“A registration error,” Xianfu’s broad, oriental face warped into a mask of displeasure, “It’s going to get worse.”
“No …” Brandon began with an air of knowing, but a knowing he regretted having.
Zero blinked. Though with his hair, it was hard to tell.
“Yep. The renaming of the Portals is going to go through. Pynn got it approved, heard it from some of the old gang.”
Most people would not believe stories about the Traveler’s Guild unless they came from reliable sources. As Xianfu’s “old gang” were a group of Outriders, explorers and cartographers of alternate Earths, it made him credible. It also made the situation more depressing.
“Why didn’t you, ah, tell us?” Rake asked.
“I didn’t want to depress anyone.” Xianfu admitted.
The Portals, the spots of crossing-over between Earths, were vital to Xaian commerce, and long ago, for reasons that were probably not very impressive, named with Hebraic letters. There was great Portal Aleph, lesser portal Beth, unstable portal Gimmel, supposedly nonexistent Portal Tzaddi, and so forth. It was a very traditional naming system, and Xaians liked traditions - you needed all the stability you could get.
However, the other tradition was business, and the new President of the Traveler’s Guild, Bardel Pynn, had determined the naming system wasn’t effective. It was also hard to name the minor portals or classify them. So he’d had a new method devised.
It had, apparently, made a very wrong amount of sense.
“Ah, great, ah, time to start explaining things to people, ah, again,” Rake muttered. “Huan …”
Rake paused. The Taoist Magician-Priest had not spoken at all. Despite occasionally being very wordy, no one missed it when he was quiet. He could fade into the background with ease, and often unintentionally, though it was hard to define intentional and unintentional around him.
“Oh, thinking,” HuanJen said pleasantly, “Changes, I see, are coming.”
Thinking. Everyone around the table looked at each other with the exception of Dealer Zero, who appeared confused.
Dealing with HuanJen required a kind of HuanJen-to-Non-mystic dictionary, sometimes even in Rake’s case. Over time, one was able to develop such a mental reference, but you had to pause to consult it.
For a moment, everyone glanced at each other, then at HuanJen. Having a vague feeling they were on all on the same page, if not on the same side, they forged ahead.
“Is, ah, all well, HuanJen?” Rake asked. He usually ended up having to do things like that. Out of all the mystics in the group, he was the closest person to HuanJen who wasn’t Jade.
HuanJen looked over the group. “I feel things are fine.”
Everyone consulted their internal HuanJen translation kit.
“Hey, you just seem distracted.” Lorne noted. Lorne was second in line when someone had to talk to HuanJen. He always had been, though some time ago he had been officially put in the position by Jade.
“Jade’s been distracted,” HuanJen answered, “I was concerned it was over the new hotline …”
“The working hotline,” Brandon emphasized with a Technologist’s pride. The infamous Services Hotline designed to bind the city, Guild Esoteric, the Gendarmes, and Guild Medical had not gone as well as planned initially, but the Technologists and Communicants had finally managed to make it a reality.
“The working hotline, but, she seems distracted. I think meeting with Clairice and Garnet and Riakka will be good for her.”
HuanJen’s tone of voice said it was the end of the conversation. Few needed to translate his tone.
“Well,” Zero said carefully, “Did you hear …”
Garnet and Slate’s home was designated the perfect place for a girl’s get-together. Why it had not been designated as a perfect place for the men of the group of friends to gather was something best left to Slate and Garnet.
The girls were sprawled around the living room, all with some very exotic concoction in a glass, except Garnet, who’s pregnancy limited her to water. Their latest addition to their group, the historian Riakka Bale, looked harmless and intellectual, but her lives spent among the archives of the University had provided her an amazing breadth of knowledge.
“What do you call this?” Jade asked. She was currently lying on the floor in front of the television, inspecting her glass.
“I don’t think it has a proper name,” Riakka said thoughtfully. In her brown and red historian’s robes, she still gave off an air of academia, even casually. “All I know is it works.”
“I’d love to try it, ” Garnet said from her position on the couch, which was as horizontal as Jade. Her red fur appeared to have gone limp as well.
“You’re pregnant and whatever we had for dinner didn’t agree with you. No.,” Clairice chided, sitting next to her friend, stroking her brow. “You know, I could charge you for the medical attention, I …”
“Don’t start,” Jade moaned playfully, “Please, no more about the city cutting Guild Medical contributions.”
“Do I talk about it that much?” Clairce asked.
“Yes,” everyone answered. As their group of friends was a collection of academics, esotericists, Gendarmes, and other people who kept their fingers on the pulse of Metris, they heard a great deal about politics. They often couldn’t avoid it, and thus tried to avoid it when possible.
“It’s not like it’s a historical oddity,” Riakka commented, “I can bore you with statistics.”
“Nah, I got all the lectures from Doctor Wilson,” Clairice shook her head, “He’s seen it all for the last fifty years. And he likes to tell us about it.”
“It’s the usual,” Garnet tries to sit up and failed, “They’re going to change the portal names too.”
“What?” Jade looked over at the other Vulpine. “How’d you hear that.”
“Oh. You hear things around,” Garnet’s answer was casual. Jade decided not to pry - being a housewife had made Garnet some kind of nexus for gossip, but she was best interrogated in private. Jade, being a very private person, loved to find out more about other people.
“Yeah,” Jade noted, sipping her drink. “I know what you mean.”
Clairice detected a shift in the conversation. “More weird stuff. Weirder stuff?”
“Eh, sort of. Exorcism job that got weird. Rotan handed it off and we had to deal with a few questions of territory.”
“Never ends, does it?” Riakka asked sympathetically. “I still get questions about … everything.”
“As bad as it was?” Jade asked carefully. Riakka had become entangled with their little group during an unpleasant mix of supernatural activity and politics. Her life among the Guild of Academics had returned to normal and even resulted in a promotion, but there were still repercussions.
“Nah, not really. Hey, I’m managing to have a life,” Riakka smiled, “I’m happy. And glad it’s behind me.”
“Yeah,” Jade noted, “Folks?”
There were various noises of assertion from the three women.
“I … I have a question.”
There was a moment of silence. Jade tended to either answer questions or ask them more forcefully. This was unusual. It was unusual enough that Garnet managed to sit up, though she instantly regretted it. She made a mental note to have a talk with her neighbor about the dinner recipe she’d so enthusiastically given her.
“I’m sort of … confused. Lately …”
“Sorting personal life and work?” Riakka asked analytically.
“Yeah, how’d …”
“I’m a Historian. Trust me. This happens among us all the time.” Riakka shook her head. “There’s a reason no average person marries a Historian.”
“Yeah.” Jade sipped her drink. “It’s just lately, I’m not sure. HuanJen’s apprentice, his girlfriend, an Esotericist … there’s so many different me’s. Hell, I’m even having trouble meditating, I’ve been off-course for a week and experiencing ego remnaifestation
problems and chi/pranic …”
Three pairs of eyes looked at her curiously. Jade had been introduced to a variety of concepts by HuanJen that took a lot of explaining. This was not the time to do that.
” … I’m sorta at a stage where its hard to keep everything in order. You know what I mean?” Jade hoped that made things clearer.
“I … think I can guess,” Riakka hazarded. She wasn’t exactly new to the group, but she was new to relationship issues. She wasn’t sure how relevant anything she could say would be. She was vaguely dating Dealer Zero, and last year had a crush on a man who’d tried to merge himself with a deadly supernatural entity, so she didn’t consider herself a fount of applicable wisdom when it came to relationships.
“Yeah … ” Clairice jumped in sympathetically. She’d had one or two times she hadn’t been there for Jade and figured she owed her enough. “Look, we all go through it. Hell, I did when I came here.”
“Me too,” Garnet smiled painfully, “Hey, I’d never have gotten it in order without HuanJen. Can he help?”
” … he can’t,” Riakka said wisely, “Can he?”
“No,” Jade shook her head, “I’m sort of figuring out what to do with life. I’ve tried to be … well everything. I’m not sure what to do. I’m trying to figure out where I should go. It’s like being split.”
“Sort of mystic, girlfriend, whatever …” Garnet hazarded.
” … wife, perhaps?” Jade asked.
“Yeah … ” Riakka said slowly. “I can understand.”
“Well, I mean …” Jade gestured at Garnet, “Look, you’re pregnant. What kind of mother am I going to be? Under these conditions …”
“Eileen,” Clairice said simply.
Everyone looked at Clairice. Eileen Brownmiller, wife of recently-semi-promoted Zone Cleric Rotan Brownmiller, was a beautician. Her husband was a city shaman turned semi social-worker, and she held an incredibly normal job. She helped raise a rambunctious eleven year-old.
To Claricie, the answer seemed obvious.
“Why?”
Clairice blinked. Apparently she and Jade didn’t share as much obvious.
“She has to deal with domestic and mystical issues,” Clairice ventured, dipping into every gram of bedside manner. It really was no different than getting someone to acknowledge the importance of a prescription. “I’m sure she could provide you some insights.”
Jade scowled. She had an impressive scowl.
“I’m not sure I know Eileen that well.”
“You know Rotan, Rotan knows Huan, Rotan’s part of the gang,” Clairice continued. “Basic logic for us.”
Garnet took the time to jump in, “It’s not like I can give you advice. Eileen’s nice. She said she wants to try doing my hair. For free. She doesn’t get many Vulpines. I bet she’d like to do yours.”
“Sure …” Jade felt herself at the end of a loosing argument. Down deep, she knew she should loose it.
“Talk to Eileen,” Riakka said with some affection, “She sounds like the closest thing we have.”
“And then we can go on drinking?” Jade asked.
“Sure,” Garnet, “And we can talk about pleasant things!”
“Actually … I’d like to bitch a bit more about the City Contributions.” Clairice added.
“Talk to Garnet later,” Jade said cynically, “She’s good at balancing books.”
April 19, 2001 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar
Jade peered into the apartment study.
HuanJen sat at the desk, studying some cheaply-bound tome, one of the low-cost ones cranked out by the Academic Press probably. The University’s printing division created a variety of current, quickly-needed information on budget - and that meant he was researching something recent.
And she knew what it was. She found over time she could read him if she didn’t try. Then you could read him fine - trying only obscured her ability to understand him.
He was reading about cases related to the possessed technologist. He had been warned off it of course, and of course, he was doing it. It was easy to read him in some cases. He didn’t like when things involved people being hurt, he didn’t like the twisted logic that he’d used to explain to the Technologist’s wife why her husband was gone.
She could read him. It was the most mystical she’d felt in awhile.
“Honey?” Jade asked carefully.
“Yes dear?” Suddenly the mystic was polite, aware, and looking up at her. He had apparently, not even sensed her. He was that adsorbed in his studies.
“You’re …” Jade opened the door all the way, “Still trying to figure out if something is up.”
“Curious,” HuanJen nodded, “I would have asked for your help, but you’ve seemed rather distracted. Besides, it … may involve Guild issues.”
“Yeah,” Jade nodded, “I . . the meditations aren’t going that well and I’ve got a lot on my mind. No I don’t want to talk, it’s … one of those things.”
“Of course,” HuanJen smiled, closing the book, “It’s interesting, there have been an increase in intelligent haunts possessing people the last few months, but no increase of criminal incidents, and a statistically insignificant decrease. I’ve thought of querying the Watching Dead, but I’d have to find a good contact.”
“Yeah,” Jade said distractedly. She felt a few words bounce inside her head, but she suddenly felt like not saying them.
“It’s very distracting,” HuanJen said, “Being so distracted by life. I have had that before in my career.”
“Yeah,” Jade nodded again, feeling like a wooden doll, “Yeah it is. I’ll be fine.”
His eyes were pits into infinity. He was reading her. She didn’t care.
“Of course,” HuanJen answered.
“I just need time. To work through a lot of things,” Jade nodded.
“I understand.”
“Maybe we can talk later? OK?” Jade said. “We’ve … well you have your research.”
“Yes,” HuanJen replied, watching Jade close the door.
He watched the door for a moment, then smiled sadly to himself, and resumed his research.
April 20, 2001 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar
Jade eventually managed to meet with Eileen Brownmiller. That involves missing Wrestling.
She wasn’t exactly a fan of the Xaian Wrestling Federation - it had worn a bit thin on her. Admittedly it was enjoyable, and got away with an amazing amount of jokes and social commentary between the painful moments, but it had lost a certain something. Still, it was one of those events where everyone got together and socialized, and she hated to miss it - though as it was held at Garnet’s house, at least she would avoid some of the odd feelings associated with the event.
Garnet. Pregnant. By Jade’s brother Slate. Life moving on like a river.
Her life had become like a series of index cards, just a bit more than she could keep track of normally, flipping between them. This didn’t seem to happen to anyone else, which annoyed her greatly.
So, there was Eileen.
Eileen was a member of the Beautician’s Guild, and wore her Guild Sash proudly on most occasions. She raised a son who was eleven going on thirty. She was also married to Rotan Brownmiller, a full shaman for something like fifteen years who was used to being in all sorts of bizarre situations.
She was the perfect person to talk to.
Jade just didn’t want to.
Eileen was just not someone she felt she could relate to. She did people’s hair and makeup, which was a well-respected job, but Jade didn’t see what they’d have in common. She worked with Rotan but didn’t share his job. She …
… Jade looked at the Brownmiller residence. It looked like something that you’d use for a photo shoot requiring Really Average Residence of Normal People Like Us. It had belonged to Old Man Green, one of Huan’s mentors, and had been regarded as a sort of supernatural sinkhole. It even felt different now.
… Eileen was, in the end, the clo
sest thing Jade had.
Jade walked up to the doorway. There was a stone carving of Korsufar Bex, god of construction on the porch. It seemed to be grinning at her, thought not in an unfriendly way.
She was about to knock on the door, when it was opened by Rotan. You could tell it was Rotan because few people on the planet were as large as him, and fewer dressed in the rainbow motley of a Xaian Shaman. He looked like a quilt that had worked out a lot.
“Hello Jade!” Rotan said pleasantly, stepping onto the porch. “Heading out for work.”
“Hey Rotan,” Jade tried to sound gregarious, “Just dropping by to see Eileen.”
“I heard,” Rotan winked, “She’s always glad to practice on people. Besides, I’d really like her to meet people more.”
“Yeah, well, hey …” Jade trailed off. Rotan, unlike some shamans, had not perfected the ability to read people’s emotions very well. She was glad-Huan-Jen could see through her easily when he wanted to. Rotan sort of tromped carefully through life, like an Elephant that knew ballet.
“Well,” Rotan hefted a sack on his back, “I’ve got to take care of a new couple and their daughter, then deliver some of Huan’s brews. Take care! Hey, honey, Jade’s here!”
“Later,” Jade said, watching Rotan trudge off, like a large rainbow mountain. The huge shaman was definitely something, she just wasn’t sure what.
“Hello Jade,” Eileen said, suddenly appearing in the doorway, causing the Vulpine to jump.
Eileen was tall, with elegant features and long, styled blond hair. She wore the sash of her Guild and a simple dark blue dress that flattered her. She always looked like someone had painted her. She made Jade (and her other friends, when they’d admit it) always feel a bit less … presentable. Eileen wasn’t vain, she just had a certain gift for looking good.
“Hey, Junior home?” Jade asked casually. Rotan Junior had a way to butt into things that was very disturbing. Rotan seemed to want to be his father, but an eleven-year old asking about gods and spirits was not within Jade’s sphere of comfort …
… and another twinge told her someday she could face that too.
“No, he is at school, the Sister has the class doing a special tour of Mr. Alexander’s.,” Eileen ushered Jade into the house, “We’ll have some privacy.”
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