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Something From My Current Project

NOTE: I HAVE ACCESS TO A CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT OF PRESIDENT ZENTOYAN. I HAVE SAID THAT I DO NOT LIKE ACCOUNTS OF THE BETWEEN. I HAVE CRITIQUED THIS ABOUT MYSELF. I LIKE THIS ONE.

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On the Circumstances of Pre-Contact Baiqut: An Account Consolidated by Wizard Kulister:

I have heard many answers to the question of what happened when the President, Zentoyan, went up to the palace in the central Suites with the RFB (Revolutionary Forces of Baiqut) soldiers, along with the remaining noncombatant population. These accounts do not conflict with one another, having been experienced in the Between, but I found each to be quite personal to each person that I interviewed. As a result, many of these accounts diverge significantly from one another, and can be found unabridged under the header President Zentoyan 1389: “Following the Snake”. In this section I will attempt to combine the shared elements that I encountered across these accounts, having collected ninety-two of them for comparison over the course of one year. I will present three accounts that are the most clearly recalled and the most representative of three major perspectives during this disaster.

The date was 1389 PLW. Divine Representative Laixioto had finished his morning address to the residents of the Stands. The text of this address may be found under the header DR Laixioto's Tuqanad 17 Call for Nuance and Sober Reevaluation. As stated at the end of this address, DR Laixioto's intent was to deliver an ultimatum to the RFB soldiers assembled along the Stage. The terms of this ultimatum were thus: that the RFB were to surrender their arms and cease firing upon the terrace harvestmen, and in doing so avoid his enactment of the Favors From Above plan. Full coverage of this contingency plan may be found under the header DR Laixioto's Favor's From Above: Hidden Trade Contracts With the CAS Conglomerate.

RFB leadership was well aware of the grave threat that this ultimatum represented. Baiqut had not been exposed to the Wizard vocabulary of matters involving the Between at this time, but intercepted correspondence between DR Laixioto and the CAS Conglomerate had informed them of the danger. The CAS Conglomerate had allowed DR Laixioto to believe that he had leverage in this arrangement. It was his understanding, according to this correspondence, that he and the resources that had been consolidated in the storehouses atop the Suites would be left untouched. This strategy is, of course, common practice for particularly large Conglomerates, but it is worth mentioning that the CAS Conglomerate was the first to develop this diplomatic maneuver.

At this time, when the full breadth of this threat became obvious to RFB leadership, the man who would be President Zentoyan, then a volunteer food runner for the RFB, abandoned his position. Third-Order Militiaman Cramuch, now employed as a mine coordinator, has described the expression on Volunteer Zentoyan's face in this moment as “devastated.” Volunteer Senbruck, now employed as a grocer, has described this moment for Volunteer Zentoyan thusly: “He was crying. He couldn't look us in the eye, but we weren't upset. We all assumed we were done for. Nobody knew what weapon was about to be used on us, but we knew the CAS wouldn't be subtle. We might have been running too, but it seemed pointless to try and reach our families in the Stands. We let him go. I think there might have been others running too.”

Volunteer Zentoyan is reported to have shot 6 counter-revolutionary fighters as he attempted to reach his family home in the Northwestern Stands. This was not cause for greater alarm, as counter-revolutionary presence in this region was thin at this time, their forces being concentrated closer to the terraces. It is noteworthy that the first man shot by Volunteer Zentoyan was hit by 9 bullets, with the following casualties being from no more than 3 bullets. Gregio, a witness of the first shooting, claims that Zentoyan shouted “We're dead now, idiot!” before firing.

Wizard Yeaubert, who was searching for fluctuations in the Between from Ivory Station at this time, reports that the CAS Conglomerate was responsible for a middle-class extension. President Zentoyan states that his hand was on the door of his home when the World listed now as Baiqut became the Between.

The following account of the directed exposure campaign by the CAS Conglomerate comes from Deccoto, who claims to have well-defined memory of the event. I met him at a small coffee house overlooking an excellent vista in the crook of the middle Stands, known as Caixa's, which was beside the sandwich shop Lupitans, where Deccoto was then employed as one of five clerks. Deccoto has requested that his hobby of collecting the published albums of musician K.B. Clanton be listed alongside his introduction. The full text of this interview may be found under the header Deccoto: Tuqanad 17.

“There was an address that day. I didn't listen to it, it was politics. I wasn't sure why the RFB soldiers were sending out their own addresses after. Again, politics. I was focused on getting home quickly, I hated working at Rubin's, it's right over there. New owner, I think.

Sorry, that's not what you want to hear, forgive me for not enjoying dwelling on it. Some people say it was very fast, not for me. The first thing I noticed was you couldn't talk to people. Well, you could, but people were learning quickly not to. You could see who it was about to happen to. They'd have a funny look, like they were angry. Not angry at you, no, but angry about something. Eventually you'd see one of them just grabbing their head, they'd groan about something. The ones that made everyone scared were the ones who'd ask for help.

You couldn't help. You had to look away, or it would happen to you too. And you couldn't just look directly away, that wasn't the right way. If you looked opposite, someone was going to wonder why, so you'd just be dooming them to investigate. You had to look past things, it was the only way to get to work. Stopping for someone, talking, especially helping, it made it happen to you, too.

When it happened, oh, it was awful to see. Someone would step wrong on the stairs, or they'd start walking funny, or they'd start having that grabby look where they were trying to get your attention. They'd say some nonsense and it could clear a room. It always meant that in a few moments—ZOOP! Gone. Just like that. Well, not just like that. You'd see them go all twisted, right before. In pieces, the red parts shining wet, or just for a moment, punched in, collapsing into themselves. Always some part of them broke, creased, twisted wrong, and then they'd just fizzle out, they and anyone who was unlucky enough that they couldn't keep themselves from helping.

Eventually you couldn't go out. The stairs weren't holding anyone right. Cars would just go wrong and hit a building. Television stopped making sense, so they just played old stuff, but it wasn't right either. People got attacked for coming near, looking too much like they might ask for help. Eventually you couldn't even step out of your own door, there was nothing to walk on. My wife and I had to rub our hands, even our faces, against the floorboards and the walls to make the house stop wobbling. A neighbor from a street over once started shouting something to me, almost like asking something, I had to slam the door shut. It was quite a scare.

Once it was just me and her in the house, we couldn't talk. There was never any guarantee what you'd said was what the other would hear. It was safer not to speak. Each of us just waited for the other to break like the people we'd seen. She attacked me. No, she didn't hit me, I just remember she was attacking. She was probably defending herself, I was always on guard too. But she didn't make it.

I got lucky. It was just timing. I couldn't take the cabin fever, so I opened the door. Happened to see the snake in the sky, and Zentoyan up on those glass stairs, pointing where it was going. The palace was safe, I could see it still, so we went up to it, me with a whole warehouse of people.

Things are better now, let me say that. I can sleep fine. That stuff—you called it the Between? I think I breathed it in too much when I was in it. It's in my dreams, but I can always just step on those glass stairs again when it's back. Once I learned it once, I never forgot. Wish I hadn't had to learn how to do it, but I'm glad I did.”

The following account comes from Jamoll, a caretaker at the BW-46 facility. Although the cafeteria of BW-46 was quiet during my visit, Jamoll insisted that our interview, if not kept short, would be interrupted by an inevitable “freakout catastrophe.” I accommodated this request, though I will add that upon the conclusion of our interview, the cafeteria remained quiet.

“It's strange to you types, isn't it? Wizards, you people, that's what I mean. You want to understand why we're all so in love with President Zentoyan, right? How am I supposed to explain that? You weren't there. I can't just hold a picture in my head and copy it for you. (I asked Jamoll if he would like to cancel our interview.)

Sorry, I don't mean to sound hostile. I'm working on that. Mealu, she says I'm exhausting when I get like that—and I'm the one treating her! But it's not just what I remember, does that make sense? (I responded that it did.) Oh right, Wizards do get that sort of thing. A lot of people saw it, it's not just my thing, that I saw, it's a lot of people's thing that they saw, so it's uncomfortable to-- (Jamoll paused for some time. I witnessed many calming gestures to himself.) No, I can just tell you what I remember. I won't go into what I saw earlier, I'm not ready for that, my apologies. I lost a lot of people who were mine to care for. They were first to go, and they knew better than to ask me for help, I hated them for it, I'm still working on that.

I went right out into that stuff. The Between stuff you called it. It wasn't like being small, or invisible, really. It was just being stuff, surrounded by stuff. There weren't categories for things. Well, it wasn't all at once. A few things were still there. Eyes took a long time to go, I didn't lose that part. Just eyes in a bunch of stuff. Zent—President Zentoyan's were there. I was pretty close to his. Important part is that I saw them break away from mine. They fixed on something else, so mine followed.

They went up, down, up, down. (Jamoll held his hand for me to see and undulated it in the air in a sine wave pattern.) It was very, very big, with a head on one end and an ass on the other. I had to turn my head side to side to see the whole thing. So I had a head again. The rest of me made sense when I had a head. And there were colors! All of them at once! The stuff was colorful, sure, but it's all broken into so many pieces you don't really see it that way, you know? (I affirmed that I knew.) But there were colors behind the snake. A huge snake with a rainbow wake.

(I complemented Jamoll on his rhyme. He repeated it twice, and enjoyed doing so.) Hard to miss it once you were looking at it like that. President Zentoyan said, “Look! It's going! We can go there!” He was right! That big snake was going to go through the palace. Well, maybe not really, perspective is funny that way, huh? It sure seemed like it was going to the palace. And, well, there was a palace, see, a whole place that wasn't just stuff, so it was just instinct to get there, for safety.

My interview with Jamoll concluded shortly after. I attempted to convince him that his account was quite valuable. He urged me to leave, so that I would not have to see the state that those under his care were in. I noticed his eyes moving up and down as I left him in the still-calm interior of the cafeteria. He contacted me by telex four days following our interview, claiming that I “demonstrated a concerning personal distance from my surroundings” and offering his care. I declined, as I was soon to return to the Vantage Point station. I have included this detail to demonstrate why I decided not to pry into the emotional trauma of the events preceding Jamoll's account.

The next account was given to me by Xitalecue, who agreed to meet me late in the evening at the very popular public house Cloudspine. My arrival was met with enthusiastic roars from a smoky corner, where Xitalecue stood from his position between nine companions to greet me. I was not introduced to them at the time, but I have since discovered that among these nine listeners were the popular fictionist Rubunta, then-retired battle reporter Klespin, Minor Commanders Ocatoc and Jerum, and even Revolt Coordinator Hungoburtan. Xitalecue himself I knew to be a heroic figure within the Revolutionary Forces of Baiqut, and from my short time in his presence, I could sense that he was well-respected among these already popular figures. Our interview began after drinks were ordered—I asked for mullfruit juice. Xitalecue refused to give me his account unless my drink was mixed with Bunsting (this is known locally as a “tilter”), and in the interest of a thorough search, I agreed. Some details of my account may be unreliable, as tilters are quite strong.

“I bet you wanted a nice, well-lit, stuffy interview, eh? Well that isn't what we're going to do. You want the full story of the single greatest moment of my life? That's an event! (There was a short period of approving thumps and lifted glasses at this point.)

We'd been restless for nearly two weeks. Drills every four hours. We were running the trucks just to keep the engines limber. All the supplies neatly bundled. That's when—what'd he call that address? (I informed Xitalecue of the full name of Divine Representative Laixioto's Call for Nuance and Sober Reevaluation upon being prompted. This was met with many sarcastic groans.)

I always forget he was calling himself Divine Rep! What a worm! Sober Reevaluation! I'll stay drunk, thanks! (A short toast from the group and a series of hand gestures consistent with local expressions of repelling the Evil Eye followed this.)

Nothing against the others that were seeing red at Lie-Shit-o's blather. I was just happy he was getting people so upset with him. Nothing more annoying than nobody else having hate to match yours! Suddenly I had plenty of company, like a dream come true. Found out Zentoyan had fled the army right away. I was a good Minor Commander, but it's true, I hold friends higher than command, so I didn't tell any Majors about our missing volunteer who happened to be a good friend of mine. (The member of our group that I now know to be the fictionist Rubunta interjected here, saying, “I certainly hope you were friends at least after all that fucking!” Xitalecue's laughter was wide-eyed and flush-faced at this moment, the pitch and volume rising above ours.)

I could do with a call now and then, it's the least he could do! That goody-goody owes me! I'll bet you hear a lot about how Zentoyan led his people up stairs of glass to the palace? That he saw the snake and we all followed? He did, I saw it, we all did. Maybe if they hadn't all been busy gawping they'd have seen the piece-of-shit flaphats pulling pistols on the rooftops! (Xitalecue turned his head to spit here, but decided against it.) No, not wasting good spit on traitors. But let's have the ghosts hear what killed them one more time!

(All nine of the assembled group stamped their feet in a repeating triplet rhythm. Their song was similar to the RFB anthem, “Alongside on Wide Steps,” adapted from an original work by Eschrier Clanton. The most significant changes were the replacement of the phrases “careful pace,” “Gods beside,” and “freedom's yearn” with “pop them dead,” “ammo check,” and “kill Shit-o” respectively.)

Not much was making sense, it's true. When that madness came in I was losing a lot, can't lie, but we kept our heads, didn't we? (More cheering and toasting here.) Ah! Remember going up Zinzor Way, Oca? Needs saying again that you landed the finest shot I ever saw! Right out of the movies! Could have been at it for days, weeks, I couldn't say now. Street by street, angle after angle, always something to keep you from thinking straight. Saw some of them looking at the snake. Should have been looking at their feet while they still had them! (Xitalecue pantomimed throwing something, and pulled his hands wide here to imply the use of an explosive weapon. This elicited laughter from the group.) Picked a bad time to revel, if you ask me! (The man I now know to be battle reporter Klespin addressed me directly at this point. He was insistent that I include in my account an anecdote involving Revolt Commander Hungoburtan carrying a burning flag of the Moral Democracy of Godly Shape during this time.)

Yes! Gods, think of what those bootlickers saw when we came at them! The flag that had stroked their cocks for fifteen years, burning, and with that snake dragging rainbows overhead! Almost makes me jealous!

Biggest disappointment? That that pinch-face fuck Laixioto got pulled apart by his own weapon! I was ready to pull his face off like a mask when we made it to the palace. I got my fill of revenge from the palace security, at least. I might have even let them live if they hadn't been pulling rifles on the people climbing up behind Zentoyan. Really ruined the moment! He was about to kiss me, too! Had it almost timed so it'd be right as the snake was passing over. A kiss as the sky came back was almost as good.

The greatest moment of my life! Wish it hadn't had to happen, but you won't find a person at this table who isn't glad it did! Say it! Say it so the ghosts can hear! (Xitalecue at this point led the table in three recitations of the Unity Assembly motto: The People, together, the People, victorious! The second and third recitations were joined by others seated at other tables within the Cloudspine. I will admit to joining the third. I was on my second tilter, which I had underestimated.)

Xitalecue was standing after these recitations. With the others at his table, he recited a number of phrases that I have learned were disseminated among the fighters of the RFB, but were less popular among the Unity Assembly. Among those I have presented them to, the following two were recognized by all former RFB fighters: “Feed us or we eat you!” and “No more weeping!”

My time with Xitalecue ended some hours later. I agreed with those present at that time that I would not include our activities beyond this point in my account. Xitalecue paid for all damages with his personal funds. By morning I was admitted to Speaker Dan-Wuther Clinic for two nights, where I was informed that I have a mild allergy to Bunsting.

NOTE: I AM UNSURE. THESE EVENTS DID NOT HAPPEN TO ME. I WANT TO SAY THEY ARE MINE. MY ORIGIN IS OWED TO THEM. THERE IS NO OTHER FOR ME TO ASK.

#fantasy #writeblr #creative writing #original writing #writblr #writing #wizardposting #magical realism #speculative worldbuilding

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