians, he prepared a speech in advance, in which he was going to address the inhabitants of Lilia with the words of Truth, exposing their empty illusions, vain desires and narrow-minded ideas.

Pinfar even learned how to “enter the point” on his own, which was considered the most difficult, and at the same time the best way to get to the planet Lilia. However, his natural egocentrism and excessive arrogance made him similar to a Lillian, which could considerably reduce all the efforts. In fact, the young oracle needed that special flash, that would illuminate his mind and heart — true love. But Pinfar, as a typical prudent heartbreaker, felt skeptical about this "pseudo-scientific substance."

Millions of light years ago, intelligent beings of good will inhabiting the space decided to create a Higher Space Mission. Representatives of different planets, all who wished to participate in this, gathered at some orbital station located in one of the inhabited galaxies. They have one common goal — to enrich the Universe with true knowledge and light of love. However, it was hard to judge how successful their Mission was, since no one could accurately measure how much love there was in space and to what level it has increased as