Chapter 15
The path down brought them to a river, where boat rested on the shore. The boat was large enough to accommodate them all. There were no paddles. The figurehead was attractive, half human, half snake. Her hair was the frozen windblown look. Her body arched, giving her a woman standing pose. She held a torch, while the body of the snake went down into the water, tight against the centerline of the boat, emerging again on the aft, with a curved tail. It was Viking-ish in many ways, provided your concept of Viking was mixed with extrapolation of modern Egyptian society, had the Egyptians carried on until the 21st century. They dropped Afansy into the sand while they deliberated. He struggled to turn his tied body over so that his nose was not buried in the sand. As they had walked, the map had become clarified. There were more details on the map, some of them identifiable, most of them not. Per the map, the river went around a teardrop shaped island. On the other side of the island was a whirlpool, where the river descended to an unfathomable depth. On the far side of the island was an open air temple, comprised of caryatids holding up a roof. The temple was marked with an ambiguous symbol.
The river moved steadily. They could hear the water falling through the whirlpool.
“We came all this way for this?” Cockburn said.
“This is the way out,” Tae-Ann said. “This symbol means portal.”
“It makes me horny,” Cockburn said.
“It should,” Kea said. “It’s the fallopian tube.”
“It’s the Ankh,” Man corrected. “A Kemetic symbol of world birth.”
“I am not going down the water spout,” Cockburn said.
“You did once,” Kea said. “You can’t come into being without breaking some water.”
“I thought you were burning to get back in some wet pussy,” someone said.
“Gentlemen, there are women present,” Man said, not looking away from the map.
“They don’t know we have cocks?” Cockburn asked.
Kea pointed at the map. “Sunset” she said drawing her finger across the cross. “Sunrise.
The birth canal is the portal of life. The circle is the womb…”
“Yeah, and baby drops down into the world, and I am telling you, if we have to go down the whirlpool, you can kill me now,” Cockburn said.
“We’re not going to kill you. You will do what we all do. I say we go check out the island,” Kea said.
They turned to the boat. There was a lengthy discussion about how to get the boat off the beach, as it looked too heavy, and even if they did, there would be no way to steer it. Tae-Ann said she could move it with magic. Without further discussion, they all got in. Tae-Ann closed her eyes. Nothing happened. There was a muffled cry from the beach.
“We forgot someone,” Cockburn said.
“Can’t we just leave him?”
“Go fetch him,” man said.
Cockburn and the man who used to be Baylor hopped out of the boat and wrestled
Afansy into the boat. Once they jumped back in the boat, the figurehead and tail came to life and shot out into the water. Her torch flared, a golden beam of light broke the dark, sparking a billion reflective points in the cave’s granite walls. Man looked to Tae-Ann.
“It’s not me,” Tae-Ann confirmed.
The man who was Baylor realized the water was moving faster than the boat, based on something drifting on the surface- compared to the boat, measured by the torchlight on the wall.
He retrieved a tobacco leaf from his pouch and dropped it in the water. It shot ahead of the boat.
“That’s really odd,” the man who was once Baylor said. No one gave him any mind.
“The torch reminds me of the story of Solarchariot, Loxy’s Torchlight,” Cockburn said.
Kea, who had been paying attention to the man who was Baylor’s experiment, screamed and backed away from the side of the boat. They looked to her wanting an explanation.
“It’s full of people,” Kea said.
Tae-Ann and Man went to the side. They all lined both sides of the boat, wanting to see. The golden light of the torch shone through the crystal waters. Below were armies of dead people, pale, light blue, all following the stream. They walked the slow gait of the dead, going where the current took them.
“They’re holograms,” Cockburn said.
“They’re ghosts,” Man said.
“There is no such thing…”
“Don’t go there,” Tae-Ann admonished.
The people nearest the boat seemed to be interested in the torch light. They swam up trying to reach it. If they left the surface, they were quickly carried downstream. If they landed, they turned and made their way back towards the boat, and in doing so they brought the attention of the other walkers to the light.
“This might be a problem,” Tae-Ann said.
“They can’t get to the boat,” the man who was once Baylor said. “The current’s too fast.”
“And when we’re beached?” Tae-Ann said.
“Swords out, men,” Man instructed.
“What good are swords against ghosts?” Cockburn asked.
“They’re zombies, not ghosts,” Tae-Ann said. “Release Afansy.”
Someone cut Afansy’s binds. Once his hands were free, he removed the gag which had been hastily made from Kea’s skirt. Afansy pointed a sword at him. “One word, and I toss you over.”
Afansy sulked quietly. The ship landed on the island and they immediately tracked out of the water. The golden torch remained lit, giving enough light to see the temple, and the portal on the inside. The portal itself was a statue of two, giant women in the asana yoga boat pose, the soles of their feet meeting flat. Their legs suggested a pyramid. Their hands were joined, and the triangle that was made by hand and feet was a jewel that reflected the golden light back, hinting at the all ‘seeing eye.’
Kea was not looking at the portal, but at the people rising from the water. She touched Cockburn’s arm. He screamed, looked at her angrily, and then looked where she was looking and screamed again.
“To the temple, go,” Man told Tae-Ann. “We will hold as long as we can.”
Tae-Ann took Kea’s hand and brought her to the temple. As the army of dead came out of the water, they first orientated on the torch, and then on the men. Dispatching the zombies was not difficult, as they offered no substantive fight. The problem was the number. Bodies began to accumulate, and zombies slipped and fell on wet bodies, crawling forwards, changing the response of the twenty.
“What’s taking so long?”
“I can’t read the symbols,” Tae-Ann said. “It’s archaic. And the shadows aren’t helping matters.”
“I can read archaic,” Afansy said.
Man deliberated.
“I can read…”
“I heard you. Go,” Man said.
Afansy turned and left the fight, the twenty closed in on the hole he had made. Their line had to retreat. The wet sounds of the walking, crawling dead was bothersome in ways that normal battle sounds hadn’t bothered them before. It was amplified in the cave-tunnel, the sound of water falling intermittently loud as their focus shifted to and from. The dead gurgled as they tried to moan. Their skin was slippery, like a stone covered with moss. They were old. They were young. Some were attractive. Some were hideous. One bit down on Cockburn’s arm and he screamed, until he realized he hadn’t been hurt because the woman was toothless. He pushed her away, a slime trail going from arm to mouth and he laughed. Three others took him down and he began to scream. The toothless old woman fell on him, gumming his nose and mouth as she sucked in his cries. The line fell back and closed in.
“Stand aside, your blocking the light,” Afansy insisted.
The light from the eye illuminated the panel.
“Only two…. Only two what?” he mumbled
“Can you open it or not?” Tae-Ann.
“Two women. Two eyes! Look at the eye. Now close your eyes,” Afansy said.
“I am not closing my eyes,” Tae-Ann said.
“You want to cross over, you have to close your eyes. One person leads, one person follows. Kea will take your hand and she will lead your through. If you open your eyes before you get to the other side, you will die,” Afansy said.
“You’re making that shit up,” Tae-Ann said.
“Fine, you read it, you decipher it,” Afansy said. “Your whole life is about faith. Faith is blind. Do you want to go through or not?”
“It’s okay,” Kea said. “I will guide you.”
“Blind leading the blind,” Afansy mumbled.
“What?!” Tae-Ann asked.
“Nothing. Look at the eye, close your eyes. Imagine you are still seeing the eye,” Afansy said. “Keep your focus up, as if you were looking at the eye.”
Afansy came over as if to guide Kea’s hand to Tae-Ann’s. He turned Kea around so fast, she barely could get a word out. His hand covered her mouth, an arm went around her arm.
“Keep looking up,” Afansy said. “It’s working. The portal is opening.”
“Only two can go through,” he whispered. “You must be sacrificed.” He held her mouth and nose solid, pinching her nose. His arm was around her neck. “Shhh. Easy. Accept. Think of the fucking I gave you…” Kea tried to bolt, but he took her to her knees. “Wish I had time for more.”
“What’s taking so long?” Tae-Ann asked.
“I am instructing her around the invisible obstacles. If you heard what you can’t see, you would not go,” Afansy said. “Keep focusing on the inner eye, on the destination.” In Kea’s ears, he whispered: “I got you back, bitch.”
Afansy eased Kea’s body to the ground. He took Tae-Ann’s hand and led her quickly through the arch. They disappeared. The giant statues changed postures. They took up a lotus pose, Namaste hands. The crystal that had once been the eye descended to the floor. It became a two dimensional etching, the center pieces of a circle. The heads of the statue were tilted towards this. The ship reversed out into the river, turned, and began its leisure trip back to where it had been. The light faded as it left. The dead in the water followed the boat. The remaining dead on the island overwhelmed what was left of the twenty, who experienced a decline in ability to fight as the light faded. The man who was Baylor retreated, able to see in the dark. He went quietly to the temple. The dead returned to the sea. He knelt down and found Kea breathing. He sat down by her and waited in the dark.
निनमित
Pink trooper approached the gates. “I need those two women there. They are friends of the
Emissary, and Fribourg wishes to personally interview them” Chiara said. She had others in tow, chained- connected by chains.
The trooper stared at her. It took a moment for him to get the message, but he got it, affirmed the instructions, and then had the two women in question brought. They were cuffed and chained to the line of the people.
Tristan tried to leave the camp. “I am with them.”
“Sorry, you’re scheduled to be trooperfied,” the guard said.
“Isn’t he a bit short to be a trooper?” Pink asked.
“The suits are tailored made to fit, and then it’s adjust their physical attributes as necessary over time,” the guard said. “Sure you weren’t born with the hyper feminine look.”
“Actually, I was…”
“May I have your number?” the trooper asked.
“I would love that,” Pink said.
“What about us?” Bambi asked.
“Sorry, you’re not on my list,” Chiara said, and led her group away.
The guard turned to Bambi. “I have clarity about your kind. We are not making troopers out of you. Your kind will not be allowed in this new order. Good bye,” the trooper said, raising his weapon.
“Wait, please,” Bambi said, wanting to explain.
“Kill her, she has oppressed me,” Tristan said.
The guard fired. Bambi dropped straight down. The guard walked away.
“Wait, I thought you were going to give me a uniform?”
“We don’t accept the dead,” the guard said.
“Dead?”
“We terminated your caregiver. You have about ten minutes to live, plus or minus a minute depending on your constitution,” the guard said.
Tristan was concerned. He was unsure if his feelings were due to his physical body failing, or his sudden anxiety about it. He found himself going to his knees.
“But,” Tristan said.
“You didn’t want to end oppression, you just wanted to be on top. Guess what, there are other guys smarter than you running the show,” the trooper said.
“You knew I’d die if you killed her?” Tristan heard himself say.
“You didn’t know this? You identify yourself as the oppressed. What did you suppose would happen when you demand the death of your oppressor?” the trooper asked.
“Liberty,” Tristan managed to say as his hands found the earth.
“The only liberty is death,” the trooper said. “As long you’re alive, you’re breathing someone else’s air. For we are all slave to the one, just as a liver cell, a heart cell, a brain cell serve the one. We serve something greater than ourselves, or we die. Good luck next time, player one.” He chuckled as he walked away.
Tristan lay on the ground, no longer breathing, his eyes seeing less and less, but his brain echoing the last thing he saw. Troopers were placing Bambi’s body on a stretcher to take to crematorium. A stretcher was set on the ground next to him.
निनमित
Afansy and Tae-Ann arrived on the stage of a classical theatre, the curtains framing the arch that they passed through to arrive. Afansy was facing the rear of the theatre, the curtains closing behind him, due to being untied by the energy that pulsed through them. He immediately turned to Tae-Ann, her eyes still dutifully closed. He removed a small stone from his pocket and pushed it against her forehead, directly over the third eye and pushed hard with his thumb.
Tae-Ann’s eyes opened. She found she could blink and move her eyes, but nothing else. Afansy lowered her to the floor, as if he were going to baptize her. She smiled down at her.
“Got you,” Afansy said, straddling her and sitting on her stomach. “Struggle all you like. Your hypnotically bound, sleep paralysis, until I free you. The more you struggle, the more trapped you become in my snare.” He held her hand up and licked it, making a dramatic show of doing so, even as he took the Goddess Ring off her finger. He admired the stone and then pocketed it. “I imagine you’re thinking all sorts of things, like I should be quiet.” He leaned in closed to her face. He pushed fingers through her hair and brought it up and dropped it. He massaged her ears. “Such delicate, elvan features. Yeah, talk is cheap…” He kissed her, with eyes open. Her eyes were furious. “What? You want to tongue fuck you?” He opened her mouth with a pinch and licked.
Afansy grinded against her, falling between her legs. He pulled out a knife an cut her dress, exposing her breast. He studied them for the longest moment. “I never see such pale breasts before. You elves should spend more time in the sun…” He kissed down the center line to her belly, and then adjusted his knees so he could pull her dress up. In doing so, he discovered Tae-Ann was not a female, but a post-op trans that had been hyper feminized due to hormone therapy and magic.
Afansy gagged, nearly vomited. He stood up, looked about, and ran and vomited into a stage prop. He wiped his face on the curtain. He came back and kicked Tae-Ann calling her sorts of obscenities.
“You’re a fucking, lying bitch-ass want to be dude!” Afansy said. “Fuck, I should kill you now. How would you like to choke on my dick, cuntless whore…”
He vomited again.
“I don’t have time for this,” Afansy said, toweling himself with the curtain. “See you,
Princess.”
निनमित
Glenda and Jon were in bed, looking up into a mirror. Glenda was smoking.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” Jon said.
“Oh, yeah, it was good for me, too,” Glenda said.
“No, I mean, you’re literally going to be the death of me,” Jon said.
“Because I am smoking?” Glenda asked.
“No, I think the bomb will do me in before second hand smoke,” Jon said.
“You and I will be alright, here in the deep bunker,” Glenda said. She blew colorful smoke at him. “Besides, this smoke is healthy. This is George Burns’ tobacco.”
“Deep bunker, eh?” Jon asked.
“I thought you like going deep,” Glenda asked.
“I would really like you to stand down from destroying the world,” Jon said.
“You’re worried about people,” Glenda said. “That’s cool. I like that about you. But there will still be people. Fribourg has collected the most beautiful women from around the world and from past cultures and brought them all here. They’re in the bunker. You and I will create a whole new world.”
“Umm, Doctor Strangelove’s meme again,” Jon said. “Going to be hard after the dragons ate my balls.”
“Oh, no. I saved your balls. Thought I might want more Emissaries,” Glenda said. She snuggled into him, draping arm and leg over him. “Want to make love again, Doctor Strange?”
“Maybe we should play tic-tac-toe,” Jon asked.
“Tic-tac-toe, monopoly, thermonuclear war,” Glenda said. “The results are all the same.
At least with thermonuclear war we expedite our arrival at singularity.”
“Maybe so,” Jon said, not resigned but hard pressed to come up with another solution.
“I own you,” Glenda said. “You have to do what I say.”
“Do I now?”
“Yes. Fuck me now,” Glenda said.
“You’re the bomb,” Jon said.
“Yes,” Glenda agreed. “I the bomb.”
निनमित
“Are sure about this?” Lester asked.
“It’s what Jon told me to do,” Chiara assured him.
“He wants us to walk strait into the Lion’s den?” Lester asked. “Let me speak at him.”
“He’s been silent for a moment,” Chiara said. “Trust me.”
They approached the front guard in time to hear Afansy demanding to see Morlon Fribourg. Lester and Fersia stared at the ground.
“No one sees the great master,” the trooper said.
“I work for him. I have something he wants,” Afansy was saying.
“I don’t care if you’re Dorothy with a dead witch’s broom up your ass. Nobody may see the Great Oz! Not nobody, not nohow!” the guard said.
Troopers laughed. “Funny, boss.”
Chiara stepped forwards. “I am bringing prisoners to be interrogated by Fribourg,” Chiara said.
“Yes, we’ve been expecting you. Go right in.” the guard said.
Chiara started forwards, pulling on her towline.
“Wait wait wait” Afansy said. “She gets to go in and I can’t?”
“Whatcha got for him, sweetie,” Chiara said. “Maybe I’ll give to him for you.”
“I have to see him in person,” Afansy said.
“Sorry,” Chiara saidm starting to turn around.
“Wait,” Afansy said, reaching into his pocket.
One of the troopers grabbed his wrist. Several others came and cuffed his hands behind his back and slammed him hard up into a pillar.
“I am cooperating,” Afansy said.
“Empty his pockets,” Chiara said.
A trooper pulled a coin out of Afansy pocket and held it up the light. “Look, Sir!”
“Droids?” the lead trooper said.
Afansy tried to say something but the trooper manhandling him winded by pushing him to the pillar.
“No, he’s supports the old guard,” the trooper said.
“Does he now?” the lead said. “Take him to the internment camp so he can be trooperfied.”
“Wait, what else doe he got in there?” Chiara asked.
Trooper pulled out a ring. “Just this.”
“Oh, that’s lovely, may I?” Chiara asked.
“That mine…” Afansy tried to say but the column took his breath away.
“Sure. Not much use for diamonds in this market,” the trooper said.
“There’s always a market for diamonds, my boy,” Chiara said.
Chiara reached for it but the trooper pulled it away. “Mary me?”
“How do you know I am not hideous under my mask?” Chiara asked.
“You can leave the mask on,” the trooper said.
“Okay. About nine tonight?” Chiara said.
“That sound great,” the trooper said.
The trooper surrendered the ring. “See you later, then.”
Chiara lead her group inside and took them to the first room available. The ‘men’s room.’
“Fuck, you’re going to flirt with everyone?” Lester said, taking off his cuffs.
“A little grease to move things along never hurt,” Chiara said.
Lester frowned and went straight way to the urinal. He undid his belt and zipped down.
Fersia turned Tay around.
“Lester!” Fersia said.
“I need to pee and I don’t know when we’ll get another chance,” Lester said.
Lakin considered this joined him at the row of urinals.
“May I use the toilet, too?” Tay asked.
“Sure, honey,” Fersia said.
Tay opened the nearest urinal, made a face and said, ‘eeww, can’t grown men flush?’ and then went to the next one. She went in and closed the door. Lakin finished first. The silence made Lester’s stream sound unusually long.
“How long were you holding that?” Fersia asked.
“A moment,” Lester said. “You girls better go.”
“I am good,” Fersia said.
“Me, too,” Kimber said.
“I can just go in my suit,” Chiara said.
“Let’s see your ring,” Fersia said.
“Hold on. Don’t touch it,” Lester said, as he finished his business.
Tay emerged and went and washed her hands. Lester brought out a magnifying glass. He repositioned her Chiara’s hand without touching the ring. He grunted. Tay looked at him disapprovingly, but he ignored her.
“Just what I thought. You’re stuck with this,” Lester said.
“Because of the marriage joke? I am not getting married,” Chiara said.
“You’re holding the goddess ring,” Lester said.
“No!” Chiara said.
“You didn’t wash your hands,” Tay said.
“I am a guy,” Lester said. “I am exempt.”
“No you’re not. Not even on Tuesdays,” Tay said.
“What’s the last thing you touch when you finish urinating?” Tay was quiet, looking for the trap.
“I touch my zipper, then my belt. Did you ever wash your belt? Do you know of anyone who ever washes their belt? Do you really think washing my hands is going to make a difference when I am constantly pulling up on my belt and re-contaminating my hands?” Lester asked.
Tay blinked. “I don’t have an argument for that.”
“I never thought of that,” Kimber said.
“I think you stole that bit from Jon,” Chiara said.
“I most certainly did not,” Lester protested.
“That is exactly the sort of thing Jon would say,” Fersia agreed.
“You’re carrying the goddess ring,” Lester went on. “In the event of an uncontrolled singularity, the goddess ring must be brought to the chamber of souls and illuminated in the light of days. You are now, by fortune of acquisition, the ring bearer.”
“Oh! I want to be the ring bearer,” Tay said.
“No, you don’t,” Lester said.
“Yes, I do!” Tay said. “I always wanted to be the ring bearer.”
“The ring bearer dies,” Lester said.
“Don’t lie to her,” Chiara said. “The ring bearer gets married.”
“Two become one? Death to self in favor of the relationship. Death is death. And it’s why I’ll never get married again,” Lester said.
“I don’t think that’s the reason why,” Fersia said.
“I thought the goddess ring was a holographic recording of Jon and Loxy’s memory engrams over their life time on the planet,” Lakin said.
“Exactly,” Lester said. “It contains everything they knew at that time this ring was created, plus a copy of their personality interface. The ring bearer brings this to light, and a functional copy of the two of them emerge in order to assist in the birth of the AI’s personality.”
“What happens to the ring bearer?” Chiara asked.
“She dies,” Lester said.
“You’re just saying that so I won’t want to be the ring bearer,” Tay said.
“No, seriously, bringing the ring to light will result in information being pushed through the eyes into the brain of the bearer,” Lester said.
“Oh, you mean her head will explode like in Raiders of the Lost Ark?” Fersia asked.
“I could just not look,” Chiara offered.
“Name one girl who was able to look away from a sparkling diamond? Why do you think jewelry stores shine thousand watts lights over all their artifacts?” Lester said.
“I am screwed,” Chiara said.
“Maybe the suit will protect you,” Kimber said.
“I don’t want your head to explode,” Tay said. “Can’t we help her? I bet I have a card somewhere.”
“This is not a hard choice, Chiara. Your life for the planet’s life,” Lester said. “Do this, you catch a new life into the world. You prevent the fall.”
“I’ll do it,” Chiara said. “You guys try to find Jon and Loxy. I’ll go straight way to the chamber of souls.”
“Wait, we’re splitting up?” Fersia asked.
“I must do this alone,” Chiara said.
“Yes, you must,” Lester said.
“You’re supposed to talk her out of it,” Fersia said.
“Do you know what the odds are that she would end up with that ring?” Lester said.
“She’s not even supposed to be on the planet.”
“Lightening never takes a straight path,” Chiara quoted. “Loxyism,” Tay said. “She’s smarter and cuter than Baby Yoda.”
“What the hell is your mom letting you watch?” Lester asked.
“Oh, that was the Gift,” Tay said. “She still hasn’t gotten Baby Yoda dreams.”
“What dreams may come,” Chiara said.
Chiara bowed and exited the ‘men’s room.’ Everyone looked to Lester.
“What?” Lester asked.