grip.
‘I have done nothing to this vessel,’ Grizzie intoned, casting those eerily blank eyes on Tracy. ‘Your children will have its mother, have no fear. Both of its mothers.
‘I needed a mouthpiece, and this one was perfect. So open, so free, and so fluid in her identity.’
Were we about to have a lecture on Judith Butler? ‘Look, can you hurry it up?’ I said, losing patience. ‘Who are you and what do you want?’
The creature tsked in my brain, but I didn’t care. But neither was I ready for the response when it came.
‘I represent the universe,’ the voice said, the glow encompassing Grizzie pulsing faintly.
‘The whaaa?’ I asked, completely nonplussed.
‘You humans are so small,’ it marveled, causing me to stand at my full (not at all impressive) height. ‘Do you have
any
idea what surrounds you?’
‘Apparently not,’ Ryu said, doing his ‘humble supplicant’ voice. He was good at these kinds of games, while I wasn’t.
‘You are part of something greater. You must know this after everything you’ve seen.’
I made a face. This was getting far too religious for me.
‘What do you mean, something greater?’ Ryu said so I didn’t have to. The Friend Formerly Known as Grizzie ignored him.
‘Forces must be balanced. There may not be good or evil as you know it, but there is power. And power must be aligned, or all will fall.’
I made a face. ‘What power?’
Grizzie’s blank eyes stared directly into mine, and my whole consciousness swam. ‘Power, child. Power. The power that propels the world!’
That last bit ended in a boom, and Grizzie’s glowing form shone even brighter.
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘And?’
‘You must restore the balance.’
What the fuck is going on? This is like being lectured by the Sphinx
, I said to the creature. It sent a warm wash of thought through my brain, as if to comfort me, but I wouldn’t accept it.
Tell me what’s happening
, I demanded.
[I am exactly what I say,] came a voice in my head. But it wasn’t the creature’s, it was the same voice pouring out of Grizzie. My heart beat faster in my chest, but I tried not to panic.
But what is that?
I asked silently.
[I told you: I am the universe!] With that, it took control of my vision.
I saw the birth of the worlds, the coming together of powers that exploded, rocketing outward. I saw the creation of first light and then matter – gases becoming solid, solids glomming together, the creation of suns and planets and galaxies.
That power radiated throughout this process, dancing in and through all of creation, as the universe bucked and spun…
Until here and there throughout the galaxies, in pockets where conditions were just right (and those pockets were very few, and far between), life flared.
With life came renewed interest from the powers, which promulgated around these bright beacons of existence. Some life, however, plodded along … never changing, never challenging, never learning. But others were not so staid. Across the universe rose beings that could manipulate the powers that had created them. They were the power, were of the power, and could
use
the power.
The universe shuddered with delight, sensing kinship and opportunity. Sometimes these new forms of life took too much, however, or tried to throw out the rules of the game. Then balance needed to be restored.
The Red and the White upset the balance
, I put together, hints and images and echoes of thought.
But how do we stop them?
This time, the universe changed tack. Instead of seeing the macrocosmos, I was made party to the microcosmos. I saw it all: how the universe interfered to right the balance. Creatures like the one underneath Rockabill, given power or knowledge at crucial moments in their fight against the Red and the White. Then, as those creatures faded, new creatures were made into weapons. I saw dozens, hundreds, including a stranger with a great destiny saved from a childhood illness. The blonde girl
‘I have done nothing to this vessel,’ Grizzie intoned, casting those eerily blank eyes on Tracy. ‘Your children will have its mother, have no fear. Both of its mothers.
‘I needed a mouthpiece, and this one was perfect. So open, so free, and so fluid in her identity.’
Were we about to have a lecture on Judith Butler? ‘Look, can you hurry it up?’ I said, losing patience. ‘Who are you and what do you want?’
The creature tsked in my brain, but I didn’t care. But neither was I ready for the response when it came.
‘I represent the universe,’ the voice said, the glow encompassing Grizzie pulsing faintly.
‘The whaaa?’ I asked, completely nonplussed.
‘You humans are so small,’ it marveled, causing me to stand at my full (not at all impressive) height. ‘Do you have
any
idea what surrounds you?’
‘Apparently not,’ Ryu said, doing his ‘humble supplicant’ voice. He was good at these kinds of games, while I wasn’t.
‘You are part of something greater. You must know this after everything you’ve seen.’
I made a face. This was getting far too religious for me.
‘What do you mean, something greater?’ Ryu said so I didn’t have to. The Friend Formerly Known as Grizzie ignored him.
‘Forces must be balanced. There may not be good or evil as you know it, but there is power. And power must be aligned, or all will fall.’
I made a face. ‘What power?’
Grizzie’s blank eyes stared directly into mine, and my whole consciousness swam. ‘Power, child. Power. The power that propels the world!’
That last bit ended in a boom, and Grizzie’s glowing form shone even brighter.
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘And?’
‘You must restore the balance.’
What the fuck is going on? This is like being lectured by the Sphinx
, I said to the creature. It sent a warm wash of thought through my brain, as if to comfort me, but I wouldn’t accept it.
Tell me what’s happening
, I demanded.
[I am exactly what I say,] came a voice in my head. But it wasn’t the creature’s, it was the same voice pouring out of Grizzie. My heart beat faster in my chest, but I tried not to panic.
But what is that?
I asked silently.
[I told you: I am the universe!] With that, it took control of my vision.
I saw the birth of the worlds, the coming together of powers that exploded, rocketing outward. I saw the creation of first light and then matter – gases becoming solid, solids glomming together, the creation of suns and planets and galaxies.
That power radiated throughout this process, dancing in and through all of creation, as the universe bucked and spun…
Until here and there throughout the galaxies, in pockets where conditions were just right (and those pockets were very few, and far between), life flared.
With life came renewed interest from the powers, which promulgated around these bright beacons of existence. Some life, however, plodded along … never changing, never challenging, never learning. But others were not so staid. Across the universe rose beings that could manipulate the powers that had created them. They were the power, were of the power, and could
use
the power.
The universe shuddered with delight, sensing kinship and opportunity. Sometimes these new forms of life took too much, however, or tried to throw out the rules of the game. Then balance needed to be restored.
The Red and the White upset the balance
, I put together, hints and images and echoes of thought.
But how do we stop them?
This time, the universe changed tack. Instead of seeing the macrocosmos, I was made party to the microcosmos. I saw it all: how the universe interfered to right the balance. Creatures like the one underneath Rockabill, given power or knowledge at crucial moments in their fight against the Red and the White. Then, as those creatures faded, new creatures were made into weapons. I saw dozens, hundreds, including a stranger with a great destiny saved from a childhood illness. The blonde girl
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