by David Bowles
Of course, they would ask the Archon and the Oracle for guidance in this matter, as they were the Ogdoad’s representatives in the Grey Prison.
“Giya Pishan. Sorry to disturb. The Archon wishes to see you now.”
Meji’s eyes slid slowly open. They exhaled and stood, nodding at Inho Bek, who’d just spoken. The secretary gestured toward the entrance to the Archon’s office, and Meji drifted in.
Mutemi Rawe did not rise from his seat behind a simple marble desk, but he indicated a chair with a nod of his bald, speckled head. Meji sat, eyes fixed on the wrinkled visage of their spiritual and political leader. Even sitting in the presence of the ratowanin was overwhelming, an honor for which Meji had long yearned. That the Eight had seen fit to grant this childhood wish augured well.
The giya wondered briefly if they would ever be blessed enough to stand before the Oracle herself. Since their gender affirmation ceremony at the age of seven, when Meji’s community recognized them as an omedeyo, they had fantasized about becoming one of the Close, that cabal of nonbinary Pathwalkers who had served the second Oracle and scoured Jitsu for a third. Sadly, when Santo Koroma had brought Samanei to them, Meji was already too old to be recruited. Now they could only hope that their Way along the Path would bring them face-to-face with the figurehead of eternity.
“I haven’t been able to offer my congratulations,” the ancient Archon wheezed, “on your new position, Arojin-kun. I hope you’ve settled into the role well.”
Meji inclined their head slightly. “The Ogdoad’s will is always done. The congregation at Kinguyama is receptive to my guidance.”
“Speaking of the Eight, I brought you here at the behest of the Oracle. She is taking an interest in you, it seems.”
A warm, surprised feeling spread throughout Meji’s chest. “She is?”
“Yes. She and I have been discussing the direction Jitsu should be heading. As you are no doubt aware, the CPCC urges us to adopt measures that will bring us into compliance with the standards for admission.”
The giya nodded. “Is the Oracle backing CPCC membership for Jitsu?”
“She won’t say; however, she has instructed me to permit more reform. The Chamber of Deputies was formed at her command, and she also instructed me to permit the CPCC consulate to rent Tenshi Koroma’s structure near the University. Now she wants us to try something else: turning the running of a town over to a secular government so that off-worlders will be encouraged to live there.”
Meji was surprised. “I had thought, given the massacres, that the government would adopt a more conservative position. Does the Oracle not think strict Dominians will oppose such a move?”
“She does. This is why she’s balancing this move with the appointment of Santo Koroma as head of the Anti-Terrorism Squads. She insists that our conservative companions on the Path will be placated by such power, less likely to oppose our little experiment. However, she doesn’t want to be connected directly with the project, nor does she want me to be. With Arojin Koroma’s investigation underway, we have to appear to be neutral so as not to make extremists on either side too skittish.”
It occurred to Meji that the Archon needed a well-respected reformer to implement the changes, someone whom both conservatives and progressives could trust to preserve the integrity of the Pathwalker way of life while opening up their society to off-worlders.
The reason for the summons was now clear. The Oracle and the Archon, in what Meji considered the greatest honor ever, had selected them to be the vessel of their mission.
“You wish Kinguyama to be the site of the new secular government, don’t you?”
The Archon smiled broadly, his yellowed teeth showing between thin, bloodless lips. “Yes. We think you are the aptest person for the job. There are some issues you must understand, though. First, you will get no public support from us except our tacit approval when we don’t condemn your acts. The Chamber will have to vote on many of the measures you’ll be trying to implement, but given the Reformer majority, that shouldn’t be a problem. I will not veto any of the decisions they make. In addition, you’ll have to win the people of your teyopan over to your way of thinking: if you attempt to force reform on them now, with all that is going on, you’ll be defeated. This task requires work, it requires patience, and above all it requires wiles. Do you possess them?”
A tension was building in Meji. It seemed duplicity was required, the sort of political maneuvering that Santo Koroma regularly engaged in and that Meji found distasteful, though they were careful never to judge those who used such tactics, as those people’s own attainment or not of enlightenment would be sufficient judgment for all eternity. Nonetheless, in order to bring about the good the Archon and Oracle swore would come of this, Meji would have to learn to think in a novel way. Perhaps this step was the next step in their own personal Way down the Path to ra-Yindawo, along which they could walk side by side with spouse and friends and siblings.
“Tenshi,” they said suddenly. Rawe cocked his left eyebrow as if in question. Meji continued. “Tenshi Koroma. All of Jitsu is still bubbling with praise for how she protected people at the fair, she and Brando D’Angelo.”
The Archon leaned forward. “I notice he converted.”
“Yes, I draped the intambo over his heart myself.”
“Why would an offworlder become a Kinguyama teyopanjin?” Rawe wondered.
“The two wanted to marry, he and Tenshi. And that marriage is partly why I insist, kedarumsha-zin, that Tenshi is key. She has come full circle: rebellion to maturity. Under the guidance of Ramatini Hekima Umchawi she has achieved satori. She’s begun to assume responsibility for others, acting as an anshyano within Reformer circles. But she knows it’s not enough. Community matters. She asked to be reinstated into the teyopan, and the congretation assented.”
“As far as I know, the newlyweds still do not live among your people, however.” The Archon’s tone was strange, inscrutable.
“They soon will. Tenshi has asked to be granted some land near the desert to build a home. She promised to do whatever work we assigned her in exchange. I know Kinguyama will be receptive to the idea: you wouldn’t believe how many visits I’ve had from teyopanjin who are awed by her dedication to her people. They’ll accept her. And with her help I’m certain I can remake Kinguyama as the Oracle has decreed.”
The Archon steepled his fingers. “She may be an asset to your task, a bridge between two worlds. I’m not sure how the Oracle will react, but I believe yours is a good plan. What task will you require in exchange for the land?”
A slight twinge of nervousness arose in the giya then, worry that they would be considered nako by their leader. To be here in the inner office, chatting with a piece of the Ogdoad as if they were simple colleagues, was the dream of a lifetime. Now they were about to risk ostracism.
With a soft sigh, Meji dismissed such worries. Let the Eight decide what will be.
“I want her to rebuild the teyopan. We have done all we can to repair the damage and scrub away the aftermath of the massacre. But the people still feel the weight of that tragedy. It pulls them from the Path. Distracts samadan children from their meditation. So I want to tear it down and have Tenshi build it anew. In her particular style. Let its imponderable form wipe all sadness from the people’s minds.”
The look in the Archon’s eyes was indecipherable. Worry? Hope? Anger? A host of emotions flashed across his face in a matter of seconds.
After a moment of silence, his smile gone, Mutemi Rawe raspily intoned, “Do it. No matter what, Meji Pishan. Make her build it. Even if I tell you to stop, you make her build it.”
Meji swallowed heavily and nodded, not understanding, but feeling the solid weight of stewardship settle upon their shoulders.
INTERCHAPTER D
Al-Muzzamml Potential Asset Dossier: Konrau Beserra
Narrative biographical timeline. Updated on World Day, 2683.
2650. Konrau Beserra born on Tenochtitlan Platfo
rm in the United Jovian Habitats. Son of Brotherhood lieutenant Sami Arredondo and Karmen Beserra. Arredondo already married with mistresses. Little involvement in Beserra’s upbringing beyond monetary support. Visits him from time to time when carrying out Brotherhood business in UJH.
2661. After repeated behavioral issues in a corporate school, Beserra drops out and joins a klika [corridor gang] called Los Babois, which runs moku in the Koyotera district, providing a substantial cut to the Brotherhood. Beserra shows a knack for punishing dealers that do not pay on time.
2664. Beserra becomes head of his gang. Is taller and looks older than most teens his age. Leadership style: no discussion or arguing. Gives orders. If they are not obeyed, kills the offending person. Gang falls in line. He rewards them well, garnering their loyalty and affection.
2667. Beserra’s klika has absorbed all others. Petty criminal activity in Koyotera is under his thumb. His ambitions make him look at other districts on Tenochtitlan. Local Brotherhood sub-kasike Narices Betancourt takes notice of Beserra. As the platform is divided between the Brotherhood and the Aztlan Angels, Betancourt has been looking for a way to push the rival syndicate off of Tenochtitlan. Learning of Beserra and his consolidation of corridor gangs, Betancourt looks into the teen and discovers who his father is. Approaching Beserra, he convinces him to work with the Brotherhood against the Aztlan Angels.
2668. Beserra begins his infiltration, joining Loh Malianteh, a gang in the Guadalupe district with ties to the Angels. Rises quickly through the ranks. Meets Jeini Andrade—only daughter of Bruno Andrade, head of the Aztlan Angels—at a party. Not knowing her identity, Beserra “saves” her from the advances of an undesirable petty criminal. They spend the night together. The following morning, Beserra learns her identity. Despite the danger, he continues to meet up with her for the next three months. Bruno Andrade discovers that his daughter is involved with a corridor gang and investigates Beserra, learning his real loyalties and weekly routine. On October 30, knowing Beserra will be traveling up the slidewalk along Juarez Boulevard in Tenochtitlan’s hub and collecting give, Andrade takes Jeini shopping. They see Konrau standing in front of a store. Andrade tells Jeini he’s found out about their trysts, but not to worry. Instructs her to drop her bag as they go by. If Beserra bends to collect it, that means he’s a man, respectful but not fearful. Andrade will then consider giving him a chance. Jeini complies. Beserra steps onto the slidewalk and starts to pick up the purse. Andrade shoots him in the eye, but the projectile enters at an angle, exiting through his temple. As blood spatters and people start screaming, Andrade drags his daughter into a waiting transport, assuming his problem is fixed. But Beserra is not dead. Another two gangbangers undercover with him retrieve his body and take him back to Brotherhood territory. Narices Betancourt is furious with the failure and wants nothing to do with Beserra, but the young man’s mother and friends nurse him back to health.
2669. Beserra’s half-brother Felipe is born. Beserra refuses to recognize him, though he will later kill Felipe’s biological father for have impregnated their mother while Beserra was unconscious from his wound in the adjacent room.
2670. After two years of planning, Beserra is ready to take his revenge. When Andrade makes his quarterly visit to Tenochtitlan, Beserra’s team of older gangbangers and rebel Brothers carry out a hit. Many Angels are slaughtered. When Beserra breaks through to the local underboss’s office, Andrade is waiting for Konrau with a gun to his own daughter’s head. Reportedly, Andrade tells Beserra, “Put your weapons down and get the fuck out or I’m gonna kill her. Better she be dead than with a fucking Sisterhood bitch like you.”
At that, Beserra lifts his own weapon higher, beforing shifting his aim from Andrade’s head to Jeini’s. “You’re right,” he apparently replies. Then Beserra shoots Jeini, though informants insist the girl was the only person other than his mother that he has ever loved. Andrade crumples to the ground with his daughter’s body, unable to understand. Beserra walks over and puts his gun to the crime boss’s head. At this point he purportedly says, “Two mistakes. Thinking I was dead, and thinking I had a heart. Tell Jeini I sent a hello.” He kills Andrade and then makes his team leave the office. Shutting the door, he remains inside for 15 minutes. No informant can provide information about what he does during that period.
2671. In January, kasike Toni Benemerito summons Beserra to Anca L’ermandá [Brotherhood territory in the Cimmeria Region of Mars] and offers him a place in the organization. After becoming a mademan, Beserra is appointed lieutenant, overseeing crews in the Bach Run of Sol’s Oort cloud. Beserra keeps tabs on the traffic through that pathway, making sure the Angels and the AF don’t interfere with narcotic trafficking. At this point, he catches the eye of Nestor Bos, who sees leadership potential in the twenty-one-year-old.
2672. Beserra begins suffering from occasional debilitating headaches. Brotherhood medics and materias [shamans/mediums/folk healers] can find no apparent reason for them. A therapist tells Beserra they are psychosomatic, driven by the trauma of his killing the woman he loves. Beserra slits the therapist’s throat.
2675. Inspired by the great success Beserra has had in increasing profits and keeping the Aztlan Angels in-system, Bos approaches the younger man, telling him that Benemerito has begun to see him as a threat. Bos reveals that Benemerito has blackmailed him for seven years, having implanted a microbomb in the head of Ria Bos, sister to Nestor and materia of the Fidencista sect of Catholicism. Bos shows Beserra the dirt he has on their kasike: evidence of a gay relationship, frowned upon by the queermisia embraced by the Brotherhood [see dossier on Nestor Bos for further background]. The death of Benemerito will detonate the bomb in his sister’s head, so Bos has been unable to get out from under the kasike’s thumb. The following is an exchange reported by Nestor Bos himself.
After exploring various options, Beserra clarifies that if he helps Bos, the price will be his ascension to kasike. Bos agrees. Beserra reveals the truth of Benemerito’s sexual orientation to his wife Ilda, who then permits the traitors to connect her sleeping husband to a rudimentary AI chirurgic in Nestor’s possession. The docbot slowly takes over Benemerito’s brain functions, fooling the transmitter’s sensors, making Benemerito appear to wake up occasionally. Ilda, having been compensated handsomely, announces her husband is in a coma. Bos calls the family heads together and bullies them into accepting Beserra as kasike. As the young man is an Arredondo by blood, one of the six families, they go along with the unprecedented move, purportedly because of the dirt that Nestor has gathered on their family heads with the help of his sister.
But within a few hours of the ceremony, Bos receives a transmission from Benemerito’s implant:
“If you’re seeing this, mama’s boy, you or somebody’s figured a way to put me under without holing me. But you fucked up, Nestor: I don’t tap a code onto the surface of the implant ever Solar day, it goes off. I’ve protected your ugly sister for seven years by not forgetting, not a single day. Impressive, ain’t it. But you just killed her, puto. See you in the nine circles!”
The microbomb detonates, killing Ria. Nestor Bos, in a rage, flies his personal transport to Benemerito’s home, followed by Beserra, who is unsuccessful at stopping the counselor. Bos enters Benemerito’s bedroom and shoots the man twelve times with explosive projectiles that rip his comatose form apart just as Beserra enters the room.
Ilda then storms in, screaming and attacking Bos with her fists. Beserra takes the gun from Bos, puts it in Ilda’s hand, and makes her shoot the counselor in the shoulder with a non-explosive projectile. Then Beserra pulls his own weapon and kills her.
Beserra tells the family heads that Ilda discovered Benemerito’s past and tried to kill him. As Beserra and Bos attempted to stop her, she shot Bos, leaving Beserra with no choice but to kill her. This story plus a limited revelation of the truth about Benemerito’s sexual orientation convinces the heads to keep things quite and permit Beserra to remain in power. Bos insists to the
present that their anger about Ria’s death is the determining factor. Being Fidensistas, the murder of a materia is the most awful thing they can imagine.
2676. On the anniversary of Ria Bos’s death, Beserra tells Bos he understands the counselor’s loss, giving a long speech about keeping her memory alive. Bos later reports that Beserra keeps looking off into space as he speaks, as if thinking about Jeini Andrade girl, his eyes misty. Nestor Bos concludes that Beserra loved the girl and wishes he had never killed her, a conclusion supported by the fact that as of World Day 2683, Beserra has not had a permanent relationship with any woman.
2680. Beserra becomes determined to make the Brotherhood legitimate in the eyes of humanity. Nestor Bos suggests going the corporate route, as they attempted two centuries ago via an attempt to take over Soltec. But Beserra believes planets are the best avenue. Given the corporate worlds considering independence and all the new ones being discovered every year, Beserra decides to try infiltrating the governments of recent settlements so that the Brotherhood becomes the leadership instead of circumventing it.
2681. Beserra gets a message from the planet Jitsu in the Eta Cassiopeiae 2 system. Arojin [bishop] Santo Koroma, part of the theocratic government of Jitsu, makes a proposition: the Brotherhood pretends it is trying to take over the planet—slowly, step by step—and Koroma uses the intrusion as an excuse to run all the non-religious outsiders off the planet. Santo will then cancel Jitsu’s leases with the CPCC, and Konrau will keep the three planets in the Kobito subsystem, receiving a twenty-five percent give on the pilgrimage profits from other Neo Gnostics coming to visit the planet, sacred to their religion. Against the objections of Bos, Beserra agrees.