The Beginning of Nations: Act Three
Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
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With long, bony fingers, the tour guide beckoned us out of the theater and through several dim corridors to the entrance of a long, dark hall. He waited for everyone to catch up, then directed our attention to the broad archway above. Peering up, we could barely see in the shadows, etched and embossed in heavy script, The Engineering of Eve.
The newbies in the group, myself included, eyed each other curiously.
Engineering?
The long hall was lined with floor-to-ceiling panels that looked like milk glass. The old sage winked at us, then gave the first panel on our left a quick tap with a crooked index finger. We gasped as the thick, milky glass shimmered like sand and became transparent, revealing a life-sized hologram of Yahweh and Adam in the middle of paradise. Adam was sleeping peacefully under the shade of a tree while Yahweh knelt beside him. Then Yahweh took a scalpel of clear crystal and made a short incision above Adam's lower rib. There was no blood, but we all winced as he pushed the scalpel deep into the bone. He pulled out a sliver, looked at it intently, then sealed it in a small, shiny box.
Our guide led us to the second panel. Accompanying Yahweh, behind that glass, were many winged creatures flitting around in what looked like a high-tech laboratory. Although much of the scientific equipment was recognizable, they were constructed from crystals in various colors. Some were clear, some bright silver or gold, and some a pale pink. Yahweh sat before what looked like an oversized microscope and removed the shiny box from his heavy, bronze-colored cloak. He pulled out the sliver of bone and scraped a tiny sampling onto a slide. He positioned it under the expansive lens, and what was under the lens was projected overhead on a large visual display. All our eyes fixated there as Yahweh bent over the lens and isolated a lone cell from the marrow. A brilliant flash of light hit the cell, and we watched, wide-eyed, as the one cell split into four sides. Like in meiosis but without the recombination of genetic material. Yahweh carefully removed two of them, leaving only the ones containing an X chromosome. There was another brilliant flash, and those two sides merged to create one cell—a zygote.
The ancient guide led us to the third panel at the very end of the hall. Behind that glass, a flexible transparent sack hung down from the center of a metallic tripod. Within it, the zygote quickly developed into an embryo while the winged creatures fluttered about, attending to its needs. The winged serpent paid particular attention to the fluid filling the lungs and intestines. Was it too acidic? Too alkaline? Just right? Several rapid freeze frames forward, and the embryo became a fetus. The winged creatures rushed back and forth, providing nutrients through an outlet near the top. Several more freeze frames and the bag stretched, the tripod rose, and the baby girl was ready to be born. She did not cry when they opened the sack and released her to breathe her first breath of pure air.
Behind the fourth panel, like the home movie we had seen before, we watched her grow up. But it was the winged creatures who fed her. Bathed her. Played with her and taught her to speak, read, and write. She rapidly grew wise, learning twice as fast as Adam had.
The tour guide touched the fifth and final glass, and we all sighed in unison.
The young woman was stunning. Yahweh took her by the hand and led her over to Adam. His eyes sparkled, and his smile broadened at the sight of her. He looked down at his side, touched the scar over his rib, and said the words that eventually made him famous.
“This one is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!”
It was remarkable—she looked so much like him. The only physical distinctions were her full breasts, round belly, and curved hips. But those differences did not register to either of them.
The old, ancient guide gazed at the scene through tear-filled eyes. “Even though they were naked, they were as innocent as children,” he said. “Like the angels, they did not see each other as sexual beings. The entire time they lived in paradise, they never knew each other that way.” He sighed. “It never even crossed their minds.”
Someone, not me, interrupted. "But—"
The tour guide held up his hand. "Yes, I know. Everyone asks me that question."