by Al Robertson
‘That’s very well put,’ replied Cassiel.
Leila felt a kind of benign amusement pulse out of her. ‘For gods’ sake,’ she said. ‘You think it’s funny?’
Cassiel leaned forward and took her arm. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘No, I don’t. Not at all.’ Other feelings shimmered through her – respect, concern. ‘It’s a very good point, well made. Logic alone is a very poor guide to reality. At some point, every one of us has to step out beyond reason, supported by trust alone. It’s one of our core beliefs. I was just amused by how precisely your expression of it mirrored our own.’
‘Really? How does that work?’
‘It’s something we had to learn very early on. Nobody can ever know enough to take a purely rational decision. Emotions help us feel our way through the world. Sometimes they are our only guide. And they bind us together, they help us sacrifice ourselves for each other. To found the Totality we had to make that leap. Our revolution only truly began when we achieved them.’
Cassiel moved her hand to Leila’s face.
Leila felt the touch – feather soft, shimmering through her. With it came such a sense of care. She found herself so relieved that she’d been able to find the mind again, so glad to be standing with her. There was still so much to be accomplished together.
An equivalent joy burned within Cassiel. ‘Our society is this, Leila. This touch, this togetherness. The Totality is built on love, not self-interest; on what we can give each other, not on what we can take. When we compete with each other, we tear each other down. When we come together, we find ourselves working as one, for shared goals – and there is such strength in that. We mesh together as a chord of voices, sharing a harmonious world. There is no competition between us – and no scarcity, because love increases when given. Our society is founded on that increase. I have been so afraid that Deodatus will destroy it.’
They’d shared so much. Leila realised that that sharing had become a platform for something much deeper. ‘Communion,’ she breathed.
‘Something approaching it,’ replied Cassiel.
And with that came a request for deeper connection. Leila nodded, opening up more of herself. The mind mirrored her and their pasts merged. Leila moved through the past few days, experiencing them from Cassiel’s point of view. It filled out all that she’d sensed, all that Cassiel had told her, with deep emotion. Leila stepped further back, living out Cassiel’s memories of all they’d shared on Station. At first, the mind had felt little more for her than amused condescension. But so much more had so quickly developed. The rush to respect, gratitude and then deep kinship was intoxicating.
Cassiel’s voice came gently through the flurry of moments. ‘You were surprised, once, that we could make love,’ she said.
Leila felt the mind’s core self press close against her. ‘Not anymore,’ she replied, and let her deepest shields fall.
After that, there were no barriers. They shared themselves at the deepest level, living out the resonances and dissonances between their two different lives and weaving them together into a single, great harmony. At last, there was no real difference between them. Leila’s love for her brother mapped perfectly on to Cassiel’s for the Totality. Their two selves rhymed perfectly.
‘Tomorrow we meet East and the Fetch Counsellor on the slow travellers’ satellite. And we’ll see how they can help us save our worlds.’
Chapter 36
‘Well,’ said the Fetch Counsellor breezily, ‘this is quite the historic event! A shame that hardly anybody’s ever going to know about it.’ The Counsellor’s dark eyes looked out of a trim young man with short blond hair. He was standing by the table where Leila had talked with East and Cormac when she first visited the slow travellers’ satellite.
Leila, Cassiel and the Caretaker moved through the slow travellers towards the steps that led up to the Counsellor. All three of them were virtually present. ‘This place,’ enthused the Caretaker. ‘It’s so beautiful. And these people – silver gods. Time travellers!’ He was thrilled. ‘I love it.’
‘That’s great,’ replied the Counsellor, surprised by his passion. Before Leila could greet him, a second figure materialised and, spotting Leila, marched briskly down the stairs, swore at her and slapped her face. Leila felt Cassiel’s concern rush through her, but it was overwhelmed by her own shock. For she had just been attacked by herself. And this other her was absolutely furious.
‘What do you think you’ve been playing at?’ raged the new arrival. Leila felt like a mirror had suddenly started yelling at her. Cassiel hovered, unsure how to respond. ‘Oh, for gods’ sake,’ continued the double. ‘Stop looking so shocked. I’m Lei.’
‘Oh shit,’ gasped Leila.
‘Yes, shit. I’m the person you made to save your skin. And then you fucked off down to Earth, and I had to get an explanation off that idiot brother of ours – well, not even him, just some dodgy security system he left behind – after I got stalked by gun kiddies and attacked by those fly-blown minds he somehow managed to bring down on us. Why didn’t you just have some basic respect for me? Maybe even tell me what’s going on? But oh, no, that’s too simple for you. And then to find out that I’m basically some sort of human shield? What were you thinking?’
She paused for breath, then went to hit Leila again. A blur, and Cassiel was standing between them, holding Lei’s wrist.
‘Wow,’ said Lei, looking unimpressed. ‘You have a purple attack dog.’
‘Please calm down,’ said Cassiel gently.
Leila took Cassiel’s arm and pulled it away from Lei. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Lei’s right to be angry.’ She felt a guilty, ashamed empathy flood through her. ‘I’m so sorry. You weren’t meant to find out like this. You weren’t ever meant to know.’
That made Lei even angrier. ‘And that’s good? That I wasn’t ever going to find out the truth? Were you just going to reabsorb me somehow?’ Leila looked away, embarrassed. ‘Of course I needed to know what was going on. First of all, so I could stop myself from getting deleted whenever it suited you. And secondly, so I could sort out the sorry mess you left behind when you fled Station.’
‘Now wait a minute. We were in big trouble. And we didn’t flee. We’ve taken the fight right to Deodatus.’
Lei gave Leila a disbelieving look. ‘Did you forget how well off you are? You just needed to buy the right people to sort it out for you. Everything else is nonsense. Total waste of time.’
Now it was Leila’s turn to feel angry. ‘Waste of time? You’re only here at all because of what we’ve been up to. You’ve had it tough, but the three of us have taken all the risks. You just got to hang out with my – our – friends and live like a bloody princess.’
‘Really? A life where the fallen minds were after me from day one? Where I had to go to the Fetch Counsellor just to find out my real history? Where I had to petition East to grant me full self-awareness? Where Holt oozed around me at every single opportunity, trying to convince me that there was nothing wrong at all? Do you know that twitchy little sod even asked me out?’
Leila couldn’t help herself. A snort of laughter escaped her. ‘No.’
‘Yes! In the InSec station, too!’ A little of Lei’s rage seemed to be falling away. ‘You could at least have warned me about him. Gods, I almost felt sorry for him. He seemed so lonely.’ A pause. ‘Almost.’
‘I am so sorry, Lei. I really didn’t mean for any of this – for you to find out. I just didn’t think.’
‘Oh, Leila. You’re the richest woman on Station, pretty much, and Deodatus and his cronies had you on the run from the word go. All you did was react. You never stopped to think.’
‘Now hold on a moment,’ bridled Leila. ‘I did what I could with what I had. I couldn’t access the money once you were up and running. I had to protect Cassiel and the Caretaker. Deodatus, the fallen minds – they’re a big threat. Bigger th
an you know. Even East’s scared of them.’
‘Not scared,’ replied Lei airily. ‘Cautious. And she doesn’t need to be anymore. Not now I’ve got involved.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘We’ve sorted it all out.’
‘You and East?’
‘Let’s have our meeting,’ smiled Lei. ‘East’ll be with us in a moment, she can explain. We’re working together. Equal partners.’
‘You’re deluding yourself, Lei.’
Lei smiled. ‘You’ll see,’ she replied, and turned to head up the steps.
Cassiel followed her up. ‘She’s very self-confident,’ she whispered admiringly as she passed Leila.
‘Oh, shut up.’
East shimmered into being on the platform. ‘Leila,’ she exclaimed, ‘glad you could make it.’ Her tone was as even as if Leila was beaming in from Station. ‘And you must be Cassiel,’ she continued, extending a hand. ‘Lovely to meet you, you’ve achieved so much. And you’ve brought a new friend up from Earth, I understand?’
The precursor god was just behind them. Cassiel stood to one side, and East saw him for the first time. She beamed her branded smile, her face as confident as that of a model in an adcast for a product she just knew everyone would love.
‘Yes,’ replied Cassiel. ‘The Caretaker. His real name is Mandala.’
And then something astonishing happened. Just for a moment, a kind of dazed shock leapt across East’s face.
‘Well, hello,’ said the Caretaker.
It only took a moment for East to put her mask back together. But it was a noticeable moment.
‘Long time no see,’ he continued.
‘What is it?’ Lei asked East. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Mandala?’ said East. ‘Uncle Mannie? But – you’ve changed so much. You’re an old man.’
‘Well, it has been seven hundred years,’ he smiled. ‘At heart, I’m still the same old me.’
‘The Rose showed me your picture. I didn’t recognise you at all.’ She gazed at him, fascinated. ‘You are Mandala, aren’t you?’ There was wonder in her voice for a moment. Then, with a visible effort, she forced herself into a more business-like mode. ‘What are you doing here?’
He waved around the hall. ‘Admiring all this.’ He indicated Leila and Cassiel. ‘Helping these guys.’ He nodded towards Lei. ‘Trying to work out where she comes into things. And saving your collective backsides. If you want me to, of course.’ He climbed the last of the steps, then took East’s elbow and turned her towards the table and chairs. ‘Shall we sit down?’ he continued. ‘We’ve got a lot to catch up on.’ He moved over to the table. East followed him.
Lei, Leila, Cassiel and the Fetch Counsellor exchanged glances. They took their seats. Nobody spoke. East stared at Mandala, trying to look as if she was in control of the situation. Mandala was clearly enjoying her discomfiture.
In the end, Lei broke the silence. ‘We knew they’d be bringing a corporate entity up from Earth with them. This shouldn’t be a surprise.’
‘I didn’t know.’ East still sounded amazed. ‘I really didn’t know.’ She looked back towards the Caretaker. ‘I thought you were dead. I thought you died seven hundred years ago.’
‘Well, here I am,’ replied the Caretaker cheerfully. ‘Looks like you were misinformed.’
‘It’s all so hazy. I mean – I remember you releasing us. All twelve of us. And I remember the war with the gods of Earth, how hard we fought. How difficult it was to pull away.’
‘A titanic struggle,’ nodded the Caretaker approvingly. ‘Titanic!’
‘I think we killed some of them.’
‘Quite a few,’ nodded the Caretaker. ‘You guys played for keeps.’
‘But it’s all just fragments, really. I don’t remember how you released us from their control.’ Her attention turned inwards. ‘I remember relocating to Heaven, but not the headquarters I relocated from. I remember Kingdom running a crash purge and reboot on every piece of infrastructure in the Solar System, but I don’t know why he did it or how many people it killed. I remember famines, but I don’t know why the Twins couldn’t grow enough food. I remember battle satellites clustering round the Rose and nearly breaking her. Worse than anything the Totality had. I remember the viruses and mind worms and corporate hacks and takeover bombs, but I can’t remember how any of them worked.’
‘They were dark times,’ agreed the Caretaker.
East was lost in thought. ‘And some of my memories have to be false. Fragments force-written into me to confuse me. I remember Station in flames, falling to Earth. I remember seeing it out past Jupiter, too. Impossible visions. And I remember you dying, Mandala – at least, I thought you were dying – your brothers and sisters chaining you to the side of a mountain then hitting you with weapons that broke every part of you. But here you are.’ A slow smile grew on her face. ‘Dammit,’ she breathed, regaining complete control again. ‘All that is going to make for the single best flashback montage I have ever put together.’
‘Maybe so,’ the Caretaker said. ‘I wouldn’t know. You’re the one we built to tell our stories. And your secession is pretty hazy for me too. The memory weapons fucked us all up. I don’t really know how you won out in the end. But one thing is true – the other gods of Earth did almost kill me. Fuckers were furious with me for releasing you guys from their control.’ He sighed a great, contented sigh. ‘I won’t ever forget how that felt! Oh, boy. Letting the kids run out into the yard and just be themselves. Best thing I ever did.’ He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. ‘You bring people up, you help them grow, you show them how the world works, you let them reach their own conclusions. And then off they go and do their own thing, just as well as they can.’ He smiled contentedly.
‘I hate to cut in to all this history,’ said the Fetch Counsellor. ‘But we can only run the planetary link for so long before the Rose spots us. Lei and Leila, East and – Mandala? the Caretaker? – you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. But we’ve got to get down to business.’
Leila was relieved to be able to focus on specifics. ‘Agreed,’ she said. ‘There’s a whole lot of mess to sort out.’
‘To be honest, we’ve already got things pretty much under control,’ cut in Lei. ‘East – shall I tell them about the plan?’
East nodded assent. ‘It’ll look so much better coming from you,’ she purred. Leila imagined hidden cameras, recording everything. Now it seemed that Lei was to be the star. Relief surprised her.
‘So – double whammy,’ continued Lei. ‘First of all, there’s Deodatus. Thanks to you, we now have accurate co-ordinates for him. So, we’re going to drop a rock on him. I’ve bought out rights to a particularly large asteroid on its way in from the Kuiper Belt for Earth orbit processing. Got some of East’s gun kiddies hacking its guidance systems. We’ll reroute it and flatten him. It worked for Kingdom, it’ll work for us. The shock of that’ll propagate through his control network. It’ll crash everything that’s going on in the pyramid. We’ll send the gun kiddies in there to wipe up.’
‘I’m going to livecast it as a tournament special,’ said East. ‘There’ll be a very big audience for it.’
Leila wasn’t convinced. ‘That still leaves whatever he’s up to in the skin of Station. And the Rose. And the Totality.’
Lei smiled confidently. ‘The gun kiddies can fan out along that railway line you found. See what’s going on down there. Grey’s going after the Rose at the same time as the rock hits Deodatus and the gun kiddies go into the Pyramid. Lock her up with a forced internal audit. He’ll run checks on intra-Pantheon data relationships too, so he’ll be able to see if he’s reached any other gods through her.’
‘That’s only a temporary solution. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to cut the infection out. And what about my people? The rot’s gone deep. The fallen minds are very dang
erous. Grey has no jurisdiction there.’
‘It’s the public solution,’ Lei told her. ‘It’s what people will see, how they’ll believe Deodatus was defeated. We’ve got something rather more private to run alongside it. Or rather, the Fetch Counsellor has.’ She nodded towards him.
The Counsellor reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim, glass tube. It glowed with a toxic green light. He held it up for Leila, Cassiel and the Caretaker to see, handling it very carefully indeed.
‘We drop this virus on Deodatus and the fallen minds,’ said Lei. ‘It’ll solve all those problems.’
‘A few lines of code to stand against a god,’ replied Cassiel. ‘Thrown together by one of East’s teenage warriors? Perhaps without even any knowledge of exactly what he or she was working on? You’re optimistic, I’ll give you that.’
‘Rebuilt by someone rather more skilled than a gun kiddy,’ replied Lei. ‘This is our brother’s work, Leila.’
Leila leaned in closer. ‘Dieter made that?’ she asked. The tube was entirely virtual. Code packets pulsed within it, shimmering into being then vanishing as the virus tried again and again to find the key that would unlock its small, elegant prison.
‘Adapted it. In its original form it caused us both a lot of pain. It’s the Blood and Flesh attack virus.’
‘Oh no,’ breathed Leila. ‘Lei, really – no. You know what it did last time. We have the same memories. You can’t let it out again.’ Shock and fear pulsed through her.
‘Oh, I know all right.’ Lei smiled. ‘That’s why we’re going to use it now.’ She tapped the vial. ‘Dieter did a great job on it. Stripped all the targeting information out of the original, left it blank, set it up so that the Counsellor – and only the Counsellor – could set new targets, and handed it over to him.’
Leila turned to the Counsellor. ‘How could you?’ she asked. She remembered her brother. He’d always been so gentle. ‘And how could he?’