Hours passed. The liveliness of the conversation never faded. Pauses were not awkward, because both participants would linger together in a lovely memory, or a new perspective on some bygone event.
Like I said, hours passed. Eventually, the dream started to wind down. It wasn’t abrupt. Not jarring. Lem began to appear transparent. Flash could still see her, but he could also see things through her, the way he’d seen the far side of the room through the hologram.
It was sad to part ways again, but not devastating. As long as he lived, he could visit her by sipping from the bottle. When the bottle emptied, it would no longer be necessary. They would be together in some other place, or some other dimension.
Flash awoke, or came to in his suite in the castle. He placed the stopper in the bottle, and set the goblet next to it.

He heard voices.

Flash’s bare feet treaded the soft, cool carpet as he crossed to the balcony. A crowd was gathering on the plain.
Celebrations were common on Olo, not in a tired or boring way. They were joyful, affirming and loving times, but like the jewels, they were not precious. What I mean by that, is that they were not formal or unnatural. No one had to be there. No one had to act a certain way. No one had to be quieter or louder.
Flash felt well rested, and a little hungry, so he slipped his feet into a pair of silver slippers, tied the belt of his robe, and headed out his door. His mind replayed his visit with Lem as he descended the grand, curving staircase. Before he knew it, he found himself in the courtyard. The commotion snapped Flash right out of his reverie.
At the far end of the courtyard, a colorful disc floated above the crowd. It was an image of Olo, but a circular shape in the middle looked a bit like a nose. This thought made a mark below it look rather like a mouth. Or maybe it was the mouth that made the ring look like a nose.
It didn’t give you too long to think, because the picture came to life. The disc expanded to be a sphere. There was a crashing sound as a white whale pushed through the mouth, leaving a jagged gap. Not jagged like saw teeth, but an asymmetrical right angle. As the whale burst through the sphere, two figures jumped from the sphere onto the back of the whale, revealing eyes to complete the face.
As a hologram, the king and queen floated above the cheering crowd, waving and smiling as they passed.
A ring of chasing lights encircled the planet. When those stopped, lights illuminated the mouth, which looked like the letter L. The mouth went dark again, and the nose danced, surrounded by the moving lights. This pattern repeated, and the crowd chanted “O! L! O! along with it.
One compelling thing about the holograms, is that they never told a story the same way twice. Everyone has a different perspective. That doesn’t make anyone wrong or right. By not trying to convince anyone, the holograms allowed everyone to be open minded and tolerant. Authenticity was prized over every other personality trait.
Flash made his way toward the gateway where he would get something to eat.