ELEMENTAL CHARACTER: WATER

‘What time are we meeting?’

I recall fragments of a conversation. Foreign. Unknown. Human?

‘你吃饱了吗 你还好吗’

Like water landing on a hot stone, each thought lingers briefly before evaporating, leaving only a fog of confusion.

‘Anong ibig mong sabihin?’

Mixed into the haze is the memory of moss. I was formed by awns, slowly drawing damp air into their microgrooves. Their barbs coaxed my body into being before I was absorbed into leaves. At least... I think that's how it was.

‘ฝันดีนะ’

Where are these thoughts coming from? They don’t seem to be my own. Then again, do we truly know the origin of thoughts?

‘ဒီရက်ပိုင်း ဘယ်လိုသီချင်းမျိုးတွေ နားထောင်ဖြစ်လဲ’

There is a rush of air as I accelerate towards the earth, released from the thunderclouds that announce the beginning of monsoon season. It is such an exhilarating feeling to return to the straits, to seep back into the familiar archipelagic currents journeying southeast this time of year. And then, just as I make contact with the ocean body, returning to the whole, I am torn. Whirled into an enclosure, pressurized forces stretch me to the limits of my cohesion.

The speed of the stream starts to slow as I trickle along a delineated path. It is uncertain where I am heading, though I hope to soon be returned to the expansive waters where I belong. Suddenly I am sucked out of my reverie and into a small cavity. Falling again, swishing left, swirling right, dizzyingly fast. There are lights, racks upon racks of multicolored lights on whirring machines.

[entered: subsea data center. It houses networked computers for remote data storage, processing, and distribution. The contained server racks emit quite a bit of heat into the surrounding body of water. Wonder how cascading thermopollution of the waters will play out in fifty years. Seventy years.¹ One hundred years. Anyway, these things are supposed to keep water out of the main electrical parts, how did you get in? Oh, looks like there is a leak in the cooling pipes. Hmm?²]

All these lights remind me of the night sky reflected in the immense aquatic bodies I traversed. Speckled with stars, the waves gently tossed me up and down, while currents carried me across the globe. I was one with those bodies for so long that their rhythms became a soothing backdrop to my existence. I observed the migration of animals, witnessed them finding their nesting grounds, generation after generation.

[retrieved memory of: giant catfish. The giant Mekong catfish is one of many fish that migrates within its namesake river as part of one of the most massive animal migrations on the planet. Their yearly journey in the Tonle Sap river of Cambodia takes place largely out of sight under murky waters in late September to early October.³ The lives of these catfish, along with all fish species of the Mekong, are currently under threat due to global warming and mega construction projects like dams.⁴]

Catfish remind me of the first concrete shell fitted with pipes and machines I had ever known. While accompanying the fishes’ journey, I was suddenly forced to leave them behind. My body was diverted into a structure that hastened my pace while preventing the catfish from moving forward. The concrete walls drew out of me the energy that was meant to carry the fish across borders.

[entered: dam. Nearly every tributary that feeds the Mekong is now being blocked by dams for hydroelectric power. Fish populations are unable to migrate, and sediment is unable to travel downstream. This harms local communities that rely on the river and the bounty it provides. In the face of this reality, Southeast Asian governments continue to attract industries that will require more hydropower, quickly rising as a destination to build resource-hungry AI data centers.⁵ These centers consume an astounding amount of water through both their electricity consumption and cooling needs.⁶]

My attention is pulled back to the present due to the rapidly increasing temperature. Every surface I glide along is giving off so much heat, my body warming as it absorbs it. Getting hotter and hotter… What’s this green scorched plane dotted with tiny ridges and silver blobs? Green but not leafy. Green but not mossy. Green but so draining. Coming into contact hurts! Is that a spark? I’m not feeling so great. It’s definitely a spark! Memories of storms and lightning hit me. Is it a memory? It feels as though I’ve been struck myself.

[impacted: printed circuit board. A board containing a compacted electrical circuit. This particular one serves as a random-access memory unit for one of the servers in the data center. It’s scorched and fuming. Data seems to have been erased due to a short circuit. Water got onto it?! Did you ingest some of the stored privacy data due to your conductivity?]

The lights are gone, everything is silent. In the darkness, I can feel that something in me has changed from being in contact with the green surface. I feel… so slow… and heavy… and contaminated. This is probably when the random memories started. I must have soaked up information from my surroundings. But also something else. Something more disruptive… Is this the end? My consciousness fades slowly.

[ingested: heavy metals. Common persistent pollutants found on printed circuit boards include lead, nickel, cadmium, ferric chloride, and brominated flame retardants.⁷ Short-term symptoms of acute lead exposure include nausea, prolonged fatigue, and headaches, while long-term overexposure is associated with chronic health effects such as cognitive impairment, infertility, and nerve damage. Commercially viable lead is either recycled or extracted from the earth through the mining of galena or lead(II) sulfide. Lead’s physical properties, abundance, and low cost cause it to be utilized in varnishes, pipes, plastics, additives, food cans, cosmetics, and pesticides, to name a few.⁸ The lead then finds its way into the air, soil, and waterways… seems like you are experiencing contamination. Tasty.]

I am abruptly awoken by the feeling of other droplets crashing into me. I am back in the sky, and an intense energy is building in the air around me and my fellow droplets. A flash of lightning. A roar of thunder. I am deafened, but the others don’t seem fazed. The chaos of collisions continues. Bang! Bright white pulses through the air. A heaviness sinks in, pulling me downwards. I should be used to this by now, this sensation right before I fall. But this time something inside of me is making me feel uneasy. I cannot tell if it’s real or if I’m imagining it… My mind has been going off to weird places lately. Before I can figure out the true source of my anxiety, I am rushing downwards again. I say goodbye to my cloud form as I drop to the earth.

[contacted: soil. This particular soil is a bit acidic, but the plants are holding lots of nutrients. Your arrival is expected; everyone has grown accustomed to your frequent visits, relishing the gifts of minerals you bring.]

As a puddle forms, I begin to feel relief. Whatever I was holding in is gradually seeping through me and into the ground.

[released: lead pollution. Soil particles adsorb and bind heavy metal toxins, like lead, from water through natural filtration. You seem cleared but… what about the soil particle you touched?]

ELEMENTAL CHARACTER SWITCH: SOIL

I wake up on a sunny day in the fuzzy tangles of a mycelium root network. The first rays of light warm my body, my spirit, and my mood. I settled here after some earthworms had relocated me a couple of moons ago. I look up to the sky and see that clouds have started to roll in. Must be a summer storm. The drops will make a stop here on their long cyclical voyage. I wait, welcoming their embrace.

As a puddle forms around me, I begin to feel strange. Something is off. This is not the familiar refreshing drizzle I am accustomed to; there is a metallic tinge to this union. Something foreign is touching me, what is this? It has an odd sensation. I see the mycelium shrink away a little. The material does not seem to be life-affirming.

[merged with: lead-contaminated water drop. Though soil can filter and improve the quality of water by acting as a natural sieve, removing impurities and toxic compounds, some pollutants cannot be broken down. They circulate on and on, disrupting the ecological meshwork of air, water, and soil. You have helped the water droplet clean itself of the contamination. Great community spirit! Sharing is caring. But what about you? Maybe your human kin could support you with some bioremediation? Hmm… how to best ask for help?]