Legba

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  As these thoughts began to inspire a wave of hopeful euphoria in Legba, he glanced from the sword’s hilt, up to Raven Black’s face. Upon seeing the mix of pain, fear, intensity, and kindness in her eyes, his balloon of elation began to deflate. It should not even need mentioning, Legba thought to himself, that this Raven Black is a real person. She is not just a vessel, to be used whenever such use is convenient, or even necessary. This will be difficult for her. Even under the most controlled conditions, this is by no means an easy procedure. Ideally, over a period of days, the sword could be fully integrated into the subject’s cerebellum, allowing the subject to attain a high level of responsiveness and connection with the sword. However, under these circumstances, we do not have the luxury of days. Or even hours. We will be down to mere minutes. And such a quick crash course would be more than enough to utterly fry the brain of a normal person.

  He stared at the ceiling, looking into the light bulbs overhead as Raven Black dragged him further and further through the hallway. However, at this point, I am certain that Raven Black is… is more than normal. I must trust my intuition. For if I am wrong… well… there is no point in going to such a dark place…

  Legba looked away from the lights, dead ahead, and a couple of doors away he saw it: the door to the medical bay. He jostled the arm that lay slung over Raven Black’s shoulders and gestured towards the door with his head. “There it is! Quickly now!”

  Raven Black looked at him, her face twisted by exhaustion. “‘Quickly now’? I’m not exactly going on a leisurely stroll through a park, you know…”

  Raven Black pulled Legba through the doorway to the med bay. He looked around, taking in the facilities. It is not exactly a world-class operating theater, he thought to himself, but it probably is the room on this ship that is best suited for neurosurgical experiments. Almost certainly better than an engine room, or a closet full of cleaning supplies. There are probably even some bandages and some bits of gauze lying around somewhere. The two key tools of neurosurgery.

  Raven Black leaned Legba against a large examination seat. She then knelt down and carefully placed the sword on the floor nearby. She turned back towards Legba. “Okay. I might need your help, to get you up there. I’m so sorry if this hurts…”

  Raven Black tentatively moved her hands towards Legba’s waist, attempting to get a grip on his body so that she could pull him up, into the seat. However, when her hands were on Legba’s sides, he grabbed onto her shoulders, and effected as quick a spin as he could muster in his condition, turning the two of them around by 180 degrees.

  Legba took a deep breath, and with one of his last remaining reservoirs of strength, he lifted Raven Black, placing her on the examination seat.

  Raven Black looked down at him from the high seat, confused. “What the fuck are you doing? I’m not the one who got shot!”

  Legba looked up at her, a pained expression on his face. “I am so sorry. But there is no time. I must admit, I have a made a grave mistake. I have inadvertently led them here.”

  Raven Black furrowed her brow. “You led who here?”

  Legba stared at the floor. “It does not matter now. All that matters is that I unveiled the sword, and they simply cannot be permitted to get it. It must be protected above all else. Even above my life.”

  Raven Black sat back in the examination seat. She glared at Legba. “And above my life, as well?”

  Legba looked up at her, a smile of amusement creeping across his face. “Oh, heavens, no. You will be the one protecting it. With your life.”

  A look of skepticism came across Raven Black’s face. “I’ll be protecting a sword with my life? I don’t consider myself to be an expert on swords or sword-related matters, besides the fact that I can, you know, use one, but my understanding was that people used swords to protect people, not to protect swords. You know, maybe you’ve lost so much blood that you kind of forget how swords are supposed to work. And that’s okay. That’s fine. If you’ll just sit down in this seat, we can—”

  Legba took a deep breath and looked up at Raven Black gravely. “Raven Black. I have something very important I would like to ask you. I would like you to enter into a… an intensely important union. I would like you to form a bond that is so deep, and so strong, that—”

  As Raven Black looked down at Legba, a look of worry began to unfold on her face. “You— You’re not going to ask me to marry you, right? Please, just— Just don’t… Again, you have lost a crazy amount of blood in the last little while, and that might lead you to make certain decisions that, with a little bit of hindsight, and a lot more blood, might look—”

  Legba shook his head. “Oh, no, no. I am not asking for anything like that. I would like you to pair with the sword.”

  Raven Black glanced at the sheathed sword, then back at Legba. “You— You want me to marry your sword? Maybe you need to lie down for a little bit. Maybe you need to—”

  Legba shook his head, even more vigorously this time. “No! I— I certainly do not want you to marry the sword! I— I have no idea how that would even work!”

  Raven Black shrugged, exasperated. “Hey, don’t look at me. It wasn’t my idea!”

  Legba took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts. “Please. Just— Just forget about marriage, whether to people, or to inanimate objects. This sword, it is imbued with incredible powers: the powers that I possess, as the gatekeeper. Powers that emanate from beyond the universe in which you exist, and which eclipse anything you could possibly imagine. However, if you pair with it, you will be the only person capable of wielding and unleashing those powers. This sword can protect you in ways that you can barely imagine.”

  Raven Black looked at the sheathed sword, then back to Legba. “But I thought you said I’d be protecting the sword.”

  Legba nodded. “Yes. You most certainly will. There are many who would attempt to steal this sword, to unlock the powers that rest within it, for whatever ends they see fit. There is great power in that sword, and in the wrong hands, it could be used to bring forth great evil. But if you pair with this sword, you can stop them. You can keep the sword safe.”

  Raven Black’s lips twisted in indecision. “That… that seems like a lot of responsibility. I don’t know whether I’m, you know, the best candidate for this gig. Like, what have I done that makes me the least bit qualified to take on this kind of duty?”

  Legba shrugged. “To be perfectly honest, at this point in your life, not much, really.”

  Raven Black crossed her arms and furrowed her brow. “I’ve got to admit, that was not exactly the vote of confidence I was expecting.”

  Legba smiled. “But that does not matter in the least. If you pair with the sword, your life will be transformed immeasurably, and for the better. This bond will give you the opportunity to really do something with your life. To go on great adventures, and to make a positive difference in the universe. And I can assure you, you will not be alone.”

  Raven Black gestured at the sword with a movement of her head. “You mean because me and Swordo over there will forge some sort of deep friendship? We’ll go to the movies, and go to dinner, and have a grand old time, even though he isn’t really much of a talker?”

  Legba bobbed his head back and forth. “No. Not quite. I meant that you will not be alone in a very literal sense. This ship that we are currently on, it is owned by three men: Shango, Olofi, and Loco. Like anyone else, they are by no means perfect, but I can assure you, they are good men. And they will help guide you, and provide you with counsel and support in your adventures.”

  Raven Black stared at the sword, considering this.

  Legba scratched the back of his head. “Also, for the record, all three of them are capable of speech. Although once you get to know him, at a certain point you might start to wish that Loco would lose that capability…”

  Raven Black looked at Legba, nodding. “Okay. Some people I can talk to, who aren’t inanimate swords, that is a definite plus. Althou
gh I’m guessing there are some downsides, right?”

  Legba looked at her, nervous. Oh, lord, he thought to himself. Does she already know? I have not truly had an opportunity to plumb the depths of her pre-cog abilities. Perhaps she read my mind as she dragged me into this med bay, keeping tabs on what I was thinking, to ensure that I can be trusted, and that I am not plotting against her in some way. Perhaps by virtue of my train of thought, she knows all of the dangers that come with shoving approximately one week’s worth of encoding into a hyperdrive, and then plugging said hyperdrive into a subject’s brain. The dangers that slide all the way from the obliteration of the mind to instant death.

  Raven Black looked at Legba expectantly. He felt sweat beginning to form on his brow. Although, he thought himself, maybe she does not know. Any of it. If she did, she would likely have mentioned the risks by now. Yet, if she does not, it would be nice for me to just come out and tell her what those risks are. Horrifying, yes, but it would allow her to make this deeply important choice with all of the relevant information available to her. Including the very real risk of the immediate cessation of life. Her life.

  Legba took a deep breath. But can I risk the possibility of her saying no? he thought to himself. Can I expose the rest of the universe to that degree of danger? Is this truly her choice, or is this a matter of such gravity that it would not actually make sense to conceptualize it as a choice at all?

  He looked up at her face, staring down at his. It is heartbreaking to keep her in the dark like this, he thought to himself. But what choice do I have?

  Raven Black sat back in her seat. “I mean, I can certainly think of a few downsides.”

  Legba looked up at her, a nervous expression dominating his face. “You can?”

  Raven Black nodded. “Yeah. Sure. I’m guessing that if I get paired with that sword over there, then my life on Dacca Noir is more or less over, right? I mean, if the most evil forces in the universe are constantly plotting to steal this sword, and I’m the person in charge of protecting it, I can’t just, like, leave it under my bed while I go to work. And I definitely can’t bring it to work. You know their policies around small firearms. I haven’t actually checked, but I’m pretty sure that they’re more or less the same for huge fucking swords.”

  Legba looked up at Bentley, a look of relief spreading across his face. “That is true. But is your life on Dacca Noir not already at its end?”

  Raven Black shrugged. “Well, I don’t know. If you were to quantum something something me back to my apartment, I could fill up a backpack with clothes, and go on the run. Or, I guess maybe it would make more sense to just teleport me to a different city. I can always buy new clothes. Then I’d, you know, start fresh somewhere else on the planet. I’m sure that I could figure out a new life for myself somewhere on the surface of Dacca Noir that doesn’t involve me being a sword guardian.”

  Legba nodded slowly. “I suppose that, yes, on a purely practical level, you could go back. But would you really want to, knowing what you know now? That although Dacca Noir parades itself on the interplanetary stage as a wondrous utopia, it simply is not, and never has been. That its inhabitants live or die based on the whims of its de facto corporate government. That the delighted masses who filter freely through its streets and its skyscrapers and its pleasure palaces are only free to the extent that, at this point in time, no one has yet made a decision that they should be removed from public life, and entered into the vast catalogue of the imprisoned and the dead. A life led on Dacca Noir is a life led in a state of complicity at its best, and a state of government-sanctioned terror at its worst.”

  Raven Black looked at the floor, uncomfortable. Legba’s expression softened. “I can understand why Dacca Noir might have been attractive to you at some point in your life. For most of your life, in fact. Given the fates of your parents, it made a lot of sense to stay safe, to keep your head down. To avoid seeing, or even attempting to see, what might be festering under the thin veneer of Dacca Noir’s utopian self-branding. But now that you know everything that you know, could you even try to slip back underneath that veneer, and pretend to have a normal life? And anyway, do you even want a normal life?”

  Raven Black looked down at Legba. He’s right, she thought to herself. I don’t want a normal life. I never have. I want excitement, and I want adventure, and if being paired with some friggin’ sword that came out of a hole in the fabric of space-time could lead to that life, then why not lean into it, and embrace it?

  She stared at the sheathed sword that lay on the floor. If I’m being completely honest, though, she thought to herself, I don’t care about some fucking sword. A dying old man can marry me to a long chunk of metal, and suddenly I’m a fucking sword god, who is capable of wielding all of the mysterious sword powers that lie trapped in that most secret of places: the inside of a sword. So what? Who fucking cares?

  Raven Black looked back at Legba, thinking about what he had said about Dacca Noir, and about her parents. I don’t think I’m excited, she thought to herself, but I am definitely angry. At LaPlace, and at Dacca Noir, for taking my mother. And at myself, for not doing something sooner. I worked in a fucking security station, in fucking intelligence.

  I knew that they didn’t listen in on phone calls to find out how to better provide government services. They didn’t need high-resolution security services covering every square inch of their prisons because everyone inside was so happy and well taken care of, that they just wanted to see all of those smiles. They certainly didn’t drag people off of the street, into unmarked vans, because it was a customer-focused alternative to public transit.

  If my parents were still here, they would have demanded more of me than just coasting for years in a comfortable white-collar job, helping a corrupt government disappear people more efficiently. My father and my mother, they would have both demanded more of me. And I should demand more of myself.

  Raven Black took a deep breath and looked Legba in the eyes. “All right. I’ll do it.”

  Legba’s expression brightened, a smile spreading across his face. “You will?”

  Raven Black nodded, resolute. “Yes. So. How do we do this, exactly?”

  Legba placed his palms together. “I will just need you to lie back in this seat. I think there must be a control, somewhere…”

  Raven Black looked to her right, then to her left, where saw a small white rectangle, covered in glass. She tentatively hovered her left index finger over the rectangle, and moved her finger forward, away from her. The chair’s back began to move, becoming more upright. Raven Black quickly moved her index finger backwards, and the chair immediately began to recline.

  Raven Black smiled. “I think I’ve got it!” After a few seconds, the examination seat was more like a padded table than a chair.

  Legba nodded. “Great. Just great. If you would, please lie flat on your back and turn your face towards the wall.”

  Raven Black nodded vigorously. “Got it.” She lay down, extending her body across the flat surface, and turned her face towards the wall. “I’m ready when you are!”

  Legba looked at Raven Black, her face turned away from him. My god, he thought to himself. She looks so vulnerable. So fragile. She has no idea what she has signed up for. And that fact, dear Legba, is entirely your responsibility. You have no one to blame for this situation but yourself, and you shoulder the responsibility. For all of it. You had better pray to all that is holy that this is not a complete betrayal of this woman’s trust, and that this will actually work…

  He turned away from Raven Black, towards the sword. He knelt down at the sword’s hilt and picked it up with his left hand. He pressed the thumb, index finger, and middle finger of his right hand to the very tip of the hilt and effected a quick twist. With a gentle pull, he removed the hilt’s tip, revealing a tiny, transparent chip, attached to the black leather tip that he held in his fingers. It looked like a tiny shard of glass embedded in a nub of leather. He delicately put down t
he sword with his left hand, and he took a deep breath.

  He stood to his full height and stared at the tiny, razor-edged chip that was affixed to the top of the hilt’s tip. He closed his eyes, and began to focus on the chip, seeing it with his mind’s eye. The chip began to emit a soft blue glow, which filled the room.

  Raven Black stared at the wall, watching the blue light play on the wall. “Is… is that it? Am… am I paired with the sword now?”

  Legba slowly opened his eyes, a look of deep guilt on his face. “N— No. Not quite yet. There is just one more step.”

  Legba walked towards the examination seat, where Raven Black lay, still facing away from him. He approached her, standing a foot from the back of her neck, its soft flesh turned towards him.

  He stared once more at the tiny, sharp chip, and he took a deep breath. This chip that I hold in my hand, he thought to himself, may it be an instrument of salvation, and not one of ruination and death. Please…

  Legba brought the chip closer to the back of Raven Black’s neck. He took one last deep breath. “Okay. I want you to take one deep breath, then another, then another.”

  Raven Black closed her eyes, and she took a deep breath. She held it for a moment, then exhaled. She drew in another deep breath.

  Legba nodded, a pained expression on his face. “Good. That is very good. Now. If I do not see you on the other side, just remember—”

  As Legba pressed the chip into Raven Black’s neck, she screamed, cutting him off. The scream displayed more pain than the scream she had let out after her recent quantum entanglement teleportation. It displayed more pain than she had ever felt in her entire life.

  As if the ship was crying out with her, an alarm began to sound. It was loud and wailing, and nearly drowned out by her own cries. Legba jolted in surprise, but Raven Black didn’t have the space to think about why the alarm had sounded, or who had tripped it. All she could think of was pain.

  Raven Black knew that she was screaming, but she couldn’t feel the scream in her throat, and she could barely even hear it in her ears. All of her senses were overwhelmed by the pain that radiated from her neck, throughout her entire body. The agony eclipsed any fear that she’d ever experienced, going all the way back to her primal terror of the boogeymen that her father would protect her from. It even eclipsed the pain of her father being gone and her mother being gone, and her being completely alone.