Deus Ex Machinarium

In all the commotion that preceded this moment, Birdekk was the only one to retain a cool head. To a degree, but still. Everyone, including the dominant Anh, were devoured by the rush of emotions.

When Brandt’s words found their way to them and settled a little, Birdekk yanked the reins off Anh and handled them assuming a more comfortable, cross-legged pose by the fire. If it were up to the dominant, who at that moment was non-responsive, they would just float like a scarecrow in the woods.

Despite a log of fir being devoured in the fireplace, their library was weirdly cold and dim.

Birdekk sat deep in his chair, fuming and nervously tapping on the armrest. He wore his favorite grey overalls belted with a cloth. Other chairs weren’t present in their usual locations, as their occupants weren’t either. Although Birdekk dearly wished they were.

-” WAKE UP! ALL OF YOU!” - he finally shouted into the air, his voice echoing throughout the room - “We need to talk. All of us. In flesh or otherwise.”

It wasn’t long before Tow’s chair appeared out of thin air, announcing his arrival. The colorful tanai floated from amidst the bookshelves. His facial hair was dyed light, almost glittering green, and he wore an ornamented black robe embroidered thickly in a color matching his goatee and an expansive collar with long flowy fur on the inside. He sat gracefully in his chair.

-” Where’s everyone else?” - Tow uttered. Thernohh’s chair appeared at the same moment.

-” Greoo? Please join us. Anh! We would also like to see you too!” - said Birdekk.

For a moment nothing happened. Suddenly another armchair appeared, about a third of a mer above the ground, and quickly fell in line with gravity. But before it did, Greoo’s person appeared just above and plopped into place with it. As she landed her abundance started to jiggle violently.

-” Thank you for coming.” - courteously said Birdekk - “Anh! We are waiting for you!”

The dominant didn’t seem to be willing, or even capable of responding. After a few brief moments, Birdekk sighed and said.

-” I guess we’ll start without him. First of all, what on Sathor were all of you thinking?!” - grumbled the eldest folk - “Attacking that man like that! That was certifiably Grade ‘A’ stupid!”

-” It was a logical course of action” - echoed the voice of Thernohh - “He put us into an impossible situation. We needed to act.”

-” Birdekk, you did aid with it as well” - Tow clasped his hands -” I’m not trying to justify myself, but I find your accusatory tone unjustified.”

The called-out kin gazed at the floor in embarrassment.

-” You know how it goes. Sudden, emotionally charged, forced unity among us. I read about it, somewhere.” - he raised his head -” but why didn’t we just fly off? It’s not like he had firearms. What would he do? Throw stones?”

The atmosphere in the library turned a touch colder and lightning turned into a somewhat fainter, bluish hue. All the present were throwing each other an uneasy look.

-” That was dumb.” - Thernohh said aloud what everyone was thinking.

-” Yes” - grimly confirmed Birdekk - “we need to learn from this experience. On a related problem. Did I hear correctly what Mr Zerster had called us? An ‘aberrant’?”.

-” Yes, an aberrant. An immortal accorded a long life by Vihrs but still susceptible to…* - defined Tow, mundanely, but was kept from continuing.

-” Don’t want to interrupt, but I think, we know what an aberrant is Tow* - said Birdekk using as conciliatory of a tone as he could - “It was a rhetorical kind of ‘what did he just’.”

-* What? Whe… How?* - Anh's disembodied voice came, muffled a little, from the outside of the library. * What did you just say? How do you know?*

Nothing came straight away, the folk sat silently and waited. During this time the library was slowly returning to its more usual, cozy state. The fire was crackling a little happier, the temperature raised a little and the lightning of the room brightened and warmed up. Even the scent of a fir being devoured by fire grew in intensity.

-* Because I am aberrant *- finally came an answer, also somewhat distant, but in a voice of Brandt -* I met a few of… *- for a moment he paused -*... us. From that I know of a law, rule maybe? Happenstance? I can’t name it. Whatever it is, it makes sure that one aberrant cannot, under any circumstances, cause bodily harm to another aberrant and I can assure you, I was not pretending just a moment ago.* - he finished.

-” I knew it!”- shouted Greoo triumphantly - “I knew it! I knew it!”

-” You didn’t know a thing kin”- hissed Thernohh - “Otherwise you’d have told us before, probably gloated about it as well.”

-” Well, I knew there was something wrong with him!”

-” Yes, so you’ve said…” - Thernohh was about to begin unloading on Greoo, but Birdekk interrupted her.

-” Enough for now! We have more important things to discuss!” - he said sternly - “Of which us being an aberrant is the most pressing one.:

-” So does Mr Zerster claim” - Greoo didn’t seem convinced

-” Is that ‘an aberrant’ as a noun or ‘aberrant’ as an adjective?” - mused Tow, stroking his goatee - “or are both forms proper?”

-” For someone who just a drip ago was under a threat of death” - quickly commented Thernohh - “You seem too preoccupied with grammar.”

-” I am coping with the fact that I was under a threat of death” - shrugged Tow -” Thus to avoid this grim realization, I put my attention to something else, and if we are already exchanging snarky remarks.”- tanai leaned towards the visage of the hoomin female sitting before him -” Please be as snarky as you wish towards Greoo and tell her that if Zerster is playing us then her triumphant gloating is way too premature.”

-” Duly noted”- replied Thernohh -” Greoo! Tow is casting shade at your thinking!”

-" Why are you telling me that as if I wasn’t here?” - she grumbled while squirming in her chair.

-” Everyone! Let’s keep this civil.” - said Birdekk. In an instance all younger kinfolk fell silent - “ I understand your duress. There is no need to be mean to each other. For now, we need first to verify this ‘aberrant’ status, then investigate what it means.”- two others nodded in agreement -” We also need to slap the dominant out of this stupor he’s fallen into.”

-” Well, we don’t rightly know if we’re aberrant” - said Greoo hotly - “Just because he said so is not evidence enough. We know him to be a liar?”

-” Would you like to include the knives he has thrown at us?” - said Tow, ignoring the mental equivalent of shaking someone awake, coming from Thernohh who tried to get Anh to pay attention - “ He proceeded to somehow bend two out of their trajectory and make the third of them shatter?”

-” Tow. It can be easily done” - replied Greoo - “Especially if you prepare. For example, one knife could be made of glass or cooled to make it brittle.”

-” I am sorry Greoo.” - sighed in Birdekk - “What you say is highly unlikely and I have no reason to disbelieve him either, as we discussed.*

-” Bending the knives out of their trajectory is trivial”- casually commented Thernohh -” Shattering one into splinters in such a short order requires so much force it is not even worth considering.”

During the exchange, the mental image of Anh appeared on the armchair prepared for him prior. Birdekk nodded at him as a welcome gesture.

-” Expecting him to carry a glass knife for such an occasion is just silly* - added Tow

-” Well, I insist* - she scoffed - “Make dominant ask him for proof!”

-” Actually, that would be ‘evidence’” - shrugged Tow

-” Anh. If you are already here with us. Could you ask our benefactor about this?” - Birdekk said directly to the dominant, who nodded back.

-* We do not believe you.* - they heard Anh say to Brandt and then were made aware of the hoomin nodding and unfolding his hands.

-* I could try to convince you with words, but arguing with a tanai is pointless…* - he said with a shadow of a smile, his words being heard less muffled, thanks to Anh’s presence in the mind space. When the folk heard it, a murmur of a giggle could be heard - *There is another way. I know it sounds fairly primitive, but.. you need to attack me. Throw something at me. I promise I won’t move. I’ll even turn around, so I wouldn’t know when the blow would come.*- as he promised, he did and not a moment later he was sitting with his back towards Anh.

-* You’re so sure of your… hypothesis, that you’d stake your life on it?* - replied the tanai, frowning. The Nord just shrugged.

-” No, entirely out of the question!” - said Birdekk sternly - “remember that horse? How much mercy killing it and at the same time being forced to do it was detrimental to our mental well-being? This would be entirely of our own volition and in cold blood.”

-” I don't like it any more than you do” - replied the dominant quietly.

-” Nor me”- added Greoo - ”Even though, you know, me and him, we have a history…”

-” Allow me to be the only sane and reasonable kin here. As always”- Thernohh’s sharp, disembodied voice cut through the doubts -” we have nothing to lose. If what he says is true then no harm will be done. If he is lying then we'll at least be free of him. If you are reluctant then allow me to do the deed. I have no issue here”- she paused as there was some murmuring and scoffing amongst the kinfolk, then she delivered the finishing touch - “ We don't need to try to kill him. He said we can’t even harm him. I say just whack him. Where's the best place to hit? Greoo?”

-” The base of the skull” - replied she, in a defeated tone.

-" Wouldn't be the first time." - said Brandt, unaware he was replying to both, words Anh said earlier and, unknowingly, to what Thernohh just said - " If I had a shilling for every time I've risked my life for an idea, I'd be a rich man." - he scratched his neck, removed some offending twig and threw it away- " Come to think of it, that's exactly what has happened."

-” He is one cocky bastard…”- uttered Greoo.

Behind hoomin a sizable, charred piece of wood, still glowing red in places, lifted itself from the ground and quickly accelerated toward his head. It was sure to hit, but as it was about to do so, it inexplicably missed and landed in the fire, causing an eruption of sparks.

The Nord sighed, stood, and went for the misplaced piece and upon returning, he threw it back into the fire.

-” Happy now?” - said Greoo bitterly.

-” It seems we have lost control over the projectile at some point” - added Tow - “It's interesting and we'll have to investigate the cause.”

-” We need to repeat the experiment at least a few times” - insisted Thernohh -” Allow me”

All other kinfolk nodded in approval. Instantly the youngest of them began to hexergically throw a variety of items found nearby at the Nord. Stones, small and large, cinders from the fire and dead branches were launched and, by an unknown force, all of them were denied hitting the hoomin. One particular pebble even assumed such an unnatural trajectory that it managed to get thrown into the air in a manner that it would hit the Brandt again only to be reflected to the side again.

Through all this time Nord casually sat, his back to the tanai, unfazed by any of the bizarre happenings beside him.

-” I wonder if I can repeat the splintering knife” - finally wondered Thernohh

-” Leave this for later” - Birdekk's voice was a mix of relief and worry, for different reasons for both - “We now have to assume we're aberrant. This leads to many questions and I think the most important is ‘Now what?’”

-” We could always go back to Sheridawn and read some books? About the subject?* - suggested Thernohh

-” Are there any?” - perked up Anh.

-” Not to my knowledge” - Tow interrupted Thernohh before she could answer - “ Not scientific ones anyway. Vihrs’ Wisdom says nothing. All other publications I know of are generally not written by tanai and are just full of ideological babble.” - he sighed - “I'm afraid the best source of ‘what now’ is sitting right in front of us.”

-* What happens now?* - Anh asked, woodenly.

Zerster made a dismissive gesture.

-* With you? You tell me. You were quite certain of what you wanted to do just a quanter ago*- Nord spoke casually, but with an undertone of anxiety -*As you can imagine, I have no means to make you stay, unless I stoop to threats of making your life miserable in Sheridawn. Out of spite.*

-* Would you?*

-* No.*- shrugged Brandt -* However, should you choose to leave, I’d advise against returning to our former camp. There is either a trap or charred ashes there.*

-” How does he know that?” - commented Tow

-” I’ll ask” - Anh replied, then addressed the Nord -* How can you be so sure of that?*

-” I’ve existed long enough.”

-” That is a very peculiar word to use in this context.” - commented Birdekk -” Ask him about it, please.”

-* What do you mean ‘existed’?* - Anh relayed the query and thus changed the subject, to the dismay of Tow.

Brandt took a few moments to answer.

-* The way I live is, I think, much different to how other hoomin live. I can only call it ‘existence’* - Brandt rubbed his lips with his thumb, allowing himself to wander in a thought - * You know me as ‘Brandt Zerster’. But that is just a name I am using right now. I used many others before. *

-* Which now makes me ask for your real name…*

-* I don’t know. You may doubt what I’m telling you, but I haven’t got faintest idea what my name is, or was, or when or even where I was born.*

-* How is that possible?* - mused Anh - * You are either lying, which let me be frank, you are perfectly comfortable with, or you are suffering from… * - tanai hung his voice

-* …memory loss.* - Brandt finished the sentence.

-” I’m actually starting to empathize with this buffoon” - said Greoo with a hint of concern -” It must be a harrowing experience.”

-” Ask him if this memory loss is typical” - added Birdekk - “ It is concerning”

-” Makes sense, unless he is indeed lying.” - added Tow -” either way, if one lives for a long time, then some memories get muddled. If we extend such phenomenon to, let us say, five hundred years, then what he says, lie or not, makes sense.”

-” He seems to cope fine” - Thernohh didn’t spare the sarcasm.

-* I would like to ask…* - Anh once again relayed what Birdekk had requested -* Will this amnesia happen to me as well?*

-* I, again, honestly can’t answer. Aberrants are not, as you can imagine, common. We don’t form a secret society or have meetings and exchange experiences. I only ever remember meeting three, maybe four, and of those I've only spent some time with one. I haven’t heard about his exploits for the last twelve years and we haven’t… let's say 'met', in three decades.*

-* So how do you know that an aberrant can’t harm another one?*

-* I ‘know’ this. I don’t know why I do. In the same way I ‘know’ to brush my teeth. Which, I strongly advise you to do as well.*

-” So that is why he was so religiously doing so!” - exclaimed Birdekk

-* I ‘hypothesize’ that this is something I was made aware of a very long time ago, and it stuck as one of those truisms that one does not question.*

-* How old are you, really?*

-* Again, I don’t know.* - shrugged Brandt - * Which I think is obvious. I have memories of things that occurred a century ago. But the further back I go, the more they become ‘tales’ of someone else’s life. For anything prior Centennial War… I only have scant evidence of ‘me’ existing. Documents, written stories, half myth, half real. How far back does it go? Hundreds of years? A thousand? Your guesses are going to be as good as mine. *

-* Is that* - Anh spoke slowly -* the reason why you are so bent on finishing this? You want a glimpse at your past?*

An expression of unease flashed on Brandt’s face. It was brief, but it was definitely there.

-* Partially* - he finally answered -* What I told you before, about the Church and the secrets, is still very true. But yes, I hope you can imagine that digging into the forgotten past is very important to me for purely selfish reasons.*

-” Do we trust him?” - asked Birdekk -” In the context of ‘should we continue to deal with this man’. Greoo? I’m most interested in your input here.”

-” I’m conflicted.”- the woman squirmed in her chair -” As all of you know, I don’t like this man for reasons which I won’t repeat. But”- she sighed heavily -“in the context of him … and us … being aberrant? I empathise with his motives. Now that I know. I think we can trust him.”

-” He just tried to kill us.” - Thernohh made it clear what she thought of the matter by loading as much sarcasm as she could in those few words - “ You want to trust someone like that?”

-” Shut up! Yes, he did. Because we attacked him. Can’t fault him for that.”

-” To be honest”- Tow inserted himself into the discussion, tapping his fingers and speaking to nobody in particular -” All of the trouble so far, at least when it comes to the entire ‘Ordo’ situation, was us losing our composure and Brandt trying to salvage our hiney out of the mess we have gotten ourselves in.”

-” He stole the maps, did he not?” - Greoo was more asking, than making a point.

-” Well. We don’t really know.” - said Anh - “ Ksintsaxii was saying so, but we have no confirmation. We didn’t really ask him. Not out of the question. After all, they went after us for that reason, at least partially, and persisted until yesterday. He must have struck a nerve or several.”

-” Anh, you are being incoherent. This is Maargard.”- Thernohh added -“ Uptight hoomin at the top. Corruption at the bottom. For all we know he ‘bought’ them off someone, who wasn’t privileged to sell.”

-” That would make him a fence.” - Tow continued to tap his fingers -” You can argue that dispatching four heavily armed men with Ksintsaxii kind of suggests the weight of whatever he has done.”

-” That, and the fact that we are still being actively sought.”

-” We are being actively pursued for murdering eight people.”

-” Don’t remind me…”

-” All of you are missing the point!” - Greoo shot angrily. Immediately drawing the attention of the people around her -” Whatever he has done is underlined by this almost pathological focus on what he, us, were trying to achieve.”

-” I’m confused” - said Birdekk

-” So am I” - continued Greoo - “ Considering his aberrancy, all the lampshading was almost a weird courtesy. Which is why I think we can trust him. Until we go against his goals.”

-” If we go against him, we can still trust him, we’ll just land on his bad side.” - casually said Tow - “but very predictably so.”

-” I understand.”- it was Birdekk’s time to tap his fingers -” Any other of our esteemed kin wants to chime in?” - None of the gathered expressed any further thoughts on the matter - “Thernohh?” - the eldest kin nudged the youngest.

-” I also have nothing else to say”- she responded -” and since you are now going to ask whether we should continue our journey. Yes, we should. Also, who made you the boss of this variunity? I thought this was Anh’s job.”

-” Is it necessary to argue over that?” - said the perplexed dominant - “ I trust Birdekk implicitly.”

-” Fine, whatever.” - snorted miffed Thernohh - “ You want to keep going?”

-” Reluctantly”- answered Anh -” But yes. I do. More because Zerster here has some answers, which we might need.” - hearing this Birdekk nodded in appreciation.

-” So, there are two of us. Tow?” - continued the youngest.

-” Even more than before. I mean. I yearn for a warm office, a bowl of oatmeal, and silence. But this escapade just became that much more interesting!”

Greoo sighed heavily.

-” I will not object.” - she just said.

-” So, it is settled.”- announced Birdekk -“ I would like to remind everybody, this is going to be much more difficult from now on. Our benefactor warned us that our equipment is most likely gone. We are, as we are here. Essentially naked.”

-” Not looking forward to it.” - murmured Greoo - “As you can imagine.”

-” I should tell Brandt” - announced Anh.

-” With that, since I already usurped the rule in this unity.” - said Birdekk - “ Meeting is adjourned”

All folk nodded and one by one images of their personalities diffused into thin air, their chairs with them soon after. Anh was the first, pondering how and what to tell Brandt. Tow followed, with a longing for the unknown reinvigorated. Thernohh’s chair just disappeared and Greoo departed at odds of what to think about their, suddenly somewhat close, companion.

Birdekk was the last. Once everyone else was gone, he smiled and nodded to himself. Then lights in the library went out, the room vanished into thin air, and with it went the self-appointed janitor.