Crossworld of Xai

by Steven Savage

  Rake attacked his files and papers with the fury of a man who loves his work. A few leads came up here and there, none exactly exciting to Jade. She knew the classic saying that beggars couldn’t be chosers, but she’d never been the kind to beg.

  “It’s not bad …” she looked at the printouts Rake had finally come up with.

  “You can try elsewhere, I do, ah, do this for donations …”

  “No, Rake, this is great. Hell, one of these has to turn out.”

  Jade lapsed into thought. Police archivist. Travelers’ Guild research assistant. Entry Level Internet Support for the Communications Guild. Not bad, not at all. Still …

  “There, is, ah, one more possibility.” Rake said conspiratorially. The edge in is voice cut through his spastic helpfulness.

  “Yes?” Jade raised an eyebrow. Suddenly Rake was far different than the jovially helpful, slightly annoying person she’d been talking too. She liked this person better; there was a gleam in his eye that hinted at unknown temptations.

  “You want something different, yes. Something, ah, unusual? I saw your eyes last night, at the exorcism, ah, you have a taste for the strange.”

  “Yes.” Jade’s green eyes bored into his brown ones. Rake was grinning, a lopsided grin at a joke only he got. “Got something for me?”

  “I may have a, ah suggestion, perhaps … I think you may like it, and it would mean something to me as well …”

  Jade left Temple Street ten minutes later, lost in thought. This was not always the best way to travel Metris, as one tended to end up lost elsewhere as well. She’d nearly missed her next trolley, the driver of which had gone against all convention and decided to be on time. Considering her next goal was to see Slate out of some misguided sense of family loyalty, she wasn’t sure this was good.

  She located a pay phone near the trolley station, surprised momentarily at the existence of such a mundane object in Metris, and called Slate’s apartment. Much to her surprise, and perhaps disappointment, he was in. A minute later, she found herself heading for a local restaurant known as the Albioth Cafe to eat with he and Garnet. Jade wasn’t sure what she had wanted to do, wasn’t sure how to act, but Slate had plenty of ideas.

  He had always been insistent, and she gave in again. He was family, after all, as much as that meant to her. It had to mean something. Family didn’t mean much at Colony despite the rules and traditions. The closest thing she’d seen to her ideas of family were people like HuanJen and his friends, people that were close without feeling like they needed some way to make it official.

  She envied them that. People she barely knew, fitting in together, fitting in here. Jade wasn’t jealous, but wasn’t beyond being more green-eyed than she was by nature.

  The Albioth proved to be a nice little diner, not the best food she’d had, but it was quick, cheap, and the service was friendly. Unfortunately, Slate immediately went into speech mode, with Garnet remaining silent except for the occasional interjection. Jade had to admit only missed Slate because he was gone, but in person … he was her brother but he was still a blockhead. Yes he had his life in order, and yes, he seemed to have something going with Garnet. But …

  ” … and I hope you’re taking care of yourself, visiting Rake is only …”

  He treated her like an idiot. She who was only a year younger than he, who had taken care of mother’s arrangements when she’d died and father was busy overseas. He assumed every woman was stupid, except apparently Garnet, who rarely got a word in edgewise, yet was never questioned by him. He was the perfect product of Colony, and that was as much family as she had.

  “I’m fine, and I’m glad you’re trying to help.” Jade dabbed her mouth as Slate finished the latest ramble she didn’t listen to.

  “Good!” Slate smiled. “Well, excuse me ladies, nature calls.”

  Slate hauled his muscle-bound bulk out of the booth and strode to the back of the caf��. Jade found herself alone with Garnet. As quiet as the red Vulpine was, you felt like you had to talk around her, just to fill the void.

  “Well … how are you?” Jade began.

  “Fine.” Garnet smiled, looking down. “He talks a lot, but he means well.”

  Jade started. It was like Garnet was reading her thoughts.

  The red-furred Vulpine nodded. “He’s not very open with anyone but me, don’t worry about him, Jade. And I know you’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks.” Jade smiled. Garnet looked up at her for a moment, eyes sparkling. “And thanks for introducing me to HuanJen. He’s helped a lot.”

  Garnet smiled. “He does that. He’ll … he’ll do anything to help. Trust me.”

  “I … see …” Garnet radiated a kind of warm affection towards her benefactor that was pleasing and reassuring. “Did you and he …”

  “No!” Garnet’s voice suddenly flirted with a normal volume. “He helped me out, he let me stay there, he helped me adjust, helped me feel better. Nothing more.”

  “OK. I’m sorry.” Jade felt a bit unsettled, trying to figure Garnet out. It wasn’t easy, her silence concealed unknown depths.

  “It’s fine, I’m sorry, I get a bit agitated.” Garnet’s voice was back to normal.

  “OK … ” Jade began when a shadow fell across the table. Slate was back.

  “So, when you get a job …” Slate began as he sat down. Jade tuned him out automatically. If Garnet was right, eventually he’d doubtlessly do something worth her attention. Until then …

  … her mind kept wandering back to what Rake had told her, and the sensation that there was something important just within her grasp.

  An interminable time later, Jade was free, and a bit disgusted with herself. The entire city of Metris, the entire world of Xai … and she was still living her past. Hell, she was eating lunch with her past.

  Of course, she had to admit, that past was less than a day and a half-gone. It already seemed much longer. The experience …

  The experience was changing her. She’d lost her old world, her old life. It felt good, in a way, but she felt like she’d loose a lot more before she’d found her place on Xai …

  Jade checked the hand-scrawled directions HuanJen had given her, promising to meet her to show her around Metris. With relative ease she located the small park he had indicated and found an isolated bench on which to think.

  Think. Again, thinking about how she was changing.

  The place was like a drug, or an emotion. Even in her limited experiences. Words she’d never heard of buzzed through her head - Stormriders, Guild Esoteric, Piscion, others. She saw people unlike her and like her, strange and common, exotic and dull. Everything was so vibrantly alive.

  She wanted to be part of it damn it. Not slave away. Not be like her old self in her past life. Live. Even in the maze of Guilds and names and words, she could feel a pulse underneath it all …

  “Hello, Jade.”

  Jade’s reverie shattered at the sound of HuanJen’s voice. He’d appeared out of nowhere again, as if Xai regularly pulled a oriental sage out of its sleeve at random intervals.

  “Hey.” She stood up, shouldering her satchel. “Ready to go? You’re …”

  “I’m afraid I have to take a detour, Jade.” The cleric’s expression was melancholy. “I got a call from the Gendarmes. They need me to take a look at someone. I think we have a bad batch of Panda … er, Pandemonium going around.”

  Jade’s ears perked up. “Another exorcism? I don’t mind.”

  “Curious?” Jade looked downward at the question, embarrassed. HuanJen continued. “It won’t take long, I hope.”

  HuanJen extended an arm in a gentlemanly manner, and she took it. He was full of surprises - she hadn’t expected such a formal gesture from the rather informal magician-priest. For a supposed Holy Man he exhibited no formality. This also meant he was unlikely to preach, pontificate, or convert, which meant there was less danger Jade would have to kill him for getting on her nerves. HuanJen wasn’t so much a minister as a ki
nd of consultant or spiritual handyman.

  Actually, thinking about him that way made him a lot more understandable.

  The cleric led her a few blocks away, explaining that this was freelance work for the Gendarmes. They always kept a list of members of Guild Esoteric on tap for any out-of-the-ordinary occurrences. In Metris and on Xai, it was a list often in use, as the out-of-the-ordinary was often right around the corner.

  The unusual pair arrived at a small apartment building, and were led inside by black-uniformed Gendarmes. HuanJen talked with one quietly before they let Jade accompany him with only one or two quizzical glances.

  Inside, he and Jade found a small apartment and a large mess.

  If things hadn’t been broken, they’d been thrown about, and if they couldn’t be thrown about, they’d been savagely attacked and torn. It was a textbook example of how to completely destroy a living space.

  “Damn …”

  “Pandemonium leads to various mental effects, many often lead to psychological instability. It’s derived from ritual drugs, sadly.” HuanJen said, looking around carefully. “We’re too late.”

  “He’s gone?”

  “He’s dead.” HuanJen’s words were bereft of his usual civility or warmth. He walked dejectedly towards a back room.

  Jade followed, her curiosity now giving way to an invasion of worry. What little she’d seen of the mystic had been quite pleasant, and suddenly he was … less. She wasn’t even going to ask how she knew the apartment’s resident was dead without seeing him.

  The holy man wandered into a bedroom as decimated as the rest of the apartment. A the corpse of a short-haired man, barely clothed except for a shredded shirt and a scrap of a blanket, was sprawled on the floor. His knuckles were bloody and his fingernails torn.

  HuanJen knelt by the body, looked it over, and then closed the wide-staring eyes. He muttered something under his breath, concentrated, and then stood.

  “Let’s go. We can’t do anything.”

  “Huan? Are you …”

  “No,” the answer was curt, but there was a sad flash of his polite side. “I’m sorry. It’s a very sad way to die, alone. Very sad. It doesn’t look like there will be any hauntings.”

  “Did you know him?” Jade asked.

  “No. Let us go, the Gendarmes need to clean up.”

  Jade looked back at the ruined bedroom and at the magician-priest. He gave her a small smile, and exited the apartment. The Vulpine followed, and caught up with him. She wished she could say something, but was damned if she knew anything appropriate. Comforting people wasn’t her strong point.

  HuanJen said little on the way home, except some small talk about what he planned for dinner, which seemed to cheer him. When they arrived back at the apartment, he went and sat on the patio, leaving Jade alone. It wasn’t impoliteness, as far as she could tell - truth be told despite seeming quite intelligent, he had moments of stunning social incompetencye.

  Lost in her own thoughts, unsure of what to do, Jade tried seeing what was on television. Apparently Xai, or at least Metris, had a handful of channels, both broadcast and some kind of cable. There was news, there was weather, there were programs obviously imported from various Earths. There was …

  She was avoiding the issue. She knew she had to talk to HuanJen, and she knew what she was going to say. She’d been practicing since she’d left Rake’s church - and sadly, her plans had only gotten more convoluted over time. Some people could overplan, but Jade could overplan with ruthless inefficiency.

  “Ah, hell.”

  Jade stalked onto the porch. She attempted to strike a friendly demeanor.

  “Hello, Jade. Can I help you?” HuanJen looked up at her. Apparently he’d been ‘watching’ like he had last night. The sensation of his strange openness was comforting, like a warm breeze, and she relaxed somewhat in his presence.

  “Uh, yeah.” Jade grabbed a chair, sat, wondered if she should be standing, then gave up and leaned back.

  “Yes?”

  “Look, Rake may have found me something. It’s a bit odd, but I think the position is still open?”

  “Really?” Huan turned his chair around to face her. “That’s wonderful! I’m impressed. What is it?”

  Jade became tongue-tied for a moment, then leapt into the breach. “He said you needed an … you needed someone to help you with bookkeeping, appointments, scheduling. An … assistant I suppose.”

  HuanJen looked at her curiously, a myriad of emotions scampering across his face. Jade tried to guess what he was feeling, and gave up - he’d tell her soon enough.

  The cleric finally spoke. “I had almost forgotten about that. I’d asked Rake six months ago. Garnet had thought about it, but she really wasn’t up for the life I lead …”

  “Yeah, well, Rake still thinks you need one. And my guess is having seen you get interrupted with two emergencies …”

  “Well, I think I said that it’s probably a bad batch of Pandemonium …”

  Jade continued forcefully, ” … you’re gonna need someone. I mean, Rake gave me some idea of what you and the rest of Guild Esoteric do, you people fill in a lot of gaps around here. Isn’t there even some big project by the guilds to make a guide, and you didn’t even tried to contribute, and you’ve been here four years.”

  The magician-priest blushed a bit. “The guidebook. Oh, well, I’d wanted to participate, I get around, but …”

  “Uh-huh. OK. Look. I want the job.”

  “That I’ve gathered. Why?”

  Here it came. Jade steeled herself, quite sure she was going to sound like, if not a complete idiot, at least a partial one.

  “I …”

  She looked at HuanJen. She’d really wanted to say something nice and flower and poetic - and she couldn’t. It wasn’t appropriate and around him, it wasn’t necessary.

  “Look … look, OK, I came here for something else. I didn’t want to become a wage slave like my brother or just come here to get away. I wanted something else. Something …”

  “More?”

  “Yeah. And … look, you deal with exorcisms and things like that, Rake told me what your job entails, marriages, and counseling, and herbology, and … hell, interesting shit.”

  “Thank you. Summing up my job as ‘interesting shit’ is the high point of my day.” HuanJen grinned.

  Jade rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation “You know, when you display a sense of humor, its kind of irritating. I’m trying to be honest here, Mr. HuanJen. I want to do more, be part of this … thing of Xai, of Metris. I want this and …”

  “Yes?”

  “I … I’ve got to trust someone.” Jade counted off her explanations on her fingers. “One, there’s my brother who is well meaning, but he’s … himself. There’s Garnet, who dates my brother, enough said. So, you’re elected. I admit by default, but you’re it.”

  “I’m flattered. I’m not joking.” The mystic’s dark eyes had a peculiar, almost sad expression. “I’m touched. I’m glad you trust me. I won’t betray it.”

  Jade felt strange for a moment, like she was falling. The man’s utter honesty was like a wave crashing into her, and his eyes …

  “You’re disgustingly trustworthy, Huan. I’ve picked that up easily.”

  HuanJen seemed unfazed, but grateful. “Thank you. Now, about me being your employer …”

  “Errr … yeah.” Jade put her hands on her hips. “I don’t do the employer-employee thing. Not here. Partners.”

  “Partners.”

  “You got it. Look, it’s for your own good, I don’t take orders well.”

  HuanJen sat back, crossed his legs, and steepled his fingers in thought. For a five-second eternity, he just looked at her. Jade stiffened for a moment, feeling as if he was suddenly looking out of her eyes. It was very similar to the way he had looked out over the city.

  Finally, HuanJen nodded slowly. “Partners. If Rake says you’re good enough, I’m sure you have the skills. And I’m sure I
can trust you.”

  The cleric extended a hand and Jade shook it.

  Still, Jade couldn’t help but ask one question. “Why can you trust me? I mean lets face it, most Vulpines don’t have a good reputation. Not that I’m complaining.”

  “I have a feel for people, Jade, and … you’ve trusted me. You’ve put a lot of faith into me. I can only reciprocate it. I also have the feeling you’ll make an excellent assis … partner. Nothing seems to stop you.”

  “Uh, yeah. I get a bit aggressive at times.”

  “I’ve noticed. It will serve you well, when needed. I assume you’ll be staying here?”

  “I figured. I mean, it was one of the offered benefits in the job.”

  “HuanJen snapped his fingers. “I forgot about that. I’ll have to introduce you to everyone, and we’ll need to split up chores. I like to cook, but …”

  Jade held up a warning hand. “Trust me. You cook. Save us a lot of trouble. Besides, I gather you enjoy it.”

  “True. OK, then you clean the apartment.”

  “Excuse me. I thought I was a border.”

  “Ah, but according to you, we’re now partners, and that does mean sharing …”

  This is Metris, the centerpoint of Xai, and the city of infinite history.

  This is Xai, the Crossworld.

  Try and imagine it …

  Try and imagine living there …

  “You, know, I hate cleaning. At least cleaning up after other people. I suppose I can adapt.”

  “Welcome to Xai, Jade, you’ll be doing a lot of that …”

  INTERLUDE: Marketplace

  It was the crossworld of Xai, the gateway to an infinity of Earths, home to a cross-section of worlds, land of myriad opportunities. It was also Jade’s day to do the shopping for her and her roommate, which somewhat diminished the whole experience. The black-furred Vulpine had learned that no matter how supposedly wondrous her new home, there were many things in ones life that didn’t change there. Shopping was one of those things.

  “Take it slow,” said new her partner, the cleric HuanJen, “You’ve been here a week, you need to learn the basic living skills. Besides, you’re my assis … partner. You’ve managed to balance my schedule, but you really do need to learn to make your way in Metris for us to work together.”