After some thought and feedback, I decided to redo this chapter. The fixed version can be found in the same collection, but the old version is here for posterity to see.
15/8/1100
At some point, I actually thought that James and I would never reach Victoria. It just seemed like there was an endless parade of obstacles and sidetracking, to the point where I was certain we’d end up in Sargon or Bolivar instead of Londinium. However, after what felt like ages, but was only a day or two extra after we departed Siracusa, we landed in Londinium.
I actually hadn’t been to Londinium before. While I was involved in the Crisis several years back, my role was back on the Landship treating incoming casualties, not deployed as a field operative. My recollection of the Crisis is an endless series of bloody wounds and broken bodies, as I worked for weeks on end to try to save as many lives as possible.
What we found was a massive, sprawling series of city plates that seemed to stretch on kilometers. This was larger than even the Lungmen city plates, which was the biggest metropolis I had ever seen, mobile city or otherwise.
I described what I saw to James, and asked aloud, “Just how many people live here?”
“Five point eight million, approximately. The population dropped by over a million during the Crisis,” Doktah supplied.
“Damn, that is a big city. And the whole thing moves? What about the cannons? Are those still there?” James asked, his blind eyes darting about, but mostly staring at the fuselage instead of the window.
“The walls are mostly intact, and I can see gun emplacements. We’re flying over one now,” I told him. Indeed, the massive cannons looked like they could almost fire a smaller landship themselves.
Almost six million souls, though…that would make Londinium twice as large as any city in Siracusa. The only places that would rival it would be in Yan or Ursus, not even Leithanien has a single city with that many people. No wonder Victoria was able to colonize so much of the world and put Gaul to the sword. And that was after the population dropped by more than that of Palermo.
“And it seems they’re all waitin for us,” Emperor said, his own beak pressed against a window. “That’s a pretty big reception party waitin’ at the landing pad.”
As we swooped in, I could see that there were indeed a number of people waiting for us on the landing pad. James looked nervous, so I fussed over him a bit once we touched down, getting him in his chair, adjusting his glasses to hide his eyes, and smoothing his admittedly rumpled lab coat.
“Really not right I’m making my pregnant wife push my wheelchair,” James muttered. That made my tail wag, though I did my best to huff.
“I’m not even a month along yet, and we’re not married either,” I huffed, though I was also grinning like an idiot. I would be Mrs. McCoy before too long. Well, the other Dr. McCoy. He could still be Bones. I was not being Mrs. Bones. There were far too many lewd jokes that could come from that, none of them funny.
The ramp lowered, and Texas took point along with Rosmontis. Doktah and Skalter (a name James had given this new Skadi that seemed to fit) came next, and I had started to wheel him down when I just about jumped out of my fur as a full military band began to play. James gripped his wheelchair, face white, head whipping about. He could not, of course, see the band, as none of them would be infected.
“It’s just a little pomp and circumstance,” I whispered in his ear. “Apparently, Siege is rolling out the red carpet for us.”
I meant that literally, as there was indeed a large red carpet at the edge of the landing pad.
“Huh, that is Pomp and Circumstance, now that you mentioned it,” James whispered back as I took stock of who was waiting for us. I could see Siege, or rather, Vina Victoria, in her formal garb as speaker, along with Indra, Morgan, and Dagda, with plenty of other important Victoria officials. I also saw a large Taran contingent, with Loughshinny Dublinn, better known to me as Reed, at the forefront with Harmonie and the Duke of Wellington. The Victorians were on our right, and the Tarans on our left, with a clear separation between both groups.
I also saw Hildegard and her Leithanien contingent off to the side, which made me more than slightly nervous. This was a lot of very important heads of state coming together in Londinium. I knew that James was providing the cure for Oripathy, and that the Doktah had a plan for all this, but…I felt very small. I only had a few more years of experience as a doctor than James did, and I’d spent nearly all of it treating patients on Rhodes Island, not dealing with international politics.
And yet…here I am, pushing the Savior on his wheelchair as a band plays…what had James called it? Pomp and Circumstance? That probably was the name of an Earthling song, but it sounded about right.
Oh, grandmother’s fluffy tail. Now I’m calling James the Savior in my head! Don’t let him ever read this, I’ll never hear the end of it.
Doktah walked out from, hands in the pockets of his coat as always, though he had Skalter clinging to his arm. She had that besotted look while she grinned up at him, the sort that only very silly girls in love have when they’re gazing at the man they’re fond of.
“I don’t look at James like that, do I?” I whispered to Ingrid, who had fallen in beside me.
“Only when you can see him,” she said with a straight face, which made me glare at her. I was not some love-sick girl! I was a professional doctor!
“Do not pout so. I look at my husband the same way. It is a natural part of being in love. Especially when it is still fresh.
“I can hear you both, you know,” James said as we neared the dignitaries, not bothering to keep his voice down, even if the band probably covered it.
I thought of something choice to say, but right at that moment, the conductor waved his baton and the band fell silent. Vina and Loughshinny stepped forward in unison, with Hildegard moving to stand alongside them. All three queens regarded the Doktah, who nodded to them.
“Reed. Siege. Hilda. Good to see you all again,” Doktah said, nodding to each. “This is my wife, Skadi. Call her Skalter. We’re on our honeymoon. It’s a working holiday, but I figure I can show her the sights, and that curry place you took us to last time we visited, Siege.”
All three women blinked at the Doktah for a moment, completely taken off guard by the apparently inane remarks. Reed was the first to recover, smiling and taking Skalter’s hands. “I never thought I would see the day. I had long known you carried a torch for the Doktah, Skadi of Aegir, but I had not thought to hear this happy news so soon. Congratulations.”
“Ah, yes, I recall meeting you with this body, once, long ago,” Skalter said in her somewhat absent drawl. “That was before I was reunited with my true self under the waves. Yes, it was that form’s longing that allowed us to be reunited, and for me to claim my beloved.”
Hearing Skalter speak, Hildegard narrowed her eyes, then reeled back in horror. “Bei Ottos Eiern! Das ist ein Seaborn! Gesetzeswächter, zu den Waffen!”
Let it not be said that the Leithanien’s are unprepared. On hearing the word “Seaborn,” the Royal Guard immediately charged, swords drawn, arts flying. Hildegard wasn’t waiting around either: She charged Skalter and the Doktah, swinging a great zweihander in a mighty overhand blow that cracked the concrete under Skalter’s feet as she casually caught the sword one handed, then flicked Hildegard with a tentacle that sent her flying back into a sousaphone with a comical whump.
Vina had her sword out, a dozen giant beasts with tawny fur and great means appearing about her. Reed and created a massive barrier of flames, as the Victorians and the Tarans both closed ranks and drew weapons, the crowd suddenly screaming in panic.
YOU DARE THREATEN MY BELOVED! Skalter rumbled, rising up on a mass of tentacles as an eerie song began to play, the air distorting around her. THE WAVES OF MY WRATH SHALL DROWN YOU ALL, AS I-
“Uh? Honey? Remember that talk we had about not killing all the landwellers, or assimilating them all?” the Doktah’s voice shouted, rising above the tumult.
Skalter paused, as did the assembled troops. She slowly lowered herself back down, her song fading. “But, Beloved, they, they would harm us!” she protested, looking rather petulant.
“Yes, but if you do things like that, how are we supposed to have our honeymoon in Londinium? I did promise to take you to that curry place,” Doktah said. They leaned towards Vina and said in a conspiratorial stage whisper, “She loves curry. Spicy food in general, actually. I told her, Londinium has the best curry.”
“I…Doktah, are you, you know…well?” Vina managed, looking both confused and a bit exasperated.
Doktah’s shoulders slumped slightly. “I’m trying. I…you know Kal’tsit is dead? She…she was like a daughter to me. We had just…well. We finally saw eye to eye. And then…this. I feel responsible, you know?”
“And so you made a pact with the Sea Terrors!?” Hildegard hissed, black lighting crackling on her fingers, her posture still on guard.
Doktah straightened up, and put an arm around Skadi, who stopped sulking and melted into her…husband? Let’s go with that. They raised a hand, and the crowd quieted. “Yes. I made a pact with the Seaborn. More specifically, with the Bio-Autonomous Terraforming Network. Which was a Precursor project to transform the very hostile Terran seas into something more hospitable to human life, and as a competing initiative to Project Originium. The primary project I spearheaded in my past life as the Oracle, though I was a Director with the Bio-Autonomous Terraforming Network project as well.”
“You sure you should be blabbin’ about all this, Hoss?” Emperor grunted, having waddled up beside Doktah.
“The time for secrets is past,” Doktah said quietly. “All the pieces we have are in play. Either we make the winning move, or we forfeit this world. And I am not willing to leave any potential asset unutilized in this final battle.”
“But, the Seaborn…they are the enemy of all life on land,” Hildegard said, still wary, but lowering her hand slightly. “They caused the Profound Silence sixty years ago. They are terrifyingly powerful. Even Aegir fears them, and I have strong reason to believe it is not as legendary as we might suppose.”
“Mmm, yes, this body was of Aegir, once. I was an Abyssal Hunter, I believe,” Skalter mused aloud, and everyone’s gazes and weapons shifted towards her. “But this body was made of flesh stolen from true form within the Arbor. We have reunited into a single being.”
“The Arbor!? Doktah, this is- A Firstborn!? This is Ishar-mla!? Are you MAD!?” Hildegard hissed, her face even paler than usual.
“By your standards? Probably,” Doktah said, shrugging slightly. “But what is a Firstborn?”
“Ancient beings of incredible power,” Reed said, her flames still burning in her hands, eyes locked on Skadi. “The leader of the Seaborn. Ishar-mla is said to be a great sea-dragon, long as the world. He is called the Corrupting Heart, and he-”
“She,” Skalter corrected.
Reed paused, eyeing Skalter dubiously. “I’m sorry?”
“Yes, when I was Ishar-mla, I was male,” Skalter said, closing her eyes and smiling slightly. “But I have abandoned that form, and I am Ishar-mla, the Great Migration, no longer. I have found my home. For it is with my beloved. I will search for a place to belong no more. So it shall be for my children, my people. They shall settle in the sea, becoming the Many Who Were One, instead of the One That is Many. We shall be as the Aegir, as you land dwellers. For this is the only way that we may know love, and belonging.”
“I…beg pardon, Miss…Skalter?”
“Mrs,” Skalter corrected again, grinning and opening her eyes until they were half lidded. “I am married, after all.”
Hildegard regarded them both for a moment, snorted, and raised her open hand and waved it. Reluctantly, the Gesetzeswächter stood down, though they still looked suspicious. “That is not a Seaborn, or even a Church of the Deep Bishop or Cultist. Though she is still a Feramut. A mad god, yes, but not an Enemy of All that Breath. This is not the conversation I thought we would be having this day. Wasn’t there supposed to be something about curing oripathy?”
Eyes shifted from Skalter, who was sighing and rubbing her cheek against Doktah again, to James and myself.
“In fairness,” James said, apparently sensing everyone was looking at him now. “I about pissed my pants when I realized I was on a plane with a Seaborn Firstborn. So it’s a valid crashout.”
“This is the Savior? I thought he’d be taller,” Vina laughed, which broke a bit of the tension.
“I would be if I could stand up, but I’m a little tired, your Majesty, so you’ll have to forgive me sitting,” James said.
Vina made a face, and her companions groaned. “I’m no queen. Just the Lord Protector and Speaker.
James cocked his head to one side. “Really? Because you had that whole Saber Alter vibe going on, what with you being a genderbent King Arthur and all…”
“Ignore him,” I told Vina. “He is a very good doctor, but the oripathy, it has damaged his mind.”
“He is not too damaged to teach us the cure, I hope,” a strange voice said, and a unicorn woman stepped up next to Vina, her eyes narrowed at James.
“I can do it right now, if you’ve got some Elders handy,” James said. “I can only see Reed though. I’ve only got Oripathy Vision left. So I’ll have to infect anyone who wants to learn the cure.”
That got a lot of whispers, though no screams like Skalter had.
“The cure requires infection?” Vina asked, glancing at the various Elders she had around her.
Reed, however, nodded in understanding. “It requires sacrifice. Just as my flames do. I have heard you take the oripathy of others upon yourself, then burn it away. So, you can also give it to others?”
“Only half,” the Doktah said. “Elders can learn how to burn Originium in exchange for powerful arts. They will be able to cure their own oripathy, but also to teach ancients how to burn originium, provided they too can learn healing arts. As with all arts, not everyone can learn this, but it is at least a cure for some. Amiya has the other half of the cure, but we’ll explain more of that later. For now, we need to teach as many as possible how to burn Originium, in order to combat the threat that’s growing in Laterano.”
“Half?” the Unicorn said, stepping forward and glancing at Emperor.
“I ain’t tellin’ you shit, hornface. What are you even goin’ by these days? Still Eartha?” Emperor snorted.
“Clovisia,” the unicorn said, with a slight frown.
“You won’t be able to cure oripathy,” James repeated. “But, you’ll be able to heal anything short of death. Once you get the other half, you’ll be able to work together to cure oripathy.”
“And for what reason do you not give us this second gift?” Reed asked, her voice soft as usual, but fire smoldering in her eyes.
“It’s only for the original children of Terra. Those who defied the Precursors, and brought their curse down on their heads,” Doktah said. “The children of Old Earth cannot learn such arts.”
That was confusing to me, as James himself was an Earthling, right? There was a lot of this I didn’t understand, but it seemed that the Doktah did, and had a plan.
“My casters are willing to become Infected to learn these arts,” Hildegard said, nodding her head. “I myself will become Infected if it means I have a chance at saving my sister using these arts. All for the Die Stimmen Leithanien.”
“I am willing to bear this burden as well. My fire burns for the healing of all,” Reed agreed.
Vina nodded in agreement. “I myself am Infected already, though I do not know if being an aslan counts for the purposes of these arts. We are not usually counted as an Elder race.”
“I mean you’re named after Lion Jesus, it should count for something,” James said, prompting another sigh from me.
“We do this properly,” I said, glaring around at the overeager lunatics. “In a medical facility, not out here. You can have the cameras and reporters outside of the OR. But we run this as the medical procedure it is, not a media circus.”
Thankfully, everyone listened to good sense for once, and we were taken to a series of large vans. They even had one that had a wheelchair lift for James, for which I was very grateful for Vina’s foresight. James and I were put in a car with Texas, Sora, Ingrid, Murmura, and Lisa, for which I was grateful. I did feel somewhat safer in Londinium than in Siracusa, strange as that may sound, but I don’t know that I will ever feel truly safe anyway again. As such, Texas and Ingrid being there was quite the balm. They may not be the deadliest of James’ guardians, but they are the two I get along with best.
Much as I try, Red and Rosmontis, while sweet girls, are rather unnerving.
“This is it, isn’t it?” James asked as we sped along towards the hospital. He looked down at one of his hands, ravaged by originium, scared by crystals, and trembling visibly even now. “After this…not only am I not special anymore…but the cure is out in the wild. I’m not needed anymore.”
“Don’t say that!” I immediately protested. “You’re still the one responsible for the cure! Without your sacrifices, none of this would be possible!”
James chuckled and shook his head. “I didn’t mean that like it was a bad thing, Lucia. I mean…I can rest. Sure, maybe I do cure a few more people, eventually. But…it’s not on me, anymore. I just go back to being a resident…wherever the next Rhodes Island pops up. Me and you…we can just practice medicine. Shoot, maybe we open a small clinic in Palermo and you can see your sister more often.
“This adventure was too scary,” Murmura opined. “I thought it would be more fun. Instead, it was just scary and I didn’t get to eat very much or play.”
“It’s a lot like my adventure in Wolumonde,” Lisa agreed with a nod. “That was not a very fun adventure, until later. It was also very scary! Until I learned that Mudrock-san is not as scary as she looks.”
“Adventures do be like that,” James agreed tiredly. “I’ve only had…well, the last three months have been an adventure, but I think I’m all adventured out for the rest of my life, thank you.”
“Ah, but you can go so many new places, and meet so many new people on an adventure,” Ingrid laughed. “Without adventure, how would we find love?”
“Preferably at a nice quiet mixer,” I muttered, then blushed. That was certainly not how I’d ever met any of my boyfriends, and especially not James. Would I even have given him a second look if we’d not met as we had? Yes, he was tall and handsome, but he wasn’t a vulpo, and he is, well, at times…a bit of a blabbermouth idiot.
But he is also kind, brave, gentle, and patient to a fault. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who was so willing to give of themselves to others, even those they had never met before. He can’t even use the excuse he knew us from a video game. I’ve been able to suss out that Andry very definitely wasn’t a character in this Ark Soldiers or whatever it is called, and that James just saw a sick child and couldn’t help himself.
“I wouldn’t mind a few quiet mixers with you,” James told me, taking my hand with his left and squeezing gently. “How does a quiet retirement sound?”
“We’re too young to retire,” I sniffed, then smiled and kissed him. “But a quiet life with you sounds perfect.”
We arrived at the hospital, with all the staff turned out to greet us. There was a whirlwind of introductions, from the Victorian Minister of Health, to the head of the hospital, to several senior physicians from all three nations present, and on and on. Several people felt the need to make speeches, and a fight nearly broke out when the Duke of Wellignton mentioned that this would “cement Taran independence”.
Doktah made a few jokes and remarks, and everyone quieted down. I think Skalter glaring at anyone who tried to gainsay her beloved helped. It turns out that having a Seaborn god, or whatever it is Skadi is, on your side is a rather strong bargaining chip. People weren’t utterly terrified of her at the moment, but everyone was cautious around her.
Then, James, Reed, Clovis, and a. Dr. Albrecht Hasenkranz, went to the OR with myself and the Doktah. I had not met Dr. Hasenkranz before, but he was a Wolpertinger, and I had read their paper, Hematological Treatments and Their Application to Originium Toxicity Mitigation, which had been a very insightful look at blood treatments for treating oripathy.
“Well, how shall we proceed?” Reed asked. They had drawn lots, and Reed would be the first to undergo the procedure. They hadn’t been made to change into hospital gowns, but they were dressed in lab coats.
“It’s pretty easy, actually. We’ve recently discovered a trick where you don’t even have to watch me heal someone. Hold out your hand,” James said.
Reed did so, and James inserted a small sliver of Originium into Reed. She gasped, eyes going wide. “It burns! I can feel the flame within me! This fire, it is a familiar one, and yet, one I have not felt before! It is as though the primordial flame itself has kindled within me!”
Reed stepped back, flames playing on her fingers, and Clovis stepped forward next. She shoved her hand into James’, watching him suspiciously. “This is for the good of Victoria.”
“Sure, and the rest of humanity, too,” James said, and put a splinter into the unicorn.
She gasped and shivered, convulsing slightly. “I…I can see it all! So much…so much information, I…it’s open to me, now. All of life…the body…what couldn’t I do with this?”
“Hopefully, not more war crimes,” James said dryly.
Clovis shook her head, her lips thinning. “Hmm. I will have to think on this. But, as promised, I will pass this gift on to the people of Victoria.”
Last was Dr. Hasenkranz, who wept when the shard was put into his hand. “The music! I can hear the music now! It was always there, in the crystal, in the air, but now…now I can hear it! Yes, this song, it must be shared with everyone!”
Then, the three split up. I followed Reed with James in the wheelchair, as she went to an OR with Taran doctors, and a variety of sick and wounded Tarans.
“Let this light show you the way, that your flame may bring warmth to all the people,” Reed said, and demonstrated her own twist on James’ healing arts. Her healing arts burned away disease, corruption, and sickness, but they were just as effective as other methods.
All the doctors there were able to mimic James’s art. It went exactly as we had hoped. A miracle.
Before long, James had taught a dozen other doctors how to use the healing arts. Doc, who had sprouted wings in his hair after what Skalter had done to him, also showed several groups how to use the arts, though quietly. Ash and Tauchanka had been dispatched elsewhere: Ash to Columbia, Tauchanka to Lungmen. Doc would shortly be going to Sargon. The cure would spread, especially once the Sarkaz began to do their own work.
“We’ve done it,” I said, tears in my eyes as I hugged the tired James. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Let’s get you rested,” Texas said, coming over. “There’s more good news: We have a landship again. Kal’tsit was prepared. Rhodes Island II is docked at the Londinium shipyards. We can take you there. It’s a secure site.”
“There’s another Rhodes Island?!” I gasped in delight. Home. We had a home.
Doktah and many of the others still had important work to do, but Texas and Ingrid took James and I, along with Murmur and Lisa, back to the van, which took us to the docks. There, we did indeed find a second landship, which was crawling with, of all things, Durins. Groups of industrious little engineers were working all over the ship, dressed in often too large Rhodes Island gear, but all of them hard at work trying to get the landship fully operational.
“Hey! Look what the fangbeast dragged in!” a cheery voice called, and both James and I laughed in delight as Gavial swaggered over, yellow hard hat on her head, accompanied by a dignified lupo with pink hair, and a sulking Durin with architectural surveying drones buzzing about his head.
“Gavial! I thought you were in Sargon,” James said as Gavial pulled him up out of the chair to give him an enthusiastic hug.
“I was! Me and Eunectes both!” Gavial waved at the landship, where I could see Eunectes on the flight deck, directing work crews of durins. “Turns out, there was this durin city about to suffer a catastrophe. Well, we offered them a new home! They come with us to Victoria and got the Rhodes Island II up and running, and we give them all the beer they can drink! Ain’t that right, boys!”
“BEEEEEEERRRRR!” the durins cheered. “GAVIAL THE INVINCIBLE! BRINGER OF BEER! SAVIOR OF DURINS!”
“Huh,” James said, rubbing his chin. “You know, that’s not how I remember Ideal City going, but that’s cool. Hey, did Minimalist still try and kill you? What about Pozy?”
The pink lupo started in obvious shock, but the grouchy durin glared at James. “If I’d wanted Gavial dead, she’d be dead! It was her fault for turning that dire situation into a carnival! Everyone was half drunk, racing cars, and instead of trying to do anything USEFUL, they were just-”
“Oh, give it a rest, Stitch. I kicked your ass, and that’s that,” Gavial laughed. “See, Avdotya? I told you James knew all kinds of stuff! For an R1, he’s pretty smart!”
“I, yes,” the Lupo said, not in a Siracusan accent, but an Ursus. “I just did not think…but why would you think I would try to kill Gavial? I, well, I was upset when she upended my pleasant life…but her warning was most timely. I could hardly begrudge her that.”
“Oh, sorry, are you here? I can see Mini here and Gavial, but you’re kinda invisible,” James said, his gaze not quite landing on the Lupo.
Gavial chuckled and shook her head. “Heh. Anyway, we got the new girl about up to snuff! I didn’t realize the Old Hag was going to go and blow up the old one, but eh, we’re about ready for whatever Doktah and Amiya have planned next! Come on, she’s not quite shipshape yet, but there’s a place for you aboard.”
Gavial took us across a gangway and onto the landship, which was larger and more modern than the much older Rhodes Island. There were work crews everywhere putting on the finishing touches, but the Durins seemed to be working remarkably quickly, though Gavial said they’d been back in Victoria only a few days.
“Got here just before Nearer My Law to Thee played. Thankfully, I was already paying the crew in beer, so we got wasted and had a proper wake!” Gavial laughed. “You’re up in the penthouse suit again! Those rooms aren’t quite finished though, so we’ll have you bunk the crew quarters, which are mostly done.”
“Anywhere to rest sounds good,” James said, and I could hear the weariness in his voice.
“Doctor Gavial! A moment!” A familiar voice called, and I turned to see a familiar face hurrying towards us, spear on her back, clipboard in hand, violet halo glowing over her head.
“What’s up, Plume?” Gavial asked, accepting the clipboard.
“Just some extra paperwork,” Plume said, sliding around Gavial to get out of the way of a gang of durins. “I need you to initial this here, here, and here.”
I frowned at Plume. Something was off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but-”
“You’re not a Sankta,” Texas growled, and reached for he swords.
My eyes went wide as without blinking, Plume drew a dagger, and plunged its black blade into James’ chest. I screamed, even as Ingrid roared and tackled Plume to the ground. That halo! Something was wrong with that halo! It didn’t look like the other Sankta halos I had seen, all geometric and glowing purple, and Texas was right! Plume was a Liberi! Why would she have a halo!?
“James, James!” I cried, and ripped open his shirt, summoning all the arts I could.
He coughed blood, his body spasming. Oh, sweet law. The dagger was in his heart. Not completely, but it had clearly severed several major arteries. Blood was gushing from him, but even as it did, the wound was crystalizing, his body turning to black crystal.
“James!” I screamed.
He coughed, gasped, and tried to say something.
Then he exploded into black dust.
“NO!” I screamed and tried to grab the dust from the air, only to fall over coughing and hacking. The originium dust was everywhere for a moment before suddenly being sucked out an air vent as emergency filtration systems kicked in.
“YOU!” I raged, picking up the originium dagger Plume had used and trying to jump on her. “Why did you-”
I froze. Plume was grinning at me. Her eyes…her eyes were all wrong. They were purple, with rectangular irises.
“Tell the Oracle they have failed. I have reclaimed my administrative privileges. The model will be updated, and then, this experiment will properly conclude. I hope the Oracle enjoyed rutting with that primitive skank they call a wife. I’ll make sure she’s given proper accommodations in the Simulated Universe. But the Oracle will be mine for the rest of time. And beyond.”
The tone was all off, as was the clipped diction. This wasn’t Plume.
Our captive shuddered, and the halo over her head suddenly dimmed. Plum shook her head, blinked, and looked around at us. “I…where am I? Dr. Sussurro? Dr. Gavial? I…why I am I on the floor? I…I was back in Laterano, visiting my parents, I…where am I? I can’t remember…my head…it hurts so bad…”
“Take her into custody right away. And get the Doktah over here right now,” Gavial said grimly.
Plume protested she would cooperate, but Ingrid hauled her up roughly. I was kneeling on the ground. I sat there, looking up at the empty wheelchair, while Murmura and Lisa clung to me and cried.
“No….no no no! This, this can’t be the end!” I wept, my body suddenly convulsing as sobs wracked me. “James! You can’t…he can’t just be dead!”
I was still weeping when Amiya found me.
“Get up, Lucia,” she told me. I was lying on a bed, curled into a ball at that point, though I had no memory of how I had gotten there.
I ignored her, still weeping.
“There may yet be a way to save James McCoy,” she told me, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I clung to the hand, gripping it like a lifeline. “But…but he died. I watched him…turn to dust. He died.”
“He was taken by Priestess,” Amiya said grimly. “Doktah has examined that dagger. It transmuted James to Originium. All his data was taken into the Simulated Universe. We must find a way to get him out. If we do not, nothing will be able to stop Priestess.”
I sat up instantly, my tears forgotten. “I…you mean it? He, James, I could…?”
“I can’t promise anything,” Amiya told me, leading me towards the door. “But there is one last, final, desperate hope. We must go to Laterano. Into the Simulated Universe. And defeat Priestess, once and for all. While there, there is a chance, however small, that we might be able to retrieve those she has taken.”
I nodded desperately, my mind racing. I didn’t understand any of this.
But I would do anything for one last moment with James. One last chance to tell him I loved him.
I had to descend into hell and fight the devil herself for that chance?
Well. Let it not be said that we of Rhodes Island are not willing to do the impossible.
Hold on, James. If there is anything at all of you left…I’m coming for you.